This was a quiet week until Saturday when we were able to squeeze a number of fun activities. The day started with a matinee of the 
“Bodyguard” musical at the Fair Park Music Hall just south of downtown Dallas. The venue is quite old with a nice art deco flavor and lots of room to mill around before the concert started. We had seats in the balcony and were able to move to better seats as it wasn’t very busy upstairs. The musical is based on the movie starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner from 1992 and has 20 songs – mostly popularized by Whitney Houston. The big number is “I Will Always Love You” towards the end. The story didn’t completely follow the movie – particularly in the second half. The singing was fine but not quite as good as we were hoping for.
We headed from Fair Park over to the Bishop Arts district in Oak Cliff and the “Wild Detectives” bookstore. This is my favorite bookstore in Dallas (not that there are many to choose from these days). It’s very small with a nicely curated selection of both books and music. It also serves coffee and drinks. We had a coffee and crossword in the outside garden which was fun until I started melting in the 100 plus degree heat.
The fantastic French restaurant, “Boulevardier”, across the street offered
some welcome air conditioning and a delicious cocktail and steak tartare (served with a quail egg). Next was dinner with Patty and Brent at the Meddlesome Moth. We shared several delicious appetizers and then I had a wonderful rabbit pot pie. It paired beautifully with my Firestone Walker Velvet Merlin Nitro beer.
We managed to cram a lot of activity into Saturday afternoon and evening.
Monday night saw the first concert at the new Frisco Star – the indoor practice field for the Dallas Cowboys. James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt put 
on a very enjoyable show. We had been concerned about echo in the venue based on a lunch we attended on the field, but some very large curtains took care of that nicely. The highlight for me was Bonnie’s cover of the “Angel from Montgomery” by John Prine – so soulful and heartbreaking. James Taylor highlights were “Fire and Rain” followed by “Sweet Baby James”. It was nice to have dinner at the Cowboys Club and use the private “Jones family elevator” to get down to the concert. Diana actually went back up to the club to get her drinks rather than waiting in line in the venue – and beat me back to the seats.
I finally finished up “Moonglow” by Michael Chabon. The narrator in this book is chronicling Chabon’s conversations with his dying grandfather
and mother about his family. He weaves together tales of the various generations and relatives very cleverly and sometimes with just a bit too much detail. Chabon is right up there with Ian McEwan as one of my current generation favorites based on his wonderfully clever and descriptive similes and metaphors. “He had maybe two minutes before the rocket of his anger burned up its fuel and fell back to earth”. “Inside the airduct was a smell like the taste of a new filling”. I didn’t enjoy this as much as the last of his books I read, “Telegraph Avenue”, but would definitely recommend it.
I discovered an excellent Aretha Franklin song during dinner at the Meddlesome Moth due to the amazing Shazam app. “Share Your Love With Me” was originally recorded by Bobby Blue Bland in 1963 and covered by Aretha in 1970. There are very good covers by Van Morrison and The Band as well. Richard Manuel’s singing on The Band version is amazing.
The other song I heard this week that really caught my attention was “(Wish I Could) Hideaway” by Credence Clearwater Revival. It has a lot of the same elements that I love about their song, “Long as I Can See the Light” with the “Candle in the Window” line that made it into Diana’s vows.
The latest chapter in my jazz book covers Charles Mingus – the renowned bassist and composer most popular in the 1950s. My favorite recording is “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” which he released in 1959. I learned that it was written as an elegy to Lester Young who had died a couple of months earlier and was well known for his broad-brimmed pork pie hat when playing the saxophone. I remember enjoying the Jeff Beck version from the early 70s when studying in university. Joni Mitchell released an album dedicated to Mingus where she added lyrics to his compositions – I’ve never been able to get into it although I’ve tried a few times.
On Sunday I had a very enjoyable lunch at Santana Row catching up with Finn while Diana met up with her girlfriends for “Sip and Dip” at Kristina and Cat’s home. Finn shared his website which showcases some of his graphic design and mobile application work – finnrobertsondesign.com. He’s working on finding the perfect job match in this field just now. I met up with the crew at Kristina’s and we enjoyed a lovely dinner and sharing stories with her Mom. We spent the night in Los Gatos and I was able to visit some favorite old haunts – Carry Nations pub, The Great Bear coffee shop where we met up with Los Gatos Amy, and The Los Gatos Cafe for breakfast (and a special carrot and walnut left over treat for Clorinda).
On Tuesday we met up with a couple of friends of D’s from Australia – Renee and Daniel. Renee taught Alicia dance and singing when she was in Australia many years ago and has since married Daniel. They walked across the Golden Gate Bridge; we met them on the far side, and took them up to the top of the Marin Headlands for the best view of San Francisco.
During the trip to California I was able to finish the book, “Two and Two, McSorley’s, My Dad, and Me” by Rafe Bartholomew. This is a very enjoyable read about the oldest continually operating bar in the United States and a father and son who have both worked there for many years – several together. Lots of insights into the operation of the unique bar are offered along with a lot of commentary on working together with one’s Dad. I was interested to read that the bar did not close down during Prohibition but was first closed during Hurricane Sandy. This reminded me of my experience trying to recover connectivity for AIG’s employees stranded at home during Sandy. This while all of the New York based team was completely offline due to lost electricity and connectivity. Not something that I hope to have to do again in my IT career.
nfiguration and finally put a piano in the area we’ve referred to as the “piano room” since moving into the house over 4 years ago. I did some quick online research and then made a trip to Jack Whitby pianos in Dallas. Jack is quite the local character and had a good selection of reasonably priced pianos. I picked one out around 1:30pm and it was delivered to the house by 5pm – much to Diana’s surprise and entertainment. I’ve been enjoying the sound and feel of the new Shoenbach piano very much over the last week.
We also loved this wedding card from the Scottish penguin series that includes our Christmas present mugs with William Wallace, Batman and Robin, lovebirds, and bagpiper.
Here’s the staging for a selection of songs from the “Animals” album. Screens and chimneys down the middle of the arena and perpendicular to the stage reprised the classic album cover of the Battersea power station. This was also the point in the show where Waters’ feelings on Trump were on full display. Including a large Trump pig that circled the arena and many graphics and direct Trump quotes projected on the large screens. It was interesting to look around and see the split of those cheering and those sitting on their hands. I’d say about 30% obvious Trumpers in the audience – I was expecting less.
The first half of the show ended with “Another Brick in the Wall” and a crew of local Dallas kids dressed in orange prison garb dancing on stage. They removed their overalls to show “Resist” shirts. At the end of the show, confetti with Resist stamped on it dropped from the ceiling. “Resist” is a slogan for a movement that encourages grass roots organizing and action to stand against the current Trump/Republican agenda.
Based on this text I think Will enjoyed the show as much as I did which makes me very happy.
