Category: Uncategorized

“Happy Birthday McD”

Gemma was our destination for Diana’s birthday dinner on Wednesday night.  The drive took about an hour, and we commented that if we were in Austin it would have been a 5 minute Uber ride.  The food was worth the wait with delicious baby octopus and trumpet mushroom appetizers.

The owners worked in restaurants in Napa valley prior to moving back to Dallas to open Gemma.  The lighter California touch on French and Italian recipes is very pleasant.  Diana enjoyed a generously sized pork chop and I had an excellent papardelle with braised rabbit.

Fortunately the drive home was much quicker.  We needed some sleep before packing up and heading to Scotland on Thursday afternoon.

Both flights were smooth and on time, resulting in a lunchtime Friday arrival in Glasgow.

Our taxi driver down to Stewarton was quite entertaining with stories of the Christmas gifts he had organized for his family members.  He also made me laugh when he reminded me of the “Horsey Huts”, where I attended primary three.

We had a very nice time relaxing with my Mum and Dad on Friday evening.  I had to find a guide to the Quality Street chocolates for Diana, so that she could identify the Orange Cream.  Can you guess what colour the wrapper was?

Saturday started with my favourite breakfast delicacy – Stornaway black pudding.  Where is Stornaway?  Here it is on the map – in the very North West of Scotland on the island of Lewis.  You can also see Aberdeen (where we’ll be spending Christmas) on the North East coast.  I wonder why the black pudding from way up there is so much better than any other that I’ve tasted?  Could it be something about the water?

Diana entertained herself by “helping” (she actually did quite well) with my Dad’s jigsaw puzzle.  It’s a Lowry painting, and very challenging.

David showed up on Sunday and was a good helper, while BP kept a watchful eye on the proceedings from atop Geoffrey the giraffe.

We were treated to a live view of the “crampons” that my Mum and Dad use to walk in the snowy and icy conditions.  Still not what we’re viewing as a great idea, despite all the locals siding with my parents.

Sunday’s outing was to the Eden garden center in Dundonald.  We enjoyed lunch in their cafe.  I was trusted to drive there and back – only once cautioned about my speed in a 20 mph zone, and fortunately the passengers didn’t react too negatively to me not noticing the road humps or “sleeping policemen”.

We perused the merchandise while waiting for a table in the cafe, and Diana thought she was funny pointing out the sign on the right hand side of this picture, until I pointed to the one on the left.

My Dad seemed to have a fun time at lunch:

We have certainly eaten very well during our first few days in Scotland – fresh Pittenweem salmon from the Friday fish delivery man, stuffed chicken breast, and my Mum’s special steak pie were all delicious.

The pictures from my company Christmas party were published and here’s one of us that we like:

Even with flying time and jet lag interrupted sleep, I still wasn’t able to finish a book this week.  I’ll try to be better next week.

I read that the Boomtown Rats, popular when I was in high school, and led by Bob Geldoff (famous for planning Live Aid in 1985), were performing in Glasgow next year.  That reminded me of this song (you haven’t lived until you’ve heard my brother in law David playing the intro):

Since the blog comes to you from Scotland this week, here’s one from our most famous band, Runrig:

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Racing Will”

Lots of work this week for K and D.  We were both so worn out at the end of the day that we didn’t do much in the evenings either.  I did drag Diana over to the Hyatt on Tuesday night just to get her out of the apartment for a little while.

All my excitement came vicariously from my boys.  Campbell and his crew traveled to Chicago last Sunday to watch Nick Bawden play for the Lions against the Bears.  That’s the trio of Cameron, Campbell, and Grady in the middle – friends since they were in kindergarten.

Doesn’t it look freezing cold?  Campbell said the wind was blowing directly in their faces at these elevated seats.

Will was checking off one of his “life goals” around the same time.  He spent the weekend getting track driving lessons in his new BMW M2 competition (rated Road and Track #2 car of the year – behind what? – the 911 of course) and loved every minute of it.  He got  lots of great photos and I enjoy zooming in to see the concentration on his face.

The stitches came out of my finger on Wednesday and things are healing up nicely.  I’m even able to change the dressing solo now.  After that excitement we made the drive up to McKinney in the afternoon.

The weekend was quiet also with a lot of work interruptions for me.  I’m watching the Cowboys playing the Lions as I write this post.  It’s an evenly matched game so far and fun to see Nick Bawden on TV.  Campbell must be torn about who to support.

When the game finishes, we’ll make the drive to Austin and are planning on watching the start of the new season of “The Crown” on Netflix when we arrive.

What a great album cover – Elvis Costello and the Attractions “Armed Forces”.  Anne texted me this picture from the Costello concert in New Orleans.  Her friend, Margaret, is a huge fan and you can tell they have very good seats.  This reminded me of the album Costello made with Allen Toussaint after Katrina.

 

 

Sticking in New Orleans, I was listening to Luke Winslow King this weekend and came across this gem.  I love his guitar playing.

I’ll finish up with JM Stevens from Austin.  Wish we had reserved enough energy for his album release show at the Continental Club last week.

 

 

“Ouch, that really hurt!”

Thanks to all of my faithful readers who reached out with concern about the missing post last week.  I suffered a wee accident that will be revealed later in this post.  That will also explain the somewhat terse nature of this post.  I’m going to rely on pictures more than words.  D and I did watch a good movie this weekend – “Words and Pictures” starring Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche – an artist and a writer competing on whether words or pictures were more powerful.  I recommend this movie very much.  Clive Owen quoting Ian McEwan’s “Saturday” to his class is worth the price of admission.

Cat was in town again last Wednesday night and joined us for a night of jazz at the Parker Club.  We really like this venue and Julie Slim was playing some French cafe style jazz, complete with accordion.  She put on a great show with her band and we stayed longer than expected.  Here she is doing some Cabaret:

We visited a bar across the street to watch a little bit of the World Series baseball and took this silly picture for Cat to send to Kristina.  He had a splint on his finger due to arthritis – more on that later.

Next door the regular Wednesday night 80s band, the Spazmatics were playing and we couldn’t resist – a very fun band as evidenced in this video – wait for the classic D moves:

 

Thursday night brought the much anticipated Austin City Limits Hall of Fame Induction ceremony at the Moody Theater.

