Category: Books

Week in Review – May 23, 2021

“Double Birthday Celebration”

We enjoyed a few quiet days before things became quite busy later in the week.

“Inside Bill Gates’ Brain,” a three part series about the Microsoft founder, was our entertainment on Tuesday night.  This was a fascinating look at the life of an interesting character.  In 8th grade (13 or 14) he had the best score in math across all students of all ages in the state of Washington.  I enjoyed learning about the projects that the Gates Foundation has undertaken with funding from Warren Buffet – competitions to create innovative toilets and sanitation plants for African nations, eliminating polio in the last place it exists in the world – Nigeria, and many other amazing activities.  I definitely recommend giving this a look.

The flowers and magnolia trees are in full bloom in the back garden after so much rain over many days.

We spent a happy Wednesday evening trying to arrange some ornaments in the light boxes on top of the cabinets.  I’m quite sure there’s a lot more adjustment and rearranging coming in the future.

We flew to San Francisco on Friday and enjoyed dinner with Amy, Adamo and the crew that evening.  Saturday was a busy day getting ready for the big party on Sunday – setting up tables and chairs, rearranging furniture, arranging flowers, trips to various stores for supplies and on and on.

I think the ladies did a lovely job with the flowers.

We met Will, Christine, Campbell, and Molly for dinner at LV Mar in Redwood City on Saturday night.  Will had given me the choice of several kinds of food for dinner, and I chose Spanish tapas.  That turned out to be a good choice as all the food and drinks were excellent.  Clorinda and Alicia joined us – Clorinda entertaining us with her question, “When shall we order entrees?”, right about the time we were all getting quite full from sharing so many yummy tapas plates.  The pescado pastor (seared halibut tacos) and empanadas were my favourites.

Sunday was the big 21st birthday party for Alicia, hosted at Adamo and Amy’s house.  What an amazing party!  Great turnout, yummy food all afternoon, an excellent live band – what more could you ask for?  Here are some pictures and videos that tell the story of the party much more effectively than my words can:

I really enjoyed having Will, Christine, Campbell, Molly, and Ollie on Gypsy Hill for the first time.  Ollie was very relaxed around so many people, a band, and several other dogs.

The dancing didn’t stop because the band finished playing.  We put on our “Wedding Dancing” playlist:

Adamo and Amy, along with a lot of help from Diana and several others, threw an excellent 21st birthday party.

 

 

Down in New Orleans, the Ogan twins were busy graduating, with Mason off to Alabama and Jack to Tulane for college in a few months.

 

 

I really enjoyed “Ask Again, Yes” by Mary Beth Keane.  Here’s how Amazon reviewers describe the story:

“In Mary Beth Keane’s extraordinary novel, a lifelong friendship and love blossoms between Kate Gleeson and Peter Stanhope, born six months apart. One shocking night their loyalties are divided, and their bond will be tested again and again over the next thirty years. Heartbreaking and redemptive, Ask Again, Yes is a gorgeous and generous portrait of the daily intimacies of marriage and the power of forgiveness.”

Peter describing how he feels when his mother, Kate, suffers a depressive episode and hides out in her room:

“The quiet of the house when she kept to her room was not the peaceful silence of a library, or anywhere near as tranquil.  It was, Peter imagined, more like the held-breath interlude between when a button gets pushed and the bomb either detonates or is defused.  He could feel his own heartbeat at those times.  He could track his blood as it looped through his veins.”

Kate’s father, Francis, vouching for Peter as he applies to the NY police department:

“‘I told them none of it was his fault, what happened that night.  I told them that he’d gone on to do well in school and all that.  What you told me that time, when Mom was in surgery.  Running and getting a scholarship.  They already new that, of course.’

‘So you forgive him then?  You don’t blame him?’  She wanted to throw her arms around him like she was ten again.  ‘You don’t blame me?’

Francis turned.  ‘I never blamed him.  He was fourteen years old.  Why would I blame him?  And why in the world would I blame you?  You’re not understanding the problem here.  You’re not even near understanding it.'”

Peter finally agreeing to see his mother Kate after many years:

“She’d gotten a haircut.  Her clothes looked freshly pressed.  She reached up and patted him on the back, so he patted her back.  They didn’t embrace.  They just kept patting each other, like a person might do to an upset stranger.  Kate narrowed her eyes and could see that Peter was fighting like hell not to cry, his chest rising and falling.  When he turned he had an expression on his face that she’d never seen before.”

The title revealed on page 376:

“‘So you don’t regret marrying me, you just regret the way you asked?  Oh, Peter, I can think of so many other things you should regret.’

‘Yeah.’  He looked down at his empty plate.  ‘Probably.’

‘Hey.  Come back.’  Kate covered his hands with hers.  ‘If you regret it so much, ask me now.  Ask again.  Properly, this time.'”

I’m trying something new this week on the music front.  Let me know what you think.  I’m going to select an album from my collection and share some of the tidbits about it I find through research, some of the history of how I came to own the record (if I can remember), and my thoughts on the music.

Since I’m separated from my collection as I write this post, I’ll select the one that sits at the end of the stack I see each time I walk into my office – ZZ Top’s “First Album.”

I bought this album somewhere around my third year of University.  We had become familiar with ZZ Top via their hugely commercially successful “Eliminator” album with the videos that played regularly on MTV.  Then we heard some of their older, bluesier material, with the rhythm of “La Grange” from the “Tres Hombres” album being the way we would tap on our flat doorbell to let each other know it was us and not an annoying solicitor.  And finally I came across this “First Album”.

I would play the fourth track on side B over and over again in my room in our flat in the Maidens – “Just Got Back from Baby’s”.  The blues guitar sound, opening riff and solo are excellent.  I was hooked in the first 10 seconds.  So different than the commercial ZZ Top.

Billy Gibbons is such an excellent blues guitar player.  We enjoyed him recently (a couple of years ago), performing with Jimmy Vaughan at Eric Clapton’s Blues Festival – a real treat.  Dusty Hill on bass and Frank Beard (the one of the trio without the long beard) on drums provide a very solid backing.

Gibbons said of the album title:

“We called the record ZZ Top’s First Album because we wanted everyone to know that there would be more. We weren’t certain if we’d get another chance in the studio, but we had high hopes.”

He also said of the music:

“We had been together for about six months and were knocking around the bar scene, playing all the usual funky joints. We took the studio on as an extension of the stage show. The basics were all of us playing together in one room, but we didn’t want to turn our backs on contemporary recording techniques. To give our sound as much presence and support as possible, we became a little more than a three piece with the advantages of overdubbing. It was the natural kind of support – some rhythm guitar parts, a little bit of texture. That was about it.”

The album was recorded at Robin Hood Studios in Tyler, Texas and released on January 16, 1971 (yet another example of all the fantastic music released in 1971).  Bill Ham, the band’s manager, produced the record, as he did with the majority of their catalog – up to and including “Eliminator”.  Here’s something from that – how much their sound changed:

 

Stay safe and kind to everyone.

 

 

Week in Review – May 16, 2021

“Kitchen’s Finished”

I finished watching the movie “Penguin Bloom” with my elliptical workout on Monday morning.  I really enjoyed and recommend this film.  Penguin is actually an injured magpie that Naomi Watts’ character and her family adopt.  Penguin helps her adjust to being in a wheel chair after an accident.

By an interesting coincidence, Naomi Watts was also in “Demolition”, the next movie that I watched with my workout.  This film was mildly entertaining and nowhere near as good as “Penguin Bloom.”

A nice walk in the afternoon finished up my Monday exercise regime.  Brandi Carlile’s “Broken Horses” kept me company.  She performs a relevant song at the end of each chapter – a cover of Neil Young’s “Philadelphia” was excellent and almost topped by her version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”.  Unfortunately these songs only appear to be available as part of the audio book.

Tuesday’s exercise was a pleasant swim at the gym – only issue was the water aerobics class in the two lanes next to me – very noisy and excitable instructor.  I had some free time later in the afternoon and got some reading time with a coffee at Duino.  The new hardwood floors were installed in the kitchen and look great.  I’m quite happy that Diana talked me into having the same floor throughout the ground floor – it really makes the kitchen and living area seem  more like one big, open space.

We received this picture from Clorinda’s neighbors – this mountain lion has been seen quite a bit during the day on Gypsy Hill lately, and seems very comfortable up next to the houses.  We’re going to have to think twice about going out for walks on the hill when we visit next week.

Diana joined me for a walk on Wednesday afternoon.  The living room was finally put back together at the end of the day.  We’re almost ready to take up residence in there again – just some final touch ups to be finished.

Thursday was the highlight of my week.  I was able to attend the Byron Nelson golf tournament with a couple of work colleagues.  The tournament moved to the Craig Ranch TPC – just a few miles from our home.  Our CEO is a member of the salesmanship club that hosts the event, and was gracious enough to provide us with some 17th hole skybox tickets.  The weather was perfect – mid 70s and not blazing hot and humid as is typical for this event.  Jordan Spieth is from Dallas and so was a big draw on the course.  We were fortunate to have great spots to watch him making an eagle putt attempt on the 12th hole – right until the mobile cameras moved directly in front.

Here’s his eagle attempt:

And here he taps in the birdie:

Diana was quite excited when the pendant lights were installed above the kitchen island – Jose had me stand next to it so that he could make sure my head didn’t bump into them.  I do think they look great – and not too blue like the designing twins thought.

 

We had a work dinner at Del Frisco’s Grille in downtown Dallas – a bit of a drive but great to see some of our colleagues from Mexico who were visiting.  I loved the short rib stroganoff that I chose for dinner.

Work on the kitchen was pretty much completed on Friday – right on schedule with just a few small touch up things to be done.  That and the appliances that should trickle in over the next few weeks.  Here are some pictures – our favourite touches are the pendant lights, the waterfall island slab, and the lighted display boxes on top of the cabinets.

Diana spent most of Saturday loading things back into the cabinets.  Note one of the must have spice racks open on the right.

We chuckled at the entirety of Jose’s plans for the kitchen:

Patty and Brent always find the best cards.  Masquerading as “normal” (whatever that looks like) is indeed exhausting.

Sunday began with a walk, trying to beat the rain forecast for late morning, and then consistently for the next 10 days.  Just a light sprinkle and a lot of humidity.  I’m watching the final round of the Byron now as I finish up this post, Spieth is now 5 shots behind K.H. Lee – they started the round early in hopes of finishing before the rain gets too bad.

My reading this week was by Ann and Anne.  First was “Run” by Ann Patchett

Set over a period of twenty-four hours, “Run” is a story about how worlds of privilege and poverty can exist only blocks apart from each other, and how family can include people you’ve never even met.

Since their mother’s death, Tip and Teddy Doyle have been raised by their father. As the former mayor of Boston, Bernard Doyle wants to see his sons in politics, a dream the boys have never shared. But when an argument in a New England snowstorm causes an accident that involves a stranger and her child, all Bernard Doyle cares about is his ability to keep his children—all his children—safe.

Tip and Teddy’s brother, Sullivan, is the least pleasingly developed of the otherwise excellent characters in this novel.  We are given quick glimpses into what went wrong with his life, and then that is all dropped and forgotten.  I wonder if there was a lot more about him in an early draft and then that was edited out?  This passage reminds me of ultimately realizing that it’s true what we are told – you never stop worrying about your kids:

“Even when Sullivan was a teenager he had a certain formality when things were very bad, as if he was preparing to serve as the counsel for the defense.  Doyle wondered if he needed to spend some time worrying about Sullivan on top of everything else, even though he had sworn off that pastime years ago.

