"The Kids Are the Show!"-- Brodini’s Magic Is Wonder-Filled

"Children are the research & development division of the human species" --Patt Olivieri

When I heard from our local library that Brodini was going to perform, I made it a point to be there. And I was.

Brodini does comedy magic shows for kids. What I saw, though, wasn't just kids lovin' it. Every adult in the room enjoyed seeing their children get bug-eyed and bedazzled. And many, like myself, were probably recalling their first experiences of being mesmerized by a live magic show. Or at least in my case, that is what I was thinking about.

His name is Graylyn Morris, but his stage name is Brodini.

Brodini's name is taken from his two early sources of inspiration. Marshall Brodien played Wizzo the Wizard on the Bozo Circus show when Graylyn was a kid. The second part of his stage name came from a source that has spawned hundreds, if not thousands, of magicians. Morris read a book about Houdini (like many of us did) and watched the famous Houdini movie starring Tony Curtis as the master magician and escape artist. With such admiration for Houdini, it was easy to later name himself Brodini in honor of the man.

 

Brodini has performed in Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam and for a month each of the past 12 years in Mexico. Here's how he describes what he is doing:
 

"My show is all audience participation. What I like most about kid shows? The kids are the show! I explain in every show, if I can do magic you can too…"

Brodini says he learned from books, which is what I did, too. I borrowed books from the library and my parents even make some of the tricks for me. For example, Brodini opens his routine with an egg bag, a standard in which the magician makes an egg appear from an empty bag. My mom made one for me. And my father built a miniature "set" for levitation. Instead of levitating a woman, I levitated one of my mom's Barbie dolls. It was a pretty cool illusion.

For Brodini, "it's all about the kids!" You can see it in his eyes how it flows from his heart.

My biggest takeaway from Brodini's show was not how "amazing" or talented he was. (Yes, he's very natural at sleight of hand, and the rest of his tricks are mind-baffling for those who have never performed magic.) Rather, what I came away with was how ordinary people like you and I can use the gifts we have and make a difference in other people's lives. That was the real magic that I saw. Graylin isn't trying to be David Copperfield or Penn & Teller. He's just a human touching young hearts and firing up their imaginations. 

Related Links

Brodini's Website

Escape Artist, Magician, Inventor, Honest Cheat: How Following His Passion Unlocked Terry Roses' Career

The Handcuff Kings

Wild About Harry

A Child of the Lab

Forty years ago, when I first became serious about a writing career, I envisioned being a writer of short stories like Hemingway (In Our Time), F. Scott Fitzgerald or Jack London. Yes, they all wrote novels but I found that writing stories and articles while working full time was within my grasp and a novel was simply to massive of a project in those circumstances.

For the first four years after our return from a year in Mexico Susie and I painted apartments. There were two things I especially liked about it. First, wherever we went looked nicer after we'd been there than before we arrived. Second, there is a mindlessness about painting white on white so it was an opportunity to let my imagination run free. As a result my mind conceived of countless concepts for stories, some which became outlines and others which were completed. (Years later I assembled many of these into books like this short volume, Unremembered Histories.)  

The story below was conceived sometime during the 1980's I believe. Or rather, the concept for this story was birthed and a few notes jotted down. Over the years since that time I've thought about fleshing it out and turning it into something I could share. 

This past week I decided to do something different. I fed my story concept to ChatGPT to see what an AI would generate. Here's what we came up with as a story beginning. For a much longer story it has real possibilities. What do you think?

A Child of the Lab

In the dry heat of the Negev desert, deep within the secure walls of a state-of-the-art laboratory, Dr. Yitzhak Baram and Dr. Leah Mendel spent their days peering into the mysteries of the human genome. Theirs was no ordinary research—after years of studying ancient texts, theological debates, and genetic data, they began to suspect a tantalizing possibility. Buried within the intricate code of human DNA, they believed they had found a signature, a remnant of a primordial flaw, a genetic marker shared by every living human being. They called it "Eve's Mark."

For months, the pair wrestled with the implications of their discovery. Could this genetic trait be a trace of what religious traditions called Original Sin, a fundamental imperfection passed down through generations since humanity's mythical fall from grace? If so, could they remove it? And if they did, would the result be a human being untainted by the imperfections that had shaped human history?

Leah's voice trembled as she proposed the unthinkable: "We could create a new embryo... without Eve's Mark. A human being, like Adam and Eve, before the fall. Imagine the purity, the potential for good."

