Bob Dylan's "Tempest"

Soon, Bob Dylan will release his 35th studio album, Tempest. Rolling Stone has called it a "dark masterpiece". The centerpiece of the album is its 14 minute title track dealing with the sinking of the Titanic. Dylan's typically offhand response to those who've found significance in the fact that "The Tempest" was the title of Shakespeare's final play was simple: "The name of my record is just plain 'Tempest.' It's two different titles." Though Dylan has never lacked for creative energy, stuff since 1997's "Time Out of Mind", he seems to have entered a new creatively fertile period that, from all accounts thus far, continues with "Tempest". The name of the album is a reminder that weather conditions (often violent)  have featured prominently in his lyrics and song titles, even from his earliest work.

Consider the following:

"Blowin' in the Wind"

"You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows." (Subterranean Homesick Blues)

"Buckets of Rain"

"A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"

"A messenger sent me in a tropical storm" (Sara)

"You were born with a snake in both of your fists while a hurricane was blowing." (Jokerman)

"Shelter from the Storm"

"When the Night Comes Falling From the Sky"

"Thunder on the Mountain"

"I ran into the fortune-teller who said beware of lightning that might strike." (Idiot Wind)

"A change in the weather is known to be extreme." (You're a Big Girl Now)

"Crash on the Levee (Down in the Flood)"

And this is by no means a comprehensive list.

Of course with any songwriter who's released around 500 original songs and whose career spans over five decades, there are bound to be a number of references to a topic as ubiquitous as the weather, but just as the authors of ancient myths, Bob Dylan often seems to find inspiration in the heavens.

In keeping with the somber mood of the album, "Tempest" will be released on Sept. 11th.

LP: New Artist, New EP, Amazing Voice

Chances are you might not recognize singer-songwriter LP by name (or initials),  but you've no doubt heard her unforgettable voice belting out her just released single "Into the Wild" in the Citi Bank commercial with the girl rock climber. Though she's already achieved some success as a songwriter and released several smaller label CDs, her just-released breakout EP featuring audio & live video versions of five new songs, and recent stories in Rolling Stone and on CNN confirm that she's an artist on the rise. From her recent live appearances at Austin's SXSW festival and on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, it's clear that LP delights in performing for a live audience. It's also clear that her voice doesn't need any studio wizardry to make an impression. LP is scheduled to appear at Lollapalooza in Chicago on August 4th.

Addendum:

LP’s manager came across this post, and as a result I was given complimentary backstage passes to Lollapalooza got to meet her prior to the show. Needless to say, it was an AMZING performance and LP and her band could not have been nicer. Thanks very much and continued success, LP!

Into the Twilight Zone

This past weekend, while others rang in the New Year with parties and Bowl games, I entered a dimension not only of sight or sound, but of mind. My daughter alerted me to the Syfy network's "Twilight Zone" marathon early on NewYears Eve and from that point on I was hooked. Though I'm by no means a Twilight Zone expert, over the years I've seen the show seemingly countless times, so I was surprised to find that some of the episodes this go-around were new to me.

Of course the entire series is the brainchild of the ultra cool and stern narrator Rod Serling, who wrote most of the stories and opens each episode with a wry introduction. The series began in the late 50's, and just as Playboy magazine was redefining the girlie magazine, Serling, who comes across as "Hef's" more cerebral alter ego, brought the "bug-eyed monster" sci-fi genre from the pulp comics store into mainstream living rooms. The stories endure, despite low budgets and (by today's standards) cheesy special effects, because of the deep psychological insights that Serling brought to them. He also addressed controversial topics and contemporary hot button issues such as the Holocaust, nuclear war, and racial inequality.

Though "The Twilight Zone" only ran for five seasons, there were a stunning 156 episodes in total, 96 of which were written or co-written by Serling. Two of them, "It's a Good Life", which features child star Billy Mumy as a spoiled kid with terrifying mental powers, and "To Serve Man", in which earthlings are lured to an alien planet only to discover that they're to be "served" as food, were cited as being among TV Guide's "100 Greatest Episodes of All Time". So it's no wonder that I find it difficult to pick a personal favorite episode. Still, here are a couple that stand out for me:

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"The Midnight Sun": NYC apartment tenant Norma (played by Oak Park, IL native Lois Nettleton) struggles to remain optimistic and cheerful despite the fact that the Earth has left its orbit and is plunging ever nearer to the sun. She finally collapses in fear and despair. (SPOILER:) In a twist on the "it's only a dream" ending, a relieved Norma awakes from her nightmare oblivious to the news that the doomed earth is actually RETREATING from the sun.

The recent Lars von Trier film "Melancholia"has a similar theme of people trying to keep it together in the face of impending celestial doom.

