We assumed this was a taxi, but then realized that in Austin this could be a personal car. Or a donut delivery machine.
Lovely painting on the side of the corner gas station.
Free advertising for Teddy.
The Purgatory Players Sunday Gospel Brunch has moved from the Strange Brew Coffeehouse to El Mercado, right around the corner from us on South First. It was our first time at this venue and we had a great time at 11 AM on a Sunday morning.
It’s a cool Mexican restaurant with a large dining room and stage. The Purgatory Players raise money for the local food bank, a worthy cause, and it’s a popular venue, especially with the locals.
Then we picked up Son #1 and along with Will we went to the Alamo on Lamar for the 1:15 showing of “Skull Island”, the new King Kong movie.
We ate pizza and had a great time at a wild movie. In case you didn’t know, King Kong really hates helicopters and bombs and giant lizards.
They were thrilled to have their picture taken in the lobby of the theater.
Back home we ate Cheerio peanut butter bars and warmed up with hot coffee (it was 48 degrees here and I didn’t bring warm clothes!!!!)
Tonight Banjo Man and I went down to the Continental Club, but that’s a story for tomorrow, because there was tequila involved and I have to go to bed now.
Good night from a dancin’ fool.
It’s snowing in Rhode Island, but we’re in Texas! My friend Barbara just called to find out where I was.
“We’re having a little blizzard here,” she said. “You should be happy to be in Texas.”
I am. Very happy.
The Funny Grandson has been sick and needs some quiet, restful days, so I am presently helping out with that. We have played many games of Candy Land and Match. We watched the movie “Moana” two times this morning, along with Finding Dory”.
I have bribed him with root beer floats and the medicine has been swallowed without complaint. We have read books and shopped for tool belts on Amazon. He has played the drums for me and I have made several batches of blueberry pancakes.
Such fun! And I think he is improving. Hopefully he will be able to hear a little music next week. In the meantime he’s making his own.
Sunday night was an epic night on the Giant Couch.
First up? The 1600’s, with King Louis XIV, in “Versailles”. If you are watching that series, check out this website, http://partylike1660.com/, which gives all sorts of historical information about the Sun King and the various characters in the show. Fascinating. We watched the final episode of Season 1. We both loved this show!!!
Next was “Outlander”, in the 1700’s. Claire and Jamie are now trying to prevent the Jacobite rebellion and the decimation of the Scots (and their way of life) at the battle of Culloden. It’s an amazing series and we are trying to make it last. We still have three episodes until the end. And I’m hoping there’s a season 3 in the future. I think there has to be, but I haven’t googled to find out.
Here’s the Amazon link to the season 2 dvd:
At 9 PM we switched to PBS, to watch the finale of “Victoria”, set in the 1800’s.
By 10:00 we were exhausted.
It has been a historical winter. The Medicis in Florence, lovers in Scotland, Victoria, King Louis XIV…and we still have Season 2 of Marco Polo to enjoy.
I’ve had to enforce a new rule here on the couch which I call “Movie Manners” and prohibits the rustling of Dorito bags, crackers, etc. Banjo Man has to put his CONSTANT SNACK FOOD in bowls so the CONSTANT RUSTLING of bags doesn’t distract from the show. We’ve all been in the movies when the guy behind us has the crackling potato chip bag or the rattling box of candy and it is so annoying, right?
So we use bowls and it’s lovely, though Banjo Man thinks it’s silly.
Since he is not King Louis XIV I pay no attention to him.
This man doesn’t eat on the couch.
It’s that time of year again, when musicians and music lovers from all over the world descend upon Austin, Texas. We’re packing up and flying down to join them.
Over the past ten years my focus has slowly shifted from finding fiddlers and bluegrass shows to spending time with my grandson at “day show” music venues that he would enjoy. The kid loves to watch the drummers.
The Funny Grandson is growing up.
Last week on the phone I asked him if he wanted to come to the condo next week for a
“Root Beer Float” party.
All I heard on the other end of the phone was heavy breathing. Either he didn’t know how to respond to such an overwhelmingly terrific invitation or he was stunned that his grandmother could ask such a stupid question.
