Everybody I Shot Is Dead

Support the Arts

2011-05-28T11:35:00.000-07:00

I announced my new project in my last post. Now I have the details!
End of the Innocents is my short film adapted from my new feature script of the same name. We are planning to shoot the short at the end of June and are currently in high gear pre-production. Securing locations, putting together an awesome crew and also looking for the perfect actors to bring this story to life.

So far we have attached:

JOE LANDO
His resume includes seven years a
Byron Sully on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,
amongst other impressive credits.

And,

EVE MAURO
Eve's talents can be seen in Land of the Lost and
recently in episodes of CSI Miami and Bones.

We are also in the throes of raising money for the production to cover equipment rentals, locations and required insurance.

This is where you have the opportunity to participate! There are a couple of ways you can become a part of our production and even end up on the set:

1) Buy something from my website where all proceeds of sales go directly to my film and you get a credit on the film. Check it out HERE.

2) You can become a backer of the film through our KICKSTARTER page. Head over there to see our pitch video and check out the great rewards attached to the pledge levels. Pledges are as low as $1. Every little bit will help.

Raising money for artistic endeavors is extremely difficult in the best of times. And since this is a not-for-profit project, I'm doing my best to offer valuable gifts in return for your monetary gifts. Making this compelling and important movie means everything to me. If there is something I can do for you - such as a photo shoot, a poster design, a consultation or photography lessons - I am totally available in exchange for a donation to my Kickstarter page.

Feel free to email me if you have any questions or suggestions about how I can get this film from the script to the screen: innocents@cheshercat.com

And please tell all your friends about the project by linking them to my sites:

Kickstarter: http://kck.st/mQlisE
Chesher Cat: http://www.cheshercat.com/overview.html
This blog post: http://everybodyishotisdead.blogspot.com/2011/05/support-arts.html

The Kickstarter page is the page where I will be posting frequent updates. There is already a video of Eve Mauro and a 'Backers Only' post where backers can read the first two pages of the script.

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

End of the Innocents

2011-05-18T20:19:00.000-07:00

This is my new project.

And you will have an opportunity to participate.

Details coming soon!

I can't wait.

Missing Harry

2011-01-15T11:55:00.000-08:00

Harry Nilsson passed away 17 years ago today.

Harry Nilsson
6/15/41 - 1/15/94

Harry's version of "One", a song he wrote made famous by 3 Dog Night:

And live in the studio recording A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night in 1973:

Donny Hathaway

2011-01-13T23:51:00.000-08:00

We lost Donny Hathaway 32 years ago today.

Donny Hathaway
10/1/45-1/13/79

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Donny Hathaway and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Maurice Gibb

2011-01-12T23:47:00.000-08:00

Eight years gone.

Maurice Gibb

12/22/49-1/12/03

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Maurice Gibb and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

HNY

2010-12-31T18:45:00.000-08:00

On this day of resolutions and merriment, I am taking a moment to honor the 25th anniversary of a plane crash that took the life of Rick Nelson...

Rick Nelson
5/8/40-12/31/85

I am also celebrating the the 67th birthday of John Denver...

John Denver

12/31/43-10/12/97

Be safe tonight and have a very HNY.

Happy Holidays

2010-12-22T23:11:00.000-08:00

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and all your dreams come true in 2011.

Trick or Treat

2010-10-30T22:59:00.001-07:00

My Halloween Candy

Gene Simmons

Marc Bolan

and a never-before-seen photograph of
Elton John
looking more than a little ghoulish.

HAPPY HALLOWIENIES!

West Hollywood Book Fair

2010-09-24T00:51:00.000-07:00

A not-to-be-missed event!!!

This Sunday, September 26, 10am - 6pm

I will be appearing at the West Hollywood Book Fair this Sunday ... if you’re anywhere in the vicinity I would love to see you!

If you stop by and say Hi you’ll automatically be entered to win a George Harrison or Tom Waits Lithograph ($30 value). If you purchase a copy of my book Everybody I Shot Is Dead you will be entered to win an Open Edition Signed and Framed George Harrison fine art print ($350 value).

You will find me signing copies of Everybody I Shot Is Dead at the GLAWS Booth E7-8 from 12pm - 1:30pm. And at some point around 4:45pm I will be speaking on the Mystery, Suspense & Thriller Pavilion stage.

The West Hollywood Book Fair is one of the best, with many wonderful books and fabulous guest authors. It is not to be missed. It takes place at West Hollywood Park, 647 N. San Vicente Blvd. West Hollywood. Parking is free across the street at the Pacific Design Center. For more information on the fair please visit http://www.westhollywoodbookfair.org/.

Hope to see you there!!

PS... for the WeHo Book Fair I will be discounting my book to $30 + tax. That’s $10 off my website price. Cash only please.

My Living Portfolio

2010-08-08T12:06:00.000-07:00

I have created a Facebook page dedicated to my photography pursuits past, present and future. Hence, my living portfolio. Because it is always growing.

Here's what the front page currently looks like:

It will change at some point toady and then again tomorrow and the next day, just like every other living thing in the universe.

I hope you will take the time to visit my Chesher Cat Photography page and click the "Lke" icon on the top of the page.

Chesher Cat Photography

I am planning a huge photography project that I will embark on in the next couple of years that will require sponsorships and the more people that "Like" my page the easier it will be to raise the money.

Thanks for your support.

xo Deborah

Are You Anywhere Near Alberta?

2010-08-05T22:06:00.000-07:00

I'm throwing a book party in Calgary on August 21st. Please come if you can. I will be siging books, giving away cool EISID stuff, displaying prints and the Steve McQueen Band will be plying tunes.

Here's a flyer with all the details:

Keith Godchaux

2010-07-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

Happy 62nd to Grateful Dead keyboardist, Keith Godchaux.

Keith Godchaux
7/19/48-7/21/80

Lot's of Keith in this one...

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Keith Godchaux and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Peace & Love, Ritchie...

2010-07-07T21:49:00.000-07:00

...and Happy Birthday.

If you wanna take Mr. Starkey home, this photograph is available in a beautiful silver gelatin print (16x20 Limited Edition or 11x14 Open Edition) made directly from the original negative. Email me for a special birthday price.

And my bonus shot:

Ringo's house from back in the day, known as Tittenhurst Park...which I believe originally belonged to John Lennon. I was there to photograph a doorknob for my book Starart. The doorknob was a replica of Ringo's hand that was designed by Klaus Voormann.

Work Space

2010-07-06T20:08:00.000-07:00

First I have to admit my stupidity. Yesterday was my first day back after 2+ months. It was bad enough that I barely remembered how to sign on but I posted a photograph that I had already posted before. I blame it on my Swiss cheese brain.

Today I am posting a photo that I know I've never posted because I just found in a box of old pictures while attempting to reorganize my work space. Actually it's a move to another room and a weeding out of everything I don't need mucking up my new work space. It all boils down to filing, storing, or my favorite but most difficult...tossing until I have an organized clutter-free neat and tidy space that will allow me to work and create without feeling like I have a ball and chain attached to every limb.

And in that vein I came across this box of slides from a couple of eons ago and found this deliciously adorable picture:

Back in the Saddle

2010-07-05T23:27:00.000-07:00

Something happened on April 27th - four days after my last post - that caused me to take a hiatus from the blog. That's about all I'm going to say about it at this time.

Sorry to those of you who missed my random postings...I will do my best to make it up to you. Oddly enough, I think I had more traffic to the blog while I wasn't writing. It will be interesting to see if my numbers drop now that I'm back.

I'm also sorry to all the wonderful musicians I photographed for missing the celebration of their birthdays and the honoring of their passing. I'll try and rectify that too.

But for now I'm going to start sharing some of the photographs I've taken this year. Been shooting a lot of black and white film. And spending a lot of time in the darkroom developing said film and printing. Ah, there's nothing like the scent of developing chemicals any time of the day or night.

So, without further ado, here's the first picture - appropriate to the title of this post and my return to this dusty little corner of the web.

Horse and Rider

Pete Ham

2010-04-23T00:41:00.000-07:00

Badfinger's Pete Ham passed away 35 years ago today, just four days before he would have turned 28.

Pete Ham
April 27, 1947 - April 23, 1975

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Pete Ham and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Tammy Wynette

2010-04-06T08:30:00.000-07:00

Tammy Wynette passed away 12 years ago today.

