Diana stayed in Florida for work on Monday while I flew back up to New York in time to attend a show at the City Winery.
The Loft is the smaller venue upstairs at the winery, which is located in the SoHo neighborhood. I heard that the whole location is closing at the end of the year as Disney has purchased the entire block to consolidate their New York locations. The entertainment was provided by the Ana Popovic band and I had limited expectations, not having seen or heard much about her.
Popovic is a blues singer and guitar player who grew up in Serbia and now records and resides in the United States. I was very pleasantly surprised by Ana’s music and particularly by her excellent band, which included trombone, saxophone, and keyboard players from New Orleans. It’s always interesting to notice someone who speaks with a very noticeable Eastern European accent, singing without any trace of an accent. Here’s one of my favourite performances of the evening, “A New Coat of Paint”, a cover of the Tom Waits song from the classic “The Heart of Saturday Night” album.
Another song that I enjoyed was “Slow Dance” from her most recent album, produced by the fantastic Keb Mo:
Finally, here’s a jam between Ana and the brass section:
This was a very enjoyable evening of high quality music performed in a very nice, intimate venue. I’m sorry the club is closing, but understand they are looking for a new location to open in the New Year.
A typical New York scene greeted me on returning to my hotel – dueling jackhammers digging up the street right outside several hotels at 11pm.
I flew back to Dallas on Wednesday evening and always enjoy the view of the New York skyline from La Guardia airport.
Around the same time, Will and Christine were arriving in Stewarton, Scotland to visit my Mum and Dad for a couple of days.
Here’s what Will had to say on text about this visit: “Had such an incredible day today with Granny and Grandpa! Woke up to a homemade breakfast of haggis and black pudding. Then went to the coast to see Ailsa Craig. Walked the coast, got haddock fish and chips and smoked salmon at the famous ice cream shop. Found a little shop with authentic curling stones and these stones made from compressed heather that were really cool! Went into some old churches. Then headed home. Had homemade cottage (Cumberland) pie for dinner and meringue for dessert then ended the night with some Arran single malt scotch. Also had some really good Dunlop cheddar and oatcakes with dessert!!” The way to Will’s heart is clearly through his stomach.
The next day they all met up with Struan in Glasgow, where Will treated himself to a Hunting Robertson kilt and accessories. I enjoyed my Mum and Dad telling me today that Will reported having “done” Scotland, England, and Spain in the couple of days he spent in each.
The Dallas area was treated to around six inches of rain overnight on Saturday, which resulted in some pretty bad flooding. We thought the rain was mostly finished in the afternoon and I took Diana to see a movie without letting her know the name or what it was about. The trailer led me to believe this was a light, romantic comedy which was just what McD needed after a very long work week. See what you think:
It turns out the movie, “Life Itself”, had a significant amount of tragedy embedded in a very well done story of three generations of two families. The creator of the TV show, “This is Us”, had a major role in the film and you could certainly see the similarities in story telling techniques. We’re looking forward to “This is Us” starting a new season this week as it’s our favourite TV show these days (sorry Brent). I enjoyed the references to Bob Dylan’s “Time Out of Mind” throughout the movie and how it played into the story. Here’s a song from that excellent album:
It was still raining heavily when we exited the movie and Penelope was so suitably miffed with this that she shut down one of her window wipers.
I saw this video on TV this morning and thought it was hilarious – a Great Dane mimicking his owner doing lunges.
https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/video/great-dane-performs-lunges-with-owner/vp-AAApfAX
I’ve been enjoying this new song by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits fame. Kind of a new jazzy feel with the saxophone solo.