The Incomplete Brain Surgery Series

I feel bad about not following through on the brain surgery story, especially leaving off with my daughter going into the operating room and never offering up any kind of resolution. So, now's the time to get that one finished.

If you've recently arrived at Everybody I Shot Is Dead you probably haven't read the earlier chapters of this riveting serialization that is the chronicling of my daughter's brain surgery. And if you've been around here and did read the stories way back when, you've probably forgotten all of it.

So, I figured before I move on to Part 4, I'll give everyone a chance to catch up on Parts 1 through 3 and one way or another, I'll be back tomorrow with Part 4.

Here are the easy links:

It Is Brain Surgery - Part 1

It Is Brain Surgery - Part 2

It Is Brain Surgery - Part 3

Enjoy the fun!

For Your Information

Posting on a blog every single day is no easy task. At least for me. I know a few people that post every day and have been for a long time. At least one of those persons manages to write substantial posts that are not only long but are well organized and well written. I appreciate that effort but it also pisses me off.

I'm on Day 8 of my New Year's post daily resolution (although I have amassed at grand total of 10 consecutive posts in 10 days, counting this one). Chug-a-chug-chug. I feel like the Little Engine That Could. Running out of steam.

It's not that I've run out of topics. I can talk/write forever. It's that I really care about what I choose to write about and writing it well. (OK, no comments from the peanut gallery on my success or lack thereof) My problem is that I'm a slow writer. And a really shitty typist. I tend to skip over words when I type. They are there when the sentence is formed in my head but somehow they don't make it to the page, so I always have to go back and reread what I've written for the missing words (sometimes it's just letters - I just added the 'a' to 'wht'). And when I reread I find myself rewriting. Looking for a better way to say the same thing.

Now that you know my (lack of) process, I'm going to ask you a few questions that will surely set myself up for failure. Why? Because most (almost all) of the people who are nice enough to stop by and read my words or look at my pictures never leave a comment. And the questions I'm going to ask require people to comment. Asking questions of people who don't like to comment = FAILURE.

So, let's call these the failure questions:

What do you want me to post?

Do you have any questions (no holds barred) you'd like me to answer?

Hello?

Anybody out there?

Picture of the Day:
Just so you know, when I opened this picture I wanted to reword the questions. Add more details. But if I do that, I'd have to take a new picture. But then you'd never know I did that, would you? I'm so tempted. Somebody get me some handcuffs. Nevermind. I'm strong. I'm not even going to reread this post. Feel free to point out the errors.

Swimming

Since the weather finally warmed up a bit I decided to hit one of my favorite places.

It's where I go to gain twice the definition in half the time of going to a gym.

But more important, it's where I go to forget thought and forget gravity and forget the world outside of my lane. There's nothing more conducive to creativity than being completely enveloped in water.

This is close to what I see when I'm under water and nearing the end of a lap.

I love the way the rigid straight lines lose their edges under the water.

And sometimes it's just fun to splash.

Delaney Bramlett Dies at 69

Wow. I completely missed this news. Delaney Bramlett passed away at UCLA Medical Center due to complications of gall bladder surgery. How the heck does that happen in this day and age of medical miracles?

Bramlett was a brilliant musician. A musician's musician as well. Eric Clapton joined up as a 'friend' to play with Delaney and Bonnie & Friends after they opened a tour with Blind Faith. Clapton subsequently had Bramlett produce his first solo album. George Harrison went to Delaney to learn how to play slide.

Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to shoot Delaney Bramlett, although he was on my list of people I wish I had and would like to (which I plan to post in the not too distance future just in case one of my readers can hook me up). But I do have my own small connection to Bramlett. This past September I designed a CD cover for the European release of Bramlett's Sweet Inspiration which was recorded in 1989.

Booklet Back/Front Cover

Booklet Inside

Here's Delaney and Bonnie with friends Eric Clapton and Dave Mason (I'm not sure on the others)...

If you're interested in the European release of Sweet Inspiration you can order it HERE.

Jon Anderson

Lucky me. I got to shoot Jon Anderson with Yes back in 1975. Brilliant show.

Luckier me. I got to meet Jon Anderson again in June 2008 at his house thanks to Cucumber Rob needing to stop by there for a meeting on our infamous LA>SF>Harmony Festival in Sonoma>LA road trip via Mr. Anderson's abode.

Knowing that we were going to likely be stopping by I printed a bunch of photos from the '75 concert to show Jon. He couldn't have been nicer to me, and even asked if he could keep a couple of the photos. Um...of course. In return he kindly signed this one to me...

I have always had a thing for Jon Anderson's voice. It's like no other. His voice (both speaking and singing) has an indescribable effect on me. Indescribable other than to say that listening to him always makes me feel good.

His cool factor is also raised for me because he has selflessly spent his time inspiring and actually working with high school kids. Check this out...



So, what has made me all gushy over Jon on this first official work day of 2009? Well, I'm working on a little project for Cucumber Rob that involved getting a print approval from Jon.

And Jon just sent me this little email. He wrote, "print away.............and dance...........jon" What was so cooler than cool about that is he also attached one of his tunes to dance to. Gotta love JA.

I now proclaim this "Dance to a Jon Anderson Tune Day." Trust me, it will make you feel good.

Mick Fleetwood - The Show

Following the interview, we (me and the assembled 4 person crew) headed over to the Spotlight 29 casino for the big show. It was mid-afternoon so I figured we'd have plenty of time to suss out the venue and lighting, meet with the sound guy and still have time for a nice sit-down meal before Tyler arrived with one more camera and an operator.

Not.

As it turned out, there wasn't a second to spare between hitting the venue and the doors opening. Fortunately, the band was having one last sound check before the show so we could get the logistics down of where to put each camera/operator and what coverage they were responsible for. It was also an opportunity for the sound guy to set up and figure out his levels.

The people working the venue were amazing and very helpful. The guy running the stage, lights and sound bent over backwards to accommodate our intrusion. We were fixed up with walkies, they assisted us in color balancing the cameras and at the last second provided us with his daughter's TV to use as a monitor for the sound guy, as his gear was set up backstage.

The last and final hurdle I needed to overcome was also the most important. Even though we were shooting footage for a DVD of 'Mick Fleetwood's Island Rumour Band', and it is a "band", I knew the main draw was the man himself, Mick Fleetwood.

When I initially saw Mick's drumkit on stage, I was pretty much freaking out. I immediately walked around in front of and on either side of the stage where I knew we'd have access. There wasn't clear view of Mick to be found. How the fuck was I going to turn in footage of the band with no Mick Fleetwood. Why couldn't he have taken up the guitar or base or been a lead singer?

Imagine trying to get watchable footage from the front of the stage when you can't use a jib and this is the view:



Or even shooting from the sides of the stage when this is the view:


Finally, I mustered up the gall to present the problem to Jonathan (Mick's manager who had been so helpful when we were assembling some unique intelligent questions for the interview) and within minutes he had us cleared to shoot from wherever we needed to be...including Mick's drum riser!

Oh. My. God. Thank. You...for saving my ass.

I put Tyler on the Mick camera since he was the operator I knew best. Here's the view we had as I saw it through my still camera....


The show was amazing. Mick was pounding the drums with the energy of a teenager but the chops of a wiseman. And I can attest to the fact that you haven't lived until you've heard him solo while crouched on his riser mere inches from his kit. His playing moved me to tears...of joy.

I can't remember what time I got home...probably around 3:30am. I was bagged and exhilarated at the same time. But there was still work to do. I had to log all the tapes and put together a camera list. We wanted to import some of the footage but there just wasn't time. We did a quick playback of some of the sound and were happy to hear the quality. We had time to look at a tiny bit of the footage, mostly what Tyler shot, which looked pretty amazing. It would have been great to have one more day to see everything but it all had to leave for a flight to the UK at 6am. And now I can only hope we got what they needed to make a kick-ass DVD.

Thanks to everybody who took part in the craziness...Rob, Jonathan, Deborah (another one), Tyler, Sergio, Andy, Peter, Jeff, Bob, and of course, Mick, Rick and the rest of the Island Rumours Band. You guys (and girls) rock!

Mick Fleetwood - The Interview

The email arrived early on Wednesday, November 12th.

"Are you able to film an interview with Mick Fleetwood and his band on Saturday afternoon in Palm Springs?"

It was originally a question for me to pass on to Tyler, since he's the one that just got out of NYU film school and has the mad shooting and editing skills. But he had a production meeting on Saturday afternoon for some reality pitch he was editing so I stepped in and organized the shoot. I found a guy with a camera and lighting package that could do it within the budget and, just like that, it was a go.

The purpose of the interview was to create a special features segment for a DVD of a concert they shot in London of Mick and his Blues Band. But then everything changed. The fates stepped in on Thursday and I was asked about the possibility of setting up a five camera shoot for the concert Mick was doing on Saturday night with his Island Rumours Band. That meant seeing if I could scrounge up cameras and operators as well as a pro sound crew and putting together a budget that may or may not be approved.

The visual part of it was within my wheelhouse but I didn't have much, if any, experience with sound...especially multi-channel concert recording. I immediately called my friend who has been recording for lots of years with the drummer from a very famous trio (think law enforcement) only to find out that he was unavailable. But he kindly hooked me up with another guy who has a remote recording set-up and has at least one Emmy® to prove his worth.

The budget was miraculously approved on Friday around noon, which sent me into overdrive pulling the whole thing together. Renting cameras, buying tape, lining up the crew and communicating back and forth with the venue and the sound guy for all the technical information that I was previously clueless about.

I was close to death when we headed to Palm Springs in the early hours of Saturday morning...running on no sleep and fighting the onset of a cold which would completely knock me off my feet by Sunday.

When we arrived at the hotel a couple of hours prior to the scheduled interview time, the original place they wanted to do the interview was nixed and we had to come up with a space. The hotel people were super-accommodating and we found a meeting room that we were able to redress into something that was more or less passable. There was a huge lighting glitch - the guy with the camera and lighting package didn't have the lighting part of the package so we punted with a couple of hardware store variety dish lights.

Then there was the problem with the questions that were sent over by some guy in the UK. They were crap. With no time left, three of us plus Mick's manager revised and honed the questions that would be asked of him and guitarist Rick Vito. Turned out both interviewees were great.

Here's a shot of the interview...

Yours truly, Rick Vito and Mick Fleetwood

After the interview was done I bestowed a couple of EISID books on Rick and Mick...

Mick happens to be mentioned in the book as he was 'discovered' and had his first professional gigs because of keyboardist Peter Bardens.

Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow...Mick Fleetwood - The Show.

This Is Embarrassing

I started a post this morning with the best of intentions. It was called "Housekeeping" and was meant to catch up on my lackness (I don't think that's word but you get what I mean) of honor posts.

Today's post started off with the two sentences below and then the list (which would have been replaced with photos and videos) I started making by going through my calendar. While I was in the calendar I decided it would be a great idea to add the b-day d-day dates to each entry which would save me time when I create the blog posts (unfortunately my pea brain can't hold date facts for 48+ musicians). And that's when I realized that I was missing some of the entries. For example, Dennis Wilson was listed on December 28th for his d-day but not on December 4th for his b-day.

After a couple of those popping up I thought it was best to go through the book and double check every musician. Oops. I am missing some of the musicians altogether. Jerry Garcia, for example, has never been individually honored on my blog. I really suck!

So, instead of completing the original post (since it would now be longer than War & Peace), I am making another resolution. Right now I am going to finish going through the book and make sure every musician is on my calendar, and I promise to honor each and every one of them twice a year on their respective dates from this day forward.

Here's the makings of today's original post:

Having spaced for the past couple of months, I missed honoring the birthdays and deathdays of some of the dearly beloved musicians in my book.

This post is for them.

Mike Gibbins d-day 3/12/49-10/4/05
November 24th - Albert Collins D-day although I did acknowledge his birthday on October 1.
December 10 - Ron Aspery D-day
Zappa - 12/21/40-12/4/93
Carl Wilson
Hank Snow
Maurice Gibb
Dennis Wilson
Maureen Starkey
Rick Nelson
John Denver
Check rest of book and add:
Dan Fogelberg
George Carlin
Rick Wright

P.S. One more thing I was going to mention under the "Housekeeping" title is the Steal My Book deal is over as of this Sunday, as well as the specials I've been offering on prints. So, hit me up on the website or email sales@cheshercat.com if you want to save some dough.

Oh, I also promised a photo on every post. This is something I shot in December and could end up in another project I am working on...too early to talk about it though.

Ringing It In

I don't get out much. Dunno why. I just don't. Especially on New Year's Eve. Sadly, I really can't remember the last time I was outside of my house on the biggest party night of the year. I have a vague memory of some party hopping I did in the early nineties. One of the parties was at some condo on Doheny where Phyllis Diller was in attendance amongst other Hollywood luminaries. But since then it's been a night at home consuming a mouthful of black-eyed peas at the stroke of midnight.

Imagine my surprise when I got an invite to a NYE party at The Palace....hmmm...black-eyed peas at home alone or a swanky party at The Palace? Tough decision. Not. Those black-eyed haven't been doing what they're supposed to do for me anyway. Time to step out and see if I can function in a social petri dish where I maybe know 3 people.

First hurdle - What do I wear?

Maybe I should go for something elegant - it is The Palace after all. Scan the closet. I got nothing.

Second hurdle - How do I behave?

I'm a creative type. We're supposed to be esoteric, deep, mysterious and aloof. Let me work on that.

