Tuna and Tom Waits

Well, like I said we were treated to some really good tuna Wednesday night. It was super fresh and cooked really well, as in not too well. Marion and I enjoyed a couple martinis before and during our meal. Ice cold vodka goes good with seared tuna, you should try it sometime. We then meet up with a couple of friends who were headed to the Saenger Theater as well. One more ice cold vodka and we’re off, ready to see Tom Waits strut his stuff.

And that’s exactly what he did. For about 2 hours he twisted and turned, flapped his arms as if trying to fly, stood on one foot doing weird ballet moves, all the while belting out tunes in his slackjaw, down to his kneebone, rusty old voice. It was great and it was just what the people wanted to see and hear. Every move, every comment, every jester received applause. He told jokes, played the guitar and the piano. The complete package.

The stage setting was beautiful. There were random lights of different colors all about the stage. Large square boxes with 15 or 20 lights, row after row. The middle back drop was a long curtain that took on what ever color light was spotted on it and it looked like heavy velvet, about 20 feet tall. Red and blue were the two colors used the most and the red light made it look like an old whore house. A nice antique whore house with a red glow. It was real nice.

The show in Mobile was about the same as the show in Atlanta three nights later. It was proceeded by a really good meal also, more on that soon. In Mobile we sat on the 11th row, but were as far to the right as you could get, not bad seats at all just couldn’t see the horn blower or the piano player much at all. In Atlanta we were smack in the middle, about 35 rows back. I think he played four songs in Atlanta he did not play in Mobile. The set up was the same as in Mobile, except Larry Taylor played lead guitar on two songs. Mr. Waits also played a very small keyboard that was old and he looked huge sitting behind it. It sounded as if it was metal striking metal.

These are some of the songs he played. Make it rain, chocolate jesus, lucinda, down in the hole, cemetery polka, lucky day and lot’s of others. The band was really tight. Waits had described them as having race car precision, but I thought it was more like, subway under your feet in NYC precision. They were like a train, sometimes they went fast and sometimes they went slow. His son plays the drums for him and the saxophone guy played two horns at one time, more then once. The guitarist was the best. He made an unreal range of sounds come from his guitar and he played the banjo and other string stuff as well. Sitting in the middle made a big difference as far as visuals went. Being way to the side you didn’t get the effect of a main character, in the middle of the stage playing to the room. You really got the feel it was a theatrical event from sitting up and looking down at the stage and being in the middle. It was almost vaudeville like, the complete package.

One of our friends videoed just about the whole show and she has put a lot of the songs on you tube at this address http://www.youtube.com/user/Imbamalee. Go there and scroll down a little, you can’t miss em.

Wait a minute

About 7 or 8 years ago Stacey went to NYC to see Tom Waits at the Beacon Theater. It was the perfect place to see him do his thing. The Beacon is not a real large room and the sound was great. It was one of the best shows I have ever seen and we felt quite fortunate to see Mr. Waits as he does not tour much and his tickets sell out in less then an hour for all his shows.

Well here we go again. No, not NYC, but beautiful downtown Mobile, Alabama. That’s right, tonight at the Saenger Theater we will again have the pleasure of see Mr. Waits do his thing. I say “do his thing” because he is such a unique character and has such a presence, only he could do what he does. His trashed out voice, antique instruments and found sounds all make for one of a kind act. On top of that some of the songs are just beautiful pieces of art.

Mobile has been real proud of itself lately. That city is in a place it has never been in before. People now actually want to live there. There are jobs, there’s a whole new scene downtown, with bars and restaurants and art gallery’s for people to enjoy. People are moving into all kinds of lofts and condos in the downtown district.

Now this, Tom Waits! I bet there’s gonna be an even bigger change when folks hear about this. People will flock to the city wanting to buy new homes and relocate there. Magazines will claim it the “Best new City in the South”, the best place to live, the best place to raise your kids. And you can all thank Tom Waits. Tom Waits plays Mobile Alabama! Who would have thunk it?

Lake Trippin’

We have friends, and it’s one of the best things in life. So many friends, all kinds of different people. We feel really blessed in this way.