"The Dummy": Cliff Robertson stars as Jerry, a ventriloquist with problems. Besides battling alcohol, he's convinced that his creepy and malevolent dummy, Willie, is controlling his mind and his act. When Robertson resolves to replace Willie with a more docile costar, things get out of hand. As a kid, I was thoroughly weirded out by ventriloquist dummies, which I managed to overcome through immersion therapy when I asked and received one from Santa one Christmas. Still, this episode brings back those unsettling feelings, and the final scene, which features a role reversal with the doll/ventriloquist looking directly at camera, is unforgettably eerie.

So now that the "Twilight Zone" marathon has concluded, I wonder whether a new series of half hour sci-fi stories could be as successful today. The Twilight Zone was resurrected for a three season run in the late 80's and Serling himself hosted the series Night Gallery from 1970-73, which centered more on horror/fantasy stories, but neither attained the cult status and reputation of the classic Twilight Zone series. I'm sure there are many talented writers who could share the duties of scripting some incredible stories. As I see it, the main challenge would be wowing today's audiences accustomed to lavish sets and production values, something hard to attain with "one-off" characters and situations.

For a complete online list of the original Twilight Zone episodes along with brief descriptions, see "The Croc's Domain: Original Twilight Zone Episode Guide".

So what's your favorite episode? Comments and thoughts welcome.

Newt Gingrich and the REAL war on Christmas

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"From the foldings of its robe, (the Spirit) brought two children; wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable. They knelt down at its feet, and clung upon the outside of its garment." ……….. "Have they no refuge or resource?" cried Scrooge.

"Are there no prisons?" said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. "Are there no workhouses?"

Once again this year, victims of the "War on Christmas" are warning us to be on guard against those who aim to pervert the true meaning of the holiday, as was spelled out so clearly by Linus van Pelt in "A Charlie Brown Christmas". Never mind the fact that many of our dearest Yuletide traditions, such as the Christmas tree (Nordic Pagan ritual) and gift giving (Saturnalia) had secular origins. Meanwhile, the REAL "War on Christmas" seems to be waged by those who seem to have forgotten the hallmark of the season, kindness and generosity toward the poorest among us.

From it's earliest inception in the United States, Christmas has had a distinctly secular side. It wasn't celebrated by the founding fathers, who viewed it as an English tradition. It was finally declared a national holiday in 1870, thanks largely to the writings of Washington Irving and especially Charles Dickens, who in 1843 penned the instant classic novella, "A Christmas Carol".

In early 19th century England, as well as in the U.S., unemployment was rampant, the gap between the rich and the poor was growing wider, and those in the lower classes who had jobs withstood dismal working conditions. "A Christmas Carol" was a scathing indictment of the greed among the upper classes and the exploitative nature of the business practices of the day, including forced child labor. It's not a stretch to draw comparisons between Dickens' England and the frustration felt among today's Occupy Wall Street crowds.

So, mindful of this history of Christmas' early celebrations in the U.S., it's odd and yet somehow fitting that Newt Gingrich chose the beginning of the holiday season to put forth his idea to fire union janitors in the poorest inner city schools and replace them with low-paid students, to instill in them a sense of "work ethic" and more importantly, to save money. Besides taking jobs away from main bread winners in families that can least afford it, Gingrich's big idea would take money that might have been spent locally out of already depressed communities. With this latest assault on child labor laws and organized labor in general, and with his recent advice to Occupy Wall Street protesters that they "take a bath and get a job", Newt Gingrich is doing his utmost to win 2011's "Scrooge of the Year" award.

It took just one Christmas Eve night and three ghosts to turn Ebeneezer Scrooge from a miser into a benevolent friend to all of mankind. But Newt Gingrich may be one of the tougher nuts to crack this holiday season.

Happy holidays and God bless us, one and all!

a Pee-wee Herman timeline

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Sometime during the early 80's, I first saw Pee-wee Herman on the David Letterman show, where he was a recurring guest. At the time, I really didn't know what to make of the character, an invention of improv comic Paul Reubens. But with every appearance, his brand of humor grew on me. The release of "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" made me a fan for life and "Pee-wee's Playhouse" was must viewing for my wife and I and later, for our kids.His recent "renaissance", with a wildly successful broadway show and plans for a new film, was welcome news to me and I'm sure to his many other fans. There were rumors of Johnny Depp taking over the role of Pee-wee in a movie sequel (only SLIGHTLY less ill-conceived than having James Brolin play the part) and there seems to be a grassroots internet movement to draft Jim Parsons ("the Big Bang Theory) as a replacement Pee-wee should that time arrive. As I see it, Reubens is, and will remain, the one and only Pee-wee Herman.