I am guilty of sometimes being one of those male Dylan dorks that Stephanie writes about about in the first paragraph. The truth hurts! But I look forward to reading this book. From what I understand, Suze (and her family) were much smarter and socially aware than the (at the time) provincial Dylan, acting as teachers and mentors to the young singer. Anyway I like these kind of intimate first hand accounts of history.

For those interested, I would highly recommend David Hajdu's "Positively 4th Street" as a broader picture of the times. Suze Rotolo's book actually makes a perfect companion piece. In addition to Dylan Hajdu's book also focuses on Joan Baez as well as Mimi Baez Farina and Richard Farina. It really gets into the dynamics of the relationships and conflicts between these talented and artistic people.

For me, Richard Farina was perhaps the most interesting character from that era. Farina was an insanely gifted artist (at the time Dylan both admired and was jealous of Farina--both in art and love); not everyone has Thomas Pynchon write a forward to their novel.

This is interesting and heady stuff, although I can help but think I've heard all this before. It seems to me that Robert Persig covered a lot of this terrain with his metaphysics of Quality. Wilber's rational and trans-rational sound an awful lot like Persig's Cassical(rational) and Romantic(gestalt or esoteric experience) dichotomy as well as his articulation of Static and Dynamic Quality.

I am only dimly aware of Ken Wilber, primarily through the music of Stuart Davis (whether or not you agree with Wilber's ideas, Stuart Davis is a wholly original and brilliant singer-songwriter totally deserving of a wider audience).

Not only is this "gas tax holiday" lame political pandering, but it would ironically be potentially harmful to the exact people it purports to help. By giving a tax break on gas prices would go down in the short term, but this would encourage people to use more gas thus increasing demand. In the long run, higher demand would increase gas prices.

I appears that McCain and Clinton are betting that potential voters are too stupid to understand basic economics. The harsh reality is that the sane and responsible thing to do would be to actually increase gas taxes. This would prove to be a powerful message to the market that alternative energy sources are needed. It would also force people to plan their lives more wisely and think about how they drive. Of course, this position is politically untenable. on a broader level most of the problems we face today require sacrifice by all of us. Basically we've all got to take a bite out of this shit sandwich in order to get rid of it. Not exactly a slogan to win a campaign on is it?

I know this is a bit off topic and I have no interest in getting involved with the inane political cheer-leading here, but I have read a few posts that completely misunderstand the consequences of the so-called gas tax holiday.

Cutting the gas tax encourages people to drive more, thus using more gas. This puts more strain on supply as well as refining capabilities. Simple economics dictates that in the long run more demand will ultimately increase the price of gasoline. I repeat, the suspension of the gas tax will increase the price of gasoline. The sensible thing to do would be to raise the gas tax. This would help to push the market toward energy alternatives. It would also help to push people and communities to begin to think about reorganizing the way we live.

I understand that people are having a difficult time with the rising prices of virtually everything (except wages), but these type of short term fixes, like the gas tax holiday, are akin to putting a band-aid on a sucking chest wound.

A touching article Mr. Hannaham.

Allie wrote, "I don't know why other people's misery helps to cope with your own, but it does, doesn't it?"

I think the reason that Mr. Hannaham finds a comfort in watching "Intervention" is akin to the impulse of blues music.

The blues, as a musical form, taps into deep emotional impulses. The history of the blues, of course, is rooted in the slave experience (the music and forms a continuation of the West African Griot's role in society). In a metaphorical sense we are all slaves to our humanity; to our inherent human weaknesses, and to our inevitable physical decline. But it is in the simple emotional power of the blues where we connect ourselves to others and where our only hope of redemption lies.

Our human weakness and fragility is the great leveler. Through the blues we are able to give release to the deep existential angst of our imperfect and lonely condition by aligning ourselves with others. We take comfort not in others' misfortune, but in the shared experience of pain and loss. We cope by standing together, by crying and laughing and singing with others. We listen to each other's stories, and want desperately to have other's listen to our stories as well. The beauty and horror of the human race.