keith.robertson@aig.com – Page 32

Week in Review – December 22, 2019

“Happy Birthday McD”

Gemma was our destination for Diana’s birthday dinner on Wednesday night. The drive took about an hour, and we commented that if we were in Austin it would have been a 5 minute Uber ride. The food was worth the wait with delicious baby octopus and trumpet mushroom appetizers.

The owners worked in restaurants in Napa valley prior to moving back to Dallas to open Gemma. The lighter California touch on French and Italian recipes is very pleasant. Diana enjoyed a generously sized pork chop and I had an excellent papardelle with braised rabbit.

Fortunately the drive home was much quicker. We needed some sleep before packing up and heading to Scotland on Thursday afternoon.

Both flights were smooth and on time, resulting in a lunchtime Friday arrival in Glasgow.

Our taxi driver down to Stewarton was quite entertaining with stories of the Christmas gifts he had organized for his family members. He also made me laugh when he reminded me of the “Horsey Huts”, where I attended primary three.

We had a very nice time relaxing with my Mum and Dad on Friday evening. I had to find a guide to the Quality Street chocolates for Diana, so that she could identify the Orange Cream. Can you guess what colour the wrapper was?

Saturday started with my favourite breakfast delicacy – Stornaway black pudding. Where is Stornaway? Here it is on the map – in the very North West of Scotland on the island of Lewis. You can also see Aberdeen (where we’ll be spending Christmas) on the North East coast. I wonder why the black pudding from way up there is so much better than any other that I’ve tasted? Could it be something about the water?

Diana entertained herself by “helping” (she actually did quite well) with my Dad’s jigsaw puzzle. It’s a Lowry painting, and very challenging.

David showed up on Sunday and was a good helper, while BP kept a watchful eye on the proceedings from atop Geoffrey the giraffe.

We were treated to a live view of the “crampons” that my Mum and Dad use to walk in the snowy and icy conditions. Still not what we’re viewing as a great idea, despite all the locals siding with my parents.

Sunday’s outing was to the Eden garden center in Dundonald. We enjoyed lunch in their cafe. I was trusted to drive there and back – only once cautioned about my speed in a 20 mph zone, and fortunately the passengers didn’t react too negatively to me not noticing the road humps or “sleeping policemen”.

We perused the merchandise while waiting for a table in the cafe, and Diana thought she was funny pointing out the sign on the right hand side of this picture, until I pointed to the one on the left.

My Dad seemed to have a fun time at lunch:

We have certainly eaten very well during our first few days in Scotland – fresh Pittenweem salmon from the Friday fish delivery man, stuffed chicken breast, and my Mum’s special steak pie were all delicious.

The pictures from my company Christmas party were published and here’s one of us that we like:

Even with flying time and jet lag interrupted sleep, I still wasn’t able to finish a book this week. I’ll try to be better next week.

I read that the Boomtown Rats, popular when I was in high school, and led by Bob Geldoff (famous for planning Live Aid in 1985), were performing in Glasgow next year. That reminded me of this song (you haven’t lived until you’ve heard my brother in law David playing the intro):

Since the blog comes to you from Scotland this week, here’s one from our most famous band, Runrig:

Week in Review – December 15, 2019

“Nothing to See Here”

Diana got a bit of a shock when a man attached himself to the 14th floor kitchen window with suction cups. No reason for panic D- it’s just the external window cleaner that we had been warned about. Does make for a funny picture though. This would not be good employment for either me or my Dad. Don’t these guys usually get lowered down in a bucket? This one’s just dangling from a rope and holding himself still with suction cups.

The Austin “Trail of Lights” in Zilker Park has been a holiday fixture for over 40 years. I drive by it on my commute each day and have been quite inconvenienced by all the traffic disruptions, so thought we should see what all the fuss is about this year.

The trail ended up being a lot of fun – about a mile walk through all kinds of light displays. I enjoyed the Winnie the Pooh display.

All the trees along the river are different colours, making a great picture against the city skyline.

The one above is from the Ferris wheel that Diana was surprised to see me enthusiastically ride with her.

Wednesday was “Heroes Night”, celebrating military and first responders.

There was a fun band of military folks playing towards the end of the trail.

The festivities finished at the huge purple tree. Apparently it’s traditional to spin around underneath until you’re dizzy.

McD looks a bit cold in front of the tree. Good practice for Scotland. Time to whisk her off somewhere warm with some good music.

Kevin Galloway was playing at Geraldine’s at the Van Zandt hotel – such a nice venue. Galloway was front man for Uncle Lucius, a pretty well known band, for years but has recently opted for a quieter solo life. He is a quiet singer song writer and was accompanied by beautiful cello playing. I had to politely ask those folks in front to be quiet so that we could all enjoy the music.

Diana made a quick trip to Chicago on Thursday and Friday to visit a client. She liked the hotel I recommended and enjoyed a lovely Christmas choir and orchestra performance in the lobby.

It was work holiday party time on Saturday night. We took a picture by the apartment tree and then Ubered over to the Fairmont hotel for the festivities.

The organizing team did a great job on the party – pictures and spin art during cocktail hour, very good food (Diana commented that she enjoyed the butternut squash soup, and she doesn’t like squash), and an excellent band named Suede.

I was only on the job a few weeks last year at the party, and it was a lot more fun now that I know everyone.

The dance floor was packed most of the night – a sign of a good band that can read the crowd. I even spun McD around more than she was anticipating.

The party continued on the rooftop into the wee hours. A great time had by all.

The weather in Austin was amazing this week, with highs in the mid to upper seventies most days. We enjoyed some excellent sunsets from the balcony.

We slept late on Sunday, and then made the drive to McKinney, arriving in time to be shocked with the nice lead the Cowboys had against the LA Rams at half time. I had missed an amazing one handed touchdown by Jason Witten. The Boys ended up winning handily, setting up a big showdown next Sunday against the Eagles to decide who makes the playoffs.