The show started with the Austin Samba Club performing in front of the stage – very New Orleans style, marching in with drums and dancing.  Then Jackson Browne (one of our favourites) inducted Shawn Colvin.  It was interesting to see such a seasoned performer get nervous talking to the crowd.  Each of the three inductees performed 4 or 5 songs with special guests,  and the musicianship was superb.

Then Jimmie Vaughan inducted and played with the amazing Buddy Guy – 83 years old and very spry and energetic.  Sean Penn (also surprisingly nervous to start) inducted Lyle Lovett.  Lyle won over Diana with his story telling and humour during his acceptance speech.  I enjoyed Edie Brickell covering one of his songs very much.  Then it was time for the grand finale with everyone on stage.

 

The excellent show finished after 11 and we were both hungry.  It was raining outside as evidenced by Wet Willie, and 2nd bar and kitchen was closed, so we went across the street to the JW Marriott.  That turned out to be a mistake.

We got seated and I headed for the restroom.  On the way back the door slammed on my finger, breaking and lacerating the tip.  It was dangling and looking pretty nasty.  Diana very expeditiously ordered an Uber, and we headed for a night at Dell Seton Emergency Room.

Things moved slowly to reinsert my right index finger nail and stitch me up, with us ultimately discharged after 4am.  What a long, frustrating night.  I tried to leave a couple of times, with my wonderful wife handling me well.  You’ll have to ask her for some of the more entertaining details.  Also good stories about our fellow patients, and the paramedic who stopped in just to hang out with some sane folks for a bit.

 

My finger was numb all Thursday and so I was able to go into work in the afternoon.  Not so much on Friday, woke up with some pain and then flew to California in the evening for Clorinda’s 88th birthday celebration.  We enjoyed the Fairmont hotel all lit up for Halloween in downtown Austin.

I made Clorinda one of my special omelets to kick off the celebration and then we had dinner in Redwood City with friends and family.  In classic form, Grammie had to get a picture of her 88 (piano birthday) candles.

While we were enjoying dinner, the power was proactively shut off in Pacifica.  The old, above ground equipment had caused several massive fires and the winds were high, so while very inconvenient, also understandable.

On Sunday morning, I headed down to San Jose to meet Will, Finn and Christine for a car show at Santana Row, followed by lunch at Sino.  I’ve never seen so many Lamborghinis and McClarens in one place.  And then there was a classic Austin Healey among them.

It was really nice to see Finn after so long.  He’s finally looking good again after all he’s been through.

And great to see him with an appetite for the yummy Sino dim sum.

Back in Pacifica, we celebrated our nephew, Massimo’s, 3rd birthday.  We’re hoping he quickly grows out of his current behavior phase.

Still no power on Monday morning.  Will welcomed us to his place for hot showers and power to work.  It was typical Will when we dropped off the key at his office, and he brought his entire team out to meet us.

Sometimes challenges are fortuitous – the power still out meant Adamo had to cook up all his lobster tails that had defrosted – absolutely delicious.

I always enjoy the views from the Campagna property.  Here are some pictures from this visit:

 

 

We flew back to Austin on Tuesday and chuckled at the wifi password in the Admiral’s Club.  We’re looking forward to our Scottish trip.

Back in Austin, I visited the hand specialist on Wednesday and was scheduled for surgery on Thursday early – 5 am back at Dell Seton.  All went smoothly and we were at the Carpenter for breakfast by 10am.  Here’s a before (bottom left) and after picture.  The wires come out on December 3rd.

We drove back to McKinney on Saturday and have been enjoying a lazy weekend.

I was able to finish three books with all the flying and downtime.  “The Last Days of California” by Mary Miller is an interesting tale of a family driving cross country to California before the Rapture.  The book is told through the eyes of the 15 year old, younger sister of the family.

I didn’t enjoy this as much as “Biloxi” but it was still a pleasant read, with many interesting characters and exploration of fundamentalist religious beliefs.

Next up was the Steve Forbert biography from his show.  This was a joyous read with so many great music stories.  He was raving about Shawn Colvin, who we saw inducted at the ACL show.  His writing is very engaging and personal and really communicated the struggle of a singer songwriter.

 

 

 

Last was a short read from the amazing Stewart O’Nan – “Last Night at the Lobster”.  I loved his “Henry, Himself” a few months ago.

This story is about the last day of a Red Lobster that is closing due to poor performance, and is told through the eyes of the manager.  Having been to Red Lobster many times for kids birthday parties, and having spent a few months in the restaurant business, this resonated with me quite a bit.  The characters who work there and the various parties – the office celebration, Moms with an out of control kid, and old ladies lunch group were covered perfectly.

My hand is tired, and so I’ll skip the music section this week.  Should be back to weekly updates next week.  Be careful out there with your digits.

 

 

 

 

“Angry Bevo”

We started the week in Austin, enjoying a reasonably long stay this time.  Celebrations and self congratulations continued on Monday afternoon as we had an afternoon office party to celebrate the rollout of our new system.  The balloons say POS2 – our highly original name for our new version of the Point of Sale system.  One of the really nice features of a small company is the way the whole office comes together to recognize accomplishments like this.  Beer, wine, and snacks at 3:30pm didn’t hurt either.

That’s my Development leader, Doug, cutting the cake.  He’s been working on this for several years and certainly deserved the recognition.

Diana joined Damon, Mark, and me for continued celebrations at Uchi on Tuesday night.  This time we were celebrating a successful migration from our old cloud data center provider to Microsoft Azure – another activity that had been planned for a long time, and consumed a good part of our normal weekend sleeping hours.  Sushi is not the best choice for Damon, who can consume massive quantities of beef for such a small, skinny guy.  As a result, we got to sample a decent amount of the menu.  My favourite was the maguro (big-eye tuna) with goat cheese mousse.

