Ol' Skool v. Digital

WIN this FRANK ZAPPA framed print!!
(no purchase necessary)

Okay, before I get on with today's magically delicious post, I have pictorial proof of last night's internet splat...

How ironic that I was working on a post about the subject of old school versus digital. Internet Fail. Chalk one up for the Ol' Skool team.

I didn't feel like going back into the archives so I opened up my Concert Photography file drawer that has all the stuff that wasn't in Everybody I Shot Is Dead, all stuff from the box that I've already scanned and filed. Or so I thought. Turns out I had also stashed a couple of contact sheets and negs from last year's Harmony Festival in the drawer.

The Harmony Festival happened right after I bought my Nikon D300. Yup, that's the Digital in Ol' Skool v. Digital. But I also took the groovy Pentax Spotmatic II I bought on ebay to the festival. It's the exact camera I used to shoot all my rock'n'roll shows of yore, but this was my first opportunity to shoot with it at a concert. And that is when I first discovered the pros of going digital (a hard thing for me to admit).

Using digital and film cameras at the same time is really hard. It's like having Tivo for a while and then going to a hotel and trying to rewind to catch something you missed on a TV show. At the concert I shot a bunch of frames on the digital camera - easy peasy - no focusing necessary, no advancing the film. Chalk two up for Digital. Then I put the Pentax up to my eye - not so easy peasy - oops, gotta focus...I take the shot...go for another shot...oops, I didn't advance the film. Then back to the digital...what, I don't have to focus? Trust me. It really messes with your brain. And your arms. The Pentax is a fraction of the weight I have to bear with the Nikon D300. Yay, chalk one up for Ol' Skool. Okay, that's 2 points for Ol' Skool and 2 points for Digital. We're even steven.

Last night I pulled out the negs I shot with the Pentax. I picked a contact sheet and decided to scan a frame from each strip. When I looked at the scans, I fell back in love with the beauty of film. And that's what I was going to post. But then I came up with a better idea. Why not show a similar shot I took with the Nikon D300 and see the difference. Let's see if we can break the tie and decide once and for all if it's time to get rid of all this technology or pack in the silver nitrate.

We've got two shots of each subject, totaling ten pictures. I'll mark them 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, etc. You have to tell me which one you like best, judging on the image quality not the aesthetic quality. And feel free to say which one you think is the film. SCRATCH THAT...I'm turning this into a CONTEST. I still want to hear which shot you prefer, but to win the contest you have to correctly determine the shots on film and the shots on digital. There's no trick here...each subject has one of each. And there's a nice long list of prizes, rules and how to enter after the photos...

#1 Wavy Gravy shot at the Harmony Festival, June 2008:

1a

1b

#2 Paul Kantner shot at the Harmony Festival, June 2008:

2a

2b

#3 Damian Marley's drummer shot at the Harmony Festival, June 2008:

3a

3b

#4 Damian Marley's bass player shot at the Harmony Festival, June 2008:

4a

4b

#5 Fish shot at BB King's NY, June 2008:

5a

5b

You can click on each photo to view it larger...PLEASE do not download.

GRAND PRIZE:

The Grand Prize Winner receives this open edition framed and signed silver gelatin print (that's real archival professional photo paper, folks) of FRANK ZAPPA (current value - $300). The grand prize winner will also receive an 8.5x11 signed inkjet print of RINGO STARR.

SECOND PRIZE:

FIVE Second Prize Winners will receive this 8.5x11 signed inkjet print of RINGO STARR (current value - priceless).

HOW TO ENTER/RULES/JUDGING:

1. Your entry must include each picture number with the word "film" or "digital" next to each.

2. Your entry must be emailed to info@cheshercat.com with Photo Contest in the subject line. PLEASE only ONE ENTRY per PERSON...if I figure out you've enter under multiple addresses all your entries will be disqualified.

3. Your real name and email address must be included in your entry. (I will not share your identity or email address with anyone...EVER!...and if you win you can decline to be announced as a winner)

4. If there are six or less correct entries, the first winning entry received will be deemed the winner. If there are more than six correct entries, all correct entries will be put in the proverbial fish and the grand prize and second place winners will be drawn at random.

5. This contest is open to everyone, everywhere within our solar system. Celebrities, people I know, celebrities I know are all welcome to enter. BUT if you are a celebrity and/or I know you, don't think for one minute that celebrity or friendship will help you in any way. No bribes will be accepted.

6. ONE HITCH...if you win and you live outside the United States you will have to pay the additional postage above and beyond the cost of U.S. shipping or choose to ship it to a friend in the U.S. There is no cost for shipping prizes within the United States. (Not meaning to discriminate here but I can't afford the international or intergalactic shipping costs)

7. Why am I doing this and what's in it for me? This is a way for me to thank all my readers and supporters and lovers of music. I'm also trying to get more people to read my blog and learn about my the fantastic musicians I honor here and in my book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead. There is NO PURCHASE REQUIRED to enter or win this contest...it is FREE to enter and FREE to win (unless you are shipping your prize outside the U.S.). Although, I'd be super thrilled if you decide to buy a book, but purchasing a book will not help you to win this contest.

8. Contest opens now and closes at 11:59pm PST (that's Los Angeles time) on Tuesday April 21, 2009. NOTE: CONTEST EXTENDED TO 11:59PM FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2009.

9. Any questions regarding this contest please email info@cheshercat.com with Contest Question in the subject line.

10. I have the final say on everything. That's just the way it's gotta be. I hope you will forward this contest to everyone you know!

Lastly, since you made it all the way to the end of this, I reward you with a shot of Damian Marley...

Damian Marley at the Harmony Festival 2008

Thanks for playing.

(P.S. - Comments are closed on this post to prevent, well, comments and online entries. Enter via email to info@cheshercat.com)

Phone Blog

This is a first. I'm writing and hopefully posting this from my iPhone. My Internet service is down but I'm dedicated to a post a day so this is it...emergency posting. And I can tell you right now - this is a bitch. I suck at my phone keyboard. Wanna see? I will type a sentence without corrections...hi, this us dyour host of the blog ttyi to write a sentence without making rises - that as mmwas duplsedti be fixes - there soul be mor mistakes but the ipbi e has auto correct.

Anyway, I was working on a post when I realized I have no Internet. Funny enough, it's called Ol' Skool...about shooting pictures with film in this digital world. How's that for irony?

Ok...I'm glad to know I can post in a pinch but this is about all I can handle for today.

I'll be back tomorrow with the post I was putting up today.

Location, Location, Location

That's what it's all about, right?

Well, today it was literal for me. Today, I took a whirlwind trip around the world in just 4 hours. Really. It's true. I'll explain that in a minute, but in the meantime this is what happened on my way to my trippy trip...cruising west on the 10 freeway...

Nasty smoke on my horizon.

The smoke blackens.

Hmmm....I smell rubber, the burning kind.

Driving into a sea of smoke.

I was happy to see it wasn't a ginormous crash.

Just a simple one-vehicle burn. Spectacular just the same.

Finally made it through that little mess, then exited the freeway only to find the street I wanted to turn left on was blocked for construction. w.t.f. I was spitting distance from my destination, yet I had to zig zag through jammed streets for an extra two miles, before I would be admitted to...

Swag Heaven

I wandered around the U. S. of A. for a bit. Picked up a new t-shirt from Edison...an avocado from a neighboring county...shot over to Lafayette for a couple of bottles of marinade (that should be yummy)...passed through Nevada and picked up a deck of cards...stopped by Sedona for a couple of coasters...followed by Flagstaff for a magnet...at that point I was getting a bit thirsty so I headed up to...

Where, I have to say, it was a bit Icy.

But I managed to get one of those fresh bottles of Icelandic water...and it did the trick, even though it was at room temperature.

From Iceland, I jetted over to Jordan where I was greeted with baklava (yum) and one of those red and white long scarfy things that Jordanian men wear on their heads, kept in place by a braided black halo-looking doohickey. (My apologies for my poor cultural terminology.)

Jordan was cool...or should I say, hot?

It was a quick hop, skip and jump over to Kenya...

...where I was bestowed with two, count 'em, two lovely tribal-looking shawls and a safari hat.

Then it was "back to the States, back to the cutest girls in the world...da da da..." where I landed safely in Montana. Picked up some coasters there and then had a lovely meeting...even though they only offer a 14% incentive, there's no sales tax, no permit fees, free to shoot on the highways and locations are chirp, cheep, CHEAP! Yup, it's all about location, location, location.

Now, I'm back...only slightly jet lagged...chillin' at my home sweet home.

Have a Laugh

Seriously.



Am I Even Here?

Today was complete insanity...not sure I even stopped to breathe. For all I know I may have hit my expiration date. Leading me to ask, "Am I even here?"

Well, just in case the answer is "yes" I wanted to let everyone know that I am continuing to push the latest book deal through to the end of the month. I didn't make my goal of 150 books in 6 days - surprise, surprise - but I want to thank each and everyone of you that picked up a copy. And I was very happy that some of you took the time to write and let me know what you thought...and hope y'all don't mind that I share a few of your responses. I mean, it's always the quotes that sell movies, right?

"Got it-- And it's AMAZING. I'm just turning pages and falling into them, and into your stories. You were in George Harrison's estate? Twice? WOW."
- Pooks

"Got my book and picture today - it's a beautiful piece of work! I'm really enjoying the personalized stories as well as the photos. Gotta love the shot of you and Mike Bloomfield! Thanks for signing it - you rock too!"
- Steve B

"Hey...The book is terrific! In fact I am going to order another one."
- Sue G.

Okay...enough patting myself on the back. Here's the deal that will remain in effect until the end of April. That's 2 more weeks...maybe enough time to hit the 150 mark.

For 40 bucks you get a personalized and signed copy of Everybody I Shot Is Dead...

...AND...an 8.5x11 signed print of Ringo Starr...

That's right, you're paying for the book and the print is FREE...or you're paying for the print and the book is FREE...or you're getting a print and a book for the price of one. However you look at it I think it's a pretty good deal. And it makes a great gift. The print...or the book.

Thanks for putting up with my pitch. I promise I'll treat you to something good tomorrow. Maybe a picture you've never seen. Or a good story. Either way, no sales pitch...just another FREE post...no strings attached.

Gotta get back to work.

Lowell George

It's Lowell George's 64th birthday today. Don't know him? He was the founder and lead singer/guitar of Little Feat. Never heard of Little Feat? Well, they were about the best live band ever. Their double live album, Waiting for Columbus (which includes a photo I took of Lowell on the inside cover), is considered to be in the top 3 live albums ever recorded.

So put on your dancing shoes - or maybe your Sailn' Shoes - and celebrate the late great Lowell George.

Lowell George

4/13/45-6/29/79

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

Argh...

Oops, no, I am not sitting here with a patch over my eye and my peg leg screwed on. I'm working. Trying to update the part of my website where potential clients can check out my design talents. And I'm not nearly done. I'm adding stuff - DVD designs, CD packaging, photography and whatever else I find. I just finished creating the DVD pages and am moving on to the CDs...giving me absolutely no time to pull together a brilliant post...but you're probably all passed out from too much Easter dinner anyway.

Just to prove I'm not making up the working thing, here are the DVD covers from the pages I just finished...










If any of these look interesting beyond the cover, they are available for purchase at Voiceprint.

Sometimes You Win

I never win anything. Never. Well...until today. Now I will have to say almost never. A new friend that I made on twitter during my faux rant on John Mayer had a little contest on her blog, Ex Hot Girl.

The contest required no skill...she just wanted people to to comment with songs she might like so she could expand her music base. She picked the winner by feeding everyone's name into random.com or org and it shuffled the names and came up with numero uno...moi aka Chesher Cat. A copy of Diary of an Anorexic Girl was/is the prize...

I was keen to win because my girl runs a blog for About-Face, a charity organization that works to change the effect media has on the self esteem of girls and young women. I thought the book would be a good read and possibly something she could share on the blog. Plus, I wanted to turn Jennifer aka Ex Hot Girl on to at least one song that she hadn't heard before (I'll save that one for another post).

The posts at About-Face are written by several volunteers. Jaimie edits and organizes the posts and also writes her own posts. My two favorites of Jaimie's posts so far are Come On Barbie, Let's Go Party which opens with this fun picture...

...and The Benefit of Laughter , about a cosmetic store with a positive message on their front window...

All good stuff to remember if you're around young girls trying to figure out who they are while being bombarded with the message that skinny and airbrushed = perfection in women. Please let them know it's what they have on the inside that will make them beautiful on the outside...and that creativity and self-expression is the key to a fulfilled soul.

Pimping

I hope I don't burn in Hell for pimping on Good Friday. I don't do it very often but once in a while, when I come across something that's really exceptional, I just gotta pimp. In this case it's this new photographer I found. He's so good I'm thinking I might as well just pack it in.

The first thing I came across was his new photography blog that you should definitely follow. It's called One Cool Photo. Every day he shoots a new photograph and posts it on his blog. And I guarantee they are cool.

By the looks of his profile photo, he's really young...

Then I found out this amazing photographer also has a fan page on Facebook.. A freaking fan page? WTF, I don't even have a fan page on Facebook. Mr. Amazing Photographer has a lot of cool rock'n'roll pictures on his "fan page." Shit, he shot The Police. I haven't even shot The Police.

There was also this picture of him on his Facebook page...

It looks like he's also a filmmaker. Criminy. Who is this guy? And where did he get his talent from?

Sheesh.

Happy Birthday, Peter Wood

I created Everybody I Shot Is Dead to keep the memory alive of the musicians I photographed who have passed away. The bonus is having the opportunity to raise awareness of the musicians who were not huge rock stars, but were great talents none the less. So, I am extra excited to celebrate Peter Wood's 59th birthday today because he is one of those musicians you may not know. Or may know but just didn't know you knew.

He may be best known his co-writing credit on the Al Stewart number 1 hit, Year of the Cat. He also played on Pink Floyd's The Wall tour, and toured with Lou Reed which you may see below if I can't find anything new on youtube. He's British but transplanted to New York, where he did a lot of session work, so you've probably have him somewhere on your itunes.

We became fast friends when he I shot him (and he shot me) when he was touring with Al Stewart. The picture of me on the cover of Everybody I Shot Is Dead was shot by Peter Wood. We had other strange encounters in the years after I met him in Vancouver, some which continue to remain a mystery. I think he would get a laugh at the story I wrote on him in the book. It has to do with my confusion over all the Peters I encountered back then.

I love this picture I took of him backstage...

Peter Wood

4/9/50-9/18/94

Okay, no Lou Reed this time...you can see that footage on last year's birthday post . This time I found something from The Wall. It's Cyndi Lauper singing and you first see Peter around the 4:14 mark and then he has a solo at the 5:00 mark.

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

Drive-by Shooting

On my way to and from LAX today, I did some drive-by shooting. I instantly knew I found the seed of today's post (the title came later) when I saw this...

The Car + The Guy + The Dog = The Whole Package

Obviously, it's the subject that's the thing in this photo, but I also like the reflections ... the palm tree and top of my car in the window, and especially my whole car in the hubcap. The photo was shot with my iPhone. I took it from the driver's side with the passenger window open. It has not been retouched or cropped.

Neverending Scaffolding

I've lived in L.A. close to a million years now and have probably driven through LAX a couple or three hundred thousand times. I can't remember the last time I saw what used to be this futuristic piece of architecture that doubled as a touristy restaurant without all this scaffolding. This is shot out the open window of the driver's seat, while I was probably going around 25mph, hence the groovy blur. It's not easy to maneuver the iPhone one-handed whilst driving. They should really ban cell phone photography while driving. It at least equals the danger of texting while driving which, in case you don't live in California, was deemed against the law on Jan 1, 2009.

Stacked

They may look like smoke stacks on a drive-by photo but they are actually towers of light that change color. Again, this is shot out the driver's open window, but I was probably going 35mph by this point. The bend in the verticals is a cool effect that sometimes happens on the iPhone camera when the shooter is moving and the subject is stationary.

Reflections

I followed this guy for a while and wanted to shoot the reflections of the palm trees in his very clean back window. The double reflection of my headlights on the 'johnny park' signage and his bumper, as well as the left tail light flare were a bonus. This was shot through my front window (good thing I had just cleaned it) and we were at a stop.

Dashboard

Someone didn't recharge their phone. I put it in the charger while the camera was still on. I liked what I saw so I shot it. I you didn't know I have a copyright notice on my dashboard, did ya?

The Color Blue

I shot this earlier in the day... as proof to all the naysayers that the sky in L.A. is actually blue, as opposed to smog brown. No, no, no...don't go boxing up all your belongings. I lied. This is a composite shot using a sky photo from Montana. We can barely breathe here. We're all hooked up to portable ventilators. Don't move here. If you do, you'll surely die.

Burned Out

Yes, this is me...

self portrait shot with iphone

...at this very minute.

Burned out.

Two too long days.

Filled to brim.

Sinking me low.

Pain in my tummy.

Too tired to think.

Too tired to blog.

Shit.

I just did.

Nevermind.

Thanks for playing.

Tammy Wynette

It was 11 years ago today that Tammy Wynette passed away.

Tammy Wynette

5/5/42-4/6/98

I love things that sparkle. Tammy sparkles...

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

They have one thing in common. Today. A celebration for one. A remembrance for the other.

Today is Stanley Turrentine's 75th birthday. Please tell me you know who he is...

Stanley Turrentine

4/5/34 -9/12/00

Smooth and sooth your Sunday with some sax from Mr. T...



On the other side of the celebration, it's the third anniversary of Gene Pitney's passing.

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

Love the old school b/w music video...






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.

Who Is This?

I'm having trouble making up my mind tonight. What to post? I started by pulling a negative sheet out of the vault - well, it's not actually a vault...it's a box of all the pictures I haven't gone through yet. I pulled out Elton John and scanned a black and white set of negs. I found this one that I really like...

Then I decided not to post any of the close-up stuff of Elton since everybody has seen those a million times. Except I was going to post one, sort of, because it's part of a story that I want to tell. Also found some interesting color stage shots that I started to scan. While I was doing that I was looking for another shot that I know I saw recently but I couldn't find. And that one thing made me change my mind about doing my Elton John post. Maybe another time.

Meanwhile, here's my all-time favorite portrait shot. And it's extra-special because of the subject. Do you know who it is?

Finally, a special thanks to Jay in NZ for psycho-analyzing me to a tee (I'm now considering meds), but in fact my thought for putting that particular shot on yesterday's post was far more literal. With regards to the post, I would title the shot "A Ray of Sunshine On The Bridge Over Troubled Water." Which directly relates to the trouble we were having with the act and the fact that I actually wrote something about the solution or finally identifying the problem being like a ray of sunshine. Guess it turns out that I am just a simpleton...but a simpleton with a sense of humor in getting my readers to think "deep." Well done.

Oh Dear...

...I just spent an hour and three-quarters on the phone with the person I'm doing the reality with instead of creating a post that would outdo yesterday's. Of course, that would be an impossible feat but I was at least gonna try.

Originally I called her to say I was having a problem with one of the acts (the deadly middle one). It was one of those problems that I couldn't actually pinpoint so I didn't really want to figure it out tonight. One of those things I wanted to sleep on...or more accurately, put off. If I was being truthful, I'd have to say at least half of my writing is procrastination.

But we kept talking, going over the beats, back and forth to know end...I finally chimed in that I thought we should both sleep on it and a solution would come to us. Nope, she wasn't having any of that. We kept going and then low and behold the problem revealed itself. Again, I was ready to call it a night but we kept going until suddenly, the solution showed its face like a ray of sunshine. It was an epiphany. One of those solutions that, in hindsight, was so simple that it should have been there all along.

As it turned out, we were the ones that had created the problem in the first place by having our characters react to a circumstance in a way that they never would have in real life. It's one of those things that is the kiss of death in a fictional feature or fictional TV show, so you can just imagine how wrong it would be in a reality show. And once we came up with the solution to the problem (which wasn't actually as easy as I've made it out be) everything after that moment made more sense.

So now I can sleep without having to solve the problems of the world and I will be anxious to write the next part tomorrow...instead of facing the dread of having to identify and solve the problem. Which also means I won't be cleaning the house, doing the laundry, polishing the silver and/or whatever else we writers choose to do in order to avoid the monumental task of actually writing. The heavy lifting is over...until the next load of shit appears and has to be turned in flowers.

P.S. I was just thinking I should explain why I choose the picture I put in this post but then I thought it you be more to see why you think I chose it...consider it art interpretation. I always find it fascinating how any given person will see the same thing from a completely different perspective. This thought was germinated from the emails I received on yesterday's John Mayer Sucks post. I don't think many people got where I was coming from with it, which is actually really cool. And it made me think I'd like someone to point the post in JM's direction to read, just to see if he gets it. I'm guessing he would, but maybe not. Anyway, that's what's so great about the arts - writing, music, painting, photography, etc - when you put something out there, the interpretation of it is really up for grabs. And that's a good thing. If the viewer or reader or listener finds a different meaning than the artist intended, it's not wrong, it's actually exciting. At least that's the way it is for me.

John Mayer Sucks

Tyler is really into this John Mayer dude. He has listened to all his CDs ad nauseum since forever. Which meant I listened to John Mayer ad nauseum too, but I figure you already figured that out. Tyler has been to lots of his shows - LA, NY, and I even think he drove all the way from L.A. to Austin and back for a show. He even took me to a John Mayer show a few years ago and, in the interest of full disclosure, I must admit it was pretty darn okay.

Tyler may have started playing guitar because of John Mayer - he plays really well, I might add - and has soaked up his influences (especially Hendrix and Buddy Guy, so I can't knock him for that). He has met John Mayer at least two times that I know of and has also managed to grab some photos on occasion. This is one of them...

You can see more of Tyler's brilliant visual work here.

I even bought him a John Mayer Limited Edition Martin guitar for his birthday one year. Unfortunately, it turned out to have a defect (go figure) and there weren't any more at that store and by the time we found another one I could no longer afford the damn thing. Sorry, Tyler. Of course, this created an irreconcilable wedge between us. Thanks for that, John Mayer.

But that's not why John Mayer gets the privilege of a John Mayer Sucks post from me. Well, it sort of is. Here's how it went down...as I best remember...

Last night, or this morning since it was shortly after midnight, Tyler called me and said I should enter this contest that John Mayer was doing on Twitter. And I only had 30-40 minutes to do it. He thought I could win because it had to do with movies. And the prize was a stratocaster signed by John Mayer (the future bane of my existence). So I went on twitter and found Mr. Mayer's teeny corner of Tweetdom -- okay, I'm lying...John Mayer's little corner of Tweetdom has a population of nearly 500,000. No need to mention how many I have, is there?

When I got there I found this post "You have 1 hour to come up with the most titles in one sentence. Winner gets a signed JM signature Stratocaster. GO!!!!!!!!" and a sample "This is how it should be, peoples. RT @BrianBitner Crouching Tiger, Hidden Deagonheart And Soul Men In Black Snake Moan" and I thought, "Shit, this is easy." I finished mine and posted it to his @ thing, he posted this, "@petewentz I love it. Wait until you see the winner. It's at least 13 titles." And this is why John Mayer sucks.

