I'm Not There Again

I picked up the DVD of the Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There on the way home from work at the Borders by Penn Station.  Back when I was growing up there was great anticipation of a new release by our favorite recording artists, but I had to scrape up my allowance money to but a new record.  Now I have the money to buy a significant new CD or DVD.  I am glad that regular reader of this journal AB, the Distinguished Professor of Saturday Night Oldies also bought it today.  I want to watch the full movie on the weekend when I have a clear mind. It will not be Saturday at 6 PM. Tonight we spent an hour watching the special features of the DVD.  Todd Haynes, the producer of the film, in an interview in the special features, said that one didn't have to be an expert on Dylan to enjoy it.  There was a tribute to Heath Ledger who passed away recently.  I was hoping there would be a segment showing how Cate Blanchett transformed from a beautiful woman to Dylan (see photo above).  I was amazed how Cate was able to imitate Dylan's manerisms as seen in Don't Look Back. 

Dreaming about WOGL Philadelphia

Last night I dreamed about driving down to Philadelphia and trying to pull in WOGL their oldies station or should I say greates hits of the 60s and 70s.  I have driven down there before and will do so again this summer when I go to the American Chemical Society meeting there.  Back in the 1990s I received tapes of several "Elvis and Friends" shows heard on WOGL on Sunday mornings.  Sadly, two of their personalities Ron O'Brien and Hy Lit recently passed away.  Earlier today I listened for a while on the Internet.  Why am I listening to Chicago's True Oldies Channel while I am writing an entry about another station?  Duh, I don't know.

Googling people

Did you ever do a Google search on your own name or name of current or past friend or acquaintance.  If you search on my name most of the hits will be from NJIT.  I did find a wibe site which stated that a criminal Bruce Thomas in Milwaukee used my name as an alias.(http://www.mcguigan.org/exposed/index.htm)  If you have a common name, it may be hard to pinpoint an exact person.  Very often you have to use another term such as their home town to find them.  I have done searches on people I know now and of people I haven't seen in years.  It is interesting to see what became of them, but I never tried to contact anyone.

Another Bob Dylan Book!

We set out to the multiplex to see the new film Iron Man, but the 12:50 PM show was sold out.  No big deal.  We can always see it next week.  There is always a big run on a movie the first weekend.  Anyway, we walked over to downtown Flushing since I wanted to pick up a few things at Macy's.  From there we walked over to the Flushing Branch of the Queens Public Library which has a much bigger selection of books than the library in our neighborhood.  I went to the biography seciton and picked out:

Bob Dylan Performing Artist 1986-90 & Beyond Mind Out of time by Paul Williams.  Most of the Dylan books that I have read cover the 1960s, but this one obviously critiques his later works.  The chapter that I read talked about the CD Down in the Groove.  I just had to play it.

I'm Not There DVD to be released on Tuesday

I have known for a while that the DVD of my favorite movie will be released on Tuesday May 6th.  Here is a story about it:

Bob Dylan wears many masks in Haynes' 'I'm Not There' on DVD By Bruce Dancis - McClatchy Newspapers

Another side of Bob Dylan - or rather, many sides of Bob Dylan are shown in Todd Haynes' adventurous "I'm Not There," in which different actors (including Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, Ben Whishaw and Marcus Carl Franklin) portray the legendary singer-songwriter at various stages of his career. Special features include a commentary by Haynes, nine deleted scenes, short features on the making of the film and its soundtrack, audition tapes for Whishaw and Franklin, a gag reel and much more. (Genius Products/The Weinstein Co., $28.95, rated R.)

Years ago there were two music stores in Flushing on my way home from work.  Here is my plan.  Tuesday on the way home from work I will stop by Borders just outside of Penn Station.  If they don't have the DVD, I will wait until Thursday when I don't have to be at work until 1 PM.  I will then stop by the Virgin  Record store in Times Square.  I am almost certain that they will have it.

Some More Bob Dylan Thoughts on Dreams

The following song Talkin' World War III Blues came from the Freewheelin' Bob Dylan album seen above.  The young lady is Suze Rotolo.  She will soon release a book about her romance with him in the early 1960s.  Look for a book review here.

Some time ago a crazy dream came to me,
I dreamt I was walkin' into World War Three,
I went to the doctor the very next day
To see what kinda words he could say.
He said it was a bad dream.
I wouldn't worry 'bout it none, though,
They were my own dreams and they're only in my head.

I said, "Hold it, Doc, a World War passed through my brain."
He said, "Nurse, get your pad, this boy's insane,"
He grabbed my arm, I said "Ouch!"
As I landed on the psychiatric couch,
He said, "Tell me about it."

Well, the whole thing started at 3 o'clock fast,
It was all over by quarter past.
I was down in the sewer with some little lover
When I peeked out from a manhole cover
Wondering who turned the lights on.

Well, I got up and walked around
And up and down the lonesome town.
I stood a-wondering which way to go,
I lit a cigarette on a parking meter
And walked on down the road.
It was a normal day.

Well, I rung the fallout shelter bell
And I leaned my head and I gave a yell,
"Give me a string bean, I'm a hungry man."
A shotgun fired and away I ran.
I don't blame them too much though,
I know I look funny.

Down at the corner by a hot-dog stand
I seen a man, I said, "Howdy friend,
I guess there's just us two."
He screamed a bit and away he flew.
Thought I was a Communist.

Well, I spied a girl and before she could leave,
"Let's go and play Adam and Eve."
I took her by the hand and my heart it was thumpin'
When she said, "Hey man, you crazy or sumpin',
You see what happened last time they started."

Well, I seen a Cadillac window uptown
And there was nobody aroun',
I got into the driver's seat
And I drove 42nd Street
In my Cadillac.
Good car to drive after a war.

Well, I remember seein' some ad,
So I turned on my Conelrad.
But I didn't pay my Con Ed bill,
So the radio didn't work so well.
Turned on my player-
It was Rock-A-Day, Johnny** singin',
"Tell Your Ma, Tell Your Pa,
Our Loves Are Gonna Grow Ooh-wah, Ooh-wah."

I was feelin' kinda lonesome and blue,
I needed somebody to talk to.
So I called up the operator of time
Just to hear a voice of some kind.
"When you hear the beep
It will be three o'clock,"
She said that for over an hour
And I hung it up.

Well, the doctor interrupted me just about then,
Sayin, "Hey I've been havin' the same old dreams,
But mine was a little different you see.
I dreamt that the only person left after the war was me.
I didn't see you around."

Well, now time passed and now it seems
Everybody's having them dreams.
Everybody sees themselves walkin' around with no one else.
Half of the people can be part right all of the time,
Some of the people can be all right part of the time.
But all the people can't be all right all the time
I think Abraham Lincoln said that.
"I'll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours,"
I said that.


Copyright © 1963; renewed 1991 Special Rider Music

** - In a concert version of this song from October 31, 1964 at Carnegie Hall Bob susbttituted Martha and the Vandellas for Rock A Day Johnny

By the way - while I was writing this journal entry I answered a reference question about plasticizers and phthalates.  I still know my chemistry!  I can multitask very well.

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Today's College Students Like Jimi Hendrix

As I was waiting on line for food at the NJIT cafeteria tonight I saw a student with a Jimi Hendrix sweatshirt.  About an hour later I see another student in the library wearing another Hendrix sweatshirt.  Do college kids like all classic rock or just Hendrix?  What NYC radio stations besides Q-104.3 play his music.  I still have two of his records that I bought in the late 1960s.  I remember that when he died in 1970 the campus newspaper at City College had a big article about him.  When the professor of my German class saw that, he asked "Who's Jimi Hendrix?"