Bon Apetit! Julia Child 1912-2004

One of my favourite people in the whole wide world has passed away. She was a great hero to me and truly inspriational. I give her full credit for instilling my passion for good food and the enjoyment of all things gastronomic. I can remember religiously watching her show on PBS as a young boy and i think that show was unquestionably the one that sparked my addiction to cooking shows. Her passion for cooking and her absolute delightfully infectious personality radiated through that TV and made me want to become the kitchen goddess that she was.

Ah Julia, even though you had not been on TV in years, I will always fondly remember you like you were my great aunt. It warms my heart every time I think about scrambling to the Cook Book Store to get my copy of "The Way To Cook" signed by you. I nervously told her that it was truly, truly an honour and a pleasure to meet her. Her stooped head looked up at me and she smiled and warbled "Why, thank you...".

Thank you Julia for the mark you have left on the world and for touching my life ever so briefly but ever so deeply.

Bon Apetit!

Your loving fan...

Re-Inventing the Purple Reign

I've recently had the great fortune of seeing 2 of my favourite music icons live in concert: Madonna/Madge/Esther and Prince/"glyph" aka The Artist Formerly Known as Prince who is now Known as Prince Again.

Prince - "Musicology"
I've been having a lot of trouble coming up with enough superlatives to describe this concert. Suffice it to say that the concert was THE ABSOLUTE BEST FUNKIN' concert i have ever had the good fortune to see. It seriously would not matter if I never saw another concert for as long as live. My cousin and I lucked out big time and were able to score third row seats! Prince was so close that it literally seemed like he was looking and singing right at me! The amount of talent and charisma that emanates from that little body of his is unbelievable. From the moment that the NPG strolled on to the cross-shaped stage to Prince emerging from the centre of the stage in a purple jacket and white outfit amid a shaft of smoke I knew that I was in for a great time. "School is in!" he declared.
Like most people, I became a fan in the early eighties (i can probably trace it back to Little Red Corvette and 1999). His perfect blend of funky R&B, jazzy grooves, rockin jams and soulful sexy crooning got me hooked since then. I've followed along with him through weird missteps like Under a Cherry Moon and through his enigmatic protest 'glyph' phase when he was still churning out great music. I'm still missing a few discs to complete my collection... i digress..
This NPG is an incredibly tight band and each of them a great musician in their own right with the likes of Candy Dulfer and Maceo Parker(!). It was obvious that Prince himself was a big fan of his band giving lotsa props to each of them throughout the whole show. Prince's reminder that what we were witnessing was all LIVE, "...aint no MTV/MuchMusic lipsynchin' in my house..." was a sardonic joke.
Prince has renewed my faith in popular music as a true art form. There are very very few people out there whose success has been a direct result of enormous talent, passion and hard work. I came away from that show saying, "If I never see another concert as long as I live, it would not matter." That concert will be extremely hard to top!