A welcome quiet week at home with no travel, concerts or any major events.
I was sad to learn of the passing, at age 86, of Andrew Sachs who played Manuel in Fawlty Towers, the British comedy written by and starring John Cleese and Connie Booth. Manuel is a waiter from Barcelona working in the Fawlty Towers hotel in Torquay in the “English Riviera”. There are only 12 episodes of this classic British comedy and they are all hilarious. The highlights are often the interactions between Basil Fawlty (John Cleese as hotel proprietor) and Manuel who struggles with English. Here’s one of my favorites.
On Friday we loaded up these boxes for the Salvation Army into Mike Mead’s behemoth of a Tahoe and drove them to Willow Bend mall for drop off. Hopefully the car seats, toy piano, headphones and other goodies will help make Christmas merry for some needy families.
After unloading we enjoyed a late lunch of oysters for Diana and crawfish bisque for Keith at Pappadeaux’s.
The high school band kids had auditions for the all-region band on Saturday morning and we were treated to some excerpts from a few of Alicia’s friends on Friday night. Flutes, clarinet, and bassoons.
Saturday started with an overdue workout. Then I made one of m
y favorite Blue Apron meals yet – smoked trout tartines. Flaked smoked trout mixed with stewed scallions, creme fraiche, mayonnaise, dill and celery on a toasted baguette. A yummy lunch.
In the afternoon we went to see the movie “Manchester By The Sea” at the Angelika theater. The movie stars Casey Afleck and Michelle Williams and is not a light-hearted, up-lifting movie by any stretch. However, the acting from both the leads is superb and the story is very realistic. The ability of the writer and director, Kenneth Lonergan, to interject humor that works into such heavy subject matter is a testament to his skill. I predict several Oscar nominations and wins for this film.
After the movie we had a relaxing drink and snack at Del Frisco’s Grille and then headed home for some quiet reading time. I’m working my way through “The Nix” by Nathan Hill and am really enjoying it. I’m currently in a section set against the backdrop of the riots at the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago. I was shuffling through some music on Spotify while reading and stopped on this excellent vintage Genesis song from the 1976 album “Wind and Wuthering”. I have a biography of Peter Gabriel (Genesis lead singer in the early days) in my stack of books waiting to be read. It seems very detailed and was recommended by a musician gentleman sitting next to Diana on our summer flight from Paris to Glasgow.
I’m typing this while enjoying watching the Steelers beating the Giants – good result for the Cowboys (if it stands) who play the Giants next Sunday night. Here’s a great play from the Thursday night Cowboys victory (to advance to 11-1) over the Vikings.
tish Santa – we’ve named him “Peaty” since his bagpipes are bottles of Scotch whisky and my favorite single malts are the peaty flavored ones from Islay.
preparations got into full swing. A fifteen pound turkey was prepped and set to bake in the oven. Diana made some very tasty stuffing with a combination of regular and spicy Italian sausage, corn, and celery. It was a huge hit and I’m still enjoying the leftovers. Sweet potatoes were baked, potatoes mashed, and green beans cooked up. A thoroughly delicious and successful first Thanksgiving meal cooked at home for Diana and me.
Greg) for cocktails at what is reported to be the “World’s Best Cocktail Bar”. The “Dead Rabbit” has won all the major best cocktail bar awards for the last few years and it did not disappoint. I had a “Fifth Gear” which was based on Irish whiskey and very strong. That was accompanied by my favorite pub food – a shepherd’s pie made with lamb.
was a full day of meetings. The organizers tried to spice things up with some “lightning talks” – 5 mins or less on any topic an attendee had in mind. We submitted topics in advance and the audience voted. My talk, “Humble and Kind”, was selected first. The idea came to me after enduring the prior week of hateful speech from all sides and particularly the reports from our schools. The talk seemed to be well received and the song “Humble and Kind” by Tim McGraw was played at the end of the day 
on both Tuesday and Wednesday.
ng provided a real musical highlight. We saw Marc Broussard perform at the Granada theater. Dinner before at the Sundown restaurant next door to the theater was very good. Marc has a great voice and a solid band including 3 horns. We enjoyed a couple of soaring saxophone solos. My highlight of the show was a cover of “Sneaking Sally Through the Alley”, originally recorded by Robert Palmer with The Meters from New Orleans as his band. The George Porter bass line is one of my favorites.
I don’t think there’s anywhere better to see a concert than at the Kessler theater in Oakcliff, just south of downtown Dallas. The sound is pristine no matter what band is playing, the staff are friendly and helpful, the bar is great and the reserved table seating in front of the stage is excellent.
e’s. This was a recommendation from the Wahba’s and a great new place for us in the Bishop Arts district. It describes itself as “An American Bistro with a southern low-country influence”. The interior is quite elegant but casual. We started with a beet salad which was interesting in that it included strawberries – turned out to be a good combination.
Then we split some perfectly cooked New Zealand lamb chops while Patty and Brent had one of their favorite shrimp and grits in Dallas.
ew to New York again on Monday to attend work meetings for a few days. On Monday night I met up with a few work colleagues for dinner and then Darrell Crane took me to a jazz club called Mezzrow. This was a very nice surprise of a place. During breaks in the music they played classic albums on a turntable by the door. Our table was so close it almost felt like we were in the 3 piece band – piano, bass and drums. Several different drummers sat in with the band playing only high hat and snare drum with brushes since the venue was so tiny.
t to see Chick Corea perform at the Blue Note. The show was part of his 75th birthday celebration and on the night that I attended he did a tribute to Miles Davis. The concert was sold out and there was quite a line when I got there but I was still able to get a great seat with an excellent view of the entire band. And an all star band it was! Mike Stern, who played guitar with Miles in the early 80s, Marcus Miller who co-wrote and played bass on Miles’ Tutu album, Kenny Garret who played saxophone with Miles in the late 80s, Wallace Roney who inherited Miles’ trumpet, and the amazing Brian Blade on drums.
The show didn’t start until almost 11pm but was really a one of a kind treat and easily worth the loss of a few hours of sleep.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
ed 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.
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.
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’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.