I think it was around 1968. There was this thing at the New York Coliseum, a rock & roll exhibition thingie selling musical instruments, records, posters, and a few live performances. I saw the Al Kooper Big Band. Kooper had just left Blood Sweat & Tears and was getting to release his first solo album. But the stand-out in his band was the drummer, Bernard “Pretty” Purdie.

Purdie has gone on to be one of the most influential drummers in rock and r&b history, appearing on more than 4,000 recordings, from Aretha Franklin to Steely Dan. Now he’s playing drums for the Broadway revival of Hair. Here’s a good NY Times profile on him.

During a concert with Ray Charles in Chicago, when Mr. Purdie started playing a few bars too soon, Charles barked, “Don’t play, drummer,” into the microphone, a rather public embarrassment before a huge crowd.“He would turn around and look at you — I always thought the guy could see,” Mr. Purdie said. “And he’d say, ‘What is your problem?’ Now, what are you supposed to say to that?”

“You’d do a first take, and he’d put on his overcoat as if he was about to leave,” said Donald Fagen, the Steely Dan keyboardist. “The problem was that some of the other musicians had just become comfortable with the chords. You had to cajole him to do some other takes so everyone else could polish up their parts a bit.”

Which led me to this YouTube video of Purdie explaining his technique:

Which then led me to this fucking incredible video by Israeli artist Kutiman, who made a music/video mash-up from various music videos all over YouTube. This one’s called The Mother of All Funk Chords and it rocks the house. More of these at his web site.

“It’s wonderful to be gathered here on just the other side of intimacy. So I’m so pleased that you’re here. I know that some of you have undergone financial and geographical inconveniences. We’re honored to play for you tonight.”

“It’s been a long time since I stood on a stage in London. It was about, about 14 or 15 years ago, I was 60 years old, just a kid with a crazy dream. Since then I’ve taken a lot of Prozac, Paxil, Wellbutrin, Efexsor, Ritalin, Focalin. I’ve also studied deeply in the philosophies and the religions but cheerfulness kept breaking through.”

“I was having a drink with my old teacher. He’s 102 now. He was about 97 at the time. I poured him a drink and he clicked my glass and he said, ‘Excuse me for not dying.’ I kind of feel the same way. I want to thank you not just for this evening but for the many years that you’ve kept my songs alive, I appreciate it.”

There’s a new 2 CD set Leonard Cohen Live in London, taken from his performance there last year. It’s also out on DVD. The quotes above are from his between song patter. He’s now 74 years old and his live shows are up to 3 hours long.

Have been listening to the CD a lot, haven’t had time to watch the DVD yet. May write about this at greater length after watching the DVD. Cohen fans probably will not be disappointed and those new to Cohen may find this a good introduction.

Here’s a clip from the DVD, Cohen performing what has become his best known song, Hallelujah (even if it’s not his version that’s famous, this is a wonderful performance of the classic).

Skype for the iPhone comes out today. The real Skype, not a 3rd party add-on like Fring. Om Malik has reviewed it (sorry, lost the link, it’s at GigaOm) and pronounced it “awesome.” Searched for it this morning before leaving for work (I’m on the US iTunes store), not there yet but should be there tonight. Skype for Blackberry comes out in May, I believe.
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I think this season of Lost, season 5, is shaping up to be my favorite. Via Gizmodo, some guy has uploaded these six fabulous fake Dharma ads to Flickr. Namaste indeed.

Last night was a rough night for a variety of reasons but this morning is almost sunny, birds are chirping away and whatever sort of insects there are that make noise are busy making noise.

I am, quite frankly, still having problems putting the events of last week into perspective. I know this is happening to thousands if not millions of others around the world. Hell, it’s happening to everyone in my department. An excerpt from an email a member of my team sent to me over the weekend:

Thinking back when we first started this, only a handful of people, you’ve literally put us on the map (so to speak) and basically started up the whole thing where it didn’t exist before.

And with the decision that came Tuesday, it simply undoes everything you’ve done for the last ~6 years, and I know it SUCKS!