Tammy Wynette

5/5/42-4/6/98

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Tammy Wynette and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Stanley Turrentine and Gene Pitney

2010-04-05T10:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, Stanley...

Stanley Turrentine

4/5/34 -9/12/00

Missing Gene...

Gene Pitney
2/17/40-4/5/06

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Stanley Turrentine, Gene Pitney and the 46 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Malcolm Roberts

2010-03-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

Happy 66th Birthday to British crooner, Malcolm Roberts!

Malcolm Roberts
3/31/44-2/7/03

For more on Malcolm you can visit his fansite.

You can also learn more about Malcolm Roberts and 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Mighty Joe Young

2010-03-24T07:05:00.000-07:00

11 years gone...

Mighty Joe Young

9/23/27-3/24/99

This is sweet...

You can see more pictures and learn about Mighty Joe Young and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Ronnie Barron

2010-03-20T08:50:00.000-07:00

Thirteen years since the passing of Ronnie Barron...a musician who deserved more fame than he received.

Ronnie Barron

10/9/43-3/20/97

The one and only video I've managed to find of him...

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Ronnie Barron and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Hollywood Fats

2010-03-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

Happy 56th birthday Hollywood Fats.

Hollywood Fats

3/17/54-12/8/86

Fats was an amazing blues guitarist but cut his life and career short, leaving us with far too little music. This is still the lone video of Hollywood Fats on youtube that doesn't have embedding disabled...

There are also a few records floating around, including a compilation put out on Delta Groove (check out the audio clips).

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Hollywood Fats and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Old School Phtography

2010-03-16T20:56:00.000-07:00

I've gone back. Way back. I'm taking a class called Beginning Photography.

Actually, I've never taken a photography class in my life. That's because I'm not counting the color developing class I took a million years ago, which was just learning to print color.

I'm taking this class because I no longer have my own darkroom and I was itching to get in there and sniff some chemicals. As in enjoy the art of developing and printing black and white photographs...not getting high on the chemicals themselves. Although catching the chemical scent on my skin is nice. Eau de Developer with a hint Fixer. Tres bien!

Our first assignment was to shoot a roll for light and shadow and a second roll where light is the subject (that does not mean shooting a light bulb). I was a little confused on using light as the subject because light is always a huge element of any photograph so I'll have to wait for the critique on Thursday to see if I accomplished the task.

Here is the first negative that I printed today for one of my light and shadow shots...

Can't wait to get back in the darkroom tomorrow to print up a bunch more.

Mike Gibbins

2010-03-12T00:17:00.000-08:00

Happy 61st to Badfinger drummer, Mike Gibbins.

Mike Gibbins

3/12/49-10/4/05

I totally love this band...

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Mike Gibbins and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Tony Flaim

2010-03-10T00:12:00.000-08:00

We lost the great voice of Canadian singer Tony Flaim 10 years ago today...

Tony Flaim

1948-3/10/00

Have a listen to this voice...

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Tony Flaim and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Rory Gallagher

2010-03-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, Rory Gallagher!

Rory Gallagher

3/2/48-6/14/95

Here's a piece from Rory's Irish Tour 1974 DVD...

He was so amazing.

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Rory Gallagher and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

John Fahey

2010-02-28T09:18:00.000-08:00

Happy 71st Birthday to John Fahey.

John Fahey

2/28/39-2/22/01

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about John Fahey and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

George Harrison

2010-02-24T07:54:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, George.

George Harrison

2/24/43-11/29/01

Here Comes The Sun live, with Badfinger's Pete Ham...

You can see more pictures (including photos I took of his fabulous house, Friar Park, and learn more about George Harrison and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Papa John Creach and John Fahey

2010-02-22T00:37:00.000-08:00

Papa John Creach passed away 16 years ago today John Fahey passed away 9 years ago today. They were both very talented musicians. Please remember them.

Papa John Creach

May 8, 1917 - February 22, 1994

I really loved shooting Papa John Creach.

Here's Papa John playing with Hot Tuna...

John Fahey
February 28, 1939 - February 22, 2001

One crazy guy but he sure knew how to play the guitar...

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Papa John, John Fahey and the 46 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Keith Knudsen

2010-02-18T08:00:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday, Keith.

Keith Knudsen

2/18/48-2/8/2005

Listen to the music...

You can see more pictures and learn more about Keith Knudsen and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Gene Pitney

2010-02-17T09:44:00.000-08:00

A very Happy 70th Birthday to the late great Mr. Pitney.

Gene Pitney
2/17/40-4/5/06

Here's a cool live medley of a few of Gene's many hit records...

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Gene Pitney and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Michael Bloomfield

2010-02-15T13:27:00.000-08:00

Twenty-nine years ago today we lost one of the greatest guitarists ever.

Michael Bloomfield

7/28/43-2/15/81

If you doubt that he is one of the greatest, watch this...

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Michael Bloomfield and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Tim Buckley

2010-02-14T12:20:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, Tim.

This photo of Tim didn't make it into my book. I only found it last year in a roll of negs of another band.

Tim Buckley

2/14/47-6/29/75

Now you know where Jeff Buckley got his talent...

You can see more pictures and learn more about Tim Buckley and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Waylon Jennings

2010-02-13T16:05:00.000-08:00

Eight years gone.

Waylon Jennings

6/15/37-2/13/02

I love love love Waylon.

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Waylon Jennings and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Keith Knudsen

2010-02-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

Doobie Brothers long time drummer Keith Knudsen passed away 5 years ago today.

Keith Knudsen

2/18/48-2/8/2005

Listen to the Music live at Budokan 1993...Little Feat's Richie Hayward is drumming on this, while Keith Knudsen plays the tambourine along with his back-up vocals...

You can see more pictures and learn more about Keith Knudsen and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Malcolm Roberts

2010-02-07T00:01:00.000-08:00

Malcolm passed away 7 years ago today. He's a beloved balladeer and I had the privilege of shooting him at a TV show he was doing in Los Angeles.

Malcolm Roberts

3/31/44-2/7/03

Here's a taste of the man and his music...

You can learn more about Malcolm Roberts and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Carl Wilson

2010-02-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

We lost Beach Boy Carl Wilson 12 years ago today.

Carl Wilson

12/21/46-2/6/98

Here's a spunky live vocal performance by Carl, circa 1980...

You can learn more about Carl Wilson and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Alex Harvey

2010-02-05T11:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the anniversary of Alex Harvey's passing and today is his 75th birthday. It's gotta be a drag to die the day before your birthday so I'm just going to celebrate his birthday. Happy 75th, Alex!

Alex Harvey

2/5/35-2/4/82

This is fun...

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Alex Harvey and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Terry Kath

2010-01-31T22:43:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, Terry.

Terry Kath

1/31/46-1/23/78

The very awesome Terry Kath...

You can learn more about Terry Kath and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

My Website and These Crazy Times

2010-01-27T22:00:00.000-08:00

I may have mentioned this before. I am doing a complete overhaul on my website. Beginning with a design change and hopefully making it easier to navigate, as well as doing a better job of branding myself and promoting my services.

Instead of 8 menu bar items there will now be 14. I've got 7 items for "My Services," 3 for "My Store" and 4 for "My Other Stuff." And under those 14 items there are other pages you can go to and then more pages under those, etc, etc etc. Even though the content of a lot of the pages (such as the EISID prints pages) is the same I am changing the overall design and it is requiring to relink all the pictures. A lot of work because I have hundreds and hundreds of images on my site and I'm also adding tons more.

The services I'm promoting include graphic design, printing (did you even know I handle printing of all kinds of stuff?), retouching (did you know you could engage my services to retouch your photographs?), photography, writing, film and teaching/speaking. Basically, I'm putting it all out there. All my talents pimped in one place for all to see and contract.

In the past I've been told that I should keep all my talents in separate boxes, where the graphics doesn't mix with the writing or photography or books etc. And lately I've been told that if you are submitting yourself for work you should only put what's relevant to that particular job on your resume. So, maybe I'm supposed to have separate websites for all the different jobs I am capable of performing. To that I ask, Whatever happened to the idea of being a renaissance man/woman? Does that not count for anything anymore?

What do you think? Am I shooting myself in the foot by branding myself as a person with abilities in several creative areas? Am I wrong to think potential clients will perceive the creative connection between all the areas I work in? Will all my endeavors cancel each other out and leave me with an empty bank account?

I'm not talking about multitasking here. I believe multitasking is an oxymoron. I don't think you should focus on more than one task at a time. When a person does that I think the tasks end up taking longer and are performed at a lower standard. I don't mind having multiple tasks on my 'to do' list, but I think it's better time management to start and finish each task one at a time whenever possible. For one thing, starting and stopping a task requires review time to catch up to where you left off.

I really hope this post will garner comments and readers (if I have any left) will share their thoughts and experiences. I'm sure we can all benefit, especially the many of us who are trying to navigate the constantly changing career landscape in these crazy economic times.

LA Sunset

2010-01-24T22:15:00.000-08:00

Today's sunset. Magic.

And, proof of winter.

Terry Kath

2010-01-23T15:13:00.000-08:00

32 years gone.

Terry Kath

1/31/46-1/23/78

Unless you are a true fan of Terry Kath's guitar, you probably only know 25 or 6 to 4 in it's single form on the radio. Take a look and listen to this video - the quality ain't great, but wait 'til it hits the two-minute mark and watch it through to the end. If at that point you don't get why Terry was one of Jimi Hendrix's favorite guitarists, you don't get rock'n'roll...

You can learn more about Terry Kath and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Peter Bardens

2010-01-22T13:33:00.000-08:00

It was 8 years ago today that we lost Peter Bardens.

Peter Bardens
6/19/45-1/22/02

Thankfully, we still have his music...

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Peter Bardens and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

It Never Rains in Southern California

2010-01-21T17:04:00.000-08:00

Except today. And yesterday. And the day before. And the day before that.

Am I in England?

I'm actually really enjoying the photographic aspect of the weather.

Today's picture...this might come in as an all-time top favorite photograph of mine...click on it so you can see it bigger...

Today's oxymoron theme song...

Hopefully tomorrow I can post Here Comes The Sun.

LA River In The Rain

2010-01-20T21:08:00.000-08:00

This is what the Los Angeles River looks like on an ordinary day...

...complete with ducks frolicking.

Well, no ducks today.

I know because I took a bunch of photos of the river this afternoon.

Then made this little ditty for your viewing pleasure...

Bustin' My Butt

2010-01-19T21:31:00.000-08:00

Today was the first day I didn't have a sinus headache so I took advantage of the time I had by working in front of my computer all day.

I'm neck-deep in revamping my website. Can't afford to pay out this time so I'm doing it all myself. It's kinda hard because I'm not well-versed on CSS and how the person who did it last time made the template. I need to figure that out because I have major changes on the navigation bar. There are also a few software glitches I need to work out.

And I'm looking for work every day plus keeping a few personal projects in the air.

Today's picture:

Dogs In My Bed

Drama (on the right) slept over on Friday and Saturday night. I had a tiny little space in the top corner of the bed.

L.A. Rain

2010-01-18T23:59:00.000-08:00

A good rain storm is a rarity in Los Angeles. We had a really good one today and are expecting two more this week that may even be better.

These are a few rainy day photos I took today...

Harry Nilsson

2010-01-15T22:54:00.000-08:00

It was a very sad day when we lost the voice (and crazy antics) of Harry Nilsson.

Harry Nilsson
6/15/41 - 1/15/94

A reprint of a post I did in the Spring of '07...

Do You Believe In Ghosts?

As this blog is my witness, yesterday I was writing the text to go with my Harry Nilsson pictures.It was a tough write because there was a lot to say in very little space, but I finished it. And it started me wondering what really happened to that last album he had finished the vocal tracks on just days before he passed away. I thought about trying to get in touch with my friend who I knew Harry through, but then I was thinking, there's really no time to do that. And besides, I was pretty happy with how the text finally came out. Then last night Harry was in one of my dreams but I've been so tired lately, I'm not remembering the details of my dreams when I wake up. But he was definitely present. I know, I know, it's not uncommon to dream about someone when you've just been focused on them for seven hours.

Today I had appointments with both companies that are doing the scans for the book. While I was driving there I got a phone call from one of my movie clients asking something about a previous job I'd done for her. A couple of seconds into the call she said my voice was garbled. We hung up and she called me back. It was still garbled, even though I could hear her perfectly. Then I got another call and the same thing happened. Okay, I need to get my cell phone fixed.

After all my meetings over the hill, I dropped by Sprint - the store near my house where I knew they had while-you-wait repair service. I go in only to find out they closed the repair counter down because there wasn't enough traffic. They gave me a piece of paper with listings of a bunch of repair places and circled the second one of the list. I don't know why they picked the second one when the first one was as close, or closer.

I drove the 3 miles East on Ventura Blvd and pulled into the parking area that was overflowing with cars from from the local gym, thinking I really need to go to my gym. Fortunately, there was a reserved spot open in front of the cell phone repair shop. (Of course there was...I have a parking fairy, but that's another story). I walk in the shop and notice two guys sitting behind the service counter. The guy on the right asks what he can do for me before I even reach the counter. The other guy was online and talking to a guy leaning on the side of the counter. I tell the guy helping me that the mic is not working on my phone. He asks to see it and immediately informs me that he probably doesn't have the part, but he'll look it up.

How am I doing at dragging this story out? Pretty good, eh?

So, while he's tending to that, the other guy turns to me and asks if I know how to spell the name of the restaurant "Pasche." I gave it a shot - P-a-s-c-h-e - but they didn't think that was right and my guy was ready for me with my prognosis so I turned back to him. He said they didn't have the part and couldn't fix my phone. Shit. But the store in Encino could probably fix it since they were a corporate Sprint, whereas these guys were independent and weren't provided with a lot of older (2 years) parts. I then go out to my car to get my list to confirm with him which store it is.

When I come back in the other guy happily reports that they found the restaurant. It's P-a-c-e. "Oh, Pace," I say. Yeah, but it's called Pashay. Does it have an accent on the e, I ask? He shows me on the screen. Yes. And then calls the restaurant. While my guy is calling the other Sprint place to make sure they have the part, I overhear that last part of the other guy making a reservation. I thought he was doing it for the other customer. I wasn't paying much attention until, out of the corner of my ear, I heard him spell N-i-l-s-s-o-n and say it was for four.

I glanced at him and when he hung up the phone I made some smartass comment like, "So, I'm invited to dinner?" as the spelling of the name sunk in. How odd, I thought, as he joked back, "Sure, dinner's at 7:30." Then I mumbled, "You don't happen to know Harry. do you?" "Excuse me?" "Sorry, I just heard you spell Nilsson. Just wondered if you knew Harry."

"I'M HIS SON."

"No shit." As I looked at him a little closer. Of course. He looked a lot like him.

"Yup. Harry Nilsson is my dad."

I immediately went into my "Oh my God, you're not going to believe this but I'm doing a book and your dad is in it..." spiel. I don't think he believed me at first, until I started filling in the details with evidence that I did actually know his dad. And then he had lots of questions, as did I...like "whatever happened to the album he was working on when he died?"

He was as freaked out as I was that I had just been writing about Harry yesterday. We talked about a bunch of stuff and I gave him a postcard on the book. We exchanged information and I told him I'd be in touch so he could see the pictures. And that I'd give his family a print when I got them done and then I left...

...TOTALLY FREAKED OUT.

I mean what are the chances that he'd spell his name on the phone when I happened to be standing there? Hell, what are the chances that Harry Nilsson's son would be behind the counter at a cell phone store I was sent to to get my phone fixed?

Especially since I'd run into the woman who is directing my movie at the scanners earlier in the day. And we had a long talk while she looked at the mock-up of my book. She also had some good news about our movie and we discussed how great things were working out for both of us. I made a comment about how cool it was that things and people were just connecting out of the blue for us and that it was a sign that we were going in the right direction.

So, I'm guessing you think the story is over now, right?

It's not.

I got in my car and as I was leaving the parking lot a song came on the radio.

It was One by Three Dog Night. My all-time favorite Three Dog Night song. They don't play it much on the radio anymore.

Do you know who wrote One?

Harry Nilsson.

And what could be weirder than that?

Someone called my cell phone as soon as I got home. The caller could hear me just fine. Then someone else called. That caller could hear me just fine. And then someone else, and someone else. There's nothing wrong with my phone.

Hi, Harry. Thanks for visiting. Feel free to stop by any time.

