Ring the Bells that Still can Ring

Usually, legends have to wait until they die before they receive the type of adulation they deserve. The only good thing about Leonard Cohen's financial troubles is that he has a year of multiple standing ovations to look forward to. I was fortunate enough to attend the June 6th kick off of Mr. Cohen's first tour in 15 years at Toronto's Sony Centre. The multi-generational crowd showered Cohen with affection for the show's impressive 3 hour length. Yes, any worries that Cohen, at 73 years old, may have lost a step were quickly assuaged as he launched into his 1984 classic "Dance me to the End of Love." Cohen's set (posted below) was littered with of 40 years of classics. His arresting recitation of his poem "A Thousand Kisses Deep" was a personal highlight. "Hallelujah," "Suzanne," "Bird on a Wire" and "Everybody Knows" all delivered. Lenny's hair may be grey, he may ache in the places where he used to play but Friday night proved that he's still got charisma to burn and a voice to leave with you goosebumps three days later.

I Came So Far for Beauty

I don't believe in heroes but if I did Leonard Cohen would certainly be one of them. Tomorrow night, I'm going to see the man himself at Toronto's Sony Centre. Needless to say, I'm so excited I could plotz.

Expect a full review of the show on Monday.

Cohen performs "Avalanche" in 1988:

Durham County = Twin Peaks 2.0

Anyone who owns a television is painfully aware that the summer months are not the prime TV watching season. Nor should they be. After all, we ought to be outside chasing butterflies and playing Ultimate frisbee. However, you can only do that so much before you are crushed by the sheer whimsy of it all and you find yourself on the couch yet again watching some reality dreck like "Moment of Truth." I was pleased to discover that the Canadian networks were going to use the summer months to play some programs from their sister networks like "The Movie Network." I am particularly interested in watching the critically acclaimed "Mad Men" which starts on Global this Sunday.

I am also half way through the 6 episode story arc "Durham County" which aired on the Movie Network last year. The series stars ex-Headstones frontman Hugh Dillon as a big city detective investigating a series of violent murders. The intrigue being that Dillon's character was intimately involved with one of the victims and is trying to keep it from his superiors in order to remain on the case and not become a suspect himself. The series owes an explicit debt to David Lynch's "Twin Peaks." The parallels are obvious - big city cop investigating a murder in a small town that features an eclectic cast of crazies. Like Kyle Mclaughlin in "Twin Peaks," Dillon has frequent dreams that reveal important aspects about the case. It may not be the most original show but it is certainly worth watching in this depleted summer lineup.

Coldplay Makes Politicians Dance

Now, I've never been the biggest Coldplay fan. I never felt Coldplay adequately filled the gap left by Radiohead when they renounced their guitars in favour of robots. However, no one can deny that Chris Martin and co. can craft a solid hook and make a good video. The official video for "Violet Hill," the lead single off their new LP "Viva la Vida" is quite boring but the band approved, Mat Whitecross directed viral video is inspired. The video features stock footage of politicians like Bush, Blair, Castro, and Yeltsin dancing and rocking out. Almost makes them seem human...

Check it out:




Boring official video here:

Kingsley Amis sums up my worldview in one paragraph

Celebrated British novelist Sir Kingsley Amis, who passed away in 1995, has posthumously released a cheeky new book, Everyday Drinking: The Distilled Kingsley Amis. In addition to sound drinking advice like "Up to a point... go for quantity rather than quality," Amis was somehow able to distill all my thoughts on social drinking in one short and succinct paragraph:

"The human race has not devised any way of dissolving barriers... that is one tenth as handy and efficient as letting you and the other chap, or chaps, cease to be totally sober at about the same rate in agreeable surroundings"

Well put Sir Kingsley, it does not get any more complicated than that.

The Return of Bond

As an enormous James Bond fan, I'm more than a little excited about the release of an all new Bond novel. Devil May Care was released last week in true Bond fashion with a military escort down the Thames accompanied by a leggy blonde, of course. The novel's release coinicides with what would have been original author Ian Fleming's 100th birthday. What particularly piques my interest is that the Fleming family commissioned a surprisingly literary scribe to update the gentlemen spy for a new age. Sebastian Faulks is best known for sprawling psychological novels like Charlotte Gray and Birdsong. Faulks, who considers himself a keen literary mimic, tried to write in the style of Ian Fleming, a roguish spy in his own right. The story takes place in Cold War stricken 1967 and is played out across two continents. I should pick up the book this week so I'll post a more detailed review once I finish reading it. Between last year's excellent "Casino Royale" and what looks like a promising new novel, a Bond renaissance could be upon us.

Miss Cellania has a good collection of James Bond lists and trivia.

For good measure, a classic Bond scene for "Goldfinger":

Don't Call it a Comeback!

Faithful readers,

I have returned from my self imposed hiatus to bring you the internet's tastiest nuggets. It has been approximately 9 months (no, I wasn't preggers) since my last post. Moving, starting grad school, and trying to make my way as a timeless, hopeless bachelor in Montreal left me drained and unable to contribute to the white noise of the blogosphere. I sincerely apologize for leaving you all without a lazy spiritual guide for so long and I really hope you forgive me. I have been given a second wind and I have this insatiable desire to write something that is not an essay on Canadian print culture. So, please check back regularly and leave your comments.

I swear, baby, I'll never leave you again,

Mr. Samurai Buddha

As a teaser of what is to come, here is a brilliant video of my humble neighbourhood by Montreal hip hop collective, Da Pimp Class. "Where U From? (An NDG Anthem) depicts Notre Dame de Grace in all its glory. I think my favourite line is when one of them says, "If pimpin's a crime, you better lock me up." I'm pretty sure "pimping" is a crime so he shouldn't be so boastful especially while strutting down the street with twenty of his friends who are nicknamed, of all things, Da Pimp Class. Not smart.