This review encouraged me to read “Nothing to See Here” by Kevin Wilson this week.

What a completely unique and strange book. A very enjoyable and quick read and not like anything I’ve read before. Here’s a synopsis:

“Lillian and Madison were unlikely roommates and yet inseparable friends at their elite boarding school. But then Lillian had to leave the school unexpectedly in the wake of a scandal and they’ve barely spoken since. Until now, when Lillian gets a letter from Madison pleading for her help.

Madison’s twin stepkids are moving in with her family and she wants Lillian to be their caretaker. However, there’s a catch: the twins spontaneously combust when they get agitated, flames igniting from their skin in a startling but beautiful way. Lillian is convinced Madison is pulling her leg, but it’s the truth.

Thinking of her dead-end life at home, the life that has consistently disappointed her, Lillian figures she has nothing to lose. Over the course of one humid, demanding summer, Lillian and the twins learn to trust each other—and stay cool—while also staying out of the way of Madison’s buttoned-up politician husband. Surprised by her own ingenuity yet unused to the intense feelings of protectiveness she feels for them, Lillian ultimately begins to accept that she needs these strange children as much as they need her—urgently and fiercely. Couldn’t this be the start of the amazing life she’d always hoped for?”

I wonder if Wilson didn’t come up with the whole premise of the story just to support that cover picture. My only complaint, as is sometimes the case with me, was that the ending just left too much unfinished and hanging open.

Here’s something from Kevin Galloway’s band, Uncle Lucius:

And a selection from his solo record:

I enjoyed this song from Bonnie Raitt this weekend:

Week in Review – December 7, 2019

“Pins Out”

Penelope and I made the drive down to Austin on Monday morning. I was pleased to finish the trip with no back pain or other issues. P was happy to get up some decent speed for once – she typically maxes out at 45 mph on my short commute to the office.

The pins were extracted from my finger on Tuesday afternoon. The doctor says everything looks good, but my finger looks pretty ugly still – new nail required. I did find this ornament in the doctor’s office quite entertaining. That finger looks much better than mine.

The University of Texas was hosting an event to celebrate ground breaking on the new Moody Center – a basketball and concert venue to replace the 40 year old Frank Erwin center. This event started right after my finger appointment and was a short walk away – why not?

The event turned out to be quite something. Intro speeches by all the University brass and the “Minister of Culture” for the new Center – Oscar winning actor Matthew McConaughey. Free food trucks from several Austin classic spots – I enjoyed an empanada from Four Brothers and a delicious green chile pork taco from Torchy’s.

Moon Taxi (an indie rock band) performed after the speeches and I thought they had a very pleasant sound.

The whole event is what would be called a langiappe in New Orleans.

I almost forgot to share a picture from the event. I had my picture taken with the UT mascot – Bevo. Turns out this is Bevo XV – who knew there had been so many?

Those cheerleaders seem quite excited to be getting their picture taken with me. McD’s comment – I leave him unattended for a couple of hours and look what happens.

I enjoyed a nice long walk back home from the event. Here’s a nice view of the Capital on the way. Can you believe the tree in front of the Capital is fake? It’s true – I watch them assembling it level by level.

Diana’s bus wasn’t due for another 45 minutes and so I made a minor detour to Antone’s to listen to some free Blues music – what a deal.

The band included Denny Freeman and Sarah Brown – a couple of our favourites.

I was able to drag myself away from the music just in time to meet Diana arriving on the bus.

We had a delicious dinner with Damon on Wednesday at the Odd Duck. This is the last time we’ll see him before the holidays. He was very effusive in describing the Frozen play that his daughters are performing in this coming weekend. We just heard a recording and he had every right to be proud – beautiful voices.

I watched an inept Dallas Cowboys performance on Thursday night (at least until I fell asleep). Such a disappointing game from a team with so much talent!

We enjoyed a good Austin evening on Friday – starting with the Rosie Flores Review at C-Boy’s Heart and Soul. Rosie is 69 and belting it out and playing the guitar beautifully. I love their cover of the Blind Faith song “Can’t Find My Way Home”:

Diana chatted up Wayde who has a new food truck on the C-Boys patio. I laughed as he walked the waffle fries we ordered around every table asking – “Did you order these?” – a great advertising trick. He was quite a talker and turns out a fire fighter when not operating the truck.

Here’s a cover of Springsteen’s “Luckytown” from Rosie:

I really like the feel of C-Boys Heart and Soul. From there we made our usual stop just up South Congress at June’s, enjoying escargot and steak tartare. From there it was a pleasant one mile walk back home.

On Saturday we did some minor grocery shopping and some Christmas shopping on South Congress. There was a nice artist market set up by Guero’s and interesting gifts in some of the weird little stores. It was a beautiful day to be out and about, with temperatures in the mid 70s. We enjoyed an episode of “The Crown” in the evening. This one was set in 1967 and featured Prince Philip’s mother being rescued from Greece and visiting Buckingham Palace – a piece of history with which I was not at all familiar.

Sunday included the usual standards – workout, coffee and crossword, and football. No Cowboys but an excellent game between the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers in the Superdome. San Francisco ultimately winning 48-46 in a thrilling back and forth game. One of the best that I’ve seen in several years. Now we’re both working on things we need to have ready for work tomorrow – very boring!

I’ve very much enjoyed “Nine Lives: Mystery, Magic, Death, and Life in New Orleans” this week. Dan Baum tells the tales of nine New Orleans residents from Hurricane Betsy in 1960 through Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Baum was reporting on Katrina and fell in love with the city that Hurricane almost destroyed. His writing on the nine characters from different races, sections of the city, and backgrounds, captures New Orleans very well. It really is heartbreaking to read the stories of Hurricane Katrina – particularly that the city survived the actual storm but was then let down by the levees and water management system. Such a wonderful city that still suffers through so many problems.

All this talk of New Orleans has reminded me of the wonderful nights I’ve spent at Vaughan’s listening to Kermit Ruffins (features in the Nine Lives book as a kid at a backyard barbecue).

