“I have no idea what you are writing about, but that advice you just gave would be good for a lot of people.” So, while I’m thinking about it, allow me a serious moment here.
For people undergoing surgery:
• Expect the unexpected. Somehow something happens that can throw you if you let it.
• Judge improvement by the week, not by the day. • Be patient. Did you get me?
Be patient. It takes time. When it is over you won’t remember the bad.
• Do your rehab. This is a must. Sometimes it’s painful, but do your rehab.
THE FUNNY PAPER
Unrelated favorites:
1. Women and cats will do as they wish. Men and dogs should get used to this fact.
2. The game film looks suspiciously like the game. Coach Bum Phillips
3. On Coach Landry of the Dallas Cowboys: “Does the coach ever smile? Player (Walt
Garrison) “I don’t know, I’ve only been here three years”.
4. “…if you could have a conversation with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?”
Response: “Living—-you think I am stupid?” From Jim Hightower.
5. Eulogy at “Curly’s funeral. “God, we give you Curly. Don’t piss him off!”
From “City Slickers 2”.
6. From Coach Darrell Royal
A: …faster than small town gossip”.
B…”I had hoped God would be neutral”.
C ”You are “what-iffing”. Anybody can “what- if”.
7. Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. W.B Yeats.
8. Every harlot was a virgin once. W. Blake
9. Courage is fear, holding on a minute longer. G. Patton
10. Buy the ticket, take the ride. Hunter Thompson
11. Don’t go around thinking the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first. M. Twain
12. If today was a fish, I’d throw it back in.
13. Jesus was a Jew, yes, but only on his mother’s side. Stanley Ralph Ross.
14. It is better to be a coward for a minute than dead for the rest of your life. Irish Proverb.
15. Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life a champion. Muhammad Ali
16. Expect problems and eat them for breakfast.
7. He that hath no children brings them up well.
18. A good scare is better than good advice.
19. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.
20. For three days after death hair and fingernails continue to grow but phone calls taper off. Johnny Carson
21. Diplomacy is the art of saying “Nice doggie” until you can find a rock. Will Rogers. •22. One Father is worth more than a hundred schoolmasters. George Herbert
23. Of all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable. Plato
24.”…he that is without sin…Pick some up”. Barry Saunders
25. “I graduated with a 4.0, but it was my blood alcohol level.” James Carville.
26. “I cussed him out in Spanish, and he threw me out in English”. Lou Pinella, on being
thrown out of a game by umpire Armando Rodriguez.
27. “I can’t believe that out of 100,000 sperm, you were the quickest. Steven Pearl.
28. “All pro athletes are bilingual. They speak English and profanity.” Gordie Howe
29. “Thank you from the heart of my bottom”. Nick Faldo.
30. “I’ve been around since “Preparation A”. Jack McKeon
31. “Think you are a leader? Turn around and look back: if no one is following, you are just taking a walk.”
32. “It’s hard to kiss the lips at night that chew your ass out all day long”. Vince Gill in drag (You Tube)
33. I used to be Snow White, but I drifted. Mae West
34. I’ve been in more laps than a napkin. Mae West
35. I have a rock garden. Last week three of them died. Richard Diran •36. Schizophrenia beats dining alone.
38. “I’ve worked 3 weeks on this “impromptu” speech. Mark Twain.
39. The mystery masked man, he was smart,
He found himself a Tonto,
Cause Tonto did his dirty work for free.
But Tonto, he was smarter, and one day said, Kemo Sabe, kiss my ass.
I’ve bought a boat, and now I’m out to sea. Lyle Lovett Bob Dylan Quotes:
•On the “Ball Park Tour” with Willie Nelson. “We intend to touch all the bases, and get home safely”.
•There are no ex wives. Only additional wives. Willie Nelson
•Kick your shoes off, do not fear, and bring that bottle over here. I’ll
be your baby tonight.
•Ah, but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.
•Bob Dylan introduces a backup band as…”my wife, my ex wife, my next wife, and my girlfriend”
•High Water Every Where: Got a crazy love for blinding speed, Got a hopped-up mustang Ford. Jump into the wagon, Love, Throw your
panties overboard.
•I ain’t lookin’ to block you up. Shock or knock or lock you up, analyze you, categorize you. All I really want to do is baby, be friends with you.
•Living in the land of Nod, Trusting their fate to the hands of God. They pass by so silently, Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee.
