Another Bob Dylan DVD

We went to the movies today and saw Deja Vu with Denzel Washington.  When we got home there was a package for me with a DVD that I ordered titled Tangled Up In Bob.  The producers traveled to Bob's home town of Hibbing, Minnesota and interviewed people who knew him when he was growing up in the 1950s.  For more details check out http://www.tangledupinbob.com .  When we were at the movies there was a trailer for a forthcoming movie called Rocky Balboa.  It seems that the boxer played by Sylvester Stallone is being revived.  When we got home Karen check our video collection and noted we had recorded on VHS the original Rocky movie and Rocky II.

Islanders Hockey game today

For the first time in a few years the family took in an Islanders hockey game at Nassau Coliseum.  Over recent years, I haven't shown much of an interest in hockey.  It has the reputation of being a cult sport.  The Islanders beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3 - 1.  Even though today is "Black Friday", I did not go near a shopping mall.  I will watch the Knicks play the Celtics on TV in a little while.

Soggy Thanksgiving

There was a misty rain all day today.  We drove to Forest Hills to pick up my mother.  Fromn there we drove to Dix Hills, Long Island where my sister Joyce, her husband Keith and sons Scott and Adam live.  The highlight of the day was playing with Sasha, the dog.  Lee even sent Sasha a birthday card a few weeks ago.  She is 12 years old which would be about 84 years in people years.  We watched the football game for a while as Lee played the word game Lingo online.

Beatles Love CD and DVD

Back in the 1960s it was a big thing when a Beatles album was released.  The top 40 radio stations at the time had to fight over playing it first.  They would even play Beatles songs that were only released in the UK.  Back then we had to scrape up our allowance money to buy the album.  The Beatles disbanded in 1970, but John, Geoge, Paul and Ringo recorded as solo artists for many years.  Starting in the 1980s Beatles albums were re-released and reissued as CDs.   This week a Beatles CD was released.  Producer George Martin and his son re-mixed Beatles songs for the Cirque du Soleil show now playing in Las Vegas.  I picked up the CD and DVD on the  way home at the Kmart in Penn Station.  I guess these new releases bring Beatles music to a new generation of listeners.  I still have many  Beatles  albums on vinyl and even have a turntable to play them.  Beatles albums in mint condition are collectors items and have some monetary value.

Gotta Go to Mo's

Last night we were watching the Knick game on TV and saw David Lee play.  I thought my son Lee would like a Knicks uniform with the name Lee on the back.  We walked to the local Modell's, but there were no Knick uniforms or tee-shirts.  Anyway, we each got a new pair of sneakers.  From there we walked to Macy's where I bought a few long sleeve shirts.  We got home in time to watch the second half of the Jet game.  They lost to the Chicago Bears 10-0.

Sean Connery is the James Bond

I am not an expert on movies, but I do post about them from time to time.  Since the 1960s I have seen every James Bond movie.  I even remember back then reading the Ian Fleming novels featuring 007.  Today we saw the new version of Casino Royale featuring Daniel Craig as James Bond.  It made me miss the original movies featuring Sean Connery as 007.  Looking back I would say that Goldfinger is my best James Bond movie.

Review of Dylan Concert from Newsday

Modern Times’ Dylan fakes out his flock

BY GLENN GAMBOA
Newsday Staff Writer

November 16, 2006

Part of the thrill of a Bob Dylan concert is never knowing what to expect.

His moods, his musical approaches and his set lists all vary so wildly that trying to predict one of his shows is like trying to pick election winners two years in advance. Dylan's live shows are known for their volatility, so how does he shake that up? He delivers a show so amiable, so avuncular that you keep waiting for a sharpened twist that never comes.

His 110-minute show at Nassau Coliseum Monday night was stylish and pretty, occasionally rocking in an elegant, gentlemanly way befitting a band dressed in suits and hats. It was also like waiting for the sky to fall. And what could be a more accurate metaphor for our "Modern Times" than that?

Dylan and his impressive five-piece band opened with a "Maggie's Farm" that was polished and devoid of protest. "I ain't gonna work on Maggie's Farm no more," was more of a dinner-table declaration than a slogan for marchers in the streets.

The encores "Like a Rolling Stone" and "All Along the Watchtower" confounded those who wanted to sing along because Dylan's delivery was so light and understated that the screaming audience would blow right past him. While the audience bellowed "How does it feel?" in ham-fisted 4/4 time, Dylan's voice fluttered around the lyrics and the expected timing, as if he was just fooling around, as if he was asking the audience, "How does that feel?"

Even the arrangements were musical head fakes, as the usual fiery guitar solos on "Watchtower" were replaced by Denny Freeman's scratch guitar which owed more to '60s soul than the raucous '60s rock Dylan helped build.

One of Dylan's major victories in recent years is his ability to escape audience expectations. "You think I'm over the hill, you think I'm past my prime," he sang in "Spirit on the Water," from his new album, "Modern Times" (Columbia). "Let me see what you got. We can have a whoppin' good time."

Dylan isn't interested in giving his audience what they want. He gives them what they need.

He doesn't want them to dwell in the past. He doesn't want to give them flashbacks to their wild, radical youth. His interest is in the present, and his unpredictable live show is designed to make them appreciate their current surroundings, even if it means easing back on "Tangled Up in Blue" or filling "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" with some Chicago blues.

Dylan provided a healthy sampling of the excellent "Modern Times," though he did stick with the more listener-friendly songs ("Spirit on the Water") instead of the more controversial ones ("Workingman's Blues #2" and "The Levee's Gonna Break").

Maybe he will tackle those -- just as masterfully, no doubt -- when he's in a different mood.

BOB DYLAN. Putting up signs of "Modern Times." With the Raconteurs. Thursday night at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J.; Next Monday at City Center in Manhattan. Seen Monday night at Nassau Coliseum.

Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.