“Home Alone”
I watched the movie “Georgetown” on Sunday night. This stars Christoph Waltz, Vanessa Redgrave, and Annette Benning, and is directed by Waltz. I really enjoyed the performances by all three, Waltz is particularly excellent as a consummate conman, leveraging a single, tenuous relationship to gain entry to all kinds of supposed partnerships.
My movie on Monday and Tuesday night (it’s a lengthy one) was “All the Way.” This stars Bryan Cranston as President LBJ in his first year – working to pass the Civil Rights bills into law. Cranston is excellent and the depiction of all the various factions – Martin Luther King Jr., Southern Democrats, Liberal Democrats, friendly Republicans – and the ways that LBJ brings them on board are fascinating. I really enjoyed this one.
Clorinda finally made a trip to the library on Tuesday afternoon. Diana and Caroline have been encouraging her to visit as it’s getting quite expensive to keep her in books – but she keeps finding an excuse not to go. No options provided this time – Diana just told her it was time to go. And what do you know? – she had a good time and came home with a nice stack of reading material. Then couldn’t wait to dive in.
The other interest in Pacifica was around the removal of a whale which had washed up on the Sharp Park beach – and was visible from Clorinda’s house. Quite the operation to get it back out to sea.
Wednesday morning excitement was getting my teeth cleaned – all smooth, no other work necessary. I had a pleasant Couch to 5K outing at the Apex center at lunchtime to avoid the 106 degree temperatures outside – down from 110 degree records the last couple of days. Whew!
I coordinated an oil change for Finn’s car on Thursday afternoon and took him for a coffee while the work was being done. I know – very exciting and he’s totally spoiled. In the evening I watched the first episode of a new HBO series, “The Edge of the Earth.”
This episode followed two snowboarders and a skier as they attempted to be the first to descend a ridge of a mountain in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska. The photography was amazing – making me feel queasy on the couch as they climbed up the snow and ice covered narrow ridge, and then turned around and skied back down it. An amazing hour of television that made me wonder what drives people to do these highly risky and unnecessary things. I’m looking forward to checking out the remaining episodes.
After that I listened to some music while reading. This album cover of Tommy Malone’s got me thinking. “I wonder where that background is – looks very familiar.”
Then it came to me – it’s a wall mural that we saw in San Miguel de Allende on Denny’s 50th birthday trip. Anado is an amazing artist from Oklahoma, now making his home there, and offering a very unique tour of the art around his garden. I remember him mentioning how much he enjoyed Tommy’s music.
I sent Anado an email asking him if there was an interesting story behind the album cover. Nothing back yet.
Friday was pretty quiet – went for a swim in the afternoon, visited the library, and picked up some cigars for the boys to enjoy on the Sonoma trip. I was surprised to find how much of a busy place the cigar lounge was – several groups in there chatting, and folks working on laptops while enjoying their cigars. Note to self.
I enjoyed a relaxing Saturday. Morning reading, a run at Apex, piano practice, and then I made a trip up to the Guitar Sanctuary for a workshop by Andy Wood. I enjoyed his stories and demonstrations but not necessarily his constant “shredding” – showing off how incredibly fast he can play. It just doesn’t feel musical to me – at least not if you do it all the time as a default style. Here’s one of his songs so that you can see what I mean:
Our local guitar here, Andy Timmons, was in the audience and I think Andy Wood was a bit nervous, thinking Timmons is actually a more accomplished guitar player. I think he might be right:
Timmons was the musical director for many of Olivia Newton John’s tours, and played in a glam metal band, Danger Danger, in the eighties that sold over a million albums.
On Saturday evening I watched “The Gray Man” movie. This stars Ryan Gosling, Billy Bob Thornton, and Ana de Armas, and felt very like a poor man’s Bond movie – even down to the soundtrack theme. One crisis after another for Ryan to fight his way out of. The highlight for me was the first 90 seconds, featuring the wonderful “Lochloosa” by JJ Grey.
Earlier on Saturday afternoon, I thought the performance by Sydney McLaughlin in the women’s 400 meter hurdles at the World Athletic Championships was amazing. So far ahead of the field as she destroyed the world record. Didn’t even look like there were hurdles on her lane.
Sunday began with a nice long swim – I broke a mile for the first time in a long while. In the afternoon I put on my Jerry shirt and made a trip down to Deep Ellum for the second weekend in a row. This time to see Rosebud, a Jerry Garcia Band tribute group, at the Deep Ellum Art Co. This was a new venue for me and I thought it was excellent. Just the right size, with great sound and a good attitude. It also had a huge art patio – bit hot for that just now.
Here’s some of the funky art on display and in mural form:
That’s my best Hitchcock in the 2nd to last photo.
And now for the music – Rosebud were excellent – perfect sound and excellent musicianship all around. Here’s my favourite – “Deal”:
An excellent guitar solo in the middle of “Deal” – this is how you build a solo Andy Wood:
Jerry always loved his Dylan covers. Here’s “Positively 4th Street”:
And another lovely solo:
What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon! I drove by Campbell’s birth place on my drive home:
I read a couple of quite strange and different books this week. The first was “When We Were Birds” by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo, a writer from Trinidad and Tobago who is now based in Norwich, England. The writing is in the local Trinidadian dialect and takes a bit of getting used to. Here’s the summary:
“In the old house on a hill, where the city meets the rainforest, Yejide’s mother is dying. She is leaving behind a legacy that now passes to Yejide: one St Bernard woman in every generation has the power to shepherd the city’s souls into the afterlife. But after years of suffering her mother’s neglect and bitterness, Yejide is looking for a way out.
Raised in the countryside by a devout Rastafarian mother, Darwin has always abided by the religious commandment not to interact with death. He has never been to a funeral, much less seen a dead body. But when the only job he can find is grave digging, he must betray the life his mother built for him in order to provide for them both. Newly shorn of his dreadlocks and his past, and determined to prove himself, Darwin finds himself adrift in a city electric with possibility and danger.
Yejide and Darwin will meet inside the gates of Fidelis, an ancient and sprawling cemetery, where the dead lie uneasy in their graves and a reckoning with fate beckons them both.”
Quite a different read but not something I would recommend.
My second book was “Tanqueray” by Brandon Stanton. He writes a regular blog titled “Humans of New York” that chronicles the various interesting characters he comes across during his travels in New York city. He met Tanqueray on the street one day and discovered her to be a hugely interesting character, now in her late seventies. The two met regularly and Stanton captured stories of Tanqueray’s life. That’s a stage name she had as a burlesque dancer in the 70s and 80s.
This was a crazy journey through a wild world. A fun and very quick read for anyone not easily offended.
I enjoyed this video featuring one of my favourite songs, “Simple Man.” A guitar player is doing a show in a park in Saratoga, FL and convinces a passerby to sing with him. Very good job!
This Derek Trucks interview by Rick Beato was a bit of a revelation. I’ve seen him perform 5 times now, and never heard him utter a word on stage. Here he is quite garrulous and happy to share all kinds of interesting information.
I mentioned Tommy Malone earlier. Here are a couple of my favourites:
Dawes released an excellent new album this week – they have such an interesting sound – modern but with all kinds of 70s references:
Coexist with kindness and compassion for all!