Can't Hide Us

“I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken

I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children.”

    “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall,” Bob Dylan

   

In “They Can’t Hide Us” protest singer Richie Havens mentions learning a song from Gene Michaels and then giving him credit each time he performed it.  After singing it in a club called The Wha?, Bob Dylan came up to him and told him he’d done a good job.  The song was “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall. ” Folksinger Dave Van Ronk then informed Havens that Dylan, not Michaels, had written it (supposedly during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis). Havens, who opened the 1969 Woodstock festival, supported himself when he first moved to Greenwich Village by drawing portraits of tourists.

Neighbor Dave Elliott burned a CD of David Bromberg songs similar to the J.J. Cale numbers on one of his earlier gifts.  Bromberg was born in Philadelphia in 1945, making him seven years younger than Cale and three years younger than I.  Mixing blues, bluegrass, jazz, folk, country, and rock ‘n’ roll, he has performed with a virtual “who’s who” of musicians, including Dylan, John Prine, Richie Havens, and Country Joe McDonald.  On his 2011 album “Use Me” guests included Dr. John, Levon Helm, Vince Gill, and John Hiatt.

Jerry Davich wrote a column about William Willis and Henry Hunter, who stood up to a couple dozen Lew Wallace High School students who threatened them after Willis turned a gun over to police that one of them dropped during a police chase.  They called the cops, who took those who had been taunting them to the police station.  Fifty year-old Willis told Davich that neighbors need to do more than “peek through the blinds.”  He added, “If you have video, give it to the police.  File charges, go to court.”  A day earlier, Davich wrote about a Chesterton H.S. band member terrorized on a bus trip and then the recipient of a graphic Facebook message laced with profanity and sexual threats.  His father raised hell, but so far school authorities have not responded as promptly as the Gary police did in Glen Park.

above, Willis and Hunter; below, Lauren and Jordan

For Jordan Halberstadt and Lauren Taylor’s wedding we caravanned in two cars, following Tom and Brady Wade.  The previous time I’d been to Muncie, I drove down 65, around the Indy Beltway, and then up 69.  This time we went east on 30, south on 31, and then east on 24 to 69.  The roads were surprisingly good and it only took three hours.  The service was at an historic Presbyterian church on the outskirts of the Ball State campus, and the reception at a plush country club.  I had three beers, a delicious filet minion dinner, and a glass of champagne for toasting purposes.  Jordan’s brother Charles quoted from Plato in his toast and introduced us to his lovely friend Anne. Parents Jef and Robin were pleased we made the trip and seated us with eight other board gamers.  Like us, they stayed at Comfort Inn, and we ran into Jef at breakfast.  He had a trivial question: what is the most common street name in America?”  After three wrong guesses, he gave me a hint, that it wasn’t First Street.  Second Street it was, my next answer.

“Pittsburgh” Dave Lane quipped: “I see the replacement NFL refs found work.  Apparently they are working the playoff MLB game in Atlanta.”  They invoked the infield fly rule against Atlanta even though a fly ball dropped 75 feet beyond the infield. Atlanta fans littered the field with bottles and beer cans.  St. Louis won the one-game playoff 6-3.   

After a lackluster first half, the Bears scored 35 unanswered points to beat Jacksonville 41-3, thanks to “pick-sixes” by Peanut Tillman and Lance Briggs, who set a record for both doing it in two consecutive contests.  My Fantasy players had a good day, and I was leading Phil by 14 points going into Monday night’s contest between Houston and the Jets.  He had Houston QB Matt Schaub, but I had Houston’s defense and number one wide receiver Andre Johnson.  We had planned to be in grand Rapids that night, so Phil and I watched the game together.  Johnson had just one point, but Schaub didn’t throw much and my defense had two interceptions and three sacks, so I maintained my 14-point lead and am the only undefeated team after five games.  Next week, however, I take on Garrett, who has been on a roll.  Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz scored 23 points for him last week but faces a stiffer defense next Sunday in San Francisco.

That afternoon we watched Tori play in a volleyball contest and Anthony in a soccer match.  Both excelled.  Alissa and Josh joined us afterwards for Chinese food.  Alissa was still pumped over a fashion show she organized for overseas students at Grand Valley State.