I had a chance to see Leonard Cohen last night in Waterbury, Connecticut. I love his poetry and music, but considering that he is in his 70's, I went into the concert with relatively low expectations. Plus, my seat was waaaay at the top - Yes, (relatively) cheap seats, but then I could almost see the shuttle astronauts working on the Hubble Space Telescope. However, it turned out to be an amazing experience. The concert was very well produced and he played for over 2 and a half hours. His voice is as good as ever and the concert was full of energy. However, the most delightful part was to see his mannerisms (he would dance his way on and off the stage) and the way he introduced and thanked not only his band members (by aptly listening to their solos, and then bowing his head to them in respect), but also those responsible for lighting, instrument tunings, and stage management (he brought all of them on stage and individually thanked them by names). Very classy. I don't know how he did it, but at the end it felt like Leonard Cohen gave me a small, informal, and private concert. If you get a chance, check him out live.
For a flavor, here are couple of snippets from his concert in London late last year and he performed all these yesterday:
First a promo (with The Future):
here is Suzanne:
and his wonderful poem, A Thousand Kisses Deep. In fact, it was incredible to see him captivate couple of thousand people in a concert hall with the recitation of a poem. Here is the audio from London:
Also...here is a Fresh Air interview with Leonard Cohen, where he talks about his (fantastic) Book of Longing.
What is Irtiqa?
Irtiqa is Salman Hameed's blog. A few years ago (before Facebook killed many of the blogs), it used to track stories of science & religion, especially those related to Muslim societies. That is still one of its foci, but now it dovetails more of Salman's interests including film, astronomy, science fiction, and science outreach in both Pakistan and the US.
Irtiqa literally means evolution in Urdu. But it does not imply only biological evolution. Instead, it is an all encompassing word used for evolution of the universe, biological evolution, and also for biological/human development. While it has created confusion in debates over biological evolution in South Asia, it provides a nice integrative name for this blog. For further information, contact Salman Hameed.
The blog banner is designed by Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad. You can find all his creative endeavors at Orangie.
Salman Hameed
Salman is an astronomer and Associate Professor of Integrated Science & Humanities at Hampshire College, Massachusetts. Currently, he is working on understanding the rise of creationism in contemporary Islamic world and how Muslims view the relationship between science & religion. He is also working with historian Tracy Leavelle at Creighton University to analyze reconciliation efforts between astronomers and Native Hawaiians over telescopes on top of sacred Mauna Kea in Hawaii. He teaches “History and Philosophy of Science & Religion” with philosopher Laura Sizer, and “Science in the Islamic World”, both at Hampshire College. Salman and Laura Sizer are also responsible for the ongoing Hampshire College Lecture Series on Science & Religion, and you can find videos of all these lectures below. Contact information here.
LABELS
- Arab Spring
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Blog Archive
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2009
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May
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- Hoodbhoy on Pakistan's nuclear test anniversary
- Cults, sects, and the Scientology trial
- Scientology on trial in France
- A congress to analyze the Galileo Affair
- Sufi Jihad in Somalia
- Taking the six-day creation story on...science
- South Asian attitudes toward education for women
- Natural-born supernaturalists
- Hunting aliens
- Witch hunts in Gambia
- Journalistic ethics and outing Raelians
- Getting closer on solving the origins of life ques...
- The Taliborg!
- Inanity square: Denyse O'Leary on Harun Yahya
- Off-Topic: Go see Leonard Cohen Live
- Name worshiping and the mathematics of infinity
- Poisoning of students and a map of conflict
- Emma and the tone of "Origin of Species"
- Evolution and functionality of religions
- Films tackling religion
- Documentary brings Muslims boldly into the 19th ce...
- Can we call creationism a "superstitious nonsense"?
- Roger Ebert on death
- Congressman Mike Pence on evolution
- More astronomy news from Pakistan
- Madrasas in Punjab and the recruitment of suicide ...
- LHC and a lesson in probabilities
- Reasons for switching religions
- Zakir Naik's rant against evolution
- Study of irreligion
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May
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1 comments:
I saw him in Zurich last fall and it was one of the greatest concerts I have ever seen!
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