Happy New Year!

Party hard, listen to the great music of at least one of the musicians honored in Everybody I Shot Is Dead, and most important...BE SAFE!

I've been so crazy with work lately I completely forgot to make plans for New Year's Eve. How weird is that? Or should I say, sad? So, unless I get an email from someone inviting me to an awesome party I think I'll be laying low and waking up on January 1st without a hangover.

I have lots of good news to end what turned out to be one of the busiest and most fulfilling years of my life... my AP Feature that ran in the Boston Globe and this very blog both got a mention over at Expecting Rain. If you're dropping in from there thank you for taking time out of your day to visit and I hope you'll check out the archives and come back soon.

And I just heard from Kate Coe that my interview I did with her has posted on Media Bistro's Fishbowl LA. Check it out. If you found your way here from there, again I welcome you and hope you'll stick around... or at least invite me to a great party tonight.

And last but not least... if you're thinking of purchasing Everybody I Shot Is Dead and want to get a signed copy, now is the time. All domestic (U.S.) orders include free priority shipping through January 2008. That means you'll have it on your doorstep a couple of days after you order it. Also, we are discounting multiple orders (domestic and international) - you save $10 on 2 books and $30 on 3 books. There is also a ten dollar discount applied to all international shipping. You'll find these specials on my website, cheshercat.com. Oh, and in case you haven't checked it out, you can take a look inside the book here and also see lots of the pictures from the book on display here.

Again, thanks for taking time out of your day to stop by and have a very safe and Happy New Year!

Birth and Death

On this day 64 years ago, the world welcomed singer, songwriter, environmentalist, advocate and pilot, John Denver. A happy day indeed.

John Denver
12/31/43 - 10/12/97

This song is usually attributed to Peter, Paul and Mary but it was actually written by Denver.


Sadly, on this same day 22 years ago, the world lost the very talented singer, songwriter and actor, Rick Nelson in a tragic plane crash.

Rick Nelson

5/8/40 - 12/31/85

While this song became a huge hit for Rick Nelson, it was written by Gene Pitney, another one of the musicians honored in Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Remember Maureen

Maureen Starkey

8/4/46 - 12/30/94

Famous for being a Beatle wife but far more powerful in her own right.

Missing Dennis Wilson

24 years gone

12/4/44 - 12/28/83

Round Round Get Around...

I get around!

Imagine my surprise when my AP feature showed up here and here.

How oddly cool is that?

Thank you, John Rogers for being a wonderful interviewer and spot-on writer. Also thanks to fellow photographer Damian Dovarganes for making me look good.

And I thank each and every one of the media outlets for helping spread the word that we need to keep the music and the memory of these fantastic musicians alive!

I am humbled and indebted.

Happy Birthday, Frank and Carl

Happy 67th, Mr. Zappa.
You are missed.

Happy 61st, Mr. Wilson

Behind the Scenes

I've done a lot of interviews. Not just for Everybody I Shot Is Dead. I did a bunch of interviews for my first book, Starart. My experiences have included many television interviews as well as radio and print. I was even on Merv Griffin back in the day.

So, what's my point? Today's television interview was something completely different. It was my very first live feed interview... meaning I was in a tiny little room all by myself. Talking to a camera. I knew the folks back in Toronto were putting my photographs up but I couldn't see them. The wasn't a monitor feeding me the show. I saw nothing. The only contact I had with the human race was the voice in my ear.

This was my view. A big black box with a camera on top and a tiny monitor where I could look at myself. That would be my least favorite thing to do.

Close-up of said tiny monitor. The cutie taking the picture is my boy Tyler. Click on his name to meet the real photographer in the family.

I couldn't deal with the idea of talking into a blank camera - I'm an eye contact person - so John, the guy who miked me up, brought in Sponge Bob as a stand in for Heather Hiscox. How did he know I love Sponge Bob?

This is Heather Hiscox. The resemblance is uncanny, don't you think? Just as if Heather and I were in the same room.

Did I mention I like eye contact?

Getting ready... Okay, so I looked in the monitor. Once. For three seconds. Big deal. But, hey, I didn't have anyone to do my hair and make-up. Only what I could pull out of my I-rarely-wear-make-up understocked make-up bag. Plus it was six-thirty-friggin'-o'clock in the morning. I apologize to the viewers. I usually look better. Honestly. Okay, maybe not.

And then, in a blink of an eye, it was over. I popped Heather Hiscox out of my ear. We were done. It was all over as if it had never happened. And I was left wondering what I said and didn't say. I have no idea. Of course, after the fact my thought was "I could have done better." Same thing I said after I gave birth.

Anyway, I hope they kept the pictures of George Harrison, Marc Bolan, Maurice Gibb, Frank Zappa and Hank Snow up for the whole time. Because the musicians are what it's all about.

If you happened to catch the segment, post a comment and let me know what it looked like on live TV.

On our way out I begged John to pose for a picture with me in the control room. He's full-on Scottish. Complete with the accent. I like Scottish people. And this one in particular was very nice.

Thanks to all the people at CBC News Morning for putting my book on the air. Much appreciated.

Oh Canada

I get to wake up really early tomorrow morning and drive to a West Side studio to do a live feed interview on CBC News Morning at 9:30ish EST.

Yes, that's 6:30am for me.

That's really early.

As in I think I need to get up at 4:30am.

Maybe one of my East Coast friends will call me when they get up at 7:30am?

Damn, that's early.

I hope I don't come off as blathering idiot.

If you're in the Great White North, please tune in.

Dan Fogelberg

This is not the news I want to bring you.

Guitarist, singer, songwriter and environmentalist Dan Fogelberg passed away at 6am EST yesterday, Sunday, December 16th after a long battle with prostate cancer. He was 56.

I had the privilege of photographing him in the Spring of 1974 at the Vancouver Gardens when he opened for the Eagles. I had the opportunity to meet him once more at an after-concert party at Chasen's in Los Angeles. He was as nice as he was talented.

I was aware that Dan was ill while I was working on Everybody I Shot Is Dead and was really happy that he was fighting the good fight against the cancer by the time I put the book to bed. The last thing I wanted to do was add him to the book. Now that he's gone I wish there was a way to add him...he so deserves to be honored.

Here is one the the photos from the Vancouver show, which happens to be one of my all-time favorite pictures.

August 13, 1951 - December 16, 2007

Rest in Peace.

Happy Birthday, Paul!

He would have been 65 today, December 17th.

Gifts Galore at the Chesher Cat Store

Happy Holidays
from all of us at

Finally, some semblance of the new site is up...hopefully not too late for the holiday shopping season.

The big additions to the site include the availability of fine photography prints from Everybody I Shot Is Dead and the long promised Everybody I Shot Is Dead t-shirts.

For those of you who have not purchased a copy of the book (yet), the new site gives you a chance to see many more of the 416 photos in the book.

Please excuse the funkiness of the links on the navigation bars. The one on the front page works but after that you'll have to be using your browser back button. Clicking on the various images will get you to the next place you want to go - it's just getting back that can be difficult. We're working on streamlining everything. Feel free to lodge your complaints in the comment section.

Back Soon

...as soon as we finish getting the website revisions done. In addition to what's already available, we are putting all the prints up, as well as t-shirts.

So, hang on to some of your holiday bucks and get something unique from the Chesher Cat store...for yourself or a loved one. Items start as low as $15.

The doors should be open tomorrow night...if I can figure out the code and shipping costs on the shirts.

Ho ho ho.

Packing

It's 12:43am here. I have to leave for the airport at 8:15am. I'm about to start packing. It's been a busy four days here. Much to blog about...the last half of the drive, the stuff I did here, all with lots of pictures to go along with the words.

And let's not forget about Led Zeppelin. Even without the world's greatest drummer, I'm happy to report it looks like the reunion concert was a triumph. Wish I was there. Were any of you?

I'm carrying a framed print of Bonham home on the plane with me. The other two I had in the Vancouver show were sold. The one I'm bringing home is (in my opinion) the best one.

I've also received some touching emails that I want to tell you about.

But all of this will have to wait until I'm back home...'cause right now I have to pack...and get some sleep.

Are You Anywhere Near Calgary?

There's an open house this weekend where you can drop in and say hi (to me), as well as check out my book and see a very special private style showing of a selection of prints from the book...and pick up your very own Everybody I Shot Is Dead t-shirt.

So, if you're in the area send an email to openhouse@cheshercat.com including your phone number and someone will ring you up and give you the address and secret code.

Ha, ha, ha...I don't believe there is a secret code.

Okay, what are you waiting for? Consider this your engraved invitation.

Road Trip

Dateline: Wednesday, 11:35pm

This is on the wall in my room. What is it? Sure, it's a timer switch. But what's it for? It's on the wall outside the bathroom, but there's no heat light. Weird.

Should I turn it on?


Okay. I will.
Tick, tick, tick. It didn't turn on a light. It didn't turn on the heat. Tick, tick, tick. Shit. It's not doing anything. Just tick, tick, tick. What's going to happen when it runs down? Am I going to blow up? I feel like I'm in an episode of Lost. What if the room blows up?

I'm really, really tired.

I woke up at 5:45am and got on a plane...
It took off from LAX at 7:30am. Over the ocean. Reminding me that I should go to the beach more often.

After two and half hour I saw this...
And this...
Vancouver. I spent the day wrapping up the show and loading what was left into a cargo van. I hit the road at 8:30pm.

It wasn't long before I was out of the city. Everything became dark. The highway narrowed and disappeared into the trees with every turn. A fog danced across the road. Like a Stephen Kind novel. Then by 10:30pm I was here...
Main Street. Yes, that's snow.

Then I found this place...

A man checked me in. He was extremely nice. I paid in cash.

The room is very nice. I got one with internet. I thought that meant there would be an ethernet plug-in. turns out it meant there was a computer in the room. I'd show you a picture but suddenly my photos won't upload. Wonder if it has anything to do with the wall timer. It's almost finished counting down.

Tick, tick, tick....KABOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!

Of Late

I've been trying to catch up on a bunch of past things I want to post but so far I have failed. I just spent 15 minutes searching for a particular picture that I wanted to include here but I didn't find it. I'm hoping it's on the external drive in the office and I can find it tomorrow.

So, what have I been doing besides not keeping up with my posting? I'm glad you asked. A couple of interesting things over the past several days...

This is where I was last night. The Ribbon of Hope awards from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, honoring outstanding programming in the area of AIDS awareness. This is a press release about the event. It was an incredible evening and more important than ever in light of the fact that we continue to allow the AIDS pandemic to fade from the media limelight, as more and more people around the world (including the U.S.) become infected at alarming rates. Did you even know yesterday (as in 12/1) was World Aids Day?

There were celebrities galore, including Judith Light, Alison Angram, Julie Newmar (that's the back of her head on the left in the above picture) and pictured below...

...the very funny Bruce Vilanch.

I also had the opportunity to meet an amazing young man, the evening's keynote speaker Cameron Siemers. Please take a moment to click on his name and see what makes him so remarkable.

My book publicist, Harlan Boll, was one of the producers of the show and I can't thank him enough for inviting me to such an incredibly moving and educational event. P.S. I apologize again for wearing my inappropriate Everybody I Shot Is Dead t-shirt under my suit jacket. Hopefully it didn't show up on TV.

And speaking of TV, here's a photo from my appearance last week on Coffee Break...
It went so well that co-host Connie Martinson is pushing up my date to appear on her solo show, Connie Martinson Talks Books. She asks great questions so I can't wait to talk with her again.

In other non-news, I am still impatiently waiting for my AP feature article to break. It was supposed to hit several weeks ago (the week of the fires which would have obviously buried it), and then the very nice writer of said article kindly called me last Monday and said it should come out that week, but alas, it did not. I am really looking forward to the article because I really enjoyed the (longform) interview, and of course, because it will hopefully get blasted all over the world and lead to more opportunities to talk about the wonderful musicians in my book.

Which brings me to one more thing I have recently let slide. If you ordered the book from my website I have been meaning to send you a thank you email, along with a small request...which also goes out to anyone who has had the opportunity to read the book...please go online to amazon.com and write a customer review. I hope your are enjoying the book and I promise to get that thank you email out to everyone asap. Sorry for my tardiness.

Must sleep now...thanks for reading