Keith Robertson

“The Tartan Army heads home”

We began the week with a walk in the park on Monday morning.  We had a couple of celebrity sightings during the outing – Kenny passed on his bike with a “Hey, Hey, Hey,” and then we passed Cooper Manning with his very recognizable gait.  I also got a thumbs up for my Gleason t-shirt from another guy wearing a similar tribute.

I watched some World Cup in the afternoon and it was almost a replay of last Monday – Messi and Mbappe with multiple excellent goals.  Messi’s goal gave him the lead with the most goals ever scored in World Cups.  The France game in Philadelphia had a long weather delay as a major thunderstorm moved through.  Ronaldo had yet to score and has a lot of catching up to do.  I really am enjoying the early games and looking forward to the elimination rounds, which may well include Scotland for the first time ever.

We hung the new jazz stars that Diana gave me for my birthday in the evening.  Bill Evans and Dizzie Gillespie are now playing with Miles.  I love looking at this band and enjoy that they all came from that wonderful little store in San Sebastian.  The artist really captures all three so well.

Here’s some background if you’re not familiar with the three players – their careers are very much linked:

“Miles Davis, Bill Evans, and Dizzy Gillespie are connected through the evolution of modern jazz, though they played different roles and belonged to slightly different generations.

Direct connections

• Miles Davis and Bill Evans
  • Bill Evans was a key member of Miles Davis’s late-1950s groups.
  • Evans’s harmonic style and impressionistic piano playing strongly influenced Davis’s landmark album Kind of Blue.
  • Evans played on most of the tracks on Kind of Blue, one of the most influential jazz recordings ever made.
• Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie
  • Both were trumpet virtuosos and major innovators.
  • Early in his career, Miles Davis was influenced by Dizzy Gillespie’s bebop revolution.
  • In the 1940s, Davis played alongside bebop pioneers including Charlie Parker, who was Gillespie’s close collaborator.
  • Davis later moved away from the fast, complex bebop style associated with Gillespie and helped develop cool jazz, modal jazz, and jazz fusion.

Musical lineage

You can think of their relationship as a chain of influence:

Dizzy Gillespie → Miles Davis ← Bill Evans

• Dizzy Gillespie helped create bebop, the modern jazz language that shaped the young Miles Davis.
• Miles Davis became one of jazz’s greatest innovators, building on and reacting to bebop.
• Bill Evans collaborated with Davis and helped shape Davis’s modal jazz period, particularly on Kind of Blue.

Shared importance

Together, they represent major stages in jazz history:

1. Dizzy Gillespie — Bebop pioneer (1940s).
2. Miles Davis — Innovator across multiple jazz movements (1940s–1980s).
3. Bill Evans — Influential pianist whose harmonic concepts helped define modal and modern jazz (1950s–1970s).

In short, Dizzy Gillespie influenced the jazz world that shaped Miles Davis, while Bill Evans was a close collaborator who helped Miles Davis create some of the most important music in jazz history.”

We watched the new Netflix rom-com “Voicemails for Isabelle” on Monday evening.

We both enjoyed the movie, although one of us fell asleep and missed the last few minutes.  Interestingly the settings oscillated between Austin and San Francisco and so we were able to comment on how unlikely it was that scenes would take place where they would – e.g. the main character sitting on a bench by the lookout on the far side of the Golden Gate bridge – that would have been a several hours walk up a very steep hill from where she worked.

Diana had her usual pickleball on Tuesday morning and I went for a workout at the New Orleans Athletic Club (it’s getting too hot for me to do too much outside.)  I listened to an audio book of “Just Kids” by Patti Smith as I exercised.

After the NOAC, I relaxed by watching the Portugal game.  Ronaldo redeemed himself with two nice goals in the first half, and Portugal finished with a commanding victory.

We had a larger group than anticipated for trivia in the evening.  Jack, Alex and Aidan came just a few hours after returning home from Iceland.  By all accounts they had a fabulous trip.  Mason came as well, after a hard day at work.  That was a good thing as he knew several answers that nobody else had a clue about.  We were in the lead going into the final question with 90 points, and three teams tied for second with 86 points.

Here’s a disturbing picture from inside Dat Dog:

Jack Nicholson from “The Shining” in an Edvard Munch “Scream” style hot dog.  Quite unique and disturbing.  I know quite a bit about the “Scream” painting, having “helped” Will with a paper about it.

The final question was not something any of us new anything about – so we bet zero out of a possible 20 and won by 4 points – most of the other teams deploying the same strategy.  We were quite proud of our win – a true team effort.

Diana had her first walk in the park with Julia in a while on Wednesday morning – summer’s get busy with kids and travel.

Anticipation had been building all day for the Scotland vs Brazil World Cup match in the evening.  I enjoyed watching the interactions between the two groups of fans on TV – Brazilians teaching the Tartan Army to Samba.  The commentators noted that they had not heard such levels of participation in the national anthems at any other games.

Unfortunately, Scotland made several silly mistakes that cost them goals – the first at 7 min into the game, ultimately losing 3-0.  I really hope one or two of those silly goals don’t end up being the difference in advancing to the elimination round, and I have a nasty feeling they will.  It is pleasant to hear World Cup updates on the national news where the presenters biggest concern is if Scotland will make it to the next round – wasn’t even on their minds prior to the start of the tournament and their introduction to the Tartan Army.

I enjoyed this LinkedIn post from Matthew Ricks, one of my Sun Microsystems customers when we ran their data centers.

I enjoyed this clever cartoon in the newspaper on Thursday morning:

The temperatures in Europe continued to break records and I laughed at this article about the “gritters” being out in Scotland to spread sand over the main roads to try and reflect heat and cool the surface.

Gritters out in Scotland in Heatwave

It was 88 degrees in Dumfries (my birthplace) and that’s what prompted the “gritting.”  I would be quite happy with 88 this week, but it’s all what you’re used to and equipped for.

Denny was experiencing some very nice cool temperatures in Colorado.  Doesn’t he look a bit like Julie Andrews?  “The Hills are Alive.”

We watched the movie “The Sheep Detectives” on Thursday afternoon and night.  Highly recommended.   I have no idea how they make these AI generated sheep so loveable and believable, but they do.

In between movie sessions, we tried a new place for dinner and music.  I had heard a song from Dex Daley on WWOZ (local radio station) that featured steel drums – they are a favourite of McD’s after she watched a show about how they are made.  The song is not available on Spotify and so I had looked across the internet and found an article saying he was playing at Afrodisiac (intentional spelling change) in Gentilly on Thursday evening.  This is a Jamaican themed restaurant and I had been wanting to visit for a while to try their jerk chicken.  I missed the Gentlemen Out At Lunch (GOAL) lunch there a few months ago.

