Category: Weekly Updates

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.

 

 

 

View from the library rooftop garden

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.

Fall colour from the reading balcony

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.

Mandala pancakes

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.
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.
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.

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.

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.

Week in Review – October 6, 2019

“True Companion”

Warning – whiny paragraph ahead.  We closed out September in Austin with 16 days over 100 degrees.  Ridiculous.  Ludicrous even.  Why such an effusive reaction, you ask?  Well, an average September has 3 days over 100.  Why is it necessary to have 5 times as many as normal on the year that I spend most of my time here?  Just to torture a guy that was designed to excel in 50 degree, rainy weather.  Just to finish off my whine, I’ll share that we’ve had 54 days over 100 so far this year – which interestingly is quite a bit below the record.

I’ve enjoyed watching the preparations for the ACL music festival this week on my commutes down Barton Springs.  Oh sorry, some of you haven’t heard of ACL I’m guessing.  Fast forward if you know all about it already.

Austin City Limits (ACL) is a long running and totally excellent Public Television music series filmed live in Austin.  I’ve been enjoying the show for at least 20 years now.  The ACL music festival was born in 2002 and has grown into a mammoth production, staged over two weekends in October.    The event has 8 stages across Zilker Park and this year is October 4-6 and 11-13.  450,000 people attended last year and so you can imagine that central Austin is very busy right now.

I was by myself again on Monday night, but Diana did leave me some of her leftover sea bass.  What to pair with that delight, I wondered.  A tour of the freezer yielded the perfect accompaniment – veggie tater tots.  A delicious bachelor meal.  McD commented that she particularly appreciated the squiggle of mayonnaise.

We successfully concluded a massive, global, highly complex (I know I’m really overdoing it now) project at work on Tuesday.  Seriously, they have been at it for over 3 years, with all kinds of challenges and starts and stops,  and we finished successfully with our last sites in Mexico this week.  Lots of back slapping congratulations, flowery thank you emails, and the like ensued.  That lasted about 10 minutes, and then it was time to get back to work again.  Worn out from all the celebratory high jinx, I enjoyed quiet nights at the apartment on Tuesday and Wednesday, reading and listening to music.  More about the music discovered later, as usual in these posts.

Thursday took me from the “Live Music Capital of the World” (Austin) to “Music City USA” (Nashville) for a long weekend.

Diana made a similar trip from Dallas – greatest musical claim being the birth place of Stevie Ray Vaughan – and we rendezvoused in Nashville around the same time.  A quick Uber to the Westin downtown and we were ready for a quiet dinner and an early night.   The Decker & Dyer restaurant in the hotel fit the bill perfectly.

What do you think of this as a replacement for Penelope?  I’ll be tallying votes and will report out next week.  They do say that orange is the new black.  Take my back condition and size into consideration when casting your ballots please.

Why did we choose Nashville for a few days away?  Well…after the Marc Cohn and Blind Boys of Alabama concert that we saw in California a few months ago, McD said that she hadn’t had enough of just Marc Cohn at the show and wanted to see him again when it was just him playing his regular catalog.  The best location we could find for that was the City Winery in Nashville on Sunday.

A workout was called for after a lazy start to Friday.  Then, as it was a beautiful sunny day outside, I suggested lunch on the rooftop of the Thompson hotel in the Gulch area.  My wife quickly approved that plan.  One of our party should have applied sunscreen prior to the walk over to the Gulch and time in the direct sun on the rooftop.  I’m sure it’s difficult for you to imagine who could have been so silly.

A quick regroup at the hotel, and then it was time to head over to East Nashville to reprise a few of our favourite haunts.  There really are a lot of similarities between Austin and Nashville – a rapidly gentrifying East area of town with great restaurants and bars, a compact and walkable downtown, and a vibrant music scene.

We started with a cocktail on the back patio of the Rosemary speakeasy.  This place has become a bit more commercial since our initial discovery, and not in a great way.  Still a good spot, just not as charming.  It was on the patio, once I had a drink in hand, that Diana informed me that she would like to go to Blake Shelton’s restaurant the next day.  Yee haw!

Unlike Rosemary, our dining destination, the excellent Butcher & Bee, seemed even better than we remembered.  The whipped feta and grilled mushrooms were fabulous.  A huge thanks to Diana for asking the hostess to seat us away from the loud party of girls – they were very high pitched and loud and I wouldn’t have lasted through the meal beside them.  Nashville has become a huge bachelorette party (hen party for my Scottish readers) destination – we saw so many groups riding around town in open topped buses and trailers, even a party fire truck, dancing and having a good time.  At least it keeps them out of the way of folks trying to enjoy the restaurants.  The book that our bill was delivered in sent us on a trip down memory lane – Beatrix Potter.  I read some in my best upper crust English accent.

 

 

We were proud to get a workout in again on Saturday morning, before setting off for the madness of Broadway.  This is a street similar to 6th street in Austin – one honky tonk with live music after another for 3 or 4 blocks.  It was particularly packed at lunchtime on Saturday.

We satisfied D’s request and had a pleasant lunch at Ole Red, Blake Shelton’s place.  The downstairs was communal seating and we sat with nice folks from North Carolina, who ordered the largest plate of nachos I’ve seen.  Our fried pickles and quesadilla were equally massive.  Lance and Lea provided a pleasant mix of musical accompaniment.  I texted Alicia:  “You’re Mom is torturing me!”.  The rapid reply: “Welcome to the club.  We’ve been waiting for you!”.  Phunny girl.

My navigational skills failed me again after lunch.  I was trying to follow the walking directions on my phone to get to the Ryman auditorium.  Diana was quite convinced we were headed in the completely wrong direction – even more annoying because I was headed uphill.  Of course she was correct, and we got some unnecessary exercise in after the large lunch.

