Bob Dylan receives the Nobel Prize in Literature “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” Interview with Sara Danius Permanent Secretary of Nobel Prize.
The following are comments made by the Nobel Prize morning of October 13, 2016:
"If I was a poet and could write a fine hand, I'd write my love a letter that she'd understand" Bob Dylan from the song "Thunder on the Mountain" from his 32nd studio album, Modern Times.
Bob Dylan is the first Nobel Laureate since Bernhard Shaw to have been awarded both a Nobel Prize and an Oscar.
”I see myself as a song and dance man” The Life and Career of Bob Dylan documentary captures Bob Dylan’s career:
Bob Dylan shakes 2009 Nobel Laureate Barack Obama's hand at the White House Celebration Of Music From The Civil Rights Movement (2010)
”…he is a wonderful sampler, a very original sampler. He embodies the tradition & for 54 yrs now he has been at it” Sara Danius, Permanent Secretary Nobel Prize, on Bob Dylan.
"He can be read and should be read, and is a great poet in the English tradition" Sara Danius, Permanent Secretary Nobel Prize, on Bob Dylan.
Have never seen Stevie Nicks, nor Chrissie Hynde. Am so excited to watch these formidable, iconic female artists perform in early December.
It hit me, though. While thinking ahead, I thought of the first band I ever saw -- The Beatles at Shea Stadium. Although sounds of young women screaming were dominant, to be in the same venue was for a 14 year old who adored them since their debut album, Please PleaseMe, I (and my friends) died and went to heaven. I'd never seen or heard anything like it since, or so I thought.
...until I saw Ziggy Stardust with my then boyfriend/ex-husband at Madison Square Garden. While we were dating, Terry kept saying, "we've got to see Ziggy! we've got to see Ziggy!" So a few of his friends and I did. I was 22 in 2003. It was love at first hearing/sight until his passing.
Ziggy Stardust
My goal was to see three more of my heroes: Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and The
Moody Blues. I wouldn't see The Moody Blues until 1981, but until then blessed to see:
Bruce Springsteen and his E-Street band invaded Rutgers University in 1970 while I attended Douglass College/Rutgers U. I was born to follow since. They performed at Max's Kansas City (an intimate venue) in Manhattan in 1973. But would you believe who opened for them? Bob Marley & The Wailers, they're first ever New York appearance! Tom, a dear college friend & friend to this day, sat in the second row of this small, intimate venue. Met them all after the show. Unforgettable! Again, have become lifetime followers of these greats.
Bob Marley, Max's Kansas City, 1973
When I saw Bob Dylan whom I adored since my father's introduction to him & his song, Blowin In The Wind (1962/63), I got to see two greats for the price of one at Madison Square Garden early 1974 -- Bob Dylan and The Band. Another highlight of my live musical experiences. I was still 22. Incredible!
Have also seen Bob Dylan 2x more at the NJPAC. His Masters of War blows me away, but live? Nothing like it, and him! And as of 10/13/16 a recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Ole!
After such immemorable moments, my life had focused on getting married, marriage, home, career but always hoped to see The Moody Blues which would happen on their Long Distance Voyager Tour at the end of 1981 at the Brendan Byrne Arena/Meadowlands. I heard them first in my sophomore year at college. After hearing On a Threshold of a Dream, again, it was love at first hearing. Their music had an ethereal quality. It was the time of the Viet Nam War, and like us, they too asked "The Question"s.
It was around this time, my husband and I bought our property and moved to the Catskills New York. Thoroughly enjoyed the location, every weekend traveled to Woodstock, a locale I idolized since the Woodstock Music Festival in 1969 I always wished I'd been able to attend.
It was around 1985, my husband and I separated. I lived in Edinburgh, Scotland for the year. During that time of reflection, I made some incredible friendships with whom I was blessed to share moments which helped me to sort things out. Music was always a part of my life during the good and the bad times. While in Great Britain, traveled to Liverpool and saw The Beatles' Museum, visited Penny Lane, and traveled all over Scotland and much of Ireland.
But as I mentioned, music was always there to calm me, to sate me. Two musical acts, now very famous, I saw in their infancy were R.E.M. and Sade. I think one knows when a new musician is great & will become a force to reckon with. Another two incredible moments.
When I returned, I asked my husband for a divorce. It was heartbreaking, but our relationship had been deteriorating for a long while. So, it's at this time, those music acts I had seen afterward become a little muddled and will add them as I remember them.