The food and drinks were delicious.  We tried the jerk chicken and shrimp nachos, a salad with pineapple, cucumber and avocado with a lemon vinaigrette dressing, a hibiscus lemonade and a pain killer (D doing her best to teleport to an island beach.)

I highly recommend the food and drinks and just caution you that it seemed to take the better part of an hour for them to arrive, and the place wasn’t overly busy.  Fortunately, we had the music of Dex Daley to enjoy.  Such positive energy and sound.

Here’s a link to a lot more detail about Daley’s interesting history and background:

Dex Daley and Jamx bio

Friday began with another walk in the park – seemed a wee bit cooler than earlier in the week.

Diana played pickleball in the afternoon with some friends and came back quite pumped about the session.  I enjoyed some World Cup.

In the evening we watched the “Somebody Feed Phil” episode about Montreal and made note of a couple of potential places to visit for local fare.

I also watched a bit of a very silly movie called “Little Brother” starring John Cena.

They seen to have more elections in New Orleans than I’ve seen anywhere else.  On Saturday you voted to decide if we should keep paying for the Garden District security patrol (hope so) and for the run off candidates for Senate.  There’s an initial election and if nobody gets enough votes (above 50% I think), then there’s a run off between the top two candidates (the case in this one), and then there will be the final vote in November.

I walked down to the fire station on Magazine Street with Diana on Saturday morning so that she could vote and I could get us coffee from the French Truck.  She was finishing voting by the time I picked up our coffees – very efficient.

After that, we made a trip to the NOAC for some exercise in the air conditioning.  Then a trip to Trader Joe’s for needed groceries and supplies.  Saturday morning is most certainly the prime time to go there – as confirmed by our checkout guy.  Apparently Sunday morning is a quite different proposition.  We gathered the ingredients to make buffalo chickpea wraps – what appears to be a healthy version of Taco Bell’s crunchwrap supreme.  For the first time that I remember we divided up the ingredients and set out to different sections of the store.  Such good teamwork!  This is what they should look like:

Diana also treated herself to some peonies, one of her favourite flowers.

As the group matches ended, Scotland’s fate was sealed by that 3-0 loss to Brazil, and the Tartan Army began the journey home.

We made the chickpea wraps for a late lunch/early dinner on Sunday.  They were tasty and the recipe created way more filling than could fit in four large tortillas – we easily filled six.  After eating, we drove over to the Constantinople porch stage to see Dave Jordan and Rurik Nunan perform.  We’ve heard them both separately at the Broadside and enjoyed their individual sounds.  Together they blended very pleasantly.

Can you believe Jack has hosted 281 shows on his front porch?  That’s some staying power.

Kenny and Kara attended a music festival curated by Wilco in Massachusetts over the weekend.  I’ve always wanted to visit Morocco and so was intrigued by this photo:

I finished “Contrapposto” by Dave Eggers this week.  I always enjoy Eggers writing and was not disappointed.  The detail of the art world was a whole new thing for me – at a much deeper level than that from “The Fine Art of Lying” from a few weeks ago.  I’m not sure this is for everyone but I enjoyed it quite a bit.  Here’s an online summary of the story:

“Cricket Dib, born on the American prairie, has no particular prospects or ambitions until, in grade school, he realizes he can draw. He soon meets a girl, Olympia Argyros, one year older, who is captivating and brilliant and far more worldly. Recognizing his talent, she convinces him to deface, with profound vulgarity, a popular playground. Under her direction, he does it willingly, already in love, and thus begins a sixty-five-year entwining between Cricket and Olympia, encompassing friendship, working partnership and love affair. Together they go to art school—an experience of dubious value—and then navigate the art world for the next fifty years, together and apart.

Contrapposto is a moving and very funny novel about allies and art, and what it means to be an artist. All through their lives, Cricket sees Olympia as his soulmate and destiny, and while she is always his champion, romantically her eyes are always seeking something—and someone—else. Their love changes over the decades, but their commitment to each other, and their search for meaning in the making of art, never wanes. The novel spans the globe, from New York to Thailand, Indiana to Paris, and follows Cricket and Olympia through sickness and health, war and death.

The novel is a wild and beautiful examination of the rules and market forces of the art world, but chiefly it’s about two friends who believe they can change that world, and bring new meaning to it, if only they can start their own movement, dodge charlatans, remain open-eyed and open-hearted, avoid going mad, avoid dying young of rare cancers, stay true to their ideals, and never tire of beauty. Not easy, but not impossible, either.”

My next book was “The Man Who Came Uptown” by George Pelecanos.  I don’t think I’ve read any of his books before and picked it up online while waiting in the queue for several other books.  It was a quick, easy and relatively entertaining read.  Nothing special.

“In bestselling and Emmy-nominated writer George Pelecanos’ novel, one of the best mysteries of 2018 (Publishers Weekly), an ex-offender must choose between the man who got him out and the woman who showed him another path.

Michael Hudson spends the long days in prison devouring books given to him by the prison’s librarian, a young woman named Anna who develops a soft spot for her best student. Anna keeps passing Michael books until one day he disappears, suddenly released after a private detective manipulated a witness in Michael’s trial.

Outside, Michael encounters a Washington, D.C. that has changed a lot during his time locked up. Once shady storefronts are now trendy beer gardens and flower shops. But what hasn’t changed is the hard choice between the temptation of crime and doing what’s right. Trying to balance his new job, his love of reading, and the debt he owes to the man who got him released, Michael struggles to figure out his place in this new world before he loses control.

Smart and fast-paced, The Man Who Came Uptown brings Washington, D.C. to life in a high-stakes story of tough choices.”

There were second line tributes this week for Ronell Johnson, a multi-instrumentalist with the Preservation Hall band for many years.  I love this picture with the band members on the balcony above the Hall.

Offbeat article on Ronell Johnson

“Don’t Dream It’s Over” by Crowded House has been a long time favourite of mine, and so I was intrigued when I heard local hero, Deacon John, playing a cover on WWOZ.  He does a great job.  I love the “Crowded Shotgun House” name for the EP.

“Happy Anniversary to Us, Happy Birthday to Finn, Happy Father’s Day”

Five hours.  That’s how much pickleball McD played on Monday.  Two hours starting at 8am and three hours finishing at 9pm.  Do we think she might have a wee problem?

