Weekly Updates – Page 43 – Keith Robertson

Week in Review – September 18, 2016

The 10th annual boys’ weekend is here and for the first time it’s not in New Orleans. We tried something new with the 23rd annual edition of the Telluride, CO Blues and Brews festival. Three days of music and beer at high altitude telluride-from-above in Colorado. We flew into Grand Junction and then drove to Telluride with a short stop in Montrose for refreshments at an interesting dive bar (Niko’s).

Here’s a picture of Telluride village from the cable car that runs over to Mountain Village. The festival was held in the park at the end of the village on the right had side of this view.

After the long drive, all we could muster for on Thursday night was a cocktail at the bar downstairs from our condo.

entrance-to-fest downtown

Friday began with a trip on the cable car over to Mountain village and a kick-off bloody Mary.

cable-car-view mountain-village-bloody

Then it was back over to the village for the festival. A huge highlight for me was Jason Isbell who played a varied and spectacular set. Joe Walsh closed the day and was as zany as ever. Here’s his tribute to Glen Frey, “Take it to the Limit”. It got very cold very quickly when the sun set behind the mountains – many layers needed.

After a quick rest back at the condo we headed out to the New Sheridan bar to listen to some excellent reggae music. The place was totally packed and the music was great.

hike-top Saturday began with the first of a couple of torture sessions that I was in store for – a hike 1200 feet up the Beaver Creek trail to some waterfalls. Breath doesn’t come easy at that altitude and climbing that quickly. And for pure humiliation I was passed by a 3 legged chihuahua on the way up and down. The views were excellent though. There was no time for lolly-gagging on the trail since the Grand Tasting started at the festival at 11am. This is an event where 30 or so local breweries provide tastings of their brews – and it’s included in the price of admission and so not to be missed.

After the tasting we saw performances by the California Honeydrops (recommended), North Mississippi Allstars (mixed reviews), Anders Osborne (pictures below and a good performance with just a bit too much noodling and fiddling with overdrive effects), and Gary Clark to close out (great start to the set with Bright Lights). It quickly got too cold for much more of the fest.

anders anders-jams

In the evenings the festival puts on “Juke Joint” events at small halls throughout the village. We caught performances at both the Sheridan Opera House and the Elk’s lodge just down from the condo where the Delgado brothers put on an excellent show for a small number of blues fans. I last saw them at Biscuits and Blues in San Francisco and they were equally good at altitude.

Sunday started well with a trip on the gondola back over to Mountain Village. The plan was to have brunch and enjoy the Cowboys game. That went well for about an hour and then the deadly duo (Denny and Sean) were able to arrange a mountain biking tour they really, really wanted to do. So back over the mountain, pick up bikes and gear, load into a transit van and head up to 10,500 feet to start the Galloping Goose run. This was advertised as a perfect “intro” mountain bike ride suitable for kids.

bike-view bike-lake-view

It started out well with wide, easy trails and these gorgeous views. My first challenge was a puncture about a half mile above Trout Lake pictured above. The crew was completely oblivious to my issue as I walked down to meet them at the lake. Puncture repaired, we headed on down. Some road riding was fine, and then the torture began. Narrow and very steep trails through the woods and streams, and then a couple of miles along the side of a cliff on a narrow pathway. I’m not good with heights – particularly steep drop offs – so there was some walking for me. 17 miles later and a 2200 foot descent and the torture was over and I was ready for a drink and something good to eat. My fist mountain biking experience is behind me. Lesson learned – investigate the reality of the trail before starting.

Monday was a short drive back to Montrose airport and a quick flight home. Montrose has 3 gates but has a TSApre line – something not offered at DFW terminal B with 30 plus gates.

Another excellent boys’ trip in the books. Time to start planning to make Cuba a reality next year.

Week in Review – Sept 4, 2016

Ahhh Paris again – the food, the wine, the cafes, the beautiful picnic spots, the architecture and the atmosphere. I would move here in an instant if there were no constraints on my life (like making a living and being able to afford a nice place to live).

We stayed at the lovely Westin hotel on the Rue de Rivoli which has a great central location and excellent views of the Louvre, the Tuilleries gardens and the Eiffel tower.

On Monday night we walked to the nearby Bar Absinthe for a nice outdoor meal on the square – I had a very tasty sea bass.

bloody The next morning, after a multi-course breakfast buffet, it was off to Montmartre for one of our favorite meals. We almost worked off our breakfast climbing the never ending stairs from the Abesses metro station to Montmartre but weren’t quite ready for lunch. Stopped at a great open air cafe for a Bloody Mary and the crossword. Then on to Cafe Bruant for their amazing duck and foie gras salad and a huge pot of moules frites.

