Category: Music

Week in Review – July 25, 2012

“Pretty P”

Just after I posted the blog last week, I received this nifty little tool from Amazon.  What do you think this is used for?  It’s a $10 item that freed Finn from a hazardous task.  We were going to beg him to climb up in the empty alcove at the bottom of the stairs where the bulb has been out for years.  Diana changed the next one over, which is easier to get to from the stairs, but we were not comfortable having her try this one.  I remember Finn climbing to the top of a friend’s very tall pine tree to install the Christmas star – he used to be such a completely unafraid climber.  No need, 2 minutes with the right tool and I had the bulb replaced.

I enjoyed a new streaming series with my workouts early this week.  “3-2-1 McCartney” features Sir Paul discussing his music with über (I finally figured out all the secret codes necessary to add accents to letters in this blogging software) producer, Rick Rubin.  As Diana would say, this is “right up K alley.”  Particularly the parts where McCartney is sitting at the piano, showing Rubin how songs came about.  A very simply produced (black and white mostly) series that I highly recommend.

I loved the story of a roadie asking Sir Paul to “pass the salt and pepper”.  McCartney heard Sgt. Pepper and thought what an interesting character that might be…

 

 

 

The boys gave me a full interior and exterior detail service for Penelope for my birthday.  I thought that should get done before I lost the coupon, and so scheduled it for Monday morning.  Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate with torrential rain until around 10:30am.  The guy who came to do the service had to wait a while for a break in the rain.  He came in a special truck outfitted with everything he needed – didn’t even want a hose – “we use special de-ionized water.”

P hasn’t looked this good since the day that I bought her.  The wheels are spotless throughout and she really sparkles in the sun.  I hope I haven’t set a bad precedent with her now.

The last piece of the kitchen project arrived this week.  Jose installed the new ovens (and a couple of new ceiling fans for the back patio).  They certainly seem to heat up and cool down faster than the old ones (which took forever.)  Finn cooked a great batch of lemon bars last night.  Clorinda is a big fan of those.  Diana particularly likes that the doors open vertically rather than horizontally – much easier to get close to the racks to remove hot treats.  Penelope got a chuckle out of the fact that the oven is made by the same company, Bosch, that manufactures most of her spare parts.  It’s nice to have this project behind us.  Well, one small update still required – a couple of the new floor boards pop when you hit them just right.  Apparently Jose will need to drill small holes and pump some glue in to fix that.

We managed to break Clorinda away from Olympics watching to work on a jigsaw puzzle for a while.  Maybe we shouldn’t have started with one of the super challenging Frenchy ones – but thought the fatter wood pieces would be easier to manage.

 

Outdoor exercise is having to happen earlier in the day as we enter the Texas summer.  We were out at 8am this morning for our walk/run and my shirt was still drenched by the end.  It does feel good to get that behind me so early in the day.  I now have my sights set on brunch at C.T. Provisions – yes, I’m having the voodoo shrimp Benedict again.

We lost one of our very favourite humans this week.  Stan Bassett passed away in Brisbane, Australia, after a lengthy battle with brain cancer.  He was able to accomplish some major life goals that seemed impossible after the initial diagnosis – he danced with his daughter at her wedding, met his new grandchild, and moved his daughter, son-in-law, and baby into a house across the street from his home.  That’s Stan at the back of this family photo.

I first met Stan in the lobby of a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and we hit it off right away.  He spent many nights at our home, enjoying making unique combinations from Diana’s meat and cheese platters.  So much kindness and positive energy radiated from Stan.  There was the evening when we discovered that he knew every word to every song on Meat Loaf’s “Bat out of Hell” album – a result of having just a couple of cassette tapes when driving across the Outback.  And the next morning (a Sunday) when he came downstairs to catch a flight to London – in full suit, tie, and military style spit-polished shoes.  “Why are you all dressed up to sit on a plane for 8 hours Stan?”  “It’s work time and this is how I dress for work.”  Thanks for all the wonderful memories Stan!

On Gypsy Hill in Pacifica, CA, the three musketeers headed out for a walk.  I love the way this picture captures Frankie happily leading the way, while Luciano is on the lookout for wildlife.

 

I finished “Dirt, Adventures in Lyon as a Chef in Training, Father, and Sleuth Looking for the Secret of French Cooking” by Bill Buford, and promised some quotes.  I enjoyed this book but found it a bit of a slog in the middle –  too much rambling about the tiny details of French cooking.

Buford attends a culinary school run by the famous Paul Bucose, and describes attempts to make the perfect, French style omelet.  Not something that I’ve come anywhere close to yet.

“A student presented his omelet.  The instructor poked it and shook his head.  He didn’t bother to taste it; he tipped it into the trash.  An omelet wants to be soft in the middle, pillowy to the touch.  It should have bounce.  This one was hard.

The next student’s omelet was too big: big in the sense of too much volume.  The instructor remonstrated him.  “Why did you use a whisk?  Un fouet.  “I told you a fork.”

The class was kitchen basics.  A whisk aerates the protein.  It is what you use to make a soufflé or a meringue.  An omelet gets it tenderness by being mixed, not whipped.  You want the egg whites quiet and small.”

I enjoyed this description of Buford’s wife responding to commentary from fellow diners in restaurants.  I’m with the first gentleman on laughing too loudly – I get really tired of groups of ladies who feel the need to cackle at the tops of their lungs to let everyone know how much fun they’re having.

“No civic official, I am confident, had ever seen an American like Jessica once crossed.  She had been emancipated by the French language.  There is a quality about French rudeness – a self-righteousness, probably – that provoked Jessica to the point of rage, especially if she was the target: as when a diner (again, a man) crossed the very small restaurant where we were eating dinner with friends to tell her that she laughed too loudly, or when a diner (a man, of course) at the next table at the Bouchon des Filles leaned over, after observing that she had filled my glass, and told her that, in France, it is the man, not the woman, who pours the wine.  Jessica expressed exaggerated surprise, given that the woman in question was a wine expert, that she also consulted on the wine list of the restaurant, which was pointedly called Bouchon des Filles, and was owned and run by women. (The man was witheringly silenced, and his wife spent the rest of the evening apologizing for the behavior of or her spouse.)”

A description of just how seriously the Lyonnaise take their food, even in public schools.

“The canteen menu was posted each week outside the school’s entrance: three courses, plus a produit laitier; a milk product – yogurt or cheese.  There were no repeats, a feature so radical that I am compelled to repeat it.  No menu was ever served twice during the entire school year.  (Jessica, who had become a member of a parent-teacher executive committee, discovered that, at strategic intervals, certain foods were repeated – turnips, kale, beets – to help children become familiar with them.”

The first course would be a salad – say, grated carrots with a vinaigrette, George’s current favorite (“Carrotes râpées!”), which he asked his mother to make for dinner.  The second, the plat principal, might be a poulet with a sauce grand-mère (made from broth that the chicken had been cooked in).  There was a cooked vegetable (maybe Swiss chard in a béchamel sauce), and a fruit or dessert.  The boys’ favorite had been moelleux au chocolat, hard on the outside, like a brownie, and soft in the middle, with a warm meltingness.

L’École Robert Doisneau was an underfunded, overcrowded public school.  It had roof leaks, an asphalt playground that was breaking up and weeds growing through the cracks.  In its confidence that eating could be taught, it wasn’t exceptional.  The food our boys ate made them different from their parents.”

I didn’t know that da Vinci finished out his years in France.  Buford has an ongoing theme in the book that most of French cooking actually has its roots in Italian cuisine from the Medici era.  He presents a lot of seemingly credible, and deeply researched information to support this theory.

“I had been to Vinci, where Leonardo comes from – da Vinci – in Tuscany.  Leonardo is the undisputed genius of the Florentine Renaissance.  Just about everyone knows this.  What I hadn’t known, even when I was visiting the village where he grew up, was that he would die, in 1519, effectively a Frenchman.  The detail is seldom mentioned in Italy.  It seems to be mentioned less in France, even though Leonardo’s most famous painting, the Mona Lisa, is hanging in the Louvre because it was one of the canvases he brought with him.  The other was Saint John the Baptist.”

This reminded me of the delicious zabaglione that my Mum makes.  Maybe I can have one if we make our visit in August.

“A sabayon is a foam sauce as much as it is an emulsion.  As Harold McGee points out:  Yolks will foam pretty well on their own, but they will foam spectacularly with water.  Mine had failed because they didn’t have enough water.  I had reduced it too much.  

Dictionaries describe the French word sabayon as having appeared in the French language in 1803, even though the technique was probably in place long before.  It comes from the Italian zabaglione (sweet wine, Marsala usually, the water element, plus egg yolks, whisked and cooked).”

Ahh, the French cheeses:

“Like the fact that there are so many different kind of cheese in France, more than anywhere else in the world, twelve hundred of the twenty-two hundred unique European varieties, according to Michel Bouvier, the former curator of food and drink at the Gallo-Roman museum near Vienna.  And now, my hands still smelling of milk, I find it miraculous that there would be so many.  The miracle isn’t because France has a varied landscape with varied food making practices arising out of it, although it does; it is implicit in the sheer antiquity of how long cheeses have been made here, each one originating out of a specificity of place that is probably pre-civilization, when the horizon was not much more than the perimeters of where you could walk in a day.”

Buford’s twins struggled on returning to New York after several years in Lyon:

“They had issues with the food.  At the school, the “chefs” didn’t wear toques, George complained at dinner.  Also, they didn’t cook, he said.

“They use a microwave,” Frederick explained.  The expressions of both boys conveyed utter astonishment that a microwaver would ever have the audacity to call him or herself a chef.”

I also read “Sorry for Your Trouble”, a collection of short stories and novellas by Richard Ford.  I loved his books “The Sportswriter” and “Independence Day” and had high hopes for this collection.  The two novellas (around 45 pages long) were quite good, but the short stories didn’t work as well.

It was clear from the stories that Ford has spent considerable time in New Orleans and Ireland – an internet search shows that he actually taught for a while at Trinity college in Dublin.

“They were at the Monteleone, the shadowed old afternoon redoubt with the bar that was a carousel.  It wasn’t crowded.  Outside the tall windows on Royal a parade was shoving past.  Boom-pa-pa, boom-pa-pa.  Then the trumpets not altogether on key.  St. Paddy’s was Tuesday.  Now was only Friday.”

This review from the New York Times sums the stories up quite well:

“Ford has a gift for nimble interior monologues and a superb ear for the varieties and vagaries of human speech. His prose can strike a Hemingwayesque cadence…One page later, a sparkling note of Fitzgerald…Ford is of the last generation of writers to have grown up directly under the Papa-and-Scott dispensation, and it’s gratifying to hear his sentences pay homage…Acutely described settings, pitch-perfect dialogue, inner lives vividly evoked, complex protagonists brought toward difficult recognitions: There’s a kind of narrative, often dismissed as the “well-crafted, writing-class story,” that deals in muted epiphanies and trains its gaze inward, to pangs and misgivings.”

I got on a bit of a Stevie Wonder kick this week, listening to most of the triple album “The Secret Life of Plants.”  What a superb collection of music in so many different styles.

One of my favourite Stevie Wonder creations from the “Hotter than July” album:

And finally, I’ve been revisiting some old (late 70s) Alan Parsons Project – the production and orchestration are so good:

Stay safe and kind (just like Stan)!

Week in Review – July 18, 2021

“A Guys Happy Hour and Dinner and a concert in the same week!”

I got some work done on Monday between coffee with Finn at Duino, and going to Clorinda’s appointment with the retina specialist in the afternoon.  Later, I went to my first Happy Hour with some guys in a while.  Robbie and Fred from work met me at Union Bear and we really enjoyed catching up for a couple of hours.

“Are you drinking your water?”

Nothing much to report from Tuesday through Thursday.  We shared duties taking Clorinda to appointments and were both pretty busy with work.  I have a quarterly Board of Directors meeting in a  couple of weeks, and it’s always busy getting everything ready for that.

Diana followed me down to Auto Hans early Friday to drop off Penelope for an oil change.  Now she has new tires, new oil  and is getting a full detail tomorrow – so spoiled and pampered.

On Friday evening, Finn cooked and hung out with Clorinda so that we could attend a concert at the Kessler.  Mike Zito and his Big Band with opener Indigenous.  We bought tickets at the last minute and so didn’t have a reserved table.  No worries, we got there early and claimed the prime high seats at the back beside the mixing desk.  That way Diana had a clear line of sight to the stage, and the sound is premium.

Seats claimed, we walked up to Nova for our typical light dinner before the show.  We sat at the bar and enjoyed three delicious appetizers – beets (my favourite), Brussel sprouts, and smoked salmon potato skins (McD’s favorite.)

We really enjoy the relaxed and welcoming feel of Nova.  The bar tender was convinced she knew me – thought she might have gone to high school with me – unlikely.  Upon investigation, we decided that the only place we could have met was at the Green Room in Deep Ellum, over 20 years ago.  Possible, but still unlikely.

I was looking forward to Indigenous.  They are a band formed of family members from the Sioux reservation in South Dakota.  Mato Nanji (Ma-TOE NON-gee) is the lead guitarist and singer.  I first listened to them in 2000, with the CD “Circle” one of my favourites that year.  I also saw them as part of the “Experience Hendrix” show at the Warfield in San Francisco, with Buddy Guy and Carlos Santana.  Here they are at the Kessler performing a John Lee Hooker cover, best known these days as the theme music for NCIS New Orleans:

And here’s a Hendrix cover that I enjoyed.  Isn’t that a beautiful looking guitar?

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Mike Zito.  He was in a band that I enjoyed, Royal Southern Brotherhood, with Cyril Neville.  His guitar playing was always great, but didn’t know if I would appreciate the vocals.  We were pleasantly surprised.  Here’s a Prince cover, not necessarily what you expect from a blues band:

Now a good example of Zito’s blues guitar:

That solo is from a new song, “Ressurection”, that I thought was a highlight of the set:

And I’ll finish up the concert sharing with a solo from the trumpet player (apparently a regular member of Jason Mraz’s band):

At Diana’s prompting, we had a nice chat with Jeff Liles, booking agent for the Kessler, about this appearance in the “Bring Music Home” book that raised money for “Save our Stages”, a fund raising effort to save independent music clubs that were closed at the height of the pandemic.  I really love that book and the thought and care that went into creating it.

Saturday started with a walk with McD – it didn’t seem too hot but we were both quite sweaty and tired when we finished – the humidity always gets you.  While limbered up, I finally was able to fix the aromatherapy unit for the steam shower – power reset required, and then took on the task of washing the big windows that look out to the pool from the family room.  My best job yet, with the secret being the drying technique with the squeegee.  Clorinda approved the work and is enjoying her clearer view of the pool, trees, and flowers.  Diana tackled the ever-returning weeds while I did that.  We both entered the afternoon with a feeling of accomplishment.

Amy spent the night, having had her fill of crashing on the couch at her kids’ apartment.  We ordered food from the Little Greek and enjoyed catching up – getting formal by eating our take out in the dining room.

Finn and I watched game 5 of the NBA Finals (Milwaukee Bucks vs. Phoenix Suns) with Clorinda after dinner.  It was a good game and she refused to go to bed after it finished at 10:30pm – thinking there was still something interesting to learn from the post game commentary.  We’ve created a sports fanatic.

On Sunday morning I watched the British Open golf while Diana and Amy went out for a run.  They both miss their running buddies.  Jordan Spieth tried hard but couldn’t keep up with the flawless final round play of Collin Morikawa.

I promised some quotes from “Saved by a Song” by Mary Gauthier – my book last week and my favourite of the year so far and by far:

From the introduction, or what Mary calls “Invitation”:

“I believe songs that heal come from a higher place.  They help us with the struggle of being human by letting us know we are not alone.  This is the greatest gift a song can give a songwriter and a songwriter can give the world.

Bruce Springsteen said, “Music is a repair shop, I’m basically a repair man.”  I love that.  Songs have the power to repair hearts and souls.

Saved by a song.”

From the chapter on the song “Drag Queens and Limousines”:

“Clarity comes from stories.  They help us make sense of our lives.  Witnessing other people’s lives through stories is a kind of medicine, and the magic is in getting the story emotionally honest.

Guy Clark once said, “We’re all pretty much living the same life just hitting the marks at different times.”  “Drag Queens in Limousines” showed me that I have no idea what’s going on inside a person’s heart, in that tender place that the poet Miller Williams, Lucinda’s father, described as, “Where the spirit meets the bone.”  Until I wrote this song and played it for people, I had no idea most everyone has felt like an outsider at some point in their life, but they have.

That outsider feeling is universal.”

On working on the amazing “Mercy Now”:

“We hang in the balance

Dangle ‘tween hell and hallowed ground

Every single on of us could use some mercy now

Every single on of us could use some mercy now

I worked on it for the next three days, changing one word at a time, meditating on the meaning, letting the new words sit a while, and it was slow going.  I played it for a friend, a fellow songwriter, who encouraged me to be brave and play it on a side stage at a festival workshop we were going to share the next afternoon.  So, I wrote the words on a piece of hotel room stationery.  And in the afternoon on the last day of Canmore Folk Festival, August 2003, I taped those words onto the mic stand and played “Mercy Now” in front of an audience for the very first time.

