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BREAKING: My favorite New York City assistant DA from Law & Order is scheduled to drop by this week for a chat about her new TV show - Do No Harm.
Actress Alana De La Garza, who once pursued a career in physical therapy at the University of Texas before pursing a career in acting, is coming by to talk about her new show.
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DALLAS, Texas - I have been sitting on this for well over a month at the request the publicist, but today I can finally share this 30-minute interview with Damien Echols and his wife Lorri Davis. Echols is one of the members of The West Memphis Three who was sent to jail for murder back in 1990s and was released a few years ago after evidence showed both he and his two friends accused of the crime were wrongly convicted.
Today, the documentary West of Memphis opens in theaters; click here for showtimes at the Angelika theaters. It was not nominated for an Academy Award, the only reason I can see is that there have been multiple films made about this subject.
This is a photo I had taken of myself with Echols and Davis.
Click here for the story of The West Memphis Three.
This is the Part III of the interview.
The Big Mac Blog: What makes you laugh?
Damien Echols: The
dumbest crap. Things make me laugh all the time. Honey Boo Boo, but it was messed up. Johnny Depp is the one who showed me. You’re laughing but at the same time
you say, 'Shut up! This isn’t funny. Why are you watching this?"
The Big Mac Blog: How do you get this case re-opened and
change this ending?
Damien Echols: A lot
of it this – getting the word out. The book. This movie. Please research this
case. It’s letting Arkansas know we are not going anywhere and you should do
what you did 20 years ago.
The Big Mac Blog: What is it like to live on Death Row?
Damien Echols: The way we looked it was the
way they teach race car drivers is not to look at the wall. You are going to
move in the direction you are focused on. Look at the wall and sooner or later
you are going to hit the wall. That’s the way we looked at that. We focused on
what we can do – something to make us laugh and pull ourselves together.
The Big Mac Blog: How do you pay the bills?
Damien Echols: This book and I’m getting
ready to do an art show. I’m working on another book. I want to do things on
stuff that has happened since I have been out.
The Big Mac Blog: What else do you want to do on your bucket list?
Damien Echols: I
have done everything I wanted to do in prison, so I am trying to come up with a
new list. Most of it is things that I don’t even know yet.
The Big Mac Blog: Aspirations for a child?
Damien Echols: I have a 19 year
old son. I’ve seen him once since I’ve been out. We don’t know each other. I’ve
missed his entire childhood. We are trying but he is not a child any more. In
the end it will probably be more like friends than parents.
The Big Mac Blog: Do
you talk to Jason Baldwin or Jessie Misskelley (the other 2 members of the West Memphis 3) any more?
Damien Echols: I don’t have a relationship at all with Jessie and from what I have heard he
doesn’t have a relationship with anybody. He closed himself in his house and
closed himself off. He had an IQ of 68 and then you dump all of this on him and
he’s never going to have anything close to a real life. They say he is terrified
they are going to find a reason to put him back in prison.
Jason, we pass messages back and forth. I’ll text all day
but I hate talking on the phone. We text once a week. He’s in college now in
Seattle and eventually wants to go to law school.
The Big Mac Blog: How do you
want people to eventually look at
you both?
Lorri Davis: For them to be inspired.
There is something to believing in something, whether it’s relationship,
religion, what you do – just do it. To the fullest extent. It’s not cliché. We
did it. Damien and I didn’t live this horrible, sad life. We had a great deal
of fun. We did.
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DALLAS, Texas - I have been sitting on this for well over a month at the request the publicist, but today I can finally share this 30-minute interview with Damien Echols and his wife Lorri Davis. Echols is one of the members of The West Memphis Three who was sent to jail for murder back in 1990s and was released a few years ago after evidence showed both he and his two friends accused of the crime were wrongly convicted.
Today, the documentary West of Memphis opens in theaters; click here for showtimes at the Angelika theaters. It was not nominated for an Academy Award, the only reason I can see is that there have been multiple films made about this subject.
Click here for the story of The West Memphis Three.
This is the Part II of the interview.
