An old friend and a new band

Last night's highlight was the chance to haul and hang out with an old friend. I've noticed that the phrase "old friend"  lends itself to jokes due to the ambiguity as to exactly what is being referred to as old. Is it the friendship or the friend? In this case, I would have to say both. The friend is pushing 50, and the friendship is almost 30.

I'm referring here to Eric Treuil here, alias E.T. Eric works at the University of Louisiana Lafayette with Chi Alpha, a Christian student organization. He was in town for a national convention of the organization's leaders. (I also worked with Chi Alpha many years ago including a stint as intern under Eric in 1988/89.)

He rang me on the cell phone last night to tell me that he was eating beignets at Cafe du Monde, so I pedaled over there as fast as my muscular calves would push me. We chatted on the street in front of the cafe for a few minutes, then he and another Chi Alphan climbed into the passenger seat for a ride back to their hotel. Along the way he kept saying over and over, "This is just so surreal!"

It was a bit surreal I suppose -- but also a ton of fun. May God grant that the friend and our friendship just keep on getting older.

I gotta give a shout-out here to E.T.'s brother in law, Adolfo Garcia, who is one of New Orleans' top chefs. His flagship restaurant, RioMar, has become legendary not only locally but nationally. More recently he has opened an Argentine steakhouse (La Boca) and an Italian restaurant (A Mano), both of which are also attracting rave reviews and hordes of hungry people.

At the end of the shift, I hung out a bit back at the shop with my boss PJ and a colleague. PJ's originally from D.C. but he's been captured by the orbit of the Crescent City and has become a walking Wikipedia (uh, make that "pedaling Wikipedia") of what is hip, fun, and delicious in town. (He says that this is the key to making a good living as a pedicabbie.) In the course of the conversation, he highly recommended a local indie rock band called The Revivalists. I checked them out online and was suitably impressed. Here's a video. (I'm totally enamored with the Avett Brothers and Mumford and Sons these days; apparently I've got a real weakness for banjo bands!)  And here's an article about them from the Times Picayune. They play tonight (November 11) at One Eyed Jack's in the Quarter. If you're around for the show make sure to call me to come take you for a spin!