There is this one couple we are friends with, a young lady that Stacey worked under at one point at Delta, and her husband, who loves the good things in life and sharing them with his friends. This lady helped save my life about ten years ago, we were friends then and still are today. These guys have a beautiful house on a lake in Tennessee and about 2 or 3 times a year have us up for the weekend. They always invite another couple that we know well and we have the best time, just hanging out, boating, sitting in the sun and eating and drinking.

Food is usually the main focus of these weekends. We all talk about it a few weeks ahead and make a plan. We either each do a meal or two or we work together on a few meals. These are some of the best meals I get to have and the fellowship is a big part of it. I think we all enjoy cooking and preparing food for each other. Wine is usually matched to the meal and special cocktails are always introduced on these weekends. These guys all like food and drink and we like using the best and freshest ingredients we can get our hands on.

These are some, just some not all, of the things we enjoyed this weekend.

Shrimp and Grits, a crab salad sandwich and lots of bar b que.

Friday night some que was picked up at the local que joint, along with sides of baked beans and tater salad. Good stuff, and our host had some little gherkin pickles he had picked up at Traders Joe, they were great with the bar b que and the tater salad. There were Dark and Stormy cocktails mixed up with a dark rum that was delicious. Also we enjoyed Salty Dogs, I think that was the name of the drink. Good grapefruit juice, vodka, salt and I think something else was mixed in. These are good drinks and all the better with the quality ingredients used.

The “store bought” bar b que was good, but nothing like the butt that cooked on the green egg all night and I do mean all night long. This is something that is usually done on these trips. One of our friends loves to cook meat on the grill and he is very good at it. It was also a Berkshire butt he was cooking. I know the farmers that raised the pig and I know what that pig ate and it was all natural. You just can’t do no better than that. Good meat cooked for 12-14 hours on really low heat. The pit master knows what he doing and I could taste the proof and the truth. Of course the blessing of the butt helps, here is a photo of the butt gettin blessed.

Then there’s Sunday morning when all the leftovers are pulled out, laid on the bar and you get to relive you favorite food moments of the weekend. God bless America.

Cock Fights

My next door neighbor has a rooster in her backyard. It is not against the law to have yard birds in East Point, Georgia. This roosters crows all the time, except when it’s asleep, which isn’t often. It’s not a real problem for us because we sleep with a fan running to drown out city noise. You know like traffic, loud stereos, domestic violence and roosters.

The other night the electricity went out. So we had no a/c, no fan, nothing but silence. Silence and a thumping bass from car stereos, gun shots and roosters. I’m used to the stereos and gun shots, but at 4 a.m. when the rooster started up I couldn’t take it. I had not slept well and was pissed off at the world. So when the rooster started to crow so did Tracy. I was so mad I decided to get my chain saw and cut a tree down right next to my neighbors house. The house with the nice old lady, her alcoholic son and the loud ass rooster.

4 a.m. cut down a tree? Sounds good to me. So I put on cloths, shoes and a black ski mask. I couldn’t get the mask to fit right, couldn’t find the eye holes. Then I realized I had grabbed a pair of Stacey’s underwear, not my black ski mask. Anyway I went out to the shop and grabbed my chain saw. The lot between my house and the little old lady’s house is full of trees and brush, so I knew I would have no problem finding a tree to cut down. Nothing to big, just enough to send a message. So some how in the dark, through the bush I go across my back yard, as close to the roosters yard as I could get. I put on my safety goggles and pull the cord to start the saw. Nothing. Again, pull, pull, pull. Nothing. It’s out of gas. DAMN DAMN DAMN IT’SOUTOFGAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I’m just gonna go knock on the door. Like an adult, I’m gonna go over and speak with little old lady about her rooster. I’m sure she will be reasonable, I’m sure I will be as well. So knock knock knock, yea I know it’s 4 a.m. but hell I’ve seen her sweeping her front porch at 4 a.m., so no problem. Reasonable Tracy, be reasonable. Her son comes to the door and I scream as loud as I can “If I hear that goddamn rooster one more time I’m gonna kill it.” So sonny boy just looks at me with his red bleary slits for eyes and says, “if I hear you damn dogs one more time I’m gonna shoot them.” I say thank you and good night.

