In Performance @ The White House

Last night on PBS, Obama hosted a celebration of the music of the Civil Rights Era. As always, Smokey Robinson was fantastic. As always, I found Natalie Cole kind of creepy. And as always, I had no idea what to expect from Bob Dylan. Before he came out though, Jennifer Hudson sang a couple songs; she's pretty fantastic. I've never seen Dreamgirls, & @ 1st, I wasn't sure who she was. But her voice... wow. Yolanda Adams also has a nice voice, but she's really fucking weird lookin'. I've never even been a fan of a little plastic surgery, but hers is freakin' freaky. John Mellencamp basically gave a "I'm not racist; I have black friends" speech, but we'll let it slide because he does have 30 years of civil rights work under his belt. (And because he's new here on Visions of Ypsi.) I'm not embarrassed to admit that Joan Baez's "We Shall Overcome" brought a few tears to my eyes... it clearly brought some to Obama's eyes too. The Bind Boys of Alabama were great, but that just seems to be their M.O., & The Freedom Singers were really good too. They closed w/ a cool group version of "Lift Every Voice & Sing" which I am covering this week in class so I suppose we'll watch that clip them too.

As far as Dylan was concerned, I was expecting one or two songs (wee only got one), but I couldn't figure out which it would be. I was kind of hoping for "Pawns in the Game" or "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll," but I expected "Blowin' in the Wind." We got a sweet acoustic version of "The Times They are A'changin'" and it was fantastic. I was worried that a single song on TV would be shit... like the Grateful Dead, he usually needs a few songs to really get going, but it's really, really good. Just him, Tony Garnier on upright bass, Patrick Warren on piano. Watch it here now!

Holiday Post #5: And the Nominees are...

The Rules:
We @ Visions of Ypsi are proud to present the 6th Annual Celebrity M.I.L.F. of the Year Contest. Before you vote, however, be sure to read the rules:
1) The nominations have been considered and narrowed down to ten (11... why 11? Because 10 was just not enough!) contestants.
2) Each reader of Visions of Ypsi is allowed one (1) vote.
3) Votes are to be posted in the comments section of this post. Votes sent via e-mail or as a Facebook post will be counted if I feel like it.
4) Giving people shit based on who they voted for is not only accepted, but encouraged.
5) All votes posted by 12:00 AM on New Years Eve will be counted.
6) Voting is closed @ 12:01 AM New Years Day.
7) Late nominations will be considered, but discouraged.
8) Those nominated but not included on this official ballot are not eligible for late nominations.
9) If a voter wishes to change his or her vote, she or he must petition the writers of Visions of Ypsi.
10) Anonymously posted votes will only be accepted if the writers of Visions of Ypsi are told who the person is who is voting anonymously. In other words, the post can be anonymous and I will protect his or her anonymity, but I want to know who is voting to ensure true single votes.
11) We @ Visions of Ypsi will only cast a vote to break a tie if said vote is necessary or if we don't like who won. If you don't like that, you can get your own Celebrity MILF of the Year Contest.
12) As always, nominees must not have been eligible last year so we're setting the cut-off dates @ August. Any celebrity to have given birth before 1 September 2009 is ineligible.

Heidi Samuel (née Klum):
This is her 2nd nomination, which suggests that Seal has been hittin' it! I wonder if they'll give this kid the scarification from which the 1st kid was spared.












Sarah Michelle Gellar:
For all the Buffy fans who couldn't stop nominating her, here's your favorite star of Beverly Hills Family Robinson all knocked up. If she wins, I'll watch the show... well, probably not.











Julie Chen:
As co-host of the CBS Early Show & of Big Brother, this nomination is the biggest thing she's accomplished in years. Her son, w/ CBS President Leslie Moonves, was born in September.











Ellen Pompeo:
When not sporting the Whole Foods bag, she apparently sporting a cup of decaf from Starbucks... along w/ starring on Grey's Anatomy, she LOVES to support the big chains that are working so hard to displace the small, local stores.











Gisele Bundchen:
Gisele is helping to raise the probability that someone whose name ends w/ "Chen" will win this year; of course, Julie Chen is countering that by being Julie Chen.











Amy Adams:
This happy exhibitionist has recovered from being dumped on "the Booze Cruise" well enough to go and get knocked up by some dude that isn't Jim Halpert.









Paula Patton:
Those of you who read her name & promptly asked, "Who is she?" can join the club. she is vaguely known for her role in Idelwild, but more importantly, the father is Robin Thicke... son of Alan Thicke... which makes this baby an honorary Seaver!










Adriana Lima:
This little Angel has been appearing in Victoria's Secret ads since 2000... including the sweet, sweet ad that featured Dylan. I hope the kid has a haggard face and grumbly voice! That's right folks, we referenced Dylan in the MILF contest... he is everywhere.












Sarah Chalke:
After her long stand as the weird looking chick on Scrubs, this Canuck played the weird looking chick who left Ted @ the alter on How I Met Your..... Her parents run an adoption agency in Vancouver helping to place Chinese babies into Canuck homes... very interesting!












Jenna Elfman:
Like Sarah Chalke, she appeared on Roseanne; also like Sarah Chalke, she is weird looking. But weird in a hotter kind of way. What's she doing now? Your guess is as good as mine. I think she might have a sit-com where she plays some older woman living w/ a bunch of younger guys or something like that. I may have her confused w/ someone else though.













Ashley Jensen:
She's on Ugly Betty now (if that's still on), but more importantly, she was on Extras w/ Ricky Gervais. If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor... it's fantastic! Particularly the 1 w/ Ben Stiller & the 1 w/ Patrick Stewart. Her kid was born in October & is named Francis... after me perhaps?













Tiffani Thiessen:
This has-been was knocked up by her never-was, Brady Smith... you loved her on Saved by the Bell, you tolerated her on 90210, & now you can vote for her on Visions of Ypsi.

Holiday Post #4: Chanukah Post #1

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Holiday Post #1: What's w/ the Wig?

Embedding has been disabled for this video, but you should definitely check it out. I keep reading horrible reviews of his X-Mas album, but everything I've heard from it is great. Here's the fun 1st video from Christmas in the Heart: "Must Be Santa Clause." Check it out and enjoy the ridiculous list of reindeer names that includes (for some unknown reason) recent presidents. Not to mention, the ridiculous wig that Dylan is wearing.

In other holiday news, it might be time to start sending your nominations for the Visions of Ypsi Celebrity MILF of the Year Award, & as we're getting towards Life Day, be sure to watch the Star Wars Holiday Special. The official site has been updated since the last time I checked it out... last year I suppose. Here's the first ten minutes. You can then follow the links to watch the rest. Be sure to check out the Boba Fett cartoon & the sweet Jefferson Starship cameo... oh, & of course, Bea Arthur, Harvey Korman, & the Princess Leia song @ the end.

A Librarying We Will Go

Until the Bookmobile broke down a couple weeks ago, we hadn't been to the library in ages. Having everything dropped off almost literally on our door-step was nice, but browsing again has been fun. W/ a million books sitting around the house that we have yet to read (I finished The Time Traveler's Wife & Three Bags Full since the last book post), Stephanie & I have mainly been getting CDs & DVDs.
CDs:
Bob Dylan: Together Through Life
It's rare that I get CDs the year they are released, but I'm always excited to hear about new Dylan discs. This 1 doesn't disappoint. It might not be as good as Modern Times (& certainly not as good as Time Out of Mind), but it's better than Modern Times. While his last couple albums have had a early rock n roll sound w/ nods to traditional blues & folk, this 1 is rooted in Tex-Mex & Texas Swing. Mike Campbell is on the guitar & David Hidalgo is on accordion which gives it the nice Texas flavor. It's like Bob Wills meets Waylon Jennings w/ Dylan's raspy drawl. To top it off, all but 1 song were co-written by Robert Hunter... Awesome! I read today that there's also a new NRPS CD coming out for which he wrote the lyrics.
here are a couple interesting reviews:
Rolling Stone
Telegraph

The Executioner's last Songs Vol I
I was lucky to stumble upon this thing. I hadn't heard of it, but it's sweet. It's an Alt Country collection of people like Neko Case & Steve Earl covering old murder ballads & prison songs to benefit the Illinois Death Penalty Moratorium Project. I know nothing about the project other than that it's fighting capital punishment, but the music is great.

Bill Cosby: Fat Albert
I hadn't heard this since I was a kid. It's still hilarious & the kids are lovin' it too.

Levon Helm: Dirt Farmer
I wanted to hear this when it 1st came out, but I'd forgotten about it. It's him, his daughter, Larry Campbell, & Theresa Williams. I imagine if the band were still around this is what they'd be doing. Great stuff. Great rootsy acoustic stuff.

