mitsu: the dark witch and the dream wilderness

meet mitsu: the dark witch and the dream wilderness. mitsu is pictured above being caressed by the witch as she guides mitsu through the dark spaces of her imagination far beyond the endless deviations of the sandman in search of her kidnapped mother.

mitsu is the self-funded brainchild of my favourite sydney songstress rosie catalano who i'm proud to call friend & sometime collaborator. this amazing book with hauntingly beautiful illustrations by her equally talented sister nikki catalano launched at the end of winter this year. i was lucky enough to be there & be part of the celebratory fray.

cafe yuga kept the wine and delicious food coming.  the artwork [excerpts of the illustrated pages] captivated the crowd, young and old, with their mesmerising beauty & many sold. the talented catalano sisters were delightfully humble as their hard work shone in their stead.

 

and i was lucky enough to received a signed copy...

hey nietzsche! leave them kids alone!

a book launch with a difference...

it's only fitting that craig schuftan's follow up book from the culture club stays within the genre he has so aptly lodged himself within. like joan jett [and keats before her too] screamed to the heavens, "i love rock n roll". there's no doubt that schuftan shares their sentiment. he is a romantic in the true [or at least his recently abridged] sense of the word.

as the mythic deconstructor of artistic popular culture & rock and roll, schuftan bridges the 19th century romantic movement with the 20th/21st century of popular music ie. rock and roll. it's a credible connection which explores songs of melancholia [with just a little bit of "fuck you" thrown in for good measure] and their indescribable emo link with the breakout artists, thinkers and poets of the 1800s.

the romantics introduced to society great & noble expectations of love. our modern artists have continued to act as champions to the cause where global consciousness acknowledges & celebrates emotional misery. love, the human experiential rollercoaster which binds us all. misery loves company, none greater than one's own pen/guitar.

from byron to nietzsche to bowie to my chemical romance, the degrees of separation are not nearly as great as a layman's cursory glance might reveal.

a black historical sightseeing parade would have us wandering lost in tragic celebration for the death of calmar and orla whilst nietzsche conjures up music for byron's other rockstar manfred before sarah blasko bleats out that sweet broken version of david bowie's heartfelt heroes [just for one day].

and we're only just getting started... with ben of the devoted few singing haunting renditions of the smiths & the cure at sydney's hopetoun hotel on easter monday in homage to schuftan's book, one could be forgiven for thinking that maybe christ really had risen.

to find out more join the queue with me & read hey nietzsche! leave them kids alone!

i leave you with a my chemical romance, welcome to the black parade [the new bohemian rhapsody]excerpt:

a world that sends you reeling from decimated dreams

your misery and hate will kill us all

so paint it black and take it back

let's shout it loud and clear

defiant to the end we hear the call