Author: keith.robertson@aig.com

“Silly Penguin”

Penelope and I made the drive down to Austin on Monday afternoon.  The morning was spent getting my teeth cleaned and a filling replaced – such fun to hang out in the dental chair for over 3 hours.  Following that with 4 hours in Penelope wasn’t ideal, but I did want to enjoy the convertible as we enter into the beautiful fall weather in the Hill Country.  You should have heard Penelope when she discovered that her rear-end was a little too wide for some of the parking spaces at the Catherine.

Tuesday was a quiet work day.  I was tired in the evening, had a nice swim and sauna and called it a night, after a chat with Diana who was working in Milwaukee.  I was shocked to look down at the end of the call and see we’d been yacking away for almost 2 hours.  I’m sure we very productively solved all kinds of problems but don’t really remember any great conclusions.

Baby Penguin (BP), having spent over a month lost under the couch, played on my sympathies and convinced me to take him out on Wednesday.

BP really enjoyed the ride down Barton Springs road with the top down.  He was excited to make some new friends at my office.

I left BP unattended for an hour while I went to a meeting.  During the session, we lost all network connectivity in the office – first time this has happened in the 11 months that I’ve been there.  Hmm – what’s different in the office today.  Review of security footage revealed the root cause of the issue:

Vinod was not at all happy with the problems the unattended BP had caused:

I made the silly penguin join me in the gym as a penance for his poor behavior.

I was busted on Wednesday evening.  I made the mistake of telling McD that I was having dinner with Damon.  She tracked me and saw we were at the Odd Duck – one of her favourites.  The pork chop and creamed corn dish there is delicious.

Our COO retires on Monday and there was a very nice event to recognize him in the office on Thursday – complete with a throne for him to sit in.

Diana arrived in Austin from Milwaukee around midnight on Thursday.

I missed the flu shot clinic at the office and so decided to get one at Wallgreens on Friday lunchtime.  My doctor has been on me to get the Shingles shot and so I got that at the same time.  The pharmacist warned me that the injection site would be sore and swollen for a few days and that I may have flu-like symptoms for 24 hours.  Both turned out to be accurate.  After a short workout on Saturday morning,  and coffee and crossword at a new location, Once Over Coffee on South First, I had to go to bed for a few hours.  A nice feature of this new coffee shop is the El Primo taco truck out front.

I was mostly recovered by the evening and we had an excellent dinner at Eddie V’s.  This is an old school seafood and steakhouse -waiters in white jackets with business cards.  Diana’s sea bass was beautifully flaky and I enjoyed my redfish with lump crab.   Live jazz music was playing in the lounge, which gave me an idea.  I had heard that the Parker Jazz Club was a good venue, and it happened to be just a couple of blocks from Eddie V’s.

This venue is great, with comfy seats, good drinks, precise sound and an excellent house band.  The trombone player was very talented:

We enjoyed the reed player very much – he had quite the array of instruments: soprano, tenor and bass saxophones, clarinet, flute and bass flute, and a flugel horn.

We enjoyed the music so much that we stayed until the end of the set at close to midnight, before walking home.

One evening in Milwaukee, Diana had dinner at a gastro pub and mentioned that they had scotch eggs on the menu.  This led me to a Google search for “best scotch egg in Austin”.  Which then led to Phoebe’s diner for brunch on Sunday.  They call their version of a scotch egg the “Cheeky Monkey” and it was quite tasty – particularly the sausage gravy.  The tater tots we shared and Diana’s crab cake benedict were also yummy.

Diana headed back to Dallas on the bus on Sunday evening – too short a visit by far.   I settled in to watch the Cowboys playing the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome.  This is the first big challenge for the Cowboys this year – their first three victories coming against teams with losing records.  New Orleans star quarterback, Drew Brees, is injured and so we should have a bit of an advantage.  As I press “publish” on this post, the Cowboys are leading 10-9 but it’s a very close came.

Peter Green might be my very favourite guitar player, and this is a gorgeous song:

Heard this Herbie Hancock on the radio.  I don’t love all of his music, but quite a bit of it is very good.

I can’t remember what made me put on some Chris Rea music this week (part of the aging process) – hadn’t thought about him in many years.  Andy Bull used to play his music constantly at University.

The excellent Texas singer songwriter, Rodney Crowell, has a new album out and here’s a highlight:

“Bill Frisell at C-Boys Heart and Soul?”

We’re making that drive again?  Yes – back down from McKinney to Austin on Monday morning – I’m getting a pretty good routine going with where to stop along the way.  The drive came with all the usual treats – McD click clacking on her laptop, and various conference calls for both of us.