Yitzhak's skepticism melted away over nights of whispered conversations, and they resolved to do what no one else had ever dared—build a genome devoid of this flaw. In the dimly lit lab, they synthesized the embryo, painstakingly editing the genetic code until "Eve's Mark" was no longer present. Nine months later, the child was born in secret, far from any official record. They named her Miriam, for she was to them a new beginning.

As the months passed, Miriam grew with a vitality that stunned her caretakers. The scientists documented everything—her rapid development, her serene temperament, her uncanny way of absorbing the world around her. She did not cry like other infants; instead, she observed, her eyes, an almost startling shade of blue, scanning her surroundings with preternatural awareness. They began to believe they had succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. Yet, beneath their excitement, fear gnawed at them—would others, especially those who might see this as heretical or dangerous, accept what they had done?

Their fears were well-founded.

One summer evening, as the sun dipped behind the hills, a missile struck the lab. It came without warning, an attack from across the border, shattering the building with a force that set the desert ablaze. Yitzhak and Leah died in the chaos, caught beneath the collapsing walls. But as the fire spread, a nurse named Ayla, who had cared for Miriam like a mother, cradled the child to her chest and ran through the smoke and flames, her only thought to save this miraculous little being.

She stumbled through the desert night, following the faintest paths through the dark, driven by some instinct stronger than fear. In her arms, Miriam remained silent, her wide eyes fixed on the stars as if understanding their brightness. The next morning, Ayla reached the outskirts of a small village, exhausted but alive, the child untouched by the horrors that had unfolded behind them.

* * * 

Observations on Music from an Uncommon Man

While organizing books near the top shelf in my office this weekend I discovered that I had a copy of Aaron Copland's Music and Imagination. Those familiar with the myriad books about Bob Dylan will recall that Sean Wilenz's Bob Dylan In America opens with a whole chapter devoted to this composer who has been referred to as the "Dean of American Music." 

As I read the opening chapter of Copland's book I was impressed with how much his ideas resonated with me. We don't listen to music to pass tests or properly understand musical notation. We listen to enjoy. Music lifts us, comforts us, releases us, takes us places and sweeps us away in the swirl of our imaginations. 

Here is the opening page of Copland's rich little volume.

THE MORE I LIVE the life of music the more I am convinced that it is the freely imaginative mind that is at the core of all vital music making and music listening. When Coleridge put down his famous phrase, "the sense of musical delight, with the power of producing it, is a gift of the imagination," he was referring, of course, to the musical delights of poetry. But it seems to me even more true when applied to the musical delights of music. 

An imaginative mind is essential to the creation of art in any medium, but it is even more essential in music precisely because music provides the broadest possible vista for the imagination since it is the freest, the most abstract, the least fettered of all the arts: no story content, no pictorial representation, no regularity of meter, no strict limitation of frame need hamper the intuitive functioning of the imaginative mind. 

In saying this I am not forgetting that it has its disciplines: its strict forms and regular rhythms, and even in some cases its programmatic content. Music as mathematics, music as architecture or as image, music in any static, seizable form has always held fascination for the lay mind. But as a musician, what fascinates me is the thought that by its very nature music invites imaginative treatment, and that the facts of music, so called, are only meaningful insofar as the imagination is given free play. It is for this reason that I wish to consider especially those facets of music that are open to the creative influences of the imagination.

* * * 

Four Aaron Copland quotes

So long as the human spirit thrives on this planet, music in some living form will accompany and sustain it.
--Aaron Copland, Music as an Aspect of the Human Spirit (1954).

The composer who is frightened of losing his artistic integrity through contact with a mass audience is no longer aware of the meaning of the word art.

--Aaron Copland

If you want to know about the Sixties, play the music of The Beatles.

—Aaron Copland

For me, the most important thing is the element of chance that is built into a live performance. The very great drawback of recorded sound is the fact that it is always the same. No matter how wonderful a recording is, I know that I couldn't live with it--even of my own music--with the same nuances forever.

--Aaron Copland, Classic Essays on Twentieth-Century Music

This latter quote brings to mind Bob Dylan's approach to performance art.

 

Why Do We Ask Questions? And What Does It Mean When We Stop?

"Children are the research & development division of the human species"--Patt Olivieri

Paquita. A girl at the orphanage
where we were in Mexico, 1981.

