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Bob Dylan in His Gospel Time: Trouble No More — The Bootleg Series Vol. 13/1979-1981
On a cold November night in 1998, I went with two friends to hear Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell at University of Maryland's Cole Field House. Mitchell strutted on stage by herself, smoking and toting an acoustic guitar. Stowing her cigarette somewhere in the frettings, she let loose with "Big Yellow Taxi" and played a glorious set that ended with "Woodstock." After a long break, during which we shivered and jumped around to stay warm, the lights dimmed and Al Santos's voice sounded out, directing us to welcome Columbia recording artist Bob Dylan. Dylan, already at his mic, grinned wide as he launched into "Gotta Serve Somebody." The crowd laughed at the way this sounded like a zing directed at his longtime label, and perhaps also at himself. However, it turned out to be one of the best performances of the song I'd ever heard. When Dylan sings "Gotta Serve Somebody," I thought, he's not joking around.
"Slow Train," London, June 1981
He might have (indeed, did) won a Grammy for best male rock vocal performance in 1979 with this B-side single, steeped in the Southern heat and camp-meeting feels of the Alabama where it was recorded, but in 2013 Rolling Stone listed it among Dylan's ten worst songs. What happened between 1979 and 2013? A lot of water, and other stuff too, under the bridge. Dylan's "Gospel years" of 1979-1981 (utterly incorrectly dated; more on this anon) gave way to the allegedly secular Infidels, the allegedly rocking Down In The Groove, and eventually triumphs like Oh Mercy, Love and Theft, and Modern Times.
The only child of an ordained Baptist minister, I always had understood that choice between the devil and the Lord in "Gotta Serve Somebody," and also the qualifying "may be"s. Those records in the wake of Dylan's Gospel years show him, critics have claimed, out of what they call his "religious phase," as if he is a moon rather than a man. Being saved isn't a phase, friends. It's a part of you ever after, world without end, amen.
"Solid Rock," London, June 1981
The newest box set in the ongoing Bootleg Series, Trouble No More — The Bootleg Series No. 13 / 1979-1981, spares you nothing in examining this point in Dylan's life and professional career. Many stage performances of his "religious songs" flesh out most of the body of eight CDs, along with a DVD of Trouble No More: A Musical Film, reviewed here, that includes stage and rehearsal performances from 1979-1981, as well as entirely new footage with an actor as a preacher, and shot in a church.
* * *
San Francisco, November 11, 1979. Dylan introduces a song he will sing in almost every show. (Almost. His set lists were not yet set in stone.) "This is called 'Slow Train Comin'. It's been comin' a long time, and it's picking up speed." The sound on Trouble No More is astounding, start to close, beautifully made at the time by the top-tier band, and remastered by Steve Addabo, Chris Shaw and Mark Wilder (Jeff Rosen, Steve Berkowitz and Gregg Geller are the producers). With only slight variation, and fully covered in the extensive liner notes, the band consists of Dylan on vocals, keyboards, harmonica and guitar; Fred Tackett on guitar; Tim Drummond on bass; Jim Keltner on drums; Dewey Lindon "Spooner" Oldham on keyboards; and Terry Young on piano and vocals.
The chorus, or to name them more properly, choir featured some of the best-known women singing gospel — or any other kind — of music then. Clydie King made her first recording at thirteen, and had sung with the Rolling Stones, Steely Dan, Lynyrd Skynyrd and B.B. King, among others, before joining Dylan's band. MonaLisa Young (whose husband, Terry, was also on the "Gospel tour") had sung professionally since she was 16 in vast churches and on opera stages, trained by her mezzo-soprano mother Catherine Ballinger. Regina McCrary, daughter of a singing minister (and now both herself), regularly opened the shows. McCrary is true gospel royalty; her father, Reverend Sam McCrary, was a founding member of the Fairfield Four. Mary Elizabeth Bridges and Gwen Evans round out the group of women who are far more integral to these shows to be collectively dispatched as "backup singers." Other musicians join the rolling revival on stage and in the studio: Carolyn Dennis, Benmont Tench, Willie Smith, Danny Kortchmar, Madelyn Quebec, Mark Knopfler, Helena Springs.
"When You Gonna Wake Up," Oslo, July 1981
Trouble No More begins with that "Slow Train" in San Francisco, 1979, and ends in Earl's Court, London, in 1981. Crowdpleasing hits have reappeared — "Mr. Tambourine Man," "Blowin' In The Wind," "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" — but "Slow Train" still starts the show. In the course of making your way through, you hear Dylan's devotional songs on repeat, just the way hymns are in church. The question song "Are You Ready?", "Saved," "Ain't Gonna Go To Hell For Anybody," "Solid Rock," and the anthem "Pressing On" are, along with "Slow Train" and "Gotta Serve Somebody," available in various versions on the eight discs. The previously unreleased "Help Me Understand" is a sad song about divorce and its effect on a child, little Sue. "Ain't No Man Righteous, Not No One" is a rollicking condemnation and revels in rhymes like "hypocrite" and "opposite." "City of Gold," slow and full of a mournful, then joyful organ playing, finds salvation based in both the words of the Bible and of Shakespeare:
There is a city of love
Far from this world, stuff dreams are made of….
New lyrics are in the songs you thought you knew. I've been listening to and loving "Caribbean Wind" for years, but was blindsided by "I was only paying attention like a rattlesnake does when he's hearing footsteps trampling on the flowers."
Dylan, with Tim Drummond, by Lawrence Kirsch © Sony Music Entertainment
The essays included with Trouble No More inform, complement, complicate, and supply context, as well as personal opinion. Ben Rollins finds in Dylan's decision to write, perform, and record his own gospel music one of the most controversial "twists and turns" in a winding career. That Rollins has quoted the beginning of The Odyssey here is both clever and apt: "Sing to me of the man, muse / The man of twists and turns." He is right, too, to call the "Gospel tour" both "a true revival meeting" and "more of a revue, actually." I've been to both. Rob Bowman's track-by-track listing is expert, replete with detail and reason, and essential. Amanda Petrusich walks us swiftly and skillfully through the '70s, that "Me Decade" in which America lost its war in Vietnam, its faith in a president, and turned in search of something, anything to believe in again. Her Dylan seeks "a way forward," hand in hand with the remorseful times. And Penn Jillette, in a searingly personal essay that is a thousand percent right, and righteous, understands the music on Trouble No More in a way that also understands something integral about Dylan:
Common wisdom is that Dylan went back to being a secular song writer after this period, but that's a lie. The truth is Bob Dylan never was and never will be a secular song writer: "God said to Abraham kill me a son" – is not "Fly Robin Fly." "I can hear a sweet voice gently calling, must be the mother of our Lord." "I'm sworn to uphold the laws of God." And "Narrow Way" is more about Jesus's "narrow gate" than an answer song to Sir Mix-a-Lot.
"Making a Liar Out of Me," previously unreleased, 1980
Amen, Penn. Dylan never was, and never will be, a secular songwriter. The songs on that trinity of "saved" albums — Slow Train Coming, Saved, and Shot of Love — and the songs of his "Gospel Tour," both familiar and unheard until now, are the portion of Dylan's spiritual songs that lend themselves to easy definition and categorization. But as Regina McCrary put it, years later, in an interview with Scott Mitchell for On The Tracks,
what I saw and who I saw was a man. A man who had an awesome gift from God, even down to his other music. When I got still and I listened to the words to some of the songs that he wrote before I joined him, it was awesome. God has been using him and his songs and his lyrics for a long time. And he's been speaking out against the wrong and standing up for the right for a very, very long time. So when he did Slow Train Comin', Saved, and Shot Of Love he only brought everything that he's been doing to a full circle to let people know that he's been serving a live and a living God, all his life.
Dylan and his harmonica, from Trouble No More: A Musical Film
In his songs today, in his releases of albums, in his live performances, Dylan has given up nothing. He repeats his past in that full circle that McCrary describes, adding to it, and filling it, with what has come since. Encompassed tonight by a new venue and a new crowd, he and his band, and Mavis Staples — a beloved old friend, with her God-given voice for the ages — are already pressing on.
"Every Grain of Sand," previously unreleased
all images courtesy of and © Sony Music Entertainment 2017
Dennis Nyman
November 1, 2017 - 1:02 pm
I'm not sure what to make of this bootleg release or your review of it. I was raised Christian and forced to go to church from the day I was born until I was 18 and considered myself saved and a dedicted Christian until I grew up. Now I'm a born-again atheist and hated Dylan's "Christian phase," as you don't want to call it. I agree with your statement, "Being saved isn't a phase, friends. It's part of you ever after..." in the sense that it has forever polluted my mind but certainly not that I'm still "saved." What I hated most about Dylan's Christian songs is how unambiguous they were. This was fundamentalist preaching with that self-righteous arrogance of, "Believe like I do or go to hell!" I just hate that. To me a real Christian is someone who loves and accepts people however they are instead of putting them down for being unable to believe your particular fairytale myth. I'm something of a Dylan fanatic and consider him the most important artist of the last century but I will be skipping this "phase" of the worst songs he ever wrote. I say that while admitting that "Slow Train" is one of the best-sounding albums he ever made but the lyrics make it almost unlistenable for me. Now if he would just change the lyrics to a song like "When you Gonna Wake Up" to a more secular meaning, one that encourages people to open their minds instead of sleep-walking through life, that would be a great song.
Jim Hunter
November 1, 2017 - 1:46 pm
As you noted Dennis, the current crop of Christians is by and large an intolerant bunch if there ever was one, and is driving people away from the church in droves...that the current Chief Executive benefits from unquestioned loyalty and devotion from the Evangelical crowd speaks volumes about their true moral character...so I'll worry about my 'ever after' without any contribution from these "pharisees"...
Faith is one thing...what you believe there is yours, who am I or anyone else to say?...religion itself may even be benign...but most religious leaders are simply using scripture to brainwash people who are looking for answers to the existential questions...we're looking for everyman..."just another dreamer, dreaming about everyman" as Jackson Browne once sang...
The exhaustion of every single thing Bob Dylan ever committed to tape continues...like you Dennis, I think this is his weakest period...glad he's saved, I'm skipping this and all the other boxed set stuff...completist is not my job title...
Terry Roland
November 1, 2017 - 11:37 pm
could not delete the repetitive comment due to my impatiently pushing enter twice.
Terry Roland
November 1, 2017 - 11:35 pm
Wow, Dennis. I don't believe that these are even close to his worst songs......the comment, IMO, reflects what sounds like a personal bias against religion-see my novel response. "Precious Angel," "I Believe in You," "When He Returns," "In the Garden," "Every Grain of Sand." These songs are among his best. IMO, of course! And man, your use of 'hate' is alarming.
November 1, 2017 - 1:46 pm
Between the Bowie and Dylan box sets recently reviewed on ND is there any wonder why new artists are screwed as the record companies continue to squeeze every cent from every unreleased track buried in their dusty vaults? Support new artists, go to small shows at local venues, buy discs don't stream. Turn the page.
Jim Hunter
November 1, 2017 - 1:23 pm
That's a rant I can get behind Mr. Mutt! House concerts the next two weekends for me...then Michael McDermott at a "local" venue (except I have to drive 3 hours to get to it)...
Terry Roland
November 1, 2017 - 11:25 pm
I agree! Though pardon me if I pick up this new Dylan package...see my novel comments
November 2, 2017 - 7:36 am
Enjoy Terry. I don't have strong feelings about this Dylan era and perhaps I underestimated the desire to hear these albums. Having said that, in general I have found box sets with reissues of albums most true fans have are totally redundant and rare unreleased bonus material should in general remain unreleased.
For example-Has anyone listened to the first four tracks from Springsteen's "Chapter and Verse" more than once? Without those tracks no Springsteen fan needs to buy that disc. With those tracks most Springsteen fans will wish they didn't. Disclosure: I didn't not buy the Springsteen disc but heard it.
Regarding NoDepression. It sounds like you are now part of the select group of excellent contributors (often volunteers) ignored/shoved aside until they don't bother to contribute.
Terry Roland
November 2, 2017 - 1:38 am
Hi there Dennis, Jim and Anne,
My experience and perception of Dylan and his era of evangelical Christian music are much different than your comments. I've been waiting years for this release and I was overjoyed by this new package. I'll be getting the full box set for this one.
First, let me say, I respect both of you, Jim & Dennis. I don't blame you for the conclusions you reached regarding Evangelical Christianity or Dylan's three albums and his preacher-like ways during that time. I, like Anne, was raised Baptist. And like Dennis, I was forced to go to church Sundays and Wednesdays. I empathize with Atheists. I don't believe in the god they don't believe in as well.
In 1975, I experienced a spiritual conversion though not a dogmatic one. I couldn't come to terms with the evangelistic slant. And I felt guilty for it. My spiritual faith evolved over many years to a place of Christian mysticism-see Thomas Merton, Henry Nouwen- within a Catholic community of centering prayer. This came about partially through my Zen Buddhist friends exploring with me the kind of meditation practice that would be best for me. Through Mt Baldy Zen Center, where Leonard Cohen lived at the time, they pointed me in the right direction.
Now, I practice a contemplative faith daily along with 12-step sobriety. The faith I've experienced has saved my life again and again. It has shown me that there is far more than Evangelicalism to the diverse paradigm of Christianity. Evangelicalism is relatively new and a very narrow group in the history of Christianity. I agree with you on their affection for 45. Disgusting.
In the mid-70s, I landed smack in the middle of the Southern California 'Jesus Movement.' Richie Furay was there at the same church. Music follows me everywhere, like the hound of heaven. My friends rejected me as dumb. I believed them until I read C.S. Lewis, Paul Tillich, Evelyn Underhill, Frances Schaefer and Fredrich Buchner. It was a much larger world than I had been led to believe.
When Dylan converted I absorbed Slow Train because it spoke directly to where I was at the time. Finally, Dylan was following my steps instead of me following his. I saw at The Slow Train shows the same Dylan who took the stage at Newport and forever changed rock and folk music. He was doing the same in 1979 at Warfield and at The Santa Monica Civic. This was one of Dylan's peaks, IMO. This time he paved the way for many of his peers to include songs about their faith on their albums. U2 was always outspoken..and they came along after Dylan's gospel era. Van Morrison, who had always been so inclined, became bolder and more specific. Bruce Cockburn made clear faith statements in his music. He had always done this, but it was accepted in the music industry after Dylan and he became commercially successful. Arlo Guthrie's Outlasting the Blues also included songs about faith due to his conversion to Roman Catholicism. And need I remind you about Johnny Cash and the intensity of his faith? Dylan provided a bridge that allowed faith to be an acceptable topic in songwriting.
What I find missing from your (Dennis & Jim) comments is the fact that Dylan also evolved over the course of those three albums. He moved through the early stages of spiritual consciousness during those years. Buddhist thinker Ken Wilbur has outlined the stages of spiritual growth in his writings.
Slow Train was his early, evangelical fire-much like Blind Willie Johnson-but, some of the songs were deeply personal, raw, vulnerable and beautiful ("I Believe in You"). Saved was the next step of growth, with personal testaments ("Saving Grace") and confessions,("What Can I Do For You") He framed the album in the revivalism of the early part of the 20th Century especially black-Pentecostal gospel music and the songs of Thomas Dorsey. And "In the Garden" is simply a Dylan masterpiece. IMO.
Shot of Love showed much of the ambiguity that Dennis mentioned missing in his earlier gospel work. It also gave us one of the best songs he ever wrote,"Every Grain of Sand." It is a beautiful, William Blake-like reflection on mortality and the struggle with personal faith. Again, this was another stage of growth. He also paid tribute to Lenny Bruce. "The Groom's Still Waiting at the Alter," is riddled with ambiguity and metaphor.
Infidels included "Man of Peace." Down in the Groove is mostly filler and outtakes until you come to" Death is not the End." It is brilliant, beautiful, honest, and visionary. If you don't like Dylan doing it, check out Nick Cave's cover. Again, IMO.
With all due respect to you both, I cringed at a few of the statements in your comments. The assumption that these three albums are his weakest seems based on anti-religious bias rather than an honest listen to the albums on their own terms. Slow Train belongs among his best. The other two are flawed, but have flashes of brilliance and reflect his growth and transition at the time.
Also, 'hate,' is a strong word. Isn't hate the very thing we accuse the religious right of being engaged in? I'm very far from my evangelical past, but I still love the community-which includes my brother and sister- and feel a kinship with them. Hate is what 45 and his fans do, not those of us who love Dylan and his work. Just something to think about in our use of language. Hate is a jarring and disheartening word.
Dylan was overzealous perhaps...but, the story those three albums is one of change, growth, and renewal. Also, forgive my bias, but one of the things that makes me crazy is when Evangelicals are referred to as if they are the only representatives of Christianity. I follow Jesus in a very different way than they do and so do millions of others in Christendom. Like the Elephant Man, I often feel like saying, "I am a Christian and a Human Being, I am not an Evangelical!" The other pet peeve of mine is when myth is equated with fairy tales or fiction. Myth is neither. The function of myth is to illustrate universal truth, not lies or tall tales. I'm dusting off my post-modern Joseph Campbell.