Once he was in his room with the door closed, Doyle realized he wasn’t going to get to anyone on his list.”

This is the episode that sets the whole story off:

“He was a boy stepping out in front of a car he clearly did not see.  Tip kept his head in his books, in the clouds, with the fishes.  He didn’t pay attention.  She pushed him, but not because he was hers.  She pushed him because he was there and the car was there.  She pushed him so hard she was certain she had sent him sailing up through the falling snow and into the night like a punch form a cartoon character.  Pow!  He spun off towards the stars.  Had she knocked him clear to safety?  She had never hit anyone as hard as she hit Tip, and then, as if in reply, she was hit by the car.”

Describing Kenya, the just discovered sister, running on the Harvard indoor track, and one of the reasons for the title of the book:

“They were no longer waiting to see how fast she could go, they knew how fast she could go.  Now they wanted to see how long it would be before she crashed, and if that was what they were waiting for they might as well sit down and get comfortable.

Tip had never seen anything like it.  Not just the speed but the utter effortlessness of it all, the way the toes of her shoes barely touched down before she set off again.  She was a sprinter, clearly she was a sprinter, and yet she just kept going until he started to change his mind and wonder if she wasn’t going to knock out a half marathon on the track while he sat there waiting.”

This was an excellent read and I highly recommend this and the other Patchett books that I’ve read, with “Bel Canto” being my least favourite.

My next book was “The Beginner’s Goodbye” by Anne Tyler.

Crippled in his right arm and leg, Aaron grew up battling with a sister who constantly wanted to micro-manage him.  So when he meets Dorothy, an outspoken, independent young woman, she’s like a breath of fresh air.  He marries her quickly, and they have a relatively happy, unremarkable marriage.  Aaron works at his family’s vanity-publishing business, turning out titles designed to guide beginners through the trials of life.  But when a tree crashes into their house and Dorothy is killed, Aaron feels as though he has been erased forever.  Only Dorothy’s unexpected appearances from the dead—in their house, on the roadway, in the market—help him to live in the moment and to find some peace.  Gradually, Aaron discovers that maybe for this beginner there is indeed a way to say goodbye.

A paragraph that hit very close to home with our ‘interim kitchen’ in the bedroom/master bathroom.  It’s from the book “Beginners Kitchen Remodeling”, published by Aaron’s company:

” ‘Knowing What You Want’ was the first chapter.  (Where in your present kitchen do you do your slicing and dicing?  Do you, in fact, do any slicing and dicing?)  ‘Communicating with Your Contractor’ was the second.  Almost the entire remainder of the book consisted of what now seemed to me an inordinately detailed plan for setting up an interim kitchen in a spare bathroom.”

Some of the classic Tyler dialogue that captures real world domestic life so well:

” ‘Oh, I didn’t realize it had to have historical significance.’

‘Dorothy,’ I said.  ‘Would you rather just not do this?’

‘I said I would, didn’t I?  But then all you can come up with is this fusty old place where your parents used to eat.  And when I question it, you fly into a huff and turn down everything else I suggest.’

‘I didn’t turn down “everything else”; I turned down Jean-Christophe.  It just so happens that I dislike a restaurant where the waiters require more attention than my date does.’

‘Where would you be willing to eat, then?’

“Oh shoot,’ I said, ‘I don’t care.  Let’s just go to Jean Christophe.’

‘Well, if you don’t care, why do we bother?’

‘Are you deliberately trying to misunderstand me?’  I asked her.”

I enjoyed this song from Frank Black, former frontman of the Pixies.  Interestingly I was just having a conversation about the Pixies with our HR leader at dinner on Thursday, and recommended the Loud Quiet Loud documentary about the band.

A great version of “Love Train” by Paul Thorn, a musician from Tupelo, Mississippi, who was a professional boxer for several years before being discovered playing in a local pizza restaurant.

And finally, here’s one from the Hothouse Flowers – an album I used to play all the time and had forgotten about.

Stay safe, patient, and kind.

 

 

Week in Review – May 9, 2021

“The Kessler – we missed you so much!”

This is the first week when it really started to feel like things were getting back to normal – an excellent concert at the Kessler and a lovely Mother’s Day brunch.  But I’m jumping ahead again.

The voodoo shrimp Benedict at C.T. Provisions, that I was looking forward to when I posted last Sunday, was as good as I had hoped – the blue stone grit cake and the voodoo sauce were a great complement to the eggs.  We sat on the patio that’s been constructed in the parking area and enjoyed the lovely weather, with mariachi accompaniment from the band in the park across the street.  I’m looking forward to visiting this restaurant again soon.

On Monday evening we watched “Mare of Easttown” – our new favourite show.  The series stars Kate Winslett in a pretty atypical role – she’s a police detective whose life is unraveling quickly.  The show is getting very complex after 3rd episode, and I suspect Richard to be responsible for the crime Mare is investigating – he’s a writer she’s dating who just moved back to town.

Tuesday morning started with a pleasant 2.5 mile walk, and continued with our quarterly work Board meeting.   I enjoyed the movie “Jack Goes Boating” while doing my elliptical workout.  This is a film from 2010, directed by and starring the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman.  It’s one of those quiet, understated movies that slowly gets under your skin.

That film led to a recommendation for “The Answer Man”, which we watched on Tuesday evening.  This movie stars Jeff Daniels and Lauren Graham – two actors that we both appreciate.  This was a very enjoyable film with some good messages.  As in Nomadland, the most poignant scene was when Daniels is spurred to play his deceased father’s piano by Graham’s character’s son.

Wednesday started with another elliptical workout, and this time I finished up the Philip Glass DVD that I’ve had in the media room player for months – a very good documentary.  In the afternoon I enjoyed a 3 mile walk, accompanied by the audio book of Brandi Carlile’s “Broken Horses”.  I’m only an hour into the eleven hour listen, and am enjoying it very much.

The counter tops were installed in the kitchen while I was out for my walk.  They look amazing and I’m going to wait until everything is finished up next week before sharing any more pictures – keeping it a surprise from here on out.

I kept my exercise streak going on Thursday morning with some time on the elliptical and then a nice swim at the gym.  In the kitchen, the backsplash was installed, and seems to be the most exciting development so far for Diana.  Thankfully she’s very pleased with the tile chosen as a replacement for the one she “Hate, Hate, Hated.”

As the sun was setting we heard my buddy the cardinal singing at length.  Diana wondered who he was speaking to as nobody every answered.  So I pulled up some cardinal song on my phone and tried to give him some company.

Friday evening may have been a highlight of the year so far.  We picked up Jens and Glenda for a concert at the Kessler.  Catching up over a pre-concert dinner at Nova was a real treat.  We walked down to the theater and everyone enjoyed the opening band, Terence Bradford and Congo Square.  They are a Dallas based band playing New Orleans inspired music.

The Revelers Hall Band hit the stage with such infectious energy that they had the place rocking right away.  What a great band!

Two of my favourites in their set were “Lean on Me” and “With a Little Help from my Friends”:

You can tell McD is enjoying this version of “Get Ready/Seven Nation Army”:

The fun was all capped off with a second line march through the theater:

I can’t remember when we were both up and around after midnight, as opposed to our 1opm at the latest regular bedtime.  All four of us thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

I said I wasn’t going to share any more kitchen pictures, but can’t help showing this video of Jose and his crew painting the cabinets – they take it very seriously and wanted to spray to get the best possible finish.

I think Diana had a pretty good Mother’s Day on Sunday.  She started with a virtual hike/walk with Alicia – up early at 7am in California to tell her mom all the wonderful things she has done for her over the years.  Didn’t she do well with the flowers she had delivered?

I took the honoree to Rye for brunch.  This tiny restaurant is always a treat.  Diana had a pork belly Benedict with perfectly cooked eggs and delicious sauce.  I tried the stuffed relleno, which turned out to be completely vegan.  The stuffing included veggie chorizo, sweet potatoes, and several other vegetables.  The dish was delicious – great flavours and sauces.

We had seen a TV commercial for Dairy Queen and McD remarked that she loved their soft serve ice cream cones dipped in chocolate, and hadn’t had one in over 30 years.  What a great idea for a Mother’s Day dessert.

There was an interesting article on Nicola Sturgeon and her quest for Scottish independence in The New Yorker this week.  I hadn’t heard of all her challenges with her predecessor Alex Salmond, so was a good primer for me on what’s been going on with Scottish politics:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/10/nicola-sturgeons-quest-for-scottish-independence

This week’s issue also has a fascinating article on how manipulating electric patterns between cells can lead to regeneration of missing fingers and limbs, just as it does in worms when cut in half:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/10/persuading-the-body-to-regenerate-its-limbs

I finished “The Yiddish Policeman’s Union” by Michael Chabon.  While I love the unique and clever imagery and writing style, I found this book a bit of slog, partially because of all the Jewish terminology that was foreign to me.  The story drags for the first three quarters of the book, and then is a bit too far fetched when the true plot is revealed.

Here are some of the phrases that I really appreciated:

“Landsman nods and scratches at the stubble of his chin in a way that is meant to signify deep ratiocination, but his heart and thoughts are hung up in the memory of chess games that he lost to men who were already old thirty years ago.”

ratiocination – the process of logical reasoning – what a great word.

Some classic Chabon imagery – how great is “tromboning?”:

“He plucks a sheet of paper from the chaos of his desk, tractates, promulgations, and bans, classified documents, adding machine tapes, surveillance reports on the habits of marked men.  There’s a second or so of tromboning as he brings the paper within focusing range.”

More excellent writing:

“The knot of his gold-and-green rep necktie presses its thumb against his larynx like a scruple pressing against a guilty conscience, a reminder that he is alive.  His hat is as glossy as a seal.”

The origin of the title isn’t revealed until page 230:  ” ‘The Yiddish Policeman’s Union,’  says the pie man.”

I really enjoy Chabon’s musical similes:

“The brake and gas were rigged to suit a man of his stature, and he handled them like Horowitz sailing through a storm of Liszt.”

Something very close to home for me, having grown up in the county of Ayrshire:

” ‘They look like dairy cows,’ Berko says.

‘They’re Ayrshires,’ says Dick.  ‘I snapped some pictures last time I came out here.  A professor of agriculture down in Davis, California, ID’d them for me.  ‘A Scottish breed.’  Dick works his voice up into his nose, mocking that Californian professor.  ‘Known for its hardiness and ability to thrive in northern latitudes.’ “

I really liked “tinnitus of the soul”:

“The space recently occupied by his mind hisses like the fog in his ears, hums like a bank of fluorescent tubes.  He feels that he suffers from tinnitus of the soul.”

And “the grandeur of a whale’s respiration”:

“A few minutes later, Bina begins to snore.  There is no doubt that her snoring has not changed in two years.  It has a double-reeded hum, the bumble-bee continuo of Mongolian throat-singing.  It has the slow grandeur of a whale’s respiration.”

I was listening to a lot of jazz music this week, and stumbled on this excellent cover of “Can’t Find My Way Home” by Christian Sands.  I must have listened to it at least twice each day this week.  I was fortunate to see Sands perform at Dizzy’s Club in Jazz at Lincoln Center, back in the AIG days with Vince.

I’m working my way through the 17 best “hard bop” albums as listed in Scott Yanow’s essay in AllMusic:

https://allmusic-biography.blogspot.com/2010/11/hard-bop-essay-scott-yanow.html

Yanow has authored 11 books on jazz, over 800 liner notes for CDs and over 20,000 reviews of jazz recordings, making him quite the expert.

