List of Seven

Lord Beckley of Piersville kindly tagged me with this meme, as apparently I haven't done it. I'm sure I did, but that would have been last year and it is now this year...so...

List Seven Songs I'm into Right Now.

1. Melting Pot (Mari Gordon-Price & Derek Griffiths - Hi Summer) - a pretty un-PC song now, but bloody lovely piece of 70s London for you. Oh, and by the way it's my very own yummy mummy singing (spot the family resemblance!!) with kids TV favourite, Derek Griffiths! So go on, watch it for the warm fuzziness of late seventies schmaltz.
   
2. The Unforgettable Fire (U2 - The Unforgettable Fire) - I love, love, love this song almost as much as the drummer, Larry Mullen Jnr. *swoon*. I turn into a thirteen year old when I see him. *swoon*. It's sad. *swoon*. Him and his syncopation are God, and I'm going to see them play in the summer! Yay. It'll be just me, him, the rest of the band and a few other people kicking around Wembley. Perfect.
3. Kids (MGMT - Oracular Spectacular) - brilliant ear candy album, adore their sound.
4. Grounds for Divorce (Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid) - will be seeing them play later in the year. V coolios.
   
5. Not Fair (Lily Allen - It's Me, Not You) - have never been her biggest fan, but this track and video make me laugh out loud and that has to be a good thing.
   
6. King of Rome (Pet Shop Boys - Yes) - the lyrics just blow me away with a depth of emotion quite often hinted at in a lot of songs, but never really musically realised as well.
   
7. Use Somebody (Kings of Leon - Only by the Night) - I have loved KoL for a long, long time and am seeing them live this year also. I adore all of the tracks on this album, however, I chose this one based on the video as it never struck me just how much Caleb Followill looks like Stephen Dorff and that, sweetpeas, is a grand thing. 

Oh, you know, I could go on and on and on - so many songs, so little time. I am also totally (re)loving Blur and The Killers earlier stuff at the moment as I will be seeing them both live in 2009 too! 

Well, doesn't my life sound like a veritable music fest waiting to happen? How extraordinary! How fun! How I really must get back to work, now. It's been great, pop-pickers.

Onwards with a trill, schweeties.

 

Plugs and Points

Hello little ones.  Been a bit busy again, but all is fine in love and war.

Earlier in the week, I was delighted to bask in Potdoll's reflected glory when I went to see her stunning short film which was playing with three others at BAFTA.  Although I have seen many incarnations of the film over the past six months or so, it was fantastic to see it all 'done' and meet the team.  It was a truly superb piece.  Well done, Potters! The other three films were also very strong, and I was totally amazed at how different they all looked, felt, sounded etc. Having now embarked on the Digital Shorts scheme myself, seeing as many of last years' shorts has been an important task for me and I really enjoyed my evening at BAFTA.  In fact, it was such an extremely interesting night that I ended up *just* catching the last tube home - which is always a great relief, as cabs tend to charge me in the region of £70 to come back to Tenacious Towers, which is a total nonsense for living two whole miles out of 'London'. The cabbies obviously see the Turrets from a distance and add on a few tenners.  B*stards.

The following night saw me back at BAFTA again - this time to hear a talk by Panavision on their new Genesis camera which, taking into account it's capabilities, just totally blew me away.  I never thought I would ever, ever get excited about the difference in a true 4:4:4 RGB array to a standard Bayer pattern, but there I was gasping with glee at the end result.  Urgh.  I can hear my physics master snarling, "Told you so..." in the back of my head now...pr*ck.

I managed to come away from both evenings clutching a vast array of business cards from designers through to post production facilities, all showing varying amounts of interest in my short, which is always a nice thing.  

The latest version of the short screenplay (which may be undergoing a name change soon) was sent off to my Script Editor and should have greeted him upon his return from holiday, and so I am just finishing my novel edit before I start throwing that at people to read and he throws my screenplay back at me.  I managed to write a lot of notes for a new feature too, but I want to leave those to fester for a bit.