I don't expect either of you to change your mind about Dylan's music of faith. He remains very quietly a Messianic Jew with much more wisdom than the first miles of his spiritual highway. What he moved through contributed to who he is today. Without this period, there would not have been Oh Mercy, Time Out of Mind or Love and Theft. The Tom Petty/Dylan tour was heavily influenced by the gospel sound he developed. He kept playing the great, "In the Garden," declaring Jesus as his hero-see the film Hard to Handle in 1986. This was long after the gospel era.
A few months back during a long lunch with Peter Himmelman (Bob's son-in-law-but you knew that!), it became clear that Dylan has covered his family in the Judaism of childhood. From the impression Himmelman left with me, he is a good father and grandfather.
Sorry, this is so long. It stirred up a lot of stuff in me. I don't have much of a forum on ND anymore…most submissions go ignored….I posted a Tom Petty tribute for his birthday and it's still gathering dust. So, it's nice to interact with folks again. And you both have always given me good feedback. Thank you for that! And I mean no disrespect to you and our diversity of opinion here. I just thought it would be good to put down my thoughts. We can certainly agree to disagree and keep listening to Bob with gratitude that he is still with us.
Thank you both-if you've read this far- and thank you, Anne, for your fine article.
Jim Hunter
November 2, 2017 - 7:25 am
If you took that much time to write that much Terry, it obviously meant a lot to you...and thoughtful commentary it was...
One of my favorite artists is Bill Mallonnee who is as Christian as they come...real Christianity I have no problem with...it's a really long story that I won't go into here...but thanks for taking the time to write and I am happy that your faith has seen you through the years...
Terry Roland
November 2, 2017 - 7:31 am
Hi Jim, Thank you for your response. I'm you see beyond the evangelical rubble. Especially today. It appears that religion touches a nerve in so many. You put it succinctly in the term, 'real Christianity.' So did Dennis with the idea that people of real faith accept and embrace others as they are. My priest always says before giving me communion, "God loves you just the way you are." From the first time he said he was dubbed, "Father Billy Joel." I'd love to hear your long story sometime.
Dennis Nyman
November 2, 2017 - 9:33 am
Thanks Terry for your very articulate and intersting response. I actually agree with you which might surprise you given my earlier diatribe. I have an older sister who is a Christian much like you who moved on from a sort of mild fundamentalism of our church to the enlightened Christian she is today and she always says people come to God in their own way. Her partner, who came from a Catholic background is the same--just a loving person who likes to help people. When I said my being "saved" polluted me I meant that besides feeling intellectually stunted it also made me less tolerant of what I think of as psuedo-Christians which are finger-pointing moralists who claim anyone who doesn't believe like they do are evil. And that is the kind of Christian Dylan came across in "Slow Train" and it really made me sick. He's obviously evolved beyond that mindset and I assumed he was still some sort of believer but since he stopped condemning we skeptics with such judgmental songs I have no problem with him now but still do "hate" that period of his music. And when I say hate, I mean it in the sense that Dylan did in a song where he said you shouldn't hate anything but hate, even though I know he said that to be ironic and it was presumably a sort of dig at liberal dogma but I still think there is some truth in the statement. Also, ironically, I seem to be drawn to musicians who do seem to hold to Christian teachings like Van Morrison, Peter Case, Tonio K., Bruce Cockburn and T-Bone Burnett but they seldom preach or condemn skeptics and I don't like songs where they do. I found your comments about how such artists felt more free to express these beliefs after Dylan's example as very astute. Finally, I feel for you, my sister and all the other Christians like you who are embarrassd and ashamed by how evangelicals use Christianity to justify their bigotry. It must be very frustrating how we non-believers equate Christianity to them simply because they are the most vocal and political and influential in ways that make for an uglier world.
I should also admit the two Christian albums after "Slow Train" are the only studio released albums by him I don't have (except for his recent Sinatra ones which I've eschewed after disliking the first one) so I don't know those songs at all because I knew I couldn't relate to them. But I do like "Man Gave Names to All the Animals" which I heard on Tim O'Brien's wonderful Dylan tribute album "Red on Blond" because that song is just a fun childrens' song. I can also appreciate "Every Grain of Sand" because it doesn't condemn. I've read Joseph Canpbell too and recognize the importance of myth but that feeds my skepticism about Christianity rather than convinces me of its monopoly on truth. I just can't read many of these Bible stories as an adult and not shake my head that adults can believe them literally so they are like fairy tales to me. I assume you don't believe a lot of them literally either.
November 2, 2017 - 10:53 am
At least Christianity has the aura of antiquity Dennis. What about Joseph Smith with his magic googley glasses and his make-believe tablets? And having said that two of the nicest people I've known followed his teachings. One calls himself a fallen Mormon and now brews beer. The other still believes. And neither ever tried to convert me perhaps intuitively knowing I was a lost cause.
Dennis Nyman
November 2, 2017 - 12:15 pm
That's true Mr. Clown and the Bible is a remarkable human document--I just can't believe it's the word of God. I'm much like the Bible scholar Bart D. Ehrman, author of about 30 books including "Misquoting Jesus." He began as a born-again fundamentalist Christian convinced the Bible was a holy book and decided to study it as a career. But precisely from that study and how it came to be written, edited, censored and changed he is now convinced it is a work of man, not God, and for 15 years became a liberal Christian like my sister and I assume Terry. But now Mr. Ehrman has moved on to being an agnostic atheist which is a pretty good description of my evolution--I just skipped the liberal Christian part. Although as a young hippie I saw myself as a secular Christian in that I believed the pacifist preachings of the New Testament without the dogma and even became a C.O. during the Vietnam war based on that.
November 2, 2017 - 12:44 pm
What do you get when you cross an atheist with an agnostic dyslexic? Someone who doesn't care if there's a dog.
Terry Roland
November 2, 2017 - 5:11 pm
Jim Hunter
November 3, 2017 - 6:45 am
I love dogs. That is quite hilarious...
November 3, 2017 - 6:37 am
If Jesus came back and saw what's going on in his name, he'd never stop throwing up - Frederick, "Hannah and her Sisters"
Jim Hunter
November 3, 2017 - 7:23 am
"We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we must respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart." H L Mencken
As you know Rudyjeep, Mencken is my go to...but Woody Allen works too!
Terry Roland
November 2, 2017 - 5:10 pm
Jim Hunter
November 2, 2017 - 11:51 am
"Father Billy Joel"...I love that..
You will get my long story sometime Terry...I won't post it here but I know of other ways to get a message to you (I am suddenly hearing an old Bee Gees song in my head...what's up with that?). As for you not getting much space here anymore, I always enjoyed the things you posted and share a passion for many of the same artists you do...so I'll concur with Mr. Mutt on his sentiments.
The Evangelicals have affected the politics in my neck of the woods in a most negative way, and they are for the most part a highly intolerant people who would create a church state tomorrow if they could and likely we'd have "Salem Witch Trials, the Sequel" eventually...so that's a nerve for me, but I count at least 3 ministers in my circle of close friends...I just went with two of them to see Radney Foster weekend before last...so I definitely hang out with people I know are faithful Christians, and I know what that looks like, and they share a lot of my opinions about the difference between what is real and what is not where faith is concerned...I'll leave it at that for now...
November 2, 2017 - 12:20 pm
Fr. Billy Joel, hilarious. The joke in my family for years has been that during my teens I went to St. Bob Evans every Sunday.
What's next, a collection of just the bass tracks from each Dylan record? Man, this is for advanced placement Dylan completists!
November 3, 2017 - 6:22 am
Far be it from me to try and parse anything Terry (or Timmy, or Bobby or Zimmy or R.J. or Ray) has ever done or sang but maybe those years weren't a "phase", his "Christian" period or even a true belief but someone trying on a new persona the way a teenage girl changes her hair color. Would anyone put that beyond Mr. Zimmerman, the self proclaimed "song and dance man"? After all, is he a "Jokerman" or as Don Mclean called him "the Jester"? Or maybe Doonsbury was on to something when he had him telling Jimmy Thudpucker that he was just trying to make it rhyme.
Dylan is unknowable and wants to remain that way. But then again, what do I know? I'm only into him because his songs "have a good beat and are easy to dance to".
Jim Hunter
November 3, 2017 - 8:42 am
It's probably unfair but I sort of took it that way too when he did those records...like it maybe wasn't sincere...Bob is an enigma...and embraces that, always has...and he's been successful at it, we really don't know...Terry has made the case here that the way he's conducted himself with family etc., would suggest it was more than trying on a new hat...could be that is true.
Dennis Nyman
November 3, 2017 - 1:11 pm
In many ways Dylan's "Christian phase" was very typical Dylan. He's always had a love/hate relationship with fans and always keeps us guessing and refuses to do what's expected of him. What could be more surprising than such an iconoclastic artist suddenly turning Christian and preaching like an evangelist? Plus he rose to fame as a finger-pointing writer but it was political to begin with. Then he upset some fans by abandoning that for songs about love and relationships. The Christian songs got back to finger-pointing and it could be argued that we who booed him for this were no better than the folk purists who booed him for going electric. But I would argue there was a big difference. When he went electric he was following his muse and exploring the rock music he loved in his youth but imbued it with the provocative poetry he had learned from studying folk music, the blues and beat poets and their idols like Rimbaud. To me his Christian period wasn't so much following his muse as being brain-washed by Jesus freaks at a time when he was vulnerable from depression about that phase of his life. What better way to rid himself of all his hangers-on than to embrace a belief system that had to shock and depress them. I've read that he became disillusioned about that narrow version of Christianity and distanced himself from those who converted him and then evolved into the more spiritual/mystical form of belief he now seems to embrace. But like many of you have said, who really knows. We're all just advancing theories.
I do think it has to be admitted though that just as he revolutionized rock with his Rimbaud/Muddy Waters hybrid he also revolutionized gospel music with those three albums. I don't think there were many churches with rock bands performing in them before that and now it's rather common not to mention the whole Christian music genre.
November 3, 2017 - 1:35 pm
This conversation reminds me of the time I saw Stryper at
Dennis Nyman
November 3, 2017 - 2:22 pm
Somehow I doubt you would either go to see Stryper or attend this festival you clown. I had heard of neither of them but all I can say is, "What has Dylan wrought?" As one who detests heavy metal and eschews gospel I can't think of a worse band or festival.
November 3, 2017 - 5:25 pm
Damn autocorrect! You are correct Dennis.
This conversation reminds me of the time I saw Stryper at
Creation Festival should have read "This conversation reminds me of the time I saw strippers at Coachella."
Apologies to all.
November 3, 2017 - 2:55 pm
Didn't Stryper have a hit with Raise A Little Hell?
November 3, 2017 - 3:38 pm
That's Trooper - Canadian Band. They are a staple on Canadian Rock stations.
My buddy just got me 2nd row for Dylan and Mavis Staples at Shea's in Buffalo. Dylan has never hit it out of the park for me live and I told my friend I would only go if I was in the first 5 rows. As my wife reminded me after Petty died though, you never know when it be their last tour and Shea's is a smaller venue than the amphitheatres and baseball stadiums he's been playing the last few years. Maybe he'll look up from his piano this time.
Plus, when Mavis sings 99 and ½, she puts this faithless boy on his knees. I always thought she was better served by Ry Cooder than Tweedy.
November 3, 2017 - 5:22 pm
Uma, Oprah, Stryper, Trooper. Right church, wrong pew I guess. Fun song though.
I've only seen Bob once, think it was a year or two after Love and Theft (great record ) came out. Had heard the stories and wasn't sure what to expect, but it was a great show, he seemed spry and played guitar a couple of times but was mostly at the keyboard. Maybe playing rope a dope, I don't know. Really enjoyed it.
Paul Wilner
November 4, 2017 - 2:22 pm
Wow, well hats off again to Anne for her elegant (as usual) piece, to Terry for taking the risk of putting himself out there there, and to the other commenters.
If nothing else (and if so, that would be no small achievement), it seems to have revived the almost dormant practice of ND calls and responses, something I hope can be revived and continued in the future.
Me, I'm against labeling anyone, including evangelicals (who include Jimmy Carter, someone I don't always agree with, but respect). Everyone has to walk their own road, as Terry says. That, to me, has always been Bob's "message'' - a word he understandably hates - too. He's more of a vessel, though a highly visible one, for all kinds of unfathomable reasons. Thanks to all, and for the lovely Mavis clip, too.
Here' s to tolerance, and ecumenical acceptance of each others' point of view. (And Terry, I will check out that Tom Petty piece; as mentioned, things have tended to get lost in the shuffle on this site, but I'm sure it's up to your usual stnndard of faithful witness bearing to the power of song and sound.)
(and, in conclusion, I'd like to thank God - and Jerry Wexler).
Christopher Coolidge
November 10, 2017 - 8:42 pm
Great comments from everybody. I started as a Vedantist in college, then after backsliding into alcoholic drinking got sober and stayed that way. Thirty years on after marrying a Spiritualist, I've evolved into a twelve step Deist who has no idea who or what God is, but knows his name isn't Chris. I can view all phases of Dylan's career with a somewhat fresh eye and appreciate Slow Train Coming as a well-made gospel project, and the rest of the gospel period second to third rate white gospel except for "Every Grain Of Sand," which is one of the best spiritual songs Dylan's ever written, of a piece with "I Shall Be Released" and "Death Is Not The End." The latter I've played at Spiritualist services, the other two I've played as accompanist at the Unity Church I attended until it closed a few years ago. Dylan did those three albums for the same reason Lou Reed did Metal Machine Music, partly out of bloodymindedness, partly to show he could do it, and partly because gospel was a part of his formative consciousness, as much as blues, country, rock and roll, folk music, even Glenn Miller. Since then there has always been a spiritual undercurrent to his work, which was intermittent in his earlier material. The closest earlier precursor might be The Basement Tapes and the unreleased Dylan/Cash sessions.
Terry Roland
November 12, 2017 - 11:19 pm
thank you Christopher. Astute observations. It's good that you've included "Death is not the End." And how gospel is one of the streams that has formed his work for many years. I'd only disagree with the oversimplification of the second and third gospel albums. I'm not sure that Shot of Love is even a gospel effort. But, I'd give very high marks to In the Garden, What Can I Do For You and Saving Grace...and the rockers on Shot of Love are often swept aside because of lyrical content. But, the title track and Dead Man, Dead Man are great rockers.....Bride was well..thanks! tr
November 13, 2017 - 8:25 am
I've read that Lou Reed released Metal Machine Music as a "f*ck you" to the record label to fulfill a contractual obligation. I'm not sure who Dylan was flipping off.
Jim Hunter
November 13, 2017 - 9:24 am
Lou said in the liner notes that he had "invented heavy metal" and that the record was the "ultimate conclusion" of that genre...supposedly it was influenced by the drone music of The Theater of Eternal Music...John Cale and Angus Maclise who were in Velvet Underground were also in that ensemble...I still personally think Lou was middle fingering RCA, and that's what Lester Bangs, who knew him pretty well, thought too (as a matter of fact that is exactly what Lester wrote: "as a giant F*%^&$ you it shows integrity"), so there you go Mr. Mutt...but whatever...not sure I see the connection to that and Dylan's "faith" records, but since neither Dylan or Reed would open up on the topic, I'd not argue against it either...
I'm sure Dylan had some gospel influences as many of our great artists do, and maybe the Basement Tapes or Cash/Dylan is an earlier reference...many of my favorite artists have some of that influence (someone like Van Morrison is overt at times, while someone like Jackson Browne makes more opaque references, such as "Let creation reveal it's secrets by and by, when the light that's lost within us reaches the sky" from "Before the Deluge", a song rich with religious and apocalyptic imagery)...and just as a musical experience alone, RudyJeep's Mavis Staples reference will/should get you going regardless of your belief system...as will the Mighty Clouds of Joy, Rev. Al Green, the Clara Ward Singers, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Mahalia Jackson, Andre Crouch, etc...
Christopher Coolidge
November 19, 2017 - 7:06 pm
My copy of Lester Bangs Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung includes his Metal Machine Music article with that exact quote. Dylan himself in Chronicles vol. 1 refers to his "born again" period as his effort to thumb his nose at EVERYBODY who had him pegged as whatever they thought he was. This enabled him to start over fresh, the 80's were Dylan figuring out in public who Robert Zimmerman was and how he can present his art to the world, which was why he kept trying new producers, new people to play with. What worked he stuck with, which was The Heartbreakers, Travelling Willburys, Oh Mercy, and especially Time Out Of Mind. He's been mostly on a roll since, though I have mixed feelings about the Christmas album and standards albums. Nonetheless, Dylan's been marching to the beat of his own drummer lately, his longevity has earned him the right to.
Terry Roland
November 19, 2017 - 8:15 pm
Where in Chronicles V1. does the quote by Dylan appear in reference to the Christian albums?