Many metal bands were seen at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey such as,Motorhead.
Also, Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Iris Dement. Will include when/where as I remember.
Another incredible night of music, Jerry Garcia while he was on his own from The GratefulDead, on my birthday! So sooo good!
In 2002, at Lincoln Center/Avery Fisher Hall, another incredible experience. Prince! On his One Nite Alone tour. Amazing! His presence! He was shorter than I'd imagined but oh so tall when it came to performing!
However, of all the musicians I've seen, The Moody Blues I've seen most often; at the New Jersey Garden State Arts Center (now PNC Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ), Radio City Music Hall (Manhattan), NJPAC (Newark, NJ) 2x, MPAC (Mayo Performing Arts Center) in Morristown, NJ 2x, and a couple Justin Hayward solo appearances. Quite a few for my beloved Moody Blues.
My last live concert was to see Leonard Cohen at Radio City Music Hall, Manhattan in 2009. Another musical hero am so blessed to have seen live. It was magic to experience Canada's Poet Laureate's genius set to music. Pure magic!
Oh my goodness, do live streams count?
Mountain Jam at Hunter Mountain, New York June 2016
Michael Franti, The Record Company, Courtney Barnett, Houndmouth, Gov't Mule, The Marcus King Band, Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Beck, The Avett Brothers, Umphrey's McGee, Train plays Led Zeppelin II, Thievery Corporation, Jason Isbell, Warren Hayes, Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds, Nahko and Medicine for the People, The New Mastersounds, Third World, Marco Benevento & Superhuman Happiness, Turkuaz, Donna The Buffalo, The London Souls, The Ballroom Thieves with Main Youth Orchestra, And The Kids, Love Canon, Con Brio, Quilt, Darlingside, Elijah Wolf, Wild Adriatic, Jane Lee Hooker, Copious Jones, Madaila, The Suitcase Junket, Scott Sharrard, The Movement, Upstate Rubdown, Mikaela Davis, Yogarama with Bari Koral, Ratboy Jr.
PHISH Live from Red Rocks Ampitheatre Colorado, July 2016
Mountain Jamat Hunter Mountain, New York June 2015
Robert Plant, Michael Franti, The Black Keys, Alabama Shakes, Gov't Mule performed Dark Side of the Mule, Grace Potter, Moe., Big Gigantic, Rebelution, Joe Russo's Almost Dead, Railroad Earth, Lake Street Dive, Trigger Hippy, Shakey Graves, Benjamin Booker, Nikki Bluhm & The Gramblers, The Wailers, Dopapod, Rusted Root, Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen, The Budos Band, Amy Helm & The Handsome Strangers, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams, Bill Payne, Marco Benevento, Planet of the Abts, Simone Felice, The Mother Hips, Arc Iris, Spirit Family Reunion, Nikki Lane, Zepparella, Sons of Bill, The Mike & Ruthy Band, EMEFE, Simi Stone, Burnell Pines, Matt Andersen, The Compact, Jocelyn Arndt, Lions on the Moon Ft. Eric McFadden, Ratboy Jr., The Dharma Burns
Grateful Dead's Fare Thee Well Concert, Chicago, July 2015
What do you think, a blessed gal?!
On to the Stevie Nicks'24 Karat Gold Tour!
p.s. a few still on my wish list. Neil Young, Joni Mitchell,Tom Petty & the Hearthreakers, Dido, Rolling Stones, The Allman Brothers, The Talking Heads, The Lumineers, oh so many more. Hope so! :))
Don’t discuss politics. I broke one of my own cardinal rules of branding.
I know! I did it. I shouldn’t have, but I suppose, after all, I’m human. I gave into the temptation to discuss politics for the past few weeks on social media. It’s been bloody, and frustrating, and glorious.
And now, I’m done.
Let’s deconstruct.
Polite Discourse: Is It Possible?
I used to think so. Lately, though, no. I frequent mostlyTwitterandFacebook. Twitter moves faster, so I’d hop on a trending topic between working on clients and see some comment Trump made, or another misogynistic comment about women regarding Clinton by the media, and I’d retweet or share an article, often without commentary. Occasionally, I’d add my own take. As a fierce defender of women and children’s rights, that is my right. Right?
Wrong. The simple act of sharing an article I did not write, just shared, would bring about a barrage of hate and trolling. It’s not possible in this current political climate for people to have calm discussions without immature tantrums, mud-slinging and name-calling, which is sad. The assumptions people make about others is egregious. It’s as if having our own thoughts and opinions that differ from theirs is a crime and we must, therefore, be punished! Don’t even get me started on the guys who obsessively started stalking my various streams for daring to have a differing viewpoint.
