I always look forward to my monthly delivery from “Vinyl me, please”. This is a record of the month club – a completely different genre each month and collectors editions. The package includes artwork inspired by the record and a cocktail recipe to enjoy while listening.
The record this month is “The Score” by the Fugees. I’m not really a fan of hip hop music at all but do appreciate the creativity of Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill. The covers of “No Woman, No Cry” and “Killing Me Softly” are very good and I like the two tone colored vinyl.
I received two other records to expand the small jazz section of my collection. “Chet is Back” by Chet Baker was originally released in 1962 and the sound quality is fantastic. His trumpet tone is really full and yet delicate, particularly on the ballads, “Over the Rainbow” and “These Foolish Things”. I’ve been playing this one every day for the last week and like it more each time.
The second is “Basin Street Blues” by Louis Armstrong. It does a great job of setting the mood for our trip to New Orleans for jazzfest 2016. This was recorded live with an audience in 1956 and so doesn’t sound as crisp as the Chet Baker. The sound quality is still remarkably good. What a great band with Trummy Young on trombone and Ed Hall on clarinet. The clarinet on “Tiger Rag” is excellent. “Basin Street Blues” and “Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?” are highlights.
Monday was a tough day for my colleagues in Houston who got 15″ of rain in just a few hours. Here are pictures of downtown Houston and the underwater roads next to the AIG office.
On Monday night we had tickets to see Lucinda Williams at the Kessler. I was too tired for it (particularly the long drive home late at night) so we missed out. Great reviews for the show:
The water levels continued to rise in Houston on Tuesday – here’s the view from a colleague’s house.
On Wednesday we had a leisurely lunch at Zin Zen in Adriatica (Croatian village styled area walking distance from our home) – greek salad, chicken florentine panini and some great potato soup. Finished the New York times crossword while enjoying a glass of wine.
I signed up for the Blue Apron cooking service this week and it arrived on Wednesday afternoon. Everything you need, including recipes, to make 3 dinners for 2 people.
The first meal I tried was seared salmon and green potato salad with pickled mustard seeds. It was good but the pickled mustard seeds cooked a bit long and the sugar hardened to more of a candy than a sauce. First lesson learned. The green potato salad was the highlight – it gets the green color from spinach, celery, and scallions and also includes sour cream and horseradish. Next up was Korean Bao sliders with Gochujang Mayo and sweet potato tempura. The sliders were delicious with ginger, gochuyang sauce, scallion, and black bean sauce added to the ground beef. The Chinese steamed buns cooked up easily and were very tasty. The combination of the soft steamed buns, crisp cucumber, patty, and spicy mayonnaise was excellent. I think we’ll try this again. The sweet potatoes needed to cook a few minutes longer – a bit too crispy – lesson #2.
On Saturday night we streamed the recent movie “Burnt”, starring Bradley Cooper. It was mediocre but did a good job of presenting the food and the precision and chaos in high end kitchens. The main character had moved to London from Paris and was trying to earn a third Michelin star for his restaurant – which he ultimately was able to accomplish when he treated his staff as a team and dialed back the egomania.
Sunday was a very leisurely day. We read for quite a while – I enjoyed various Scottish words in my Kate Atkinson book – fusty, jotters, catarrh. We took our Michelopolis painting of a New Orleans Victorian house in to be re-framed – hopefully it will match the living room better when we get it back. Some good sour cream chicken enchiladas for dinner.
Penelope is still in the body shop being repaired. Hoping to get her back today before the next round of hailstorms are expected to hit on Tuesday.
I finished the book, “Disrupted – My adventures in the start-up bubble”, by Dan Lyons this week in a couple of days. Very funny, accurate, and sad at the same time – almost like a black comedy but unfortunately true. A separate posting with more about this book is coming soon.
Lots of new vinyl was delivered this week including the “Vinyl, me please” monthly release – “The Score” by the Fugees, Chet Baker’s “Chet is Back”, and Louis Armstrong’s “Basin Street Blues” – more about these in another posting coming soon. Chet Baker is the one that’s getting the most turntable time by far.
The record this month is “The Score” by the Fugees. I’m not really a fan of hip hop music at all but do appreciate the creativity of Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill. The covers of “No Woman, No Cry” and “Killing Me Softly” are very good and I like the two tone colored vinyl.
ew hours. Here are pictures of downtown Houston and the underwater roads next to the AIG office.