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Among the great poets of literary history, certain names like Homer, Shakespeare and Whitman are instantly recognizable. However, there's an early 20th century great poet whose name you may not know: Guillaume Apollinaire. Geneviève Emy shows how during Apollinaire's short lifetime he created poetry that combined text and image in a way that seemingly predicted a artistic revolution to come. (TED)
The writer Guillaume Apollinaire was born in Rome on August 26, 1880. After an unconventional upbringing in the South of France, he moved to Paris as a young man and made a name for himself in the city's bohemian circles. He befriended many avant-garde artists, including Matisse, Picasso, de Chirico and Duchamp. He wrote art criticism promoting this avant-garde, as well as highly experimental poetry. Apollinaire died of the Spanish flu on November 9, 1918.
Guillaume Apollinaire was born as Wilhelm Albert Vladimir Alexander Apollinaire de Kostrowitzsky in Rome on August 26, 1880. He was the illegitimate son of an Italian former military officer, Francesco Flugi d'Aspremont, and a Polish noblewoman, Angélique Alexandrine Kostrowitzky. He was brought up by his mother on the French Riviera and was educated in southern France and Monaco.
As a boy and young man, Apollinaire was interested in literature, particularly the poetry of Symbolists such as Mallarmé and Verlaine. At the age of 20, he moved to Paris and made his living in office jobs and teaching positions while beginning to establish himself in literary circles. One of his early poems, "Song of the Poorly Loved" of 1903, would later become famous.
In Paris, Apollinaire submerged himself in the city's bohemian life. He became friends with the prominent art dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler and with noteworthy new artists like Pablo Picasso, André Derain, Henri Rousseau and Marie Laurencin. (Laurencin was also his lover for several years.) He began writing about avant-garde art movements for several magazines, discussing new and important artists such as Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, Giorgio de Chirico and Marcel Duchamp. His book The Cubist Painters, published in 1913, was the first serious consideration of the Cubist movement led by Picasso and Braque. He was also one of the founders of the literary journal Soirées de Paris in 1914.
In his poetry, Apollinaire took innovative approaches to the content and form of his writing. He often eliminated rhyme, traditional meter and punctuation. He enjoyed mixing sensory effects in his language, and he often played with unexpected combinations of words. His volume Alcools, published in 1913, was his first collection of poems to use these effects.
Apollinaire also experimented with the visual appearance of his poems, using unconventional layouts and typography. He pioneered a type of verse called an "ideogram," which was equally a picture and a poem: the lines of the poem were arranged in the shape of the object it described, such as a heart, a bird or the Eiffel Tower. Apollinaire frequently collaborated with other avant-garde writers who shared his interests, including Jean Cocteau and Gertrude Stein.
Apollinaire volunteered for military service during World War I and was assigned to an artillery regiment. He received a head wound in 1916 and was discharged. Having recently obtained French citizenship, he returned to Paris and continued to write poetry and criticism.
One of his final poetry collections, Calligrammes (1918), included more of his experimental ideograms. He also penned a play titled The Breasts of Tiresias; it was considered an early work of Surrealism and it generated much interest and discussion when it was performed in Paris in 1917.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Lost Books of the Odyssey (Starcherone Books), by Zachary Mason, is a wonderful novel. In a manner similar to Miroslav Pavic in his contemporary classic A Dictionary of the Khazars, Mason's novel posits that a group of bards produced twenty-four vignettes, fragments, and so on that focus on Odysseus and his adventures. Some of these are simply alternatives, others are add-ons, and some are direct contradictions to the 'original' story. According to Mason's "Introduction," the lost books — which, ironically, are "regarded as fraudulent" (xii), by contemporary scholars — were written in such a dense, seemingly impenetrable code that it was impossible to understand them until the arrival of the methods and technology of modern mathematics and computer science.The point of each vignette or fragment "is less to advance a plot than to take one image or theme and, paring away all that is inessential, present it with the greatest possible concision and clarity." In practice, what this means is that eleven different themes appear and reappear, explicitly named in the subtitles of every chapter: Time, Memory, Desire, Revenge, The Gods, The Dead, Departures, Returns, Words, Deception, and Doubles.
For instance, the unforgettable first vignette is entitled "The Other Assassin" and the themes, which appear in italics right below the title, are "Doubles, Revenge." It relates the story of Agamemnon, who after having returned from the Trojan War for about ten years, decides that Odysseus is too clever and orders him assassinated. Due to the labyrinthine bureaucracy in his kingdom, the final person to assign the task noted only that a person of stature was to be killed, and reasoned that the clever and wise Odysseus would be best to do the job. In a chillingly military manner, Odysseus carries out the assassination not of himself, but of Agamemnon.
At this point, those who know The Odyssey may be a little confused. In that book, as soon as Agamemnon sets foot on his home island after the Trojan Wars, he is killed by his wife's lover. After Odysseus regains his home from Penelope's suitors, it is suggested that he lived to a ripe old age. The Lost Books of The Odyssey doesn't only add events that do not appear in the original, it completely distorts and contradicts the original.
In addition, there is no coherence among the books. For instance, at least four different origins for the book The Odyssey, by Homer, are proposed. One is that Odysseus began making up lies about his exploits that would "make it easier for him to work as he was wont" (61), and one of these stories became The Odyssey. A second explanation is that Odysseus, who was disguising himself as a wandering bard after the battle, made up stories about his glory in the battle. He was shocked to learn that people bought the one about the 20-foot horse. The third possibility takes place during a strange place and time where Odysseus, who has forgotten his name, is living alone with food and firewood but little clothes in a shack in a place where it is always winter. He finds The Odyssey behind a firewood bin. Finally, in the appendix we learn that the "origin" of the book was, essentially, working out various thematic combinations and recombinations.
There are many other wonders in this book: the fox who turns out to be the famous beauty Helen; Odysseus suddenly finding out that he has an exact double who makes it back to Ithaca to "reclaim" Penelope before he does and that Penelope accepts the legitimacy of the double, leaving him bereft; a chapter written from the Cyclops' perspective; Oysseus planning and executing a way to pull Scylla out of her cliff top cave to be slain; Homer himself wondering, "If I can't put it into words, is it real?"; and so on.
Mason's style is clean and concise. He uses long and complex sentences sparingly. What follows are a typical few sentences: "Odysseus roamed wild through the low hills of Ithaca. He swam like an otter through the rough surf and riptides, and knew every cave, thicket and droning, butterfly-haunted field. He hunted birds in the wood, laying in wait for hours till the silence seem to fill him (but never a perfect silence — there was always something that was not quite a noise, right at the edge of hearing)." What is of interest here is how Mason doesn't allow this quotation to be simply clichéd epic description: instead the details of the "butterfly-haunted field" and the sound "right at the edge of hearing" turn what could have been pedestrian into an evocative description with texture and semantic reach.
This is a tremendous first novel. It raises profound questions about time, fate, identity, epistemology and metaphysics. Is it perfect? No. I wish that there had been more continuity between the isolated fragments and vignettes. I tried hard, but can find no reason why the vignette that appears last couldn't be placed first. While I don't expect this book to use a standard plot line, it could have interlaced the themes through the books. But this is quibbling. I love this book.
Jefferson Hansen
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Zachary Mason's "The Lost Books of the Odyssey"
Labels: Zachary Mason
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text: KIRKUS REVIEW It's a big Margaret Wise Brown this season, from Harpers -- and there are lovely Garth Williams' pictures for a text unexceptional for this author. The story tells of a little raccoon who wanted to go out at night and "see the moon- and see the night- and know an owl- and how dark is dark?- and listen to the Whippoorwill -- and stay up all night and sleep all day" etc. (A familiar sound, eh?). And he does it. Simple and nice. Pub Date: June 15th, 1948ISBN: 006443222XPage count: 40ppPublisher: HarperReview Posted Online: Oct. 19th, 2011Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15th, 1948