But let’s start out with a very catchy new song from the Lumineers that I’ve been hearing on the radio:

My Spotify Discover weekly took me to New Orleans also. This song from Snooks Eaglin – a superb blues artist that I saw at the original Rock N’ Bowl weeks before his death and not too long after Hurricane Katrina.

The same Discover list had me back at the Kessler listening to the unique James Hunter from England.

And let’s have Kermit finish things out this week with a song I heard the same night as I heard Snooks. Denny and Anne took me over to the broken down shack that is Vaughan’s to revel in Kermit’s genius. The late, great Henry Butler was sitting in on keyboards. What a memory.

Week in Review – December 1st, 2019

We landed in cold and rainy San Francisco on Tuesday afternoon and were greeted by an American airlines protest outside the terminal – something about “One Job is Enough” – very loud.

Tuesday evening was spent at Adamo’s house enjoying Italian take out. We were glad to finally diagnose why Phoebe constantly barks whenever Grammie shows up in the house – her hearing aids emit a high frequency noise that drives the poor dog nuts.

Diana enjoyed holding Francesca – 7 weeks now and almost 7 pounds. I spent some quality time having Massimo read me his favourite books – he has them very well memorized for a 3 year old. The chameleon doesn’t have a colour of his own is his current favourite.

We returned to Adamo’s home on Wednesday morning to do a couple of hours of babysitting while Amy went to an appointment. McD did a good job on some puzzles and we were able to keep the two terrors entertained almost up until their Mom returned – they’re good for about 90 minutes.

Thanksgiving day started and continued with lots of cooking. Giancarlo and Diana made a good team preparing two kinds of stuffing and D’s famous artichoke dip.

I particularly enjoyed a story from Diana’s childhood about the reused lunch bags. While all the other kids in class got a new lunch bag with their name nicely written out each day – poor, tortured D had to reuse whatever size sack was available until it could be used no more. Apparently particularly embarrassing if containing a smelly leftover fish sandwich. It was better to go hungry than stink up the whole classroom. She created this mock up to make her point – Clorinda was too busy to write out full names and just went with initials. I think I saw some deep seated frustrations being worked out as the bag was aggressively crumpled up.

I headed up to Adamo’s home early on Thanksgiving afternoon to watch the Cowboys play the Bills and wish I hadn’t bothered – one of their weaker performances in a while. One of the cats was more interested and determined to block my view.

Family and friends soon arrived, with Julie bringing up the rear in typical fashion. Plates were filled with all kinds of delicious offerings and then we took our places at the very long table with the beautiful Pacific Ocean backdrop.

Amy stopped moving for a couple of minutes and allowed a couple of family pictures:

Massimo had on a very cool t-shirt under his flannel – Austin Mix Tape:

Clorinda’s neighbor, Andy, finally got the two terrors to settle down and watch some videos of the new mountain line that has been patrolling Gypsy Hill:

We met up with my boys, Christine, and her Dad, Guy, on Friday evening. Will chose Vino Santo in Redwood City and it was delicious. We had fun giving the kids their Christmas gifts as we won’t be in California this holiday season.

Will started us of with his “off-menu” appetizer sampler dish – a very nice way to try a number of things:

The lobster ravioli seemed to be the most popular entree at the table. I enjoyed veal marsala – haven’t had that in a long time.

The evening closed with the usual father and sons picture. It was great to see all the boys looking so well.

We walked up hill to Andy and Jude’s gorgeous home for coffee on Saturday morning. There was a hummingbird convention underway outside the window – this was just one of three feeders and all were equally populated.

Andy and Jude are a very kind couple, keeping a close eye on Clorinda, and full of good stories. I enjoyed a new one about hippies sitting outside their record store in the Haight Ashbury region of San Francisco, playing loud bongos and blocking entrance to their store. They tried several different approaches to moving the hippies on, ultimately having success with an Andy idea – play the Barney song repeatedly through the outside speakers.

I’m pushing publish a day early this week as we’ll be traveling back to Dallas most of tomorrow.

I finished a trio of books this week. My favourite was “The Dutch House” by Ann Patchett. I had brought this book to read on my previous trip to Pacifica, but Clorinda ended up getting engrossed in it. We were able to discuss it this time and she regularly asked me where I was in the story.

I really enjoyed Patchett’s prior book “The Commonwealth” and this was almost as good.

The story is based around the Dutch House, purchased at the end of the Second World War by Cyril Conroy, who combines luck and a single canny investment to build an immense real estate empire, and thrust his family from poverty to great wealth.

Set over the next five decades, the story is about two smart people, Danny and Maeve, who cannot overcome their past. Despite outward signs of success, the siblings are only truly comfortable when together. They are ultimately forced to confront the people who left them behind with dramatic consequences. I recommend this book a lot.

Here’s a paragraph that explains the book jacket picture:

“the thing I couldn’t stop thinking about was the portrait of Maeve hanging there in the drawing room without us. How had we forgotten her? Maeve at ten in a red coat, her eyes bright and direct, her black hair loose. The painting was as good as any of the paintings of the VanHoebeeks, but it was of Maeve, so what would Andrea do with it? Stash her in the damp basement? Throw her away? Even as my sister was right in front of me I felt like I had somehow left her behind, back in the house alone where she wouldn’t be safe.”

And here’s something that I don’t understand – “and two hamburgers for Kevin, who could have cared less”. How did this get turned around in American English? Patchett is trying to say Kevin didn’t care at all – he couldn’t have cared less – but instead uses, could have cared less, meaning he did care a bit. It’s interesting how these things that are obviously wrong, become accepted as meaning what they don’t. Climbing down off the soap box now to tell you about the other books I read.

I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the Amazon book review when one of my favourite authors recommended two new books that he had enjoyed very much – I ordered them up and put them in the to be read stack. The first, “Very Nice” by Marcy Dermansky is described as:

“A brilliantly funny novel of bad behavior in the post-Obama era, featuring a wealthy Connecticut divorcée, her college-age daughter, and the famous novelist who is seduced by them both.”

