27 September 2005

watching the tube

when I was a kid there were 3 channels on tv. so watching was more a communal activity then than now. for instance   I rememeber EVERYBODY tallking abt "I Love Lucy" the next morning.

today we have the option of 300 or more channels. so the commununity of watchers is less. that happens only with certain shows like the Oscars or with news coverage of events such as 9/11 or Katrina.

perhaps it's only with folks in my age group but I'm feeling some of that community this morning following the first half of Martin Scorsese's Bob Dylan doc. in fact I startd getting e's from eastcoasters last nite.

for my generation Dylan was a major voice & Scorsese a leading director. bringing them together is historic in itself.

Dylan is 2 years older than I am so the archival footage was resonating all over the place. the parades in his hometown were like the parades in my hometown. & what memories of the Greenwich Village of my youth. I cd taste the rum & coke at the Dugout.

it'll be interesting to see where the doc goes tonite as it covers the period in which so many found disappointment in Dylan's seeming conversion to the kind of religion that embraces a narrow world view.

1 comment:

Charles said...

I went to school at the U of MN, so I used to hang out in Dylan's old stomping grounds. In fact, the "watchtower" of "All Along the Watchtower" was something I frequently rode past near the school.

God, I miss that town.