Month: November 2024

Week in Review – November 17th, 2024

“Keep Austin Weird”

Shortly after we left the Bywater last Sunday, (you’ll remember we were driving around looking at the art exhibits) there was a second line for the “Death of Democracy.”  What’s a second line?  Well…it’s typical a brass band led parade for a jazz funeral or a wedding.  The family or newlyweds are the “first line” and the folks dancing behind them are the “second line.”  Only in New Orleans would you find something like this related to the election results:

https://www.nola.com/gambit/news/the_latest/new-orleanians-hold-jazz-funeral-for-democracy-following-trump-win/article_3f80f38a-a06c-11ef-ba85-cf2bfab10e8c.html

We flew to Austin on Monday morning and I attended a Board Audit Committee meeting in the afternoon.  That was followed by an excellent Austin evening – dinner at the Odd Duck followed by Bob Schneider and Lonelyland at the Saxon Pub.

But I get ahead of myself again.  As we were getting ready for dinner there was an outburst from the hotel bathroom.  I had to get up and investigate – the nail polish bottle had broken, covering Diana’s hand and ring in red goo.  She Door Dashed nail polish remover from Walgreens and was going to send me to the Odd Duck and then meet me there.  Better plan – I found a nail salon just across the street from the restaurant.  They got Diana all cleaned up in a few minutes, and we were actually early for dinner.  Crisis averted.

We had the usual amazing dinner at the Odd Duck.  McD was delighted to find they had those yummy Palomas back on the menu and I was impressed with the fancy martini glass.

We started with ceviche, followed with a goat pizza, and finished with cappelini.  All creative and delicious.

We walked across the street to the Saxon pub for Bob Schneider and the Lonelyland band.   They sounded amazing and Bob had his usual hilarious stream of consciousness commentary.  We sat with a young couple from Spain that had a great time at the show.  Bob oscillates from heartbreakingly beautiful ballads to crazy rap and rock songs.  He typically starts with a lovely song:

Here’s one of his humorous songs:

Back to a beautiful ballad:

And finally, he always asks what style the audience would like the goodbye song to be played in.  Somebody said “Gary Numan.”

We enjoyed the walk back downhill to the hotel – what a great Austin evening.

Tuesday brought the full Board meeting.  They gave me a round of applause for my contributions before retirement – very sweet to be appreciated.  We enjoyed a Meditteranean lunch on the beautiful patio at Aba, migrated to the San Jose hotel patio and finished up with dinner at Two Hands, described as an “Australian restaurant” – D thought it would appeal to Tim.  A very fun afternoon/evening.

Wednesday in Austin – must be lunch at June’s all day.  This has become our on the way to the airport routine.  We had to get our favourites – steak tartare for D and bone marrow Bolognese for K.

Will and nine friends came into town on Friday for a bachelor party – Blake is getting married.  I picked up some cutouts that they had to have and delivered them to their Airbnb in the Marigny.

After that we went to a 50th birthday party for Debra at Kenny and Kara’s home.  A very fun evening all around.

Will took the guys to Gallatoires.  He reports having crab gratin with a New York strip on top and the redfish special.  Good grief. Is that grey in his beard?

I watched the UT game on Saturday morning while D had a walk around town.  Will and the krewe took airboats out looking for gators, and apparently found some:

Everyone should have a yellow rubber duck shirt ready to go.

Our neighbors got in on the action with a reptile birthday party – no thanks!  Britney is completely freaking me out with this pic (such a poser):

And little Auggie (sporting the shirt we brought him from Honduras) clearly got his Mom’s love for snakes:

For the first time in ages, Diana and I had different activities on Saturday night.  Diana was invited to watch the Lakers and Pelicans basketball game.   Seems like she had a great time:

Thanks Julia!  And particularly thanks to John who wanted to watch college football (Georgia Tennessee) over Lebron James.

I joined Kenny, Thom and Libby for the 25th anniversary Lost Bayou Ramblers show at the Broadside.  They played the documentary about the band, followed by the show:

It was a nice treat when Rickie Lee Jones joined as a guest.  I’ve played her self titled album with “Chuck E’s in Love” so many times over the years.

I love the rhythm of the Ramblers:

Will’s Airbnb host was raving about Bar Pomona on St Claude Avenue and so D and I gave it a try on Sunday for brunch.

The food (Turkish eggs for me and Salad Nicoise for D) and particularly the bread was very good.  The service was “interesting.”  Diana had to have some soft serve pomegranate ice cream:

My book this week was “The Bee Sting” by Paul Murray.  This is a massive 600 page plus book, and I’m about half way through.

The book started out really well, then moved into a section with no punctuation at all – difficult to read and I don’t understand the purpose yet.  I like the story and am interested to see how it all works out.  Here’s the online scoop.  This was a New York Times top ten book from last year and it better live up to that with the time investment that I’m making.

“The Barnes family is in trouble. Dickie’s once-lucrative car business is going under―but Dickie is spending his days in the woods, building an apocalypse-proof bunker with a renegade handyman. His wife, Imelda, is selling off her jewelry on eBay and half-heartedly dodging the attention of fast-talking cattle farmer Big Mike, while their teenage daughter, Cass, formerly top of her class, seems determined to binge drink her way through her final exams. As for twelve-year-old PJ, he’s on the brink of running away.

If you wanted to change this story, how far back would you have to go? To the infamous bee sting that ruined Imelda’s wedding day? To the car crash one year before Cass was born? All the way back to Dickie at ten years old, standing in the summer garden with his father, learning how to be a real man?

The Bee Sting, Paul Murray’s exuberantly entertaining new novel, is a tour de force: a portrait of postcrash Ireland, a tragicomic family saga, and a dazzling story about the struggle to be good at the end of the world.”

Let’s start with some classic Kate Bush:

Great drum sounds:

A great new sound for me:

Coexist peacefully, with patience and kindness for all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week in Review – November 10th, 2024

“Sick Week”

I picked up a virus this week that shut me down for several days.  The symptoms were shortness of breath, bad cough, and high blood pressure.  It started to break on Thursday and I feel good now.  Whew!  Several friends report having similar symptoms – seems to be going around.

My oldest son turned thirty-six on Thursday, reinforcing how old I’m getting.  I asked him what he was doing for his birthday and came away exhausted – are you ready for it?  Here you go:

“I am going to get a shoulder workout in this morning and haircut, then take Ollie up to his groomer in South SF and go to my favorite sandwich shop Deli Board that won top #10 sandwiches in the nation! Then home for some meetings and then back to the gym again for a back and bicep lift before dinner with a big friend crew at Doppio Zero in San Carlos (certified Neapolitan pizza like Terun).”

I like to relax and not do too much on my birthday – apparently not passed on to the next generation.

It wasn’t until Friday that I started to feel like a human again.  Let’s try and put a Happy Hour together.   We had read in the paper that the new Saint John location had a “generous” Happy Hour.

The drinks and food were indeed generous for the price.  We worked our way through several, with the help of Thom and Kenny.  It took Thom a little bit of time to relax after the trauma of election day – much of his infectious disease research at Tulane is funded by government grants.

After Saint John, Thom drove us over to the Milan Lounge for a Jeopardy session, we didn’t keep official score but I think I won handily.

Kenny, Kara, Greg, Tyler and Oliver met us for the Laurel Street music on Saturday afternoon.  These neighbors do such a good job of presenting excellent music.  This time was the New Orleans Nightcrawlers (one of my favourites) and Peter Harris and the Allstars doing the music of James Black.

These concerts started during the pandemic to provide musicians with a place to play and have continued since.  Always excellent.

Here’s a snippet of the Nightcrawlers:

The Allstars were amazing – David Torkanowsky on piano, who I think is the best piano player in a city with many amazing pianists:

There was a new feature as the bands swapped out – a magician and juggler:

That guy was great and the kids of all ages were well entertained.  Here’s Greg’s grandson, Oliver, with some balloon art:

On the drive back home, we passed La Cocinita, a restaurant scheduled to open soon with arepas and empanadas (two of my go to foods).  “Slow down so I can see when it opens.”  “It just opened a few minutes ago – let’s go.”  “Sure!”

The food was excellent, particularly for a first night.  Diana had the Venezuelan sampler and I had an empanada and arepas – everything very tasty.  A great addition to the Prytania strip, that should do very well given the constant stream of customers on Saturday night.

Kenny and Kara invited us to experience the Prospect 6 art festival on Sunday.  We picked them up around 11am and set off for parts unknown.

Kenny took an interesting route across town to avoid the Saints game traffic.  We found ourselves by St Roch market and decided to stop in for a snack.  This is a converted old fish market that has about a dozen different food stalls.  We enjoyed some loaded hummus (very good) and a drink.

Next stop was an old Ford factory that housed several interesting exhibits.

Sometimes the descriptions of the art are as entertaining as the exhibit.  This one of a moving luggage carousel represented various aspects of human migration:

That was followed by an office chair chandelier:

Upstairs there were some interesting sculpture pieces – basketball goals?

Then there was the long tube of shipping barrels with chairs to talk from.  It was really amazing how much the tube amplified speech.  Kenny serenaded Kara:

We’re running a caption contest for this one:

We had a pleasant lunch at the Sneaky Pickle and then drove by a couple of outdoor exhibits on the way back home.

The Cowboys are currently losing badly to the Eagles, as could have been predicted.

My book this week was “Sonny Boy”, autobiography of Al Pacino.  The writing wasn’t great but the story was excellent.  How does a poor kid from the South Bronx get so addicted to the theater and literature, and then become such a massive movie star.  Just a great journey.

 

 

 

Here he talks about his early influences:

“It had started with Brando. He was the influence. The force. The originator. What he had created, together with collaborators like Tennessee Williams and Elia Kazan, was more visceral. It was threatening. Brando had become part of a triumvirate of actors, along with Montgomery Clift and James Dean. Clift had the beauty and the soul, the vulnerability. Dean was like a sonnet, compact and economical, able to do so much with the merest gesture or nuance. And if Dean was a sonnet, then Brando was an epic poem. He had the looks. He had the charisma. He had the talent.”

And about his admiration for Hoffman:

“And then Mike Nichols got hold of him, all of him, for The Graduate. The Graduate was contemporary and of the moment, a commentary on the world we were living in, and it fit him perfectly. It came along at the right time, right when we were ready for it. And its success made Dustin a movie star supreme. I was working up in Boston when The Graduate opened, and I said, this is it, man—it’s over. He’s broken the sound barrier. The excitement for me was in seeing an artist doing something so well, something original, that you recognized had never been done before.”

How it all started with Coppola:

“My relationship with the director who would change my life began oddly. Francis Ford Coppola had seen me onstage, when I did Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? on Broadway, but I didn’t meet him at the time. He was a young up-and-comer who had already directed a couple of films. Out of the blue, he sent me an original script that he had written, a wonderful love story about a young college professor with a wife and children who has a love affair with one of his students. It was mythical and a bit surreal but beautifully written. Francis wanted to meet with me about playing the role of the professor. That meant I had to get on a plane and go to San Francisco, which is something I would have difficulty doing. I didn’t like to fly. I thought, Is there any other way to get there?”

His thoughts on the next generation of film directors:

“I thought Francis had been touched by genius. He had this excitement in him. He was a leader, a doer, and a risk-taker. He brought me to his company, American Zoetrope, in a big building—basically an above-ground bunker where he worked surrounded by a mixed crowd. If my memory is correct, I think I saw George Lucas and Steven Spielberg there. Martin Scorsese and Brian De Palma were also part of the group. I had no idea who they were at the time, but I knew they weren’t actors. They were a band of young radicals who came from the sixties and were about to bring moviemaking into the seventies. They were alive to bigger changes in the film culture.”

A few passages about Pacino’s life changing movie – “The Godfather”:

“First he told me he was going to be directing The Godfather. I thought he might be fantasizing. What was he talking about? How did they give him The Godfather? I had read Mario Puzo’s novel, which had become a big hit; it was a huge deal for anyone to be involved with it. But when you’re a young actor you don’t even put your eyes on those things. Just getting any part in a film is a miracle. Opportunities like those don’t exist for you. It just seemed so outrageous. And then I thought, Hey—maybe this is possible. I had spent time with Francis. I saw that he carried himself with confidence, and that gave me faith in him.”

“Paramount didn’t want me to play Michael Corleone. They wanted Jack Nicholson. They wanted Robert Redford. They wanted Warren Beatty or Ryan O’Neal. In the book, Puzo had Michael calling himself “the sissy of the Corleone family.” He was supposed to be small, dark-haired, handsome in a delicate way, no visible threat to anybody. That didn’t sound like the guys that the studio wanted. But that didn’t mean it had to be me.”

“But here’s the secret: Francis wanted me. He wanted me and I knew that. And there’s nothing like when a director wants you. It’s the best thing an actor could have, really. He also gave me a gift in the form of Diane Keaton. He had a few actresses he was auditioning for the role of Kay, but the fact that he wanted to pair me up with Diane suggested she had an edge in the process. I knew she was doing well in her career and had been appearing on Broadway in shows like Hair, and Play It Again, Sam with Woody Allen. A few days before the screen test, I met Diane in Lincoln Center at a bar, and we just hit it off. She was easy to talk to and funny, and she thought I was funny too. I felt like I had a friend and an ally right away.”

