(Will it be a) Happy New Year (?)

Wednesday January 9, 2008 8 PM

Still trying to come to grips with the fact that Elliott Price is in his 50's....David Bowie turned 60 this week...and Bobby Hull, 69 earlier this month, looks like all those vodkas have finally caught up with him...Me?...Thankful that I still have the "I survived Crescent Street 1982" t-shirt in my closet (always good to check it out every Christmas) but man, I keep getting wider everytime I see myself on TV....Happy 2008

The Habs seem to be getting better...credit to Guy Carbonneau and the coaching staff for the rapid development of so many young players....and apparently finding the right line combos....imagine if they had one more slam dunk top six forward to play on Saku Koivu's right wing...normally I shut it down during the holidays but actually looked forward to watching them play each night...they've been picking up points at a brisk pace even though their goaltending has dipped dramatically...Carey Price will be fine...The Bulldogs play 9 of their next 10 games in Hamilton...hopefully he'll play 'em all, get his game and technique back to where it should be and then come back and help the Habs because Huet will not steal as many points...Bryan Smolinski ready to return?...The guy has been a useful NHL player for a lot of years but unless he picks up all parts of his game the team would be better off with Kyle Chipchura...trade winds starting to blow? (Love what TSN's Gord Miller said about trade rumours, "They're started by two kinds of people; 13 year olds who live in their parent's basement and 30 year olds who live in their parent's basement"...Also love what Gord said to Jack Todd in the press room prior to Tuesday's Habs-Hawks game; "Go fuck yourself"...)

Got to see two superb movies over the holiday, "Juno" and "The Great Debaters"...Juno starring incredibly talented Canadian Ellen Page (watch "Hard Candy" before you see Juno) and written by former stripper Diablo Cody...

http://diablocody.blogspot.com/

http://www.myspace.com/diablocody

Debaters directed by and starring Denzel Washington plus Forest Whitaker and Whitaker's son Denzel...based on a true story of an all-black school in the U.S. south in the 1930's...

http://www.thegreatdebatersmovie.com/

Also watched plenty of music DVD's including two history-making events:
The Other Side Of The Mirror; Bob Dylan Live At Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965 *****
The Jimi Hendrix Experience Live At Monterey *****

No Doubt about it, the folkies booed Dylan when he plugged in at Newport in '65. The fact that this seminal moment is captured on film (by director Murray Lerner) is remarkable...So is Dylan's performance when he is called back (yes there were plenty in the crowd who loved it... they had already heard "Like A Rolling Stone" on the radio that summer) and plays "Mr. Tambourine Man" and the ultimate kiss-off to the staunch left wing folk crowd, "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue". Dylan's rendition of "Chimes Of Freedom" the previous summer is also transcendent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3NN7F74Uq8

Two years after Bob plugged in, Hendrix was introduced to America, with his two British mates Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell...the stories of following The Who are legendary...but to watch the whole set again is to realize that thousands at Monterey were stunned by an artist who put them through something they had never previously been through. And then Jimi "sacrificed" his guitar. For love.

http://www.jimihendrix.com/index.php

Peace.