September 2026 – Keith Robertson

Week in Review – September 27th, 2026

“Oscar Rossignoli”

This was a quiet, relaxed and “chill” week. Just what we needed after a couple of weeks of travel.

Diana had all the usual pickleball activities.

After being in last place for two weeks, the Bayou Boys trivia team had a resounding first place win. What was different? Well…I was traveling for the two weeks. And we added Bill to the team this week. You can decide for yourselves what impact those things had on success. Bill did contribute solid answers for a few questions. He has certainly been invited back.

Diana was pretty busy on Wednesday. She had a very quick change after pickleball before meeting Kara (and it turns out Kenny also) at Sunnie’s on Freret Street. I had to hustle to be ready to drive her over to sip and eat by the Sunnie’s pool.

I had a conversation with Philly Tim mid-week and he was telling me that he was in hospital for a test to make sure cancer hadn’t returned. It took a while and Dee came across a wall display about the therapy/companion dogs that visit people in hospital. She found one that said, “My name is Timothy Patrick, but you can call me Timmy.” How perfect is that. Dee said, “I’ve got to share this with Keith.” I’ve been calling our Timothy Patrick “Timmy” for close to 20 years now.

Kenny got a letter to the editor published in the local Times Picayune newspaper. He was reacting to someone who appears to have been misinformed/missed the point. Well said, Kenny! My friend is a “published author.”

Friday, September 25th, 9/25, “Nine to Five” was “Dolly Day” in New Orleans. The Krewe of Dolly, including our friend, Debra, paraded through the Quarter, ending at the Jazz Museum where the mayor declared “Dolly Day.” Some pictures from Bill, who braved Bourbon Street.

The Dollys had an after party at Blue Nile and then an after-after party at the just re-opened Hi-Ho Lounge on St Claude Avenue. I was happy to think of all those hundreds of people buying drinks at the Hi-Ho to help get it started. I’ve passed a few great evenings in there listening to live music.

I invited Diana to brunch at Atchafalaya on Saturday. I had seen somewhere that the Desert Nudes were going to be providing the musical accompaniment and I really enjoy their repertoire and harmonies. We had a tough experience with our waiter the last time we dined here, and I was really hoping this would be a different feel.

Things were very different. All of the staff were happy and friendly, and our waiter was very good. The food was wonderful – check out the specials list:

I like that they call out the “Musical Guest.” Diana couldn’t resist the soft shell crab BLT – crab and bacon being two of her favourites.

It was a great dish – Texas toast topped with lettuce, tomato, bacon, soft shell crab, poached egg and hollandaise sauce.

I love a good migas or huevos rancheros breakfast, and so I was happy to see the latter on the menu. These were some of the best that I’ve had – the pulled pork so juicy and flavorful.

The bill came with a clever postcard – Atchafalaya in the unusual snow storm.

I’m glad we gave this place a second chance, it’s one of the tastiest and most pleasant brunches that I’ve enjoyed in a while. We’ll be back soon.

Diana suggested that we could listen to the free music at the Kingpin on Saturday afternoon.

We invited Nic and Sandi to join us. The music wasn’t wonderful and it provided a pleasant background to a good catch up chat that I had with Nic. He was in Omaha last weekend for his son’s wedding and had some stories to tell. And some lovely pictures to share.

Shanie and Bill were not able to join us at the Kingpin due to a conflict with showing Bill’s cousin, Robin, and boyfriend, Aidan, around. One of the two texted asking, “Where’s the after party?” Problem easily solved with a Theo’s pizza order to our home.

We had all six over for a couple of hours – watching LSU beat up on the Aggies, talking about pickleball at high volume on the porch, revisiting the guy who thinks the timing of Bill’s jokes is poor, discussing “wheesht”, on a pillow on our sofa with Aidan, who says his dad used that all the time growing up in Ireland. All of that made for a fun evening and meeting a great new couple.

Sunday began with a drive over to the Bywater Bakery for a free concert. Shanie, Bill, Robin and Aidan met us there to listen to John Boutte perform. What a highlight of the week. As we were unloading chairs and stuff from the car, I saw and heard Oscan Rossignoli playing on the “piano in a truck.” I know you’ve heard me comment about him before, and he really is a piano genius – particularly with jazz classics. John Boutte is a New Orleans treasure with an angelic voice. What a great way to start out a Sunday?

