Weekly Updates – Page 31 – Keith Robertson

Week in Review – January 12, 2020

“Snow Day”

This was a relatively uneventful week, with Diana and Alicia in McKinney and me playing at working hard.

Damon came over for dinner on Tuesday night and was able to participate in Diana’s update about the fire department going to Grammie’s house. She called them because she smelled burning – a space heater overloading a plug.

In related news, this large looking mountain lion was caught patrolling around Grammie’s house again. Apparently (according to McD) they make a 150 mile circuit around the Bay Area. I’m not sure I want to come face to face with this guy – the bobcats are one thing, but this seems a lot more challenging. Speaking of bobcats – here’s a picture of a mother and baby on Gypsy Hill this week – lot of nature going on up there on the “hill”:

I attended a fancy work executive committee pow-wow on Thursday night at the lovely Jeffrey’s restaurant in West Austin. We had talked about having my birthday dinner there but chose Justine’s instead, so I was interested to try it out.

The setting is sophisticated but casual, with a very comfortable feel. The bar area was very cool and has a great all night happy hour menu. I laughed when our strategy guy, a 6 foot 6 inch Swede, left his menu on a candle until it almost caught fire – reminded me of a trip to the City Winery in Nashville when our group had a similar experience.

For dinner, I selected the snapper en papilotte (French for “enveloped in paper”), and it was delicious.

It was funny to watch the crew leave at the end of the evening. Blair’s monster, lifted truck coming through the valet, Jacob, our tall Swede, taking off on a monster Harley etc. What a crew!

I left Austin early on Friday, in hopes of beating the monster storm into McKinney. Penelope and I were in the garage around 4pm, just prior to the downpour. We didn’t get the 2 inch hail and tornadoes that were forecast – thank goodness. The temperature was 70 degrees on Friday, and Saturday started below freezing with a dusting of snow. Crazy Texas weather.

The weekend was normal – workouts followed by coffee and crosswords. Diana did win the crossword battle on Saturday by 15 seconds – I really need to step up my game.

Alicia flew back to San Luis Obispo on Sunday morning, then we had late workouts. I enjoyed the NFL playoff game between Kansas City and Houston, while McD read a kindle book.

I warned you up front – a pretty uneventful week. We’ll try to be a bit more exciting in the coming week.

I finished “The Quaker” by Liam McIlvanney this week. Liam is the son of William McIlvanney, one of my favourite authors and writer of my number one book – “Walking Wounded”. This book was a Christmas gift from my parents, under the heading “getting you back in touch with your Scottish roots”. It was the Scottish Crime Book of the Year in 2018.

I really enjoyed the descriptions of Glasgow in 1969, as major portions of the population are moved from old, decaying tenements to supposedly better environments. The story was well done, unfolding slowly and keeping you guessing. I thought I had it solved at page 250 of 400 – only partially. Liam is an excellent writer, but doesn’t have his father’s ability to capture a thoroughly believable character in a few paragraphs.

“What if he does it again, sir?” McCormack drained his glass and set it down. “You thought of that? We have Paton inside and the Quaker does another. What happens then? You’re playing golf in Maidens. We’re still here””.

This paragraph reminded me of the hilarious day in the Maidens, when Uncle Ian’s wheelchair backed into a hole. Good memories of good times.

The Barrowlands ballroom is at the center of this story, and it reminded me of going to the Kings Theater in the Gorbals a few times in High School – all that culture in the middle of a very rough neighbourhood.

I recommend this book to anyone looking for a good crime thriller and an understanding of the Glasgow milieu.

I came across this amazing version of St. James Infirmary this week. What do you think? Best version ever?

What an excellent Jerry Garcia song from his first solo album:

Christone “Kingfish” Ingram is the new face of the blues. We saw him at the ACL Hall of Fame induction ceremony, playing with Buddy Guy, and he was excellent. From Clarksville, Mississippi, he grew up in the home of Robert Johnson and seems to really embody the blues.

The Building is a band fronted by Anthony LaMarca, guitarist for War on Drugs. Very peaceful music.

Week in Review – January 5th, 2020

“75 degrees in early January?”

Penelope and I led the way down to Austin on Monday, with Diana following behind in the racing Passat. Alicia flew in on Thursday and the girls are driving back up to McKinney on Monday, so we needed two cars.