Not really my cup of tea, but a quick and entertaining read nonetheless – I think this is what is referred to as a perfect beach read.

The next recommendation, “All this could be yours”, by Jami Attenberg, had a bit more substance. One back jacket cover review captures the feel well:

“Big Little Lies meets Succession in the scorching heat of the Big Easy . . . Money, power and family are touched upon through Attenberg’s emotional, humorous and sharply written accounts.”

“If I know why they are the way they are, then maybe I can learn why I am the way I am,” says Alex Tuchman of her parents. Now that her father is on his deathbed, Alex—a strong-headed lawyer, devoted mother, and loving sister–feels she can finally unearth the secrets of who Victor is and what he did over the course of his life and career. (A power-hungry real estate developer, he is, by all accounts, a bad man.) She travels to New Orleans to be with her family, but mostly to interrogate her tightlipped mother, Barbra.

I enjoyed the characters and New Orleans setting of this novel, but it was also a bit of a quick, beachy read.

I revisited a couple of excellent country folk songs from Hayes Carll this week:

This new Grace Potter song came up on one of my playlists this week and I like it:

Here’s a good one from Austinite Rob Baird. He’s opened a couple of shows at the Kessler and seems to be gaining a good following:

And finally another Austinite, Shinyribs:

Week in Review – November 24, 2019

“Levon’s New Drum Set”

The week started off on a bittersweet note. We had a farewell dinner for my boss, Mark, who is leaving the company. I’m sorry to see him go and it brings a lot more responsibility for me. D and I will miss going out with him in Austin.

We organized the dinner at Eddie V’s – an excellent seafood and steak house in downtown (next door to the legendary Antone’s blues club). Team members joined us from Guatemala, Canada and Australia. Everyone that Mark wanted there showed up. Diana did an exemplary job of selecting wine and appetizers for everyone. We particularly enjoyed going around the table telling our favourite Mark stories. Adam was hilarious. Going clockwise from me we have Caleb, Mark, Adam (Canada), Issac, Roy (Australia), Norma (Guatemala) and Damon. And not to forget our excellent photographer Diana.

Norma thought she was very funny in the office on Tuesday. Sitting with a bandage on her finger just waiting for me to notice. In her defense, she brought an amazing bottle of 23 year old Ron Zacapa rum from Guatemala that we all enjoyed very much.

Saturday started with the normal routine – workout followed by coffee and crossword. Then we walked over to the excellent downtown Austin library, walked back on the river trail, made a Xmas shopping stop at the Yeti flagship store, and relaxed on the balcony with books. What great weather.

Festivities picked up nicely on Saturday evening. We tried a new Vietnamese restaurant called Mandala. What delicious flavours and creative dishes. Edamame with truffle oil and sea salt, surf clam ceviche, mini rice pancakes, and Vietnamese curry chicken – all excellent. McD was pleased with an inexpensive and very good French champagne. This place is certainly a good addition to the expanding Austin restaurant rotation.

clam ceviche

A short walk from Mandala and we were at the One-2-One bar for Shelley King’s new CD release party. And it was indeed a party – for the great value price of $10.

Here’s a favourite from the new CD – “Levon’s new drum set” – a tribute to the late, great Levon Helm of The Band. Shelley was in Woodstock to play one of Helm’s Midnight Rambles in the barn by his home. This was the week that Levon passed and there was no Ramble. At the time that the concert would have started, there was a massive thunderstorm. Shelley viewed this as Helm playing his “new drum set” in heaven. What a great song:

Then special guest Carolyn Wonderland joined the band, picking up the energy and guitar level immediately:

The next special guest was long tall Marcia Ball on the keyboards for “Hurricane Party”. Shelley told the story of Marcia being scheduled to play shows in Florida that were cancelled due to the hurricane. She called Shelley to arrange a dominoes game – like a “Hurricane Party”:

Another lovely night of music in a small Austin club. Four different bands were playing in the One-2-One on Saturday – an amazing array of talent.

We were up early for a workout on Sunday morning, and then packed up and made the drive to McKinney. I arrived just in time to catch the last few exciting minutes of the Saints game – they eked out another last minute win. The Cowboys are not doing so well now in freezing cold, rainy New England.

I finished “Conviction” by Denise Mina this week. Here’s the Amazon synopsis:

The day Anna McDonald’s quiet, respectable life exploded started off like all the days before: Packing up the kids for school, making breakfast, listening to yet another true crime podcast. Then her husband comes downstairs with an announcement, and Anna is suddenly, shockingly alone.

Reeling, desperate for distraction, Anna returns to the podcast. Other people’s problems are much better than one’s own — a sunken yacht, a murdered family, a hint of international conspiracy. But this case actually is Anna’s problem. She knows one of the victims from an earlier life, a life she’s taken great pains to leave behind. And she is convinced that she knows what really happened.

Then an unexpected visitor arrives on her front stoop, a meddling neighbor intervenes, and life as Anna knows it is well and truly over. The devils of her past are awakened — and in hot pursuit. Convinced she has no other options, she goes on the run, and in pursuit of the truth, with a washed-up musician at her side and the podcast as her guide.

A true-crime podcast sets a trophy wife’s present life on a collision course with her secret past in the “blazingly intense, exciting as all hell” (A. J. Finn) new thriller from Denise Mina. We just listened to A.J. Finn’s “A Woman in the Window” on audible, and now we’re listening to Mina’s “The Red Road”. Audio books make the drive back and forward from Austin to McKinney pass much quicker.

I enjoyed this passage as the protagonist arrives at Skibo castle:

“First the hills across the water rose into view, pale and round. Then the sea became visible on the left, molten grey with the winking lights of oil rigs in the bay for repair. They stood ankle-deep in the shallow water, like giants wading, home for tea. Lastly; the castle rose up from behind a screen of strategically grown trees.”

This passage looks much better with double spaces after the periods. Something about the font and the single spacing after periods really bothered me. That and the five or six typos I found in a published book.

I heard this song by Patty Griffin on Sun Radio – what a pretty tune. So many great “River” songs – Springsteen, Joni Mitchell, Leon Bridges, and the young Dallas blues guitarist whose name I can’t remember right now.

Open in Spotify

Seth James was playing the Sun Radio Wednesday night show at Guero’s Oak Garden. Listening on the radio, I loved the Little Feat feel, the horn section and his guitar playing.

Open in Spotify

Kevin Galloway was playing at the Saxon Pub on Friday night – but not until 11pm – too late for us old folks. I do love his music and hope to catch an earlier show.

Open in Spotify

Week in Review – November 17th, 2019

“Racing Will”

Lots of work this week for K and D. We were both so worn out at the end of the day that we didn’t do much in the evenings either. I did drag Diana over to the Hyatt on Tuesday night just to get her out of the apartment for a little while.

All my excitement came vicariously from my boys. Campbell and his crew traveled to Chicago last Sunday to watch Nick Bawden play for the Lions against the Bears. That’s the trio of Cameron, Campbell, and Grady in the middle – friends since they were in kindergarten.

Doesn’t it look freezing cold? Campbell said the wind was blowing directly in their faces at these elevated seats.

Will was checking off one of his “life goals” around the same time. He spent the weekend getting track driving lessons in his new BMW M2 competition (rated Road and Track #2 car of the year – behind what? – the 911 of course) and loved every minute of it. He got lots of great photos and I enjoy zooming in to see the concentration on his face.

The stitches came out of my finger on Wednesday and things are healing up nicely. I’m even able to change the dressing solo now. After that excitement we made the drive up to McKinney in the afternoon.

The weekend was quiet also with a lot of work interruptions for me. I’m watching the Cowboys playing the Lions as I write this post. It’s an evenly matched game so far and fun to see Nick Bawden on TV. Campbell must be torn about who to support.

When the game finishes, we’ll make the drive to Austin and are planning on watching the start of the new season of “The Crown” on Netflix when we arrive.

What a great album cover – Elvis Costello and the Attractions “Armed Forces”. Anne texted me this picture from the Costello concert in New Orleans. Her friend, Margaret, is a huge fan and you can tell they have very good seats. This reminded me of the album Costello made with Allen Toussaint after Katrina.

Sticking in New Orleans, I was listening to Luke Winslow King this weekend and came across this gem. I love his guitar playing.

I’ll finish up with JM Stevens from Austin. Wish we had reserved enough energy for his album release show at the Continental Club last week.

Week in Review – November 10th, 2019

“The Ogans are coming”

Thanks for all the concern about my poor finger. It’s much less painful and messy this week – still not completely straight and looking like some kind of bug with antennae sticking out. I did get a nice custom brace fitted on Wednesday afternoon, and the stitches should come out next week.

My week started with a different medical appointment – the annual eye exam complete with dilation on Monday morning. Nothing better or worse than last year, which is always pleasant news. Right after that we made the drive down to Austin so that McD could attend a prospective client meeting on Tuesday morning. It’s nice that she has a client in Austin instead of Milwaukee or Boston.

Our friend Ron was in town for a few days and met up with us on Wednesday night. The requisite Sky Bar picture opportunity was followed by a delicious dinner at Peche – the foie gras on grits was amazing. After dinner, we couldn’t resist a quick taste of the Spazmatics before walking back to the Catherine.

Denny and Anne arrived for a long awaited visit on Thursday afternoon. I took them shopping at the Yeti store, followed by pool at Ego’s, while poor Diana finished up work for the day.

Dinner was at Suerte and Denny said it was the best Mexican meal he’d ever had – we were off to a good start. I thought the mushroom tamale and goat barbacoa were highlights. And of course the famous suadero tacos.

After dinner we sampled a bit of the house band at the Parker jazz club, and then called it a relatively early night. The weather was very cold and wet and so the walking I had planned between events was all replaced by Uber XL.

I headed to work on Friday and left the Ogans to explore downtown Austin. The original plan was a trail hike, but again the weather didn’t cooperate. We met for lunch at Loro – a new south Lamar restaurant from the chefs behind Franklin Barbecue and Uchi. I had really been looking forward to this place after reading so much about it. In an interview with Henry Winkler (The Fonz), in town for Wizard Fest, he said, “I’m sitting here now thinking that when I get off the plane Loro’s is where I’m going to go first.”

Anne went with the bar tender’s recommendation and had this delicious bavette steak – perfectly cooked with a smoky flavour. Denny’s curry chicken was also perfect. I look forward to heading back to Loro soon.

While I went back to work, the Ogans walked all over Austin – they have so much energy – go, go, go all the time.

The four of us reconvened at C-Boy’s Heart and Soul for some happy hour music from Robert Kraft – very pleasant and a good volume that still allowed us to chat. Here are our guests with the Soulman Sam and Jimmy Vaughan murals out back:

It was a short walk to June’s and a typical situation – the champagne by the glass didn’t suit McD (I tasted both samples and agree with her this time), and so a bottle was ordered. We enjoyed another great meal – my bone marrow bolognese was fantastic. Our only complaint was the music the DJ was playing – we might be getting too old for this place on weekend evenings.

After dinner Diana and I were ready to call it a night. Not so much with our guests. They Ubered to a honky tonk 20 minutes away and enjoyed a show by Choctaw Wildfire. They always like to find some authentically local and off the grid spot.

The visit drew to a close on Saturday morning with a yummy brunch at Launderette and a walk along the river. Then we dropped Denny and Anne at the airport and had a relaxing afternoon.

The James Beard award winning pastry chef at Launderette does come up with some excellent creations.

Sunday saw our first workout in a couple of weeks and my finger survived fine. Not so much the coffee and crossword – Diana beat me! I got stuck on “Macduff and Macbeth”. I know, shouldn’t I have an advantage on Scottish clues. My parents will probably be disappointed that I didn’t know “Thanes”. Even had to look it up – “the chief of a clan, who became one of the king’s barons.”