First on the list is “Miles Davis Vol. 1.”  This is not my favourite style at all – too fast and technical without real emotion or soul.  I do enjoy the trombone playing of J. J. Johnson.

The album was released on May 9, 1952, 69 years ago today, with these personnel:

Next on the list is “Soul Station” by jazz saxophonist Hank Mobley.  This was released in 1960 and is considered by many critics to be his finest album.  I like this one a lot more than the Miles Davis.

These are the personnel:

Next up is “Bluesnik” by saxophonist Jackie McLean:

Bluesnik was recorded in 1961 and is considered McLean’s most accessible record.  My favourite of the hard bop list so far.

Stay safe and be kind to everyone!

Week in Review – May 2, 2012

“Birthday Month Begins”

This week also started with banging and hammering – two weeks in a row.  This time it didn’t start until around 9:30am – right when I was trying to deliver a presentation to our Executive Committee.  This is what our kitchen looked like at 9am on Monday:

And here it is on Tuesday morning.  Everything gone – including all that acreage of beige tile that Diana loved so much:

The new cabinets that Jose built were partially installed on Tuesday afternoon – very good progress.

Jose is very proud of his craftsmanship – we’ll see if it passes inspection on return.

I’m jumping ahead a bit.  It was Jose’s (lead contractor on the kitchen) birthday on Monday and so the designing twins (Marci and Mindy) got him a cake and balloons and we all sang Happy Birthday to him prior to departing for Austin.  I think he really liked it.

The drive to Austin – escaping the demolition noise for a few days – was smooth and we stopped by my office for my daily 5pm call before checking into the Hyatt (right across the parking lot from our old apartment).  Then it was time for dinner at one of our favourite spots – Suerte.  The food was excellent as usual with the aguachile being a real standout:

Aguachile (“chile water” in Spanish) is a Mexican dish made of shrimp, submerged in liquid seasoned with chili peppers, lime juice, salt, cilantro, slices of cucumber and slices of onion. Raw vegetables such as cucumber are usually added. This raw seafood dish comes from the west region of Mexico and is normally prepared in a molcajete.

Spencer, our waiter at Suerte, was one of the best we’ve had in a long time – deeply knowledgeable on the menu and wines, with great attention to detail on the timing of our courses and overall experiences.  I sent a note to the restaurant raving about how great he was.  If you ever make it to this special gem of a place, you should ask for Spencer.

We both had time on our schedules for a walk along the river trail before work on Tuesday morning.  I miss the close proximity and variety of terrain and views on the trail.   There is an interestingly shaped new building going up on the north side of the river that really changes up the skyline view.

Apparently this is the new “Google” building that will house 5,000 employees – quite the fancy work location, given the number of folks that will be working from home much more in the long term.

As I was searching to find out more about this building, I found many more new high rises (40 stories and above) planned for imminent construction in downtown Austin – a very booming city these days – and getting more expensive by the day.

We met Nikki and Neffie for dinner at La Joie in Cedar Park on Tuesday evening.  The creole food was very good and the banter brought lots of laughs.  I really enjoyed my duck and andouille gumbo and McD was quite pleased with her mussels and extra bread for the yummy broth.  Her only complaint was that a place advertising itself as a “Creole Oyster Bar” ought to serve the big Gulf oysters rather than the much smaller ones from the East coast – can’t argue with her on that.

Diana was able to meet Blair, Tim and me for lunch at the original TacoDeli on Wednesday for lunch.  She got to enjoy some of the typical banter that happens in our Executive Committee meetings – Tim is our CFO and Blair COO for the US – and we shared some funny stories on the joys of raising girls.  The tacos tasted even better than those from the TacoDeli in Plano – so good.

I was able to host some of my team for happy hour at Opa! on Wednesday evening.  It was lovely to see the smiles on faces as folks saw each other live and in person for the first time in over a year.  Austin dodged the very bad hail storm that hit parts of Dallas and San Antonio.

Jose was very proud of his Wednesday progress on the kitchen:

We had lunch at El Alma, one of our favourite Austin restaurants, and then drove home to McKinney and the ongoing construction.  The elote corn and poblano soup was outstanding.  I really miss brunch at El Alma.

I’m quite pleased with the new can lighting that was installed in the piano room – much easier to see my music with the light directly overhead.  Apparently the bulbs inside last for 20 years.  My excitement is mild compared to how ecstatic McD is about her new spice racks that slide out on either side of the stovetop.

The Friday puzzle gave me a chuckle as I wouldn’t have solved this clue prior to Finn’s visit.  Pikachu is one of his favourite Pokémon characters.

Finn’s therapist, Brennon, sent this picture from his adventure on “Misery Ridge” last weekend.  Doesn’t he look thrilled with the whole experience?

Saturday was a mostly lazy day, after our morning walk around Wellington Point.  The puzzle provided another smile – taking me back to late night scotch eggs with Vince at the Dead Rabbit in New York.

We’re heading out soon to try a new place for brunch.  C. T. Provisions in downtown McKinney has been getting rave reviews, and I’m looking forward to trying the voodoo shrimp Benedict with a blue stone grit cake taking the place of the traditional muffin.  Doesn’t it look yummy?

I started “The Yiddish Policeman’s Union” by Michael Chabon this week, and have only made it through the first 50 pages.  It’s been a busy week and Chabon’s writing is so clever and evocative that I like to slow down and really enjoy it.

The story is set in an alternative history version of the present day. The premise is that contrary to real history, the United States voted to implement the 1940 Slattery Report, which recommended the provision of land in Alaska for the temporary refugee settlement of European Jews who were being persecuted by the Nazis during World War II.  The novel’s divergence point from real history is revealed to be the death of Anthony Dimond, Alaska Territory delegate to the U.S. Congress, in a car accident; Dimond was the politician most responsible for preventing a vote on the report. It imagines a temporary independent Jewish settlement being created on the Alaskan coast. As a result, only two million Jews are murdered in the Holocaust.

I did spend a bit more time with Obama’s “A Promised Land.”  I cringed reading his opinion on the AIG bonus scandal – huge bonuses were paid to the traders who had been instrumental in causing the collapse of the economy – because they were contractually required.

“I looked around the room. ‘This is a joke, right?  You guys are just messing with me.’

Nobody laughed.  Axe started arguing that we had to try to stop the payment, even if our efforts were unsuccessful.”

Speaking of Ted Sorensen, part of his speech writing team, and co-author of the “Ask not what your country can do for you..” inaugural address:

“they asked him once what had been the secret to writing one of the four or five greatest speeches in American history.  Simple, he said:  Whenever he and Kennedy sat down to write, they told themselves, ‘Let’s make this good enough to be in a book of the great speeches someday.'”

I enjoyed Obama’s analysis of the things that went wrong with John McCain’s presidential run, and one does wonder how different the Republican party might be today had he not chosen Sarah Palin as a running mate:

“Michelle and I, along with Jill and Joe Biden, were on the campaign plane waiting to take off for a few days of events in Pennsylvania when Axe rushed up to tell us that word had leaked of McCain’s running mate.  Joe looked at the name on Axe’s BlackBerry and then turned to me.

‘Who the hell is Sarah Palin?’ he said.”

I was sad to read of the passing of Denny Freeman, beloved Austin guitar player.  Here’s a link to a great article in the Austin Chronicle:

https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/music/2021-04-25/denny-freeman-the-graceful-guitarist-who-made-everyone-sound-better-has-died/

“Freeman was part of the self-described “little blues cult” that helped usher the staple genre’s local reemergence in the early seventies, playing alongside Stevie Ray Vaughan in Paul Ray & the Cobras. Four decades later, the gentle-natured guitarist’s graceful melding of blues and jazz would anchor Bob Dylan’s Modern Times album.”

Freeman anchored the band that played the early Friday show at the Saxon Pub for years.  Diana and I were fortunate to attend a few times – that’s when she commented on all the folks dancing “like nobody was looking.”  A huge loss to the Austin music community.

Here’s one of my favourites from Dylan’s “Modern Times” with Freeman on guitar.

I found a new band this week – Goose is an indie jam band from Connecticut and I really like their sound:

Stay kind and patient!

 

 

 

Week in Review – April 25th, 2021

“All About the Kitchen”

Monday in New Orleans began with a bunch of hammering and banging outside the cottage.  Denny is having the back patio and fence area redone, and the workers were taking off the forms for the cement base of the fence.  The design for a cantilevered pergola covering the back patio is very different and cool.  We’re having a competition to see if our kitchen remodel or the patio re-do is finished first.  My money is on the kitchen given the speed at which projects progress in New Orleans.

Our flight and travel back home on Monday afternoon were all smooth and hassle free.

Tuesday was a busy catch up day at work with nothing else exciting happening.

We watched a really interesting documentary on Wednesday evening.  “The Year the Earth Changed” is about the climate changes that have happened during our year of lockdown, and the impact these have had on nature.  Sir David Attenborough narrates, taking me back to all those nature shows of my youth.

The scene were folks in Northern India go up to their rooftops to view the majestic Himalayas for the first time in their lives is quite poignant.  Whales using entirely new communication systems now that they can hear above ship noise was amazing.  And then there’s the scene where a leopard becomes the king of a safari compound, becoming almost human in personality.  Well worth a watch.  See the good things that have occurred as a result of the pandemic.

On Thursday I watched the Oscar nominated film “Nomadland”, starring Frances McDormand.  I really enjoyed this quiet and thoughtful movie.

The movie is ostensibly about folks who live in vans and move nomadically around the country to find work depending on the season.  McDormand’s character works in Amazon fulfillment centers and various other low paying jobs as she moves from Arizona to California, North Dakota and other western states.  I think the deeper message is about loss of a spouse and rejection of the “normal” way of life, where we live in one place.   My favourite scene occurs when McDormand’s character is visiting a friend she met on the road and observes him playing a piano tune with his son.  Nothing is said but the sense of loss on her face says it all perfectly.   She quickly packs up and hits the solo road again.  I’m expecting some kind of award for this film on Sunday night at the Oscars.

The New York Times crossword on Thursday made me think of David, with the 007 theme.  Very cleverly executed.  A lot of comments in the blogs about omitting Roger Moore from the puzzle, while including Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig.  Particularly when you consider the “00” in his last name.  Such a travesty.

The kitchen packing began in earnest on Thursday afternoon and I gingerly transported glasses and bottles from the butler pantry to their temporary homes.  Diana’s activity really hit a peak on Friday as she was determined to make a big dent in emptying things out.  She created a small kitchen/pantry area in the master bedroom and has taken to calling it our “studio apartment.”  I moved the microwave out next to the outside grill and we have a temporary cooking area all ready to go there.

We had a nice walk through the neighborhoods on Saturday morning and  then drove to downtown Dallas for lunch with John – in town for a conference at the Anatole hotel.  We took him over to Standard Pour on McKinney Avenue and enjoyed a delicious brunch and catch up chat.  A highlight was the musician/DJ’s performance of “Nessun dorma” – certainly got Diana’s attention as she headed into the main dining room to listen.

Sunday started with another stroll around the streets of McKinney.  We drove down into Dallas again on Sunday evening to sample an event my boss was hosting at his home.  It’s a competition that lasts all day between about 40 guys – some of whom he’s known since elementary school.    They had foosball, shuffleboard, ping-pong, basketball, putting, pool boat races, hockey shot and several other events set up around the yard, a taco truck in the alley, and a great musician playing a wide variety of music.  All very well organized and setup but not a huge amount of fun if you weren’t engaged in the competition.  We stayed an hour or so and enjoyed the tacos and a drink.  Maybe I’ll compete next year.

