Thank God for Dylan’s ‘Must be Santa’

It seems that no matter what decade it is, Bob Dylan is making some kind of landmark move. I would think that after all the controversy her stirred in the ‘60s after going electric, finding new ways of catching an eye would just be natural.

Yeah, well, the first video from Dylan’s latest album, Christmas in the Heart, is anything but natural (unless you’re flat-out drunk).

First, let me say that I’ve heard the album in full, and without repeating too much of what’s been said in reviews of the album, I will say that the music emulates what the cover of it indicates. There’s a very classic feel to the album, and if you’re into New-Age Christmas tunes like that of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, you won’t find them here. With Dylan’s album, expect nothing less than fire-side awesomeness. If there was ever a possibility of turning a holiday greeting card cover into music, Dylan figured it out, and put it to use with this album.

HOWEVER, I think he went above and beyond to cover the old Hal Moore/Bill Fredricks folk tune Must be Santa. This was a song that I was first introduced to by the likes of children’s entertainer Raffi. The fact that Dylan saved this song from Raffi’s version (the vocals from which to me sound like nails on a chalk board) and turned it into a polka-dance-on-speed piece was one thing, but it was even better that he went and made a video for it that shows nothing but hilarity and nonsensical drunkenness.

The King of things at it again

As I move on with my obsessive collection of old, used or discounted books, I’ve noticed that my collection of Stephen King books has gotten congested, and with good reason.

It’s clear King — who, not long after “finishing” the Dark Tower saga, envisioned retirement — hasn’t had his fill yet in terms of writing. (Note: I’ve reviewed Book IV of the series on this blog, but have since read and finished the series, and in a short review right here, I’ll just say for writers and King fans, it’s really quite incredible.)

Adding to the constant hoopla about his new novel, Under the Dome (Scribner; 1,074 pages; $35) — which, in lieu of its synopsis and solid reviews, is on my Christmas list — King has moved back onto the Dark Tower turf, among other areas.

So long, NaNoWriMo

During the last week of October this year, I stumbled upon NaNoWriMo.org. I’d already been working on my first novel when this popped into view, but I decided it might be better to experiment with a fresh idea for writing a novel in 30 days. As such, I put the work-in-progress on the bench for the time being, and decided to give this a whirl.

Hippie Jam Rap Nation

During a discussion today with a colleague, I was introduced to some new music, notably a guy named Yak Ballz.

This is not normally the type of music I indulge in, but that’s irrelevant. I’m always open to some new stuff, send it my way, whatever, I’ll check it out. Personally, my background in music falls more on the side of improv/blues/funk/jam/bluegrass, etc.

So I was curious, and asked myself: What would come up if I searched YouTube for “hippie jam rap”?

Answer (the real answer comes at 0:35 in):

Poking in…

Whether or not I’m going to get back into this blog consistently, or perhaps put off until some other works is finished has yet to be determined. Now that I’ve deactivated Facebook and barely look at my Twitter account anymore, I might actually find some bliss and time to work on some posts related to art, music, humor, politics, whatever.

(As a side note, social networking has gotten completely out of control and has entered a stage beyond batshit. I still understand the qualities of those types of networks, especially when promoting one’s work in one way or another, but in terms of “staying connected,” it’s getting out of hand, and people aren’t looking at each other as much anymore.)

I’ve updated a few things under the Links section of the blog (to the right), and created a portfolio of some of my work that can be found elsewhere. It’s not everything I have, but it’s a start.

In any event, if anyone’s still reading, God Bless. Maybe soon when I start back up into this I can work more at getting it out there for more to read.

-Matt