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Not too long ago Diana Nyad, the Olympic swimmer, was being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey and happened to mention she was an atheist. Oprah made the comment that she didn't see how atheists could possibly have that sense of awe that people who believed in god had. Now don't get me wrong, I do not dislike Oprah, but how fucking arrogant is that? I feel a sense of awe every morning when I go out and gaze up at the starts and see the big dipper. I couldn't…Continue
Added by Ken Fredrick on December 17, 2013 at 9:28am — 8 Comments


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Separate names with a comma.
Discussion in 'Off-Topic' started by xune, Mar 6, 2011.
OMG/JK: A Kiss For iPad 2, A Slap For Xoom
Yeah. I read that. And some other observations about the Xoom. Not pretty.
Don't people know that "Xoom" = the sound they make in returning it to the store?
Michael "Spam, spam, bacon, eggs and spam. Hold the bacon and eggs." Sent from my iPad using iPF
Not ready for primetime
After an hour of crashes, mostly resulting in full reboot, despite being entirely stock, right out of the box (i.e. no extra apps installed) I give up. Will be returning in the morning.
I'm very much looking forwarding to an android device to rival the iPad 2 (or even the orginal iPad).
Sadly, unless I happen to have a bad unit, the Xoom wifi is not it.
This specifically.
I was the same as you. I hated apples want to lock you out of key features (root access, customization, third party software) so I wanted a good android tablet. I bought my first ipad 3 days after launch because I wanted to play with it first before buying it. After playing with it for 15 minutes at work, I had to have one. I went out and bought one that day.
I got bored with the ipad after a while. The novelty wore off completely and I sold it because I was going to get the Galaxy Tab. I thought "Yea this thing looks bad ass, total ipad killer."... wrong. This thing was such a pos that I didn't even walk out of the store with it. I ended up buying another ipad (for cheaper than I sold my first one for) to hold me off until the next big tablet came out.
Fast forward to the Xoom. I wanted it. when I first heard about it, I wanted to get one. I was sold on it because I have the Droid X and it's also made by Motorola and it's great. Very solid phone, good hardware, good software, the Xoom has to be good right? Well this was before the ipad2 was announced. The day the ipad2 was announced I no longer wanted the Xoom. Android tablets are so far behind right now that they aren't going to gain any ground if they keep making sub par products for ridiculous prices.
I'm an ex-android fanboi that wanted an android tablet to compete with the ipad that has come to the realization that apple is top dog and they aren't going anywhere anytime soon. I've lost almost all faith in android.
I want an iPad3. How come you get an iPad3 and I don't.
I want one.
I've had my hands on both the Xoom and the Tab. I love Android...on a phone (I have an EVO 4G). On a tablet, it's rather disappointing. I agree with your observations. These really are products that have so much potential but they clearly lack the innovation of the iPad.
Michael "Spam, spam, bacon, eggs and spam. Hold the bacon and eggs." Sent from my iPad using iPF
Saw that vid when it first came out. I know siegler's a fanboy but his host was clearly pissed with the xoom. Think I would've been too.
Poor Xoom. Must be tough being him.
I loved Andy Ihnatko's description...
"The Xoom tablet is trim, light, and very pretty ... but when you place it next to the iPad 2, it looks as though it was designed and built by angry Soviet prison labor instead of by Motorola."
Michael "Spam, spam, bacon, eggs and spam. Hold the bacon and eggs." Sent from my iPad using iPF


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PELHAM, N.Y. – State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin is calling upon the public to nominate local women who "inspire and help make Pelham a better place to live and work."
Paulin, a Democratic legislator representing the state's 88th district, said some of the women nominated will be honored during the Women of Distinction Awards ceremony at 4 p.m. on April 29 at The Daronco Town House, 20 Fifth Ave., Pelham.
The event coincides with Women's History Month.
Paulin said the awards will recognize women for their work in various fields, including health care, business, volunteer work, education, humanitarian work and military service.
The assemblywoman will be joined at the event by Westchester County Legislator Jim Maisano and Pelham Town Supervisor Pete DiPaola, according to organizers.
"So many Pelham women are paving the way for a brighter future, breaking barriers and shaking things up for the greater good of our community," Paulin said in the statement. "The Women of Distinction Awards is our way of saying thank you."
According to Paulin's office, this is the second time the awards have recognized women in Pelham. Previous events were held in Tuckahoe (2016) and Bronxville (2015).
Nominations, which are due by April 1, can be submitted through email at email@example.com or faxed to 914-723-2665.
According to organizers, the nominations must include the nominee's qualifications, why she should be considered a Pelham Woman of Distinction and all the necessary contact information, including telephone numbers, email and home addresses.
Emailed nominations should be sent under the subject line "Pelham Women of Distinction."
Anyone needing more information should call Lisa Hofflich at 914-723-1115.
Click here to sign up for Daily Voice's free daily emails and news alerts.


text:
Honesty may be the best policy, but if someone has to tell you they're being upright and forthright they're being when talking to you, then it doesn't say much about what they've said at other times in the past.
In this episode of Rule Breaker Investing podcast, Motley Fool co-founder David Gardner explains why his experience shows there is reason to doubt someone's veracity if they find it necessary to call out how truthful they're being. It may be a funny colloquialism, but it still has meaning.
A transcript follows the video.
This podcast was recorded on July 20, 2016.
David Gardner: No. 6. So this one comes out in various phrases, and it always makes me chuckle a little bit. Let's go with the phrase, "I'll be honest with you." There are other variations of this, like "honestly," or "frankly," although maybe those aren't quite as good. Let's just go right to the phrase, "I'll be honest with you."
Have you ever had a conversation with a friend or acquaintance, or maybe somebody who's not so friendly, and that person says, "I'll be honest with you." And right there, right then, in my movie -- in the cinema of my life -- everything slows down, and dramatic music plays.
Because this person is being honest with me at this moment. The humor -- because ultimately, the cinema of my life (and I hope yours, too) is a comedy -- the humor going on here is, doesn't it beg the question, "Are you not always being honest with me?" So anytime I hear somebody saying, "I'll be honest with you" -- honestly, it, by definition to me, calls into question everything else they're ever saying to me, and I'm wondering, "Are you being honest with me now?"
Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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Creationist Christian tourists may soon flock to the Ark Encounter, a literal vision of Noah's story in Genesis come to life in July as a theology-packed tourist attraction in Williamstown, Ky.It should be a good read. The Kindle version is only $8.84.
But this month, another group of evangelicals is making a very different case – minus any animatronic critters — in a new book, "How I Changed My Mind About Evolution."
It promotes the idea that one can be serious about Christian faith and still accept a scientific Darwinian account of human origins. BioLogos, the organization of pro-evolution Christians in the sciences founded by famed geneticist Francis Collins, teamed with InterVarsity Press to publish a collection of 25 personal essays from clergy, scholars and scientists.
This is a blog detailing the creation/evolution/ID controversy and assorted palaeontological news. I will post news here with running commentary.
Thursday, June 16, 2016
New Book Out: How I Changed My Mind About Evolution
The Religion News Service has a story about a new book that has been published that will likely set many fundamentalist evangelicals' teeth on edge and rattle their cages. The book is titled How I changed My Mind About Evolution: Evangelicals Reflect on Faith and Science (which I just picked up as a Kindle e-book, seconds ago) Cathy Grossman writes:
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The object then will be to make our independence a blessing. To do this we must secure our union on solid foundations; an herculean task and to effect which mountains of prejudice must be leveled! It requires all the virtue and all the abilities of the Country. ... We know each others sentiments, our views are the same: we have fought side by side to make America free, let us hand in hand struggle to make her happy.
~~Alexander Hamilton to John Laurens, August 15, 1782
~~Alexander Hamilton to John Laurens, August 15, 1782
The Intolerance of the Tolerant9 comments Posted by Hercules Mulligan at 9:11 PM
It. Stinks.
I found this (semi-) hilarious parody of the atheistic movement, at the website of Gary DeMar's group, American Vision.
Think about that the next time someone reminds you of the Crusades or the Inquisition. Also remind them, that they need to brush up on their history.
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I mistakenly said these were the winter meetings. In fact, their the general manager meetings. I guess it's like spring training; they're getting a feel for what the real WM portend.
Like the WM, there's no shortage of rumors. Now it seems the LA Angels are interested in Ian Kinsler, who was included in this list of the 15 Tigers most and least likely to be traded. Fifteen? That's more than half the team. Seems they can't make up their minds though: "
Ian Kinsler
Contract status: His final contract year will pay him $11 million in 2018. He can block trades to 10 teams on a pre-submitted list.
Why he'll be traded: Of the expensive veterans still remaining on the Tigers' roster, Kinsler is the most marketable.
Why he'll stay put: The Tigers could opt to wait until the trade deadline if they sense the market is soft. But that seems unlikely, given the dwindling market for rentals. Expect the Tigers to take what they can get this winter.
Could Ryan Braun be going to the SF Giants? And what about the Toronto Blue Jays and Kevin Pillar? Stay tuned.
Fun fact. Alex Bregman is one of the few ballplayers to be on teams that won both Major League and college championships.
Now that the Seattle Mariners have acquired first Baseman Ryon Healy in a trade with the Oakland As, how will that impact Danny Valencia, who had already lost his starting job when the team picked up Yonder Alonso at the deadline this past season?
Ouch! This writer on the Dodgers Way / Fandsided blog gives Joc Pederson a "D" for the regular season. Hard maker.
So how do you think Gabe Kapler will fare as the new Phillies manager?