•In the dime store and bus stations, people talk of situations, read books, repeat quotations, draw conclusions on the wall. Some speak of the future, my love she speaks softly, she knows there’s no success like failure and that failure’s no success at all.
•I was raised in the country. I been working in the town. I been in trouble ever since I put my suitcase down.
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•Lots of water under the bridge, Lots of other stuff, too. Don’t get up gentlemen, I’m only passing through.
•People are crazy and times are strange. I’m locked in tight, I’m outta range. I used to care, but, things have changed.
•Well, the Book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy,
The law of the jungle and the sea are your only teachers.
•You’ve gone to the finest school all right, Miss Lonely But you know you only used to get juiced in it.
And nobody has ever taught you how to live on the street And now you find out you’re gonna have to get used it.
•I got sidetracked in El Paso, stopped to get myself a map,
Went the wrong way into Juarez with Juanita on my lap.
Then I went to sleep in Shreveport, woke up in Abilene
Wonderin’ why the hell I’m wanted at some town halfway between.
•To make you Feel My Love
Storms are howling on a raging sea,
And on the highways of regret.
The winds of change are blowing wild and free, You ain’t seen nothing like me yet.
•If your memory serves you well, You’ll remember you’re the one That called on me to call on them To get you your favors done.
Duck Dynasty:
•“My guess is she’ll do most of the talking” … Phil Robertson (on a conference with his Wife). •“The top ten times I’ve been in trouble always included Si”. Phil on brother Si
•“Healthy Friction” provides a family balance.
Justified:
•“That is the purpose of “organized crime.” It’s supposed to be organized.”
•“We don’t sell donuts, so why don’t you get your fat ass outta here.” (From roadhouse bartender)
BEST SELLERS
From Bill Bryson (another favorite) and his ONE SUMMER (1927). This was the year of Babe Ruth and his herculean 60 home runs:
•”… let us note in passing that even with the benefit of steroids most modern baseball players couldn’t hit as many home runs as Babe Ruth on hotdogs.”
•” throwing at batters was a common strategy accepted by all. Burleigh Grimes of the Brooklyn Dodgers was famously bad tempered. He set a record of sorts by once throwing at a batter in the on-deck circle.”
Pat Conroy is certainly an American favorite particularly a Southern American favorite of mine, and legions. One of his new books, MY READING LIFE, details his choices, love of reading them, and thanking his “reading mentor”, one of his high school teachers. One would be wise to consult this inside “guide.”
One comment by Conroy stands out as I write this: “IF THERE IS A PROFESSION MORE VALUABLE IN THIS LIFE THAN TEACHING, I WISH SOMEONE WOULD TELL ME WHAT IT IS BEFORE I DIE.”
BRACKETOLOGY
Filling out “the brackets” have become an American ritual. Two guys took this further in their book entitled BRACKETOLOGY. Mark Reiter and Richard Sandomir took 64 items, or the size of the basketball brackets, and filled them in tournament fashion that played down to one winner, or champion, in each category. This is fun and unique work. I have listed some of finalists from a few of their brackets:
• Moments from NCAA tournament history: Laettner over Texas Western (Now, you see!) •Where were you moments: 9/11 over JFK?
• Jock films: Raging Bull over Field of Dreams.
• Leonard Elmore books: Kill Shot over Swag.
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• Golf swing thoughts: Focus on target over stay smooth and balanced.
• Marital arguments: “That’s the dumbest way to stack a dishwasher” over “When are we getting married?” (That surprised me, but so have a lot of my basketball picks).
• “HIP”: Miles Davis over “Young Bob Dylan”. “Young Bob” ousted “Old Bob Dylan” in the semi- finals. (Pictures young, old Dylan)
COMEDIC HISTORY
OLDIES
Richard Pryor, Jonathan Winters, Johnny Carson, Robin Harris, Jackie Gleason and the list goes on. If you don’t know these guys you missed great moments in comedy. Dean Martin and the roasts, Chuck BurrIs and the Gong Show. Still laughing. Here are some clips that a little research will render.
• Bob Nelson, His classic being his All -America football selections (“shoulda ma pads”).
• Any by Jonathan Winters. He was THE BEST of em all. Precursor to Robin Williams, his Maude Frickett, Elwood P. Suggins, and uncanny improvisations are tops.
• Amos and Andy. While banned, great. Red Foxx got away with the same thing.( Remember Iron jaw—-“…yeah, but can he do this?”). Flip Wilson, Eddie Murphy, Pryor was untouchable.
