(note: this is part 2 of a two-part entry about my residency at the University of Texas at Austin. Read part one here.)

Sorry for the delay in the posting of “UT: Part 2,” but Mr. Unger’s comments just destroyed me. I found myself unable to even think about food, let alone look at photos of it. I cried myself to sleep for days, and dreamt of my embarrassing blog while echoes of my occasionally interesting/clever music looped in my martini-clouded head. I wondered, Should I retire the blog to appease Mr. Unger? Then I realized that perhaps Mr. Unger should bite me.

The morning of Saturday, September 30, I received a call from my buddy Danny Prado. Danny Prado is awesome. You know those people whom you can only call by their full name? Danny Prado is one of those guys. I guess one could call him “Prado,” but “Danny” just doesn’t suffice.

Danny Prado called and offered to take me out to lunch. He, his wife, and his daughter (a member of the UT marching band) picked me up at the hotel, and we went for pizza. Tasty, brick oven pizza. Mine, by my own doing, had a bit too much garlic, and I was relieved that AEJ wasn’t around to be subjected to my breath.

A few hours later, Jerry Junkin picked me up and took me to the game — UT vs. Sam Houston State. The afternoon started with the President’s Reception at Bass Hall — all-you-can-eat tastiness, plus an appearance by the UT marching band. Ya know what I like? Individual chocolate pecan pies. Fortunately, there were about eleventy-seven thousand of them.

Here’s the band — from three levels up.

After a few minutes of fight songs and such, Jerry and I headed to the stadium. This must be what stadiums look like in heaven. That, or my camera needed some major color correction.

Hanging with Jerry — and having a press pass — is the ultimate way to experience a game at UT. Jerry can get you anywhere on game day. We went through the VIP entrance, directly onto the field.

Fred Velez, who conducted “Redline Tango” at TMEA last year, had just started a new job at Sam Houston State. Fred was at the UT game, and it was good to see him again. Here are Fred and Jerry, catching up.

Fred introduced me to the Sam Houston State marching band. They were very nice. (It helped that Fred told them my birthday was the next day.)

This is the crazy new HD screen at Texas Stadium — the biggest screen in the US. That shot of the bull, by the way, is live. The bull was off to the side. (See below in a few pics.)

And here comes the band!

Junkin conducts the national anthem.

It was just crazy being on the sideline of a major college game. Just before the game, I caught this shot of the kicker taking a few practice shots.

Here I am with the cow. The cow does not seem impressed.

With the game in action, Jerry and I headed to the press box. Check out the guy in front of me. Love the hat. If I were a reporter, I’d totally wear one, too, ’cause that is totally not cliched.

Another shot of the press box.

Halftime, and the marching band did their show. Good stuff. Any band that spells things is impressive in my book. I’m a terrible speller.

Oh no! The word fell down!

More free food — this time, in the press box. Nachos, my friend. Nachos.

For the third quarter, Jerry and I headed back down to the sidelines. Here’s the mascot — I think. What’s down those stairs?

It’s tough to describe how close I was to the action. This shot — using no zoom — gives a good idea. (I was actually so close that a few plays later, I had to hop out of the way to avoid being nailed by a bad pass. That’s just what my self-image needs — to be hit by a ball in front of 60,000 people and a TV audience of millions. I’d have totally flashed back to high school gym class, and may never have recovered from the humiliation.)

This guy got nailed.

We left early in the 4th quarter. As you can see, the score was not close.

That night, I met up with Sarah for drinks after the game. (Sarah wrote about it extensively in her own blog entry.) Good times.

The next day — in addition to being my birthday — was the big concert. It was fantastic. Great program, including this weird Hindemith piece — “Kammermusik Number 7 for organ and chamber orchestra.” Really cool, and… weird. AEJ would have loved it. (She, inexplicably, is a big Hindemith fan. Me, not so much.) The program closed with “Redline Tango.” Jerry told the audience (great crowd, by the way) that it was my birthday, and when I spoke to them to introduce the piece, I told them that all I wanted for my birthday was a lot of applause. The performance was just fantastic — not surprisingly, one of the best I’ve ever heard.