I enjoyed this story of the classic phrase from “Scent of a Woman”:

“When I was preparing for the role, I would sometimes get handed these gifts as an actor, and I knew that I had to make use of them. This was one: A military officer was teaching me how to disassemble and reassemble a .45 while blind, the way a person without sight would do it. Try it sometime. I kept doing it, over and over, and on those rare occasions when I’d do it well, when I’d finally get all those pieces to fit together just right, he’d go, “Hoooooo-ah.” And I looked at him and said, “What’s that?” He said, “Oh, when the troops do something that works, we give it a little hoooooo-ah.” It was like a bit of punctuation. I said to myself, That’s going into the picture. It was like Attica all over again.”

Finally, here’s the online summary:

“To the wider world, Al Pacino exploded onto the scene like a supernova. He landed his first leading role, in The Panic in Needle Park, in 1971, and by 1975, he had starred in four movies—The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, Serpico, and Dog Day Afternoon—that were not just successes but landmarks in the history of film. Those performances became legendary and changed his life forever. Not since Marlon Brando and James Dean in the late 1950s had an actor landed in the culture with such force.

But Pacino was in his midthirties by then, and had already lived several lives. A fixture of avant-garde theater in New York, he had led a bohemian existence, working odd jobs to support his craft. He was raised by a fiercely loving but mentally unwell mother and her parents after his father left them when he was young, but in a real sense he was raised by the streets of the South Bronx, and by the troop of buccaneering young friends he ran with, whose spirits never left him. After a teacher recognized his acting promise and pushed him toward New York’s fabled High School of Performing Arts, the die was cast. In good times and bad, in poverty and in wealth and in poverty again, through pain and joy, acting was his lifeline, its community his tribe. 

Sonny Boy is the memoir of a man who has nothing left to fear and nothing left to hide. All the great roles, the essential collaborations, and the important relationships are given their full due, as is the vexed marriage between creativity and commerce at the highest levels. The book’s golden thread, however, is the spirit of love and purpose. Love can fail you, and you can be defeated in your ambitions—the same lights that shine bright can also dim. But Al Pacino was lucky enough to fall deeply in love with a craft before he had the foggiest idea of any of its earthly rewards, and he never fell out of love. That has made all the difference.”

The touch and feel of Brad Mehldau on the piano are second to none.  Here are a couple of songs that I enjoyed this week:

There’s a new Tears for Fears album out, with all the usual perfect musicianship and wonderful melodies:

Sneaking in a little bit of classic New Orleans funk:

Midge Ure, of Ultravox fame, picked his five favourite albums this week and it was like a trip back to high school for me:

https://www.spin.com/2024/11/5-albums-i-cant-live-without-midge-ure-of-ultravox-visage/

Some great albums in those top five!

Here’s one of Midge’s big hits live from the Albert Hall:

And finally, after a long music section (that’s what happens when I’m sick with nothing else to do), here’s a really interesting version of the Emperor concerto.  Much slower than usual but I find it quite compelling:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!

Fortnight in Review – November 3rd, 2024

“Happy 93rd Birthday, Clorinda – and Happy Halloween”

Captain Jack assembled the krewe for trivia on Tuesday.  What a waste – either last place or second to last – I knew none of the esoteric questions – here’s an example:

Jack claimed to know that Bluetooth was the ruler of Norway – just didn’t know the second country – I picked Denmark but think it was Finland.  All those small Nordic countries get so confusing (trying to sound like an ugly American traveling through Europe.)

Kenny has taken to hosting everyone for  a “Jeopardy” warm up before trivia.  He provided Negronis and snacks – such a nice feature.  And he’s walking distance from the venue.

I  took a flight to join Diana in San Francisco on Wednesday.  Our plan was to celebrate her Mom’s 93rd birthday on Thursday.  The best plans – and then life happens.  Before I even boarded the plane, Diana was calling to tell me that Clorinda had to go to the Emergency Room from dialysis – turns out she had an infection that kept her in hospital for a few days.

Diana slept on a bed in the hospital room that didn’t look comfortable at all for two nights.  I slept alone on Gypsy Hill – Diana noting that she had never slept there alone.  Here’s a sunset that was enjoyed on the hill:

Clorinda made it home on Saturday and was delighted to be back to her home and regular routines:

I flew back to New Orleans on Sunday and was home in time to watch the Sunday night Cowboys game.  They were losing and I fell asleep – first mistake.  Lionel (ghost) decided it would be fun to open the back door while I was napping.  I woke up, had a small freak out, and called the security guy to come and check the house.  No reason why the back door should be open.