In Bend, Oregon, Finn was getting some great use out of his new hiking boots.  He was out at an area called Smith Rock and decided it was a good idea to hike something called “Misery Ridge”, despite all the warning signs about it being a black diamond/expert route.  It sounds like he got quite an awakening up on the top of the ridge, but completed the challenge successfully.  Here are some really lovely pictures that he took along the way.  It’s such a good time to be outdoors there.

 

 

 

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We watched some of the Oscar awards ceremony on Sunday night – and what do you know? – Nomadland won a number of the big awards.  If we’d filled out a ballot I would have picked Frances McDormand for best actress and the film for best picture.  Easy for me to claim after the fact.

I enjoyed my first real library book in years this week.  “A Hologram for the King” is a quick and light read on the surface, while carrying some deeper messages about our place in an aging, global workforce.

I didn’t realize this was also a movie starring Tom Hanks.  I watched it over the weekend and found it very faithful to the book, with most of the dialogue word for word.  It definitely worked better as a book than a film.

Here’s a summary review : “A Hologram for the King takes us around the world to show how one man fights to hold himself and his splintering family together in the face of the global economy’s gale-force winds. In a rising Saudi Arabian city, far from weary, recession-scarred America, a struggling businessman pursues a last-ditch attempt to stave off foreclosure, pay his daughter’s college tuition, and finally do something great. This taut, richly layered, and elegiac novel is a powerful evocation of our contemporary moment — and a moving story of how we got here.”

I enjoyed relaying the jokes that Alan, the main character, tells to Diana.  They were of the ilk that really tickles my funny bone and makes McD groan.

The latest Tipitina’s record club release was waiting for me when we returned from New Orleans – how fitting given that it’s a live recording of The Radiators at Tipitina’s in 1997.  We’ve enjoyed so many memorable concerts at this venerable New Orleans music club.  I don’t love the music on this album, but the live sound and musicianship are very good, and we’re supporting the venue by belonging to the club.  Here’s a song by The Radiators that I do enjoy:

We watched the Curtis Stigers livestream on Wednesday night and he played a cover by Jeffrey Martin that was excellent.  I hadn’t heard of this outstanding singer songwriter and have been enjoying exploring his catalog of work.

While participating in “Jazzfesting in Place” on the back patio, I heard this great cover of one of my top three favourite songs.  What a treat.  Also inspired me to download the sheet music and learn the song on the piano.

Stay patient, calm, and kind to everyone out there!

Week in Review – April 18, 2021

“Birthday Wrap”

We both started off the week with some good exercise.  I went for a swim and Diana took this picture of a lot of ducklings in tight formation when out for a walk.  I count 14 ducklings – how about you?

We were both very tired on Monday evening, for no good reason.  We watched this great battle round on The Voice and then called it a night.

Tuesday started with a trip to the doctor to get my blood drawn.  I had been fasting overnight and so made a quick trip to Duino for coffee and breakfast tacos when that was over.  I was close to the library and so, having mostly run out of storage space for books at home, decided to stop in to renew my library card and see if they had anything on my reading list.  Success – library card renewal took less than a minute, and I found two books on my list.  Diana found some different ducks and little ones on her run.

I had signed up for a hybrid cloud webinar in the afternoon, only because it came with a wine and chocolate sampling agenda item.  They shipped two very nice bottles of wine and some ultra fancy chocolates ahead of the meeting.  The winemaker and chocolatier joined on video from their vineyard and shop, and gave fascinating talks about their products.

I’ve been saving the Whisky Pecan bonbon on the lower right for a special occasion.  The complexity of flavours and care taken to source the ingredients of the bonbons were amazing.  We only opened one of the wines and it was very, very good.  Quite a fun session overall.  And I did order up some fancy chocolate covered pistachios for Finn.

On Tuesday evening, we joined the 52nd and last livestream by the Band of Heathens.  Hard to believe they managed a full year of these great shows.  We’ll miss joining the guys at 7:30pm for music and education.

I was texting with Sean and he sent me this video that his daughter made.  It won a University of California prize with money to make a longer version.  Kalen hand made all the things that you see in the video, and I think it’s very creative.

Both Denny and Cat had birthdays on Wednesday and we made our typical piano and vocals videos for them.

Unknown to Denny, we had an in person appearance planned for later in the week.  We caught a flight to New Orleans on Friday afternoon and were able to experience the new airport for the first time.  A big upgrade, but the close to 30 minute ride to the rental car facility at the old airport terminal is less than ideal.  That and the long wait for a car – apparently folks are making more on unemployment than they would working at driving cars for the rental car company.  We finally made it to Monkey Hill (a bar down the street from Denny and Anne’s home), where we were to hide until Denny left with the guys for his birthday Happy Hour.  We narrowly missed being spotted – Kenny, driving Denny, noticed us walking into Monkey Hill.  After the coast was clear, we went over to see Anne at the house – and found Mr. Good Lord Alex and his helpers busy decorating Denny’s entire office with birthday wrapping paper.  That’s a lot of paper.

We all rendezvoused with Denny and the crew at St. Joe’s and then enjoyed dinner at Pizza Delmonica down the street.  It was really nice to catch up with everybody.

After a delicious dinner, everyone headed back to Denny and Anne’s for the after party.

Denny enjoyed showing everyone his “decorated” office.

A nicely orchestrated birthday surprise!  One of Denny’s birthday gifts was this personalized mermaid bottle opener that we picked up at a coffee shop in Bend, Oregon.

The four of us enjoyed a lovely dinner at Sylvain in the French Quarter on Saturday afternoon – Denny’s favourite casual lunch spot.  The beets were excellent and very unusual.  After lunch Denny and I enjoyed a cigar at Cuban Creations.  The peacefulness of that was broken when Good Lord Alex and Tommy Bear arrived.  We walked to Mona Lita’s Cuban restaurant for a final drink and some yummy snacks and then retired back home.

Laura collected Diana for a run in Audubon park very early on Sunday morning.  McD was very impressive – recording her fastest ever 3 mile time.  In the afternoon we tried to attend a brass band and Mardi Gras Indian show at “The Broadside” but it was sold out by the time we arrived.  No worries, I drove around the corner to Vessel and we enjoyed a nice cocktail in the converted chapel.  Anne joined us there and then we had a very pleasant lunch at Trep’s while Denny played tennis with the guys.  Diana was able to get her fill of oysters for the trip.

After lunch, we drove over to the tennis center to watch the action.  We laughed to find Fire Chief Kenny umpiring the games in his uniform.  Upon investigation, he informed us that he was “in his district, and ready to respond.”  As we relaxed on the porch after the game, Kenny got a call and replied, “I’ll be right there.”  We asked if it was something important – “dinner bell.”  Ha!  What do you think of Denny’s 1970s tennis hair extensions?

Dinner at MoPho Vietnamese (delicious after a very slow service start) and then back home to enjoy our last evening in New Orleans.  I snapped this picture of a crescent moon, beside a crescent cloud, in the crescent city.

 

 

 

I enjoyed another Anne Tyler novel on the trip.  Here’s the Amazon summary of “Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant”:

“Abandoned by her wanderlusting husband, stoic Pearl raised her three children on her own. Now grown, the siblings are inextricably linked by their memories—some painful—which hold them together despite their differences.

Hardened by life’s disappointments, wealthy, charismatic Cody has turned cruel and envious. Thrice-married Jenny is errant and passionate. And Ezra, the flawed saint of the family, who stayed at home to look after his mother, runs a restaurant where he cooks what other people are homesick for, stubbornly yearning for the perfect family he never had.

Now gathered during a time of loss, they will reluctantly unlock the shared secrets of their past and discover if what binds them together is stronger than what tears them apart.”

“[In Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant Tyler] has arrived at a new level of power.” —John Updike, The New Yorker

I’m always interested to find when the relevance of the title of a book is revealed.  In this case, it was on page 353 of 371 – kept me waiting.  Here’s the quote:

“‘Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant!  Everyone in the family!  Just a cozy family gathering’ – and he’d rub his hands together in that annoying way he had.  He no doubt had his staff at work even this moment, preparing the…what were they called?  The funeral baked meats.  Cody sighed.  But he suspected they would have to attend.”

And then the big reveal at the dinner:

“It shouldn’t have taken him so long.  There were clues he should have picked up at once: that fan-shaped pompadour, still thick and sharply crimped; the brilliant blue of his eyes; the gangsterish air of his pinstriped, ill-fitting navy blue suit.

‘Yes’, the old man said, with a triumphant nod.  ‘It’s your father speaking, Cody.'”

I discovered a new band this week that I really love – Stuff is a jazz/funk supergroup including Steve Gadd on drums and Eric Gale on guitar – two amazing session musicians.  These super groups often disappoint and this one does not.  I’m looking forward to working my way through all four of their albums.

Ben Harper recorded a very quiet solo album during quarantine.  Just his lap steel guitar – I really enjoyed the entire album:

And finally, something from Bachman-Turner Overdrive that doesn’t sound like them at all:

Stay patient and kind with everyone!

 

Week in Review – April 11, 2012

“Ollie Ollie Ollie, Oi Oi Oi”

After a long day of travel back from Bend on Monday, I was ready to settle in and enjoy the NCAA basketball championship game.  While I was happy to see Baylor win for the first time in forever, I was hoping that Gonzaga would have made it a closer and more exciting game.  The synchronicity of crossword clues with life events is starting to get a bit weird.  We flew through Seattle Tacoma airport (SEATAC) a few hours before this clue appeared:

On of my readers who was catching up on a month or more of my posts, complained that there are not enough Ollie pictures included.  Now you can likely guess which reader registered the complaint.  Ok Will – here are a selection of photos of Ollie (called Easel by the breeder) prior to being collected by Will and Christine:

And, for extra credit, here’s a picture of a special Ollie approved dinner with probiotics and apple.  Definitely one of the best cared for and trained pups out there.

I had a bit of an early start on Tuesday as I had agreed to meet a work colleague for breakfast – fortunately just around the corner from the house.  That was quickly followed by a visit by the piano tuner and his hour long note by note movement up and down the keyboard.  Then it was time to take Diana for her second vaccine.  The process was slower and more annoying this time around, but it’s done.  No Finnesque side-effects experienced.  I’m glad we both skated through with no real noticeable impacts from the vaccines.

I started watching the “Hemmingway” documentary series by Ken Burns.  Really interesting so far.

After that we enjoyed a new livestream series from the wonderful Curtis Stigers – Wednesdays from his kitchen with dogs.  Anybody that starts with Bob Dylan’s “Things Have Changed” from the Wonder Boys (excellent movie and book) and transitions into “What’s so Funny About Peace Love and Understanding” by Nick Lowe (mentioning how many millions he made Lowe by including that on “The Bodyguard” soundtrack) is good for me.

We received another excellent Andy production of the Gypsy Hill wildlife.  This one features a mountain lion mum and cubs having a stroll down the road that links Adamo and Clorinda’s homes:

On Wednesday night we watched the documentary, “We Work – the Making and Breaking of a $47 billion unicorn”.  Quite amazing how many were fooled by the stories that the founder Adam Neumann spun.  And quite tragic that he walked away with a $1.7 billion parachute as 6,000 employees were laid off.  A scary cult like company, with a great concept, that never faced reality.