Sure, there have been some amazing instances where people from both sides have come together to agree in some of our discussions, and that’s great and one of the wonderful, organic benefits I love about being on social media. Does it happen often enough to justify the barrage of trolling and racist hate? No.
I don’t take it personally because it’s not about me — after all, the perceptions we espouse are indicative of how we perceive the world — so when someone curses at me for disagreeing with them (and they do), it’s not about me, it’s about them. But do I need someone cursing at me? Times ten? No.
This mob mentality is something I’ve never seen before. I’ve voted in elections since 1984, and I’ve never witnessed anything like this. My parents, born in 1937 and 1940, say the same thing. It’s unprecedented.
Worse, the negativity was bringing out the worst inme. I wasn’t being the best person I’m capable of being, and I take full responsibility for that, which is why I’m stopping that behavior right now.
What’s been your experience interacting with opposing parties on social media?
Using Our Platforms For Good
In building my platform, my author brand, on topics I’m experienced in or passionate about, I used to wrestle with this question: do we have a moral responsibility to use our platforms for good? I believe we do, which is why I go out of my way to not be a self-promotional “Buy my book!” robot; rather, I use my time on social media to share articles and blog posts about people who have survived trauma, women’s issues, feminism, equality, and other topics that address what I feel are the inequalities in this world: sexism, victim-blaming and shaming, misogyny, inequality, racism, anti-semitism, and women and children’s abuse and trauma.
Sharing what we are passionate about shows who we authentically are.
Continuing to share articles and blog posts about these topics on social media, and here on my blog are important to me — it’s crucial to give others a voice after trauma, a practice I will absolutely continue.
Will I continue to share articles with regard to the political candidates, however? No. Arguing with trolls about why their candidate is better than mine is a ridiculous waste of my time (I especially love when they use SHOUTY CAPS). There is no winner, no changing of minds, no unicorns and rainbows — not that I expected that anyway.
The whole process left me feeling frustrated and wasteful — I could have spent that time instead on positive experiences, helping others, writing, creating. I ended up mad at myself for allowing the negativity to take hold. This isn’t me being a victim here (a foreign concept for me) — this is me being a survivor. Do I feel it’s healthy to argue with people for no good reason, where no resolution is achieved beyond name-calling (which I refused to participate in anyway)? No.
So, I’m done.
If you discuss politics on social media, how do you find it makes you feel?
Branding and Politics
I have written about branding before on BadRedhead Media, and usually take my own advice. This was somewhat of a social experiment, if you will, as I’m often a guinea pig for what I recommend to my clients. In the nine years I’ve been on Twitter (they recently validated my account, too!), I’ve successfully avoided politics and it’s been fairly peaceful — with the exception of discussing feminism, because you know, the word scares people who don’t quite understand that it doesn’t mean women hate men (but that’s another post).
As a woman with a strong voice, who has been recognized for my voice, I will continue to use my voice in my books, blog posts, giving others the opportunity to tell their stories, and support and fundraise to help women and children survivors of sexual abuse. That’s my thing, my branding, if you will.
Branding is really about managing people’s expectations. When people come to your social media stream or page, are you consistently discussing topics that you are passionate about? Be consistent, and people will come back for more. You know me as the chick who writes what scares her in Broken Pieces and Broken Places, and encourages others to do the same.
Politics doesn’t scare me; frankly, I find it ridiculous, staged, and what people argue about, quite surface.The issues themselves are important and deeply felt— the fact that people are arguing and trolling one another on Twitter or Facebook about it all won’t change minds at the ballot box, and that’s my point. I’ve long thought that arguing about politics is a time-waster. What else could we be doing with that time?
Come November, I’ll vote the way I want; but, make no mistake, I will vote.
And please, vote the wayyouwant. Just stop yelling at me about it IN ALL CAPS.
Note: I can see how one can get caught up in the craziness of social media. But I've always believed that discretion on anything personal including political views can be mutilated by those who don't think before they speak.
A fascinating read.
Social Meda Is Here to Stay "song" by Adam Drummond
Have personally taken the "S" shuttle, aka the Earth Train, recently. It is everything I hoped it would be. The facts of eco-consciousness are obvious and images stunning. Following photos taken:
RESPECT MOTHER EARTH AND HER HEALING WAY
Neil Youngand TIDAL have partnered to give New York City subway riders a unique experience.
