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Gummi snuff film
(Video: Bob Dylan performing "Blowin' in the Wind," 1963, from No Direction Home.)
New Jersey police detained 68-year old American music star Bob Dylan recently, after a young officer failed to recognize him. A disheveled Dylan was wearing a hoodie, wandering around in the rain looking at a house for sale. The 24-year-old female officer was responding to a phone call from the occupants of a home that had a "For Sale" sign on it. The residents were called in with a report of an "eccentric-looking old man" in their yard
"We got a call for a suspicious person,'' Buble said. "It was pouring rain outside, and I was right around the corner so I responded. By that time he was walking down the street. I asked him what he was doing in the neighborhood and he said he was looking at a house for sale."ABC News (via Eddie Codel)"I asked him what his name was and he said, 'Bob Dylan,' Buble said. "Now, I've seen pictures of Bob Dylan from a long time ago and he didn't look like Bob Dylan to me at all. He was wearing black sweatpants tucked into black rain boots, and two raincoats with the hood pulled down over his head.
"So I said, 'OK Bob, what are you doing in Long Branch?' He said he was touring the country with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp. So now I'm really a little fishy about his story. I did not know what to believe or where he was coming from, or even who he was. We see a lot of people on our beat, and I wasn't sure if he came from one of our hospitals or something," Buble said.
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40th anniversary of Woodstock wasn't last month.
She just scooped him up, like he was a complete unknown. I wonder how that felt.
"wearing a hoodie, wandering around in the rain looking at a house for sale"
So this is a crime if you aren't Bob Dylan?
"Now, I've seen pictures of Bob Dylan from a long time ago and he didn't look like Bob Dylan to me at all."
Look lady, I just watched a rerun of Cheers last night, and no way are you Kirstie Alley.
It amazes me the lengths famous people will go to get a beer with Obama.
@FORGEWELD, I'm guessing that the emotional impact was not entirely dissimilar to the subjective experience one might attribute to a rolling stone.
Forgeweld:
:)
I get pulled over for not being Bob Dylan all the time, man. It's a real hassle.
One of Arlo Guthrie's standard bits is about how he always gets stopped at the border "because, you know, I look like me."
Heh, something similar happened down the road here in Medford. The young whipper-snappers just don't recognize him. Wouldn't let him into his own concert!
Decades ago, Dylan was mistaken for a beatnik in Minneapolis before he was famous. A printman at the company my dad worked for would get drunk and rough him up every Saturday night while he performed on the street. Sounds like Dylan can't get away from this kinda stuff
The "40 Years After Woodstock" thing is kinda bunk. Dylan skipped out on that festival, even though he was living in Woodstock. The Band was there-- his band-- but not him. Just sayin'.
Who cares if the guy was Dylan or not. Can't a prospective buyer look at a house for sale in the rain. Perhaps he was checking out the drainage or something similar for a really hard rains gonna fall! JP
hey it's America land of the let me "just verify your identity". glad the cop didn't taser Dylan for "acting suspicious"
In the young officer's defense, Mr. Dylan DOES look like some sort of warlock cowboy nowadays.
Maybe he and Henry Louis Gates Jr. should get together and start a support group.
@11 It amuses me to no end that we in Germany, the land of mandatory identity papers (though you don't have to have them on you, that would be the Netherlands) apparently get less of this detaining/arresting/no photography/CCTV crap than the carefree US and UK citizens.
I jump on the occassion to ask what's with all the jokes about New Jersey ? I'm french, and it always surprises me how many jokes about this state you can find in movies. This and Ohio. Are they really nasty places ?
@12
Warlock cowboys can't look at homes in the rain?
@Everyone
No "Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35" puns yet? C'mon.
I wonder how many incoherent hobos have been mistaken for Bob Dylan.
(I kid- he's a talented if quirky guy.)
#4 MDH for the win!
@ Buchino 14: No "Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35" puns yet? C'mon.
Well, if he was stoned, I can see why he aroused suspicion. :P
"O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!"
You can sing this anthem a million times but it will not change reality: land of the sheep and home of the afraid.
Why do police think they can take someone into custidy because they do not have I.D.? How often does this happen? Who was the chicken little who called the Po Po?
Conclusion: Nothing has changed.
That'll teach him for not dying young.