On a more "must mention that" note, I just watched the trailer to "Faintheart", penned by the tremendously talented, David Lemon. It will be showing at loads of cinemas country-wide on Tuesday 27th Jan, so get yourself over to David's blog where he lists all the locations and then go see his film.  You have been warned.

Also a shout out to those of you who are music lovers and like to be ahead of the game with regard to new bands etc. Tim Shaw on Absolute Radio has been running a "let an unsigned band play on radio" type comp, and I am thrilled to say my cousin's band, Cameron James and Tim Nash, is top of the leaderboard at the moment.  Damn right, too! Cameron is an extremely talented singer, writer and guitarist and they both have a beautiful folk-rock sound.  You can hear their radio stuff here and vote for them here.  And whilst I am in the plugging mood...my other cousin's band, Short Warning, are currently on tour if you fancy catching a bit of the harder rock stuff...

Make cheques payable to me. I thank you.

Onwards.

Song Meme

I have recently been infected with the song meme by both luscious Lucy (who I think may have created this one?) and the contagious Mr Campbell . 

Instructions are as follows: “Find a song that sums up what you think it means to be a writer and post the lyrics on your blog and why you've chosen it. NB: It doesn't have to be your favourite song, it just has to express how you feel about writing and/or being a writer. It can be literal, metaphorical, about a particular form or aspect of writing - whatever you want. Then tag 5 others to do the same (reprint these instructions).”

My original choice was "Right Said Fred" (Rudge/Dick) as there is nothing like popping the kettle on every two minutes when you're meant to be writing. However, not only did that Mr Campbell pass on his meme bugs, he snaffled my choice before I managed to write this post. 

Now, unlike Mr Campbell and other scribes, when I write I listen to music virtually all the time - the songs become kind of like a soundtrack to the piece I am putting together, I guess. But that didn't help me out with this meme, so I have really had to think long and hard about it.

I suppose my final choice underlines the depth of emotion with which I fall in love/in hate with the writing I undertake at any time - that all encompassing magnetic draw of pen to paper, fingers to keyboard; the waking dreams about scenes that work and the nightmares when they don't; the feeling of absolute hell-bent necessity to spend time with the words already on the page or cajoling those about to be written.  It's like the hottest of illicit affairs, and the product of all those long nights is the finished written project - the baby, if you like.  

Anyway, if you haven't done this yourself yet, then consider yourself memed, buddy.  Here's my choice!  

Over and out. x

The Man with the Child in His Eyes (Kate Bush)

I hear him, before I go to sleep
And focus on the day thats been.
I realise he's there,
When I turn the light off and turn over.

Nobody knows about my man.

They think he's lost on some horizon.
And suddenly I find myself
Listening to a man I've never known before,

Telling me about the sea,
All his love, til eternity.

Ooh, he's here again,
The man with the child in his eyes.
Ooh, he's here again,
The man with the child in his eyes.

He's very understanding,
And he's so aware of all my situations.
And when I stay up late,
He's always waiting, but I feel him hesitate.

Oh, I'm so worried about my love.
They say, no, no, it wont last forever.
And here I am again, my girl,
Wondering what on earth I'm doing here.
Maybe he doesn't love me.
I just took a trip on my love for him.

Ooh, he's here again,
The man with the child in his eyes.
Ooh, he's here again,
The man with the child in his eyes.

And here's the video:

Free Falling

At least, that's how it feels. Mad? Tick. Exciting? Tick. A revelation? Tickety-tick-tick.

Whilst most of my learned cyber-buds were soberly sanctifying their scriberly souls (ahem) at SWF, I decided to throw down the gauntlet and set myself a little challenge.  Or perhaps that should be: I threw a great, heaving, metal gauntlet at myself and it hit me in this guise:

Swarovski has teamed up with Tank to search the creative community for the freshest film directors around. The Three Graces competition, which launches today, is an open call to filmmakers and creatives working with the moving image to develop a short film to accompany one of three exclusive tracks we’ve commissioned for the project.  Submissions will interpret the myth of the Three Graces, who symbolise the qualities of radiance, joy and abundance.

After reading about the competition in Saturday's (28th June) Shooting People Filmmakers' Bulletin,  I spent the best part of yesterday storyboarding, setting up test shots, checking light levels, filming, chucking together a rough edit and thoroughly enjoying every single darn second of it. After very little sleep (editing becomes strangely obsessive, y'know), I woke up exhausted but buzzing and ready to get going on my plans for a second day of filming drop-ins and cutaways which will complete the shoot.  

After editing and perfecting (ha!) the current material, this will be Entry Number One.  Whether I have the time to devise/shoot/edit Entry Number Two, Three and so on is another situation entirely but I do have lots of ideas kicking around - what happens to those remains to be seen; however, if I don't do something with at least one of them, that gauntlet is going to jump up and choke me. Fingers crossed it doesn't!

For all you out there who wish to have a punt, full details are here.

Good Luck & leave a comment if you are entering!

Musical Chairs

I was recently-ish tagged by the lovely Lianne and delicious Dog.  

The rules are: "List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your spring. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they’re listening to".

Well I have two seconds spare, so here's my top seven:

1. California Soul (Marlena Shaw) - I just love this song.  One I will never tire of, it has an intangible warmth that belongs to the sands of Malibu.
   
2. Shot You Down (Audio Bullys) - great when you're on the cross trainer in the gym...
3. Like Toy Soldiers (Eminem) - jus' like it, right? You got a problem with that, bro'? ;)
4. In Taberna: In Taberna Quando Sumus (Orff/Carmina Burana) - kicks.  Just when you think you know where it's going, it doesn't.
5. Cloudbusting (Kate Bush) - an eternal fav. Now and again when it rains, I put this on, stare out the window and h-o-p-e.
6. Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? (Moby)  - just beaut.  Like a little girl's first pair of pale pink ballet slippers.
7. First It Giveth (Queens of the Stone Age) - the syncopation does it for me every time.

Oh my, I really could go on and on and on.  I have so many 'seasonals', 'emotive boxes' and 'forever favourites' - perhaps I should knock up a list of my own and start meme-ing y'all out there...mmmmm, I'm off to think about that.

In the meantime - I think everyone in cyberland has been tagged already with this one so I won't re-tag. However, if you haven't been 'done' by this one, then please consider yourself well and truly tagged.

I'll be returning with another meme soon. Perhaps. Or not.

Waxing Lyrical

As you may or may not be aware, I have a real penchant for song lyrics. A story in it's own right, a good lyric will pull you into it's arena and weave the most fantastic spell around you until you're snared. You will also probably hear it a million times a day on the radio, and then by the next new TV season, you'll hear it in various incarnations as a theme tune or incidental music.

So after my post quoting Nickelback's "Rockstar" as my most 'wished I'd written' of last year, here's my new one - "Without You" by The Feeling.  

This song is from their February 2008 released album, "Join With Us", and is quoted on their website as "a moving tale of far-from-home yearning written when the band found themselves in Virginia on the day of the Virginia Tech shootings". In my opinion it certainly paints that far-from-home feeling (no pun intended), however, it definitely has an air of The Carpenters about it - perhaps it's a "Rainy Days and Mondays" ilk or something. Not sure, but it's there.

Enjoy the story - you'll hear it playing out on a radio near you soon...

"WIthout You" by The Feeling

Winters come and summers go 

Last time round for all we know 

Wonder what the time is in London 

As they tear this world apart

Step by step it breaks my heart 

Wonder what the time is in London 

I know I'm not the only lonely child 

Thirty dead and one teenage gun man 

I wonder what the time is in London, without you 

I get up early every morning, without you 

I open the blind and let the dawn in, without you 

And then I think about growing older, without you 

And my blood runs a little colder, without you 

It's raining hard in North Virginia 

Just like London Town 

Tales of screams from giant screens 

Full of fear and full of beans 

Wonder what the news is in London 

Tell me what I've always known, 

Live is love and love's at home 

Wonder if they miss me in London 

These are the things that make us glad we're still alive 

Even though your heart's in the dungeon 

I wonder what the time is in London, without you 

I get up early every morning, without you 

I open the blind and let the dawn in, without you 

And then I think about growing older, without you 

And my blood runs a little colder, without you 

It's raining hard in North Virginia 

Just like London Town (rpt x3)

Werds I Wish I'd Writ

I have just written an email stating my blog was 'a bit out of date': I hang my head in shame. I hadn't realised how out of date. Man, 'Tenacious Me' was starting to look like the pack of pitta bread I found at the back of my bread bin earlier on today - but at least the blog doesn't have the same mouldy aroma though. Not unless you have a scratch and sniff screen. And if you do, well...oh, never mind.

I digress.

Unusual for me.

Anyway.

The title of this post lends itself to a thought I had earlier in the week: if I could have written anything this year, what would it have been?

I had a long chance to ponder on this whilst stuck on my local ringroad due to:

1) Sheer volume of diverted traffic from the whole of London and the South East;
2) Traffic lanes shut due to the council lopping tree branches - WTF?;
3) Xmas shoppers hell-bent on 'ring-road-lane-rage' (which comes before 'parking-space-rage' and 'I-must-buy-everything-in-the-mall-rage)
and finally, my year round favourite:
4) Traffic signals that are totally out of synch for 2 miles

So, there I was - understandably for a while - running through all the totally brilliant pieces of writing I have heard/seen over the year. I managed to bottom out my top five and, as if by magic, a little ditty started playing on the radio. Then I realised, THIS is what I wished I had written. OK, it was released on their 2005 album, "All the Right Reasons", but hey. Call me simplistic, it kicks ass. Lyrics to laugh to. And then nod.

"Rockstar" by Nickelback
I'm through with standin' in line
To clubs I'll never get in
It's like the bottom of the ninth
And I'm never gonna win
This life hasn't turned out
Quite the way I want it to be
(Tell me what you want)

I want a brand new house
On an episode of Cribs
And a bathroom I can play baseball in
And a king size tub big enough
For ten plus me
(Yeah, so tell what you need)

I'll need a...a credit card that's got no limit
And a big black jet with a bedroom in it
Gonna join the mile high club
At thirty-seven thousand feet
--(Been there done that)--

I want a new tour bus full of old guitars
My own star on Hollywood Boulevard
Somewhere between Cher and James Dean is fine for me
(So how you gonna do it?)

I'm gonna trade this life for fortune and fame
I'd even cut my hair and change my name

[CHORUS]
'Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars
And live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat
And we'll hang out in the coolest bars
In the VIP with the movie stars
Every good gold digger's
Gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny
With her bleach blonde hair
And well...

Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar
Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar

I wanna be great like Elvis without the tassels
Hire eight body guards that love to beat up assholes
Sign a couple autographs
So I can eat my meals for free
(I'll have the quesadilla, ha ha)

I think I'm gonna dress my ass
With the latest fashion
Get a front door key to the Playboy mansion
Gonna date a centerfold that loves to
Blow my money for me

(So how you gonna do it?)

I'm gonna trade this life
For fortune and fame
I'd even cut my hair
And change my name

'Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars and
Live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat
And we'll hang out in the coolest bars
In the VIP with the movie stars
Every good gold digger's
Gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny
With her bleach blonde hair
And we'll hide out in the private rooms
With the latest dictionary of
Today's who's who
They'll get you anything with that evil smile
Everybody's got a
Drug dealer on speed dial, well
Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar

I'm gonna sing those songs
That offend the censors
Gonna pop my pills
From a Pez dispenser

Get washed-up singers writing all my songs
Lip synch 'em every night so I don't get 'em wrong

Well we all just wanna be big rockstars
And live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat
And we'll hang out in the coolest bars
In the VIP with the movie stars
Every good gold digger's
Gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny
With her bleach blond hair
And we'll hide out in the private rooms
With the latest dictionary and Today's who's who
They'll get you anything with that evil smile
Everybody's got a
Drug dealer on speed dial, well

Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar
Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar

Every time I hear it/see the video, it makes me smile. Hell, it makes me laugh out loud. Loving it. What a perfect take on today's 'cul-cha'. So, what would your "perfect piece of literary '07" have been?

I bid you all a very pretty, Victorian picture card Christmas.

Mwah, mwah, Sweetie.

Bitter Sweet Symphony

Yesterday, I was reminded of the story Richard Ashcroft's total loss of composer credits on The Verve's, 'Bitter Sweet Symphony'. That string-based loop was sampled from an orchestral rendition of The Stones' song, 'Last Foundation', and hence all royalties go to Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. What a complete bummer; bittersweet indeed. (More about it here)

But hang on a darn minuette...what about all those late 80s, early 90s hip-hop tracks which sampled everything but the butter on my toast? Did they all get stung or did they just grope their groins, threaten in a BoyzindaHood type stylee and get the decks up and running again?

Imagine writing a brilliant song like that and then someone claims it's actually theirs? Imagine writing a massive, brilliant outline/show format and then some smart ass claims they thought of it first - oh, hang on, been there - but I now view it as a compliment without the payoff. Anyway, moving onwards, or rather backwards. Picture the scene if you will...

There is a movie being made of your life and some darn fine actors are playing you and yours. Answer the following:

What would be:
1) The closing credits theme tune?
2) The stand-out line from the movie? The one everyone quotes.

Trust me, this is a really interesting exercise - please share your thoughts amongst friends! The narcissistic amongst us will already have their answers - hell, I do. LOL ;)

Music - the Food of Words?

I have been writing a lot of late, in fact, so much I don't really know what to do with all the pieces of paper.

You see folks, for every centimetre the bouncing baby grows I gain pounds in weight and lose stones of creativity, and apart from 'to do' lists and letters to various companies, I haven't been able to write a thing. Until the last few weeks, that is - when I haven't been able to stop penning weird poetry and song lyrics.

Lyrics are a 'comfortable' thing for me to do. Once upon a time, writing them was a full time 'job' whilst co-composing for TV, Theatre and Film, and so the last few weeks have been like visiting a really wonderful, long-lost friend. Once I start 'pallying up' with them, I can't stop. Once I get a theme in my head I have to get the words down double quick otherwise I risk being driven insane by hooks, bridges and 'wrong' lyrics battering my already crowded brain. Then I lie awake going over the same verses again and again, praying it doesn't sound like a Stock, Aitken & Waterman cover version (I have never written anything like that in my life but there could always be The One that slips through my grey matter, so I have to be sure).

Staying with music - something I have noticed recently is what the baby moves a lot to. The Kaiser Chiefs' "Love's Not A Competition", Turin Brakes' "Painkiller", Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars", Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" and particular favourites, Nirvana's "Come As You Are", Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" Queens of the Stone Age's "No-one Knows" & "First It Giveth" and most tracks from the "American Beauty" soundtrack. Quite an eclectic mix for a "minus year old".

Funnily enough they, plus a few other tracks, form one of the i-pod playlists I played at quite a few decibels every morning whilst commuting from the Glenster's parents' house. Sitting in the nose to tail traffic over the M25 at junction 18, I would always be looking foward to picking my way across the remnants of my house and snapping orders at builders all day. It was inevitably a decibel or so louder on the way back after a day of fun and games.

Music has always been a huge influence in my life, having been brought up in the industry and most of my family still involved in varying degrees. When I write non-musical matter, I always have to have a 'theme tune' to work to; in fact, sometimes, along with an olfactory trigger that's all that influences the conception of a whole darn new world. Is that normal?

So, try as I may, I have listened to so many musical influences over the last few months, hoping that one of them would propel me towards my laptop, screenplay ideas gushing from every orifice - OK, maybe just the one good idea would do. Actually, ideas I have loads of - it's just doing it and formulating it that's the problem at the moment as I have a concentration span about as long as a flea's dick. Perhaps after the baby is born I will whack on a playlist, go smell the roses in the garden and see what happens...

So what do you need to write? Without what, would you be stymied? Do you need to work in total silence or do you write more in public places? What influences you to start over and hit the white space with Courier?