Month: August 2022

“Baby’s Back”

I watched the second episode of “Edge of the Earth – Raging Torrent”, on HBO on Sunday night.  This was an expedition by three crazy kayakers (Ben Stookesberry, Nouria Newman, and Erik Boomer) down the Chalupas river in Ecuador’s vast Llanganates National Park.  They were attempting to be the first to complete the entire 10,000 foot descent of the river through the park.

The kayakers had no map, guide, and only one point of emergency access to the outside world, and as you can imagine had to overcome every kind of hurdle imaginable.  The main challenge was unforecasted heavy rain for many days – making the more tricky parts of the river unpassable.  This necessitated “portage” – getting out of the river and walking for days through the jungle carrying all their equipment.  I won’t spoil your potential enjoyment by sharing how this all ended, but do highly recommend this show based on the first two episodes.

Denny took Anne to Satchmo (Louis Armstrong) fest to kick off her birthday week.  I like this creative picture of the Pinettes brass band that she took:

I got my D back on Tuesday night – her flight was actually early.  She seemed pleased with the house cleaning performed prior to her arrival and inspection – new napkin under coffee makers, cleaned up tables outside, wiped down counters, and cleaned shared bathrooms.  I had advertised a project that I was working on in her absence, and estimated that it would take her a few days to find it.  As of Thursday afternoon, it still hadn’t been found.  Diana gave up on Thursday evening, and I revealed the repair job that I had done on the worn out sofa section behind my head.  “Cheap and tacky looking,” was the encouraging response.  Well – over the course of two days she hadn’t noticed, so it can’t be that bad.

Will and Christine were looking for Heather’s address – she recently moved into a new house.  The address is on “Snibble Gardens.”  This generated a chuckle from McD.  I proceeded to educate her that a “snibble” is similar to a haggis – three-legged and dwelling in mountainous areas.  She wasn’t buying and looked up the definition:

I came across the British TV series “C. B. Strike” this week and have enjoyed the first few episodes.  Strike is a private investigator with an interesting history and a modern day Sherlock Holmes type of approach.  I shared the show with Diana on Wednesday evening, gave her a brief summary of the main characters and investigation that had happened over the first three episodes, believing each investigation to be stand alone, and watchable without having seen the first few episodes.  After some grousing about me always watching the first few episodes of shows and then expecting her to try and catch up, she settled in and enjoyed the show quite a bit – just as I predicted.

The episodes were about a murder that had happened in the London literary community.  One of the key findings in the investigation was that a piece of writing had many Oxford commas – and therefore was not in the style of the assumed author.  I had to research the Oxford comma – come to find out I use it quite a bit.  Here’s an example from earlier in this posting:

“new napkin under coffee makers, cleaned up tables outside, wiped down counters, and cleaned shared bathrooms.”  That last comma after “counters” and before “and” is an Oxford comma.  How many of you really knew about the name for this phenomenon?

The show is definitely worth a look:

We had a historically significant event on Wednesday night while watching C.B. Strike – it rained.  Rained for the  first time in 67 days – a massively new record.  No more precipitation in sight for at least the next week – just 100 degree temperatures every day.

I went to Apex for an indoor run on Thursday morning – breaking 2 miles for the first time in a while.  It is much easier to run in air conditioning with a soft track underfoot.  That activity reminded me of this cartoon in the New Yorker – maybe McD and I will finally become a couple that reliably runs together.  Then it was back to annual budget work in the afternoon – hoping that will come to a close soon one way or the other.

We made an attempt at being a “couple who run together” again on Saturday, with a trip to Apex for more indoor running.  I managed to eke out 2.5 miles this time.  I spent Saturday afternoon out by the pool, reading one of my books with McD.  She likes it when I accompany her sunbathing expeditions under my shade.

In New Orleans, Anne celebrated the morning of her birthday by watching the Red Dress Run, put on by Lafitte’s bar.  Kenny and Kara’s daughter and Kelly’s sons participated in the event.  There’s always something entertaining to watch in that city.