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For quite some time I wished & wanted for the Chocolate Cakes cookbook. I finally caved & bought a copy for myself when it went on sale about a month ago.
Tonight we have an activity at church for all the ladies and I'm supposed to bring a favorite snack to share. Instead of bringing a favorite snack, I decided to try a recipe out of my new cook book for s'mores cake ... s'mores seem to be very popular these days.
The recipe turned out pretty good, but I wish I would've bought regular size marshmallows instead of the mini marshmallows. (I should've read the recipe more closely before I went shopping!) I tried adding extra mini marshmallows, but when all was said & done, I wanted more marshmallow in each bite. I think I'll also try adding the marshmallows earlier in the cooking process next time so that they get a little more well-done ... I like my marshmallows burnt and chewy! Oh, I and also subbed bittersweet chocolate for the milk chocolate which made my cakes pretty rich, but milk chocolate is kinda blah to me these days.
I give this recipe 3.5 out of 5 stars but I think I could give it more stars if I play with the marshmallows a bit. This would be a way fun recipe for a child's birthday party or for a backyard camp out.
To try the recipe, go HERE.
To try the recipe, go HERE.


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"Can we please just cancel?" I found myself asking him.
I just couldn't go through with it.
I've been seeing this guy for a while now and there are still some family members of his that I haven't met. The plan was for us to all go out to dinner on Saturday night, but as the day started to draw nearer, I found myself increasingly anxious about going at all.
Later that night as we chatted on the phone and he wondered aloud why I didn't want to meet his family, I felt myself starting to emotionally shut down.
I didn't want to tell him what I was thinking.
But when I could feel the conversation turning towards his own insecurities about why I was backing away from his family, I finally mustered up the courage to choke out what I was thinking.
"I'm not the kind of girl that families want to meet."
He didn't say anything for a minute, but even though we were talking over the phone, it was easy to sense his confusion and before I knew it my thoughts were falling out all over the place in a long winded ramble of emotions.


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John Holt is currently serving as the President along with the CEO of NexBank Capital, Inc. The Texas Bankers Association recently organized its 5th Annual Strategic Opportunities and M&A Conference. It was organized in New Orleans, Louisiana and Holt was a panelist there.
The panel of bankers discussed various issues related to community banking and resolving these innovatively. This discussion was on 7 November, 2016.
This conference was ideally a forum that is organized for bank leaders, as well as advisers as well as the consultants. They share several perspectives that are related to the opportunities as well as challenges being faced by the community bank leaders today. The panelists along with the participants were trying to explore the opportunities that can be achieved through several M&A activities. But this is not all. These opportunities can be generated through organic growth along with branching too.
NexBank Capital, Inc. refers to a company that provides financial services. It has three basic businesses. Namely, they are Commercial Banking, along with Mortgage Banking along with Institutional Services. Also, NexBank is able to provide customized services in the financial and in the banking sector too. These are provided to the institutional clients. Also, it caters to the financial institutions too, besides corporations.
John Holt is the President and CEO of NexBank. He has been re-elected to the Board of Directors of the Texas Bankers Association. He is the Chairman of the Community Bankers Council too. Now he will be on the Board of three Committees. These include the Executive Committee, besides the Audit and Finance Committee, as well as the Investment Committee.
It is to be noted here that the Texas Bankers Association remains as the oldest state banking association of the nation besides being the largest too. This is because it represents all the banking institutions in Texas.


month: May

dayOfWeek: Friday

createdBy: admin

month: March

dayOfWeek: Thursday

resourceType: subaru/components/company/page/news

title: The All-New Subaru WRX Concept Debuts at the 2013 New York International Auto Show

type: Text

text:
New York, N.Y., March 28, 2013 - Subaru of America, Inc. today unveiled the SUBARU WRX CONCEPT at the 2013 New York International Auto Show at the Jacob K. Javits Center. The design concept hints at the design language of the next generation WRX.

The bold and muscular design emphasizes turbocharged power and AWD grip in a more agile and athletic form. The SUBARU WRX CONCEPT blends the WRX's famous power and road-holding prowess with an even greater focus on sharp handling, steering and communicative chassis. To further improve handling dynamics, the SUBARU WRX CONCEPT features a carbon-fiber roof to enhance the already low center of gravity and reduce weight.

For full release and images; click here.

news

type: company

title: News

dayOfWeek: Wednesday

title: Subaru Introduces its First Production Hybrid Model at the 2013 New York International Auto Show

summary: Subaru of America, Inc. unveiled the brand's first ever production hybrid. The Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid based on popular XV Crosstrek SUV. It's the most fuel-efficient all-wheel-drive SUV in America. It has the same utility and versatility as the gasoline model.

text:
New York, N.Y., March 28, 2013 - Subaru of America, Inc. today unveiled the brand's first-ever production hybrid vehicle, the Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid, at the 2013 New York International Auto Show at the Jacob K. Javits Center. Based on the popular XV Crosstrek SUV introduced for 2013, the 2014 XV Crosstrek Hybrid model arrives in Subaru dealerships fourth quarter of 2013. When the XV Crosstrek Hybrid goes on sale it will be the most fuel-efficient and lowest-emissions AWD hybrid SUV in America.

In developing its first-ever hybrid, Subaru chose one of its popular, go-anywhere SUV vehicle platforms. As a result, the new XV Crosstrek Hybrid offers all the capability and versatility of the gasoline XV Crosstrek. The added benefits of a hybrid powertrain, including higher fuel efficiency, broaden the vehicle's appeal. Key to this approach is that the XV Crosstrek Hybrid shares the gasoline model's Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive and chassis capability. For example, the 8.7 inches of ground clearance is the same as for the gas model and is higher than for some dedicated SUVs, while providing a low step-in height.

For full release, tech specs, at-a-glance, images and video; click here.

title: News

dayOfWeek: Tuesday

title: Subaru and the Center for Pet Safety to Test Pet Car Safety Restraints

summary: Subaru to fund a quest for the top performing safety restraints so consumers can keep their best friend as safe as possible on the road. Lawmakers in Subaru of America's home state of New Jersey are the first to consider the requirement of pet restraints when riding in vehicles.

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Cherry Hill, N.J., March 5, 2013 - Subaru of America, Inc. today announced a partnership with the Center for Pet Safety, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit research and advocacy organization dedicated to companion animal and consumer safety, to fund testing of pet car safety restraints.

Currently, there are no performance standards or test protocols in the U.S. for pet travel products. Although many manufacturers claim to test their products, without test standards, these claims cannot be substantiated. Together, Subaru and the Center for Pet Safety will create standards for testing restraints, while announcing those that perform best.

For full release; click here.

title: News

title: Subaru of America, Inc. Reports Record Breaking February Sales

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CHERRY HILL, N.J., March 1, 2013 - Subaru of America, Inc. today reported 28,163 vehicle sales for February 2013, which represents an 11 percent increase over February 2012 and the best ever February in company history. Year-to-date sales for Subaru total 55,826 – a 16 percent increase over the same period in 2012.

These results build on strong sales from 2012 where Subaru achieved four consecutive years of sales increases and exceeded 300,000 annual sales in 2012 – a first in company history.

For full release and sales chart; click here.

title: News


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Often finding myself lusting after majority of my closest Miss Selfridge store I love it when the sale rolls around again! And the Mid-season ones are a perfect chance to get an in style bargain. Browsing through the website I have picked out a few items under £20 that would fit in perfectly with my wardrobe right now, so let me know what you think or if you have bagged any mid season bargains recently!
Lace trim nude body con skirt £12 - Black high waisted button shorts £12 - Grey plain bow dress £15 - Embroidered heart shorts £15 - Strapless ruched grecian dress £17 - Chiffon lace tier skirt £17
♥ abby


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Mid-Week Package - Sunday to Friday
Sandy Lane Resort is part of the Snowmobile Tour 'Round Algonquin Park.
Our cottage resort has direct access to endless snowmobile trails in Halburton Highlands.
- Free Transportation to Local Restaurants
- Accommodations in our individual cottages: Starting at $55.95 per person per night (Double Occupancy) plus taxes
All these snowy activities will be available for you to enjoy at Sandy Lane Resort or nearby(*):
- Cross Country Skiing
- Downhill Skiing*
- Snowboarding*
- Ice Fishing
- Natural Skating Rink - Large & Lit
- Family Toboggan Run - It's Lit
- Private Hot Tub 'Under the Stars' on Cathedral cottages
- Endless Snowmobiling
- Horse drawn Sleigh Rides*
- Dog Sled Ride*
Then come back to Sandy Lane Resort to relax and stay warm in your own individual cottage around the woodburning fireplaces (fire wood is provided).
Some cottages have their own private outdoor hot-tub. Call Sandy Lane Resort for more details!


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If you, like me, are keen to spot the green shoots of recovery then where will you be looking?
I spotted this interesting blog over at Harvard Business Review where the editors blog has been discussing the subject – click on the following link to go to the article: – HBR Editors Blog
What signs will you you be looking for? I'm watching for private sector executive jobs to come back into the Sunday Times recruitment section.
Share your suggestions below with other readers…


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Are Robsten Living Together?!
Hold on, my little spider monkeys! According to E! Online, Rob and Kristen are living together! The couple have reportedly been sharing a Rob's secret love nest that Kristen helped him pick out! Now, we don't know all the details, and this is, as always with Rob and Kristen, a rumor. The super secretive couple have still not even admitted they are dating, but according to recent rumors, they went to this secret hideaway right after leaving LAX on Tuesday.
So are you wondering what this awesome house looks like? We were too! We found these recently released pics on E! Online earlier today.
So, of course, we have no idea if this is true…but I mean, come on…it's ROBSTEN, so it must be posted.
So now it's your turn Celebstalkers! Tell us what you think about the recent rumors.
Are they true?
Is it all a big lie to get publicity?
Do you care?
Comment below and stay tuned for more about Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart! Much is to come as the pair start filming the next installment of The Twilight Saga (Breaking Dawn) this winter.
Robert Pattinson Sizzles Stateside
Super sexy Twilight star Robert Pattinson has been spotted in the southern states filming scenes for his latest project, Water For Elephants, this week. As the temperatures in Georgia continue to rise, Rob makes it even hotter by struttin' his stuff in this dapper ensemble.
Fans arrived to spend hours in the smoldering heat at 5 am just to catch a glimpse of the dazzling star and his costar, Reese Witherspoon.
After shooting was completed in Georgia, the crew headed to Tennessee where Rob was spotted in a local Chattanooga bar chatting it up with some of the locals.
Water for Elephants will release next year, as will two of Rob's other big films, Bel Ami and the first installment of Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn, making next year Robtastic!
No word yet on where else Rob is headed next, but you can bet as always, you can find out about it here on Celebstalk! Until then, we leave you with this tasty dish! Enjoy!!
Rachelle LeFevre Lands Lead Character in New TV Role
Rachelle Lefevre, made famous for playing the role of vengeful vampire Victoria in the first two installments of The Twilight Saga (Twilight and New Moon) has landed a lead role in a new show.
Lefevre will play a "hippy doctor" named Eva on Shonda Rimes' (creator of Grey's Anatomy) newest medical drama, Off the Map. The new show will air on the ABC network beginning in 2011.
The show will also feature Caroline Dhavernas from the new Jennifer Aniston/Jason Bateman collaboration The Switch, Mamie Gummer (daughter of Meryl Streep) and Enrique Murciano (C.S.I. and Without a Trace). Sorry ladies! No McDreamy on this one!
This will not be Rachelle's small screen debut. Before she hit it big in the Twilight films by tormenting Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and the rest of the Cullens, she had recurring roles on Boston Legal and Swingtown and has had guest spots on shows such as CSI and How I Met Your Mother.
You can also see Rachelle in her upcoming films, thriller The Caller, in which she costars with Stephen Moyer and Luiz Guzman, and the comedy Barney's Version, in which she appears in an all star cast including Dustin Hoffman, Paul Giamatti and Minnie Driver.
Are any of you Celebstalker's looking forward to seeing Rachelle in any of these projects? Tell us which one you are most excited about!!