• Brother Dave Gardner? “Hail Caesar. Hell yes.”
• There was a football game on ESPN between South Carolina State and Grambling University. The game went eight overtimes. Damnedest game I ever saw. And I’VE WITNESSED A TON. I made a sincere and severe effort to procure a film of this classic. Still will offer considerable cash.
• The next few will take some research: 1. the squirrel maze. Fifty consecutive puzzles; they solve them all. You can’t defeat squirrels.
• Pumpkin chunking. On Sunday Morning-CBS. About the year 2000. Computer geeks bomb a lady’s mustang, a mile away.
• From MICROCOSMS (again, about 2000). I made every team watch that “dung beetle” roll that “ball”. After their viewing it, I would say nothing. Just stare at them until one of them figured it out: “Oh, I get it, Coach. No matter what it takes get the ball where it’s supposed to go.” AH—EDUCATION.
• Oh, and Robin Harris doing BEH BEH’S kids. Plus “Sweet Dick Willie” and DO THE RIGHT THING.
•Steve Martin, doing FLYDINI on the Johnny Carson Show. 82
•Bobby Rush from the introduction to Ken Burns jazz documentary. Featuring “Mizz Lowe”. OUTST ANDING!
•I heard David Sedaris bought a beach house in our town of Emerald Isle, N.C. years ago I mentioned an article David had written on Brother Paul. My nephew, Scott Ritter and wife, Denise, told me they went to school with David. Lots of Sedaris pub since then, but YOU CAN’T KILL THE ROOSTER is hilarious. Every time I go to town, I look for David. I want to find out more about Paul. (Google David and “the Rooster).
• Most of the jewels above can be “googled”, or “you-tubed”.
Helping
I’d like to share a copy of my writings, comments, and a collection of sources that have helped me. Between the books and the blog, this a “haystack” of thoughts of various types. It is, perhaps, a folder of inspiration that goes in many directions and is presented in no particular order. Mainly it deals with coaching and teaching tennis in America over the past fifty years. Lately I have concentrated on helping high school tennis teams, coaches, and players. Some handpicked “lessons” are enclosed, excerpts taken from earlier writings, new blogs,other sources, etc. I have doggedly tried to help enhance the amount of scholarship money going to American men and women, as evidenced inside. As Ray Charles once said, “You may not like all of my music, but hang on, I’ll find you.”
Download the full Helping file (160 Mb) here: helping-by-tom-parham
THANKSGIVING
My wife is named Margaret Parham. So is the lady pictured below. My father’s mother was living when I was born, but died shortly thereafter. This picture is the only one I have ever seen of her.
As a matter of fact I never have even thought of her much until this fall. I turned 75, but more importantly two grandsons arrived, somewhat surprisingly so, to accompany the first grandson.
My one sibling does remember the older Margaret Parham: As a youngster I asked her what she knew of this woman. She revealed that this mother-in-law had earlier lived in my parent’s home. Much to the consternation of my Mom, who simply summarized her feelings by saying: “We didn’t get along too well. She didn’t think anybody was good enough for E.T.” (My Dad).
OLD GOLF JOKE: GOLFER 1: Hmm. A son-in-law chip
Golfer 2: What does that mean?
Golfer 1: Not bad, but not what I’d hoped for.
My Dad never said much about his family. “Pretty rough times.” I reacted like anyone denied information and persisted to the point of finding out more of the story.
North Carolina “Parhams”come almost exclusively from the Oxford/Henderson area. Dad said due to the depression his father moved them to the mountains of North Carolina, around Hendersonville, NC (Ironically). I have never known the original bunch.
Pressed by me, and in small doses, my father parceled it out to me. There were four girls and E.T.,the only son and the youngest child. The depression bore down and the farming didn’t do much. My grandfather, ostensibly, left the family to try to find work. He never returned. One sister survived. My father never quite said it as such, but implied the other three sisters more of less starved to death.
I am glad I had these conversations, painful as they were. And I think it also helped my father to unload some darkness. Two memories he had stand out in my mind. With no small amount of pride he said “…I was behind our mule, ploughing, at age 9.” He never went without a garden that I can remember. He was never happier than in the garden. He never bought a “machine” to “turn the earth”, rather found someone with a mule who would lend it to him to prepare. Later he found an older Black gentleman with a mule who helped him in his late 80s. They smiled a lot.
