A busy week of travel, great music and some good meals and in case you hadn’t heard the Dallas Cowboys have a 9-1 record for the first time in franchise history and the best record in the National Football League!
I flew to New York on Monday for a 2 day offsite meeting with 130 of our technology leaders. On the outgoing flight I watched the movie “Captain Fantastic” which is not at all what it sounds like. It’s about a man (played by the outstanding Viggo Mortensen) who raises his children in a forest mostly off the grid. His family members harass him about the danger he’s putting his children in. I enjoyed this scene where he fights back against that notion. It reminded me of the scary answers received when asking my children and other reportedly well educated kids about basic American and world history.
The movie title had me singing my favorite Elton John song in my head from his “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy” album.
On Monday night I met up with my team (Gonzalo, Heather, and 
Greg) for cocktails at what is reported to be the “World’s Best Cocktail Bar”. The “Dead Rabbit” has won all the major best cocktail bar awards for the last few years and it did not disappoint. I had a “Fifth Gear” which was based on Irish whiskey and very strong. That was accompanied by my favorite pub food – a shepherd’s pie made with lamb.
After that we headed to the Village Vanguard for the regular Monday night show by the Vanguard orchestra. I wasn’t sure how my team would enjoy it but they all came away very impressed with a great show. We enjoyed watching a young saxophone player who was obviously sitting in for the first time (2nd from the left) as he tried to impress the older generation. Here’s a video with the old hands soloing first and then the young man holding his own very well.
Tuesday
was a full day of meetings. The organizers tried to spice things up with some “lightning talks” – 5 mins or less on any topic an attendee had in mind. We submitted topics in advance and the audience voted. My talk, “Humble and Kind”, was selected first. The idea came to me after enduring the prior week of hateful speech from all sides and particularly the reports from our schools. The talk seemed to be well received and the song “Humble and Kind” by Tim McGraw was played at the end of the day 
on both Tuesday and Wednesday.
There was a cocktail reception and dinner on Tuesday night with several stations for different international foods. I was excited to find they had Bao sliders (steamed buns) – one of my favorite Blue Apron meal discoveries.
I was glad to get home late Wednesday night.
We had a chance to compare the McKinney Boyd High School jazz band with the Vanguard orchestra on Friday when they played at the local elementary school. Here’s a couple of videos. Alicia is 2nd from the right playing tenor saxophone.
I think they compare very well with the professionals. Here’s a trombone battle – both players have a great tone.
Saturday eveni
ng provided a real musical highlight. We saw Marc Broussard perform at the Granada theater. Dinner before at the Sundown restaurant next door to the theater was very good. Marc has a great voice and a solid band including 3 horns. We enjoyed a couple of soaring saxophone solos. My highlight of the show was a cover of “Sneaking Sally Through the Alley”, originally recorded by Robert Palmer with The Meters from New Orleans as his band. The George Porter bass line is one of my favorites.
The encore was “Home” which is Broussard’s only really well known song – a pity he’s not more popular but that does mean we can see him at small venues like the Granada. That’s his Dad who taught him to play on guitar for the encore.
We spent the night at the Magnolia hotel (a very short and easy uber ride away) and then enjoyed brunch at the Blue Goose Mexican restaurant on Sunday. I had my usual sour cream chicken enchiladas – they have the best I’ve tasted.
Sunday afternoon was spent relishing the Cowboys latest win over the Baltimore Ravens – they played a great game. I learned that Andy Murray had beaten Djokovich to remain number 1 in the world rankings during a face-time call with Mum and Dad. A good sports day all around.