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Takka Takka – 2 NYC shows, 1 tonight ++ some CMJ pics
photos by Leia Jospe
We've talked about tonight/Friday's show at the Bell House as one of many shows Loney Dear and Melpo Mene are/were playing in NYC, and we've talked about it as a birthday party. This time I'll call it a Takka Takka show (they are headlining), and it's one of two shows they have coming up. The other is January 10th at the BAM Cafe in Fort Greene. More picture from the BrooklynVegan show they played at Knitting Factory in October, and both of those dates again!, below…
Takka Takka – 2008/09 Tour Dates
Dec 12 – The Bell House w/ Loney Dear, Alina Simone and Melpo Mene Brooklyn, New York
Jan 10 – BAM Cafe Live Brooklyn, New York


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It's free with no obligation - cancel anytime
Enjoy 700 feet of waterfront lake access with a 70 slip marina, sandy beach cove, parks, pool, hot tub, outdoor fireplaces, playground, trails and clubhouse. The "Manson" home plan, a one level 2bd/2bth home w/vaulted ceilings, oversized windows, and a covered porch fronting Vineyard Park has been designed for this Vineyard District Homesite. Located just steps from the new Vineyard District pool, opening Summer 2019. Approved for VACATION HOME RENTALS w/ Property Management available on-site.
Don't worry! We'll never spam you or sell your details. You can unsubscribe whenever you'd like.
Listing Courtesy ofColdwell Banker Lake Chelan


text: Today I drove from Atlanta to the courthouse in Macon. The have had several press releases about their EV charging station at the courthouse. It was about 92 miles each way. I drive aggressively with the idea of adding a couple of hours of charging on the J1772 Level 2 charger. I had court in the afternoon in Roswell and needed about 240 miles total. I did a standard charge. Well, the charger was a dud. First thing that happened was a sheriff's inmate van was parked in the EV space. No one had taken it seriously that they had an EV space. It was all for show. I did get a deputy to move the van which took some guts. I was pretty insistent. Then once moved I pulled in. The current was lousy (sorry if current is not the word). In 2 hours I gained 3 miles. It was worse than an 110 outlet and all for show. Here it is Bibb County Courthouse - Macon, GA - Recargo So, it messed up the day. I had to go home and switch to my old car just to finish my work. Had I know the charger was a dud I was have done a range charge at home and driven less aggressively. I would have made it through the day without having to switch cars. I have learned the lesson about relying on untested chargers (untested meaning not by me). I hope super-charging comes to Georgia.


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Bec, I just want to say a huge thank you and express my sincere appreciation for the professional way both Clare and yourself responded to my requests. You definitely proved that your company slogan "We put you first" isn't just for show. To be honest, I did approach 2 other real estate companies in Kalgoorlie, the very same day I contacted First National. One company still hasn't even bothered to come out as organised, whilst the other company I had to chase and leave messages with reception for over a week and they finally gave me an appraisal amount over the phone. I am yet to receive their rental info pack regarding costs involved so I could make an informed decision, so I've come to the conclusion that they weren't really interested either.
Once again THANK YOU, not only was your appraisal 'spot on', your advice and information supplied was very helpful and your service made me feel that you wanted me as a customer, which in turn made me feel confident and comfortable dealing with you and First National. Because of this I would not hesitate to contact First National Kalgoorlie for any of my future real estate needs – both rental and buying/selling.
Deb Champion
Latest News


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Several months ago I stumbled upon Jared Skolnick's awesome horror short, The Earth Rejects Him, and basically I absolutely loved it! It's a mesmerizing film which kept me thinking throughout, and it's totally worth a watch.
So, after a very successful festival run, and a brief run on DVD, Jared Skolnick has decided to unleash the film online, totally free, for you all to witness. It truly is an awesome piece of work, and I urge you to check it out, pass it along, and thoroughly love it.
The short stars Ellis Gage, Colin Allen, Jacob Moon, and RJ Ramos.
Synopsis: A young boy discovers a corpse while biking in the woods, then faces unexpected and macabre consequences when he tries to bury it.


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A month has passed since the party rescued Tamera Ravengard from her family of assassins. The towering creature of Living Shadow that Lord Ravengard had become was visible from the street – and word of the group's victory spread quickly (especially since Portia was involved).
The party had taken up residence in the Ravengard Estate, which had passed to Tamera upon her father's death. Tamera had insisted on staying in her old room as she recovered from her scars; she barely smiled, and she spoke and ate little. Though the adventurers were idle, the rest of the world kept turning. Valendia's Parliament made a decision regarding the matter of succession to the throne left vacant by King Arturos. They confirmed Arturos's succession to be legitimate, putting the Albion family securely in the line. Thus, within a week of the party's fight with Lord Ravengard, Lord Gideon Albion was crowned King of Valendia. As is customary, lords and knights (as well as the dwarven king) came forward to swear their fealty and friendship. Some lords, such as the Orrens, were conspicuously absent, and talk of rebellion was beginning to fill the taverns and guildhalls.
Donovan did his best to take care of Tamera and to explore the manor somewhat. He was unable to find Lord Ravengard's sanctum, however; Tamera said it was hidden, and that while her siblings had managed to get to it, she could not. He did identify some of the items he had picked up, however: he took to wearing Lord Ravengard's heavily enchanted black-feathered cloak.
Augustus, meanwhile, returned to the Temple of Lucia, where he was commended for his efforts and promoted to Lord Templar. In addition to giving him increased influence in the church, this put him in direct command of several younger Paladins named Ancelot, Bryce, Drystan, Esmond, and Leopold. Of course to his dismay, this increased the amount of paperwork required of him.
While Ari understood the trauma Tamera suffered, she also knew that the Red Dragon cult wasn't going to rest. She made a habit of trying to rouse the others to adventure again.
As she was on her way to visit the Ravengard manor again, she suddenly encountered a halfling, who bumped into her, grabbing her gold. Ari did not notice this; luckily, as the halfling walked away with a small fortune, another halfling with messy red hair noticed and retrieved it. He handed it back to her, introducing himself as Cerin Rosenkin.
In gratitude, Ari decided to buy him a drink. Inside the Hearty Knave Tavern, however, they encountered Meric and a group of black-armored guards from the Order of the Black Phoenix, apparently offering free drinks to recruits. Ari reminded Meric that, as part-owner of the guild, Meric owed her some money. She attempted to publicly shame him, by claiming that he was behind on child support. She convinced at least one recruit, who walked out of line saying, "Your own child, man!" Ari then explained the situation to Cerin, who concocted his own plan for revenge.
Using his Hat of Disguise, he mimicked one of the guards (though a short one), and managed to get close enough to snag Meric's coin purse. However, one of the guards spotted him and began to give chase. Cerin threw it to Ari, and the two managed to escape. At this point, Ari explained their larger goal of collecting the pieces of scroll before the Dragon Cult, and invited Cerin along for the adventure, believing his skills would be useful for the adventure.
Back at the manor, Donovan saw Tamera blankly staring into space in the front foyer. He approached her, and suggested that they start adventuring again, as she might need some distance from the place to recover, and that he missed her making jokes. Tamera smiled for the first time since her rescue, and agreed that it was time to set out.
The group thus got together and made some plans, though they were uncertain if Cassandra would be joining them, as they hadn't heard from her in the past month. They gathered their gear and got ready to go. Augustus sent some of his Initiates to supplement the town guard in the University District, and the others to Silvertown to help in the recovery effort. In addition, at Tamera's request, he asked the High Priest to provide some guard for the manor, since it was recently a locus of evil. The priest agreed, and noted that he'd ask for back-up from the Temple of Reidman.
With that, the party Teleported back to Three Falls.
Meanwhile, Cassandra had taken some time to recover from her encounter with Portia in the Temple of Reidman. Over the last month, she asked for advice from the Paladins and Priests about her sister. The message was simple: Don't give up hope, she can be called back from her evil ways. To take her mind off of it, the high priest assigned her duties in the library and infirmary. After a month, as she was sorting scrolls, a cheerful young man with golden-blonde hair came to speak with her. She recognized him as Lucien Albion, the younger brother of the newly crowned king. He was one of the higher-ranked Paladins of Reidman in the temple, though he was no more than 16 years old, and he seemed to always be smiling.
"Ah, Cassandra, I was hoping to find you here. Listen, we just got a message I thought you'd like to hear about. The temple of Lucia is requesting some back-up to help protect the Ravengard manor. It seems that your friends are setting off again, and don't want to leave it unprotected. Did you want to stop traveling with them? I'm sure there's plenty of work to do here, if so, but…"
Cassandra got up from her scrolls. "Of course not. I had no idea they were leaving!"
Lucien continued smiling. "You may want to go and catch up to them, then. Happy travels!"
Cassandra gathered her things and began to Wind Walk to Three Falls…