We did a self-guided tour and really enjoyed exploring the Ryman.  The movie that starts the tour was exceptionally well done and did a great job of covering the history.  Originally opened in 1892 as the Union Gospel Tabernacle, its construction was spearheaded by Thomas Ryman (1843–1904), a Nashville businessman who owned several saloons and a fleet of riverboats.  Ryman conceived the idea of the auditorium as a tabernacle for the influential revivalist Samuel Porter Jones.

Lula Naff leased the building in the early 1900s and promoted all kinds of shows and events.  Some of the names to perform in the early years include Marian Anderson in 1932, Bill Monroe (from KY) and the Bluegrass Boys in ’45, Hank Williams in ’49, The Carter Sisters with Mother Maybelle Carter in 1950, Elvis in ’54, Johnny Cash in ’56, trumpeter Louis Armstrong in ’57,  Patsy Cline in ’60, and Minnie Pearl in ’64.  The Ryman also served as the regular Sunday venue for the Grand Ole’ Opry and Johnny Cash TV shows.

After falling into disrepair, and a renovation spear-headed by musicians, who loved the acoustics (said to be better than Carnegie Hall) and atmosphere of the venue, the Ryman hosts performances by big name musicians most nights of the week.  Here’s a picture of some of the folks that have played there:

The tour finishes with a photo opportunity.  Here are the next big stars to be discovered at the Ryman.  Poor Diana is just trying to avoid being bonked on the head with my guitar.

I’m not sure you’d be very comfortable in the ancient pews while listening to us perform:

After another short rest at the hotel, it was time for a real highlight of the trip.  I had read about a restaurant named Bastion that sounded right up my alley:  only 24 seats large, advertising an “adventure menu”, and spinning vinyl records.  On arrival through a sliding metal door, you are welcomed into the little bar for a pre-dinner drink.  Jeremiah took very good care of us.  Then we were seated at the kitchen counter and presented with our “adventure menus” to make selections.  Only a couple of ingredients are revealed to aid in the decision making process.

K’s choices

D’s choices

The courses were excellent with lovely presentations and descriptions.

First course – manchego and country ham waffle cones for K, oysters and tequila for D
2nd course – hamachi and hibiscus for D and raw beef and green curry for K
desserts – they treated us to all three

All of this deliciousness was set off beautifully by the “Fly Blind” wine pairings – some really unusual selections.  And of course there was the treat of vinyl albums for background music – some early Elvis Costello for the 2nd course.

A very impressive fire was burning outside the restaurant with coals transferred inside regularly for the inside grills.

Bastion is so good that I would recommend people make a trip to Nashville just for the experience of dining here.

Sunday made three workouts in a row – a rare feat with our work schedules.  Then we reprised another old favourite – brunch at Husk.  The shrimp and grits were different and tasty, but still not up to the gold standard – Ricks in downtown McKinney.  The rain stopped long enough for us to walk back to the hotel, passing the City Winery on the way.  They were having their 5th anniversary harvest festival outside, with really good bands playing  – including Ivan Neville and Dumpstaphunk.  We chose not to spoil our musical appetite for the big evening show.

The Cowboys played the Green Bay Packers at 3:25pm and I found a sports bar just off Broadway to watch the game.  The Corner Pub had a massive screen showing all the games and we found a good spot in time for kickoff.  What a horrible first half – nothing working for the Cowboys and everything clicking for the Packers.  Ugh!  The Boys pulled it together in the second half with some good play, but it was all too little and too late.  What a disappointment.

Can you guess what wasn’t a disappointment on Sunday?  That’s right – Marc Cohn.  Mark Erelli opened the show – a very talented singer songwriter, who had recently played at the Ryman.  The sound in the City Winery is really fabulous.  I appreciated his song “By Degrees”, which I believe is about the need for improved gun control.  Erelli showed up later to play guitar on several Marc Cohn songs – and did an excellent job on slide guitar.

I have another of Erelli’s songs that I’ve been enjoying in the new music section at the bottom of this post.

Marc Cohn played all of our favourites and sounded as good as ever.  Diana commented that she could hear the Blind Boys in her head on “Work to Do”:

Then came my favourite, “Listening to Levon”, a tribute to the late great Levon Helm of the Band:

The song that put Cohn on the musical map, “Walking in Memphis”, with the classic “Ma’am I am tonight” line:

“Silver Thunderbird” always tugs at the heart strings:

And now it was time for the closer, also the opener to our wedding reception and my marriage proposal, “True Companion”.

We were fortunate enough to have Marc Cohn sign a new poster he was selling, featuring the lyrics to the last verse of True Companion.  Diana took the time to tell Cohn about the first time we heard him play the song, and his very kind gift of flowers to a military wife in the Kessler audience, whose husband couldn’t make it to the show – not a dry eye in the house.

Diana was very happy with the show and the experience – and isn’t that what life’s all about – sharing happy times with your True Companion.

She wasn’t so happy the next morning with her 4am start to get back to Dallas for a client meeting.  I had a more leisurely start, time for breakfast, and even the best shoe shine I think I’ve had, before flying back to Austin.

Such a fun trip – I’m glad you were able to join me Diana.

 

 

As promised, here’s “The Hitter” by Mark Erelli.  Did you already forget about him?  Remember, he opened for Marc Cohn.

There’s a new album, “Ode to Joy”, by Wilco out this week.  I’ve only listened to it once through.  I was surprised in the first few songs that there was none of Nels Cline’s angular guitar playing.  It did finally show up, but this is certainly mellower than their recent output.

I watched an interview of Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top this week, and he was talking about this Lightnin’ Hopkins song.  I’m sure you can here a number of ZZ Top songs in this.

And finally, a new discovery for me, ZZ Top’s superbowl halftime performance from the late 90s:

 

Week in Review – September 22, 2019

‘Cause every girl crazy ’bout a sharp dressed man

This was a very busy and enjoyable music week.  The festivities kicked off with Lonelyland at the Saxon Pub on Monday.  Bob Schneider has been playing this regular residency at the Saxon for 20 years now.