It's been a while since my children were little, but now that I'm a grandfather to a couple youngsters under five I'm remembering how sparkling and alive their developing minds were. What an amazing experience to be young explorers with no preconceived notions about this colorful, magical world we're born into and their endless inquisitiveness.

inquisitive: adj. -- curious or inquiring

Some of the synonyms for inquisitive have negative implications. Nosy, snooping, meddlesome and prying, for example, imply that inquisitive people don't respect boundaries.

And it's true. When we're young, we have no way of understanding a concept like boundaries until we're actually told, or scolded, for violating one of the unwritten rules of social engagement.

On the other hand, who doesn't love the innocence of a young inquiring mind? 

As I thought about these things I pondered as to why older people eventually stop asking questions. My first thought in that regard possibly has to do with our penchant for already having answers to everything. What I mean here is that after youngsters head off to school, it seems like the next many years are focused on answering questions, not asking them. Quizzes, tests and the like get graded based on our answers. How often are we rewarded for good questions? (OK, there are definitely teachers who enjoy seeing those young minds engaged and inquisitive.)

Peer pressure can also cause us to clam up for fear of coming across as stupid or ignorant. Asking a question that everyone already knows the answer to makes us feel stupid. It's embarrassing.

When I was in sixth grade my family moved to New Jersey. As the newby I was made to feel embarrassed and made to feel stupid more than a few times. On one occasion a classmate came up to me and said that there was a rumor going around that I was pregnant and they wanted to know if it were true. I had no idea what the word pregnant meant. Nevertheless I felt obligated to give a reply, so I said yes.

I immediately snuck off to the library to find a dictionary.  As I remember it, the dictionary was about six inches thick, lying open atop a pedestal and though I could read the words I wasn't fully grasping them.

Fear of humiliation may be one reason we stifle our questions in public. I've certain seen it in the workplace where co-workers may use acronyms in a manner that suggests they are common knowledge. If you stop the meeting to ask what AML means, will you be glared at for being so dense? So you bite your tongue. The problem is, others may have the same question so that there has actually been no communication taking place because the meaning was lost.

Which brings me back to the beautiful innocence we find in the uninhibited inquiries of children. Here are a few questions my son asked when he was little.

Where did all the dinosaurs go?
Do dinosaurs eat worms?
Where are all the astronauts? 
Why don't we see them walking on the streets?
Do ants have fire trucks? (no.) What do they do when their houses catch on fire?      (EdNote: See my poem The Ants: A Tale)

* * * 

A week or two ago I came across a story on Medium by Adelina Vasile about her three-year-old son. It was titled Smile-Stealing Small Talk With a Little Boy. Medium as a blogging platform brings writers and readers together from all over the world. I find it a rather amazing time in history when ordinary people can write stories that people all over the world can read and respond to. 

Next I noticed that Adelina was from Romania, a country many Americans probably don't know that much about. I remember becoming aware of that nation during the 1976 Olympics when gymnast Nadia Comaneci won a gold medal and became the first gymnast to score a perfect 10. In 2010, the memory of that event triggered a blog post titled Nine Things You Maybe Didn't Know About Romania.

It was against this backdrop that I decided to reach out and learn what kinds of questions a Romanian boy might ask. As it turns out, Ms. Vasile was open to going along with it. The next thing I knew, I had the following list of questions in my inbox. Her son's name is Matthew, so I will title this list of questions Matthew's World. It's interesting how wildly imaginative children's minds are all over the world.

Matthew's World

Matthew searching for answers inside
a toy he took apart.

What are microbes?

Why can’t we see microbes?
If I look through a “miboscobe” will I see microbes?

Did the dinosaurs purr? (Like cats…)
What dinosaurs lived on our street when that big rock fell from the sky?
What do you mean our street didn’t exist when the dinosaurs died?
Not even our house?
Not even our neighbors?

Will a crocodile eat us if we meet with him?
Will a tiger eat us?
The tiger is a bigger cat?
Will a penguin eat us?
Why do penguins eat fish?

What is an Eskimos?
Do Eskimos live at the North Pole?
What is the Arctic region?
Are there any Eskimos at the South Pole?
When will we go to the North Pole?

When I’ll grow up I will be allowed to drink wine?
Will the police let me drive too?
What if the police will catch me flying at high speed? (he was talking about flying a plane)
If you’re in a helicopter without a seatbelt, will the police give you a fine? 

