collisionwork | Entries tagged with injuries

Oh, yes, Friday again. Better do the Random Ten before going out (B & I are doing some work for family today).

1. "Jumpin' Jack Flash" - Ananda Shankar - What It Is! Funky Soul and Rare Grooves

Didn't know I had a funky, sitar-led cover of this, but here it is . . .
2. "Concerning Your New Song" - Johnny Cash - Man In Black 1963-69

A monologue with music more than a song - just noticed I can hear the paper Cash is reading from rattling around as he turns the pages.
3. "Le Téléphon" - Nino Ferrer - Pop! Pop! Pigalle!

I dig the French Pop, but rarely do it have the funk. The backing track here, as usual, sounds ground out by some bored studio musicians, but damn if Nino don't sing the funk en français!
4. "Cosmic Jam" - Neil - Neil's Heavy Concept Album

Neil, from The Young Ones, discovers the perils of listening to extended hippie-jam music ("Oh no, here comes the big black skatey bit at the middle of the record . . !")
5. "Golden Hours" - Brian Eno - Vocal box set

Strangely lovely transition from the last track to this one, from comedy to sublimity.
6. "Rain Go Away" - Joe Tex - From the Roots Came the Rapper

Just noticed the album title, not sure if that really applies to this lovely bit of soul, but whatever . . .
7. "Temptation" - Martin Denny - Afro-Desia

My love affair with Exotica/Space-Age Bachelor Pad Music has cooled a bit, but only a bit. I've been cutting a lot of Denny from the iPod, but this track stays - a neat marimba-led take on the standard.
8. "Book of Love" - The Monotones - The Doo Wop Box I vol 3: Doo Wop's Golden Age (1957-1959)

A classic, familiar, we all know it, I just wanted to point out that they may have one of the worst band names in history, especially for a vocal harmony group. Why didn't anyone SAY anything?
9. "I Gotta Be Comin' Back" - John Lee Hooker - Alternative Boogie 1948-1952

"My baby got something, round like an apple, shaped like a pear . . ." Okay. Are you gonna argue fruit shape with John Lee? Didn't think so.
10. "Ces Bottes Sont Faites Pour Marcher" - Eileen - Femmes de Paris, Vol. 1

Hmmn. Think this version of "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" has come up in a Friday Random before. Now I'm using it as soundtrack to try and get Berit up, awake, and moving with a minimum of grumpiness.

Ah, with the help of some cute cuddling from Hooker the Wonder Cat, it seems to have worked.

Okay, off to insulate ducts. Not a bad day, really.

Current Mood: rushed
Current Location: Gravesend
Current Music: Os Mutantes - "Panis Et Circenses" - Os Mutantes

Another few days of clowns and foot pain. Normally I might joke that the clowns are worse, but we've had some damned fine luck this year, Berit and I, in teching a number of excellent groups that have come in for the Clown Theatre Festival, and, while tiring, it's been a joy working with all of these cool, interesting people from around the country and world.

Today, I have to dry-tech Bryan Enk's The Crow: Final most of the day, and I was going to go home and rest after, but tonight will be the last chance I have to see two great shows, Solo and Tapate/Cover Yourself, so I guess I'll stick around and rest tomorrow. Also tonight is The Maestrosities, a great clown band show, which I have to run board for on Sunday, so I should see it again. So another 12+ hour day at The Brick.

The ankle gets better, but in a way that would look like a sharply rising jagged line if you were to graph it. Most of the time it feels like nothing happened, but if I'm on it too long it reminds me that something did. So I keep using the walking stick even when not "needed" to be as easy on it as I can.

Plans for next year's shows becoming clearer. Current plan: Original New Show #1 in the June Festival with possible July extension; then, in August -- Harry in Love: A Manic Vaudeville by Richard Foreman, Original New Show #2 (possibly known as Spell), and That's What We're Here For (an american pageant revisited) if I can get most of the cast back (if not, Original New Show #3). Either original shows #1 or #3 will have the subtitle "(Invisible Republic)." Possibly the title "What Are You Looking At?" Show rehearsal and/or creation and/or revision for all pieces will begin in January and shows should be near-"finished" including full tech, sets, props, costumes, by the end of May with further runthroughs/refinement of the August shows to happen in July. I'm tired of rushing things. I'm giving myself time with all of these. And still, yes, there's some kind of energy in doing this many shows all at once that keeps the mind active in ways I like, so I want to keep doing it. Just over a long enough period of time to give each show more attention than I've given myself the last two years.

I have script fragments and ideas for Spell, and various image, theme, rhythmic, sonic, light, and movement ideas for the other potential original works (enough to suggest titles, if not much else). Berit and I have been reworking That's What We're Here For to strengthen the "trade show performance" framing structure and fix the weak Act II. One of the new pieces will need a cast of dancers, or at least people with LOTS of movement skills.

And all of this depends entirely on The Brick's plans, of course.

I left the iPod in the car, so today's Random Ten comes off the even larger iTunes on Berit's computer:

1. "Keep On" - Keith Mansfield - Soundsational Sampler
2. "Oh Girl" - Young-Holt Unlimited - Oh Girl
3. "Suffocate" - Ralph Smedley - Real Gone Garbage
4. "Someone I Know" - Margo Guryan - Rato's Nostalgia Collection 15
5. "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House" - LCD Soundsystem - mix disk from my Dad
6. "In Dark Trees" - Brian Eno - Vocal box set
7. "School Is a Gas" - The Wheel Men - Pebbles Volume 4 - Surf'n Tunes!
8. "Fine Di Una Spia" - Ennio Morricone - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly soundtrack
9. "Flower" - Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville
10. "Blowin' in the Wind" - Marianne Faithfull - My Songs of the Sixties

Mark Evanier has been promoting an important cinematic event on his blog, a meaningful one to me, and has now created a banner to share to remind everyone of this upcoming event, even months in advance:

If you haven't seen and don't know about this film . . . well, there's a little about it on Wikipedia HERE - maybe enough to whet your interest. All I can say is, reputation as a disaster notwithstanding, I love this goddamned movie, it's funny and touching as hell, forms the first part of an great unintended trilogy with Head and 200 Motels, and should be seen. It's never been released on video - I have a bad bootleg copy, but saw a good print at Film Forum a few years back - and it's shot with full use of the widescreen frame, so I NEED to get a copy from this broadcast - as it's on TCM, it will almost certainly be a lovely, clean print, letterboxed.

I will be reminding you more and more as the date approaches. Just to warn you.

Off to write light cues . . .

Current Location: Gravesend
Current Music: King Dapper Combo - "Wild One" - Big Dumb Fun Party Music

So, the ankle is mostly better (thanks for asking

silverplate88). If I'm not on it for any fairly short period of time, it feels completely normal for a while, but just a few minutes of walking causes it to ache again - but not to the point of outright pain. So I keep using the cane as much as possible to rest it.

Did okay by the show on Saturday at the Waterfront Museum and Riverbarge. Went over pretty well, though I think we confused as much of the audience as we entertained. We did the job.

Afterward, Jason Drago had a picture taken of us (I believe it was original "Mr. Romaine" from my 1999 productions, Peter Brown, who took it), modified it, and sent it to us:

(l-r, standing) Aaron Baker (Willie Hammond), Jason Drago (Frank Slade), Danny Bowes (Sample Switchel), Robert Pinnock (Simon Slade), Fred Backus (Joe Morgan), Trav S.D. (producer, Harvey Green), Dina Rose Rivera (Mary Morgan), Ian W. Hill (director, Mr. Romaine), in front, Maggie Cino (Fanny Morgan). The Statue of Liberty is right behind us, blown out by the sun.

A fun afternoon, even with the injured foot and a massive steam whistle (and less massive but still loud steam calliope) being blown at regular intervals. Really REALLY loud. Right next to us.

The barge is in a lovely place on the water at Red Hook, with a nice little park next to it. Red Hook is a bit odd, as Brooklyn native Mr. Bowes - who grew up not far away - noted: projects next to multi-million-dollar townhouses next to a maritime waterfront community (right where we were felt like parts of Portland, Portsmouth, or New Bedford). All within two blocks of each other. It was a little spooky rehearsing down there the night before - dim light on cobblestone streets. I see why it appealed to H.P. Lovecraft for use in a story (he spent a brief, unhappy time in Brooklyn before returning to Providence, RI).

Yesterday, got to take the day off and stay on the couch or in bed, reading - Terry Pratchett's Thud!, the autobiography of Peggy Guggenheim, and the collected Mad comic books.

Today, I had a couple of meetings at The Brick with the light designers of upcoming shows to discuss what can and can't be done. As the meetings were at 11 am and 4 pm, I spent the time in between beginning to write light cues for Bryan Enk's upcoming The Crow: Final, which will be a lighting-heavy show, and which I need to get as early a start on as I can.

The Clown Festival heads to its end this weekend, with some more excellent shows going on. I particularly wanted to promote a couple that I really liked (and which I thought I did some good lighting work on), but I was surprised to discover that one of them - Savage Amusements aka Svetlana Flamingo - closed tonight (with so many short runs, it's hard to keep track). The other one, Solo, is still going on, it's really terrific, and highly recommended here if you're interested in seeing anything in the Fest. It plays this coming Friday and Saturday.

Tonight at home, while reading and writing, a double bill of DVDs of Ken Russell's Tommy and George Lucas's THX-1138. A strange double bill, but what I was in the mood for, suddenly made weirdly logical by their extremely similar final shots.

So we've now moved on to another film where the appearance of the sun has significance, though I'll be hitting the hay before much more of it plays.

Current Location: Gravesend
Current Music: VHS - 2001: A Space Odyssey

What the hell day is it?

Completely lost track of yesterday being Friday, and missed doing the Random Ten. Was at The Brick for a moderately early tech yesterday, then spent the rest of the day there helping other shows and trying to spend time on my lines for Ten Nights, without much success there (lots of distractions come up). Last night we rehearsed on the riverbarge itself, which was quite something, and today we go up at 4.00 pm.

We'll be good, I just have one problem - I really really REALLY hurt my ankle last night, and it's difficult to walk. Actually, for a couple of hours, it was impossible to walk. It felt like I dislocated it (is that even possible? it felt just like dislocating a knee, which I know all too well) - I just took a step to move a set piece, something went "pop" and then felt like it "popped" back into place, but it left me hopping. I spent the rest of rehearsal directing and throwing my lines in from a recumbent position in the first row. As when something like this has happened before, it becomes painful to try and direct while like this - I realize that I'm actually a pretty active director, and I want to be on my feet, moving around, gesturing, demonstrating, pacing. Sitting (or lying) down and trying to direct feels horribly, painfully restrictive. Still got it done, just with annoyance and imprecision.

Cold packs have improved things somewhat - actually, I just stood up to test it after writing that and I can now put weight on the foot without pain, I just can't move it much. I can now walk with a bad limp, which is better than the hopping and Igor-foot-dragging I was reduced to last night.

So, my character, Mr. Romaine, in Ten Nights walks with a cane now. Works just fine for him.

So, here's what's came up this morning on the iPod while checking blogs and icing the ankle:

1. "Rolf Torring" - Gert Wilden & Orchestra - I Told You Not To Cry
2. "Louisiana 1927" - Randy Newman - Good Old Boys
3. "Baby Workout" - Jackie Wilson - Land of 1000 Dances vol. 2
4. "Tar Kissers" - Throwing Muses - Limbo
5. "High Flying Bird" - The Ill Wind - Flashes
6. "Catherine's Wheel" - Denny Laine - Psychedalia: Rare Blooms from the English Summer of Love
7. "Lions After Summer" - Scritti Politi - Early
8. "Please Love Me" - Ike & Tina Turner - Bold Soul Sister
9. "Something Living Under My Bed" - Riot .303 - Crowd Control 7" EP
10. "Fish on the Sand" - George Harrison - Cloud Nine

Berit's still out cold, so I'll hop and cane myself over to Alice & Ben's deli next door for some breakfast and coffee fixins - we're out of everything here, been so busy with the Clown Fest and Ten Nights the home hasn't been maintained too well. It'll be a good test to see if I can pull off this "walking" thing . . .

Current Mood: sore
Current Location: Gravesend
Current Music: Esther Phillips - "Release Me" - Atlantic Rhythm & Blues vol 5 1961-1965