I once read a book titled "Jesus, Elvis & Coca-Cola," by Kinky Friedman (more about him in a moment) and the title was based on the premise of some pop-culture pundits who said that everybody on the planet recognizes those three names. An alien could land a spaceship in the remote jungles of Borneo and a native in loin cloth who hunts wild boar for dinner would know that trio.
Last night, I was sitting around playing guitar when Daniel Gemmett, a 21-year-old skateboarder from Te Awamutu, New Zealand, wandered in. He mentioned Bob Dylan, I played a few Dylan songs, and Daniel knew every single word -- and Dylan songs have a lot of lyrics. It turns out Daniel and his father have 45 Dylan albums (including bootlegs) and listen to his music all the time. I had a blast playing guitar and singing "Tangled Up in Blue," "Subterranean Homesick Blues," and "If You See Her Say Hello" with a young man from the other side of the planet.
Dylan's coming to Toledo in July but, alas, Daniel won't be here then. I'm hoping he can see Dylan perform at another U.S. location before he flies back to New Zealand.
As for Mr. Friedman, he was a famous -- or infamous, really -- country singer (one of his tunes is "They Don't Make Jews Like Jesus Anymore") who never really appealed to me.
I saw him perform once in Austin, Texas, and he was a miserable failure that night. He almost got booed off the stage, except he only sang one song. If he had tried to start another, I think the cowboy-hats-and-boots crowd would have lassoed him and dragged him right out of the hall.
Kinky once ran for governor of Texas and lost, but one thing he can do pretty well is write humorous crime novels.
I discovered his books after reading an interview with President Bill Clinton while he was in office, naming Kinky as one of his favorite authors. Surprised by that comment from a Rhodes Scholar and the nation's Commander in Chief, I checked out one of Friedman's books. Sure enough, it was highly entertaining. The main character is ... Kinky Friedman. In the literary world, he is sort of a private eye who lives in Greenwich Village, directly below a lesbian dance studio, smokes cigars, drinks too much, surrounds himself with a colorful cast of characters, solves unlikely crimes, but mostly gets to share his unique insights into people and society.
I get a kick out of Kinky, maybe because life can get so serious, it helps to enjoy a little escapist entertainment and maybe a few chuckles -- perhaps a guffaw -- once in a while.
Friedman never made it big as a singer-songwriter, but he's hit the big time as a best-selling author. It just goes to show you that the creative spark is a strong one, and an artist who fails in one area can succeed in a different medium if they are gifted, stubborn, and ambitious enough. It helps if they refuse to ever hold a "real" job.

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Kudos to Jon Stainbrook, who earned his master's degree from the University of Toledo today. Way to go Stain!!!

Toledo, Ohio, May 6, 2007 .