Part of enjoying music is the vicarious energy of somebody else enjoying it too. Robin provided that, lighting up as soon as Boutte and krewe started up. She sings in a jazz band and this was certainly her jam. The vibe at Bywater bakery is always great – an eclectic group of happy people.

Things finished up at 1pm with “Treme”, the theme song that Boutte composed for the HBO show. Here are two versions – K’s static and D’s roaming among the musicians – I’m not sure why I’m even showing mine.

Our fancy friends needed to leave to attend a Saints pre-game party, and we hung out until the end, enjoying some of the croissants and stuff that Diana kindly stood in line to purchase.

We’re a bit more than halfway through the Saints game and they are looking solid.

I’ve almost finished “Degas at the Gas Station” by Thomas Beller and it has been a good journey. This is a collection of short stories that are loosely connected and I’ve found most of them quite enjoyable.

The author talking about the stories:

“Many of these essays recount confrontations or predicaments that a more cautious person would have avoided. They were written over a period of time during which I got married, and we had a child, and then had another. Concurrent to these events, I moved from New York City to New Orleans, with a pit stop in rural Virginia. All of it normal enough on the face of it, yet within each one of these episodes, I found my way to the sort of Clouseau-esque fiascos one usually dodges with a little foresight—again, not a strong attribute in a kid who may have liked to walk backward.”

From the “Kinks at the Garden” story:

“I hadn’t yet connected with the wistful, bitter, and very English flavor of Ray Davies’s songs, such as “Celluloid Heroes,” “Waterloo Sunset,” and on and on. The Kinks, for us, at this point, were “Low Budget,” “Catch Me Now I’m Falling,” “Destroyer,” and “Lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-la.”

And I have a Soundwaves art piece of “Waterloo Sunset”, signed by Ray Davies, in my direct sight line as I write this. Thanks, Diana!

Speaking about the joy of the strip mall Vietnamese places on the “West Bank:”

“We wind our way up and over the bridge, leaving downtown New Orleans behind us. The Mississippi River appears below us, in all its torturously winding, self-reversing glory. The sky is gorgeous in the late afternoon. We’re heading to our favorite Vietnamese place. Up on the span of…

The moment passes. We eat with our friends and their kids; it’s a regular thing, the two families joining one another at this Vietnamese place on the West Bank, Phở Tầu Bay.”

A good story about the Superbowl:

“We are not a football family. We had been part of the drama of 2010, watching the Conference Championships and then Superbowl on a borrowed TV. When the Saints won we cheered like we were longtime fans and ran out into the street. There was a bar on the corner of our otherwise quiet Uptown neighborhood, and we rushed over there, me, Elizabeth, and Evangeline, who was two years old. I count the scene outside the bar on the corner of State and Magazine as one of my foundational New Orleans experiences, the crowd on the sidewalk delirious. It was a cold night, and I put Evangeline inside my coat and zipped it up, just her head sticking out. I did this for purposes of warmth but also because it was a rowdy scene and this was my way of protecting her, putting her in this papoose. In the first moments after the game ended, a city bus came down Magazine Street, a box of bright light on an otherwise dark street. It came to a stop on the corner. The driver emerged, the bus still running, and rushed over to shake everyone’s hand, as though we had all had a baby together. Then he got back into that box of light and rolled down Magazine Street. For all I knew there were such gatherings all along his route and he stopped to shake the hand of every celebrant.”

About the ease of parking in New Orleans and the “encroachment” wind up:

“At some point we will be back in New Orleans, where parking also elicits strong emotions, if for a very different reason: Everywhere you go, you can find parking. If you go to a restaurant, you drive your car and park. Sometimes right in front! Maybe you have to park a block away. On the other hand, people in New Orleans get very jumpy if you encroach on, or even just crowd, their driveway space. I respect this neurosis, because parking engenders a kind of insanity, as do cars in general.”

Finally, a small quote about Katrina evacuation:

“Ten minutes later it was established that I could not in fact help her turn off the headlights—no matter what button was pushed. She was also from New Orleans, “Old Metairie,” she explained when I asked what neighborhood. That’s the place that elected David Duke. Her husband was back there, in their house, she said. It had started taking on water. We commiserated about the city, the storm, and I marveled at the sleek and powerful curve of the new car’s body. But what would all that power and elegance mean if the battery was dead? “

I have many more highlights, but you can tell how much I enjoyed this one.

I heard this song from the Jayhawks wonderful new album, and couldn’t help but think how much they sounded like Crowded House. That’s a good thing!

What do you think – sound anything like this?:

Oscar’s latest single:

Week in Review – September 20th, 2026

“Asheville”

We flew to Asheville on Monday, via Charlotte. A long layover there allowed us to enjoy a leisurely lunch before boarding the tiny (meaning I had to bend over almost double to walk down the aisle) plane to Asheville. It felt like flying inside an MRI tube, which was not good for claustrophobic flyers.

We wondered what caused the over 30 minute delay in leaving Charlotte – of course no updates from the American Airlines pilot. Diana noticed out the window that a plane landed with a lot of smoke from the wheels and immediate emergency vehicle response. We assume all traffic was held until that troubled flight landed.

Would you like to know a little bit about the history of Asheville? If not, skip across the next few paragraphs.

Asheville, North Carolina, sits in the Blue Ridge Mountains and has a long history rooted in the Indigenous peoples of the region, particularly the Cherokee. European-American settlement grew in the late 18th century, and the town was incorporated as Asheville in 1797. Its location along mountain routes helped it develop as a regional center, and the arrival of the railroad in the 1880s accelerated its growth.

I love this picture that was in the lobby of the condominium building – I named it Cherokees meet REO Speedwagon:

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Asheville became known as a health and resort destination, attracting visitors seeking the mountain climate. The city experienced a major building boom, producing landmarks such as the Biltmore Estate, built by George Vanderbilt beginning in 1889. Asheville also developed a distinctive Art Deco architectural legacy, particularly through public buildings constructed during the 1920s and 1930s.

The Great Depression hit Asheville particularly hard, leaving the city with substantial municipal debt. Unlike many cities, Asheville largely avoided demolishing its older downtown buildings to modernize, helping preserve its historic architecture. Beginning in the late 20th century, downtown revitalization, the arts, craft brewing, tourism, and its reputation as a cultural destination fueled renewed growth. Today, Asheville is known for its historic architecture, arts scene, food and craft-beverage culture, and its setting in the southern Appalachian Mountains.

Back to our trip. I watched a somewhat cheesy movie on the flight – Alan Cuming and Brian Cox star in Glenrothan, a movie about two brothers and their fight over a whisky distillery.

After a good hike, we took an Uber downtown to rendezvous with Jeff and Merry Lee. Dee Dee, MLM’s sister, had very kindly let us stay in one of her two condos in downtown Asheville. The place was quite luxurious with excellent views of downtown and the mountains.

We enjoyed dinner at the nearby lobster trap. Jeff and MLM donned lobster bibs, while Diana and I shared steamed clams and mussels – very good.

Jeff coined a good term – “Saintsian comeback.” Initially deployed to describe the way UT came back to win against Ohio State and gain the number one college football ranking, it is based on the way the Saints rebounded in the second half of their opening game against the Lions.

Three of us enjoyed Tuesday breakfast at Cafe Sage, while Diana went on a walk around town. This was certainly a “granola head” place – lots of healthy, vegan and gluten free discussion on the menu, and a composting station for leftovers. I enjoyed my breakfast.

After that, MLM drove us into the mountains for a hike to a waterfall.

This had been described as an easy hike with less than 200 feet in vertical elevation. Mostly true, and we think the elevation was more than that. Jeff took note of a hand written note on the trailhead sign – yellowjacket nest at the second to last set of stairs. This sparked the question, “How does one know when you reach the second to last stairs, if the last set are not visible?”

We found the little pests flying around and diverted around them, warning hikers on the way down who hadn’t seen the notice.

The waterfall was impressive and obviously not in full flow.

Dinner in the evening was excellent. A search on “best restaurants in Asheville” comes back with Curate Bar de Tapas atop the list. Things started well when the person who brought our drinks (not the waiter who took the order) put them in front of the correct person – not a common occurrence. It’s hard to pick a favourite plate that we shared – the octopus, lamb with Moorish spices, and goat cheese stuffed peppers were all delicious.

Oh, I forgot the interesting anchovies – somewhat related to the gildas of San Sebastian.

If you ever make it to Asheville, put this place high on your list.

After dinner entertainment was in West Asheville and I loved it. A Grateful Dead cover band, Clouds of Delusion, was playing at the One World Bar. They were a decent representation of the original band, and drew a very entertaining bunch of folks spinning barefoot on the dance floor. How do they not get dizzy and fall down?

Jeff and MLM were kind to revisit the Biltmore estate with us on Wednesday.

Here are a couple of online paragraphs about the Biltmore. The term “Gilded Age” is interesting. How is that different than today, where a handful of people have the majority of wealth?

Biltmore Estate is a grand Gilded Age estate built by George Washington Vanderbilt near Asheville, North Carolina. Vanderbilt first visited the area in 1888 and was captivated by the Blue Ridge Mountains. He purchased land and commissioned architect Richard Morris Hunt to design a 250-room French Renaissance–style château, while renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted designed the gardens and grounds. Construction began in 1889, and the house was completed in 1895. Biltmore is a country home and working estate rather than simply a mansion. The completed house contained more than four acres of floor space, including 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces. Vanderbilt and his wife, Edith, lived there with their daughter Cornelia, while the surrounding estate included farms, forests, gardens, and extensive landscaping. Olmsted’s work at Biltmore also contributed to the development of large-scale scientific forestry in the United States.

After George Vanderbilt’s death in 1914, his descendants continued managing the estate. Biltmore House opened to the public in 1930 during the Great Depression, helping generate tourism and revenue for its preservation. Today, Biltmore remains family-owned and encompasses roughly 8,000 acres, with the mansion, gardens, winery, lodging, and other attractions making it one of Asheville’s best-known historic landmarks.

We stopped for wine tasting at the Biltmore village. What an impressive estate!

Dinner was at Mountain Madre, a Mexican restaurant that Jeff wanted to try after seeing the food and drinks when walking by the patio. I thought the offerings were very good and different than the typical fare. The margarita flight that Jeff ordered came with helpful fruit and pepper indicators to identify each drink.

After dinner entertainment was right next door – Abby Bryant performing the music of Nina Simone at the Hotel Eve jazz club (there does not appear to be a Hotel Eve and we couldn’t figure out why it’s called that.)

Abby started out really well – great voice and style, and became a bit monotonous after three or four songs. All the same tempo and approach – she needed something different to keep our attention. That being said, the venue and staff were all great. I would go back. Thanks to Jeff for finding this music opportunity – totally different than Tuesday night’s hippy fest.

We made an attempt at brunch at Sunny Point in West Asheville on Thursday morning. A 45 minute wait seemed a bit too long, and so we took the host’s recommendation and wandered down the street to Biscuit Head.

Here we were introduced to cathead biscuits – extra-large, rustic Southern buttermilk biscuits, named because they are traditionally said to be as big as a cat’s head. That explained the cat mural on the side of the building. Diana and I split a cathead biscuit Benedict -yummy.

There was a “jambar” so that we could try some creative berry mixtures with the catheads.

This take on the Dos Equis beer commercials with the most interesting man in the world made me smile:

We walked back through West Asheville, enjoying some of the murals along the way, from Dolly Parton to Grace Jones:

We returned to the River Arts district, completely devastated by Hurricane Helene in September, 2024 – and now recovering nicely.

In case we hadn’t been exposed to enough art, we made a stop at the Marquee – a massive collection of the work of independent artists contained in a large warehouse.

There were some interesting pieces amongst the plethora of art offerings:

After some chill time at the condo, we ventured downstairs to the Sovereign Remedies cocktail bar – almost directly underneath where we were staying.

This was a great stop – good food and superior cocktails.

Then across the street for some hilarity at the dueling piano bar.

It wasn’t really dueling – the two guys took turns, allowing them to do some quick research on the requests that people were tipping them to play. Both were very talented and kept the good crowd well entertained. It was just as much fun to watch the other folks in there enjoying the music as it was to enjoy the songs that we requested.

We spent our last couple of Asheville hours enjoying brunch at Chestnut on Friday morning – a higher end affair with very good dishes. Thanks to MLM and Jeff for delivering us back to the airport for an on time and easy trip home.

I did enjoy a movie, “Tuner”, with Dustin Hoffman and Leo Woodall. Leo plays a piano tuner with ultra-sensitive hearing who discovers a talent for cracking safes.

I couldn’t resist the Talking Heads cover band, “Tchoup Making Sense” at Tipitinas on Saturday night. They were excellent and I wished they had found a way to start before 10:30pm. The opening song was my favourite – way to win me back after the late start:

Thom, Denny and Greg had happy music faces on:

One more song:

I’m glad I hung in there with the late start.

I’m about a third of the way through “Degas at the Gas Station” by Thomas Beller, and am really enjoying it. I love the writing style and the somewhat random and interconnected topics. Here’s an online summary and I’ll have some highlights to share next week:

“In his latest collection, Thomas Beller trains his piercing literary eye on how a single, seismic event indelibly shapes the trajectory of the common and mundane experiences of one’s life. Weaving together a charming set of autobiographical stories, Beller interrogates the randomness and contingencies that separate sadness from joy, death from life. His father escaped the Nazis, only to die in America from cancer when Beller was nine years old. Beller measures how this loss impacted his life as the father of two young children and became both a catalyst for understanding an ever-present sorrow. At the same time, ordinary moments—from retrieving an iPod from the subway tracks to encountering the police at a Kinks concert to observing his young tutued ballerina daughter at a gas station—lead to instances of penetrating insight, self-deprecation, and humor. Degas at the Gas Station presents an endearing and bracingly honest portrait of the author as an ever-curious observer of the mysteries and profundities of everyday life.”

I also read a bit of Patti Smith’s “Bread of Angels” – didn’t love it and found my attention drifting off – maybe I’ll come back to it again next week. A little about it:

“The most intimate of Smith’s memoirs, Bread of Angels takes us through her teenage years where the first glimmers of art and romance take hold. Arthur Rimbaud and Bob Dylan emerge as creative role models as she begins to write poetry then lyrics, ultimately merging both into the songs of iconic recordings such as Horses, Wave, and Easter.”

Warren Haynes, a resident of Asheville, released a wonderful live recording with the Asheville Symphony Orchestra this week. How serendipitous.

Week in Review – September 13th, 2026

“Bay Saint Louis”

We made the short drive (typically just over an hour) to Bay Saint Louis on Monday. Here’s a map of the drive from New Orleans to the Mississippi coast.

We ran into some torrential rain as we exited on to Highway 90 – the kind where you really can’t see enough to drive. I pulled off the road for a short while until it abated.

We had planned on lunch at the Barracuda taco stand before checking into our Airbnb at 3pm. That plan was quickly foiled. As we pulled in, a guy taking down the menu sign let us know that they were closing up for the season to take care of some required maintenance. Word on the street was that they had some electrical supply issues.

We rendezvoused with Kenny and Kara and I found Tacos and Beer as an alternative option. This is a sister restaurant of the place on Saint Charles Avenue that has the long line on Taco Tuesday. We had never been to either – a mistake as the drinks and food were all very good. The cucumber and cilantro margaritas were a big hit.

We checked into the house and found it to be very comfortable and exceptionally well appointed, especially the kitchen. We relaxed by the pool and watched some US Open tennis.

Tuesday began with some more pool time which was pretty quickly curtailed by a big storm passing through. After things dried up, we walked down to the water front and enjoyed a snack at Lemoine’s Landing. That was washed down with a jalapeno margarita from Tacos and Beer around the corner – a wee bit too spicy for me – I think there were too many seeds in mine, and as we know, “the heat is in the seeds.”

We returned to the house to await the arrival of Randy, Amy and Denny. Kenny arranged for a golf cart rental that turned out to be really fun and useful. Thanks Kenny! A very enjoyable evening was passed on the back patio watching tennis and some of Amy and Randy’s travel videos and pictures. The Moroccan stuff was interesting to me – videos of getting on and off camels and dancing with the locals in the desert.

The group (minus sleepy me) played pickleball at the local outdoor court on Wednesday morning. Then we made the short drive over to Randy and Amy’s home for a highlight of the trip- a boat ride with Captain Randy.

Did you see the fish jumping right at the end of that video?

These guys are always such lovely hosts. Amy had made chicken salad and turkey mini croissants and cucumber margaritas for the ride. We anchored up at a quiet “beach” and floated around for a while. Sandi – there really was no gator risk, at least that’s what they told me.

We met for dinner at Butcher Block, a steak house and butcher shop in the Depot area by the train station. There was some confusion on the timing of their happy hour. Kenny and Diana had met the owner, Steve, on a Tuesday morning walk and thought it ran from 5-7pm, apparently actually from 3-5pm. Oh well. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meal – I had a beef tip sandwich which was very good, and cheesy as you can see. Kenny was really looking forward to the beef tip and mashed potato happy hour special.

After dinner we migrated next door to the Hen House, a fancy craft cocktail bar. The drinks were very good and somebody remembered to take some pictures.

I forgot to mention that Mason drove down to join us.

Thursday morning brought another storm. We played board games. Hitster, a recent gift from Sean, was a big hit. You get a 30 second clip of a song and have to name the artist and put the card in the right place in your timeline. Highly recommended if you have a krewe that likes music and has some knowledge of music from the fifties until the present day. Telestrations, a game where you pass books around and have to draw the phrase that the previous person wrote or guess what the picture is, generated some hilarious results. The girls finished off a “folk art” style puzzle. There was a gallery full of this stuff on Main Street.

After the storm passed, we rode the golf cart down to the Blind Tiger on the waterfront. I really enjoyed my redfish tacos and a couple of sips of Mason’s very sweet bushwhacker. This place has been around for a while for good reason.

After lunch, we drove along the beach road for a while and then circled back to Butcher Block for Kenny’s beef tips. I actually can’t remember if he was able to get them on this visit or not. The girls stopped into the wine shop next door and picked up a bottle of a Luxardo liqueur, the owners recommendation on an equivalent to Mr. Black, our favourite coffee flavoured liqueur. They also got a recommendation for a good local bar.

The Full Speed recommendation turned out to be a great one. An excellent bar with great cocktails, a local brewery doing a promotion, a wonderful local musician, and a Jenga game.

The brewery had some fun merch and clever packaging – “Mr. Sippi.”

Brandon Kenyon did an excellent set of music on the Full Speed patio. He started with “What a Wonderful World” and played trumpet and guitar to accompany a very good voice. Here’s the Levon Helm classic made popular by the Band of Heathens:

And some Garth Brooks for Diana:

The rest of the evening was passed with games and the US Open ladies semi-finals.

We checked out before 10am and had an easy drive home.

Barrel Proof, directly across the street from Bill and Shainey’s place, was our destination to watch the Saints game on Sunday. Sandi, Nic and Bill met us there – Nic with a huge trough of gourmet andouille and chicken sliders. Barrel Proof may be my new favourite bar – happy hour prices whenever there’s a Saints game, meaning $6 for their delicious Old Fashioned. And how could you not like a place that is fine with you bringing in your own food. It always helps to have a regular customer (Bill) in the group.

The Saints had a lousy first half and an excellent second half, losing by one point in overtime. Let’s hope we have a lot more of that second half team going forward.

I made the mistake of staying up to watch the Cowboys embarrassing Sunday night performance against the Giants. They are such a frustrating team.

My first book this week was “Showdown in Desire” by Orissa Arend, a tennis friend of Kenny’s. This is a real, physical book that Kenny leant me and so doesn’t work for reading bed. This is a good description of the book:

“Orissa Arend’s Showdown in Desire is a fascinating story that documents the history of the Black Panther party chapter in New Orleans. The author’s objective, which she accomplishes, is to allow former participants to tell the story of the New Orleans Panthers to provide a more holistic perspective of the party and the issues (racism, police brutality, and poverty) that it combated. In addition, the author tells this story to generate greater awareness of a post-Katrina New Orleans that is still ravaged by the same problems that the Panthers fought forty years ago. One of the standout features of this work is that Arend uses over twenty interviews to help tell the story of the New Orleans Panthers. Arend’s interviews range from former Panthers to high-ranking city officials to police officers (including two who infiltrated the party). Furthermore, the work fills a void in the historiography on the Black Panther party, as very few works examine southern chapters of the party.”
—Journal of American History, March 2010

My second book, this one an eBook that I can read in bed on my iPad, was “How to Kill a Rock Star” by Tiffanie DeBartolo. I’m not too far into the story and am enjoying it quite a bit. Here’s an online summary:

“Written in her wonderfully honest, edgy, passionate and often hilarious voice, Tiffanie DeBartolo tells the story of Eliza Caelum, a young music journalist, and Paul Hudson, a talented songwriter and lead singer of the band Bananafish. Eliza’s reverence for rock is equaled only by Paul’s, and the two fall wildly in love.

When Bananafish is signed by a big corporate label, and Paul is on his way to becoming a major rock star, Eliza must make a heartbreaking decision that leads to Paul’s sudden disappearance and a surprise knock-your-socks-off ending.”

More to come on both of these books next week.

Let’s start with something funky and unique from the amazing and ever morphing Herbie Hancock:

An organ jam from Reuben Wilson with some stellar guitar from Grant Green:

And finally, bringing things more current with the soulful Neal Francis. I promise to make it to Tips the next time he visits:

Week in Review – September 6th, 2026

“Variety Week”

Monday was typical for McD – lot of pickling and a workout.

Tuesday was haircut day for me. That was followed by a trip to Trader Joe’s. I texted Finn this picture from the checkout line.

He replied that you feel less guilty consuming them because they are “Teeny Tiny.”

We did very well at trivia in the evening, albeit with a couple of disruptive team members – I won’t name names this time around. I didn’t think we were confident enough on the last question – put four forts in order from furthest north to most southerly. The group consensus was to wager the full 20 points. A wise decision as we were the only team to have it correct, winning by a margin of over 40 points – maybe our strongest win yet.

Interestingly, we could have won by an even bigger margin. I was relatively sure that the answer to, “Which artist has the most cumulative weeks on the Hot 100 music chart?”, was Mariah Carey. I had heard it somewhere pretty recently. The group was more comfortable with Michael Jackson. Mariah was correct – I should have been more vocal, but wasn’t completely sure.

Similarly, Thom was sure of the answer to, “In what state of matter does 99% of the visible universe exist?” He pushed for plasma, saying that’s what made all the stars glow. Denny and I had not heard of a new entry to the “Solid, Liquid, Gas” family and so pushed for Gas. Kenny did ask “Are we sure we want to ignore the answer from the only one of us with a PhD?” We did and were wrong – sorry Thom.

My final trivia story – there’s a question type called a “mashup” that involves putting two things together in a single phrase. Alex and Pepperoni have been good at that in the past and we commented that we were going to miss them both for that question. Our scribe became a big indignant, sharing that he had successfully guessed several in the past also. “The Legend of Zelda Fitzgerald” was a nice demonstration of the scribe pulling from a few team members to arrive at the correct “mashup.”

Diana started her Wednesday with yoga (inside for the first time in a while) and pickleball. She then made a quick change before we joined the KKs for Happy Hour at Cafe Degas. Kara had suggested that we meet there prior to a talk we planned to attend at the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA).

We shared some of the usual favourites – escargots, meat and cheese platter, fries with aioli, and ravioli. Then we added in a new twist – a dessert called “île flottante”, meaning floating island. Have you had it before? I believe this is my first introduction and it was quite delicious.

A floating island of soft meringue sits atop crème anglaise. The meringue is quite different than the typical kind used in a pavlova, for example. The pavlova is crispy on the outside and chewy inside. The “island” type is soft and served at room temperature rather than hot.

Our talk at NOMA was part of the “Elders Sacred Talk Series” and featured Jackie Harris and Deacon John. It was quite similar to the talk we attended at the Jazz and Heritage Center a few weeks ago – also featuring a celebration of Germaine Bazzle. There was no music at the NOMA event – just conversation, and I think it would have benefited from a small band playing a few songs with Deacon John or at least some videos that he could react to.

Both participants answered the questions well and I thoroughly enjoyed the time.

We took advantage of another library culture pass on Thursday. This time for the Pontchartrain Conservancy Lighthouse. Established as a lighthouse in 1839, all but destroyed by Katrina, the building now stands tall and proud.

We were fortunate to get a private guided tour (the only two folks there) that gave us a whole new understanding and education about the history of New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain.

The old lighthouse lens was interesting – a Fresnel type.

There is a weather camera at the top of the lighthouse that often provides footage for the news – particularly if waves are crashing off the sea wall.

I surprised Diana with a visit to the nearby Desi Vega’s Steak Burgers. Lindsey was a wonderful bartender/waitress. Can you believe what was showing on the TV? As if we didn’t have enough pickleball on our schedule.

We both enjoyed the burger that we shared and Diana particularly enjoyed the tater tots.

While Diana was getting her hair done on Friday, Kenny picked me up and drove me over to Rocky and Carlo’s restaurant in Chalmette. This is as far as I have driven for a meal in a long time – the better part of 30 minutes after waiting on a train and the raising/lowering of the canal bridge.

Trey met us at the place which specializes in large portions of Italian classics (veal and eggplant parm, stuffed peppers and the like) and po’boys. Trey was as unfiltered and entertaining as ever. I had the eggplant parm – didn’t really care for it but did enjoy the “side” of mac ‘n cheese that provided 3 or 4 left over meals.

The boys went to Bruno’s to watch football on Saturday afternoon and recruited our local food writer, Ian McNulty, to join their group.

Meanwhile, we headed to Nic and Sandi’s to celebrate her birthday. Nic loves Italian cooking and had been at it all day. All kinds of yummy meats had been bubbling away in his red sauce. There were six couples at the dinner party, all with some pickleball connection: Bill and Shanie, Ken and Rachel, John and Beth, and Laurie and Michael. There were two couples I didn’t know and it was fun to chat with Ken and discover that he likes all the same music and food as I do and retired to New Orleans three years ago for all the same reasons that we did.

Nic sent us home with plenty of leftovers. What a lovely evening.

We both had early starts on Sunday morning. I was out the door at 7:25am for a pickup by Kenny and Diana had 8:30am tennis. Kenny and I met Chris Peet at Stanley for breakfast. This is a famous French Quarter breakfast place, right on Jackson Square, that closes for good on Labor Day (Monday).

Diana and I had planned to meet Chris there a few weeks ago and then he had a conflict, and so he suggested that we go before it closed. Kenny and I spotted him and the Love trike from down the street.

I’m glad we made the effort to visit Stanley one last time. The food and company were very good. Kenny even got to take a spin on the Love trike.

The rest of the day was spent watching US Open tennis and football. I’m so glad to have football (college this week and NFL next week) back.

I finally finished up Villa Coco this week. It really was a bit of a slog, interrupted occasionally by some very funny pieces. I really wouldn’t recommend this one.

Here’s an example of some of the writing that made me smile:

“He removed his hat as one removes the lid from a pot, then smiled to all of us as if sure we were admiring the single blond lock that clung to his otherwise bald forehead like a price sticker to a melon.”

An interesting comparison of America and Italy:

“What Americans know of Italy is a confection of movies and food; for expedience’s sake, restaurants and filmmakers have grafted Naples to Sicily, Rome to Florence, creating a Frankenstein’s monster of pasta and accordions and Leonardo and cheese. In fact, the nation is much younger than America itself; unification was achieved only in the time of Dickens. It is the opposite of America: not a colonizer’s canvas cut into political states but ancient kingdoms brought together into one nation. And so the passage from Tuscany into Emilia-Romagna was not like that from South into North Carolina, which, no matter how Americans may squabble, is hardly to be noticed, but more like the passage from Spain to Morocco (one I made in my later travels). There was a change of landscape, of culture, of history, of language, and, of course, of cuisine.”

Clorinda loved to buy a raft of Christmas panettones to distribute amongst friends and family:

“A bakery displayed domes of Christmas panettone in dark blue paper and plain pandoro wrapped in clear plastic, ready to be shaken with powdered sugar, and some other cake labeled Focaccia Natale that looked nothing like what we had eaten in Recco.”

Funny but true:

“She took the cane in one hand. “You are still thinking of America?” “I have a ticket.” She was saying: “We both know what would become of you.” I snapped to attention. “And what is that?” “You would go back to old habits,” she told me, tapping one of my slippers with the tip of her cane. “Such as?” “You would start thinking again that literature began with Hemingway and art with Warhol. That the fate of the world depends upon your presidential election. That a proper dinner conversation is to discuss your favorite television shows. Like every American, you would lose—””

A new artist for me that I’ve been enjoying this week:

The new Jayhawks album continues to get a lot of play: