Friday Miscellaneous: Books, Science and Other Things I've Been Thinking About

Today it's Friday. Here in the Northland we've been celebrating our annual Duluth Dylan Fest all week, which kicked off in Hibbing at the home young Robert Zimmerman grew up in there. Music by Geno, Amy and Pat was followed by a tour of the Hibbing High School where Bob first began to make a name for himself.

This was followed by a string of events here in Duluth throughout the week, culminating in the annual Front Porch Birthday Party at the house where Dylan spent the first six years of his life. We'll be gathering there from 11:00 a.m. till 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, Bob's birthday, with music by Greg Tiburzi. If you missed Wednesday's performance at Sir Ben's, you really missed a stupendous rendition of Dylan's Desire album. Big shout out to Greg, Erin Aldridge and Sonja Bjordal. Thank you.

Last night Cowboy Angel Blue performed in the Depot Train Museum and tonight will be the traditional Singer/Songwriter Contest at Sacred Heart. Full schedule here.

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One of the exciting things in my life right now has been a renewed interest in math and science. As followers of my Substack know I have been sharing the Math Circles of James D. Nickel. (Example: The Wonders of the Fibonacci Sequence). This exploration lead to the discovery of new thinking about the world we live in from a physics perspective. 

There are so many things that have been discovered about the nature of reality and the universe that are downright astonishing. It's my hope to share some of these things. The implications of Watson and Crick's discovery of the genetic code will blow your mind. How did the Hubble telescope expand our understanding of the size of the cosmos? What does "trust the science" really mean? 

My interest in history has never abated. Niall Ferguson's The Pity of War is now in my pile, revisiting the Great War and how it was a mistake for Britain to get involved. How ironic that the war to end all war proved to be the springboard to a century of wars in every corner of the world. 

That whole period of history was startling when you see the emergence of Social Darwinism, the birth of the Eugenics movement and the arrogance of Western intellectuals. 

On a more positive side  I've recently been inspired by some new writers I've been introduced to including David Berlinski and Stephen C. Meyer. 

As we wind down into Memorial Day weekend, more than a few Northlanders wonder when summer will start to show its face. What are some things you're jazzed about right now? There's so much still to be discovered. Don't just drift. Get a PhD in Lifelong Learning.

30 Miscellaneous Dylan Clippings Discovered While Doing Research for Bob Dylan in Minnesota

I suspect that most journalists love doing research. I know that I do. That's half the fun of being a writer. Especially when you discover surprises like a giant shark's tooth on a Maryland beach or an unusually spectacular agate on the North Shore.

While trying to get some facts straight for the book Bob Dylan In Minnesota (the fourth book in K.G. Miles' Troubadour Series) I enjoyed a leisurely afternoon scanning through clippings from our local newspapers and tabloids. It was especially funny to come across a few things I myself had written.

As every Dylanophile knows, there are more than a few contradictory facts that you can find in the various books about Bob. As the saying goes, it is what it is. 

Here's a batch of clippings, some of which you may or may not have seen before. A few are not local, as you will notice. I'll try to share more soon. There are a lot of them and every picture tells a story.

Hilarious "oops"... This is the Duluth Hillside home. Not Hibbing.

THIS is the Hibbing house... a few decades ago.
It is now part of the Bill Pagel collection.

LeRoy Hoikkala, drummer for the Golden Chords,
Bob's first garage band in Hibbing

Have a fun weekend. It's Grandma's Marathon in Duluth. 

And Father's Day on Sunday. Happy Father's Day to all you dads.

If you forgot to get your pa a Father's Day gift,
here's something he might enjoy if he's a Dylan fan.

Check it out HERE

Miscellaneous Thursday Scratchings About The Lockdown Etc.

"There must be some way out of here," said the Joker to the Thief.
"There's too much confusion. I can't get no relief."
--All Along the Watchtower


Seems like there's a relevant Dylan lyric for every situation, doesn't it?

* * * *

It's interesting how when some governors enact draconian regulations they want all governors to follow suit.

Here are examples of what I call draconian:
In Encenitas, California people were fined $1000 for parking at the ocean to watch the sunset. No mixing with other people. Just sitting inside their cars.

Michigan Governor Whitmer's executive order purportedly bans people from visiting relatives, and even bans people who own two homes from going back and forth between homes.

It's weird that stores that CAN be open CAN"T sell certain products, so Wal-Mart has tape on the shelves in front of the forbidden items like flooring, paint and garden supplies. (EdNote: I did not go to Wal-Mart to confirm this because I am social distancing.)

You can read John Stossel's rant about these things here.

* * * *

OK, so one of the arguments some people make in favor of legalizing Doctor-Assisted Suicide is that "It's my body, therefore I should decide how I want to die and when."

I'm guessing that the same people who favor expanding assisted suicide laws are the ones most opposed to people being allowed to put themselves at risk for COVID-19 or not. "No, you cannot go to your other house to make sure the doors and windows are all locked. It's too risky."

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HERE'S A THOUGHT that I had recently regarding the issue of who's got the power, or who ought to. Before the advent of Nation States the world operated in smaller units which would occasionally collide with one another. Tribes or clans or extended families looked after their own, occasionally quarreling with adjacent clans or tribes regarding hunting grounds or drinking water.

How we got from there to 190+ countries that make up our United Nations is a part of history that may be worth exploring in greater depth. (If you can point to a brief history of France from pre-historic cave painters to the present, feel free to leave a comment.)

Even so, the COVID-19 epidemic is showing us a variety of conflict zones where power struggles are being fought. In the U.S., governors have the power to implement executive orders for their states, but some want the federal government to make a more punitive across-the-board decision for all states. So we see chafing among states that border one another but do not share the same lockdown policies.

THEN within states themselves we have cities that are out of step with their governors and want different rules from the rest of the state.

Against this backdrop, we have individuals protesting for the right to decide for themselves how far to go along with or against restrictive policies. It's a Constitutional right to protest, they say.

On the Global scale, how much should the United Nations or WHO decide what each individual nation should be doing in this or any other matter.

* * * *

I've written a few poems during Lockdown. This one from Tuesday is called The Lamp of Liberty. I'm interested in what you think.

* * * *

Lockdowns would be a lot easier if we had time travel, wouldn't it? Here's a short list of favorite time travel films.
Midnight In Paris
Back to the Future (1, 2 & 3)
Peggy Sue Got Married
12 Monkeys
The Terminator Series

I once wrote a time travel story. In it I travelled 100 years into the future. I'd rather not tell you what I found.

* * * *

Jonathan Thunder

As I noted Tuesday, people who make time to appreciate the arts live longer, according one 14 year study. Here's one way to see a lot of art during our lockdown period. Do you have some favorite artists? Google their name, then click on Images. You will see all kinds of things they have done. Many have websites so you can explore in more depth. If you don't follow the arts much and would like some names to dig into (and art to dig) here's a short list of Twin Ports folk I have written about.
Tonja Sell
Joellyn Rock
Karen Nease
Timothy Cleary
Bill Shipley
Aaron Kloss
Sarah Brokke
Ann Klefstad
Adam Swanson
Andrew Perfetti
Esther Piszczek
Scott Murphy
Sue Rauschenfels
Kathy McTavish
Karin Kraemer
John Heino
Karen McTavish
Carla Hamilton
Moira Villiard
Eris Vafias
Vern Northrup
Margie Helstrom
Kris Nelson

This list could go on and on, so I better just say got to Twin Ports Art and see what else you've been missing this past year. Frankly, I'm missing you, too.

And for the heckuvit I will also add this Pinterest board from the Tweed Museum of Art featuring Twin Ports Artists. (You may even see something of mine.)

In the meantime, it's Spring. Time to Ken Bloom wherever you've been planted. 

Flashback Friday: 7 Years Ago Today (Plus a UFO Concern))

23 AUGUST 2012

1. Which one does not belong in this list of Mother Earth News cover stories?
a. Care and Cultivation of Permanent Garden Beds
b. Double-Duty DIY Solar Solution
c. Incredibly Easy Homemade Pizza
d. Learn to Be Self-Sufficient (Advice from Leading Experts)
Answer: These are all cover features in the 2012 Feb/March 2012 edition. Yummm. Pizza.

2. Just saw Being Julia this past weekend. I really enjoy watching Jeremy Irons. He is so very, very good in whatever he does. The film itself was much more interesting than I expected. Kudos all around.

3. There will be an autumn Twin Port Gallery Progressive in October, the 11th and 12th. Mark your calendars.

4. On September 8, Lee "Colorblind" Johnson and I will be performing jugband music at the Carlton Chicken Swap. Anyone know anyone who might be available to join us and play washtub bass?

Patricia Canelake

5. The Robinson Scott / Patricia Canelake opening at Lizzard's was well attended last night. Nice event, interesting works. Scott, who resides in Anoka, does glass work that is very much worth seeing. Canelake titled her portion of the show "Unleashed." Her large, loose paintings of farm animals and other topics swim in color. I especially liked her mixed media work. Lizzard's gallery is a half block west of Pizza Luce and the Tech Village on Superior Street.

6. We often think we have to move faster and sleep less to accomplish more. Jesus walked everywhere, never took a subway, did not have a smartphone, never wrote a book and yet continues to influence the world nearly two thousand years later. His career, once his life work really got started, lasted less than four years.

7. Currently watching a documentary on Woody Allen. My first date in college was to ask a girl whom I'd met in orientation to go to Woody Allen's Take the Money and Run. I laughed so hard my cheeks hurt. She did not laugh the whole time. I knew then that we had a problem.   

8. There is a call for submissions by the PROVE Gallery for their September show. The theme is whimsy. That is, they are looking for art that is whimsical in nature or created with that kind of light-heartedness. You can find details on Facebook.