After lunch some exercise was definitely in order. We took the metro over to the Bastille area and searched for something called the Promenade Plante. We eventually tracked it down and it was worth the effort. Similar to the HiLine in New York this is an old elevated railway viaduct line that has been reclaimed as a green zone with walking path and an excellent variety of gardens and plants. The arches under the viaduct have been turned into artists studios. A great use of a disused railway.

And after all of that it was time for a refreshment. We walked to the relatively nearby (getting our exercise today for sure) Moonshiner speakeasy. It’s always great fun to walk through the pizzeria fridge back into a 1920s style speakeasy.

A late dinner at La Coupe D’Or (the corner bar to the apartment we stayed at for my 50th birthday) consisted of escargots (with no garlic or butter:)) and steak tartar. All served by the excellent Pasquale who’s been at this cafe for 3 years now.

Wednesday started with a quick visit to the local supermarket to pick up wine, pate, and a baguette – all for much less than they would cost in the U.S. From there we rode the bateaux bus (a taxi service on the Seine) up to the Eiffel tower and had a very relaxing picnic. Then we relaxed in the sun and read our books for a while. It was disappointing to see all the new security measures around the Eiffel tower but understandable given the recent news in Paris.

Dinner that night was at a new restaurant that we found online. “Pirouette” is located in the Les Halles area and we really enjoyed the young and vibrant atmosphere of the squares around the restaurant.

Thursday was much like Tuesday and Wednesday, which is a very good thing. We took the metro over to the St Germain neighborhood (one of our favorites). We had coffee at a cafe and gave our brains a modicum of exercise with the crossword. Then we found a local market with very helpful staff to select wine, pate and cheese for our next picnic. The location du jour was the Luxembourg gardens. More formal than our prior picnic spots but very picturesque with colorful flowers and the Versailles style gardens.

Our last (sniff, sniff) dinner in Paris was at another new restaurant called Juveniles. We were able to get some exercise walking there from the hotel for about 20 minutes. Juveniles is a very small family run place with a small menu focused on local, fresh produce. It’s also a local wine shop and had great wines at good prices. The foie gras (yes again – and not feeling even slightly guilty) appetizer was outstanding as were the entrees – Diana had tuna and I had guinea hen with the tastiest parsnips that I’ve had.

And another perfect stay in Paris comes to an end. Time to make plans to come back soon.

Week in Review – July 31, 2016

I arrived in New York on Monday afternoon to a heavy thunderstorm. Circled La Guardia for a couple of hours before landing and then took over an hour to drive to the hotel due to the weather. The travel woes were quickly forgotten as I headed to the Village Vanguard jazz club for an evening with the Village Vanguard jazz orchestra. This is a 16 piece all star ensemble that plays most Monday nights. The celebrated their 50 year anniversary in February.

I sat next to a middle school music teacher from Chicago who plays drums in a local big band. He was a great source of comments on the drumming and the band in general and has several students who have gone on to have professional music careers. What a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

It was inter vanguard orch esting to see the Village Vanguard in a documentary called “Becoming Mike Nichols” that I watched between catch up naps on Saturday – apparently he and Elaine May performed there in their early days as an improv duo. The documentary was about Nichols work up to and including “The Graduate” which was his first movie at age 36. It was also Dustin Hoffman’s first movie – Nichols had seen him perform at an off-Broadway production.

Tuesday and Wednesday were long work days at 180 Maiden Lane in the Wall St area. 80 folks locked up in an auditorium with rotating speakers, panels, and group discussions.

Wednesday night was another excellent music adventure. I took the subway up to the Times Square area and saw Joe Ely performing at B.B. King’s club. This club is set up like a supper club with good food, drinks, and great seating/views. I remember seeing Joe Ely for the first time at an outdoor amphitheater in San Antonio over 20 years ago – Ian Moore was the guitarist in his band. He is a great singer/songwriter, originally from Lubbock, TX. His stories and songs were very enjoyable – particularly in the solo acoustic setting. Here’s a movie I made from a few clips I took during the evening. My favorite song of the evening was “Live Forever” by Billy Joe Shaver. I didn’t get a video of that one but it did remind me of the Bugs Henderson song, “I wish I could write like Billy Joe”; a tribute to his stellar songwriting skills.

Here’s some Bugs Henderson – I really miss seeing him live since he passed a few years ago. A trademark Bugs solo starts at 2:48.

Thursday was another work day in New York and then travel back that evening – another weather delayed flight that got me back home pretty late.

Friday night was pizza and wine night with the Wahba’s at their home – trying to distract Patty from her bad news.

On Satur catfish with ponzu sauce day I made my first Blue Apron meal in a while. Catfish with ponzu and red pepper sauce, ginger toasted peanuts, garlic infused rice, and sesame seed zucchini.

I finished the book “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson this week. This is a mind blowing account of the racial injustices of the judicial system in the South (particularly Alabama) told through stories of many cases that the author, a Harvard lawyer who has never really earned much of a living, has worked on over the last 20 years. The progress that Stevenson has driven almost single handedly over the years with many Supreme Court hearings is phenomenal.