This was an excellent show – very laid back and quiet (mostly) compared to a typical Schneider show.  Here’s the setlist for the show – my favourite song was “The Band Played On” – a very melancholy song.

Lonelyland goes live at 8:30PM CT at the Saxon Pub tonight! Join in on the live stream: facebook.com/bobschneidermusic

tryer G C C D

titty bar Fm Bb Eb/Fm Bb Eb Cm Ab Bb//Ab Bb Cm

like lightning D G

existential blues E A B

blue and blue G D Em C

wasting time A D E

bad mama G C G D

band plays on (the) G# D#/A#/

dark knight (the) G C D

boys you like D Bm G D A/

like the man said F Bbm

snow men F C

joey’s song A D E

squeeze (the) C Eb F/F Am F G

touch me and i’m good Csus2 G/B Am7 Fmaj9

sun’s coming G C

in a roomful of blood F C/G

once you feel nothing F C Gm F

natural woman

If you’re a real Schneider fan – here’s the livestream of the full show.  Don’t miss the humorous “Natural Woman” followed by “Eye of the Tiger” closing.

We met Vinod for dinner at the Bouldin Creek Cafe on Wednesday evening.  This is a vegetarian restaurant close to our apartment that we chose with Vinod in mind.  The food and ambiance were very good.  McD commenting, “These are the best fajitas I’ve ever had”, on her portabello mushroom fajitas.  Vinod and I enjoyed our veggie burgers and particularly the chipotle pesto sauce.  Meals with Vinod are always very entertaining.

On the drive to the restaurant, I noticed a sign on the El Mercado Mexican restaurant alerting us that John Inmon was hosting Marcia Ball as his guest.  After dinner, we paid our $5 cover and enjoyed the last 40 minutes of that excellent show.  John Inmon is known as one of the finest guitarists in Austin (pretty rarefied company) and hosts a different guest every Tuesday night.  What a treat to see Marcia Ball with a different band and playing songs that you don’t hear in her regular sets recently.  Here’s the excellent “World Full of Love”.  Marcia and her friend told the story of writing this song after the last election – they were not happy with the result but turned around that sentiment into this beautiful song:

Thursday brought the drive back to Dallas so that Diana could attend a meeting downtown.  We listened to more of our audible book, “The Apartment”, getting close to the concluding exciting part.   Diana texted me this picture from the client office, asking me if I was interested in attending.  “Absolutely”, was my speedy response.  I’m a huge Eric Clapton fan and this festival includes many of the world’s best guitar players.

We headed down to American Airlines Center early on Friday afternoon and were the first folks to arrive at Diana’s work suite.  The show started with Bill Murray introducing Sonny Landreth (an amazing slide guitar player from New Orleans).  Last time I saw him was with less than 50 folks at the Rock N’ Bowl – bit different this time.

Eric Clapton and his band (including Andy Fairweather Low – my Mum’s 2nd cousin) were up next and provided a beautifully nuanced acoustic set – including these two gems:

Gary Clark Jr., another amazing Austin guitar player, joined Citizen Cope for this one – such a great guitar sound:

Sheryl Crow was joined by Doyle Bramhall (last seen at Antone’s small club in Austin) for one of my favourites of hers, “Steve McQueen”:

I think Jimmy Vaughan had one of the best sets of the evening (and there were a lot of good ones).  We last saw him a few weeks ago at the tiny C-Boys Heart and Soul club on South Congress in Austin – quite a change in venue.  He started out with the same band from C-Boys:

Vaughan’s first guest was the lovely Bonnie Raitt:

Then things picked up on the crowd pleasing dial.  Billy Gibbons of ZZTop joined for a couple of songs, getting the crowd going with “Sharp Dressed Man”

We saw Marcus King at the Hula Hut in Austin during South by Southwest and loved his voice.  Things were a bit loud and overdriven at this show.  I did enjoy this quieter song, “Goodbye Carolina”:

Next up was Peter Frampton – weeks away from entering retirement.  He started with a lovely instrumental version of Hoagey Carmichael’s “Georgia on my mind”, and then transitioned into the famous “Do You Feel Like We Do”, from the best-selling live album of all time, “Frampton Comes Alive”:

Then we had a real moment.  Frampton introduced a gentleman that he’d known for a long time, but had never played with, Eric Clapton.  A real one of a kind experience as they played the Beatles, “My Guitar Gently Weeps”:

 

 

Jeff Beck finished out the show.  A special guest ambled onto the stage to sing John Lennon’s “Isolation” – Johnny Depp – he did a decent job on a great song:

What an amazing event, finishing after midnight, wait – there’s a song about that.  Who wrote that?  Eric Clapton you might quickly answer, but you’d be wrong – it was J. J. Cale.  Check out the original version later in this post.  Thanks Diana, for an excellent event.  The logistics of this event were incredible – a rotating stage so that there was a very short gap between music, and satellite stages to add some special interest.  The setlist for Saturday (Vince’s buddy was recording the show and provided this) shows the precision involved:

Here’s the setlist from the show we saw on Friday:

Main Event in American Airlines Center from approximately 7PM on Friday, September 20th:

Sonny Landreth:  Walkin’ Blues, It Hurts Me Too, Instrumental (Title Unknown), Brave New Girl

Eric Clapton with Andy Fairweather Low, Jamie Oldaker, Steve Gadd, Nathan East and Pedrito Martinez:  Circus, Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out, Tears In Heaven, Wonderful Tonight, Lay Down Sally

Bonnie Raitt, Keb’ Mo’ and Alan Darby – 1 song.  Alan played the new Gibson Custom Eric Clapton 1964 Firebird 1 Recreation which is part of the 2019 Crossroads Guitar Collection.

Citzen Cope – 5 songs including Bullet And A Target and Sideways. Gary Clark, Jr. joined for one number

Gustavo Santaolalla – the Argentinian guitarist and composer opened with the Apology Song, followed by a selection of songs from film soundtracks he composed.

