Leonard Cohen @ Jazz Festival‏

It was a strange mix of old-timers, young people, and
spirituality, which was fitting, considering it was
Leonard Cohen.
At 7:30pm, precisely, the lights came down and the
curtains began their ascension. First, his nine-piece
band, with an arsenal that ranged from pedal steel and
Hammond B3 organ to archilaud (a type of Spanish flute)
and bass clarinet. Along with a strong vocal support
provided by the Webb Sisters, (Charley and Hattie, a young
British-based duo), and Sharon Robinson, a long-time
collaborator and co-writer of several songs, make their
way to center stage.
Followed by the Dean of Cool, the Master of Zen, the
Buddha Monk, dapper and smart, wearing his usual attire,
a perfectly pressed Armani suit, crisp shirt and Fedora,
which he removed to take a bow after each song. The audience
rose, and an uproar of claps and cheers ensues. The native
son had come home.
At 73, Montreal poet, novelist, songwriter and singer
Leonard Cohen truly merits the label 'immortal'. An icon
of song as well as literature, he is considered one of
the most important and influential songwriters of our time.
He has forged a resolutely unique, inimitable body of work.
The singer with the singularly deep voice played to a packed
room, one of three, at Place des Arts, his first tour in
15 years, since 'The Future' brought him to the Forum in
June 1993. It was a non-stop, eclectic, drunken stupor
of classics.
Cohen bowed and broke into a huge smile, and he never stopped
beaming the rest of the night. While quipping that at shows
in the 1990s', "I was just a kid of 60 with a crazy dream."
He also took time to express concern about the state of the
world, and how fortunate he was to have come from, and live
in such a beautiful city with pretty streets. Plenty of
irreplaceable banter, and surprisingly speaks French well,
which completely sent the audience into a whooping standing
ovation, with sporadic shouts, LEONARD. The poet dazzled
the audience.
His age is beginning to show... he moved slower, stooped
and sang just a little quieter. Cradling a handheld microphone,
he was able to move energetically around the centre stage
to interact with his band, and played guitar on several occasions.
He was still in the kind of form you'd be a fool to undersell.
He played through 40 years of song classics such as 'So Long',
'Marianne', 'Bird on a Wire', 'Hallelujah', 'Everybody Knows'
and 'I'm Your Man'.
Cohen knows his songs well and so did the audience, many
of them old enough to recall that first album in 1967. Already
one of Canada's young literary lions, the poet and novelist
seized the time to marry his muse to popular music, whose
boundaries were expanding under the influence of slightly younger
contemporaries such as Bob Dylan. In March of this year, he
was inducted into the New York's Rock and Roll Hall of fame.
On the road again, Cohen is once more among his own folk,
less melancholy than his reputation and as passionate and
articulate as ever. After all, public performance is a literary
tradition at least as old as Homer.
On a personal note, listening to Cohen, took me back to
a place, on the main, called Di Salvio's. A private club,
filled with the beautiful people. Cool to nth degree. Women
not girls, in droves, wearing the skimpiest and shortest
skirts, parading across the dance floor. Leonard Cohen blaring
from the refrigerator-sized speakers, and you wishing that
some day you could be as cool as he was.

* From Where I Sit!
June 26, 2008

Great Dads !

'I'd like to take a moment to show appreciation to 'Great Dad's' all around the world! I have observed over the years that the numbers of great dads are growing and I think they should be commended for the outstanding care they are providing to our children! Many times, sadly, I notice their surrounding criticize them for not having a job and financially supporting their family, this is such shallow thinking! A Real Dad is.... 'A Dad is someone you can count on ... Someone who is always there ... Someone who listens when you talk ... Who knows when you are lying... And when you are telling the truth. A Dad is someone who protects you ... And cares about you. A Dad is always kind, and understands what you say... He understands what is wrong... And makes you feel okay ... A Dad is someone who loves you no matter what you do.' This type of Dad is worth more than any amount on a 'pay check' they will bring home!' ~ Rose E. O'Donnell

Journey's End

Lead me to the field of dreams
Where our souls can bask in splendor
Not knowing any loneliness
For tis only love there rendered.

Lead me to your open arms
Your waiting warm embrace
Where safety and security
Is found within that space.

Loose me in your loving gaze
Where time is stilled forever
Let me glimpse inside your soul
Where deception lies surrendered.

O’ lead me to that field of dreams
Where our hearts become as one
Knowing we’re at journeys end
And our search for love is done.

copyright 2012 TLS

*** November Rain ***

When I look into your eyes I can see a love restrained
But darlin' when I hold you, don't you know I feel the same? yeah
Nothin' lasts forever and we both know hearts can change
And it's hard to hold a candle in the cold November rain

We've been through this such a long long time
Just tryin' to kill the pain, ooh yeah
But lovers always come and lovers always go
An' no one's really sure who's lettin' go today, walking away

And if we take the time to lay it on the line
I could rest my head just knowin' that you were mine, all mine
So if you want to love me then darlin' don't refrain
Or I'll just end up walkin' in the cold November rain

Do you need some time on your own?
Do you need some time all alone?
Everybody needs some time on their own
Don't you know you need some time all alone?

I know it's hard to keep an open heart
When even friends seem out to harm you
But if you could heal the broken heart
Wouldn't time be out to charm you?

Sometimes I need some time on my own
Sometimes I need some time all alone
Everybody needs some time on their own
Don't you know you need some time all alone

And when your fears subside and shadows still remain, oh yeah
I know that you can love me when there's no one left to blame
So never mind the darkness we still can find a way
Nothin' lasts forever even cold November rain

Don't ya think that you need somebody?
Don't ya think that you need someone?
Everybody needs somebody
You're not the only one, you're not the only one

Don't ya think that you need somebody?
Don't ya think that you need someone?
Everybody needs somebody
You're not the only one, you're not the only one

Don't ya think that you need somebody?
Don't ya think that you need someone?
Everybody needs somebody
You're not the only one, you're not the only one

Don't ya think that you need somebody?
Don't ya think that you need someone?
Everybody needs somebody...

'L'Eclisse' (1962)

One salient stylistic feature that struck me about this film was its sparse use of music. Aside from the Italian song, followed by the eerie orchestra music playing during the opening credits of the film, music does not appear until about a half hour into the film, when we hear the diegetic African drum beats on the record player. The next time we hear diegetic music is about 45 minutes into the film, coming from the stereophonic at the bar at the landing strip. Around an hour and a half in, we hear the upbeat diegetic music of a pianist while Vittoria (Monica Vitti)and Piero (Alain Delon) are walking through the park, although this music is carried over and becomes non-diegetic as they run through the park. About ten minutes later, non-diegetic piano music returns, but this music is sad and eerie, as Vittoria turns around to see that Piero is not standing in the street; he has disappeared. About an hour and 45 minutes in we hear the diegetic music of the same Italian song from the opening credits playing in Piero's bedroom. About ten minutes later we hear eerie orchestra music similar to the opening credits and the moment in the street when Vittoria sees that Piero is gone. This same eerie music plays at the end of the film, when we are shown that Vittoria and Piero's meeting place is empty; neither of them have shown up. This music gets loudest during the last shot of the lamp post, finalizing that it is now dark and late, much past their meeting time, and that neither are ever going to show up.

I think the dramatic sparseness of music during the film serves to not only emphasize the importance of the rare moments when music is used, but also to emphasize the emptiness of the characters’ lives when music is not used. The African drum beats, the stereophonic sound at the landing strip, the upbeat pianist, and the Italian song all mark moments when Vittoria is relatively happy during the film. When she is with her friends, looking at beautiful landscapes, dressing up and joking around; after she flies on the plane with her friends and sees aerial scenery; when she and Piero are carefree and messing around in the park; when she explores Piero's childhood apartment and bedroom. Yet, the times when the dark and eerie orchestra music is used all mark moments when Vittoria is brought back to the emptiness of her life and the realization that she doesn't know what she wants or who she wants because she is incapable of truly being in love.

One eloquent feature that struck me about the film was its juxtaposition of chaotic stock exchange scenes with quiet, landscape scenes (both portraits and real locations). There are many shots of landscape portraits of exotic and beautiful places in Vittoria's friend’s apartment, which obviously intrigue Vittoria. There are also many shots of the architecture in Rome: the aerial views from the plane, the shots of different places throughout the city, the park, as well as many sites of uncompleted architecture and construction. These quiet, serene shots are contrasted with the loudness and disorder of the stock exchange. I believe that it is through these scenes that Vittoria's incompatibility with Piero becomes clear. 'You never stand still,' she tells him. He is a cog in the stock market machine, and he can never stop, or the whole machine will collapse. Whereas Vittoria does not wish to be a part of some system, she does not want to play the part of the doting wife. She does not want to simply be a role.

* Director: Michelangelo Antonioni

Emmanuelle : The Final Chapter

Dutch actress, Sylvia Kristel (1952 – 2012) died of cancer at age 60.
Kristel, was a model who turned to acting, who had performed in over
50 movies, but was best known for playing the titular character in four
of the seven erotic, 1970s 'Emmanuelle' films. She had been fighting
cancer for several years.
Kristel was born in Utrecht, Netherlands, the elder daughter of an
innkeeper, Jean-Nicholas Kristel, and his wife. In her 2006 autobiography,
'Nue', she claims to have been sexually abused by an elderly guest at
the hotel at the age of nine, an event which she has refused to discuss
in detail.
Her breakthrough came in 1974 in 'Emmanuelle', the erotic tale directed
by Frenchman Just Jaeckin, about the sexual adventures of a man and his
beautiful young wife in Thailand. She later hit the US market with the
success of 1981's 'Private Lessons'.

'Habitat 67'

'Habitat 67' is a model community and housing complex in Montreal,
Canada designed by Israeli–Canadian architect Moshe Safdie. It was
originally conceived as his master's thesis in architecture at
McGill University and then built as a pavilion for Expo 67, the
World's Fair held from April to October 1967.
Safdie's design for 'Habitat 67' began as a thesis project for his
architecture program at McGill University. It was 'highly recognized'
at the institution. 'Habitat 67' comprises 354 identical, prefabricated
concrete forms arranged in various combinations, reaching up to 12
storeys in height. Together these units create 146 residences of
varying sizes and configurations, each formed from between one to
eight linked concrete units. The complex originally contained 158
apartments, but several apartments have since been joined to create
larger units, reducing the total number... and each unit is connected
to at least one private terrace.
It is located at 2600 Avenue Pierre-Dupuy on the Marc-Drouin Quay
next to the Saint Lawrence River. 'Habitat 67' is widely considered
an architectural landmark and one of the most recognizable and
significant buildings in both Montreal and Canada.
I have very dear friends who have lived there since the early 1980s'
and the inside of these units are just as eclectic as the outisde...