His recollection of this, brought tears from both of us: “…you know, I somehow always valued education. I would not miss school if possible. After the girls died there was nothing. So,as I grew, or wore out my shoes, Mother would go to the closet and hand me the next sister’s vacant pair. The other kids made fun of me, but I went to school.”
My Dad and our name survived. As I now reflect on the fact that there are now six living “Parham Boys”, I can’t help wondering if we don’t owe my Dad’s mom some thanks.
Having piece-mealed an education together, E.T. Parham and his mother traveled though out North Carolina to 14 different one room schools in 18 years. Dad laughed at the fact that, “… I was a school principal at age 18. They survived. So have I, Tee, Dan, Andre, James, and Lennox.
My guess is that old lady WAS “tough”. And thank God she was. Belated, but sincere thanks, from us all. And thanks for a deep belief in education.
I never knew either Grandfather. Not much of a “mental picture there. I am gonna try extra now, to see what happens with the Parham boys.
This is my fourth amateurish attempt at writing something I hope will survive, and that one day the little ones will have some “pictures”
they can find helpful.
DARK HUMOR
DARK HUMOUR
It comes from everywhere. Keep your eyes open. A short pencil is better than a long memory. Like a lot of people my age , I read newspaper obituaries. I think I started during my drinking days. There were mornings I felt so bad I think I was checking to see if I was listed. There are lots of ways to write of one’s demise. Some write their own, surely ahead of time. Here are some examples of gallows humor.
• A man named Tom Traylor had paid in advance to be cremated . A cancer patient, Tom wanted to renegociate the price. When he signed the original contract Tom said that he had weighed about 180 lbs. Cancer treatment had affected his weight downward to about 140pounds. Tom reasoned he’d lost easily about 30% of himself. Shouldn’t he get a discount?
• Another interesting observation about obituaries came from a Professor Clotfelter of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The good professor was not only an observer of obituaries, he had strong feelings about all the hub bub of attacks on the integrity of the great University and the controversy surrounding athletics at Carolina.
Professor concluded, and I hope I accurately paraphrasing his logic, that the citizens held sports, and particularly college basketball in extremely high regard. None more than the Tar Heel faithful. BUT—-Carolina people weren’t the only ones. Quite often in the Old North State obituary loyalties were firmly and proudly proclaimed. Sometimes even in opening statements as such: “Joe Jones, an ardent Duke fan…” Or, “Mr. Smith, a lifelong supporter of Deacon Basketball yadda, yadda.” Here are two the professor cited for support:
• When this North Carolina State gridiron faithful could no longer attend games in person he was despondent. He really missed the live action. Still it was reported that he never missed an Wolfpack game on television. He watched every game in front of his home TV. Frequently in a three point stance.
• Clotfelter did admit fanaticism was not limited to North Carolina. He cited a man from Wisconsin who stated in his obituary:” I love the Badgers, the Green Bay Packers, and most of my grandchildren.”
And then the man from Ohio, who requested that his six pallbearers be members of the Cleveland Brown’s football team. Asked why? he reasoned “…I want to be LET DOWN one last time by the Browns.”
•One person concluded: “Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they would tell you how the person died.” I said “dark”.
A DYLAN PREDICTION
Next stop 80. Makes one think. Bob turns 79 this month. Bob doesn’t “sequester” well. Wonder how he is handling “stay at home”.
Given this time to ponder our greatest life time tragedy, something will be forthcoming. Happened with Katrina, JFK, 9/11, –quite a few significant others.
It’s not dark yet Help us out Bob.
DYLAN FAVORITES
Here are some of my “Bob Lists”
A. My top 80 Dylan songs.
(He’s written who knows how many, but its upwards of 1000.