Sheryl Crow – 6 song set with guests Bonnie Raitt and James Bay. If It Makes You Happy, Steve McQueen (with Bonnie Raitt), Live Wire (with Bonnie Raitt), Everything Is Broken (with Bonnie Raitt and James Bay), Every Day Is A Winding Road (with James Bay)

Pedro Martins and Daniel Santiago – 3 song set

Kurt Rosenwinkel with Pedro Martins – performed 6 songs. Songs were taken from Kurt Rosenwinkel’s album Caipi and Pedro Martin’s album, Vox.

James Burton and Albert Lee with Jamie Oldaker and Nathan East: That’s Alright Mama, Rock Around With Ollie Vee

Jimmie Vaughan and The Tilt-A-Whirl Band with guests Bonnie Raitt and Billy Gibbons: D/FW, Roll Roll Roll, No One To Talk To (But The Blues), Baby Please Come Home (with Bonnie Raitt), I Ain’t Never (with Bonnie Raitt), Sharp Dressed Man (with Billy Gibbons), La Grange (with Billy Gibbons)

Doyle Bramhall and Gary Clark, Jr: Rock Me Baby

The Marcus King Band: 7 song set including I Just Want To Make Love To You, Hoochie Coochie Man and Goodbye Carolina.

Peter Frampton with Eric Clapton:  Georgia On My Mind (Instrumental), Do You Feel Like We Do, While My Guitar Gently Weeps (with Eric Clapton)

Jeff Beck with guests Johnny Depp and Jimmy Hall (pending confirmation):  Jeff’s set included Big Block, Isolation (with Johnny Depp), Somebody’s Nobody (with Johnny Depp), Superstition (with Johnny Depp and Jimmy Hall), Little Wing (with Johnny Depp and Jimmy Hall)

While we were enjoying all of this varied and excellent music in Texas, Will was presenting to a Redwood City elementary class about the solar power system he installed for their school.  You can tell he’s loving the chance to interact with the kids:

It’s been a very good football Sunday – the Cowboys won easily over the Dolphins (scoring two TDs while I was facetiming with my parents), the Eagles lost, and New Orleans beat Seattle with a backup quarterback.  And Nick Baudin, Campbell’s friend since elementary school in Los Gatos, hurdled a defender for a first down for the Detroit Lions.

I started “The Most Fun We Ever Had” by Claire Lombardo this week.  The first 100 of 500 pages have been enjoyable.  I suspect it’ll take me a few weeks to finish this one.  The multi-generational story of a Chicago based family seems like it will provide many hours of interesting reading.

 

 

 

There’s a new ablum from the excellent Teskey Brothers, a Melbourne based blues/soul band that I really enjoy:

Here’s the original version of “Isolation”, performed by Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp on Friday.  It really reminds me of Dark Side of the Moon era Pink Floyd and could easily be a Roger Waters song:

Let’s finish out the week with even more excellent music, the original version of “After Midnight”:

I highly encourage you to check out all of Cale’s wonderful catalog.

 

MIND GAMES COVER

TESKEY BROS

Fortnight in Review – August 25, 2019

“Surfing Dogs, Walking in Memphis”

Did you miss me last week?  Really?  Be honest.

We were visiting with Kris and Cat last Sunday prior to their French adventure, and ended up staying late after dinner.  With travel and excitement, I decided to skip the blog and catch up on two weeks today.  Do you think I qualify as a “Babe Who Blogs” – I didn’t think so either and so skipped this event at the apartment building.

I spent the first week in Austin, while McD headed to Wisconsin for a few days.  Sunrise on Tuesday was described as “crepuscular” by the TV weather guy.  It was quite impressive and I looked up what that meant:

Crepuscular Rays:  A sunbeam, in meteorological optics, is a ray of sunlight that appears to radiate from the point in the sky where the Sun is located. Shining through openings in clouds or between other objects such as mountains, these columns of sunlit scattering particles are separated by darker shadowed volumes.

I do enjoy waking up with sunrise over downtown Austin.  Meanwhile Diana was enjoying what Wisconsin had to offer – much cooler weather, and some good steakhouses (no relation to the New Orleans institution of the same name).

I enjoyed an amazing Chinese Dim Sum meal on Wednesday with Mark and Damon.  Lin Dim Sum is one of my new favourite Austin restaurants.  We navigated the hard to eat soup dumplings and then enjoyed the stand out of our meal, the seafood basket.  All the different seafood offerings were perfectly cooked and presented.

Diana and I regrouped in Dallas on Thursday night at the lovely Neighborhood Services restaurant on Lovers Lane.  We love this place and it never disappoints with excellent service and food.

On Saturday morning, we caught a flight to San Francisco for a few days with family.   Crosswords are a good way to pass the time, and I always enjoy the view of the Sierras with a small snow cap remaining.

We took Clorinda to Puerto 27, the Peruvian restaurant in Pacifica, for dinner on Saturday night.  She enjoyed “sharing” the pisco sour 27 cocktail with me, and was heard to say, “is the rest of this for me?”.

 

Clorinda thought her “His and Hers” note by the extra coffee maker acquired at a rummage sale was very funny:

Sunday took us down to Santa Clara to visit with Kris and Cat.  The fresh produce from their garden led to excellent appetizers and dinner.  We laughed as we reviewed the calendar for their three week trip to France, and particularly Kris’ list of outfits, shoes, and accessories to be worn each afternoon and evening

Diana had to work on Monday, so I took Clorinda for lunch at the Cliff House – a classic San Francisco restaurant on the cliffs above Ocean Beach.

Sutro’s at the Cliff House is very fancy and we were able to score a lovely window seat.  Clorinda loved every last drop of her red Thai curry bouillabaisse, while I was equally happy with my scallops and shrimp over saffron cous cous.

I gathered some excellent stories:  Why it’s so much more difficult to sing opera in French than Russian (who would have expected),  the challenges of surf boarding behind a ski boat in Lake Tahoe when you can’t float with a life jacket,  living in a one bedroom apartment in North Beach with a baby grand and not being able to concentrate on music if the kitchen wasn’t fully organized, and making a 21 layer rice crispie cake for Adamo.  For desert we chose a butterscotch pot de creme (yummy).  We both enjoyed our 2 hour plus lunch experience.