If this doesn't put a smile on your face there's something wrong with you...

Lost

2010-01-14T21:45:00.000-08:00

I'm really hesitant to write a post today. It's 2010. I'm supposed to be all optimistic and positive. I'm afraid if I let myself get started I'll erupt like Mt. Etna. As in spew. It's been that kind of year and especially that kind of day.

I won't bore you with all that's not behaved like the 2010 I expected. Just the one teensy weensy little thing that happened today. I was moving things around from my computer and clearing out things that were duplicated. Freeing up space. And switching files between my computer hard drive and two external drives. A word of advice... do not attempt to do these kind of maneuvers when you have a sinus infection/cold. Why didn't I tell myself that before I started.

Somehow I managed to toss a folder the housed all the stills I took on my location trip last May. I was sure there were back-ups but when I went looking for them there was nothing. Disappeared. Into thin air.

I googled data recovery software and found a trial version of one that I could could use to search for the files and make sure they were available before paying to retrieve them. I think I found most of them, although some of them came out like this...

It took a long time. And as I write this, I'm doing another search with different parameters just to be sure I don't miss anything. It's taking forever.

Oh, I also broke a glass when my clumsy arm knocked it over on my desk. It was blind luck that it was empty.

Now if we can just get some blind luck over to Haiti.

Donny Hathaway

2010-01-13T19:22:00.000-08:00

The beautiful voice of Donny Hathaway was silenced 31 years ago today.

Donny Hathaway
10/1/45-1/13/79

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Donny Hathaway and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Maurice Gibb

2010-01-12T19:17:00.000-08:00

Seven years since the sudden passing of Bee Gee Maurice Gibb.

Maurice Gibb

12/22/49-1/12/03

:-(

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Maurice Gibb and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Yup

2010-01-11T23:30:00.001-08:00

It's almost tomorrow. I've been out all day today. The last of the relatives have exited the country. My life will finally get back to normal tomorrow. Well, maybe after a day of recovery so let's say by Wednesday.

Brain is currently fried. Or scrambled. Or maybe just poached. Take your pick. Whichever it is, it's on sourdough.

To quickly finish off yesterday's post, we did not go back to pick up my phone. We got a second car at the airport and divided up the assets. And the liabilities. Some of us ended up at Lucy's El Adobe for dinner at around 8:30pm. One of us flew over the city in a private plane. Another of us flew over the city in a non-private plane. Two of us drank margaritas. The end.

On Sunday I picked up a prepaid phone and had my cell phone number forwarded to the prepaid. I was expecting an important call today. It didn't come. Welcome to L.A. My phone is on a FedEx truck somewhere between there and here. I will get it tomorrow. I don't have any devices here that can record images so here is a picture of my phone...

Thanks a heap, Pumpkin. Nobody would have noticed if you hadn't brought it up.

What A Long Strange Trip

2010-01-10T23:53:00.000-08:00

Made it back to L.A. last night by no small miracle. Family members were dispersing in all directions...a sister and brother-in-law off to Mesa, a son arriving for a quick hello and a ride from me, my brother and his g.f. to L.A., a mother off to Palm Springs airport to catch a plane back to Midland TX via Dallas. Hold on a second. What's the mother doing walking back in the door of the condo at 3:15 when her plane took off at 2?

Uh oh. Watch the original plan instantly blown out of the water. Original plan being son, brother, brother's g.f., moi et le luggage pour into the little green Jeep Liberty and hi-tail it to L.A. Oh, and the Pumpkin.

Now the car is not only loaded with the long-traveling brother and g.f. toting ginormous suitcases and other excess baggage, the son, moi with my shit including 12 large grapefruits I plucked from a neighboring tree, my new pillows, my old pillow and, of course, Pumpkin...but the mother is now stuffed into the fray so she can catch a 1am plane out of LAX. This ridiculous configurations can't last the 125+ mile drive. No way. The plan is a 40-some minute drive from the condo to Palm Springs airport...the only place open where we can snag an additional set of wheels to divide up the load.

It was around 30 minutes into the seemingly long, definitely excruciating ride that I had that sinking feeling. You know the one. The 'I hope I didn't forget anything' one. And I really hope it's not my cell phone that I forgot. I know it's my cell phone. It's really hard to fish through a large leather bag when you're packed like a sardine in a tin can on wheels, minus the oil. After 5 minutes of groping, I'm 99.999 percent sure my cell phone was now 35 minutes in the opposite direction. My suspicions were confirmed when my son's cell phone rang with a call from my cell phone and I wasn't doing the dialing...

...to be continued...or not.

What part of 'to be continued' did you not understand? I'm tired and am going to sleep.

If There Is A God...

2010-01-09T00:53:00.000-08:00

...He was in Palm Desert today at sunset...

Palm Desert

2010-01-07T22:11:00.001-08:00

Some mini-vacation. Day 2, 3:45am I am awakened to loud sloshing water. The dishwasher. I waited and waited. It kept sloshing. figuring someone had gotten up and turned it on, I finally got up and turned the dial to the quieter dry cycle. A half hour later the freakin' dishwater started all over again. WTF?

Things went downhill from there. I already wasn't feeling well. By morning I felt worse. Drank a little fresh grapefruit juice. Ten minutes later I did something I haven't done in a million years. Yup. I hurled. It wasn't pretty. Went back to bed and then thought I should brush my teeth. Lifted my head and looked down at Pumpkin. She was eating my toothbrush.

Later I mustered up the strength to lay on the lawn chair, half on the patio and half on the grass. Hooked Pumpkin's leash to the leg and reclined. Chillin'. Two minutes later, without warning, the sprinklers went off.

I gave up. The rest of the day was spent like this...

Then, at 4:30am this morning, the dishwasher started up again. I am now calling the dishwasher Christine.

Taking The Day Off

2010-01-05T20:54:00.001-08:00

I'm in the desert. Good news...my dog is here too. On her usual best behavior. Which is more than I can say from other carbon based units existing in the same breathing space.

That being said, this is pretty much the extent of the post. I need some sleep.

Let me see if I can find a little something to lull us all to sleep.

My Day at the Theme Park

2010-01-04T23:32:00.000-08:00

I almost never go to theme parks...unless they have kick-ass coasters. As you know from yesterday's post, I went today.

Since I'm nearly speechless, here is my day in pictures...

The National Lampoon Vacation begins.

The first thing I'm faced with is my own life.

This was a really fun ride.

Gotta see the dinos.

Gotta love no-lines day at the park.

I like this picture.

Nothing like a little flood to keep your day interesting.

Wait...a good plane crash. Even better.

It there's a guitar, I will shoot it.

My most favorite sign. Ever.

Much to my surprise, I had a fun day. And I now have an annual pass so I can go to the park every single day through 12/31/10...for free. If you're looking for me, you'll know where I'll be.

Special thanks to my friend Steve for the great hook-up. My very own Griswold family holds you in the highest esteem.

Tomorrow

2010-01-03T22:18:00.000-08:00

It's the day everybody goes back to work. All refreshed from the time off. Resolutions still rockin'. A brighter outlook on life. Raring to go.

Me?

Nope.

Even though I want to work.

I'm doing something completely different. Something I haven't done in years.

Are you ready for this? (even though I'm not?)

I'm going to a theme park.

For the whole day.

This one:

Frightening.

After that I will be kidnapped and taken to Palm Desert. I will not be released until Saturday.

Mostly, I will miss my dog.

Got A Minute?

2010-01-02T19:55:00.000-08:00

This is the one-minute movie I made called Dream Simple. It was much easier to do than the animation piece I posted in December. And hopefully more professional looking as well. I was able to make it for just over $100, thanks to all the wonderful people who donated their time and equipment. The money went to food and a few props I had to buy. Anyway, I pretty happy with it. Hope you enjoy it...

(make sure it loads before you click the play arrow)

If for some reason you can't view it here, you can see it on my website or youtube. If you watch it on youtube, I would love to get some ratings. :) Thanks.

In follow-up to yesterday's resolution post, I'm still on course. I railed on my email inbox last night and today and it's down to 194. Yay!

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T20:26:00.001-08:00

Wow. Thankfully, that nasty no-good 2009 has finally been extinguished. I don't know about you, but I had the worst year of my life. Not that it was completely miserable or depressive every single day. It's just the bottom line that is swayed heavily in the negative column. Financial distress being at the top of the "Fuck 2009" list. It would be nice if everything Everybody I shot Is Dead was enough to support me but, alas, I still rely on my graphics company. I still have the same clientele I've had in successful years past but with the recession my clientele have cut their expenses, leaving me with about 25% of what I did last year and the year before that and the year before that. And getting new clients was next to impossible. It's been tough times for artist types. Personally, I'm just blaming the whole fiasco on the year itself -- 2009. Because, as of today, everything feels different. Yes, I am aware there's absolutely no rhyme or reason to my (non)rationale.

If it's not 2009 that deserves the blame, I have another explanation. Time Warner. Not sure if I mentioned it here but I did rag them on Facebook and Twitter. (If you're not my Facebook friend or you're not following me on Twitter, you should - click the links to the right to rectify) Anyway, back to the evil empire know as Time Warner. I had them at my last place and they mostly annoyed me but there didn't seem to be another choice. When I got them at my new place last August the extreme torment began. Intermittent pixelation of my TV picture. Or complete drop-off. Horrible, horrible internet service. Complete interruption of internet off and on and then that escalated to the point I had them come out. They changed my modem. After that I only lost service on an average of ten times a day. It was fixable by unplugging and replugging in the modem to reset it. But it really like to make me crazy by cutting out when I was uploading a large file for a client. Seriously, I was tearing my hair out.

On December 30th the U-Verse guy came out to give me new service. I was a little concerned at first because the guy couldn't figure out my phone line wiring. It took him over five hours to do what I thought was a simple installation. But he is now completely forgiven because the fog has lifted. The internet has worked perfectly. The TV has worked perfectly. It's a far more advanced and easy to use system than the TW one. I no longer need my Apple airport...the wireless comes right off there box. The DVR can record 4 shows at a time (like there are ever 4 shows on TV at the same time worth recording) and the remote and workflow is way more logical than the TW one. Since I made my goodbye phone call to TW on the evening of Dec 30th everything looks brighter. I'm wondering if they were somehow controlling me through their signal. Watching me. Fucking up my life. No matter now. They are gone. And my supportive U-Verse big brother is taking care of me.

Alright, on to the New Year. As I recall, I only made one resolution last year. Yup, I just went back in time and found it:

I'm not real big on New Year's resolutions. I think they set you up for failure. But I am going to make one. Just one. Seemingly simple. New Year's resolution.

I'm going to post something on this blog every single day in 2009.

Why would I make that my one resolution? Because I figure if I post every day, everything else will stay the course. And let's see...how about with each blog entry I commit to posting a photograph. I think. Maybe. Or. Hmmm. Damn those swirling ideas with no brain to sort them out.

Anyway, if you don't see a new post you'll know I'm dead.

This should be fun.

And, surprise, surprise...I DID IT!!! I posted every single day and I believe I put some illustrative in every single post. Except maybe when the internet wasn't working and I had to post from my phone.

There were times when I didn't want to post. Times I had nothing to say. Times where it was like pulling my teeth out. But for the most part it was very satisfying. Setting out to do something every day of the year takes a lot of focus and even more discipline. But the accomplish gives me the feeling that I can do anything I set my mind to. It's the same feeling I got when I walked on fire and didn't burn my feet...only in this case it went on for a whole year.

What did I learn? Resolutions are a good thing. And I should have made more resolutions. Just think of all the things I could have accomplished. I also learned that a public resolution beats out the one you make to yourself. It's a lot harder to break a resolution you make publicly. It's easy to sneak a cookie when you've vowed to diet. But it you put it out to the public that you want to take off 20 you might think a little harder before stuffing a pound of butter in your pie hole.

I have multiple resolutions this year. All designed to make my life more organized. Which in turn will make me happier and help me attain greater success. Some of these resolutions were put into practice six or seven days ago.

Here are some of them off the top of my head:

1) I will not go to bed without my kitchen being clean. I'm 4 days in on this one and I believe it is changing my life. It may seem like a small thing but not having to pull a cup and teaspoon out of the sink when I make my morning coffee changes my day.

2) Do yoga every day. I'm 6 days in on this one and am hoping by going public with it I will continue for the rest of the year. This is definitely life changing. I've been doing yoga off and on since I moved to LA many moons ago. When I do it on a daily basis I feel so much better. I'm not stiff in the morning. Minor ailments disappear. It really is a form of preventative medicine.

3) Post on my blog every day. I wasn't going to do this one again...but why not? I'm almost one day in on this and since I'm already in the habit it shouldn't be too difficult. However, if I do miss a day here or there I will not consider myself a failure.

Now to the harder stuff...the things I haven't started yet...or maybe I should say the things I am starting today but still have to catch up on from past digressions:

4) Better communication - Answer emails and phone calls on the day I get them, or at least within 24 hours. I currently have 499 emails in my inbox that need my attention. Of those, 175 haven't even been opened. How appalling is that? Lots of them are ones that I have kept because I want to check them out...and will most likely not need a response. But there are a lot that I really want to respond to but supposedly haven't had the time. For example, one of my favorite people in the world (who I believe is still reading my blog) sent me a birthday greeting in November with lots of news from her end and I have not written back. I AM BAD. I also got an email in September from a guy I used to hang with in high school that I haven't responded to. Not because I don't want to or don't plan to...it's more of wanting to be in a certain frame of mind. But that's not how it's going to be this year. I am going to have my inbox emptied by next weekend. Oops, that's 71.3 emails a day to file, delete or answer. Not counting any new ones. OK, I can do it. I expect this resolution will also change my life.

5) Keep on top of my finances. I'm figuring a half an hour a day would be enough time to enter receipts and bank transactions in Quickbooks and ultimately be less time than letting it pile up and doing it all at once. I can't tell you the number of times I've looked at my bank statements or credit cards and couldn't remember what the charges were for.

6) Keep on top of my filing. This is a tough one but if I think I can do it within the half hour I've allotted to #5 and ultimately save tons of time I could put to more self-satisfying tasks. This will likely require a whole new filing system but I think I have a way to make the transition relatively painless.

So, that's it. I'm pretty sure everything I'm resolving to do is a solution, not a burden. All are good habits that will potentially free up a shitload of time for me to actually have a life. I will let you know how it's all going from time to time.

In the meantime, what are you putting into practice this year that will bring you happiness and improve your life?

John Denver and Rick Nelson

2009-12-31T18:24:00.000-08:00

Today is John Denver's 66th birthday...

John Denver

12/31/43-10/12/97

And 24 years since we lost Rick Nelson...

Rick Nelson

5/8/40-12/31/85

Two deals today for A Deal A Day In December.

An Open Edition 11x14 signed print of John Denver for $60 (regular price $200).

A Limited Edition 16x20 numbered and signed framed print of Rick Nelson for $300 (regular price $600).

Shipping is extra.

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day 30 Deal" in the subject line and which print you are interested in. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

Here's hoping there's sunshine in all our lives every day in 2010...

Everybody's gotta believe...

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about John Denver, Rick Nelson and the 46 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

John Hartford

2009-12-30T21:31:00.000-08:00

Today is John Hartford's 72nd birthday.

John Hartford

12/30/1937-6/4/01

Today's deal is either one of the John Hartford photographs above. I'm partial to the multiple exposure, although it's hard to figure out with the giant circle c in the middle of it.

Open Edition 11x14 signed silver gelatin print.

Retail value: $200.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $60
+ shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day 30 Deal" in the subject line and which print you are interested in. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

I love me some John Hartford banjo...

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about John Hartford and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Maureen Starkey

2009-12-29T14:00:00.000-08:00

As of tomorrow, it's 15 years since Maureen Starkey Tigrett lost her battle with leukemia. Even though she led a crazy life as a Beatle wife, Maureen was also a really great mom. And not just to her own children. She was also a great mom to a lot of wandering kids of all ages. Me included on a few occasions.

Maureen Starkey

8/4/46-12/30/94

I haven't really marketed any of my pictures of Maureen but this four panel print was one that I had in my opening show. As I near the end of the A Deal A Day In December I am offering this photograph as an Open Edition 11x14 signed silver gelatin print.

Retail value: $200.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $60
+ shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day 29 Deal" in the subject line and which print you are interested in. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

There is no limit on the number of people that can order this print. If you want it at the $60 price please order it by January 1st.