One morning this week, Marc Cohn and the Blind Boys of Alabama performed “Work to Do” on the Today show.  It’s a great performance that took us back to that wonderful evening at the Mountain Winery:

https://www.today.com/video/marc-cohn-blind-boys-of-alabama-sing-work-to-do-on-today-71287365656

I planned out an evening of new experiences for Friday night.  We were very adventurous and stepped outside our standard 2 mile radius around the Catherine, starting with a lovely Indian dinner at the Clay Pit.  Curried mussels with garlic Naan to sop up the sauce, chicken pakora, and lamb Rogan-Josh were all excellent.  It’s been so long since I had a decent Indian meal – and who knew there was a good place within a 5 minute Uber ride of the apartment.  I look forward to going back soon.

After dinner, we walked up “the drag” (Guadalupe street by the University of Texas), to the University Union and the Cactus Cafe.

This is a small music club that features folk-rock singer-songwriter types.  It just celebrated a 40 year anniversary and has hosted many of the greats as seen in these posters.  It did seem a bit strange to wander through UT students, studying with laptops out, to get to a show where the median age was at least 50.

Our entertainment for the evening was provided by Steve Forbert, top middle in the poster from 1994.  If you’re like most of the folks I’ve talked to since this show, you may not recognize the name.  Here’s his biggest hit, Romeo’s Tune:

Did you recognize it?  No worries if you didn’t – it’s from 1973.  But is does have very close to 5 million listens on Spotify.  I’ll share another of my favourites later in the official music section.  What a unique voice.  Forbert has released 19 albums over the years, and so has a large catalog to draw from in performances.  We ran into a couple we met at the Bill Frisell show recently, and they reported very different setlists each time they have seen him.

I had heard about a new book by Forbert, and had waited to buy it at the show.  I was fortunate to get a personalized copy.

We slept late on Saturday morning, then I had a swim in the very chilly pool while McD had a workout.  Next we were off on a typical Austin Saturday trail – coffee and crossword on the Opa! patio and a stop to pick up wine.  Then another new experience.

We donned our UT burnt orange garb and headed over to the stadium parking lots for a “tailgate”.   For my overseas readers, a “tailgate” is a gathering to get pumped up before a big sports event, often involving barbecue and beer.  The term stems from dropping down the gate at the end of a pickup truck bed to make an informal table.  Our event was a bit fancier, with sun awnings, TVs, catered barbecue, a wide selection of drinks, and games.  My vendor who organized the event did a great job – she had to arrive at 6am to stake out the prime, shady spot, and the party didn’t start until 3pm.

Over 100,000 fans attend the University of Texas Longhorns games – it feels like the whole city is involved, with lots of people traveling in from around the United States.  Bevo is the longhorn mascot, and I got Diana an “Angry Bevo” tee shirt to war to the event – she got lots of compliments.

I was sporting my new “Allright, Allright, Allright” shirt.  Matthew McConaughey, the actor, is a huge UT fan and that’s his catch phrase.

Diana won a pair of tickets to the game in the raffle, but neither of us was pumped about sitting in the craziness for another three hours.  Like a couple of old folks, we headed home for a quiet night in.  The game turned out to be a very exciting and high scoring affair, with UT ultimately defeating Kansas.  That picture of D’s new shirt was taken inside a conch shell sculpture outside the UT Medical Center – she’s still very good at humouring me.

Sunday was another lazy start, followed by workouts, and packing for the drive to Dallas.  Thousands of others had the same idea, and it was a long drive in Penelope.  She was only able to achieve a comfortable cruising speed for short periods – always gets her dander up.

We did arrive home in time for me to settle into my spot for the Cowboys – Eagles game.  This was a very important game for the division lead, and the Boys got off to a great start.  For once, they were able to maintain momentum and win 37-10.  A very nice victory.

Mother Nature was extremely active during the game with severe thunderstorms in McKinney and tornados in North Dallas.  Our local tornado sirens went off a couple of times.  The damage was very severe – the worst since 1969.  The tornado was classified as an EF3 with 140 mph winds, and was on the ground for 16 miles across North Dallas.  The Preston Hollow area, with very fancy homes (including George and Laura Bush’s residence) was heavily impacted.  This article has pictures and videos of the devastation.  The great news is that nobody was critically injured – amazing when you look at  the pictures.  This is one of the advantages of all the technology and early warning systems, and lots of folks watching the football game that was interrupted with detailed warnings.  On the negative side, many schools were completely destroyed and it will be a logistical nightmare to recover.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/10/21/destructive-dallas-tornado-lofts-debris-twenty-thousand-feet-high/

Out in California, Will and Christine were attending a wedding at Lake Tahoe.  A typical silly Will pose, but he does look smart.  I did ask the typical parental question, and was told firmly that there are no plans soon.

I enjoyed a couple of quite different books this week.  I need to do a better job of recording where I find the recommendations that cause me to order up books – I can’t remember what chose me to order “Post Office” by Charles Bukowski.  This 1971 novel made its author famous, with the tales of a poor character who spends the majority of his working life in dead end postal service jobs.  He suffers through abusive bosses, alcohol abuse, and a racetrack gambling addiction.   So, not an upbeat beach read, but well written and it felt very real.

 

My second book was a complete departure from Post Office.  “The Balcony” by Jane Delury is a multi-generational tale based around a manor and cottage in Benneville, France.  I almost started to draw a family tree to keep track of all the various relatives that weave through the  book over 200 years.  I didn’t love the writing, which seemed to change styles with the different portions of the story, but enjoyed being immersed in French culture and language – much of it untranslated to give me a test.  I don’t think I agree with all the reviewers that have been raving about this debut novel.

As promised earlier, here’s my favourite Forbert song.  What a great sound:

A really good song from Taj Mahal, taking me back again to the Mountain Winery a couple of months ago:

A different version of an all time favourite:

And finishing out with something different, I really enjoy the piano on this one.

 

 

“Silly Penguin”

Penelope and I made the drive down to Austin on Monday afternoon.  The morning was spent getting my teeth cleaned and a filling replaced – such fun to hang out in the dental chair for over 3 hours.  Following that with 4 hours in Penelope wasn’t ideal, but I did want to enjoy the convertible as we enter into the beautiful fall weather in the Hill Country.  You should have heard Penelope when she discovered that her rear-end was a little too wide for some of the parking spaces at the Catherine.

