Hey Real Wizard, long time no see,
Thank you so much for your support and kind words.
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Garden Lodge looks so nice from the photos and Phoebe's detailed descriptions. I would love to have had a nose around in there.
Mary did have Freddie's things catalogued and valued...the very week he died (according to Phoebe) oops. *claps hand over mouth* Must. Not. Make. More. Snide. Mary. Comments.
I envy my uncle because he got to go inside Garden Lodge (Freddie wasn't in, but still). He was in London Fire Brigade and because the house is a listed building, it's wired up to the fire station, so they had to attend if the alarms went off. He remembers being let in through the gate in the wall by a 'tall chubby guy' (Phoebe?) and he had to scope out the downstairs and his colleague went upstairs.
He said it was really nice and saw photos, paintings, memorabilia and had a sneaky touch of the piano. This was in about 1988
Mary did have Freddie's things catalogued and valued...the very week he died (according to Phoebe) oops. *claps hand over mouth* Must. Not. Make. More. Snide. Mary. Comments.
I envy my uncle because he got to go inside Garden Lodge (Freddie wasn't in, but still). He was in London Fire Brigade and because the house is a listed building, it's wired up to the fire station, so they had to attend if the alarms went off. He remembers being let in through the gate in the wall by a 'tall chubby guy' (Phoebe?) and he had to scope out the downstairs and his colleague went upstairs.
He said it was really nice and saw photos, paintings, memorabilia and had a sneaky touch of the piano. This was in about 1988
LOL captainjory,
'Mary, Mary full of Grace...just joking Mary fans.
That is very cool about your uncle. Oooh, and I so LIKE the Firemen..LOL
'Mary, Mary full of Grace...just joking Mary fans.
That is very cool about your uncle. Oooh, and I so LIKE the Firemen..LOL
Oh absolutely. Capote, despite being an excellent writer, was a non-so-friendly person (just based of what I could read, of course) and he converted himself in his own media person, unlike Freddie as you said. I think he was clever enough to separate those two.
I remember an interview with David Wigg where he asked Freddie if he would invite to his parties all kinds of people and unknown ones, and he said: 'Why not, as long as they are interesting' which speaks for itself.
Philip Seymour Hoffman was really a gift, also taken too soon! A rare gem. Sorry for the offtopic here, but I am so happy you also like Philip, you should see the movie "Love Liza" in case you haven't, in my opinion, one of his most amazing performances.
I remember an interview with David Wigg where he asked Freddie if he would invite to his parties all kinds of people and unknown ones, and he said: 'Why not, as long as they are interesting' which speaks for itself.
Philip Seymour Hoffman was really a gift, also taken too soon! A rare gem. Sorry for the offtopic here, but I am so happy you also like Philip, you should see the movie "Love Liza" in case you haven't, in my opinion, one of his most amazing performances.
thundergod wrote:
RBoulain,
In regards to your speculation about Truman Capote, I got the very same feeling despite loving his book.
(Did you see our dearly departed Philip Hoffman Seymour in the movie.)
Put THAT in contrast with the way Freddie treated me. Besides, Freddie is and was way more famous than
Miss Capote. (that is said in Freddiesque speak, and is not a quote from him...LOL
Thor,
Skittles comment sooooo funny! :)
Besides Freddie's English accent, did you ever notice a trace of any other kind of accent? I'm rather enchanted by Freddie's lovely speaking voice. I assume his boarding school education contributed greatly to that. If you've ever heard his mother speak, she definitely had an accent (well, EVERYONE has an accent depending on the listener's perspective) I assume Freddie's father sounded similar to his mother, so that's what Freddie heard the first several years of his life before going away to school. In the song Mustapha (which I realize is rather nonsensical) if you listen to the way he pronounces certain words, he says them from the throat, that more distinctive Middle Eastern way of speaking. I rather like that sound. There's probably a word for it, but I don't know what it is. Any linguists out there to help me out? Apart from that song, I never detected any accent with his speaking or singing, but it seems likely, given where he grew up and the variety of cultures and languages he was exposed to, that he might have been bilingual...at least when he was younger. That might be a question his sister, Kash, could answer. I believe Peter said he never heard him speak anything other than English, so maybe what I hear in Mustapha is just Freddie with really good pronunciation with those kinds of words.
Skittles comment sooooo funny! :)
Besides Freddie's English accent, did you ever notice a trace of any other kind of accent? I'm rather enchanted by Freddie's lovely speaking voice. I assume his boarding school education contributed greatly to that. If you've ever heard his mother speak, she definitely had an accent (well, EVERYONE has an accent depending on the listener's perspective) I assume Freddie's father sounded similar to his mother, so that's what Freddie heard the first several years of his life before going away to school. In the song Mustapha (which I realize is rather nonsensical) if you listen to the way he pronounces certain words, he says them from the throat, that more distinctive Middle Eastern way of speaking. I rather like that sound. There's probably a word for it, but I don't know what it is. Any linguists out there to help me out? Apart from that song, I never detected any accent with his speaking or singing, but it seems likely, given where he grew up and the variety of cultures and languages he was exposed to, that he might have been bilingual...at least when he was younger. That might be a question his sister, Kash, could answer. I believe Peter said he never heard him speak anything other than English, so maybe what I hear in Mustapha is just Freddie with really good pronunciation with those kinds of words.
Hey Rainbow,
He always sounded English to me. I noted a certain verbal hesitancy however, as if he had word finding difficulties some times. It became more
pronounced over the years. Do you notice this is some of his interviews?
He always sounded English to me. I noted a certain verbal hesitancy however, as if he had word finding difficulties some times. It became more
pronounced over the years. Do you notice this is some of his interviews?
I noticed this; I wondered if sometimes his brain worked too fast for his mouth to actually speak haha.
He was kind of posh English, but as an English person, I can hear the hint of Indian there. I was really surprised the first time I heard him talk! I was not expecting his voice to be like it was!
He was kind of posh English, but as an English person, I can hear the hint of Indian there. I was really surprised the first time I heard him talk! I was not expecting his voice to be like it was!
Sometimes he pronounced 'No' like 'Nerrrww' which is adorable...
Thor,
I noticed the same thing, but attributed it to possibly being uncomfortable during interviews. Captainjory's observation about the brain working faster than the mouth actually makes sense.
captainjory,
I figured an English person might be able to detect things in Freddie's voice that I would miss, so your comment about the hint of an Indian accent is very interesting.
I noticed the same thing, but attributed it to possibly being uncomfortable during interviews. Captainjory's observation about the brain working faster than the mouth actually makes sense.
captainjory,
I figured an English person might be able to detect things in Freddie's voice that I would miss, so your comment about the hint of an Indian accent is very interesting.
Oh I noticed that too! Like if he could be a while saying: ' Yes so yeah that you know, kind of sort of, like a so what I mean is yeah', and he said absolutely nothing, I found it adorable and I thought it was because of the nerves of doing the interview.
He could be a bit of a rambler! With a slight stutter at times! I love his interviews though.
thundergod wrote:
I noted a certain verbal hesitancy however, as if he had word finding difficulties some times. It became more
pronounced over the years. Do you notice this is some of his interviews?
I noticed it because I have it. Only very subtle but it's still there. Worse when tired. My dad had it also and used to go around calling everything a 'whatdyacallit?' lol. So, when I was younger I was keen to see how Freddie handled it, and as he did, I realised it wasn't that much of a problem after all. I do think it's partly a brain going too fast, I'm very 'visual' and think in pictures, they come at me faster than I can find the words for them. Freddie's 'fevered brain' (as Brian described it once) must have really challenged his word finding ability, lol.
RBoulain wrote:
Oh I noticed that too! Like if he could be a while saying: ' Yes so yeah that you know, kind of sort of, like a so what I mean is yeah', and he said absolutely nothing, I found it adorable and I thought it was because of the nerves of doing the interview.
LOL, yep it was always lovely to hear him speak, even in those moments.
Re his mind working too fast for his mouth to keep up: I always figured that was why he used his hands to speak so much. Thor, did you ever notice freddie's hands moving and gesturing a ton while he spoke? I noticed it in the home movies and interviews when he was excited or struggling to come up with a certain word. Hands all over the place! Lol
Smoky, absolutely.
Also, Peter said Freddie would often say how proud he was of his 'perfect American accent', and it was maybe the only thing about Freddie that annoyed him. Freddie also commented it to the audience while touring the US and even Jim, when they both met, said: 'I'll buy you a drink but drop the American accent'.
Thor, did he ever "showed" it to you? lol
Also, Peter said Freddie would often say how proud he was of his 'perfect American accent', and it was maybe the only thing about Freddie that annoyed him. Freddie also commented it to the audience while touring the US and even Jim, when they both met, said: 'I'll buy you a drink but drop the American accent'.
Thor, did he ever "showed" it to you? lol