Week in Review – July 3, 2016

I spent most of Monday in the air to Tokyo (13 hours). The flight was smooth, I watched a couple of movies and slept for about 6 hours. The first movie was “Eddie the Eagle” – a bit silly but I really enjoyed it. There’s a scene where his Dad asks not to be interrupted as he watches “It’s a Knockout”. This was a real trip down memory lane for me as I remember well watching that show and making a family trip to watch it live in Greenock (I think it was Greenock anyway). I laughed at Eddie’s comment that he was “a bit queasy” going down the 70m jump right before he attempted the 90m. This also reminded me of a family vacation in Austria where we visited the Innsbruck Olympic ski jump – I remember being shocked at the length and height. One of my colleagues in Japan is from England and we had a good time reliving the Eddie Olympics over dinner.

Lunch on the flight was duck with a curry sauce which was surprisingly good for an airline meal – I knew I was taking a bit of a risk with duck which can be very dry in the best of places. My afternoon movie was “London has Fallen” – an action drama about a terrorist attack when world leaders attend the funeral of the Prime Minister in London. Gerard Butler does his best James Bond act. A good airline movie but not as entertaining as Eddie the Eagle.

I read a good article in the New York Times on the plane about the actor Paul Giamatti (one of my favourites). His Dad was the Major League Baseball commissioner when he was growing up – which I did not know. Apparently Paul didn’t care for baseball growing up and still doesn’t really have much interest.

Tokyo arrival time was 2pm on Tuesday afternoon. Customs was quick and easy and I managed to get a nice afternoon swim in the hotel pool. I stayed at the Andaz which occupied the top 5 floors of the Toranomon Hills tower (a pretty swanky building in a nice part of Tokyo). The views from the pool/health club and the restaurant were great. The building that looks like the Eiffel tower is an old cell phone antenna tower.

tokyo room view tokyo eiffell tower

Wednesday was a very busy day of back to back meetings and I sampled a LOT of excellent Japanese food. First was a massive bento lunch box with delicious selections of sushi and sashimi.

Sushi

Dinner was a ridiculously good feast at a French style restaurant. We sat at a bar that was essentially a large hibachi grill and ordered the chef’s choice menu. This consisted of an amazing array of beautifully prepared and presented dishes. My favourites included the langoustine, foie gras stuffed burger, and the pistachio mousse desert. The mousse reminded me of the dessert at Lilette in New Orleans that Anne reshaped after taking a bite when I went to the restroom – also a pistachio mousse. The care that the Japanese chef put into the sauces and presentation was very impressive – all the more so as we were sitting watching everything he did.

serving sauce pots punkin pist mousse lango foie gras burger first course beef app

On Thursday night a group of us had a traditional Japanese dinner – the kind where you take off your shoes and sit on the floor in your own partitioned room. Again lots of courses but nothing to compare to the excellent Wednesday night feast.

Thursday was also our friend Pride’s (175 lb Great Dane) birthday. Here he is being tortured in his 3 year old (legal drinking age for a dog) hat and tie.

Pride

I woke early on Friday, had a short workout and a nice feast from the hugely varied breakfast buffet before heading to the airport for the 11 hour flight back to Dallas. I thought about attending the Porsche meeting that I saw at the hotel. There was a tempting option as I got to the gate for the Dallas flight – right next door was a flight to Paris. The flight was a smooth 11 hours, arrived early and customs and the drive home were quick and painless.

porsche meeting choices

Diana did a great job of making sure I didn’t nap too long on Friday afternoon and keeping me up until normal bedtime. This meant I didn’t really have too much jet lag over the weekend. On Friday night we watched the Olympic trials with a huge highlight being the Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte 200m medley race. It lived up to all the hype with a fantastic race and Phelps just edging Lochte.

phelps butterfuly

There wasn’t much time for music this week. Some great saxophone jazz at the Andaz bar on Thursday night was about it. I did find that there’s a Blue Note jazz club in Tokyo that had some big names – will have to check it out if i ever make it back.

Alicia did have another “gig” on Saturday morning at the downtown McKinney farmers’ market. She did an excellent combination of flute pieces and guitar/singing and did very well with tips this time.

We watched the movie “Broadcast News” from 1987 on Saturday night. I’d forgotten how good it was. Holly Hunter, Aaron Brooks, and William Hurt are all excellent and look so young.

I finished “Shame” by Salman Rushdie this week. It was a very strange novel set in a country that is “not quite Pakistan”. I had read good reviews of the book but thought it was really just a bunch of nonsense with an interesting setting. I think the New York Times got it right with their review stating that – “It is probably easier to play croquet (as in ”Alice in Wonderland”) with flamingos as mallets and hedgehogs as balls than to give a coherent plot summary of ”Shame.”