You’ll remember that Diana didn’t love the Allmans tribute band last week.  She did, however, love the Eagles tribute (“Fake it to the Limit”) this week.  Mark and Damon joined us at the One to One club, and everyone agreed that the musicians really had it down.  Here’s the classic dual guitar solo from Hotel California:

Here’s Diana’s favourite, Desperado:

We enjoyed hanging out and telling stories after the show.  Lots of good laughs – I’m fortunate to work with such good friends and Diana certainly holds her own with the crew – I know that’s a surprise to all of you.

The rest of the week was mostly work and lazy evenings.  Then I found something interesting for Friday evening.  Reading through the Chronicle weekly newspaper, I noticed Bill Frisell playing at C-Boys Heart and Soul on Friday and Saturday evenings.   A double take was necessary – Frisell is a world class jazz guitarist that I’ve enjoyed a few times in the famous New York jazz clubs, and C-Boys is a small dive bar that usually features blues and soul music.  Further research on the C-Boys website confirmed that this was all on the up and up.

We arrived early and were amazed to find front row seats – literally 2 feet from Frisell’s guitar – were still available.  Talking to the lady next to me, also a jazz guitarist, before the show, revealed that Frisell is good friends with Steve, owner of C-Boys and the Continental Club, and loves to play on South Congress in Austin.  The seats allowed me to fully appreciate what was happening on the guitar and with the pedals.

Frisell delivered a beautifully nuanced and quiet solo set, and the small audience seemed to really appreciate the innovative musicianship.  What an unexpected treat.

Here’s a video that Diana made from the concert:

We made the short walk down South Congress after the show for dinner at June’s All Day.  Diana took control of ordering, and chose very well with steak tartare and seared foie gras.  Great choices Diana – I haven’t had a seared foie gras in ages – and this one was excellent.

Saturday featured all the regulars: workout; crossword; lazy afternoon reading.  In the evening we walked over to Peche (rapidly becoming a leading contender for favourite Austin restaurant for both of us).  We enjoyed steak tartare and an amazing rabbit and mushroom barley risotto.  Cat had tried this a month ago when I took him to Peche, and I was hoping it was still on the menu.  What great flavour mixes and plenty to share between both of us.  Our waitress recommended a delicious French Pinot Noir that paired perfectly   The owner stopped by a couple of times to check on us and I could tell he was pleased with how much we enjoyed the dish.

Sunday began with the same regulars as Saturday.  Different was that the printer was out of ink, so we headed to Opa and did the crossword on our devices.  From Opa we traveled to Aussie’s – a sports bar right next to our apartment with sand volleyball courts out back.  We watched the first half of the Cowboys game there, and split a burger.  I noted that this was a good place to take Tim – classic rock music playing, sports on TVs throughout and lots of burgers and other Timmy staples on the menu.  You would be proud of me for sitting on the patio while it was over 90 degrees – low humidity makes it possible.  I ran into a work colleague, Nick, who was on the US Olympic volleyball team until destroying his shoulder weeks before the Olympics started – he still loves everything volleyball.  That’s the Catherine parking garage with the slits in the concrete from Aussie’s patio and volleyball court.

We watched the second half of the Cowboys game in the refreshing air conditioning of our apartment, and then took a walk down South Congress to the Continental Club for the free afternoon show.  Steve has been good to us this weekend – first Bill Frisell and then the Crescent Soul Review.

But wait, I forgot to revel in the Cowboys victory over the Washington Redskins – and another classic Jason Witten touchdown – number 70 for him, and Campbell commented that 50 of them must have been the same play – every team knows it’s coming, but none of them can defend against it.

Back at the Continental Club, the band worked their way through New Orleans flavoured soul music, with some excellent Band and Little Feat covers.  The Band’s “Ophelia”:

Followed by a personal favourite, Little Feat’s “Dixie Chicken”:

And finally the Professor Longhair classic, “Big Chief”:

What a benefit of our location – free Sunday afternoon shows at the Continental Club – a fifteen minute walk away.

Many miles away, Will made it to the BMW M racing school in Palm Springs.  I’m looking forward to his videos and stories from the experience.  He really loves his M edition BMW and I’m a bit nervous about how he’s going to be driving it through Redwood City after all this “training”.

Even more miles away, my Mum and Dad enjoyed a week in Jersey and Guernsey.  I didn’t realize that both islands were occupied by Germany during the Second World War.  Churchill having decided that the civilian loss associated with defending the islands would be too great.  My Dad told us a story today about his shortest airline flight – 10 minutes end to end.  The ferry between islands was having mechanical difficulty, and the passengers were diverted to an island hopper flight.

