Mystical place: An Lochan Uaine has an unusually green appearance
that some say is caused by faeries washing their clothes in its water.
Thirty-three years after first stumbling across a book that mentioned a mysterious faery loch in a remote part of Scotland, I finally had the chance to visit it this year.
It is almost impossible to locate 'An Lochan Uaine' on a map, because it is so small and inconsequential relative to the mountainous splendor of its surroundings.
Tucked away in the vast wilderness of the Cairngorms, it is about seven miles due east of Aviemore - but don't think about driving there, because you can't. To reach it you must leave the road behind and take to quiet trails that lead into the mountains and an area known as Ryvoan Pass.
I'd read about An Lochan Uaine. I'd written a poem about it, which had became a song, a play and a short movie. Yet I'd never been to this place that had sparked my imagination in so many ways for more than three decades. Now, as I stood at the edge of the lochan, it felt like the closure of a personal journey that I'd carried since my teenage years.
The story began in 1985 as I read what was then a 30-year-old book about remote locations in Scotland. Each place described was accompanied by a single, page-sized black-and-white photograph. There were no people on the images, just the raw beauty of unspoiled wilderness.
On one page there was a photograph of An Lochan Uaine - a small body of water in the mountains. I recall the monochrome picture had a wintery feel. The words that accompanied it described the green water of the lochan and mentioned a folk tale that claimed faeries washed their clothes there and, as they did so, the dye would run and give the water its green tinge.
I wrote a poem in 1985 based on the tale. Faeries of Green Lochan was included in the 1987 paperback Inspired, a collection of young writers' stories and poems. I turned it into a song to perform at open mic events. In 2003, in a two-person play, I expanded on the theme of the mystical faeries and the lochan, and performed one of the roles at an amateur dramatics show at Bournemouth Centre for Community Arts. The screenplay was included in Eating Clouds in 2008. That led to the animation and live-action short film Faeries of Green Lochan of 2011. I had ambitions of filming it on location, but practicalities meant the live-action scene was filmed at a lake in Dorset, England.
This autumn I finally made it to the Cairngorms and sought out the lochan and its mystical green water. Heather, who was also the 'Woman in the Cloak' in the film version of Faeries of Green Lochan, and I set out on the tricky hillside trail that led to the lochan. The views were breathtaking as we followed a narrow path through fir trees and pines that hugged the steep edge of Ryvoan Pass. There was a magical feel to the place, and I was struck by the number of fly agaric mushrooms visible in the undergrowth. These distinctive bright red with white spot mushrooms had featured in animation sequences of the Faeries film, although at the time I had not known whether they were to be found near the lochan. They were - and in abundance.
Water's edge: with Heather beside An Lochan Uaine.
And then we were there at the edge of the lochan and its green water. A connection that spanned 33 years had been fulfilled. In the remote surroundings of the Cairngorms I wondered if this peaceful place guarded a precious secret. Were they out there - the faeries, hiding in the undergrowth and waiting until all folks had departed before coming to dance and sing at the water's edge and scrub their clothes clean?
Who can say? All I know is the place has a magical feel, and that is enough.
Harbinger of warmer days: a white-tailed tropicbird, commonly known as a longtail, wheels through the summer sky in Bermuda
All the longtails have gone, and I miss the sound they made as they called out while chasing and frolicking in the blue skies of summer.
Each year their arrival is greatly anticipated. Many eyes turn to the sea and sky in search of the first arrival, that harbinger of spring.
One here, one there, then suddenly their numbers multiply. No longer a solitary flicker of white against the blue, they come in pairs and groups along the coastline to make their home on craggy islets and in holes among the cliffs that seem impossible to access.
On days of brilliant sunshine the ocean reflects against their underside, painting them an ethereal turquoise.
Young birds emerging from nests grew stronger each day, flying farther and with greater ease and gracefulness as they explored and tested themselves. They soared in celebration of summer days that seemed would last for ever.
Eventually the hints of milder autumn days were more noticeable, and the quiet exodus began. Longtails headed out to sea and many did not return. Away they went, heeding the subtle seasonal signal. It was time to head for the islands a thousand miles south, where winter heat can be found.
Soon only a few remained, the youngest of the brood, still mastering their wings and knowing they must leave for that epic first journey to lands they have yet to see.
Now the sky is empty, a blue void that once was alive with their joyous sounds and playful cavorting. But they will return, and with them the promise of spring and another near-endless summer.
