Happy Birthday to Alicia! She hosted 5 girls for a pool party on Monday afternoon. They were mostly very well behaved. 19 year olds don’t seem to be anything like 13 or 14 year olds – much less squealing and yelling. It took poor Diana a few minutes to get all the candles lit on the mini cupcakes.
We had a pleasant surprise when Yoshy and Kerry (one of the two Aussie 
couples we met at the Continental Club last week) were able to join us for the birthday celebration. I grilled burgers, chicken and veggies for dinner and Alicia and Diana made huge green and fruit salads. Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal. You can see the lovely purple orchid that Kerry brought for Alicia on the right hand side of this picture. Hopefully we can keep it alive for a while after Alicia leaves.
As luck would have it, Kerry and Yoshy live only 10 minutes from our friend Stan in Brisbane, Australia. We had just been having a FaceTime session with Stan the night before.
I finally drove Penelope down to Austin on Tuesday morning. I had been worried that the 4 hour drive in her hip-hugging bucket seats would be too much for my back and sciatica pains, but it really wasn’t too bad. Seems the swimming that I’ve been doing lately is really helping with that. Penelope mentioned that she’s looking forward to exploring some of the twisty Hill Country roads after the straight shot on Interstate 35 – a very boring ride.
The morning sky on Wednesday seemed a bit gloomy and ominous. Waiting for the lift to head to work, I noticed a “stand up” meeting happening at the job site next door, where the new high rise building is starting. Made me smile, as I was headed for our 8:30 am daily stand up meeting. The ominous clouds cleared out nicely during the day and the evening was bright and sunny.
I was pleased to read that Western Youth (my favourite Austin band) were performing at Guero’s outdoor taco bar on Wednesday evening.
Sun Radio hosts a weekly showcase of two local bands every Wednesday evening at Guero’s from 6-8pm and also broadcasts live. This station always does an excellent job with sound quality and so it’s a treat to hear bands playing for them. No difference with Western Youth – easily the best sound that I’ve heard from them yet – just loud enough with clarity across all instruments.
The set by Western Youth was excellent from start to finish and I think they made a number of new fans from folks who just wandered into Gueros. Several folks asked me the name of the band and what I knew about them.
I’ll start with my favourite of their songs, “The King is Gone”:
That song always sticks in my head for a few days after I hear it. Another good song was “Dying on the Vine”:
And finally here’s “Black Freight Liner” with some high paced guitar jamming, and inspired by the Jimmie Dale Gilmore classic, “White Freight Liner Blues”. Jimmie Dale was sitting right in front of me at this show – only happens in Austin.
The extended jam version of “Norah” that closed out this excellent show was amazing, no video though – I was too busy enjoying the performance.
Penelope is enjoying Austin. She likes cruising down Barton Springs Rd with her top down, and really enjoyed the new experience of backing into the slanted parking on South Congress.
I was getting peckish after all that great music, and made a stop at the Taco Joint on Riverside, a place very close to the apartment that for some reason we haven’t tried yet. The tacos here are very good – I enjoyed a portobello mushroom and a steamed fish. Another great food option in very easy walking distance.
An overnight thunderstorm woke me early on Thursday morning and so I decided to try something new that I’d been considering for a while – a morning swim in Barton Springs pool. The pool is located in the 358 acre Zilker Park and is conveniently located on my short commute to work. The pool itself is 3 acres in size, and is fed from the underground springs of the Edwards Aquifer. The average temperature is 68-70 degrees year round, and it’s quite bracing on initial entry. Here are aerial pictures that show the impressive length of the pool and the view of downtown that one experiences when swimming lengths.
I really enjoyed the swim and particularly the very long laps that are possible. It took about 10 minutes to adjust to the cooler than typical pool temperature water. One interesting fact about the pool – this is where Robert Redford learned to swim at age 5, when visiting Austin on holiday. Barton Springs is a federally protected habitat as it is home to the endangered Barton Springs Salamander. I didn’t spot any of them but it was pretty dark for most of my swim and the pool has depths up to 18 feet. I look forward to making a few swims in Barton Springs part of my regular weekly routine.