 

While in Wisconsin, McD had seen a story on the news about the dog surfing championship in Pacifica.  It was funny to read about this in the local Pacifica paper.  Here’s the start of the story:

“It was a foggy morning in Pacifica, but the cover burned off as the day went on and it didn’t deter crowds from coming out to see the 4th annual dog surfing championships at Linda Mar beach on Saturday.  At least a thousand people showed up to watch.”

Tuesday took us down to Campbell to prepare for our concert at the Saratoga Mountain Winery.  We enjoyed dinner at Pacific Fresh in the Campbell Pruneyard and then made the precarious drive up to the winery.

Shemeika Copeland, daughter of blues great Johnny Copeland, opened the show beautifully.  Her dialogue between songs really added to the experience.

You can tell from the video that Diana sprung for some amazing seats – front row, right in front of Marc Cohn’s piano.  Thanks for the excellent birthday gift!

Marc Cohn and the Blind Boys of Alabama followed Copeland, with a very unique set.  The Blind Boys adding excellent gospel harmony to Cohn’s songs.  “Walking in Memphis” taking on a whole new meaning with the gospel harmonies.  The blind boys have been performing for over 7o years, with one of their member close to 90.  What an experience.

Video recording was not permitted at the show, so here’s a sample of what that song sounded like at another performance:

I loved watching Cohn’s smile as he listened to the Blind Boys enhancing his compositions.

We will never forget the Cohn concert at the Kessler a few years ago, when we were first introduced to “True Companion”, our wedding song, and the story of an overseas service members’ wife attending the concert.  Here’s a memory from that show:

Taj Mahal finished out the show.  While we enjoyed his music and performance, more Marc Cohn would have been great.

I love this video of Taj Mahal riding around New Orleans while performing his classic song, “Queen Bee”:

We flew back to Dallas on Wednesday, fortunately sharing the flight with Kris and Cat heading to France.

Prior to the flight, we enjoyed brunch at Mo’s in downtown Campbell, home to an outstanding Bloody Mary with onion ring and bacon – yummmm.

We both worked most of the day on Thursday and Friday, and then Diana organized an excellent night out on Saturday.  We began with dinner at Rye in downtown McKinney.  Ownership had changed in the last year and the cocktail list had me on alert, but we ended up having an excellent meal.  Four courses of shared tapas – blue cheesecake (very creative), forest floor (almost up there with Manresa presentation) with four kinds of mushrooms, edible flower, and seaweed foam, perfect scallops, and finally pork belly lollipops.

Dinner was followed by the Peterson Brothers band in the downtown McKinney courthouse – quite a change from the Continental Club where we usually see them.  Diana had a nice chat with Deana (the boys mother) where we learned that they were just back from opening for Gary Clark Jr. in Virginia – big time!  As usual the Brothers delivered high energy, positive vibes with those great smiles and  energy.

Sunday began as normal- swim, coffee and crossword, and facetime with Mum and Dad.  I laughed at the story of my Dad’s challenges with caulk, only to struggle as I tried to fill in a hole where wasps are gathering around a window on our back patio.

On a completely different note, Will is headed to Burning Man next week and has been excitedly sharing pictures of his camper, outfits and transportation:

I’m excited to hear about Will and Christine’s experiences in the Google village at Burning Man.

I loved the book “Henry, Himself” by Stewart O’Nan.  O’Nan is renowned for illuminating the unexpected grace of everyday life and the resilience of ordinary people with humor, intelligence, and compassion. In this book, he offers an unsentimental, moving life story of a twentieth-century everyman.

Soldier, son, lover, husband, breadwinner, churchgoer, Henry Maxwell has spent his whole life trying to live with honor. A native Pittsburgher and engineer, he’s always believed in logic, sacrifice, and hard work. Now, seventy-five and retired, he feels the world has passed him by. It’s 1998, the American century is ending, and nothing is simple anymore. His children are distant, their unhappiness a mystery. Only his wife Emily and dog Rufus stand by him. Once so confident, as Henry’s strength and memory desert him, he weighs his dreams against his regrets and is left with questions he can’t answer: Is he a good man? Has he done right by the people he loves? And with time running out, what, realistically, can he hope for?

The quality of the writing is superb, and I really enjoy the time taken exploring the everyday experiences that make up a life.  I look forward to reading the other two books in this trilogy.

This is my favourite Peter Gabriel album, before things got too esoteric, with excellent production by Bob Ezrin, and containing “Here Comes the Flood” – a top 10 song of mine.

Try this piece for an escape from the ratrace – just beautiful and calming:

And if you liked this, then you will probably enjoy this as well, excellent pianist also:

And as the wonderful Monty Python’s Flying Circus would say, “and now for something completely different”.  In my estimation, this is the perfect bouncy summer song for relaxing by the pool:

Shemeika Copeland delivered an awesome version of this song by her father on Tuesday night:

 

Week in Review – August 11, 2019

“My compliments to the chef”

It was back down to Austin on Monday morning and back up to McKinney again on Friday.  Diana let me borrow her car so I would be a bit more comfortable on the long drives, while she and Penelope tried to get along on her drives to downtown Dallas.

As you can see from the pictures above, it was oppressively hot all week.  Those red bars are the “feels like” temperature – adjusted for humidity.  Diana’s car is reporting a real temperature of 105 degrees at 5pm.  As a result, I spent most of my time indoors this week.

Cat was in Austin for an Apple Systems Engineering annual meeting, and we were able to meet up on Thursday evening.  We made a quick visit to the Sky bar for the requisite picture, and then Ubered over to Peche – I know, it’s less than a mile, but it was still too hot to walk at 7:30 pm.

