Dylan's Philly show 11/18 set list

Saw an excellent Dylan show last night. The Spectrum was full, the crowd appreciative, and Bob showed flashes of showmanship. He's still banging around on a Yamaha keyboard, angled towards his rhythm section, so if you're not seated stage left, you're going to be looking at his back all night. I don't know if Dylan's suffering from carpal tunnel or some hand injury that prevents him from playing guitar, or if this is just a stylistic move on his part. In any event, he seemed lively behind the keys, able to focus on his vocal phrasing, inspired by the firm foundation provided by his ace backup band, who were costumed in brown sharkskin suits. The mix was excellent, especially for an arena show. This was perhaps the most musically satisfying Dylan show I've seen. Here's the set list:

1. The Levee's Gonna Break
2. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
3. High Water (For Charley Patton)
4. To Ramona
5. Rollin' And Tumblin'
6. Desolation Row
7. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
8. Ballad Of Hollis Brown
9. Highway 61 Revisited
10. Spirit On The Water
11. Tangled Up In Blue
12. Nettie Moore
13. Summer Days
(encore)
14. Thunder On The Mountain
15. Like A Rolling Stone
16. All Along The Watchtower

A lot of emphasis this night on Highway 61 Revisited and the new album. Highlights: tunes #6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 16.

Tension by Billy Collins

from
The Paris Review

Tension



“Never use the word suddenly just to
create tension.”

—Writing Fiction



Suddenly, you were planting some yellow petunias

outside in the garden,

and suddenly I was in the study

looking up the word oligarchy for the thirty-seventh time.



When suddenly, without warning,

you planted the last petunia in the flat,

and I suddenly closed the dictionary

now that I was reminded of that vile form of governance.



A moment later, we found ourselves

standing suddenly in the kitchen

where you suddenly opened a can of cat food

and I just as suddenly watched you doing that.



I observed a window of leafy activity

and, beyond that, a bird perched on the edge

of the stone birdbath

when suddenly you announced you were leaving



to pick up a few things at the market

and I stunned you by impulsively

pointing out that we were getting low on butter

and another case of wine would not be a bad idea.



Who could tell what the next moment would hold?

Another drip from the faucet?

Another little spasm of the second hand?

Would the painting of a bowl of pears continue



to hang on the wall from that nail?

Would the heavy anthologies remain on their shelves?

Would the stove hold its position?

Suddenly, it was anyone’s guess.



The sun rose ever higher.

The state capitals remained motionless on the wall map

when suddenly I found myself lying on a couch

where I closed my eyes and without any warning



began to picture the Andes, of all places,

and a path that led over the mountain to another country

with strange customs and eye-catching hats

suddenly fringed with little colorful, dangling balls.

The Cat is back

Yusuf Islam, the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens, is back with an awesome sounding new album, An Other Cup.

US plans last big push in Iraq

The Guardian reports that Bush may call for 20,000 MORE troops in Iraq, voters be damned! This will be called, delusionally, a "victory strategy". Memo to white house: the genie's out of the bottle, the cat's out of the bag, the writing is spray painted on the motherfucking wall. The shit hasn't just hit the fan, it is stuck in the grill and feces parts of spewing all over the room. The folly of Iraq is over. You (the almighty decider) and your cronies have plundered it bare. This tragic, brutal colonial war was wrong to begin with. It was sold to a soma-fed American public e on false pretenses. It was a colossal foreign policy failure. The only strategy worth mulling is a sensible exit strategy.