Bob's reward

[Gob]

President Barack Obama has bestowed the nation's highest civilian honour on political and cultural figures in a ceremony at the White House.



Musician Bob Dylan, astronaut John Glenn, and Israeli President Shimon Peres were among the Medal of Freedom recipients.

The award is given to people from all walks of life who have made exceptional contributions to society.

It was established by former President John F Kennedy in 1963.

Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman on 24 May 1941 and began his musical career in 1959, playing in Minnesota coffee houses.

He took his stage name from the poet Dylan Thomas and, not coincidentally, paid as much attention to his lyrics as his music.

Much of his best-known work dates from the 1960s, when he became an informal historian of America's troubles.

Songs such as Blowin' In The Wind and The Times They Are a-Changin' became anthems of the anti-war and civil rights movements.

His move away from traditional folk songwriting, paired with a controversial decision to "go electric", proved equally influential - his confessional, introspective lyrics were undoubtedly absorbed by The Beatles in their later work.

He continues to record and tour, expanding his horizons with a US radio show and a recently signed six-book publishing deal.

Morrison is renowned for her portrayal of the African-American experience in novels such as Song Of Solomon, and Beloved, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988.

Born Chloe Anthony Wofford in 1931 in Ohio, she went on to become a senior editor at publishers Random House before pursuing her writing career.

Outside of novels, she has written literary criticism and even lyrics for operas, including Honey and Rue, with music by Andre Previn.

Once asked by a student who she wrote for, Morrison replied: "I want to write for people like me, which is to say black people, curious people, demanding people...

"People who can't be faked, people who don't need to be patronised, people who have very, very high criteria."

The 13 people awarded the Medal of Freedom at Tuesday's ceremony in the East Room of the White House included:

Madeleine Albright, secretary of state from 1997 to 2001 and the first woman to hold that post
John Doar, assistant attorney general in charge of civil rights at the Department of Justice during the 1960s
William Foege, physician and former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who led the campaign to eradicate smallpox
Gordon Hirabayashi, who fought the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II and died in January
Dolores Huerta, community activist and co-founder of the National Farmworkers Association in 1962
Jan Karski, officer in the Polish Underground in World War II and later a professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, who died in 2000
Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts in 1912, who died in 1927
John Paul Stevens, associate justice of the US Supreme Court from 1975 to 2010
Pat Summitt, basketball coach who has won more games than any other coach, and spokeswoman against Alzheimer's disease
Previous honourees include Mother Teresa, Margaret Thatcher, Stephen Hawking, Walt Disney, Doris Day, Duke Ellington and Aretha Franklin.

[Lord Jim]

That caught my attention when it came on, so I pulled away from work to watch it...

I was surprised that it had taken this long for John Glenn to receive this honor...(he looked great for his age...he'll be 91 in July)

Bob on the other hand, looked a little...uh...confused...

I could understand how a couple of years ago the cops picked him up in a New Jersey town when he was taking a walk near a venue where he was appearing, thinking that he was an Altzheimer's patient who had wandered away from the local Home....

[dales]

You might be right, Jim.

btw: How old is Leonard Cohen?

[Lord Jim]

btw: How old is Leonard Cohen?

How old is Leonard Cohen?

Let me put it this way...

I understand his nickname for dirt is "sonny"....

[MajGenl.Meade]

Good for Bob! Now admit it LJ - he deserves the title of "Mumbles" far more than your personal musical and poetic hero, Leonard. LC has a very low voice at times - since the 80s (decade wise, not his own years - he's only 76 or something - two more years and he will play at the correct speed) - but Leonard always enunciates very clearly. There is no doubt as to what the words of the songs (pure genius at that) are. Bob....not so much.

I love to speak to Leonard
He's a sportsman and a shepherd
He's a lazy bastard living in a suit

But he does say what I tell him
Even though it isn’t welcome
He just doesn’t have the freedom to refuse

He will speak these words of wisdom
Like a sage, a man of vision
Though he knows he’s really nothing
But the brief elaboration of a tube

Going home
Without my sorrow
Going home
Sometime tomorrow
Going home
To where it’s better
Than before

Going home
Without my burden
Going home
Behind the curtain

Bob lyrics for comparison:
Yaaa zaaa n gama ka
a zaza nnggg ma go
yassa zama go no lala ngaaaa
etc

But at least he's an American so qualifies for the mmmmddl aa fmmmmza

Meade

[Guinevere]

Hooray for Bob. I just saw him in concert last summer, he was awesome.

And John Glenn is no slouch either!!