Month: July 2019

Week in Review – July 28, 2019

“Percussive Pigs”

This was a quiet week by myself, with Diana in California and Wisconsin.  I did venture out for some live music on Tuesday night.  Charlie Hunter and Lucy Woodward were playing at The Townsend.

This was an excellent show.  Charlie plays both bass and lead guitar on the same instrument – the top 2 strings are bass and the others are lead.  The way he builds up rhythms and combines parts is totally unique and very clever.  I had a great seat to observe exactly what he was doing with his fingers.  I saw a couple of other Austin based guitarists at the show and they were clearly amazed at the dexterity and creativity.

Lucy Woodward’s voice was pleasant and she collaborated well with Hunter.  The drummer and percussionist, Keita Ogawa, was outstanding.  The quality of musicianship on display in this small listening room was very impressive.  Here’s Ogawa playing three squeaky toy pigs in an amazing solo:

Here’s a cover from Grease, reinterpreted as a jazz standard:

This was likely my favourite show of the year so far in Austin.

I drove to McKinney on Thursday and then Diana made it back from her travels on Friday night.

The other two Aussies that we met at the Continental Club a few months ago (Sue and Graham) were passing through Dallas and hung out with us on Saturday.  They are so entertaining and funny.

Diana has left on her travels again – headed to Boston for work and returning on Tuesday night.

I enjoyed a couple of TV shows this week – “Shangri La” on Showtime is about the famous recording studio, now owned and operated by uber producer Rick Rubin.  The series showcased his unique approach to pulling the best music out of artists.

Jerry Seinfeld released a new series of “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee”, and I’m thoroughly enjoying it.  The episode with a vintage Maserati and Jamie Foxx in New Orleans was a highlight.

Keita Ogawa, the drummer with Charlie Hunter this week, is also part of the band Snarky Puppy.  This is an ensemble of folks that came together in Denton around the University of North Texas music department.  They have a varying cast of members and uniquely blend jazz, folk, and rock in compositions that I always find interesting.

I heard this Richard Hawley song on TV and through the wonder of Shazam was able to instantly find who was performing and the name of the song.  Hawley is an English singer songwriter with a number of good albums released.

Week in Review – July 21, 2019

“Think before you speak, read before you think”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

Here’s “Dallas”:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

Week in Review – July 14th, 2019

“A Dull Boy”

Another week of long work days for both of us.  Becoming too much of a trend lately.  We need to fix that soon.  “All work and no play, makes Keith a very dull boy!”.

My comment about steak tartare last week prompted Raj to send me this hilarious clip of Mr. Bean about to enjoy the same:

We were paying close attention to Hurricane Barry on Friday, as it started to head towards New Orleans and surrounding areas.  Denny and Anne returned form their European jaunt on Monday and had to move their cars out of their flooded street, and get ready for several days of being home bound.

Webster Street has never been this much flooded before, and the storm hadn’t arrived yet.

My friend Norma, from Guatemala, was trying to get to New Orleans on Saturday to see the Rolling Stones at the Superdome.  This is the rescheduled concert from the Jazzfest 50th anniversary show that was canceled due to Mick Jagger’s illness.  Wouldn’t you know she had to fly on Friday afternoon to get in ahead of the storm, only to find out that the concert was pushed back to Monday.  We’re hoping she finally gets to see the band after so much effort.  She was in Lima, Peru this week, planning for our new system to be implemented, and was complaining that it was mid winter and very cold.  It will not feel like winter in New Orleans for sure.

Thankfully, New Orleans was not too badly impacted by Barry.

Out in San Diego, Campbell reported his best sales month ever, and best week ever to close out the quarter.  Look at the salesman extraordinaire go!

This screensaver on my computer took me back to the gorgeous Scottish hillsides, covered in heather.  Also made me picture Bramble, Elspeth and David’s new Labrador, out for a run and having fun.  Correction – maybe she’s really Heather’s dog.

 

Our neighbours across the street are moving to a house with better “outdoor living” after 15 years in their current house.  We’re very sorry to see them go – such happy people who would help us with anything.  It’ll be interesting to see who moves in next.

I always enjoy waking up to the sunrise view and the Friday morning edition was very impressive.

 

 

Diana arrived on the afternoon bus on Friday and it reminded me to share this picture I snapped earlier in the week.  One of the luxury Vonlane buses had broken down and the Corvette the mechanic drove over to repair it was hilarious.  Zoom in and check out all that crazy air intake equipment.

Less than two hours after arrival, I had Diana over to Antone’s to see the amazing Marcia Ball.  I just told her that I had a fun activity planned, and didn’t provide any more details.  She was quite excited on seeing the billboard.

Part of the  entertainment of a Marcia Ball concert is the way her legs and feet keep the beat.  On good display in this clip:

We always laugh at the song, “Just Kiss Me Baby”:

Given Hurricane Barry bearing down on Louisiana, Randy Newman’s “Louisiana 1927” was quite poignant:

It’s amazing that a song about the flood of 1927 still seems relevant today.  Here Marcia makes the song her own, following an excellent saxophone solo:

Ball is an impressive performer at the age of 70, having played in small clubs across the South for more than 50 years.  Equally impressive are the charities she runs to provide housing and healthcare for Austin musicians.

The Boogie Kings, a band formed in Eunice, Louisiana in 1955, were billed as the headliners, but the crowd had cleared out a good bit for their set – most folks came to hear Marcia Ball.

Their soul music was very good, particularly the three horn players who had clearly being doing it for many years.  Here’s the “Harlem Shuffle” showcasing the horns:

As we arrived back home to the apartment, the dull sheen of the work week was starting to wear off.

Saturday began with a swim and sauna, followed by a delicious Mediterranean lunch, coffee and crossword at Opa.   Then a Target shopping run and back to the apartment for a nap for me, while McD joined the craziness of the monthly pool party, including a DJ playing music she didn’t enjoy.

Diana was in charge of entertainment on Saturday night, and she opted for a walk down South Congress.  We paused outside the Continental Club to listen to a very good swing band – it wouldn’t have taken much to convince D to head on inside – and then continued our walk on down to the South Congress Hotel.  There really are so many interesting stores and restaurants on this street – very unique.  We enjoyed a drink at Craft and Commerce – commenting on the beautiful decor, and then walked across the street for dinner at June’s.  We sat on the patio and enjoyed the people watching.

I was up early on Sunday to watch the Gentlemens’ Final at Wimbledon.  Going to bed on Saturday, Diana said it started at 8am, and of course I had to argue – believing that was 8am Eastern.  When I got to the TV at 7am Central, the pre-game show was just starting.  Diana was right again.  She always says, “What was that?”.  I’ll repeat – Diana was right again!  What an excellent tennis match.  Federer’s single handed backhand is superb, but his forehand let him down too often to prevail.  I think we shared the Duchess of Cambridge’s emotions.

Sunday morning continued with a swim and sauna, followed by brunch at El Alma – so good.  I enjoyed an afternoon nap and some reading time.  In the evening, we walked across to the lawn at the Long Center to enjoy the Austin Symphony brass section in a free outdoor concert.  They really do take full advantage of the open spaces in downtown Austin.  The concert was a good mix of Renaissance music, film scores, Texas songs, and marches.    The crowd was the typical Austin mix of lots of dogs, kids, and even a guy doing yoga next to us.  Here’s a view of the almost full moon over the Catherine from my lawn chair, as the sun set on activities.

Here’s a short video of the brass section performing the “Yellow Rose of Texas” with some views of the apartment and downtown:

I enjoyed the book, “Machines LIke Me” by Ian McEwan, very much.  What an excellent writer and a creative premise.  The novel is set in 1982, the miners are on strike, unemployment is soaring, and Margaret Thatcher has dispatched the Navy to protect the Falkland Islands from take over by an Argentinian junta.  These are all historically accurate, and then McEwan puts a twist on things – the war in the Falklands is lost with 3,000 casualties, Lennon and JFK are both alive, and Tony Benn is challenging Thatcher for leadership of the country.

The biggest tweak to history is that Alan Turing is still alive and treated as a hero.  He has built on his famous World War II code cracking machine, and created many of the foundational components of Artificial Intelligence, which he provides to all via open source.   Charlie, the hero of the story, acquires one of 25 new androids, capable of developing a human-like personality over time.  The novel deftly explores what can go right and wrong as androids become more and more human-like.

This book reminded me a lot of Roth’s “The Plot Against America”, with the slight tweaks on history.  This one is equally well done.  McEwan has certainly become more of a crowd pleaser with his last few novels, but still highly enjoyable and unique.

I include this first song just so that I can tell a short story that I learned recently.  When receiving the rite of Catholic confirmation, participants choose the name a Saint that they admire.  Diana chose “Bernadette”, best known for her visions at Lourdes.

Returning to Antone’s on Friday reminded me of my first visit there after moving to Austin, and the excellent Doyle Bramhall II show, featuring special guest Lukas Nelson.

I heard this wonderful Chopin Nocturne on Paradise Radio this week – they really do play a great mix of styles and genres.

A unique Prince cover finishes out the post for this week.  Didn’t turn out being too dull of a week after all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week in Review – July 7, 2019

Hornet’s Nest

I decided to stay in McKinney with Diana this week, rather than make the trip back down to Austin.  The early part of the week was heavily work focused with some system challenges keeping me busy.  I’m hoping we’ve turned the corner on those now, performance has been great the last few days.  Hope I didn’t just jinx things.

There were no silly 4th of July questions this year.  It seems that every other year or so, somebody asks me “Do you celebrate the 4th of July in Scotland?”.  I know they don’t mean do we celebrate being free of the responsibility of the United States.  Ha.  We celebrated with late morning workouts and then lunch at Toulouse in Legacy West.  Diana was excited when her choice for restaurant stuck – the other two options we discussed were closed for the holiday.  We enjoyed a delicious white wine and steak tartare with frites.  I know, you’re thinking our diet is almost exclusively raw meat these days – only when we go to French places that do it well.

Dinner was the more traditional holiday fare – burgers and veggies on the grill at home.  I was pretty brave to spend as much time by the outdoor grill.  Why is that?  Well…are you familiar with the expression “A Real Hornet’s Nest”?  And did you know that I’m highly allergic to wasp and bee stings – swell up like the Elephant Man.  Turns out hornets nests are not always in trees.  We found five piles of sand in the beds next to the grill, looking just like ant hills without the ants.  Further investigation showed some kind of bug burrowing into the ground and kicking out sand.  We decided to leave well alone and wait for the pest control experts.

The pest control professional arrived on Friday morning and confirmed hornets’ nests.  He was very careful in spraying them, commenting that they can be very aggressive and their sting hurts a lot.  Lots of mud-dauber and wasps nests were also removed.   We feel like we’re under attack from flying stingers of all varieties.

Friday was a light work day for me – I was able to enjoy a swim and watch some good Wimbledon matches.  Coco Gauff’s recovery to win over Hercog was very impressive, more so considering she’s 15 years old and on the Center Court.  I enjoy picturing my Mum and Dad talking to the TV as they watch Wimbledon.

Saturday started with a swim and crossword, before settling in to read and enjoy the tennis on TV, while McD sunbathed.  Then I surprised Diana with an early dinner at the Grape.  She says she had been thinking about going all week – must have some special ESP going.  We started by sharing the chicken liver mousse, which now has the pistachio topping added back – last time we visited, over a year ago we guess, they had changed it, and not for the better.  Then we split a delicious salad, followed by steak frites for Diana and scallops for me.  A lovely evening and way too long since we’ve visited the Grape.

It was an early start on Sunday to get a swim and crossword in, before packing to start traveling at 1pm.  Me over to the bus to Austin, and Diana to the airport for a flight to Tampa.  We both arrived at our destinations about 30 minutes late – which is not too bad for the weekend after the 4th of July and the hordes of people moving around.  As I finish this post up, I’ve just finished troubleshooting the internet and TV service in the apartment – the third reboot was the charm.

We received a couple of entertaining pictures from Denny and Anne this week as they continue their travels through Europe.  This week in Berlin.  Here Jack and Mason recreate the famous picture of them peeking their heads in to the cottage in New Orleans as we were waking up.

And here Dad and the boys manage to find an Irish bar in Berlin to watch the Womens’ World Cup Final:

Two short, quick reads were a very welcome change of pace on the literary front this week.

“The Parade” by Dave Eggers,  a very favourite author, is a spare and powerful story of two men, Western contractors sent to work far from home, and tasked with paving a road to the capital in a dangerous and largely lawless country.

Four and Nine are partners, working for the same company, sent without passports to a nation recovering from ten years of civil war. Together, operating under pseudonyms and anonymous to potential kidnappers, they are given a new machine, the RS-80, and tasked with building a highway that connects the country’s far-flung villages with the capital.  Four, nicknamed “The Clock,” is one of the highway’s most experienced operators, never deviating from his assigned schedule. He drives the RS-80, stopping only to sleep and eat the food provided by the company.  Nine, however, spreads chaos: speeding ahead on his vehicle, chatting and joking with locals, eating at nearby bars and roadside food stands, he threatens the schedule, breaks protocol, and ends up fighting for his life when contracting malaria. His illness, corruption, and theft compromise their high-stakes mission,  and Four and Nine discover danger far greater than anything they could pose to one another.

Impending doom seemed to be lurking through the last third of this book but never arrived.  Then it all struck in the very last paragraph of the book.  Wow – wasn’t expecting that.  This book is a very impressive allegory for so many of the civil wars that are tearing countries apart.

“Biloxi” by Mary Miller is quite different than any book that I’ve read in a while.  Miller  skillfully  transports us to her unapologetic corner of the South—this time, Biloxi, Mississippi, home to sixty-three-year-old Louis McDonald Jr.  His wife of thirty-seven years has left him, his father has passed—and he has impulsively retired from his job in anticipation of an inheritance check that may not come. In the meantime, he watches reality television, drinks beer, and avoids his ex-wife and daughter. One day, he stops at a house advertising free dogs and meets overweight mixed-breed Layla.  Unexpectedly, Louis takes her, and begins investigating local dog parks and buying extra bologna. Mining the absurdities of life with her signature “droll minimalist’s-eye view of America” (Joyce Carol Oates), Mary Miller’s “Biloxi” captures every day life in the South perfectly.

The exotic turntable picture is for you Raj – hope you’ve completed your audio penance.

I found this song was in my Blues Piano book as I revisited it this week.  A great exercise in dexterity and I’m nowhere near up to speed yet.

Speaking of revisiting, I played this album from Charlie Hunter again this week and enjoyed it just as much as on first discovery.

And here’s a new jazz trumpeter from Italy that I enjoyed.  The album gets a bit repetitive, but I do enjoy the modern sound.