Diana was able to organize the delayed 93rd birthday party on Tuesday night.  It seems Clorinda had a great time:

 

 

 

I picked up McD from the airport on Wednesday evening and we met the Krewe at the Ghost Mansion, close to our house.  Such an amazing display.

Diana has never been to the famous Gallatoire’s restaurant on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter.  I’ve been a few times – before Cowboys and Saints game and for my bachelor party.  This place opened in 1905 and is a formal (jacket required), but very fun restaurant.  They recently opened for reservations versus standing in line out front early in the morning.

I thought it would be fun to nix the ongoing commentary about never having been there by inviting Diana to join me for Halloween lunch.  That turned out to be a great idea.  She borrowed our neighbour’s witch’s hat and was all set to go:

The room was hopping with Halloween groups – loud and very enjoyable.  We started with a classic foie gras – absolutely delicious.

Diana had a crab and mushroom dish and I had a trout meuniere – both amazing!

There were a bunch of ladies dressed up as Helen Roper from Three’s Company (a 70s TV sitcom.)  I love the guy from the kitchen singing to the celebrant:

After lunch we went for a French Quarter Ramble (FQR) with a stop at the Will and the Way and then at a jewelry store where we picked out some things for Diana’s birthday.

 

 

 

Taylor Swift performed at the Superdome all last weekend, bringing in a lot of revenue for the city.  I think the friendship bracelet on the Superdome was a nice touch:

There was a band playing when I landed at the New Orleans airport with Swiftie bracelets on the back of the stage and a Taylor cutout for photos – I like that the town works hard to make big events special:

My book this fortnight was “Same as it Ever Was” by Claire Lombardo.  The book started out very well and had a number of beautifully written highlights – it was just so long and became plodding to me.  The chapters jumping back and forward in chronology started to irritate me – I just wanted the story in order.

The reviews are quite mixed – a number of folks loved the book, and several didn’t like the main character, Julia, at all.  Here’s the online summary:

“NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NAMED A BEST BOOK BY PEOPLE AND PARADE • The New York Times bestselling author of The Most Fun We Ever Had (“wonderfully immersive…deliciously absorbing”—NPR) returns with another brilliantly observed family drama in which the enduring, hard-won affection of a long marriage faces imminent derailment from events both past and present.

“Infidelity, dysfunction, secrets – this family novel delivers.”—The New York Times • “Lombardo has such a fine eye for the weft and warp of a family’s fabric.” —The Washington Post • “Witty and insightful…a powerful exploration of marriage, motherhood, and self.”–Bonnie Garmus, bestselling author of Lessons in Chemistry

Same As It Ever Was showcases the consummate style, signature wit, and profound emotional intelligence that made The Most Fun We Ever Had one of the most beloved novels of the past decade. Featuring a memorably messy family and the multifaceted marriage at its heart, Lombardo’s debut was dubbed “the literary love child of Jonathan Franzen and Anne Tyler” (The Guardian) and hailed as “ambitious and brilliantly written” (Washington Post). In this remarkable follow-up—another elegant and tumultuous story in the tradition of Elizabeth Strout, Ann Patchett, and Celeste Ng—Lombardo introduces us to an unforgettable cast of characters, this time by way of her singularly complicated protagonist.

Julia Ames, after a youth marked by upheaval and emotional turbulence, has found herself on the placid plateau of mid-life. But Julia has never navigated the world with the equanimity of her current privileged class. Having nearly derailed herself several times, making desperate bids for the kind of connection that always felt inaccessible to her, she finally feels, at age fifty seven, that she has a firm handle on things.

She’s unprepared, though, for what comes next: a surprise announcement from her straight-arrow son, an impending separation from her spikey teenaged daughter, and a seductive resurgence of the past, all of which threaten to draw her back into the patterns that had previously kept her on a razor’s edge.

Same As It Ever Was traverses the rocky terrain of real life, —exploring new avenues of maternal ambivalence, intergenerational friendship, and the happenstantial cause-and-effect that governs us all. Delving even deeper into the nature of relationships—how they grow, change, and sometimes end—Lombardo proves herself a true and definitive cartographer of the human heart and asserts herself among the finest novelists of her generation.”

The Tipitina’s record club offering just arrived – a solo Taj Mahal set that sounds great.  Here’s a favourite:

Something new from Tears for Fears, still making excellent music:

A surprise from Annie Lennox (fellow Scot) from her American song book cover:

Coexist peacefully, with patience and kindness for all!