The Big Mac Blog: During the sentencing why not stand up
and scream ‘I’m not guilty?!’
Damien Echols:
People always ask me – ‘if that were me’ – no you wouldn’t. It’s a hostage
situation. How many times do you see a hostage screaming? Never. You are hoping
that if you cooperate you can come out with the teeth left in your head. If you
start that they will beat you down. It’s not any imposition for them. These
people love doing it. The prison guards get off on hurting you. You scream or
yell they will mess you up.
In a hostage situation you know that if they hurt you
someone is going to kill them. In this situation they are probably going to get
a medal.
Keep in mind we were kids – 16, 17, 18 – and had been sitting in a jail cell
for a year before we go to trial. You have been devastated on every level of
your being and you have holes blown in you like hand grenades.
The Big Mac Blog: Did you have a moment and thought about
not pleading guilty as part of the agreement to be released?
Damien Echols: No
way. I knew I was going to die if I didn’t. I was so sick; I weigh 60 pounds more
than I did in prison. I had gotten really sick. Stress. Bad nutrition. I hadn’t
seen sunlight in 10 years. No fresh air. I had been beaten. I was losing my eye
sight. And you could die by violence in prison any day of the week. I knew I
would take that deal. I knew if that deal fell through I knew I was going to
die in that cell.
That last week, I hadn’t slept in a week. I was doing everything I could just
to get out of that courtroom. People always say you always seem so calm. It’s a
weird trick – the more anxious I get the more calm I get.
I just wanted to get somewhere I could rest
and I hope I don’t puke myself.
The Big Mac Blog: Hard not to feel sympathy and feel sorry for you – how do
you want us to look at you?
Damien Echols: As a source of inspiration.
As people who can go through some of the worst things you can go through and
came out the other side still swining. We don’t want them to watch this movie
thinking, 'God, life is screwed up what a broken system.' We want them to think I
want to do something with my life and I don’t want to waste this precious time
that I have. Find what makes your life magical and meangingful and dedicate
your life to that. We want them to feel that you can face impossible odds and
come out of the other side still alive.
The Big Mac Blog: How are neither of you not swallowed by
bitterness, resentment, rage and anger?
Damien Echols: I was
in the beginning. First 2 or 3 years in prison … do you know what it’s like to
wake up pissed off? It’s not fun. From the moment your eyes open it’s I hate
everybody. You are being tortured by other people and yourself.
There is a quote from Buddhism where they say holding on to that sort of thing
is like holding poision in hopes that it will kill the other person. It doesn’t
hurt anybody but yourself. I had to find a way to get past it. That’s what led
me to meditation. That and my relationship with Lorri.
We didn’t think we would think one day we are going to be together. Never. It
was our life is here now. It’s not something that may happen in the future it’s
here and it’s now. We had to build something we could take sanctuary in. Those
are the things that kept me together.
The Big Mac Blog: How has he changed since he was released?
Lorri Davis: The Damien that was in prison was very disciplined and purposeful.
We both were. We were both disciplined by nature. It intensified because there
is no quitting and a great deal of grief. Prison is hard so you have to make
sure he is safe. He held his space in prison that kept him sane and healthy.
That took a lot of work. Everyone thought including me that that man would walk
out of prison and that he would be fine and he is going to be able to handle
everything because he’s Damien. It took six months, it was The Moth, that
taught me he is suffering and every day his filled with anxiety. He is fearful
and he does not know what he is doing. He is moving about in the world and
everyone thinks he’s fine. That whole time he wasn’t fine. Even now it’s trying
to get people to understand it’s worse than coming back from a prisoner of war.
The Big Mac Blog: Do you have moments where you felt
sorry for yourself?
Damien Echols: Not
really because that is something that always disgusted me. It made me not want
to partake in it. It’s an extremely ugly thing. It’s also crippling – a
self-fulfilling prophecy. You bring it on more and more and more.
The Big Mac Blog: Did any of your loved
ones say, 'What are you doing – the guy is in jail?'
Lorri Davis: I wanted four years to
tell my family. I wanted to be solid and ground and understanding in what I was
doing. I know someone is going to look at me like it was crazy Lori. I needed
someone to realize I am working on a case and that this man is innocent. I was
so driven. A little obsession in the beginning. Then it became one decision
after another.
PART III Coming later ...
DALLAS, Texas - Bravo to the Dallas Stars and forward Jamie Benn for agreeing to a five-year, $26 million contract on Thursday. If the Stars have any chance of making the playoffs they need their best player playing, and preferably on the power play (yes, that's a shot at head coach Glen Gulutzan).
The Stars lost in overtime against the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday evening, but they are already in better shape than last season's team simply because the mood is considerably better without the presence of one particular player.
Trading center Mike Ribeiro to the Washington Capitals was the best move GM Joe Nieuwendyk made last offseason. It may be the best move he has made as the team's GM. Ribeiro was absolute poison on that team. So talented, and so indifferent.
Already coaches and players are talking about how much this team's chemistry has improved from last season, and all fingers point to Ribeiro's absence.
Few players in the history of the Stars' franchise have been blessed with so much natural hockey skills and manage to care less about them than Ribeiro. The guy could fall out of bed and average a point of game. Imagine what he could do if he cared.
He scored 63 points in 74 games last season with the Stars, and so far this season has three points in three games for the Capitals.
As much offense as Ribeiro can bring to a team, the Stars are better off without him.
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DALLAS, Texas - I have been sitting on this for well over a month at the request the publicist, but today I can finally share this 30-minute interview with Damien Echols and his wife Lorri Davis. Echols is one of the members of The West Memphis Three who was sent to jail for murder back in 1990s and was released a few years ago after evidence showed both he and his two friends accused of the crime were wrongly convicted.
Today, the documentary West of Memphis opens in theaters; click here for showtimes at the Angelika theaters. It was not nominated for an Academy Award, the only reason I can see is that there have been multiple films made about this subject.
Click here for the story of The West Memphis Three.
When we met in a conference room in a Dallas hotel, both Echols and his Davis looked exhausted from the extensive promotional tours they had been doing. Echols struck me as fatigued, and someone who was damaged in a way I can't conceive from his experiences.
This is the first part of the interview.
The Big Mac Blog: Was this promotional process more than you thought it
would be?
Lorri Davis: We didn’t know what it would entail. We just got off the book tour. We thought we would have a month off in between.
Damien Echols: Yes. At this rate the closest to any down time is the end of December. We haven't been home (in Salem, Mass.) in months.
The Big Mac Blog: How do you define 'normal' now?
Damien Echols: The minute I left prison we have lived like refugees. We left Arkansas I
didn’t have a single penny in my pocket and I had nowhere to go. We hit the ground running and that’s what we have been doing
for the past year. There are times you get up and think I can’t do this another
day. Somethings gotta give.
Lorri Davis: I try to keep reminding people that this is a man who suffered from PTSD. It is like coming back from war. But it’s a part of him. We’re so grateful for all of the attention but we need to figure out a way to balance it.
The Big Mac Blog: What is your life now that you are together all the time
and have the “normal” schedule?
Lorri Davis: That part has been easy. We’re together all the time and because of
everything we have been through we are able to negotiate things easier. When
you go through what we did you have to be able to do things. I’m not saying any
relationship is easy but we are primed for anything.
The Big Mac Blog: What did you think of the movie?
Damien Echols: I saw it about a month after I was out. It was three hours of a rough cut. When
I did that I was filled with despair. I’m thinking I don’t want to see this
again. Do you know what it’s like to watch and talk about and re-live the worst
thing of your life over and over and over, every single day? It’s (bleeping) agony. There is nothing about this case that is going to be new to me. We
watched it and it held my attention from beginning to end.
(Director) Amy Berg (pictured) and I couldn’t get along. We would talk on the
phone and she would come to the prison and I’m thinking this girl has no idea.
I’m thinking I am talking to a pampered rich girl. She has no concept of what
my life is like. When I watched that first cut I thought it was going to be a
train wreck but I watched it and I realized she got it and put together
something that was amazing. It held my attention and that’s when I knew she did
something really, really good.
The Big Mac Blog: Anything cathartic about this stuff?
Damien Echols: Nothing. The closest thing to cathartic we have done is a show called 'The
Moth on NPR. You just get on stage and talk, and tell a story. They approached
me about doing this and the rules are no notes, nothing memorized. You memorize
the first sentence and it will trigger you into talking. You have your story
but it’s supposed to be a flow. I was approached and I thought – why do they
want me to talk about this? it’s the worst part of my life. But when I did it
on stage it literally felt like it was lighter. And I left something behind
when I walked off stage. That was cathartic.
The Big Mac Blog: This is your story for now – but at some point it will
fade and you will return to your life in Salem – what do you want your new
story to be? Will this forever
define you?
Damien Echols: No. I refuse to let it. That’s what drives me. This case, we don’t have a
sense of closure. If we want to be exonerated and we want the people who did
this and the people who did this to us then this is a necessary evil. We have
to let the state of Arkansas know we are not going anywhere until you do the
right thing.
Once it’s over – it became a passion for me in prison – there is no medical
care in there. There were times I’d get really, really sick. Or nerve damage in
your teeth from getting hit in the face. There are no caps, route canals, no
crowns. None of that. Your choices are live in pain or have them pull your
teeth out.
That’s when I like Reiki and became passion about those things. The long term
goal when this is over what I’d like to do is have a small meditation center in
Salem and share the things with others that helped me survive in desperate
times. And be an inspiration to others who are desperate.
CHECK BACK SOON FOR PART II
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DALLAS, Texas - The most encouraging development for the Dallas Mavericks professional basketball team in a season that appears to be going nowhere is what is going on out west.
The Los Angeles Lakers suck - click on this column from Yahoo Sports's Adrian Wojnarkowski about the state of the Lakers, which isn't good.
The Lakers are 17-25, and five games behind Houston for the eighth seed in the Western Conference. The addition of Dwight Howard has been a nothing; the biggest dud moves have been Steve Nash and coach Mark D'Antoni.
The Lakers are so committed to so much money between recently fired coach Mike Brown and D'Antoni they can't do very much if they wanted to go with a different system. Nash looks like age is finally winning. Their offense can't go through D12 in D'Antoni's system. The team is not athletic on the perimeter.
What the Mavs need to have any prayer of landing Howard, who can be a free agent this summer, is for the Lakers to go on a bit of run and secure the seventh or eighth spot in the playoffs. By doing so the Lakers will be less inclined to trade Howard, who has to be thinking he and Kobe can't co-exist peacefully on the same floor.
If the Lakers continue to tank, the team is going to deal Howard and it's not going to be the Mavericks.
The Lakers need to create management they may have it in them, and then fall apart in the playoffs.
A disgruntled D12 walks in the summer into the Bank of Cuban, which we have been assured is open.
It's a long shot, but at this point in the NBA season it's something.
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DALLAS, Texas - Dallas Stars forward Jaromir Jagr has not had to share a hotel room in more than 15 years, but he had to the other night with a total stranger.
The Stars team was impatiently waiting on the team plane to leave the Detroit Airport a few hours after winning 2-1 against the Red Wings on Jan. 22.
The plane had an engine problem, and the team was forced to stay the night in Detroit forcing team the team's director of player services, Jason Rademan, scrambling tto find hotels for the team at 1 a.m. The Detroit area is slammed because of the auto show, so he was only able to locate 21 rooms in one hotel. This meant players were going to have to double up, even veterans.
The NHL and the player's union have rules in place on veterans who qualify for a single room; Jagr has been in the league for so long he has had his own room forever.
The team didn't arrive to the hotel until 2:30 a.m., at which point Rademan just started handing guys room keys. That was fine except no one wanted to room with veteran Jagr. They were all too intimidated because he's Jaromir Jagr.
It was mostly the young guys who shyed away from rooming with one of the best players in NHL history. That left the team's director/producing of TV broadcasting, Mark Vittorio.
"He was actually a really good sport about it," Vittorio said. "We talked a little tennis and it was fine. The only problem might have been that I snore."
I asked Jagr if Vito's snoring was indeed a problem.
"Oh, (bleeping) unbelievable," he said. "I feel bad for his wife."
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Winston Churchill: Success is not final, failure is not final: it is the courage to continue that counts.
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Denver area sports fans know Terry Frei's work at the Denver Post, and may know some of his non-fiction as well. He has a new book out called "Olympic Affair: A novel of Hitler's siren and America's hero".
Click here for Terry's website.
This is a piece of fascinating historical fiction that focuses on the little known relationship between legendary German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl and American gold-medal winning decathatlete Glenn Morris. Their relationship began at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.
Terry was nice enough to give me a few minutes to discuss his latest book.
The Big Mac Blog: If Riefenstahl was not a Nazi, why did she make films in colloboration with Hitler and the Nazi party?
Terry Frei: It was a calculated decision on her part. She was doing her job. Anybody who was seen Triumph of the Will knows her role and can see it and I think grasps her part in perhaps convincing people to jump on the bandwagon. She was an opportunist through and through.
The Big Mac Blog: Was Riefenstahl an anti-Semite?
Terry Frei: Yes, she was. If you look at some of her earlier work from earlier in her career you can see that. Among other things, she had Jewish partners on some of her early projects she quite willingly disowned and bitterly denounced later, going along with removing their names from the credits.
The Big Mac Blog: Do you think as she aged she regretted her relationship with the Nazi party and her anti-Semetic views?
Terry Frei: No. She really was the classic opportunist. She always rationalized what she did and convinced herself that anything was OK that advanced her career. And if you look at her later in her career and her life she was around people like Mick Jagger and her repuation really was rehabbed and allowed her a little bit off the hook.
The Big Mac Blog: Do you think she conned Glenn Morris into that relationship because it could advance her status?
Terry Frei: You are talking about a 24 year old kid who grew up on a farm in Colorado, and at the time he had gone to Colorado State which then was very much an agricultural school. It was a different time. At the time of the 1936 Olympics, (Riefenstahl) was one of the most famous people in the world, and she was throwing herself at him. He was duped and he bought the act, but he was also a willing participant.
The Big Mac Blog: Do you think he was bitter about this relationship as he aged?
Terry Frei: Glenn died so young in 1974 that it did prevent us from picking his brain too much. I tried to get to know him in different ways. As he grew older he became bitter and shook his head that (those 1936 Olympics) was supposed to set him up for life. It left him embittered and led to alcoholism and mental problems later.
The Big Mac Blog: What do you think Riefenstahl's legacy is?
Terry Frei: She was very much human and had human emotions. She was an artist. She was maleable and a manipulator. She had a tremendous ability to advance her career at a time when women did not do that. If you look back at her career you can see these pictures of very powerful men in a room and there she is the only woman in the room. She was a pioneer in so many ways for women and did things at a time when women did not do them. She did have a trail blazing role.
There has not been a whole lot to write about TCU's basketball team in its first season in the Big 12 conference because they are just so not good.
The Frogs lost at West Virginia 71-50 on Wednesday night, and the final score wasn't that close.
TCU is under .500 for the first time this season, dropped to 0-6 in the Big 12 and now the only remaining suspense for this season is whether the team can win another game. The safe bet is no. When the Frogs lost at home against Texas Tech on Jan. 5 that that was their last best chance at a win.
Don't pin this on first-year coach Trent Johnson. He has no players, and two of his best players - forward Amric Fields and Jarvis Ray - are hurt.
But don't buy that simply because he coaches a slow and deliberate pace of basketball that means he is a great coach. Slow basketball sometimes gives the illusion that it's well-coached basketball. Single-possession basketball can win - ask Michigan State and Butler - but you need bruising players that can defend, rebound, and know the importance of not turning over the ball.
Also, at some point, you do need to score. TCU is arguably the worst scoring team in all of Division I.
Johnson needs his guys before we can determine he can win here. That means two years, at least. This program has been terrible for so long, and is so routinely ignored, that Johnson may need longer than that.
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