Reader Tips

Reader Tips 45 Comments

Tonight’s masterful piece of songwriting, originally released on Leonard Cohen’s 1984 album Various Positions, is a modest prayer, an acknowledgment of our ultimate powerlessness in the hands of the fates, and a humble plea for providence and grace. Here’s a recent, bare-bones live performance of the haunting and beautiful If It Be Your Will.
The comments are open, as always, for your Reader Tips.

45 Replies to “Reader Tips”

  1. Got black drip line marks on your aluminium RV trailer? Simonize tire cleaner takes them right off. Test on an out of the way section first and be carefull doing decals but it works like a charm… spray lightly with water and do a soaking rinse. just something I found out thru’ experience.

  3. Someone should have said they fight globull warming… THAT would have gotten them some buku protection. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/mozambique/10028738/Last-rhinos-in-Mozambique-killed-by-poachers.html
    “The 15 threatened animals were shot dead for their horns last month in the Mozambican part of Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park… Wildlife authorities believe the poachers were able to track the rhinoceroses with the help of game rangers working in the Limpopo National Park…”
    Gotta’ love the neo-environmentalism.

  4. Sorry EBD, but I just can’t like him, and I love most poetry, and I have recordings of many poets reading their own stuff. Guess I am just not sophisticated enough.

  6. ‘If Harper took off his shirt in public, I’m not sure he’d raise any money for charity’: Trudeau’s mom mad Tories are ‘bullying her Justin’.
    Is there some recessive gene in the Turdo family that makes the males parade around topless and the women bottomless?

  10. Looks like the NY City Mayor Bloomberg pizza story was a hoax after all…….but fitting none-the-less.

  11. Ontario’s health care system, gotta’ love it! “GUELPH — The Wellington Guelph Hoarding Network is amassing some cash to battle the psychological forces of hoarding, the excessive accumulation of items. Members from various local agencies are gathering Wednesday to accept a plaque in honour of a $141,500 Ontario Trillium Foundation two-year grant to further the network’s work… “It is a problem,” chief fire prevention officer Kim Hodgson said Tuesday, noting public education is key because “there’s nothing in the fire code that covers it.”” http://www.guelphmercury.com/news/local/article/919564–network-gets-grant-to-fight-hoarding-in-the-guelph-area
    According to my wife, my garage and downstairs workroom should be worth about $35G’s. Any doctor or homeopath willing to sign off? OHIP will accept one and all. Will share loot.

  13. Why not buy from Norway at a realistic price, then install whatever toys that the Canadian brass wish?
    This is sounding more and more like an “out-of-control-regional-make-work-program” than fiscal competence on behalf of the feds.

  14. I love this song/poem (If it Be your Will). I also sought Jennifer Warnes’ version. She interprets Cohen’s work so well.

  15. Don’t know if this is right for ‘Reader’s Tips’ – but I’d like to know what you’d do about this…
    I live at the very end of a rural road, 3km from the main road – on a mountainside. About 2:00 pm, four men in their early 20’s spread a large mat on the gravel just off the tarmac at road’s end and directly in front of our home. They spread out food and tea carafes.
    Curious, I went to ‘dump some garden debris’ just past them, noting that they were all speaking Arabic and that the one who seemed slightly older and physically larger, appeared to be the alpha male. After eating, they did their ablutions with water and proceeded through their prayers, complete with prayer mats and head to ground and facing east.
    After about two hours, the ‘alpha’ guy left, returning about a half hour later with another man who was probably in his fifties, judging by his grey hair and demeanor. He was clearly the main event, as the other three, including ‘Alpha’, all sat opposite him as he ate and spoke with them.
    In total, they were there on the mat for about four hours, before cleaning their ‘picnic’ stuff thoroughly and driving away.
    Could have been foreign exchange students from the local university, but what crossed my mind was: B.C. Ferries.
    What would you do? And if you’re interested, I’ll fill you in on what I did do.