Thursday night brought a pleasant cultural experience – a showing of the new Miles Davis documentary, “Birth of the Cool”, at the Austin film society. Admission included a cocktail, trumpet music in the lobby pre-show, a discussion with the producer, and jazz records in the lobby after the movie. What a deal for $11.
I enjoyed the movie, albeit a bit lengthy at 2 hours. I learned a few things about Miles that I didn’t know previously – his father was a very successful dentist in St Louis, and he attended Julliard to learn about music theory and composition. There was a lot of detail on the incident when Miles was assaulted by a police officer when taking a break outside Birdland in New York. The policeman told him to move along, while Miles explained that was his name on the Marquee above him. Another policeman came in and beat him severely with his night stick. Hard to believe.
I rode back to Dallas with Vinod on Friday and had the house to myself for the night. Diana and Alicia were enjoying a few days in Boston on the back end of a work meeting that Diana attended on Wednesday. On Thursday night they visited the Union Oyster House, established in 1826, and the longest continually operating restaurant in the United States. John F. Kennedy’s booth is marked with a plaque. Diana enjoyed the lobster (pronounced “Lahbstah” by the locals”.
trails while Diana handled some work meetings. Diana had duck for dinner and it looks absolutely delicious. They apparently sat next to a couple for Highland Park, Dallas and had a good chat. Later, they both took a ghost tour around the area.
Sunday started with a swim in the warm gym pool, followed by coffee and crossword. The evening brought a real treat – a return visit to the Kessler by Nils Lofgren, this time with his full band (including brother Tommy from Grin), and his own guitars. You might remember his equipment was stolen overnight prior to his last visit, and he had to borrow all the guitars he used.
Here’s the set list from the show – a very strong finish including “No Mercy”. I remember first hearing this on Radio Clyde with the DJ, Dougie Donnelly, raving about the song – I was sold.Would you like to see some pictures from Scotland? Of course you would!
I meant to share this great picture of my Dad at Troon beach last week on my birthday. My Mum said it was a lovely day, just like the day I was born. I think she’s referencing the weather, but I like to interpret it being a lovely day because of my arrival.
The next picture form Scotland is my sister and familys’ new puppy, Bramble. It might take some time to grow into those paws. I believe Bramble is about 9 weeks old in this picture.
While we’re sharing puppy pictures, my friend Damon’s doodles have grown up quickly.
I finished the book “The Paris Diversion” by Chris Pavone this week and really enjoyed the read. A fast paced, intelligent thriller with interesting plot twists, that is also well written with great descriptions and vocabulary – a rare combination.
Pavone was an editor for 20 years before moving to Luxembourg when his wife was transferred for work, and starting to write “The Expats”. I look forward to reading that one in the future. Here’s an excerpt from the book, where Pavone describes a very annoying habit perfectly:
“Teenage girls were the worst offenders. Posing was second nature for these kids, selfie smiles rehearsed in mirrors, poses perfected after thousands of variations in body angle and head tilt, hair fluff and lip purse and peace sign, a permanent regimen of fine tuning, akin to practicing piano or laying down a sacrifice bunt, skills never attempted by these kids, who instead know how to do mainly this one thing: look like they’re having a great time in social-media photos, exposure and exclamation points compulsory, soliciting other exclamation points, an ouroboros of manufactured enthusiasm.”
Video of Carole King performing at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1973 was released this week. This was her first performance outside of the United States. The first half is her solo performance of “Tapestry” hits, and the second is with a jazz funk band performing songs from her “Fantasy” album. I love this performance with the 10 piece funk band – excellent drummer and horn section.
Anders Osborne, singer songwriter extraordinaire from New Orleans, and good buddy of Anne, released a great new album this week. Here’s a song from that:
The late, great Rory Gallagher has new music released this week. His blues songs really grow on you with each listening. I go back to play his 1982 “Jinx” album frequently.
And finally, some local Austin music from the Black Pumas, regular performers at C Boys Heart and Soul (Continental Club sister venue). They just released a major label album after a lot of striving in tiny clubs.