I checked in on Finn and found him sounding great and continuing to do really well.  What a joy!

I was doing an internet search on Thursday morning and saw this video in my Google feed.   There’s just something about the sound of a great organ, being played well, in a massive church.  This organ is from the 1890s, restored in the 1950s, and the details on all the stop and pedal settings are listed in the information about the video on YouTube.  So powerful and yet soothing.

Friday was maintenance day – I got a haircut and Penelope got a bath.  I took Diana’s car for inspection and a bath to start out Saturday, then we went for a pleasant walk, enjoying the perfect weather.  The Arts in Bloom festival was happening in downtown McKinney all weekend and so we decided to sample it on Saturday afternoon.  The weather continued to be perfect for rambling around the stalls.  These swirl pictures reminded me of some art that Finn did a few months back, and he liked them a lot when I texted him a picture.  The only other thing that caught my eye was this colourful elephant.

Rachel joined us for dinner on Saturday night – Zin Zen delivery – and updated us with stories about her dating experiences and home remodel likes and dislikes.

Jose sent this video of Diana’s new kitchen cabinets in progress – he’s quite the craftsman.  The funny part is at the end – he had a bad motorcycle accident while our bathroom remodel was finishing and his wife has been after him to sell the bike.  You can see the For Sale sign on it but it’s not going to get much interest parked at the back of the barn.

I found this mug to send to Finn.  I was searching for a funny penguin mug like the one he used when he was staying with us, and this one is perfect.

We did some yard work this morning and now I’m relaxing and watching The Masters golf tournament.

This article from The New Yorker is one of the most interesting that I’ve read in a while.  Kathryn Schulz pulls fascinating details on how animals navigate during everyday life and in migration from a number of recent publications.  There are some truly amazing examples of how much smarter than humans many animals are when it comes to navigating – and without all the tools that we have at our fingertips.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/04/05/why-animals-dont-get-lost

I loved the time I spent with “The Train in the Night – A Story of Music and Loss” by Nick Coleman this week.  What a great read.  Coleman spent his life as a music journalist until going completely deaf in one ear in his late 40s:

“Silence descended suddenly and without warning.  I put two mugs of tea on the bedside table, sat down, passed one to my wife, hoicked my legs into bed, lowered my head and…pfffff.

One ear gone.”

The book is just as much a reminiscence on his time developing his musical taste in his youth as it is about coping with his hearing loss.  A paragraph on how diminished his enjoyment of music has become:

“What my brain can’t do is fill in the timbre, warmth, texture and depth stuff – what Dr. Levitin calls the ‘higher-order’ qualities.  Does this mean that it’s the higher-order qualities which generate the emotional response to music?  Or is it just me?  Does it merely mean that in order for me to be able to register music’s architectural dimension, and therefore have a special place in which to cue up and explore emotion, I need warmth, timbre, texture and illusion of spatial depth?”

I really enjoyed the section where Coleman talks about the first seven albums he purchased – quite an eclectic mix.

“The First Seven remain accessible to me on a multitude of levels, and in minute contextual detail.  I have access to just about every note.  I know who played what instrument on them, and which record company put them out.  I can remember the weight of their sleeves in my hand and on my lap, the texture of the cardboard, the dazzle of the artwork, the sound the inner sleeves made as they slid out of the gatefold, the name of the printing firm which printed the sleeves.  I can recall how the music made my bedroom change.  Here they are, in order:

  1.  Nazareth:  Razamanaz (on the Mooncrest label)
  2. Lou Reed:  Transformer (RCA)
  3. Genesis:  Nursery Cryme (Charisma)
  4. Yes:  The Yes Album (Atlantic)
  5. Derek and the Dmonioes: Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (Polydor)
  6. Gong: Camembert Electrique (Virgin)
  7. Rolling Stones: Goat’s Head Soup (Rolling Stones)”

“History tells that in 1973 Nazareth were an entertaining Scottish hard-rock band with a working-man’s-glam edge, and that Razamanaz was their finest thirty-six minutes.  Theirs was not music for the ages but for the moment.  But really Nazareth were Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” with the artiness taken out.”

I can remember writing most of a paper on Munch’s “The Scream” for Will, but can’t remember why he wasn’t able to do it for himself.

Talking about a performance on “The Old Grey Whistle Test” by the Sensational Alex Harvey Band in December 1973:

“But Alex Harvey was sensational in actuality, as well as in name.  He performed Jacques Brel’s bleak chanson of ripped innocence “Next” right into the camera’s mouth, as if trying to bit out its tongue.  He hugged a Telecaster to his chest and showed all his teeth while executing a perfectly baleful Gorbals Sprechgesang.”

I’m going to have to see if I can find that performance online somewhere.  I introduced Diana to Harvey’s music when she did some spin art on one of his albums at our last Christmas party.

Speaking of Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard it Through the Grapevine”:

“The song barely needs its words.  The first one is an utterance: “Ooooo-ooo”.  Beneath that, the lollop of tom-toms which rolls the voice into the song is one of the most exquisitely placed and executed rhythmic figures in all popular music (right up there with the cymbal crash which ushers Miles Davis into “So What”).”

That tom-tom lollop is at 0:19:

And the cymbal crash is at 1:31 in one of my all time favourite pieces of jazz music:

Coleman describes how his love for music originated with his time in the church choir.  I enjoyed this description of the church organist:

“Mrs. Beeton would always pull out a couple of stops to give the last verse some welly.  She’d toe the right pedals, too.  And afterwards the thing would linger in the air for what seemed like minutes, like a taste in the mind.  An atmosphere.  The sacred as a form of weather.”

A great description of the lingering sound that you can hear in the Dvorak organ arrangement earlier in this post.  Give it “some welly” – this weeks phrase that I had long forgotten.

Continuing with the church music theme, this section about “In the Bleak Midwinter” really resonated with me:

“Yet it isn’t even the best bit.  That comes after the interrupted cadence at the end of the third verse, which has been sung by tenors and basses and apparently closed off by the organ.

‘What can I give him, poor as I am?’

The re-entry of the boys at this point is so stunning in its guttering delicacy that I am not sure I can find a way to write about it.  Perhaps it would be easier simply to wonder whether art has ever possessed the power and subtlety to express the idea of tenderness in a way that corresponds with the experience of the emotion.  If it has, then i haven’t felt it.  For me, this is as close as it has ever got.  There is no Nativity painted by a Renaissance master which will give you such quiet, and no poem which can , with words alone, describe the sufficiency of such a feeling.  It is as if, at the end of the carol, it is time for the words to run out.

‘Yet what I can give him: give my heart.'”

An excellent description of the role of the trombone in an orchestra:

“The trombone is a beautiful thing, a rich, sonorous, perfectly chromatic tone-cannon endowed with unmatchable weight of shot, handicapped only by a slow rate of fire.”

It’s quite late in the book when Coleman shares what is believed to have caused his hearing loss:

“‘I think’, said the consultant, ‘that you may have had a migraine so bad that it sent a blood vessel between your brain and your inner ear into spasm, and the spasm lasted long enough to kill the cilia off on that side and leave you with the mess inside your head.'”

Just an excellent read throughout!

This song from Lana Del Ray’s new album caught my attention on the radio.  Listening to it again I realized what it was linking me to – “Calvary Cross” from the perfect “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight” album by Richard and Linda Thompson.  I’ve always loved the F, Am, G chord sequence that underpins that song.  Turns out the sequence of piano chords at the start of the Lana Del Ray song are F, C, G – Am being the Aeolian or natural minor of C, and why they sound so similar to my brain.

I always like it when Tower of Power pop up on playlists.  Here’s a classic example of their sound:

I equally enjoy anything from Booker T. Jones (with or without the MGs):

And finally, something completely different from Jack White – he can really put his personal stamp on any kind of music:

Stay safe, calm and kind.

Week in Review – April 4th, 2012

“Breathing Lessons in Bend, Oregon”

The kitchen shenanigans continued on Monday morning with D making a trip with the twins to pick out marble for the countertops.  She likes that piece hanging from the forklift, and was quite elated when able to convince me that we should get a bit extra to make a “waterfall” on one end of the island.  Here’s a picture in case, like me, you’re wondering what that “waterfall” might look like.

Finn and I headed out for a coffee in the afternoon.  It’s nice to have a coffee drinker around with a flexible schedule.  We tried the new PJ’s New Orleans coffee shop – not bad but some kinks to work out for sure.  Then we picked up some new jeans for Finn – just like the other pair he has.  Certainly a creature of habit.

Finn cooked up some yummy chickpea pasta with pesto sauce and chicken for dinner – apparently the secret was to cook the pasta in chicken broth.  We attempted to watch some of the NCAA “March Madness” basketball tournament but that was not going over well with McD.

Tuesday ended up being quite the eventful day.  Finn was scheduled for his COVID shot in the afternoon at the Allen football stadium.  Can you believe that is a high school stadium?  The local Fire Department was in charge of this site and they were extremely efficient – 2 minutes from entering the parking lot until shot in the arm.  We pulled Penelope into a parking spot to wait the requisite 15 minutes before leaving.   Then things almost immediately took a bad turn.  Finn said he was feeling faint, went pure white, leaned back in his seat, eyes rolling back and body shaking.  Good grief – time for some help!  The paramedic showed up quickly and hooked Finn up to an EKG, pulse, and blood pressure machine.  Both pulse and blood pressure had dropped to very low levels.  As he regained consciousness, Finn was not at all pleased to hear the paramedic say that he wanted to check his blood sugar level – “I don’t recommend poking me with any needles just now” – the paramedic nodded along, stuck him before he noticed, and reported blood sugar just fine.  After about 10 minutes some color started creeping back into his face and we rejected the strong advice of the fire department ambulance workers that had arrived on the scene to go with them to the nearest hospital.  Another 30 minutes or so and Finn was on his couch resting.  Diana and I took turns checking on him.  He claims that he “died and came back to life” and that “there’s not a bright light to guide you”.  I think he’s a good story teller.

Diana made us some delicious chicken empanadas, in the special machine we’ve had for over a year and never used, as a treat for surviving the afternoon escapades.  In Pacifica, Clorinda was getting quite the kick out of her dinosaur taco holder.

Shortly after dinner I received a call from Brennon at Skyline to let me know they had a spot for Finn earlier than expected.  He was scheduled for April 26th but they could now take him as early as Sunday.  Time to jump into planning mode around getting Finn out there on the weekend.  By the time I went to bed I had booked flights and found what I thought would be a good hotel for a weekend stay.  Told you it was quite an eventful day.

On Wednesday both Finn and I visited Dr. Haslam, the orthopedic surgeon that fixed my broken leg.  Me to get my repaired leg checked and to make sure my right leg was okay, Finn to check out his wrist which hurts when he lifts any weight.  X-rays didn’t show anything notable and so the recommendation is that we both get MRIs for more detail.  I did get a cream that should help my left leg.

We stopped into Nerdvana coffee on the way home from the doctor visit.  Finn was entertained by all the role playing games they sold and was particularly tickled by what he described as the “Episode of the Big Bang Theory” taking place at the table next to us.  A group of geeky folks were going deep into what makes a good cup of coffee – way deep.

Finn got a COVID test on Thursday, as required by Skyline for admission – thankfully the test doesn’t cause any scary side-effects.  I took him for a haircut and picked up some final supplies.  He seems prepared but neither of us really want him to go – it’s been such a treat having him with us and he’s really settled in.  Change and the unknown future are hard.

I absolutely love this penguin art that he created for me with a note that I’ll treasure on the back.

We had an early start to the airport on Friday morning for our flights to Seattle and then Redmond, Oregon.  A bit of an initial snafu – I had splurged on first class seats for the trip out, but the plane didn’t have a row 4 where we were sitting.  Some jiggery pokery ensued and then we were reassigned to exit row seats and saved some money.  Finn was able to lord it up in first class by himself.   A reasonably quick change in Seattle – just time for a coffee – and we were on our way to Redmond.  The views from the plane around Seattle and Redmond were quite spectacular.  You can definitely make out the volcanic shape in the first picture.

After a 20 minute drive we were checking into our hotel in Bend, Oregon.  The Riverhouse on the Deschutes was a perfect home base for us, with great views of the river from our balconies and a pleasant restaurant and bar with a large deck on the opposite side of the river.  A cabin just down the bank from our rooms had an interesting story as told on this sign:

Apparently John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn stayed at the hotel during filming.

The view from our bedroom balcony was really relaxing with the pines and the flowing river.

 

 

 

We enjoyed an early Friday dinner at  Joolz Mediterranean in downtown Bend – an eclectic few blocks of restaurants, bars, boutiques, coffee shops, and record and book stores.  This restaurant was outstanding.  Chef Ramsey worked wonders with simple ingredients.  My favourite was the fried cauliflower – tremendous flavour.  The lamb meatballs and hummus with elk meat were also excellent.  Diana proclaimed the chopped salad the best she had tasted in ages.  Finn finished off with his favourite dessert – baclava, and had some leftover to go with the lemon bars that D had snuck into his back-pack.  All three of us are still raving about this place and can’t wait to visit Bend again so that we can go back.  An early night was called for after all the travel and excitement of the day.

Saturday started with coffee at Spoken Moto, a great combination of coffee shop and vintage motorcycle store.  I loved the green egg bowl from the Scoutpost food truck in the patio area.  Bend has so many excellent coffee shops per square mile – can we just have a couple of them in McKinney?

Suitably coffeed, we made the 20 minute drive to explore Tumalo falls.  I had read that you could hike a somewhat robust 2.5 miles to the falls or drive right up to them and park.  The road in was closed off and I couldn’t understand why, so we parked and investigated.  None of us had the proper shoes for a 2.5 mile hike up a rocky path but decided to at least have a short wander.  We quickly realized that the snow on the road was the reason for it being close off.  I don’t think we went much over half a mile up the path, but did get some good photos.  Can you tell Finn is feeling a wee bit cold?

The exploration continued with a drive on down the road to the Mount Bachelor ski resort –  in full swing on a sunny day and not too busy.  Finn liked the half-pipe and snowboard jumps.  Hopefully he gets to partake before Spring skiing ends.  The mountain is less than 30 minutes from his house.

We arrived back in downtown Bend in time for Diana and Finn to enjoy a yummy brunch at the Lemon Tree – they weren’t hungry when I had breakfast earlier at the Scoutpost.  I got to sample their delicacies.  Diana was quite adventurous and ordered the Shakshuka – a Tunisian dish with a sauce of tomatoes, chile peppers and onions simmered with North African spices, and served with poached eggs and grilled Stirato – delicious combination of flavours.  Diana described the Lemon Tree experience as “great food, lousy service.”  She was not wrong.  The only poor service we experienced all weekend – the overall vibe was very much friendly and welcoming.

We had a wander around downtown and then headed back to the hotel to relax before dinner at 900 Wall (right next door to Joolz).  This was a fancier restaurant that didn’t disappoint at all.  We started with a charcuterie board and tempura fried green beans (a big hit), and then Finn surprised us by insisting on the duck confit (even after I tried to steer him to a few other things) – it ended up being delicious and he finished every bite on the plate. Diana had the teres major.  Anybody heard of that?  We certainly hadn’t.  Turns out it’s the  second most tender steak from a cow but only a very small piece (0.5%) of the total beef from the cow.  Diana enjoyed it very much and had plenty of leftovers.  I tried the much lauded burger and loved it.  Can you tell we enjoyed our meals in this picture?

Easter Sunday started relatively early with a 9am brunch at McKay’s cottage restaurant.  This place was almost next door to the hotel and was just perfect.  Coffee and drinks while you waited for your table, excellent food and very good service.  They even had laminated menus just for Easter Sunday and you can see eggs hidden around for kids to hunt (see – in the flowers?)  I highly recommend this brunch if you ever make it to Bend.  On the subject of eggs – check out the decorating skills of Damon’s artsy family after the breakfast pictures.

We dropped Finn off at his home for the next 3 to 6 months after brunch.  He’ll be sharing the house with 6 other young men and the place looked really nice – large yard with pine trees and lots of seating areas.  The two folks that we met (Gage and Will) who are associated with the house and program were very kind and welcoming.  It was exceptionally hard to leave Finn after he’d done so well living with us, but we believe he is in great hands as he starts the next chapter.

Diana and I distracted ourselves with a hike down the Deschutes river trail.  We picked up the trail about a third of a mile from the hotel and followed it for a mile and a half or so back into downtown.  The river changed from broad and slow moving to fast paced rapids, with canoeists practicing their slalom course moves at one point.  The large houses on the banks had fantastic situations.

We had intended to end our hike with a visit to the Pine Tavern on the river bank.  That was closed and so we ended up back at 900 Wall with a lovely table in the sun and some more of those delicious green beans.

We called it an early night after that – our 7am start on Monday came quickly.  The flights home were smooth.  I love flying from small regional airports like Redmond where you’re the only folks in the security line and everything is so quiet and relaxed.  The view from the rental car parking lot is pretty great too.

I finished “Breathing Lessons” by Anne Tyler and I did enjoy the remainder much more than the first third – maybe I was just in the right frame of mind.  I always like it when the first paragraph of a book sets the scene of what lies ahead so concisely:

“Maggie and Ira Moran had to go to a funeral in Deer Lick, Pennsylvania.  Maggie’s girlhood friend had lost her husband.  Deer lick lay on a narrow country road some ninety miles north of Baltimore, and the funeral was scheduled for ten-thirty Saturday morning; so Ira figured they should start around eight.  This made him grumpy.  (He was not an early-morning kind of man.)  Also Saturday was his busiest day at work, and he had no one to cover for him.  Also their car was in the body shop.”

The different personalities of Maggie and Ira and they way react to situations with families and friends are at the heart of this story:

“‘Oh, great, Maggie; another one of your logical progressions.’

‘One thing about you that I really cannot stand,’ she said, ‘is how you act so superior.  We can’t have just a civilized back-and-forth discussion; oh, no.  No, you have to make a point of how illogical I am, what a whifflehead I am, how you’re so cool and above it all.'”

I saw a report on TV about “Leave Out the Tragic Parts” by Dave Kindred and decided to torture myself by reading it this week – hoping to learn some more on the topic of addiction.  Kindred is a sportswriter who has won numerous awards and covered most of the major sporting events over the last 30 years.  He lost his grandson to alcohol addiction in 2014.

The story is equally tragic, well researched and very well written.  Jared, the grandson, joins an underground group of young people who travel around the country by jumping on railway cars and then sleep on the streets in whichever city they land in.  I had never heard of such a thing.  Several of the characters in the book have been living this way for many years.  Jared becomes completely addicted to alcohol and, even after many hospital visits where he suffers seizures whenever off alcohol for more than a few hours, continues on with his self-destructive lifestyle.  I had several quotes dog-eared to share, but they’re all too heavy right now, so I’ll share just the most poignant paragraph from the book:

“Unless you’ve been there, you can’t imagine what it’s like to watch helplessly as someone you love descends into addiction.  The transformation defies logic – until you understand that your loved one is gravely ill with a brain disease that is debilitating, chronic, progressive, and, if left untreated, often fatal.”

Switching quickly to a more positive quote.  Here Kindred talks about telling one of his sports journalism stories to Jared:

“Jared, learning to play soccer, liked the story about the poor boy who kicked a ball made of rags.  “Tell me Pele”, he said, and we went in our imagination first to Brazil and finally to the Meadowlands stadium, where I heard the greatest soccer player ever, in the last game of his career, shout to the 75,646 spectators, “Repeat after me:  Love…Love…Love.””

I love the feel of this song from trumpeter and label owner Willie Mitchell.  Classic 70s beats:

Here are two versions of a John Prine classic – I love them both:

And finishing up with one of my top three songs – Diana and I enjoyed a version from a street musician performing in downtown Bend as we enjoyed our drinks and snack at 900 Wall on Sunday afternoon:

Stay kind and patient with everyone!

 

 

 

Week in Review – March 28, 2012

“Long as I can see the Light”

Poor Finn was rousted early on Monday so that the house cleaners could take care of his room – they like to start upstairs and work their way down.  As if that wasn’t a sufficient disturbance, the Designing Twins were over in the morning to review a couple of colour palette options for the kitchen.  “We” seem to be pretty firm on using the same hardwood floors that we have in the family room, dining room etc. for the kitchen, and the tile you see here is the leading candidate for the backsplash.  (Update from later in the week – that backsplash is no longer going to make the cut – we don’t love it after living with it for a few days.)  Diana is heavily focused on closing out most of the kitchen remodel decisions this week.  Rachel was scheduled for dinner on Monday night, but the weather turned very ugly and so we’ll have to arrange that at a later date.  We were tired and happy to relax by ourselves.

Norma sent me this video of the volcano near Guatemala City spouting on Tuesday morning.  Apparently nothing to be overly concerned about. The authorities issued a warning that folks should stay away from the base, closed the nearby Guatemala City airport (since reopened) and that was it.

Finn and I got out for a mid-morning coffee break at Filtered in downtown.  We followed that with an exploratory drive to see if we could find the Rye food truck.  Mission accomplished – it’s hidden in behind the Tupps brewery over by the old Cotton Mill.  We picked up four bags of QuickCrete on the way home and then had fun digging a hole and securing D’s fleur-de-lis hose holder much more effectively – it’s not going anywhere now.  I’m predicting that a future task assignment could be polishing up and cleaning the fleur-de-lis.

I spent a few happy afternoon hours researching homeowners and car insurance prices.  Cars are relatively equal across companies but homeowners varies wildly.  I had to create a pretty detailed spreadsheet to track the various coverages and prices to get a good comparison.  At the end of the day, we’ll save several thousand dollars for better coverage than we have today – what a racket.

Jose, our superstar contractor, came over with half of the Designing Twins on Tuesday evening to measure the cabinets so that he can start building the new ones.  Was that Marcie or Mindy that was here Diana?  One of the great things about Jose is that he’s not scared to offer input and suggestions based on all the remodels he’s done over the years – very helpful.  And he has pictures of all of them so that he can show you exactly what he’s describing.

We almost forgot to record a Happy Birthday video for David’s 55th.  My plan was to do it on the guitar this time to change things up from the normal piano rendition.  Quite a bit of hilarity ensued in my office as we (mostly I) tried to get things right.

 

Continuing with the kitchen remodel theme, McD made a trip with the twins to Nebraska Furniture Mart on Wednesday morning to pick out new appliances.  She was pretty worn out on return, but had successfully picked out a new dual oven, under counter microwave, and stove-top.  Great work D!  I don’t remember all the features of the oven but I do know the doors open sideways rather than vertically, the oven heats up in less than 5 minutes, and there’s a special dual convection pizza setting.  Oh, and something that seems particularly attractive – the shelves slide all the way out.  It’s starting to seem like this remodel is really on.

