Monthly Archives: July 2022

My Old School: Alan Cumming And Jono McLeod On The Great School Hoaxer

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In 1995, the students of a secondary school in Scotland, found out they were the victims of a hoax. Their popular student companion of the previous year, Brandon Lee, turned out not to be who he seemed to be, but an imposter. Now, one of those school students, Jono McLeod, who grew up to be a filmmaker, has made a film that takes that shaggy dog story further yet, as Jono and his former school companions investigate the effect that the student they knew as Brandon Lee had on all of them. And in a virtuoso turn, Alan Cumming plays the camera-shy Brandon.

I was very happy to interview the director of the film, My Old School, Jono McLeod, and its star, Alan Cumming, for Arts Express radio heard on WBAI-FM NYC and Pacifica stations across the nation.

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to hear the interview as broadcast today

The Circle Game

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Joni Mitchell, 78 years old, appeared this week at the Newport Folk Festival–her first public concert for 20 years. She’s had an aneurysm and other health problems, but with a little help from her friends (Brandi Carlile, Wynona Judd) she sang, among other songs, “Both Sides Now,” “Summertime,” and the song above, a very touching “The Circle Game.”

Thanks to YouTuber Amy Karibian

The Thief of Bad Gags

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(Click to enlarge)

Magic fans will enjoy this parody film poster advertising the Golden Gate Gathering, a magic convention organized by Anthony Miller and Rosie Rings.

Magician Kent Gunn explains on the Genii forum that Rosie and Tony are both huge movie poster aficionados. and that they’ve come up with Rosie-fied old movie posters for the GGG for several years.

Thanks to Kent Gunn for the photo of the poster.

Mr. Electric

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One of the most iconic acts in the history of magic–Marvyn Roy and Carol’s light bulb act. Reportedly it took hours upon hours just to set up the complicated props for a single performance. That finale!

Thanks to YouTuber Bob Carroll

Hollow Wood

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Monday morning, a beautiful song written and sung by Allison Young and Josh Turner. Josh writes:

“When Allison and I started to conceive of this project, we both wanted to do something acapella in the Scots-Irish-Appalachian folk tradition. I had suggested a few covers, and then Allison come to me with a verse and a chorus. We finished the song together over the next two days and recorded it just a few days after that. Allison woke up with her voice feeling terrible the morning of recording but it was one of the last days we had, so when she said she felt good enough to give it a try, I hit record on the camera without even checking it – couldn’t waste time! as a result, it is not a very good shot, with Allison almost out of frame and me blocked by the mic. But the recording I’m very happy with.  

Longtime friend of the channel Gabe Terraciano added some subtle fiddle drones after the fact for this one, and I put just a tiny bit of Moog synth on there for bass. Topping it off is a recording of some birds Allison took at Edwin Warner park.”

More at Josh Turner Guitar

“I Feel Drunk All The Time” : The Poems of Kenneth Patchen

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Kenneth Patchen’s poetry is a bullet right between the eyes.

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to hear Mary Murphy and me read a selection of poems by Kenneth Patchen, as broadcast today on the Arts Express radio program on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the country.

Thanks to New Directions Publishing Corporation for the following poems: “And When Freedom is Achieved,” “I Feel Drunk All the Time,” “The Way Men Live is a Lie,” “What I’d Like to Know Is,” “All The Roses of the World,” “No One Ever Works Alone,” “The Orange Bears,” “Should Be Sufficient,” “Lonesome Boy Blues,” and “Delighted With Bluepink” by Kenneth Patchen, from COLLECTED POEMS OF KENNETH PATCHEN, copyright ©1936, 1942, 1943, 1945, 1946, 1952, 1963, 1968 by Kenneth Patchen. Used by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp.

Under the Boardwalk

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Arts Express wishes you a great summer!

This month in the July Arts Express Magazine:

** Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young talks Music, Memories, and War

** Great Record Album Covers of the 1960s/70s: those visual pieces of art that trigger instant memories

** Dennis Broe’s “Meet Juan Guaidó,” a parody where the Venezualan presidential pretender’s story echoes a Frank Capra film.

** “Before the Law”: Franz Kafka Meets Julian Assange

and more!!

View here: July 2022 Arts Express Magazine

Before The Law

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Given the current turn of events stemming from the recent rulings of the US Supreme Court, we are happy to report that we have been in contact with Special Arts Express Correspondent F. Kafka who, in response, has time travelled back to his hometown in Prague, and brought forth a report he wrote in 1915…

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to hear the report as broadcast on the Arts Express radio program on WBAI-FM NYC and Pacifica stations across the country.