Today started with my typical swim.  I may rejoin Diana by the pool as it doesn’t look too unbearably hot out and I have another good looking book to read.

Ian McEwan is one of my top three favourite authors, and so I was excited to see his short story, “A Duet”, in the New Yorker this week:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/08/08/a-duet

There is also an online interview with McEwan on the story and his upcoming book, “Lessons”, to be published in September:

https://www.newyorker.com/books/this-week-in-fiction/ian-mcewan-08-08-22

My first book this week was quite different.  “Entangled Life – how fungi make our worlds, change our minds & shape our futures,” by Merlin Sheldrake is a lovely book about what the title says – how important fungi are to our natural existence.  I haven’t finished this book yet, so will reserve any quotes until I do.  I do highly recommend this to anyone with an interest in nature – a completely different and thoroughly engaging read.  Here’s the online summary:

“When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave.

In Entangled Life, the brilliant young biologist Merlin Sheldrake shows us the world from a fungal point of view, providing an exhilarating change of perspective. Sheldrake’s vivid exploration takes us from yeast to psychedelics, to the fungi that range for miles underground and are the largest organisms on the planet, to those that link plants together in complex networks known as the “Wood Wide Web”,  to those that infiltrate and manipulate insect bodies with devastating precision.

Fungi throw our concepts of individuality and even intelligence into question. They are metabolic masters, earth makers, and key players in most of life’s processes. They can change our minds, heal our bodies, and even help us remediate environmental disaster. By examining fungi on their own terms, Sheldrake reveals how these extraordinary organisms – and our relationships with them – are changing our understanding of how life works.”

My next book was “Tracy Flick Can’t Win” by Tom Perrotta.  I read this in one sitting by the pool with Diana on Saturday afternoon – so you can tell it’s a quick and easy read.  I did enjoy the book, but it is very lightweight, not really living up to all the glowing reviews I read.  Many chapters sounded like pages of a script – Perrotta has had several novels made into films, and I wonder if he doesn’t write with that in mind now.  I would certainly recommend this as a pleasant pool/beach read.  Here’s the online review:

“Tracy Flick is a hardworking assistant principal at a public high school in suburban New Jersey. Still ambitious but feeling a little stuck and underappreciated in midlife, Tracy gets a jolt of good news when the longtime principal, Jack Weede, abruptly announces his retirement, creating a rare opportunity for Tracy to ascend to the top job.

Energized by the prospect of her long-overdue promotion, Tracy throws herself into her work with renewed zeal, determined to prove her worth to the students, faculty, and School Board, while also managing her personal life—a 10-year-old daughter, a needy doctor boyfriend, and a burgeoning meditation practice. But nothing ever comes easily to Tracy Flick, no matter how diligent or qualified she happens to be.

Among her many other responsibilities, Tracy is enlisted to serve on the Selection Committee for the brand-new Green Meadow High School Hall of Fame. Her male colleagues’ determination to honor Vito Falcone—a star quarterback of dubious character who had a brief, undistinguished career in the NFL—triggers bad memories for Tracy, and leads her to troubling reflections about the trajectory of her own life and the forces that have left her feeling thwarted and disappointed, unable to fulfill her true potential.

As she broods on the past, Tracy becomes aware of storm clouds brewing in the present. Is she really a shoo-in for the Principal job? Is the Superintendent plotting against her? Why is the School Board President’s wife trying so hard to be her friend? And why can’t she ever get what she deserves?”

Apparently there is an earlier novel that follow Tracy Flick as a student.  Maybe I’ll take that on my next beach visit – rumoured to be in late October.

I stumbled across an excellent album this week – “Dylan’s Gospel” is the only studio album by The Brothers & Sisters of L.A., a group of vocalists working as session musicians in the Los Angeles area during the album’s recording in June 1969. The Brothers & Sisters of L.A. was organized by Lou Adler specifically to record the album.  Members of the group included Merry Clayton (of “Ten Feet from Stardom” fame) and Gloria Jones.

I continue to enjoy the most recent Caamp album quite a bit:

The next Tipitinas record club release is from Johnny Adams – hadn’t heard of him before and based on initial research think I’m going to enjoy it:

This Jon and Vangelis song made it on to something I was watching the other night.  I used to play this album all the time and get frustrated with the poor pressing quality – time to revisit in digital:

That’s Dick Morrisey on the saxophone.  He was pretty famous in the early 60s London jazz scene – the famous Ronnie Scott’s jazz club apparently only kept open by the crowd he drew in.  He had a duo with Jim Mullen, Glaswegian member of the Average White Band – I haven’t been able to track down any of their recordings yet.

Ahh, here we go, found some albums on Youtube – nothing too exciting, pretty standard 80s jazz fusion with interesting slap bass and drums:

Coexist peacefully with kindness and compassion for all!

“Home Alone, Again”

We dropped Tim and Dee at the San Francisco airport on Monday morning, and then drove back to Clorinda’s home to relax and regroup.  I had a short Board meeting update in the afternoon, and then we braved all the kids at Amy and Adamo’s home.  They were in typical bouncing off the walls form.  Amy made us some delicious soup for dinner and we called it an early evening.

My Tuesday began early with the time difference – a four hour Board meeting starting at 6am – hooray!  Thankfully the news for the quarter was all good and so the meeting was relatively benign.  Everyone at work is in a good mood with our positive results and the impact those have had on our stock price.

McD dropped me at the airport in the afternoon and I was back home in McKinney by 8:30pm.  I enjoyed the “Family Squares” movie on the flight – a somewhat black humour take on families communicating over Zoom.

After all the corporate Board meetings and earnings announcements, I was ready to hang out with the rich and pretty people at Dan’s Silverleaf in Denton on Thursday night.  Just kidding – it’s a dive music venue filled with people who love and appreciate the same kind of music that I do.  Kevin Galloway was doing a release party for his new album “Secondhand Starlight.”  He recorded the album with Austin band Doug Strahan and the Good Neighbors, and they were the backing band for the evening.  They opened the show with a varied set of songs – great musicians:

Galloway joined the band after about 45 minutes and put on an excellent show all around.  Diana and I saw him solo (or with cello) in Austin a few times – this was a much more lively event (although it did include Gumby on the cello for a few songs.)

I always enjoy “Taking in the View”, a Galloway song that he originally performed with Uncle Lucius – perhaps his most famous composition:

And lastly, “Keep the Wolves Away”, a song about Galloway’s father surviving a chemical accident in Galveston.  This was the only song with accordion and I think the combination of that and the cello really add to the haunting nature of the lyrics:

If you’d like to hear a story about that song and how Galloway has made some good money and obtained a gold record, courtesy of the “Yellowstone” TV series, then check this version out:

What a beautiful night of music – great musicians, sound mixing, venue, people – and all for $20.  Well worth the 40 minute drive over to Denton – and all those traffic lights on highway 380 – there must be at least 30 of them.

Friday was a relatively busy work day for me. I met up with Finn for lunch and enjoyed his stories about work.  He’s changed his shift so that he works a bit later in the afternoon, with the goal of training the “closers” properly so that things are set up properly when he gets there in the morning.  I think every time I talk with him he’s working on some kind of improvement idea.  So nice to see.

Meanwhile Diana slaved away in the Pacifica kitchen, making special Florentine cookies for patient Marco.  She had to work hard to make sure that Clorinda didn’t snag too many.

I count six batches – that’s a very busy D!  Here’s a video of Clorinda selecting “her cookies.”

Olivia joined them in the evening to celebrate her birthday.

There was a near “incident” when Diana went out for her run on the hill on Saturday morning.  On her way back down the hill, I’m sure at top speed, she spotted the momma bobcat and babies in front of her.  When I received the text update, I recommended going back up the hill and waiting a while, or having Alicia pick her up in a car.  I got back a “Yeah, doing that”, with the implication of “I’m not a complete idiot.”  Or maybe I just read that into it.  Either way – D made it safely back to Clorinda’s home without incident.

Having avoided the “incident”, Diana drove down to visit Julie (day after her major surgery) and Marco.  She reported that Julie is doing surprisingly well, although in a decent amount of pain.  Oh – and she delivered the cookies (or those that Clorinda hadn’t snagged) to Marco.

Aimee met up with Diana at Clorinda’s home on Saturday night – it sounds like they had a nice time catching up until the wee hours.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was planning to read one section of George Saunders “A Swim in a Pond in the Rain” each week.  I’ve been delinquent for a few weeks, but did complete one “lecture” this week.  As a reminder, this is a book that follows Saunders’ class at Syracuse University.  The subject this week was “The Singers”, a short story by Ivan Turgenev from 1852.

The gist of this story is that two guys are having a singing contest in a remote bar.  Turgenev goes into a lot of detail on various characters who seem superfluous to the plot, but Saunders explains why they are not necessarily so.  The detail on the singing contest is quite moving, one contestant is very technical while the other doesn’t have the same skills but conveys much more emotion, ultimately winning the contest.  It reminded me of my thoughts about Andy Wood who I saw doing a clinic at the Guitar Sanctuary a couple of weeks ago – a great guitar shredder who really didn’t do anything for me.  I compare that to the guitarist in the Jerry Garcia cover band that I saw two Sundays ago – he probably couldn’t play as fast but certainly did a great job of capturing the emotion of the songs.

“What does it mean, that Yashka has won?  To answer, we try to distill the essential characteristics of the two performances.  Broadly speaking:  the contractor was technically wonderful but produced no feeling in his audience except amazement at his proficiency.  Yashka, a little wobbly on technique, evoked undeniably deep feelings in his audience and caused a startling, not entirely rational memory to arise in the mind of the narrator.  So, we feel the story to be saying something about technical proficiency vs. emotional power, and coming down in favor of the latter.  It is saying that the highest aspiration of art is to move the audience and that if the audience is moved, technical deficiencies are immediately forgiven.”

I really enjoyed the way Saunders broke down this short story.  He was originally an engineer, and created a table by page of useful insights that mattered to the singing contest outcome.  He reports that when first asked about this story, his students typically respond that there are too many diversions and irrelevant details.  He then goes ahead and rebuts that (very convincingly) over many pages.

I would have enjoyed studying English with Saunders.  Is it too late?

I also enjoyed a couple of stories from Lauren Groff’s short story collection, “Florida.”  She is such a wonderful writer and conjures up such wonderful pictures of her native state.

Here’s what Goodreads has to say:

“The stories in this collection span characters, towns, decades, even centuries, but Florida—its landscape, climate, history, and state of mind—becomes its gravitational center: an energy, a mood, as much as a place of residence. Groff transports the reader, then jolts us alert with a crackle of wit, a wave of sadness, a flash of cruelty, as she writes about loneliness, rage, family, and the passage of time. With shocking accuracy and effect, she pinpoints the moments and decisions and connections behind human pleasure and pain, hope and despair, love and fury—the moments that make us alive.”

I have a long way to go in this collection, but based on the first couple of stories, I give it two thumbs up and am looking forward to digging into more.  Maybe this afternoon – after I finish up a project that I need to have done before McD returns.

I spent a decent amount of time listening to Radio Paradise this week.  This is a radio station that plays a very wide variety of music that I mostly enjoy – with a very high bitrate stream that sounds great.  Here’s one from their “Mellow Mix:”

Here’s another from the same source, this time from a Scottish band named “Admiral Fallow.”  You can hear the accent clearly – not quite at Proclaimers level though.

And the last one from the Radio Paradise sessions.  I always enjoy songs by Eels:

Coexist patiently with kindness and compassion for all!