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Dec 31.2010
Hi there, folks. Just wanted to bring this to your attention if you’re interested. It’s an interview I did with Le Doigt dans L’Oeil. You have to know French though!
READ INTERVIEW
Dec 26.2010
Just watched “Charles Laughton Directs The Night of the Hunter”, the “Making of” on the second disc in the fantastic Bluray edition of “The Night of the Hunter”.
First, of course I checked out the quality of the feature! Looks fabulous. I’m going to wait to watch the actual film with somebody else who maybe hasn’t seen it yet. Somebody who I feel will love it as much as me…
Back to the “Making of”... It really is so much more than that! Basically they piece back together the film from apparently 8 hours of out-takes. It’s absolutely fascinating. First of all, I’m left in awe of Laughton, Winters and Gish. I mean, of course Mitchum is fantastic, but Laughton, Winters and Gish are like magicians. It’s such a mysterious process to watch them sculpt out these honest, hyper-expressive performances.
They show a little bit about each of the main characters, and they are very generous about who is covered. It’s really everyone with more than a sentence of dialogue… Which really tells a lot about the brilliance of the script. All of the characters are so essential and full of color.
Shelley Winters was apparently the wild-card actress on the set. Her acting style is quite different from all of the others. And it’s absolutely amazing to watch her sink deeper and deeper into her performance.
I have to admit, I had tears streaming down my face through long portions of this movie. Yes, I’m one of those. Haha, thought about Double Rainbow at one point. Jesus, am I that kind of buffoon. Yes.
But this dvd is even better than I could have imagined! Best Christmas gift ever!
Dec 22.2010
Hello there, folks
Just wanted to write an end of the year blog, although there certainly might be more.
2010 was really a great one for me in so many ways. For one thing, I performed very special shows in 4 foreign countries, France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. On each of these shows I met some really wonderful people. There’s something so great about festivals abroad. Something that brings out the optimist in everyone. Something that makes a utopia out of every place.
Anyway, I just have to give heartfelt thanks to Sylvain Rebut-Minotti, the folks at Infiné, Patricia Gondres, Elisa Bogliotti, Elisa Casetta, Elena Zapata, and the members of I Am Your Autopilot. Truly, you all have meant so much to me and I will always be grateful for the inspiration and love you gave me.
As well I need to thank my incredibly inspiring singing teacher, Dr. William Riley. He’s one of the wisest individuals I have ever met, and for all the discoveries he’s helped me to find, I owe him massive thanks as well.
I feel it’s important to thank all my friends, new and old. Old and new collaborators. Liuh-Wen Ting, the violist who has been such an inspiration to me as well.
Oh, man, Chris Evans, great dj from Wolverhampton! Thank you so much for being a beacon of light for music artists!
Let’s face it… the music industry is in a bit of a strange place. You can look at it in one of two ways: as an ominous labyrinth, or a great adventure. It is thanks to all of these people that I have enjoyed the shifts and tremors and found inspiration.
Finally, I owe so much love to my small family, to Hector, Diana, Marisa, Max and Caliban.
OK, corny rant over! HAPPY HOLIDAYS ALL! And here’s to 2011 being fruitful and wonderful!
Song In the Cavern (the Drummer) by fredoviola
I IS IN MANCHESTER!!!!Dec 14.2010
...and I’m FREEZING MY BUTT OFF! I arrived this morning, had a really nice chat with my old pal Graeme, in whose house I’m staying. He then left me alone to go to work and I find it so cold! I’m wearing a tshirt, heavy shirt, two sweaters, a scarf and a sheep skin jacket and I’m still freezing! I have no doubt whatsoever that it’s just me. But jeeeeeezzzzz…..
Anyway, wow, I have been feeling so inspired lately! Working on so much new material! In fact, in a few days or so I should be releasing a new recording as a kind of holiday treat. This week will be spent rehearsing for Saturday night’s show at the Deaf Institute in Manchester. Pictures and hopefully some stories will follow.
HuescaDec 01.2010