Hi,
Maybe I am not as "deep" as I seem to make it look like, and definitely not as well educated in the arts, as I would like to be. However, I seem to be one of those folks that "remembers" all those things he saw, even as a youngster ... how the heck do you think I felt at 18 watching Ravi Shankar and Yehudi Menuhin in Chicago, and in the same day in the afternoon, seeing Richard Kiley in "Man of La Mancha" (not the same as Bapu's Man of dah munchies!!), and a month later getting his head beaten up in Chicago at a park that a certain band that was really good in Woodstock, did not show up and got the crowd excited. Or before, or later, catching Andres Segovia ... and he breaks a string, continues playing and at the end of the piece he apologizes and asks if it sounded alright ... and I swear you would not even noticed a string broke ...
Maybe I separate Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, YES, Tangerine Dream some from many of these, but in the end, at 66, the only thing I can see is ... some folks are being remembered a long time (and this goes for film, also!), and their art was SOMETHING SPECIAL ... but we seem to only be able to look at these things as a rock song ... it's the music, the sound, the feel, and the PERSON of that time and place, and as such they will be remembered as the art of that day, and decade, and likely century.
Now, I can make jokes, bad or otherwise, about Elvis and Bob, but really ... I respect writers and folks that continually work and create things. They may not be perfect, but they keep on going, and Picasso and Dali did that, as did many writers and many artists and composers.
To me, all the stuff that is just the "voice" of my generation ... and some of you always try to make me feel guilty and not a part of that generation ... because of my words! I can't help thinking that the only reason for it is because there is a lack of ability in articulating some of those words?
To me, it is all art, and I respect it. I may not care for one band or another, but I respect their ability to do so. Bob deserves his award, and more importantly, than anything else, is that the Academy is FINALLY recognizing that the voice of the word and the written word, is almost the same, and deserves recognition ... and this is massive, for the next generation and choices. Today's "writers", are as diverse as "songwriters", and for crying out loud ... that is a GREAT THING, even for all you folks trying to create something.
I needle Craig and Bapu, in jest ... not as an insult. They have my respect in many ways, and Bapu specially due to the amount of work that he has shared with us.
AND, btw, there is a new set of quotes from Bob, and it is not the pair of words used before at all. It's very appreciative of it all, and I hope he goes and says thank you and give his generation (and OURS) a nice pat in the back. It's all we're missing, and like the original movie ... you've done a nice job ... with a pat on the back!