9. A cat in the window is worth 100 points, right?

10. Why are people so fascinated with UFOs?*

11. I'm currently working on a poster comprised of images of my art assembled to form a bust of Dylan. Would you pay $5 for something like that? Would you pay $10 if half went to flood victim relief?

12. “There’s no black and white, left and right to me anymore. There’s only up and down, and down is very close to the ground. And I’m trying to go up, without thinking of anything trivial such as politics.” ~Bob Dylan

* I've been thinking a lot about how challenging it would be to be abducted by aliens. How would you get in touch with your family to let them know you were alright? There's probably no postal service up there. If you're married with children, how would the life insurance policy get settled, in the event you did not return? It's all very complicated. 

Fortunately I comfort myself with this life lesson: 90% of the things we worry about never happen.

Enjoy your weekend to the max.

Wordless Wednesday: 22 August 2018

Miscellaneous Topics I've Almost Written About Lately

Writing sometimes involves making a lot of false starts; blogging especially so. Here are some topics I've considered writing about, triggered by a convergence of stars and news items, or a magazine article, snippets of a conversation or circumstances.

1. Ethanol again.
Ten years ago I wrote a few blog posts about ethanol (e.g., The Ethanol Fallacy). I have been wanting to do an update on this topic.

2. How To Act When There's No Plan B
It just seemed like an interesting title. I imagined writing about total commitment, whether intentional or no.

3. Revenge
After watching The Merchant of Venice (most recent Hollywood version with Al Pacino, Ralph Fiennes and other big names) it got me thinking about the relationship between revenge and justice, and the problems associated with human efforts to even the score when there is wrongdoing, whether by individuals or by nations.

4. Trouble No More
Dylan's Bootleg #13 features live performances from his Gospel period, 1979-81. I have been intending to write more about this at some point.

5. Ballad of a Thin Man
One of the more difficult songs in the Dylan songbook for man, I have always felt like it seemed clear as a bell. The enigma of Dylan's Mr. Jones is underscored by John Lennon's reference to the song in "Yer Blues" on side three of the White Album.

6. Huck's Tune
Another poignant Dylan song.

7. Florida Drownings
The number of children who die from drowning each year is disturbing, especially 1-4 year olds. In Florida alone nearly 100 children between one and four died last year. The number of children killed by cars backing out of the garage has been around 200 nationally per year. Our government created legislation requiring new cars to have rear-view cameras to reduce accidental deaths. The number of drownings exceeds this number exponentially. When is a problem an issue that needs government intervention and when is it not?

8. Crypto
I like writing about tech themes on Tuesdays and one area of interest to a lot of people is crypto currencies and Blockchain. Writing about things is one way writers learn about them.

9. Historic Preservation
Since I began writing about the Oldenburg House and the Duluth Armory, I've become interested in the manner in which history is preserved, whether art or architecture. There's a lot more here to mull over, to learn and share.

10. The Forward Motion of Time Is Relentless
Seems like there's nothing we can do to stop it, so we must learn how to go with the flow.

* * * *

There's always more to discover. See what tomorrow brings.

Miscellaneous Quotes and Notes found during a weak attempt to clean my desktop

My desk has been a mess lately. My list of things to do or to distract me keeps me from this tedious task of organizing my space in a more suitable way. Piles of scribbled notes and business cards like good intentions lay strewn all about, piling ever higher. 

This weekend I made some time to sift these various scraps and finding a few quotes and notes of interest felt inclined to share them here. 

In the middle of life it happens that death comes
to take a man's measurements.
The visit is forgotten and life goes on.
But the suit is sewn on the quiet.
~ Tomas Transtromer

When I was born I had no head
My eye was single and my body was filled with light
And the light that I was, was the light that I saw by
And the light that I saw by, was the light that I was
~ Mike Heron, Douglas Traherne Harding

The sounds of life... so summer, so day,
So endless, so varied, so vivid.

The significance of the new cannot be determined by the now of its emergence. Just because it’s novel doesn’t mean it’s important.

Those who give their best deserve the best. It's nice to see good things happen to one who is so deserving.

Change is a commitment.

"'Tis better to have loved and lost
than never to have loved at all."
~ Alfred Lord Tennyson

"The Love Song of T.S. Elliot Turns 100"

So runs my dream, but what am I?
An infant crying in the night
An infant crying for the light
And with no language but a cry.
~ Alfred Lord Tennyson
(Tennyson spent 17 years working on this poem, In Memoriam A.H.H.)

McCartney, Lennon and me.

Find camera.

If I get air...

“His desk was a gesture of gregariousness”
Hawk Ridge

"My life has been a series of near misses..."

Fulcanelli, Mystery of the Cathedrals

Maurice Cotterell

The customer knows what he wants, but doesn’t always know what’s possible.

John 10:10

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At the end of it all there are still too many scraps, with email addresses and phone numbers and To Do lists. What does your desktop look like?