Tuesday was a quiet work day.  I was tired in the evening, had a nice swim and sauna and called it a night, after a chat with Diana who was working in Milwaukee.  I was shocked to look down at the end of the call and see we’d been yacking away for almost 2 hours.  I’m sure we very productively solved all kinds of problems but don’t really remember any great conclusions.

Baby Penguin (BP), having spent over a month lost under the couch, played on my sympathies and convinced me to take him out on Wednesday.

BP really enjoyed the ride down Barton Springs road with the top down.  He was excited to make some new friends at my office.

I left BP unattended for an hour while I went to a meeting.  During the session, we lost all network connectivity in the office – first time this has happened in the 11 months that I’ve been there.  Hmm – what’s different in the office today.  Review of security footage revealed the root cause of the issue:

Vinod was not at all happy with the problems the unattended BP had caused:

I made the silly penguin join me in the gym as a penance for his poor behavior.

I was busted on Wednesday evening.  I made the mistake of telling McD that I was having dinner with Damon.  She tracked me and saw we were at the Odd Duck – one of her favourites.  The pork chop and creamed corn dish there is delicious.

Our COO retires on Monday and there was a very nice event to recognize him in the office on Thursday – complete with a throne for him to sit in.

Diana arrived in Austin from Milwaukee around midnight on Thursday.

I missed the flu shot clinic at the office and so decided to get one at Wallgreens on Friday lunchtime.  My doctor has been on me to get the Shingles shot and so I got that at the same time.  The pharmacist warned me that the injection site would be sore and swollen for a few days and that I may have flu-like symptoms for 24 hours.  Both turned out to be accurate.  After a short workout on Saturday morning,  and coffee and crossword at a new location, Once Over Coffee on South First, I had to go to bed for a few hours.  A nice feature of this new coffee shop is the El Primo taco truck out front.

 

I was mostly recovered by the evening and we had an excellent dinner at Eddie V’s.  This is an old school seafood and steakhouse -waiters in white jackets with business cards.  Diana’s sea bass was beautifully flaky and I enjoyed my redfish with lump crab.   Live jazz music was playing in the lounge, which gave me an idea.  I had heard that the Parker Jazz Club was a good venue, and it happened to be just a couple of blocks from Eddie V’s.

This venue is great, with comfy seats, good drinks, precise sound and an excellent house band.  The trombone player was very talented:

We enjoyed the reed player very much – he had quite the array of instruments: soprano, tenor and bass saxophones, clarinet, flute and bass flute, and a flugel horn.

We enjoyed the music so much that we stayed until the end of the set at close to midnight, before walking home.

One evening in Milwaukee, Diana had dinner at a gastro pub and mentioned that they had scotch eggs on the menu.  This led me to a Google search for “best scotch egg in Austin”.  Which then led to Phoebe’s diner for brunch on Sunday.  They call their version of a scotch egg the “Cheeky Monkey” and it was quite tasty – particularly the sausage gravy.  The tater tots we shared and Diana’s crab cake benedict were also yummy.

 

Diana headed back to Dallas on the bus on Sunday evening – too short a visit by far.   I settled in to watch the Cowboys playing the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome.  This is the first big challenge for the Cowboys this year – their first three victories coming against teams with losing records.  New Orleans star quarterback, Drew Brees, is injured and so we should have a bit of an advantage.  As I press “publish” on this post, the Cowboys are leading 10-9 but it’s a very close came.

 

Peter Green might be my very favourite guitar player, and this is a gorgeous song:

Heard this Herbie Hancock on the radio.  I don’t love all of his music, but quite a bit of it is very good.

I can’t remember what made me put on some Chris Rea music this week (part of the aging process) – hadn’t thought about him in many years.  Andy Bull used to play his music constantly at University.

The excellent Texas singer songwriter, Rodney Crowell, has a new album out and here’s a highlight:

 

 

“Bill Frisell at C-Boys Heart and Soul?”

We’re making that drive again?  Yes – back down from McKinney to Austin on Monday morning – I’m getting a pretty good routine going with where to stop along the way.  The drive came with all the usual treats – McD click clacking on her laptop, and various conference calls for both of us.

You’ll remember that Diana didn’t love the Allmans tribute band last week.  She did, however, love the Eagles tribute (“Fake it to the Limit”) this week.  Mark and Damon joined us at the One to One club, and everyone agreed that the musicians really had it down.  Here’s the classic dual guitar solo from Hotel California:

Here’s Diana’s favourite, Desperado:

We enjoyed hanging out and telling stories after the show.  Lots of good laughs – I’m fortunate to work with such good friends and Diana certainly holds her own with the crew – I know that’s a surprise to all of you.

The rest of the week was mostly work and lazy evenings.  Then I found something interesting for Friday evening.  Reading through the Chronicle weekly newspaper, I noticed Bill Frisell playing at C-Boys Heart and Soul on Friday and Saturday evenings.   A double take was necessary – Frisell is a world class jazz guitarist that I’ve enjoyed a few times in the famous New York jazz clubs, and C-Boys is a small dive bar that usually features blues and soul music.  Further research on the C-Boys website confirmed that this was all on the up and up.

We arrived early and were amazed to find front row seats – literally 2 feet from Frisell’s guitar – were still available.  Talking to the lady next to me, also a jazz guitarist, before the show, revealed that Frisell is good friends with Steve, owner of C-Boys and the Continental Club, and loves to play on South Congress in Austin.  The seats allowed me to fully appreciate what was happening on the guitar and with the pedals.

Frisell delivered a beautifully nuanced and quiet solo set, and the small audience seemed to really appreciate the innovative musicianship.  What an unexpected treat.

Here’s a video that Diana made from the concert:

 

 

 

We made the short walk down South Congress after the show for dinner at June’s All Day.  Diana took control of ordering, and chose very well with steak tartare and seared foie gras.  Great choices Diana – I haven’t had a seared foie gras in ages – and this one was excellent.

Saturday featured all the regulars: workout; crossword; lazy afternoon reading.  In the evening we walked over to Peche (rapidly becoming a leading contender for favourite Austin restaurant for both of us).  We enjoyed steak tartare and an amazing rabbit and mushroom barley risotto.  Cat had tried this a month ago when I took him to Peche, and I was hoping it was still on the menu.  What great flavour mixes and plenty to share between both of us.  Our waitress recommended a delicious French Pinot Noir that paired perfectly   The owner stopped by a couple of times to check on us and I could tell he was pleased with how much we enjoyed the dish.