I take a shower - that's where I get my best ideas. The water falls on my head and within 30 seconds I'm creating a dialogue (writer-speak for conversation) with an imaginary cool person I'm positive I'm going to engage at the party. The shit is pouring out of me. My fellow writers would be green. Definitely esoteric, deep, mysterious and aloof. I'm soooo ready.

Back to the closet. Still nothing. Where's my fairy godmother when I need her? Fuck it. I'll go for comfort. Against the grain of the L.A. cool crowd. What do I care? I pull out jeans, a black shirt, black cowboy boots inlaid with snakeskin (which no one will know except me) and my old black leather motorcycle jacket.

Oh, and at the last minute, I decide to take my camera. It's big enough to hide behind. Just in case. And one more thing...my insurance policy...a very hot, very young guy:

So what if he's my spawn. And so what if he bailed on me an hour in. At least I didn't show up a-l-o-n-e. Time to hide behind the camera.

Click:

Cucumber Rob and Counting Crows founder/bassist Matt Malley.

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Four Clarks and the guy on the end.

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Dancing Queen (and King).

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And again.

Then I met this freak...

Click:

...and the banter began. The esoteric, deep, mysterious and aloof dialogue I had worked out in the shower was nowhere to be found. Instead it was an instant uncontrolled match of wits in order to take the piss out of each other. Yup. I digressed into my regular schtick. With a fellow-freak.

Then "the guy on the end" joined the freak fray. He accused me of stealing his camera. I apologized for taking over his job as 'official party photographer' and it went on and on from there. Cutting remarks. Fun, fun, fun. Until Matt (the freak above) let the Chesher Cat out of the bag and mentioned my book to "the guy on the end" and he suddenly flipped out. "You're THAT photographer?" I don't think he knew that I knew who he was but even better than that was the fact that I'd completely forgotten that the Clark's had me sign a book personalized to him which they gifted to him.

He gushed about the book (wow, you really like it?) and, much to the dismay of both of us (because we were really enjoying the pissing contest), our conversation turned semi-serious...you know, to the creative shit we both indulge in on a daily basis. Yup, we had a creative connection of mutual admiration. Even though he's WAY more accomplished than me. Thankfully, it wasn't the esoteric, deep, mysterious and aloof dialogue I had written in the shower. Thankfully.

At some point he picked up my camera insisted on taking my picture...

Click:

No way I was going to give him a good picture. Take that Mr. Durst.

Of course, I then made it my mission to take a bunch of good pictures of him (yes, I'm that competitive)...

Click:

Anybody got a light?

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Jonathan Clarke and "the way too accomplished guy."

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"No, don't do it, Fred! We'll have security remove the paparazzi stalker chick."

My thanks to the Clark's for the invite and for not confiscating my camera (although Daniel did make a play for my memory card at the end of the evening - I'm assuming he meant the one in my camera).

And thanks to evrybody else who played with me. It was a boatload of fun.

Here's the best of the rest (at least the ones that are suitable for posting)...

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Obviously Matt's only hope of getting lucky with his wife.

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The bump still exists!?!

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Look, Cucumber Rob somehow managed to snag a wife.

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Excellent. A new Roger Corman movie.

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True divaism.

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Kissy, kissy.

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Done.

To You and You and You and You...

Wishing you (and me)...

...a stupendously serendipitous 2009!!

A Time for Reflection?

Everybody does it around this time of year, right? Even if they don't admit it. I've been doing it full time since Christmas and off and on for all of 2008. Here's what I've figured out so far...

This year has been a real mixed bag for me. Lots of highs and lots of lows. Dunno why. I rode the high of 2007 for a good six months into '08 but then it mostly crashed and burned. I could really feel the onset of that little thing they were optimistically calling "the economic downturn" before it soon became known as "the recession" and I'm hoping won't become "the depression."

My lowest low came in August with Jaimie's brain surgery fiasco. The surgery itself wasn't a fiasco but everything that's come after it has been and continues to be. Of course, it's much worse for her because she is living it day after day but it definitely eats me up in ways I never expected. To the point that I feel like I had brain surgery too. But instead of installing a shunt in my head, they just decided it was best to remove my brain completely. You know, it's hard for me to be creatively prolific without my brain there to make a modicum of sense out of the sewage that pours out of my heart and soul. It's as if I am suffering from some sort of paralysis...the ideas are all there, swirling like a tornado through Kansas, but then pffft...I realize that I've just lost another hour, day, or week, time traveling in a fog.

Alright, stop right there. What a freakin' downer. More than enough reflection. Best to look forward. Figure out what I'm gonna do about it. How am I going to get back on the track and be the engineer of my life instead of the passenger? How am I going to rise up while the world economy continues to flush itself down the shitter? Is it even possible when most of us are living paycheck-to-paycheck? Uh oh...I don't even get a paycheck. Even so, somehow I've always managed to pull the proverbially rabbit out of the hat and I don't see why that should change now.

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.

Paul Butterfield's Birthday

He would have been 66 today, December 17th.

Check this out...the real deal at Monterey 1967:



Wish I coulda' been there.

Steal My Book

I've officially lost my mind!

For a whole lotta reasons I'm putting a last minute blockbuster blowout book sale on my website for the remainder of the month. Brand spanking new books for $25.

It's so low I can't even figure out what the discount is off the retail price. I just know it's even below the distributor price. Definitely below the amazon price. And they're signed. Heck, I'll even personalize them to the person(s) of your choice (now, I've really lost it).

Anyway, for those who are curious, those whole lotta reasons (watch me try and justify this apparent insanity) include but are not limited to:

1. I'm nice
2. I want every person to have a copy of my book
3. One of my distributors is sending back a few hundred books and I have no room for them.
4. It's the holidays and I feel like giving
5. I love you

So, now's the time to get the gift(s) you need for the music lover in your life (which should include everybody). And if you don't have a copy or two for yourself, it's time for you to join EISID owners such as Slash, Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx, and, Rick Vito and Mick Fleetwood caught enjoying their copies right here...

Actually, Mick Fleetwood gets a mention in the book. Do you know who's section he appears in and why?

Coming next...
How I found myself interviewing Mick Fleetwood and Rick Vito, and the show that followed.

Click the STEAL MY BOOK link to the right of this post to get your copy(s) now.

Mill Valley Public Library

I visited the Mill Valley Public Library today. When I was here in October I met a guy at Starbucks who told me about a photo exhibit the library had of a female rock'n'roll photographer who lived in the area. But alas, the only photos they had up were of Mill Valley itself taken from 1908 on. Very cool stuff but the closest one to rock'n'roll was a shot of some retail workers posing in front of their store with Huey Lewis in the late 80s.

While I was there I did something I've never done before. I went on their catalogue computer and looked for my book. Just for fun. Definitely not expecting it to be listed.

But there it was: Chesher, D - Everybody I Shot Is Dead - Cat# 761.88 Status: Check Shelf. How cool is that?

As I walked toward the shelf - a left at the last computer, a couple of aisles down, and take a right - I was thinking it would be fun to put a personal note in the book. I finally found the 761.88 shelf...but my book wasn't there. :-(

I considered asking the librarian about my book...why it wasn't on the shelf, if it was checked out, or maybe stolen?...but then I figured she'd think I was an egomaniac. I mean, what kind of person goes into a library in hopes of seeing their book on the shelf?

Last Saturday Night

I still feel like crap...but here's a photo from the coolness that was last Saturday night. Any guesses on who the three people are in this picture?

Or where it was taken? And why? Being the evil person I am, I blocked out the logo on the bass drum. Sorry. But being the nice person that I am, all will be revealed soon.

Remembering Tom Evans

25 years ago today, Tommy Evans tragically passed away at the age of 36. He was the bass player for Badfinger and co-wrote many of their hit songs with Pete Ham. The story of their rise and fall in the music industry is a truly sad and cautionary tale.

June 5, 1947 - November 19, 1983

He was a sweet and talented man...a huge loss to the music world.

This is a very cool video that features Tommy Evans on vocals:

I'm Back...Almost

I would really attempt to write a full blown post...if I wasn't sweating like a penguin waddling along the Equator, and hacking like a 70 year old alcoholic with a three pack a day habit.

Check back in a day or two and I promise I'll have my story of my cooler than cool Saturday, complete with pictures.

Time to sleep off the remainder of this piece of shit illness that I think I picked up at the virus-infested American Film Market a week ago Sunday.

Later.

John Denver

Eleven years ago today, an experimental airplane piloted by John Denver plunged into the ocean off the coast of California. A huge loss.

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

Fly high, John.

Ronnie Barron's Birthday

The late great Ronnie Barron would have been 65 today.

I took this photo of him when he was playing with Paul Butterfield's Better Days. He also played with John Mayall when I was working with John on my Starart book.

Unfortunately, Ronnie is one of the musical talents that has slipped through the cracks since he passed away, even though he had a substantial influence on music. I only found one video of him on youtube which was put up in June. The quality is crap but it's still worth a play.



Happy Birthday, Ronnie!

The Iceman

It's Albert Collins' 76th birthday today.

Nobody's cooler than the Iceman.

You can all chill to this...

Happy Birthday to the cool of cool.