Dee introduced us to these snacks that are surprisingly good and addictive – just like the sport for Diana:

I was out doing some anniversary preparation on Tuesday and stopped into Magasin for lunch.  This is a Vietnamese place on Magazine Street near Theo’s pizza and Shaya, that I’ve been wanting to try for a while.  It’s a small place with classical piano music playing – very relaxing and not what I was expecting.  I started with crab Rangoon and followed that with shrimp garlic thick noodles (including a fried egg nestled on top).  Both were delicious and provided lots of leftovers.

The majority of our trivia team was overseas on vacation – Alex in Iceland with Jack and Aidan, Thom in Crete with his Jack, Denny in Boulder, and Pepperoni in Cincinnati.  Couple that with the constant rain all day and I wasn’t heart broken when Kenny suggested that we take a week off – seemed like it was just going to be the two of us and there are a lot of topics that aren’t our strong suit – anything to do with games, comics, Marvel movies and the like.

I enjoyed a couple of World Cup games on Tuesday afternoon and evening.  MBappe started things off with two amazing goals for France.

That was followed by an even more impressive hat-trick for Messi and Argentina – his first goal was just amazing.

The US media have been quite interested in the exploits of the “Tartan Army” (Scottish World Cup fans.)  Here’s a report on them drinking Boston out of beer – consuming three times as much as is drunk on St. Patrick’s day.

Tartan Army drinks Boston dry

Here’s a segment from the Today show featuring fans from different countries and their reactions to US culture.  I love the Norwegian fans playing Viking rowers on the escalator:

Today show segment on World Cup fans

Finn celebrated his birthday on Wednesday and shared this picture of some of his cards on his fridge.  Can you spot the one that came from New Orleans?

Here he is with his birthday dessert:

We celebrated our 9th anniversary on Wednesday with a lovely lunch at Commander’s Palace.  Very stormy weather was forecast and it held off until we could make the 600 foot walk back home.

Yes – for the second or third time this year, I put a suit on.  Diana wore her very pretty pink dress that I’ve eclipsed in this picture, and got compliments on it from the staff at Commander’s.

Our meal was great – I started with the trio of demitasse sized soups, and followed that with the cochon de lait tostada (why would spellcheck not know cochon, it has clearly never been to New Orleans) – the most tender and flavourful pork.

Diana also started with the trio of soups and followed those with the grilled fish (drum).  And then she decided on the chocolate tart – so decadent.  The chocolate is from the Piety and Desire chocolate and coffee shop next to Aidan Gill (where I get my hair cut.)  I often have a macchiato in there after my trim.

And of course the 25 cent martinis:

We exchanged gifts and cards after lunch.  Look at this frame with San Sebastian city map around my favourite picture of McD from that trip – nicely done, Diana.

Here’s a fun game.  Remember those things as a kid where you had to find a number of differences between two similar pictures?  Well, what’s different about these?  (answer at the end of this post)

Diana is getting very fancy with her cards.  Apparently the theme for nine years of marriage is pottery.

Denny shared one of his favourite pictures from our wedding day.

I asked him what Dad and I were looking at.  He thinks it was the storm brewing in the distance, as we wondered if we had to move the reception under cover.  He has no idea what Mum and Diana were in such a serious conversation about.

We “enjoyed” some severe weather on Wednesday night/Thursday morning.  The first named storm of the season, Arthur, sat on us for a while and was very loud.  We didn’t have any real flooding or impacts, but other areas a few miles from us had major damage and some tornadoes with roofs gone.

We made our first trip to our new, closer Trader Joe’s on Thursday.  The parking was much better than I expected and the store was very quiet and calm.  It was a pleasant shopping experience overall.  I enjoyed the murals they have above the shelves that are locally focused.

Mason sent this video in support of the Scotland vs Morocco game on Friday afternoon – very funny:

We met Kenny to watch the USMNT World Cup game at the Tchoup Yard – one of the collection of breweries that are situated along Tchoupatoulis Street, an industrial area by the river that provides large spaces at much lower cost than other areas.  We were looking forward to lunch – they advertised a crunch wrap take off on my Taco Bell favourite, and Kenny wanted to try the chicken sandwich that Pepperoni raved about on a prior visit.  We didn’t love the food – decent but way too salty, I suppose that’s supposed to make you drink more beer?

This was my first visit to the brewery and I was impressed with the variety of seating areas – inside with A/C, outside in the humidity, and with various different seating options.  It got very busy and loud inside as the match proceeded.  As is typical with events like this in New Orleans, everyone says they’re “going to watch the game” and then nobody does – they form in circles and chat and catch up.  The same thing happens at music festivals and concerts.

The USMNT won handily and we made our way back to our home to watch Scotland and Morocco.  Kenny and Kara joined, with a brief appearance by Mason and his buddy, Evan.  Alas, Scotland lost 0-1.  The positive news is that they played quite well in the second half and have a good chance of making into the round of 32 for the first time in their 8 appearances.

I enlisted Kenny to sing along with our anthem, “Flower of Scotland”, and I got confused when the crowd didn’t sing the second verse, only the first and third.  Apparently this is standard and it shows how much attention that I’ve been playing.  The second verse about the aftermath of the Battle of Bannockburn, is actually one of my favourites.  What’s that?  You’d like to know a wee bit more about the Battle.  Okay then:

The Battle of Bannockburn (June 23–24, 1314) was a decisive Scottish victory during the First War of Scottish Independence.  King Robert the Bruce led a smaller Scottish army to rout a much larger English force commanded by King Edward II, securing Scottish sovereignty and confirming Bruce’s reign.

I got a text from my neighbour, Tony, “Go Tartan Army!”  I was concerned that he had heard us singing and that was the reason for the text.  Thankfully they are in Florida for a few days.

I offered to watch a rom-com with Diana on Friday evening but she was too tired for a full movie and so we watched an episode of “I Will Find You”, the latest series from a Harlen Coben novel on Netflix.  She was very gracious in reminding me about the large cast of characters that I struggled to recall from previous episodes.

Saturday was a relatively lazy day – Diana went for a long walk, then had her “pool time” interrupted by the typical afternoon thunderstorm.  I watched some of the Netherlands beating up on Sweden (5-1), read for a while, and watched some of the US Open golf.

Sunday was Father’s Day.  Kenny, Kara and Nina kindly invited us to crash their plans for the afternoon in the French Quarter.  First stop was The Historic New Orleans Collection, a free museum with various exhibits celebrating the history of our city.  They had a special exhibition to celebrate the American Revolution.  Here’s how they described it:

“American Revolution:  The Augmented Exhibition

Immerse yourself in America’s fight for independence in this new exhibition experience designed and produced by French technology firm Histovery.”