Sunday was a relaxing day – a workout followed by coffee and crosswords and some time out by the pool (getting some sun so that I won’t burn in Cozumel).

Week in Review – June 26, 2016

On Wednesday we met Gary Rader, an old EDS friend from Philadelphia, at Jasper’s for dinner. Going to Jasper’s reminded me of the many dinners there with EDS colleagues and clients.

Finn arrived on Thursday for the weekend. I cooked Seared Steak and Spiced Potato with sauteed sugar snap peas and tarragon-labneh sauce. This was probably the first meal that I’d actually fully prepared for Finn beyond an omelet for breakfast. After dinner, Finn coached Alicia on pool playing so that she can impress a boy that she likes.

On Friday we went bowling and then to the movies. I won the first game and then Diana came on strongly with a strike in the last frame to win the second game. We’ll need to go again for a deciding match. Diana and I saw “The Free State of Jones” and Finn and Alicia saw “Independence Day 2”. Our movie was set during the civil war and was a pretty depressing reminder of the terrible way that people have been treated during American history.

We went to Rye in downtown McKinney for dinner. Diana and I split a grouper entree which came with a story about Diana feeding grouper in the Great Barrier Reef many years ago. The story was accompanied by visual descriptions of the dimensions of the grouper and the faces they make when feeding.

franc speech brew tanks

On Saturday morning Finn and I took a tour of the Franconia brewery. This was an excellent tour with great samples and a very entertaining speaker. The owner and brew master’s great grandfather started a brewery in the Franconia region of Bavaria in the 1800s. He worked at many of the German breweries before moving to the DFW area 13 years ago. He noticed an untapped niche for locally brewed beer and founded Franconia which is doing very well. His great grandfather is at the top of the logo on the packaging. The presentation was engaging and funny. I definitely recommend the tour.

Hutchins bbq After beer we had lunch at Hutchin’s barbecue joint. Their smoked barbecue meats are excellent. Finn had a rib and brisket combo lunch and I had my usual pulled pork sandwich. We added a couple of treats – Texas twinkies. These are large jalapeno peppers stuffed with cream cheese and brisket and wrapped in bacon. I saved some for Diana who also thought it was delicious.

finn bbq twinkie For Saturday dinner we had planned to go to “Twenty Seven” restaurant in Deep Ellum but were very sad to find out that it had permanently closed. This was one of our favorites in Deep Ellum that served delicious and eclectic small plates that allowed you to sample several things. The chef, known as Chef DAT, is going back to doing the pop-up and underground dinners that he was well known for before opening this place.

I made another Blue Apron dinner instead – Spicy Hoisin Turkey Meatballs with sauteed zucchini and brown rice.

While we were doing our brewery tour, Alicia was playing her first official “gig” at Chestnut Square in downtown McKinney during the farmers’ market. She played for tips for 2 hours – singing with her guitar and performing solo flute pieces. Her fingers really hurt afterwards but she did well enough to be asked to perform once a month. She had a very professional set up with microphones and a good sound system.

A flute A guitar I’m off to finish getting prepared for my trip to Japan tomorrow morning. Then I’m cooking Crispy Catfish and Parsley Mashed Potatoes for dinner. Looking forward to sharing news of my Japanese adventures next week.

Week in Review – June 19, 2016

On Wednesday night we met Denny for a drink at Pepper Smash and then dinner at Mexican Sugar in Legacy Town Center. Denny and Diana had the crab enchiladas and I had fish tacos – both were delicious. Denny drove to College Station on Thursday for a weekend of soccer championship games with Jack and Mason. It was very nice to get to see Denny twice during his visit to Plano.

On Saturday we went to see the movie “Genius” which is about the relationship between Thomas Wolfe (played by Jude Law) and his editor, Maxwell Perkins (played by Colin Firth). Perkins had previously edited books by Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Thomas Wolfe is a Southern writer but not related in any way to Tom Wolfe of “Bonfire of the Vanities” fame. The movie didn’t get great reviews but we both enjoyed it.

fathers day Cowboys apron and hat

bbq tongs Sunday was Father’s day. Here I am with my loot – Cowboys grilling tools, apron and chef’s hat from Will; Miles Davis art from Campbell, Finn, and Melanie; and a lovely selection of cards.

We tried a relatively new restaurant called Sugar Bacon in downtown McKinney for brunch. The restaurant was very nice with jazz music playing but the food was disappointing – pulled pork eggs benedict had hard yokes and very little hollandaise sauce. Apparently they have some new cooks without appropriate supervision.

Peruvian Chicken Ground Beef Arenpas

Blue Apron meals this week were Peruvian Roast Chicken and Potatoes with gree Cod sandwich n beans and creamy jalapeno sauce (my favorite of the three – the chicken spice rub was delicious); Beef Arepas with pickled onion, avocado and radishes (arepas are flat, round cornbreads); and Maryland-style Cod Cake sandwiches with tartar sauce and red cabbage slaw.

