When is history "History"?

I have read two novels recently based on the the life of Johannes Vermeer, the famous Dutch still life painter circa 1665. One was "Girl in Hyacinth Blue" by Susan Vreeland published in 2000 and the other "Girl with a pearl earring" by Tracy Chevalier published a little later.
"Girl with the pearl earring" is now a feature film starring Colin Firth as Vermeer and Scarlet Johannson as the girl....... It has done very well thank you very much and everyone TALKS ABOUT IT.

If you go to any true Biographical site on Vermeer the details of his life are very sketchy indeed and only 40 or so of his paintings are accounted for. Most are of his daughters, Magdalena and Maria. His wife features a few times as does the patron who is vilified in Girl.... as a lecherous maid molester.
The real life painting of girl........ is of Magdalena and NOT his maid.
To me it has opened up a whole ethical and moral conundurum, of which, I too as a writer have to take heed of.
The book and subsequent film of "Girl with the pearl earring" are far better known than "Girl in Hyacinth blue" which stays closer to the truth.
The portrayal of Vermeer and his relationship with the maid [even though it was NOT consummated in the book/film] to this writer is spurious and smacks of slander. What of the outcry if the sober and pious Johann Sebastian Bach was submitted to the same treatment in a book/film. I suppose the same thing occurred to poor old Salieri with the fallout from Amadeus.
It has opened my eyes as to subject matter and the responsibilities which I have. Not to make easy gain from a real life figure by distorting the truth.
The Irish have a saying..........."Never let the facts get in the way of a good story"
Mmmmmmmmmmm?????

Back in the saddle.

Had my first students for the year yesterday and have more this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon. The first thing I do with any new student is get them playing a proper beat as soon as possible.....engage them as it were. Get them interested, confident and excited that they can play the damn thing. Then a few weeks or maybe months down the track we get into the more technical aspects of the theory of it.
Work has definitely picked up on the book front and after discussions with Pirie yesterday we have a time frame of one month to get it knocked over and ready for publication. Louise picked up a typo which I had not spotted in one story and Fiona from Blue Valentine and Agnes both picked up on "Boy and his birds" appearing unfinished. I had a quick read yesterday and sure enough a new twist, to the story of the autistic boy who spoke to birds, started to appear....am writing it at the moment
Found the final woodcuts for the remaining stories which are going on the title page of each one and we are now happy with font. I am generally keeping all mornings free to write for 3-4 hours, then all the other projects can happen around that.
Cletis has updated all the pages and new mixes of Blue Valentine Sunpower sessions are up as is the Diary of the making of "Stone Fruit" Also reviews of Lime Spiders Annandale shows and the new mixes of live album which Jason Blackwell is doing at the Opera House.

Blue Valentine had rehearsal last night with Andi and Drew. Our first show with them in this Friday at the Wine Bar in Mudgee and we have evolved a mini-set with them which goes off on a hillbilly'swing/country blues angle and I must admit a lot of that stuff was really rockin'.....Four till late/Robert Johnson...Move it on over & Hey godd lookin/ Hank Williams plus my 3 new originals and some other folk and Irish stuff and new life has been breathed into the Gillian Welch songs....should be interesting. Fairly loose at present but as Andi said "as long as we finish on the same note!!"
Looks like I have finally nailed down Ged to come up during the first week of March to lay down extra guitar/mandolin.

Holidays

It's been a long time between posts. I've been away up the coast with a "Special friend" and having a very special time. First holiday in years and it was lovely to get the sand in between my toes. Didn't go near a computer or guitar for the whole time. One day was spent at the beach twice and in the pool twice. Racked up a lot of kilometres and saw a lot of NSW. Always surprises me how stunningly beautiful this country is. The area around Gloucester and Dorrigo in particular bear similarities to the Garden of Eden.
Came back to a very sizable inbox and a lot of work and organisation to catch up with.
Have renewed vigour to get the ball rolling this year and get ALL the stuff out ie Blue Valentine CD, Figtree Renaissance Double CD and the "Flora and Fauna" book of Short stories. I'll have to get the skates on bigtime.
Carina is back from Sweden and we are meeting up in Sydney this weekend and might start even doing some shows [Figtree Renaissance] with a pick up Rhythm Section she knows.
I also had inspiration for a novel/set of stories relating to Trees that have been introduced into Australia......Pepper/Willow/Camphor Laurel.......just early days but a good germ of an idea.
To work.
I have to get the second set of 3 stories to Pirie to format with the woodcut title page. He's done the first 3 [Oz, Treehouse and The Cat's Influence] Now I have to pick the next 3 which are ready....or as ready as they ever will be. Work on either Maze Maker/Dysfunctional B&B.