Sunday began with the same regulars as Saturday.  Different was that the printer was out of ink, so we headed to Opa and did the crossword on our devices.  From Opa we traveled to Aussie’s – a sports bar right next to our apartment with sand volleyball courts out back.  We watched the first half of the Cowboys game there, and split a burger.  I noted that this was a good place to take Tim – classic rock music playing, sports on TVs throughout and lots of burgers and other Timmy staples on the menu.  You would be proud of me for sitting on the patio while it was over 90 degrees – low humidity makes it possible.  I ran into a work colleague, Nick, who was on the US Olympic volleyball team until destroying his shoulder weeks before the Olympics started – he still loves everything volleyball.  That’s the Catherine parking garage with the slits in the concrete from Aussie’s patio and volleyball court.

We watched the second half of the Cowboys game in the refreshing air conditioning of our apartment, and then took a walk down South Congress to the Continental Club for the free afternoon show.  Steve has been good to us this weekend – first Bill Frisell and then the Crescent Soul Review.

But wait, I forgot to revel in the Cowboys victory over the Washington Redskins – and another classic Jason Witten touchdown – number 70 for him, and Campbell commented that 50 of them must have been the same play – every team knows it’s coming, but none of them can defend against it.

Back at the Continental Club, the band worked their way through New Orleans flavoured soul music, with some excellent Band and Little Feat covers.  The Band’s “Ophelia”:

Followed by a personal favourite, Little Feat’s “Dixie Chicken”:

And finally the Professor Longhair classic, “Big Chief”:

What a benefit of our location – free Sunday afternoon shows at the Continental Club – a fifteen minute walk away.

Many miles away, Will made it to the BMW M racing school in Palm Springs.  I’m looking forward to his videos and stories from the experience.  He really loves his M edition BMW and I’m a bit nervous about how he’s going to be driving it through Redwood City after all this “training”.

Even more miles away, my Mum and Dad enjoyed a week in Jersey and Guernsey.  I didn’t realize that both islands were occupied by Germany during the Second World War.  Churchill having decided that the civilian loss associated with defending the islands would be too great.  My Dad told us a story today about his shortest airline flight – 10 minutes end to end.  The ferry between islands was having mechanical difficulty, and the passengers were diverted to an island hopper flight.

My book this week was “Always Happy Hour” by Mary Miller.  I ordered it up several months ago, and can’t remember what led me to do that.  Did I read an interesting review, or get a recommendation from some other book I really enjoyed?  Either way, not a good decision on my part.  This is a collection of short stories, all told from the female point of view.  Remind me that I really don’t enjoy short story collections as much as I think I do.  I loved William McIlvanney’s “Walking Wounded” short story collection (having read it at least 3 times now), and haven’t enjoyed any collection very much since.  I don’t recommend this one and I hope women don’t think like the characters in these stories.  Here’s a review I found that seems positive:

“Claustrophobic and lonesome, acerbic and magnetic, the women in Always Happy Hour seek understanding in the most unlikely places—a dilapidated foster home where love is a liability, a trailer park laden with a history of bad decisions, and the empty corners of a dream home bought after a bitter divorce. Miller evokes the particular gritty comfort found in bad habits as hope turns to dust, and proves yet again her essential role in American fiction.”

Here’s something else from Bill Frisell’s excellent “Guitar in the Space Age” album:

Here’s a good example of his spare and nuanced guitar work – a cover of the over-covered “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen:

Robert Randolph and the Family Band have an excellent new album out.  I’ve enjoyed Randolph live a number of times, opening for Clapton, sitting in at Tipitinas and the Blue Note – always a delight.

Have you ever heard of a band named the Sheepdogs?  I haven’t either, until this song popped up.  They are from Canada and started in Saskatoon in 2006 – plenty of good music to explore.  I would love to have a sheepdog if we ever live in a place with enough land to provide the daily exercise needed.

And finally, The Texas Horns.  Heard them on Sun Radio this morning and thought it was a great sound.  Do you agree?

“Suadero Tacos – Wow!”

There was a Food and Wine magazine in the doctor’s waiting room a few weeks ago when I went for a regular check up.  I flipped to the “Best new restaurants of 2019” section and found an Austin place, Suerte, listed in the number 2 position.  Disappointed with myself for being unfamiliar with this place, I made a note to try it out soon.

Suerte was our Labor Day dinner destination.  Here’s a review by the local newspaper that we read and it built our anticipation of a great meal. “You may be able to replicate the black magic oil if you find the right balance of black sesame oil, garlic and morita chile, but I doubt you can make small, supple red corn tortillas like those at Suerte, or summon the alchemical powers to abracadabra tender confit brisket elevated gently with the citrus kiss of avocado. Delivered four to a plate, the brisket tacos with the toasty sauce are some of the best I’ve ever eaten in Austin. The way the chefs synthesize Texan and Mexican traditions into something wholly unique but familiar reminds me of what Lawrence Wright refers to as the third (and highest) level of cultural evolution in his recent book, “God Save Texas.””

We started with excellent cocktails and a very good ceviche, noting the excellent service.  Then the famous suadero tacos with a side of Mexican street corn.  Wow!  Amazing combination of flavors and beautifully cooked.  My only mistake was not accepting McD’s suggestion to get an extra order to go – big lesson learned.  I can hear Alicia’s voice in my head: “Epic Fail”.   Not a mistake – resisting the pull of the amazing Old Fashioned at Whisler’s right next door to Suerte.

We were back at the One to One bar on Wednesday night for the early show – an Allman Brothers tribute band.  Damon and I had seen them a few months ago and loved the musicianship.  I’m not sure Diana enjoyed it as much as Damon, but I thought it was excellent.  The dual drummers and guitars, perfectly in time in the harmony parts, had me back at the several Allmans shows that I’ve enjoyed over the years.

Here’s the band doing “One Way Out” towards the end of their set.  By this time they had played “Soulshine”, right up there behind True Companion for Diana and me, and she was enjoying the show a bit more.  A couple of songs without words, otherwise known as instrumentals, had snubbed her enthusiasm for the show earlier.  She took advantage of the noodling to nip next door to Chi’Lantro for a salad to accompany the rest of the show.

“Whipping Post” was the closer, reminding me of the excellent Bonerama five trombone cover of this excellent song.

Ok, you asked for it, here’s the trombone version:

We drove up to McKinney on Thursday morning, pausing for a quick brunch at Harvest in Waco.  Diana had a work meeting and dinner and I relaxed at home.  There’s a new series of “Travels with my father” on Netflix that I enjoyed.  This is a hilarious travelogue of English comedian Jack Whitehall enjoying adventures with his father.  This season they are in the United States – starting out in Los Angeles with yoga and healthy food.

I enjoyed the US Open tennis over the last couple of weeks.  I was very impressed with Bianca Andreescu’s victory over Serena Williams.  A 19 year old and the first Canadian to win a major tennis championship.  She survived the highly partisan crowed and pressure to win a tournament that she didn’t even qualify for last year.  It was fun to watch the pride from her parents as the match progressed – they emigrated from Romania to Canada in the nineties with just two suitcases.

I think Berrettini will be a star on the Men’s tennis stage very soon.  He lost to Nadal in the semis but I think has a great all around game.

Sunday started as usual – swim, sauna, coffee and crossword – and then the joy…Football’s back!  The season started with the classic Cowboys vs Giants rivalry.  I wasn’t sure what to expect from our running back, Zeke, after he held out the entire pre-season for a better contract.  He did ok in the first half – nothing amazing.  The rest of the team looked great – with Jason Witten back from a year off commentating – and straight out of the booth into the end zone with an excellent touchdown.  The score is Cowboys 21 Giants 7 at half time – a very pleasant start to the season.  Hope it stays that way for the rest of the game.

The US Open Men’s Final is conflicting with the football – have only seen small portions of it during the commercial breaks – looks like Nadal has it in hand against the preying mantis Medvedev.

My oldest baby, Will, survived the week in the desert at Burning Man.   This is their vehicle, Stuart, out in the middle of nowhere, and their main transportation for the week.

Will’s contribution to the event was the ear splitting bass from his Durango, “Basswlf”.  Checkout the message on the bottom of his wooden license plate.  I’m not sure I would do well on this hanging stone walk.

 

 

 

I don’t think my baby got much sleep during the week.  Christine, on the other hand, looks well rested and ready to go at this sunrise party.  I know – what’s with her hair – suspect it was a good approach given no water and showers for a week.

“City of Thieves” by David Benioff was a thoroughly engrossing read this week.  I’m a big fan of “25th Hour”, a Spike Lee directed movie from Benioff’s first book – he also wrote the screenplay, and was hoping this second novel would be enjoyable.  It was hard to put down after the first 50 pages or so.

This book was selected by the “Man’s Book Club” that I’ve been invited to join in Austin.  I haven’t made any meetings yet due to travel conflicts.  I hope to soon – all their choices so far have been good reads.

Back to the story.  During the Nazis’ brutal siege of Leningrad, Lev Beniov is arrested for looting and thrown into the same cell as a handsome deserter named Kolya. Instead of being executed, Lev and Kolya are given a shot at saving their own lives by complying with an outrageous directive: secure a dozen eggs for a powerful Soviet colonel to use in his daughter’s wedding cake. In a city cut off from all supplies and suffering unbelievable deprivation, Lev and Kolya embark on a hunt through the dire lawlessness of Leningrad and behind enemy lines to find the impossible.

The premise sounds far fetched and contrived, but Benioff makes the horror of the siege and the terror of the times come alive in very real terms.  The two leading characters, Lev and Kolya, almost direct opposites, are very well realized.  The story of their evolving friendship is at the heart of the novel.  The horror of the times and the story make this a book that is at times very brutal and gruesome – not for everyone.

I did some reading on the siege of Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg again.  Pinned in by the German Army from the south, assisted by the Finnish Army from the North (until they reclaimed land seized by Russia previously), this event lasted almost 900 days – September 8, 1941 through January 27, 1944.  Very little food made its way from the surrounding countryside into the city, resulting in the siege being declared an act of genocide.

Do you remember the movie and then TV Show “Fame”.  Good – you’re probably close to my age at least.  I don’t remember why this song from the movie popped into my head this week – hadn’t thought about it in decades – weird synapses firing, while the ones I need to fire resist.

I read that Pat Metheney, jazz guitarist extraordinaire, was having some concerts in New York this week.  I smiled to see James Francies in the band with him – this guy blew me away on piano when I saw him at the Jazz Standard a year or so ago.

We should include a song from the incomparable Ry Cooder, whose album cover headlines the music section this week.  I love everything about Cooder’s music and suspect that his “Paradise and Lunch” may be the record that I have played most over the years:

This tune was playing as we waited for the band to start at One to One this week.  Took the synapses a few seconds to recognize it as Jeff Beck – another incomparable, and quite different, guitar player:

“Less like a dorm room”

I stopped in Waco for lunch on my drive back to Austin on Monday, and continued my exploration of off the highway restaurants.  Alpha Omega is a delicious Mediterranean place with a very nice atmosphere in the heart of downtown Waco.  I enjoyed a salad, gyro and perfect macchiato – why is it so hard for so many places to get it right?

On arrival at the apartment, I took care of one of McD’s biggest gripes.  It goes something like, “the master bedroom looks like a dorm room, with no headboard and no end tables”.   A neighbor had advertised teal end tables for sale and I snapped them right up for a very reasonable price.  Still waiting on a good headboard to pop up.

Progress is now visible at the work site across the street – a big hole has been dug for the foundation of the new building.  Street closures to allow the running of power are now behind us as well.

Diana and I had a conference call (she was en route to Boston) on Wednesday morning to wish my Dad Happy Birthday.   We sang to the voicemail box, and it was quite the performance – we couldn’t get in sync on the beat at all.  Hopefully that recording has been erased.  My Dad enjoyed High Tea at the Glasshouse restaurant by Rowallan Castle to celebrate.