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Marc Quinn, Helen Smith, 2000
When you first walk into the gallery, you will probably be attracted to the smooth, white marble and the semblance of sensuous flesh. How hard, white stone became associated with the softness of the body has to do with illusionism and cultural conditioning. That polished marble still signals art with a capital A is further evidence — evidence you can feel — that the mind as well as the eye plays tricks on the heart. That Greek statues were originally painted is neither here nor there. Facts are not important; convention is what counts.
Marble short-circuits modesty. We are allowed to look at what purports to be the naked body. Of course, through the very nature of the material and the carving and polishing, hair and pimples have gone away, raising high expectations for real-life nudes, never as comely, mathematically curvaceous or muscular as those stone gods and goddesses or elder statesmen.
But wait a minute. The missing limbs you first thought were just the results of ancient wear and tear are the missing limbs of the subjects. The rounded, truncated parts tell us that. Because we connect in a prelogical way with depictions of the human form, we ourselves suddenly feel physically challenged. Empathy and voyeurism are confused.
Yes, Marc Quinn's statues are shocking. Perhaps this is why no commentary I have yet seen about Quinn's depictions has grappled with their status as sculpture. Although the current exhibition at Mary Boone (54 W. 24 St., to Feb. 26) is the first U.S. showing, works from the Quinn's controversial series were first displayed in Europe as long as five years ago.
Minimalism in sculpture — exemplified by Sol LeWitt's three-dimensional work, Donald Judd's boxes, and prime Robert Morris geometries — can be seen as an effort to thwart empathetic projections of body image upon inert matter in order to make truly abstract sculpture or "specific objects." In this way the normal operative of three-dimensional art was destroyed or, at the very least, illuminated. It might be informative to see Quinn's statues as a related ploy.
On the other hand, in Quinn's case the sculptural or antisculptural is not the point; the content is. Or I could say it is the disruption between the artist's stated intentions and the feelings, aesthetic and otherwise, these difficult works may cause. Quinn has indicated he wants to honor people with corporal disabilities by casting them in the heroic mold of the tradition of the idealized human form, as expressed through marble. Each statue comes with the full name of the model.
"It's more about looking at something, and what you bring to it from your knowledge of the context of art. And so, what is acceptable and aesthetic in art is very shocking and different in real life," said the artist in an April 2000 Sculpture Magazine interview. "I was in the British Museum, and I thought, 'If you took these [marble sculptures, many of them missing limbs] literally, what would the modern versions look like?' But the sculptures are also celebrations of the sitters — they are heroic sculptures of these disabled athletes."
From this assertion we learn something not evident in the exhibition itself. The models are athletes. We can assume they are used to being looked at in real life, and we may not feel so squeamish about our gaze. In real life we are not supposed to stare at unusual people.
Is there any expressiveness or emotion offered here? Focusing on the five images on the Mary Boone website, I'd say that Selma Mustajbasic is pensive or bemused; Stuart Penn offers a pugilistic pose; Tom Yendell has a stout presence; Helen Smith is almost delicate. Kiss, the only one without the model names, is chaste. But on the whole, abstract sculptures by Jean Arp say more about the body than these more-or-less Victorian figures. Flesh is not the point.
Quinn started with life casts, then had them realized in marble at full-scale by professional carvers. This effectively divorces the work from any artist craft- or skill traditions and more important, produces smooth, impersonal statues. Since the subject matter is tough for most viewers, perhaps this is necessary, yet one suspects that the distancing has more to do with style than delicacy of feeling, and with emphasizing the conceptualism of it all. After all, this is the artist who showed a self-portrait of himself carved in his own frozen blood in the "Sensation" show in 1997 at the Royal Academy in London. ("Sensation" later caused a ruckus at the Brooklyn Museum, but for the wrong reasons.)
This is not the place to rake over those old coals, but certainly it helps to know that Quinn is generally considered to be part of the Brit Pack, along with Damien Hirst. Like Hirst — and Jeff Koons, our nearest U.S. equivalent — Quinn is uneven. But when he hits, he hits real strong. He is considerably less sunny than Koons and perhaps less expansive than Hirst, but on the strength of the marble statues, I'd say he's an artist we will continue to contend with. Sharks in tanks; floral puppies; missing limbs. Quinn has less taste.
Quinn's marbles are not sculpture in any modernist sense. It may be surprising to read that I do not think all Greek or Roman statues are sculptures, either. Sometimes they are, but mostly they simply embody ideals and are boring formally. When statues that attempt to communicate (or impose) civic or religious ideas are also sculpturally expressive, then we really have something important. But how rare, how rare indeed, that is.
By mimicking the forms and formats of the Greco-Roman, Renaissance and neo-Classical presentation of ideal body types, but presenting bodies that have missing parts, Quinn is criticizing the idea of the ideal human body. In doing so, he slams vanity and gym culture, while celebrating the bravery of those who through birth or accident cannot achieve the historical and cultural fantasy.
Yet one cannot entirely avoid the voyeurism involved.
No doubt, Quinn is contesting beauty. Still, many will see Quinn's statues as sensational: that is, willfully controversial and provocative. He is doing both, and the real strength of the work is the problem of the artist's sincerity. Sincerity, thanks to Victorian cheap-sentiment, is one of those modern and postmodern taboos. Sincerity, like intention, can't be seen. The artist's own concept of or desire for sincerity, or the viewer's "perception" of such, cannot count. In real life, sincerity is proved by actions, but in art there is no similar test.


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Breeding ewe lambs successfully to improve lifetime performance
Kenyon, P.R., Thompson, A.N. and Morris, S.T. (2014) Breeding ewe lambs successfully to improve lifetime performance. Small Ruminant Research, 118 (1-3). pp. 2-15.
*Subscription may be required
Ewe lambs have the ability to be successfully bred at 7-9 months of age. Breeding ewe lambs has a number of advantages including increased profitability and lifetime reproductive performance. However due to low and variable reproductive performance and the potential for negative effects on future performance, most ewe lambs are not bred. This review compares the differences in reproductive performance between ewe lambs and mature ewes. In addition, it summarises the known effects of ewe lamb breeding on lifetime performance. It also focuses on factors affecting the success of ewe lamb breeding. Lastly, it outlines the optimal management of the ewe lamb to the weaning of her first lamb and to maximise her lifetime performance.
|Publication Type:
|Journal Article
|Murdoch Affiliation:
|School of Veterinary and Life Sciences
|Elsevier BV
|© 2013 Elsevier B.V.
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Mark Diamond is recognized as an industry thought leader in proactive records and information management, litigation readiness and risk & compliance strategies. Under his leadership, Contoural has grown to be the largest independent provider of legal and regulatory, litigation readiness, and risk & compliance consulting services. As trusted advisors, he and his company help bridge legal, compliance, security and business needs and policies with effective processes, technology and change management.
Previously, he was co-founder of Symantec's (Open Vision) Professional Services group; founder and General Manager, Worldwide Professional Services for Legato Systems and Vice President of Worldwide Professional Services at Right Works, a provider of business application software to the B2B marketplace.
Mr. Diamond served as Chair of the Storage Networking Industry Association customer advisory board on data security. Mark sits on the board of advisors for several high technology companies.
Mark is an online columnist for Inside Counsel Magazine, as well as an author of numerous white papers for both the legal and IT communities. He is a regular speaker at the Association for Corporate Counsel Annual Meeting and at numerous legal and IT industry conferences. Additionally, Mark addresses more than one hundred internal corporate audiences each year.
Mr. Diamond holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of California, San Diego. He is former the President of the UC San Diego Alumni Association, and is currently a Trustee of the university's foundation.
Greg Forest has 30 years of experience in storage, application software, management, support, and implementation of technical solutions for information governance, data management and regulatory compliance. As Contoural's CTO, he has developed methodologies to make information governance solution deployment predictable and cost effective, and has worked with Contoural clients to help them select, configure, test, implement, and train new solutions to reduce cost and risk while improving employee productivity.
Previously, Mr. Forest was the Director of IT and acting CIO for Legato Systems, where he was responsible for governance, budgeting, operations, and strategic vision. Prior to joining IT, he was Legato's Senior Product Manager responsible for the technical integration of products into storage solutions from Sun Microsystems, DEC, and Compaq. Greg began his career as a computer programmer, support manager, and developer's program manager for X86 based UNIX and distributed system Java computing at the Santa Cruz Operation (SCO).
Tom Mighell is Vice President of Service Delivery for Contoural. With more than 20 years of experience in compliance, litigation, privacy and information governance, Tom regularly works with corporations to develop information governance programs, including the creation and validation of records retention schedules. Tom served as Chair of ABA TECHSHOW 2008, and as 2011-2012 Chair of the ABA's Law Practice Division.
Kathryn Hilton has more than 20 years experience in records and information management, strategy consulting, and data storage technology. As a Contoural consultant and practice manager, Kathryn has developed methodologies for Records and Information Management organization design and for Change Management strategy, process, and content. Kathryn assists clients with the globalization of their programs, and has visited client sites around the world for a detailed understanding of business and legal information management requirements.
Previously Kathryn was a data storage market analyst at Gartner, and managed strategic planning for a data storage technology company. She has also held marketing management positions at Exabyte, Maxtor and BA&T.
Kathryn holds a BA in Economics and Art History from the University of California, Santa Barbara and an MBA from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Judy Gum is a finance professional with more than 24 years of experience in operations, planning and management. Judy has worked in various financial positions in hardware, software and service provider firms including Unisys, Tandem, Compaq, Synopsys, Macromedia, Embrace Networks and Corio.
Ms. Gum completed her MBA at Santa Clara University.
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India's second-largest low-cost airline SpiceJet on Monday launched all-inclusive one-way fares as low as Rs 737 for domestic travels to select destinations.
The four-day 'Spicy Annual Sale' will be open till midnight November 24, 2016, whereas the travel period covered is from January 9, 2017 to October 28, 2017.
The starting fare of Rs 737- all inclusive is applicable on sectors like Chennai – Coimbatore – Chennai, Jammu- Srinagar – Jammu, Chandigarh – Srinagar – Chandigarh and Agartala – Guwahati covering distance upto 500 kms.
Meanwhile, air tickets from Bangalore to Delhi have been priced at Rs 2,900.
Tickets for sale can be booked on www.spicejet.com and also on online travel portals, SpiceJet mobile app, airport offices and through travel agents.
However, tickets under this offer are refundable and are changeable with a change fee and fare difference.
SpiceJet is also accepting Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes at its airport counters till the midnight of 24th November, but such bookings will be non-cancellable and non-changeable as per government directives.
"There is limited inventory under the offer, and seats will be available on First-Come-First-Served basis," the Spicejet spokesperson said.
Furthermore, sale fares are not available on group bookings and cannot be combined with any other offer.