My book this week was “Always Happy Hour” by Mary Miller.  I ordered it up several months ago, and can’t remember what led me to do that.  Did I read an interesting review, or get a recommendation from some other book I really enjoyed?  Either way, not a good decision on my part.  This is a collection of short stories, all told from the female point of view.  Remind me that I really don’t enjoy short story collections as much as I think I do.  I loved William McIlvanney’s “Walking Wounded” short story collection (having read it at least 3 times now), and haven’t enjoyed any collection very much since.  I don’t recommend this one and I hope women don’t think like the characters in these stories.  Here’s a review I found that seems positive:

“Claustrophobic and lonesome, acerbic and magnetic, the women in Always Happy Hour seek understanding in the most unlikely places—a dilapidated foster home where love is a liability, a trailer park laden with a history of bad decisions, and the empty corners of a dream home bought after a bitter divorce. Miller evokes the particular gritty comfort found in bad habits as hope turns to dust, and proves yet again her essential role in American fiction.”

Here’s something else from Bill Frisell’s excellent “Guitar in the Space Age” album:

Here’s a good example of his spare and nuanced guitar work – a cover of the over-covered “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen:

Robert Randolph and the Family Band have an excellent new album out.  I’ve enjoyed Randolph live a number of times, opening for Clapton, sitting in at Tipitinas and the Blue Note – always a delight.

Have you ever heard of a band named the Sheepdogs?  I haven’t either, until this song popped up.  They are from Canada and started in Saskatoon in 2006 – plenty of good music to explore.  I would love to have a sheepdog if we ever live in a place with enough land to provide the daily exercise needed.

And finally, The Texas Horns.  Heard them on Sun Radio this morning and thought it was a great sound.  Do you agree?

“Suadero Tacos – Wow!”

There was a Food and Wine magazine in the doctor’s waiting room a few weeks ago when I went for a regular check up.  I flipped to the “Best new restaurants of 2019” section and found an Austin place, Suerte, listed in the number 2 position.  Disappointed with myself for being unfamiliar with this place, I made a note to try it out soon.

Suerte was our Labor Day dinner destination.  Here’s a review by the local newspaper that we read and it built our anticipation of a great meal. “You may be able to replicate the black magic oil if you find the right balance of black sesame oil, garlic and morita chile, but I doubt you can make small, supple red corn tortillas like those at Suerte, or summon the alchemical powers to abracadabra tender confit brisket elevated gently with the citrus kiss of avocado. Delivered four to a plate, the brisket tacos with the toasty sauce are some of the best I’ve ever eaten in Austin. The way the chefs synthesize Texan and Mexican traditions into something wholly unique but familiar reminds me of what Lawrence Wright refers to as the third (and highest) level of cultural evolution in his recent book, “God Save Texas.””

We started with excellent cocktails and a very good ceviche, noting the excellent service.  Then the famous suadero tacos with a side of Mexican street corn.  Wow!  Amazing combination of flavors and beautifully cooked.  My only mistake was not accepting McD’s suggestion to get an extra order to go – big lesson learned.  I can hear Alicia’s voice in my head: “Epic Fail”.   Not a mistake – resisting the pull of the amazing Old Fashioned at Whisler’s right next door to Suerte.

We were back at the One to One bar on Wednesday night for the early show – an Allman Brothers tribute band.  Damon and I had seen them a few months ago and loved the musicianship.  I’m not sure Diana enjoyed it as much as Damon, but I thought it was excellent.  The dual drummers and guitars, perfectly in time in the harmony parts, had me back at the several Allmans shows that I’ve enjoyed over the years.

Here’s the band doing “One Way Out” towards the end of their set.  By this time they had played “Soulshine”, right up there behind True Companion for Diana and me, and she was enjoying the show a bit more.  A couple of songs without words, otherwise known as instrumentals, had snubbed her enthusiasm for the show earlier.  She took advantage of the noodling to nip next door to Chi’Lantro for a salad to accompany the rest of the show.

“Whipping Post” was the closer, reminding me of the excellent Bonerama five trombone cover of this excellent song.

Ok, you asked for it, here’s the trombone version:

We drove up to McKinney on Thursday morning, pausing for a quick brunch at Harvest in Waco.  Diana had a work meeting and dinner and I relaxed at home.  There’s a new series of “Travels with my father” on Netflix that I enjoyed.  This is a hilarious travelogue of English comedian Jack Whitehall enjoying adventures with his father.  This season they are in the United States – starting out in Los Angeles with yoga and healthy food.