My Christmas present from Diana was delivered in person to the apartment on Monday night. Sharon from the Soundwaves art gallery decided it would be easier to drive over my painting than to mail it. She is married to the artist, Tim Wakefield, who creates these excellent music related pieces. Mine is of The Kinks “Waterloo Sunset” and is signed by Ray Davies. It looks amazing. Thanks D! One of my very favourite songs from such an underrated band.

Sticking with the new artwork theme, we installed Quine and Loon in our Austin bedroom – don’t they look great?

And finally, D’s spin art from the Christmas party was installed in the Austin bedroom as well. It’s an album by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a glam rock band formed in Scotland in 1972. I can remember checking their albums out of the High School library in Stewarton. How did the spin art folks happen to have one of these albums in Austin, TX? I think Diana created a very interesting piece.

Our first New Year’s Eve in Austin was a lot of fun. We met up with a work colleague, Issac, and his wife Adrienne. They have a similar situation to us, splitting time between a home in San Antonio and an apartment in Austin. Issac selected La Volpe (the fox) as our dinner destination with a 10:30pm reservation to facilitate ringing in the New Year.

The interior of the restaurant was very modern and cool, and I read was designed by Jennifer Long, who also worked on C-Boy’s Heart and Soul on South Congress.

The special menu was all small plates with some great options. The plates ended up not being so small and we had plenty to eat.

The poached lobster and duck confit risotto were absolute standouts. Great choice Issac! We wandered around the corner to Antone’s blues club to close out the evening and posed for these fancy pictures in front of Eddie V’s:

New Year’s Eve in Austin certainly ended up being more exciting than our typical McKinney experience. Maybe we’ll do it again next year.

We rested up on New Year’s Day and planned some fun for Alicia’s arrival on Thursday. Festivities started with dinner at Diana’s favourite Austin restaurant, Peche. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their meals. Then we walked across the street to the Parker Jazz Club for the early show. The House Band was playing, but we got very lucky. The trumpet player Mike Sailors was sitting in, along with club owner Kris Kimura (who plays 10 different instruments including various clarinets, saxophones, flugel horn, and ukulele), and an excellent trombone player. Sailors has been a big name in New York for the last several years, playing with the Village Vanguard orchestra and the Birdland band, among many others. He just moved back to Austin to take the role of jazz trumpet professor at the University of Austin, and this was his first gig. What a treat! The music was very much focused around Louis Armstrong – perfect for me. Here’s a sample.

Did I mention an excellent trombone player?

Armstrong’s “The Sunny Side of the Street” took me back to New Orleans and Kermit Ruffins at Vaughan’s on my first evening in that fantastic city:

Everyone thought the music was outstanding. A great first night for Alicia.

On Friday night, Alicia decided she was in the mood for sushi. I suggested Lucky Robot on South Congress based on a quick Yelp search. We had walked by it many times, but never considered dining there. The food and service were both very good, with a menu that included several things that I liked – pork belly bao (steamed buns). There are a lot of origami birds inside.

Saturday was a gorgeous 70 degree day – seriously, in January – so I went for a jog along the river trail while the girls hit the gym downstairs. In the afternoon, we walked across to the Alta coffee shop and enjoyed the sunset. A very nice, relaxed Saturday.

Sunday started with workouts downstairs and then brunch on the rooftop patio at El Alma – such a good, close spot. Then we drove over to Covert Park to hike up to the top of Mount Bonnell. This is the highest spot in the city limit of Austin at 785 feet – I know, not that impressive in the scheme of things, but does offer some excellent views of downtown, and up and down river. There are some little multi-million dollar shacks right below the peak. It’s 106 steps up from the parking area to the top of Mount Bonnell. Whew, we made it!

McD took advantage of a table to enhance her view, and I snapped this picture of the two girls looking up river.

“Mission Song” by John Le Carre was my first book this week. I “borrowed” it from the bookcase at Mum and Dad’s house. The story is told from the point of view of Bruno Salvador, “Salvo”, a very talented interpreter of African, particularly Congolese, languages. This is Le Carre’s 20th novel, published in 2006, and it focuses attention on the atrocities committed in the Congo, and largely ignored by the British and American press. Salvo begins his interpreter assignment thinking he is helping Britain find a good solution to the problems in Congo, then realizes it’s just another plan to take advantage of the region’s natural resources. He decides to attempt to stop the plan, with dire consequences. This was a typically beautifully written Le Carre book, with another really disappointing ending. A 375 page book, that comes to a conclusion with a report occupying the last page and a half – I’m getting really tired of less than rewarding endings. The commentary on the role an interpreter plays and the skill associated with the position seemed very well done.

