Tag Archives: reviews

How the heck can it be Friday already??!!

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Wow.

The week just flew by.

I was planning to scurry over to the Cineplex at the mall after work today, to see Johnny Depp’s “Ebenezer” but now the showtimes are all different from what they’d originally posted. So I probably won’t get to see it until next week.

Before I forget–

This will be happening on Sunday! It almost sounds like it’s going to be a “live” interview — I thought it was going to be pre-recorded and then would air later in the week. We shall see!

Alex S. Johnson posted this lovely announcement yesterday on Facebook. The interview will be this Sunday, starting at 3PM Eastern Time:

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And speaking of interviews–

I also heard from Zak Winters last night, that the interview he did with me regarding my memories of the late photographer, filmmaker, and likely serial killer, RC Horsch, will probably be uploaded to YouTube sometime next week.

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Thinking of those 2 things happening so close together, made me remember the long ago days when I used to do interviews all the time — for TV, radio, and the Internet.

And then that made me go find one of my favorite interviews I did on YouTube– it was from 2012. My dear friend and long-time colleague, Michael Hemmingson interviewed me mostly about Twilight of the Immortal (!!) and my experiences with writing that novel.

There was so much I’d forgotten about researching the novel. What an incredible experience it was to write that book.

A lot has happened since that interview — including Hemmingson’s murder back in 2014.

The interview is age-restricted but you can watch it from the link below.

The Art of Dreaming – Interview with Marilyn Jaye Lewis – May 30, 2012 (1hr 46 mins):

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Okay!!

I did speak with Sandra yesterday and it is OFFICIAL!!

Sandra’s 75th Birthday Cabaret at The Laurie Beechman Theatre in NYC will happen Weds. January 20th at 7PM!!

The Cabaret will essentially be an intro to our musical play about Sandra’s life, “The Guide to being Fabulous”.

I will be in NYC from Tuesday Jan 19th through Friday Jan 22nd! My birth mom agreed to come back here and take care of the cats again!!

And I will be staying at this legendary Times Square hotel:

The Hotel St. James!! Founded in 1901 !!

It is legendary because — as Wayne politely reminded me on WhatsApp yesterday — it used to be a notorious cruising spot for gay hustlers. It’s only a couple blocks down from where I used to live, on W.45th Street.

And if you didn’t see this amazing film — “Cruising” — it was really popular with the gay crowd when it first came out in 1980 !

This is seriously age-restricted but you can watch the whole movie free on YouTube!! (The Hotel St. James features prominently in the film, but it has since changed owners, been remodeled, etc. But I told Wayne: “I sure hope the walls can talk!!”)

Cruising (1980) Full Movie (1 hr 40 mins):

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Okay!

I did have a nice time at the lunch with my co-workers yesterday. However, I didn’t really have anything to say, since they all have kids and grandkids and mostly talked about their families.

So that was kind of sad for me, since I basically have no one anymore. But it was good to get out and just be with them.

And here’s this!

While we weren’t in Granville yesterday, it is a town where I have spent a TON of time since moving out here to the Hinterlands in 2016!

Beautiful Granville in the fall, yesterday! From their Instagram page!

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And speaking of beautiful, here’s this!

Keith in LA in 1969!!

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And from Phyllis Stein!!

Richard Hell and Johnny Thunders in NYC in 1981! (Photo by Roberta Bayley)

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And here’s something else that’s lovely!

Rowland S. Howard, 1977. (Photo by Peter Milne)

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Here’s Marc Bolan, in 1971!!

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A bunch of beauties together!!

Longtime pals, Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty!!

And Nick Cave and Blixa Bargeld!!

And Nick Cave and Lydia Lunch, in 1982!!

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And, actually, that’s all I have time for today.

I gotta scoot!!

Enjoy your Friday the 13th, wherever you are in the world, gang!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!!

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Let’s close, hurriedly, with this!!

This popped up on my driving-to-town playlist yesterday.

A real heartbreaker for me, gang, still:

I was waiting in my mom’s car, while she was in the psychiatrist’s office, getting the results from my EEG, after my suicide attempt in the summer of 1975.

The love of my life, Greg, had been dead for just under one year at this point. I listened to this song on the car radio, alone, and my heart just shattered.

Then my mom came back to the car with even more shattering news — I was being committed to a mental hospital. Immediately.

All that stuff just comes roaring back whenever I hear this song (which, thankfully, is not often!). But it’s still a beautiful song.

From the album, Have You Never Been Mellow, Olivia Newton-John’s, “Please Mr. Please.”1975. Enjoy, gang.

“Please Mr. Please”

In the corner of the bar there stands a jukebox
With the best of country music, old and new
You can hear your five selections for a quarter
And somebody else’s songs when yours are through

I got good Kentucky whiskey on the counter
And my friends around to help me ease the pain
‘Til some button-pushing cowboy plays that love song
And here I am just missing you again

Please Mr. please, don’t play B-17
It was our song, it was his song but it’s over
Please Mr. please, if you know what I mean
I don’t ever wanna hear that song again

If I had a dime for every time I held you
Though you’re far away, you’ve been so close to me
I could swear I’d be the richest girl in Nashville
Maybe even in the state of Tennessee

But I guess I’d better get myself together
‘Cause when you left, you didn’t leave too much behind
Just a note that said, “I’m sorry” by your picture
And a song that’s weighing heavy on my mind

Please Mr. please, don’t play B-17
It was our song, it was his song but it’s over
Please Mr. please, if you know what I mean
I don’t ever wanna hear that song again

c – 1975 John Rostill / Bruce Welch

Maybe A Quiet One Today?

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Well, yesterday was not exactly what I was expecting.

First off — after going through the entire Spring and Summer around here without ANY cats — indoors or outside — getting fleas…

Yesterday, it became apparent that, on the final days of October, for chrissakes — all the INDOOR cats had become infested.

So … $200 later.

But I caught it in time. It hadn’t taken over the house, or anything. But I did have to drop everything and drive an hour to town and back, and visit 3 different stores to get enough flea meds for all the cats. Since it’s the end of flea season, the stores weren’t exactly stocked anymore. But I eventually found what I needed and now it is done.

Too bad a house full of rescued cats isn’t actually like this…

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Before that, though —

I did make some good progress on the flash fiction piece for the Bill Burroughs anthology. And I at least have an idea of how it will end. Still don’t know how the story will get to the ending but I have about 450 words left to achieve it.

But I was happily working away on it, when suddenly–

I got a text from the investigative journalist again — more questions regarding the photographer RC Horsch, a colleague of mine from over 25 years ago that I had ceased all communications with back in 2001 because I found him very disturbing.

(I noticed that RC Horsch’s Wikipedia page has been very recently updated: “…an American erotic photographer, pornographic filmmaker, convicted criminal and suspected serial killer….”)

Anyway. The journalist asked me if I would be willing to be interviewed on camera. Back in September, I had only agreed to be interviewed through texting, although I agreed that he could use my name.

Well, Part 1 of his investigation is on YouTube now, so I stopped what I was doing and watched it (29 minutes). I felt that, while it is disturbing, obviously, it was not distastefully presented or sensationalized.

So I agreed to do the interview on camera for Part 2. It will happen Sunday afternoon.

Here is Part 1 if you want to watch it. It does not show anything explicit or gorey.

The Fall of the House of Horsch Film | RC Horsch & His Son The Early Years (29 mins):

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I was quietly relieved, though, to find that I was no longer feeling that horrible paranoia that I’d been feeling toward the end of the summer. I was able to handle watching the video just fine.

My life, overall, has definitely moved into a more emotionally secure place — mostly because I’m back in the world among people and working. Not just living alone in my head.

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Okay!

Yesterday, Brown Hound Press posted a new short story– very well written, in my opinion.

“Sound Privacy” by Nicholas Bacci Siegel

You can read it HERE, free.

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Oh, and my best friend Valerie in Brooklyn never did call yesterday…

So yesterday was just nothing like what I was expecting.

And since I was sort of “occupied” all day and into the evening, I don’t have hardly any “here’s this’s'”.

But here’s this–

I don’t really know the details, but Warren Ellis posted this from Oslo this morning:

And it was posted along with this song — Johnny Thunders, “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory” (1978):

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And here’s this!!

The B52s got their star unveiled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame yesterday!!

From Fred Schneider:

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And from Facebook!!

And speaking of Nick Cave–

He sent out a new Red Hand File about 3 seconds ago…

A reader wrote in and asked Nick how he had spent his time off from the Red Hand Files. And Nick revealed, in part:

“…I spent the time happily sculpting, firing, and glazing – no distractions, no internet, no phones, no music, no podcasts. Just clay. I fashioned little worlds by hand, devilish things, swept along on that preternatural current where form waits to be found. I felt the world’s anxieties drain away – how quickly they retreated – until I came upon something essential, the spirit freed from the dross, the imagination stripped clean to something pure and wide, and lovely….”

This is a sample from his brand new ceramics collection — the second in his series about The Devil — The Devil in the Afterlife:

THE DEVIL IN HELL (FOR THE FIRST TIME) from THE DEVIL IN THE AFTERLIFE by NICK CAVE, 2026

You can read the new Red Hand File in full, HERE.

PHOTO BY LYNETTE GARLAND

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And that is it for now.

I gotta get ready to head to work.

Enjoy your Friday-before-Halloween (if you celebrate it), wherever you are in the world!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this.

From my drive to and from town yesterday for the cats’ flea meds…

I played this on repeat, loud. And thought a good deal about RC Horsch, and my early career and where it’s led me, and I let the song transport me away from all of it for awhile.

Barry Manilow, “I Write the Songs”. 1975. Enjoy, gang.

Getting Social Around Here!

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Okay!!

So, not only do we have a group lunch coming up in early November — with my co-workers at the health & wellness store (including the woman who runs the store).

But on Monday, I’m having lunch with my dear pals Wendy and Kara, to celebrate Wendy’s birthday!!

The 3 of us have not had time to get together for lunch since Christmas. I’m really looking forward to it.

We’re going here !!

So, the main reason I returned to the working world was to be around people again. And it is already a complete success.

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I’m getting a late start here on the blog today because it was “Pay the Bills” day today!!

So the bills are paid — and I have to say, I am managing the expense of the recent trip to Charlotte , NC, and that fantastic hotel, just fine.

Yay!!

Oh, and Sandra texted at 7:15AM and asked if I was up and having coffee yet (I of course was!!), so we had our chat on the phone first thing this morning.

I am still aiming to be in NYC for her Birthday Cabaret the 3rd week of January…

And at some point today, I’m supposed to catch up with my best friend Valerie in Brooklyn!! Yay!!

For some reason, I’m a lot older when I chat with Valerie…

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And then somewhere here today, I’ll be working some more on the flash fiction piece for the Bill Burroughs tribute anthology…

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Okay!

It’s that time again!!

Erica Verrillo’s fantastic monthly free newsletter for writers is out:

73 Calls for Submissions in November 2026 – Paying markets!

“This November there are more than six dozen calls for submissions. All of these are paying markets, and none charge submission fees. As always, every genre, style, and form is wanted, from short stories to poetry to essays.”

Visit HERE. And sign up for her FREE newsletter, while you’re at it!!

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Meanwhile….

Due to the time difference between here and Europe, and my overall schedule–

I’m falling behind in The Dirty Three’s European Tour!!

Posted by Warren Ellis after their tour-opening show in Vicenza, Italy!!

And here’s Warren Elvis, oops, ELLIS, during their show in Geneva last night!!

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Speaking of Elvis….

Here’s Johnny Cash!!

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And speaking of Johnny Cash….

Dwight Yoakam is still on tour!! You can buy tickets HERE!

And in the event you need some Guitars, Cadillacs, and Hillbilly Music RIGHT NOW—

And I have to say, yet again, that experiencing Dwight Yoakam singing this very song live at The Ritz in NYC in the 1980s — it was absolutely unbelievable, gang. Truly one of the highlights of my already indescribably insane life.

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Okay!

Here’s this!!

I might have posted it here before, but you can’t beat a photo of Keith smoking while he’s on fire, can you, gang??!


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And here’s this great song, just for the hell of it!!

Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire” from his huge hit album, Born in the USA (1984):

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From Phyllis Stein.

The New York Dolls in London, 1973.

Photographer Ian Dickson passed away recently–

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And here’s this!!

From Facebook!!

Nick Cave looking very, very Nick Cave-y!! In color!! Yay!!

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And I guess that is it, gang.

I gotta get focused here and get some writing done before the day flies away from me and I’m yakking merrily on the phone with Valerie.

Enjoy your 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 today!!

This came up in my YouTube stream!

I used to LOVE this song, as a wee bonny teenaged lass. I played this record a lot (on her Greatest Hits album) when I was very very very briefly away at college in 1978… Luckily my 3 other roommates liked Joan Baez, too.

(And if you were ever a stranger that I’ve been in love with, well, then this one’s for you and you know who you are!!)

Joan Baez, 1972. “Love Song To A Stranger”. Enjoy, gang.

“Love Song To A Stranger”

How long since I’ve spent a whole night in a twin bed with a stranger
His warm arms all around me?
How long since I’ve gazed into dark eyes that melted my soul down
To a place where it longs to be?
All of your history has little to do with your face
You’re mainly a mystery with violins filling in space

You stood in the nude by the mirror and picked out a rose
From the bouquet in our hotel
And lay down beside me again and I watched the rose
On the pillow as it fell
I sank and I slept in a twilight with only one care
To know that when day broke and I woke that you’d still be there
You’d still be there

The hours for once they passed slowly, unendingly by
Like a sweet breeze on a field
Your gentleness came down upon me and I guess I thanked you
When you caused me to yield
We spoke not a sentence and took not a footstep beyond
Our two days together which seemingly soon would be gone
Soon would be gone

Don’t tell me of love everlasting and other sad dreams
I don’t want to hear
Just tell me of passionate strangers who rescue each other
From a lifetime of cares
‘Cause if love means forever, expecting nothing returned
Then I hope I’ll be given another whole lifetime to learn

‘Cause you gave to me, oh, so many things, it makes me wonder
How they could belong to me
And I gave you only my dark eyes which melted your soul down
To a place where it longs to be

c – 1972 Joan Baez

Much better this morning, thank you!

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For some reason, I slept really great last night, gang, and woke at 5:15AM, absolutely not tired at all!! (See yesterday’s post, wherein I woke up unbelievably tired.)

Anyway. Yay!!

So here’s hoping I will FINALLY get that Foreword written for the M. Christian tribute anthology so that I can finally turn the manuscript in to the publisher.

(It’s actually not overdue. At all. It isn’t due for another week. But I just want it completed and turned in. I need to feel that feeling that it is done. It’s been an emotionally rocky journey for me — editing that anthology.)

But I intend to have at least the first draft of the Foreword done by this afternoon. Then tomorrow, I can do a final draft if needed, then one last edit on the whole manuscript. And then this will be me, sometime tomorrow!!

Me! Sometime tomorrow!! In case you couldn’t read what I just said…

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Okay!!

Guess what fucking day it is, gang??

That’s fucking CORRECT!!

Legendary Rolling Stones’ (former) bass player, Bill Wyman, turns 90 today!!

Happy 90th birthday, Bill Wyman!!

And here’s this! From his album, Drive My Car, 2024 — the song, “Drive My Car”!! I love this song and have played it absolutely countless times over the past couple years while driving my own car!! (And going, well, extremely fast…)

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And it is also THIS today–

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Rowland S. Howard. Born on this day in Melbourne, Australia, in 1959. He would have been 67 today.

And let’s listen to this fantastic song, for the 7 trillionth time!! Written by Rowland S. Howard when he was a wee bonny teenaged lad in Melbourne!! One of my very favorite songs. “Shivers.” Here’s Nick Cave, Rowland, & the Boys Next Door. 1979.

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My dear and long-time friend in NYC, writer/poet Iris N. Schwartz has a new book of flash fiction out from Poets Wear Prada Press!!

“Here are thirteen stories, often simultaneously painfully poignant and devilishly humorous, whether grounded in the familiar, or dreamlike and other-worldly, that tell of the human condition, our all-too-frequent bouts of loneliness and dislocation, and our attempts at survival and resilience… Taking up where she left off with Shame, Iris has lined up her third installment of mostly flash and micro fiction treats, sweet-and-sour morsels, for us to read and re-read, and relish.”

Buy it HERE on Amazon!! ($12.00)

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And here’s this — only because I’d never seen this photo before and thought it was beautiful!

Lou Reed!!

Just beautiful

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Okay!

Here’s the info if you want to watch the livestream of the B-52s getting their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!!

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I loved this photo!

From Phyllis Stein!

Iggy and David Johansen , NYC, in 2004!! Photo by the legendary photographer Bob Gruen who also just celebrated a birthday!!

(And as an aside, I also got to meet Bob Gruen once, in NYC. I was coming out of a music conference with my dear friend, the late great music executive, Holly Lane, who was good friends with Bob Gruen. What a thrill to meet him! He was so nice.)