Is it true that monsters don’t exist?
What is an ogre?
If ghosts were real, what would they look like?
How does a baby ghost look like?

How did grandpa die?
When will grandpa be alive again?
What is grandpa doing now? (the deceased grandpa)
When will we die?
Can I eat this until I die? (strawberry jam)
Will you cry if I die?

Daddy, what did you see interesting at work today?
How did you sleep last night?
What did you buy me?
Is there any surprise for me in this package?

What are the eyes that we see through?
What is inside my belly?
What happens if my penis breaks?
What happens if I lose all my blood?
Will I grow big muscles if I eat these 3 chickpeas?
Can I have 8 plums? Are 8 plums a lot?

* * * 

The headline for this blog post promises to answer the question "What does it mean when we stop asking questions?" When I asked Quora, I found some pretty thoughtful replies. You can find those answers here.

Thanks for dropping by. And if you have young ones, what kinds of questions are they asking? Would you share them in the comments?

Related Links

When Kids Smack You in the Head With Some Philosophical Idea

Follow Adelina on Medium

Are You Protopian, Utopian or Dystopian?

Saturday Snippets: Fragments of Imagination and Observation

The other night I decided to do something useful: cleaned some of the debris and scraps of miscellany off my desk. What follows are various notes, interspersed with a few quotes from other sources. Every once in a while you just gotta do it.

* * *

"Well, my sense of humanity has gone down the drain
Behind every beautiful thing there’s been some kind of pain..." Bob Dylan, Not Dark Yet

* * *

His method: Following an idea as far as it would go.

* * *

Don't gather 'round people
don't go out and roam.
Please stay in your houses 
and please stay at home.

* * * 

As I was walking into town
I met a man whose head was down;
He used to be a happy clown
But now he only wears a frown

* * * 

I'm so old I can still remember when it was illegal to break the law.

* * * 

She gave him a tornado and said, "Let's go for a ride."
"I'm a little burned out, and it's late," he replied.

* * * 

One good thing about reading a lot of Solzhenitsyn & writing about it
is that you learn how to spell his name without having to look it up.

* * *

How did it happen that people created a special day to be tricksters?

* * * 

The next person who asks me for for a glass of pineapple juice mixed with grapefruit is gonna get a punch.

* * * 

"The best conversations... start over good food." 
Printed inside lid of Mezzetta Imported Capers

* * * 

"Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art."
--Frederick Chopin

* * * 

"The truth is too simple: one must always get there by a complicated route." --George Sand  

* * *

Meantime life goes on all around you. Make the most of it.

Creativity Is Amazing: Thoughts in Response to a Performance of Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto nr. 1

Right now as I write this it's a Sunday afternoon. There's jazz playing on the local public radio station, jazz with Afro-Cuban polyrhythms and percussions. But my mind is on the wonder of creativity.

Earlier this afternoon I was listening to a selection of YouTube classical piano videos such as this one: Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto nr. 1 featuring Sofia Vasheruk. She's evidently performing as part of a competition, but what struck me more than anything was this. How in the world did Tchaikovsky conceive such an intro to this classic piece? Or the entire piece, for that matter.

I find it amazing how composers like Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart, Bach each began in the exact same space, with nothing but a blank page, a silence--and imagination. Creativity is astonishing.

As writers, we ourselves begin with blank pages all the time. Whether poet, adman, essayist, short story writer or novelist, the starting point is precisely the same.

Where does the creative urge come from? For much of my life I've noted that God the Creator's first act was to create a world, along with its context. And when it came to creating man--male and female He created them--it was in His image that we were created. Thus we are creators ourselves.

How strange that when we create something it is This and not That. Could God have made us without noses? Or even made to live on a flat earth? How strange to think it could all have been different. Yet it is not. Why? Or why not?

And so Beethoven's Fifth will always be Beethoven's Fifth. And my story Terrorist's Preying will always be Terrorists Preying, and Orion will always be Orion. (Or will it?)

This piano concerto by Tchaikovsky was once considered unplayable by Nicolay Rubinstein, one the the world's greatest pianists. This is a student choosing to play this impossibly challenging piece, and frankly, it's awesome.

What's especially interesting to me regarding musical creation is how once the piece has been produced, others can re-interpret the work and make it something equally inspiring. I'm thinking here of all the thousands of re-interpretations of songs by Bob Dylan, from The Byrds to Joe Cocker to Joan Baez to Richie Havens to any number of lesser known and unknown musicians. And, as any Dylan fan knows, Dylan's whole performing career has been a never ending series of re-inventions of his own songs.

