Well, I Did It Again: Damian Lewis at Boisdale of Canary Wharf

“A Damian Lewis live show contains fun. Rock’n’Roll. Good music. And an amazing band that I play with.” — Damian Lewis at Latitude Festival Press Day

Yes, sir! All those coupled with a truly engaged and energetic crowd at Boisdale of Canary Wharf made my 48 hour lightning trip to London more than worth it! And I am ready to tell all about it!

Firstly, I thank my brilliant friend Patrick (who happens to be the drummer Will’s dad) for convincing me to go! Believe it or not, I was on the fence since we are now used to going three or four gigs at a time on tours. The Boisdale gig is a one off and it is of course wonderful if you live in London, or somewhere in Europe (short and cheap flights) but you need to factor in a lot in your decision if you fly from the US like me. The good news is that I could get my ticket with miles and Patrick gets a table for us. I tell my friends that I’m going and when they check they find out that the venue does not sell single tickets. And here is my Whatsapp exchange with Patrick when I share this information with him! Continue reading “Well, I Did It Again: Damian Lewis at Boisdale of Canary Wharf”

“From the Trader’s Desk”:
Bobby Axelrod – a Man and his Music *UPDATED FOR SEASON 7*

In each season of Billions, at least one episode has featured a song and t-shirt of a metal band that are Axe’s favorites. (Even an Axe-less Season 6 featured Mötley Crüe’s “Wild Side“.)

The writers of Billions make purposeful choices with music placement, so we know that these decisions are made to tell a story, shine a light on who the character is, or to set a tone. Gingersnap and I were holding out Season 7 will finally be the year of Iron Maiden but it was not to be. However, I do believe that somewhere out in the multiverse Bobby Axelrod is rocking a “Number of the Beast” t-shirt while listening to “Hallowed Be Thy Name” right before pulling the trigger on a billion dollar deal.

Now that the series in over,  let’s take a look back at a man and his music.

Continue reading ““From the Trader’s Desk”: Bobby Axelrod – a Man and his Music *UPDATED FOR SEASON 7*”

Let’s Salute Major Winters – the Rank and the Man – on Memorial Day

damianlewisdickwinters2
source: People Magazine

Today is Memorial Day – a day of remembrance honoring all men and women that died in active military service. And it gives us a great opportunity to salute all war heroes, and in particular Major Dick Winters and Easy Company.

I know a thing or two about war. My day job is to study and understand war. I have written academic articles on war, I have taught on war… and even though I can write about war for pages and talk about it for hours as a scholar, the human cost of war is still incomprehensible to me.

Let me take a moment and look at my own family. My maternal grandmother never knew her father because he was a soldier in WWI in the Eastern Front in Turkey, and he literally froze because of the cold as he fought against the Russians. My paternal grandmother never knew her father, either; because he was also a soldier in WWI and was killed by a shrapnel in Gallipoli as he fought against the Anzacs. Continue reading “Let’s Salute Major Winters – the Rank and the Man – on Memorial Day”

NotLinda Interviews Damianista about Fan Fun with Damian Lewis

Dear Damianista!

Thanks so much for the gift of Damian! I enjoyed your interview with him and that gave me a fun idea for Fan Fun! I’ve composed interview questions for YOU!

I’m certain we fans are also curious about the woman who curates the website.

So here is my interview “Fan Fun With Damianista.”

Hello Damianista, thank you for sitting down with us for a few questions. First I must point out that I was positively prescient when I described you years ago as a “pal” to Damian, over your objections!  “Of course I’m right, Bahar.”

Shall we?

Continue reading “NotLinda Interviews Damianista about Fan Fun with Damian Lewis”

Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis at Time Out London Spy Weekend

We all know Damian Lewis is not a stranger to spy stories. He played Hector Meredith, an MI5 agent, in John le Carre’s Our Kind of Traitor on big screen. Our beloved Nicholas Brody was a double agent in Homeland. Damian narrated real-life spy stories in the docu-drama Spy Wars with Damian Lewis. And we have now seen him as cold war era MI6 agent Nicholas Elliott in the fantastic  mini-series A Spy Among Friends. And today I will take you all back to “Time Out London Spy Weekend” in 2016 where Damian read from le Carre’s memoir The Pigeon Tunnel.

ENJOY!

One of my best friends from high school, who lives in Istanbul, and I, who live in the US, make a decision to meet somewhere in between and choose London as sort of a mid-point. We buy our tickets in February for our very anticipated London trip in May. And now that I am back from the trip, I just can’t help congratulate myself for randomly choosing the BEST week in May to be in London! Continue reading “Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis at Time Out London Spy Weekend”