After the concert, the gang headed to dinner at Shoreline Grill. I started with a martini. For the sake of Mr. Unger, I won’t tell you how I had it. But I’ll tell you it was Grey Goose. With olives. And it was dirty. And up.

There were tasty appetizers all around. Here are the crab cakes with chipotle mango sauce. Damn tasty.

For my entree, I had the seared sea scallops with pistachio goat cheese polenta and garlic dijon butter sauce.

True to form, the UT gang made a to-do about my birthday. It meant a lot, as this was the first birthday I’ve spent on the road — and the first time I’ve been away from AEJ on my birthday since we’ve been together — so I was definitely feeling homesick. These UT folk are a special group.

My sincere thanks to Jerry Junkin and everybody at UT for showing me an amazing five days in Austin. They’re commissioning my sax concerto for next fall, so I’ll be back there in about a year. I can’t wait.

I received a fun piece of fan mail this morning, and I share it with you, unedited.
—

While your music is passable and occasionally interesting/clever, your blog is very embarrassing. While I know that, by definition, blogs are truly childish, “bloggers” should at least be able to write well and not talk to readers they do not know as though they are close friends. You do neither. You should try to understand that most people do not know you and probably do not wish to, and your fan base is not as large as you think. I happened upon your site after hearing a piece of yours recently and was somewhat intrigued by it. After seeing your site, I am just embarrassed for you. If you think people are interested in what hotel you are staying at or how you like your martinis, you are very mistaken. Your writing makes you sound like a much more immature person than I hope you are.

Sorry to be so critical, but you should realize the impression you make on people (or at least one person) you do not know. And don’t belive your friends if they tell you how great your blog is. They are either wrong or trying to humor you.

Dan Unger

—
Amen, Dan. Amen. I will totally drink to that.

I loved Austin, Texas. Loved it. Really, I should just leave it at that. I mean, what more is there to say? Plus, if I leave it there, I won’t have to narrow down the 340 pictures I took during those 5 days, and post only the 40 or so best photos. But, I know that’s why you’re here, so…

The flight from Burbank was fine, and stopped briefly in Vegas. I was like, “hey, I want to get off and gamble,” but since I wasn’t changing planes, I had to stay on board with no outlet for my nervous flyer energy. No matter; we were on our way again soon. And thanks to AEJ’s old issue of The New Yorker, I reached Austin with a lot more knowledge about Werner Herzog, and how Mapquest works. (Herzog : perhaps a crazy man, with the worst luck in all of Hollywood. How Mapquest works : magical kitties. Or maybe I’m combining that with a dream I had on the plane.)

I checked into the hotel in Austin — a Doubletree, complete with their famous Check-In Cookies! — and relaxed for a few hours until Jerry Junkin and his lovely wife Stephanie picked me up for dinner. Dinner that first night — Thursday — was at Eddie V’s Edgewater Grille. We started, of course, with cocktails. I had my favorite — a Grey Goose martini, dirty, up.

Next came the insane “Eddie V’s Hot Appetizer Combination Platter for Sharing.” This was no Ruby Tuesday appetizer platter. It included all lump crab cake (the best I’ve ever had), crisp calamari with two sauces (how would I choose?!), and batterfried cold water lobster tail.

Let’s stop for just a moment. Here I am, some dumb kid who wrote some silly song with a tango in it, and I’m being treated to this? I was kind of speechless. Well, until the martini kicked in, and then I started talking shit about lots of people. (That’s not entirely true. At least, not that I can recall… It all became a bit of a haze once the wine arrived…)

My main course was New York Strip. An excellent piece of meat. (Why does nobody ever describe me that way?)

Dessert? Oh, I couldn’t! Okay, what the hell. I present: White Chocolate Coconut Cream Pie with a crisp butter crust.

And for Jerry and Stephanie, my cake’s evil twin — its KARR, if you will — Belgian Chocolate Mousse Cake with fresh cream and raspberry sauce.

The next day, I finally got to hear Jerry conduct “Redline Tango” with the UT Wind Ensemble. For those who aren’t “band folk,” this is one of the best wind ensembles in the country — and some would argue that it’s the best. Ever since I first figured out what the hell band was, I’ve wanted this group and this conductor to do my music. I’ve been incredibly fortunate over the 2+ years since I wrote “Redline Tango” — the quality and quantity of performances I’ve received are far more than I ever imagined — but I kept hoping this performance would happen. It was definitely worth the wait. (Plus, when Junkin decides to do something, he does it full out, as evidenced by the fact that he did Redline Tango a week ago with the Dallas Wind Symphony, then at UT on Sunday, AND he’s doing it twice with the Dallas Wind Symphony at Midwest. When it rains Junkin, it pours Junkin.) The rehearsal was incredible. I made a list of little things to change, and after the first run-thru, I read the list to the group — and because time was short, I was pretty speedy with the comments. The next time through, every single correction was incorporated. Articulations, dynamic requests, balance — everything on the second play was exactly how I’d asked.

To celebrate, how about dinner? And another martini? Oh, fine. Twist my arm.

This dinner — Friday night — is now up there with the most special dinners I can remember on any of my college trips, not just for food, but for company. My dinner back in 2004 at Rick Clary’s home in Florida — that was the first Hall of Fame inductee. Hudson’s on the Bend, September 2006 — welcome to the Dinner Hall of Champions.

Hudson’s on the Bend is a game restaurant. That didn’t really register going in — until I saw the deer head on the wall. I’m not the biggest fan of game. Venison, lamb — not yummy. Next time I eat at Hudson’s, though, I’m going to be adventurous and order some of the crazier stuff, like the Antelope with Cantaloupe. Everything I had was fantastic, and I suspect I’d even have liked the gamier stuff.

We started with appetizers. Was this the blackened rock shrimp and avocado quesadilla?

This, I believe, is the diamond back rattlesnake cakes in a pistachio nut crust coiled atop a spicy Chipotle cream. I was reluctant to try it, but I have to say — tasty.

This next one is crazy. (As if the others weren’t.) Smoked Duck Diablos! Duck breast, jicama, jalapeno, figs in balsamic, all wrapped in apple wood bacon with a red chili glaze dipping sauce. My only big regret about my time in Austin: somehow, I didn’t try one. There were 9 of us at the table, and only five of these to go around — and I’d been more than adequately appetizered. (That should totally be a word.)

Stephanie had been talking about foie gras all evening, and she finally got some. Here’s her appetizer: Seared Foie Gras atop a Spicy Venison Cornbread, drizzled with strawberry raspberry sauce and a red onion jalapeno marmalade. Can you say rich?

I’ve no idea what this was, but it was pretty.

I ordered the soup special — a corn chowder with crab.

My main course: Hot and Crunchy Ruby Trout, swimming in a pool of mango habanero aioli, splashed with ancho sauce, chillin’ next to herb polenta souffle. (Can you tell I’m copying this from the online menu?)

Before they prepared my fish, they painted it for me.

Dessert? Seriously? Have you seen what we all just ate?! Well, okay. Check out how they present the ice cream — in a glass, floating atop a bowl of dry ice. This photo doesn’t capture it, but there was dry ice smoke pouring from the edges of the glass.

Here’s my dessert : The Wild Turtle. Caramel Pecan Pie dipped in Belgian chocolate. Seriously. Caramel pecan pie : not rich enough. It must be dipped in chocolate.

That night — September 29 — was Jerry and Stephanie’s wedding anniversary! We all raised a glass of champaign to celebrate. Congratulations, kids!

I was in Austin for 4 days. These pictures cover only two of them. Coming soon… Watching the UT football game (from the field and the press box!), the concert itself, and my b
irthday dinner!