Daily Blues & Views

 Like many of my generation, I found my way to a movie theater on Christmas day to see the opening of the new Dylan film, A Complete Unknown .  I'd read many of the reviews and seen the interviews with the actors, so I expected that the performances would be first rate, and the music would be worthy of its objectives.  It was.  We're going to see a few Oscars here before all the reactions die down.  I knew that this film only represented some critical years in the rise of Bob Dylan and was glad that it didn't attempt to be a complete biography.  I knew, too, that Dylan, himself had given his blessing to the film and wasn't critical of anything.   When history becomes a movie, many liberties are taken and facts altered for various reasons.  Fortunately that didn't happen here.  Yes, there were some changes made, and poetic license was taken here and there.  But at its core, the film is sound and solid.  For someone my age it can't he...

  Hey Mr. Tambourine Man ,     A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall , Like A Rolling Stone,     with no Shelter From the Storm , To uncover the Masters of War , who make Desolation Row,     and Don't Think Twice , with God on Our Side, The Ballad of a Thin Man , got     Tangled Up in Blue , from a Hurricane , that left My Back Pages Blowin" in the Wind. No Restless Farewell , the Times They are a  Changin ' and I Shall be Release d from the Gates of Eden .      A Simple Twist of Fate , left you Knockin' on Heaven's Door, Shouting I Contain Multitudes ,      And It's All Over Now Baby Blue ,    Yes, it's getting late, but it's Not Dark Yet,

 I see my home state is at it again. Book banning at some schools in Grant's Pass, Oregon.  his overprotective, curiosity killing sport lives on.  Funny thing is, though, all that ever results from attempts to keep books from readers is that they find other ways to secure the forbidden material.  Even funnier, however, is that some fairly well-known and award winning titles continue to make it onto the "Frequently Banned Books" list. I'm rather proud that about 60% of the books I taught to high school Juniors and Seniors are on those lists.  No, my classes did not contain books that were objectionable because of vivid sex scenes or radical political theories.  Yes, there was some violence, some expressions of affection for self and others, and certainly political statements.  There were also some Nobel Prized winners in the group as well. Today the offended school boards and their supporters are complaining about books that deal with themes of gender i...

 I must have done 35 Back To School nights in my teaching career.  Like an open house, a Back to School night occurs after the first month or so of the new school semester and gives parents an opportunity to meet their child's teachers and learn a bit ab out the expectations and curriculum for the school year.  Of all the post presentation comments I ever received from parents, the most memorable came from a parent who whispered something in my ear and then walked away.  Apparently her need to tell me something was greater than to stand in the modest line and wait her turn to talk with the teacher.   Still the comment did not fall on deaf ears.  "Thank you for reading to your class," she said. "Especially at this level." That latter comment meant that she believed just because they were high school Juniors in an Honors class, they weren't beyond being read to.  In my view, she gets it.  Reading aloud is a vital part in educating a person.  La...

 They disappear. People, treasured memories, cherished objects.  From car keys to one-time friends, to collections, to everyday items, things disappear.   Over a lifetime, a few chosen objects or people irritate the mind.  Where did they go?  We all have these mysteries.  For me it's a few folks I knew in college, my baseball cards, and accidental displacements. I had a robust collection of 1950s baseball cards between the ages of 8 and 12.  Lots from the glory years of 1951-1956.  They were in a couple of shoe boxes, the thin ones that originally held US Keds.  After I turned about 14, they went from my bedroom closet to the garage.  At least that's what I tell myself.  By the time I left my childhood home for good and returned to clean it out after my father's death, they were nowhere to be seen.  Nobody in my family would have thrown them out.  Nevertheless, like so many before me, they disappeared.   When I see 19...

 After my lifelong friend Kenny died, his partner sent me some of his books, records, and fly fishing gear.  Kenny and I met at age 9 in the dugout of the Sun Valley Little League during the tryouts in 1956.  Through Jr. high and high school we remained friends,  Even though we went to different colleges, we stayed close.  In fact it is during those years between the ages of 19-22 that we cemented our shared interest in the burgeoning folk/rock music scene, beat poets, foreign films, and baseball.  Living in LA in the late 1960s we had a wonderland of opportunities to see iconic blues and jazz artists.  We frequented small bookstore readings, music clubs, and small cinema houses that featured many films from the iconic European filmmakers.  Kenny read widely and most of the time, had his own car and knew the geography of the vast LA basin.  In later years from the 80s to early 2000s we went on fly fishing trips together, camping and exploring...

 These eyes are deep brown, They've seen for decades. Sights include: Those who hate (heard too) Emotional darts thrown at the vulnerable. Poverty from aging wooden homes, Whose walls have child-eyes, Empty kitchens, Clothes long gone, cheap highs in the gutter, Catatonic, clinging survivors, unemployment waiting rooms, unnecessary wars, Prime of life interrupted, Friends gone too soon. Then too,  meadow streams, Alpine lakes, Crystal rivers, Love returned, isolation, watercolor worlds, gleaming coat of a thoroughbred, Black spotted golden Redside trout, Fluorescent blue/pink spotted Brook trout, Black/tan Brown trout, Willie Mays play, 100,000 people in the street, Iron gate at the White House, Coffins on the Capital steps, Texas, Montana, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Newark, New Orleans, Baltimore, Portland, Atlanta, Dallas, Los Cabos, Mex. from above, Son House, Lightnin' Hopkins, Howlin' Wolf, Elvis, Arthur Crudup, Miles, Brownie and Sonny, Big Mama, Donovan, Dylan,  Ap...