  16. Check out the Jann Arden cover of If It Be Your Will. Arden captures the desire and yearning LC can not quit convey.

  20. Toronto Star, Thursday, May 2. Arthur Habermann, York U prof emeritus.
    http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2013/05/02/canadas_universal_healthcare_system_makes_us_live_democratically.html
    AH: [describing a radiation clinic waiting room] “… it can be said that a brush with death can make us all behave like citizens in a democracy. Status meant nothing in this waiting room. Colour, age, gender, they were hardly noticed. We all believed that we were getting excellent, compassionate care. We responded to one another in humane and even tender relationships, thrown together arbitrarily by our universal health-care system.”
    I suspect people were thrown together just as arbitrarily before universal health care.
    AH: “There is something that political philosophers — those like Tocqueville and Mill in the 19th century — have come to call living democratically. By this it is meant that voting is but a small part of what being in a democracy is about. It also includes volunteering in small ways to make our communities better, participating in decisions about what happens to your town or your neighbourhood, judging your fellow citizens by the quality of their character and not by the size of their homes or wealth, and treating all as equals.”
    “Democracy” refers solely to the process of electing government representatives. He confuses, I think deliberately, the electoral system itself with the policies that may be implemented by a government that has been elected under the system.
    AH: “Our society has decided that we needed to expand what living democratically means to the realms of education and health.”
    So why do non-democratic countries like Cuba and North Korea have government-run health and education too?
    And any such policy in a democracy can be repealed, no?
    AH: “We also hope to make health care available to all so that no one will face the misfortune of not being able to afford decent care …”
    Sure. That’s called “insurance”. It would be available in the absence of a universal tax-paid system. As a country’s economy became more productive under capitalism, more and more people could afford it. On the other hand, if a country’s economy is overtaxed and overburdened with worthless government programs, the medical system and others will be drained of resources, and medical care will suffer.

  21. Toronto Star, May 3, editorial. The chemotherapy issue.
    http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2013/05/02/kudos_to_pharmacy_trio_who_stopped_diluted_cancer_drugs_editorial.html
    A private (I think) company over-diluted chemotherapy drugs for about a year, and some cancer patients received less than they should have had. It is unclear at present whether any of them died as a result.
    Star: “Dogged reporting by the Star’s team has shown that there was no oversight of the chemotherapy drug mixture provided by Marchese Hospital Solutions in Mississauga. Work by other drug suppliers was carried out in an unregulated grey zone for nearly 30 years.”
    A company has a reputation to uphold, regulatory oversight or no. It is still accountable for its failures.
    The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in St. Lawrence Cement, 2008, that a company can be held responsible for its actions even if it conforms to all regulations. It also ruled (rather bizarrely) in Cooper vs. Hobart, 2001, that regulators can’t be held responsible for their errors and omissions and even deliberate failures. So what good is regulation?
    Star: “As Marchese’s president, Marita Zaffiro, told the committee, officials knew the company had won a contract to mix chemotherapy cocktails yet shockingly rebuffed her requests for oversight.”
    “‘We wanted to be regulated,’ Zaffiro said. ‘Before we began to service this contract, we went to both the Ontario College of Pharmacists and to Health Canada to inquire about the appropriate regulatory approval.’ The provincial regulatory body and Health Canada have confirmed they were approached. As Zaffiro told the committee, they ‘declined to regulate.'”
    Are you saying that you are incable of doing your job properly without government regulators looking over your shoulder? Shouldn’t you get out of the business and let someone else try?

  22. Liberalism.
    …-
    “Blizzard: Wynne’s loser budget a horror story”
    “TORONTO — Cost of cancelling two gas-fired power plants?
    $585 million.
    Cost of sucking up to the NDP?
    Billions.
    Price of keeping this arrogant, incompetent, deceitful, wasteful Liberal government in power?
    Endless — and pointless.
    Trouble is MasterCard expects you to pay your bills.
    Being a Liberal means never saying you’re sorry — and never paying your debts.
    These Liberals just keep racking up more debt and driving this province into an abyss that will make Greece look like a well-managed paradise.
    Make no mistake. Thursday’s budget wasn’t about fiscal responsibility or a prosperous Ontario.
    It was about keeping a shamelessly inept government in power.”
    http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics/2013/05/02/20788721.html

  24. Not to disparage you choice EBD, Leonard Cohen was obviously a talented artist, and “Hallelujah” , regardless whomever covers it is always worth a listen.
    But in truth EBD, the (late) Luke Kelly , red headed Irishman stands head and shoulders over Cohen for me!
    “Auld Triangle”, “Black Velvet Band”, my favourites, but his paean to Dublin, even to a hunky like me, is heartwarming
    and believable, eh?
    No disrespect to Cohen or his Fans EBD!

  26. Got this on e-mail…thought it should be here too.
    Rant of the Year: Judge Jeanine’s Slap down of Jihadi Bomber Mother
    Judge Jeanine Pirro dismantles the bogus charges of the jihadi mother of the Boston bombing suspects the Tsarnaev brothers. It takes a minute to get going, but the judge catches fire and goes on an epic tear.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=yAlx2p3QlYI

  28. There’s close to three inches of global warming on my deck right now (9:05 CDT), and there’s still more of it falling from the sky. This is south central Iowa, mind you, not, say, Flin Flon, Manitoba.

