1. The dental work I had done today went fine, but the second best part of the whole visit was hearing Van Morrison, Pink Floyd, Heart, Credence Clearwater Revival, Cat Stevens, and other great recording artists on the office sound system. The best part was having a waiting period when I read essays on friendship in Volume 14, Issue 2 of Lapham's Quarterly, a Christmas gift from Patrick and Meagan. I thoroughly enjoyed reading pieces by Doris Lessing, Vivian Gornick, Tommy Orange, and Mark Twain.
2. Yesterday, I thawed two quarts of crab stock. I used one in the chowder I made yesterday. Today, I had a whole different plan for how to use the second quart.
I dumped it into a pot, brought it to a boil, and then turned down the heat so it would reduce, the idea being that the crab flavor might be more prominent as liquid evaporates from it.
While the crab stock reduced, I crushed garlic cloves and chopped an onion and cooked them in a wading pool of melted butter until the onions turned soft.
I might have let the crab stock reduce more. I need to work on this. But, I poured the stock over the onion, butter, and garlic and then added three 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes, brought the mixture to a slow boil, and turned down the heat, once again reducing the liquid.
A while later, I added splashes of half and half to this sauce and heated the sauce up again and then turned the heat on low.
At some point in this process, I added salt, pepper, fennel, and tarragon to the sauce.
The result was a sauce that was not quite as creamy as I hoped, but a delicious blend of flavors.
I served the sauce over spaghetti and topped the dish with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
By the way, as I prepared this meal, I enjoyed a couple 12 oz cans of GoodLife Brewing's Sweet As! Pacific Ale and then really enjoyed about 8 oz from a tall boy of Block 15's Sticky Hands Imperial IPA, a treasure trove of flavors and pleasure. After dinner, Debbie and I split a second tall boy from Block 15: an Imperial IPA called Hoppy New Year! Delicious, really delicious.
3. This evening I settled into some serious multi-tasking.
With Luna on my lap, I went to the KEPW-FM website (kepw.org), clicked on the "Listen Now" function, put on my headphones, and listened to the radio show, Hard Rain & Slow Trains: Bob Dylan and Fellow Travelers, hosted by Daniel McKay. We taught together at LCC. Tonight Daniel focused on music Dylan performed in The Village sixty years ago in January of 1962. He also focused on some fellow travelers, including John Lee Hooker, Rev. Gary Davis, and Dave Van Ronk.
While I listened to the twenty year old Bob Dylan and fellow travelers perform, I also watched the Gonzaga/USF basketball game with the broadcast on mute.
I thought this game followed a familiar pattern when the Zags play teams not as talented as they are.
USF exerted a lot of energy early on and seemed a step quicker than the Zags and roared to an early lead. I thought to myself, "The Dons cannot or will not maintain this level of play all game long." That's the pattern. Gonzaga opponents, often in conference play, start hot, the Zags seem a bit sluggish, but, in time, the opponent's heat cools off, the Zags tighten their defense, improve their shot selection, and slowly and surely assert their superiority.
Sure enough, Gonzaga cut USF's early lead, then went ahead, and had a slim lead at halftime.
As the second half progressed, Chet Holmgren continued his strong first half showing and Drew Timme scored 18 of his 23 points. Together, Holmgren and Timme scored 45 points, vaulting the Zags to their 78-62 victory.
While the Zags' game had some of my attention, starting at 8:00, most of my attention was on the music my longtime friend Jeff Harrison played on his radio show, Deadish, on KEPW-FM.
Jeff opened his show with a gorgeous, nearly 20 minute cover of the Dead's "Bird Song", played and sung by Mikaela Davis and her band, Southern Star. Jeff declared at the end of the song just what I was thinking while I listened to it: this is the most beautiful version of "Bird Song" I've ever heard.
I don't know how many of you reading this blog enjoy The Grateful Dead and its universe of jam bands, bluegrass bands, jug bands, folk singers and bands, cover bands, tribute bands, post-Jerry Garcia reconfigurations of the Grateful Dead, and projects by the band's individual members, but if you do enjoy this kind of music, take some time and go to Mikaela Davis' YouTube channel and check out the series of Grateful Dead songs she and her band recorded last year at the Relix Studios, here. The band's combination of harp, pedal steel guitar, superb bass (and other instruments) and Davis' haunting vocals send me into another dimension of consciousness. You might see if you, too, enjoy their versions of these Grateful Dead songs.
Jeff then transported us all back to 1995 and a Zero show at WOW Hall. I don't know if I was at this show -- I went to a ton of Zero shows in the 1990s -- but I sure enjoyed the set of songs Jeff played without interruption and could feel myself back listening to Zero and dancing solo on the hardwood WOW Hall floor again.
Fifty years ago this month, Jerry Garcia released his first solo album, entitled, Garcia, and, starting at 10 o'clock, Jeff played the entire album straight through. Jeff knew when he opened his show with Mikaela Davis and Southern Stars' version of "Bird Song" that he would later be playing this album which featured "Bird Song". It was thrilling to hear these two approaches to the song, separated by 49 years, but joined in memorializing Janis Joplin and in their love for improvisational jamming.
When Garcia drew to a close, Jeff played an excerpt from The Grateful Dead's January 2, 1972 show at Winterland, giving us a chance to hear what the band sounded like at the time Jerry Garcia was working on his solo project. Hearing this excerpt moved me to take some time in the near future and listen to this show in its entirety.
I'll close this post by saying that Jeff's show thrills me, not only for the music, but because of his honoring the deep history of FM radio. I thought during the nearly 20 minutes of "Bird Song" and the extended Zero set and while Jeff played the entire Garcia album that there was a time when this was exactly what I could tune into KREM-FM in Spokane and hear -- no commercials, a few comments by a DJ, and long, unmarket tested cuts from albums and tunes from tapes. Peak FM radio. And Jeff is reviving it for two glorious hours a week. FM radio was once maverick radio and Jeff's Thursday night show takes me back to the spirit and joy of maverick FM radio.
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