I recently picked up a copy of William Shatner’s album “The Transformed man” and heard his version of “Mr. Tambourine Man”. It reminded us of Shakespeare Day where a fabulous actor, Earl, did a drama exercise in which the students said “The-Cup…the cup!!!” in different tones in a dying scene from Hamlet. It alluded to the power of meaning changes when voice intonation changes. The kids were amazing in their dying scenes saying “the cup”. Actually, it was a little unnerving. I digress.

Anyway, We then got inspired and did a little “comparative googling” on the internet with “Mr. Tambourine Man” which turned into a sick day home-school project! We watched a 1964 Newport Festival version of Bob Dylan singing the song, followed by the Byrds in their only appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show (1965). Then a reunion of the two in 1990 where they rock out a little more. Then, I kid you not, the William Shatner version as sung by the  Green Lantern version done by some people with “Too much Time on Their Hands”.

We talked about the changing times and how quickly things have changed in this century. We even talked about music and drugs. Mostly though, it was about how art evolves and relates to itself and culture. My younger daughter just thinks the song is fun and doesn’t read as much into it, but as a family I marveled at how fun this was!

So, in case anyone is interested, I include the links below that we enjoyed. Perhaps you’d like to check them out, or do a similar “study” using a different song.

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/bobdylan/mrtambourineman.html

Bob Dylan – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXwynAlYNS0
The Byrds 1965 – http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2105166789756539416#
Byrds/Dylan 1990 -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1Y6JR2uRfY
William Shatner/ Green lantern http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3l8q5Bi4cw
Wiki – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Tambourine_Man

Parts of the above were written by me and some by Sonja.

Well, then things got a little weird in my fever addled-state and we were talking about how Cthulhu is everywhere in the gaming world and wouldn’t it be funny if there was a Cthulhu Mr. Tambourine Man.

I couldn’t find one, so I made one.  Enjoy, and Despair!

I drew neither Cthulhu, nor the Tambourine. I am (only!) guilty of Photoshop abuse.

Counter-based games:

Ogre

Car Wars

Starfire (even with optional rules!)

RPGs:

Call of Cthulhu

Middle Earth Role-Playing

Runequest

The Fantasy Trip

Villains & Vigilantes

Just so I don’t forget!

“I have some whackass idea that roleplaying is about playing a character, developing interesting storylines, doin’ a little worldbuilding, having fun with friends and being entertained while exercising some creativity. Silly me. It’s apparently all about rules and numbers and I’m doing it all wrong.”

http://unclebear.com/?p=168

Edit: I took out my rant, but left the great quote.

When your brain its coin has minted,
Down the page your pen has sprinted,
If you want your effort printed,
Boil it down.

Take out every surplus letter -
Boil it down.
Fewer syllables the better -
Boil it down.

Make your meaning plain, express it,
So we’ll know, not have to guess it,
Then, my friend, ‘ere you address it,
Boil it down.

Skim it well, then skim the skimmings,
Boil it down.
Trim it well, then trim the trimmings,
Boil it down.

When you’re sure ‘twould be a sin to
Cut another sentence in two,
Send it in, and we’ll begin to
Boil it down.

- Anonymous
From Treasure Trove, p. 115
London 1924

Here’s the REAL picture with the real reason the fourth missile didn’t launch!

[Edit: Hmm.. I'm getting a "Bad Gateway" message, so I might need to move it]

Youngest child to Middle child: “I just saw a squirrel running away with a piece of pizza in its mouth!”

Middle child: “Cool! Was it pepperoni?”

“Sometimes you just have to swallow the bullet”
“It helped to soften the ice”
“Don’t count your chickens in the bush”