  29. Mao Stlong* Lepolt.
    No mockely/lidicure, say Mao*.
    …-
    “China’s People’s Daily newspaper mocked over its new, phallic headquarters”
    “Unamused Chinese censors have been at work to stop people sniggering over the new Beijing headquarters of the People’s Daily newspaper, which bears an unfortunate resemblance to part of the male anatomy.”
    http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02553/china_2553345b.jpg
    *Ex-Liberal leader Bob Rae’s uncle, c/o Red China.

  32. Hi Kate, I know your a horse lover so I thought you might like this write-up from a betting sharp I know who I’m part of a forum group with. Not sure if you bet the ponies or not.
    Kentucky Oaks
    ————————-
    1-Silsita: Finished by a nose at a Turfway Park G3 as well as her maiden run. Beating ‘Pure Fun’ says more about the latter than her. Not enough class to hang w/ these ladies
    2-Midnight Lucky: By the far turn, she thinks “eat my dust”…but what if she’s not at the head at the far turn? An 8length lead in NM is a yawn, IMO. Love the jockey and trainer, but not enough to take a 2-race horse in this company.
    3-Beholder: Class of the race. Handful of quality wins at this level. She’ll set the pace w/ some of the other early dashers but the difference is she’ll keep it as well. She’ll be in the money, don’t love her due to speed & Cali horses don’t have the best luck in Ktky
    4-Unlimited Budget: Shows a lot of promise. Not crazy about the 3 jockey switch, but the fact that she responds regardless is nice. Coming from 9 back after the ¼ mi to win by 3 at the Fair Grounds shows me she’ll always have a shot. Another horse coming in the money.
    5-Seaneen Girl: She switched trainers after her 2012 year and the result wasn’t great. Couldn’t fight past the tough horses, best of the rest. Superfecta would have her name on the bet slip. Also not crazy about the chick jockey…it’s a tough world for them in horse racing.
    6-Princess of Sylmar: Showed great speed in past races, jumps to a G2 and sees her first defeat to ‘Close Hatches’. Jockey change for this race – they would have wanted Castellano, but he’s on the better horse (‘Unlimited Budget’). I’m w/ Castellano.
    7-Pure Fun: Slow horse. Has a G1 win in Cali, but hasn’t seem to have gotten the groove back since…And that race looks more like an aberration than the norm. Beat by Silsita and will get beat by her again. Don’t see her rising out of the back of the pile.
    8-Dreaming of Julia: I did a double take when I saw she won her last race by 21lengths. At 5 lengths a sec, I can down a beer in the time the 2nd horse crossed! This horse was beaten by ‘Beholder’ but has seen the class and the 21 lengths comes w/ a 16 length & 10 length victory as well. Love the jockey, love the trainer, love the Pedigree. Can’t count this girl out, she could be a show stopper.
    9-Rose to Gold: Seems to do just enough to win. I’ll toss out the Synthetic surface and even the slop, which puts all of her races in 1st/2nd company. Not sure this horse knows how to lose. I think she’ll hang around and mess up a lot of trifectas. I don’t see her winning, but Calvin is the Bobby Fischer of horse racing, you can never count that SOB out of anything! However I will note that the horse has never been further than 2 length back at the near turn – except for the synthetic disaster, so maybe it wasn’t the surface. I don’t think at PP9, she’s going to be that close in the near turn.
    10-Flashy Gray: Doesn’t have a lot going for her. Kind of slow comparatively, kind of out classed, Not the best jockey or trainer, lost to ‘Rose to Gold’ and ‘Unlimited Budget’. Too much to overcome….And just saw she’s Scratched. Saved the owner $5K.
    11 –Close Hatches: 3 races to her name, but she ran at tough tracks and moved up in class quickly. She has very good speed, and a good jockey. I’d say she was a front runner but her first race she decided to stop for the flowers, got 8 lengths back and finished with a 7 length lead. 15lengths in about ¾ mi is nothing to glance over. I also don’t think she likes looking at any fat asses in front of her so she has a shot to take it.
    Summary:
    3,4,8,11
    Bet:
    $5 Exacta box: 3,4,8,11 = $60
    $5W/$10PL 4, 11 = $30
    Best case scenario: 1st 11, 2nd 4 – should pay about $150 + $80=$230.
    I’m a bit bias to horses that have never lost.
    I didn’t pick a triple here b/c there are too many I would throw in (3,4,8,11 w/ 3,4,8,11 w/ 2,3,4,5,8,9,11)

  33. I agree, Joe (8:52 am), Luke Kelly is great. Last year I published this live performance of “Auld Triangle.” Love the manly vocal harmonies, too.
    Re other comments, I can’t really understand the (inevitable) statements that so-and-so’s version of Cohen’s (X) is better than Leonard’s; his “Hallelujah, for example, is the definitive one, IMO, and a thousand times better than, say, kd lang’s. The song is not intended to be exaltative, it’s a little more double-edged and ….fraught than that.

