Good taste

Any reservations I may have had about Barack Obama -- ok, ok, shut up. But if I had had any reservations at this point, they would be gone, after I read this:

The Democratic presidential candidate discusses the music he listened to while growing up -- Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind & Fire, Elton John, the Rolling Stones -- and the music on his iPod -- all of the above plus Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Jay-Z, Bruce Springsteen, Howlin' Wolf, Yo-Yo Ma, Sheryl Crow, the Grateful Dead and others.

But perhaps Obama's most intriguing response came when he was asked to name his favorite Dylan songs.

"Actually, one of my favorites during the political season is 'Maggie's Farm,' " he replied. "It speaks to me as I listen to some of the political rhetoric."

MAGGIE'S FARM. What a classic. Most people know that when Dylan went electric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, he played the revolutionary "Like A Rolling Stone" -- but fewer people know that the first song he played, the shot heard round the world, was "Maggie's Farm." Picture yourself at a folk festival, listening to placid acoustic songs, and then suddenly you're facing this (actual 1965 footage):

That right there is one of the most historic moments in rock music. Make sure you watch all the way through so you can hear the booing at the end. (There's a better version on DVD -- The Other Side of the Mirror, which I had the privilege to watch in its entirety during a PBS pledge drive -- that captures the boos and shouting from the crowd right from the first notes on that guitar.) Good choice, Sen. Obama; good choice.

Sunday Screening

Why don't more people listen to bluegrass?

That's Chatham County Line, an amazing semi-traditional bluegrass band from Raleigh, NC. I don't have time to write at length about anything today -- if I were a sane person I'd be starting my paper about Irish revolutionary Patrick Pearse right now -- so I'll just urge you to check out their new album, IV. (Or at least download the leadoff single "Chip of a Star," which is truly beautiful and has a hook worthy of pop radio, here.)

Here's more Chatham County Line...

(That last one, "Company Blues," is probably my favorite of their songs; the album cut from Speed of the Whippoorwill is even better, since they all sing the chorus with this incredible hair-raising harmony. Go get it if you can.)

Anyway. Good luck with all the schoolwork everyone undoubtedly has, and I'll see you on the other side; this is an open thread.

Intersession Roundup - Yes, You ARE That Bored

Anyone ever stay on campus during intersession? I highly recommend it. This place is different when school's not running; what few people remain are always calm and peaceful, happy to sit around and watch TV or whatever it is they like to do. And I think the vibe spreads, even to the Square, which is usually a nails-on-chalkboard place full of urban frustration and overpriced coffee; today it was nice, the CVS clerk was friendly, even the homeless people were almost smiling.

Peculiar thing happened to me on the way back, too; I was coming down Memorial Drive like I usually do, 'cause it's prettier by the River and there's never anybody on that sidewalk, when Alice's Restaurant came up on my CD player. And I wanted to listen to all 18 minutes of it before I got back to Mather House, so I went over to the river and sat down on a bench where I could see the sunset. And I swear to God, as I sat there for eighteen minutes listening to Arlo Guthrie sing, the clouds parted overtop of me. There were clouds on either side, clouds off in the distance, the sun was about to duck down behind a cloud -- but right above me, all of a sudden, this humongous swath of clear blue sky. Absolutely stunning.

You should listen to it as well; it's intersession, surely you have eighteen minutes. I find that nice things tend to happen while that song is playing. Anyway. Here's some more diversions for you:

--While we're on the topic of folk music, R.I.P. Denny Doherty. He sang for the Mamas and the Papas, one of the most important bands of the 60s, and later hosted a Canadian public-TV kids' show I used to like. More people should be aware of the Mamas and the Papas; they didn't record much, but what they did was beautiful. In case you didn't want to listen to Alice's Restaurant, here's one of my favorite songs of theirs:

--And speaking of clouds, this is much better than the actual State of the Union, which would have been intolerable had it not been for the great work of Kevin, Rob and Matt putting together our study break. Thanks, guys. Also take a look at this excellent play-by-play of Dick Cheney's performance last night. ("11:21 - possible chewing...")

--A very warm welcome back to Red Ivy, now revived and relocated outside the CampusTap garden. In a sure sign of fun times to come, their second post compares Hillary Clinton to Satan. I love these guys.

--Meanwhile IvyGate, much like President Bush, does not understand political humor. I'm saddened that these philistines failed to grasp the satiric genius of... uh... of a giant apple... throwing... smaller apples... um... You know what? It was exam period. Fuck off.

--If you want to be an IOP liaison for Ned Lamont, Carl Cannon, or any of this season's fellows, the applications are due by Tuesday. I strongly encourage freshmen, especially, to apply; I was a liaison last year, most Dems were at some point, it's a great time. Form is here.

--I fully expect that within 8-10 months we will all hate every Democratic presidential candidate with a passion (except possibly Mike Gravel). But it's always nice to see Republicans well ahead of us on that front -- RedState puts it well:

They all suck. Let's just admit it. Every one of the thus far announced Republican candidates for President sucks.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Ahhhh.

--There is a huge and intense discussion in the comments section of Sahil Mahtani's latest Crimson column, on that Princeton-racist-joke-column-controversy thing. It's worth a look, if only to give you some idea of the intensity of feeling among Harvard' students on the topic. (However, none of it beats the appearance of Adam Goldenberg's mother in comments for one of his columns; I feel your pain, Adam, but you have to admit. That was pretty badass.)

And that's all I got. Enjoy the holiday and I hope you all come back in one piece. This is an open thread.