You were issued a tablet on entry and had to scan in 14 different stations to read the history, find treasures, and travel around the various scenes.  This became tiresome for Kenny and me pretty quickly – seemed like an overuse of technology and it was annoying to have to spin around in circles holding the tablet aloft to see everything.  That being said there was a plethora of interesting information presented in an engaging way.  We beat a relatively quick retreat to some comfy seats and waited a while for the ladies who had started and were determined to finish.

Kenny and I wandered upstairs to check out the Aeolian residential player pipe organ.

Apparently these player organs were very popular in the houses of the rich in the 1800s.  We listened to a couple of songs from downstairs when they gave the 3pm demonstration – sounded great.

We were all hungry for lunch at Acme oyster house.

I enjoyed some of the delicious chargrilled oysters and a cup of crab and corn soup.  The others had po-boys, and raw and chargrilled oysters.

Kenny and Kara met a friend they had worked with at the Hard Rock Cafe years ago, now working at Acme, and he treated us to some desserts.  That deconstructed pecan pie martini looking thing in front of Kenny was the best.

In the evening, the group minus Nina watched the movie “Greg Allman: The Music of My Soul” at the Broad.  This movie only had two showings in the New Orleans area.  We all thoroughly enjoyed it and I would highly recommend it to any music lover.

I enjoyed this Father’s Day article from Keith Spera, music writer for the local paper, about his father’s love for music:

Spera father’s day

My first book this week was “The Midnight Train” by Matt Haig.  I have read a few of his books and was looking forward to this one.  I had a bit of a hard time not feeling that the premise was a bit trite and formulaic.  The story was great and engaging once I decided to put that aside.  It was just a little too close to “The Midnight Library” for me not to feel like Haig is riding too much of a good thing.  Here’s an online summary of the plot:

“The Midnight Train is a 2026 novel by Matt Haig, set in the same universe as The Midnight Library, about a recently deceased man named Wilbur who boards a magical train to revisit key moments in his life, particularly his regrets and lost love with Maggie. The story follows his journey through his past, exploring themes of regret, redemption, and the importance of appreciating the life you have, even with its flaws. It’s a magical, time-traveling love story that serves as a companion to The Midnight Library, focusing on a more active exploration of past choices. “

A couple of paragraphs that set up the main premise:

“It’s like that Kierkegaard quote. “Life can only be understood backward; but it must be lived forward.”  And this train offers a solution.  Life relived forward.”

“”As I have told you,” she said, “eternity is a moveable concept.  it is what you make it.  to get the most out of it, you need to know yourself.  And that is what these windows are for.”  She looked a little sad for a moment.  But then put on a brisk and professional smile.  “I’ll leave you to it.  Toodle-pip.””

Wilbur’s first entry into bookshop work:

“Sometimes the biggest moments in a lifetime are also the smallest, pondered the Ghost.

And sometimes people don’t quite know they are the biggest moments until you are able to step out of the train and look back at them.

Like getting a holiday job in a bookshop back in 1961, during the school summer holidays.”

I read this passage and had to look up “contrapposto.”

“Wilbur had been in a strange twisted position as he wrestled for control of the car.  And this awkward contrapposto, with his leg trying to reach the brake pedal, meant that he was lower in his seat.”

Here’s what I found:

“Contrapposto (Italian for “counterpose”) is an artistic technique where a standing human figure shifts most of their weight onto one foot.  This causes the hips and shoulders to tilt in opposite directions, creating a natural, relaxed, and asymmetrical posture.”

And then things got strange.  I was looking through the library of books that I had on my iPad from the local library to choose a new one to read in bed.  And there was “Contrapposto” from the wonderful Dave Eggers.

“Contrapposto is a 2026 novel by Dave Eggers about the lifelong friendship and artistic journey of two characters, Cricket and Olympia, as they navigate the art world from their youth into old age, exploring themes of love, meaning, and the pursuit of authentic art. The story spans decades and continents, following their complex relationship as they try to create their own art movement while dealing with the commercialism of the art world. The title refers to a classical art pose, reflecting the book’s focus on art and its meaning. “

South African born pianist Abdullah Ibrahim died this week.  He was a loud voice against apartheid and lived most of his life in exile in New York.  I think his touch and laid back phrasing are amazing:

Here’s an NPR article about Ibrahim:

NPR on Abdullah Ibrahim

I watched a very interesting documentary about the Kinks – the biggest band in the UK in the 60s behind the Beatles and the Stones.  Here’s a fun song of theirs:

A song from the Bob Dylan birthday show many years ago that popped up on my list:

Morgan Freeman has an album coming out, “Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience.”  Here’s the initial track featuring

Morgan Freeman Album

Here’s the answer to the question about the two pictures of Diana in San Sebastian:  Her pocket is inside out in the second picture.  She had Alicia “fix” that for the first one.

“A Relaxing Week at Home”

Pickleball kept Diana busy on Monday.  She had a clinic in the morning and then a match with some new friends from the clinics in the aftenroon.

I watched the French Open tennis in the afternoon.  The match between Tiafoe and  was excellent.  Tiafoe had multiple chances to win and couldn’t capitalize.

A real shame, as he had a chance to go far with many of the big names eliminated.

I suggested John Fohl at Dos Jefes to Diana and she jumped on it.  John has been playing Monday nights at Dos Jefes cigar bar for around 30 years and always puts on an excellent show.  There were very few people there, around ten, with Fohl commenting about how much things slow down after the Memorial Day weekend.  As is typical, he started with some finger picked instrumentals before diving into his song repertoire.    I heard all my favourites, particularly this one with the lyric “Left hand of Toussaint, right hand of God.”

John Fohl live always gives me a very nice boost.

While Diana attended another pickleball session on Tuesday morning, I headed over to Aidan Gill for a haircut.  Then I spent an hour or so on a paint by numbers kit – heading straight back to my childhood.  I did find it very relaxing, even if I had to use my phone magnifying glass to see the numbers in some of the sections, and paint them with a very fine tipped brush.  I’ll share a picture when I’m finished.  We visited the New Orleans Athletic Club in the afternoon – I had a swim and a steam while Diana used the treadmill.

Tennis entertained me again in the afternoon – this time Mescik and Fonseca with one of the better matches that I’ve seen in a long time.

We had another good trivia showing in the evening.  The final question asked us to put these 4 events in chronological order:

• The Geneva Conference
• Five Easy Pieces movie
• The launch of Reese’s Pieces
• The publication of a Separate Peace

With a great team effort – Denny on Reese’s, Jack on Geneva, Thom on Separate Peace, and me on Five Easy Pieces – we bet the maximum 20 points and got it right for the win.  Another great leadership job by Kenny!

