Musings on Bob Dylan & Iggy Pop

Hey there, you Rockers n Rollers! Ola mis Hermanos Y Hermanas! Once more, my Salutations to all the good people of Worldwidewebness....or to put it a little more realistically perhaps, the odd one or two of you idle surfers who have, through various diverse, if not downright bizarre, paths found themselves somewhat astray, virtually speaking, and clicked their way onto these pages! The STonedHOLybloGGEr extends both a warm welcome and the reassuringly firm Handshake of Eternal Fraternity to all who would peruse his meagre efforts within the Blogosphere.

Meanwhile, at StonedHoly HQ we have convinced ourselves that the number of you out there who are Hip enough to Plug into the Literary Perambulations of the stONEdhoLYBloggeR is growing. So, may I draw to your Attention, those of you Dedicated to all things 'Stoned N Holy' (a small number, admittedly!) and also those amongst you who have, for no discernible reason, made good their return to our estimable pages, our New HolyBlogger Livery. Our Internet Duds, if you will! It has been a Steep Learning Curve! We have fumbled in the Virtual Dark, so to speak. A Click here, a Click there.....We must admit hereby to there having been 'Distractions' en route. So many Pretty Gals, so few items of clothing! But the Clicking is done and the Cyber Re-Spray is finished ; to a fashion! The Tips of my Index Fingers have now Calloused over! Our Image Make-Over is complete. We trust you CyberBlogPeepers will, at the very least, appreciate our efforts.

Now, if I can climb up into my Rock n Roll Pulpit for a minute or two, maybe we can look at this New Layout mallarkey in more depth : Methinks everyone in this life is entitled to some kinda Make-Over. Indeed, can we not all Meld ourselves wholly anew? A little City Livin' is a Dangerous Thing, after all - It can Get a Man to thinking he's as Good as a Goddam King! These Democratic Reverberations can, it seems, to paraphrase De Tocqueville, make everyone forget his Ancestors and Isolate him from his contemporaries. Identity can be Fluid if we wish it so! To Seek Out An Identity, You Must Alienate Society. Constraints of Gender & Creed, History & Culture can, indeed Must, be Subverted. Too often, the Expectations of those closest to us, Family & Friends, can be limiting and deny us Free Expression of our True Selves. Sometimes a complete break is required so that we can create the person we want ourselves to be.

So, Dig this : Young gun / Collar High / Slips Outta Hometown & Strait-Jacket Identity / Shoulders his Duffel-Bag / Spirits High / Heads for the 2 Lane Blacktop that's Gonna Carry Him Far from Mezuzahs N Talmudic Apocrypha to Big City U.S / He Thumbs / He Bums N Mooches / He Strums His Guitar / His Given Name is Scuffed Off by the Roadside / Soon it's Big apple Time N Whoopyjivin' In Soho /  Then it's over to East Orange to touch the Hem of Woody's Garment / Meanwhile Rock n Roll has Fizzled Out N Charts are Empty / One Good Review later & he's on his Way / Soon he'll be Dancing Beneath Diamond Skies With One Hand Waving Free! And Thus is Robert Zimmerman, curly-headed kid from Desolate Deluth, Minnesota, refashioned as Bob Dylan! And Thank the Musical Gods he was, otherwise he could not have Brought it all Back Home & we wouldn't have an album that can transport us into the Heavenly Firmament!

Let us now examine the strange case of Mr. James Osterberg from Ann Arbor, Michigan. The STOnEdHoLYbLoGgEr can only hope you are familiar with the Sonic Output of Mr. Osterberg for, verily, it is the stuff of Legend. He has on more than one occasion Hit the
G-Spot of Rock n Roll but perhaps, methinks, his greatest artistic achievement was the side-stepping of all that was mapped out for him in Industrial Small Town America and his creation of Iggy Pop as a persona which allowed  him the Freedom to explore the Waters he thereupon wholly immersed himself in.

So, Pop Pickers, if you feel like a change, then you too can Go To It! The Voluptuary Excesses of Mr. Pop may not be for you but in a quiet and perchance, wholly unnoticed way you can Make Yourself Over. Truly, for the Sake of this Ramshackle Old World we're living in, we must Believe the Leopard Can Change His Spots!...For Does Not This World Need Changing?

'Be The Change You Want To See In The World.' were the Sage Words of The Mahatma. Fine Words and here's some more courtesy of yir Resident Secular Preacher of Brethren-ness - 'It's Not Water Down The Drain If It Brings Us Closer Together. It's Not An Ocean & One Drop Of Rain If It Makes Things A Little Better.' If that means as little as a Smile instead of a Frown or some kind words freely given, if that means a Splash of Colour to liven up the Monochrome, then it's Enough for now. Think On It, CyberPeople, is all ahm sayin'.....Think On It.

Catch Y'All Next Time - This Is Yir Concrete Prairie Crooner & Stoned & Holy Blogger signing off. Glad Tidings For All. Over N Oot.