#2: It wouldn't be the first time. A guy who worked for me told me about when he was in college (here in London), some "tramp" knocked on his door and asked if he could stay in there with them until Annie Lennox (their neighbor) came home. Said he was Bob Dylan. Since he was all disheveled they didn't believe him and yelled at him to "fuck off"...
context is everything, apparently. i wouldn't have recognized him either; looks just like this one guy who sleeps in the alley behind my work.
kind of reminds me of that stunt joshua bell pulled, playing as a busker in a public lobby, being totally ignored by hundreds of passersby.
Don't think twice, it's all right officer.
@ #13 PETERBRUELLS
Sorry to burst your bubble, but carrying ID has become mandatory in the Netherlands. As of next month, all new ID cards will also include fingerprint data. (a move heavily criticized by the UN recently) We're pouring tons of liquid soap on the slippery slope around here.
Of course, if mr. Dylan had carried a valid national ID, the problem would have been cleared up in seconds, so the good and the bad tend to mix in most situations.
he said he understood why I had to verify his identity and why I couldn't let him go
Really? I'm glad Bob did, because I f.cking don't. Oh, now I do - because if he had stood up for his right to walk down the street and look at a house (that has a sign saying 'please look at me' in the front yard), you'd have beat him, tased him or shot him. Smart move, Mr Dylan.
"I was in full uniform, so I say, 'I'm asking! I'm the police.'"
You can almost hear the indignant rage in her voice. "Why won't you respect mah authoritaaaah!? I'm in FULL UNIFORM!11!" *stamps tiny impotent police feet*
#24 WMC: You should remember that he wasn't just walking down the street. According to the article, he entered the yard. A for sale sign doesn't mean that people give up their right to private property. The article doeesn't make it clear just what is meant by "in their yard", but if the homeowners felt violated, it's quite reasonable for the officer to detain him for a reasonable period-- such as until he can prove his identity.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not normally one to defend the cops... But it seems to me that under the circumstances the cop did the right thing. Think about it: the guy is possibly casing a house, he appears homeless, and is quite possibly batshit crazy and imagining he's Bob Dylan. What would you do if you were the cop in that circumstance? Detaining him until you have a better handle on the situation seems not only reasonable, but the proper thing to do.
No, this illusrates that most cops are exactly the type of people that want to be cops. Anyone that is conscious and above the age of 11, living in Ulan Bator would know that it was Bob Dylan after a brief conversation, it is called reasoning and common sense, something that unfortuantely many cops lack.
Presumably the cop would have been less worried he was a hospital escapee if no famous names came up in the conversation. A little awkward for Bob to be better off pretending to be someone else to be less suspicious.
*ahem*
Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.
Let's face it, this is Bob Dylan. The likely scenario here was:
COP, politely: "Sir, what are you doing here?"
BOB DYLAN: "Abla ebbie yarda da DOON!"
COP: "Excuse me?"
BOB DYLAN: "Blabba da DOON! Yab da DOON!"
COP: "Sir?"
BOB DYLAN: "Yarble garble ka klafloon!"
Who cares if he's Bob Dylan or the prophet Zoroaster?
This whole "papers please" nonsense isn't pissing off enough people.
This is hilarious. Bob Dylan claimed by the authorities for somethin' that he never done.
@#23 by Pantograph:
I think that's what he meant. Germany is the country with the mandatory ID, but not the mandatory carrying-around (I think.) - THAT (=country where you have to carry it around) would be the Netherlands.
@PLANETTOM Hah!!
@WMC yeah but he was cool about it, said she was just givin' me shelter from the storm
@ CHIBIR #31
Oh yeah totally misread that. Serves me right for trying to join an intelligent discussion before my third morning coffee.
Yes, we 68 year olds look a little suspicious, especially if raggedy...
It's better tolerated in the young.
Shades of Henry Louis Gates, though.
Is anyone else a little disappointed that Mr Robert Zimmerman just rolled over and played dead for some rookie cop in the Garden State? Come one Bob! What happened to 'your sons and your daughters are beyond your command'? Talk about spinning the tables.
Have all those corporate gigs mellowed the soul, or is it just that Woodstock was 40 years ago and we already lost, but no one told us.
Once upon a time he dressed so fine.
Good thing he wasn't passing through an airport. A Canadian woman coming back from a visit to her family in Kenya was told she didn't look like her passport photo, so they sent her back to Kenya as an "impostor".
http://somaliswiss.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/toronto-woman-stranded-in-kenya-seeks-court-injunction/
She's home now or coming home after a frickin DNA test confirmed that her 12 year old son (who apparently really looks like his ID photos) is really her son.
Maybe about twenty years ago I was riding my bike home to my apartment in Boston and was stopped by a really hot woman accompanied by a sullen figure in... a HOODIE. They asked me if I knew where such and such a place where a concert was being held, I think it was at Noertheastern University. I had no idea and gave them some basic directions and took off. I later learned that it was a Bob Dylan show and that was when it dawned on me. During the whole interaction with the woman the guy had remained silent and you could see this beak of a nose sticking out from under the hoodie. I am next to positive that it WAS, in fact, Bob Dylan himself.
'If you're lookin to get straight,
better go back to from where you came,
'cause the cops don't need you
and, man, they expect the same.'
@PlanetTom: It is truly hard to bargle nawdle zouss.
Little do they know that they actually confronted Dana Carvey instead of the real Bob Dylan...
@ #23PANTOGRAPH "if mr. Dylan had carried a valid national ID, the problem would have been cleared up in seconds"
What if his ID said "Robert Zimmerman"?
Okay, maybe somebody wouldn't recognize his extremely distinctive face, but as soon as he opens his mouth and that acid, keening drone erupts, he's pretty unmistakable.
About two weeks ago while walking in my neighborhood at about 12 am, a police officer stopped, asked me where I was going (home), and also needed to verify my identity, as I did not have my wallet. I complied without incident, and we went to my house together (a block away) and everything was ok. When I asked why this had to happen, the officer said that once they report to the station that they are approaching someone suspicious, they have to follow through. He said that if I were to commit a crime later that evening, he would somehow be liable. What? I guess you gotta bow down to keep the cops out of trouble now.
Sorry folks; righteous indignation only plays so far in my book.
While my wife and I were on vacation my neighbor noticed a 'door-to-door salesman' at our front door who, when nobody answered the door bell, proceeded to peek in our windows (no easy feat as everything's upstairs). Apparently they couldn't read the 'no soliciting' sign posted right above the doorbell.
Would it be wrong to ask this person for ID? In my mind, they were probably casing the place for later break-in and I stood the chance of losing ~ $12k in musical gear. I would've been mighty pissed if the cops stopped them and didn't ask for ID and they later ripped me off.
There's no harm to a person if they are asked to show ID; caution never hurt anyone. Sounds like Mr. Dylan took it in stride and had no problem with it himself, so why should those posting their outrage take it upon themselves to be outraged?
Past experience (when I not only had long hair but actually HAD hair) had me stopped and questioned on occasion. I made the choice to look 'dangerous', 'sketchy', however you want to characterize it and understood there would be consequences to that choice. This is nowhere near the draconian tactics the nattering naybobs of negativity are complaining about.
@50,
"the nattering naybobs of negativity"
Is it just a coincidence that out of the astronomical number of permutations of words in the English language, you just **happened** to use the phrase that famous corrupt, authoritarian Spiro Agnew made popular? Spiro, who accepted $10K cash bribes in his White House office?
Or has time turned you into a reactionary sphincter, who sucks up by mentioning his formerly long hair and $12K of musical equipment? I'm not impressed. One "Ted Nugent" is enough.
I made the choice to look 'dangerous', 'sketchy', however you want to characterize it and understood there would be consequences to that choice.
Thank goodness you didn't make the choice to look 'gay' or 'foreign'. It's a real affront to decent, God-fearing folks when people look different and then bellyache about being treated as suspicious by law enforcement.
@PLANETTOM - brilliant!
Dylan was also asked to quit playing for his grandson's kindergarten class.
The children were set on edge when he played "Blood on the tracks", but they were pushed over the edge when he started playing electric guitar...*
*not my joke. Funny tho. :)
@52,
Agree.
"Thank Goodness his dissent or imagined degree of danger" didn't exceed the bounds of wherever he draws-the-line.
And notice:
1. "Would it be wrong to ask this person for ID? In my mind, they were probably casing the place for later break-in and I stood the chance of losing ~ $12k in musical gear." In your mind. What did the cops do? Did they arrest the person, or release him? Facts, not B.S.
2. "I would've been mighty pissed if the cops stopped them and didn't ask for ID and they later ripped me off." So you couple how you would have felt (which makes no difference) and what *might* have hypothetically happened...but didn't, because if it had, you would have surely mentioned it. Right?
3. "There's no harm to a person if they are asked to show ID; caution never hurt anyone." The naive proposition of sheep everywhere: if you have nothing to hide, you won't object to...
@51: Ad Hominem attacks?
No, not coincidence. Hell, I just like the way that phrase rolls off the tongue. I also like the famous anagram of 'Spiro Agnew'. BTW, what bearing does '$10k in bribe money' have on this topic?
I don't think time has turned me into a 'reactionary sphincter' (thin-skinned asshole?) but time has put things in perspective. I knew back then (20+ years) that not looking like a 'normal' person - at least by other people's standards - I would have to put up with crap. Big deal. It did have an effect in how I form impressions of people now when long hair and earrings are not considered 'fringe' and looks tend towards more extremes than I ever went through; I'm ever so much more less likely to judge on appearance. For the record, I would never consider myself a 'Ted Nugent' as I find his political views distasteful (my views are my business) and his music doesn't do much for me. Except "Journey to the Center Of Your Mind" in the Amboy Dukes days, that song is tight.
Bottom line is that I've worked hard for my equipment and I rely on it for my work. If some prick gets to walk away with it because the police are to afraid to ask for ID then yes I will have a problem with that.
@52: Antinous, I know this is an unwinnable argument; unfortunately I think my point is going to be missed due to the reactionary topic. Having expressed my view I'm willing to let it go.
In general, you all just reminded me why I rarely comment on this site as expressing a personal view is grounds for criticism. That's a shame; what's the point of different perspectives if one goes on the attack when in disagreement? Is it so hard to just accept someone's view for what it is?
Whatever. Carry on.
guilty until proven famous
Is that a troll trolling a troll, or am I seeing things?
fenderbasher - righteous indignation only plays so far in my book.
Is it "the big book of irony"? I ask because you're the most righteously indignant voice in this otherwise lighthearted conversation. Carry On.
Loosely after Zimmerman
The moon is almost hidden,
The stars no longer shine;
Everybody is making love
Or else expecting rain.
The good samaritan is dressing,
Getting ready for the show,
But the riot squad, they're restless -
They need somewhere to go
-- Someone says, you're in the wrong place
My friend, you better come with me!
Now the only sound that's left
After the ambulances go
Is Cinderella walking the beat
On Desolation Row
Yeah, have to work on the meter of that cento.
fenderbasher,
I see your point, unfortunately it only goes to a certain point. If you walked into any group (GOP or any other) and fish a point counter to the group think expect to get eyeballed.
While we are at it, I cannot help but noticed that the original post that inflamed you did kind of ask you for YOUR credentials and you didn't dig it too much. I am not agreeing with group think, I am just pointing out... that getting pointed out isn't enjoyable, and maybe you are not as cool with it as you lead people to believe. I have also been flamed for my views, but to hell with others. They are my views and I am not about to get all upset and log off.
Heck I am sure that I will get a little shit for saying group think in the forum. Eh, like minds gather... they poll their collective and whammo. It isn't always a bad thing, many good things are brought up. I just don't fathom your ill humor and lack of grace when you get asked to present yourself for your views. I am not saying I haven't been equally riled in the past, just wondering how you present it to yourself. I am by the way seriously curious, if you wish to respond.
-Tizroc
Hi there,
first of all this is a real funny story and I laughed my ass off mainly about the real funny comments. But all this of course is based on man´s inhumanity to men, and I´d like to see a photograph of the poor minded cop girl which anyway would not be able to stop a mean hooligan or the like.Mr. Dylan is known for being all himself in his own ways, but exactly that has made him one of the most important songwriters of all times. So, in our society, what do we want? The silent security of a cultural graveyard or rather a bunch of vivid, non conformistic and creative individuals that give a damn for conventions, with good, good reasons? I mean, all this is actually kind of deja vu, isn´t it?
This may have been the incident that causes Central World's to issue a prohibition against even emulation of Bob. Yeah, being a Dylanist could be an embarrassing thing on some worlds.
Back in our mundane world, I have a few pointed questions this case and the Gates case have raised.
1: Is identification being required in situations with a rational need for it- something incompatible with freedom?
2: Are we willing to concede that being unidentified is not a right?
3: What would our founding fathers have said to questions #1&2....
"Hobo" is a really offensive, elitist, and insensitive way to refer to homeless or poor people.
fenderbasher,
You sound as incredulous and dumb in your protestations about you "just like the way that phrase rolls off the tongue" as Rush did when he expressed amazement when dining at Sylvia's restaurant in Harlem that everyone was eating just like in a normal restaurant, and nobody was yelling, "Give me some more ice-tea, M-Fer."
Words mean things. Maybe nobody ever taught you that. If you choose to parrot the words of a particularly odious politican, expect someone to mention it.
If that's an ad hominem attack, take your delicate feelings elsewhere.
@ #40 HBL
You already lost. Sorry I forgot to tell you.
I think the real shocker is that Bob Dylan would be looking for a house in New Jersey.
Just sayin'...
@tizroc If you walked into any group (GOP or any other) and fish a point counter to the group think expect to get eyeballed.
I have no idea what you just said there, but it sounds real groovy, man.
Hey, Anonymous11, the Woodstock concert wasn't actually held at Woodstock. It was held in Bethnal NY, over 40 miles from Woodstock. Dylan couldn't make it anyway cos he already had a prior booking.
He looks like a hobo, now? When he was younger, I thought he looked like Charles the Bold.
http://james.wardware.com/charlesbold.jpg
Both the cop and Dylan were simply following the law as it is understood in the US.
"a police officer who reasonably suspects that a person is involved in criminal activity may detain a person long enough to dispel that suspicion."
Of course, what is "reasonable" is highly subjective.
Via Wikipedia -
Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada, 542 U.S. 177 (2004), held that statutes requiring suspects to identify themselves during police investigations did not violate either the Fourth or Fifth Amendments. Under the rubric of Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968), the minimal intrusion on a suspect's privacy and the legitimate need of law enforcement officers to quickly dispel suspicion that an individual is engaged in criminal activity justified asking a suspect to identify himself.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiibel_v._Sixth_Judicial_District_Court_of_Nevada
Funny, her name being Buble (like Michael Bublé).
Michael Jackson's chimp working as a police officer? Oh, that's 'Bubble', not 'buble'. My bad.
Obviously, it could have done a better job.
@62 Tizroc:
No, just forget it. I didn't get 'inflamed' as much as 'flamed' but I meant it when posting I'll let it go. Where you ask "I just don't fathom your ill humor and lack of grace when you get asked to present yourself for your views", I didn't think I was presenting ill humor and lack of grace, and I don't see where I was asked to present myself for my views in the first place. If there was a need for clarification, I would gladly provide it.
I sometimes forget my personal rule of avoiding threads on politics and religion, as this is what usually happens. I won't 'log off' as I enjoy BB (divergent views and all :) ) too much, and it's the divergent views that give me food for thought.
Thanks for your honesty, though.
On a side note, when did the Captcha show up? It wasn't there earlier when I posted.
OMG! I came here to get in the joke and I'm waaay late, #2!
The lady-cop treated Bob well and said "he was real nice though". She shouldn't be given too hard of a time over this.
I've been a Dylan fan since I was 14 (1965). If I saw him in my yard, on a rainy night, I'd likely call the police too (and I nearly nearly worship the guy). He mumbles a lot during interviews (and likely interogations too). He'd confuse most of us.
I doubt if this event even phased him.
==
Bob Dylan "Things Have Changed"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQDeYzUkXOU
How we used to laugh at those old WWII movies where the Gestapo thug barked "Papers, please!" even as we naively assured ourselves that nothing like that would ever happen here.
Not so funny now, is it?
My favorite part of the story:
> "He was acting very suspicious,'' Buble said.
> "Not delusional, just suspicious. You know, it
> was pouring rain and everything."
I did not know that rain makes things suspicious.
Not that it makes a darn bit of difference but just to add to the confusion... I used to have my hair sticking straight out (shoulder width) had sideburns that went to my mouth (people said I looked like Wolverine), and (honestly) people said I had the eyes of a serial killer, 6'3" and 220 lbs, scar on my cheek, eyebrows that grew together into one eyebrow... I'd roam the streets of Chicago at 2AM to sunrise and I NEVER got asked for an ID, in fact beat cops that saw me coming turned around and headed the other way. In Kentucky I got stopped for a traffic violation, the cop took one look at me and called for backup and 3 more responded and I was just sitting there, hadn't said a word yet. In Milwaukee a cop actually walked away fast and hid behind another cop when I stood there and stared at him, I was mean looking as hell itself, I even scared people that knew me well and, as I said, I NEVER got asked for an ID when I was out roaming around alone on foot late at night in a strange neighborhood, so if ya LOOK like a mean (possibly psychopathic) criminal type the cops won't bother you, look homeless and frail and they will.
I really really really wish I could have been there when Todd Haynes heard this story. Maybe a follow-up film, I Am There?
maybe he was crossing the street
to get away from a barking dog
maybe he was thinking that what he needs
is a long black leather coat.
cowboy warlock ftw
They should have arrested Dylan for impersonating an entertainer the last 30 years! Have you been to one of his 'concerts'? Complete crap. Complete rip-off.
The 'once-great' Bob Dylan has to hang on to other declining entertainers to even get a gig these days.
@50.
Deep breath in.
Hold it.
And release.. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Different class of Troll at Boing Boing! :]
famous corrupt, authoritarian Spiro Agnew
The last vice president who had to worry about a statute of limitations.
Good to see a successful artist get "out of the bubble" - IMO too many artists, once they become successful, can no longer "see through the Limo's glass", and what do I - or most rock'n'roll fans - have in common with people who live in the "bubble" of limosines/entourages/mansions? What have they got to say to us, anymore? I mean, rock isn't about being contented with how things are...IMO their work suffers, all too often, once they've gotten rich: as if it's the desperation of poverty (and anonymity?), and the energy to overcome it, that puts the fire into the music, the fire that r'n'r fans need: that makes for the emotion in great rock music.
IMHO rock'n'roll is about - and for - those who have to e.g clean NYC for a living, or wash dishes for minimum wage, or follow someone's stupid orders without question: the frustration of getting hassled by cops - for whatever reason - is part of the experience of how many r'n'r fans? Very many. I hope that this trivial incident serves to remind/inspire Mr.Dylan of "regular life".
Also, my understanding is that many long-famous people find a lack of recognition when out in public to be very refreshing: so I do hope that Mr.Dylan found that part of it, at least, a pleasant experience.
So get out there, you rockers, get out of your mansions and your limos: the street is where great rock is conceived, not behind the closed gates of a private estate. (Although I'm not saying that may not be the best place to "complete the delivery", to extend the metaphor:)
#50. A door-to-door salesman who ignores a "no soliciting sign" is not very suspicious, but could be classified as an aggressive door-to-door salesman, or just an average door-to-door salesman.
A person walking on the lawn of a property for sale is not at all suspicious. It's behavior that should be expected. I assume most sellers would hope for that behavior, unless they discriminate against people who don't dress right or look right.
Suspicious behavior on the property of a house for sale would include pitching a tent on the lawn, lying on the lawn, drawing a hopscotch thing on the sidewalk and playing hopscotch for a while, trying to pry or open the doors or window. And not all of those behaviors would be dangerous.
"There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me;
Sign was painted, it said private property;
But on the back side it didn’t say nothing;
That side was made for you and me."
(Neglected verse of This Land Is Your Land by Woody Guthrie)
It's almost like Dylan wandered into one of his songs--much like, after Stephen King was nearly killed about a decade ago, he came to and saw the man that had run him over, and was, like, "OMG, I've just been run over by one of my own characters!"
The cop's trying to fit the breathing, present Dylan against his various incarnations and personas of forty years ago is priceless, as is the real-life "Desolation Row" setting of the incident. You can almost hear the cop thinking:
The man and his art have become one, there for a sodden, rain-dark night in Jersey.
About ten years back, Dylan was receiving some award, and it was mentioned on the news. My dad said,
"How could that guy win an award and make the news, when I've never heard of him?"
Who is he, anyway? Tom Petty's vocal coach?
look out kid, it's something you did, don't know what it is, but you're doing it again.
A little bird told me he closed out the set with this last night...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5uKHa9Gmks
anonymous said - "Hobo" is a really offensive, elitist, and insensitive way to refer to homeless or poor people.
No it isn't.
"Bum" is offensive, "indigent" is elitist, and "those people" is insensitive.