DVDs:
The Flash
Aiden is watching this right now. The Flash is fighting some group of hippies who want to dose the city. There's another episode where Mark Hammill plays a bad guy named The Trickster. It's pretty fucked up. Kind of like Lois & Clark w/o star power.

6 Hammer Film Noir movies
I watched Bad Blonde last night while Isaiah would sleep @ 2:00am. It blows. Well, that might be a bit harsh... on people who actually suck cock for a living. I can't imagine they'd ever want to be associated w/ this filth.

The Office (British version)
Awesome!

Jason & the Argonauts
I don't know that I'd ever seen it all the way through before. Ray Harryhausen's effects are sweet & the plot holds together pretty well. Solstice was a bit bored, but Aiden grudgingly seemed to like it. It's maybe 1 of Harryhausen's best films.

The Other Movie w/ Ledger & Bale

I haven't seen the new Batman film yet, but I promise you a review as soon as I happen upon a theater. It's all I've been hearing about lately, but I suppose that by the time I get around to reviewing it, y'all will have seen it already. In lieu of that, I've got a different movie about which I need to talk: I'm Not There. Christian Bale & Heath Ledger play different versions of Dylan... Bale as Dylan around 64'/early '65 & Ledger as Dylan as a 1970s movie star. Along w/ these 2, there is also Richard Gere as Dylan as Billy the Kid in the Old West, Kate Blanchet as Dylan circa late '65/66 during the famous tour of England & Blonde on Blonde, Marcus Carl Franklin as an 11 year old African American Dylan in 1959 named Woody Guthrie, among others. Oddly, David Cross played Allen Ginsberg & did a fantastic job. The real work was done by Todd Haynes who wrote & directed it. It follows the many incarnations of Bob Dylan as he re-envisioned himself over the course of 20 years revolving around the line between public & private personas & the line between the historical & the fictive reality that he created for himself. (not to mention the worlds created in his lyrics from this time period.) The non-linear structure, combined w/ the surrealistic imagery captures Dylan in an amazing way (like a version of Renaldo & Clara that actually works [I do kinda dig Renaldo & Clara too though]). I hope no one ever tries to make a Doors/Buddy Holly Story/Walk the Line/La Bamba/Great Balls of Fire/Ray bio-pic type movie about him because this one is so much more interesting than straight ahead linear "look @ me, I'm famous" movie would ever be. Then, before the closing credits, there is footage of Dylan circa '75, but it's just a close-up of his face as he plays a ridiculously atonal harmonica solo. After 2 hours & 20 minutes of a story based on a life made famous due primarily to his use of language, when he finally appears, he says nothing... awesome! Other Dylan movies to see:
Don't Look Back
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
Renaldo and Clara
Masked and Anonymous
No Direction Home

Dylan

Steve Earle once said that Townes van Zante was the greatest American song writer of all time & that he'd be willing to get up on Dylan's coffee table in his cowboy boots and shout it. I suppose Steve Earle is entitled to his opinion, as wrong as it might be, but I'd be more than willing to get up on his coffee table in a pill-box hat and tell him how wrong he is. Plus, I'd get to meet Steve Earle which would be pretty cool. Anyway, many moons ago, I had a copy of Dylan & the Band's The Basement Tapes on vinal, but then my record player broke & @ the time it was hard to get moderately priced ones. They've again become more popular, but back then they were mainly for DJs so they were really nice and consequently expensive. As this impeded my listening ability, I hadn't listen to a lot of my stuff in about 7 years (Solstice was a baby when it broke), but I found the Basement Tapes on CD on Amazon the other day for 3 bucks so I now have a nice CD version and nice it certainly is. It's so much better than I remembered. Their writing and orchestration is amazing. It sounds so far ahead of its time. In fact, when he played "Down in the Flood" last fall, I thought it was a new song because it sounds so similar to his new stuff. Listening to it this week got me thinking about 2 things
1) It's been a long time since my last music post
2) What are my 10 favorite Dylan songs?
As it turns out, I had to go w/ 25 which was hard enough. Here they are in order of recording. Most are from a 4 year period which may say more about my tastes than about his writing, but this list does span the etirety of his career. We'll see in 10 years if his newest stuff will still make the cut or if I'm just being nice. Feel free to add your favs to the comments section.

Girl of the North Country (1963)
Don't Think Twice, It's Alright (1963)
Boots of Spanish Leather (1964)
Mama You Been on My Mine (1964)
When the Ship Comes In (1964)
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (1965)
Mr. Tambourine Man (1965)
It Takes a lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry (1965)
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (1965)
Love Minus Zero / No Limit (1965)
Visions of Johanna (1966)
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat (1966)
Absolutely Sweet Marie (1966)
You Ain't Goin' No Where (1968)
Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)(1968)
(Crash on the Levee) Down in the Flood (1968)
All Along the Watchtower (1968)
Tonight I'll be Stayin' Here w/ You (1969)
When I Paint my Masterpiece (1971)
Buckets of Rain (1975)
If You See Her Say Hello (1975)
Tangled Up in Blue (1975)
Jokerman (1983)
Not Dark Yet (1997)
Thunder on the Mountain (2006)

Dylan, Costello, and a few Mexican Slayrides

I'd been excited about the Bob Dyaln/Elvis Costello show at the EMU Convocation Center since I read about it last summer. The fact that they were coming to Ypsi was just so cool. Of course, half of my studens had never heard of either one of them, but that never stopped EMU from booking quality acts in the past. Over the years, I've seen Bela Fleck, P-Funk & Arlo Guthrie on campus, but Dylan is in a league of his own. Georgina met me at my house & w/ a bottle of Auchentoshan in my pocket, we biked to Jim & Rachel's where we had a few drinks before walking down the bike path to the show. As we got to the pparking lot, Annette supposedly saw a naked guy running around, but that couldn't be verified. As we entered the, Elvis Costllo was playing "The Angels Want to Wear my Red Shoes." He ethen went into "Veronica" which was fun & had everyone singing along. From there, he weent into a couple songs I didn't know and then a really cool version of "From Sulfur to Sugar Cane" into which he slipped a funny little line about Ypsi: "Here in Ypsilanti / Wear the women don't wear panties." He then played a newer song about the War in Iraq. It was really cool and definitely unafraid to tell the truth about the Bush Administration before segueing into a nice version Van Morrison tune. He then ended his set w/ "Radio Sweetheart" > "What's so Funny (About Peace, Love & Understanding)?" As he left the stage, the crowd was shouting for "Alison," "Radio, Radio' & "Watchin' the Detectives," but an encore was not to be as Dylan & the Cowboy Band were ready to hit the stage after a very short break. I really enjoyed Elvis Costello. He played a solo set w/ just an acoustic guitar, but he sound was full and complex. Many people (including many w/ whom I went to the show) were really there for him, but for me the main event was always going to be Dylan.

My first Dylan show was 11 years ago, the spring after Jerry Garcia died & Dylan played 2 Dead songs ("Friend of the Devil" & "Alabama Getaway"). My 2nd Dylan show, Valentine's Day in 1998 in Toledo saw him cover "Cocaine Blues." In July of 1999, I saw him cover "The Roving Gambler," "That'll Be the Day," & (w/ Paul Simon) "The Sound of Silence." Last night, however, he stuck to his more recent system of playing only originals like @ the shows I saw in 2000 & 2003. For complete set lists of those shows, follow these links:

16 May, 1996 (Pine Knob)
15 February, 1998 (Univ. of Toledo)
7 July, 1999 (Pine Knob)
16 July, 2000 (Pine Knob)
6 August, 2003 (Columbus, OH)
Last night, Bob opened w/ a pretty rocking version of "Rainy Day Women" which was funny because I'd just been joking about that song earlier in the day w/ the ex-wife. I'd never seen him open w/ it before, but it seemed like a good choice as it got people into the set right away... "Everybody must get stoned!!!"

Next up was "Don't Think Twice" for which the cowboy band switched to acoustic stuff & for which Rachel was happy about & about which you may remember my sweet cover version of that song w/ Brendan at 10K Lakes in MN a couple summer ago. It's always a fun song & people seemed to be digging it... "There ain't no use in turning on your light, babe, / The light I never knowed"

From there he went into "Watching the River Flow," a song I've never been able to remember. Every time I've seen him do it, it's been the end before I could figure out what it was. It was cool though as Tony Garnier switched back to the electric bass for a couple songs... "If I had wings and I could fly, / I know where I would go. / But right now I'll just sit here so contentedly / And watch the river flow."

He then played "Love Sick," a slow weird tune from his 1997 Grammy winning album Time Out of Mind. My copy has a nasty scratch & hasn't worked for a while, but after last night, I realized that I'm going to have to get another copy of it. It's a fantastic tune from a fantastic CD... "I'm sick of love / I wish I'd never met you!"