Whenever I see little old lady and sonny boy sweeping the dirt from their front yard, I just act like nothing ever happened.

Drinking like a Fish and Big Blue swings

I’m making this swing for a lady I have never met. Last weekend I delivered a swing just like this to a guy name Ish. He is an M.D. His swing was painted antique white. I had never met Ish face to face until the day I delivered the swing to him. He saw a swing I had built on someones front porch, knocked on the door, ask for my name, he called, ordered a swing and got it. Talk about word of mouth.

I am also taking this painting to friends lake house in Tennessee. It’s a fish. He’s smoking a cigar, that’s a martini in his fin. All this is in my near feature.

White Sangria

A few years ago I met my two sisters in Montreal Canada for a couple of days of R and R. They were there for reasons I can’t disclose and I planed to meet them for their last two days, when they had finished their business.

So I did a little research and came up with a few good spots to dine and the hip neighborhood to hang out in. We had a really good time. We used our time wisely, we ate well and we found a large outdoor food market, in the hip neighborhood. The name of this amazing market was Jean-Talon Market. It was full of produce and surrounded by cheese shops.

One of the restaurants we dined at was Boris and the other I can’t remember at this time. I do remember it was good, they served tapas and some of the seats in the restaurant were swings.

The restaurant Boris was named after the owners dog. It was a really neat spot. The dining room was a courtyard that was actually an old building with no roof. Next door, attached to the courtyard was the kitchen. We had no reservation as had been suggested by our travel guide, but made our way from the old town district to a nearby neighborhood to see if we might get a table at Boris. It was full when we arrived, but they thought they could get us a table in twenty minutes or so. So we waited a while and noticed a large pitcher of a white, iced drink on a few tables. When I ask the host what those folks were drinking he directed us to an open table and informed us it was White Sangria these folk were enjoying. Cool, a table and a quick order for a vessel of the White Sangria. I’m sure White Sangria was nothing new at the time, but we had never had it. It was good, real good. It was also a warm evening and the cool wine drink hit the spot. Just like the other night here in East Point when Stacey mixed up a batch of fruity Sangria. It reminded me of this trip and how much we have been enjoying White Sangria since.

Here’s a recipe, there are tons of them out there. Just make sure you use decent wine and fresh fruit.

This sangria takes 5 to 10 minutes to assemble in a large pitcher. Take the time to prepare it in the morning so the sangria has several hours to develop its fruity flavor.

3 tablespoons sugar
3 shots Calvados or other apple liquor
1 lime, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
2 ripe peaches, cut into wedges
3 ripe green apples seeded and cut into wedges
1 bottle white Rioja Spanish wine or other dry white wine
1 pint raspberries
Sparkling soda water, for topping off glasses of sangria at table.

Combine sugar, Calvados, lime, lemon, peaches and apples in a large pitcher. Cover with 1 bottle of Rioja wine and chill sangria several hours. To serve, spoon fruits into glasses or goblets, adding a few fresh raspberries in each glass, pour wine over top of the fruit. Top glasses of sangria off with a splash of soda water and serve.

A Southern Wedding

A Southern wedding is a nice thing, I know, I was half of one ’bout 20 years ago and it took.

We were lucky enough to have the extreme pleasure of attending our niece’s wedding June 8th. It took place in Sopchoppy, Florida, at the River of Life Church. We were almost late for the wedding cause I insisted we stop and take this photo. It’s not often you run into this much beautiful rust in one place.

I gotta say I love events like this. I really enjoy getting together with the other side of my family, we always have fun. We got to see a lot of folks we haven’t seen in years and that was nice.

There was a lot of cool things about this trip, of course the wedding. It was great, the stage was beautiful, the music was beautiful, the bride and groom were beautiful, just look at this.

All the things that go with a good wedding were spot on. First off, I missed my tee time the morning of the wedding because the Brides mother kept challenging me to have one more shot of Gentleman Jack with her. The food and the restaurant and their staff that put on the after rehearsal party were really good. I enjoyed it very much. I did get to play golf the next morning and that was good. We leased a convertible, that was good. We hung out at the pool and got sun and that was good. The reception was at this really cool place on the water. The architecture was awesome and that was good.

All in all a good wedding, I bet it will take.