The Saints lost badly to the Atlanta Falcons, much to the chagrin of the Ogans who were in attendance at the Superdome. That’s what happens when Denny taunts us about how well they’re going to do. We’ll see how the Cowboys do later tonight. Campbell and crew were also enjoying some live football – they traveled to Chicago to watch their friend Nick Bawden play for the Lions. Sounds like they had a great experience.

Will was having a great experience this weekend also. His birthday gift to himself was race track driving his BMW M2C around the Thunderhill Raceway.

My book this week was “Panama” by Thomas McGuane. What a crazy ride of a book, n0t like anything I’ve read. Felt like a marriage of Hunter S. Thompson at his gonzo best and John Kennedy Toole’s New Orleans humor from “Confederacy of Dunces”.

An interesting paragraph blends in the final lines of Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises”:

“On the steps of St. Paul’s church, a pigeon worked its way diagonally below the feet of two elderly gentlemen, factional members of a Long Island exodus.

“We could have had such a damned good time together,” I heard one say.

“Yes,” replied the one in the bonnet, “Isn’t it pretty to think so.”

“Now,” said the former, “I’m heading home to put things by.””

And then an excellent set of musical references:

“As to this orchestra, I am an admirer; at the same time, I know better. I came of age like everyone else, wearing out copies of Tupelo Honey, feeling richly gloomy. Now in Los Angeles, Jackson Browne and The Eagles nurse everybody’s bruises, and Mick Jagger, the tired old hag, says the Rolling Stones are the best punk band in the world.”

My fingers are getting tired now and I’m going to skip the “K’s New Music” section this week. It should be back next week with some new discoveries.

Fortnight in Review – November 3rd, 2019

“Ouch, that really hurt!”

Thanks to all of my faithful readers who reached out with concern about the missing post last week. I suffered a wee accident that will be revealed later in this post. That will also explain the somewhat terse nature of this post. I’m going to rely on pictures more than words. D and I did watch a good movie this weekend – “Words and Pictures” starring Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche – an artist and a writer competing on whether words or pictures were more powerful. I recommend this movie very much. Clive Owen quoting Ian McEwan’s “Saturday” to his class is worth the price of admission.

Cat was in town again last Wednesday night and joined us for a night of jazz at the Parker Club. We really like this venue and Julie Slim was playing some French cafe style jazz, complete with accordion. She put on a great show with her band and we stayed longer than expected. Here she is doing some Cabaret:

We visited a bar across the street to watch a little bit of the World Series baseball and took this silly picture for Cat to send to Kristina. He had a splint on his finger due to arthritis – more on that later.

Next door the regular Wednesday night 80s band, the Spazmatics were playing and we couldn’t resist – a very fun band as evidenced in this video – wait for the classic D moves:

Thursday night brought the much anticipated Austin City Limits Hall of Fame Induction ceremony at the Moody Theater.

The show started with the Austin Samba Club performing in front of the stage – very New Orleans style, marching in with drums and dancing. Then Jackson Browne (one of our favourites) inducted Shawn Colvin. It was interesting to see such a seasoned performer get nervous talking to the crowd. Each of the three inductees performed 4 or 5 songs with special guests, and the musicianship was superb.

Then Jimmie Vaughan inducted and played with the amazing Buddy Guy – 83 years old and very spry and energetic. Sean Penn (also surprisingly nervous to start) inducted Lyle Lovett. Lyle won over Diana with his story telling and humour during his acceptance speech. I enjoyed Edie Brickell covering one of his songs very much. Then it was time for the grand finale with everyone on stage.

The excellent show finished after 11 and we were both hungry. It was raining outside as evidenced by Wet Willie, and 2nd bar and kitchen was closed, so we went across the street to the JW Marriott. That turned out to be a mistake.

We got seated and I headed for the restroom. On the way back the door slammed on my finger, breaking and lacerating the tip. It was dangling and looking pretty nasty. Diana very expeditiously ordered an Uber, and we headed for a night at Dell Seton Emergency Room.

Things moved slowly to reinsert my right index finger nail and stitch me up, with us ultimately discharged after 4am. What a long, frustrating night. I tried to leave a couple of times, with my wonderful wife handling me well. You’ll have to ask her for some of the more entertaining details. Also good stories about our fellow patients, and the paramedic who stopped in just to hang out with some sane folks for a bit.

My finger was numb all Thursday and so I was able to go into work in the afternoon. Not so much on Friday, woke up with some pain and then flew to California in the evening for Clorinda’s 88th birthday celebration. We enjoyed the Fairmont hotel all lit up for Halloween in downtown Austin.

I made Clorinda one of my special omelets to kick off the celebration and then we had dinner in Redwood City with friends and family. In classic form, Grammie had to get a picture of her 88 (piano birthday) candles.

While we were enjoying dinner, the power was proactively shut off in Pacifica. The old, above ground equipment had caused several massive fires and the winds were high, so while very inconvenient, also understandable.

On Sunday morning, I headed down to San Jose to meet Will, Finn and Christine for a car show at Santana Row, followed by lunch at Sino. I’ve never seen so many Lamborghinis and McClarens in one place. And then there was a classic Austin Healey among them.

It was really nice to see Finn after so long. He’s finally looking good again after all he’s been through.

And great to see him with an appetite for the yummy Sino dim sum.

Back in Pacifica, we celebrated our nephew, Massimo’s, 3rd birthday. We’re hoping he quickly grows out of his current behavior phase.

Still no power on Monday morning. Will welcomed us to his place for hot showers and power to work. It was typical Will when we dropped off the key at his office, and he brought his entire team out to meet us.

Sometimes challenges are fortuitous – the power still out meant Adamo had to cook up all his lobster tails that had defrosted – absolutely delicious.

