Picking My Outfit for Peter Gabriel Concet in Leipzg

Man, this year is just flying by. October is just around the corner.  What's so special about October? I'll be going to Leipzig, Germany to see a Peter Gabriel concert.  I've gone to Leipzig before but wound up getting sick and spent most of the trip stuck in bed.  I'm hoping to actually see some of the city this time around.

But anyway, it's time for me to choose an outfit to wear for the soundcheck and concert. The big problem is that concerts tend to generate a lot of heat -- even if you aren't moving.  The October weather in Leipzig can be incredibly cold -- even more so if it's accompanied by rain.  I think I'll suffer the heat of the concert in order to feel comfortable the rest of my time there.

Which gets me to an important part of attending a PG soundcheck and concert -- what to wear.

Ideally, I'd like to show up looking like Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes, but my face differs drastically from Brett's.  I also have big ugly breasts that Brett never had, even at his heaviest.  Mine is much rounder and less flexible.  I also need to wear glasses in order to avoid walking into walls.  So, I'm just going to reproduce the outfit here as much as possible.  I'll also keep my hair short and slicked back.

I already have a long pale coat, white shirt and black trousers.  Other than those, I'm going to have big problems.  I think the watch on a chain is definitely out and I'll be damned if I'll figure out how to tie a tie before October.  The black waistcoat defiantly has possibilities.  I may wear a corset to tone down the profile of my hideous breasts.

So, as you can see, my free time is not spent in frivolity.

My Jeremy Brett and Peter Gabriel Music Videos

My apologies for the self-indulgent nature of this particular blog post, but I need a convenient place to stick up all of my Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes set to Peter Gabriel songs music videos. (One day I'll come up with a catchy but shorter description. One day.) I do have a YouTube channel but YouTube is crankier than Blogger. With these videos, I selected scenes from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes based on the following criteria:

• Does the clip follow the music in some way (illustrates lyrics or moves to the beat)?
• Does the clip somehow look as if it could be in a real Peter Gabriel video?
• Do I like the clip?
• Damn it, doesn't Jeremy Brett look good?

I've only done seven (eight?) of these little music videos and may not be able to do any more. That's not my choice. It's damn Windows Movie Maker. I tried making a video to PG's "Intruder" and crashed the computer. 

Anyway, here are the videos in chronological order from oldest to newest.  The songs done are Waterloo Sunset, Heroes, Whole Thing and My Body is a Cage.  Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

And here's the fifth, Burn You Up, Burn You Down.  I think I might finally be getting the hang of this.

 

 

And numbers 6 and 7, set to The Book of Love (where we actually get to see the title of the book of love) and Gethsemane respectively.

 

 

 

And here's number 8, set to Peter Gabriel's version of Leonard Cohen's Suzanne.

 

My Newest YouTube Video: Sherlock Holmes -- Waterloo Sunset

Although it probably doesn't look like it, this took ages to make.  I chose most of the clips based on the song lyrics.  All clips are from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The song is the old Kinks chestnut, Waterloo Sunset, performed here by Peter Gabriel. 

My Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes Videos

I'm a freelance writer.  For the past three weeks or so, I've been suffering from writer's block.  I won't bore you with the reasons why.  In order to keep my creative muscles in shape, I decided to learn how to make videos for YouTube.  This took a staggering amount of time and at least five software downloads.  Whenever you hear or read that it's easy to make your own movies or music videos for YouTube, don't believe it.  It takes BLOODY ages and a lot of screaming at the computer screen.

My Mom likes them, but I'm not satisfied with the results.  Anyway, here they are.  They were done on Windows Movie Maker.  Episodes of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes were downloaded using at least one program called iLivid.  The first one is from one of my favorite scenes in the entire series.  It's whopping 45 seconds long from "The Second Stain."

 

 

And something a little more detailed, "Give Jeremy Brett Your Undivided Attention."  I arranged the clips into a very rough narrative, to make a four minute Sherlock Holmes "episode."

 



I do have other videos planned.  My ultimate goal (besides to get rid of this damn writer's block and start making some money again) is to make videos using images from the Sherlock Holmes episodes set to Peter Gabriel songs or songs covered by Peter Gabriel.

Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes Demotivational Posters

Well, my mental breakdown is continuing to go well.  Instead of being able to write the same piece of advertising copy 100 different ways, I'm creating demotivational posters featuring Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes.  You're welcome.  And here are my Peter Gabriel demotivational posters.

 

 

Peter Gabriel Scared, Pissed Off and Rich

Yes, I still post about Peter Gabriel.  He's been doing some promotion lately, including a semi-big interview with Mojo.  He revealed that he was pissed off with Joe Strummer who he worked with for Big Blue Ball.  So why was PG POed?  Gabriel pointed out that Strummer hid his upper-class background in order to appear more like the average person.  Gabriel himself, a graduate of the prestigious Charterhouse School, still gets branded as a "snotty rich kid."

Well, Peter did come from an upper middle-class background, which (to my considerable knowledge) he has never tried to hide.  He did go through pretty tight times when in Genesis (which only began making a profit after Gabriel left.)  PG is currently rich.  How rich?  He has his own studio and his own hotel in Sardinia.  I'm sure he can wipe his tears away with his money.

However, no matter your background or financial status, you can still make good art, like music.  The art itself should be judged for what it is and not the background of the artist.

PG also revealed that he occasionally develops a phobia of flying after nearly crashing in a Pan Am decades ago (although he didn't give a specific date.)  He says he still flies, though.  But you have to wonder if this is one reason why Peter takes such a long time between albums after 1986.

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I'm Sick of Being a Woman

I'm 43.  That's a long time to be a woman.  I could use a change.  And not the change that my body is currently going through and will probably go through for the next 30 years or until I drop dead, whichever comes first. 

Menopause is absolutely hammering me.  I'm exhausted, I have more headaches than ever, I barely sleep, I have hot flashes (and there's nothing like having a hot flash during a heat wave to make you wish you were a man) my appetite has vanished but my libido has made a scary reappearance after a long absence.

It's like my body is a terrorist to my mind.  I never know when the next explosion is going to happen. 

So I want to be man.  A gay man.  Not that I can afford sex change surgery and I don't want to sleep with women, but perhaps I can pretend to be a 50-year-old man. Specifically, Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes. (Yes, I know Brett was bisexual and not gay, but I really don't advise you arguing with me at this point.) Brett's Holmes is "the dark side of the moon" (as Brett himself described Holmes) but at least he doesn't have to worry about hot flashes.

I've already chopped my long unruly hair off and slick it back with hair gel like in the photo of Brett's Holmes here.  I've started sipping wine since Holmes drinks occasionally.  I'm gradually losing weight to appear more angular, as I did when I was in my 30s.  Hey, it's a start.  Next I need to work on the voice.  Hell -- I might even take up pipe smoking (although it won't be tobacco I'd be smoking.)

I mean, just LOOK at him and LISTEN to him in the video clip below.  Old age would be a lot more exciting if one day you woke up and transformed into this: