A gift from my Berlin Stef. That's me with the drum stick and that's her friend Janet with the guitar. Skin meltingly scary music - sounds like one of my bands alright. Happy Halloween!
Some wonderful shots of the video shoot I did with Bob Gallagher and Colum O'Dwyer, mentioned here and here. Most of the photos were taken by Colum, but I took the last four, if not the last six, of which I'm proud - I like when point and shoot turns up good. (As for the shoot, it looks better in colour, shhhh!)
I just spotted this on panti's blog: a short film by Fionn Kidney and Caroline Campbell - who I have had the pleasure of collaborating with before - documenting some of the gorgeous activities and people of THISISPOPBABY at Electric Picnic, and I'm in it! Hoopla! 00.24 painting Leanne Hartes wee face. The music is strangely awesome too...
"Ah! (wipes away a tear) Waves of nostalgia! Waves!"
A gift from my Mammy. An email forwarded from her Sister.
I debated whether to post the words to which this image was attached, but I did post them and after a few days, I deleted them. Then, on Saturday night George Carlin made me regret deleting them, so I am re-posting them, with the video of the comedian extraordinaire below.
The story, it seems, is some sort of weird (the words are, and my Mammy agrees, "weird"), reductionist, christian oddity that someone has managed to pollute inboxes with because of the beautiful photos they have paired with their baffling text.
Carlin on the other hand, he is clev-er!
NOAH
In the year 2008, the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in the United States , and said: Once again, the earth has become wicked and over-populated, and I see the end of all flesh before me. Build another Ark and save 2 of every living thing along with a few good humans. He gave Noah the blueprints, saying: You have 6 months to build the Ark before I will start the unending rain for 40 days and 40 nights. Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah weeping in his yard - but no Ark. Noah! He roared, I'm about to start the rain! Where is the Ark? Forgive me, Lord, begged Noah, 'but things have changed. I needed a building permit. I've been arguing with the inspector about the need for a sprinkler system. My neighbors claim that I've violated the neighborhood zoning laws by building the Ark in my yard and exceeding the height limitations. We had to go to the Development Appeal Board for a decision. Then the Department of Transportation demanded a bond be posted for the future costs of moving power lines and other overhead obstructions, to clear the passage for the Ark 's move to the sea. I told them that the sea would be coming to us, but they would hear nothing of it. Getting the wood was another problem. There's a ban on cutting local trees in order to save the spotted owl. I tried to convince the environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the owls - but no go! When I started gathering the animals, an animal rights group sued me. They insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will. They argued the accommodations were too restrictive, and it was cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in a confined space. Then the EPA ruled that I couldn't build the Ark until they'd conducted an environmental impact study on your proposed flood. I'm still trying to resolve a complaint with the Human Rights Commission on how many minorities I'm supposed to hire for my building crew. Immigration and Naturalization are checking the green-card status of most of the people who want to work. The trades unions say I can't use my sons. They insist I have to hire only Union workers with Ark-building experience. To make matters worse, the IRS seized all my assets, claiming I'm trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species. So, forgive me, Lord, but it would take at least 10 years for me to finish this Ark. Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow stretched across the sky. Noah looked up in wonder and asked, 'You mean you're not going to destroy the world?' 'No,' said the Lord. 'The government beat me to it!
Cixous has been forced into action by yet another invitation from Skinny Wolves (they are like, our only fans) to play support for the astounding Xiu Xiu and Former Ghosts as part of this years Darklight Film Festival. Wanting to develop the visual element of my Cixous experiments, this is the encouragement I need. I have a few ideas about what I am going to do on the night.
I have been working on a video for Your Our Narcissus (It's a play, it's a blog, it's a song but it's 'your' in this case and the song came first): a funfair as captured on a crap camera.
As a teenager, I had very particular associations with and adoration for the carnival; the suburban carnival that is, the fun fair. I was envious of the carnies, their crusty appearance and their nomadic lifestyle. To rival any giddy teenage fit, I had ecstatic bouts of laughter on the waltzers, they were my favourite. My best friend and I would go to the fun fair everyday after school to have one go on the waltzers. We'd fish for lost coins under the seats before the ride began and then, our faces pressed against the back of the cart as the relatively ugly but somehow appealing boy-carnie spun us around and around, we'd laughing to the point of pain and occasionally to the point of pissing our pants.
The carnival was important because our suburban school girl lives were tediously boring. The music I make with Cixous is a reflection of that time in many respects; the excitement of dance music, the release of dancing, the sensation of spinning round and round on a big machine and the unfamiliarity that it injected into our otherwise frustratingly unstimulating surroundings. Just as we found escape in the local disco or under our hoods or covers, in the darkness of our bedrooms with our head phones in and the music up loud, so too did we relish the moments of physical elation provided by the fair ground.
Unfortunately I have been musically cold recently and feeling quite detached from that mode of production, but last night, after working on my video for awhile, I stayed up real late, listened to some unfinished tracks and started writing something new, the first thing I have written in ages that I am actually pleased with. Now my natural inclination towards musical work calls me for more attention.
"One night I saw a dog in my apartment. It was a big dog, tall and black and lean, with pointy ears and long taut slender legs. It had black eyes and auburn tips on its face and feet and it didn't move at all. I was afraid and held my breath and the dog did too."
Two aerialist friends of mine are performing on Friday in Copper Ally at a new Cabaret Night called Tallulah's Secret a night of "devious underground dancing". I'm doing the make-up for this mischievous duo!
I've been anticipating the addition of this photo to my blog for your pursuing. It's a shot taken by the young Will Eames of my Passion of St. Blackbird performance in Smithfield Saturday gone. The place was like a gospel church inside with screaming, fainting and rambunctious praising of the powers above for the joys and sensations of the Passion.
It took three days for me to fully recover from the emotional quagmire evoked by my channeling of Teresa of Ávila, for there was some genuine Goddess power on stage that night. Pity the nature of cabaret means 4 minute performances for I felt so at home on stage that I did not want to leave. It was the best experience of energetic reciprocation from an audience I have ever felt, and the beginning of something vast and wonderful. It has provoked a number of thought tumblings and things to be said.
As usual, the opportunity and impulse to create and collaborate has not slowed.
I've recently started a collaboration with film maker (and fellow fragmented creative) Bob Gallagher. We are planning a number of video projects together, some for me and some for him and all for both of us and others. He also supplies me with delicious gluten free bread. These are some stills from a short movie he is making where I star as a doomed (comically inept in my case) tightrope walker who exists in a mysterious world of jealousy and tragedy. These are from an initial technical shoot we had earlier this week, the final video will be shot in stages in the near future. The end product will be a music video for Midnight Burlectro star guitarist Leanne Harte.
