leonardcohenforum.com

Got an e-mail from an old friend; included the following:

anyway, the owner paul and his wife elizabeth go to paris skiing every so often and the last time he went he saw leonard cohen strolling down the avenue. i thought of you.

Jim

Go to Paris skiing???

Jim's friend, Nouria-not-Nouria, not Leonard . "I was a free man in Paris, I was unfettered and alive....no one calling me up for favours, no one's future to decide......" The skiing is just what got Jim's friend to that part of the world. He sighted Leonard strolling ~ not skiing ~ down the avenue ~ not slope .

Now, all that said , I get what you're saying [tee-hee].....well, I guess Jim's friend just took a side trip to Paris ~ obviously, a fated one .

~ Lizzy

Isn't there a Paris in the U S somewhere? There are no ski slopes near Paris in France

Jim, are you still there? maybe you can solve this puzzle. Was it France where Leonard was spotted?

Well, Paris, TX, at least, isn't exactly a skiing region either...

I don't know I'm just taking my friend at her word.
I'll ask about it.
But what I would really like to know is;
if Leonard has the energy to go traipsing around Paris; why he will not give us a concert tour.
I think a letter writing campaign is in order.
Jim

Good point, Tom . Maybe he's trying to write a poem on "Winter" with about the same level of inspiration the rest seem to be getting .

What a strange idea, Jim, I mean, a concert tour could not match any pleasant trips. It is like reading for your leisure and reading for your work. He has a book to finish right now, talking about reading. Forget the concert, I would say.

I think we should barrage him with letters and we should be tough.
Something like:

Leonard – you bum
Here I am working 50 hours a week at a lousy job making peanuts for a salary, while you get to write poetry and songs for a living, and you will not even complete your obligations to your fans. Shape up man and do a tour. We know you have been parading around Paris wasting time. Get with the program.
Sincerely
Jim

What do you think?
Jim

I like it Jim!

My only concern is its a bit too subtle

Yea I know.
You can’t be subtle with the man – Have to grab his attention.
Just think of the tons of mail he must get telling him how wonderful he is.
Must make him self-conscious if not nauseous.
Thanks Paula. I’ll work on it.
Jim

Q: Do you or Leonard plan on touring again?

Anjani's answer: I haven’t toured in ages but I think it will happen if it’s meant to. It crosses Leonard’s mind from time to time, but he’s got so many projects going on. A book will be out next year, and he rises at 4am every day to work on it. And there’s a lot more music to come, plus he’s always writing and drawing.

We might try to be tough. We might try out the gentle art of persuasion. We might pray, curse, bless. We might practice waltzing on our hands while with our feet writing letters in the air reading "Leonard, go live again" and "What's Life without live?". - We won't change his set of priorities.

Maybe he was in Paris paying a visit to Jean Marie Leblanc lancing an armstrong application for the "Tour de France"

Let's not aim too high with Leonard - let's make it easy for him and therefore hard for him to refuse. So, as opposed to a tour, I'd be more than happy for him to just do a one-off or couple of concerts in LA! Then he wouldn't need to put himself out too much at all (and could even sleep in his own bed, if that was his preference )!

I'd make the whatever effort and financial encumbrance was necessary to fly over there - even though the concert ticket for me would equate to say A$100 + A$2100 for travel expenses

Maybe, through Leonard's management office, we should petition him accordingly! It wouldn't be hard to get a couple of thousand signatures would it (or perhaps more)? Out of interest, would anyone else make an intercontinental flight to see Leonard for one concert?

Cheers
Andrew (Darby)

Yes, I would, Andrew. Even if he chose to do it in Paris, and sleep in [ 's] bed. Even if it meant my cancelling on Hydra or Berlin [reimbursing certain people, of course ~ just so you don't panic].

How about a place of his choice for one concert and tickets for a specially selected audience ( like us Forum members Many of us would be prepared to travel anywhere, especially those like me who never saw him in his earlier tours.