“Pretty Pacifica Sunsets”
I dropped Diana and Alicia at the airport on Wednesday morning, then dropped the VW Atlas off with Tony in downtown Plano – she’s (or is it male?) getting a ceramic coating treatment (Christmas present from Will). I enjoyed a coffee at the 1418 coffee house before the drop-off. They have really good coffee and a nice atmosphere. Tony is a character from New Orleans, who recently sold his shop there and has just opened the shop in Plano. I think he would have happily chatted with me all afternoon.
Diana sent some amazing sunset pictures from Pacifica. These from Wednesday night are the prettiest I’ve seen there:
And then almost as impressive later in the week:
I used my solo time to enjoy a couple of movies. I read “The Tender Bar” a few years ago, and was looking forward to seeing the recently released movie. As is typical, the movie didn’t really live up to the book, it was enjoyable, Ben Affleck pretty good, but just not what it could have been.
“Swan Song”, starring the wonderful Mahershala Ali and Glenn Close, is based on an interesting premise: Ali is a husband and father, diagnosed with a terminal illness. He is presented with a controversial alternative solution to shield his family from losing him – replace himself with a carbon copy clone. The acting is good, but the story just doesn’t have that much going for it after the premise is exposed.
After two mediocre movies, I was absolutely delighted with “Get Back”, the new Beatles documentary, directed by Peter Jackson of “The Lord of the Rings” fame. It shows the band on a sound stage, preparing for a TV show that will feature new material – the idea being a new album performed live with a studio audience.
It’s fascinating to see how much Paul McCartney is the catalyst that makes everything work – orchestrating the rehearsals, one minute telling George what to play on guitar, then immediately pivoting to dictating a rhythm to Ringo. How passive George Harrison is during the sessions is also interesting – he takes direction from Paul constantly and seems quite happy to just go along with what he wants. Paul and John really don’t seem to even acknowledge him when he does speak up. The band does a run through of “All Things Must Pass”, written by George, and it doesn’t really go anywhere. Of course, this became the title for the fantastic triple album that George released after the Beatles breakup. In one interesting sequence, George talks about how Eric Clapton can improvise an idea, shape it and take it somewhere, admitting that he doesn’t have that kind of talent at all.
George comes in one morning with a new song he’d written the night before, in response to a BBC2 program. The song is “My Me Mine”, and there’s a great moment when the band runs through it (sounding great) when John and Yoko dance a waltz. The rest of the time Yoko is just sitting next to John saying nothing for hours on end. Similarly, George has a couple of Hari Krishna friends who sit on the floor, saying nothing for the duration.
My favourite moment from Episode 1 is Paul creating “Get Back” from nothing – strumming chords and humming and then, out of nowhere, the song appears. Just stunning. Other favourites are the footage of Paul messing around on the piano, while the others are taking a break – the beginnings of “The Long and Winding Road” and “Let it Be” come out almost fully formed, except for the lyrics. I had been on the John Lennon was the genius, with Paul being the second fiddle bandwagon, but this documentary completely upended that perspective – Paul was clearly the creative driving force. The episode finishes with George quitting the band- and this diary entry.
I’m looking forward to the watching the remaining episodes.
Tony finished up the ceramic coating on Friday, and Finn drove Penelope to the shop so that I didn’t have to Uber over. The job looks very good and should protect well for several years. And Finn did a good job of not scaring me as he drove Penelope home solo up Central Expressway – a very intimidating highway.
Thanks again to Will for orchestrating all of this with Tony.
I’ve been in a pretty regular routine this week – wake up at 4:30am, drop Finn at work, come back and read for a while in bed, then fall back asleep for a couple of hours. He started at 4am one day, and that’s where I have to draw the line – he was helping his boss unload a truck before the day started.
I picked Finn up from work on Saturday, a very cold and windy day in McKinney with minor snow flurries, and we enjoyed a delicious lunch at Bengal Bay Grill – an Indian/Mexican/American fusion place that has delicious food. Plenty of leftovers for both of our dinners.
Saturday afternoon looked like fun in Pacifica from these pictures of a get together with Andy and Jude.
Finn is coming over to watch the Cowboys vs. San Francisco 49ers playoff game with me this afternoon – a flashback to the classic playoff games that happened between both teams routinely in the 90s.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading “This Tender Land” by William Kent Krueger this week. The story reminds me a lot of my recent read, “The Lincoln Highway” by Amor Towles. Here are some of the quotes that led me to read this book – particularly the “Where the Crawdads Sing” reference:
“If you liked Where the Crawdads Sing, you’ll love This Tender Land by best-selling author William Kent Krueger. This story is as big-hearted as they come.“ —Parade Magazine
“A picaresque tale of adventure during the Great Depression. Part Grapes of Wrath, part Huckleberry Finn, Krueger’s novel is a journey over inner and outer terrain toward wisdom and freedom.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Crafted in exquisitely beautiful prose, this is a story to be treasured – outstanding and unforgettable.” —Historical Novel Review
“If you’re among of the millions who raced through Where the Crawdads Sing this year and are looking for another expansive, atmospheric American saga, look to the latest from Kreuger.” —Entertainment Weekly
“Long, sprawling, and utterly captivating, readers will eat up every delicious word of it.” —New York Journal of Books
“Rich with graceful writing and endearing characters…this is a book for the ages.” —Denver Post
Here’s the Amazon summary of the plot:
In the summer of 1932, on the banks of Minnesota’s Gilead River, Odie O’Banion is an orphan confined to the Lincoln Indian Training School, a pitiless place where his lively nature earns him the superintendent’s wrath. Forced to flee after committing a terrible crime, he and his brother, Albert, their best friend, Mose, and a brokenhearted little girl named Emmy steal away in a canoe, heading for the mighty Mississippi and a place to call their own.
Over the course of one summer, these four orphans journey into the unknown and cross paths with others who are adrift, from struggling farmers and traveling faith healers to displaced families and lost souls of all kinds. With the feel of a modern classic, This Tender Land is an enthralling, big-hearted epic that shows how the magnificent American landscape connects us all, haunts our dreams, and makes us whole.
I enjoyed learning about how Native American children were rounded up and placed in these special boarding schools – just horrendous treatment and a huge effort to stamp out an entire culture by “Americanising” the entire generation. The description of the struggle by so many to survive during the “Great Depression” was also quite interesting.
As is typical lately with the books I’ve been reading, I was disappointed with the rush in the last 20 pages to tie up all the loose ends and bring the story to a conclusion. A slow moving and highly descriptive book moves to a rapidly paced and rushed ending.
I really enjoyed this read and am looking forward to exploring some more of Krueger’s books.
Let’s start this week with an excellent song by Rich Robinson, guitar player with the Black Crowes, and brother constantly fighting with Chris Robinson. I love the feel of this song.
It’s been too long since I listened to Jackson Browne. This song popped up on “The Tender Bar” soundtrack to remind me of what I’ve been missing:
One of my magazine’s had an interview that mentioned this soundtrack by Pat Metheney and friend – it’s excellent relaxing music:
I’ve been delving back into the Radiohead catalog this week. How does a band go from the relatively straight ahead rock of “The Bends” to the art pieces that comprise “OK Computer” in a couple of years?
and then…
I tell the story of going to see R.E.M in Dallas with opening band Radiohead, back when they had just released “Pablo Honey.” They blew R.E.M. off the stage with an excellent performance. I didn’t know any of their songs and thoroughly enjoyed the entire set. I can still hear the crowd going wild for their performance of “Creep.”
Stay safe and kind to everyone.