Is that self-serving for me to post? My entire blog is an exercise in egotism, isn’t it? But it does suck. I’ve managed to keep this entire team together for six years and it wasn’t easy. Honestly, I don’t understand the economics of paying out millions in severance pay and out-sourcing to a company that charges more per person than was being paid to staff; I don’t understand the benefits of letting go of hundreds of employees who have years of experience and detailed knowledge of how a company operates and replacing them with consultants and contractors who have little if any vested interest beyond how many billable hours they can get each week; I don’t understand why it makes sense to hold onto the executives who made the bad decisions that got us into this mess and let go of the people who executed those orders in good faith.

Shared misery offers little, if any, consolation. I confess that I somewhat subscribe to the Mel Brooks 2000 Year Old Man theory of comedy and tragedy – comedy is you fall off a cliff, you get eaten by a tiger; tragedy is I break a nail, I stub my toe.

I didn’t have my first suit and tie, corporate job until I was 36 years old. Since then, I’ve worked for six different companies. On average, I stayed at a job for about three years, and with one exception I worked for very famous companies. When I leave this company in November, I will have been with them for just over eight years. I have major accomplishments I can look back on with pride. If no job is perfect, at least this was a company with products I not only enjoyed, I took pride in them. I loved the reaction I got whenever I gave someone my business card. Despite the more than occasional frustrations, I was hoping this would be my last job, to ride this one out for another 5 years before having enough socked away for a vaguely comfortable retirement and calling it quits. That’s not going to happen now. I find myself, like millions of others, about to be out of work in the worst global economy in 70 years. My age is also a disadvantage and may outweigh the significant experience I have managing staff and projects in almost every country in Asia Pacific across a variety of business sectors. I can look at this as an opportunity, to make a career change, to start my own business of some sort, but haven’t made any decisions yet on what direction I should follow.

The deal is structured in such a way that if I remain until November 1st, I will receive a truly golden parachute. If I leave before then, I get nothing. With seven months to go, that limits the immediate steps I can take. I’m trying to network like crazy – phone, email, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. But there seems to be little sense in my blitzing the headhunters and job boards this early.

One proactive step I plan to take immediately is to resume my Putonghua studies, which I started four years ago at Fudan in Shanghai. I actually did pretty well at the time (long time readers of this blog may recall that during that period I had a girlfriend who didn’t speak any English) but I’ve forgotten more than I remember. At this point, if pressed, perhaps I remember just a couple hundred words and characters. Instead of moaning about being monolingual and how that’s a disadvantage in job searches here at the moment, I’ve got seven months to do something about it. If anyone wants to recommend a school or a tutor, please do – preferably Hong Kong side, MTR-convenient.

Fumier seems to have this thing about Wales and all things Welsh. I’ve never been there but I did date a Welsh lass once and I’m amazed to this day that she didn’t drive me to suicide.

At any rate, take a gaze upon this photo gallery at Totally Crap titled “A Drunken Night Out in Cardiff.” Looks like it makes Wanchai look like Disneyland by comparison.

The Wrap reports that Sacha Baron “Borat” Cohen’s upcoming film “Bruno” has received an NC-17 rating in the US.

Among the objectionable scenes is one in which two naked men attempt oral sex in a hot tub, while one of them holds a baby. In another, Bruno — a gay Austrian fashionista played by Baron Cohen — appears to have anal sex with a man on camera. In another, the actor goes on a hunting trip and sneaks naked into the tent of one of the fellow hunters, an unsuspecting non-actor.

Cohen is contractually obligated to give Universal an R-rated film. He has appealed the current rating but seems like there are still some edits to be made.

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Uncle E’s Musical Nightmares digs out a guy who seems to purposely write bogus CD reviews designed to piss people off on Amazon. “Once you’re in on the joke, though, it’s hard not to admire this villain.” His negative reviews include these:

On “Purple Rain” by Prince”: …particularly one who falsely refers to himself as a prince and who produces trash like this. When Doves Cry is an unashamed rip off of MC Hammer’s excellent Pray and the title track is far too long for my liking. Save your money.

On the Stone Roses debut: When Mike & The Mechanics ushered in the `Madchester’ scene with The Living Years it was only a matter of time before these jokers attempted to jump on the bandwagon. If you want to be adored you should write some decent songs lads!

Stuff he likes?

On Ringo Starr’s “Blast From Your Past”: He’s Done It Again!! While much praise was heaped on the nonsensical Mr Lennon, anonymous Mr Harrison and Mr McCartney who only got good once he left Beatles, those in the know realised Ringo was the only real talent in the Beatles – and he certainly proves his worth here! `Back Off Boogaloo’ is better than anything Mr Lennon ever came up with and it also has a fun name. Quality throughout.

On Shakin’ Stevens, “The Collection”: The word ‘genius’ is thrown around all too easily these days but few would deny it sits very comfortably on Stevens shakin’ shoulders. If the youth of today stopped listening to 50 cent and gave stuff like this a chance there might be some hope for them.

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Speaking of music, Neil Young’s Archives Volume 1 has a new confirmed release date, June 2nd. Along with that, prices have been dropped – now $300 for the 10 (or is it now 9?) disc Blu-Ray set (previously announced at more than $400), $200 for the DVD version and apparently now there will be a CD version for $100. Looks like reason has prevailed.

Your Way to Music has the full track listing and cover art here. Two of the ten discs were released individually last year.

From the SCMP, as reported by the euphonious Barclay Crawford and Nick Gentle (whom I suppose is related to failed American Idol contestant Norman Gentle):

A former Fijian Sevens rugby player has been convicted of assaulting a police officer after a vicious rolling brawl through the streets of Wan Chai early yesterday.

Paula Maisiri, 32, who was playing for the Playmore Phantoms in the annual GFI Hong Kong Football Club Tens tournament, pleaded guilty in Eastern Court to assaulting an officer outside the Dusk til Dawn bar at about 5am.

Maisiri, of Palmerston North, New Zealand, a professional rugby player, was fined HK$500.

People in Wan Chai early yesterday said Maisiri was one of the key figures in the melee, which lasted for an hour before eventually being brought under control by officers outside Dusk til Dawn, on Jaffe Road.

The brawl was sparked by an earlier incident in Carnegie’s bar in which, according to police, one man attacked a player with a glass for no apparent reason. The victim was taken to hospital.

Fighting flared again outside the Amazonia bar, on the corner of Luard and Jaffe roads, before 5am when security staff refused to allow players to enter. Dozens of men then chased another man down Jaffe Road, followed by security staff and police. More players followed and the fight quickly escalated. Police using riot shields attempted to break it up but were met with a flurry of fists.

Maisiri was in the centre of things and continued to fight his way from one side of the road to the other, even after police sprayed him (and a number of onlookers) with pepper spray.

Order was eventually restored and a large group were detained behind a police cordon by officers in riot gear.

Actually if I was a man named Paula, I’d be pretty pissed off too.

Also amusing, the SCMP gets the name of Dusk till Dawn wrong, as well as the location of Amazonia, which is not on a corner.

Yes, after weeks, maybe months of procrastination, I have updated the HK links section over on your left. The section has gone from 52 links to 74 (in part because I have not removed any inactive links). I know this is overdue and my apologies to those who asked me decades ago to add them. But damn, blogrolling.com takes a shitload of time to load now.

Seems like the only way to stop procrastinating on this was to do this as a way to not do other stuff I should be doing. I’ve got a long list of things to do this weekend and so far have successfully managed to not do any of them.

UPDATE – just deleted links to 5 inactive blogs and 1 that requires an invite to access. This procrastinating is fun.

Sometimes it’s the little things that set me off. And maybe I’m overly sensitive at the moment given other stuff in my life but still ….

Monsters vs. Aliens opens in the US today, it opens in HK on April 9th. An amusing trailer, probably not a great movie – at Rotten Tomatoes it’s rated at 69%, 57% from top critics – but it’s from the folks who made Shrek and Kung Fu Panda so it should at least be entertaining.

They’re showing the IMAX 3-D version of it in the only IMAX theater in HK. And selling advance tickets now. So I went to the UA web site to buy tickets. Only to find out that the version they’re showing there is the Cantonese-dubbed version. Why not alternate screenings with the English version?

UA Cinemas – fuck you.

been perusing help wanted ads. looking at anything and everything since i’m considering a possible career or direction change. this one was interesting (no, i’m not considering a sex change) Note the description given for “Roles:” – I’m sure I could do that!

Club Manageress

Position 05:

Position: Fine Dining Restaurant Manageress

Our Client: A Hong Kong based renowned private club

Roles: Responsible for hospitalizing restaurants’ customers.

The Ideal Candidate

§ A minimum of three years relevant fine dining/Banquet Services experience in hotels or clubs.

§ Outgoing personality with strong communication and interpersonal skills.

§ Excellent leadership skills

§ Good command of spoken and written English.