I enjoyed the US Open tennis over the last couple of weeks.  I was very impressed with Bianca Andreescu’s victory over Serena Williams.  A 19 year old and the first Canadian to win a major tennis championship.  She survived the highly partisan crowed and pressure to win a tournament that she didn’t even qualify for last year.  It was fun to watch the pride from her parents as the match progressed – they emigrated from Romania to Canada in the nineties with just two suitcases.

I think Berrettini will be a star on the Men’s tennis stage very soon.  He lost to Nadal in the semis but I think has a great all around game.

Sunday started as usual – swim, sauna, coffee and crossword – and then the joy…Football’s back!  The season started with the classic Cowboys vs Giants rivalry.  I wasn’t sure what to expect from our running back, Zeke, after he held out the entire pre-season for a better contract.  He did ok in the first half – nothing amazing.  The rest of the team looked great – with Jason Witten back from a year off commentating – and straight out of the booth into the end zone with an excellent touchdown.  The score is Cowboys 21 Giants 7 at half time – a very pleasant start to the season.  Hope it stays that way for the rest of the game.

The US Open Men’s Final is conflicting with the football – have only seen small portions of it during the commercial breaks – looks like Nadal has it in hand against the preying mantis Medvedev.

My oldest baby, Will, survived the week in the desert at Burning Man.   This is their vehicle, Stuart, out in the middle of nowhere, and their main transportation for the week.

Will’s contribution to the event was the ear splitting bass from his Durango, “Basswlf”.  Checkout the message on the bottom of his wooden license plate.  I’m not sure I would do well on this hanging stone walk.

I don’t think my baby got much sleep during the week.  Christine, on the other hand, looks well rested and ready to go at this sunrise party.  I know – what’s with her hair – suspect it was a good approach given no water and showers for a week.

“City of Thieves” by David Benioff was a thoroughly engrossing read this week.  I’m a big fan of “25th Hour”, a Spike Lee directed movie from Benioff’s first book – he also wrote the screenplay, and was hoping this second novel would be enjoyable.  It was hard to put down after the first 50 pages or so.

This book was selected by the “Man’s Book Club” that I’ve been invited to join in Austin.  I haven’t made any meetings yet due to travel conflicts.  I hope to soon – all their choices so far have been good reads.

Back to the story.  During the Nazis’ brutal siege of Leningrad, Lev Beniov is arrested for looting and thrown into the same cell as a handsome deserter named Kolya. Instead of being executed, Lev and Kolya are given a shot at saving their own lives by complying with an outrageous directive: secure a dozen eggs for a powerful Soviet colonel to use in his daughter’s wedding cake. In a city cut off from all supplies and suffering unbelievable deprivation, Lev and Kolya embark on a hunt through the dire lawlessness of Leningrad and behind enemy lines to find the impossible.

The premise sounds far fetched and contrived, but Benioff makes the horror of the siege and the terror of the times come alive in very real terms.  The two leading characters, Lev and Kolya, almost direct opposites, are very well realized.  The story of their evolving friendship is at the heart of the novel.  The horror of the times and the story make this a book that is at times very brutal and gruesome – not for everyone.

I did some reading on the siege of Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg again.  Pinned in by the German Army from the south, assisted by the Finnish Army from the North (until they reclaimed land seized by Russia previously), this event lasted almost 900 days – September 8, 1941 through January 27, 1944.  Very little food made its way from the surrounding countryside into the city, resulting in the siege being declared an act of genocide.

Do you remember the movie and then TV Show “Fame”.  Good – you’re probably close to my age at least.  I don’t remember why this song from the movie popped into my head this week – hadn’t thought about it in decades – weird synapses firing, while the ones I need to fire resist.

I read that Pat Metheney, jazz guitarist extraordinaire, was having some concerts in New York this week.  I smiled to see James Francies in the band with him – this guy blew me away on piano when I saw him at the Jazz Standard a year or so ago.

We should include a song from the incomparable Ry Cooder, whose album cover headlines the music section this week.  I love everything about Cooder’s music and suspect that his “Paradise and Lunch” may be the record that I have played most over the years:

This tune was playing as we waited for the band to start at One to One this week.  Took the synapses a few seconds to recognize it as Jeff Beck – another incomparable, and quite different, guitar player:

“Less like a dorm room”

I stopped in Waco for lunch on my drive back to Austin on Monday, and continued my exploration of off the highway restaurants.  Alpha Omega is a delicious Mediterranean place with a very nice atmosphere in the heart of downtown Waco.  I enjoyed a salad, gyro and perfect macchiato – why is it so hard for so many places to get it right?

