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Gareth's Interests
General
I’m an enthusiastic reader of both fiction and non-fiction, with an avid interest in the arts, history (particularly Viking & ancient Mesopotamian) and comparative mythology.
I love film, music, blues bars, old inns, archery (longbow - though it's been a while now) and travel.
I also need to go back to the gym… and learn to drive.
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You can pretty much get a good idea of what I like by the bands I've added to my friends below... I'll keep rotating the front page ones, check them out, you might find something new that you like... As for favourites? Mark Lanagan, Tom Waits, William Elliot Whitmore, Jay Munly (& the Lee Lewis Harlots), Woven Hand, 16 Horsepower, The Denver Broncos, Johnny Cash, PJ Harvey QOTSA, Foo Fighters, Mike Johnson The Twilight Singers The Black Keys, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Sea Sick Steve, The Two Gallants, Huddy Leadbetter Th' Ledgendary Shack Shakers, (pre "Get a Grip") Aerosmith, The Georgia Satellites, Gillan, Black Sabbath Tool, A Perfect Circle, Faith No More, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Queen Adreena/Daisy Chainsaw, Killing Joke, The Cure, The Gin Blossoms, Del Amitri, Brighteyes, Aqualung, Portishead, Rodrogo y Gabriela, Massive Attack, Snowpatrol/The Reindeer Section, Dave Matthews Band etc
...and don't forget to check out my old Norwich pals My Visor at the top of my friends list too, "Kittiwake" is beautiful... plus local guys Koopa and Jonas Graile... and don't forget to check out the curious "Gothic Americana" Radio at http://www.last.fm/tag/gothic+americana
Seasick steve "Cheap"
Recently saw Michael Gondry's "The Science of Sleep" - Excellent... Bizarre, but excellent... Several of us left the cinema thinking "That is how relationships kind of pan out isn't it?" Rather than "Wow, what a strange movie..." I guess that says more about us than the movie... Shutting up now...
...
I'm a big movies fan: I trained as an animator and always wanted to get into making films. Ive done bits and pieces, working on a short film as Props buyer and stand-by art director etc.... who knows maybe one day I will finish my script "Frozen Tears" and get to live ostentatiously of the huge box office proceeds.
Until then these are some of my favourite movies by other people (Ill get around to putting all the details and links up soon I hope):
“The Fisher King” – dir, Terry Gilliam
(Genre/Category ~ Romance/Fantasy/A redemption movie set in modern New York.)
This is without doubt or reservation my all time favourite movie. The script just about covers everything I have wanted to say (in those situations) and haven’t said, and have said and regretted… brilliantly written, and superbly adapted by Gilliam… Worth seeing if only for the scene in Grand Central Station that was shot in one take (apparently) Grand Central Waltz … oh and there's an uncredited Tom Waits in the same scene…
“Delicatessen” - dir, Jean-Pierre Jeunet
(Genre/Category ~ Dark Fantasy/A strange little french movie set in a post-apocaliptic guest house)
I fell in love with the title sequence of this movie... I then lifted the style to use on my stop-motion graduation animation's titles.
Jeunet's obsession with water (he uses it for dramatic/cinematographic effect in all his movies) is shown at its most creative here, if you've not seen this movie, rent it. If only for the ludicrous escape scene... no, the great musical sex scene (which he lifted and reused in Amelie)... no wait, the playing the saw scene... no wait, aw hell, just rent the movie already.
“Gladiator” – dir, Ridley Scott
(Genre/Category ~ Historical/Sword & Sandal/Roman Epic)
Epic... I went to see this at the cinema so many times... It's a guy movie, it's about honour and friendship, and looking after the people that trust you... all wrapped up in a cracking (and beautifully filmed) action movie... If you can, watch the extended scenes on the DVD as they add to the movie, two extras in particular, the first showing Maximus visiting his wounded soldiers in the field hospital before having to talk with the prim and protected politicians... and the other the scene with Commodus's archer firing-squad, which shows him at his most bonkers...
“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” -
(Genre/Category ~ Romance/SF-Fantasy)
This is a painful movie to watch, but beautiful none the less... It's a story about grief and the wierd ability we have to remain in love with people dispite distances and even emnity... all wrapped up in a thin SF package... It is also probably Jim Carey's best movie (in my opinion obviously) and Kate Winslet and her changing hair colour (I'm not even going to touch that symbolism) is at once perfectly adorable and infuriating, you'd almost think you were in the relationship with her yourself... Oh and Check out the Hobbit - He's even more evil in this movie than in Sin City.
“Brotherhood of the Wolf” –
(Genre/Category ~ Historical/Martial-arts/Action/Fantasy/French Fairytale)
Whats that? A pre-French revolution/martial arts/werewolf movie with an abandoned underground Templar training facility, native american bodyguards and subtle fairytale symbolism? Why that must be all the food groups... This is great, Vincent Cassel and his wife Monica Bellucci are great as the evil prince and the local brothel's Madame/(SPOILER: Pope's assassin)... The Sam Raimi style camera work at the beginning was cool, and the lush/rainy scenery is beautiful... I couldn't beleive what I was seeing, especially since the film is supposedly about a man hired to drain fenland!
“High Fidelity” - st, John Cusack; Jack Black; Tim Robbins.
(Genre/Category ~ Romantic Comedy/Guy Movie with great music)
Another guy movie... It's about relationships, break-ups and the fact that guys love lists, especially in times of emotional stress... Great casting in this movie... then anything with both John Cusack and his sister in it is always worth watching (see "Gross Point Blank" also).
"Living in Oblivion" dir, Tom DiCillo; st, Steve Buscemi
(Genre/Category ~ Indie/Comedy/Film-makers in-jokes etc)
If you have worked in film/television or you are at film school, have been to film school, or are thinking about it... see this movie. It's too clever for it's own good, and Buscemi turns in a stella role as the director of a low budget movie who is thwarted at every turn by his crew and his complex relationship with the leading lady... A superb, often missed, tiny little gem.
"The Thirteenth Warrior"
(Genre/Category ~ Historical/Fantasy/A reworking of Beowulf)
“A Company of Wolves” -
(Genre/Category ~ Fantasy/Horror/Fairytale)
“The City of Lost Children” -
(Genre/Category ~ Quirky Post-industrial Fantasy)
"Quills"
(Genre/Category ~ Historical/Indie)
“Amelie” or "Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poutin" -
(Genre/Category ~ Quirky Fantasy Romance/French Indie)
"Rosencrantz and Guildernstern are Dead"
(Genre/Category ~ Shakespearean/Historical/Comedy)
"The Big Lebowski"
(Genre/Category ~ Quirky Comedy)
“Unbreakable” -
(Genre/Category ~ Low Key Action movie with a twist so I can't put the other catagory in...)
“A Very Long Engagement” -
(Genre/Category ~ Quirky WWI Epic Romance)
“The Emperor and the Assassin”
(Genre/Category ~ Chinese Historical Epic)
A friend and I saw this at Cinema City in Norwich, a little Art Cinema with uncomfortable seats but great screenings. When I came out all I could think was "That is what The Phantom Menace should have been like". Huge in scale, but without losing subtlety or detail, character based, emotive and powerful in its statements about war, greed and honour. It covers some of the same ground that the more recent "Hero" covers and though it is less cinematographically beautiful, its is more coherent and believable. I prefer it.
“Ronin” -
(Genre/Category ~ US - but with a French indie feel - Spy/Action movie)
“The Incredibles” –
(Genre/Category ~ Superhero/Comedy/Action/CG animation)
As much as I liked the previous animations from (the unrivalled) Pixar, I had never quite got over the hurdle of the cute furry, cute object etc as protagonist… This is their first outing using human characters for a main feature – and it works. I’m a geek and I read comics, I hate seeing the badly researched/un-empathic “parodies” of the superhero genre, and thankfully so must the guys and girls who worked on this movie.
Brad Bird has made a way better (and more heartfelt) family-fantastic movie than Marvel did (even after seeing this –how?). It’s also probably one of the better James Bond movies I’ve seen… Brave too, considering the whole movie is essentially about the responsibility that comes with great power… as it was released during the last US election run-up.
“A Touch of Evil” -
(Genre/Category ~ Low Key, Film Noir Classic - b/w)
One stunning opening shot…
I haven’t owned a TV for about six years but when I did I enjoyed “Black Books”, “Spaced”, and I like what I caught of “Deadwood”, "Vincent", "CSI" and from way back... Bagpuss. Bagpuss
Heartbreak Soup - Gilbert Hernandez (Hey, let's face it, pretty much anything from the "Love & Rockets" stable by the Hernandez Bros. is worth checking out);
Maus – Art Spiegelman;
A Contract with God - Will Eisner;
Dork - Evan Dorkin (Big laughs and yucks from the House of Fun);
Umberto Eco, Adam Hughes, Mike Carey, Leonardo Da Vinci, Tom Waits, Bill Sienkiewicz, Joseph Campbell, Richard Seymour, Robert Graves, Alan Moore, Heinrich Kley, Antonio Magliabecchi, Jonothan Carroll, Thomas Heatherwick, Asoka, Dave McKean, Bill Hicks, Gary Gianni, Joe R. Lansdale, Leifr Eiríksson, Andrew Vachss, Bernard Black and Drinky Crow...
I've worked in most roles from Art Direction, Stand-by, concept visualisation, design, editing, Props buying, to hands-on set dressing... but my real strengths lay in design and visualisation.
About me: I'm an illustrator/designer (themeparks, visitor/heritage attractions, exhibitions etc), 37, single, and an insomniac northerner (born in Withernsea, East Yorkshire) now lost in the south (Halstead, Essex). I moved here following ten and a half idyllic years in my favourite city, Norwich.
Over the years I have sold fish, sat in holes, been frowned at by old ladies, balanced empty glasses and made sure elves were fireproof before sending them to Finnish Lapland; all for money...
I now draw pirates (amongst other things) for a living.
I sometimes feel out on a limb out here, being so far away from a lot of the people I really care about... I guess that's my own fault, having never learnt to drive. Regardless, I'm currently looking to relocate back to East Yorkshire or thereabouts, any help job hunting would be more than welcome.
I have my CV and work online at http://www.coroflot.com/hesir
I've travelled with work a great deal (Europe, Scandinavia and the US - well Florida [strange pastel coloured place, they dislike people who walk, but I liked the Pelicans.]). And I'm supposed to be getting out to South Africa later this year. I have hitchiked a lot (no really, a lot) in this country, but overall would still like to travel more.
I'm learning to play the guitar and the banjo and have these ridiculous aspirations to be a writer (some examples of which you can find in my "blog" section above).
My likes include:
Mythology, pre-Tudor history, Irish/European fiddle music, trawling for and buying second-hand books, traditional pub names, Goulash, the size of St. Bernard dogs heads!, frosty mornings & snowball fights, rock & blues bars with duke-boxes, reading on long bus journeys, flying during sunrise, lists, The Baltic Coast, women with accents, subtitled movies, biting comedy, arguing about “Art”, watching “Black Books” and “Spaced” with friends, walking around cities for the first time, learning something new, red-heads, hitch-hiking, Drew Barrymore's wierd smile, liver & onions with bacon, irony, contemporary resonances in mythologies, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream at the cinema, unpacking, first kisses, elephants!, discovering the origins of words, my job, the sound that jackdaws make, just sitting outside cafes with a book or good friends, green eyes, stuff that works, seeing the blue or orange flash of a kingfisher on the water, road-trips with friends, army boots, pelicans, sketchbook doodles, unconditional friendships and affection, museums, boats, monumental sculpture, the eerie labyrinthine maze of fact and fiction that is the internet, women with Mohawks & tattoos, castles, “magical-realism”, lighthouses, olives & scotch-eggs (the prince of foods).
My dislikes include: Turnip, trifle, spiders, career over duty politicians and their unelected advisers, deep-rooted bigotry disguised as concern for cultural heritage, "reality" TV, insidious and pervasive holier-than-thou soap-opera spawned mentalities, & pretty much everything about Robert Kilroy Silk... and midget gems.
Below is something I was involved in, in a minor way whilst holidaying in Wales, check it out, then head over to see the rest of the crazy stuff at Dimnished Responsibility Films...
...so, if you are interested... and until I get my Northman Illustration site (http://www.northmanillustration.com) up and running properly, you can find some of my illustration work at:
http://hesir.deviantart.com
...and http://www.madspace.co.uk/Profiles/Profile.aspx?uiProfileID=512b0c9c-8a59-49d3-a657-9135b2a45be6
(You'd think they'd try and make that a little neater being designers wouldn't you?)
Who I'd like to meet: Some like minded people to chat with about books, music, art and film... especially local music, art and film... Does anyone know of any writers groups in this part of Essex? Reading groups? Working Illustrator groups? etc...
Oh and I'm currently working on a web page (you can see a prototype myspace version on the VenueCO9 link in my friends below) that will hopefully link more small venues, the musicians that want to play in them but can't find them and us live music loving punters... so if you know of any great little live music pubs and bars in the Essex CO9 area, drop me a message...
cheers, g.
Oh and "Hi" to the blonde black cat with the greenest eyes... just in case she's passing through...
Thank you, Gareth, for supporting Gods and Worshippers in the Viking and Germanic world. You'll be pleased to hear that the book is now is available for pre-order. Beat the release date and pre-order your signed copy from the author now. To find out more, please visit our profile at www.myspace.com/godsandworshippers.
Thanks for your support, Gareth. Hope all's well with you. I'm going through the proofs now, and we're on course for publication in mid-May. Best wishes, Thor
Wishing you a whisper of magic in your days... The lilt of a dance in your step... The song of ecstasy in the beat of your heart... Happy holidays! Minnette ;)