I posted these two videos a few months ago but they're pretty cool so I'm showing them again.

And please take a moment to remember Maureen.

Maureen Starkey is one of the people I dedicated Everybody I Shot Is Dead to with several more photos of her.

Dennis Wilson

2009-12-28T19:54:00.000-08:00

Dennis Wilson drowned 26 years ago today. :-(

Loved him and miss him.

Dennis Wilson

12/4/44 - 12/28/83

No one grabbed this print of Dennis last time, so I'm giving it one more shot before I hang it on my wall.

This is a framed 11x14 Signed Open Edition print that retails for $350.00.

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $125 + shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day 28 Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

Some good clips of him in his live version of You've Got To Hide Your Love Away...

Despite his problems, he was an amazingly beautiful man.

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Dennis Wilson and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

A Deal A Day In December - Day 27

2009-12-27T20:50:00.000-08:00

The New Year is around the corner. That got me thinking that we're all supposed to review the year gone by and be grateful for what we have. For me, this task is just that. A task. To be honest, my year was less than stellar. But more about that later. I do, however, have this limited edition framed Grateful Dead print that I expect someone would be grateful to own. I dropped my usual deal in December LE price another $50...just to show my gratitude.

Grateful Dead

Limited Edition numbered and signed

16x20 framed silver gelatin print.

Retail value: $600.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price:
$300 + shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day 27 Deal" in the subject line and which print you are interested in. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

Since many of you are traveling, I hope you'll enjoy a little live Truckin'...

Thinking of the Beach (Boys)

2009-12-26T15:54:00.000-08:00

Some of you may remember I was taking a Photoshop for Film and Video class this Fall. I think I posted my 30-layer piece that I did in the first couple of weeks of the class. After that things got into uncharted Photoshop territory for me. Animation and 3D. AKA frustration. It was a bit of a learning curve and annoying because I don't think Photoshop is particularly built for anything more than simplistic animation. For example, as soon as I added a 3D object to my last project, the program pretty much slowed down to reverse.

Our final project had to be at least 40 seconds long and required a 3D object and a story. Once we put all the animation together we had to export the piece and then put it in Final Cut to add sound. It was taking so long to render I didn't watch the total piece in Photoshop. There was no time. I had only two hours left to finish it up and get to my final class and to hand it in. I hit the export and watched the progress bar barely move. It still wasn't done by the time I had to leave so I had to keep my computer open all the way there. I was half-way through my final exam when the damn thing finally finished.

Once I was done with the exam I threw it into Final Cut to add the music and sound. My heart sank. My 3D object had disappeared from half its scenes. Fuck me. The professor was nice enough to let me finish it up and hand it in via email. I figured out I needed to do it in sections so I could see if the 3D object was working properly and then edit the whole thing in Final Cut. What could that take? A couple of hours. Nope. More like 20 hours. Ugh. Kill me now. But I finally got it done and sent it off. Here's the final project...there's still more I could do with it but I got burned out...hopefully, you'll like it as is...

(oops...make sure it loads before you click the play arrow)

What did I learn? Animation is hard.

Today's deal is your choice of any Beach Boys Open Edition print...

11x14 Signed Open Edition

Retail value: $200.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $65
+ shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

The first person to respond can take advantage of this deal. Only one photo per order.

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day 26 Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

Merry Santa Day

2009-12-25T12:34:00.000-08:00

Today's deal...a FREE signed book...be the first to email and it's yours...

Everybody I Shot Is Dead
Signed Book

Regular Price: $40

Deal a Day in December Day 25 Price: $0
+ shipping (free if you're in Los Angeles)

email: info@cheshercat.com

Please include "Day 25 Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

Merry Christmas Eve

2009-12-24T17:28:00.000-08:00

Today's deal is a FREE Tom Waits Lithograph...you just pay the shipping...

Tom Waits Lithograph
11x17

Retail: $30

Deal a Day in December Day Six Price: $o
+ shipping (free in Los Angeles)

email: info@cheshercat.com

Please include "Day 24 Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment for shipping to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

Stayed tuned for tomorrow's Christmas present!

Totally Late

2009-12-23T23:59:00.000-08:00

Oops. I got to talking to a friend on the phone tonight and before I looked up it was close to three hours later and after midnight. My bad. I should just put together all my posts at the beginning of the week or month, or hell, why not just write a year's worth and schedule them to come out a day at a time.

So, what's the deal for the day that was actually yesterday? I have no idea.

How about this? Most of you know what I have in my bag of tricks. Is there something you've wanted that I haven't coughed up? Did you miss something from a week or two that you'd like to have?

Head on over to my online store, find an item you'd love to own, then email me at: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day 23 Deal" in the subject line and let me know the deal you're looking for...if it's reasonable it will become the deal of the day...or yesterday. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Happy Birthday, Tyler.

Maurice Gibb

2009-12-22T20:19:00.000-08:00

Today is 60th birthday of Bee Gee Maurice Gibb.

Wow, I miss him.

Maurice Gibb

12/22/49-1/12/03

In celebration of Maurice's big 6-0, today's deal is your opportunity to take the above photo off my wall.

It's a Limited Edition (#12/75)
numbered and signed 16x20 framed print.

Retail value: $600.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $350
+ shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day 22 Deal" in the subject line and which print you are interested in. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

Yup, I like the old stuff.

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Maurice Gibb and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Frank Zappa

2009-12-21T22:50:00.000-08:00

Today is/was Frank Zappa's 69th birthday. Happy Birthday, Frank.

And today's deal is an 11x14 open edition signed print of this photograph...

Frank Zappa

12/21/40-12/4/93

The retail price is $200.

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $60
+ shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day 21 Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

Enjoy yourself some Frank...

You can see a lot more pictures of Frank Zappa and learn more about him and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Carl Wilson

2009-12-20T22:33:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow (Monday) is Carl Wilson's 63rd birthday... so today's deal is this framed limited edition print...

Carl Wilson

12/21/46-2/6/98

Limited Edition #12/75 numbered and signed
16x20 silver gelatin framed print.

Retail value: $600.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price:
$350 + shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day 20 Deal" in the subject line and which print you are interested in. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

Good vibrations, Carl...

You can learn more about Carl Wilson and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Hank Snow

2009-12-19T21:55:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow (Sunday) is the 10th anniversary of Hank Snow's passing. He was a cool guy.

Hank Snow

5/9/14-12/20/99

Today's deal...a unframed limited or open edition of the above Hank Snow photo...

Limited Edition
16x20, numbered and signed.

Retail value: $400.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $175 + shipping
(free shipping in Los Angeles)

Open Edition
11x14, signed.
Retail value: $200.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $60
+ shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day 19 Deal" in the subject line and which print you are interested in. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

A little Christmas ditty from Hank to get you in the holiday spirit...

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Hank Snow and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

A Deal A Day In December - Day Eighteen

2009-12-18T18:25:00.000-08:00

Today's A Deal A Day deal happens to be one of my favorite pictures of beloved Doobie Brother drummer, Keith Knudsen...

Limited Edition #12/75
numbered and signed 16x20 framed print.

Retail value: $600.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $350
+ shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day 18 Deal" in the subject line and which print you are interested in. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Kieth Knudsen and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Butter's Birthday

2009-12-17T12:14:00.000-08:00

It's Paul Butterfield's 67th birthday.

To celebrate, I have two deals today...a framed limited edition print and an unframed open edition print.

Paul Butterfield

12/17/42-5/4/87

Limited Edition #12/75 numbered and signed
16x20 silver gelatin framed print.

Retail value: $600.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $350
+ shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

Open Edition 11x14 signed silver gelatin print.

Retail value: $200.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $60
+ shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day 17 Deal" in the subject line and which print you are interested in. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

Walkin' Blues...

"You can quote me on this, man...Butterlfield's something else. He feels it, he's in there all the way. Butterfield is a blues singer. There's no white bullshit with Butterfield, white-colored thing with him. He's there. And if he was green it wouldn't make any difference. If he was a planaria, a tuna fish sandwich, Butterfield would be into the blues." - Michael Bloomfield

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Paul Butterfield and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Dan Fogelberg

2009-12-16T23:36:00.001-08:00

We lost Dan Fogelberg two years ago today. He is not in my book because he passed away a few weeks after it cam out. I was really hoping he could beat the cancer and be with us and writing music for years to come.

Today's deal is special...

August 13, 1951 - December 16, 2007

I have a 16x20 print of this picture that I personally printed back in the mid-seventies. Only one. I may have printed it as a double image. It's mounted and has no border so I would be happy to sign the mounting on the back as an 'artist proof'. It will be a one-of-a-kind. If you are a huge Dan Fogelberg fan and would like to own this original print email me at info@cheshercat.com and we can discuss price. If someone is interested I'll need to pull it out of the vault and confirm how I printed it.

In the mean time, listen to the rhythm of the falling rain...

A Deal A Day In December - Day Fifteen

2009-12-15T23:48:00.000-08:00

Today's Deal:

Tom Waits Lithograph
11x17

Retail: $30

Deal a Day in December Day Fifteen Price: $5.00 + shipping

email: info@cheshercat.com

Please include "Day 15 Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

A Deal A Day In December - Day Fourteen

2009-12-14T22:47:00.000-08:00

Here's today's deal...

One of my favorite subjects...Papa John Creach....

Papa John Creach

11x14 Signed Open Edition Framed

Retail value: $350.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $125
+ shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day Fouteen Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

A Deal A Day In December - Day Thirteen

2009-12-13T21:31:00.000-08:00

Let's look at Day Thirteen as the lucky deal day.

Today's deal is any Open Edition print of any one of my photographs. That means your favorite shot from the Everybody I Shot Is Dead gallery (that's over 100 photos of 48 music icons) or a Tom Waits print or a Ringo print.

11x14 Signed Open Edition

Retail value: $200.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $65 + shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

The first FIVE people to respond can take advantage of this deal. Only one photo per order.

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day 13 Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

A Deal A Day In December - Day Twelve

2009-12-12T22:55:00.000-08:00

Here's today's deal...

The second half of the Badfinger tragedy. Seven years after Pete Ham took his own life, Tommy Evans did the same.

Tom Evans/Badfinger

11x14 Signed Open Edition Framed (approx 16x18)

Retail value: $350.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $120
+ shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day Twelve Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

One last thing...I didn't have time to change the website, so if you still want to pick up some of the sale pieces, run don't walk. It will be coming down in the next day or two.

A Deal A Day In December - Day Eleven

2009-12-11T19:48:00.000-08:00

Today is the last day of the Black Friday Sale at Chesher Cat Productions. Books, fine photographic prints and lithographs available at amazing savings.

If you're looking for a special gift for a friend or loved one run on over there.

One more chance to take advantage of the almost free book for Day Eleven in my A Deal A Day In December:

Everybody I Shot Is Dead
Signed Book

Regular Price: $40

Deal a Day in December Day One Price: $9.95 + shipping

email: info@cheshercat.com

Please include "Day Eleven Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

Ron Aspery

2009-12-10T13:56:00.000-08:00

Ron Aspery of the jazz-rock-fusion band Back Door passed away 6 years ago today.

Ron Aspery

6/9/46-12/10/03

Today's A Deal A Day In December is the above print or this backstage print of the band...

Your choice of photos in the 11x14 Signed Open Edition.

Retail value: $200.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $65 + shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day Ten Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

Still can't find any footage of Ron playing live but this is the next best thing...

You can see more pictures and learn more about Ron Aspery and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead, currently on sale through Friday for $19.95.

A Deal A Day In December - Day Nine

2009-12-09T18:14:00.000-08:00

To honor the passing of John Lennon 29 years ago yesterday (no, I do not have pictures of John) today's deal will be two other Beatles.

George Harrison

11x14 Signed Open Edition Framed (approx 16x18)

Retail value: $350.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $125 + shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

And...

Ringo Starr

11x14 Signed Open Edition

Retail value: $200.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $65 + shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day Nine Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

Hollywood Fats

2009-12-08T15:56:00.000-08:00

Hollywood Fats passed away 23 years ago today. He suffered a heart attack caused by heroin. Don't do drugs, kids. Especially if you have the kind of ability on the guitar like Fats did. We definitely didn't get enough of him.

Today's deal is a 16x20 numbered and signed Limited Edition print of the man himself...

Hollywood Fats

3/17/54-12/8/86

Limited Edition
Retail value: $400.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $175 + shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day Eight Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

This is an audio only video...listen and learn...

You can see a lot more pictures of Hollywood Fats and learn more about him and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead, now on sale for only $19.95.

A Deal A Day In December - Day Seven

2009-12-07T23:37:00.000-08:00

Oops. A little late today. Got caught up with some deadlines.

Here's today deal...

Pete Ham from Badfinger. A brilliant talent who couldn't deal with the smarmy music biz scum that killed his band. A sad story and an even sadder end to his young life. Pete Ham is forever in the 27 club.

Pete Ham/Badfinger

11x14 Signed Open Edition Framed (approx 16x18)

Retail value: $350.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $120 + shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day Seven Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

A Deal A Day In December - Day Six

2009-12-06T12:15:00.000-08:00

I am repeating the Day One Deal with another Tom Waits lithograph because of it was popular and since I think Tom Waits should follow Frank Zappa because I first shot him when he opened for Frank, and because I saw the Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus on Friday night and Tom Waits is in it and was awesome. Can't get the brilliance of the movie out of my head.

Tom Waits Lithograph
11x17

Retail: $30

Deal a Day in December Day Six Price: $3.50 + shipping

email: info@cheshercat.com

Please include "Day Six Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

Frank Zappa

2009-12-05T12:58:00.001-08:00

We lost Frank Zappa 16 years ago yesterday. Sad. Sad. Sad. Just think...by now he could have been President of the United States.

Don't believe me? Check this out...

Frank Zappa

12/21/40-12/4/93

Today's A Deal A Day In December deal is special. This is a one-of-a-kind Frank Zappa print. It was made when I was trying to figure out what kind of prints and on what kind of paper I wanted to do for my shows. This is a high-end ink jet print on archival photo paper. It's 16x20 and I will sign it as an A.P. (artist's proof) and it will be the only one in existence.

The retail price should probably be $400.

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $100 + shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day Four Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

You can see a lot more pictures of Frank Zappa and learn more about him and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead, now on sale for only $19.95.

Dennis Wilson

2009-12-04T10:50:00.000-08:00

Today I am celebrating Dennis Wilson's 65th birthday. If you've read my book you know how much The Beach Boys influenced my tween years...especially Dennis Wilson. I think I managed to capture my imaginary childhood relationship with him in this photograph I took of him five years later.

Dennis Wilson

12/4/44 - 12/28/83

So, today's A Deal A Day In December deal is the above framed photograph of the very beautiful (and only one who could surf) Beach Boy, Dennis Wilson.

This is a framed 11x14 Signed Open Edition print that retails for $350.00.

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $125 + shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day Four Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

With very Good Vibrations, Happy Birthday Dennis!

And, no, I did not forget that today is also the 16th anniversary of Frank Zappa's passing. I will be honoring him tomorrow.

A Deal A Day In December - Day Three

2009-12-03T14:01:00.000-08:00

Here is the Day Three Deal:

George Harrison Lithograph

11x17

Retail: $30

Deal a Day in December Day One Price: $3.50 + shipping

email: info@cheshercat.com

Please include "Day Three Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

A Deal A Day In December - Day Two

2009-12-02T10:54:00.000-08:00

Here is the Day Two Deal:

Everybody I Shot Is Dead
Signed Book

Regular Price: $40

Deal a Day in December Day One Price: $9.95 + shipping

email: info@cheshercat.com

Please include "Day Two Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

The Black Friday Sale continues at Chesher Cat Productions. Books, fine photographic prints and lithographs available at amazing savings.

A Deal A Day In December - Day One

2009-12-01T20:56:00.000-08:00

In celebration of the Holiday Season and in celebration of me managing to post every single day this year (I'm 5 days away from putting up more posts this year than the prior two and a half years combined)...I am putting up a special deal every day this month. A crazy deal. A money-losing deal for me. A great gift (for yourself or some else) for you.

In order to take advantage of the Deal A Day In December, you will need to check in every day. On future deal days I will try and have the post up by 9am PST (my time - in California). Some deals will repeat later in the month. Some won't. There will only be one item available each day. The first person to email me and follow up with their payment on PayPal will get the item for that day. So even if the post has been up for a while it will be worth your while to email me in case it's still available.

