Wow.
Well, as usually happens when I miss a day of posting to the blog, I have a lot of stuff to post today.
It is mostly good stuff, gang, but I want to start off with something that is really disturbing to me today, personally.
Some stranger contacted me on Facebook yesterday and asked :
No, this was not me — I did not write it. I believe it is AI-generated.
First of all, I would never have called R. C. Hörsch merely “dysfunctional.”
We were colleagues — even friendly colleagues, I socialized with him when he would come to NYC in the late 1990s . He was a well known Erotic/Fetish photographer, and Maxim Jakubowski and I included Ray’s work in our internationally bestselling book, The Mammoth Book of Erotic Photography (UK, US, 2001).
I was no longer associating with Ray by the time the book came out in 2001, because he’d gotten fucking scary and was fucking nuts. I didn’t want to be anywhere near him anymore. (At different times, he had basically kidnapped, restrained in his home, sexually abused and photographed 2 young women I knew back then — over 25 years ago.)
So, no. Not only did I never write a review of Ray’s work, I wouldn’t have used the word “dysfunctional.” Plus, the photographs of his that we had published were nothing at all like what is described above, so apparently, his work got very extreme.
And now I am seriously disturbed to find out that, even while he’s been dead for over a year, the home he shared with his adult son in Pennsylvania is now linked to the deaths of 4 missing women — 2 of the women were allegedly killed on camera — the films found in the house. (Article is behind a paywall, but it is from only 6 days ago.)
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Okay.
Let’s move on.
On Tuesday, THIS wonderful thing happened to THIS wonderful human being!
The last surviving Bee Gee, Barry Gibb, turned 80! Happy belated birthday, Barry Gibb!!!
And here’s this! My absolute favorite Bee Gees song from back when I was 12!! “Run To Me”, 1972:
And yesterday, September 2nd, Keith wished Billy Preston a happy heavenly birthday!!
And Keith chose THIS beautiful song for Billy, from Exile on Main St, “Shine A Light” (1972):
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And here’s some hopeful news!
Remember I told you about how that beautiful convent here, Children of Mary, the one hidden away in the hills, was shut down recently by the Vatican?
Clergy in the Catholic Church are kind of outraged. Raymond Arroyo is looking into it.
Traditional Nuns SHUT DOWN After 24 Years — What Happened? | Prayerful Posse Clips (7 mins):
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Short story submissions to Brown Hound Press in Kentucky are now officially OPEN until September 30th!
“The time has come. We are officially open to submissions during the month of September!
“Quick reminder: Stories should be about 1,000-3,000 words. Mystery, Literary, Southern Gothic, Dark Humor. No AI allowed. Full details on our website. We pay our writers, and we respond to every submission within two weeks.
Brown Hound Press Season Two will premiere on September 17th with our season opener.”
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Okay.
Speaking of Kentucky!!
Here’s this!
From Phyllis Stein!
Native Kentuckian, Richard Hell, in a bathtub in NYC in 1977! (Photo by Kate Simon)
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And here’s some wonderful news!
The late John Lennon has become a grandfather!! (And Yoko has become a grandma at age 93!!)
Sean Ono Lennon and his girlfriend had a baby boy, Aurelius Lennon, yesterday!
Let’s take a moment to listen to this masterpiece! John Lennon’s song for 5-year-old Sean, recorded shortly before John was murdered. “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)”, 1980:
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Here’s this!!
Incredibly tiny shoes!!
Warren Ellis, allegedly gardening??
And Warren’s tribute to bandmate Conway Savage, who passed away on September 2nd, 2018:
And a great photo of Warren and George Vjestica, taken by Colin Greenwood, when the Bad Seeds played Munich recently!
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Oh! Check this out!!
Another great one from Phyllis Stein!!
A postcard that Bob Dylan mailed to his girlfriend, Suze, from Italy, back in 1963!!!
And another other great one from Phyllis Stein!!
A couple of New York Dolls in Los Angeles in 1973!! (Photo by Bob Gruen)
And another other other great one from Phyllis Stein!!
Here’s William Burroughs and Joe Strummer in Bill’s famous bunker!
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And here’s one that’s NOT from Phyllis Stein… (wtf? how’d that happen?)
Joes Strummer and Ranking Roger!
And here’s this!! The Clash’s awesome remix of “Rock the Casbah” ft. Ranking Roger!! 1982!
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And a lovely shot of Blixa Bargeld!! Don’t know where, when, or by whom!! But it’s in black & white, and he’s not smoking!! (Those are 2 things I do know…)
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And let’s just quickly revisit this!!
Still in black & white, but here Blixa IS smoking!! While the other Bad Seeds abstain…
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Okay!
So, I did do all my many errands in town yesterday, and also had a great time having a late breakfast with one of my girlfriends! Yay!
And the book signing event (for my upcoming novel, The Curse of Our Profound Disorder) will be sometime in October, at Holland’s Book Nook, inside the Historic Arcade in Newark, OH. There will be a total of 3 writers at the signing.
It will look just like this — except that the writer in the photo won’t be there!!
And in case you’re curious….yes, I have finally begun writing my memoir about life in the 1970s, Joy: The Shortest Season.
(And here’s a disturbing thing I discovered — from Fall 1971, until Fall 1980, I moved SIXTEEN times!!!! Jesus fucking Christ. From the time I was 11, until I was 20…)
That sort of explains a lot right there, doesn’t it, gang??
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All righty! That’s it for now!!
Have a great Thursday, wherever you are in the world!
Thanks for visiting!
I love you guys. See ya!
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Let’s close with this.
Even though Tom Petty had recently died by the time I moved here in March 2018, I took this old song of his to heart and I played it all the time back then, and it kind of saved me.
I had been planning to move back to NYC, but on the advice of Gus Van Sant, Sr., who I worked for at the time, I bought a house in the middle of nowhere, instead — in the middle of the foothills of southeast Appalachia, to be exact. And it finally felt like home…
“Wildflowers”, by Tom Petty. 1994. Enjoy, gang.
“Wildflowers”
You belong among the wildflowers
You belong in a boat out at sea
Sail away, kill off the hours
You belong somewhere you feel free
Run away, find you a lover
Go away somewhere all bright and new
I have seen no other
Who compares with you
You belong among the wildflowers
You belong in a boat out at sea
You belong with your love on your arm
You belong somewhere you feel free
Run away, go find a lover
Run away, let your heart be your guide
You deserve the deepest of cover
You belong in that home by and by
You belong among the wildflowers
You belong somewhere close to me
Far away from your trouble and worry
You belong somewhere you feel free
You belong somewhere you feel free
c – 1994 Tom Petty
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