I always enjoy the views from the Campagna property. Here are some pictures from this visit:

We flew back to Austin on Tuesday and chuckled at the wifi password in the Admiral’s Club. We’re looking forward to our Scottish trip.

Back in Austin, I visited the hand specialist on Wednesday and was scheduled for surgery on Thursday early – 5 am back at Dell Seton. All went smoothly and we were at the Carpenter for breakfast by 10am. Here’s a before (bottom left) and after picture. The wires come out on December 3rd.

We drove back to McKinney on Saturday and have been enjoying a lazy weekend.

I was able to finish three books with all the flying and downtime. “The Last Days of California” by Mary Miller is an interesting tale of a family driving cross country to California before the Rapture. The book is told through the eyes of the 15 year old, younger sister of the family.

I didn’t enjoy this as much as “Biloxi” but it was still a pleasant read, with many interesting characters and exploration of fundamentalist religious beliefs.

Next up was the Steve Forbert biography from his show. This was a joyous read with so many great music stories. He was raving about Shawn Colvin, who we saw inducted at the ACL show. His writing is very engaging and personal and really communicated the struggle of a singer songwriter.

Last was a short read from the amazing Stewart O’Nan – “Last Night at the Lobster”. I loved his “Henry, Himself” a few months ago.

This story is about the last day of a Red Lobster that is closing due to poor performance, and is told through the eyes of the manager. Having been to Red Lobster many times for kids birthday parties, and having spent a few months in the restaurant business, this resonated with me quite a bit. The characters who work there and the various parties – the office celebration, Moms with an out of control kid, and old ladies lunch group were covered perfectly.

My hand is tired, and so I’ll skip the music section this week. Should be back to weekly updates next week. Be careful out there with your digits.

Week in Review – October 20th, 2019

“Angry Bevo”

We started the week in Austin, enjoying a reasonably long stay this time. Celebrations and self congratulations continued on Monday afternoon as we had an afternoon office party to celebrate the rollout of our new system. The balloons say POS2 – our highly original name for our new version of the Point of Sale system. One of the really nice features of a small company is the way the whole office comes together to recognize accomplishments like this. Beer, wine, and snacks at 3:30pm didn’t hurt either.

That’s my Development leader, Doug, cutting the cake. He’s been working on this for several years and certainly deserved the recognition.

Diana joined Damon, Mark, and me for continued celebrations at Uchi on Tuesday night. This time we were celebrating a successful migration from our old cloud data center provider to Microsoft Azure – another activity that had been planned for a long time, and consumed a good part of our normal weekend sleeping hours. Sushi is not the best choice for Damon, who can consume massive quantities of beef for such a small, skinny guy. As a result, we got to sample a decent amount of the menu. My favourite was the maguro (big-eye tuna) with goat cheese mousse.

One morning this week, Marc Cohn and the Blind Boys of Alabama performed “Work to Do” on the Today show. It’s a great performance that took us back to that wonderful evening at the Mountain Winery:

https://www.today.com/video/marc-cohn-blind-boys-of-alabama-sing-work-to-do-on-today-71287365656

I planned out an evening of new experiences for Friday night. We were very adventurous and stepped outside our standard 2 mile radius around the Catherine, starting with a lovely Indian dinner at the Clay Pit. Curried mussels with garlic Naan to sop up the sauce, chicken pakora, and lamb Rogan-Josh were all excellent. It’s been so long since I had a decent Indian meal – and who knew there was a good place within a 5 minute Uber ride of the apartment. I look forward to going back soon.

After dinner, we walked up “the drag” (Guadalupe street by the University of Texas), to the University Union and the Cactus Cafe.

This is a small music club that features folk-rock singer-songwriter types. It just celebrated a 40 year anniversary and has hosted many of the greats as seen in these posters. It did seem a bit strange to wander through UT students, studying with laptops out, to get to a show where the median age was at least 50.

Our entertainment for the evening was provided by Steve Forbert, top middle in the poster from 1994. If you’re like most of the folks I’ve talked to since this show, you may not recognize the name. Here’s his biggest hit, Romeo’s Tune:

Did you recognize it? No worries if you didn’t – it’s from 1973. But is does have very close to 5 million listens on Spotify. I’ll share another of my favourites later in the official music section. What a unique voice. Forbert has released 19 albums over the years, and so has a large catalog to draw from in performances. We ran into a couple we met at the Bill Frisell show recently, and they reported very different setlists each time they have seen him.

I had heard about a new book by Forbert, and had waited to buy it at the show. I was fortunate to get a personalized copy.

We slept late on Saturday morning, then I had a swim in the very chilly pool while McD had a workout. Next we were off on a typical Austin Saturday trail – coffee and crossword on the Opa! patio and a stop to pick up wine. Then another new experience.

We donned our UT burnt orange garb and headed over to the stadium parking lots for a “tailgate”. For my overseas readers, a “tailgate” is a gathering to get pumped up before a big sports event, often involving barbecue and beer. The term stems from dropping down the gate at the end of a pickup truck bed to make an informal table. Our event was a bit fancier, with sun awnings, TVs, catered barbecue, a wide selection of drinks, and games. My vendor who organized the event did a great job – she had to arrive at 6am to stake out the prime, shady spot, and the party didn’t start until 3pm.

Over 100,000 fans attend the University of Texas Longhorns games – it feels like the whole city is involved, with lots of people traveling in from around the United States. Bevo is the longhorn mascot, and I got Diana an “Angry Bevo” tee shirt to war to the event – she got lots of compliments.

I was sporting my new “Allright, Allright, Allright” shirt. Matthew McConaughey, the actor, is a huge UT fan and that’s his catch phrase.

Diana won a pair of tickets to the game in the raffle, but neither of us was pumped about sitting in the craziness for another three hours. Like a couple of old folks, we headed home for a quiet night in. The game turned out to be a very exciting and high scoring affair, with UT ultimately defeating Kansas. That picture of D’s new shirt was taken inside a conch shell sculpture outside the UT Medical Center – she’s still very good at humouring me.

Sunday was another lazy start, followed by workouts, and packing for the drive to Dallas. Thousands of others had the same idea, and it was a long drive in Penelope. She was only able to achieve a comfortable cruising speed for short periods – always gets her dander up.

We did arrive home in time for me to settle into my spot for the Cowboys – Eagles game. This was a very important game for the division lead, and the Boys got off to a great start. For once, they were able to maintain momentum and win 37-10. A very nice victory.

Mother Nature was extremely active during the game with severe thunderstorms in McKinney and tornados in North Dallas. Our local tornado sirens went off a couple of times. The damage was very severe – the worst since 1969. The tornado was classified as an EF3 with 140 mph winds, and was on the ground for 16 miles across North Dallas. The Preston Hollow area, with very fancy homes (including George and Laura Bush’s residence) was heavily impacted. This article has pictures and videos of the devastation. The great news is that nobody was critically injured – amazing when you look at the pictures. This is one of the advantages of all the technology and early warning systems, and lots of folks watching the football game that was interrupted with detailed warnings. On the negative side, many schools were completely destroyed and it will be a logistical nightmare to recover.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/10/21/destructive-dallas-tornado-lofts-debris-twenty-thousand-feet-high/

Out in California, Will and Christine were attending a wedding at Lake Tahoe. A typical silly Will pose, but he does look smart. I did ask the typical parental question, and was told firmly that there are no plans soon.

I enjoyed a couple of quite different books this week. I need to do a better job of recording where I find the recommendations that cause me to order up books – I can’t remember what chose me to order “Post Office” by Charles Bukowski. This 1971 novel made its author famous, with the tales of a poor character who spends the majority of his working life in dead end postal service jobs. He suffers through abusive bosses, alcohol abuse, and a racetrack gambling addiction. So, not an upbeat beach read, but well written and it felt very real.

My second book was a complete departure from Post Office. “The Balcony” by Jane Delury is a multi-generational tale based around a manor and cottage in Benneville, France. I almost started to draw a family tree to keep track of all the various relatives that weave through the book over 200 years. I didn’t love the writing, which seemed to change styles with the different portions of the story, but enjoyed being immersed in French culture and language – much of it untranslated to give me a test. I don’t think I agree with all the reviewers that have been raving about this debut novel.

As promised earlier, here’s my favourite Forbert song. What a great sound:

A really good song from Taj Mahal, taking me back again to the Mountain Winery a couple of months ago:

A different version of an all time favourite:

And finishing out with something different, I really enjoy the piano on this one.

Week in Review – October 13th, 2019

“Sweet Child of Mine”

Busy, busy, busy with work all week and into the weekend for both of us. I had a big system migration project that we’ve been working on for months, and Diana had a variety of annoying challenges.

McD arrived in Austin on Thursday evening on the bus. Our friend Vinod had to spend his birthday in Austin to work on the migration, so we took him out to a nice vegetarian dinner on Friday night at Bouldin Creek Cafe. His gift was his very own Baby Penguin, which also became our migration mascot.

Our BP was very happy to have some brief company.

After dinner, we decided to see if we could make our way into the Austin City Limits music festival to see Guns ‘N Roses. We were very fortunate to run into “Marcus the ticket guy” on Barton Springs, and he fixed us up with wrist bands for a very reasonable price. The wrist bands are very fancy. A few minutes later we were transported back to the classic rock of the late 1980s.

The stage show was the most elaborate and impressive that I’ve seen, complete with fireworks for the finale:

Axl Rose’s voice wasn’t too bad, but Slash’s guitar playing was as good as ever. He seems to be channeling some Texas blues here:

Cold November Rain and Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door were the two highlights for me:

I think Diana and Damon enjoyed the show almost as much as I did. We herded back out onto Barton Springs with the hordes and made it to Juliet to regroup and have a drink. We met a nice couple, Daniel and Natalie, and invited them to join us for the late night show at the Continental Club. Our luck continued, an SUV was parked right outside and ready to shuttle us over.

Western Youth had just started when we arrived at midnight. This is my favourite local band and they put on a great show.

Diana snapped a picture of the setlist:

After such a late night, we muscled through a late workout on Saturday morning and had a pretty lazy day. We met up with Damon for dinner at El Naranjo. This is an Oaxacan style Mexican place that I had been wanting to try. The ceviche and duck with mole sauce were very good. Apparently over 30 ingredients go into that thick, dark mole. I have a little left over for dinner tonight, and I’m thinking it may be even better now. After all the excitement on Friday, we called it an early night.

I had to wake at 4am for a checkpoint call on Sunday morning for our system migration. It has mostly gone well, but we’re still troubleshooting some printing issues as I write this post.

Workouts were earlier on Sunday and we were able to make a quick trip to Opa for coffee and crossword before I had to resume work. The Cowboys had a weak showing against the winless New York Jets, ultimately unable to eke out a win in the last few minutes – very disappointing.

I thought this news story was entertaining. Penelope was not laughing.

I finally finished the 500+ page novel, “The Most Fun We Ever Had”, by Claire Lombardo. I enjoyed this book, but it did go on for a while. Here’s what NPR had to say:

“Lombardo, a Chicago native and recently minted University of Iowa MFA graduate, has crafted an intricate multi-generational saga about the vicissitudes of a passionate but not perfect marriage over a 40-year span. Her capacious novel also encompasses the “vast hormonal hellscape” the couple has spawned — four cattily close, constantly sparring grown daughters trying to figure out their place in the world as they measure themselves against their mother and each other.

Set in the Chicago suburbs, Lombardo’s book has been compared to The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen’s seminal ode to a dysfunctional Midwestern family.”

I liked Franzen’s “The Corrections” a lot, and I suspect it was that comparison that encouraged me to read this one.

I thought this was a very pretty song when I heard it this week:

I enjoy the Fruit Bats and am surprised they are still so unknown:

A work colleague saw Fastball in Austin this week and raved about the show. I didn’t realize they were based here.