Month: September 2022

“An Austin Ramble”

I made the drive down to Austin on Monday, arriving at the hotel in time to check in and relax a bit before the Bob Schneider concert at the Saxon Pub.  Denny and Anne had made a last minute plan to join me in Austin for a few days, and they arrived just in time to catch some of the concert.

These Lonelyland concerts are always such a treat.  You never know what kind of music is coming next and the band is excellent.  Schneider always brings his own special brand of humour.

After the show, we walked around the corner to the excellent Tiki Tatsu-Ya.  We enjoyed some snacks (spam sliders and taro tots anyone?) and fancy Tiki drinks.

It was a short walk downhill to the Carpenter Hotel and the week was off to a good start.

After work on Tuesday, I met Denny and Anne downtown for appetizers at Peche (Diana’s favourite Austin restaurant).

Tuesday was HAAM (Healthcare Alliance for Austin Musicians) day, with bands playing all over town throughout the day.  One of my very favourite charities, started by the lovely Marcia Ball.  Denny and Anne had enjoyed a bike ride around the river trail and some music during the day.  Researching bands, Denny selected C-Boys Heart and Soul as our first stop.  There was confusion on the band scheduling and the rockabilly band expected was in fact a 1950s lounge style band.  We didn’t stay long – opting to walk down to Guero’s and see Jonathan Tyler perform in the Oak garden.  Tyler put on a good show after he warmed up a bit.  We listened for a while and then enjoyed some tacos at the restaurant next door.

Anne was intent on catching the last band at the Yeti flagship store, but apparently Denny and I didn’t walk quickly enough and they had just finished.  I did find a new colour of coolers that I knew Diana would like.

Having been stymied at Yeti, we walked across to Ego’s, where karaoke was in full force.  We spent a fun couple of hours being greatly entertained by a very diverse group of performers.  Highly recommended.

A quick stop at Barton Springs Saloon and another excellent rambling adventure through South Austin was complete.

Denny and Anne decided to attend the Austin FC soccer match on Wednesday evening.  I had a Board meeting early on Thursday and so decided to  have a quiet evening.  I did meet up with the New Orleanians at June’s All Day for a snack before they left.

And as is typical – just one more quick stop.  They talked me into dropping them (and joining) at the Half Step on Rainey before catching the light rail service out to the soccer arena.

Austin FC is really a big deal locally, with all the games selling out.

Denny and Anne reported having a great time at the game.  And I had an excellent meal at the Carpenter restaurant – shaved zucchini salad and wild boar ragu – both really tasty.

The Board meeting on Thursday morning was very smooth, gaining approval for all that we needed.  I met a colleague for lunch in North Austin, enjoying the wonderful seafood at Salt Traders, and then made the drive home in the afternoon.

I got both my flu and new COVID booster shots on Friday afternoon.  No effects on Saturday, but a light flu feeling on Sunday morning.  Friday and Saturday were quiet days at home – good to relax after all the excitement in Austin.

I met Finn for a Thai lunch today.  He’s in great spirits, having received much praise from the store manager about his new truck unloading process.  He also hired the final member of his team – finally at full strength after many months.  The spicy Thai curry seems to have cleared up some of my flu symptoms.

I’m currently watching the Cowboys play the Cincinnati Bengals.  The much maligned Cooper Rush (backup QB) is playing very well with the score at 14-3 Cowboys.  As usual, we are experiencing multiple silly penalties that let the Bengals stay in the game.  I’m pleased that it’s at least a competitive game so far.

My book this week is “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin.  With the travel and adventures this week, I’m only a bit less than half way through this novel, and am really enjoying it.  I was quite skeptical given the online gaming backdrop, but am very pleasantly surprised with how well the story is flowing.  Here’s the summary:

“In this exhilarating novel by the best-selling author of The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry two friends–often in love, but never lovers–come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality.

On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn’t heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won’t protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.

Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.”

I’ll have a lot more to say about this book next week – and I suspect some very positive commentary.

I’ve been trying some ambient music to quieten down my brain at night and let me drift peacefully off to sleep.  I really enjoy this one:

There’s a new Miles Davis collection out that I’ve been loving.  Check out this live cover of Cyndi Lauper:

Finally, I heard this song on the radio in Austin and thought it was really different and creative:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and compassion for all!

“Scottish Wedding Day”

We traveled to Scotland on Monday night, arriving into Heathrow on Tuesday morning.  The flight was pretty comfortable and we both got a decent amount of sleep – that meant we were reasonably refreshed for the 90 minute security queue on arrival.  Like so many other outfits, they just can’t get enough folks to work the security lanes.  Our flight up to Glasgow in the afternoon was again amazing – drinks, coffee or tea and a full meal, all with a smile and chat in less than an hour.  And McD left with several small bottles of bubbly “for the road.”

The size of the Rolls Royce engines on the double decker A380 jet that flew us across the Atlantic is amazing – like a truck bolted on to the wing.

The rental car offered in Glasgow wasn’t exactly what I anticipated, but we made it work just fine, arriving in Stewarton in time for dinner (mince and tatties.)

I attended a memorial service for a colleague last Sunday, and remarked to Diana on returning that I had chatted with Woody’s neighbour of 31 years – that just doesn’t happen here anymore, with everyone moving around all the time.  Well – my Mum and Dad’s house in Stewarton is the same one they’ve lived in now for 52 years – and there are a number of the original neighbours still there, including the Harrows next door.  There’s a lot to be said for those kind of roots.

We visited Dad in Crosshouse hospital on Wednesday, and that was a very emotional experience.  He was very pleased to see us and we had a good visit.  Dad enjoyed a trip downstairs and outside in his custom wheelchair – giving helpful directions and instructions along the way.  I smiled when pushing him back into the ward – “Hello everybody, we’re back.  And for those that aren’t aware I’m Ian Robertson and this is Keith.”

The Millhouse restaurant fed us dinner on Wednesday evening.  Always a fun spot and so close to home.  I’m always taken back to the Christmas Eve we spent in the Millhouse bar with David doing his best to get Diana to perform the “You Dancin’?, You Askin’?” routine.  She has it down now and was disappointed when David beat her to it at the wedding dancing.

We visited Dad again on Thursday prior to making the drive up to Aberdeenshire.  The drive is about three and a half hours and Diana did a good job of finding us a coffee/lunch stop – after we finally found it – Google had it on the wrong side of the street.

The Meldrum house made a wonderful first impression – Mum checked into her luxury suite and we were assigned to a room in “the stables.”  Don’t worry it was very comfortable and had a lot of character.  The Pineapple restaurant served us a delicious meal on Thursday night – from their brand new menu.  The seafood dishes were excellent with Diana easily creating her own feast with a lobster tail on the side.  We were ready for an early bed, but met up with family in the very old Whisky cave bar before retiring.

Those lockers are for private whisky stashes – none other than Sir Alex Ferguson (football fans will know the name) has his name on one.  The bar was amazing and well deserving of the Hotel Bar of the Year award.

I was up early on Friday and captured some interesting sunrise shots – the dining “domes” afire with early morning sun.

We enjoyed exploring the grounds and the beautiful golf course before breakfast with Mum.

The Highland cattle live in a field right next to the dining domes, and the adults are named Glen and Garioch, after the local two hundred year old distillery.  They had two babies this year – I don’t know their names.  Shall we have a naming contest?

Mum had been really looking forward to a quiet day with her book, and we headed off to explore the North East coast.  We started in Banff, me remembering a caravan holiday we enjoyed there many years ago.  From there we drove down the coast to Portsoy – famous for the local marble.  We rambled around the harbour, visited a wee shop and had a nice coffee break overlooking the harbour area.

From Portsoy, we continued Westward down the coast to Cullen – a very picturesque wee fishing village.  A stop for lunch at the Cullen Bay Hotel was a real treat.  I got to try the local delicacy, Cullen Skink – smoked haddock, potatoes, and onions in a creamy soup.  It was a very hearty and filling lunch.  Diana opted lighter with some amazing scallops.

We walked off lunch with a couple of mile hike down the coastal trail, lovely views abounding.

We made the drive back to Old Meldrum in time to regroup for dinner at the wonderful Indian restaurant in Inverurie – Rajpoot.  Diana shares my opinion that it’s perhaps the best Indian food we’ve ever had.  Mum, Suzanne, (Oxford comma) and the three girls joined us and we had a wonderful dinner.

And the day wasn’t over yet.  Robin, Julie, Russell, and Lorna were waiting to continue the fun in the Cave bar.  It was great to see them again and we had a blast with them the following day at the reception.

At some point during these happenings, David and Michael were “assembling” bows for the getaway car.  I’ve watched this a number of times and it just keeps getting funnier and funnier – particularly the expression on David’s face as he fails to complete a successful assembly:

Now the big wedding day was upon us.  Diana started with a run – enjoying the cool Scottish morning weather.  We laughed when the breakfast hostess commented that she was amazed she could run “in this heat.”  I enjoyed the full Scottish breakfast, not knowing options to eat again prior to the wedding dinner.

A bus drove about sixty of us to the chapel at Aberdeen University.  Heather attended a year of law school there and so had privileges to be married in the chapel.  We were warned about no pictures inside but did manage to get a few before things started.

The organ in the chapel is quite famous, being one of only two of its ilk in the UK – the other in Westminster Abbey.  Here’s some more detail:

“The University Chapel of King’s College is home to a fine organ built in 2004 by Bernard Aubertin, one of the world’s leading organ builders. The French Ministry of Culture conferred on him the title of Maître d’art Facture d’Orgues, the highest accolade ever given by France to an organ builder. Although Aubertin’s work is to be found in many countries, this is the very first Aubertin organ in the United Kingdom.

The new organ has three manuals and pedals, with 26 speaking stops. The great organ includes a reconstructed ‘medieval blockwerk’ – in recognition of the age of the building and to replicate the sound the original organ might well have made. The sound quality is built on the French Montre stop – the original inspiration for the staple British organ sound called Diapason. These two sounds encourage congregational singing at services. There is a Trumpet stop to welcome brides, a characteristic French Voix Humaine, and several stops are suitable for accompanying both singers and instrumentalists.

One of the unusual features of the pedal division is a wooden reed stop – Buzene – which gives clarity and depth to the full organ sound. The organ provides a variety of different sounds and colours and has a highly responsive action. The appearance of the instrument enhances the interior of the Chapel and the unique design, with pipes on all four sides, enables the organ to speak freely and naturally throughout the whole building.”

I enjoyed listening to the organ throughout the service – particularly with all the stops pulled out at the conclusion.

We had some time to capture some pictures before the bus took us back to Meldrum House for the reception.

The bus driver selected a particularly narrow road for the return, requiring a few very close passing incidents with cars, and then this:

The thought of the driver backing up and finding a place to turn wasn’t inspiring a lot of confidence.  Fortunately, the road wasn’t really fully closed with a worker quickly moving the sign to let the wedding group through.

We enjoyed some hors d’oeuvres and drinks and then it was time for the reception to start.  I don’t think entrances get much better than this:

David’s speech was excellent – all seventeen minutes of it.  The “alternative vows”, modeled after my Dad’s speech at Elspeth and David’s wedding, a highlight:

After a delicious meal, it was time for the excellent band to set up and the dancing to begin.  We had a break to take some photos outside before that all started.  Here’s the wonderfully precocious Alex all the way from Australia:

And of course the cutting of Lorna’s beautiful cake:

Diana seemed pleased with my commitment to participating in the dancing.  I wasn’t up to the standard that Russell demonstrated during the extended intro to a song that left him stranded on the dance floor with Diana for a while – I think the band was messing around.   They both took it in stride beautifully.  Then there was Diana dancing the Gay Gordons with Heather’s law firm boss.  And all the jumping around with Robin to “Shut Up and Dance With Me!”  Can you tell a great time was had by all?  No?  Well, maybe this will convince you:

Oh yes, I almost forgot a character that also had a lot of fun – apparently getting into all sorts of trouble when we were dancing:

As if Elspeth and David hadn’t done enough over the weekend, they had an open house and barbeque at their home on Sunday afternoon.  It was lovely to relax in the sunshine after the big day, and catch up with folks we didn’t get a chance to talk to much at the reception.

Heather and Michael really enjoyed our wedding gift – the lyrics to an Imagine Dragons song that they had considered for the first dance, but thought better about the speed and beat:

Now it was time for an early night back at Meldrum House.  What a memorable weekend!

My book this week was “An Honest Living” by Dwyer Murphy.  I really enjoyed this crime story set in the New York area.  The reviews are very mixed with some folks disappointed that the story didn’t have more oomph and complaining about all the asides and descriptions – that’s what I particularly enjoyed.  Murphy’s style was just the stuff that I like.  Here’s a typical paragraph that must have frustrated the folks looking for more direct crime story telling:

“Newton would have liked that.  He liked going places and seeing what was on the shelves.  Got thrown out of a party once for berating the hosts over color coding.  That’s how they had them arranged, all the books by the color of their jackets and spines.  They didn’t care what the books were about or who had written them so long as the bookcase looked like a rainbow.  Newton thought that was the most deranged thing he had ever seen.  He was drunk, and that didn’t help.  He could summon up outrage when it came to book though.  Not bad.”