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musing on the muse

issue number seven, september 15, 2008

an occasional newsletter on creativity from corey fischer

Hello, my friends,

I've put more time into this newsletter, and the related writing on my blog and website, than ever before. I do have a lot to pass along to you this time and  did some redesigning here and there, but it's also just too easy to spend my attention at a deficit following the campaign  which fills me with hope, frustration, sometimes rage (when I hear someone insisting, still, that Barack is Muslim), fear and hope.

This month, the focus is on voice, one of the richest, most powerful and mysterious areas of mind / body / heart / soul experience that I know of.  For years it has been a generous and wide road toward my own creative energy. If you have any interest in voice, I hope you'll read my new blog piece: The Voice is the Ladder between Worlds. It's too long for this letter, which, this time, is really a collection of links. Most every name or title is linked to a website or blog. I also wrote up, for the first time, the extended vocal warm up I teach and practice myself:  Giving Voice. That's followed with a vocal exploration for you to try: Messing with Boundaries:

At the age I've somehow reached, 63, I have a growing desire to give as much as I can to the community, including and going beyond my theatre-making.  No one is paying for the time I spend writing and publishing this material, but all of you who take some of your own time to respond via email or a "comment" on my blog or to forward this newsletter are giving me a gift of great value.   

I've uploaded a collection of seven voice/language pieces, Moving the Air Around, on a new website I discovered, Last.FM.   Once there, you can give me a "shout" or click a heart to express approval or "digg" the album.  You can also find some amazing and amazingly odd music there. Like wildly talented Russian hip hop artists and poets like Allen Ginsberg and much more.

Nearly two years ago I wrote a short film script that my son Ben directed. My good friend and wonderful actor Michael Navarra acted in it with me. We've finally uploaded and you can find it at: Blip.TV. Once you go to that page you'll see links to other films that Ben has made. I am wildly proud of him and how far he's come since he first started on this path which wasn't all that long ago. I especially admire Skating through the Ashes, a very strong and moving  piece of personal storytelling. He and my wife, China Galland, are working on a major documentary video based on China's newest book, Love Cemetery.  Watch a short  trailer

Some recent books, web sites, music and films that have meant a lot to me.
All names and titles are active links.

A General Theory of Love

I can't think of a more important non-fiction book about the nature of human connection. A synthesis of recent discoveries in neuroscience that confirms the interdependency of - at least - mammals.

William Maxwell
He's been called the wisest and kindest writer of the late 20th C. I agree. 
So Long. See you Tomorrow is a masterpiece of only 135 pp. Deceptively simple, infused with love and utterly clear, like water from a hidden spring.  

Anthony Coleman
is a "new Jewish" jazz/stride/fusion pianist whose CD of the music of Yiddish composer M. Gebirtig, Shmutsige Magnatn celebrates this giant whose songs are often thought to be folksongs.  I found him in a search for recordings of the songs in Last Yiddish Poet, which TJT is reviving in November and was knocked out by his wild musical imagination.

Obama

I can't say anything you haven't already heard too many times. But I'd rather be redundant than remiss in taking every possible chance I can get to  insist that we do everything possible to elect Barack and Biden. I know we can.

I'm Not There

is unlike any movie I can remember. If you missed it, this is the one where a bunch of actors play characters inspired by different stages of Bob Dylan's life in art. The stand out for me is the 11 year old who plays a hobo named "Woody Guthrie" and sings like an angel.

Flight of the Conchords

is the name of both a two-man zany New Zealand band and the HBO series they write and act in. The TV shows integrate their dryly hilarious (and very well composed) songs into surreal song and dance routines as delightful as they are bitingly smart. And they've got chops!

if you haven't seen my latest blog entry, click here. There's a surprise at the end!

All photos and design by corey fischer  20 Sunnyside Ave Mill Valley CA 94941
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