I’ve played it on every stage at every show, every night, since.”

From the chapter on John Lennon’s “Mother”:

“St. Francis of Assisi said, “One who works with their hands is a laborer.  One who works with their hands and head is a craftsman.  One who works with their hands, their head and their heart is an artist.”

Finally, from the chapter on “Rifles and Rosary Beads” and writing about a songwriting camp that pairs songwriters with veterans to share their experiences:

“Our job as songwriters is to help turn the veterans’ stories into songs.  The songwriter brings decades of songwriting experience, the veteran brings their story.  Before I worked my first retreat, I assumed that asking a wounded soldier to open up to a songwriter would be a stretch.  I’d heard that silence is the soldier’s code; that those who have seen combat do not talk about it, those who talk about it have not seen it.  Coming out the other side is enough.”

“Before long, they start to tell me their story, little by slow.  I play a little music on my guitar, find a melody that matches what they’re saying.  The music helps open them up; a sympathetic melody is like a magnet that pulls their story out.  They feel seen and heard, which helps them feel safe.”

I’m about half way through “Dirt, Adventures in Lyon as a Chef in Training, Father, and Sleuth Looking for the Secret of French Cooking” by Bill Buford.

Here’s a summary review that captures the plot pretty well:

“What does it take to master French cooking? This is the question that drives Bill Buford to abandon his perfectly happy life in New York City and pack up and (with a wife and three-year-old twin sons in tow) move to Lyon, the so-called gastronomic capital of France. But what was meant to be six months in a new and very foreign city turns into a wild five-year digression from normal life, as Buford apprentices at Lyon’s best boulangerie, studies at a legendary culinary school, and cooks at a storied Michelin-starred restaurant, where he discovers the exacting (and incomprehensibly punishing) rigueur of the professional kitchen.

With his signature humor, sense of adventure, and masterful ability to bring an exotic and unknown world to life, Buford has written the definitive insider story of a city and its great culinary culture.”

Some samples of my favourite bits next week.

This has gone on for a while, and I’ve covered a lot of musical ground already, so I’ll share this excellent playlist that Amy Campagna sent me.  So many great songs on this – kudos to whoever created it.  Ahh, I see now that was Alex Harrouff.  I like the sound of that last name, picturing the pitch going up on the “ouff.”

Stay safe and kind to everyone!

Week in Review – July 11, 2021

“He’s Back”

Monday was a holiday since July 4th fell on Sunday.  I was relatively productive – started with a swim,  cleaned up a dead mouse, bled the aromatherapy shower unit (still not working quite right), and cut some dead branches from the Japanese maple, while McD trimmed up the maple so it doesn’t block the pathway as much.  We were also able to watch a bit of Wimbledon with Clorinda.

I’ve been watching a new movie, “Summer of Soul”, while doing my elliptical workouts.  This is a movie, directed by Questlove, about a music festival held in Harlem over several weekends in 1969.  The festival is known as the Black Woodstock, occurring within months of that well known event.  Nobody knows anything about it because the film was kept in a basement for 50 years as the recorder couldn’t find anybody to fund making it into a movie.  Enter Questlove and some financial backers.

The movie is excellent with amazing performances intermixed with interviews with the artists today.  Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, Nina Simone, B.B. King, and Mavis Staples are among the long list of acts involved.  I read that Questlove owns over 200,000 albums and has a vast encyclopedic knowledge of all kinds of music.

Finn arrived back from Oregon on Wednesday night – he was tired from the travel and happy to get back in his spot on his couch.

I laughed when I read these lines in a story in the New Yorker this week:

“We were living on a farm, shared with a Noah’s ark of animals and birds.  The animals included Finn the Doug, a genial Irish wolf hound.”  This is included in a story called “Driving Lessons” by Margaret Atwood (Handmaid’s Tale author.)

Finn cooked salmon and Brussel sprouts for everyone on Thursday evening.  Then we watched the NBA Finals (Bucks vs Suns) with Clorinda.  She refused to go to bed until the game finished.

We enjoyed take out Thai food on Friday.  Yummy.

Penelope got new front tires on Saturday morning.  Finn and I went to the fancy iPic theater in the afternoon to watch the “Black Widow” movie – the latest in the Marvel franchise.  Scarlett Johanss0n starred as the Black Widow, so it wasn’t a total loss.

Clorinda enjoyed a trip to Market Street with Diana – a bit busier than Target so she had to be careful navigating around on the buggy.

This was move weekend for Alicia – from San Luis Obispo to San Jose to attend San Jose State University in the fall.  She did a great job of coordinating movers and getting everything organized by herself.  She seems quite happy with the new apartment, roommate, and the cats that come with the new roommate.  Furniture is starting to come together.

Sunday started with a walk with Diana, and continued with the Wimbledon Men’s Final, then the European soccer final.  Several members of the household were quite excited when Italy won the penalty shootout at the end of the tied game.

I received some funny pictures this week.  Amy sent these pictures of Massimo with a lizard on his back:

The text from Amy was great: “Mom!  There’s a lizard on my back!”

“Oh my!  How’d that happen?”

“I moved that log and it was under it and it crawled up my back.”

Equally entertaining is this picture of Pride, the Great Dane, on his 8th birthday, from Rachel:

I can’t believe she made the poor guy wear a Tutu.

I finished up “Babbitt” by Sinclair Lewis, and don’t have too much new to say about it.  A pleasant and easy read that didn’t really  seem to have as much to say as reviewers would have us believe.

On the other hand, “Saved by a Song” by Mary Gauthier, was a rare treat.  Each chapter covers what was going on in Gauthier’s life when a song was written and also shows the evolution of the song from first draft to recorded version.  The writing is supremely honest and I found it wonderful.  I’m almost finished and will include some quotes and examples next week.

 

Here’s my favourite of Mary’s songs:

Transitioning over to the music section, I was saddened to hear of the passing of Dale Triguero this week.  Here’s an article by the excellent music journalist Keith Spera, about Dale:

https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/music/article_1e852302-dfec-11eb-bd03-a7ffc84f5f94.html

Dale owned and operated the Chickie Wah Wah music club in New Orleans.  Denny and I visited his club shortly after it opened many years ago, and Anne had her 50th birthday party there, with music from the Creole String Beans.  Dale was always kind and engaging, and really treated the musicians well.  The music was taken very seriously at the club, more like a true listening room.  One of our favourite shows there was the annual Anders Osborne, John Fohl, and Johnny Sansone performance that takes place over jazzfest.  Here’s a link to the blog from back in 2016 that has video of one of those amazing shows:

https://www.keithjrobertson.com/?p=155

Stay safe and kind!

Week in Review – July 4, 2021

“Long Live Rock”

Clorinda and I watched a great DVD (yes, we can still manage to play those) on Monday.  “Seymour: An Introduction” is about a concert pianist, who gives up a successful performance career to teach piano students.  The care Seymour shows for his students is really something.  Highly recommended watching.

Tuesday started with a pleasant swim.  I’m finding that swimming is significantly helping the pain where I had the screws put in my leg.  I had been considering having the screws removed, but if swimming is helping, then it’s likely scar tissue and not the screws causing the pain.  Going to have to start swimming a few times a week.

After my swim, I took Clorinda for coffee at Duino.  This is always a great time to enjoy her stories.  The repertoire this time included: “Bluebell” with the rumble seat, a car that folks she would babysit for gave her to get around in;  and Margie (Clorinda’s sister) teaching music in Orinda and putting on a choir performance that Clorinda loved.

Rachel joined us for dinner on Tuesday and regaled us with updates about her new boyfriend who lives in Nashville.  I had told Clorinda at coffee that she could expect updates about Rachel’s love life – and I was not wrong.

The four of us had a last meal together on Friday night, with Alicia flying to San Francisco on Saturday.  Everyone really enjoyed the meal at C.T. Provisions – our new favourite McKinney restaurant.  Clorinda opted for the duck special and I had the Cornish game hen – plenty of leftovers from both.

 

 

Anne was in Ohio, helping her parents to get their cabin ready for sale.  Guessing they’ll be living fulltime in Florida now.  Looks like both Anne and her Mum, Carolyn, had a good time at the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame.

Clorinda has been enjoying sampling my library books.  This one is about a journalist for the New Yorker, who moves to Lyon in his fifties to learn all about French cooking.  She got pretty bored with the details of the French cuisine and moved on to something else.

On Sunday, Independence Day (and nobody asked me this year if we celebrate July 4th in Scotland), we took Clorinda to Filtered for coffee, quiche, and crossword with Keith.  Well – she declined to participate in the crossword competition.  We watched the celebration from the Capital Mall in Washington, D.C. and the fireworks from New York, which are always so spectacular.  R.E.O Speedwagon and Susannah Hoffs both performed songs from around 1980 – still going strong in their sixties with the same material from when I was in high school.

Will sent this picture of Ollie.  I was quite impressed and asked who was the artist.  Even more impressed to find it was Will, using Christine’s art pens.

I did receive a number of great July 4th pictures.  Here’s Campbell and Molly’s penguin enjoying a boat ride to the fireworks on a lake in Iowa:

Do you like his patriotic bowtie?  Our penguin got very puffed up when he saw these pictures.

Here is a picture from Tim’s vacation location in Colorado (Alta Lakes), and one from earlier in the week with his daughter, Imogene, posing at the high elevation pass that shares her name:

And finally, a lovely sunset from Blair’s boat in South Padre island:

I was making good progress on “Babbitt” by Sinclair Lewis, when I got an email from the library saying that I needed to return “The Final Revival of Opal and Nev” because another patron had a request for it.  So I switched over to that right away.

The story centers on a fictional interracial rock duo from the 1970s: Opal is a Black proto Afro-punk singer from Detroit, and Nev is a goofy white British singer-songwriter.

Opal and Nev become famous in 1971, when a riot occurs at one of their concerts during which their Black drummer is beaten to death by a white mob. The book is told in the form of a faux oral history that’s being written by Sunny, the first Black editor-in-chief of a music magazine — who also happens to be the daughter of the late drummer.

I enjoyed the faux oral history approach for a while, with each character having their say for a paragraph or so, before moving on to a different character’s view.  But I grew tired of the choppiness pretty quickly – I would have preferred lengthier sections from each, and more meat from the interviewer character (Sunny).

This book is on all the “Best of 2021 so far” lists, and it certainly provides some entertainment value, but not one I would recommend.  I hope the person who picks this up from the library after me appreciates it more.

“Another Ticket” by Eric Clapton has been on my turntable as I’ve been composing this post.  This is not one of the highly rated, popular Clapton disks, but it is one of my favourites and I believe the one that I’ve played most over the years.

The album is Clapton’s seventh solo studio record.  It was recorded by Tom Dowd at the Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, and has that rich bass sound that seems to come from that venue.  It achieved modest commercial success peaking at number 18 in the UK charts.

Here’s the title track:

That’s Gary Brooker on keyboards.  He was the lead singer and keyboard player with Procul Harem of “Whiter Shade of Pale” fame.

Albert Lee plays the alternate lead guitar and I think he’s fantastic.  I was lucky enough to see him play with Clapton at the Edinburgh Playhouse around the time this record was released.  You can hear his contribution and the great bass of Dave Markee on this Sleepy John Estes cover:

Stay safe and kind.

 

 

 

Fortnight in Review – June 27, 2021

“Getting back to normal – kinda”

Apologies for skipping the post last week – it was Father’s Day after all, and I spent 4 hours in the afternoon (when I would typically work on the post) driving down to Austin.  More on that later.

Two weeks ago we were starting to get appointments organized for Clorinda to get all caught up on what we’re calling her “maintenance.”  On Monday she visited Dr. Sabzali (our family doctor) and had blood drawn and all the other new patient fun.  She relaxed with me in the evening, watching the Olympic swimming trials.  She really enjoys the races but thinks the commentators spoil her enjoyment with all of their chatter.  I am really looking forward to the Olympics next month.

It’s turning into a typical Texas summer here very quickly, and we had to take our walks early in the morning on Tuesday and Wednesday to avoid the mix of humidity and high temperatures that turn a pleasant walk into a chore.

I was out and about quite a bit on Wednesday, with a business meeting in Craig Ranch (not far from the house) and then lunch with a friend from Dell at TruFire in Frisco.  I love their falafel combination plate.  It was great to catch up with Chad – he brought me up to speed on all the crazy goings-on at AIG.  It felt good to get out and about and meet folks.

While I was out and about, Clorinda visited Leah for a haircut.  Leah can now proudly report that she has taken care of all three generations.

 

 

We had a wonderful anniversary dinner (number 4) on Thursday  at C.T. Provisions in downtown McKinney.  This is the place where I love the voodoo Benedict at brunch.  Their dinner was even better than brunch.  Those mussels may be the best that I’ve had, and D’s Hamachi was very fresh and tasty.

The wild boar bolognaise with egg-yolk pappardelle pasta was amazing – my only comment would be that the croutons didn’t really add anything to the dish – pine nuts would have been a better crunch.

C.T.’s also has an excellent cocktail bar – their vesper was delicious.

Traditional gifts for four year anniversaries are flowers and fruit.  So I got McD some nice roses and then performed “the fruit of my labours” during the week, “Your Song” by Elton John.

Meanwhile, in Amarillo, Will was attempting the Big Texan restaurant’s “Free 72 oz Steak, if you can eat it all” challenge.  The key is that “eat it all” includes roll, baked potato, salad and I don’t know what else.  What do you think his chances are?  Well, Tina, owner of the place, thought them pretty slim and wagered him a pair of longhorns that he couldn’t do it – the same kind you see on the front of the limo that picked Will and Christine up and drove them to the Big Texan ranch.

The picture on the left says it all.  I had no doubt he would force it all down.  What a crazy scene – like John Candy in “The Great Outdoors.”

The only difference is that Candy is attempting “the ole 96’er” – even more than Will demolished.  He didn’t make the trip to Amarillo just for the eating contest, but was actually there for Alexis’ wedding.  And of course he had to have a pair of cowboy boots – nobody told him your jeans are supposed to go over them – maybe a new fashion trend.

 

I enjoyed FaceTime and phone calls from all three sons on Father’s Day, before making the drive down to Austin with Penelope for meetings on Monday morning.  Campbell sent an assortment of nuts that we’ve been enjoying.

Our Executive Committee got together for the first time in person in around 18 months on Monday morning.  Several of my IT team members traveled to the office as well.  Really starting to feel like we’re getting back to some semblance of normality.  We had an IT happy hour at Baker Street Pub on Monday afternoon, and then I enjoyed a delicious dinner with the ExCo at ATX Cocina.  That’s the place where the entire menu is gluten free and Brent was like a kid in a candy store, not having to be so picky about what he ordered.

I had a good boys night with Damon and Sean on Tuesday, with stops at the Roosevelt Room for cocktails, followed by a nice cigar lounge.  I loved the “Black Pearl” cocktail which was served in a treasure box.

We worked in the Austin office on Wednesday morning, and then Damon and I accompanied Penelope back to McKinney.  We spent a fun evening with Damon getting lots of great Clorinda stories.  She asked us the next day if we “had any more friends coming to visit.”

We had some more boy fun on Thursday afternoon, with a vendor hosting us in a suite at Globe Life field to watch the Texas Rangers play the Oakland A’s in an afternoon baseball game.  The new stadium is a very impressive architectural feat, with the retractable roof closed to provide some respite from the heat and humidity.  The old stadium is still standing next door and the Cowboys stadium is just behind.

I took a picture of the A’s lineup to show Ben that “Chappy” was playing.  That’s his favourite player and he got to attend an A’s game recently in California to check him out.

 

 

 

Campbell flew to Hawaii with Molly on Wednesday and sent this great picture of a sea turtle that was enjoying swimming with them.

Things were busy at the house on Saturday.  Amy visited us for the afternoon (in for a few days from Santa Fe.)  And Jose and crew installed the long awaited vent hood and stovetop.  Just the oven still to come.  We’re quite pleased with the results.

That center burner has two flames and can boil water very quickly.  Put to a good test by McD making pasta on Saturday night.  I really like the sleek lines of the hood, and Jose made sure it was high enough to give me good access.  He’s not much taller than Diana and so I appreciate him considering my height as he does the installations.

Speaking of cooking, Finn continued to explore his baking capabilities, this week with donuts.  Here he is mixing up the ingredients, then leaving the dough to rise, and a yummy looking final product.  I don’t imagine they lasted too long in a houseful of young men.

 

 

I received a very interesting late birthday gift from Anne and Denny.  It’s a book by their friend, Macon Fry, titled “They Called Us River Rats.”  Diana and I enjoyed an oyster fest at Macon’s “batture” a few years ago, and he is quite the character.

Here he is with one of his goats.  His friend Derek Houston had been at the Grammy awards a few days before the oyster fest, and Macon told me the story of him calling to tell him they had a “Goat Check” at the Beverly Hills hotel – apparently the “Coat Check” sign was in a fancy font that made it look just like that.

I suspect you’re wondering what a “batture” might be.  Well here’s the description of the book from Macon’s website that will help clear that up, along with a picture.

“They Called Us River Rats is the previously untold story of perhaps the oldest outsider settlement in America, an invisible community on the annually-flooded shore of the river. We exist in the place between the normal high and low water line of the Mississippi River, known in Louisiana as the batture. For the better part of two centuries, batture-dwellers like me have raised shanty-boats on stilts, built water-adapted homes, foraged, fished, and survived using the skills a river environment teaches. Over the years, batture-dwellers have been reviled, jailed or lynched by citizens on the other side of the levee. Even today, beaches erode under houses. When the river rises, barges and river-borne debris can slam into homes.

Accounts of crime, disaster and romance on the riverside appear in newspapers and archives, but until now the stories of a batture way of life have existed only in the memories of those who have lived here. Beginning in 2000, I set about recording the stories of all the old batture dwellers I could find: maritime workers, willow furniture makers, fishermen, artists and river shrimpers. I’m still uncovering stories in libraries and archives of fortune-tellers, faith healers, and wild bird trappers who lived on the river.

Now I am among the senior generation of “River Rats” living in a vestigial colony of 12 “camps” on New Orleans’ river batture, a fragment of a settlement that once stretched nearly six miles along the riverfront and numbered hundreds of homes. It is the last riparian settlement on the Lower Mississippi, an echo of life outside urban zoning, planning and flood protection.”

I have only scanned portions of the book so far, but have it high up on the “to be read” list.

For the first time in a while, I stopped reading a book after about 20 pages this week.  “Terrorist” by John Updike sounded very good, but I just couldn’t persevere with all the Islamic names and terms.  I have very much enjoyed several other books by Updike, but this one was just going to be too much work and not any kind of relaxing escape.

I replaced “Terrorist” with “Babbitt” by Sinclair Lewis.  This is a book published in 1922, and described as “a satirical novel about American culture and society that critiques the vacuity of middle class life and the social pressure toward conformity.  The controversy provoked by Babbitt was influential in the decision to award the Novel Prize in Literature to Lewis in 1930.

I’ve been enjoying the quite dated phrases and terms in the book so far, and the descriptions of real estate marketing practices enacted by the main character.  More to come next week.

Interestingly, I read that the word “Babbitt” entered the English language as a “person and especially a business or professional man who conforms unthinkingly to prevailing middle-class standards.  I think I’ve met a few “Babbitt’s” on the few times that I visited the local golf country clubs.

Galactic’s “Coolin’ Off” is the latest release from the Tipitina’s Record Club – arrived last week and has been on regular rotation.  Tipitina’s is a famed music club in New Orleans, and members of Galactic purchased it just before the pandemic.  I joined the record club to try and help them weather the storm – running a music club is hard work in the best of circumstances.

Released in 1996, “Coolin’ Off” was the first popular record for the band, with the core lineup augmented with brass and other guests:

  • Theryl DeClouet – vocals
  • Erik Jekabson – trumpet
  • Robert Mercurio – bass, photography
  • Stanton Moore – drums
  • Mark Mullins – trombone
  • Jeff Raines – guitar
  • Eric Traub – tenor saxophone
  • Dan Prothero – programming, producer, engineer, editing, design, mixing
  • Raymond Pumilia – photography
  • Rich Vogel – keyboards

Mark Mullins is the leader in the four trombone band, Bonerama, that I really enjoy.  I believe Stanton Moore to be one of the most talented current drummers – you can always tell when he’s sitting in with a band – things move to a whole different level.

Here are a couple of samples:

And a great example of Stanton Moore on drums:

Remain patient and kind.

 

 

Week in Review – June 13, 2021

“There goes the neighbourhood”

I started the week in Austin, and had my fastest time ever (breaking the 5 minute barrier) on a crossword, while enjoying a macchiato and Jess special taco at Trianon coffee.  Seems my brain enjoys the Austin vibe.

I had planned on picking up Diana, Clorinda, and Alicia at the airport on my drive back up to McKinney from Austin, but thunder storms in Dallas delayed their flight by several hours.  I drove home and then made a late night round trip to the airport.  Monday was a long, tiring day.

My excitement on Tuesday was a trip to the dentist for a cleaning.  I’m always pleased when nothing is found wrong during these visits, and I don’t have to revisit for another six months.

Diana and I watched the final episode of “Mare of Easttown” in the evening, after Clorinda was in bed.  We didn’t make it too far before deciding we were too tired to finish – just after Diana uncovered an upcoming plot twist.  She’s very good at following the clues and piecing things together – meanwhile I’m just trying to keep up with the basic plot.

I took Clorinda to Duino coffee shop for lunch on Wednesday.  She had a great time, regaling me with lots of interesting stories, including several from her time in New Zealand and Switzerland, the classic one about when she got a police escort to her music school in San Francisco because she was driving too slowly, and the one where her father took her to the local service station after she moved into her first San Francisco apartment, telling the mechanic to take good care of her car and to charge reasonable prices.  I laughed when she said she was really enjoying her tea and particularly that it didn’t get bitter as she nursed it.  It was entertaining because she had been making fun of me earlier for saying that I really liked the coffee at Duino.  “You can really tell the difference in coffee from one place to another?”  I certainly can.   Oh, I forgot an important story.  Clorinda took the kids (4 at the time I believe) to play in the park in Switzerland, hoping they would meet some other children.  There were none anywhere and she asked a man where they all were.  “We sprinkle salt and pepper on them and eat them.”  Apparently Giancarlo was suitably horrified.  The children were in reality all up in the mountains on a summer break.  I had to push out my 1pm meeting as I didn’t want to cut story time short.

The rest of the week was quieter, with Clorinda either reading or watching operas on TV.

That one was the last section of Tosca, one of her favourites.

The highlight of Clorinda’s week was a visit to Target.  She claims that she hasn’t been to a store since she wrecked her car in 2017.  Might be true.  You can see how much fun she had in this video – shoppers beware.

We went to CT Provisions in downtown McKinney for brunch on Saturday.  You’ll remember me raving about their voodoo shrimp Benedict.  It was just as good as I remembered.  Clorinda enjoyed her avocado toast and eggs, and a small sip of mimosa.

Ready for your weekly Ollie update?  Here he is at the park that has obstacles for dogs to practice with.  You can see he’s in the uphill, dominant position – but the other dog is probably wondering about how dominant he really is with a teddy bear in his mouth.  I believe the black dog is a Bernadoodle – St. Bernard and poodle blend.  What will they think of next?

I finished up “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen early this week.  I did enjoy the story and particularly all the drama surrounding the elephant and his act.

I enjoyed reading the author’s note at the end of the book:

“The idea for this book came unexpectedly.  In early 2003 I was gearing up to write an entirely different book when the Chicago Tribune ran an article on Edward J. Kelty, a photographer who followed traveling circuses around America in the 1920s and ’30s.  The photograph that accompanied the article so fascinated me that I bought two books of old-time circus photographs.  By the time I’d thumbed through them, I was hooked.  I abandoned the book I’d planned to write and dove instead into the world of the train circus.”

Here’s a passage that made me smile:

“‘Jacob!’ shouts August from behind me.  ‘My dear fellow!  So glad you could join our little soiree.  I see Marlena has set you up with a drinky-poo; has she shown you the dressing room yet?'”

“Drinky-poo” is a common term in our home.

I’m running out of Sunday afternoon and have a few other things to finish up for the week ahead, so I’m skipping the deep dive into an album from my collection this week.  Instead, I read that Rick Wakeman was being given an honor by the Queen, I can’t remember exactly what it is, but that sent me to check out some of his music.  Here are a few of my favourites:

Stay safe and kind.

 

 

Week in Review – June 6, 2021

“Silly Penguins”

This was a quiet, relaxing and very uneventful week (for me.)  I flew home on Tuesday afternoon and found most things in good shape at the house.  I would like to understand how the two penguins ended up fallen over, but they are both keeping very, very quiet about it.  The crew in California were quite entertained when they saw the trouble the penguins had been stirring up.

While I was taking it easy and regrouping from the activity of the last couple of weeks, Diana and Alicia were busy packing up her apartment in San Luis Obispo (SLO) and putting it into storage.  And I believe enjoying some of the SLO nightlife as well.  They’re going to be tired when they finally make it home.

It has been raining heavily every day for at least a week, and so all the flowers and plants are loving life with larger blooms than we’ve seen before.   This hydrangea seems particularly happy.

The weather improved on Saturday and I had my busiest day of the week.  It’s all relative though.  Started with coffee, crossword and quiche at Filtered.  Downtown McKinney was a bit of work to navigate as things were all set up for something called the Revolution music festival – apparently happening in downtown for the first time and sporting some pretty big name artists – I just wasn’t in the mood to deal with the crowds that would have come with that.

After coffee, I got a haircut (told you the excitement was all relative), picked up a few things at the grocery store, and exchanged books at the local library.  In between those activities, I converted Diana’s office into a bedroom for Clorinda’s upcoming visit.  That was a bit of a workout – moving her heavy desk against the wall, carting a bed frame down from upstairs, then a mattress, bedding, and end tables.  All finished up relatively painlessly and passed virtual inspection.

Sunday was mostly consumed by a longer than normal drive down to Austin, in preparation for work meetings in the office on Monday morning.  What were all these folks doing on the road on a Sunday afternoon?  And when will all the construction on I-35 ever end – it’s been years already.  I did enjoy a really yummy chicken coconut curry at Tarka Indian Kitchen, just across the street from my hotel.

Ollie was driving around on Sunday as well – comfy in his plush bed and seat belt.

I didn’t get a lot of reading done this week.  It’s funny how it seems to be that in the weeks when I plan to read a lot, I just don’t get much done.  I’m a bit more than halfway through “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen.  I’m enjoying the story and particularly all the details about how a circus operation would travel by train from town to town with all the animals in tow.  So much work to set up and tear down for typically just one day per town.  I was reminded of our trips to the Kelvin Hall for the circus as kids.  The whole extravaganza with the games, prizes and rides was a lot for a kid to take in.  I’ll have more to say on this book next week – trying to figure out where the plot line is headed – don’t spoil it for me if you’ve seen the movie (reviews are not good.)

I selected “Argus” by Wishbone Ash from my collection this week.  I can’t remember when I acquired this album – but it was many, many years ago.  It’s a favourite that I find myself revisiting several times each year.

The album was released in May of 1972 and reached number 3 on the UK charts, by far the most successful of their records.  It is  considered a landmark album in the progression of twin-lead guitar harmonisation.  Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden were both heavily influenced by what was accomplished by Andy Powell and Ted Turner on the dual lead guitars.

The record has a definite medieval feel too it – very similar to the feel of the band Midlake, from Denton, TX in more modern times.

These guys are still playing live – there was a show in Austin a couple of years ago that I missed.  Here are a couple of favourites:

Stay safe and kind!

 

Week in Review – May 23, 2021

“Double Birthday Celebration”

We enjoyed a few quiet days before things became quite busy later in the week.

“Inside Bill Gates’ Brain,” a three part series about the Microsoft founder, was our entertainment on Tuesday night.  This was a fascinating look at the life of an interesting character.  In 8th grade (13 or 14) he had the best score in math across all students of all ages in the state of Washington.  I enjoyed learning about the projects that the Gates Foundation has undertaken with funding from Warren Buffet – competitions to create innovative toilets and sanitation plants for African nations, eliminating polio in the last place it exists in the world – Nigeria, and many other amazing activities.  I definitely recommend giving this a look.

The flowers and magnolia trees are in full bloom in the back garden after so much rain over many days.

We spent a happy Wednesday evening trying to arrange some ornaments in the light boxes on top of the cabinets.  I’m quite sure there’s a lot more adjustment and rearranging coming in the future.

We flew to San Francisco on Friday and enjoyed dinner with Amy, Adamo and the crew that evening.  Saturday was a busy day getting ready for the big party on Sunday – setting up tables and chairs, rearranging furniture, arranging flowers, trips to various stores for supplies and on and on.

I think the ladies did a lovely job with the flowers.

We met Will, Christine, Campbell, and Molly for dinner at LV Mar in Redwood City on Saturday night.  Will had given me the choice of several kinds of food for dinner, and I chose Spanish tapas.  That turned out to be a good choice as all the food and drinks were excellent.  Clorinda and Alicia joined us – Clorinda entertaining us with her question, “When shall we order entrees?”, right about the time we were all getting quite full from sharing so many yummy tapas plates.  The pescado pastor (seared halibut tacos) and empanadas were my favourites.

Sunday was the big 21st birthday party for Alicia, hosted at Adamo and Amy’s house.  What an amazing party!  Great turnout, yummy food all afternoon, an excellent live band – what more could you ask for?  Here are some pictures and videos that tell the story of the party much more effectively than my words can:

I really enjoyed having Will, Christine, Campbell, Molly, and Ollie on Gypsy Hill for the first time.  Ollie was very relaxed around so many people, a band, and several other dogs.

The dancing didn’t stop because the band finished playing.  We put on our “Wedding Dancing” playlist:

Adamo and Amy, along with a lot of help from Diana and several others, threw an excellent 21st birthday party.

 

 

Down in New Orleans, the Ogan twins were busy graduating, with Mason off to Alabama and Jack to Tulane for college in a few months.

 

 

I really enjoyed “Ask Again, Yes” by Mary Beth Keane.  Here’s how Amazon reviewers describe the story:

“In Mary Beth Keane’s extraordinary novel, a lifelong friendship and love blossoms between Kate Gleeson and Peter Stanhope, born six months apart. One shocking night their loyalties are divided, and their bond will be tested again and again over the next thirty years. Heartbreaking and redemptive, Ask Again, Yes is a gorgeous and generous portrait of the daily intimacies of marriage and the power of forgiveness.”

Peter describing how he feels when his mother, Kate, suffers a depressive episode and hides out in her room:

“The quiet of the house when she kept to her room was not the peaceful silence of a library, or anywhere near as tranquil.  It was, Peter imagined, more like the held-breath interlude between when a button gets pushed and the bomb either detonates or is defused.  He could feel his own heartbeat at those times.  He could track his blood as it looped through his veins.”

Kate’s father, Francis, vouching for Peter as he applies to the NY police department:

“‘I told them none of it was his fault, what happened that night.  I told them that he’d gone on to do well in school and all that.  What you told me that time, when Mom was in surgery.  Running and getting a scholarship.  They already new that, of course.’

‘So you forgive him then?  You don’t blame him?’  She wanted to throw her arms around him like she was ten again.  ‘You don’t blame me?’

Francis turned.  ‘I never blamed him.  He was fourteen years old.  Why would I blame him?  And why in the world would I blame you?  You’re not understanding the problem here.  You’re not even near understanding it.'”

Peter finally agreeing to see his mother Kate after many years:

“She’d gotten a haircut.  Her clothes looked freshly pressed.  She reached up and patted him on the back, so he patted her back.  They didn’t embrace.  They just kept patting each other, like a person might do to an upset stranger.  Kate narrowed her eyes and could see that Peter was fighting like hell not to cry, his chest rising and falling.  When he turned he had an expression on his face that she’d never seen before.”

The title revealed on page 376:

“‘So you don’t regret marrying me, you just regret the way you asked?  Oh, Peter, I can think of so many other things you should regret.’

‘Yeah.’  He looked down at his empty plate.  ‘Probably.’

‘Hey.  Come back.’  Kate covered his hands with hers.  ‘If you regret it so much, ask me now.  Ask again.  Properly, this time.'”

I’m trying something new this week on the music front.  Let me know what you think.  I’m going to select an album from my collection and share some of the tidbits about it I find through research, some of the history of how I came to own the record (if I can remember), and my thoughts on the music.

Since I’m separated from my collection as I write this post, I’ll select the one that sits at the end of the stack I see each time I walk into my office – ZZ Top’s “First Album.”

I bought this album somewhere around my third year of University.  We had become familiar with ZZ Top via their hugely commercially successful “Eliminator” album with the videos that played regularly on MTV.  Then we heard some of their older, bluesier material, with the rhythm of “La Grange” from the “Tres Hombres” album being the way we would tap on our flat doorbell to let each other know it was us and not an annoying solicitor.  And finally I came across this “First Album”.

I would play the fourth track on side B over and over again in my room in our flat in the Maidens – “Just Got Back from Baby’s”.  The blues guitar sound, opening riff and solo are excellent.  I was hooked in the first 10 seconds.  So different than the commercial ZZ Top.

Billy Gibbons is such an excellent blues guitar player.  We enjoyed him recently (a couple of years ago), performing with Jimmy Vaughan at Eric Clapton’s Blues Festival – a real treat.  Dusty Hill on bass and Frank Beard (the one of the trio without the long beard) on drums provide a very solid backing.

Gibbons said of the album title:

“We called the record ZZ Top’s First Album because we wanted everyone to know that there would be more. We weren’t certain if we’d get another chance in the studio, but we had high hopes.”

He also said of the music:

“We had been together for about six months and were knocking around the bar scene, playing all the usual funky joints. We took the studio on as an extension of the stage show. The basics were all of us playing together in one room, but we didn’t want to turn our backs on contemporary recording techniques. To give our sound as much presence and support as possible, we became a little more than a three piece with the advantages of overdubbing. It was the natural kind of support – some rhythm guitar parts, a little bit of texture. That was about it.”

The album was recorded at Robin Hood Studios in Tyler, Texas and released on January 16, 1971 (yet another example of all the fantastic music released in 1971).  Bill Ham, the band’s manager, produced the record, as he did with the majority of their catalog – up to and including “Eliminator”.  Here’s something from that – how much their sound changed:

 

Stay safe and kind to everyone.

 

 

Week in Review – May 16, 2021

“Kitchen’s Finished”

I finished watching the movie “Penguin Bloom” with my elliptical workout on Monday morning.  I really enjoyed and recommend this film.  Penguin is actually an injured magpie that Naomi Watts’ character and her family adopt.  Penguin helps her adjust to being in a wheel chair after an accident.

By an interesting coincidence, Naomi Watts was also in “Demolition”, the next movie that I watched with my workout.  This film was mildly entertaining and nowhere near as good as “Penguin Bloom.”

A nice walk in the afternoon finished up my Monday exercise regime.  Brandi Carlile’s “Broken Horses” kept me company.  She performs a relevant song at the end of each chapter – a cover of Neil Young’s “Philadelphia” was excellent and almost topped by her version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”.  Unfortunately these songs only appear to be available as part of the audio book.

Tuesday’s exercise was a pleasant swim at the gym – only issue was the water aerobics class in the two lanes next to me – very noisy and excitable instructor.  I had some free time later in the afternoon and got some reading time with a coffee at Duino.  The new hardwood floors were installed in the kitchen and look great.  I’m quite happy that Diana talked me into having the same floor throughout the ground floor – it really makes the kitchen and living area seem  more like one big, open space.

We received this picture from Clorinda’s neighbors – this mountain lion has been seen quite a bit during the day on Gypsy Hill lately, and seems very comfortable up next to the houses.  We’re going to have to think twice about going out for walks on the hill when we visit next week.

Diana joined me for a walk on Wednesday afternoon.  The living room was finally put back together at the end of the day.  We’re almost ready to take up residence in there again – just some final touch ups to be finished.

Thursday was the highlight of my week.  I was able to attend the Byron Nelson golf tournament with a couple of work colleagues.  The tournament moved to the Craig Ranch TPC – just a few miles from our home.  Our CEO is a member of the salesmanship club that hosts the event, and was gracious enough to provide us with some 17th hole skybox tickets.  The weather was perfect – mid 70s and not blazing hot and humid as is typical for this event.  Jordan Spieth is from Dallas and so was a big draw on the course.  We were fortunate to have great spots to watch him making an eagle putt attempt on the 12th hole – right until the mobile cameras moved directly in front.

Here’s his eagle attempt:

And here he taps in the birdie:

Diana was quite excited when the pendant lights were installed above the kitchen island – Jose had me stand next to it so that he could make sure my head didn’t bump into them.  I do think they look great – and not too blue like the designing twins thought.

 

We had a work dinner at Del Frisco’s Grille in downtown Dallas – a bit of a drive but great to see some of our colleagues from Mexico who were visiting.  I loved the short rib stroganoff that I chose for dinner.

Work on the kitchen was pretty much completed on Friday – right on schedule with just a few small touch up things to be done.  That and the appliances that should trickle in over the next few weeks.  Here are some pictures – our favourite touches are the pendant lights, the waterfall island slab, and the lighted display boxes on top of the cabinets.

Diana spent most of Saturday loading things back into the cabinets.  Note one of the must have spice racks open on the right.

We chuckled at the entirety of Jose’s plans for the kitchen:

Patty and Brent always find the best cards.  Masquerading as “normal” (whatever that looks like) is indeed exhausting.

Sunday began with a walk, trying to beat the rain forecast for late morning, and then consistently for the next 10 days.  Just a light sprinkle and a lot of humidity.  I’m watching the final round of the Byron now as I finish up this post, Spieth is now 5 shots behind K.H. Lee – they started the round early in hopes of finishing before the rain gets too bad.

My reading this week was by Ann and Anne.  First was “Run” by Ann Patchett

Set over a period of twenty-four hours, “Run” is a story about how worlds of privilege and poverty can exist only blocks apart from each other, and how family can include people you’ve never even met.

Since their mother’s death, Tip and Teddy Doyle have been raised by their father. As the former mayor of Boston, Bernard Doyle wants to see his sons in politics, a dream the boys have never shared. But when an argument in a New England snowstorm causes an accident that involves a stranger and her child, all Bernard Doyle cares about is his ability to keep his children—all his children—safe.

Tip and Teddy’s brother, Sullivan, is the least pleasingly developed of the otherwise excellent characters in this novel.  We are given quick glimpses into what went wrong with his life, and then that is all dropped and forgotten.  I wonder if there was a lot more about him in an early draft and then that was edited out?  This passage reminds me of ultimately realizing that it’s true what we are told – you never stop worrying about your kids:

“Even when Sullivan was a teenager he had a certain formality when things were very bad, as if he was preparing to serve as the counsel for the defense.  Doyle wondered if he needed to spend some time worrying about Sullivan on top of everything else, even though he had sworn off that pastime years ago.

Once he was in his room with the door closed, Doyle realized he wasn’t going to get to anyone on his list.”

This is the episode that sets the whole story off:

“He was a boy stepping out in front of a car he clearly did not see.  Tip kept his head in his books, in the clouds, with the fishes.  He didn’t pay attention.  She pushed him, but not because he was hers.  She pushed him because he was there and the car was there.  She pushed him so hard she was certain she had sent him sailing up through the falling snow and into the night like a punch form a cartoon character.  Pow!  He spun off towards the stars.  Had she knocked him clear to safety?  She had never hit anyone as hard as she hit Tip, and then, as if in reply, she was hit by the car.”

Describing Kenya, the just discovered sister, running on the Harvard indoor track, and one of the reasons for the title of the book:

“They were no longer waiting to see how fast she could go, they knew how fast she could go.  Now they wanted to see how long it would be before she crashed, and if that was what they were waiting for they might as well sit down and get comfortable.

Tip had never seen anything like it.  Not just the speed but the utter effortlessness of it all, the way the toes of her shoes barely touched down before she set off again.  She was a sprinter, clearly she was a sprinter, and yet she just kept going until he started to change his mind and wonder if she wasn’t going to knock out a half marathon on the track while he sat there waiting.”

This was an excellent read and I highly recommend this and the other Patchett books that I’ve read, with “Bel Canto” being my least favourite.

My next book was “The Beginner’s Goodbye” by Anne Tyler.

Crippled in his right arm and leg, Aaron grew up battling with a sister who constantly wanted to micro-manage him.  So when he meets Dorothy, an outspoken, independent young woman, she’s like a breath of fresh air.  He marries her quickly, and they have a relatively happy, unremarkable marriage.  Aaron works at his family’s vanity-publishing business, turning out titles designed to guide beginners through the trials of life.  But when a tree crashes into their house and Dorothy is killed, Aaron feels as though he has been erased forever.  Only Dorothy’s unexpected appearances from the dead—in their house, on the roadway, in the market—help him to live in the moment and to find some peace.  Gradually, Aaron discovers that maybe for this beginner there is indeed a way to say goodbye.

A paragraph that hit very close to home with our ‘interim kitchen’ in the bedroom/master bathroom.  It’s from the book “Beginners Kitchen Remodeling”, published by Aaron’s company:

” ‘Knowing What You Want’ was the first chapter.  (Where in your present kitchen do you do your slicing and dicing?  Do you, in fact, do any slicing and dicing?)  ‘Communicating with Your Contractor’ was the second.  Almost the entire remainder of the book consisted of what now seemed to me an inordinately detailed plan for setting up an interim kitchen in a spare bathroom.”

Some of the classic Tyler dialogue that captures real world domestic life so well:

” ‘Oh, I didn’t realize it had to have historical significance.’

‘Dorothy,’ I said.  ‘Would you rather just not do this?’

‘I said I would, didn’t I?  But then all you can come up with is this fusty old place where your parents used to eat.  And when I question it, you fly into a huff and turn down everything else I suggest.’

‘I didn’t turn down “everything else”; I turned down Jean-Christophe.  It just so happens that I dislike a restaurant where the waiters require more attention than my date does.’

‘Where would you be willing to eat, then?’

“Oh shoot,’ I said, ‘I don’t care.  Let’s just go to Jean Christophe.’

‘Well, if you don’t care, why do we bother?’

‘Are you deliberately trying to misunderstand me?’  I asked her.”

I enjoyed this song from Frank Black, former frontman of the Pixies.  Interestingly I was just having a conversation about the Pixies with our HR leader at dinner on Thursday, and recommended the Loud Quiet Loud documentary about the band.

