Trouble in Gromit town

The archives of Aarman Animation studio were destroyed in a fire yesterday.

They lost a lot of models and sets from Morph, Creature Comforts and the Wallace and Gromit shorts. It's terrible news for Aardman Animation, but it's nice to see that Nick Park has a sense of perspective about it: "Even though it is a precious and nostalgic collection and valuable to the company, in light of other tragedies, today isn't a big deal," he said.

Goodness..

There's an interview with Anthony Stewart-Head over at the Times. He's in a new play, you see.

With Richard E. Grant.


It's like they're asking for people to write slash...

Diamanda Galas - Songs of Exile

Not as intense as Defixiones. Not as hypnotising. More laid back. Just Dia and a piano and her astonishing voice.

Songs of Exile is a song cycle about artists forced to live in exile. The songs started out Middle-Eastern, wove their way through a crazed cirus waltz, German cabaret, Johnny Cash's "25 Minutes to Go" and and ended with the negro spirituals "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" and "Let My People Go." THese last songs were the highlights for me, but I'm a sucker for a good spiritual.

Diamanda even spoke to the audience. Twice. The first time was to belittle a gentleman who suggested she should have had surtitles during Defixiones. She made some incoherent joke about instructions that come with Maytag washing machines and how she wasn't here to soak the people of Down Under. Or something.

Her second comment was in Greek, so it made as much sense as the first.

Afterwards, we met up with patchworkkid and morgan303 and others for a drink in the Spiegeltent garden, where the conversation revolved mostly around the Cave Clan and squirrels on crack.