Tuesday through Thursday of this week was spent in New York in meetings with Microsoft. Their offices are next to Times Square which is filled with hustle and bustle at all hours of the day and night. The view from the conference room included the New York Times building and huge TV screens with advertisements and breaking news – quite distracting. I stayed at a hotel called The Sanctuary which is at 47th Street and 8th Avenue – half a block off Times Square but a quiet and modern boutique hotel which was a nice find.
On Tuesday night I made a repeat visit to Birdland jazz club having enjoyed it so much a few weeks ago. I enjoyed the NYT crossword before the show and a nice dinner during.
The music was by the Steve Kuhn trio which featured Steve Kuhn on piano, Steve Swallow on bass, and Joey Baron on drums. Steve Kuhn made his initial name playing piano with jazz legends like John Coltrane, Stan Getz, and Chet Baker. Steve Swallow is a wizard on the bass and a very well respected jazz composer. He has played in the Stan Getz and John Scofield bands. Joey Baron is one of my favorite jazz drummers – he brings a huge positive energy and excitement to his nuanced playing and is always completely in tune with the other personnel in the ensemble. I saw him play with Bill Frisell at the Blue Note a couple of years ago for the first time and was very impressed.
Here are a couple of videos of the show that highlight Steve Swallow and Joey Baron’s skills.
Wednesday was a full day of meetings and then a family style Italian dinner at Tony di Napoli’s restaurant on 43rd Street. The food was good and we got to share a number of Italian classics – veal Saltimbocca, penne pasta a la vodka, eggplant parmigiana and the like. After dinner I took my boss and a colleague from California to the Stinger bar in the Intercontinental hotel that Mc D and I discovered on our last trip for the excellent “Smoking Sipper” cocktail.
Thursday was another full day of meetings and then travel back home. Thankfully all travel both ways was smooth and uneventful. I even had the seat next to me vacant on the flight home which is quite unusual for a Thursday night when all the consultants are usually traveling home.
Much of Friday was spent working from AutoHans while Penelope was attended to. She needed an oil change and new brakes. I did find a very nice neighborhood bistro only a five minute walk from the garage called Astoria. I was able to sit outside in the nice summer transitioning to autumn weather and enjoy lunch, the newspaper, and good coffee.
On Friday night we watched a documentary about the Chinese-American artist Tyrus Wong who created the sketches that were the original inspiration for Bambi. Tyrus lived to be 106 and endured all kinds of discrimination during his lifetime but never stopped creating excellent art. Late in life he studied library books about Chinese kite making and created some amazing flying machines. A recommended documentary for sure.
Saturday was a very pleasant day – not too hot and no humidity. So I sat 
outside and finished the book “Bruno, Chief of Police” by Martin Walker. This was a light, quick and thoroughly enjoyable read. Martin Walker was born in Scotland and moved to the Perigord region of France in 2006. He published the first Bruno novel in 2007 and has been pumping out a new one each year since. I enjoyed the local village characters and the food and wine descriptions – life in St Denis sounds perfect.
Here’s how Martin Walker describes Bruno:
“Bruno cooks, he hunts, he builds his own house and grows his own food. He organizes the parades and festivities and fireworks displays and keeps order in his fictional home town of St Denis. A pillar of the local tennis and rugby clubs, he teaches sports to the local schoolchildren.
Bruno finds lost dogs, fights fires, registers births and deaths, and enforces the parking regulations. But he maintains a sophisticated intelligence network to outwit the interfering bureaucrats of the European Union in far-off Brussels. The country folk of the Perigord have been making their foie gras and their cheeses and sausages for centuries before the EU was ever heard of, and see no reason to bow to its rules and regulations now.”
An article in the newspaper this week had the phrase “topsy turvy” in it. I had a flashback of about 50 years and a book called “Topsy Turvy Land” that I loved – all about a world that was upside down for the people who lived in it. I tried to find some pictures of the pages online but didn’t find anything that looked like that book – maybe it’s still in the attic in Stewarton.
For dinner on Saturday night we were joined at the Cowboys Club by Patty and Brent. With the cooler weather we were able to enjoy coffee and dessert on the lovely patio. Everyone was excited for the start of the football season on Sunday and the Cowboys versus Giants game on Sunday night.
The Cowboys had a nice 19-3 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday night to open the season. Highlights were an amazing one-handed behind the shoulder circus catch by Cole Beasley and Jason Witten setting the franchise all-time receiving record by passing Michael Irvin’s 11,904 yard total and scoring a touchdown doing it.
“Southern Blood” by Greg Allman got a posthumous release on Friday. I’ve listened to it a couple of times now and it is my favorite release of this year by far. Greg’s voice has a frail, less gravelly quality to it that lends even more poignancy to songs like “Going, Going, Gone”. The arrangements and musicianship are excellent throughout.
I heard the song “Jealous Moon” by Hayes Carll and it really caught my attention. I’ve seen him listed on the schedule at several of our local music clubs – Dan’s Silverleaf, the Kessler, and Poor David’s Pub – but hadn’t heard any of his music. We’ll have to give him a try next time.