My second book was “Made in Scotland” by the hilarious, and very Scottish, Billy Connolly, a Christmas gift from my parents. What an excellent read, but fair warning, the language is very salty at times.

There are so many great stories from a very interesting life, starting with Billy’s tough childhood and initial working life at 15, as a welder in the Clyde shipyards – building the Queen Mary and QE2.

I learned that Connolly had a band in the early 70s and recruited a young Gerry Rafferty to join. The duo were quite successful, but Rafferty was clearly a more sophisticated and talented musician, going on to release some amazing albums. Did you now that Dire Straits opened for Rafferty on some of his biggest tours?

I enjoyed the stories about Connolly’s Dad taking he and his sister to Rothesay, on the Isle of Bute, for summer holidays during the Glasgow Fair. And handing their buckets and spades to the incoming Paisley Fair kids as they left. The descriptions of the trauma of a knitted swimsuit are very funny.

This book has a lot of heart and soul, and captures the Scottish population very nicely.

Let’s start with some more of “Sunny Side of the Street”. The original and Kermit’s version from Vaughan’s:

The Australian Teskey Brothers came across Spotify again this week. What a great sound:

And this song by FREEMAN popped up again. I really like this one:

Week in Review – December 29, 2019

“Quine and Loon”

David arrived in Stewarton on Sunday evening in time for some of my Mum’s yummy steak pie. Diana found the two of us waiting patiently in anticipation of the pie quite entertaining for some reason.

We enjoyed breakfast at the Millhouse on Monday morning, prior to David driving us up to Aberdeen in what’s known as a “Duber” service (David’s Uber). We gave him a very good rating. The Millhouse is much nicer than when I visited the previous discotheque incarnation more than 35 years ago. The 4 hour drive (with a pleasant stop for coffee) concluded just in time for us to ooh and aah over the amazing rural views from Elspeth and David’s home before the early sunset.

That’s the Bennachie mountain range in the distance, and the highest peak, Mither Tap at 1,732 feet, on the left. How would you like to enjoy that view from your kitchen every day? A website says it should take about 2.5 hours to climb Mither Tap. I asked David how long it took him – about an hour – sounds pretty typical of the speed he moves.

David’s younger sister, Suzanne, and her family arrived shortly after us on Friday afternoon. They came even further than us – all the way from Brisbane, Australia. It was funny to watch David looking down the road and judging the size and speed of each car to determine if it could possibly be Suzanne. When they arrived, Suzanne said she knew she was at the right house because she saw the way David was walking through the window. It was a real treat to meet the entire Ruff family of Suzanne, Alan, Rebecca, Izzy (Isabelle), and Alex.

From the left: Izzy, Alex, Michael, Heather, Struan, Rebecca, Bramble in the foreground

David was a good sport and took the girls out to enjoy the night sky from the hot tub.

The Ruffs headed off to the Lecht Ski Center on Monday morning, in search of some snow for the girls – not much of that in Australia. David took us to an excellent coffee shop – the Coffee Apothecary near Pitmedden, a short drive from the house.

The coffee selection and presentation were great, as was the chicken liver pate. What a nice feature to have such an excellent place close by in such a rural setting.

After coffee and a snack, it was Bramble’s time to have some fun. Who’s Bramble? Sorry – the latest addition to David and Elspeth’s family, a red Labrador retriever. David took us to Fyvie castle to give her a good run. Another pet seemed to sneak in on the adventure – that crazy baby penguin certainly gets around.

Here’s a video of the exercise routine. It helps when Bramble keeps an eye on the ball all the way to hitting the ground. Diana survived a direct hit on the noggin with the tennis ball from the launcher shortly after this video was made.

Tuesday was a quiet and relaxing day. David, Suzanne, Bramble and I went for a walk around the neighbourhood. I wasn’t expecting to be doing quite as much “off-roading” through mud and long grass. Wind power is popular in Scotland, with turbines seen all over the landscape. We passed under a set used to power the ice cream making operation at Mackie’s farm, next door to Bonnyview.

Our hike lasted about an hour and we had worked up a good appetite by the time we finished. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew was working their way slowly through a Christmas jigsaw puzzle. I’ll spoil the excitement and let you know that the puzzle was ultimately completed on Boxing Day afternoon. I hate to think how many man and woman hours were invested.

