I had a weird dream the other night. I was at a party. It was supposedly hosted by my parents, but it was not at their house, the atmosphere was chaotic, and the food bad. My mother never served bad food in her home. It was as if my father did the cooking. I tried to find my mom, but she wasn’t there, neither was my father.
The oddest thing about the dream was the music: Bob Dylan’s Like A Rolling Stone. It was a cruel hoax with bad food and the wrong music. What? No spanakopita and Sinatra?
The Florida Gators and LSU Tigers have a massive football rivalry, so I rarely say anything nice about Gators. It’s time to praise Florida students and faculty for getting sassy with incoming university president Ben Sasse for his opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion rights. I’m tempted to say Geaux Gators, but the two school’s gladiators are playing later today in Gainesville. I will say this: Stay Sassy Gator students and faculty.
This week’s theme song was written by Bob Dylan in 1965. I’ve been accused of not liking Dylan’s music. The accusation is half-true: I don’t care for his voice but he’s indisputably a fine songwriter. How does it feel?
Like A Rolling Stone is an oft-covered song. We begin with the studio original followed by Dylan and The Band from their epic 1974 tour.
Now for two covers: John Mellencamp and The Rolling Stones neither of whom is a complete unknown.
Holy rolling stone overkill, Batman.
I would be remiss if I didn’t post the song from which both the band and magazine took their names.
We begin our second act in earnest with a rare piece from Tiger Beat on the Potomac DBA Politico.
DC Riot Cop Blues: Michael Fanone is one of the cops nearly killed by Dipshit Insurrectionists. He had to beg for his life. It changed who he is forever.
Before the riot, Fanone was your typical right-wing cop. He found himself abandoned by many colleagues and his union for telling the truth. He’s become an activist and CNN pundit after leaving the police force.
Michael Schaffer has the details at Politico.
Let’s shift gears from the serious to the silly.
Candy Corn: Sweet Treat or Satanic Confection? One of the stupidest social media debates ever rages every October. The topic is candy corn. One is supposed to either despise or worship it. Nothing else will satisfy the candy corn cultists or detractors.
I don’t engage in this insipid debate; neither does Ian Bogost. He did, however, write a sweet piece about this not-so great debate for The Atlantic.
I am as neutral as Sweden in World War II in this debate, which means I kinda sorta like candy corn. I refuse to capitalize it. I don’t like it that much.
The last word of our second act goes to Elvis Costello:
We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.
Separated At Birth: On the left, Richard Thompson. On the right, Great British Bakeoff contestant, Kevin. He’s one of two Scotsman on the show this season. He’s the one I can understand. The other dude is Glaswegian. Say no more.
That was a nasty comment, wasn’t it? I came off like an ugly American. You know, one of the chaps in this RT ditty:
Yankee Go Home has more of a Fairport Convention vibe than most of RT’s solo work. FYI, the music of Fairport will be featured in this week’s Sunday Dozen. Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you. Who the hell knows where the time goes, after all.
The Movie List: This week, the great Australian actress and Adrastos crush Cate Blanchett. The buzz is that her upcoming film is Oscar worthy. Perhaps I should have waited but you know what the old song says, “fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”
The Cate Blanchett Dozen
- Carol
- The Aviator
- The Talented Mr. Ripley
- An Ideal Husband
- Elizabeth/Elizabeth: The Golden Age
- Notes On A Scandal
- Oscar and Lucinda
- Blue Jasmine
- The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
- The Gift
- The Missing
- Paradise Road
The next song is featured in The Talented Mr. Ripley. I prefer Brian Setzer’s version:
Saturday GIF Horse: Some killjoy at the Atlantic has declared the GIF is on its deathbed. Bugs and I beg to differ, Doc.
Best Of Letterman: Two Letterman classics collide, Stupid Pet Tricks and the Top Ten List.
Tweets Of The Week: We feature cats a lot here at First Draft. I’m currently owned by cats, but I grew up with dogs. I still like them. I dig how one of my favorite legal eagles dressed his pooch:
New hat for Innis. pic.twitter.com/b4ZVEdLUkp
— Andrew Weissmann 🌻 (@AWeissmann_) October 10, 2022
I have fond memories of the time Innis photo-bombed one of his human’s teevee appearances:
My dog makes a surprise guest appearance. He’s a definite 10/10 in my book. https://t.co/AkFADYZcco
— Andrew Weissmann 🌻 (@AWeissmann_) November 19, 2020
Innis in a cap made me think of a short Zappa song that has nothing do with clothed dogs.
Now that I think of it, a clothed dog is modified. Discuss amongst yourselves while I finish the post.
Let’s close down this virtual honky tonk with some more music.
Saturday Closer: A classic video from my 13th Ward homeys in which they play tribute to Rosa Parks.
That’s all for this week. The last word goes to Bob Dylan and The Band:
