Central Scrutinizer

"Pharmaborg"? Is that a clinical term? I love it!

I lay odds that whoever wins will do so by a whisker.

So until it's 99 and 44/100 percent done, it's no soap.

There's all sort of way to bottle "quality." For some it's catching a glowing firefly in a jar. For others, it's brewing the mixture before corking it up, others it's distilling, others it's smashing a variety of influences and fermenting the results. Nor did I. Anyone who attempts to deal in absolutes regarding tastes in art would need a jacket with extra long sleeves.

Agreed, my point is, as quality is in the eye/ear of the beholder, each one of this who wades in far enough feels the pull of the depths of "quality" that's out there. Even if you tether yourself to one particular artist, there are waves of creativity, experimentation and emotion that buffet their work that while quality permeates, we look for what resuscitates us, and that's what we tie to experience, our own reflection on art and how we internalize it. And, like meeting up on the shore, you gather with others and recount your experiences, learn from them, and get ready to get pulled under

Having read Helm's book and other post-Band interviews, I think Levon would bury the hatchet but Robertson would be in no shape to perform anywhere.

I submit English Settlement. That's a grand album, start to finish, and cohesive enough to submit as a single piece.

I think that's key. While you can go back into artists' catalogs, there are experiences tied with the time of their release that gives currency -- whether esoteric or not -- over the direct judgment of the music itself.

After a December fade three years in a row, the Jets were stupid to believe Favre would do anything different.

Not at all. There are all sorts of constraints that keep you from exploring an artist -- although fewer today than there were 10 years ago or more. If you're interested in listening and expanding, that's my only point. Rather than because you know the words to "Tangled Up in Blue," saying' "I'm done." By all means, dig into the catalog when you have a chance and weigh BOTT against other albums. Doesn't he give a snicker after he says Mel Gibson? Like "c'mon"

It was on Biograph.

I vowed never on Transformers and then enjoyed the hell out of it. I saw the trailer for CI Joe and though "no ... frickin' ... way ..."

They don't dig any deeper into his music, his catalog. They'll sing loudly to the chorus of Like a Rolling Stone. You can pick those people out at a Dylan concert. Yes, there is great music that is not intricate, highly worked, or mused over; nor do they require more than mere listening enjoyment. But in the scheme of Dylan's catalog I don't rank it very highly.

I went on hiatus after YHF. I did not go out and buy AGIB when it was released, and I burned out on Wilco for a while. I was heading up to Chicago for my Dad's 80th birthday when SBS was released and I bought that on a whim along with Kicking Television. By happenstance I got bumped from my rental car and to make good, they put me in a Eclipse Spyder 8cyl convertible with an incredible stereo. So for three days I listened to those three albums exclusively. the last two days I pulled out KT and listened to SBS exclusively. I fell in love with that album. But more than a year later, I realize wh

I mean accessible is that people claim to be Dylan fans and that is the entire depth of his catalogue. And I don't mean that to sound elitist because I'm anything but. I took Blood on the Tracks out and played it for about a week. And to make sure it wasn't just my mood at the time, or setting, I listened to it under a variety of conditions. I listened to it in a house, I listened to it with a mouse, I listened to it in a boat with a goat, in a box with a fox, I listened to it here and there, I listened to it everywhere. I did not hate Blood on the Tracks. But it's not my fave so I can't

Isn't that how a lot of the tech stores unloaded their 720i HD TVs over Christmas, with people thinking they got a great deal over the new 1080 ones?

Four words to hold off on buying a Blu-ray edition: "Special Edition: Expanded material." And four more words: "Don't own Blu-ray player."

A chance to see/hear Handshake Drugs and A Shot in the Arm live again. Yippee. I suspect "Kingpin" was included as much to educate newer fans on the live performance.

Damn, I was just going to add this one ... Barrett and a number of others mentioned were "functioning members of society."

I saw a ramble three years ago on a cold January night in Woodstock, close enough to him that I had one of my feet propped up on his vocal monitor when he was playing mandolin. I was surprised at his initial appearance. He's slight but in no way frail. Towards the end of the evening, though, his hand cramped up and one of the guys at his studio came over and rubbed it out, and he was good to go. He had two opening acts, a small loose group from New York, Alexis Suter Band, an (incredible blues performer) and about 2.5 hours of Levon and the large ensemble gathered for the night. Several of

Bingo. That's the name. I remember I used that concert movie to introduce a girlfriend in college to Dylan. She was hooked and at last check had seen him about 15 times.

Not until I buy my Blu Ray version of Blues Brothers and Stripes anyway ...

Indeed. It's been a while since I watched it; I thought there was no crowd shots at all on the video, but the youtube clip does show a long shot. Yes. And lots of inane banter from Jones, trying to pump up the enormity of the footage.

Is the J-45 the one he has the little pics of his sons pasted below the fretboard?

I cannot begin to describe how insanely jealous I am of all of you.