Expecting Rain

There have been university courses on Bob all over the place, I think they had one in Austria as well.

I'm aware that there are university courses, academic conferences etc. - SirDogg however was talking about a

The thing is that I don't think you can put your finger on any one aspect that makes him Bob Dylan. There are lots of strengths and weaknesses and some people might take one for the other. He has done so many things since his protest days, and there is much since that can be admired. I think he knew well that he couldn't safe the world, but even if he could have, I also believe that he didn't want the responsibility. For me, the protest period is just one small aspect of a very complex artist. I guess you could call him an opportunist if you chose to. His first (rock'n'roll) single was withdrawn so as not to get in the way of the folk singer image, so it wasn't that he didn't want to play that kind of music, so I guess you could call it opportunist to take the folk / protest route. It was the popular thing to do and he had the potential to adjust to that and succeed in it, just like he has adapted other styles of music later. There were lots of influences to go from pure folk to protest, not least his girlfriends of the time. To seize an opportunity doesn't necessarily mean you can't be decicated at the same time, and he was young, intelligent and outspoken, so I don't really think it's either one or the other, but surely a mixture of both.

europeans have never invented anything half as cool as rock n roll

the ghost of buddy holly told me that

Is that you, Bob?

Like most things cultural, I'd say. If you were there for the embryo Bob Guru shootouts you would have picked John Bauldie over Brian Stibal every time.

Are you talking about the course at the University of Oslo? Sorry to disappoint you, but it's only one subject. (10 studiepoeng)

I've been to Dylan gigs in Spain, Germany, Italy, France and UK, and have friends have have gone even wider. (UK gigs suffer from poor sound in big venues.) In each place that I've been it is possible to find people interested in music who don't even know that Bob is playing ..... I ALWAYS know where Bob is playing. So ..... that's the way it is around Europe, and I am sure that it is no different in the US: Dylan enthusiasm is a minority interest but a very fervent one. I would say, however, that there is a degree of fervency in Europe amongst the committed that is intense. Having said that, my friend Jenny and I tried to get the big US Dylan 'Sound Experience" exhibition to come to London after Seattle for about six months, after she had seen it in Minneapolis. We took our interest to a number of galleries, etc, and no one thought there was any point in putting it on, and imagined we were doing it for money. They couldn't believe us when we said we were just fans. Now, of course, we have the Paris exhibition which no doubt we will get to .........

Ah! I must have misread it, it was in the news a while back, wasn't it?

Yeah, it was all over! I took the course, it was quite fun. First and last time I've seen "Dagsrevyen" showing up for a lecture at the university. I've got the exam questions somewhere, I'll translate them to English and upload them to ER one of the days, then everyone can have a go at them.

Yeah great Matulah, you do that
BTW are you the real Matulah?

Nice! Wish I could have taken that course too!
I'd love to see the exams!

In the US, he got arrested for saying he was Bob Dylan, and blocked entry from his own concert saying he was Bob Dylan.
In Europe, he got accused of pickpocketing once, and the accuser punched him with the police standing by.

I don't know. Who or what is the real one?

It's happening at UiO every spring semester.
I'll upload them now!

Great! Thanks!

Sorry, my mistake. I was thinking of Matula, the assistent detective in Ein Fall fuer Zwei
So Matulah with an H, you are definitely the genuine one

No problem. I feel authenticated!

wtf?
when did that happen?

1989, in Brussels I think. His minders were discussing with the police while the accuser managed to punch Bob, who in my imagination probably looked a lot like homeless bum.

I mean, he was going on stage like this....

lol
I'm sure he did look like a hobo.
but still, poor boy

That sounds pretty accurate. Like in America, the fans that are there are very enthusiastic. I think Joan Baez summed it up perfectly in "No Direction Home". She said something like "Bob Dylan doesn't connect with everybody, but for those he does connect with, it goes real deep".

Some nice perspective from you puppies across the pond. Thank you.

Yeah, in general the American Dylan crowd is a pretty straight and introverted bunch, far from the feeling of a Dead show, for instance.

compulsion is neither connection nor comprehension. compulsion is merely what it is

Glad you felt compelled to compile this communication. Can you please speak in abbreviations next time so I can understand what it means though?