Along the way... Discovering Leonard's albums

[its4inthemorning]

Hi B4 in Q'ld.

This isn't the first time I read about your experience in Townsville, but it still boggles my mind, staying at the same hotel as the band, and cavorting with (well, at least conversing with) the UHTC crew. Women have it easy in this regard, just being handed set lists because they are bright and pretty. I am almost, but not quite, embarrassed to say that the one and only set list I obtained was pretty much snatched from the hand of a young woman in front of the stage at Las Vegas. I wanted to get a keepsake for Joann (or was it really for myself?), and when a member of the crew was handing them out, she and I both had a hand on it, and because she already had another set list in her other hand, she took pity on my and relinquished the other one. I ran into her at the Seahorse bar after the concert and thanked her for her generosity. She used to be on the forum and I still recall her ID, it was/is tinkerbell (if you read this tinkerbell, thank you again, that set list is framed and hangs on a wall in our home).

But I digress from the main point I wanted to raise: Have you ever considered writing about your madcap concert adventures in 2013? I mean writing in a more formal sense, ie., a short book, say half a Nadel (150-200 pages). Here are reasons why you must consider doing so:

(1) You have an interesting writing style, and I suspect you enjoy writing.
(2) Your memory is like a computer.
(3) You must have an extraordinary amount of photos to refer to when writing and some to include in the book.
(4) You are good with artwork and graphic design.
(5) Research beyond what's in your head can probably be done by referring to this forum and emailing members.

and most importantly,

(6) I want to read it!

Anyone who is familiar with the state of book publishing today knows that the chances of profit are very low, especially when a book has a small target audience. However, it has become quite easy to self-publish these days using Amazon (there might be other self-publishing platforms as well). Of course, any book you write would be mostly a labor of love, not a money-making venture, but nevertheless, one would expect that there is a small, but certain, market for whatever you create here on the forum.

If you entertain this idea, know that the "Along the Way" regulars will be happy to assist you in any way possible.

4

[B4real]

Hi 4 in Pennsylvania,
Ah yes, I did have more than a wonderful time during LC’s concerts in Australia and it seems so did you in America
I so much wanted to go to Las Vegas! I never considered getting all my set lists framed – food for thought – it’ll have to be a large multi-windowed-mat frame, ha!

I’m flattered by your kind words! And here are some replies to your list:
(1) Yes, I do enjoy writing and have ever since I could write.
My mother did so too and she had some short stories published in magazines etc.
(2) Yes, and I just have to press the right buttons at the right time in my head
(3) No, I don’t have an extraordinary amount of photos and I don’t refer to them when writing – I only use (2)
All my acceptable photos are posted in the threads. As I’ve said in them, my camera was malfunctioning throughout the tour including one happy glitch at Sydney that is posted in the thread.
EDIT (3):
Ah, maybe you mean LC photos in general - of which I do have considerable but I don't use them for writing reference.
(4) Ever since I can remember I’ve drawn and painted so to me it’s just a natural thing.
And I’ve been fortunate over many years to reinforce that by having occupations in the art industry.
(5) Thanks for the suggestions but refer to (6)
(6) Sorry to disappoint and thanks for the offer but I can’t see that happening – maybe if I get to write my memoirs
Regarding books, I‘m still at the moment compiling my personal LC reference book of Songs & Versions & Improvisations including my artwork of him. Just when it looks close to being finished, something else needs to be added. On reflection, I suspect it will always be like that and in a comforting way to me it’s like LC is still here, adding lines and images....

You know, thinking about all the great things that happened on the 2013 tour, I have one regret. After looking so promising for a while, we didn’t get into the Green Room at Melbourne. I really wanted to test, “I got this rig that runs on memories”

[its4inthemorning]

Oh B4, your answer was unfortunately what I expected. I say this, because I suspected that you were well-aware that any project of the sort proposed would be a daunting proposition and would take on a life of its own, and that you might not want to make such a commitment on your time. Also, I had forgotten (a phrase I seem to be using more and more, hmm?) about your songs/versions/improvisations reference book, and it is obvious that you would not want to start a new writing project with that one still in progress (although, as you said, such a compilation will never really be complete). You referred to that as "your personal LC reference book," but I hope you don't mean you are going to keep it to yourself. What you are undertaking is scholarly research, and such research must be shared so that others can use it or build on it.

Maybe when you "complete" your reference book, you will consider the idea of a book about the 2013 Australia concert tour. While your efforts would be great, that project offers this advantage over your reference book project--you do not need to undertake research, the book is already in your head and just needs to be transcribed!

It was interesting to learn that your mother also enjoyed writing, another example of the acorn not falling far from the tree. To be honest, until maybe ten years ago I considered writing a chore, I only started to enjoy expressing myself in writing when I began to do so for enjoyment rather than necessity. Fortunately, when I went to school and college there was still an emphasis on teaching writing; that seems to have changed, and not only are people writing less, they are also reading less. In this respect, the advance of civilization seems to have made a U-turn.

Hope you are having as nice a summer as the covid situation permits.

4

[B4real]

Well, my Songs & Versions & Improvisations book so far has 369 written pages, not including my artwork images that will be distributed chronologically throughout the pages. We’ll see what happens with the book as time goes by.

My mother first had her writing being published when she was 11 years old. She had some of her compositions and poems published in the newspaper. She was always top of her class. My father was a maths wizard. I don’t think I inherited that gene from him

Speaking of the weather, we are having a heat-wave here at the moment. It’s just after 7am and the temperature is 28C degrees (82F), humidity 85% - the humidity is the killer! They say it’s going to be 38C (100F) later on today.
Oh boy, I can’t wait for winter to come….please!

[its4inthemorning]

They say it’s going to be 38C (100F) later on today.
Oh boy, I can’t wait for winter to come….please!

Our low temperature tonight is predicted to be 14F, and I can't wait for summer. However, between the two of us on average, that works out to 72F, so on a combined basis I suppose we should both stop whining. Now I'm going downstairs to start a fire in our wood stove.

4

[B4real]

It was interesting to learn that your mother also enjoyed writing, another example of the acorn not falling far from the tree. To be honest, until maybe ten years ago I considered writing a chore, I only started to enjoy expressing myself in writing when I began to do so for enjoyment rather than necessity. Fortunately, when I went to school and college there was still an emphasis on teaching writing; that seems to have changed, and not only are people writing less, they are also reading less. In this respect, the advance of civilization seems to have made a U-turn.
4

Couldn't help myself writing a bit of trivia about writing
Did you know that the first writer in history known by name was a woman
She was the Mesopotamian priestess Enheduanna (2285-2250 BCE).

[LisaLCFan]

...Our low temperature tonight is predicted to be 14F, and I can't wait for summer...

Man, it's all relative, isn't? At the moment, 14 F (-10 C) would be a heatwave where I am! Try lows of -40 F (-40 C) and highs of -30 F (-34 C) -- now that's cold! Today is a balmy -9.5 F (-23 C) -- the warmest day we've had in two weeks!

[LisaLCFan]

They say it’s going to be 38C (100F) later on today...

Our low temperature tonight is predicted to be 14F... However, between the two of us on average, that works out to 72F...

Oh, and incidentally, small detail: if your temp is 14 F and Bev's temp is 100 F, then the average actually works out to 57 F, not 72 F. But what the F, it's just a number!

[B4real]

Well, here's one thing the three of us do have in common with the weather at this time of the year.
We all dislike the North wind. Your freezing wind from the Arctic and my scorching wind from the Equator!

[AlanM]

...Our low temperature tonight is predicted to be 14F, and I can't wait for summer...

Man, it's all relative, isn't? At the moment, 14 F (-10 C) would be a heatwave where I am! Try lows of -40 F (-40 C) and highs of -30 F (-34 C) -- now that's cold! Today is a balmy -9.5 F (-23 C) -- the warmest day we've had in two weeks!

I have a genuine question directed at the Fahrenheit fans.
When someone from Canada sings:
It's kinda chilly in your kitchen
Must be ten below
Below what? Below freezing point or below zero (0 F)?
Or something more ethereal? Ten degrees below the previous warmth in a relationship?

Alan

[LisaLCFan]

...I have a genuine question directed at the Fahrenheit fans.
When someone from Canada sings:
It's kinda chilly in your kitchen
Must be ten below
Below what? Below freezing point or below zero (0 F)?...

If one is speaking of air temperature, "someone from Canada" would probably mean 10 below freezing point, i.e., -10 C, and they may also be more likely, these days, to sing "must be minus 10", because Canada officially uses Celcius temperatures (since 1975), although many of us are temperature bilingual, having learned Fahrenheit as kids (and/or having had parents who still spoke Fahrenheit at home for several years after the official switch). I only use Fahrenheit when Americans are present -- in my experience, they tend not to speak Celcius.

By the way, is that actually a song? It doesn't sound like a meteorological discussion is going on there.

[AlanM]

Thank you, Lisa.

He went like one that hath been stunned,
And is of sense forlorn:
A sadder and a wiser man,
He rose the morrow morn.

What would it mean if a Fahrenheit person sang it, d' ya think?

Alan

[its4inthemorning]

Lisa, thank you for correcting my math and reminding me to, as my grammar school teacher said, "always check your math."

I agree with your response to Alan that "10 below" in Canada means 10 degrees below freezing. For "C-people" there is no ambiguity, because 10 below zero degrees C is the same temperature as 10 degrees below freezing. The C system (and of course the metric system) are obviously more logical. So even as an American I am a bit surprised that the push-back against changing over to celsius/metric has succeeded for so long. Now, with the advent of first calculators, and then computers, conversions are simple, so the advantages of metric have become unimportant (except, perhaps, those in scientific fields).

I wonder if there are any references to "temperature" or "degrees" in Cohen's song lyrics, I can't recall any?

4

[LisaLCFan]

...He went like one that hath been stunned...

Alan -- the cold kitchen, ten below -- okay, it's a Leonard Cohen song, I didn't get the reference because, what can I say -- I hadn't heard that song for quite a while, nor enough times for the lyrics to become indelibly etched into my consciousness (and, for fear of having more Coleridge quoted at me in melodramatically mock shock, it's not exactly one of Leonard's more poetically -- or musically -- memorable songs...).

Besides, this thread is about discovering Leonard's albums, and so I've just been reminded of that collection of live songs that has obviously not yet had many spins in my CD player.

[LisaLCFan]

...I wonder if there are any references to "temperature" or "degrees" in Cohen's song lyrics, I can't recall any?..

Bev would know!