1. Like a Rolling Stone
2. Mr. Tambourine Man
3. All Thing the Watchtower
4. Forever Young
5. Every Grain of Sand
6. Blowin’ in the Wind
7. Things have Changed
8. Lay, Lady, Lay
9. Tangled up in Blue
10. With God on Our Side
11. The Times are a Changing
12. Subterranean Homesick Blues
13. Its All Over Now, Baby Blue
14. Desolation Row
15. Tombstone Blues
16. It’s Alright Ma
17. Ballad of a Thin Man
18. Gate of Eden
19. Masters of War
20. Visions of Johanna
21. Dignity
22. Tight Connection to My Heart
23. She Belongs to Me
24. Love Minus Zero/No limit
25. Lonesome Death of Hattie Carol
26. Hard Rain
27. Not Dark Yet
28. To Make You Feel My Love
29. Only a Pawn
30. John Brown
31. High Water (for Charlie Patton)
32. Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee
33. Hollis Brown
34. Chimes of Freedom
35. Where Teardrops Fall
36. Man in the Long Black Coat
37. Angelina
38. Farewell Angelina
39. I’ll Remember you
40. Knockin’ on Heavens Doors
41. Mama, You been on my mind
42. I’ll be your Baby Tonight
43. Queen Jane Approximately
44. Hurricane
45. Isis
46. Brownsville Girl
47. One More Cup of Coffee
48. Absolutely Sweet Marie
49. Blind Willie McTell
50. Buckets of Rain
51. IWantYou
52. Let it Be Me
53. Oh sister
54. PoliticalWorld
55. Highway 61
56. Going, Going, Gone
57. Open the Door Homer
58. Love is Just a 4 Letter Word
59. Just Like Tom Thumb Blues
60. Sad Eyed Lady
61. Sign on the Window
62. I Forgot More
63. Restless Farwell
64. Cold Irons Bound
65. Not Dark Yet
66. Don’t think Twice
67. Jokerman
68. Man of Peace
69. Mississippi
70. Positively 4th St.
71. Shelter from the Storm
72. Shooting Star
73. Trying to Get To Heaven
74. Wheels on Fire
75. Tweeter & Monkey Man
76. To Ramona
77. Nettie Moore
78. Someday Baby
79. When The Deal Goes Down
80. The Mystic Garden
B. Suggested Songs on War.
(These are just as valid today as in 1965)
1. With God On Our Side
2. Blowin’ in the Wind
3. Senor
4. High Water (For Charlie Patton)
5. It’s Alright Ma
6. Masters of War
7. John Brown
8. Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
9. All Along The Watchtower
C. Favorite Quotes
War:
“If God is on our side, he’ll stop the next war.” (With God on our Side)
“And his brain has been mismanaged with great skill.” (License to Kill)
“Alright – where do you want this killing done?” (Highway 61)
“Is your money that good? Will it buy forgiveness? Do you think that it could?” (Masters of War)
“Things are breaking up out there, High water everywhere!” (High Water)
“Let’s disconnect the cables, over turn the tables. The place just don’t make sense
to me nor more.” (Senor)
“And I’ll tell it, and think it, and speak it and breath it.” (Hard Rain)
Faith:
“They say prayer has the power to heal so pray for me mother. In the human heart an evil spirit can dwell. I am tryin’ to love my neighbor and do good unto others. But oh, mother, things ain’t going well.” (Ain’t Talkin”)
“May you have a strong foundation when the winds of changes shift.” (Forever Young)“There are no keys inside the gates of Eden.” (Gates of Eden)
“But you and I have been through that, and this is not our fate, so let us not talk
falsely the hour’s getting late.” (All Along the Watchtower)
I gaze into the doorway of temptation’s angry flames. And every time I pass that
way I always hear my name.” (Every Grain of Sand)
“But if the arrow is straight and the point is slick, it can pierce through dust no
matter how thick.” (Restless Farewell)
“Strap yourself to a tree with roots – you ain’t going nowhere.” “Well the book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, the law of the jungle
and the sea are you only teachers.” (Jokerman)
“Before the sky there are no fences —“ (Mr. Tambourine Man) “The dust of rumor covers me.” (Restless Farewell)
Change:
“Something is happening here, but you don’t know what it is.” (Ballad of a Thin Man)
“Ah but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.” (My Back Pages)
“It’ll soon shake you windows and rattle your walls.” (Times They are a Changin’)
“Strike another match, go start anew.” (Baby Blue)
“Well its always been my nature to take chances. My right hand draws back as my left hand advances.” (Angelina)
“steal a little & they throw you in jail. Steal a lot and they make you a king.” (What’s a Girl Like You)
“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. (Subterranean Homesick Blues)
