The Never Ending Pool

Courtesy of moon j., HwyCDRev, and expectingrain.com:





Bob Dylan's Cadillac Ads Are a Gas

By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY

On 2001's Summer Days, Bob Dylan sang, "I'm drivin' in the flats in a Cadillac car," a lyric that comes to life today in the debut of a multiplatform ad campaign for Cadillac. In a 30-second TV spot, the music legend, sporting a cowboy hat and shades, steers a black 2008 Escalade across California's Antelope Valley before stepping out to survey the desert landscape.

He utters one line: "What's life without taking a detour?" The ad also plugs XM satellite radio, a standard feature in the luxury SUV and home to Dylan's weekly Theme Time Radio Hour, which this Wednesday finds the bard spotlighting songs about the iconic auto.

In a long-form online vignette (viewable now at xmradio.com and starting Wednesday at cadillac.com and mycadillacstory.com), Dylan cracks, "You know what's even better than a great road tune? Not having some DJ talking all over it. Unless, of course, that DJ's me." Print and online ads begin in November.

It's not Dylan's first commercial venture; he has appeared in ads for iPod and Victoria's Secret.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-10-21-dylan-cadillac_N.htm

I wonder how many ultraliberals will meet death at their own hands over this !

'good car to drive after a war'

I've got 3 things to say to this

First of all, Jeff Rosen, if you had anything to do with this, a GIGANTIC Fuck You

Second of all, Bob, I seriously hope your house burns down from a climate change induced fire

and one more thing,

I may not listen to Bob for a long time on the back of this news

there's lots of good artists out there who aren't clueless

Bob can sing Masters of War and then promote gas guzzling asshole vehicles?

There's a touching article on the cover of this past Sunday's NY Times about an 8 year old girl struggling to understand why her father isn't coming home.

The answer, apparently, is blowing in the wind of Bob Dylan's Escalade.

What I keep hearing in my head is Bob's new version of Positively 4th Street.

You've got a lot of nerve to say you are my friend.

Don't you know this IS our problem?

As a result, if for just one moment, you could stand inside my shoes this morning.

You would know what a drag it is to see you having done this.

let's all go ahead and judge Bob for this.

i mean, who even gives a shit? it's not the 60s anymore, so why do we always go through this "artist selling out to the man" thing every time you turn around?

-justin

yep. it's not the 60s anymore and it's been a long time since the words integrity, values, truthfulness, honor, uprightness, genuineness, substance, principles, ideals, etc., have not rung hollow.

some say we are better off for this but i ain't one of them. remember, elvis (actually nick lowe) says what's so funny about peace love and understanding.

funny? apparently the punchline is cadillac. wasn't it one of eisenhower's boys who said what's good for general motors is good for the country?

busy being born wrote:

QUOTE:
Second of all, Bob, I seriously hope your house burns down from a climate change induced fire

What a hateful thing to say! Are you satisfied:

"Seaside celebrity enclave Malibu Colony in California has been ravaged by a fast-paced wildfire, which broke out early on Sunday morning (21Oct07). The blaze has already claimed an animal hospital and landmark buildings Hodge Castle, which was reportedly once owned by Bob Dylan, and Malibu Presbyterian Church."

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/stars%20seaside%20retreats%20threatened%20by%20malibu%20wildfire_1047392

"...there are many homes in the Malibu area which are imminent danger. ABC 7 reports that numerous homes along Pacific Coast Highway have been evacuated.

TMZ.com reports that Malibu County and Carbon Beach residents include: Jennifer Aniston, Sting, Bill Murray, Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn, Tatum O'Neal, Rob Reiner, Linda Ronstadt, David Arquette and Courteney Cox, David Geffen, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Mark Burnett, Bob Dylan, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson among the many celebrity inhabitants."

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/usa/news/article_1367321.php/Malibu_wildfire_forces_mass_celebrity_evacuations__UPDATE_
woman in a rage

Yes, but to be fair, he was president of General Motors at the time. He stole that line from George Roby Dempster, who said, "What's good for Dempster Dumpster is good for the country." But for some reason nobody remembers that.

is Bob satisfied hawking gas guzzling cars on steroids to idiots?

Man's contribution to Climate Change is unquestioned by scientists. 100% unquestioned.

Bob's contribution is apparently ensuring that he is as much a part of this contribution as he can be.

So if there is a fire, caused specifically by mankind-aided Climate Change, I honestly hope it does burn down his house, and not just one that he used to live in.

People make choices, that's what life is for.

Bob just made a really bad one.

P.S. Just can't wait for his radio show on Cadillacs - what an ass

you bunch of tools. he's done an ad for cadillacs because he likes them. and so what. either way who really cares. what would it take, for him to donate the proceeds to chairty for you lot to chill out.

Wow.

Part of me can't wait to see the ad out of a sheer morbid curiosity. The rest of me, though, is disappointed for several reasons.

I can't call the Cadillac Escalade anything other than an abomination - it's a rolling symbol of what's wrong with America, from the trend toward wasteful gas-guzzling trucks (and I know some people have a legitimate need for them, but how many Escalades have you seen with more than a couple of passengers in them?) to the pathetic obsession with keeping up with the Joneses and living beyond one's means thanks to easy credit (how many people can truly afford a $60,000 car? A lot fewer than actually drive one)...and frankly, I just think it's a big ugly truck. So the product Bob is shilling for bothers me.

The other thing that bothers me is this is now, I believe, the third commercial he's appeared in. I could excuse Victoria's Secret as a one-off, a novelty, especially because there was something funny and Dylanesque about the whole thing. The iTunes commercial didn't bother me much either, since it was essentially promoting Modern Times - while it's out of character to see a TV commercial featuring Bob Dylan promoting an album, it's not something really offensive. But this third commercial seems to point to a trend, and that worries me.

The bottom line, though, is that this commercial strikes me as most ominous because it suggests that Dylan has become at ease with the idea of blending commercialism into his art. In my opinion, and I suspect that of many others, Theme Time Radio Hour is one of the most interesting things Dylan has done lately, and both his song selections and his commentary on the songs serve as something of an addition to the body of his work. When I heard that next week's theme was going to be Cadillac, I wasn't fazed at all - the brand has played a role in American music and culture, particularly in the mid-20th century period from which Dylan likes to select most of the songs he plays. But to discover now that he's starring in an ad for Cadillac casts a shadow over that whole episode of the show for me (and yes, I now recall that Theme Time Radio Hour is sponsored by Cadillac - I probably should have made the connection before, but I didn't). Maybe I'm holding him to a higher standard than I should; maybe the radio show is just a game to him and the themes he chooses (hell, maybe he doesn't even choose them) shouldn't be put under the microscope in the same way that his songs are. But what's next? Is Dylan going to introduce his band every night and then tell the audience, "By the way, the Cadillac Escalade is a heck of a car. You should really check it out"? Is he going to write a jingle for their next commercial? I would have scoffed at anyone suggesting scenarios like these several years ago, but now I'm not so sure.

And that's what really bothers me. Now whenever I hear a brand name in a song (can a Ford Mustang commercial be far behind?), I can't simply accept it as part of the background on which the song is built. Now I have to wonder if his commercial endorsements are influencing his writing, which frankly makes me nauseous.

Just a point of info: the 2008 Cadillac Escalade probably gets about the same gas milage as a 1966 Buick Skylark. I'm just sayin', is all.

busy being born wrote:

QUOTE:
So if there is a fire, caused specifically by mankind-aided Climate Change, I honestly hope it does burn down his house, and not just one that he used to live in.

Why trust to chance? Why don't you burn it down yourself?

That's sarcasm, in case anyone is worried.

what with the fire burning his malibu manse down, bob's gonna need an escalade to hitch his fema trailer to. so just shut the fuck up, all you bob haters out there.

and bob? if you're reading this? barbasol. think about it, that's all i'm saying.

barbasol.

s_f

MESSAGE TO GARCIA
by Ken Kesey


Hey, Jerry-- what's happening? I caught your funeral. Weird.

Big Steve was good. And Grissman. Sweet sounds. But what really stood

out -- stands out -- is the thundering silence, the lack, the absence of

that golden Garcia lead line, of that familiar slick lick with the uptwist

at the end, that merry snake twining through the woodpile, flickering in

and out of the loosely stacked chords...a wriggling mystery, bright and

slick as fire... suddenly gone.

And the silence left in its wake was-- is-- positively

ear-splitting.

Now they want me to say something about that absence, Jer. Tell

some backstage story, share some poigniant reminescence. But I have to

tell you, man: I find myself considerably disinclined. I mean, why go

against the grain of such an eloquent silence?

I remember standing out in the pearly early dawn after the Muir

Beach Acid Test, leaning on the top rail of a driftwood fence with you and

Lesh and Babbs, watching the world light up, talking about our glorious

futures. The gig had been semi-successful and the air was full of exulted

fantasies. Babbs whacks Phil on the back.

"Just like the big time, huh Phil."

"It is! It is the big time! Why, we could cut a chart-busting

record to-fucking-morrow!"

I was even more optimistic. "Hey, we taped tonight's show. We

could release a record tomorrow.

"Yeah right--" (holding up that digitally challenged hand the way

you did when you wanted to call attention to the truth or the lack

thereof) "--and a year from tomorrow be recording a Things Go Better With

Coke commercial."

You could be a sharp-tongued popper-of-balloons shit-head when you

were so inclined, you know. A real bastard. You were the sworn enemy of

hot air and commercials, however righteous the cause or lucrative the

product. Nobody ever heard you use that microphone as a pulpit. No

anti-war rants, no hymns to peace. No odes to the trees and All things

Organic. No ego-deaths or born-againnesses. No devils denounced no gurus

glorified. No dogmatic howlings that I ever caught wind of. In fact,

your steadfast denial of dogma was as close as you ever came to having a

creed.

And to the very end, Old Timer, you were true to that creed. No

commercials. No trendy spins. No bayings of belief. And if you did have

any dogma you surely kept it tied up under the back porch where a smelly

old hound belongs.

I guess that's what I mean about a loud silence. Like

Michaelangelo said about sculpting, "The statue exists inside the block of

marble. All you have to do is chip away the stone you don't need." You

were always chipping away at the superficial.

It was the false notes you didn't play that kept that lead line so

golden pure. It was the words you didn't sing. So this is what we are

left with, Jerry: this golden silence. It rings on and on without any

hint of let up...on and on. And I expect it will still be ringing years

from now.

Because you're still not playing falsely. Because you're still

not singing Things Go Better With Coke.

Ever your friend,

Keez

As the late Zappa said:

We were only in it for the money

So I understand....

Well you take my money and you turn me out
You fill me up with nothin' but self doubt
Someday baby, you ain't gonna worry po' me anymore