californication….

…only because I’m staring at the DVD on my desk, still here in London working on an ident. for the brilliant Irish comedian, Dara O’Briain……the chair…remember?I did manage to sit down and watch Californication with my missus this week and we both loved it and can’t wait to get to MB and start fornica….no, hold on………what I really love about it is it’s Californian-ness as I understand it. Time was, everybody this side would sit and gloat about the ‘ empty, fake, facile, shallow, etc. etc.’ content of American lives being displayed here for us sophisticated types to safely ridicule from afar, snug in the knowledge that we are soooo much more wholesome and sophisticated than our yukky cousins from over there. Well, I have to admit that I too used to be one of them until it finally dawned on me that America and Americans have just got it soooooo right.Take history for example. I was spoon fed on Henry VIII and his coterie of mindless and soon to be headless floozies along with umpteen Kings, Queens and all round megalomaniacs invading here, twatting there pretty well throughout my sparse education and then, as now, I wondered what the fuck has this got to do with me? Then, along came my first American tourists who seemed to be forever staring, mouths agape, several feet above my head ‘oohing and aahing’ and generally fawning over the architecture that also got shoved down my gullible throat. My point is, that it has taken me a very long time to finally realise that what really matters, what really has relevance to MY existence, is the here and now and the kind of history that I can taste and feel and connect with. And, shallow as it may sound, ‘Hollywood’ does all of that for me as it seems to be as relevant to the humans that I hang out with as it is to me.  I get into a lot of trouble  here in Blighty espousing that kind of stuff, but at the ripe old age of 49, that my friends is my take on it, and that is why I love Californication. Of course, I may have another take on it in a few years time but I reserve the right to change my mind on a regular basis.OK, the blog is late this week…I’m sorry. Here is the news….I didn’t get the Brazilian film…..the British Film council decide to stick with the chap they already had despite the fact that it was they who had insisted on someone with a bit more of a track record. Well, I felt for him to be honest so was quite relieved when he was reinstated and of course, it did mean that our careful planning of the next few weeks didn’t go flying out the window. Nevertheless, I really liked the director, Henrique Goldman, so disappointed that I didn’t get a chance to work with him but I do believe these things happen for a reason,,,or not!So, we’re back on track and due out August 12th-ish. Now though, both the missus and I are up for the same rather big commercial shooting for three weeks in Istanbul…..somewhere I have always been obsessed with visiting….game on!! We’ll see. This could mix things up in more ways than we’re banking on. We seldom go head to head on the same job but this time we have touched on doing it together which is always good for a bit of a bloodsport…The chair is slowly taking shape for the BBC 2 ident so I’ll get some photos in next week for those who might be interested. Oh, can someone explain to me what happens to my careful phrasing of paragraphs whenever I post my blog?? Appreciate it.See ya.