I read about the trial claiming that Led Zeppelin plagiarized the song “Taurus” by Spirit for the introduction to “Stairway to Heaven”. The arguments are interesting and Robert Plant and Jimmy Page ended up winning but if you listen to the Spirit song you can certainly see the basis for the suit – particularly since Spirit was the opening act for Zeppelin on a number of shows. It does seem that there should be some kind of statue of limitations on these kind of cases – doesn’t seem right to bring this up over 40 years after the fact.

I came across a great cover of my favorite Led Zeppelin song, “Going to California”, while I was reading about the trial. It’s done by a group called Pressed Strings, a trio from Maryland.

Week in Review – June 12, 2016

The highlight this week was a visit to Greenville Avenue for dinner and a concert on Thursday night.

wayward

We tried a new restaurant, Wayward Sons, which just opened across from the Granada theater. Diana had a lamb brisket and I had English pea falafels. Both were delicious.

brisket pea falafel

granada The concert at the Granada was by the Ian Moore band. He’s a singer and blues guitar player who rose to fame in the early 90s in Austin. My favorite song of his is “Blue Sky” and there’s a link to listen to it below. When we arrived we had a surprise treat of Jason Elmore as an opening act. He’s a local blues guitarist that we typically see in small restaurants or bars and it was nice to see him on the big stage. The sound for Jason was great but Ian’s vocals were way too loud and distorted when he sang loudly – this was disappointing since he has such a great voice.

blue goose

We spent the night at the Magnolia hotel – it was great to wait 3 minutes for a $5 uber from the Granada to the hotel. For lunch on Friday I had one of my favorites – sour cream chicken enchiladas from the original Blue Goose on Greenville.

We decided to attempt the jigsaw puzzle that Denny and Anne gave me for my birthday. It’s a painting by the New Orleans artist Frenchy and the pieces are all interesting shapes and characters – a fleur de lis, a guitar, a saxophonist. The shapes and colors made this the most challenging puzzle we’ve ever attempted. None of the outside edges seemed to fit together normally at all – first puzzle worked from the center outwards. I think Diana spent at least 12 hours on this one in many sittings.

D puzzle Denny came to visit on Sunday afternoon and spent the night with us – he has work in Plano next week. He helped finish up the puzzle with Alicia. I think they did about 20 of the 463 pieces but you would have thought they were the puzzle completing saviors to hear Denny.

D puzzle 2 denny with puzzle

Blue Apron meals this week were: Steakhouse Salmon with thyme-sautéed potatoes, green beans and mushrooms; Spicy miso-glazed chicken wings with purple rice and zucchini salad; and Seared pork chops and fig compote with sautéed kale and faro salad. Denny joined us for the pork and was impressed that I could cook a decent meal. My favorite was the miso chicken wings and I liked the fig compote for the pork a lot as well.

We streamed two interesting movies this week. “Wordplay” is about the New York Times crossword puzzle tournament. It’s a great documentary about puzzle creators and master solvers.

“Bayou Maharajah” is a documentary about James Booker, a crazy and flamboyant New Orleans piano player with amazing technique combining jazz, classical, and blues. I enjoyed watching this one with Denny who appreciated all the New Orleans characters and their commentary.

Discover Weekly on Spotify led me to Mary Gauthier and her amazing song, “Mercy Now”. There’s an excellent cover of this by Mike Farris also. Searching for some information about Mary led me to an excellent music blog, “The Immortal Jukebox”, which provided great background on her interesting life and has many other amazing articles.

Ordinary (Extraordinary) Stories

I finished “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr this week and absolutely loved it. I’ll right a separate posting with more thoughts. I’d been savoring the book slowly but couldn’t put it down over the last 150 pages as all the threads that had been building came together. I’m almost finished with Bob Benmosche’s (AIG CEO who died last year) biography and look forward to writing a post about what I learned from the book.

Week in Review – June 5, 2016

This was a much quieter week than the last two. On Monday, Diana took Kris and Cat to the airport for their flight back to San Jose with a stop at Pappadeaux en route for oyster fest.

Early Tuesday morning I headed to Houston for a couple of days – managed to avoid the majority of the heavy rain and flooding. That night I went to my favorite music restaurant, Sambuca. The music was disappointing – a weak cover band doing Beatles songs and the like – way too heavy on the bass and nothing much to keep my attention. Thankfully, the chilli rubbed scallops on risotto coins was as good as ever. I read some of my book and tried to ignore the music as much as possible.

I made a couple of Blue Apron meals – Spiced Lamb and Beef Tagine with Lemon-Garlic Couscous and Labneh, and Chicken Picatta with Fusilli Pasta and Garlic Chives. Labneh is a kind of yogurt that went really well with the lamb. This was our favorite week so far of these meals – both had great flavor.

Lamb chick picatta

I signed up for the wine pairings from Blue Apron and those have been very nice. They send you small bottles that are just right for 2 people and pair with each of the meals for the month.

On Wednesday night, the Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers very handily. On Sunday they completely destroyed them – made the Lebron James squad look like a college team. The performance from the Warriors bench players in both games has been amazing with different players stepping up in each game. I looked into tickets for game 5 in Oakland – but decided to pass on $700 a seat for the nose bleed area.

We watched the movie, “A Walk in the Woods” – Robert Redford plays Bill Bryson, the travel writer who wrote the book about his months on the Appalachian trail. I really enjoyed the book and the movie gets a solid B- as reasonably mindless entertainment. Nick Nolte as Bryson’s traveling companion was entertaining but completely divergent from the book.

New music this week was from Marc Broussard. He’s playing at the Granada theater on Greenville Avenue later in the year and I wanted to check out some of his music to see if it was a good pick to attend. I saw him briefly at One Eyed Jack’s in New Orleans a few years ago but we were late and didn’t get too much to judge from. I liked his music a lot and bought tickets. Here’s one of my favorites, “I’ll Never Know”. His phrasing is very similar to Chris Stapleton on several songs.

We have the Ian Moore concert at the Granada next week and I’ve been revisiting some of my favorites from him. Really looking forward to the show. Ian sings like an angel and is a fantastic blues guitarist.

Week in Review – May 29, 2016

Another year older! Started the day with a delicious “D” omelet served in bed. Then proved my brain hadn’t completed deteriorated by completing the New York Times crossword in record-tying time – 9 minutes (but it was a Monday, the easiest puzzle). NYT b-day 9 mins

Apparently Google knows it’s my birthday – see the screen I got when logging in to check the definition of a word in my book.

The heavens opened around 8am with a “bouncing” thunderstorm and it seems we can expect more of the same most days this week.

google b-day Rain b-day

taco bell

Diana brought me my favorite comfort food for lunch – the Crunchwrap supreme combo from Taco Bell. It’s probably been a year or more since I had one and I still love them just as much.

I’ve been playing Sonny Rollins “The Bridge” album while working in my home office today. It’s sounding great – “God Bless the Child” is a real highlight.

D assembling

I wandered through to the living room after lunch and came across an unlikely sight. Diana was assembling a new end table for my end of the sofa – needs to be a bit skinnier to accommodate the new wine fridge unit that was installed a couple of weeks ago. I got in trouble for this “unauthorized” picture and was told I should be glad it’s my birthday.

I read this article in the New York Times that I thought was spot on about the need for some arts education in technical fields. Talks about how liberal arts and music majors make some of the most elegant coders.

Might attribute it to the additional year on my age, but I was doing some minor organizing in my home office today and came across this New York Times article that I had saved from the end of 2015 that made a few great points. You can read the full article at the link above but here are a few or my favorite paragraphs:

“Literary fiction lives. You see a lot of Fox news-generated trash and formula fiction on the best-seller lists. American reading tastes have gone the way of the American diet. Yes, but. This year, “All the Light We Cannot See,” Anthony Doerr’s magical, World War II-era story of a blind French girl and a Hitler youth nerd continues to sell like tickets to “Hamilton”. The prose is luminous, the characters unforgettable, the themes universal.”

“Trump and Putin find each other. The bromance between two of the most odios, bullying, narcissistic tyrants has been building for some time. Now, they have professed their mutual affection for each other….Trump sneers at women, the disabled, blacks, Mexicans, Muslims, veterans and anyone who is unattractive. “He is a really brilliant and talented person”, said Putin. The vulgarian and the war criminal, together at last.”

I had an amazing surprise birthday dinner – I was banned from the kitchen for a couple of hours – not even allowed to glance in the general direction. Diana manufactured some meat pies (like the New Orleans ones that I love) with her famous mushroom medley.

K and Meat Pies

Desert was a grape pavlova from my Mum’s recipe – the one that was used to disguise the mailing of the 50th birthday pictures to Diana. D was very proud of her first ever pavlova – it did turn out really nicely. And there’s lots of leftovers to enjoy all week.

Pavlova pavlova slice K and Pavlova

The present opening took place after dinner. Here I am with several of my gifts. A HUGE martini glass full of Maltesers from Alicia, a Steve Earle album from Melanie, and an Eric Clapton album from Campbell. big martini Clapton

Diana said the imported Maltesers to fill up the martini glass were more expensive than the glass. We’re taking bets on how long until the glass is ready for an “auto-refill”.

I think I’m as difficult for my Mum and Dad to buy gifts for as they are for me. They did a great job with a really modern and sleek looking candle set. The snuffer is my favorite part of the design.

Candle

Diana’s gift was a Go-Pro camera and lots of special accessories to use on our scuba diving trip to Cozumel in July. One of the accessories is a head-strap so that the camera sees what you see. Going to have fun using that one around the house and during the Sweet Sixteen party on Saturday.