We expected an early start on Christmas Day with the young girls in the house. They were exceptionally patient, and even waited through breakfast before heading to the living room to open presents. There were lots of fun presents for everyone. Here’s McD with one of the stuffed trophy heads we received from Elspeth and David. Aren’t they hilarious? They did generate some interest on the trip home as they peeked out from Diana’s carry on bag, even getting the once over by the Dallas customs team.

The girls enjoyed the colouring book, pens and charm bracelet kit that Diana picked out for them.

Elspeth, David and Heather worked very hard on a delicious Christmas dinner. From the prawn and smoked salmon starter, through turkey with all possible fixings, through to Christmas cake and pudding (thanks Mum), everything was perfect.

The hilarity level went up a bit after dinner with board game time. We played several rounds of a game, the name of which I can’t remember now, where you had to describe a thing without using the word. The teams were evenly matched and so we kept having to play another deciding game.

That was followed up with a game of Cranium. I enjoy the variety and silliness of this game – everything from clay modeling, to charades, to blindfolded Pictionary. I was disappointed that nobody could guess my puppeteer work as I had Suzanne demonstrating how to milk a cow. It’s really lovely to see everyone laughing and having so much fun.

The Ruffs left early on Thursday morning. Not really that early to give David a good excuse for wearing his pajamas out to close the gate after them.

David and I used our time in the afternoon to coach Michael through enhancing a picture that we had jokingly titled the “Elf on the Shelf”. I shared this with Brent, who in typical clever fashion, suggested “impaired on the stairs”.

We drove to the nearest decent sized town, Inverurie (Diana can do a decent Scottish accent on this one), for an Indian dinner. Rajpoot was very good, with everyone really enjoying their meals. The owner thought he was funny bringing me a kids dessert served in “Miss Pinky” – I had laughed when I saw them on the menu.

Our visit was drawing to a close and we did our best to organize our packing for an early start to the airport on Friday.

The airport is located less than a mile from where I worked my first job out of University at Gearhart. The area has changed a lot since 1985, but the Four Mile Inn (a regular lunch spot back in the day) is still there and looks much the same. The Aberdeen airport was small and pain free (other than not having jet bridges, resulting in us having to haul our carry on luggage up slippy metal stairs), and we were soon in some very comfy seats (particularly for a shuttle flight to Heathrow) and enjoying a massage.

The flight to Dallas was around 10 hours and a bit hot and stuffy. I was glad to get home and stretch out. I did catch up on some movies and enjoyed a TV series by Billy Connolly about traveling through the east coast of the United States. I had been reading his autobiography (a present from Mum and Dad) on the earlier flight.

We got a much needed work out in early on Saturday (early to bed and early awake thanks to time changes) and then enjoyed coffee and a crossword in downtown McKinney. We enjoyed reflecting back on how enjoyable our visit to Stewarton and Bonnyview had been. We are fortunate to enjoy spending time with our family as much as we do.

We exchanged gifts that were too much to carry to Scotland on Saturday afternoon. These penguins nest like Russian dolls. One of several very creative gifts that Diana picked out for me. She got another puzzle – this one double sided for extra fun.

I finished “Olive Again” by Elizabeth Strout this week. I had recently watched a TV series based on the original “Olive Kitteridge” book, and starring Bill Murray and Frances McDormand. I kept visualising them as I read this sequel. It’s a bit of a depressing story as each chapter chronicles residents of the town and their interactions with the aging Olive, but Strout is an excellent writer who can create a very vivid picture of a character in just a few paragraphs.

I’m not a huge fan of Christmas music, so try to find twists on it that I enjoy. As usual, New Orleans to the rescue. Here’s a big band version of a classic carol.

And here’s a couple from a great New Orleans Christmas album:

I heard this more raucous and irreverent carol by the Pogues on the Scottish radio:

Week in Review – December 15, 2019

“Nothing to See Here”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And a selection from his solo record:

I enjoyed this song from Bonnie Raitt this weekend:

Week in Review – December 7, 2019

“Pins Out”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Week in Review – December 1st, 2019

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And finally another Austinite, Shinyribs:

Week in Review – November 24, 2019

“Levon’s New Drum Set”

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

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

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

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

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

clam ceviche

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Open in Spotify

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

Open in Spotify

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

Open in Spotify

Week in Review – November 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.

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

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: