“Po-boy Fest”
Diana and Laurie played pickleball on Tuesday morning. Laurie clearly liked it – when Diana suggested that they could play on Tuesday evenings when the guys did trivia, she replied “I can play tonight.” And they did, running in to some of the other girls there.
The Bayou Boyz had an excellent first half at trivia, finishing in first place (for the half). Michael has been a helpful recent addition – none of us had any idea what the sorceress Circe turned Odysseus’s men into in Homer’s Odyssey. Michael immediately knew it was pigs. Apparently, she offered Odysseus’s scouting party a meal of cheese, honey, meal, and wine. She drugged the wine with her potions, and after they drank it, she turned them into pigs using her magical wand.
The plane started to sputter (you really need Thom’s visual and sound effects) in the second half.
I did help with a banking related question – “The Manhattan Company, started by Aaron Burr in 1799, is now which major financial institution?” Answer – JP Morgan Chase.
An interesting aside – the company was originally formed to supply clean water to New York City. Burr included a provision (the banking loophole) that allowed any surplus capital to be used for banking, allowing it to eventually operate solely as a bank.
Going into the final question we were ahead by 3 points. We were unsure about the answer and so only wagered 2 of a possible 20 points, assuming the 2nd place team would get it wrong as well and we would win by a single point.
You had to put four of the wonders of the ancient world in geographical order from north to south.
Wouldn’t you know – we had the correct answer and so did the 2nd place team. So, we fell to 5th place.
You can imagine the nonsense that ensued second guessing our decision making.
Diana, Kenny, Kara and Laurie played pickleball again on Wednesday morning. In the afternoon we went to see the movie about Bruce Springsteen working on the Nebraska album.
We really enjoyed the movie. Jeremy Allen White was a good Bruce, and I thought Jeremy Strong (best known as Kendall Roy from Succession) was excellent as Jon Landau, Springsteen’s manager. My favourite scene is when the two of them are together and Landau puts in a cassette of an old song, saying “Just Listen.” The love between the two is palpable.
Nebraska is a huge departure from the wall of sound recording of Bruce’s prior few albums (Born to Run, The River). I can’t imagine that a bigger departure would have been possible. Stripped down and released exactly as it was recorded in Springsteen’s rental house on a four track recorder to cassette tape.
Kenny asked if we wanted to do anything after the movie and Diana suggested a Happy Hour stop at Beggar’s Banquet. We had a fun time telling stories and discussing the movie.
I had my teeth cleaned on Thursday morning, right after making a run to the gas station – Diana had left me with an empty tank and I hadn’t really allotted time to deal with that. I do enjoy this mural on the wall beside the Shell station on Magazine street.
Paul, our financial advisor, had an event at Ralph’s on the Park on Thursday. It was billed as a “market update” and Sheldon had flown in to deliver a short talk, but it was mainly a client recognition affair.
We shared a table with Denny, 
Anne, another Anne that we met at the event, and Kelly. This was my first time at Ralph’s, a lovely restaurant that is directly across from City Park. The food was yummy and Paul a very gracious host.
Denny and Anne joined us at Bayou Beer Garden after lunch so that we could “discuss what we learned about the market.” It was very pleasant to sit outside and enjoy the sun in mid-November. As we got in the car to drive home, McD asked “Where to next?” Really?
We made it to a new festival on Sunday – the Oak street po-boy fest. They have around 40 stalls selling the signature po-boys of each establishment, and 6 music stages. What’s a po-boy? (some of my international readers might ask.)
Well, a po’ boy is a New Orleans-style sandwich served on a specific type of French bread with a crisp crust and soft interior. It traditionally contains a filling like roast beef or fried seafood, such as shrimp, crawfish, or oysters, and is “dressed” with toppings like lettuce, tomatoes, and mayonnaise. The sandwich is said to have originated during a 1929 streetcar strike in New Orleans, with the “poor boys” being given sandwiches for free.
There are two bakeries that produce the bread for the vast majority of po-boys – Leidenheimer and Dong Phoung. Both have their supporters, with more places using Leidenheimer (at least where I’ve been.) George Leidenheimer came to New Orleans from Deidesheim, Germany, and founded the bakery that bears his name in 1896. The bakery was located on Dryades Street, and in 1904 it moved to the brick building on Simon Bolivar Avenue (less than a mile from our home) where the fourth and fifth generations of Leidenheimer’s family still own and operate the business. Dong Phuong is a much more recent enterprise, started by De and Huong Tran in 1982 after immigrating to New Orleans, and initially catering to the Vietnamese community. The bakery is well known for Carnival king cakes and is a longer drive for us, located 13 miles away in New Orleans East.
We, mostly Diana, did research on Saturday evening to narrow down what kind of po-boy we should try. Escargot and soft-shell crab were the leaders and we ended up choosing escargot. That sandwich was loaded with what looked like 30 of the “slippery little suckers.” What movie is that a quote from? We both got our tummies full from one po-boy. And it was served on a Dong Phuong pistolette.
The lady from Ajun Cajun won two awards, including best of the fest po-boy for the yakiniku. Made with stir-fried ribeye, this is a sandwich the restaurant family has been serving at Jazz Fest, French Quarter Fest, Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo and other events for many years.
The narrow Oak street got very busy as the day progressed – beautiful weather and no Saints game helped with that. We parked ourselves at a couple of the music stages to avoid the worst of the crowds. We started with Eric Johansson at the Leonidas stage, followed there by an all star band assembled by Tony Hall.
After that we rendezvoused with the Kirsch girls at the Eagle stage to listen to a bit of a Ween cover band – Pollo Asado.
And we shouldn’t forget the Piano on a Truck – always fun:
This was a great way to spend a Sunday and we’ll add it to the annual festival rotation, remembering to get there early to avoid the long lines and crowds.
We were reviewing Thanksgiving plans with Will and Christine and received these two funny caricatures – it’s amazing what they can create easily these days.
And I still think it’s too early to see Christmas trees everywhere – particularly as I walked into the grocery store earlier in the week.
I finally finished “The Librarians” this week, and I’m not happy with the conclusion. It’s like watching a movie that you’re really enjoying and then being left with an overdone and unbelievable ending. There were many unbelievable elements – I would have survived a couple. It seemed like every character that I enjoyed early in the book, ended up with unrealistic qualities. Maybe that’s why it took me a few weeks to finish this. I would skip it.
We’re skipping the music section this week as I need to wrap this up.
Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all.