Book 'em, book 'em good

Finalized a trip to Boston with M. Goldberg yesterday. We are going for to visit ailing friend, Gene Bellabona, who is being dismantled slowly by modern medicine. From bi-pass surgeries to cancer and diabetes, Gene is dealing with some serious issues. No one gets out alive here, folks.

Marshall has provided me with round-trip, first-class tickets. he is amazing in this capacity, as he also provided my ticket last visit, a year ago last October. What can I say as to my respect for him and his genorosity? He is so fucking special. How far back do we go? Mid late '60s. We've seen a lot and been through a lot.

February 8 through February 16. How cold will it be? How long has it been since I've tasted such? Hmmm - Europe, 1989-1990, maybe. I don't have the clothes from that expedition anymore; like they'd fit me anyhow, but but but, we are measurably smaller than a year ago, attested to by swimming within some trousers that fit then but no more. This is a good thing. Yes.

What about work, huh? We are addled with this aspect of the uncertainties coming down the pike, so to say. My art is really good right now - I am happy with the way it is forming in front of me as I work, wondering what this is, what this means, all that, complete with surprises as they get completed. Wanna buy some art? Please.

This schedule is two weeks from being a reality, with a very 'real' first of yet another month falling in there all the while. I am concerned. Very.

But life does go on. Within you, without you.

Take me along.

Interplanetary

Like how did this image go berserk on me so? That image below went kaflooey and filled pages, with that poor woman and her attached newborn being chased with scissors... Anyhow, life goes on.
And as a special reward, The Carpenters will now sing for you.
Calling Interplanetary Crafts. Enjoy the show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BrSVOOK610

loopie

What the Hell happened there? That's WILD!

That Doctor on the right looks a bit like Dick Cheney to me.
Mercy, it is cold. And this is from Los Angeles - where the area's citrus has been reduced 75% by the frosts. Cold. 77 below on Mt. Washington, NH - brisk by any standard.
Watched a house nearby (three across as the crow flies from the deck in back) go up in flames on Friday night - could it have been related to someone seeking some warmth? Methinks so, as Ted and I sauntered past the building to see what happened to it - boarded up and damaged, but not as much as what I thought from watching those flames. Creepy close. Started as a plume of smoke - how odd, thought I. Within minutes, full-on flames reaching the sky, littered with embers flying and flittering about. Asbestos, anyone? Pretty real shit, I do say.
Rain here this morning, with chance of more? Who knows? Snow has fallen in parts of LA untouched by such for two decades. Malibu? Yup. The 5 is closed on the Grapevine. Boy, do I have a memory of doing my last motorcycle ride without a helmet law - Thanksgiving 1992? Anyhow, seeing weather reports of the cold up on that stretch, I opted for the 101. It was still as cold as ______ - fill in the blank.

Getting off (I wish) my bike at Pea Soup Andersons in Buellton was frightening, as my knees were so amazingly frozen yet seemingly colder when I stopped. Bedecked in leathers and silks, it was still really frigid. The thought of continuing on was daunting, but duty called and I had to be in LA for work the following morning. Fun!

Ah, to be young again. No, someone else's turn. I am content but chilled.

And do let me tell you of how much fat has been burned off someway somehow recently. Clothes that haven't been bothered with for hundreds of pounds fit me again. Hello wardrobe! The real test will be when those aforementioned leathers fit. Those were not cheap and I covet them yet. I have a cherished memory of my mother asking to see me all gussied up in road wear while visitng Boston in Winter some time ago. She loved the look, or so she said. I looked like something dangerous without the bike between my legs with all that on me. Or so I think. Ohhhh, danger! As if.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

And I posted an Amos and Andy from Youtube at a forum and got called racist for doing such. Okay, can someone explain to me why? It was done knowing this would happen, but what is racist or whatever with this show? Is the Anyd Griffith Show the cracker equivalent? Well, yeah, but.... I adored that show (Amos and Andy) when I was a kid and it was shown without malice, I surely hope. Kingfish was a god to me. His ability to stir shit was magnificent, and he was constantly up to something. I am addled by the knee-jerk reaction this received.

If they only knew of my past with rights and suffering on the sides as situations like being refused a rental in Boston (racist? whew!) when all was ready to be signed and my black roommate showed up. Same thing again with a purchase of goods at Haymarket, having some fool announce a lower price than what was jut paid by my roommate and I for same product - chickens. Fucker. But whaddya do? It was a constant that one whom is white can easily walk away from and never actually engage.

I get it. I think I get it. But I am from northern Euro stock, so, just how much can I "get it"? The Irish got it long ago and they hold the same nastiness that was thrown at them.

Maybe an invasion from distant hungry planets would galvanize the differences and bring a unified humanity to the front.

Oh yeah. Honey, we'll wake you when it's over.

Friday, January 12. Well, what have you got to say for yourself?

Um, huh?

Just as I thought.

Work it!

Do these images have something odd in common? Check out that last image by R Crumb and the legs at Hot Flash by Azule - she had a thing with his stuff, as she did a Yeti gal that was amazingly full-sized and ready to please. The mind boggles. Atavism is good. I am the king.
WORK IT!

If given the chance, Yes! I get to go downtown, high up in a tall building, sealing envelopes for some political entity. Asked for by name - and bless Vicki Berndt www.vickiberndt.com for getting my clown feet in that door. Even parking will be compensated. Yay. Bucks. Not the BIG ones, but bucks, nonetheless. Bring it on. In the meantime, in between time, some silly must fill voids.
Bring it on.

I do I do I do.

And do try this for a blast of 1969 with the Grateful Dead, New Years Eve, at the Ark in Boston, even if it erroneously says The Boston Tea Party.
http://www.archive.org/details/gd69-12-31.sbd.gardner.7373.sbeok.shnf
Yup, that's my ill-typed mutterings beneath the music.
One would think I would've proofed such. Oh well. Not like me at all.

Januaries

Is that correct? I doubt it.

But in the meantime, in between time, photo funnies!

Here's Branden doing a Roman candle and a kitty doing the same pose about a century before him....

Have we all celebrated? I lit the remainder of my Roman candles at the strike of midnight on New Years. What fun. This neighborhood and the surrounding areas absolutely explode with such on that night and on the 4th of July.

Do come. Duke 'em. Nuke 'em. Salute!

The New Year

So where is this interview I expected to get today? Will I ever work again? It's a bit desperate around the edges, the center, the top and the bottom - D-E-S-P-E-R-A-T-E. You can smell it and taste it in the air.
Or that's just L.A. exuding all of what is has to offer. Dee-Lish.
Near 70 degrees is what we have going on here for weather today. Reports from far and wide across the USA show very high temps overall. Anyone for global warming and lower fuel bills? Ask a polar bear.
Saw Pan's Labyrinth with Branden and Jesse last night at the Arclight. Amazingly busy; so much so that the crowd to get into that theater was thick at 7:45 pm. We had pre-printed 'do-it-yourself' tix that J printed up - that facilitated something except getting seated - but the seats were all that and the movie was kinda dark - No, it was dark, period. Nothing says bleak like the Spanish at times. They make it into art. I watch.
Guernica says loads as to that.
I so want to visit Spain - this year would be fine with me. The Prado. So much to see and eat eat eat there. Tapas! The Mediterranean Sea. Dali!
If you're reading this and you can assist, please, contact me immediately.
Now to find the cash to get a new passport. A must do. I must.