I had to repeat it before he finally spoke.
“Yes,” he said. “I’d like that!”
“Okay,” I assured him. “We’ll plan on it.”
He also likes to walk over to Lucy’s Fried Chicken to eat chicken fingers, drink lemonade and see the shows. Guero’s outdoor patio is another one of his favorite venues, along with Opa’s coffee house (he likes their pizza). The kid marches down the sidewalks like he owns Texas and is completely at home in the wonder and chaos of SXSW.
It’s a good place to be. We can’t wait.
I’ve made some pretty bad Asian meals lately.
The chicken broccoli dish with the cashew butter, sriracha, tahini and vinegar hit a new low. Spread out on a cookie sheet and broiled (I’ve read this is the latest trend in meals), it was a crunchy disaster and pretty disgusting.
Banjo Man ate some of the leftovers (he wasn’t home the evening I made it) against my advice and then tossed the rest into garbage.
I’ve done broccoli and beef in the slow cooker, but I sliced the flank steak too thin and it crumbled, though the flavor was good. I made an Asian chili-chicken dish that was pretty simple (once again in the slow cooker) but though it was tasty it didn’t have the depth of flavor I was hoping for.
And then I found this recipe on Pinterest:
http://carlsbadcravings.com/baked-sticky-pineapple-ginger-chicken/
It was your basic sautéed chicken chunks (coated in corn starch before sauteeing) tossed in the pineapple sauce. The second time I made it I tripled the sauce and used three huge chicken breasts.
Pineapple Ginger Sauce
The garlic and ginger are sautéed in a little oil first, then the rest of the ingredients go into the pan, stirred, brought to a boil and then simmered (stir!) until it thickens nicely.
The cooked chicken chunks were put into a bowl and the sauce poured over it and mixed in. I served it over rice.
I steamed broccoli to go with it, but did that in the microwave.
Banjo Man and I both had second helpings and there was plenty for another dinner last night. He thought I should bring the recipe to Texas and make it again there, but after cleaning up the pots and pans he changed his mind.
I love this picture. I have a similar apron–don’t we all!! I wonder what year this was taken and what state. Love the cabinets. Is that a chalkboard or a mirror on the wall between the windows?
The studio where the magic happens!
I’ve always been a radio person. I had a radio beside my bed at night when I was a kid and loved finding odd, static-coated stations to listen to at night.
My grandparents gave me a transistor radio for my 13th birthday. A portable radio??? Was there anything more exciting than that?
I own three radios here in Rhode Island. They are my friends.
Some of you know how much I love am addicted to local Rhode Island talk radio.
When I am at the lake and spending quiet morning hours in the kitchen I even stream local stations from my computer. The corrupt and insane world of RI politics is endlessly fascinating. What powerful elected official is going to federal prison? Who are the FBI investigating now? We’ve had a couple of inept governors who provide endless humorous comments and frustration. Bribes, theft, conspiracies, lies, voter fraud, snowstorms, hurricanes? It’s all here, people.
But I have only been brave enough to call in to a talk show twice.
Several years ago a friend called and pleaded with me to call in to a show we both listened to. The topic? People who dated their teachers. The question? What happened afterwards.
There was no way I was going to call in to announce that I’d actually married my history teacher. NO. WAY.
There was also a time I tried to win a couple of tickets to a sold-out Josh Groban concert.
No luck.
Another time (about 18 years ago) my favorite talk show host was reading about some news in Idaho. “Who would ever want to live in Idaho? Call me if you’ve ever lived in Idaho!”
I was too chicken to call in. And I thought I might get just a bit testy over the air waves as I defended my beautiful state.
Three weeks ago my favorite feisty talk show host had a week long giveaway of Christmas ornaments. “MyLittleTown” is a local company that makes ornaments from Rhode Island landmarks.
All you had to do to win a couple was to call in and tell “Johnny D” something about pop culture that you just didn’t understand, didn’t “get” the appeal of.