We enjoyed an excellent dinner at Peche.  The combination of Cat’s intelligence, world view, and immense wit, make him a perfect dinner companion.  He loved the rabbit and mushroom risotto, and sent his compliments to the chef via Tucker, our waiter.  Chef showed up a few minutes later and Cat told him he liked the dish because you could stop eating to tell a story for a few minutes, and the excellent flavor was still in your senses.  This is a new dish on the menu, and Diana will have to return to try it soon.

We visited the Roosevelt Room, a kind of fancy speakeasy style cocktail bar, after Peche and I enjoyed a Paper Plane.  We sat at the bar and thoroughly enjoyed watching all the craft cocktails being prepared – some works of art.  My drink came with a small origami plane flying alongside

It was very nice to spend an evening with Cat without the girls along.  Wait – maybe that didn’t come out exactly the way I meant it.  What I was trying to say….  Ah, never mind, I’ll just stop digging the hole now.

I tried a couple of new things for my drive on Friday.  #1, I downloaded an audible book to listen to on the ride – I’ve listened to podcasts but never a book.  I chose “Lincoln in the Bardo”, which got such rave reviews last year.  It has an all start cast reading – apparently one of the largest for an audio book.  Nick Offerman is excellent.  What a weird book – I listened for almost four hours and was really struggling to figure out what was going on.  Had to read a synopsis when I got home.  Not sure whether I’ll make it through the remaining 3 hours or not.  #2, I decided to venture away from the standard places along the highway and try a real Waco restaurant for my lunch stop.  Harvest was a very good farm to table casual place, not too far off Interstate 35.  The migas were excellent.  I look forward to stopping there again.

 

It was very nice to resume the regular weekend routine with Diana – swim, coffee and crossword, reading.  The simple things that I miss when we’re not together.  We ventured out of the normal routine for dinner, trying a new restaurant for us, Knife, located by Willow Bend Mall.  This is a John Tesar place.  You may remember I came home with a whole pan of his duck confit risotto after attending a demonstration he did at the Granada theater a few years back.  He is starting to expand his empire with a few different places now, after getting his real start as the executive chef at the Mansion on Turtle Creek.

We were both very pleased with the quality of the steak and the sauces.  My au poivre was absolutely delicious.  I chuckled at the mini fry basket that the french fries were served in.  We have plenty of left overs for dinner tonight.

I was even able to resist the chocolate caramel treat and have that waiting for desert later.

I finally finished “Lost Children Archive” by Valeria Luiselli.  On the surface this is a family road trip story.  Parents and two young children embark on a trip from New York to Arizona and the Apache homelands.  Several stories interweave, including narratives on the plight of native Americans, and on children traveling alone across the border in attempts to reunite with family members living in the United States.  All very poignant with the backdrop of our governments challenge to figure out a workable immigration solution on our southern border.  I enjoyed the book quite a bit, but got bogged down in some of the historical details and discussion on documentary field recordings.

Welcome to a new series of introductions to my new music finds – featuring some of  my favourite album covers.  I particularly like the diner scene on the back of Supertramps’ classic “Breakfast in America”.  If you zoom in you can see Dougie Thompson reading the Glasgow Herald.

I had been listening to some Philip Glass music this week, and then read in the acknowledgements in “Lost Children Archive” that Luiselli had listened to his “Metamorphosis” a lot while writing the novel.  Also interesting that the owner of Shakespeare & Co in Paris gave her a room above the store to work in for a year while writing.  Here’s Part 2 of metamorphosis – I love the triplet right hand part around 2:30.

Zero 7, an English duo who began as studio engineers, have a new album out this week with a host of guest vocalists.  All very relaxing, chill sounds, and, not surprisingly, beautifully produced.

Something about the Zero 7 music sent me to Stereolab and one of my favourites from many years ago:

 

Week In Review – August 4, 2019

“Can’t be more than 114”

We covered a lot of ground this week.  I drove down to Austin on Monday to prepare for a presentation to the Board of Directors on Tuesday, driving back to McKinney when the session finished up.  We worked from home on Wednesday, and then caught a flight to Palm Springs for an adventure with the Ogans and two other couples who I’ll introduce you to in due course.

We checked into the gorgeous Korakia (Greek for “crow”) resort  on Wednesday night.  This resort was restored in 1989 and has a Mediterranean style on one side of the street, and Turkish on the other.  This place truly has the feel of an oasis in the desert, and has been featured in many architectural and travel magazines.  The San Jacinto mountains provide an awesome backdrop to the views form the resort.

No wonder the New York Times dubbed the Korakia as “one of the sexiest hotels in America”.

Kenny and Kara in Joshua Tree National Park

We met up with Kenny and Kara (New Orleans friends of Denny and Anne that I met briefly years ago) on arrival at the resort around 9pm.  The A/C in our original bungalow wasn’t working well and so we were transferred to a suite on the Mediterranean side of the road.  The suite and furnishings, including a turntable and good vinyl selection, were lovely, the only issue coming from a very high stone platform bed.  McD needed help in and out to avoid injury.  The shower was off a similar rock disposition, giving the suite a bit of Flintstones feel.  The neighbors were tired of hearing Diana yelling “Yabba Dabba Doo” as she attempted to jump up into the bed.  More about those neighbors, “the arsonists”, later.

“Can you give me a boost?”  We had a delightful evening, getting to know Kenny and Kara, and catching up with Denny and Anne.

Breakfast was included, and served on a gorgeous patio in front of the hotel, by some very happy and kind ladies.  I really enjoyed the avocado toast with a sunny-side egg and tomatoes.  The group managed to rustle up some champagne so that everyone could enjoy mimosas and get the day off to a good start.  I should clarify – the rest of the group had already been on a strenuous hike, climbing around 1500 feet in the roasting temperatures, before D and I joined them for breakfast.

Our main adventure activity on Thursday was the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway.  The 10-minute, 2.5-mile ride, begins at the Valley Station (elevation 2,643 feet) and ends at the Mountain Station (elevation 8,516 feet).  It was amazing to see that the temperature at the base was over 100 degrees, while a cool 65 degrees at 8,516 feet.