In the evening we treated ourselves to the special Kate Weiser chocolates that we had selected on the weekend.  My sea salt caramel was amazing.  We enjoyed an episode of “This is Us” to accompany those treats.  This was a particularly poignant episode with Uncle Nicky traveling from Pennsylvania to Los Angeles to meet his great niece and nephew (named after him).  We’ve even got Finn into the show.

Just when things were winding down for the evening, the tornado sirens start wailing.  We knew there were storms forecast but weren’t expecting tornados.  A quick update from the TV news told us the danger was at least 30 minutes away.  The danger passed prior to the arrival of the storm in McKinney.  And thankfully we didn’t have to roust Finn and introduce him to the tornado shelter (laundry room).

My second vaccine was administered on Thursday morning.  I took Diana and Finn with me, just in case I got some of the nasty side-effects I’ve heard folks talk about from the second dose.  We showed Finn the Cowboys headquarters across the street and snapped the requisite photograph.  Shortly after this picture was taken, we were able to get Finn registered for a vaccine next week at the Allen stadium.

My after vaccination treat was a trip to the Golden Boy Coffee Co. at the Granite Park Boardwalk.  This was a great new find and one that we will put on our coffee shop rotation as the weather gets nicer.  I convinced Diana to try the loaded tots from the Biscuit Bar next door – right up there with the Velvet Taco.  Next treat stop was around the corner at Taco Deli.  Finn and I really enjoyed our lunch – Space Cowboy and Jess Special for me.  Diana couldn’t relax and enjoy my treats because she was texting back and forth with the twins about pendant lighting to go above the island in the kitchen.  Maybe that’s the last decision to be made before work starts?   One had too much blue, one was too aqua, one wasn’t big enough – you get the idea.

On arrival back at the house I went to work on my list and replaced as many landscape lighting bulbs as we had available in inventory – it’s been a while since they were tended to and it’s getting dark outside at night – such a slacker.

Diana reprised her amazing sea bass with ponzu sauce for Thursday dinner.  Such a great piece of fish, perfectly cooked and with a completely yummy sauce – thanks D!

I picked up Cavallis pizza, salad and arancini for dinner on Friday night.  Finn really likes the official Neapolitan style pizza – and he and Diana agree that the Margherita Extra is the best choice.  We tortured Adamo with this picture – he’s a huge fan of Cavallis.  He’s going to have to bring the family out to visit if he wants some – wait…is that a good idea?  Can our house withstand that kind of visit?

 

Saturday began with a pleasant visit to Duino coffee – the closest good coffee shop to our home.  Then it was yard work time – removing the bushes that died in the winter storm – or at least cutting them way back.  Diana and Finn made a very efficient team:

Diana is currently out in the front yard removing as many of the dead bushes as she can before tiring out.  Finn and I are relaxing and enjoying March Madness basketball – we don’t have the energy to keep up with the energizer bunny today.

We finally watched “Hamilton” on Saturday night.  I didn’t realize it was a full 3 hour epic, but really enjoyed all of it.  Such a creative and entertaining retelling of very interesting history.  The Thomas Jefferson character was my favourite.

We enjoyed these pics of Ollie in Golden Gate park that Will sent this morning:

And then there’s this silly one – poor dog – between the sunglasses and his bedtime popsicles the poor thing doesn’t have a chance.

The NY Times Sunday crossword featured Winnie the Pooh again – and I finished in a new record time.

We enjoyed a coffee at Filtered – very quiet downtown due to Palm Sunday services, and then Finn and I flew the bat kite to remotely participate in the annual Austin kite festival.  It’s been two years since we enjoyed that event with the Wahbas.  The wind was a bit inconsistent but we did manage to get the bat out to full string length.

I decided that I’m going to require some different reading to break up the 700 pages of Obama’s “Promised Land”.  I plan to pick it up again tomorrow.

“Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?”

This is the question at the heart of “The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig, a book that I picked up during our visit to the Wild Detectives bookstore last weekend.

Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision in the book and, faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

This was a quick and enjoyable read and I’m still trying to decide on my final verdict on how well the premise worked.

Here’s a passage that sets things up as Nora is still living her “root life” prior to discovering “The Midnight Library”:

“She sat down at the little electric piano but played nothing.  She thought of sitting by Leo’s side, teaching him Chopin’s Prelude in E Minor.  Happy moments can turn into pain, given time.

There was an old musician’s cliché, about how there were no wrong notes on a piano.  But her life was a cacophony of nonsense.  A piece that could have gone in wonderful directions, but now went nowhere at all.

Time slipped by.  She stared into space.

After the wine a realisation hit her with total clarity.  She wasn’t made for this life.

Every move had been a mistake, every decision a disaster, every day a retreat from who she’d imagined she’d be.

Swimmer.  Musician.  Philosopher.  Spouse.   Traveller.  Glaciologist.  Happy.  Loved.

Nothing.

She couldn’t even imagine ‘cat owner.’  Or ‘one-hour-a-week piano tutor.’  Or ‘human capable of conversation.’ “

Talking with Mrs. Elm, the librarian:

“Every life contains many millions of decisions.  Some big, some small.  But every time one decision is taken over another, the outcomes differ.  An irreversible variation occurs, which in turn leads to further variations.  These books are portals to all the lives you could be living.”

Thoreau, and particularly his Walden book, play a pretty large role in underpinning the book, and I wonder if this isn’t a favourite of the author:

“‘If one advances confidently,’ Thoreau had written in Walden, ‘in the direction of his dreams, and endeavours to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.’  He’d also observed that part of this success was the product of being alone.  ‘I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.’ “

I enjoyed these thoughts on why social media is so damaging to communities – where people try to have relationships with many, many more folks than is reasonable given ingrained human nature:

“And then he told her about a man called Roger Dunbar at Oxford University, who had discovered that human beings were wired to know only a hundred and fifty people, as that was the average size of hunter-gatherer communities.

‘And the Domesday Book,’ Ash had told her, under the stark lighting of the hospital canteen, ‘if you look at the Domesday Book, the average size of an English community at that time was a hundred and fifty people.  Except in Kent.  Where it was a hundred people.  I’m from Kent.  We have anti-social DNA.'”

A very current reference, and one that likely won’t make any sense to someone picking up this book 20 years from now:

“And bloody hell, she looked amazing.  Her naturally black hair had a kind of white stripe in it.  Vampiric make-up.  And a lip piercing.  She did look tired but she supposed that was just a result of living on tour.  It was a glamorous kind of tired.  Like Billie Eilish’s cool aunt.“

A somewhat amazing commentary comparing the number of optional moves as a chess game progresses with life choices:

“At the beginning of the game, there are no variations.  There is only one way to set up a board.  There are nine million variations after the first six moves.  And after eight moves there are two hundred and eighty-eight billion different positions.  And those possibilities keep growing.  There are more possible ways to play a game of chess than the amount of atoms in the observable universe.  So it gets very messy.  And there is no right way to play; there are many ways.  In chess, as in life, possibility is the basis of everything.  Every hope, ever dream, every regret, every moment of living.”

At the end of the book, Nora decides to return to her “root life”, live without regrets of decisions past, and finds it to be the most rewarding of all the options she chose.

The main message that Haig is delivering is that one should not dwell on regrets but get on with living the best possible option of our lives.  I enjoyed this book as a quick diversionary read but wouldn’t overly recommend it.

I’m a bit over a third of the way through “Breathing Lessons”, Anne Tyler’s Pulitzer winning novel from the 1980s.  I love Nick Hornby’s work – starting with the magnificent “High Fidelity” – and read one of his articles where he praised Anne Tyler’s work profusely.  That led me to order up a couple of her books.

The book takes place over the course of one long day and features Maggie and Ira, a married couple in their fifties.  The characters and descriptions of quotidian events are very well written, but I’m not loving this so far.  John Updike’s review for The New Yorker had me expecting something right up there with his “Rabbit” series – this just seems much more lightweight so far.  I suspect things will pick up soon, or I’ll be in a better mood to enjoy the everyday happenings.

It is interesting that the theme so far seems to be about lifetime regrets – similar to “The Midnight Library”.

I revisited one of the great albums this week – “Rejuvenation” by The Meters from 1974.  A huge does of classic New Orleans funk.  Every song on this record is excellent.  Here are a couple (and I’m leaving off “Just Kissed My Baby”, “Hey Pocky-A-Way”, and “Africa”).

I read that Eric Clapton stole a lot of his early 70s work from this one.  George Porter’s bass towards the end is like a true solo instrument:

I really like this version of Led Zeppelin’s “Going to California” by Pressing Strings:

And finally, a unique version of one of my favourites:

The end is less than two weeks away for me now.  Stay patient, safe and kind!

 

 

 

Week in Review – March 21, 2021

“I Tot You Were Hungry”

I was able to tolerate the Grammy awards on Sunday evening for about the first hour and a half – then what D would call “the nonsense” started.  The highlight was Brandi Carlisle performing John Prine’s “I Remember Everything” – his gorgeous final song that earned two posthumous Grammys.

Diana and I started Monday with a run in the beautiful weather.  I completed the 20 minutes of running that finishes out Week 5 of Couch to 5K and am excited to move on to Week 6.  Only 2 more weeks after that and I’ll supposedly be ready for our first joint 5K race.  I am going to need to improve my speed quite a bit if I’m hoping to cross the finish line at the same time as McD.  Diana found an interesting race for us – the “Run for the Rose” in McKinney.  It comes with a glass of sparking rose at the finish line, snacks from Zin Zen and Sugarbacon, a commemorative champagne glass and a medal.  Sounds perfect for at least one of us.

Will, on the other hand, will not be running anywhere anytime soon.  He had surgery to remove the meniscus from his knee.  He’s had it repaired a couple of times before and this time there’s no choice but removal.  “What did he do this time?”, I hear you ask.  Well…he crouched down to install some computer cables under his new office desk and heard a pop when he stood back up again.  Sounds painful just typing it.  The surgery went well and Will is trying to be stationary for a few minutes to give things a chance to heal.  Poor Christine must be on fulltime Ollie duty now.

Tuesday was the big day for Diana – her first COVID vaccine.  I drove her over to the football stadium in Plano just in case there were any side effects on the drive home – about 25 minutes.  The process was smooth and easy – my only concern being the amount of information that was scrawled on Penelope’s windows.  No issue – they wiped it all off at the end of the flow through the parking lot.  Diana didn’t experience any side effects other than a slight pain on her arm around the shot if she pressed on it – just like a small bruise.  After that excursion, I enjoyed a nice swim at lunchtime.

We put Finn to work in the afternoon and he made a good start in painting the pool room.  He had to cover up all the dirty prints form Alicia and friends, and the kids that lived here before us.  Painting the entire wall ended up being the more efficient process.

I kicked off Week 6 Day 1 of Couch to 5K on Wednesday morning.  With encouragement from Diana, I was easy to finish without too much trouble, while picking up the pace a bit.

We watched a documentary on Netflix called “Made You Look” on Wednesday evening.  It’s about a multi-year art forgery scheme and the folks who were fooled by Rothkos and Pollocks created by an immigrant Chinese math teacher.  The top names in art authentication were all taken in until some special science ultimately showed them all to be forgeries.  The forgers ability to emulate the quite different styles of those masters, while creating original “lost” works was quite amazing.

Diana lost interest a bit as the documentary continued, and so she and Finn whipped up some delicious lemon bars from a recipe that she uncovered from her archives at Finn’s request.  You can tell it’s pretty serious business.