Hobo is quaint.
Let's just call them Dylans.
There but for the grace of Bob go I.
"drawing a hopscotch thing on the sidewalk"
Matrix? Although, calling it a hopscotch-matrix is probably a bit of a buzzkill for a 5 year old girl.
Grid? Set? Course? Court? Arena?
I need closure on this..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopscotch
Courts!
Ahhhh, Hopscotch Courts.
Thank you for that. I too needed closure, and now, finally, I have it. I've been yearning for that word for a long time, in an occasional sort of way. Courts. Yes, courts. Say it. Think it. Feel it.
Why was I not taught this in kindergarten? Why, I ask you?
to quote another troubador...
"Everybody knows that the war is over, and everybody knows that the good guys lost..."
@#17 No, Ohio and NJ both have beautiful nature and people, as well as a dark side and many quirks, just like every other state. A native Clevelander, I've concluded that people need scapegoats.
and @ 29, gnoodles
Um, why not open the door and ask "can I help you?" rather than calling the cops?
And, actually having a "for sale" sign in the yard does say "look around" within reason. I'm guessing they want to sell the house, therefore the greater risk is potential buyers ~not~ walking in the yard.
Sounds like the whippersnapper cop handled it okay, the homeowners are paranoid, and dylan is cool. I'm more aghast that she doesn't recognize dylan! What do they teach in schools nowadays?!
Look everyone, what's the fuss?
Dylan already fessed up to this crime over 40 years ago on track 8 of "John Wesley Harding":
"I am a Lonesome Hobo" ("without family or friends...and I've served time for everything 'cept beggin' on the streets")
Michele.
Long Beach is Bruce Springsteen's hometown. Dylan was probably looking the house Bruce grew up in. Last fall, he turned up at Neil Young's childhood home in Winnipeg.
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2008/11/10/dylan-young.html
Long Branch, that is. oops
On a similar note, and I am being abstract, not direct, how many "Good Christians" would pick a fight with Jesus Christ if they met him in RL? No, I'm not "Diefying" Dylan, he's just a great singer and more, but I'm pointing out the social thing...
How many lawns must a man walk across, before you sell him a house?
The answer my friend is standing in the rain.
Having lived in Long Branch and parts nearby I can say that walking is considered suspicious behavior in New Jersey. As is bike riding. Throughout my 20s and early 30s I must have been pulled over, stopped and otherwise questioned by cops at least twice a year. Mostly for no reason other than I was walking.
Since I moved to Amsterdam 6 years ago I haven't been bothered by the cops once (and no - I don't carry ID here either even if I'm supposed to). Never, nada. Come to think of it, years of going back and forth to Germany I haven't been hassled either.
So, national ID card or not it really depends on how law enforcement acts. In New Jersey I may have felt that I didn't HAVE to identify myself constantly but the reality is I did - and that was even before 9/11.
The strangest part of this is...how the fuck does Mellencamp share the same stage as Dylan and Nelson?
This really doesn't have to be about how much cops suck and how our rights are under constant assault.
Rather than assuming he was a criminal, the cops/occupants probably assumed he was a mentally ill elderly man who had strayed away from his home.
I can see how you'd think that about a Dylan-esque figure in a hoodie and sweatpants wandering aimlessly through a residential neighborhood in the rain, unable to speak in anything but a semi-incoherent poetic mumble about how his rock tour with Willie Nelson. Can you really come up with a more obviously mentally ill character??????
Once there, cops will always ask for your ID, and if not available, will ask that you come with them to verify your identity. It's up to the individual to know they don't have to go.
Looks like Dylan got tangled up in blue again. He wasn't worried though, after all, he said "I shall be released."
There's something happening here and you don't know what it is, do you, Ms. Buble..?
Note that there has never been a case of someone looking suspicious WRT white-collar crime.
Mellencamp is the guitar tech.
But wait, Dylan IS a hobo...
Joe Mommasan @78: even before WWII, the cops in the US could lock you up or ride you out of town for "vagrancy". In many cases, you'd probably get a beating thrown into the mix, especially if you were black.
"vagrancy" is basically what they detained BD for in this instance.
People (and just to be clear, I'm talking about the 24 year old that didn't recognize a music LEGEND, and everyone like her) disgust me.
hahaaa! i bet he LOVES it when this happens.