[Dixielandjazz] What we lack

[Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis]

They are not allowed to stop you unless you are driving erratically or
have something wrong with your car. Busted rearlight is favourite, but NO
RANDOM CHECKS.  Not yet anyway.

As I said.  We had the best.

My wife and I talk about it from time to time and I have to agree, things 
have changed.

The other part is the random checks.  The more blatant things have come to 
an end but the police can still stop you for about anything.  When I was 16 
a policeman hit me with his night stick.  I didn't even see it coming and I 
was just walking down the street.  He did it because he could.  The police 
can harass people still if they want they just have to be more clever.

Playing late at night I get stopped every so often.  Last year I was flying 
very low doing 85+ in a 60 mph zone and got stopped by a state trooper. 
There was no one on the highway at all.  I was pretty surprised when the red 
lights started going off.  He asked me where I had been and I told him I was 
a professional musician and had just come from a country club.  He asked me 
what kind of music I played and what instrument.  Then he asked me for my 
Drivers license and he did all the various checks etc.  I think he also 
spotted my retired military ID card as I fished for my DLicense.  He said 
"Sir you were doing pretty close to 70 but that's not why I stopped you. 
You didn't signal when you changed lanes."  He then let me go.  I may be the 
only person alive that a trooper has let go.  During this whole episode I 
could picture myself being hauled away in handcuffs.  Fortunately I don't 
drink because If I had smelled of alcohol my goose would have been cooked.
Larry
St. Louis
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "pat ladd" <pj.ladd at btinternet.com>
To: "Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "jazz" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2007 3:53 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] What we lack


> rouble with the law if you organize one and something goes wrong.  Lots of 
> drugs at these things.>>
>
> Hi Larry,
>
> I said we had the best of times. There was no drug scene then. Mainly 
> because there were no pushers at the school gates. I must admit that in my 
> teens I had read Huxleys `Doors of Perception` and `Heaven and Hell` and 
> if I could have got hold of some mescalin I would have tried it. Where 
> could you get drugs in 1948 in England? maybe in the big cities or ports 
> but cetainly not in a small country town in deepest Wiltshire.
>
> There were plenty of organisations which would run dances. The Young 
> Conservatives, the Labour Party, the Liberals, the Round Table, the Young 
> Farmers plus several church and village halls.  There was rarely any 
> trouble. I think our attitude to drinking was different. We certainly got 
> drunk, 8 or 10 pints will do that but we went out with the idea of having 
> an evening out. Getting drunk was a by product.  Now the idea seems to be 
> to get absolutely smashed as quickly as possible by mixing your drinks, 
> something we hardly ever did, then being sick, falling down and starting 
> over again.
> In my time no girl would go home with a drunk boy and that tended to keep 
> ones head clear (ish).
>
> We get raves. Usually takes place in a barn on an isolated farm. The 
> farmer takes a back hander and goes away for the weekend and is suitably 
> horrified when he finds out what has happenned in his absence.  The word 
> spreads by cell phone, the venue is often changed at the last minute in 
> case the police have got onto it, and there is much drinking and lots of 
> drugs.  Luckily my girls were nearing school leaving age when the drugs 
> really caught on so I missed all that trauma as well.  I should be 
> surprised if they have not tried it  and a bit disappointed too. I think 
> they both had enough backbone to give it a whirl and then reject it.
>
> I don`t think that groups banding together to get a gig closed down would 
> work here. Certainly I have never heard of it, and the police don`t work 
> in that way either. At least I sincerely hope not. Hanging around a pub at 
> closing time to see if there is any drunk driving is about as far as it 
> goes. They are not allowed to stop you unless you are driving erratically 
> or have something wrong with your car. Busted rearlight is favourite, but 
> NO RANDOM CHECKS.  Not yet anyway.
>
> As I said.  We had the best.
>
> Pat
>