My Old Pages

I woke with this line from Dylan's tune My Back Pages, playing in my head: 

“I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now…” 

Naturally, I unleashed my google fu in hopes of finding a live version. I hit gold a thousand times over.

You have GOT to check out this vid!
It’s from Dylan’s 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration in Madison Square Garden. Look, JUST LOOK, at that line up – Bob Dylan, Roger McGuinn, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Eric Clapton and George Harrison.

Jesus, that’s so beautiful, I’m crying. Ya know, I can’t believe I didn’t go or at least try to go to this extravaganza. I had hearing then. I could’ve taken the train down. WHERE WAS I? My radical uncomfortableness in crowds OR a dearth of funds coulda been what kept me away. //shrugs//

Why, OH WHY, did this tune, which led me down a wondrous rabbit hole, come to mind? I think it has to do with me getting the lyrics confused and just, generally, feeling old and out of touch (versus more wise). Ya see, though, I’m AOK with not knowing who the latest hot Hollywood star is, which talking head is the worst/best, what the “Royals” are up/down to or what The Queen's Gambit is all about. I just don't feel compelled to know.

Also, do I really need to know what Bitcoin is?

I kind of get it – it’s a cryptocurrency which totally sounds ultra dodgy.

A cryptocurrency (or “crypto”) is a digital currency that can be used to buy goods and services, but uses an online ledger with strong cryptography to secure online transactions. Much of the interest in these unregulated currencies is to trade for profit, with speculators at times driving prices skyward. (source)

I still don’t really get it but Science Magazine tells me that cryptos are generally used by people with big privacy concerns.

…Bitcoin’s anonymity is also a powerful tool for financing crime: The virtual money can keep shady transactions secret. The paradox of cryptocurrency is that its associated data create a forensic trail that can suddenly make your entire financial history public information. (source)

So, fer instance, it could be a super secret way to bankroll an insurrection.

Exclusive: Large bitcoin payments to right-wing activists a month before Capitol riot linked to foreign account  

On Dec. 8, someone made a simultaneous transfer of 28.15 bitcoins — worth more than $500,000 at the time — to 22 different virtual wallets, most of them belonging to prominent right-wing organizations and personalities.

Now cryptocurrency researchers believe they have identified who made the transfer, and suspect it was intended to bolster those far-right causes. U.S. law enforcement is investigating whether the donations were linked to the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.  (source)

Well, that’s both scary and not terribly surprising given Eric’s, (the REALLY stupid one) brag that “we don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.”

Gotta say, I’ve been enjoying the ever livin’ hell outta my Schadenfreude Scrolling (versus the last four years of doomscrolling). Also too, I’m looking forward to seeing good news on occasion when I read the morning news. Hell's bells, I'm psyched that I can soon feel it's OK to ignore the papers for a whole day! The days of constant, unending, obscene outrages are coming to an end.