From July 15 - 31, the "S" shuttle train will have an eco-centric installation called the Earth Train. The train is wrapped in various Earth images—trees, water, clouds, etc.—and filled with facts that Young wants to share with riders.
Photo credit: TIDAL X Earth
Earth Train was inspired by Young's album,Earth, which features songs about living on the planet together. The 98-minute uninterrupted album features 11 songs from his 2015 tour withLukas Nelson & Promise of the Realmixed with sounds of the Earth, Rolling Stonereported.
"Our animal kingdom is well represented in the audience," Young said. "And the animals, insects, birds and mammals actually take over the performances of the songs at times."
Songs includeAfter the Goldrush, Love & Only Love, Vampire Blues, Hippie Dream, Mother Earth andWestern Hero,Rolling Stone said. Four tracks from Young's 2015 LPThe Monsanto Yearsare included as well asI Won't Quit, a track he debuted on his last tour.
Between Noon and 3 p.m. Friday, TIDAL members that stop by the "S" train platform at Grand Central can pick up a complementary round-trip MetroCard. All attendees will also receive a 3-month membership voucher courtesy of TIDAL and Young.
Check out these incredible images of the Earth Train:
The striking green color in 'Self-Portrait Dedicated to Paul Gauguin' by Vincent van Gogh is made with the aid of arsenic. (Photo: Vincent van Gogh/Wikimedia Commons)
Our obsession with color goes way back: Prehistoric people mixed plant colors, and during the Middle Ages, the only way to achieve a brilliant blue was from Lapis lazuli, a deep blue stone found only in Afghanistan. (It was more valuable than gold for a time.)
At Harvard's Fogg Art Museum, Edward Forbes, considered a father of conservation in the United States, was interested in colors as a way to authenticate paintings. In the process of figuring out if a classic Italian painting really was what its seller said, he collected and the could later reference his own pigment collection, which eventually grew to more than 2,500 examples. Each one had its own history, including where it came from, how it was made, and how it was used.
This video explains more about the museum and its color collection:
Forbes ran the museum until 1944, but his pigment library is still used today; in fact, those colors have been added to modern 20th and 21st century colors. "We use our instruments in the same way that forensic scientists do," says Narayan Khandekar, who now oversees the collection and directs the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies at the Harvard Art Museums. "We examine and find out what we can about the key compounds that will tell us the material's origin," Khandekartold Fast Company.
According to the article: "For example, their work was instrumental in proving that a Jackson Pollock painting 'rediscovered' in 2007 was actually a fake, after pigment analysis revealed that a specific red color was manufactured 20 years after the artist's death. The color, Red 254, was a by-product of a chemical reaction first documented in 1974; it's also nicknamed 'Ferrari red.'"
Many of the stories of a color's origins are fascinating. Here are a few from the pigment library:
Arsenical green
To get a gorgeous shade of emerald green (an incredibly popular color during the late 1800s) arsenic was needed to create the crystalline powder copper acetoarsenite, which is as toxic as it sounds. The Fogg Museum’s own “Self-Portrait Dedicated to Paul Gauguin” by Vincent van Gogh contains it. "Inexpensive to make, the color became a popular shade for household paint near the end of the 1800s and into the early 1900s, but its fumes could prove deadly. Later, the inorganic compound was used in insect repellant," as Khandekar details in the audio clip below for the Harvard Gazette:
Synthetic blue
To extract blue color from lapis lazuli, the rock had to be ground into a powder that was fine enough to use as a dye, but not too big, which wouldn't leave enough color behind. Mined in Afghanistan, the lapis would be used as color in many medieval paintings — and it was so valuable that it “often warranted its own budget line in agreements,” says Khandekar.
Crimson and Lithol red
“We found that when you tried to fade Lithol red as a powder, it was incredibly stable, but when you mixed it with ultramarine blue and a binding medium, it became incredibly light-sensitive. Our analysis helped us understand what was going on with the paint,” said Khandekar. “To be able to treat and best look after works of art, you need to know all the things that are going on with them, and the Forbes Pigment Collection helps us do that.”
For more clips and stories about colors including why purple is "royal" and what makes metallics shiny, check outthe Harvard Gazette's full storyon the pigmentlibrary.
Vincent (Starry, Starry Night) - Don McLean
Positively Van Gogh (Camilla verses in Studio) - Elston Gunn (early alias forBob Dylan)
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