Modern Times. Modern Tools

I need to revise my opinion of Dylan's "Modern Times" CD. I've been listening to it for the past week or so, and while I still feel some of it is trodding a lot of the same musical turf as his last couple of CDs, revisiting a lot of the same song structures, the new CD has grown on me considerably once I had time to live with it a bit.

The gems that jump out for me are When The Deal Goes Down, Spirit On The Water, Beyond The Horizon and the exquisite Workingman's Blues 2 (begging the question, where's Part 1?). Old Bob has still got it in him to make some compelling music. And I'm not even talking about the lyrics. Stir in the words and these songs arrive like fully formed characters from a movie. Swaggering, bittersweet, nostalgic, funny...full of complexities and nuance.

I've also been able to listen to several episodes of Bob's Theme Time Radio Hour, the show he does on XM Satellite Radio. Great stuff! Lots of old-timey music, blues, country, R&B, jazz mixed in with more contemporary artists, each show built around a theme: Time, Water, Drinking, The Devil, Cars, etc. Bob's delivery is priceless. Kinda sounds to me like he's channeling a bit of Walter Cronkite. Usually he'll preface a song with a bit of background on the artist, or a little anecdote. This is what radio should be.

The reason I've been able to hear his show isn't because I've subscribed to XM Satellite Radio, it's because I've finally got enough room on my computer's hard drive to start downloading large torrent files. And the reason I have more space on my computer is because I went out and got a new computer. My old G3 iMac was starting to really show its age (at the digitally decrepit age of five years), so I got myself a new iMac Intel Core 2 Duo, 20 inch monitor, 2.16Ghz processor, 260GB hard drive (compared to 40GB for my old iMac), 2GB memory.


She's a wonderful machine. It's been hard to pull myself away from her. Got the built-in iSight camera, Photo Booth, Front Row with the remote, and, of course, apps like iDVD, iMovie and, most exciting for me, Garageband. I can't wait to get in there and start fooling around with recording. I really want to try my hand at making podcasts. I've always wanted to put together a radio show, and it looks pretty easy in Garageband. I could make my own Theme Time Radio show.

The built-in camera is fun, as is Photo Booth. Hard to imagine how I got by before I was able to make photos like these:





I wasn't sure if I needed a 20-inch screen. Thought maybe the 17-in would suffice. But, probably a few years down the road, it'll be pretty standard, if it isn't already. It's the same size as my TV. I have to say it's nice to sit back on the couch with the remote and watch movies and movies on the 'puter, cycle through music, etc.

As I said, I've been downloading lots of torrents. Got my hands on some films that are hard to come by. The Beatles "Let It Be", which I've only seen once, in a theatre in Moncton many moons ago, and Dylan's "Eat The Document", capturing the insanity of his 1966 tour of England. In the case of the latter, I can see why it was never released commercially. What a piece of crap. The editing is so annoying. Like something an inept film student might attempt. Apparently it was Dylan and his associate Howard Alk who edited it after D.A. Pennebaker, who shot the footage, submitted his version. Bob should have left well enough alone. Yes, it captures the madness of the tour, but the result is as unwatchable as that life was unliveable. The footage of the performances is good to see, and there are nice scenes of Dylan and Robbie Robertson working on new songs in the hotel room on two acoustic guitars, but the rest of it is ill-considered at best. Pennebaker's version is rumoured to be on the way, titled Something Is Happening. Let's hope so.

Also snagged The Stones' "Gimme Shelter" and "A Day In The Park", the latter documenting their July 1969 free concert in London's Hyde Park, where they introduced new guitarist Mick Taylor just a couple of days after Brian Jones' death. This free concert went over much better than the one documented in "Gimme Shelter", of course, that being the infamous one at the Altamont speedway. Interestingly, the Hell's Angels were hired to provide security at both events. Maybe the British Angels were more polite? Or maybe paying them in beer at Altamont was a mistake?

Lots of other stuff coming down the digital pipeline. Once I get some podcasts made, I'll post them here. Stay tuned.