Musical Sanity Break: Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash

by Nomad

The combination of Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash might not, at first glance, seem to be a obvious pairing. Cash was, after all, a famous name in the older tradition of country music while Dylan was a icon of first folk music and later the protest songs of the 1960s. 

However, the two men actually had a warm relationship based on a deep respect, and it was  a friendship that was to last nearly 40 years. Despite that, they only had one two-day recording session that began on Feb. 17, 1969. 

How that friendship began was revealed in Cash's autobiography.

“I had a portable record player that I’d take along on the road. And I’d put on ‘[The] Freewheelin’ [Bob Dylan]‘ backstage, then go out and do my show, then listen again as soon as I came off. After a while at that, I wrote Bob a letter telling him how much of a fan I was. He wrote back almost immediately, saying he’d been following my music since ‘I Walk the Line,’ and so we began a correspondence.”

That mutual admiration remained throughout both careers. Upon Cash's passing in 2003, Dylan had this to say about the man. 

“In plain terms, Johnny was and is the North Star; you could guide your ship by him — the greatest of the greats then and now, Truly he is what the land and country is all about, the heart and soul of it personified and what it means to be here; and he said it all in plain English. I think we can have recollections of him, but we can’t define him any more than we can define a fountain of truth, light and beauty. If we want to know what it means to be mortal, we need look no further than the Man in Black. Blessed with a profound imagination, he used the gift to express all the various lost causes of the human soul.”

That's quite a eulogy.

Here's a site with more details of that relationship.

The clip below comes from the debut of The Johnny Cash Show in which Dylan made a guest appearance. (Along with Joni Mitchell.) The date was June 7th, 1969. The place: the Grand Ole Opry.

They are singing one of Dylan's previously-recorded songs,  "Girl from the North Country."

Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash - Girl From The North Country from brilliant orks on Vimeo.

The Sad Reality Behind Putin's Claim that the Internet is a CIA Project

by Nomad

Yesterday Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the Internet was an ongoing CIA plot. 

Once again, he demonstrated how he is not interested in providing an alternative to US-dominated hegemony. What Putin wants is something a bit more predictable and a bit more obvious.  

The Alternative that Wasn't

Sometimes I think there's a tendency in the West to give too much credit to Vladimir Putin. Oddly, the West has always seen the Russian leader as some kind of chess master when Putin's approach has been anything but subtle or even very clever. 

Lately and in many ways, the Russian president seems to have exposed himself as a somewhat backward leader without much in the way of a constructive vision. He is found playing the same word games that once discredited the Soviet Union. 

The great modern Russian tragedy is that it began with such promise. Over and over. Russia's greatest strength -even during Soviet times- has been that it offered an alternative view of the world. We didn't have to live in a world dominated by special interests. Through struggle, we could make the world better. True, it was always reactionary but at least, that vision provided a kind of independent analysis of the West. 

So went the theory at least. 

Today, only Edward Snowden might agree with that. Some American-born reporters on Russia Today might still think that's true but, from the outside, that idea looks a little naive.  While rushing to condemn the West for all its many faults and unscrupulous behavior, defenders of Putin require some skillful mental gymnastics to ignore something that is growing clearer every time Putin opens his mouth. 

Under Vladimir Putin, Russia's view is neither different and definitely not indifferent. The Kremlin's objectives are shaped by an agenda not unlike any corrupted capitalist empire in the West.

Tulsa Church Throws in Towel over Negligence Lawsuit in Boxing Match Death

by Nomad

The death of young football coach after a charity boxing match has cost a Tulsa "rock and roll" church a small fortune. For the victim's family, it was a clear case of negligence.
Shouldn't somebody have asked whether a 12-round brawl was really the best way to raise money for a Christian organization?

Slug-Fest for Jesus

Oklahoma is the kind of place where, when it comes to either big business exploitation or church activities, just about anything goes. Absolutely nothing should surprise you. Even so, I was a little taken aback when I saw this news story in a Tulsa newspaper.

A Tulsa church's owners have settled a civil lawsuit filed by the family of a man who died in the wake of a boxing event at the church, a lawyer confirmed Tuesday.

The family of George Clinkscale III, a former TU linebacker, alleged negligence in a lawsuit against the church following the boxing event that featured untrained and unlicensed fighters.

A tragedy to be sure but the question that stuck in my head was: Who on earth thought a "slug-fest" was appropriate for a church?  (Isn't it carrying the Biblical passage "if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also" a bit too literally?)

Clinkscale died as a result of injuries he suffered in a boxing match at Guts Church's Fight Night VI, held in the church's parking lot in September 2011.

So apparently these events had been going on for years.