I couldn’t stop myself from dialing the station and–surprise–I was the first caller.
“The Walking Dead,” I said. “And zombies. I just don’t get the appeal of dead monsters.”
John agreed with me. And I won two ornaments. All I had to do was drive over to Newport and pick them up.
And that’s what I did today, after Mom and I ran some errands and fought the March wind blasting across the bay.
Here are my selections:
They make the candy right here in my town. Their dark chocolate covered caramels make life worth living.
Like Arby’s but much, much better. Once a year I splurge on their onion rings.
I was tempted to select the “pot hole” ornament, but decided I had enough pot holes in my life right now.
So I stuck with food, the best part of our wacky little state. It’s a little embarrassing to admit how exciting it was to visit the studio, even though I was only in the lobby.
If you want to see the vast array of RI-themed ornaments, go to:
You might want a cup of Rocky Point chowder on your tree next year!
We discovered a new miniseries last night.
We had no expectations. We were both tired, but at 6:15 it was too early to go to bed. We had a few hours to kill before collapsing (Banjo Man had had a colonoscopy that day so he was still a bit groggy).
“Versailles” is quite the Netflix show. Lots and lots of all kinds of sex, so beware of watching it if the kids are around. From what I read, the Brits called it pornography and the French were ticked off that it was filmed in English.
It’s all about Lous XIV, the “Sun King”, and his determination to build the grand palace of Versailles thus never having to deal with the treacherous nobles in Paris ever again while pledging to make France the world center of culture.
Plus he has a lot of girlfriends there in court (I think he ended up with 15+ illegitimate children).
And a gay younger brother (whose wife the King sleeps with occasionally).
And his own version of the CIA.
I have no idea how historically accurate this all is (I doubt if this version would be found in your average college textbook), but the writers certainly know how to write a cliffhanger.
At times it’s difficult to tell who’s who, because it seems that most of the men prancing and plotting around Versailles (when it was a “mere” hunting lodge) have long, dark, curling locks and little beards.
Banjo Man and I gave up trying to figure out the cast once we finally identified the King and his brother. There’s a valet, CIA director and a couple of noble hangers-on that made us pause the show and say, “Who is that again? The spy guy?”
There were a few confusing flashbacks in the first episode, but once that was over with the plot hurtled into sex and intrigue and all sorts of mayhem.
In other words, highly entertaining if you’re not expecting something sophisticated like “The Crown”.
One of my favorite moments was when the King’s brother, enjoying a cross-dressing evening with his boyfriend, beats the heck out of a clothing designer who had put his face on a doll displaying a new dress design.
Huh?
Best line of the episode is when the brother, still in a corset and high heels, has to face his older brother (who is not amused) and shrieks, “You might be King, but you can’t tell me what to wear!”
Having raised three teenaged girls, I could identify–for the first time in my life–with Louis XIV.
It has been a good week on the Giant Couch. Son #1 and Amber (our dear daughter-law) gave us season 2 of Outlander on dvd for Christmas.
We’d been saving it for a time when we could immerse ourselves in the Claire & Jamie love story amidst the trials of being a Scot in 1744.
We tried to limit ourselves to only 2 episodes per night, but I have to confess that last Friday we splurged and watched, uh, four.
I think I have to reread Diana Gabaldon’s books again. I stopped after reading the first three, and that was over 20 years ago. It might be time to revisit Scotland and the best time travel romances ever written.
Good stuff.
Banjo Man absolutely loves it.
We had a little dinner party here Saturday night. It was just like we were at the lake, only it was about 24 degrees outside. And there was no lake. And we were east of the Mississippi.
Our favorite “youngsters” got a babysitter and came over for dinner and Mexican Train dominoes.
There was a bit of trash talking, I will say. And Angela was the big winner. Her husband was the big loser.
Sorry, Jeff.
Angela baked a pie from her new Christmas-gift cookbook. It was splendid, as you can see from this picture.
Is there any more pie? Why, yes, there is!
Fourth of July
Glen the Banjo Man
LIVE at the Dump
is there any more pie? 