Friday, April 15, 2022

Three Beautiful Things 04-14-2022: The Sube Gets a Repair, Copper and Luna Enjoy the Living Room, A Most Blissful Blissful Thursday BONUS: A Limerick by Stu

1.  On Wednesday evening, when Debbie and I arrived home in Kellogg, we discovered the Sube's driver's side front headlight was out. The fog light on that side was also out. So, I started my day this morning by driving down to Silver Valley Tire shortly after 7:30, dropped off the car, and, soon after 10 o'clock, I got the call from Jeremy that they replaced the offending socket as well as the two lamps and the Sube was ready to go. 

I strolled down, picked up the car, and was happy that I got this job done right away.

2. I had already napped by the time afternoon came around, tired from driving yesterday from Portland to Kellogg, and soon after I finished, Debbie told me that she was taking Gibbs upstairs for a nap. This meant Copper and Luna could roam around in the living room and kitchen and not have to stay in the Vizio room. For the time being, Gibbs barks at Copper and Luna if they are out and about and, until we figure out a way to help Gibbs be calm with the cats, they can't be out in the living area together.

I figured that while we were away and the cats had most of the house to themselves that they were very happy to be able to sit on our living room chairs, lounge on the love seat, and stare out the window while perched on the ottoman. As a bonus, a delivery arrived here from Chewy and Copper loves sitting in the Chewy box. 

This afternoon, Copper and Luna did all these things while Gibbs was upstairs with Debbie. I enjoyed how much they liked being able to stroll, lounge, come over to me, and just enjoy being out and about. When Gibbs returned downstairs, I retired to the Vizio room with Copper and Luna just so they wouldn't be alone and they seemed happy to be with me. It seems to help Copper's sense of contentment when I put the Chewy box in the Vizio room for her to occupy.

We have ideas about how we might help Gibbs be more accepting of Copper and Luna. Before long, we'll give these ideas a try and see if we can create a more peaceful co-existence between these three. 

3.  It sure would have been fun to go to Jeff's house for a third straight week to listen to Daniel's radio show Hard Rain and Slow Trains and Jeff's show Deadish together on Blissful Thursday, but, alas, I'm back in Kellogg and that means blissing out on these shows streaming live at kepw.org, starting at 8:00, all by myself.

And, man, did I ever bliss out tonight.

Somehow I've lived for 68 years and 108 days and never realized that April 14th marks the anniversary of three horrible days in our country's history, nor did I know that Gillian Welch had, in two of her songs, named April 14th Ruination Day.

What were these three events that all happened on April 14th?  Abraham Lincoln was killed on April 14, 1865. The Titanic struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912. On April 14, 1935, the devastating dust storm that swept through Oklahoma and Texas happened, a day so bleak that it's known as Black Sunday. 

What does this confluence have to do with Bob Dylan and Daniel Mackay's radio show?

Well, Bob Dylan's album, Tempest, was released in 2012. To mark its 10th anniversary, Dan is doing a show every so often that focuses entirely on one song from the album.

In addition, the title song, "Tempest", is Bob Dylan's epic forty-five verse song about the Titanic.

Therefore, Dan entitled his show tonight, "Tempest at Ten: Ruination Day". After playing a reading by Colin Pierce of Thomas Hardy's poem about the Titanic entitled, "The Convergence of the Twain", Dan played Gillian Welch's song, "April the 14th, Part 1", followed by a series of songs about the disaster of the Titanic sinking, all in preparation for the playing of Dylan's "Tempest". 

Musically, Dan's show was brilliant and, on another level, I felt like I was part of an informal, casual Ruination Day symposium because this episode of Hard Rain and Slow Trains was so educational. 

Following Dan's show, Jeff's show Deadish came on and tonight's program was incredible.

For the first half of the show, Jeff played Grateful Dead covers (mostly) of three bands who played at the recent Skull and Roses Festival in Ventura, CA. Jeff hasn't yet landed any live recordings from Skull and Roses, so he played music out of the studio or from other live performances of Moonalice, Phil Lesh and Friends, and Oteil and Friends. I especially enjoyed Moonalice's version of "Songbird" and it was fun the way Oteil and Friends (I think) blended Grateful Dead tunes with the Allman Brothers -- a very Deadish move.

For the second half of the show, Jeff played an over 60 minute long epic series of segues from the end of the the Grateful Dead'slast set in Copenhagen on April 14, 1972. The hour began with a "Dark Star" that took listeners into a brilliant alternate universe of existence and jamming and segued back to Earth by moving into an energetic "Sugar Magnolia" which opened the way for a long, steamy, and often lewd Pigpen-centered vocal and instrumental jam combining "Caution", "Good Lovin'", "Who Do You Love?", and bluesy indelicate lyrics Pigpen made up himself. 


Here's a limerick by Stu: 

No one can compare to this guy. 
His toughness you cannot deny. 
He changed everyone’s mind, 
Left prejudice behind. 
And made the world better, no lie!

April 15th is Jackie Robinson Day 

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