This isn't a blog about Dylan, though. It's about the creative urge. Follow your heart. Your creative journey lies before you. Creativity can help you find yourself.

Related Links
10 Great Pieces of Classical Music That Will Take You Higher
A New Way of Looking at Time

Bizzarro: From Stranger Than Fiction to John Malkovich Being David Lynch

Ideas are a dime a dozen. Pulling it off is another story. Here are three stories in film that began as an idea.

Stranger Than Fiction
An I.R.S. auditor figures out that he is not a real person but rather, is a character in a book that someone is writing. When he learns that he's soon to be bumped off he goes on a quest. Can he find the author in time to have the end of the story re-written?

No doubt the story began with a "what if" question. Will Ferrell is the somewhat obsessive-compulsive lead character Harold Crick and he pulls it off. One reviewer of the film at imdb.com states that it could have gone further in exploring the issues it raised and labeled it "Charlie Kaufman Lite." I liked it though.

Adaptation
A lovelorn screenwriter becomes desperate as he tries and fails to adapt 'The Orchid Thief' by Susan Orlean for the silver screen.

This one, and the next, really are Charlie Kaufman screenplays. With echoes of Carl Hiaasen (Everglades, unusual characters and a plot that veers in unexpected ways) my only suggestion is that at a certain point in time you'll want your seat belt fastened when this film goes off the rails.

Being John Malkovich
The storyline reads: A puppeteer discovers a portal that leads literally into the head of movie star John Malkovich. Directed by Spike Jonze, this is another remarkable script by screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, a truly original film that takes you places you can't begin to imagine. This is what "Magical Realism" (Borges, Umberto Echo, Marquez) looks like when translated to the silver screen.

John Malkovich as David Lynch
The title of this trailer is Psychogenic Fugue, "a psychological state in which a person loses awareness of their identity or other important autobiographical information."**

It was this last little snippet that became catalyst for the blog post. This summer I've been reviewing everything I've ever written for this blog, and am finding a lot of material that was initiated but then abandoned in favor of something else for that day. Always hoping to make you visit worthwhile...

Imagination is an amazing thing. Where does it come from? Why is it so active in some and restrained in others? What will they think of next?

**Psychology Today:&nbsp -- https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/conditions/dissociative-fugue-psychogenic-fugue

More Chairs by Kris: The Magic of Imagination

"Cairn For You"

I believe I first saw Kris Nelson's chairs at The Red Mug in Superior. She also had a few "art chairs" for sale, and still does, at Art on the Planet, which is located on Tower Avenue adjacent to Wine Beginnings near Belknap. Her chairs have evolved and I can envision a gift book emerging some day. Or maybe an Instagram ongoing saga?

When I saw her chairs at 315 Gallery this past Friday I felt a blog post dedicated to her work was in order, and a brief interview with the Wrenshall artist.

EN: What prompted you to start painting chairs?

Kris Nelson: I painted my first chair in 1996. I wanted my bedroom chair to match a quilt I had recently made. Something clicked and I haven't ever wavered in my decision to reach my goal of painting 1000 chairs before I am 100. My style has changed and grown through the years. In the beginning I was still teaching full time and would only paint a few chairs a year. Now that I am retired, I paint around 30 chairs a year.

"The Killing Chair" features the seven ways state death penalties are carried out.

EN: Your "Killing Chair" is quite powerful. At what point in your chair painting did you begin to make social commentary through your chair art?

KN: My first social commentary chair was back in 2004. There was a controversy about the 10 commandments being displayed in front of the Duluth Courthouse. I painted "Moses and the 10 'Art' Commandments". (Thou shalt not kiln until the clay is dry is an example of one of my changes). I have now completed 20 social commentary chairs from Medical Marijuana to Gay Marriage to the Death Penalty. I use my art as a way to express my feelings, better than I can express myself in words.

EN: Your chairs are for sale I see. What does it cost to ship a chair if someone from Texas or Maryland wants one?

KN: Shipping a chair is not cheap. The last chair I shipped was a small child's chair that cost $100 and arrived broken. The recipient had to ship it back to me for $100. I repaired it, shipped it back for another $100. The USPS claimed no responsibility! The price varies from different states to different sizes, but I would advise people to carry it back in their car.

