Marcus at the Morgan ...9:01 am
The Morgan Library, which is currently hosting the exhibit “Bob Dylan’s American Journey, 1956 – 1966,” also hosted a lecture by Greil Marcus yesterday, called “Off the Iron Range: Bob Dylan In and Out of Hibbing High.” Marcus visited Hibbing High School recently, and so was to share his insights. RWB couldn’t attend, but I’m grateful to reader Betsy who sent this note with her impressions of the event:
Marcus did a great job describing the beauty of Hibbing High School and the influence of his English teacher Rolfson, but couldn’t resist making an anti-Catholic rant describing in detail Rolfson’s sad childhood and his misery experienced at the hands of vicious nuns. He also bookended his talk with a reference to the Ain’t Talkin’ lyric about the gardener not being in the garden… for us listeners to infer that God is dead. Well, I raised my hand and about 20 minutes after the Q and A started he acknowledge me. I wondered aloud about Dylan’s comfort with mystery and that he didn’t seem to me to be so much of an either/or guy but more of a both/and type. I wondered if Rolfson’s experience in a Catholic school may actually have been better one than had he been in a public school, given the extent of anti-Catholic sentiment throughout the U.S. at the time of his elementary education (1930’s), and I wondered if in spite of the nuns’ reported abuse, perhaps stories of the saints heard in catechism classes may have inspired him to transcend his circumstances and ultimately devote his life to teaching. I ended saying maybe I ought to write a book exploring some of those ideas. It just pisses me off that it’s so fashionable to disrespect Catholic culture.
Other than that… it was a good lecture.
So there you go.
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The Economist agrees with RWB on The Times They Are A-Changin’ ...8:54 am
Well, alright, not The Economist. Rather, this economist: James Hamilton, who keeps a blog called Econbrowser. He approvingly quotes my review in his own post Ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, Bob. Back when the show was playing at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego, James had seen it and indeed dropped a line in this direction at that time. He says now:
Hopefully Twyla Tharp’s amazing production will reopen in more hick towns like San Diego, where the theater critics aren’t quite as informed as those who tell New Yorkers what’s worth seeing.
I’d like to think that, but I’m pretty dubious that there’s any future for the show, certainly in the short-term, after the money that was lost on Broadway. Perhaps it’s a pity that it didn’t play more places across the country before coming to Broadway. Honestly, the reception in San Diego was so relatively positive, that they probably felt further out-of-town tryouts were redundant. Oh, well.
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And speaking of awards ...8:41 am
Thanks to Frank Trainor who sent me this link to a YouTube clip of Bob Dylan in November of 1986 presenting a Juno Award to Gordon Lightfoot. Frank happened to be right there at the time, as he had been nominated for an award himself, and recalls the details and the atmosphere in a post at his own blog: It Was Twenty Years Ago Today.
If you browse YouTube, you’ll find that Bob Dylan’s appearances at award shows are a sub-genre all on their own, without which the whole venture might possibly be in danger of collapse. What is it about seeing Dylan accept or even hand out awards that is so oddly compelling, at least to me? I think it’s something to do with seeing someone who is so incredibly uncomfortable that his head might explode at any moment, or his skin fall off. There’s the relatively famous 1991 Grammy appearance, where Dylan receives a Lifetime Achievement award and in return delivers that stunning statement regarding how God always believes in your ability to mend your ways, no matter how defiled you become. This clip includes the whole scorching Master Of War performance followed by the acceptance speech.
And I just found this one, from the 1984 Grammies, where Dylan and Stevie Wonder do some kind of comedy routine before naming the “Best Song” winner. It’s really hard to see where the comedy routine leaves off and Dylan’s own genuine flummoxed-ness begins. It is notable that Stevie delivers his lines relatively smoothly — without the benefit of a teleprompter, one must assume.
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Thursday, November 16, 2006
It’s an honor just to be nominated ...1:31 pm
And I know that’s as far as I’ll get, in the 2006 Weblog Awards, under the category “Best Music Blog.” Thank you to the nominator.
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In other news ...10:39 am
Adult stem cells (canine ones) are found to dramatically aid dogs with muscular dystrophy, although the people who only absorb the headlines will just think, “hmm, those stem cells are so good, and those darned Republicans are against them.”
…
Kim Jong Il, the dear leader of North Korea, sent this greeting to President Assad of Syria on the occasion of the anniverary of the Baath party’s “corrective movement”:
The corrective movement marked a historic event as it brought about a turning point in the efforts to achieve independent development and prosperity in Syria.