I had a night out with Damon and Issac from work on Wednesday night.  We started with Indian at G’raj Mahal – I love their lamb Rogan Josh.  Then we enjoyed a performance by the Canned Beets band at the Half Step.  I had seen their guitar player at the Charlie Hunter show recently and had a nice chat with him about the show.  He said, “Charlie Hunter’s not only the best at what he does, he’s the only person that does what he does”, meaning the only guitar player that we’re aware of who plays the bass and lead on the same instrument simultaneously.

Here they are performing Simple Man at Damon’s request:

We finished up with a quick visit to Whisler’s in East Austin, close to Issac’s condo.

Meanwhile in New York, Denny and Anne were enjoying a performance by Alejandro Escovedo, during their trip to catch some US Open tennis matches.  Escovedo used to live in Austin but moved to stay in the Belmont Hotel in Oak Cliff when Austin got too expensive for working musicians.

Diana’s trip back from Boston on Friday started well with an upgrade to first class.  It didn’t end as well with flights canceled due to thunderstorms in Dallas.  She eventually made it to Austin a bit after midnight on the Vonlane bus- a creative solution.  It’s been a couple of months since her last visit and she’s been fixing all the things that I haven’t been taking care of properly – the list is too expansive to cover here.

We enjoyed brunch at Mattie’s on Saturday.  This is a restaurant in an old mansion in the Bouldin Creek area – a mile or so from our apartment.  The setting is amazing with lots of land, shaded by live oak trees.   The food lived up to the setting – really delicious.  Diana had an excellent burger and I loved my duck confit hash.  After brunch, we explored the grounds and found a few peacocks and peahens roaming around.

I surprised Diana with a concert at the local One to One bar on Saturday night.  This was her first visit to this music bar that I’ve enjoyed several times.  The “Bee Gees Songbook” was the band performing and they did a very good job covering songs from the entirety of the Bee Gees extensive career.  Here are a couple of the big hits:

Sunday was a lovely lazy day, followed by dinner at Barley Swine.   We sat in the corner  on the right of this picture.  This is the sister restaurant to the Odd Duck, one of our local favourites.  This is the furthest we’ve ventured out for a meal – a solid 10 mins or $10 Uber – that shows you how many great places there are within walking distance.  We started with steak tartare and bone marrow, then amazing soup shitake dumplings, crab fundido with yummy tater tots, pork steaks, and tres leches desert cake.  Wow!  Another amazing Austin meal.

 

I finished “Man of the Year” by Caroline Louise Walker this week.

Dr. Robert Hart, Sag Harbor’s just-named Man of the Year, is the envy of his friends and neighbors. His medical practice is thriving. He has a beautiful old house and a beautiful new wife and a beautiful boat docked in the village marina. Even his wayward son, Jonah, is back on track, doing well at school, finally worthy of his father’s attentions. So when Jonah’s troubled college roommate, Nick, needs a place to stay for the summer, Hart and his wife generously offer him their guest house. A win-win: Jonah will have someone to hang with, and his father can bask in the warm glow of his own generosity.

And then things quickly start to unravel.  I enjoyed the twists and turns as the pace quickened and differing view points of characters were revealed.  I did not see the twists of the last 50 pages coming at all – very clever and creative.

In honor of Anne’s visit with Alejandro Escovedo – “Always a friend to you”:

Whenever I hear Bon Iver I remember how much I love his music and wonder why I don’t listen more often.  Alicia always complained that she couldn’t understand the words:

I  absolutely love this song by New Orleans little known artist John Fohl:

I can’t remember where I heard this song, but I really enjoy it:

 

 

 

 

 

“Think before you speak, read before you think”

It was a scorcher of a week in Austin with temperatures hovering around 100 degrees all week.  Work was a bit less all consuming this week – thank goodness.  I had a work dinner on Monday at III Forks steakhouse.  Diana had been wanting to try their happy hour with oysters and champagne for a while, and so walked across with me.  She ended up being invited to join us for dinner, which thankfully meant very little work talk.  We ended up having a very nice evening all around.

On Tuesday evening, Diana was committed to watching a very exciting episode of the Bachelorette, where two of the remaining four contenders for the love of the Bachelorette are sent home.  She has a particular dislike for Luke P. (can’t blame her from what I’ve seen) and was looking forward to him going home.  She decided to invite our friend Damon (he travels in from Philadelphia every other week, and was just hanging out in a hotel room) over to watch it with us.  The next morning I got an earful – “first of all you were talking all through the episode, and then you and Damon fell asleep while I was making a pizza”.  Oopsy – we must be working way too hard.

Diana headed to California on Wednesday to check on her family and attend a baby shower.  I focused on work with a brief respite on Thursday night for an excellent dinner with my boss at the Odd Duck.  This is rapidly becoming my favourite Austin restaurant – such a casual feel and amazing combinations of fresh flavors.  The pork chop dish with creamed corn, shishito peppers and mushrooms was particularly yummy.

Saturday began with a swim and sauna and then I finally made a visit to the downtown Austin library.  This is an amazing facility in the heart of downtown, constructed at great expense and heavily patronized.  The modern design of the building is beautiful and the open layout of all six floors is quite something.

I enjoyed the quotes that can be seen from inside the facility on the panel in the right hand picture.  The Fran Lebowitz one is my favourite.

There’s a very good farm to table restaurant inside the library, and I enjoyed some great roasted beets while I completed the crossword.

There are a lot of interesting displays inside the library to draw patrons interest.  I enjoyed browsing the Texas music selection.

The sixth floor rooftop garden provides a good view of the river and our apartment building.  What an amazing facility!

I stopped into Le Politique for a coffee on the walk back to the apartment, and completed the New York Times crossword puzzle.  I’m not often able to finish the Saturday version without some help, or looking things up.

After a little time to cool off from walking a couple of miles in 95 degree weather, I drove over to the Austin Film Society to watch a documentary on Blue Note Records.   “Blue Note Records – Beyond the Notes” covers the history from the start of the label in the 1930s through the present day.

What an interesting story.  Founded by Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, who fled Jewish persecution in Germany, in 1939, the label transitioned through many phases of jazz, was sold to a larger label, and then rebounded recently with Don Was as chairman.  The artists who recorded for Blue Note are a veritable who’s who of all eras of jazz – Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, through to modern day ground breakers like Robert Glasper.  I discovered a few new gems that I’ll include in the New Music section later.

