He’s stuck with my still wide-eyed self repeatedly gushing over the wonders of the acoustic gig with Joey Cape and Tony Sly this past weekend in Montreal. I’m still talking about it.

It was one of those shows that felt like you were surrounded by awesome folks and had the atmosphere of a campfire thanks to the acoustic vibe. I laughed throughout the onstage banter and sang along with every single lyric. Fangirl!

I’ve never seen a multi-tasker as skilled as Joey Cape. Witness as he performs flawlessly as he has his hair cut on stage.

And Tony Sly played one of my favourite songs ever towards the end of the night. A song so bone-crushingly sickly sweet that I was tearing up as I held hands with my husband. Sigh. Aging punk rock love just feels so good.

Local promoters Extensive Enterprise and L’écurie brought together a great bunch of performers in the folk-punk line of tunage and I can’t thank them enough for putting on this show.

The evening opened with the frontman from  The Loved Ones – Dave Hause who delivered- even if the crowd was really lukewarm. I adored his set and was so stoked when he rocked out on an acoustic Tegan and Sara song.

You owe it to yourself to check out both his bands as well as his solo material. His voice is distinct and carried throughout the walls of the narrow bar. Amazing.

Cavaliers were up next and admittedly were a bit too radio-friendly for my taste. They did have a few songs that caught my attention but sadly, after a little too long of a guitar solo in the first song they opened with, I was already a bit biased and anxious for the more of the solo (and acoustic) acts to continue performing.

Tim Barry, the frontman from Avail was up next and he made me cry. Oh man. I cried. Talk about honest and earnest stage performance. His no-bullshit approach to living, his stories about the suffering he’s seen all added up to pluck every single last one of my heart strings. I bit my lower lip throughout his set for fear of bawling my head off. Best listen to his new album in private. It’s a beauty.

The crowd went wild when Chuck Ragan, from the glorious Hot Water Music performed a duet with Tim and then launched into some of his own solo material. As gravely-voiced as ever (or maybe even more than ever), Chuck brought it.

I have to thank the so very wonderful Eli Bissonette from Dare to Care records for hooking me up with tickets to this sold out show after hearing my pleas on Facebook. Do visit the Dare to Care website and support this great label with a great ethic as witnessed from this quote from their site:

“We try to keep a friendly and laid-back approach while working to expand our company, and this challenge influences our decisions,” explains Eli. “We could choose to release certain albums with the goal of making a lot of money; however, we are not prepared to put out music that doesn’t reflect who we are. To us, the important thing is not to sell a lot of records, but to release truly authentic music. Given the current state of Quebec’s music industry, this authenticity may not allow us to become rich, but it can be profitable. It’s all about finding the right bands.”

Rounding out this longwinded post, if you’re in Montreal make sure to check out Leatherface and Yesterday’s Ring on February 28th. I cant’ wait.

I just came across Dung-Dkar, The Tibetan Artist Collective of Montreal (TACM) while surfing for Tibetan language classes for a buddy of mine and wanted to share information about their group with you.

Dung-Dkar- The Tibetan Artist Collective of Montreal (TACM) is an initiative by Artists, both Tibetan Canadians and otherwise to preserve and promote the Tibetan Performing Arts as well as collaborate with other art forms to preserve and promote Tibetan arts and culture. It is a non-political, non-religious organization.

For those of you who attended H.H. the Dalai Lama’s talk in Montreal, you’ll recognize this group from their inspiring performances during this event.

Their website features a blog, listings of their performances as well as details on the members of their collective. They’re looking for volunteers, so if you’d like to lend a hand, don’t hesitate to drop them a line if you are interested.

Lovely illustration from It's all Yoga Baby

I’ve been really enjoying It’s all Yoga Baby and am always thrilled when I come across mindful blogs in my neighborhood of Montreal, since sadly they are so few and far between.

What I really appreciate is Rosanne’s no bullshit approach.In her words:

“The intention behind it’s all yoga, baby is to question, provoke thought and shine a critical light on yoga culture ~ but also to celebrate community, service, creativity, the independent spirit and good ol’ fun. I’m fascinated by how yoga is represented in popular culture, and I’m unabashedly anti-consumerist and highly skeptical of the increasing commercialization of yoga in the West.”

It was quite interesting to read this post in which she mentions that another yoga-blogger, YogaDawg speaks of 2009 being the year of the yoga-blogger. In their words:

“This was year of the yoga blogger with their relentless flailing amidst the shout-downs of increasing corporate branding and degradation of ‘true yoga’. To the surprise and amusement of some seasoned yoga bloggers, b-list yogis showed up to comment on their blogs and defended their life style against these snarky yoga malcontents.”

Sound familiar?

]]> http://fullcontactenlightenment.com/2010/01/its-all-yoga-baby-montreal-based-yogablog/feed/ 1 http://fullcontactenlightenment.com/2009/08/venerable-yongey-mingyur-rinpoche-in-montreal-august-2009/ http://fullcontactenlightenment.com/2009/08/venerable-yongey-mingyur-rinpoche-in-montreal-august-2009/#comments Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:53:38 +0000 TMcG http://fullcontactenlightenment.com/?p=993 Well it will be a very amazing weekend in Montreal with the visit of the Venerable Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche who will be here to provide a public talk based on his book titled “Joyful Wisdom” as well as a teaching session on “Embracing Change / Finding Freedom” at Centre Rigpe Dorje closing out with a “Guru Rinpoche” empowerment.

We’re so fortunate to be able to welcome such a joyous and inspiring teacher here in Montreal. I’m just thrilled to be able to be able to attend the teaching session.

“As well as the usual schedule of zazen, zazenkai and sesshin, it will include a monthly Sunday morning short sitting, monthly English and French beginner’s instruction sessions, a Zen Kitchen Basics course, community meals, training for the support positions of jikijitsu and shoji in the zendo, and an evening series on Zen Practice Fundamentals.”

The centre will need some help with their upcoming move, so if you have any time you’d like to donate, please give them a call to find out what is on their task list. If you wish to contribute financially, please visit the Zen Centre’s CanadaHelps page for more information.

Enpuku-ji/Centre Zen de la Main is an urban centre dedicated to the study and practice of Rinzai Zen Buddhism, one of the main schools of Zen in Asia.

The montage features many of my favourite things – dogs, punk rock, video games and sepia toned driving scenes.

And one of their few videos: Freedom

The Nils were one of those bands that just hit me right in the heart when I heard them. Melodic, poppy, working-class music that was too good to be true and yet overlooked. Destined for greatness, they were the underdogs who never broke through.

The Montreal Mirror wrote a great retrospective of the band in this article which documents the tragic demise of lead singer Alex Soria.

Check this NPR feature on the posthumous album ‘Next of Kin’ & do listen to the song “Love to Hate”.

A few weeks ago, I had met up with a friend who I had completed the “One Year to Live” program with and she remarked that she was so taken by the most recent cover of the Shambhala Sun which features a beaming Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche eminating from the glossy print.

“We Always Have JOY” it proclaims. And what a beaming visage. And again with the smiling on his book covers…

I’m not sure if it’s an outtake, but I found one photo of an unsmiling Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche.

Something tells me he is getting ready to smile though…

]]> http://fullcontactenlightenment.com/2009/05/joyful-wisdom-venerable-yongey-mingyur-rinpoche-in-montreal/feed/ 1 http://fullcontactenlightenment.com/2009/03/montreal-buddhism-megamix-upcoming-events/ http://fullcontactenlightenment.com/2009/03/montreal-buddhism-megamix-upcoming-events/#comments Wed, 25 Mar 2009 23:10:27 +0000 TMcG http://fullcontactenlightenment.com/?p=768 Get your social calendar ready as there are a whole bunch of events coming up in the next little while for all of the Montreal Buddhist community to get their no-selves into.

March 28th & 29th -A teaching on Gampopa’s “The Jewel Ornament of Liberation” will be held at the Rigpe Dorje Centre.

A workshop on the fundamentals of shamatha meditation titled the “Fresh Heart Meditation Workshop” will be held at the Nalandabodhi Centre on Thursdays from 7-pm, April 16th- June 11th. For more information, visit their website.

April 25 and 26, 2009- Lama Tenzin Yongdu will be conducting a Meditation Workshop on the subject of The Wheel of Life: The Nidanas: The 12 links of Conditioned Existence. For more information check out the Rigpe Dorje website mentioned above.

As mentioned in a previous post, Brad Warner will be speaking on 2 occasions here in Montreal, April 27th and 28th at Dawson College and Casa Del Popolo. You can check the rest of the teaching links at this link.

June 12, 13 and 14th The Venerable Bardor Tulku Rinpoche will be teaching on the topic of Buddhanature (based on the Aspiration Prayer by the Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje) at the Rigpe Dorje Centre.

So a few weeks ago I picked up Brad Warner’s new book “Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate -A Trip Through Death, Sex, Divorce and Spiritual Celebrity in Search of the True Dharma” and with a title this all-encompassing, it truly give a sense of how much Brad manages to cover in this, his third book.
As has always happened with Brad’s books, I’m never left feeling wishy-washy or zombied-out-blissful about his writing style or subject matter. He always manages to evoke a visceral reaction from me. Something which I vitally appreciate in a writer and in someone who is so vocal on the path in a teaching role. I felt the same feelings towards Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. The stories told about this great ‘crazy wisdom’ master would sometimes make me feel that I was a flake for being so dedicated to this teacher and the Shambhala tradition. Then click… I’d catch myself in judgmental mind. Racing thoughts of how I expect teachers to behave.The expectations. The projections.

Then click… I’d think back to how much I hated being judged as a 16 year old blue haired punk. How I may not have always made the best decisions. How I sometimes am not so pious myself. How my standards shouldn’t necessarily be the model for another person’s behaviour.

Brad’s book is an honest story of a guy who’s just trying to do his best. He’s working with what he’s been dealt and that doesn’t make him any more or less special than the rest of us (sorry Brad- I’m hoping egolessness will prevail in that you don’t take offense to my claim that you’re not special!!!).

In many ways it’s best to seek out those teachers who challenge you, rather than the one’s that pat you on the head and tell you that you are doing great grasshopper. This book was a better read that any of some of the so-called dharma books that I’ve read, purely on the basis of it provoking me in this manner.

For those of you who live in Montreal, Brad Warner will be speaking on 2 occasions:

April 27, 2009 (Mon) Dawson College, 3040 Rue Sherbrooke Est, Montréal, QC H1W, Canada
April 28, 2009 (Tues) 7 pm, Casa Del Popolo 4873 St Laurent, Montréal, QC H2T 1R6, Canada

and for those who live elsewhere, check out this link for information on if the ‘Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate’ road tour will pull into your town.