DCTR two years later

Two years ago today, was a very powerful and emotional day for me. After waiting six months, David Cook was releasing his self titled album. Getting up when it was still dark to line up at the(no longer with us) Virgin Megastore in Time Square (Now the Disney Store) in order to be one of the first people to own the album might seem a bit extreme but it meant that I would get a ticket to the album release Party that night. Sure I had seen David Cook and the (not yet at the time named) Anthemic (original members) a week before at a benefit but this was a night to be cherished, and I had to be a part of it. I also had something important to talk to Cook about, and it couldn’t wait. The Following is what I wrote the following morning:

Thanking David Cook

Tonight I managed to get into the Hard Rock Café to see David Cook’s exclusive performance for the first something-hundred people to buy his album, and when autograph time came I figured I found a chance to thank him for helping me through my aunt’s illness with his music. As I neared the table I felt like I was going to throw up I was shaking so much, I didn’t want to cry and I didn’t want to pass out.

When I handed him the album and he looked up I just spewed out, “David, you can’t imagine how much your music means to me. My aunt was diagnosed with cancer this past March and she died Sunday and your music, some of the lyrics are almost straight out of my head, and I don’t mean to say that it’s a good thing and I’m so sorry for you”

David cuts me off: ” no no it’s ok”

me: “and I mean, it’s just so nice to know there is someone else out there who just gets it”

At this point we both have tears in our eyes, my BFF says that she’s going to cry, and his mother is crying behind us.
He stands up and reaches across the table and says: “oh come here” and grabs me in the biggest bear hug that felt like it lasted forever. After we let go (and he waited for me to let go first which I felt was so sweet) I told him: the funeral is tomorrow but I just had to come down here and tell you how much your music means to me,” and he looks at me with that beautiful face (that BFF said had a genuine look of sadness) and says “that you so much for coming down here and for sharing that.”


That moment will always stick with me, not because he was this amazing singer but because he gave me what I needed more than I even knew in that hug.

BRAZIL, TERRY GILLIAM, AND ME

This week I watched the 1985 sci-fi antiauthoritarian film BRAZIL, which was directed and co written by Terry Gillam. I struggle to say that this was my first time seeing the movie, which has hints of George Orwell's novel 1984, as I once rented it when my friend thought it would be fun to rent every single post-Python film that any member of Monty Python ever made (a failed attempt I might add.) I don't remember it though, and am pretty sure I must have turned it off or completely tuned it out. However, I decided recently that I would give the acclaimed BRAZIL another chance, something that I had recently done with the director himself. This time, not only did I reach the ending, which made me leap out of my seat not once but twice, but I thoroughly enjoy the entire thing.

Perhaps the reason that I didn't enjoy it the first go around was because it was coming after laugh out loud movies like SPLITTING HEIRS and A FISH CALLED WANDA and having something so complicated and though provoking didn't interest me at the time (I was still in school and who wants to think on their day off?) or perhaps, having just come out of a History and Purpose of Government (you know highlights of how great a country we are and how the system works) Class, I had not yet developed my antiestablishment attitudes enough to understand what Gilliam was getting at. While I’m sure both of these are true, I think a lot of it has to do with Gilliam himself or rather how my view of him has changed. When I first saw Python, I proudly proclaimed he was my least favorite member because his cartoons bothered me and he barely appeared in the show. At this point I was only watching Python as pure entertainment but as I delved deeper into the Pythons themselves with Google alerts and books written about them, I realized that my least favorite was actually Terry Jones but sort of ignored Gilliam all together. His directing was visually stunning, and BROTHERS GRIMM was an amazing take on fairy tales but that was as deep into his work as I wanted or needed to go.

After the accident three months ago and subsequent loss of DJ, I mentioned turning to Python to make me smile, when I did I realized the animations were actually worth not fast forwarding and TG did in fact appear in a lot of sketches he was just in heavy makeup and elaborate costumes. Furthermore, he was really funny, sometimes with barely saying a word; he even played the MAD JAILER in THE LIFE OF BRIAN which is my go to scene when I need a quick laugh. around this time I realized that IMAGINARIUM OF DR PARNASSUS was on DVD and put it on hold on Netflix which lead me to read and Youtube interviews about the movie which, along with all of the Python stuff I was watching and new (to me) books that I was reading, made me realize that he was a really fun interview and lead me to go further back. Then I read TUNSNANAIN HOLIDAY which was a book about the making of LIFE OF BRAIN from a fan lucky enough to be invited to the set’s perspective and I learned all about the movie making process and so on and so forth, down the rabbit hole I fell.

Aside from his amazing talent and work ethic here are some of the things I like most about Gilliam.
*He is still married to his only wife, Maggie, whom he met when she was the Python makeup girl and their three children worked with him many times over the years including all three taking part in IMAGINARIUM. Family is very important to me so the fact that it is to him too impresses me. And for the record only two of the five living Pythons are still with their first wives.
*He said in an interview that his biggest fear is not death but rather becoming old. He prides himself on being a child even though he turns 70 this month. I want to be like that, he doesn’t seem to care what people think about him, he likes himself and if you remember WAVING THE FREAK FLAG neither do I.
*Imagination and Imaginarium:
Terry wrote IMAGINARIUM (one of my new favorite movies) which in itself speaks volumes about the imagination the man has. He once mentioned that his mind is so vivid that he actually though that he could fly because all of his instincts told him that he had so, as an adult mind you, he had to lay on the ground and attempt to levitate. He failed but the fact that he tried (without the aid of drugs) made me smile.
*Terry gave up his American Citizenship in the middle of the last decade (he had duel citizenship after he became a citizen of Great Britain in 1968) and kind of said without outright saying it that it was because of George W. Bush. I can’t tell you how many times I said I wanted to move to Canada because of that man so hearing someone actually fulfill my half serious empty promise made me well up with as much pride as when Obama was elected.



This brings us back to BRAZIL. From the time I was a fresh faced first time voter in 2004 (ready to elect the new President, about to change the world) to today a lot of things have happened to make me hate politicians John Edwards and distrust Government so now that movie resonates. Also, it teaches the valuable lesson the life isn’t always the way it appears which, lately, is an idea that I kind of like. An idea that goes along with this line from IMAGINARIUM:

Remember

Nothing's permanent

Not even death

Someday you will find me, caught beneath the landslide...

David Cook performed at the Ronald McDonald House benefit in NYC this week. He kicked it off with Heroes with an interlude of Oasis' Champagne Supernova and, ever since I first heard that song, I've been in love with it. Here is most of his set. Enjoy

Baby Camilla Update 2

Last night Camilla took a hard fall- an infection got really strong and caused "her vitals to go haywire and she started bleeding inside (renal and into her lungs). They suctioned, intubated, gave blood products, volume expander, more antibiotics, pain meds, etc."

She is stable now. Please keep praying that she has more fight left after that episode.

A little music for your Thursday night

I bought tickets to see an EVE 6 show on Monday thinking that Lion of Ido would be opening because they were opening their early show that night. It ended up that Ido wasn't but I did get to congratulate him on his engagement and spent the whole night hanging with his band and to top it off EVE 6 was amazing. Anyway so, since I didn't get to hear Ido I figured I'd share one of his really good songs with you all here.

This was Iota Club in Arlington Va, where I saw him in May.

New (and old) MWK

If you don't know who MWK is (or why you should be excited) go check out Music Monday: Midwest Kings

As a Halloween gift for loyal fans, band founders Neal Tiemann and Andy Skib released an all acoustic album called THE SANCTUARY LIVE SESSIONS. It consists of 8 of their previously released tracks, for the first time acoustic and two all new songs. The vocals (Skib as lead and Tiemann backing him up) are exquisite and hearing these normally hard songs stripped down, heavenly.

To download, go to http://mwkmusic.com/ where the album is pay what you want (itunes is over a dollar per song, just saying) and for if you still haven't heard the originals, see my previous post and get those albums.




And as an added bonus, here is a video of the band back in 2006 that someone sent me a few months ago

The Short Film taking on the Cursed Raceway

Legend of the “Talladega Raceway Curse.”
The curse has been blamed as the cause of a series of unusual and unpleasant incidents that occurred at the 2.66-mile superspeedway over the years. While things did happen at other tracks, they were never as mystifying or eerie as they were at Talladega.
The story goes that the curse began centuries ago, when Andrew Jackson drove the Indians out of the valley in which the speedway is located today. As the Indians made their trek away from their homeland, a medicine man stood atop a hill, turned toward the valley and put an eternal hex on it.
OK, it makes for a good story, anyway.
But then unsavory things began to happen at the speedway. Driver Bobby Isaac was racing Bud Moore’s Ford when he claimed he heard a voice telling him to get out of the car, which he did. Driver Larry Smith clipped the wall in the third turn in what everyone assumed was a minor mishap. Smith was killed. He had removed the padding from his helmet to protect his pompadour.

Several cars were mysteriously sabotaged while under lock and key on the eve of a race. A driver’s mother was struck and killed by a pickup truck in the paddock area while her son was racing. Two drivers, nearly a straightaway apart and the only ones on the track during practice, mysteriously managed to crash. An ARCA driver barely outran a tornado that roared along the back straightaway during qualifying.
During a race, Jimmy Horton and Stanley Smith were involved in a crash that sent Horton’s car soaring over the wall. It ended up a shattered hulk outside the speedway. Remarkably, he was unhurt but Smith sustained serious injuries.
In 1993, Davey Allison lost his life in a freakish accident that occurred while he was trying to land his helicopter in the infield. His passenger, Red Farmer, suffered major injuries.

I am not a racing fan, and I have never even seen TALLEDEGA NIGHTS: THE LEGEND OF RICKY BOBBY starring Will Farrell, so I didn’t know this. In fact I have never seen a race, not even a part of a race. I am so oblivious when it comes to the sport I wouldn’t even know what a part would be called; inning? Round maybe? Whatever it is I can honestly say I have no interest in ever seeing one. For this reason, it seems kind of strange that I would be talking about a movie based around this premise but I am anyway.

The short film grabbed my attention because it combined several things that I enjoy. It was directed by the eccentric but brilliant Terry Gilliam (Brazil, Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus) and stars actor Justin Kirk, probably best known to audiences as Andy on WEEDS but who grabbed my attention when he starred in the indie play turned film LOVE, VALOUR, COMPASSION and made me a forever fan with his underrated portrail of Prior in HBO’s ANGELS IN AMERICA. The 18 minute story, turned out to be a comedy done in a mockumentary style (great for horror averse people like me) and, best of all, you don’t need to like NASCAR or even know anything about it to enjoy.

To see it for yourself go to

http://www.LegendofHallowdega.com/

where it is free to view, another plus!