Celebration of life: forty-four years after the song was recorded,
and 13 years after he died, an official video was made to accompany
George Harrison's What is Life. It captures the song's joy and freshness
When I came across the official video for George Harrison's What is Life, I was surprised and delighted; surprised because the 48-year-old track was never released as a single in the UK, therefore the existence of a video seemed unlikely, and delighted by the joy and freshness it exuded.
Harrison died in 2001. However, the video was made just four years ago. I'm sure it would have met with his approval. Before explaining how the video came to be made, here is some background on the jaunty track.
It was recorded around the time The Beatles broke up, and featured as the B-side of Harrison's first solo single My Sweet Lord, released in 1970in the UK. It subsequently became a hit in its own right in many other countries in 1971 and went top ten in the US, making Harrison the first Beatle to achieve two top ten solo hits on the Billboard chart. It is a breezy, upbeat song about love and life that fits closely with the era of The Beatles and is dominated by a catchy chorus and masterful guitar-playing from Harrison and guest Eric Clapton.
While Harrison's version was never released as an A-side in the UK, a cover version by Olivia Newton-John made it into the UK top 20 in 1972.
So how did this video to accompany Harrison's song come to be made? In 2014, a retrospective of his solo music from his time with Apple Records was released. At the same time a competition was held for filmmakers to produce a promotional video to go with What is Life. Harrison's widow Olivia Harrison and son Dhani Harrison judged the entries and picked this video, directed by Brandon Moore, as the winner of the $5,000 first prize.
It was filmed in a neighbourhood of San Francisco. The carefree, youthful energy of the song is finely captured by two young ballet performers, Emma Rubinowitz and Esteban Hernandez. The dancing is not point-perfect, but that's why it feels so real and true to life as it celebrates free expression, imperfections-and-all, guided by joy. The transience of life and a tinge of otherworldliness are evoked as Rubinowitz twirls and bounds her way through rows upon rows of markers in the San Francisco National Cemetery as the lyrics ponder "what is my life?"
This visual imaging of a song that is almost half-a-century old adds to the appreciation of how well What is Life has stood the test of time. As to the question, what is life? Well, I can't say for sure, but if it's anything like the feeling of joy, verve and boundless possibilities that emanate from this video, I'll take it.
I'm currently reading George Mackay Brown's Northern Lights. It is a collection of writing that was put together many years after his passing in 1996.
Mackay Brown was a storyteller, journalist, dramatist and perhaps most of all a poet. His visually rich language so readily found in his poems, is also a hallmark of his prose. There is a depth of description and thought, a capturing of place, atmosphere and feeling that is so dense and powerful - like an exceedingly rich cake - that it must only be consumed in small doses if it is to be properly savoured and enjoyed.
His prose burns brightly and hails from a different era; an era before today's increasingly simplistic forms of expression and communication that are ever more watered down, unfulfilling and bereft of characteristics. It seems the overwhelming need now is to cater for shortening attention spans and social media "shortcuts" that render words into woefully butchered versions of their original, even into single characters, pictograms or emojis.
When I read a piece of descriptive work by Mackay Brown, I feel uplifted. My mind is emboldened and inspired to search for its own greater artistic expression.
I am left to wonder if the style and depth of writing that Mackay Brown so magnificently mastered, and that is fading to a twilight ember in the face of today's throwaway blandness, might be revived. Could we see a reversal of the trend and with it a lifting of our spirit - a sensory renewal, through the written word, of the world around us?
I hope so.
Admirable characteristics: Zienia Merton, who played
Sandra Benes in Space:1999, has died at 72
Zienia Merton, who played a celebrated supporting role in both seasons of the TV series Space:1999, died on Friday at 72. Ziena's character Sandra encapsulated much of what was right and good about Space:1999 - and by extension humanity. She was confident, controlled, and efficient; an easily relatable and intelligent character. When Sandra was around there was a sense that sensible choices would be made, or at least be aired. The show endeavored to have diversity among its characters, demonstrating a theme of "one people" together. Like Star Trek before it, it portrayed people from a mixture of backgrounds living and working together with shared values and goals. Zienia was British, although also very much a world citizen. She was born in Burma. Her mother was Burmese and her father half-English, half-French. She lived in a number of countries before settling in England.
Early days: Zienia Merton, left, in The Beatles' Help!
As an actress, Zienia did most of her work on television, including a stint in one of the first Dr Who stories. Earlier in her career she was an extra in The Beatles' Help! playing (uncredited) a high priestess. Space:1999 was my favourite TV show as a youngster. I watched every episode during its original TV run from 1975 to 1977. Some 20-odd years later I attended an event on the outskirts of London after hearing that one of the '1999' cast would be there - Zienia. It felt surreal coming face to face with someone who I had such familiarity with, even though we'd never met before. Zienia was polite and easy to talk to, and despite the passage of years still looked almost exactly as she did in the show - right down to her hairstyle. For a few short hours while she was around it felt like being part of an extended Moonbase Alpha crew that had somehow been transported to a conference suite in a suburban hotel. A few years later, on the 13th of September 1999, Zienia reprised her role as Sandra Benes to record a six-minute video for a Space:1999 convention in the US, which was held to coincide with the day the moon blasted out of Earth's orbit - as imagined in the show. Her short "Final Message from Moonbase Alpha" is now regarded as the 49th and final installment of the series. As the last person on the evacuated moonbase she recorded a message for those who might find it in the future, ending with: "To you, the people of planet Earth, we say goodbye and ask but one thing - remember us." It was a fitting epilogue. Farewell Zienia
Lake Street Dive: An unusual musical combination that delights
When I stumbled across Lake Street Dive, I did not expect them to become my favourite music discovery of the year. Indeed, I'd only clicked onto their video because I was intrigued at the prospect of such a hodge-podge of musicians attempting A-ha's Take On Me. Before I go on, rewind to last summer when I heard the strains of Lana Del Rey floating from a beach bar music system. I'd never heard of her and had to ask someone at the bar who the mystery singer was (as I detailed in this post). That was my introduction to Del Rey's fresh "real" music. Of course, I was many years late to the party, but Del Ray was my big personal music discovery of 2017. So back to Lake Street Dive. I came across them not by listening to music at a beach bar, but through a more traditional route - on YouTube, the world's omnipresent portal for discovering music. The website uses data algorithms to suggest videos based on your history of viewing choices. For some reason, it decided that I'd enjoy Lake Street Dive's cover version of A-ha's Take On Me. I was going to ignore the offer, but the thumbnail picture on the video showed an unlikely combo on a tiny stage that I guessed was in a small town bar hosting an open-mic night. My curiosity was piqued; what would Take On Me sound like when tackled by a nutty combination of a trumpeter, double bassist, female vocalist, and a drummer wearing a rock band-style bandana? The video started and in the opening moments a tempo change on the drums did nothing to alter my belief this was a plucky amateur night at some bar. But then the song took shape and my early suspicion that they were making it up as they went along, vanished. It was much more than a passable rendition. The soaring lead vocals of Rachael Price delivering more depth than the original. And while the band had a quirky choice of musical instruments, they all played with consummate ease and professional finesse. In this instance, they were also augmented by a guest keyboardist. The vocal harmonies were the icing on the cake. I was impressed but still thought it was simply an unusual bar band.
Music moment: Lake Street Dive perform Annie Lennox's
Walking on Broken Glass - a rendition that confirmed to me their talent
I decided to check for any other cover versions they had done and found their rendition of Annie Lennox's Walking On Broken Glass. Bridget Kearney's double bass playing was sublime, reaching notes I've never seen attempted by others on the instrument. Price added a new dimension to the song with her vocals, while the rest of the band was immaculate with harmonies and a group a cappella finale. After hearing their version of The Kinks' Lola, I started searching the internet to see if they had an album of covers for sale. They didn't. But they had albums of original songs. The Brooklyn-based band has been enjoying growing national success in the US, particularly during the past six years, including Billboard chart action. YouTube threw up a near two-hour songwriting masterclass the band gave to cohorts at Boston's New England Conservatory of Music, where they had met back in 2004. I hadn't intended to sit through the full two hours, but I did - drawn in by the subject matter, the clarity and articulation of their thoughts, and the truly democratic make-up of the band (they gave each other an equal share of the discussion). They explained some of the methods they use to compose and arrange songs.
In that video and in other online interviews, Lake Street Dive came alive as personalities - bold, inventive, and with a clear sense of fun. They are talented instrument players with a genuine love and deep knowledge of music styles. I took the plunge and listened to more of their originals, quickly favouring almost everything I heard. Use Me Up, Call Off Your Dogs, and this year's Good Kisser and I Can Changeare now on my repeat playlist. If you're looking for a fresh sound check out Lake Street Dive.
Mark Hamill and Martin Landau spoke out when their iconic characters were
made to act incongruously to the manner they had previously established
Two leading actors in science-fiction franchises, separately and decades apart, expressed instinctive and eerily similar warnings about how their iconic characters were being altered in ways incongruent to their established identities, and that were likely to upset multitudes of loyal fans.
Their misgivings and concerns were flagged up before and during filming to those with influential production roles, but were mostly dismissed. However, they turned out to be prophetically accurate.
In interviews that took place 18 years apart, Martin Landau and Mark Hamill voiced almost identical thoughts on the process they saw unfolding for the well-loved characters they helped create.
Oscar winner Landau spoke about this when interviewed for a French documentary in 1999, as he reflected on his time as Commander John Koenig, the male lead of Space:1999 - a TV series filmed and broadcast during the mid-1970s. Meanwhile Hamill, in a number of interviews last year during the build up to the release of Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, aired concerns about the direction of his character Luke Skywalker.
Landau had deep misgivings about changes in the the second series of Space:1999 that were mostly introduced and forced through by new producer and script editor Fred Frieberger. He spoke of “battles” with Freiberger about the changes, which included characters behaving incongruously to the manner they had established in the first series. There was also unexplained changes of personnel, outfits, and main sets.
Speaking of the second series, Landau said: “I’m not a big fan. I thought he (Frieberger) hurt the show. I thought he hurt Star Trek; the year he did it it went downhill. He certainly didn’t help us. I fought with him all the time. You see, I think an episode should enhance the character and serve the character. Many times in the second year my character had to serve the script and do things that he shouldn’t do. I knew Commander Koenig. I understood him. And in the second year he did things he should never have done to accommodate a story point in the script - I used to fight over that, I would say ‘this is wrong.’”
It was not only his character who was made to act inconsistently to their established identity. Landau said Freiberger “would bring up a script and I would say ‘this is terrible. Helena wouldn’t do this, Koenig wouldn’t do this, Alan wouldn’t do this. These characters would not do this. The only reason they are doing this is to serve this script, and it’s wrong.’ Sometimes I would win these battles, and sometimes I’d lose them. Sometimes there was a re-write, sometimes there wasn’t. I wasn’t happy the second year; I thought we were turning the show into a cartoon - into a Mister Magoo.”
Landau had misgivings about changes to characters and story lines in the
second series of Space:1999. He had "battles" with producer Frieberger
When broadcast, series two was widely-regarded by critics and many fans as a dumbed-down “monster of the week” follow-up to the often thought-provoking episodes of the first year. Many people continue to view the second year as a pale shadow of the first. There was no third series. Years later, when Freiberger made a rare appearance at a Space:1999 fan convention to explain why he made so many changes, he faced robust criticism from the most dedicated supporters of the show.
Landau’s words about “knowing and understanding” Commander Koenig and taking issue with the character being made to do things he would not have done based on his established identity, were mirrored by Hamill when he spoke about his misgivings regarding the character direction for Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi.
In an interview on Nightline ABC in April 2017, Hamill said when he read the script he told writer and director Rian Johnson: “I fundamentally disagree with everything you’ve decided about my character.” He continued: “It was as shocking to me to read what Rian had written as I’m sure it will be for the audience.”
Later in the year he returned to the topic. “I said to Rian, ‘Jedi don’t give up. Even if he (Luke) had a problem he’d maybe take a year to re-group, but if he made a mistake he’d try to right that wrong.’ So right there we had a fundamental difference. But, it’s not my story anymore, it’s someone else’s story and Rian needed me to be a certain way to make the ending effective,” said Hamill.
Expanding on his concerns during the same interview, he said: “That’s the crux of my problem - Luke would never say that. I almost had to think of Luke as another character, maybe he’s Jake Skywalker, he’s not my Luke Skywalker. But I had to do what Rian wanted me to do because it serves the story well. But listen, I still haven’t accepted it completely. But it’s only a movie, I hope people like it, I hope people don’t get upset.”
As the marketing machine went into overdrive for the film’s release, Hamill said he regretted voicing some of his doubts in public. “Creative differences are a common element of any project but usually remain private,” he said, adding that he ultimately appreciated the decisions that had been made.
However, The Last Jedi caused damaging polarization among fans - more so than has been experienced by any blockbuster movie franchise - to the extent that many who had followed the Star Wars saga for 40 years turned away from the series and vowed to avoid future installments. A variety of reasons were given, but head-and-shoulders above all was dismay at how Luke Skywalker, one of the greatest movie heroes of all time, had been portrayed in a way far removed from what had been established in previous films.
On social media and film review sites across the internet the backlash was substantial. I have read and listened to hundreds of options lambasting in particular the framing of Luke. We are now nine months on from the film’s release and the reaction shows no signs of abating. To pick one mild example, posted as a comment on a YouTube video in the past 48 hours, a fan wrote: “I still cannot believe Rian Johnson's script made it to the screen. Surely someone at Disney or Lucasfilm (other than Mark Hamill) pointed out how upset Star Wars fans were going to get."
While innovation in storytelling is always to be welcomed, there are certain boundaries where red warnings flash - as Landau and Hamill flagged up during the production of their respective franchises. For the directors and producers who ignored or overrode the warnings and concerns of their foremost stars, the subsequent fan fallout has been haunting.
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Video: Martin Landau talks about concerns for his Space:1999 character.
Video: Mark Hamill speaks about changes to the character of Luke Skywalker.
Energy and fun: Dennis Moniz at the 2012 recording and filming
of The Love Singers' version of All You Need Is Love.
Dennis Moniz, a featured singer on the Lennon Bermuda CD version of All You Need Is Love, has died at 66. He was one of the 11 named singers who shared lead vocal duties on the track; the ensemble was known as The Love Singers.
Mr Moniz was a well-known singer across Bermuda and performed with a number of groups, and at many venues during his long career. Tony Brannon, the organiser of the Lennon Bermuda project, referred to him as the Sammy Davis Jr of Bermuda.
Although I only had the briefest of encounters with Mr Moniz, I would say the 'Sammy Davis Jr' description was very apt. I met him when we were both doing chorus backing on The Love Singers' version of All You Need is Love, which was recorded in May 2012 ahead of the release of the Lennon Bermuda CD and the subsequent concert in September that year. The recording was done in a gallery room at Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art, in the Botanical Gardens.
Infectious fun: Will Black, myself, Ronnie Lopes and Dennis Moniz
during the filming of the All You Need is Love video
A video of the recording session was made under the supervision of director Lucinda Spurling, and it captures the effervescent energy and spirit of Mr Moniz. His smiling, jovial nature shone as brightly as his silky blue shirt. His presence, energy, and unusual headwear are my most abiding memory from that day. In the video, he is captured later singing a lead line as one of three singers sitting back to back - although he had switched to a white shirt that featured his name embroidered on the front. He had an infectious attitude of fun that lit up the room, and once experienced was hard to forget.
This year has seen the loss of two other Lennon Bermuda performers; Steve Easton, who sang Bless You, and international recording artist Roy Young, who appeared on stage with The Beatles during their Hamburg days, and sang Nowhere Man on Lennon Bermuda.
The joy all three gave to others through music lives on.
Here is The Love Singers video of All You Need is Love:
Alan Bean, the fourth man to walk on the moon and the last surviving member of the Apollo XII mission, has died at 86.
In the kicker to his book Painting Apollo, Bean referred to himself as the first artist on another world, and when he attended an Astronauts Weekend in London four years ago he used the phrase "the first artist on the moon". In his hour-long talk at the event he explained why.
During his hours on the moon in late 1969 he had not set up an easel to paint the lunar landscape or his fellow moonwalker, the late Pete Conrad. But after retiring from Nasa in 1981 he spent much of his time creating paintings that depicted his own experience on the moon, and recreating other scenes - including an image of Neil Armstrong on the surface of the moon.
As Heather and I made our way to the top level atrium of the Radisson Blu Edwardian Heathrow Hotel for a cocktail reception at Autographica's Astronauts Weekend, Bean was standing beside the elevators in the lobby. A short while later he was at the reception chatting to fellow Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin. The following day we learnt more about Bean's contribution to the space programme when he gave a sellout lecture.
He described how in later life he had become an artist, painting space mission scenes and striving for accuracy, which brought him to a story about his painting of Armstrong on the moon. The painting was among those exhibited at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC, in 2009 to mark the 40th anniversary of the moon landings. In attendance were many Apollo mission veterans, including Armstrong. One of the guests studied Bean's painting and spotted Armstrong was portrayed wearing a wristwatch. The guest wasn't convinced that Armstrong had worn his watch on the moon's surface and said so to Bean, who was caught off guard by the observation and wondered if he had got the detail wrong. Bean suggested the guest go and find Armstrong, who was elsewhere in the museum, and ask him if he had been wearing a watch.
It should be pointed out here that there are very few photographs of Armstrong on the moon because he was the one issued with the camera during the mission. As a result most of the iconic moon landing photos show colleague Aldrin on the surface. There is one full-body picture of Armstrong on the moon, however, he has his back to the camera and it is not clear if he is wearing his watch or not.
Ready to go: Bean at the time of the Apollo XII mission
The inquiring guest tracked down Armstrong and asked him about Bean's painting and whether or not he had worn a wristwatch on the moon's surface. Armstrong said, "Has Alan painted me wearing one?" The reply was "Yes," to which Armstrong responded, "Well, that's how it was." It was a good answer, but it wasn't how it had been on the moon. In reality Armstrong had taken off his watch and left it inside the lunar module as a back-up because the onboard mission timer was not working. Many months later, having researched the facts himself, Bean painted out the watch from the portrait.
The weekend event was attended by a number of astronauts including Commander Robert "Hoot" Gibson and a number of his fellow veterans from the Space Shuttle missions. One of them was the late Bruce McCandless, who made history with the first untethered space walk in 1984. He is the man in the famous picture (taken by Gibson) floating in the void of space wearing a jet backpack.
McCandless was working at mission control in 1969 during the Apollo programme and was one of the key contacts for Apollo XI astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin during their landmark first landing on the moon. He also had a story about the follow-up Apollo XII mission, which took Bean and Conrad to the lunar surface, with Richard Gordon piloting the orbiting command module.
He recounted that as the Saturn V rocket soared upwards through the Earth's atmosphere it was hit by either lightning or a self-induced electrical discharge. "They lost all power to the command module," said McCandless. "The computer in the Saturn V redundant for the very first time, so they switched over to the back-up computer and they kept on flying. It was Alan Bean who painstakingly restored power to the command module, brought the fuel cells back online and shortly thereafter they made it successfully into orbit, aligned the platform, got a go to proceed to the moon and had a very successful mission.
"And I think that in today's environment we have probably become so risk adverse that had we had a similar incident with the shuttle we would have insisted on immediately terminating the mission and coming home. It's a real tribute to Alan and Pete Conrad and Dick Gordon that they were able to salvage the mission even after a near catastrophe like this."
Bean died today in Houston after a short illness. Farewell Captain Bean - the first artist on another world.
The ragged flag in the centre of a small town that provided
inspiration for a key location in Alice Out Of Time.
A writer can create a wonderful story that is filled with dynamic characters, but if a setting doesn't ring true or is badly described it seriously distracts from all else.
The information needed to construct a believable setting can be researched through books and other literature, and from online searches.
However, there is nothing quite as rewarding as visiting a location that closely matches an imagined setting; that way the writer gets to walk the sidewalks, see the buildings, the people, the traffic - soaking up the experience and "mood" of the place.
I did this during a brief visit to a town in the US. It wasn't a big place; the hub of the town was where the main street intersected with three other streets. There was a parade of stores, all past their glory days, on either side of the quiet street. What particularly caught my eye was a large Stars and Stripes fluttering in the heart of the town. The over-sized Amercian flag, something almost ubiquitous in towns and cities across the US, had also seen better days. It flew proudly, but its ripped and ragged trailing edge prompted a feeling that this community was not overly prosperous and had yet to find the funds to replace its worn flag.
The essence of the town matched that of a place that features in Alice Out Of Time. The novel is now in the third draft stage, undergoing plot tightening and fine-tuning of descriptive passages. Therefore, it was a welcome opportunity to stroll the streets of a small town that closely resembles a key setting in novel, and imagine the characters from Alice doing the same.
Above: a compilation of news reports on Pink Floyd's 1988 concert near Perth, Australia.
When Pink Floyd took to the stage at East Fremantle Oval exactly 30 years ago, I was not expecting a concert that would live so vividly in my memory. But the magical sense of place and feeling of that evening has not been diminished by the passing of three decades.
As the sun went down on a sultry mid-summer day in Australia, beneath the twinkly stars of the southern sky, some 25,000 people gathered at the outdoor sports ground to witness the music and laser show spectacle. It wasn't cheap; tickets were $37, which was a sizable bite into my budget at the time. I was 21, and living cheaply as a backpacker on a one-year working-visa. However, my budget took secondary consideration next to the draw of such a big night. Pink Floyd were part of the pantheon of modern music greats, alongside The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who.
Big night: concert ticket and photo of the Pink Floyd
gig at East Fremantle Oval, February 24, 1988
Up until that evening the music of Pink Floyd had drifted in and out of my life, mostly through the 1979 hit Another Brick in the Wall. When I arrived in Western Australia at the start of 1988, I found the band's new single On the Turning Away wasreceiving heavy radio airplay. I was deeply struck by this song - then and now - and regard it as one of their greatest moments.
The Pink Floyd of 1988 was a patched together, not quite complete version of the band that created a string of masterpieces in the 1960s and 1970s. The group had fractured in the early 1980s with Richard Wright, the keyboard/singer, the first to depart followed by singer-songwriter Roger Waters. At that stage, with only two core members remaining, it seemed the band was done. But in the heat and ashes of bitter legal wrangles, singer-guitarist David Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason re-engaged with Wright, recorded a new album, A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987), and set about self-financing a world tour.
I'd been immensely impressed by On The Turning Away, not at all by its follow-up The Dogs of War, but mesmorised again by another track Learning to Fly. I was staying at Travelmates, a backpackers' hostel in Perth. A group of fellow travellers who were seriously into Pink Floyd convinced me it would be worth shelling out $37 for a ticket. And so I went to East Fremantle Oval that evening.
There was a uniqueness to the night. As we stood in the sweet, warm evening air we were bathed in more than simply music; it was an experience and total immersion in sound and laser lights. Giant inflatables soared above the crowd, one a pig, another the frightful schoolteacher immortalised in the video for Another Brick In The Wall.
It was jaw-dropping and intangibly uplifting. The Cold War was thawing, the world seemed to be shifting and Pink Floyd, the musical kings, were providing a timeless soundtrack. The evening captured something of that moment, a feeling of freedom, of new beginnings and new possibilities.
Not everyone was happy. The staging of an outdoor rock concert by one of the biggest bands in the world, in the middle of suburbia, caused plenty of local criticism - as evident in the contemporary newscasts in the video above. I also remember one amusing quip in the press the following day from a retired music teacher who lived nearby, he derided the night claiming Pink Floyd "wouldn't know a tuning fork from a pitch fork".
Others have reminisced about vast plumes of marijuana smoke that hung heavy above the crowd that evening. There certainly was a thick fragrance, which may have had some baring on the laid back attitude of the police who peacefully monitored the event from a distance.
As it turned out it was the last concert Pink Floyd ever played in Australia. They had one more world tour, in 1994, which had no Australian dates. After that they were gone, bar for a last-minute, unexpected reunion by all four members to perform three songs in London's Hyde Park during the Live 8 charity event in 2005.
Having seen and heard the reinvigorated Pink Floyd, I kept their music by my side for the rest of my year-long adventure in Australia, and for years later. The live album of that tour, Delicate Sound of Thunder, to this day sparks vivid memories of that time - but no track more so than On The Turning Away.
Even as the decades have ticked by, I hoped that I would get a chance to see Pink Floyd one more time. But following the death of Wright in 2006 that possibility all but vanished, and the gap between the last tour and today is now wider than Pink Floyd's entire recording career (1967-94)*. However, I shall always treasure that night of warmth, joy and togetherness at East Fremantle Oval.
* Excluding The Endless River (2014). My review can be read here. Video: Pink Floyd perform On the Turning Away during the 1987-90 world tour
Video: Nick Mason interview the day before the East Fremantle concert
Book comments: Jim Humphreys' faxed letter about Dolphin Girl.
A man who knew one of the big secrets of the Second World War has died at 100.
James Humphreys Jr also wrote kind words about Dolphin Girl shortly after it first appeared in the Eating Clouds collection in 2008. He felt it should be turned into a movie and suggested who might be the perfect producer.
More on that in a moment, but first some words on Jim. He was a US Navy Lieutenant during the Second World War and was stationed in Bermuda in 1944, where he met his future wife Shirley. She was a volunteer nurse's aide and tended to patients at the US military hospital in Southampton. She was tasked with looking after a German U-boat commander, Admiral Harald Lange, who along with his submarine and crew members had been captured by the Americans.
The big secret was that the capture in 1944 had resulted in an Enigma machine and assorted codebooks falling into the hands of the Allies. While codebreakers in the UK had already cracked many of the Enigma codes, the additional resources from the captured U-boat gave further insights, including a coordinate code for locating the rendezvous locations of the submarines.
Of significant value was the capture of the submarine U-505. It was towed to Bermuda, where its acoustic homing torpedoes were analysed and tested. This gave the Allies crucial information on ways to counter the technology.
It was vital that the capture of the U-boat and its crew remained a secret - lest the Germans find out how much the Allies had learned from the codes and torpedoes. Shirley was sworn to secrecy, although she shared the secret with her beloved Jim. Together they kept the information under wraps for 50 years. The couple married and after the war lived in the US before returning to Bermuda in 1980. It was only in 1992 that the wartime secret was revealed during interviews.
Shirley died in 1999. By all accounts, Jim felt Bermuda was his home as it had played such a significant part in his life and he remained on the island for the rest of his days.
I met Jim in November 2005. He was a wartime veteran taking part in the annual Remembrance Day parade on Front Street, Hamilton. I was compiling a report for The Royal Gazette newspaper and I spoke to him and a number of the other veterans. Jim was 88, and in our brief exchange he did not mention the drama of the U-boat secret.
Three years later, the original edition of Eating Clouds was published. It contained a mixture of journalism and life stories that I had collected over the years. The second part of the book featured the short novel Dolphin Girl, which became an expanded and improved standalone novel in 2015.
An article about Eating Clouds appeared in the newspaper in December 2005, and two weeks later a fax arrived at the newspaper office from Jim. It was addressed to me, and in it Jim wrote he had enjoyed the book "especially Dolphin Girl" and added: "I recommend that you consult Michael Douglas and ask him to consider being the producer of the film, Dolphin Girl. Special effects rendition of Dolphin Girl changing from a dolphin to a gorgeous blonde as the Scottish team, led by Josh and Katrina, save her is an Academy candidate winner."
Jim also mentioned that I had interviewed him a few years earlier. I wrote back thanking him for his words, which were among the first positive feedback received regarding Eating Clouds and Dolphin Girl. I've yet to take up Jim's recommendation to approach Mr Douglas (who occasionally resides in Bermuda) regarding a Dolphin Girl film.
It was sad to hear of Jim's passing this week. However, I'm glad he lived a full and remarkable life, that our paths crossed and that he stayed happy and engaged with the world to such a grand age - as evident by an interview a colleague conducted with him last year on his 100th birthday.
This is a salute to retired US Navy Lt Jim Humphreys. Fair winds and following seas.
On a mission: Wendy has to reach Los Angeles
before the screenwriting competition deadline
It's always a pleasure to come across a movie out of the blue that entertains, tugs on emotions and is enjoyable to the last. Please Stand By tells the story of a young woman with autism, played by Dakota Fanning, who runs away from her caregiver in order to submit a screenplay she has written to a Star Trek contest.
This new film has been released simultaneously at theatres and through iTunes and Amazon.
Fanning plays the role of Wendy, who has some remarkable yet under-appreciated talents. Even as her erratic mission to deliver her Star Trek screenplay falls apart, she overcomes her fears. At one point she does this by following the wisdom of Spock - in the words that she wrote - where the only logical direction to go is "forward".
Toni Collette, in the role of caregiver Scottie, was the reason I took a chance on this new release. Collete has given a string of great performances over the years, including her breakthrough hit Muriel's Wedding, and she is masterful in this outing, as is Alice Eve, another newcomer to me, who plays Wendy's sister Audrey.
Perfect casting: Dakota Fanning's performance as Wendy is memorable
While the strong and clear plot revolves around Wendy's attempt to deliver her screenplay before the competition deadline, the theme of Please Stand By is very much one of relationships, empathy and family. The upsets are believable, and even in the seemingly most hopeless moments there is an underlying positivity, a flickering flame that refuses to go out. We never want to give up on Wendy.
All together, Please Stand By handles an interesting topic in a sensitive and uplifting way. Fanning is a star on the rise, and Collette and Eve are on point in their supporting roles. My emotions were tugged repeatedly by this film, which in moments reminded me of David Lynch's wonderful Straight Story.
The scripting is tight and believable; the cinematography and accompanying music are a delight. The soundtrack features the melodic Au Revoir Simone and also the relatively obscure group Lavender Diamond, whose play out tune Open Your Heart perfectly captures the mood.
At a time when Hollywood seems to be losing the plot with soulless blockbuster franchises, it is good to know that little films such as Please Stand By are also being made and seeing the light of day.
Rock on: the minimalist, industrial-style setting for the video of When Heroes Go Down perfectly reflected the tone of the song
It was difficult to restrict myself to a single song from Suzanne Vega's great catalogue to honour as the first to feature in this occasional 'Love the Song' series.
However, I've gone for one of her more unusual outings, When Heroes Go Down. It is probablythe most out-and-out rocking number she has released. And at just under two minutes long, it is also one of the briefest slices of pop/rock.
It was the fourth and final single from the 99.9F album of 1992, which itself was a huge departure for Vega, breaking away from the folk-pop of her first three albums. The album featured industrial-sounding beats and percussion and some stark lyricism and vocals, and sent the American singer-songwriter into new territory. It was a bold step, and came two years after her famed song Tom's Diner had been sampled and repackaged by the British dance music duo DNA, sending it to the top of the charts.
The musical experimentation of 99.9F produced a host of memorable tracks, including the title song 99.9F, Blood Makes Noise, and In Liverpool.
What I love about When Heroes Go Down is its driving rock beat, the straightforward, powerful lyrics, Vega's assured vocals, and the way it manages to squeeze in a momentary change of pace, even in the rarified space of its 120 seconds entirety. In fact, my only complaint is that it is too short. I'd happily listen to another few minutes of this rocker.
