M  i  l    M  a  n  i  a

       

        The Official Newsletter of WWW.ARTISTINSANE.COM

 

 

Thanks for reading this issue of Mil Mania!  And, remember, this is a work in progress, subject to many and varied changes — all adding up to a new and improved publication...so I hope!  Please drop me a line to let me know what you think, including any and all suggestions.  Thank you!!!

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All Content © Mil Scott                                                                                                         www.artistinsane.com

Welcome To The May Issue of Mil Mania!

` Volume 2, Issue 5, May 2006

 

Music Mayhem    

As noted in the December edition of Mil Mania, I will continue to include news in every issue to keep readers up to date on the latest happenings with the three acts most prominently featured on www.artistinsane.com.  In addition,  for each issue I will also choose one additional artist — in some cases a new discovery I’ve recently made, in others an individual or group whose work I’ve long appreciated — to make a one-time appearance here.  And, of course, as with all aspects of Mil Mania, feel free to offer suggestions.

 

This month’s
         featured artist: 

 

Phil Vassar — I suspect
this choice may come as
quite a surprise to many
readers — especially
given the mixed messages
I’ve sent previously regarding country music...and the indeed ongoing love-hate relationship I have to admit it and I share.  However, if you’ve read the blog accompanying my own song, “Will” you’re already aware the love end of that equation is grounded in the fact this genre carries for me many wonderful memories of my beloved country singer grandfather (who, incidentally, had a beautiful, rich voice — with nothing of the stereotypical nasal twang I find about equally appealing as the sound of nails on a blackboard...and which subsequently accounts for a good part of my “hate” for some of this “work”). 
     In any case, it may also come as a surprise that I proved a faithful viewer of both the 2005 and 2006 seasons of the talent show, Nashville Star, which is where I first heard the name and music of Phil Vassar.  What’s more, while one can never say whether his songs themselves might have grabbed me instantly had I heard them elsewhere, the added benefit of getting to “know” this artist through his service as a judge on this program created a definite and lasting positive impression of him as a person...and the translation of that spirit into energetic and passionate performances  also featured from time to time on the show all led to a logical progression of wanting to hear more of him once it had concluded. 
     Of course, with this season’s Nashville Star wrapping up and a Phil Vassar greatest hits CD just hitting stores in the last couple of weeks, now seems a doubly appropriate time to feature this warm and pleasing talent in Mil Mania. 

    

  For more info, visit www.philvassar.com.

……………………..

 

Third Eye Blind played Villanova PA (and a couple of other locales) in April as noted in the previous issue of Mil Mania.  Unfortunately, as feared, I was unable to attend this show, so firsthand details from me are absent.  However, thanks once again to The Village Churchyard, you can experience the show for yourself almost as though you’d attended, since a kind fan has posted both audio and (selected) video of the entire show!    What’s more, Adam (the site’s administrator) recently posted an announcement regarding my  3eb bio, which has now been published to TVCY.  And, I plan to begin work on the individual bios of all band members within the next few days, so watch for these as well.

     Also, Third Eye Blind has launched a newly revamped page at myspace.com — complete with photos, info and a free download of a previously unreleased song.    So — go there now!
     What’s more, you can again go to Jen’s Stephan Jenkins.com, which has returned to up and running status.  Thanks, Jen!

 

Brian Fitzpatrick takes to the stage again for two May appearances — at The Fireside in Denville, NJ on the 20th and The Goldhawk in Hoboken on the 24th.   Check out the tour page of his website for additional details. 

 

Michael McDermott recently hit NYC for two consecutive nights, with many more shows constantly being added for other parts of the country — and later this year, the world.  Following a successful 2005 tour of England and Ireland, Michael is scheduled to return to that region for a series of as yet undisclosed dates sometime this summer or early fall. 
     In the meantime, as promised, I’ve completed a page commemorating Michael’s April visit to Philadelphia’s World Café Live, and you can now can check out the full recap here.
     Also, Michael recently joined Lowen and Navarro onstage in Chicago for a benefit to defray mounting medical costs for Eric Lowen’s valiant battle with ALS (a.k.a. Lou Gehrig’s Disease).  If you’d like to join in this endeavor, visit their official website, wwwlownav.com and click on the link to donate to the Eric Lowen Trust.

     And, of course, watch next month’s issue for more McD news from NYC!!  In the meantime, read the reviews from his website bulletin board here and here.

 

   

Ravings of a
     Mad Woman

This column corresponds with the Mad Ravings On section of www.artistinsane.com, and is dedicated to selected reviews of movies, television and books… most of which are unlikely to represent “the latest” in any of these categories, but rather a  random selection that represents a new and/or noteworthy discovery to me.
            ………………………..

In flipping through the cable TV offerings a few weeks back, I ran across a film I’d loved instantly upon first seeing it on video several years ago , and therefore stopped to give it a second look in the present day — a sometimes uncertain experience since, as Shakespeare reminds us “a man loves the meat in his youth he cannot endure in his age”…  In this case, however, I was pleasantly surprised to re-discover all the reasons I’d loved this particular bit of meat — or rather fish — in the first place.   Hence, this month’s review of 1991’s The Fisher King...

  

     While The Da Vinci Code, opening this month, presents an imaginative quest for (what I see as, anyway) a ridiculous interpretation of The Holy Grail, this film that predates it by 15 years presents a very different imaginative quest for an equally ridiculous version of that same object.  While the first of these is just too much “unreal seriousness” for me to swallow, however, the latter is an intelligent, funny and poignant journey about redemption, and the unexpected help in attaining this one man finds along the way.

     New York City shock jock Jack Lucas views his callers as mere fodder for his sense of superiority – taking smug pride in his ability to cut them down via the airwaves as his ratings and marketability soar.  But, when a particularly disturbed individual turns to him in desperation, only to be ridiculed by Jack, and sarcastically dismissed, this caller doesn’t merely hang up and cry.  He goes into a crowded restaurant with a loaded gun, randomly killing all patrons in his path.  Jack’s discovery of this on the TV news suddenly brings into chilling perspective the consequences of his actions, and starts him on an odyssey into a downward spiral of drunkenness and confusion – a state confounded by his chance meeting with Parry, a once contented medieval history professor; now the homeless and haunted widower of one of this killer’s victims.
     Of course, whether all of this sounds intriguing to you or not, every movie (or book or other piece of art) depends on much more than “what it’s about” to determine whether it will occupy a lasting place in your consciousness as a long time favorite – or a forgettable waste of two hours time.  The Fisher King (whose title, incidentally, comes from a minor character in Arthurian legend) secures its place as the former by combining excellent writing and a top-notch cast to create a film rife with comedy, drama, romance, adventure, social issues, friendship and hope.  Headed by Jeff Bridges as Jack, Oscar nominee Robin Williams as Parry, and a host of tragicomic supporting masters including Tom Waits and the late Michael Jeter, it entertains and breaks one’s heart, all within the space of a moment’s time – or the space of one monologue framed by the simple phrase, “I don’t drink coffee”…and in the line arguably summing up the film’s overall message:  “You can find some pretty wonderful things in the trash.”
     Of course, that phrase probably sounds at least vaguely familiar as I’ve noted elsewhere in my own writing, “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure”.  And, although this beautifully uplifting movie may have long since left the shelves of video store chains stocking only the latest and most popular selections, I highly recommend you engage in a little dumpster diving  (figuratively speaking, of course) to find it.  Then, see if you, too, don’t come to view this engaging piece of most artful “trash” as a “pretty wonderful thing” itself.

         

              

 

                                   (If you haven’t met me yet, you
                            might want to read the Dec. issue first.)

 

     First, I just want to say thanks for the questions and comments!  I’m so excited to be getting mail from readers — although I have to admit I was a little saddened to learn I’d inadvertently offended one of these with something I said in my prior column.  So, let me share what she had to say and address that, and then I’ll move on to my bit of “madvice” for this month…

     “Awww, Molly,
     That pierced my heart when you said Kerou-crap book
"On the Road".  I love Jack.
     Each to his/her own, I guess.”
                                                              Anon Y Mous

     Honestly, Ms. Mous, I must confess I was a little surprised to receive these words from a hu-woman, as I was under the impression  On The Road’s appeal was more likely to the philandering humens Marking Time in Mayhem asked about in the last issue — maybe simply because misery loves company, or maybe so they can put forth the example of a literary classic to explain why their own visit to the vet for neutering should be put off. 
     Be that as it may, rats are by nature curious creatures, and it would therefore be very untrue to my species not to desire more information on this matter...or one might say, seek a bit of “madvice” of my own.  That said, I’d like to invite your thoughts — and the thoughts of any other Kerouac admirers reading this —- regarding exactly what it is that makes you “love Jack”, and any/all aspects of his work you believe might prove beneficial for me and my readers to consider.  And, truly, I very much look forward to hearing from you again.
     In the meantime, moving on…

Question for Molly:
     "I've noticed that one of your favorite things is a carefree nap in a potato chip bag with your ratlatives. We members of the human "rat race" rarely take time to relax and enjoy such simple pleasures.  Can you suggest some creature comforts to help us slow down and savour the moments?"
                                                                  Ruffled in Restlessness

    Well, Ruffled, that’s a very interesting question, and one that I think may be confusing me with my VERY noisy neighbors...the youngest of whom were actually born in a beautiful, roomy potato flakes container — for which they didn’t have enough respect to keep from chewing it to pieces!  Personally, I have a smaller version of just such an object, given me the very first night I moved in with my adoptive mom and dad, and I still have it — perfectly intact, and beautifully stuffed with one of the especially cozy mattresses that came in a ba