A great version of “Love Train” by Paul Thorn, a musician from Tupelo, Mississippi, who was a professional boxer for several years before being discovered playing in a local pizza restaurant.

And finally, here’s one from the Hothouse Flowers – an album I used to play all the time and had forgotten about.

Stay safe, patient, and kind.

 

 

Week in Review – May 9, 2021

“The Kessler – we missed you so much!”

This is the first week when it really started to feel like things were getting back to normal – an excellent concert at the Kessler and a lovely Mother’s Day brunch.  But I’m jumping ahead again.

The voodoo shrimp Benedict at C.T. Provisions, that I was looking forward to when I posted last Sunday, was as good as I had hoped – the blue stone grit cake and the voodoo sauce were a great complement to the eggs.  We sat on the patio that’s been constructed in the parking area and enjoyed the lovely weather, with mariachi accompaniment from the band in the park across the street.  I’m looking forward to visiting this restaurant again soon.

On Monday evening we watched “Mare of Easttown” – our new favourite show.  The series stars Kate Winslett in a pretty atypical role – she’s a police detective whose life is unraveling quickly.  The show is getting very complex after 3rd episode, and I suspect Richard to be responsible for the crime Mare is investigating – he’s a writer she’s dating who just moved back to town.

Tuesday morning started with a pleasant 2.5 mile walk, and continued with our quarterly work Board meeting.   I enjoyed the movie “Jack Goes Boating” while doing my elliptical workout.  This is a film from 2010, directed by and starring the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman.  It’s one of those quiet, understated movies that slowly gets under your skin.

That film led to a recommendation for “The Answer Man”, which we watched on Tuesday evening.  This movie stars Jeff Daniels and Lauren Graham – two actors that we both appreciate.  This was a very enjoyable film with some good messages.  As in Nomadland, the most poignant scene was when Daniels is spurred to play his deceased father’s piano by Graham’s character’s son.

Wednesday started with another elliptical workout, and this time I finished up the Philip Glass DVD that I’ve had in the media room player for months – a very good documentary.  In the afternoon I enjoyed a 3 mile walk, accompanied by the audio book of Brandi Carlile’s “Broken Horses”.  I’m only an hour into the eleven hour listen, and am enjoying it very much.

The counter tops were installed in the kitchen while I was out for my walk.  They look amazing and I’m going to wait until everything is finished up next week before sharing any more pictures – keeping it a surprise from here on out.

I kept my exercise streak going on Thursday morning with some time on the elliptical and then a nice swim at the gym.  In the kitchen, the backsplash was installed, and seems to be the most exciting development so far for Diana.  Thankfully she’s very pleased with the tile chosen as a replacement for the one she “Hate, Hate, Hated.”

As the sun was setting we heard my buddy the cardinal singing at length.  Diana wondered who he was speaking to as nobody every answered.  So I pulled up some cardinal song on my phone and tried to give him some company.

Friday evening may have been a highlight of the year so far.  We picked up Jens and Glenda for a concert at the Kessler.  Catching up over a pre-concert dinner at Nova was a real treat.  We walked down to the theater and everyone enjoyed the opening band, Terence Bradford and Congo Square.  They are a Dallas based band playing New Orleans inspired music.

The Revelers Hall Band hit the stage with such infectious energy that they had the place rocking right away.  What a great band!

Two of my favourites in their set were “Lean on Me” and “With a Little Help from my Friends”:

You can tell McD is enjoying this version of “Get Ready/Seven Nation Army”:

The fun was all capped off with a second line march through the theater:

I can’t remember when we were both up and around after midnight, as opposed to our 1opm at the latest regular bedtime.  All four of us thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

I said I wasn’t going to share any more kitchen pictures, but can’t help showing this video of Jose and his crew painting the cabinets – they take it very seriously and wanted to spray to get the best possible finish.

I think Diana had a pretty good Mother’s Day on Sunday.  She started with a virtual hike/walk with Alicia – up early at 7am in California to tell her mom all the wonderful things she has done for her over the years.  Didn’t she do well with the flowers she had delivered?

I took the honoree to Rye for brunch.  This tiny restaurant is always a treat.  Diana had a pork belly Benedict with perfectly cooked eggs and delicious sauce.  I tried the stuffed relleno, which turned out to be completely vegan.  The stuffing included veggie chorizo, sweet potatoes, and several other vegetables.  The dish was delicious – great flavours and sauces.

We had seen a TV commercial for Dairy Queen and McD remarked that she loved their soft serve ice cream cones dipped in chocolate, and hadn’t had one in over 30 years.  What a great idea for a Mother’s Day dessert.

There was an interesting article on Nicola Sturgeon and her quest for Scottish independence in The New Yorker this week.  I hadn’t heard of all her challenges with her predecessor Alex Salmond, so was a good primer for me on what’s been going on with Scottish politics:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/10/nicola-sturgeons-quest-for-scottish-independence

This week’s issue also has a fascinating article on how manipulating electric patterns between cells can lead to regeneration of missing fingers and limbs, just as it does in worms when cut in half:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/10/persuading-the-body-to-regenerate-its-limbs

I finished “The Yiddish Policeman’s Union” by Michael Chabon.  While I love the unique and clever imagery and writing style, I found this book a bit of slog, partially because of all the Jewish terminology that was foreign to me.  The story drags for the first three quarters of the book, and then is a bit too far fetched when the true plot is revealed.

Here are some of the phrases that I really appreciated:

“Landsman nods and scratches at the stubble of his chin in a way that is meant to signify deep ratiocination, but his heart and thoughts are hung up in the memory of chess games that he lost to men who were already old thirty years ago.”

ratiocination – the process of logical reasoning – what a great word.

Some classic Chabon imagery – how great is “tromboning?”:

“He plucks a sheet of paper from the chaos of his desk, tractates, promulgations, and bans, classified documents, adding machine tapes, surveillance reports on the habits of marked men.  There’s a second or so of tromboning as he brings the paper within focusing range.”

More excellent writing:

“The knot of his gold-and-green rep necktie presses its thumb against his larynx like a scruple pressing against a guilty conscience, a reminder that he is alive.  His hat is as glossy as a seal.”

The origin of the title isn’t revealed until page 230:  ” ‘The Yiddish Policeman’s Union,’  says the pie man.”

I really enjoy Chabon’s musical similes:

“The brake and gas were rigged to suit a man of his stature, and he handled them like Horowitz sailing through a storm of Liszt.”

Something very close to home for me, having grown up in the county of Ayrshire:

” ‘They look like dairy cows,’ Berko says.

‘They’re Ayrshires,’ says Dick.  ‘I snapped some pictures last time I came out here.  A professor of agriculture down in Davis, California, ID’d them for me.  ‘A Scottish breed.’  Dick works his voice up into his nose, mocking that Californian professor.  ‘Known for its hardiness and ability to thrive in northern latitudes.’ “

I really liked “tinnitus of the soul”:

“The space recently occupied by his mind hisses like the fog in his ears, hums like a bank of fluorescent tubes.  He feels that he suffers from tinnitus of the soul.”

And “the grandeur of a whale’s respiration”:

“A few minutes later, Bina begins to snore.  There is no doubt that her snoring has not changed in two years.  It has a double-reeded hum, the bumble-bee continuo of Mongolian throat-singing.  It has the slow grandeur of a whale’s respiration.”

I was listening to a lot of jazz music this week, and stumbled on this excellent cover of “Can’t Find My Way Home” by Christian Sands.  I must have listened to it at least twice each day this week.  I was fortunate to see Sands perform at Dizzy’s Club in Jazz at Lincoln Center, back in the AIG days with Vince.

I’m working my way through the 17 best “hard bop” albums as listed in Scott Yanow’s essay in AllMusic:

https://allmusic-biography.blogspot.com/2010/11/hard-bop-essay-scott-yanow.html

Yanow has authored 11 books on jazz, over 800 liner notes for CDs and over 20,000 reviews of jazz recordings, making him quite the expert.

First on the list is “Miles Davis Vol. 1.”  This is not my favourite style at all – too fast and technical without real emotion or soul.  I do enjoy the trombone playing of J. J. Johnson.

The album was released on May 9, 1952, 69 years ago today, with these personnel:

Next on the list is “Soul Station” by jazz saxophonist Hank Mobley.  This was released in 1960 and is considered by many critics to be his finest album.  I like this one a lot more than the Miles Davis.

These are the personnel:

Next up is “Bluesnik” by saxophonist Jackie McLean:

Bluesnik was recorded in 1961 and is considered McLean’s most accessible record.  My favourite of the hard bop list so far.

Stay safe and be kind to everyone!