I need very small windshield wipers

for my glasses, that is. Riding in the rain is tolerable for the getting wet, slow pace, and inevitably unpredictable cars, but not being able to see really tips the scales. I just go by shapes, really.

In the last two days I've been to two concerts: Two Gallants (always a favorite), and Vanbraugh Quartet (National Gallery). First, Two Gallants. They were weathered, it seemed. I remember the more youthful energy (or maybe my own reflection of them?) five years ago, in Ray's Golden Lion. Then a smoky bar where the adults in back were a mix of alcoholics, band members' parents, or chaperones, the Two Gallants opened unknown for Mu Meson and stole the show. The next time they came, the building was packed for them. Now I think they may have been drunk, and only smiled occasionally. I would like to interview them and ask some of the same questions as I did for my 10th grade newspaper article to see how they respond. See if the label signing wore down their spirit for the road. Still an excellent concert, however--held the audience rapt; there were ends of songs where we had forgotten it was a song, forgot to clap until it set in. I feel sorry for him, though. They don't look like they're having the fun of a rock band.

I have a new analysis of them. They are a modernist spin on 20s blues ballads, gone electric and distorted. The narratives do not take place in reality, getting the girl, running from the sheriff, but are all internal monologues where the crucial point is the realization of the self, or just any realization at all. There isn't a physical change, only a psychological one. And the guitar playing is superb.

The warm-up band was Blitzen Trapper from--not kidding--Portland. They sounded like Lynard Skynard with four synthesizers, dual guitar lines, and three-part harmony. In essence, if Lynard Skynard lived in Oregon. Two of them grew up in Salem; one was from Yakima (I interviewed them). Very friendly guys. I said I might try to go to Portland for their gig at the Doug Fir on December 21. They're playing with Stephen Malkmus from Pavement, one of the indie rock pantheon--probably the upper end of the pantheon. Apollo or something.

Vanbraugh Quartet--two Schubert quartets and Steve Reich's Different Trains, a piece for recorded train/speech samples and strings. The highlight of the Schubert was Death and the Maiden. Putting it up against Reich was brave--Schubert's glorious Romantic melodies could not have a better contrast than Reich's harmonic drone, essentially lack of melody. However, they matched in a strange way. Death and the Maiden is a fairly programmatic piece; indeed, Schubert is known for his songs for voice and his programmatic music (that is, music that follows a narrative or "plot"). Different Trains incorporates samples of interviews that Reich conducted with his governess, on memories of his trips from Chicago to New York, visiting both parents, three holocaust survivors, and a porter. It follows, chronologically, before the war, during the war, and after the war. Dates fly by, "1939, 1940, 1941," to different harmonies. Try to find the Kronos Quartet's recording, if you can. Or, if you want to. It may be the only one out there, actually, but it's the original group that Reich had in mind.

I had friends over after the concert, cooked butternut squash au gratin with toasted hazelnuts, goat cheese, leeks, cream, all baked. Also pita and red pepper hummus. The pita did not puff properly. I might need to use white flour. The squash dish was excellent. Check it out:

Butternut Squash Gratin