From Theo Spark

The cover of Blonde on Blonde

Why isn’t Bob Dylan bigger than he already is?  Yes, I know he is a living legend an’ all but… well, it’s only recently that I’ve started getting in to him.  I bought a couple of his albums (Bringing it All Home and Highway 61 Revisited) when I was a teenager - as you do - and although there are some pretty good tracks on them - Love Minus Zero/No Limit is my personal favourite - the dirges, caterwauling and incomprehensible, slash, up-his-own-arse lyrics rather put me off.

Until recently.  Thanks to the wonders of Napster - download as much as you like for a tenner a month - I’ve been able to explore Dylan’s music to my heart’s content.  Oh boy.  If only I’d stuck it out to Blonde on Blonde.  Or given some of the early albums a shot.  And there’s all the 70s stuff still to come, which holds many a gem.  Apparently.

What impresses me is the unpretentious way in which he reveals his genius.  He just sings the songs and lets you discover them for yourself.  Or, as in the case of All Along the Watchtower, lets someone else discover them.  Many has been the time I’ve been vaguely listening to a Dylan song when I think: “This is a bit good” and then find the tears starting to well up inside.

Or maybe I’m just getting on.

Went to see the Lives of Others the other day. Thought it very good. So did Adriana who has some personal reflections on life under communism.

I was reading a more-than-usually-depressing article on Russia when I came across this:

THE TVER REGION, which lies two hundred kilometers to the north of Moscow…

(My emphasis).  And then…

The Volga runs through the city of Tver…

“Hang about,” I said.  “The Volga runs through Volgograd.  And that used to be called Stalingrad.  And Stalingrad was in the south.  Surely some mistake?”

No mistake.  The Volga is one hell of a river.