Arts Devo

The Life of Pablo Bob Dylan’s grandson was a rapper? That makes sense. Pablo Dylan (son of Bob’s oldest child, Jesse) is 24 years old, so Kanye West would probably hold more sway than Woody Guthrie over a young man coming up in the 21st century. It also makes sense that someone in that bloodline would venture beyond one genre and try out other sounds as the young musician has on his new album, The Finest Somersault, which finds him sounding a lot like his grandfather across nine folk/folk-rock tunes. He has the same nasally voice, and a very familiar wordiness and freeform cadence that is unmistakably Dylan.

Back when he was rapping as a teenager, the fogies and trolls were relentlessly brutal and unkind, but I’m betting some of the old-timers will be on board with this familiar sound. I couldn’t care less about whether he sounds like his famous kin, I just dig that his voice is rough and vulnerable and I am eager to see how it evolves as he moves out of the shadows of the past. For now, there are some pretty great songs to grab onto: “Eye of the Storm” is a grand opening statement, and a couple of the quiet acoustic tunes—“One Too Many Nights” and “When We Are All Free”—are as confident and catchy as … well, you know, that other Dylan’s stuff.

Oh, I almost forgot: Pablo’s playing in Chico. For real! This Friday (May 31), at Argus Bar + Patio.

Play to keep from crying Tread all over the USA and escape Washington gridlock before mysterious weather disturbances swallow you up! Roll the dice to survive climate change and political scandal. To make the lengthy journey to Alaska, you’ll need plenty of fossil fuel and rugged individualism. Roads and bridges? Pfft! If the country seems backwards to you, don’t compromise—just move farther to the right!

Ha ha! Very funny. That’s not how things really are … right? Please …

If that excerpt gives you chills or the cold sweats, then Woody Houchin’s game, GOP: A Game of Political Survival, might be for you. The local husband, father and one-day Jeopardy champion (it’s true, he was a contestant on the show in 2013) was fed up with stressing out over politics, so he redirected the energy into creating a prototype for a game that satirizes 45 years of “Grand” Old Party scandal and corruption. That statement of purpose above is from the intro to his game, the objective of which is to make it to Alaska before you’re wiped out by climate change. Along the way, you can set up shell corporations, create media scapegoats (immigrants, maybe?), employ the services of a Macedonian troll farm and pay off your mistress with taxpayer money. But don’t buy cocaine from an undercover FBI agent and share it with an exotic dancer or you’ll have to do community service and move back one space.

Houchin has set up an Indiegogo campaign (igg.me/at/GOP) to raise money for the design of a more refined version, and he’s produced a handful of prototypes and will be donating them to a few local businesses—Naked Lounge, Blackbird, Tender Loving Coffee—this weekend. Go try it out, and maybe divert some funds from your Cayman Islands account and donate to his efforts.