Throwback Thursday to Celebrating ‘Mission Creep’ with Damian Lewis

Damian Lewis and his fabulous band had a special little gig at Rough Trade East in London a few days after the release of his debut album ‘Mission Creep.’ The special gig was followed by Damian signing the copies of his debut album vinyls and CDs that the attendees received with their ticket purchase. I already shared with you here every single detail I remember from the insightful chat, fantastic gig and the intimate sighting. This post is for those of you who enjoy reading about my personal shenanigans with Damian. I am happy to report the chat + gig + signing was bookended with some fun moments with our favorite guy – celebrating the release of the album!

First things first. There are a few people that I am grateful for making this evening unforgettable for me. Steve, Vicky, Jack, Harvey, and of course Damian himself.  Thank you so very much for making me feel like a team member. And huge thanks go to Tsveti, my wonderful friend and a die-hard Damian Lewis fan, for the photos and videos she made for Fan Fun!

So… Fans that know me well know that while I have met Damian so many times over the last 8+ years, every event is still a very special occasion – so much so that a few hours before the event, I cannot sit still anymore 🙂 And the event at Rough Trade East is no exception. So I arrive at the venue at 4:45pm – 2 hours and 15 minutes before the doors open!

And as I think I am here very early, guess what, fans start to  show up only a couple of minutes later – so I am not the only fan that cannot sit still… 🙂 As I make friends with the fans in the line, Damian’s manager Steve Abbott arrives. I told you Steve was my hero in the gig post but did not explain why. Steve, a very well-known music manager, is such a kind and down-to-earth human being. And he invites me and Tsveti inside so we do not need to stand in line, but more importantly could see the soundcheck. Thank you, Steve, from the bottom of my heart. You are my hero!

Oh, and I also give Steve the Kenilworth print that I got for him to celebrate his beloved Luton Town’s promotion to the Premiere League after 31 years. I thought  of him when I saw the print earlier in the day at the Spitalfields Market since I heard Damian saying on his BBC Radio 6 interview with Gemma Cairney a few weeks ago  that his manager Steve Abbott should still be drunk from Luton Town’s promotion 🙂 Steve asks me to give the print to Damian and say I thought of him when I saw the Kenilworth print. FUN!

As Tsveti and I are playing in the record store, and taking pics with Damian’s record, I notice some action at the store entrance! So, ladies and gentlemen, here is how a real rock star makes his entrance to the venue. And I still can’t believe I was able to film this…

…and as you can see, he notices me at the end of the video!

I have my question ready for him: “So, Damian, the talk of the town is… THIS…”, I say, pointing to the tattoo on his chest. “Is it real or is it a Will Radley tattoo?” For those of you that do not know, Will Radley is one of the twin vampire brothers Damian is bringing to life in his new movie The Radleys. And since Will is a practicing vampire, a naughty boy, it makes sense he has a tattoo 🙂

We noticed the tattoo in the pictures from Damian’s gig at Black Deer Festival, and my reaction  changed from “Whaaaaaaa????” to “This should be a Will Radley tattoo” as I calmed down… so I need to clarify the tattoo situation right away!

Damian’s first reaction: “I was very drunk Saturday night…” Then he laughs and says: “No comment.” “NDA”, Steve adds… 😀 As my Twitter friend Anabel Stark rightly pointed out the tattoo seems to have been made to look old. So I am 99.9% sure that it is for the movie. So… hello, Will! 🙂

As they prepare the stage for the soundcheck, we have a bit more time with Damian. As I promised Steve, I give Damian the Kenilworth print saying that I thought of him when I saw it at the Spitalfields Market as I promised Steve earlier…

…it is so funny that Damian says “I got really  drunk” when I notice more tattoos on his arms! 🙂 And because he tells Tsveti to “take a hundred pictures” she thinks Damian read my post about his gig at Hoxton Hall… well, she has a point! 🙂

Now, some of you may remember Gingersnap and I gave a bunch of Christmas gifts to Damian after his gig at The Tabernacle late November. But one of the gifts came late so I could not hand it to Damian then. This was Gingersnap’s idea – a set of 5 Elvis guitar picks from Graceland official store!

And, guess what, Damian does not only love them but he says he will use one of them at today’s gig, shows it to Tsveti’s camera and puts it in his jean pocket. BRILLIANT! You can see the pick Damian picked for the gig in the clip below along with the picks I give him, mainly as a joke, with a card that reads “from a child of ’80s to another.” 🙂

Oh and I immediately let Gingersnap know on Twitter that Damian is using the pick she chose for him  and here is her reaction!

And here comes the final gift. This is very personal for me. I’ve done a lot of reflecting lately for some reason, getting rid of sources of toxicity in my life, and making more space and time for things that I love doing. I tutor math to kids with limited means. I am a very active member of  a serious book club. My husband and I travel. In fact, I am putting my notes together right now on a train from Cinque Terre to Milan. Fan Fun is at the top of the list of things that I LOVE doing. And I owe it to Damian. He’s my inspiration, my muse, if you will. And the blog has brought me such joy in the last eight plus years that I am grateful to this man who names the blog! And so here’s the gift that I give to Damian, to celebrate the release of his debut album Mission Creep, with thanks and gratitude from the bottom of my heart!

And why 2012? It’s in the card! (You heard it, right? I’m always very good with the cards :D)

After our little ritual, Damian joins the band on stage for soundcheck and OMG we are allowed to sit on the side and enjoy all the songs they would play at the gig. I know well that Damian is always  200% involved in his work, but it is a first hand experience with the soundcheck – the way he practices and communicates with his fellow band members attests to how seriously he takes his music. The surprise of the soundcheck is a NEW song which they plan to play as encore, a Damian original, which is very exciting! I find the song very Elvis-like that it is very proper to play it with an Elvis guitar pick! Kudos to Gingersnap!

Once they are done with the soundcheck, Damian and the band leave the stage. Doors open at 7pm and I get to see some of the lovely people I have met through Damian fandom. Heather is there with her lovely husband Martin who surprised her with the gig tickets as part of  their wedding anniversary. Rain, who runs the great Richard J. Speight’s fan site, is celebrating her birthday at the gig! Ellie, our Fan Fun “London Spy”, is here. Ellie and I have been to all London gigs so far (except for the Koko gig  which was members-only). And my good friend Patrick who may be the only person I know that attended more gigs than I did! And I give out the custom-made “I was there!” fridge magnets – now a tradition! – to  the fans.

I will now skip the Q+A and the gig since I shared all I remember with you earlier here and directly go to the signing.

Look at the line! The venue has capacity of 300 people. The event is sold out. And Damian is simply incredible! He makes time for every single person in the line…

…chatting, signing and doing photos. And since I choose to be the last in the line, I hang out, take photos of my fan friends with Damian, and have a lovely chat with Harvey, Steve’s son and part of Damian’s management team. He has such a sweet story to tell: When Harvey was 5-6 years old, he and his friends used to play Band of Brothers on the playground. Harvey played Spiers – who can forget his run straight through the center of the German-occupied village? And I get to meet Harvey’s friend who used to play Major Winters when they were kids. He’s a ginger!

As I am hanging out and waiting for my vinyl to be signed, I notice a photo booth… and, me being me, I have an idea. No, I cannot miss this opportunity, especially because Tsvetanka encourages me…

…and so THIS HAPPENED!!!

And the first thing Damian says once the curtain’s closed…

“Stop doing that, Bahar!”

I am still laughing about it! 😀 😀 😀

And I really think I was with Will Radley in that photo booth. Look at that, he does not only have tattoos, but also has a hickey on the neck…

…so, believe me, it is a miracle I make it out of that photo booth alive 🙂

Tsvete and I talk about Damian after the event. He is so cool. And he is so nice. And kind, too. What a rare combination. And we cannot thank him enough for his generosity with his time. We are still over the moon and plan to return to Earth only before the next gig!

Let’s Salute Major Winters – the Rank and the Man – on Memorial Day

damianlewisdickwinters2
source: People Magazine

Today is Memorial Day – a day of remembrance honoring all men and women that died in active military service. And it gives us a great opportunity to salute all war heroes, and in particular Major Dick Winters and Easy Company.

I know a thing or two about war. My day job is to study and understand war. I have written academic articles on war, I have taught on war… and even though I can write about war for pages and talk about it for hours as a scholar, the human cost of war is still incomprehensible to me.

Let me take a moment and look at my own family. My maternal grandmother never knew her father because he was a soldier in WWI in the Eastern Front in Turkey, and he literally froze because of the cold as he fought against the Russians. My paternal grandmother never knew her father, either; because he was also a soldier in WWI and was killed by a shrapnel in Gallipoli as he fought against the Anzacs. Continue reading “Let’s Salute Major Winters – the Rank and the Man – on Memorial Day”

Anniversary of Bastogne

 

battle of the bulge, bastogne, band of brothers
Source: http://yalebooksblog.co.uk/2014/12/22/held-bastogne-2-americans-strike-back/

This week marks the 80th anniversary of the Siege at Bastogne, a pivotal confrontation in Battle of the Bulge, which saw the Allied forces assert their most courageous and bloody defense against the last big push by Nazi forces in WWII.

The Bastogne episode of Band of Brothers was arguably the most emotionally intense and beautifully filmed of the series. It was like watching a dream sequence through a filter of constant snow, a bitter cold that you could almost feel in your bones as you’re watching. Like an opera of bodies, bent over, running for cover, crouching near trees, or frozen solid to the ground. You could watch all the action without sound and still feel it viscerally.

Did anyone see the new Star Wars? The sight of the salt planet with the blood red soil under the thin layer of salt brought immediately to this viewer’s mind the red against white of the smoke grenades the soldiers in Band of Brothers set off to obscure their positions from the Germans. Such a visually poignant and memorable cinematic effect.

Continue reading “Anniversary of Bastogne”

Book Review: Meeting Damian Lewis

Never touch your idols: the gilding will stick to your fingers.

Il ne faut pas toucher aux idoles: la dorure en reste aux mains.
― Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary

How I love when art gets meta: when a writer or artist has the self-awareness and genuine capacity to make fun of themselves. That’s what we mean when we say the writing is “honest”. There’s no agenda to convince or win over the reader, just a need to show, everything, even the warty not-attractive bits.

With her first novel, Meeting Damian Lewis, Christine Wilson has succeeded beautifully in that effort. Continue reading “Book Review: Meeting Damian Lewis”

NotLinda Interviews Damianista about Fan Fun with Damian Lewis

Dear Damianista!

Thanks so much for the gift of Damian! I enjoyed your interview with him and that gave me a fun idea for Fan Fun! I’ve composed interview questions for YOU!

I’m certain we fans are also curious about the woman who curates the website.

So here is my interview “Fan Fun With Damianista.”

Hello Damianista, thank you for sitting down with us for a few questions. First I must point out that I was positively prescient when I described you years ago as a “pal” to Damian, over your objections!  “Of course I’m right, Bahar.”

Shall we?

Continue reading “NotLinda Interviews Damianista about Fan Fun with Damian Lewis”