Jeff Lofton, a jazz trumpeter who calls Austin home these days, participated in an interesting Q&A after the film.

I read about the Long Play Lounge in the local paper and thought it was located close to the Austin Film Society.  As luck would have it, less than a mile.  Another great establishment – turntables spinning from an extensive collection, a creative music themed cocktail menu, friendly service, and a patio with music playing.  I look forward to sharing this find with McD soon.

The temperature finally dipped below 100 degrees on my drive back to the apartment.  Even Penelope was starting to complain a bit – some German version of “How can it still be 100 degrees at seven o’clock at night?”.

After parking the complaining “P” in the Catherine garage, I walked across Congress Avenue bridge to the Fareground food hall and enjoyed the amazing chicken hawaiej hummus.  While Odd Duck is atop my restaurant list, this particular dish is my favourite in Austin so far.  The hummus is wonderfully creamy and on a par with Shaya in New Orleans (rarefied company) and the flavors with the chicken are amazing.

 

The sunset was pretty on my walk over with lots of people on the river:

 

A few blocks further into downtown, Joe Ely was playing at Antone’s.  I always enjoy a Joe Ely show and I’ve seen several, dating back almost 30 years to a memorable show he did in San Antonio, with Ian Moore on guitar.  This was a full band show and quite different to the solo acoustic sets that I’ve seen recently  at B.B. King’s in New York, and at the Kessler.  Antone’s was quite full of a lively crowd of folks – quite the scene when Ely took the stage and started to get warmed up.

Here’s “Dallas”:

Things really heated up with “All Just to Get to You”:

I’m getting old and had a busy day, so didn’t make it until the end of the show  – I know how disappointed you are.

Sunday was a pretty lazy day of swim, sauna, laundry, and catching up on some reading.

Here’s the first song from the Blue Note movie that really caught my attention – I love the piano chords and the answer from the reeds:

Then there’s this one from Horace Silver, hadn’t heard of him until watching the movie.  Can you hear Steely Dan’s “Rickie Don’t Lose that Number” coming from Donald Fagen’s love of this song?

And another I hadn’t heard of – Lee Morgan’s Sidewinder:

This one is not on Blue Note records, but one that I heard at Antone’s waiting for Joe Ely.  What a good sound:

 

 

 

It’s most definitely starting to feel a little bit like Christmas here.  Above is our favourite card so far (and unlikely to be topped).  I wonder if Ben is bawling about seeing Santa?  We love the look on Lilly’s face.  That’s Santa Peaty (holding Scotch whisky – get it?) on the right.

Tuesday was Diana’s birthday (she finally caught up to me) and we celebrated with dinner at Pappa’s Bros steakhouse.  The poor thing had a totally full day of work and was still dressed up and ready to go at the prescribed time.

Pappa’s Bros is consistently voted the best in the Dallas area and one of the top 10 in the United States and so my taste buds were excited.  I kept the destination a surprise from Birthday D.

 

We started with an outstanding lobster and brioche dish.  Both nicely cooked and with great flavour provided by the shaved truffle and sauce.  In a very mature move we decided to save two for dinner the next day.  Thank goodness because we didn’t do a very good job of getting through our steaks either.  Dinner on Wednesday nice was very good.  Diana had a steak special dish with ridiculous foie gras on top, shaved truffles, and a cauliflower puree on the bottom.

Trying to pick something light from the dessert tray was impossible, so Diana ended up going with a mousse concoction with a toasted marshmallow on top.

I was sad to hear that Zumie, my dog in California, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 16 (or 112).  He lived a very long life for a Westie and, as my Mum said, “was a lovely wee dog”.

 

 

 

Diana and I had our Christmas gift exchange on Thursday night as we had a concert on Friday and travel to California on Saturday.  We didn’t bring the big tree down this year since we were spending such little time at home over the holidays.  However, we did not have the smallest tree we saw this year.  That honor goes to Harold, Patty and Brent’s tree.  We didn’t have a full appreciation until a picture entitled “pressies under the tree” arrived.  Our tree is named Cooper, because he’s a Mini version.  How did Harold get this name?  Well, Harold is in charge of all the angels, you know – “Hark the Harold Angels Sing”.  Classic Patty and Brent humour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both our trees fared better than the downtown McKinney tree which blew over in high winds right before the parade of lights.

 

 

 

 

 

Friday took us to another excellent Christmas concert – Marcia Ball, Carolyn Wonderland, and Shelley King at Poor David’s Pub.

We enjoy all three of these ladies in concert individually and together they are a real treat.  They shared an eclectic mix of Christmas songs and songs that could be considered appropriate to the season.  This was the opening song:

We enjoyed “Christmas in Austin” and “Christmas Fais Do Do”:

And finally, I always love a good Marcia Ball ballad:

After all that, it’s really starting to feel a lot like Christmas.

We made the long drive home and then got up and headed to the airport for San Francisco on Saturday.

Amy and Adamo prepared an excellent feast to celebrate the closing days of D’s birthday week.  Some of Adamo’s hand caught lobster and yummy butternut squash risotto.  Luciano and Massimo provided assistance in blowing out the candles (which seem to have got switched around at some point).

 

On Sunday we met up with the boys and Christine at Timber and Salt in Redwood City for the annual gift exchange.

We had a very good meal and a lovely time catching up on the news from the boys and Christine.  One interesting piece of news was that Campbell had been awarded the “Rookie sales person of the year”.  Among other rewards, this comes with an extra week of paid vacation.  He seems to be doing really well at work and enjoying it – even admitted to D that it comes pretty easily and isn’t too much work at all.

After dinner Will took me for a ride in his newest BMW – yes, you might be thinking, “I thought he just got a highly customized new BMW from the factory”.  That is correct, and he was offered a “too good to be true” opportunity to trade up a notch to the racing track BMW M2 Competition edition.  It’s very fast and outfitted with all kinds of computerized engine adjustments.

It was very nice to spend time with the kids and now it’s back to Pacifica to prepare for the Christmas onslaught.