Leonard

I was never a great fan of Leonard Cohen. I tried. I knew he was an important figure and I recognised and respected that, but personally I couldn't get beyond the tuneless young man with a guitar and an obsession with sex and death.

Mrs Sleepyduck, on the other hand, had been a devotee since her teenage years. She was touched by that which passed me by. So, when it was announced that he would be playing at Edinburgh Castle last July, there was no question that Mrs S would go. I had no objection to accompanying her to see a living legend.

I was converted. I'm not going to try to find the words to express what a wonderful evening it was. Undoubtedly one of the greatest experiences of my life.

The CD and DVD you see above were released on Monday and arrived from Amazon yesterday. (I already had a good blip for yesterday, so I saved them for today.) They are a record of his performance in London on 17 July 2008, the day after we saw him in Edinburgh. The background is the tour programme.

This blip is in honour of Leonard. May he be with us for very many years to come :-)