An Interview From Back Stage With Crispin Glover

Check it out.

A Monk Gone

Yesterday, Dave Day of the band the Monks passed away.

If you don’t know the Monks, they were a great rock band formed by American soldiers stationed in Germany in the ‘60s. After leaving the military, they stayed in Germany, performing and recording the fantastic album Black Monk Time in 1966 (now a cult classic and influential to a ton of great musicians.) Even if you do know the magic of the Monks, you might not know that the group’s electric banjo player, Dave Day, was from these parts and had lived in Renton for many years. About 5 years ago, I had the good fortune of meeting Dave and his wife for lunch, along with a visiting German filmmaker who was just starting to plan a documentary about the group. Dave was great, and seemed genuinely touched and surprised that we were such fans of him and the band. And of course I was near giddy meeting the strumming Monk! He told me some stories, and a bit about his homemade electric banjo (and the many complaints people had at the time about the unusual, piercing percussive sound). The Monks documentary was finally completed just last year, and we’ve been working to arrange Seattle screenings (hopefully coming soon). Of course I was hoping that Dave Day would be in attendance to talk and, more importantly, to receive rousing applause. Sadly he left us before that could happen. But I’m sure that wherever he is, he’s making a fantastic racket.
Here’s a great Monks performance clip from 60s German TV. Do yourself a favor- buy the album, and keep your eyes peeled for the documentary. -Peter

Tiired of “smart” top 10 lists?

10 cinematic experiences Peter found kinda neat in 2007 (in no particular order)…

Manda Bala

Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait (coming soon to NWFF!!)

Brand Upon The Brain Live at the Cinerama

No Country For Old Men

The Diving Bell And The Butterfly

Let’s Get Lost
Re-release of the beautiful and sad Chet Baker doc

Cleo From 5 to 7
Agnes Varda’s early film

O Sangue
Pedro Costa’s first feature.

Slipstream
Yes, I’m a sucker for a high profile, surprisingly experimental dream mess! Go Tony go!

Walk Hard
“Damn I’m going through a dark period!”

Also…
Favorite “final moments” of 2007…

TV:
The end of the end of the Sopranos- the most powerful single edit of the decade!

Live Music Show:
Sean Nelson’s glorious Town Hall concert tribute to Harry Nilsson ended with a more-perfect-than-I-can-describe flub interaction between Sean and a little girl in the chorus just before the final note of the final song. Its still making me smile.

Awesome funeral:
Neighborhood artists collaborated on and gathered at a doomed-for-demolition house on Belmont and Pine on Nov. 30 to celebrate the end of non-rich residents in Capitol Hill. This “ending” ended in a spontaneous 3am flood of outdoor dancing in the street to Balkan music as cops politely urged people to disperse.