Month: March 2020

“I Don’t Eat Anything I’m Not Sure How to Pronounce”

I’m afraid these updates are going to start getting pretty boring with everyone staying at home for the most part.  I’ll do my best to find some interest in the day to day goings on around our McKinney home and beyond.

We’re determined to try and get some daily exercise even with all the gyms and pools closed.  After a reasonably extensive search, we found a nice used elliptical machine locally and had it delivered on Tuesday.  Thank goodness Diana decided to pay extra to have it dropped upstairs in the media room.  There’s no way we could have done it ourselves.  The gentleman on the lower end looked like he was competing in “The World’s Strongest Man” as he hoisted the behemoth upstairs.  Fortunately some excellent supervision was provided from the upstairs landing.

All that activity was worth it as the machine went into daily use:

The other way we’re getting exercise is with C25K (Couch to 5K).  This is an application that coaches you from sitting on the couch to being ready to run a 5K.  It’s an 8 week course with three 30 minute sessions each week.  The duration of runs versus walks increases each week.  I never expected McD to do this with me, but she’s doing really well and we completed week 1 successfully.

Week 2 starts around 11am tomorrow morning.

 

People have been trying hard to stay connected with everyone working at home, and I shared my Wednesday dinner creation and asked my team what they’d been cooking.  Sole meuniere ended up being much easier than I anticipated – I added a bit too much lemon juice but otherwise it tasted quite good.  Nick responded with a picture of one of his favourites – mixed cheese stuffed bacon wrapped jalapenos – don’t those look amazing?

 

I did chuckle when one of my very Texan team members replied that he doesn’t eat anything he’s not sure how to pronounce.

 

 

Another way we’re staying connected is with virtual happy hours.  Here’s some of my team participating in the Thursday night version.  Michelle on the top right lives on a boat on Lake Travis – a great setting but very tight quarters to be cooped up in.  We were treated to an excellent version of “Rocky Raccoon” by Will, a very talented colleague who is leaving us this week for a new opportunity.

Diana picked up the meal kit for this week from Rye in downtown McKinney – lamb baos.  We had them on Friday night and they were fabulous.  And there’s plenty left for another meal.  Baos of any kind was one of our favourite meals when we were doing Blue Apron a few years back.  She also treated me to a bottle of their delicious “Bob Marley” cocktail – scotch, rum, and cynar – a very interesting combination.

I was able to finish the Sunday NY Times crossword in less than an hour – a first for me.  I’m getting a bit more time to practice with the NYT puzzles.

We’ve been doing whatever we can to support our local businesses – the restaurants, music clubs and artists that we enjoy most.  The Kessler, an amazing venue in Oak Cliff, south of downtown Dallas, started selling t-shirts to support their staff while closed down.  I think they came up with a great design.

 

 

We watched the movie “A Change in the Air” one evening, not sure exactly which at this point.  This was a quite and peaceful movie, such a nice change, with a very interesting ending – I won’t spoil it for you.

Macy Gray plays a musician and music teacher in the movie and one scene has her leading a choir in Dylan’s “Ring Them Bells” from my favourite album of his, “Oh Mercy”.  The Daniel Lanois production and Mason Ruffner guitar playing are excellent.  The album was released in 1989 and was hailed as a triumph by critics, after a string of poorly received albums.  Here are Dylan’s original and a couple of interesting cover versions:

I finally finished “Christmas in Austin” – it’s been a while since it took me 3 weeks to get through a book.  Nothing much happens in the book beyond what I reported over the last two posts.  The family did climb Mount Bonnel this week, reminding me of when Diana and I dragged Alicia up the 99 steps to see the terrific views of Austin.

On tap for this week is “The Adventurer’s Son” by Roman Dial, and it looks like it will be a bit more of an exciting journey:

I leave you this week with my 88 year old mother-in-law looking through some pictures that had just been unearthed from deep storage.  It’s lovely to see her reminiscing about her opera performances:

Sorry – I just remembered one other funny thing that I wanted to share.  This is Damon’s cousin playing “Stairway to Heaven” with parrot accompaniment.  That’s really the parrot.  Apparently Damon’s mother owned an exotic bird shop and they owned one with a vocabulary of over 1,000 words and the ability to remember phrases associated with folks he only saw every few months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Stir-crazy”

The word of the day from dictionary.com this week sums things up nicely – “Stir Crazy”.  After three days of both working from home in our Austin apartment, we decided that some more space would be a good idea, and so drove up to McKinney on Thursday.  The roads were quiet, particularly through the log jam that is typically Waco on I-35, and we made good time.

We settled in to watch the Luck Reunion concert that would typically take place at Willie Nelson’s ranch, but this year was through a live stream broadcast.  The lineup was excellent and nicely varied.

I particularly enjoyed Nathaniel Rateliff and highly recommend his new solo album.  Then the finale by Willie and his sons, Lukas and Micah, was quite something.  Here are a few jittery videos I made from the TV since this particular live stream wasn’t saved for future viewing.  Thanks Amy for letting us know this concert was on.  We had been watching a different stream from Gordy Quist’s (Band of Heathens) kitchen table and then switched over to watch this one.  Such a great way to be able to contribute to the musicians while they’re not able to perform live.

 

Rye, our favourite downtown McKinney restaurant, got creative quickly and was offering a choice of three meal kits to take home and cook.  This is a great way for them to keep the place open and to keep ordering from their farmers and other suppliers.  We picked up a blue corn chilaquiles kit and used it to cook both dinner on Friday and brunch on Saturday.  The mushrooms, tomatilla sauce, creme fraiche, and all the other ingredients were so fresh and delicious, and I learned a new brunch recipe.  Oh, there was a langiappe from the Rye visit, Diana ordered me a quart of their excellent barrel aged Vieux Carre cocktail to go, and surprised me with one as I was cooking.  Thanks McD!  This cocktail was originally created at the Carousel Room of the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans around 1930.

 

 

Neighbours at the Catherine took these pictures of the Fairmont hotel paying tribute to Austin, Texas (ATX).  I really like this gesture from an almost empty hotel, struggling like all in the hospitality business.

Saturday morning was quiet with nowhere to go for our normal workout followed by coffee and crossword routine.  We watched a live stream concert by Anders Osborne from his living room in New Orleans.  He was totally new to the technology and approach, making the stream feel even more real and intimate.  He was easily distracted with the comments streaming by, and at one point even changed a string on his dobro while continuing to chat away.  His wife, Sarah, had her hands full keeping him focused and organized.  I highly recommend this live stream that you can find on Facebook for a sampling of this great musician’s work.

We walked to Zin Zen, our local wine bistro, to collect a take out Saturday dinner.   Their ad had given us a chuckle earlier in the week – “free roll of toilet paper with all orders over $25”.  It was nice to get some exercise while supporting a local small business.  I really enjoy their fungi salad and shrimp flatbread.

Diana braved the grocery store on Sunday for some provisions.  She reported that it’s not too crazy and the place is well organized.  We’re currently shopping online for an elliptical machine for the house – not having a lot of luck but have a few places lined up to call tomorrow.  I suspect a lot of folks are having the same idea with all the gyms being closed.

I’ve almost finished “Christmas in Austin” – the middle section has been a bit of a slog.  There are so many family members to keep track off and the action has been pretty mundane.  Hoping for some excitement in the last 150 pages.

I enjoyed the description of Central Market, an upscale H.E.B. grocery store – “a high-end local incarnation of an old local chain, arranged not in columns and rows but in a kind of snakes-and-ladders setup that forced you to follow the path from beginning to end” – so true, it’s a real pain to shop there until you get to know the layout.

This is such a great album.  I like every song and love at least three.

I went on a bit of a Wilco listening spree this week, it’s been too long.  Here’s one from their first album:

And finally, one from Langhorne Slim, one of Denny’s favourites:

 

“It’s My Turn to Keep the Wolves Away”

McD arrived back in Austin on Tuesday night, worn out from all those days sorting documents and pictures, and generally organizing her Mum’s house.  It was a pretty day in San Francisco when she left, as shown in this shot out the plane window.  I zoomed in on the second one to show how stunning the city is from the air.  Much prettier than this shot as she came in to land in Dallas:

The one hour change window in Dallas was shortened as the plane sat on the tarmac waiting for a gate – such a huge airport and it’s not uncommon to wait a while for a gate.  I always wonder why they can’t tell that flights are arriving to the minute and plan ahead on gates – I’m sure it’s much more complex than it seems.  Anyway, Diana was one of the last to make the plane, and a passenger in the first bulkhead row was putting his bag up for takeoff.  “Oh, excuse me”, he said to Diana, and as she got a look at him, realized it was Bill Murray.  I wonder what he’s doing in Austin this week.  I’m sure I would enjoy being a part of whatever it is.

We received this picture of the storage unit leaving ‘the hill” from Adamo.  That unit has been there for more than 10 years, and it was a huge accomplishment for the kids to get it emptied out and off the hill.

On Wednesday I asked Diana if she would like to go out to see Kevin Galloway performing at the Continental Gallery (the living room sized venue above the famous Continental Club).  We were both tired and non-committal and settled in to catch up on episodes of the Bachelor that we had missed while being separated for 10 days.  Just before 8pm, I decided that we should get out and enjoy some live music.  You might remember that the last (and only) time we saw Galloway was at Geraldine’s in the Van Zandt hotel with noisy, disrespectful people in front of us.  I was hoping this show would be different.

As we stood in line out front, we learned that this would be Galloway’s last show before moving from Austin.  While disappointed with that news, we were treated to an excellent show.  A friends and family send off, bringing out the very best in the musical performances and storytelling.  We sat at a table with Ace and Eddie.  Ace, “not wanting to toot his own horn too much”, informed us that he played harmonica on Galloway’s latest album and particularly “The Change”.  I think he does a lovely job and really brings something to the song.  Eddie is in construction and responsible for so many of those new condo developments that are taking over the heart and history of Austin.

The Uncle Lucius classic “Keep the Wolves Away” had most of the audience in tears. Kevin introduced it as one of two true stories that he would perform.  It’s about a refinery accident that disabled his father many years ago, and the line “Now It’s My Turn to Keep the Wolves Away” is the one that gets you.

Here are a couple of long storytelling introductions to “Taking in the Views” and “Johnny Tibodeaux”.  We really enjoy it when artists share something about their songs:

Here’s a final highlight from the show, a cover Kris Kristofferson’s “Loving Her Was Easier”, featuring a lovely couple in their eighties dancing.  We had seen them dancing before at the Saxon Pub, the gentleman taller than me and hunched over, but still moving so gracefully.

Diana couldn’t help but tell them how much she enjoyed seeing them get up to dance.  The venue, company, storytelling and excellent musicianship combined to make this one of our favourite shows in a very long time.  Another classic and unexpected Austin evening.

I enjoyed a work dinner at Peche, followed by a stop at Dumont’s Down Low, with a new work colleague on Thursday night.  I saved half of my delicious rabbit and mushroom barley risotto to share with Diana, but, as is typical, left it sitting at Dumont’s.  Sorry Diana.

Saturday was one of those fun days that just unfolds as it goes – I love those days.  A work colleague, Roy, who is in transition from Australia to Miami, was spending the weekend in Austin and so we invited him to join us for Saturday afternoon at the Continental Club.  John X Reed, from Amarillo, TX, was playing the 3pm show, with an excellent mix of old school country music.  The dancers were very good, and provided very good entertainment.

I really enjoyed seeing the group, all in their late sixties or seventies, crank out such an excellent set of songs.  Classic old school Texas music.

When we’d had our fill of old school country, the patio at the San Jose hotel across the street beckoned.  We hung out there for a bit and then enjoyed a delicious dinner back across the street at Boticelli’s.  Diana disappeared for a bit, only to be found in deep conversation with Andrew Boticelli, owner of the place, and his best friend (a jazz musician).   She knows how to get on the inside track.  The Italian food at this place is great, from the Boticelli bread to my main course of perfectly cooked scallops on a bed of truffle risotto.

While Diana went missing, Roy suggested attending the Kool and the Gang concert at Austin City Limits.  Why not?  A classic disco era band should be a nice treat for McD.  We grabbed an Uber and headed over.  No D, you can’t take your left over Boticelli’s into the concert!

We were up on the balcony, but enjoyed the flashback to our youth:

That was a really fun and impromptu experience.

Oh, I almost “forgot” to mention that my brain wasn’t working well in the Crossword competition on Saturday afternoon, with McD finishing more than 3 minutes faster than me.

We had a fancy date on Sunday, brunch at the Odd Duck.  Such a creative and unpretentious restaurant that never disappoints.  We ordered more than we could hope to eat, with the intention of having leftovers for supper.  The smoked fish pimento crackers and goat and chorizo corn dog with egg and mustard emulsion were excellent starters.

We followed that deliciousness with an excellent slow braised lamb, mushroom, and fried egg on toast – wow!

The presentation and originality of flavours in the dishes is amazing.  We finished up with a frito pie chilli dish, which is mostly waiting in the fridge for dinner.

Will enjoyed a visit to Disneyland in southern California.  Apparently Christine has owned those ears for over 20 years.

My book this week was “The Cracked Spine” by Paige Shelton.  Advertised as “a Sottish bookshop mystery”, this book had set my expectations set high.   The story starts with an advert for help in a bookshop, that is answered by a museum curator from Kansas:

“A bold adventurer who wants to travel the world from a comfortable and safe spot behind a desk that has seen the likes of kings and queens, paupers and princes. A humble book and rare manuscript shop seeks a keenly intelligent investigator to assist us in our search for things thought lost, and in our quest to return lost items to their rightful owners.”

This is a murder mystery set in the Grassmarket of Edinburgh, a location where I attended University for several years.  I found this to be a twee rendition of that location and Scotland in general, clearly written by somebody who hadn’t spent more than a few days on location.  The mystery was a fast page turner, completed in less than two days.  As much as a I groaned at the stereotypical Scottish accents and descriptions, I kept on reading to see if my analysis of the murder was accurate – not even close, with a typically disappointing and convoluted conclusion.

I’m still hearing that excellent Kevin Galloway concert in my head and recommend this Uncle Lucius album very much!  A new Nathaniel Rateliff album is finally released.  As much as I love him with his band, this is excellent music from start to finish.

A supergroup, Golden Smog, came across my radar this week, consisting of members of Soul Asylum, The Replacements, Wilco, and the Jayhawks (many of my favourites) they have a lot of promise.  What do you think?

If you’re like me, you think it’s fine, but like all supergroups, just a bit less than anticipated.

Here’s one from the late, great Neal Casal, who played on albums by Willie Nelson, Ryan Adams, and the Chris Robinson Brotherhood.  An equally good songwriter and guitarist:

And finally, an artist I listened to a lot in University, Warren Zevon, with a typically quirky song: