OSCAR-WINNER BOB DYLAN COMING SOON

Doing everything but bat his eyes at the camera, rock legend Bob Dylan played coy with the Academy Awards crowd Sunday night as he performed the title song he penned for the movie "Wonder Boys."

Unmistakable were his trademark slur and whine and almost incoherent jumble of words. I hadn't seen the movie, but the song had something to do with changing times. Dylan, of course, knows all about changing times, having risen to fame as one of the most important songwriters in American history in part upon his 1960s' ode, "The Times They Are A-Changin'."

This particular song had a bluesy, unpretentious quality that was refreshing in contrast to the other nominations for the Academy Award. Soon after Dylan finished playing, the envelope was opened, and he added another prestigious honor to the many collected over a long and prolific career.

I must admit: Although I admire Bob Dylan's songwriting, I'm not much a fan of his voice. Still, it's a famous voice. And his lyrics are almost always provocative and powerful. There's something to be said for hearing words from the mouth that wrote them even if they're not always intelligible.

In a few weeks Dylan will be performing at the Show Me Center. Considering he's just coming off the Academy Award, scheduling him is a coup for Show Me Center director David Ross. Tickets went on sale Saturday.

In the late 1980s I saw Dylan in concert with the Grateful Dead at the Oakland Coliseum. I was working in California at the time as a researcher and intern for a police department. Dylan actually sounded better at the Academy Awards, in part because there was more form to the music. Playing with the Grateful Dead had a way of leading any musician to areas he might never have planned, and at that point in his career Dylan was staying away from some of his most famous (and now mainstream) songs: "Blowin' in the Wind," "Like a Rolling Stone," "Lay, Lady, Lay" and "Mr. Tambourine Man," which I hoped to hear. (He did sing an amorphous "Knockin' on Heaven's Door.") But the Coliseum crowd loved Dylan. And the energy was electric.

No doubt there are tens of thousands of people in this area who listened to Dylan at some point in their lives. Not often do we have a chance to see a legend live in our own back yard. Thanks to the Show Me Center, that chance is here.

Cold and bright

The amenities of this area are quite remarkable. And it's certainly easy to take some of them, like the Show Me Center, for granted. On Saturday I spent several hours at the Home and Garden Show held there. The event, smoothly organized by Red Letter Communications, drew about 10,000 visitors over three days.

I worked at the United Way booth, filling balloons for kids who told me they came from Olive Branch and Anna and Sikeston and Jackson and Scott City and Cape, just to name a few of the towns. It's amazing to realize how much a helium balloon brightens the face of a child. In simple things are often found the greatest joys.

It was a good weekend for a home show. Too cold to be outside. But too bright not to go somewhere.

In a few weeks another of Cape's hidden amenities will become popular again: the hiking and biking trail. Last week when the thermometer briefly pushed upward, I forsook the treadmill to run outside. Golfers were on the range. Softball practice had begun. And couples of all ages walked together, talking quietly and laughing. Something about the day said all was right with the world.

Spring has just that way of curling lips into smiles, especially after a cold, snowy winter.

It's not warm yet. Not yet. But the times they are a-changin'.

Jon K. Rust is co-president of Rust Communications. He can be e-mailed at jrust@semissourian.com.