Morning Dog Walk in Laurel Canyon

Here's my morning dog walk with Oliver in Studio City, Dec. 25 2020. I turn right and go down Laurel Canyon Boulevard past the "LaurelWood" bus stop, where Erik the homeless guy used to hang out, and walk by the house formerly owned by bug-eyed actor Marty Feldman. It's now home to Mark "Flanny" Flannigan, from Dublin, who went to Harvard, moved to L.A. and started alternative comedy hotspot Largo. He seemingly knows everybody and one of his best friends Conan O'Brien, now broadcasts his show from Largo.

Then we come to the rental house formerly rented by the British DP who shot WestWorld and his cute family. Up the hill I pass the ranch house belonging to composer Megan, who's working on a musical about a Jewish woman who smuggled thousands of kids out of Poland. Next door lives Aaron, the 80-something lawyer with red hair who remembers wiping off seats for baseball fans back in the depression and sticking out his hand for a nickel. The batboy. His wife Millie, a brash New Yorker always dressed to the nines. Their son Ethan, a genius repairman of video games.

A bit further is the "hippie shack" owned by a law professor from University of San Francisco. Then a forested hollow. Here's where I often run into Tommy, an adorable border collie, and his owner Neil Clark, who seems to know pretty much everything from how to unlock a locked electronic gate and the best time to pick apples to the fact that the guy in the red sports car who just whizzed past us is William Shatner, who lives at the top of the hill

Reversing course I pass the judge's house, who told me my late dog Huck looked so formidable he would fit right in sitting next to him in court.

Now I approach the landmark "Hobbit House." Formerly owned by Jane Fonda and "My Name is Earl" sidekick Ethan Suplee, it's made of cobblestones and Middle Earth type roofing. According to Neil, the compound kept expanding to accomdate orphaned children, which is why it's such a sprawling jumble.

Downhll to the tree-lined "Bucolic Stretch." Behind the gate on the left, Frick and Frack lurk, waiting to bark their brains out. Officially known as Dudley and Eddie, the smaller dog plays the alpha role. "Eddie runs the show," his owner once told me.

A hip hop producer reportedly lives in the white modernst mansion next door but never comes out when I'm walking. Patton Oswald lives beyond the Bucolic Stretch in a contemporary house, so I'm told (by Neil), although I've never run into him.

Somewhere along the way I often see Alex and her little Charlie dog. Living in a fairy tale-like glade is bulldog Baxter and John, the crew chief for "Big Brother," and his Emmy-nominated costume designer wife Jodie Stern ("Watchmen"). I might run into Irena, the Iranian expatriate who voted for Trump and whose husband Jerry used to regale me at the Dona Pegita bus stop with a litany of health-related misadventures. Tromping back up hill, I might pass Meg and her tiny dog Ridley, who live in the ranch house formerly occupied by the Palestinian character actor (see below) and his family. Then. . . home.

August Song-A-Palooza

Progressing on Idolizer, recording vocals at Amp Rehearsal in North Hollywood last couple of Sundays, and best of all, working with the great mixer/sound engineer/guitarist Lee Popa to do a mix on one of the tunes, All Fall Down. Aiming toward late fall release to get the whole thing mixed, mastered and released.

They Just Keep Coming On by Hugh Hart

Album-in-Progress

I'm working my way through a new album's worth of songs. Most of the recording I do on my MacBook with a keyboard I got at Guitar Center. I use Logic Pro, which my tech wizard Tommy kindly installed when I bought the computer from him.

But I need to sing somewhere i can caterwaul without disturbing neighbors.

I spent two Sunday afternoons July 3 and July 10 up the street at Amp Rehesarsal Studios in North Hollywood. There, I locked myself in a basement room with my trusty Shure 57 microphone and sang All Fall Down, Come Out Swinging, Soul Embrace, Set For Life, Too Many Tears, You Never Crack and Lost and Found.

Next step: I'm excited to bring in Lee Pope, ex-Chicago mixer / guitarist / wild man, to mix at least one of the tracks. Stay tuned!

House of Imaginary Hits

With graphic designer Sean Hartter, I've launched House of Imaginary Hits. Sean designed the "album" cover art for songs pulled from the Hugh archives. Check it out at http://www.hughhart.com/music/hits

Reptilian Brain: The Movie

For the sequel to Unemployment Polka, I drew on a bunch of sound and image sources. Credits + specs for Reptilian Brain YouTube music video:

Most of the images come from Machinima filmmaker Lowe Runo, who posted clips on the copyright-free Prelinger Archives.

Beast From 20,000 Fathoms also makes a cameo appearance.

Female vocals by Jesse Maltin and the excellent Vikki Gurdas. were excerpted from my Wrecking Ball musical.

Robot vocals filtered through Final Draft "speech" tool.

Harmonica and other stuff by me.

Recorded on Garageband and mixed on LogicPro laptop recording software.

Video was stitched together on Apple's iMovie editor.

Unemployment Polka Music Video

I had fun this weekend with found footage from the copyright-free Prelinger Archives: I've posted a music video today for Unemployment Polka as featured in my musical in progress Wrecking Ball. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LzL4jvF3q4

Dog bite, BMI, Car Dent, Big Wired Traffic

August update: I got bit by a dog - - my own sweet Huck - - the other morning. A rival dog off the leash came racing over to attack us. I got between the two, and Huck accidentally took a piece out of my calf. Ouch.

Oh, then I had an allergic reaction to echinacha. I've been taking it ever since a great Method actor (Sopranos) told me it prevented colds. I forgot to shake up a new bottle and choked, eyes tearing, coughing, all that. So, no more echinachea. I supsect it of being a placebo type thing anyway.

Then I posted Wired.com's most popular "gallery" story in July, and took the Amtrak down to Comic-Con and had pork chops with my editor at a restaurant that supposedly used to be Wyatt Earp's whore house. On the train back, I sat across from French director Michel Gondry and his girlfriend.

Last week I found out from BMI in New York that I'm a finalist for their musical workshop. I go there Sept. 8 to audition.

Watching "Mesrine" tonight, about French criminal. Gripping stuff. The guy channels young robert De Niro.

Songs and Blow-Out Preventers

I had been picturing the month of May as a chance to wheel out 30 of my tunes online. I did go ahead and do that with my 30 Songs in May page. But mostly, I obsessed over Container Domes, Blow Out Preventers and Top Kills. I used to live on Pawley's Island, South Carolina, so I know first hand about the hypnotic beauty of the wetlands. Responding to images of the Gulf oil spill, I yelled at the TV so much I got hoarse. I called all my "representatives" and ranted to their poor phone-handlers, and sent emails, and twittered about the government's Katrina-like sluggishness.

Anyway, I've spent Memorial Day Weekend with a cold. Whee!

Rockin Video from the Archives

Okay, uploaded my first YouTube video this weekend. Ex-ODD guitarist sent me a DVD of the band in Chicago, i figured out how to use this iMovie editing software, onverted a clip into a movie file and threw it up there under the desparately named flamewidget channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/flamewidget

Fairfax Feedback

Got some useful feedback today from Alice and Norman Tulchin this afteroon after they listened to my 16-song Fairfax CD over the weekend. They've produced a ton of Broadway shows including Kristen Scott Thomas' Seagull couple years ago. I'm also awaiting a critque from Rokko Jans, composer for the Tony Award winning troupe Chicago Shakespeare Theater. wrote a few songs for one of Rokko's musicals a few years ago.

Musical, Done. . .

I wrapped version one of Fairfax, my musical about teardowns, a cranky grandpa, his two feuding sons and the beautiful woman they both adore. Sixteen songs, burned to CD as I kept one eye on the Superbowl, tell the story: Five rockers, four character songs, two ballads, a waltz, a polka, a duet and a couple of reprises. Next up, I'm sending the thing out and see how / if people like it.

The Week in Rock, Sci-Fi, Musical

Intense week: Sunday, Jody Durham, ex-roadie from The ODD, came by during a visit to L.A. He now runs tech stuff for Chicago's Oriental Theater - Dream Girls in February! - - but used to schlep speakers and lights for my band. Favorite memory: me, in losing battle to a dead-of-winter cold, too hoarse to sing for a club gig in Iowa City. So I moved my mouth to a whole set's worth of songs while Jody, unseen offstage, did the actual singing. Fooled 'em!

Then I saw Book of Eli and reviewed it for Wired.com.

Found out midweek that my childhood buddy Dale Shewalter died. A true wild child, Dale grew up to create the Arizona Trail.

Thursday, singer Vikki Gurdas laid down soulful vocal tracks for my Fairfax: A Musical duet One Plus One.

And Friday I walked a couple of blocks to the Aroma Cafe in Studio City to interview 22-year old actress Alessandra Torresani. She's the star of a new sci-fi series, Caprica, and is a real ball of fire. The enthusiasm of youth - - whew!

Old Country Music Pals. . .

People from the Old Country who remember me as Hugh the Rocker keep tracking me down on Facebook. Here's a photograph sent to me by graphic design guy Shelly Howard. He designed The ODD logo which I always thought was very sharp, clean and catchy. The baby-faced guy I'm standing next to, Phil Bimstein, went on to become a Colorado politician! ?

I've also heard from the guy who used to do sound for The Odd, lighting dude Jody Durham and former ODD drummer Brad Canady. It all calls up memories of really cold winters and some super-fun gigs.

My Former Band Cataloged in The Chicago Music Scene Book

My Vaudeville-meets-rock band Huge Hart gets a little ink in November with the release of The Chicago Music Scene by Dean Milano. They're doing book signings, concerts and stuff back in the Old Country pegged to the book's Nov. 7 release date.

Another of my bands, The ODD, was invited to be part of the You Weren't There documentary covering Chicago's punk scene, except I'm a moron and never got around to sending the filmmakers archival video of the band.

To honor the film's completion, there's going to be a reunion concert November 24 at Chicago's Portage Theater with musicians I used to play clubs with who called themselves Tutu and the Pirates. Lead singer's stage name: Lil' Richie Speck.

Ex-Bandmate Mark Messing Rocks the Marching Band

I'm happy to see ex bandmate Mark Messing doing innovative music in Chicago. Mark used to play saxophone in my group the Magnificent Seven, and he in fact was pretty magnificent. Wiry, lanky and leftist, wailing Mark took my songs into manic, soulful terrain every time he cranked out a solo.

He now leads his own orchestra Mucca Pazza, which plays thumping, delirious rock, oom-pah and avant garde tunes. It's a marching band with crazy costumes, cheerleaders, tubas, accordians, electric guitars and more.

Here's a radio show which features Mark talks smartly about the concept along with bits from the Mucca repertoire.

Like I used to say from the stage: ladies and gentlemen: Mr. Mark Messing! Now blazing trails in the Old Country.

My New CD How To Be a Millionaire: Done

I finished my ten-song CD How To Be a Millionaire a few days ago. Listened to it through the big ol' car speakers on my drive over to watch Wolverine.

I guess you could call it Americana with a Twist. Me, strumming the acoustic guitar, my upright piano, a batch of harmonicas and the mighty Casio keyboard of ancient vintage.

Tunes were recorded on Garagegand, an awesome program that happily was loaded on to this MacBook I bought.

Subjects include hard times (Hollow of the Hill) broken hearts (Make It Up to You), hobos (Better Beat than Dead) bankruptcy (How To Be a Millionaire) and soul mate seeking (Gold Mine).

You can listen to some of the songs over at MySpace,

Happy new year. All purpose round-up: My former band The ODD (pictured) is being included in a documentary about Chicago's music scene. Details to come.

Another one of my bands, Huge Hart, will be featured in a history of Chicago's music scene being written by Dean Milano. The book, from Arcadia Publishing, is tentatively slated to hit bookstores late 2009.


And on the Wired.com front, you can link to a year's worth of my blogs covering all things geek including my favorite movie review headline of 2008: The Flesh is Willing but the Spirit is Weak.

www.hughhart.com/hoopla

Marianne Faithfull: As Years Go By

I swapped emails with Marianne Faithfull a few days ago. She's the London "It Girl" from the sixties best known for "As Tears Go By." Now she's into Shakespeare. I liked what she had to say about time, voice and the Bard.

"I just came back from Germany where I performed 27 Shakespeare sonnets accompanied by a cellist. As you get older, you understand the sonnets more because they're about time. That's what I've always needed most. Even though I started at 17, I wasn't ready. It never occurred to me to become a pop singer. It just happened. I had no control.

It took until my album 'Broken English' before I realized I could put to use the all the things I'd learned from sitting in on sessions with the Stones, Bowie, the Beatles. Not to put down my early work, but there was a time before I finally found my true voice. That's how Sofia Coppola used me in Marie Antoinette - - that was primarily about my voice. It's a precious commodity.

More on Faithfull in Hugh's San Francisco Chronicle story.