1. I picked up Ed around 9:00 in the Camry and we enjoyed a day of escape. First, we descended upon the Spokane Tribe Casino -- I was making my first visit here -- and we played around for a while and enjoyed an excellent lunch at the Three Peaks Restaurant. Next we drove a couple of miles toward Spokane and dropped in at Northern Quest. I played for a while, exhausted my modest budget, and hung out in the Turf Club Sports Book, watched some ESPN, and took a nap in a very comfortable chair. Ed joined me after a while and we both bet 20 bucks on a team to win the men's basketball NCAA Tournament. We both wanted to bet on a team with medium long odds. I put 20 down on Texas Tech and Ed bet on Illinois.
2. On the way back to the Silver Valley, we stopped in at Pilgrim's Market in CdA so I could so a little stocking up on beers unavailable here in Kellogg. (Note to self: check out the beer selection one of these days at the bottle shop at Oliver's Mercantile.) I bought an armload of Imperial IPAs and a Triple IPA and I bought a couple of cans of Bombastic Fifth Anniversary for Nancy, knowing she loves stouts and hoping she enjoys this over the top beer that has slumbered in both rum and bourbon barrels. Debbie hankers for these power-packed IPAs and they come in can sizes that are perfect for her and me to split. So, for today, I put my SAVE THE PORTER campaign on hold, but it'll come roaring back before long.
3. Blissful Thursday was, once again, a source of great pleasure, a lot of learning, and deep relaxation tonight. I took my laptop into the bedroom, joined Luna and Copper on the bed, plugged in my ear buds, and spent three hours, starting at 8:00, listening to tonight's episode of Daniel Mackay's Hard Rain and Slow Trains: Bob Dylan and Fellow Travelers and then, at 9:00, to two hours of the Grateful Dead on Jeff Harrison's superb show, Deadish.
Both shows always open up new avenues in my mind.
You see, I don't have deep and detailed knowledge about either Bob Dylan nor the Grateful Dead.
Tonight, Dan began what (I think) will be a once a month focus on one track from Bob Dylan's album, Tempest.
Tempest was released in 2012 and so Dan is commemorating its 10th anniversary.
Not surprisingly, given my state of Bob Dylan innocence, I've never listened to Tempest.
Therefore, Dan's deep dive into the song's opening track, "Duquesne Whistle", a collaboration between Bob Dylan and Robert Hunter.
Being a train song, "Duquesne Whistle" adds another branch to the massive family tree of American train songs. Because I don't take notes (especially while lying down with Copper and Luna) while listening on Blissful Thursday, I can't provide details of the great old trains songs nor the great Jelly Roll Morton song that Dan played as a way of not only placing Dylan/Hunter's song in its historical place, but also of helping us experience early recordings that influenced Dylan's composition of this song.
Dan played a small handful of different versions of "Duquesne Whistle". I loved that first of all he played the musical theater version of the song from Girl from the North Country. Later he played Benmont Tech's cover, followed by another version by Ed McKendry. Late in the show, with all of this splendid preparation, we got to hear Bob Dylan perform "Duquesne Whistle" on the Tempest album itself.
Tonight, Jeff did not play a "Deadish" show -- no, it was wall to wall Grateful Dead.
By some kind of cosmic coincidence, possibly a miracle, the Grateful Dead played superb shows on February 24th back in the 1970s.
Jeff played a sample of the Feb. 24, 1973 show in Iowa City by opening with a monster jam from that night.
He then transitioned to the Feb. 24, 1974 show at the Winterland Arena and for the next hour and 40-45 minutes played gorgeous selections from that night, from a great four hour Grateful Dead show.
I went to a run of Grateful Dead shows back in December of 1990 with Jeff -- was that when he introduced me to Richard Thompson on the drive down or back?
In 1990, I was in the midst of a decade long abstinence from alcohol and I'd never been into weed or any psychedelic drugs.
Any ecstatic experience I had at those shows, therefore, was brought on by the music alone.
I discovered during that run of shows that if I gave myself over to the Grateful Dead's music, it relaxed me, sometimes put me to sleep, and, when I did fall asleep, I had remarkably pleasant dreams.
I later was able to approximate this experience when we lived in Eugene and used to listen to Sirius/XM radio's Grateful Dead channel and move in-between waking and sleeping, between enjoying my state of mind in the waking world and returning to those ecstatic dreams when I fell asleep.
Well, tonight, I once again drifted in and out of sleep as the Grateful Dead played in my ear buds and, when I slept, mostly during a sublime "Dark Star", I floated on a magic duvet ride of pleasure and pleasant vibes, making my listening experience an exquisite trip into the music and out of my usual waking self.
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