More pickleball on Wednesday – this time a serving and returning clinic that Diana seemed to enjoy.

And the final pickle session for the week was the Thursday morning clinic.  In the evening we attended a fun event – an outdoor movie at the wonderful Broadside theater.  The offering this time was Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior from 1981, the second in George Miller’s popular series.  An online summary of the plot:

“After avenging the death of his wife and young son at the hands of a vicious gang leader, Max drives the post-apocalyptic highways of the Australian outback, fending off attacks from nomadic tribes that prey on outsiders. Falling into an encampment led by the relatively peaceful Pappagallo, Max at first schemes to steal their oil, but soon becomes the group’s reluctant defender against the hulking Humungus and his ruthless marauders.”

I love the Humungus name, and one of my other favourite characters was the boomerang wielding “Feral Kid.”  Listed just like that in the credits.  Emil Minty was 9 years old at the time.

We really enjoyed sitting outside and enjoying the soundtrack on the massive Broadside sound system.  There is very little dialogue in the movie and the orchestral soundtrack sounded great.

Kenny and Kara stopped into the Chicory house coffee shop across the street from us after their Saturday morning yoga.  We had a nice visit and it was a good excuse for me to enjoy one of the ridiculously good mushroom, brie and shallot turnovers – they have a high butter content.

Anne’s sister, Mary Francis, passed through town on her way to Navarre and the continued condo clean out.  We met the girls at Charmant for a delicious brunch.  Diana did not enjoy the bacon infused Bloody Mary, so I had to help finish it.

I met the boys (Denny, Fred, Richard and various kids) in the afternoon to watch the USMNT play Germany in the last friendly before the World Cup gets underway.  The game was relatively entertaining and it was nice to try a new place that is a close walk for me, the Rendezvous bar.

I wondered why the US team is denoted as the USMNT, when none of the other countries feel the need to append “Men’s National Team” to their country name.  It’s just “Scotland.”  Denny posited that it was in order to make internet searches more efficient.  Perhaps.

I needed something lighter and quicker after the trudge through “Doxology.”  Claire Keegan’s “So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men” was a perfect antidote.  Three short stories that were easy and thought provoking reads.

Here’s an online review:

“So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men is a 2023 collection of three short stories by acclaimed Irish author Claire Keegan, exploring complex gender dynamics, misogyny, and missed connections through tales of regret, intrusion, and desire.  The stories, “So Late in the Day,” “The Long and Painful Death,” and “Antarctica,” are praised for their precise, powerful writing and ability to pack significant emotional depth into a small space, often leaving readers with a sense of unease and haunting reflection. “

My next book was “Ghost Town” by Tom Perrotta.  I read this in just over a day – it was another quick and enjoyable read.  I enjoyed “The Leftovers” and was interested to read another of Perrotta’s novels.  Here’s an online summary:

I read that Suzi Quattro, a regular on “Top of the Pops” when I was a kid, turned 76 on Wed.

Alex recommended this one with an interesting band name:

From Marc Paradis, a very talented local musician who plays in a large number of ensembles:

“Sail 250 – tall ships in New Orleans”

On Monday, Sheri really wanted a Muffuletta sandwich (a classic New Orleans original) before leaving, and so we met at Cochon Butcher which has great sandwiches and sausages.  I agree with Diana that while those at Butcher are good, they’re not a whole lot better than one you can pick up easily at several of the local markets.  I’m confident Denny would strenuously object to that opinion.

Here’s a video of Phil Rosenthal meeting up with Wendell Pierce (famous New Orleans actor) at Butcher:

After lunch we had agreed to meet at the Columns and sit on the porch while it rained outside.  The foursome were not able to secure a table there and so we met them at the Avenue Pub instead, where we played entertaining card games to pass the time.  Anne didn’t like the game we chose and refused to learn the rules in process – adding to the entertainment.

Later in the afternoon we migrated to the Bon Temps to play some pool.  Diana was delighted to find that her experience on Christmas day was not a fluke – they regularly carry Veuve Clicquot at a very inexpensive price.

The next stop on the moveable feast was Denny and Anne’s home for dinner.  Denny whipped up his usual yummy spread – hangar steak and shrimp/salami kebabs, harissa carrots on yogurt, salad, chimichurri sauce.  He really is a master with his sauces.  The foursome left to play trivia after dinner.  We were too tired and so stayed back to clean up and then headed home.  They got to trivia late (close to halftime) and were still able to secure third place – very impressive.

Diana had pickleball on Tuesday morning and I met Sheri and Sean at Juan’s Flying Burrito for lunch.  Diana joined after she finished to share my Luau quesadilla (shrimp, pineapple, etc. and my favourite thing on their menu.)  Our visitors left for the airport right after lunch – Sean to Dallas for work and Sheri back to San Jose.

At trivia on Tuesday evening, we tied for first place.  The final question involved putting four Chinese cities (Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai, and Bangalore) in order from North to South.  Nobody was sure and we all had different answers, so our team captain decided to bet zero – a wise decision that paid off.  The tiebreak question asked when George H.W. Bush was born.  Whoever got closest to the date won.  We chose June, 1922 and the answer was June 12, 1924.  We were close but the other team got within a couple of days of the correct answer.  Chatting with them afterwards, one team member admitted to having a photographic memory and remembering having read the date somewhere.  Is it fair for folks with photographic memories to play trivia?  Discuss amongst yourselves.

Diana had her usual Wednesday yoga session in the park.  She and Kara met up for oysters and snacks at the Pascal’s Manale Happy Hour – ostensibly to use an expiring coupon that I was supposed to use for our New Year’s Eve catering and forgot about.

Sail 250 hit New Orleans on Thursday.  This is a collection of tall sailing ships from various countries that have come together to celebrate the 250th anniversary of America.

Sail 250 New Orleans

We decided to be early birds on Thursday afternoon and try to beat the inevitable crowds for a free event.  I parked at the Jazz Museum with the understanding that the ships would be lined up from the Bywater to downtown.  Oops – they were all clustered downtown around the aquarium area – so we had a nice mile plus walk down the riverfront – would be fine if it wasn’t so humid.

We boarded the “Union” a gorgeous ship from Peru.  The sailors were all so young and smart in their dress white uniforms.

They were kind enough to give us some time at the helm:

The thought of climbing up the rigging to unfurl the sails made me queasy.

This was such a nice event and I’m sure the sailors will say they were welcomed better and entertained more in New Orleans than on their next stops in Virginia, New York, and Boston.

After the excitement of the tall ships we tried the Happy Hour at the new Charmant restaurant by City Park.  I had read reviews, looked at the menu and thought we would enjoy it.

And enjoy we did.  The food and cocktails were excellent and at a very good price.  Diana absolutely loved the wagyu burger, as did I, and we both thought the savory bread pudding was creative and delicious.

We will be back soon to try their brunch and dinner menus.

I watched the San Antonio Spurs tie up their semi-final 7 game series 3-3 on Thursday night.  I used to love going to their games when we lived in San Antonio and it’s been a number of years since they had such a good team.  Very young and inexperienced, and very good.

Diana had 3 hours of pickleball on Friday – just can’t get enough.  In the evening we were planning to see the blues master, Marc Stone, at the Constantinople porch stage.  We parked easily and saw there was nobody there.  The host was on his porch and let us know we had the wrong day – not until Sunday.  Geez – I rarely get the dates and times wrong.

No worries – I had a plan B.  Fred and Kelly had send out a text that they were going for drinks at the Gilded Perch.  We drove over there and had a fun discussion on the porch while it poured buckets around us.

Saturday began with a walk in the park in the already humid weather.  Then we stopped at the store for supplies to make our chopped chickpea Italian salad.  That was our offering for Greg’s pool party later in the afternoon.

We had a really nice group at Greg’s and Diana was reminded of how much she likes hanging out in a pool for the afternoon – not helpful, Greg.

I watched the last game of the NBA semi-finals when we got home on Saturday evening.  The Spurs beat Oklahoma on the road!  What a great performance.  Now they face the New York Knicks in the finals.

Sunday again began with a walk in the park.  Didn’t seem quite a humid as Saturday.

I’m currently watching the French Open tennis – an excellent battle between Rudd and Fonseca – tiebreak in the second set.

Earlier in the week in California, Luciano had a graduation and the other two were as supportive as ever:

I finally finished up “Doxology” by Nell Zink this week.  You probably know by now that if it takes me more than two weeks to finish a book, it doesn’t have me engaged and excited.  This GoodReads review kind of summed up my thoughts:

Miles Davis would have been 100 this week.  I enjoyed this article about his career:

Miles at 100 article

I loved this chat with Boz Scaggs about the recording of “Loan me a dime.”

Loan me a dime – Scaggs talks about recording with Duane Allman

And finally some Tedeschi Trucks band – an amazing Sly and the Family Stone medley:

“Meeksies Visit and Happy Birthday to me”

Paul, a financial advisor that Denny and I share, invited us to lunch at Porgy’s seafood restaurant.  I had never been and was looking forward to it based on all the positive reviews.  The place is run exclusively by ladies and they were busy cleaning and stocking fish when we arrived.  They have a few daily specials based on what’s fresh and I selected the crawfish roll.  Denny and Paul split a triggerfish (never heard of it but it looked good) and a soft shell crab sandwich.  We shared a ceviche tostada to start and I’ll go back just to have that.  It’s also one of McD’s favourites.

Here’s the fresh fish cabinet selection – not huge but a good variety:

The restaurant is fresh and modern inside:

Kenny and Kara picked me up for a drink before our event on Wednesday night.  We enjoyed the fancy inside room at the Columns.

Our event was a book reading and discussion across the street at the Garden District Book Store.  The book was the 331/3 Violent Femmes edition from Nic Brown.

For any youngsters that stumbled on this, 331/3 is the speed that a long playing (LP) record spins at.  The Violent Femmes are an 80s band best known for “Blister in the Sun” – they have a very unique style and musical makeup that was reviewed at the talk.

The group gathered in the Chicory coffee shop rather than the book store – a first and one that worked out well for a decent crowd.  It makes me wonder about the economics of these book tours.  30 people attend and buy a $15 book – the $450 wouldn’t even cover the travel expenses for Nic alone.  Maybe they think folks like us generate a bunch of buzz?

The evening finished up with a cool performance:

Diana arrived home shortly after the event concluded.  No more babysitting of me required.

Diana dropped into pickleball on Thursday while I got my teeth cleaned.  My hygienist is very pregnant (due 6/18) and I felt fortunate to get in before she goes out on leave – she does a very good job.

The Stephen Colbert show ended on Thursday night.  This is the 10:30pm show that I watch most nights before bed.  Colbert has been uber critical of Trump and became a casualty as some media moguls wanted to do a merger that needed Trump administration approval.  Paul McCartney was the main guest:

There were a couple of excellent musical performances to finish out the show.  This was at the Ed Sullivan theater where the Beatles first performed.

The Meeksies (Sean and Sheri) arrived on Friday afternoon – staying in the cottage at Chez Ogan.  They had a bit of hassle from the thunder and lightning – bags couldn’t be unloaded until the lightning passed etc.  That meant they were late to meet us and Denny at Chais Delachaise for their excellent Happy Hour.  They ultimately arrived and we had a good time.

The octopus was excellent.

After this stop, we drove over to St Joe’s bar to meet up with the extended Krewe – Alex, Thom, Fred, Kelly, Peggy, Mason, Jack, Brennen and probably several others that I don’t remember.  Diana and I didn’t stay for very long.

My birthday celebration was at N7 (possibly my top New Orleans eatery) and included Kenny, Kara, Denny, Anne, Sean and Sheri.  What a treat:

I had some beets that were deliciously smoky and charred, followed by a wonderful croque madame.  Thanks to Diana for organizing this festivity so far in advance.

After N7, Denny tried hard to entertain me – music at BMC (way too loud and no seating), R Bar (now famous for Shia LeBouef’s Mardi Gras incident) – also too loud – seemed like everyone in there was yelling to each other.  We made quick exits from both.   I took some flack for being old and intolerant – it was my birthday and I wasn’t going to do what I didn’t want to do.

We retired to our home and relaxed on the porch.  Much better.

Diana ordered some Theo’s pizzas for dinner and I had a very nice time visiting and opening gifts.

We met the group at the Red Dog diner for brunch on Sunday.  The company was good and I didn’t love my huevos rancheros – way too salty.  I’ve had a couple of dodgy meals there and have no reason to return.

Kenny picked up Diana for a French Quarter ramble with the group on Sunday afternoon.  I was happy to chill at home.  They had a good time, including a Taro reading for Sean.

I’m still working my way through “Doxology” by Nell Zink.  I don’t love it and continue to get sucked in deeper and deeper.  We’re now at 9/11 and the impact on various characters.

Here’s a review of the new Tedeschi Trucks band album.  They were a huge favourite of mine at Jazzfest – orders of magnitude better than most of what you saw there.  This is a great album.

Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks and their band are one of the hottest items in the blues rock world. Some write them off as a a rock band, but they are truly more than that.

I’ve watched Trucks expand his repertoire over the years. Adding his wife to the band certainly places a larger emphasis on the blues and roots music in their releases and shows. What I’ve always felt is that Derek grew up in the shadow of the Allman Brothers and internalized the essence of what Duane Allman was doing before his untimely passing. Duane spent years at Muscle Shoals and gained a superb knowledge of so many genres of music. I see what Truck has done as a continuation of where the Allman Brothers might have gone had Duane lived on.  The deep ties to the blues, the jazzy and improvisational nature of the jams that are so much more than just a local jam, the R&B infusion into the mix, the expansion of instrumental use in the music, a strong set of vocalists to lead and back the band, and just an amazing depth of knowledge and feeling for what makes music tick.

This album offers us 11 new songs to savor. Susan fronts the band for ten of the cuts and plays guitar on most of them. Mike Mattison is up front for “Under The Knife.” Trucks, of course, is on lead guitar. Mattison sings on all but one track and adds his guitar to many of them. Brandon Boone is primarily on bass; also appearing on bass is Mike Elizondo. Tyler Greenwell and Isaac Eady share the drumming duties. On B3 and keyboards is Gabe Dixon. Adding backing vocals and percussion are Alecia Chakpur and Mark Rivers. Horns are provided by Emmanuel Echem (trumpet), Elizabeth Lea (trombone) and Kebbi Williams (sax). Elizondo also adds keys to a few tracks. Austin Hoke is on cello and Abe rounds is on percussion for “Shout Out.”

“Crazy Cryin’” gets the album started. It’s a cut with a slick groove and features Tedeschi singing of a relationship that has not worked out.  It’s funky and cool, and Trucks comes in with an amazing short guitar solo late in the cut that makes it even better. Backing vocals add nicely to the mix.

Next is “I Got You” with some acoustic guitar added to the electric guitar. It’s an up tempo and fun love song. Derek offers an early restrained guitar solo. The organ and horns are sweet in support here as are the backing vocals. Trucks takes us home with a prolonged guitar solo that eventually fades to wrap it up.

“Who Am I” is a pretty ballad that Susan sings with passion as Trucks strums out some equally pretty licks with restrained poignancy until the end when he lets go to again take us home with some vibrant signature guitar to enjoy.

Up next is “Hero” is a passionate and emotional cut where Tedeshi pleads to leave where they are at as she reiterates the theme as she sings, “I’m not your hero, I’m number zero.” The song builds into a dervish of instrumental anguish to conclude, a wild ride that finally comes to resolution.

“What In The World” is another cut with sweet acoustic guitars, some ethereal organ and horns. and Tedeschi testifying with true feeling. Trucks steps in to punctuate the tune with his electric slide guitar. Beautiful stuff here.

The title track is next and picks the pace up significantly. Vibrant guitar, strident vocals and a driving beat make this one a winner. Trucks offers a concluding solo to once again finish things off and it’s in your face and it’s just wickedly cool guitar.

Mattison leads the fray for “Under the Knife,” a song with a very cool groove, great horns and a sweet pacing that makes the song interesting. Derek offers up an echoey guitar solo and Susan backs Mike to add a nice touch to the sound.

“Be Kind” bounces along  with the horns and organ helping to drive the song as the electric guitars layer over each other to cool effect. Dixon adds a sweet and distorted piano solo that is quite cool. Overall, it’s a driving and fun number.

Then it’s time for “Devil Be Gone,” as Tedeschi  casts our the devil while the guitar rings loud and clear in support of that idea. It’s a driving and vital cut with a heavy beat and the players and the singers give it their all in support. Susan and Derek take us home vocally and on guitar on this one.

“Shout Out” is a lighter track with Tedeschi shouting out to ask the person to return to her for support. It’s got a ton of feeling and the cut builds and builds in vocal and instrumental intensity to hearken the person to return.  Nicely done.

The album concludes with “Ride On,” where Tedeschi sings, ”I guess I’m just along for the ride.” The songs is a country/southern rocker that is emotive and quite slick. Slide guitar adds emotion to the sing as Trucks wails his way to the end to add to the tension and feeling.

This is another superb studio album for Tedeschi and Trucks. Every song is crafted well to allow each musician to become part of the continuum they create in every song. I truly loved this album; it is another winner for the band that will garner many an accolade for them. Well done!

“Happy Mother’s Day”

As you can tell, I’m way behind on the blog again – worst ever.  Given that, this will be a short and concise post.

I tried to have an MRI early on Monday morning and they didn’t have the right kind of anesthesia.  Will have to be rescheduled at a different location.

Diana had pickleball on Tuesday and Saturday.

We had a couple of maintenance appointments on Tuesday – I had my hearing aids checked and Diana had a checkup at the orthodontist – no issues with either visit.

I had a haircut on Friday, followed by a visit to Juan’s Flying Burrito next door for a Luau (shrimp, pineapple etc) quesadilla.  Diana enjoyed some leftovers.  My barber is going to be out for a few weeks and so I got an extra short trim.

Kenny and Kara joined us for dinner and a movie on Saturday evening.  Both Diana and Kara had read “Remarkably Bright Creatures” and were looking forward to the movie version.  This is a book/movie about Marcellus the octopus in captivity in the Seattle area and the work he does to try and help the humans who take care of him every day.

Sally Field is the star and the scene that I remember most is her going on a date with a guy who wears his prized Grateful Dead t-shirt.  She thinks he was dressed like a slob, not realizing that he took the shirt, worth several thousand dollars, out of a frame to wear it on the date.

Diana, with a little help from me, made a chopped chickpea Mediterranean salad and sablefish.  Kara brought dessert that we enjoyed with carajillos (espresso and Liquor 43.)

Alicia had some beautiful flowers delivered for Mother’s Day:

We enjoyed Sunday Mother’s Day brunch at Cafe Degas – perhaps Diana’s favourite New Orleans restaurant – it’s what The Grape used to be for her in Dallas.

We ordered way too much food and had yummy leftovers for several days.

My book this week was the wonderful “The Things We Never Say” by Elizabeth Strout.  While not my very favourite of her books, it is still a remarkable accomplishment.  Highly recommended.  I read it in just over a day and look forward to revisiting parts of it.  Here’s an accurate online review:

“Artie Dam is living a double life. He spends his days teaching history to eleventh graders, expanding their young minds, correcting their casual cruelties, and lending a kind word to those who need it most. He goes to holiday parties with his wife of three decades, makes small talk with neighbors, and, on weekends, takes his sailboat out on the beautiful Massachusetts Bay. He is, by all appearances, present and alive. But inside, Artie is plagued by feelings of isolation. He looks out at a world gone mad—at himself and the people around him—and turns a question over and over in his mind: How is it that we know so little about one another, even those closest to us?