A couple of the new songs were next, "The Levee's Gonna Break" & "When the Deal Goes Down." At this point, people seemed to be getting restless as we had 3 in a row that few people knew. I was lovin' it though, as they're both great songs. Jim seemed to be digging the new stuff too, w/ such cool lyrics, how could he not? Dylan is a bad mother fucker... "We all wear the same thorny crown."

I was lovin' that he hen played "Stuck inside of Mobile," but I have a hard time w/ that song since I always think of Bob Weir's version. It's cool though, even if it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.

"Well, Shakespeare, he's in the alley
With his pointed shoes and his bells,
Speaking to some French girl,
Who says she knows me well.
And I would send a message
To find out if she's talked,
But the post office has been stolen
And the mailbox is locked.
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck inside of Mobile
With the Memphis blues again."

From 60's LSD weirdness to a commentary on the current economic issues, he played "Workingman's Blues #2." I don't know if I can plug & push this new album any more than I already have, but it's just so damn good. "The buying power of the proletariat's gone down" Who but Dylan can get away w/ lyrics like that? Just soooo cool.

"Honest With Me" from his last album was up next. It took me a while to recognize it, but it too was well played. I don't have much to say about this song, but I was thinking the set would be over soon... wrong... 5 more songs before he left the stage.

"Spirit On The Water," a slow jazzy crooner tune from the new album was played nicely, but again, he seemed to be losing people since no one knew most of the setlist. I think this again shows his bad-assness. He plays to 5,000 people while knowing all along that only about 25 of us knew the songs 7 the other 4,975 just want to hear "Blowin' In the Wind" which, of course, he didn't play. He didn't play "Tangled Up in Blue" either. "Oh, you would like to hear 'Like a Rolling Stone?' Well, fuck off! You'll get the new stuff & like it!" Oh, & Tony was on he stand-up bass again.

OK, he did play a song from the same album as "Like a Rolling Stone," "Highway 61." It's not quite as good, but it always rocks. I was really hoping to hear it, & it made me happy, happy, happy.

Oh God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"
God say, "No." Abe say, "What?"
God say, "You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin' you better run"
Well Abe says, "Where do you want this killin' done?"
God says, "Out on Highway 61."
Then another new one, "Nettie Moore." "Gonna leave a greasy trail"... one of the strangest lyrics he's ever written. Of course, I love it none-the less.

"Summer Days" from the previous album, Love and Theft, was next. Of his 3 newer albums, people seem to jock that one the most, but it's definitely not my favorite. it's still cool though, & I was happy to hear another song from it. And Tony was back on stand up bass!

He closed the set w/ "Masters Of War." This is the song that got him banned from Ed Sullivan, so it's got that going for it. Whenever I hear it, I like to think it's in honor of Dick Cheney.

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks
I've never noticed this before, but before the encore, people were holding up their phones rather than holding up lighters. I suppose it's because fewer people smoke, but there were a few people there w/ pot as the Convocation Center had that nice hippie smell all night long. As upstanding members of our community, we, of course, did none of that though. Anyway, the phones yielded a nice post-modern blue glow to the atmosphere of the crowd before he came back to the stage to play "Thunder On The Mountain." It's yet another good song from the new album. "Gonna raise me an army, some tough sons of bitches / I'll recruit my army from the orphanages." What an awesome rhyme.

After introducing the Cowboy Band, he closed the night w/ "All Along The Watchtower." I remember an interview from 10 or so years ago where he claimed that even though he wrote it, he always feels he's paying tribute to Hendrix when he plays it. Last night's version didn't have a lot in common w/ Jimi Hendrix though (for my money, the Grateful Dead versions are a lot better than Hendrix's anyway), but it was really cool. He stood at his keyboard w/ his hilarious wide-brim white hat & rarely made contact w/ the audience. They just rocked for a couple hours. I can't wait for him to come around again.

Afterwards, a bunch of us went back to my place & had a few drinks, but the Slayrides may have been a bit too much as we were also doing tequila shots. It was the first time I've ever had that much tequila but not gotten naked, so all in all, I'll take it as an accomplishment. Getting up this morning to coach the kids soccer game was pretty rough though. I felt like Walter Matthau in The Bad News Bears. Hung over & hanging out w/ kids. Maybe I'm an ass, but at least I made it to the game & they won 5-3. And that's the important part of youth sports... winning and making the other team cry.