The bars didn’t turn out exactly as Diana had hoped and so another batch was created on Thursday night – the head chef thought they were much better.

I love this picture of my friends Wash and Zoe enjoying Saint Patrick’s Day on Thursday.

Diana and Finn started Friday with a “run/walk” and then Finn continued with his painting project.  It’s almost finished – just some spackling work to be done before all painting can be completed.  Finn and I made a run over to Rudy’s in the afternoon to pick up pulled pork for Benedicts I was planning to make for Sunday breakfast.

We decided to show Finn that there’s a lot more fun to the Dallas Fort Worth area than just what McKinney offers.  First stop – the Velvet Taco on Knox/Henderson Street, just north of downtown.  We laughed telling Finn the story of our first visit there – a late night stop after Keb’ Mo at the Kessler for my birthday.  Poor Patty and Brent waded through a torrential downpour to retrieve tacos for us.

Finn selected the chicken and waffles brunch taco and I had a shrimp and grits one.  Diana stuck with her favourite – loaded tater tots with a fried egg on top.  All enjoyed in the sun at an outdoor table.

I had an after lunch surprise in store – Finn and I had seen “Pickletopia” on a lunch time TV show and thought it looked like a fun place to visit.

Pickletopia ended up being a highlight of the day for us.  So many barrels full of delicious pickled things.  We came home with two kinds of olives, mushrooms, and “bread and butter” pickles.  Lee, the owner, shared lots of samples and stories.  Our favourite was his story about the origin of the “bread and butter” pickles.  Lee’s grandmother passed away and he selected a 1920s vintage cookbook of hers as a memento from her home.  The binding of the book was in very bad shape and he took it to the “Book Doctor” in Oak Cliff for repair (we walk past that shop on our way to Nova for dinner pre-Kessler concerts).  The repair took close to six months, and somewhere in that time the store owners called Lee to tell him they had found some recipes sandwiched in the pages that he might want.  One of them was the “bread and butter” pickle secret recipe.  He said he made it and tried it out on his uncle who remembered his grandmother’s recipe.  His uncle said, “You nailed it.”  This business is Lee’s retirement hobby and he shadowed “The Pickle Guys” in New York’s Lower Eastside to learn the business.  So nice to meet somebody that is a great story teller and loves what they do.

Next stop was Trinity Groves for a picture on the Trinity levee with the Dallas skyline as the backdrop:

We couldn’t resist stopping into Kate Weiser’s chocolate shop while we were there.  So many other places I had planned to put on the itinerary had closed – Bolsa (although opened under a different name) and the amazing charcuterie place from the Lucia guys (opening soon as a larger Lucia) – so it was good to see the chocolate shop still in business.  Patty’s favourite cupcake shop next door was also doing a very brisk business.  The chocolates and Easter eggs from Weiser really are works of art – those “Chick-a-dees” on the left really are edible chocolate.  We have several eggs to choose from on Easter Sunday.  And individual candies for each of us – key-lime pie for D, salted caramel for K, and strawberry for F.

A short drive later and we were searching for parking near the “Wild Detectives” book store and café – one of my favourite stores in all of Dallas.  I picked up “The Midnight Library”, thinking it could be a nice change of pace from the Obama book that I’m working through just now, and we all enjoyed a coffee in the lovely outdoor patio area.  What a beautiful day – perfect temperature and no humidity.  We walked around the Bishop Arts district briefly, noticing all the new construction and a massive, fancy new restaurant, and then drove over to Nova for a snack before driving home.

Nova is such a casual place but turns out such delicious and creative food.  Diana started with smoked salmon potato skins which were phenomenal.  Finn and I both had a cup of shrimp bisque with crab hush puppies.  That’s a cup?  The waiter said we could swim in the bowl size.  The soup was so good and I have some for leftovers today.

What a fun day all around!

Diana and I made an early morning (8am) trip to Market Street on Sunday to pick up supplies for the week.  This is the time to go – 5 cashiers standing out in front of their aisles waiting to check us out.  After that excitement I dug out and replaced a water sprinkler – time to turn the system back on for the spring and bring the grass out of hibernation.  Diana was busy upstairs doing some spackling work in the pool room – such a home repair enthusiast.  I helped sand and paint the taller sections.

I had promised Finn my special pulled pork Benedict for Sunday breakfast.  They turned out quite well with the “bread and butter” pickles adding a nice new flavour element.

The patrons at my diner counter seemed to enjoy the offerings.

I enjoyed this gaggle of turtles that Diana snapped on her virtual walk with Alicia after breakfast.  Gaggle – is that the right term for a group of turtles?  I’m pretty sure it’s not even close.  Let’s check.  A bale, turn, dole, or nest is the correct term, with a bale and turn applying exclusively to turtles.  Who knew?  We’ve never seen even a single turtle by that pond before.  It’s like walking along the river in Austin with bales (see how I quickly incorporated my learning to try and reinforce it) of turtles everywhere.

I enjoyed an article in The New Yorker this week about “How Parties Die, Will the G.O.P. go the way of the Whigs?”

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/03/15/what-is-happening-to-the-republicans

This piece digs into the history of political parties and how they either adjust to the times or eventually wither out.  This section about George Washington, the only Independent President in history, and his views on parties, really caught my attention:

“George Washington reluctantly ran for the Presidency in 1788. He remains the only Independent elected to that office. His farewell address, of September 19, 1796, provides the framework for the peaceful transfer of power. (It is read aloud in the Senate every year; this year, that event occurred a week after Trump’s impeachment trial had concluded there.) In the address, Washington, like a father chiding his bickering children, advised his countrymen, no matter what their political passions, to consider the fundamental bonds that connected them as Americans. Political parties were useful to check the worst instincts of a monarch, he wrote, but, in a democracy, a party

agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions.”

What an interesting and prescient commentary on recent events from over 200 years ago.

Another article about corporate takeovers of trailer home parks and the injustices being foisted on individual trailer owners included this sad commentary:

“According to a report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, there isn’t a single American state in which a person working full time for minimum wage can afford a one bedroom apartment at the fair-market rent.”

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/03/15/what-happens-when-investment-firms-acquire-trailer-parks

I realized this was true in states like New York and California but didn’t realize that was the situation in all states.  Very sad.  Not a political or social commentary – just sad when you think of youngsters trying to start out on their own these days.

I really got hooked on “A Promised Land” by Barack Obama this week.  I’m appreciating his candor and writing style more and more.  Talking about starting to contemplate a Senate run:

“I realized, our politics would never truly change.  It would always be too easy for politicians to feed the stereotypes that pitted Black against white, immigrant against native-born, rural interests against those of cities.

Ultimately wasn’t this what I was after – a politics that bridged America’s racial, ethnic, and religious divides, as well as the many strands of my own life?  Maybe I was being unrealistic; maybe such divisions were too deeply entrenched.  But no matter how hard I tried to convince myself otherwise, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was too early to give up on my deepest convictions.”

Upon more contemplation:

“You could make a difference from such a narrow political base; with some seniority, you could secure better services for your constituents, bring a big project or two back to your home district, and, by working with allies, try to influence the national debate.  But that wouldn’t be enough to lift the political constraints that made it so difficult to deliver healthcare for those who needed it, or better schools for poor kids, or jobs where there were none; the same constraints that Bobby Rush labored under every day.

To really shake things up, I realized, I needed to speak to and for the widest possible audience.  And the best way to do that was to run for a statewide office – like, for example, the U.S. Senate.”

The insights into Michelle’s opinion along the way are quite interesting.  Here she’s concerned about how the finances of a Senate bid could work:

“‘If you lose, we’ll be deeper in the hole,’ she said.  ‘And what happens if you win?  How are we supposed to maintain two households, in Washington and Chicago, when we can barely keep up with one?’

I’d anticipated this.  ‘If I win, hon,’ I said, ‘it will draw national attention.  I’ll be the only African American in the Senate.  With a higher profile, I can write another book, and it’ll sell a lot of copies, and that will cover the added expenses.’

‘In other words’, Michelle said, ‘you’ve got some magic beans in your pocket.  That’s what you’re telling me.'”

Describing his landmark speech at an anti Iraq war rally in Chicago:

“‘I don’t oppose all wars,’ I said.  ‘What I am opposed to is a dumb war.’  I went on to argue that Saddam Hussein posed no imminent threat to the United States or its neighbors, and that ‘even a successful war against Iraq will require a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences.'”

As Obama worked to refine his stump speech for the Senate run:

“‘Here’s the thing,’ I would say.  ‘Most people, wherever they’re from, whatever they look like, are looking for the same thing.  They’re not trying to get filthy rich.  They don’t expect someone else to do what they can do for themselves.

But they do expect that if they’re willing to work, they should be able to find a job that supports a family.  They expect that they shouldn’t go bankrupt just because they get sick.  They expect that their kids should be able to get a good education, one that prepares them from this new economy, and they should be able to afford college if they’ve put in the effort.  And they figure that after a lifetime of work, they should be able to retire with dignity and respect.'”

How Hurricane Katrina and the abysmal government efforts to help convinced Obama that he needed to speak more frequently on the National stage.  One of the most poignant passages for me in the book so far:

“A few days later, I joined George H.W. and Barbara Bush, along with Bill and Hillary Clinton, in a visit to Houston, where thousands of people displaced by the hurricane had been bused to emergency shelters set up inside the sprawling Astrodome convention complex.  Together with the Red Cross and FEMA, the city had been working around the clock to provide basic necessities, but it struck me as I moved from cot to cot that many of the people there, most of whom were Black, had been abandoned long before the  hurricane – scratching out a living on the periphery without savings or insurance.  Forgotten people and forgotten voices remained everywhere, neglected by a government that often appeared blind or indifferent to their needs.”

“If I’d been on the edge of feeling content, thinking I was in the right job, doing the right thing at an acceptable pace, Katrina and my Iraq visit put a stop to all that.  Change needed to come faster – and I was going to have to decide what role I would play in bringing that about.”

In the matter of 20 pages or less, we quickly move from Obama’s Senate career to his contemplation of a run for President.  Michelle’s early reaction to that idea:

“Michelle lifted her eyebrows as if to suggest she didn’t believe me.  ‘If that’s really true, then the answer is ‘no,’ she said.  ‘I don’t want you to run for president, at least not now.’  She gave me a hard look and got up from the couch.  ‘God Barack…When is it going to be enough?'”

And then, in answer to Michelle’s question ‘Why do you need to be president?’:

“I know that the day I raise my right hand and take oath to be president of the United States, the world will start looking at America differently.  I know that kids all around this country – Black kids, Hispanic kids, kids who don’t fit in – they’ll see themselves differently, too, their horizons lifted, their possibilities expanded.  And that alone…would be worth it.

Michelle stared at me for what felt like an eternity.  ‘Well, honey,’ she said finally, ‘that was a pretty good answer.'”

 

Here’s a great guitar song from Dave Alvin’s new album of outtakes from over the years.  I really like his guitar style and remember when I dragged D to see him at the Kessler – might have been the first time we went.  Her comment still tickles me, “You know this is country music, right?”

If you enjoyed that, here’s another from the same album with a Rumba guitar style.  Such a versatile artist:

This Widespread Panic song popped up my Discovery Weekly playlist.  I really enjoy this band, but they get too into their solo jams when playing live.  I watched them really lose an excited New Orleans jazzfest audience with too much noodling.

Stay safe, kind and patient.  So many of our friends are getting vaccines this last week – very encouraging.