Giants

When Finn and I spent the day in San Francisco, we visited the Giants stadium gift shop. I was telling him about the Jerry Garcia night at the Giants game and the special t-shirts they make. Finn surprised me with one as a gift.

Before dinner we watched the finale of “The Voice” singing competition. My pick for the winner was Adam Wakefield. Here he is singing Vince Gill’s “When I Call Your Name”.

catfish

On Wednesday I made Crispy Catfish with Yuzu-Kosho Udon and Snow Peas. Yuzu-Kosho is a traditional Japanese condiment made from the zest of Yuzu (an East Asian sour fruit), chile peppers and salt. The Udon noodles and ponzu sauce were great.

On Thursday Adamo (Diana’s youngest brother) and Diana’s Mum (Clorinda) arrived in the evening. We were busy with preparations including moving a bed downstairs into Diana’s office and this entertaining hot tub repair – a seal had to be replaced so that the hot tub didn’t drain in the evenings when the pool pump is off.

Pool repair

The big sixteenth birthday on Friday started out with Alicia’s driving test in a city an hour away called Bonham – apparently the only place that she could get an appointment on her actual birthday. It was raining heavily and the hour drive to the test office was quite trying for Diana and Alicia. In the end it was worth it. Here’s Alicia with her temporary license after passing her test.

A license

After that excitement, Adamo and I picked up Kris and Cat (Alicia’s godparents) from the airport. On Friday evening, the group plus 3 of Alicia’s best friends had a special birthday dinner at Gregory’s Bistro in Adriatica (a development styled after a Croatian village in walking distance of our home). Gregory’s recently moved to this location and we’re very happy to have them so close. Everyone loved their meals and Lydia and Gregory were very gracious hosts.

Here I am with Penelope and Clorinda arriving for dinner.

P and clorinda

Here’s a series of pictures taken in Adriatica before dinner. Three generations, Alicia with her godparents, the whole crew of girls, and my favourite (Alicia with her Grammie).

3 generations A and god Alicia and dinner crew A and Clorinda

Gregory made his famous (and rarely created these days) chocolate souffle for everyone. Here’s the birthday version:

A and gregory soufle

After all that excitement, it was time to get organized for the big party at the house. Decorations were hung, a photo booth with streamers and silly accessories assembled, flowers distributed, snacks set up, the outdoor inflatable movie-screen erected, balloons blown up and tied to the mailbox, and the largest project – photo boards of Alicia’s life – assembled with great precision.

We had 25 kids and somewhere around 20 adults for the evening. Cavalli’s set up their portable brick pizza oven in the driveway and everyone got to choose their personal pizza. The pizza and appetizers were a big hit with all. The party ended up being a huge success. Here’s a video that Alicia’s friend Andrews (headed for film school now that he’s graduated from high school) put together:

On Sunday Clorinda and Adamo headed home. We took Kris and Cat to Deep Ellum (an eclectic neighbourhood just East of downtown Dallas) for drinks at the Twilite Lounge and dinner at the Freeman (a fantastic New Orleans restaurant). There was a great jazz band playing during dinner. Diana and I split the shrimp etouffe (spicier than usual but still amazing). On the drive home we replicated the infamous J.F.K drive through downtown Dallas past the school book repository and the conspiracy laden grassy knoll.

Week in Review – May 22, 2016

I made a last minute trip to New York on Monday for a 6 hour meeting that ran from 1-7pm. It was difficult to find a flight that got there in time, so I tried Virgin America for the first time. Virgin was a pleasant change from American Airlines – the seats seemed a bit larger and the in-flight entertainment was good – including the ability to order food and drink from the seat back entertainment screen. I watched a remake of the movie “Point Blank” on the flight – it was like a Warren Miller ski/snow board adventure film – great stunts and scenery with a weak plot and acting – good material to pass the time on a plane. Here’s what I thought was an over the top demonstration of law enforcement as I was pulling up to my hotel to change for the meeting.

Wall st enforcement

The conference room that I was confined to for 6 hours at least had a very nice view.

175 Water view east river

After the meeting I attempted to visit the Village Vanguard jazz club in Greenwich Village. On Monday nights the Village Vanguard Orchestra plays – they and the club are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year and are world renowned. When I got there the show was sold out but there was a short line for no-shows. I got in line and unfortunately was the first one in line that didn’t get in – the last group of 4 taken was right in front of me.

Village Vanguard sign Village Vanguard selfie

Here’s a video of the orchestra so that you can see what I missed.

I was pretty tired at this point (car service picked me up from home at 5am) and so just headed back to the hotel with the help of the New York subway iPhone app.

Subway

On the walk from the subway station to the hotel I passed “bookend” restaurants for my time with Mark DeBenedictus at AIG. Bailey’s is where I had breakfast with Mark when he first pitched me on the idea of leaving HP and joining AIG. Giardino D’Or is where we had Mark’s last supper on the evening that he left AIG.

bailey mdb giardino

Tuesday began with a few meetings and then a flight back to Dallas. I read a bit of my “All the light we cannot see” book – the setting has now moved to St Malo which reminds me of our family vacation in Brittany and several visits there. I also discovered some new music on the Virgin in-flight music channels. Here’s some things I enjoyed listening to:

Hearing the band “Pearl Django” made me think of the jazz music played at cafes in Paris – apparently it’s known as “French Jazz” or “Gypsy Jazz”. The Pearl Django music is inspired by the jazz guitarist Django Reinhard. Here’s some of their music and an excellent French Jazz playlist that I found on Spotify.

Guy Clark, a classic Texas songwriter, famous for “Desperados waiting on a train” and “LA Freeway” passed on Tuesday. I remember watching a great cover of this at Tolbert’s restaurant in downtown Dallas over 20 years ago – can’t for the life of me remember the name of the musician performing it. Here’s Guy Clark’s original version. I also recommend the versions by The Highwaymen and Jerry Jeff Walker. It was interesting to read that Guy was also an excellent guitar maker and made a living doing this while writing songs in LA prior to his move to Nashville and the release of his classic albums.

Wednesday was a quiet work from home day. I managed to catch up with a few backlogged crosswords as well. The Blue Apron delivery arrived and I made Red Curry and Coconut Shrimp Stir-Fry with Rice Noodles and Pea Shoots for dinner.

coconut curry shrimp

On Thursday I braved the commute to Roanoke after a few meetings at home. A pleasant stop on the way was at the coffee shop in Grapevine where I finished the USA today crossword in reasonable time.

Thurs USA xword

I escaped for a quick lunch at my favorite local New Orleans style restaurant, “Bayou Jack’s” – a bowl of their delicious crawfish bisque. I heard a number of good new musical artists on the commutes. Snarky Puppy is interestingly from Dallas and is playing at the Granada theater tonight.

I have to do some research to find out the name of the drummer on the Joey Defrancesco track – he sounded amazing.

I switched from Jazz and the Jam_On Sirius station over to B.B. King’s Bluesville station and came across Eric Bibb – sounded a lot like really good Robert Cray.

I arrived home to find the pool busy draining all its water out into the street. We’re having the re-plastering redone to remove the streaks and inconsistent staining.

pool

Another Blue Apron dinner on Thursday night. This time soy-glazed meatballs with jasmine rice, Swiss chard, radish and scallion. Another great tasting meal.

meatballs

On Friday we headed out to the Four Seasons golf course in Irving, TX to watch the 2nd round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament. We try to head out for at least one day each year. It’s not as luxurious these days since EDS isn’t the sponsor – no luxury boxes, food and drink. Here are Diana and our friend Vinod enjoying the action on the 17th green.

17th hole Vinod and D

We walked most of the course, educating Vinod on the basics of golf as we went. We watched Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia (getting ready to tee off below), Matt Kuchar and several others along the way. Sergio ended up winning on Sunday after a sudden death playoff with Brooks Koepka from Florida. It was an exciting finish with several players having a chance to win.

Sergio

New albums were released this week by 2 veterans – Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan. So far, I much prefer the Bob Dylan classic song covers. Eric Clapton’s is pleasant with great musicianship but doesn’t keep my attention the way his older albums still do. It’s very much of a J.J. Cale tribute continuation with 2 covers and several of the Tulsa musicians that played on all J.J.’s classic recordings.

Sunday dinner was the last of the Blue Apron deliveries for this week – Seared Chicken and Verjus Pan Sauce with mashed potatoes, mushrooms and kale. I had to look up Verjus Blanc (white grape juice) – the tart, fresh juice of unripe wine grapes. It is a culinary ingredient indigenous to the world’s wine producing regions that is used in sauce making, for poaching fish and meat, and to dress lettuces, vegetables and fruit.

chicken verjus

I was finally able to track down a near pristine used copy of an album that I loved in University – “Bright Size Life” by Pat Metheny.

metheny back metheny front

This was released in 1976 and was one of the first recordings by both Pat Metheny and my favorite bass player, Jaco Pastorius (of Weather Report fame). I used Jaco’s solo album to audition hi-fi speakers – 90% of them rattle during his “Portrait of Tracy”. This album is for Pat Metheny what “Kind of Blue” is for Miles Davis. All music lovers should hear this music. The collaboration of Pat, Jaco and Bob Moses on drums is amazing. The music has a lot of empty space that highlights the way Jaco plays electric bass like a lead instrument and really enhances Metheney’s playing (which almost has a country twang sound in places – a sound rarely heard in jazz). Moses’ explosive but very detailed drumming is quite unique and adds a very interesting texture to the music. There’s a new documentary out about Jaco that I’ll have to watch soon.