“For he who gets hurt will be he who has stalled.” (Times They are a Changin’) “But me, I’m still on the road heading for another joint.” (Tangled Up In Blue) “The only thing I knew to do was to keep on keeping on.” (Brownsville Girl) “But to live outside the law, you must be honest.” (Absolutely Sweet Marie) “You can’t open your mind to every conceivable point of view.” (High Water) “He not busy being born is not being dying.” (It’s Alright Ma)Relationships:
“Bad luck women will stick like glue. Its one or the other or neither of the two.” (Nettie Moore)
“Love is all there is, it makes the world go ‘round, love and only love, it can’t be denied. No matter what you think about it you just won’t be able to do without it. Take a tip from one who’s tried.” (I Threw it All Away)
“But its not that way, I wasn’t born to lose you.” (I Want You)
“Kick your shoes off, do not fear, buy that bottle over here. (I’ll be your Baby To- night) “I ain’t lookin’ to block you up, shock or knock or lock you up, analyze you, categorize you, finalize you or advertise you. All I really want to do is, baby, be friends with you.” (All I Really Want to Do)
“I was burned out from exhaustion, buried in the hail, poisoned in the bushes an’ blown out on the trail, hunted like a crocodile, ravaged in the corn. ‘Come in,’ she said, ‘I’ll give you shelter from the storm’.” (Shelter from the Storm)
“I’d just be curious to know if you can see yourself as clear as someone who has had you on his mind?” (Momma You’ve Been On My Mind)
“Goodbye is too good a word girl.” (Don’t Think Twice)
“If your mem’ry serves you well, you’ll remember you’re the one that called on me
to call on them to get you your favors done.” (This Wheel’s on Fire)
“So many roads, so much at stake, so many dead ends, sometimes I wonder what
its going to take to find Dignity.”
“Its only other people’s games you’ve got to dodge.” (It’s All Right Ma)
“You’re right from your side, and I’m right from mine.” (One Too Many Mornings)
“Now, there’s a certain thing that I learned from my friend, Moss. A fella who always blushes and that is that ev’ryone must always flush out his house if he don’t expect to be housing flushes.”
“When you’re out there trying to heal the sick, remember you must first forgive them.” (Open the Door, Homer)
“Friends will arrive, Friends will disappear!” (Buckets of Rain) “You’d know what a drag it is to see you.” (Positively 4th Street)
“You went to the finest school all right, Miss Lonely. But you know you only used to get juiced in it.” (Like a Rolling Stone)
“”As she takes your voice and leaves you howling at the moon.” (Tom Thumbs Blues)
“Time is in ocean but it ends at the shore.” (Oh Sister) Tough Moments:
“I’ve just reached a place where true willow don’t bend.” (Going, Going, Gone) “Blues this morning fallin’ down like hail – Gonna leave a greasy trail.” (Nettie
Moore)
“I got sidetracked in El Paso, stopped to get myself a map, went the wrong way into Juarez with Juanita on my lap. Then I went to sleep in Shreveport, woke up in Abilene wonderin’ why the hell I’m wanted at some town halfway between.” (Wanted Man)
“Bury the rag deep in your face, for now is the time for your tears.” (Hattie Carol) “Like a cork screw to my heart.” (Big Girl)
“That long black cloud is coming down.” (Knockin’ at Heaven’s Doors)
“You can always come back, but you can’t come back all the way.” (Mississippi) “don’t even hear the murmur of a prayer.” (Not Dark Yet)
“When you think you’ve lost everything, you find out you can always lose a little more.” (Tryin’ to get to Heaven)
“As soon as you awake, you trained to take, what looks like the only way out.” (Political World)
“Conceit is a disease doctors got no cure.” (Disease of Conceit)
A TIP FOR DYLAN LISTENING
Maybe my music teaching Mom gave me an “appreciation gene” if not a drop of talent.
I noticed the new Pope thinks Bob Dylan is a “false prophet.” I don’t remem- ber Bob claiming deity. I asked “Country” who he thought the new Pope would be? “Probably be another Catholic,” he reassured.
People tell me “I can’t understand what Dylan is saying” or “I don’t get it.” Maybe you get him or you don’t.
I know during rehab from several surgeries I read his lyrics book closely. An
updated one goes through 2002.
If you’re interested in this wealth of work read the lyrics along with the music.
I’m a Dylan fan, not a “Dylanologist.” Over 5000 courses are taught in Dylan
throughout academia.
Two Dylan poems hold up with the “greats”: (1) Forever Young and (2) Every
Grain of Sand. Read number one for your children, number two for your faith. If these don’t affect you, read no further in this chapter. (Pages 181-182)
Ray Charles once suggested, “ you may not like all I play, but hang on, I’ll find you.”
The Little Green Book of Tennis 