On arrival at the apartment, I took care of one of McD’s biggest gripes.  It goes something like, “the master bedroom looks like a dorm room, with no headboard and no end tables”.   A neighbor had advertised teal end tables for sale and I snapped them right up for a very reasonable price.  Still waiting on a good headboard to pop up.

Progress is now visible at the work site across the street – a big hole has been dug for the foundation of the new building.  Street closures to allow the running of power are now behind us as well.

Diana and I had a conference call (she was en route to Boston) on Wednesday morning to wish my Dad Happy Birthday.   We sang to the voicemail box, and it was quite the performance – we couldn’t get in sync on the beat at all.  Hopefully that recording has been erased.  My Dad enjoyed High Tea at the Glasshouse restaurant by Rowallan Castle to celebrate.

I had a night out with Damon and Issac from work on Wednesday night.  We started with Indian at G’raj Mahal – I love their lamb Rogan Josh.  Then we enjoyed a performance by the Canned Beets band at the Half Step.  I had seen their guitar player at the Charlie Hunter show recently and had a nice chat with him about the show.  He said, “Charlie Hunter’s not only the best at what he does, he’s the only person that does what he does”, meaning the only guitar player that we’re aware of who plays the bass and lead on the same instrument simultaneously.

Here they are performing Simple Man at Damon’s request:

We finished up with a quick visit to Whisler’s in East Austin, close to Issac’s condo.

Meanwhile in New York, Denny and Anne were enjoying a performance by Alejandro Escovedo, during their trip to catch some US Open tennis matches.  Escovedo used to live in Austin but moved to stay in the Belmont Hotel in Oak Cliff when Austin got too expensive for working musicians.

Diana’s trip back from Boston on Friday started well with an upgrade to first class.  It didn’t end as well with flights canceled due to thunderstorms in Dallas.  She eventually made it to Austin a bit after midnight on the Vonlane bus- a creative solution.  It’s been a couple of months since her last visit and she’s been fixing all the things that I haven’t been taking care of properly – the list is too expansive to cover here.

We enjoyed brunch at Mattie’s on Saturday.  This is a restaurant in an old mansion in the Bouldin Creek area – a mile or so from our apartment.  The setting is amazing with lots of land, shaded by live oak trees.   The food lived up to the setting – really delicious.  Diana had an excellent burger and I loved my duck confit hash.  After brunch, we explored the grounds and found a few peacocks and peahens roaming around.

I surprised Diana with a concert at the local One to One bar on Saturday night.  This was her first visit to this music bar that I’ve enjoyed several times.  The “Bee Gees Songbook” was the band performing and they did a very good job covering songs from the entirety of the Bee Gees extensive career.  Here are a couple of the big hits:

Sunday was a lovely lazy day, followed by dinner at Barley Swine.   We sat in the corner  on the right of this picture.  This is the sister restaurant to the Odd Duck, one of our local favourites.  This is the furthest we’ve ventured out for a meal – a solid 10 mins or $10 Uber – that shows you how many great places there are within walking distance.  We started with steak tartare and bone marrow, then amazing soup shitake dumplings, crab fundido with yummy tater tots, pork steaks, and tres leches desert cake.  Wow!  Another amazing Austin meal.

I finished “Man of the Year” by Caroline Louise Walker this week.

Dr. Robert Hart, Sag Harbor’s just-named Man of the Year, is the envy of his friends and neighbors. His medical practice is thriving. He has a beautiful old house and a beautiful new wife and a beautiful boat docked in the village marina. Even his wayward son, Jonah, is back on track, doing well at school, finally worthy of his father’s attentions. So when Jonah’s troubled college roommate, Nick, needs a place to stay for the summer, Hart and his wife generously offer him their guest house. A win-win: Jonah will have someone to hang with, and his father can bask in the warm glow of his own generosity.

And then things quickly start to unravel.  I enjoyed the twists and turns as the pace quickened and differing view points of characters were revealed.  I did not see the twists of the last 50 pages coming at all – very clever and creative.

In honor of Anne’s visit with Alejandro Escovedo – “Always a friend to you”:

Whenever I hear Bon Iver I remember how much I love his music and wonder why I don’t listen more often.  Alicia always complained that she couldn’t understand the words:

I  absolutely love this song by New Orleans little known artist John Fohl:

I can’t remember where I heard this song, but I really enjoy it: