Dan Fogelberg

Happy Birthday to Dan Fogelberg. He would have been 58 today.

Dan Fogelberg
8/13/51 - 12/16/07

Dan Fogelberg live with Tim Weisberg (they made some great music together)...

Dan Fogelberg passed away after EISID was published but will continue to be honored on this blog and hopefully a part of a future new media version of my book.

Tony Hicks

Yes, it was just 4 days ago that we celebrated the birthday of Back Door drummer Tony Hicks. And we're back today to honor the 3rd anniversary of his passing.

Tony Hicks

8/8/48-8/12/06
l to r - Peter Thorup (guitar), Colin Hodgkinson (bass),
Ron Aspery 6/9/46-12/10/03 (sax, flute) Tony Hicks (drums),
Mark Wilson - also deceased (WB rep)

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

Eunice Kennedy Shriver

I am saddened by the death of Eunice Kennedy Shriver (July 10, 1921 – August 11, 2009), a woman born to privilege who spent her life inspiring and making the world a better place for the underprivileged. She didn't sit on her Camelot throne barking orders to underlings and taking credit...she put herself in the thick of it and gave credit to others. She helped children. She gave back.

I did not know this great lady personally...I wish I did...but I did have a degree or two of separation to her. I was fortunate enough to meet her brother, Robert Kennedy Jr., when I was a little kid. To this day I remember being filled with awe as I shook his warm hand...he had that much charisma. And as a grown-up I had a brief producing partnership with her nephew, Christopher Kennedy Lawford, then met her son-in-law (yes, that son-in-law) in passing at a birthday party.

This is the eloquent statement on her passing from the Shriver family:

It's hard for us to believe:
the amazing Eunice Kennedy Shriver went home to God this morning at 2 a.m.

She was the light of our lives, a mother, wife, grandmother, sister and aunt who taught us by example and with passion what it means to live a faith-driven life of love and service to others. For each of us, she often seemed to stop time itself - to run another Special Olympics games, to visit us in our homes, to attend to her own mother, her sisters and brothers, and to sail, tell stories, and laugh and serve her friends. How did she do it all?

Inspired by her love of God, her devotion to her family, and her relentless belief in the dignity and worth of every human life, she worked without ceasing - searching, pushing, demanding, hoping for change. She was a living prayer, a living advocate, a living center of power. She set out to change the world and to change us, and she did that and more. She founded the movement that became Special Olympics, the largest movement for acceptance and inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities in the history of the world. Her work transformed the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the globe, and they in turn are her living legacy.

We have always been honored to share our mother with people of good will the world over who believe, as she did, that there is no limit to the human spirit. At this time of loss, we feel overwhelmed by the gifts of prayer and support poured out to us from so many who loved her. We are together in our belief that she is now in heaven, rejoicing with her family, enjoying the fruits of her faith, and still urging us onward to the challenges ahead. Her love will inspire us to faith and service always.

She was forever devoted to the Blessed Mother. May she be welcomed now by Mary to the joy and love of life everlasting, in the certain truth that her love and spirit will live forever.

Eunice Kennedy doing what she did best - helping a child.

Please take a moment to visit Eunice Kennedy Shriver's website and listen to the short message she gave to the participants in the 1987 Special Olympics World Games in South Bend, Indiana.

An inspirational woman, indeed. My thoughts and prayers to her family.

Cash Only

What a day!

I've been calculating.

All day.

Numbers.

Ugh.

I may have mentioned in past posts here and there that I have been irresponsible with my bookkeeping/accounting. Not that I've done anything wrong. I've just let it pile up. And pile up to the point that the mountain is nearing the height of Everest.

No longer.

Not because I was anxious to open up Pandora's box. But because of deadlines. The brick wall was finally closing in. If I didn't climb it, I was going to smack right into it. The first deadline that has been haunting me since December 31, 2008 is taxes. Yep, I have yet to file my 2008 return. I filed the extension and now have no choice but to get my shit together and show up at my accountant's office...tomorrow...at noon. Noon. Isn't that the time of every showdown that ever took place? How appropriate.

So, the past few days I have been dealing with reconciling bank accounts and searching for all those cash receipts that disappear like socks in a dryer. I found a bunch and reconciled them, then pulled out a file looking for something else and found another bag of receipts, then another and so on and so on. I have no doubt that tomorrow or some day next week when the taxes are done I'll find yet another box with a hidden envelope of more receipts. Today I actually found some from '07 that I didn't put into last year's taxes. Oh well, my loss.

My other deadline for finally getting on this (I actually consider that I'm filing early since my IRS deadline doesn't lapse 'til Oct 1) is that I am taking classes this Fall. And the other day when I was paying my tuition it dawned on me that I can apply for financial aid. I registered with FAFSA - that was fun - and got approved based on my estimated tax return but I need the real deal to show the school and see what, if anything, they can offer. Financial aid is part of the fun of going to school, right?

And my last reason for wanting to take care of my Everest is that I don't believe I can move forward whilst dragging this mountain behind me. I have finally made the choice to clean up my shit. To become fiscally responsible. (Ha! I just had to look up 'fiscal' to make sure I was using it correctly, which goes to show I obviously haven't been in the past.) And I will not relapse. As soon as I am done with '08 I am going to tackle '09 so I'll be ready to file on January 1st.

Another major step I am taking toward fiscal responsibility is I am no longer using credit cards. From here on out I am CASH ONLY, baby. I no longer want to owe anything to anyone. If there's something I want, or even need, I can't get it unless I have the cash in hand to pay for it. My mantra is - in this order - roof, food, transportation, savings, entertainment. If I have a bad month and don't have cash for gas, I'll take the bus. No money for the bus? I'll walk.

Credit is bullshit. It's a thing that the banks and credit card companies want you to take advantage of so they can get rich and pay themselves fat bonuses. Credit gets you nowhere. Except into a hole so deep there's no way to dig yourself out. Like the United States of America did. Whatever happened to the concept of saving up for something you want? Not only is that a fiscally responsible thing to do, it also gives you a greater appreciation for that thing you wanted. And half the stuff we purchase on credit cards are impulse buys anyway. Save up for that item you want so bad and you may realize you didn't really want it after all.

Okay, this post has totally gone way deeper and more personal than I intended. And I'm too tired to give it the edit it likely needs. Hopefully, no one will read past the first five lines. That's probably where I should have stopped.

I like the picture though. I took it on the May/June road trip...that I'm still paying for on my credit card.

Jerry Garcia

Last Saturday we celebrated Jerry Garcia's birthday. Today we pay our respects and honor his passing 16 years ago.

Jerry Garcia

8/1/42-8/9/95

It's always nice when I go looking for a piece of video to post and find something special that I've never seen before. Jerry Garcia's rendition of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes done for the movie Smoke (which I have just added to my NF queue)...







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

Jimmy Witherspoon and Tony Hicks

It's a double birthday celebration today...the Spoon's 89th and the Hicks's 61st.

Jimmy Witherspoon is one of the greatest blues singers to step foot on a stage. 'Nuf said.

Jimmy Witherspoon

8/8/20-9/18/97

What a voice...



Tony Hicks played drums with a jazz-rock trio out of Yorkshire called Back Door. They scored a record deal with Warner Bros. in the early seventies and soon found themselves touring with the likes of Deep Purple, the J. Geils Band and Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

Tony Hicks

8/8/48-8/12/06

Wow, drummer Tony Hicks plays the accordion...who knew...







You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Jimmy Witherspoon, Tony Hicks and the 46 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Going Deep

per⋅cep⋅tion [per-sep-shuh n] - noun
1. the act or faculty of apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding.
2. immediate or intuitive recognition or appreciation, as of moral, psychological, or aesthetic qualities; insight; intuition; discernment: an artist of rare perception.

I've been thinking about this word a lot lately. Maybe because I'm thinking about writing a new spec script. And when I'm thinking about writing a script, I'm thinking about character. Mine, yours, the guy that bags my groceries at Ralph's, my dog. Trying to get inside every person's (and animal's head) and figure out who they are. Trying to perceive them.

And that exercise got me to wondering how people perceive me. To tell you the truth, I have no idea. I think I'm an open book. But am I really? Does anyone really get who I am? Or what I really think? What I really feel? Does anyone really get you?

And then I began to think about who I am... Am I the person I perceive myself to be? Or am I the sum of the perceptions that others have of me? Think about it. We see ourselves from the inside out. Everyone else sees us from the outside in. That idea in itself changes my perception of everything.

And now I have just rummaged through hundreds of photographs to perceptively choose the appropriate picture to go with this post. I failed. I picked five. And couldn't decide. Let me know which one you think works best...and why. I'm very interested to see how you perceive the post and the pictures.

1

2

3

4

5

That Smell

Ooh, ooh that smell

Can't you smell that smell?
Ooh, ooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you.

Is it just me? Or has Mr. Death been working overtime this year?

Pay attention, people.
If you see him rounding the corner, run the other way.
Enough is enough.

Studious

Yup.
Me.
Student.
Fall 2009.

Maureen Starkey

A happy 63th birthday to Maureen Starkey Tigrett.

Maureen Starkey

8/4/46 - 12/30/94

Found these two very cool videos that include Maureen...

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

Google

Sometimes I entertain myself with checking out my referrals on my site stats and saturday night was one of those times. Sheesh...that sounds pretty sad when I read it in a sentence. Obviously, I need a life. But until then I will continue to share the Google searches that land people on this blog.

Yesterday brought an onslaught of John Mayer searches. This is the first of the several "John Mayer Sucks" searches. I'm surprised to see me at #7 out of 601,000 hits. I am even more surprised at what people write about him. That first one calls him "the most hideous purveyor of musical..." - however the sentence ended, it sounds pretty harsh to me. And I do not endorse any suckage against Mr. Mayer.

The second John Mayer Sucks search was "John Meyer sucks" yes, his last name was spelled wrong...on that one I was #2 out of 3.27 million - wow, I feel like I won the lottery...

And the worst John Mayer search from yesterday was "John Mayer Dead"...dude, I think you would have heard if he was dead. However, I am #5 out of 1.83 million. Not bad.
In other searches, a person in Poland found me by searching "in hollywood they'll give you 1 million dollars for a kiss" - Where is the 'they' that will do this...I am puckered and ready...cash only, please. Of course, I hit #1 on that search.
And finally, from Italy, someone searched "Debbie fucks around with her twin" landed on my blog...cause I talked about 'twins' in a post, used the word 'fucking' in reference to the artiness of a photo I took, and the word 'around' in a completely different post and the word 'her' in yet another post. No reference to 'Debbie' or 'with'. Just 'twins fucking around her'.

Everybody I Shot Is Dead

- 2 visite - 9 giu - [ Traduci questa pagina ]The failed dream of twins that drove their Alpha Romeos to their ... How fucking arty is that shot? What does it have to do with the first two shots other than being in the equipment family? .... Let's figure out a way to turn this trend around. And.. ... This is her infamous audition for American Idol in 2007. ...
everybodyishotisdead.blogspot.com/ - Copia cache - Simili -

To all of you, I really don't care how you got here...I'm just happy you are here.

Jerry Garcia

My bad. I totally glossed over Jerry Garcia's birthday yesterday. Not good.

So, this post is a Happy Belated 67th Birthday to Mr. Jerry Garcia. If you don't know who he is you were either born last month or you are brain dead from all the hallucinogenics you took at the Grateful Dead concerts in the sixties and seventies.

Jerry Garcia

8/1/42-8/9/95

Check this out...educational and fun and pretty hilarious...



Sadly, all three are gone.

And a couple of songs from the same show...taped at NBC on May 7, 1981...

Adventures in La La Land

I knew there was a reason I like to stay home. And work. And work. And work. Instead of enjoying the company of others. I think they call it socializing.

Last night I had arrangements to meet a friend over the hill (that's the terminology when you reside in the Valley and you have to drive over the Hollywood Hills to get to Hollywood or West Hollywood (WeHo) or Beverly Hills or West L.A. or Santa Monica etc, etc, etc) for pie. Well, not just pie...we had a photography gig to discuss.

So, I thought I would double the pleasure and arrange to meet an online friend - wow, I just realized as I was reading what I typed...if you take the 'r' out your friend becomes your fiend. What were the word inventors thinking? Where was I? Oh yeah. I decided to see if this online friend who has recently moved to the City of Angels wanted to grab a bite before my other engagement, as we had been threatening to meet for a couple of months.

In order to spend enough time with him I suggested we meet at 5:45. Then we decided to go to Barney's Beanery (the place hasn't changed in forever, except they have valet parking now instead of first come, first served) and I offered to pick him up at the place he works nearby.

This all sounds like great planning on my part, doesn't it?

About an hour an a half before I was to leave I made a quick phone call that at most should have taken 3 minutes. Just wanted to set up an appointment to meet and have a conversation to obtain a bunch of information I need. The phone happened to be answered by the person of knowledge and he began spewing forth said information. An hour later I was still on the phone. And while I was talking to him, two other calls came in that I needed to return before I left.

Instead of leaving shortly after five, I didn't make it out of here until 5:28. No way was I going to make it by 5:45. I texted my online friend when I was nearing Coldwater Canyon (one of several that goes over the hill). Fortunately, the traffic was light so I figured I'd easily make it to him by 6:10. As I neared the top of the Valley side of the canyon, I hear a siren and was quickly passed by an ambulance. I thought, "well, that's cool, I can make good time following him." To the top. Where the fire station is.

But he didn't pull in at the top. He kept going. No problem. We're making really great time. I'm going to get there before six. It was all fantastic. Flying down the Beverly Hills side of the canyon. Easey peasey. Until....

Yup, we're at a dead stop. Lesson #1: an ambulance passing you in a canyon is not a good thing. We sat there for ten minutes while they occasionally let groups of northbound cars through.

Finally, we make a move.

Yes, I am rubbernecking...or in my case cameranecking.

Wow. A victim on a stretcher. Doesn't look like much of an accident to require six fire trucks and an ambulance. I was expecting Armageddon. Test question: How many firemen does it take to roll a stretcher?

Oops. Make it two ambulances. Lesson #2: if you're going to get in an accident do it in Beverly Hills. They will send many hot guys in uniforms to care for you. Check out all the cars trying to get to the Valley.

By some miracle I made it by 6:10, which only gave us an hour and a quarter for our meet and greet before I had to rush for my pie date. But it was good. And fun. Although it would have been nice to shoot a game of pool since it was my online friend's first time at Barney's. Maybe next time.

Number 26 - Part Deux

The last three strips have been scanned. No new surprises. The pictures of the speakers and the mic have to be from the equipment we put together for the sound company that was never fully realized. The failed dream of twins that drove their Alpha Romeos to their construction jobs in the morning while I ran their dream during the day.

The last three strips were mostly my friend playing the gig at the restaurant/bar for which the name still escapes me...and I'm too tired to search for it online.

The only surprise was three more pictures of the mystery guy. It really looks like we are at the same table but I can't remember him...at all. Not even a glimmer of recognition.

Anybody know who this guy is?

Anybody hooked up with a milk company so I can get his picture on the cartons?

Here's a better shot of my friend, Ron Baumber. We had a good time hanging out when he came to visit me. He wrote a song about me while he was there and I think it ended up on a record he did. I should see if I can find it and figure out a way to put it up here.

Number 26

I do not have a title for this post because I have no idea what it's about. I just know I have a negative - nevermind, I just got the title - that is not labeled, other than the number 26. I've just gone back and typed in the title. Continuing on...

I'm scanning the first four strips as I type this. The only thing I could see as I loaded them in was some large speakers. I'm going to assume for the moment that they are part of the Kelly-Deyong sound system for some concert I was invited to by Dave Zeffert in the very early days of my rock'n'roll photography biz. No idea if there's a musician in these negs or who that musician may be if there is one. This is discovery. And it's fun.

OK...I still can't tell. The preview scan is too small to make out anything other than the speakers. I'm scanning them now at a high enough resolution to be able to see something. Wow, 5 minutes to go...must have over-rezzed it.

Waiting....

Waiting....

Waiting....

4 mins...

Waiting...

Sheesh...

I could always take out my lupe and check the remaing three strips and see what's there. But that would spoil it. The edge-of-my-seat tension I am feeling at this moment is kind of cool. My own personal thriller movie playing out in real time.

Fuck...2 mins...

The file will be too huge to open...I may have to delete and start again.

Yay! Less than a minute. Tick, tick, tick...my scanner obviously can't tell time.

Done...page is saving. Then have to open it in Photoshop. Oh boy, 281 MB. That's big. Okay...almost open. Speakers, microphones - welcome to my crack pipe - what was I thinking?

Now I'm really confused. One strip is a friend of mine that I used to shoot in Toronto. What's he doing on Number 26? I'm going to scan a few of these individually so I can show you what I'm talking about and then move on to the last three strips. Hopefully, I'll come up with a logical answer to this mystery.

You know, every time I pull one of these neg sheets out I'm thinking this will be a quick post and I can get on with the rest of my day. Somehow that just never works out. I always end up down the rabbit hole.

From the first strip...meet the speakers:

What are the clues here? It's outdoors. There's some sort of stage. No idea where or when this was taken.

Meet the speaker from the second strip:

Hmmm...maybe it's not outside. I got a tinge of recognition...could this be the sound system that was put together at the sound company (company is a generous word - there were 3 of us) before I moved to Vancouver. The one I wrote about in the "My Story" section of Everybody I Shot Is Dead? Did we actually get it together and do a show?

From the third strip...a microphone:

How fucking arty is that shot? What does it have to do with the first two shots other than being in the equipment family? It doesn't even look like the same day...more like night. Moving on...

As I thought, this is the friend from Toronto...Ron Baumber...

But this is not Toronto. He came to visit me when I was on my brief stopover in Calgary before I moved to Vancouver and started shooting people like John Lee Hooker and Jerry Lee Lewis. I guess I hooked him up with a gig at this place. It's not the Keg, it's the fancier place out on McLeod Trail and I think it's still there because I drove by there on my road trip and was like, "Oh I remember ______, didn't I work there for five minutes?" And now two months later I can't remember that name of it. Sad. Anyway, my conjecture on the speakers is seeming more of a reality.

Speaking of not remembering, who is this guy? Also from strip four:

Did I know him? He's kinda cute. But what was I doing taking a picture of him (2 actually...so far) if I was there with Baumber? The plot thickens. On to the last three strips of Number 26.

Wait, I've been working on this post for an hour and a half. Far too long for this whimsy. I'll catch up with you on the last three strips tomorrow.

Terry Kath

It seems like every time I pay a little attention to Michael Bloomfield, Terry Kath raises a little ruckus in my head. That happened today. It's like he screams at me..."Hey, what about me? I play guitar and I'm from Chicago too." Go ahead, you can think I'm crazy (you'd only be half wrong) but you're gonna have to believe me because that's just the way it is.

Lots of the hits that I get on this blog every day come from a Google search of Terry Kath. Of the last 20 referrals today, 6 were for Terry, which is a lot considering all the people and topics I have written on this blog over the past three+ years. (Hey, Terry...Michael only had 1 to your 6 in case you're keeping track.) If you just got here on a TK Google, you should know that I am a huge fan of Terry's always brilliant guitar playing and songwriting and singing. I truly believe he was the heart and soul of Chicago. Irreplaceable, in fact.

Recently I moved my workspace and that included moving some of my framed photographs and a couple of paintings from the Starart days. One of the framed photographs is one of my Limited Edition prints of Terry. It's been leaning up against the wall for a while, by itself, off to the side of where five or six other prints are leaning against another wall. I've been planning to put all of them up but I just haven't quite decided where they should hang. (So far I've only put up a really cool painting that Commander Cody did of Robert Mitchum and gave to me many years ago.)

I have been walking by the Terry Kath photo several times a day for at least week, barely giving it any attention. I'm not so narcissistic that I spend hours looking at my own work. Truth be told, I barely ever look at myself in a mirror. Anyway, today that picture jumped out at me...that's 'jumped out' in the figurative sense. The kind of jumped out that made me look at it every single time I walked by. Just the day after I celebrated Michael Bloomfield's birthday on this blog.

Terry didn't say anything specific, just the general "Look at me" kind of thing. So I did. And the picture suddenly looked good to me. Really good.

Here is the picture, leaning against my wall:


I thought about how great it was gonna look hanging on my wall. But then a feeling washed over me that it shouldn't be hanging on my wall. It should be hanging on yours. Terry seemed really happy with that idea. (Maybe he's just mad at me for the time I spent thinking about Michael yesterday.) Now, I'd really like to give this print to another rabid Terry Kath fan for free...

...but if your read my post For Free Or Not For Free a couple of days ago you will understand that I need to stand behind my words and not give my creative work away for free. That would be a huge contradiction, wouldn't it? Shouting the evils of everyone wanting everything for free from my pulpit one day and two days later giving my work away for free. By the way,that post really struck a chord with a lot of people and was by far the most popular post I've had...well, next to the one about Jaimie's brain surgery a year ago. Thank you all for supporting my viewpoint.

All right, back to Terry's picture. I'm not allowed to give anything away for free. But I can't offer it at a ridiculously low price. If you are a die-hard Terry Kath fan and are interested in having the 16x20 signed Limited Edition #12/75 framed (21 1/4 x 25 1/4) print you need email me at kathprint@cheshercat.com. I will then write back and let you know the ridiculously low price (sorry I can't publicize it on a public forum) and you can decide if Terry is going to hang on your wall. There will only ever be this one print at the ridiculously low price and the first person that gets back to me with the order gets the picture. It's kinda like an ebay auction without the auction.

You can see a better representation of the photograph here. If Terry is not adopted by Sunday, he is staying with me, on my wall, whether he likes it or not.

Email: kathprint@cheshercat.com

Michael Bloomfield and Rick Wright

You are cordially invited to celebrate the 66th birthday of these two amazing and talented musicians.

July 28, 1943 was obviously a rare and magical day.

Michael Bloomfield

7/28/43-2/15/81

What can I say about Michael Bloomfield? One of my all-time favorite people. If you've read my book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead, you know why.

Here's Michael playing with the late great Muddy Waters (another musician I photographed a couple of times but can't find the negatives) from the Chicago Blues Summit in 1974...

And what can I say about Rick Wright? He is such a huge part of music history. Even though he was quieter than most of his bandmates, his contribution to Pink Floyd was huge. As Dave Gilmour put it, "...his soulful voice and playing were vital, magical components of our most recognized Pink Floyd sound."

Rick Wright
7/28/43 – 9/15/08

This video from the late 80s not only shows off Rick's ability on keyboards but also his writing talent and his beautiful voice...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MICHAEL and RICK!
Wish You Were Here.

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. Rick Wright passed away after EISID was published but will continue to be honored on this blog and hopefully a part of a future new media version of my book.

For Free or Not For Free

Everybody wants everything for free. Why is that? And why do we - especially artists - tend to succumb? I see this trend a lot in the film industry. I get a lot of industry job listings through several online groups I belong to. One came through a while back from an industry person looking for an assistant. They wanted a part time person to do grunt work - filing, answering phones, taking care of phone calls. An assistant job that should pay at least $10/hr. But instead of offering money, they were looking for someone who wanted to work for free. Oh no, wait, they were offering perks. You got to be a part of their upcoming project (that will probably never get made) and you would be fed lunch. Whoopee. They didn't even bother to mask the job under the intern category. I'm sure someone snapped up this "job." So many people want to break into the industry, they're willing to work for free.

This trend is also something that has slowly been killing my graphics business. Too many designers (I use that word loosely) are willing to work for free. They don't really know what they're doing but some of my potential clients don't really care.They're interested in the bottom line more than they care about the quality of the work. I sometimes wonder if anyone can actually recognize quality anymore.

It's the same in the music industry. Maybe even worse. Bands are actually willing to pay to play. The clubs that used to define the music of our generation(s) - The Troubadour, The Whisky, The Roxy, to name a few L.A. - used to make the bands send in a demo tape and the club would pick and choose the bands that were worthy to adorn their stages. People would flock to these clubs to check out new acts that may well be the next big thing. Record companies would come out to see these bands. Deals were signed (yes, I know in many cases they sucked), groups were developed and records were made. We got such great music out of those days. The same music that many of the youngest listeners have on their iPods today. Now those clubs just charge the bands to play and make the bands sell the tickets so the club ends up being filled (filled may be a generous word) with friends and family and a groupie or two the band has pick up through MySpace. They then hand out their CDs - for free - and offer MP3 downloads - for free.

And you shouldn't be surprised that everybody expects me to take pictures for free. It's as if they are saying, "Come on, taking pictures is easy. Point and click. It's all digital. Just download the pictures and email them to me. What's the big deal?" I had a guy on MySpace who had downloaded one of my photographs and was using it as his avatar. No credit or © on it. I only found out because he friended me. When I told him he was infringing on my copyright he had the nerve to say, "What's the big deal? Don't you want people to see your work?" Back in Vancouver I had an Elton John picture taken from a record rep's office and put on t-shirts. I found out about it when I saw the shirts in a big national department store. I'm sure he made lots of money. I wasn't paid one cent. Not even a photo credit on the shirt.

Don't even get me started on the writing thing. We could be the biggest losers of the bunch. Here's a story...There was a guy on a screenwriting board I frequent saying he knew a guy who got a movie made by going directly to the producer, without an agent. The screenwriter was paid $1 for the script but was fine with it because it helped him get another one made later. These days, most production companies ask unproduced screenwriters for a free option and then have the nerve to ask for free rewrites. The writers gladly do them, just happy that someone likes their writing, happy that someone is willing to give them a chance. Hell, I write this blog for free every single day. And sometimes my posts take a couple of hours of what I obviously consider my valueless time.

What the fuck is wrong with us? When did we strip ourselves of our self-worth? Our value? How did we let the money people convince us that we were lucky to get produced or recorded or shown or published? I understand the concept that you sometimes have to give something away to reap greater rewards later, but this thing has really gotten out of hand. You know, if every creative person decided today that they wouldn't do anything for free, people would probably be happy to pay. They'd have no choice. Because there would be no free alternative. Not to mention it's really good for the economy to get paid for what you do well.

Let's figure out a way to turn this trend around. And...

American Idol Contestant Struck Down

Twenty-five year old Alexis Cohen aka Glitter Girl was pronounced dead at a New Jersey hospital this morning at 6am. She had been struck by a car and was found by passers-by on the side of the street 300 yards from her own car. Her death has been ruled a homicide. Hopefully Simon was not in the vicinity.

This is her infamous audition for American Idol in 2007. Sadly, she was no Grace Slick. Watch it through to the end...



In the writing world this is what we call "irony." Sad but true. And maybe in some odd way, a cautionary tale. At least she got her fifteen minutes. I'll look forward to the biopic.

Birthday

I went to a party tonight.

Happy Birthday, Monica.