1. Debbie had an appointment for a haircut and so I went to Brails on 5th. Back in 1984-87, when I lived on W. Broadway between Lincoln and Lawrence, I regularly visited this squat, wide, unpretentious building. Back then, it was the Keystone Cafe. I walked in, went to the self-serve coffee station, poured myself their very strong locally roasted coffee, sat at the counter, and almost always ordered a blueberry pancake with real maple syrup, a side of home fries, and an egg fried over medium. Eve worked at the Keystone back then and always seemed alive to what was hip and happening in Eugene and I'd eat my breakfast and marvel at all she knew and all that was on her mind. Through activism I was involved with at the time, I'd become acquainted with Eve's sister Gabrielle, and she, too, was fascinating, full of political conviction, free thinking, and passion.
That, and more, all came back to me as I took a seat at a table near the window facing 5th Street. The Brails menu is not a replica of the Keystone menu. I knew that. I also knew that the coffee station was long gone. I also knew that Brails has been remodeled since a fire closed this cafe for a few months. It reopened in February.
The remodel helped spiff up Brails, but my sense was that the owners wanted to maintain the unpretentious, cozy, not at all fancy of the place and, in my mind, they succeeded.
I ordered a rice omelet with hash browns and it came with toast and I loved how thick and delicious my sourdough toast was.
I ate and let my mind wander back to the mid-1980s and how much I enjoyed eating at the Keystone with Jeff and Doug and Sue Ann. When the Keystone added dinners to their menu, from time to time the cafe donated some percentage of its profits on a given night to local non-profit political action groups. My friends and I tried to make it to the Keystone on such afternoons and evenings and often I'd see people I knew from the group I was involved with.
I loved that.
2. Debbie picked me up from Brails. It was a remarkable sunny and mild morning and Debbie said she'd like to go to 16 Tons Cafe, order some avocado toast with coffee, and sit outside for a while. I'd had enough coffee for the morning, so I ordered an English Breakfast tea and we enjoyed the scene on the patio in front of the 16 Tons Cafe. Some people had their handsome dogs with them. One of Debbie's longtime acquaintances from her days (before we'd met) working with children at Temple Beth Israel spotted Debbie and the two of them talked about Sandy's now adult children and how they've been doing in the over twenty-five years since Debbie did music with them.
3. Blissful Thursday rolled around today and more than lived up to its name!
Jeff invited me to his house. He asked me to help him prepare salmon left over from the weekend Pow Wow at Lane Community College and invited me to join him and listen to Daniel Mackay's Bob Dylan radio program, Hard Rain and Slow Trains and to listen to Jeff's own program, Deadish, which follows Daniel's show.
Upon arriving at Jeff's, we assessed the salmon and decided to quarter the fish and cook two of the quarters in pans on the stovetop. We lightly salted and peppered the fish. Jeff squeezed lemon juice over it. I heated olive oil in the pans and plopped the two chunks skin side down and watched them cook in my usual way of hovering over whatever I'm cooking. I just can't put something on to cook and then walk away. I was particularly focused on watching the progress of these gorgeous salmon chunks. I didn't want to over cook them.
Our efforts succeeded.
The salmon was tender, moist, and full of wild flavor.
Debbie made us a radicchio salad, very similar to the one she made for our dinner party on Wednesday night. It was a perfect side dish.
Fully satisfied with dinner, Jeff and I turned out attention to Daniel's show. Much like last week, Daniel focused on Bob Dylan's current tour, playing Dylan performing live on this tour and playing songs by people Dylan has made mention of while on stage. We got to hear the Country Gentlemen, Stevie Nicks, Waylon Jennings, and others. My favorite track of Daniel's show was a collaboration effort featuring Willie Nelson, Jamey Johnson, Chris Stapleton, and Lee Ann Womack -- with backup singers -- performing Dylan's "You Gotta Serve Somebody". It's from a 2018 album entitled, Muscle Shoals: Small Town, Big Sound. This is an album I will follow up on and listen to in its entirety.
Daniel's show alone would have made this a Blissful Thursday.
Being blessed as we are though, KEPW-FM in Eugene programs two more hours of bliss right after Daniel's show.
Tonight on Deadish, Jeff played an hour of music by a superb Americana-style jam band I'd never heard of: Donna the Buffalo. Earlier in the week, I had written Jeff an email that reflected a bit on Bob Dylan's song, "Mississippi" and, as it turns out, Donna the Buffalo covers "Mississippi" and Jeff played their version and told his listeners he played it for me.
After an hour of Donna the Buffalo's great sound and fascinating explorations, Jeff turned back the clock to April 7, 1972, the night the Grateful Dead opened their European tour in Wembley, England.
For the next hour, Jeff and I sat in comfortable chairs in his living room and blissed out the segment of this 04-07-1972 show that Jeff featured.
It began with a fiery version of "Truckin'" which moved smoothly into about three and half minutes of Drums and then into an extended "The Other One". I loved how the Grateful Dead segued out of "The Other One" into "El Paso", returned to "The Other One" again and then the boys performed a gorgeous "Wharf Rat" and, alas, Jeff's time was up and his show ended.
Jeff's radio show ended, but not my bliss -- all night long, I had dreams about the Grateful Dead with tonight's music as the soundtrack to those dreams.
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