FYI , in case you didn’t know — “…By the mid 1970s, Bob Gruen was already regarded as one of the foremost photographers in music working with major artists such as John Lennon, Tina Turner, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Elton John, and Kiss. He also covered emerging new wave and punk rock bands, including the New York Dolls, the Clash, Sex Pistols, Ramones, and Blondie….”

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Okay!!

Speaking of legendary rock music photographers!!

I loved this!! From photographer Allen Tannenbaum‘s Instagram page (soho blues). A look behind the scenes, as it were, of one of my all-time favorite photos of Tom Petty!!

And here is my above-mentioned favorite photo of Tom, by Allen (1977), after Tom’s cigarette was so kindly lit!!

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And this is also from Allen Tannenbaum’s page. And it sent a real chill through me when I saw it, gang.

He took this photo of John & Yoko, just a couple of weeks before John was murdered (on Dec. 8, 1980).

I remember this photo really well. But, yesterday, when I saw the date this photo was taken on — Nov. 21, 1980 — I realized that I had only lived in NYC for 6 days by then. It had felt like a fucking eternity. NYC was just so much endless culture shock for me back then. And then to have my hero murdered only a few weeks after moving there…

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Okay!

Big news!!!

Warren Ellis finally has his outfit all sorted out for the upcoming Dirty Three European Tour, as well as his solo performance at that Armani museum place-thingie in Milan on Monday!! (You can find tickets to the Dirty Three shows HERE, but a lot of the shows are nearly sold out, so you have to hurry.)

Personally, I think it’s wise to go with the jacket and the hat because it’s almost, like, winter, right? And it can sometimes be really fucking COLD in Europe in fucking winter… And they say that all your body heat escapes through the top of your head…

And here’s this while we’re at it!! Dirty Three’s, “Indian Love Song”, from 1995!! That song that you can basically sing while sitting around a camp fire and strumming your violin guitar! (10 mins):

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And from Facebook!!

Legends!!!

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds!!

Also legends!!

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds!!

And legends-in-the-making!!!

Nick Cave & the Boys Next Door!! 1978!!

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And speaking of Nick Cave–

He sent out a really wonderful Red Hand File yesterday, about his experiences with (and without) Transcendental Meditation. He says, in part:

“…the effect was evident almost instantly. Within a couple of attempts, much of my general pissed-offness, low-level depression, waves of dread, and run-of-the-mill rage at the world, retreated. I felt more alive, more creative, and way happier. So for the next seven or eight years I practised TM, happily meditating twice a day….”

You can read it in full HERE.

SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI AND BROTHER LEO MEDITATING BY EL GRECO, 1600 – 1614

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And that is it for this happy Saturday in the Hinterlands.

The laundry is almost done. The sun is shining! The autumn leaves look positively splendid outside all my many windows! And the many, many cats are all taking splendid NAPS!!

Enjoy your Saturday, wherever you are in the world, gang.

Here’s hoping that the next time you hear from me, I can tell you that the Foreword for the M. Christian tribute anthology is completed!!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this!!

To continue with a theme here this morning…

From my breakfast-listening music today!!

I’ve posted this song here before, but here it is again!!

One of my absolute favorite Nick Cave songs!

“Brompton Oratory” from the incredible album The Boatman’s Call. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, 1997. Enjoy, gang.

“Brompton Oratory”

Up those stone steps I climb
Hail this joyful day’s return
Into its great shadowed vault I go
Hail the Pentecostal morn

The reading is from Luke 24
Where Christ returns to his loved ones
I look at the stone apostles
Think that it’s alright for some

And I wish that I was made of stone
So that I would not have to see
A beauty impossible to define
A beauty impossible to believe

A beauty impossible to endure
The blood imparted in little sips
The smell of you still on my hands
As I bring the cup up to my lips

No God up in the sky
No devil beneath the sea
Could do the job that you did
Of bringing me to my knees

Outside I sit on the stone steps
With nothing much to do
Forlorn and exhausted, baby
By the absence of you

c -1997 Nick Cave

A splendid morning so far!

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Not only is it a really beautiful Fall day here today, gang, but it has also gotten cold enough at night now, that today I am bringing all the green houseplants indoors until next Spring.

Which also means that the 6-month battle between me and the cats gets underway today!