Here is the Day One Deal:

Tom Waits Lithograph
11x17

Retail: $30

Deal a Day in December Day One Price: $3.50 + shipping

email: info@cheshercat.com

Please include "Day One Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

Still Sick

2009-11-30T23:22:00.000-08:00

Going on three weeks tomorrow. Saturday it returned to my sinuses and last night I had a bad sore throat...again. And the cough...well, it's become an every day thing. My new best friend.

I'm going to try and get a solid night's sleep and see y'all on the flip side. As in tomorrow.

George Harrison

2009-11-29T11:30:00.000-08:00

Eight years ago today, the world of rock'n'roll lost the great George Harrison. It was my lucky day to photograph the opener of his Dark Horse Tour and, years later, have the opportunity to visit his amazing home, Friar Park, in Henley-on-Thames where I also snapped some pics.

George Harrison

2/24/43-11/29/01

One of my favorite infectious George Harrison songs...

You can order any of the three above photos of George in Limited Edition or Open Edition fine photographic prints...available at half off during my black friday sale. The top one is also available as a museum quality lithograph for only $10 during the black friday sale.

You can also see more pictures (including photos I took of his fabulous house, Friar Park) and learn more about George Harrison and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead for only $19.95.

Way Back When...

2009-11-28T23:43:00.000-08:00

...I was really young.

In continuation of Thursday's post, these are some of the other photos I scanned...shot by one of the Deep Purple roadies on the sailboat they took me out on for my birthday. I'd have to go deeper into the pictures to find the rest of them but I think I was the only girl with four or five of them. Yup, that's the way I like to roll.

But seriously, even though I can't remember any of their names, it was a very memorable day. And, believe it or not, just good clean fun.

I really wish I still had these sunglasses. They rocked...as did my 'I'm too cool for school' attitude...

I could also be friendly...
But I think I really should have gone into modeling...

...just kidding. I was actually pretty dorky. The t-shirt I was wearing had a cheesy plastic heat transfer picture of Linda Ronstadt emblazoned on the front. Like I said...dorky. And my dorkiness remains intact today.

Black Friday

2009-11-27T11:44:00.000-08:00

It's here. In the U.S. The day after Thanksgiving when retailers slash their prices for one day, open at ridiculous hours in the middle of the night and shoppers turn out in droves, sometimes killing each other to get that last toy on the shelf. It is called Black Friday because it is the day that many of the stores hope to sell enough merchandise to finally make it into the black for the year.

Fun times.

I am having my own Black Friday. Except my Black Friday will run into Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and then run that cycle one more time. During my two-week Black Friday my one-of-a-kind merchandise will be available at 50% or more off.

Here are the deals...

The Book

Retail - $60
My discounted price - $40
BLACK FRIDAY price - $19.95
_______________________________________

Limited Edition Prints
16 x 20 Fine Photography Prints
Edition 0f 75 Numbered and Signed
(over 100 photos of 48 musicians to choose from)

Regular Price - $400

BLACK FRIDAY price - $200
(only 5 per artist available at this price)

Open Edition Prints
16 x 20 Fine Photography Prints
Edition 0f 75 Numbered and Signed
(over 100 photos of 48 musicians to cho0se from)

Regular Price - $200

BLACK FRIDAY price - $80
_______________________________________

Ringo Starr
Limited and Open Edition Print

Regular Price - $400 (L.E.) and $200 (O.E.)

BLACK FRIDAY price - $200 (L.E.) and $80 (O.E.)
_______________________________________

Lithograph Prints
(2 to choose from)

Regular Price - $30

BLACK FRIDAY price - $10

All this and more available at Chesher Cat Productions.

Three Pictures

2009-11-26T20:34:00.000-08:00

This was not supposed to happen. I had a list. Two pages. Things I need to get done during this holiday weekend. I even had a plan yesterday for what I was going to post today. It was going to be some photos of REO Speedwagon because yesterday when I was looking for the Turkey Trot on youtube I came across this...

Thought that, along with a couple of REO photos, would make a delicious Thanksgiving post. So much for plans. I couldn't find my REO negs. I recall seeing them a while back so I know they're around but...not today.

From that search I started looking through some slide boxes for a blog post spark. I found some pictures in a slide box labeled abstract. These are three that I picked to scan and post. This became a huge time suck for me. Spending all the time browsing for pictures then pulling out a total of 15 to scan, scanning (I've done 5 so far), retouching out the dust spots (total time suck), adding a border to one, writing this, etc, etc. Seriously, figure three hours. Sheesh.

Anyway, I think it's worth it. I really like these pictures. If you've been reading me at all since September, you know I love taking photos when I'm on the bus. Turns out it's not a new habit. I've been doing it since I got my first real camera. Back when I was a mere teenager. I believe this was taken in Toronto. Probably on the trolley. I like this shot because I think it's cinematic. People shot from the back seem to have a story to tell. It makes me really curious to know who they are and where they are going. I stare at the photo waiting (and hoping) for them to turn around and reveal their faces...

Looks like I also like to shoot on trains. This may have been a train trip I took from Toronto to Sarnia to visit my Grandmother. Although I don't remember being in a dining car. I do remember the trip back. I was in a seat facing a guy and a girl. Before the girl introduced herself I told her I could guess her name. She didn't believe me. I said her name was Susan. I was right. And then said her last name was McDonald. Right again. It really freaked them out. But not as much as it freaked me out. I had no idea how I did it. There was no trickery involved. I just spit it out. Turns out I'm psychic...but only when I'm on that particular train.

This is one of my favorite pictures. A double exposure in the camera. I don't remember the guy's name but I remember I really liked his looks. Especially his nose...in profile. Yeah, I'm weird. He's from England. One of the guys that was working with Deep Purple that took me to the beach and sailing on my birthday. It was my first time in L.A. on my own and I was staying at the Continental Riot House. I think there's a story about it in the "My Story" section of my book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead. Click on this one to see it bigger. There's a lot to see. I impressed myself with my precision in lining up his head in each of the shots. I have no idea why there are two completely different scenes happening in the sand for each of the shots. Crazy...

To my US readers...I hope you all had (are having) a wonderful Thanksgiving. And are as stuffed as your turkey.

Thanksgiving Eve

2009-11-25T22:18:00.000-08:00

Most of you are probably either traveling or in mad preparations for your Thanksgiving feast. I'm doing neither. I am not going anywhere to celebrate the holiday and I've made the last minute decision not to cook a Thanksgiving dinner this year - even though I make a rockin' turkey.

I've had a really busy past few weeks, I'm behind on everything and am still fighting off the remnants of the flu bug that some anonymous person bestowed upon me as a most unwanted birthday gift. I've been hacking ever since, thank you very much.

In light of that and other set-backs in my efforts to move forward, I have (so far) been unsuccessful in coming up with a list of things I am thankful for. I'm sure I could come up with something but to be perfectly honest, I'm just not feeling it at the moment. The only list I've put together this evening is a master To Do list. It already has 22 items (that's just a few things I rattled off the top of my head) not including the massive cleaning and laundry pile I need to get through over the weekend.

Sorry if I've taken you out of the holiday spirit...here's a little something to bring you back up...

Happy Turkey Day.

Wow... suddenly I am thankful for something... thankful that I am not responsible for the demise of any turkeys this year.

Albert Collins

2009-11-24T17:31:00.000-08:00

Sixteen years ago today we lost The Iceman...

Albert Collins

10/1/32-11/24/93

The Iceman gettin' down and crazy...

They just don't make 'em like this anymore.

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Albert Collins and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Dizzy

2009-11-23T22:43:00.000-08:00

Me. Tonight. Something wrong with my head. This is my new theme song. Hopefully not for long.

Enjoy...

T-Rex

2009-11-22T22:14:00.000-08:00

Not the Marc Bolan T-Rex.

The Tyrannosaurus Rex my dog Pumpkin met on our walk this morning.

It seems I live in a neighborhood of people who like to personalize their automobiles. I had seen this car before and it made me smile. Today Pumpkin noticed it for the first time today. She stopped in her tracks and stared right at it. Her gaze did not waver. After a few seconds she barked at it. Pumpkin rarely barks. Then she stared more. Waiting for it to do something. I think she expected it to jump off the hood. Maybe she wanted to play with it.

Her encounter with the neighborhood Tyrannosaurus Rex made me smile more.