Availing myself of this opportunity, I extend firm solidarity to the friendly Syrian government and people in their just struggle for protecting the sovereignty of the country and the dignity of the nation and achieving regional peace and stability, while resolutely standing against the ceaseless pressure and challenges of the hostile forces, and sincerely wish your people new progress and prosperity.
Plenty of progress and prosperity coming for everyone, no doubt.
…
Richard Wells, who is one of those bloggers who really writes, has an amusing ex-Catholic’s meditation on the feasts of All Saints and All Souls (recently passed along with Halloween).
…
Drudge has this today, but support the little guy by buying it here: Larry King Admits He’s Never Used The Internet: ‘Do You Punch Little Buttons and Things?’ Roseanne Barr offers to teach him how to use it, but he just says, “No, thanks.” Well, I guess he’s the one with the nightly TV show and the bursting bank account — if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. (And sometimes even if it is broke.)
…
Clive Davis blogged on the notion — not new, but recently revived by Tony Blair — that the Israeli/Palestinian/Arab conflict needs resolution before other serious problems in the Middle East can be fixed. Do Arabs have a “genuine grievance”? He received a couple of responses from Israeli readers to that point.
…
Also from the blog roll, Charlie Daniels says that America is at a crossroads, with critical decisions coming up, and “It’s time for Washington to stop resembling a kindergarten and to start dealing with the danger facing America and the free world.”
…
From Baghdad, Omar says that the mass abduction of Sunnis the other day was directed by the Iranians, who are extremely confident due to the results of the U.S. mid-term elections.
Did Iran misunderstand the American democracy?
Absolutely yes and Tehran is planning and working according to this faulty impression.Iran now considers itself the victor and it will not negotiate for peace but instead will try to impose conditions to accept America’s surrender.
…
On the Dylan front: In a story about a new album of what are apparently remixes of Beatles tracks, Beatle biographer Bob Spitz draws a comparison to something else.
“Once you meddle with something so fixed in the public’s mind you will risk having a failure on the proportion to Twyla Tharp doing Bob Dylan,” Spitz said, in a reference to the musical that is closing Sunday after less than a month on Broadway.
Hmm. So The Times They Are A-Changin’ is now a whole new notch on the yardstick for failure? “Thou shalt not meddle” must be the new commandment.
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Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Google search victories ...7:40 pm
Today someone searched Google for “Bob Dylan John Brown anti war” and found RWB, ranked at number one (this post, naturally). Whether that person found any enlightenment or diversion, I can’t say. But such are the small sources of satisfaction a blogger must gather and jealously hoard.
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YouTube interview — Bob Dylan in 1984 ...10:03 am
Amidst the glut of Dylan-related material on YouTube is a lengthy interview that Bob did with someone named Martha Quinn, just before a concert at London’s Wembley Stadium in July of 1984. That also puts it (… continue reading …)
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Monday, November 13, 2006
Gloomy Monday ...9:33 pm
Steyn’s latest:
For the rest of the world (… continue reading …)
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Sunday, November 12, 2006
Cookin’ ...10:42 am
Dylan and his current band seem to have really shifted into a higher gear with this fall 2006 tour. That’s borne out by reading the fan reviews at Bill Pagel’s site, and by the majority of the mainstream media reviews too (there are always exceptions in both areas, but the balance has been overwhelmingly positive). It’s also borne out by listening to clips like this one: ’Til I Fell In Love With You, from Auburn Hills, Michigan on November 2nd.
Dylan’s organ sound has come a long way from the auditory oddity that it seemed when he began playing it earlier this year. It’s a driving part of the overall groove here, and he’s playing with a definite panache. He’s also singing with great gusto, and the whole band is oozing confidence, it seems to me. Great stuff.
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Saturday, November 11, 2006
One more Broadway note ...4:10 pm
From yesterday’s New York Post:
November 10, 2006 — PANIC is starting to set in at “High Fidelity,” (… continue reading …)
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The show must go on! (A review — too late — of the Twyla Tharp / Bob Dylan musical, “The Times They Are A-Changin’”) ...12:20 pm
But it won’t go on. After being put down by all the major (… continue reading …)
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Friday, November 10, 2006
Relief ...1:13 pm
All those forecasts about how 2006 was going to be a year of terrible hurricanes turn out to have been not entirely wrong after all. From the BBC: Huge ‘hurricane’ rages on Saturn.
Whew. Now I can go back to trusting experts.
Speaking of which, next time you hear doctors making confident assertions about persistent vegetative states — or anything else — remember this figure: one out of five. That’s how often doctors seriously misdiagnose fatal illnesses, according to studies of autopsy results as reported here. Based on my experience of my own (as yet) non-fatal illnesses, I’d peg that number as being about right.
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