This was my entry...And Justice For All Along Came A Spider Man On Fire From Below Zero Hour of the Gun Fever Pitch Black Rain Man About Town&Country...which breaks down to: And Justice For All, All Along, Along Came A Spider, Spider Man, Man on Fire, Fire From Below, Below Zero, Zero Hour, Hour of the Gun, The Gun, Gun Fever, Fever Pitch, Pitch Black, Black Rain, Rain Man, Man About Town, Town&Country. Count 'em, that's a grand total of 17 movies fit into the limited 140 characters allowed on a Twitter post.

I'd already sent it in but went ahead and sent it again to make sure it reached his @johncmayer box. Then I campaigned for myself with a couple of follow-up posts - "@johncmayer I may twitter-techno-challenged but my movie titles rocked...all 16 of them...in a row...", "@johncmayer Actually I got 17 - I didn't count The Gun which was a 1974 John Badham movie". Yes, I am extremely competitive...is there something wrong with that?

Then he posted this, "WIN RT @cheyannejo Lion King and I am Legend of Sleepy Hollow Man of the Year One Night Stand and Deliver us from Evil Dead Man Walking Tall". What the fuck? What the fuck? That's what I said to myself. Actually, I said it out loud but only Drama and Pumpkin heard it so it doesn't count. How many titles did freakin' cheyannejo have? Only 13? I wasn't having any of that. I sent @johncmayer a couple more posts...remember, I'm in competitor mode here..."@johncmayer Dude, that sucks...I had a bonafide 17 movie titles, what's up with that?", "@johncmayer did you not receive my very groovy title entry of 17 movies? You're killing me."

I went on to send a couple of posts to some musician friend who Mayer was goading to submit (I think the guy is married to Ashley Simpson)..."@petewentz Mayer raked me...I had 17 titles and didn't win" and my entry, "@petewentz And Justice For All Along Came A Spider Man On Fire From Below Zero Hour of the Gun Fever Pitch Black Rain Man About Town&Country"...okay, I'll admit that was possibly bordering on stalkerish. But, come on, this whole thing brought back all the memories of the defective Martin and now that John Mayer is more than famous I can't afford any of his special edition anythings, much less guitars. All I wanted to do was win a guitar for poor, sad Tyler. Bring the sparkle back to his eye. The one that was shining brightly before the defective guitar fiasco, but has all but burned out since.

As I dealt with the unfairness and my unwarranted loss, and as my competitive spirit dissipated into the night, I began to feel slight remorse for my borderline-fanatical behavior. So, I decided to extend the olive branch to Mr. Mayer. I sent him one last post..."@johncmayer No grudge here. Let me know where I can send you a copy of my book. You'll dig it - http://www.cheshercat.com/eeverybody.html".

I mean, of all the musicians in the world...this guy who claims to be old school and is really into the blues and considers himself a photographer...I figure he would go ape-shit over some of the stuff in my book -- the great guitarists like Michael Bloomfield and Rory Gallagher, the great bluesmen like John Lee Hooker and Butterfield, and the title - Everybody I Shot Is Dead - I figure he's cool enough to dig the title (or maybe he's just another Harvey Weinstein).

Well, it's been 19 hours and 57 minutes (not that I'm counting) since our ill-fated non-meeting and I haven't heard boo from Mr. John Mayer. Not a glimmer of apology for overlooking my entry into a contest I clearly won. No request for me to send his copy of my book that I'm still holding like the olive branch it's meant to be (anybody out there interested in buying John Mayer's copy).

Sigh.

Oh well.

I'm over it.

But let me just ask this...I've plead my case to my jury (hopefully my swayed jury) and I ask...Is the title of this post out of line?

Okay, I'm really over it now. No shit.

Wait.

Just one more note:

Hey, John Mayer...check out this guitar playing...Terry Kath...Hendrix loved this guy. The dude rips. I dare you to tell me you don't agree.



FYI, I am not notifying @johncmayer of this post. I just can't deal with anymore of those frivolous rock star restraining orders.

Although, if I ever run into John Mayer I will give him this apology (take it or leave it):

If only I had nicked Michael Bloomfield's Gibson when sent me to his house to look at his art...last night would never have happened. Never.

:-)

I had a very exciting meeting today.