Bummer: Talented "Wire" Writer R.I.P.

David Mills died this week from a brain anuerism. I interviewed him a few years back when he was producing a TV series called King Pins. On his cluttered office in Burbank, California. Nice guy, smart and loved music. He had a blog which will give you a good idea of his interests.

It's weird when somebody I've done stories about kick the bucket. Heath Ledger, gone. Had a really funny bunch of stories from Jon and a few months later, he drops dead. Allen Ginsberg, over the phone, always a high point as was Frank Zappa.

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!

I don't know why but I get a kick out of this google translator tool.

From my new musical Fairfax, I typed in the lyrics for the song Keeper of the Flame (you can hear it over at the Fairfax site: hughhart.com/fairfax)
Here's how the lines came out after getting translated into Italian, then to German, and back to English:

View from the window
Roller blind
Keeping debris
See what you locate
There is a bird cake
You want to use your name
Do you have to dig into the situation
A little 'more
The guardians of the flame

Open floodgate
Tear off the ground
Reveal damage
Lift the hinges off the door
They feel a lot cheaper
They want to know who to blame
They would practice a bit better
For the guardians of the flame

Bathe my bitter heart
Break me in two
Shine your iight shaken
Show me
Apologies
I will correct
To help you

They want to be beside her
They want to stay in the game
You should burn a bit more brighter
For the guardians of the flame
About the level of fruit
She's shivering in the rain
Take a little of my fire
Oh yeah
Keeper of the flame

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.