It was First Responders’ month, and as Kenny is a Fire Chief, we enjoyed discounted admission, and he received a nice souvenir.  I found the rotating of the tram car (a new feature introduced with a 2000 renovation) and the dips/swing after the towers a bit disconcerting – my Dad would have had a fit.

The tramway was first opened in 1963 after many decades of planning, fundraising, and logistical problem solving.  Construction was mostly accomplished with helicopters, flying some 23,000 missions during the 26 months of construction, hauling men and materials needed to erect the four  towers and the 35,000 sq. ft. Mountain Station.  Over 20 million people have now enjoyed the ride, and the tramway has been designated a historical civil engineering landmark.

The rest of the group enjoyed a hike at the top, while our poorly planned flip flops were an excuse to just relax and enjoy the scenery from the rooftop lounge (world’s 8th best cliff side restaurant).

The descent took less of a toll on my nerves and I was able to enjoy the rotating views as the landscaped changed from high forest to salt desert.

I was amazed at how quickly the temperature rose as we descended back down to the desert floor.

We enjoyed an afternoon snack in downtown Palm Springs, followed by a somewhat refreshing dip in the Mediterranean side pool, and then headed to get ready for dinner.  That’s when we first encountered “the arsonists”.  A younger couple, clearly very much in love and in the room next to us, had decided to light a wood fire to set a romantic mood.  In 114 degree weather?  Really?  No, REALLY?  The flue wasn’t open or some other issue had caused the room to completely fill up with smoke.  They ultimately had to transfer to another room later in the evening.  You can imagine what our Fire Chief thought about these goings on.

For dinner we chose tacos and margaritas at El Jefe in the funky, retro Saguaro hotel.  The shishito peppers, queso fundido, tacos (particularly the shrimp), and margaritas were all very good.  Unfortunately “Karaoke Kenny” wasn’t able to perform as that’s only available at El Jefe during high season.

Some excellent banter followed back at the hotel and we all retired at a relatively early time.

After another delicious and leisurely breakfast on Friday morning, we packed up and headed to Desert Hot Springs (DHS), a bit nearer to the venue for the concert series that initially spurred the trip.

Diana and Anne made a visit to Trina Turk’s clothes shop, while the rest of us picked up coffees and a blue balloon dog for Anne.  Denny and I were both looking for casual lunch spots en route to our next hotel, and both decided on Dillon’s Burgers and Beers at the same time.  This dive bar has been operating for over 70 years and delivered exactly what it advertised – delicious burgers and beer.  A highlight of the visit was playing pool, with Anne receiving detailed instructions from Karaoke Kenny – “Slow your roll, and see through the ball”.

From Dillon’s we made the short drive to El Morocco Inn and Spa.  We were a bit circumspect as we arrived at the hotel – the neighborhood seemed a bit sketchy and the outside of the establishment was not overly welcoming.  However, on embarking on the welcome tour with Debbie, our opinions were changed – this was a very welcoming hotel with lots of great features:  a pretty pool, Moroccan features in the rooms, french press coffee on demand, late night port, Casablanca playing on repeat, and a wonderful spa garden featuring a full size Bedouin tent.

Trey and Dana (long first “a”) arrived from Las Vegas shortly after we checked in.  Trey went to high school with Denny and Kenny, and now lives in Dallas.  Everyone chilled in the pool for a while, enjoying Morocco-tinis, before we made the journey up to Pappy and Harriet’s in Pioneertown for Campout 15.  “What’s all that?”, you ask?  Well, let’s see,  here’s some history from the P&H website:

The legendary Pappy&Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace has been delighting locals and travelers alike since 1982, with its mesquite barbeque, live music, dancing and friendly service. There is also a long history here. In 1946, Pioneertown was founded by a group of Hollywood investors with dreams of creating a living movie set — an 1870’s frontier town with facades for filming and interiors open to the public.

history-3On the outside were stables, saloons, and jails, and on the inside, were ice cream parlors, bowling alleys, and motels. Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Russell Hayden, and the Sons of the Pioneers (for whom the town was named) were some of the original investors and personalities who helped build and invent Pioneertown. More than 50 films and several television shows were filmed in Pioneertown throughout the 1940’s and 1950’s.

history-2

In 1946, where Pappy&Harriet’s stands today, was a facade used as a “cantina” set for numerous western films well into the 1950s. In 1972, Harriet’s mother, Francis Aleba, and her husband, John, purchased the building and opened “The Cantina”, an outlaw biker burrito bar. The Cantina rollicked for 10 years, and when it closed, Francis and John made sure the building stayed in the family.

history-0In 1982, Harriet and her husband, Claude “Pappy” Allen, opened “Pappy&Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace”. While the bikers still hung around, Pappy&Harriet’s presence created more of a family atmosphere. With family style Tex-Mex cuisine and live music featuring Pappy, Harriet and their granddaughter Kristina, P&H quickly became a local favorite with all walks of life getting along under one roof!

And what’s Campout 15?  Two bands formed by David Lowery, Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven, have hosted the Campout music festival at this location for the last 15 years.  This was to be the final event.  Lowery formed Camper Van Beethoven, an experimental indie band, in 1983 in Santa Cruz, CA, and then the more straight ahead, Cracker in the early 90s.  I’m a very big Cracker fan – the “Kerosene Hat” album has been one of my favourites for many years.

Jesika Von Rabbit (I know, what kind of name is that?) kicked off the Friday extravaganza.  I really enjoy their “Joshua Tree” song:

That was followed by a Cracker set.  The theme for the evening was “black”, to recognize the end of the Campout’s 15 year run.  Here’s their best known song:

 

 

Camper Van Beethoven played the headlining set on Friday.  Here’s Diana’s favourite song of theirs:

The sunset behind the band was beautiful:

The founder of the band is David Lowery and one of their most popular songs is a cover of Status Quo’s “Pictures of Matchstick Men”.  See if you agree with my theory here:  Lowry was an English painter, known for his pictures of matchstick men:

Here’s some info on Lowry:  L. S. Lowry (1887-1976) is best known for painting industrial scenes of North West England in the mid 20th century. His characteristic style has a dreamlike quality, populated by stylised figures referred to as ‘matchstick men’. Although Lowry was trained in academic drawing, he chose to develop his own naive style which has brought him widespread recognition. His mysterious, weatherless landscapes express a personal response to the world around him that never fails to bewitch the viewer. Lowry’s paintings tell the true tale behind English city life.

Do you think it’s interesting that Lowery covers a song by Status Quo about paintings by Lowry?  Ok, after all that, here’s a clip of that song, interestingly not really representative of the blues rock typical of Status Quo.  Trivia about Status Quo:  they opened Live Aid at Wembley in 1985 on my first day of work in the oil business.

It was a late arrival back at the El Morocco, but we managed to hang out and tell stories in the Bedouin tent for a while – with a couple of lazy belly dancing characters.  Here’s a picture of Denny and Anne in the spa garden pre-concert – don’t they look happy and relaxed?

The adventure for Saturday was a trip to the Joshua Tree National Park.  Here’s some info from the park website:

Joshua Tree National Park is a vast protected area in southern California. It’s characterized by rugged rock formations and stark desert landscapes. Named for the region’s twisted, bristled Joshua trees, the park straddles the cactus-dotted Colorado Desert and the Mojave Desert, which is higher and cooler. Keys View looks out over the Coachella Valley. Hiking trails weave through the boulders of Hidden Valley.  The park covers 1,235 square miles and was established in 1994.
Several of the roads in the park were closed due to bee infestation.  Apparently the bees are attracted to the moisture in car A/Cs and then end up caught in the vents, wreaking havoc inside.  Oh, I forgot to mention, on Saturday morning I was stung twice by a wasp when exiting the room to go in search of coffee.  In my childhood, I was highly allergic to wasp stings, and swelled up like a balloon dog.  That didn’t happen this time, no ill effects after  a few minutes at all.
Here’s some somewhat shocking information – the tree on the cover of U2’s Joshua Tree album wasn’t taken in the park but in Death Valley.  How can that be?  With thousands of Joshua Trees (the same as Yucca trees) in Joshua Tree park, why wouldn’t they use a picture of one of those?
We stopped for lunch (everyone but Denny) at the Joshua Tree Saloon.  The food was very good, and Kenny and Anne were able to reprise the pool experience.
After a dip in the pool at the El Morocco, we headed up for night two of the Campout.  The order was reversed with Camper Van Beethoven starting, and Cracker headlining.  In between was an interesting experience, The Minus Five performed.  Who are they?  Well, they were formed by Scott McCaughey in 1993 with Peter Buck of REM.  Prior to this band, McCaughey formed The Young Fresh Fellows with Chuck Caroll.  What?  That Chuck Carroll?
Yes – my neighbour in Los Gatos, Joe Carroll’s brother Chuck.  I met him a few times and he can play Anything on the guitar.  The Minus Five were much more animated than expected – kind of a cross between Joe Jackson and Elvis Costello in the late 80s.  Here they are with a Beatles cover.  Can you see Mike Mills and Peter Buck from REM on the right (they are used to much larger stadium audiences):
Cracker closed out the event with this amazing, positive song:
The combination of poor cell service and rural location made securing an Uber a bit of a challenge, but we finally made it back down to the El Morocco and headed straight to bed.
Sunday started with continental breakfast and a quick drive over to Palm Springs airport.  We were back in McKinney by 5pm and relaxing in our favourite spots.
We’ve had plenty of music this week, so I’ll leave you on our own to explore Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven, The Minus Five,  and Fresh Young Fellows.  Enjoy!

 

 

Week in Review – July 28, 2019

“Percussive Pigs”

This was a quiet week by myself, with Diana in California and Wisconsin.  I did venture out for some live music on Tuesday night.  Charlie Hunter and Lucy Woodward were playing at The Townsend.

This was an excellent show.  Charlie plays both bass and lead guitar on the same instrument – the top 2 strings are bass and the others are lead.  The way he builds up rhythms and combines parts is totally unique and very clever.  I had a great seat to observe exactly what he was doing with his fingers.  I saw a couple of other Austin based guitarists at the show and they were clearly amazed at the dexterity and creativity.

Lucy Woodward’s voice was pleasant and she collaborated well with Hunter.  The drummer and percussionist, Keita Ogawa, was outstanding.  The quality of musicianship on display in this small listening room was very impressive.  Here’s Ogawa playing three squeaky toy pigs in an amazing solo:

Here’s a cover from Grease, reinterpreted as a jazz standard:

This was likely my favourite show of the year so far in Austin.

I drove to McKinney on Thursday and then Diana made it back from her travels on Friday night.

The other two Aussies that we met at the Continental Club a few months ago (Sue and Graham) were passing through Dallas and hung out with us on Saturday.  They are so entertaining and funny.

Diana has left on her travels again – headed to Boston for work and returning on Tuesday night.

I enjoyed a couple of TV shows this week – “Shangri La” on Showtime is about the famous recording studio, now owned and operated by uber producer Rick Rubin.  The series showcased his unique approach to pulling the best music out of artists.

Jerry Seinfeld released a new series of “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee”, and I’m thoroughly enjoying it.  The episode with a vintage Maserati and Jamie Foxx in New Orleans was a highlight.

Keita Ogawa, the drummer with Charlie Hunter this week, is also part of the band Snarky Puppy.  This is an ensemble of folks that came together in Denton around the University of North Texas music department.  They have a varying cast of members and uniquely blend jazz, folk, and rock in compositions that I always find interesting.

I heard this Richard Hawley song on TV and through the wonder of Shazam was able to instantly find who was performing and the name of the song.  Hawley is an English singer songwriter with a number of good albums released.