Daily Blues & Views

 I'm sitting in a sunny room with my mother-in-law on the eve of her 100th birthday.  Everyone is either gone or busy, as we two converse in between snippets of her favorite TV show: Call The Midwife. She has poor vision and hearing, but never misses this program.  In fact, she often watches the re-runs because she can't remember having seen them earlier.   I notice how alert she sits when watching the large-screen High-def TV. Another baby is successfully born on the screen.  I wonder what goes through the mind of a Centenarian watching a birth? Her husband, Don is gone 18 years now. He was an ob-gyn. "What do you think Don would have thought of this program," I ask. "Oh, he would have loved it, especially because they deal with so many important issues," she replies. Tomorrow she will wear a tiara and a sash that says "Today is my Hundredth Birthday." Her children and their children, and their children will all make appearances in the next few da...

c2007 Bruce Greene      The price tag reads $1,000.  The piece is from the artist’s “1980-87 first period.” I stifle a chuckle.  That’s what the gallery description says.  “A rendering of the New Orleans Superdome.”  Pre Katrina, the deep maroon colored stadium appears on the horizon surrounded by lime green cactus-like trees floating in the sky.  Red flowers blossom from spindly branches.  The documentation concludes with “ Untitled, markers on stretched canvas.”  The piece is unsigned but attributed to New Orleans folk artist Willie White. First period, I think.  The words rattle around and will not leave me alone.  First period, I mutter the sound of that phrase before speaking out loud.  “I remember a period before that…the real first period.”  Perhaps it was the only period. In any case, it remains a permanent marker in my mind. My bittersweet relationship with New Orleans will always be measured by the ni...

 Between 1962 and 1968 Bob Dylan released 6 albums.  I bought 3 of them.  I actually remember buying them and their cost.  Yet, when I  unpacked a couple of boxes of records I had in storage, I uncovered all 6 of these albums.  One of them, Another Side of Bob Dylan,  I had in duplicate.  How is that possible?   Easily.   Between 1969 and 1973 I lived in communal households.  That is, I had a room in a house that I shared with from three to five people.  Usually there was one stereo system and records were kept nearby.  Occasionally, but not always, record albums were identified by name. The owner would write their name somewhere on the album cover, usually on the back in some corner.  On my collection of those albums, one name I recognize,  but on the other, I have no clue.  Is that a statement about the 60s?  Probably.  I'm sure that one or two of my other albums from those days ended up somewher...

 In October of 1965 I am 18 years old, living at home and attending my first year of college.  The previous year has been one of enormous change. My sister married and in no longer living at home.  My desire to attend a state university  was thwarted by a state financial crisis that saw the entire Freshman class, already admitted, put on hold and promised admission sometime next year.   I enroll in a community college to take advantage of the less expensive cost, and knock off some required classes and because waiting six months with no academic stimulation is not an option in my house.  My circle of friends narrows.  Some to out of state schools, some into the military, some into the work force.  I have a part-time job that lets me take classes in the morning and work 5 hours every afternoon.  There is some overtime too.   At home, my mom is in the early throes of an ovarian cancer diagnosis.  We are optimistic and a treatment plan...

 I have been reading with much interest all the comments, pro and con about the new Dylan movie, A Complete Unknown.   Many conflicting ideas and a multitude of takes, but that's to be expected.  What pleases me most is that there is renewed interest, especially among younger generations in the life and work of Bob Dylan. To discover this most prolific artist is always an adventure and a mind expanding experience.  Among the more bizarre reactions was one I read yesterday in which a young man wrote that after seeing the film Dylan seemed more concerned with getting laid than in writing and performing protest music.  I think there is a bit of projection going on there. In any event, a few folks, including myself, sent him lists of Dylan songs that are definitely social comment.  If you include songs like "Who Killed Davy Moore," there are many more than even Dylan contemporaries are aware of.  In two minutes, even the least aware Dylan fans can rattle ...