If you’re headed to Sundance you should try to get tickets to Sam Taylor-Wood’s film, Nowhere Boy. (Salon.com loved it.)  Sam’s work is part of These Days: Elegies for Modern Times, currently on view through the middle of February on the second and third floors.

David Denby wrote glowingly in The New Yorker about American Casino on September 7.  Its the first film in our Lie, Cheat, Steal and Fake It documentary series which kicks off on January 20 at 7:30 with this tale of the subprime mortgage crisis by Andrew and Leslie Cockburn.  As the New Yorker explains, “The husband-and-wife team of Leslie (director and writer) and Andrew (writer) Cockburn are veterans of many documentaries on war and nuclear proliferation. The Cockburns have finally made a movie about a nuclear disaster that actually happened—their subject is the social ecology of financial meltdown.”

Shawn Rosenheim will introduce the film and lead a post-screening discussion about the film and the issues it raises.

Ralph (aka Rafael) Farris from ETHEL offers a final update before their performance with La Nave de los Monstrous TONIGHT!  Tickets not available online but you can get them at the door so come on down!

Hola Amigos!

First of all, SORRY! Massive typo in my last posting. At the end, I had MEANT to write “Abrazos, Rafael”. But it looks like my spell-checker didn’t like the word “Abrazos”, and took it upon itself to write “Abrams, Rafael” instead.

…Abrams, Rafael? Wow. I’m a but wacky I know, but I ain’t THAT wacky. Anywho, moving on…

So we just had our run-thru. And it went swimmingly. Only a few page-turn problems and 3 or 4 note switcheroos, nothing really big to fix. Yay.

Again, very strange to feel so… calm.

Mary was playing drum rolls on her chin rest, Neil auditioned (and rejected!) a kazoo, Dorothy perfected her penny whistle performance, and my recorder playing has almost returned to a second grade level. Woo-hoo!

This movie is great. The music is a blast to play, Dorothy’s dance captain-ing is absolutely priceless, and the whole show is just darn good fun. We do hope y’all can come by. It’s gonna be a craaaaazy fiesta!

Abrazos(!),

Rafael

Our good friends Larry Murray and Caleb Hiliadis at Berkshire Fine Arts and Gay in the Berkshires did an interview with ETHEL’s Ralph Farris.  We recommend the piece as a fun read AND a great primer on how to collaborate on a film score.

In a Mexican mood thanks to their upcoming performance, ETHEL’s viola superstar Rafael (aka  Ralph Farris) reports on the quartet’s prep for their visit to North Adams.  ETHEL will accompany La Nave de Los Monstrous (Ship of Monsters) on Friday, October 30.

¡Hola Amigos!

Dorothy, Neil and I just finished a marathon work session and I’m thrilled to report that we FINISHED editing and formatting our revised parts for Friday’s show! Woo-hoo!

Now Dorothy’s off to the printer and Neil’s cataloging our ever-growing collection of percussion instruments.

This is a highly unusual turn of events. We’re normally editing parts right up until show time, so I’m going to have to find some other drama to consume me for the next few days. Any suggestions?

We’re all coming together for the final touch-up on Thursday. That’s when Mary breaks out the drum sticks, and Neil and I get to practice our recorder intonation. Folks, it just doesn’t get any better.

OK — I’m going to take a nap now. Catch y’all on Friday!

Abrams,

Rafael

We  did not get the Starling film about his trip down the Hudson as expected today. We are optimistic it will arrive Tuesday which means you can see it in the Building 5 gallery on Wednesday.  We’ll hope to see you then.