EN: Any other comments you wish to make about what you are doing?

KN: I love painting on chairs. I find it more challenging and interesting than a flat canvas. Each chair has a personality that I try to fit in with the theme I am painting.

Lest we forget, Death by Hanging is still on the books in some places.

Pair of chairs hanging out at the Red Mug show.

Kris Nelson's First Chair

* * * *
Visit Kris Nelson's home page.

Meantime, art goes on all around you. Get into it.

The Characters of Highway 61 -- Just One Example of Dylan's Nobel-Worthy Imagination

Dylan receiving Medal of Freedom from President Obama*

By now Dylan fans everywhere have read or heard the news of his being honored with a Nobel Laureate for Literature. It will be interesting to see how he is received tonight at Desert Trip in Coachella. When you let it sink in you realize that this has to be a tremendous honor, and I can imagine some backstage acknowledgements from his peers out there. It only took minutes before the Twitterverse was abuzz with the news and not much longer for Wikipedia-world to get its list of Nobel laureates for literature page updated.

The Nobel announcement could not have been more suitably timed as here in the Northland as we've been gearing up for the celebration of a local Dylan-themed radio show that streams throughout the world from KUMD, Highway 61 Revisited. In anticipation of this weekend's celebration at The Rex I've been listening to this Dylan album from which John Bushey's show obtained its name and I couldn't help but be fascinated by the cast of characters that appear in his songs here. It would be fun to set aside a block of time to paint or draw them.

Our celebration of John Bushey's show and all things Dylan has been amped to a higher level now, with a proclamation by the governor added to our mayor's planned proclamation this Saturday night. The Nobel Committee's decision did not please everybody, of course. Yes, it added a spring to my step yesterday, but there were grumblers who seem dismissive. My only thought there is that no matter who wins the prize there are an incredible number of worthies left standing in the wing each year.

50 years ago

The good part of this award is that it will undoubtedly draw renewed attention to the work he has created, and this will lead many people to see why his long time fans were so impressed in the first place. It's been said that if a man is worth knowing at all he's worth knowing well. I would suggest this especially applies to the creative output of Bob Dylan.

For what it's worth, here's an overview of many of the world's reactions to yesterday's news.

And here are photos from around the world related to Dylan's achievement and career.

* * * *

What follows here is a fragment from what I'd originally intended to write about today, the characters in Bob Dylan's songs. In the mid-Sixties Dylan's imagination was in full flower. No one was writing songs like this young man. But he'd been deeply immersed in the folk traditions previous to this and once his mind was unbound his stories in song (Folk music is all about story, isn't it?) produced a fifty year shooting star that has never burned out.

So, on to the characters of Highway 61 Revisited. Here's a list, in the order of their appearance. My apologies if I've missed one.

Miss Lonely
The Mystery Tramp
The Diplomat
Napoleon in Rags
*
The Ghost of Belle Starr
Jezebel
Jack the Ripper
The Hysterical Bride in the Penny Arcade
The Medicine Man
John the Baptist
The Commander-in-Chief
The King of the Philistines
Gypsy Davey
His Faithful Slave Pedro
Galileo
Delilah
Cecil B Demille
Ma Rainey
Beethoven
*
Mr. Jones
The Geek
The Sword Swallower
The One-Eyed Midget
*
Queen Jane
*
Georgia Sam
Howard
Mack the Finger
Louie the King
The Fifth Daughter
The First Father
The Second Mother
The Seventh Son
The Rovin' Gambler
*
Saint Annie
Sweet Melinda
Angel
*
The Blind Commissioner
The Tightrope Walker
The Riot Squad
Lady & I
Cinderella
Romeo
The Fortune-Telling Lady
Cain & Abel
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Good Samaritan
Ophelia
Einstein (disguised as Robin Hood)
His friend, a jealous monk
Dr. Filth
His Nurse, some local loser
The Phantom of the Opera
Casanova
The Agents and the Superhuman Crew
Insurance Men
Nero's Neptune
Ezra Pound
T.S. Eliot
Calypso Singers
Fishermen

* * * *

This is just one album of dozens... and this weekend will be just one more acknowledgement that someone very special has passed this way.

Thank you, Bob, for all the great songs and the important stories.

* * * *

Saturday night we're celebrating the 25th anniversary of John Bushey's KUMD radio program Highway 61 Revisited. Everyone is invited, even if you've never been a fan before.

Saturday Evening Post, 1966