  35. ChrisC:
    I don`t mean to be disrespectful, but do take this article with a grain of salt.
    Just look at other “Hate Harper” propaganda that is being spewed on the CBC. I just contacted a relative who works with high tech communications. Look at the trash that they’ve (CBC) aired about the F-35. Yet he claims that the UK, Australia, etc. are paying the same price as we are in Canada for the same program, and not a world has ever been said about the price being out of line for that class of military technology.
    Look in the back alley of CBC studios in Toronto. You’ll find Trudeau and his Liberal friends behind this trash.

  37. Re: F-35.
    Wait for the outcry from the PET Cemetery/CitoyenMulcairBloc/OURCBC.
    …-
    “Australia backs F-35 fighter jets in new defense strategy”
    ” CANBERRA (Reuters) – Australia committed to long-term plans to buy up to 100 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 Joint Strike Fighters as part of its new defense strategy on Friday, easing concerns about the future of the controversial fighter from a major foreign buyer.
    Canberra, a close U.S. ally, would also buy 12 Boeing Co EA-18G electronic attack planes, modified versions of the 24 Super Hornets already equipping Australia’s air force, as a stopgap until the F-35 is delivered.”
    http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/australia-backs-f-35-fighter-jets-defense-strategy-004146328.html

  39. Richard Dawkins opines re religion/Christianity fading in the West: ” … the statistics are moving correctly. … Christianity is dying and good riddance.”
    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/technology-video/video-christianity-is-dying-and-good-riddance-says-richard-dawkins/article11652512/
    The bigoted idiot doesn’t know what he’s talking about: Christianity has always ignored “statistics” and will never die. It may wax and wane in the public consciousness (and in some unhinged “Christian” clerics, theologians, and denominations) and may seem to be dying — it’s not the first time in history that this has been the case — but like a dormant vine, it will always bloom because no one, not even the curmudgeonly troll Dawkins, can take the ax to the root which is Jesus Christ crucified, risen, and glorified.
    Dawkins is a pipsqueak, a mere knat to be flicked off. Just to annoy him, I’m going to pray for him. No one, not even this bitter, sourpuss, naysayer, is beyond Christ’s mercy, love, and redemption.

  40. BTW, the definition of “troll” that I favour for Richard Dawkins is “a being that is rarely helpful to human beings … that is not Christianized … and that is considered dangerous to human beings.”

  41. Report: Al Qaeda Operatives from Yemen Were Part of the Benghazi Attack
    http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2013/05/03/report-al-qaeda-operatives-from-yemen-were-part-of-the-benghazi-attack/#
    So much for Obozo’s boast that Al Qaeda was on the run. ‘Anything to do with the massive cover up of what actually happened in Benghazi?
    My heart breaks for the Americans that were hung out to dry by Obama and Clinton. How they sleep at night is beyond me except that their hearts are so blackened they see no difference between not helping Americans and being accessories to their murder. ‘All in a days — or a night’s — work for these two. After all, what difference does it make?
    Where’s the next round of golf?

  42. “White Guys Need Not Apply”.
    Apparently the CBC had a job posting briefly on Craigslist for a new kids show host, which listed the criteria as:
    Male, age 25 – 35 yrs
    “Any Race but Caucasian”.
    I really wish some white Canadian males would launch a discrimination suit the the ad violated their “human rights” just to make a point.
    It’s only acceptable if we accept it.
    http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2013/05/03/cultural-marxism-any-race-but-caucasian/

  44. ” A Saskatoon woman who identifies herself as transgender says a bridal shop in the city refused to let her try on dresses as she planned her wedding.”
    “Discrimination,” Singh said of the experience. “I’m damn sure it’s discrimination.”
    Well,that’s not very lady-like talk.However he is contemplating going to the human rights commission becuase of the embarassment that he and his husband have endured.
    Mr. Singh IDENTIFIES as a transgender and states that he has ‘started the process for a sex change’.
    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/story/2013/05/02/sk-bridal-shop-transgender-130502.html

Proudly powered by WordPress & Skyrocket Themes

MENU

Navigation