And then, one day, Artie learns that life has been keeping a secret from him, one that threatens to upend his entire world. Once he learns it, he is forced to chart a new course, to reconsider the relationships he holds most dear—and to make peace with the mysteries at the heart of our existence.

Elizabeth Strout, as we have come to expect, delivers a moving exploration of the human condition—one that brims with compassion for each and every one of her indelible characters. With exquisite prose and profound insight, The Things We Never Say takes one man’s fears and loneliness and makes them universal. And in the same breath, captures the abiding love that sustains and holds us all.”

Here’s something from the trumpeter with the super high register and the funky band, Maynard Ferguson:

A track from my favourite band at jazzfest, the understated and laid back Deslondes:

“Jazzfest Week One”

On Wednesday evening we ventured over to something new – the Constantinople porch stage to see River Eckert give a solo performance.

That turned into a good decision.  Kenny, Kara and Nina met us and we enjoyed some classic River songs.  Heartbreakingly, Marcia Ball was in the audience.  She is one of my all time favourite musicians, has ALS and can no longer talk.  River did a nice job of recognizing her.

That was a nice and casual warm up for the crazy days ahead.  I like this sign that they put out during the porch concerts.

We tried something new on the first Thursday (referred to as locals day because of the reduced ticket price for local residents) and set up under the large tree at the Fais Do-Do stage.  What on earth is that?  Well…in French it is an affectionate phrase used to tell young children to “go to sleep.”  I don’t think that’s what they’re going for with this stage.  In this case it refers to a lively, traditional Saturday night country dance.  These were family affairs and mothers would say “fais do-do” to their children so that the dancing could continue.  We set up here in order to enjoy Shinyribs when he closed out the stage later in the afternoon.

I usually start Jazzfest with a plan and things get less and less organized as the days pass.  Here were the things I was interested in for the first day:

We started out with a walk over to see Gov’t Majik at the Festival stage.  They had an interesting and varied set.

We followed that with a little bit of Johnny Sketch and then heard some of Vieux Farka Toure in the Blues Tent.  He is a Malian singer, composer and guitarist. He is the son of Malian musician Ali Farka Toure.  There was an album years ago by Ry Cooder and Ali Farka Toure that I really enjoyed:

We made our first stop into the WWOZ tent – iced coffee, water, all kinds of fruit, and very well maintained bathrooms.  This was all very pleasant – a small oasis amidst the crowds.

Our next stop was the grandstand (main viewing area for the horse racing track) to watch an interview of Jon Batiste by David Fricke.  This was a very popular and poorly planned event.  Organizers should have readily predicted that this would be popular and used the many TVs to broadcast throughout the grandstand rather than in just one small section.  It was hopeless to try and listen with all the chatter around us and so we left to find something better to entertain us.

The Blind Boys of Alabama in the Gospel tent quickly helped us forget about the mess of the interview.

Just an excellent set from start to finish.

We sampled a short amount of Kings of Leon on the main Festival stage.  Diana and I looked at each other and agreed that they were not our thing at all – sounded terrible.  We beat a hasty retreat to listen to some Shinyribs.  One of our group talked way too much during this set – very annoying.  On our way out, we listened to some of Raye, a young English singer.  She was excellent – a huge and talented band, good songs, and had a great talent for endearing herself to the huge crowd between songs.

The first day was in the books and our brass passes seemed to provide some benefits.

Friday set up was at the Festival stage – our new preferred spot up against the front of the Big Chief viewing gallery – better views and easier access than our previous spot.

Julie’s dress made it out to the festival.

We started with sets from local groups Naughty Professor and The Rumble – both very good performances.  Then the last of the Nevilles who still performs in New Orleans, Cyril, put on a very strong show.

Here’s a clip of a young family member with a fancy suit:

After a solid set from the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, it was time for what we hoped would be a festival highlight – Jon Batiste.  Things started off well with the Blind Boys of Alabama kicking of his show.

Batiste’s set was a little bit all over the map with some things I loved, Hallelujah:

And some other sections that weren’t what I was looking for.  Overall, a very good day 2.

For Saturday, Day 3, we set up at the Gentilly Stage.  The first band up was The Deslondes – my favourite from the last few years.  I decided to go up front and get a close up experience.

They closed with a cover of J.J. Cale’s “Drifter’s Wife.”  Really excellent stuff to start the day.

The Crowe Boys, another local band, was a new one for me.  I was quite impressed with their performance.

Jason Isbell and the 400 unit followed that with a solid set – just nothing close to the one I saw in Telluride when I became an instant big fan.  I don’t have any videos to share because he apparently has folks trolling around looking for short video clips from a festival and blocking them for copyright – what a ridiculous waste of resources.

Tyler Childers finished out the day on the Gentilly stage.  He’s a country/Americana artist that has become very popular lately, especially with the kids.  Jack and Mason joined us to watch.  We gave it a few songs and were not impressed at all.

We decided to walk around the track and catch some of Stevie Nicks at the Festival stage.  That turned out to be quite the undertaking, the track being completely blocked by people watching the show from outside the field.  We fought our way through and were able to listen to a few songs.  Stevie still sounds very good.  And is clearly just as popular.

Back at Gentilly to pack up, Childers was sounding much better.  Mason confirmed that he picked up about half way through, but was upset that he hadn’t played any of his very popular songs.

It was back over to the Festival stage on Sunday, Day 4.  Some rain threatened as we waited in line and didn’t come to too much.

After setting up, we made our way over to the Blues tent to see River Eckert and his band absolutely kill it in their first ever Jazzfest performance.  Several more thousand people than our living room or the Constantinople stage.

The two big closers on Sunday were both octogenarians – Irma Thomas and Rod Stewart.  So impressive to still be performing at a high level in their 80s.  Here’s Irma with her classic “Time is on my side:”

And “Forever Young:”

Moving on to the next act, Rod Stewart.

He insists on being “piped” on stage with “Scotland the Brave” and has the Celtic football team logo on the bass drum.

This was very much his Vegas residency type show and I enjoyed it all.  There’s nothing wrong with cheezy if well executed.

My favourite was this old Faces song:

You do have to smile at his choice of backup singers, all great musicians also playing harp, violin, and guitar:

Phew!!  Week One is in the books.  Let’s do it again next weekend.