The Bear Creek music festival at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park was a fun filled sensual delight from the tingling chill of a Friday night freeze, the warmth of the campfire, fuzzy bear costumes all around, campfire smoke whimsically dancing through the air, laser light spectacles such as green naked lady outlines surfing through the trees, and did I mention the music? Destination Funkytown. Houston, we have landed. Bear Creek kept us movn and  groonvn all night long.

Hancock, NY is a quaint town in the Catskills with little other than a bank, a couple bars, and a small grocery store. It’s home to a splendid property called Camp Minglewood, where kids run around barefoot all summer, go from arts and crafts to swimming to kickball and back to their tiny bunks. Then, the music takes over.

After much coordination and navigation, our group celebrated the successful creation of a small tent/popup, tapestry and solar light embellished village by partaking in a few ice cold libations before heading toward the music. As we walked in the dark down the windy dirt road in the direction of deep rooted bass and canopy swinging melodies, a myriad of bioluminescent extensions of the forest helped to light our way.

Florida is a place unto itself, by my estimation. Like the other ‘big states’ of Texas and California, it takes on its own unique identity and presence. These states are so large, they are their own ‘region;’ and again by my estimation, include elements of all that is around them. Florida is neither just southern, nor merely coastal. Florida has elements of east coast culture, due in no small measure to the strong concentration of New York retirees, the so-called ‘snow birds.’ Florida also has significant aspects of Cuban and Mexican culture elements, as well.

Despite two evenings devastated by severe thunderstorms and even hail, the 2008 Wakarusa Festival held at Clinton Lake, Kansas powered through it all and still provided its attendees a great weekend of music, camping, and all around good times.

Grateful Web recently caught up with Ivan Neville while he was in Maryland. The phone interview had to be postponed for two hours while Neville enjoyed some crab cakes, reputed to be the best in the country. "I'm in Baltimore " he said. "You've got to have crab cakes, and I want to give them my full attention." While his meal was digesting, he spoke about his new band, Dumpstaphunk......