DJ Dylan

As the tiresome countdown to the uncensored Howard Stern continues, some good news comes out of satellite radio land:

[Bob Dylan] has signed on to serve as host of a weekly one-hour program on XM Satellite Radio, spinning records and offering commentary on new music and other topics, starting in March. The famously reclusive 64-year-old performer said in a statement yesterday that "a lot of my own songs have been played on the radio, but this is the first time I've ever been on the other side of the mike."

Link.

Whenever I see a reference to Dylan, I'm reminded of the humorous anecdote of Jacques Maritain visiting Thomas Merton. It was the first time they'd met, and they had only a short time to talk. Merton--a man to whom the idea of "tempered enthusiasm" is a ludicrous oxymoron--was on a Dylan-kick and insisted that Maritain listen to Dylan songs with him. Maritain grew somewhat exasperated.