The cats LOVE exploring the houseplants and, whenever possible, toppling the flowerpots onto the floor and spilling soil all over the carpeting!! Yay!!

So this is a time of year that I really look forward to!!

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It has also been a splendid morning because of this!!

Yes! It’s the New Guy In My Life’s birthday today!!

So — Happy birthday to the new guy in my life!

We spoke briefly at 5:03AM (“Happy birthday!”)

Then a little lengthier chat at 6:55AM (other stuff that I won’t go into — but, yay!)

Then a very, very brief chat at about 7:25AM… (him, quickly reiterating stuff that I won’t go into — yet!)

Mostly we laughed a lot. But he also said, “I’m so sick of Florida already! I want to be back there in Ohio!” (He’s been gone about 5 days, with the rest of the entire winter to go…) (If you’re new to the blog — when he’s not at his home in Florida, he lives in the house directly across the road from me. And we decided to start dating, like, the day before he left for Florida.)

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Okay.

Today is also this —

Gone 6 years today. RIP Eddie Van Halen.

And here’s this, from 1984, “Panama”!

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Okay!

Here’s this!!

Keith!! Doing the polka!!

OOPS! Of course, I meant, wearing polka DOTS!!

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And I loved this.

Allen in his apartment just a few steps away from my old apartment on E.12th Street! And I had 2 fireplaces in the old apartment that looked very much like his looked below. PLUS, I love that he has that photo of Mick & Keith stuck on his fireplace!!

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In the “Urgent Dog Update” Department!!

Oh no! It seems Tupac threw up again!! Apparently, this time, right on Warren Ellis’s brown suit and it appears that Warren might have had to change clothes!!

And here’s this! “Back in Black”!! AC/DC, 1980!!

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And here’s this!!

Your guess is as good as mine on this one, gang!!

What I can at least tell you is: Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, black & white!! From Facebook!!

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Well.

So, yesterday! I really, really loved being back at the old health & wellness store, gang.

I’m re-learning some basics– like how to work the cash register and credit card processor.

But, for the most part, it all came back to me. God, I just love that store. I literally love being in it. The energy of it — it’s a privately owned alternative health store, that’s been run by the same family for about 40 years now.

And at the end of the evening, the owner gave me a big hug and a smile and she said, “I am so happy you came back!!” Yay!

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All right.

I guess that’s it for now.

I gotta get busy bringing those plants indoors and then get back to work on editing the M. Christian tribute anthology.

Have a terrific Tuesday, wherever you are in the world, gang!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this!

Can’t wait for “Ludwig” Season 2 to begin here in the US!! One more week, gang!!

First, a short– (2 mins 22 seconds):


David Mitchell LUDWIG 2 Exclusive Announcement interview 2026 (5 mins):

Wow. What a great morning.

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Even though it is supposed to rain all day…

Before I talk in detail about my great morning, let’s do this!!!

Happy birthday Richard Hell!!!! Born this day in Lexington , Kentucky, in 1949!!

Smoking, gun-toting, shade-wearing, black & white, in NYC, 1976!! (Photo by Roberta Bayley)

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And on a more somber note–

Tom Petty has been gone 9 years, as of today. I hope he is having the time of his (after) life!

Mature Tom!! Shade-wearing, writing, guitar-playing in black & white!!

Attitude Tom, 1 & 2!! Smoking!!

(The only song of Tom Petty’s that I ever played live in NYC folk clubs!! “Don’t Do Me Like That” !! 1979)

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It’s time for the Story of the Week over at Brown Hound Press!

And it’s a really good one!! (And the editor claims the story is the author’s first publication! And it was submitted as a typewritten manuscript! Wow!)

“And the World Was Wide Open” by Willie James Bess

You can read it HERE. (Free)

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From Johhny Depp this morning!

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Here’s Gram Parsons in one of his many Nudie suits!

And here’s this! Gram, with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt, “In My Hour of Darkness” from Grievous Angel, 1974:

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A couple of Stones smoking — but Brian has TWO!!!!

KEITH (looking away, quietly thinking): “Greedy bastard.”

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A couple of great ones — Jack Kerouac, October!

And if you STILL haven’t read or listened to On The Road, get with it already!! He only wrote it 75 years ago!! God purposely made cigarettes and amphetamines so that we could HAVE great literature like this!! What are you waiting for??

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All right!

It has become clear!!

He is WITH the band!! Not hanging out in the audience!!

From Bad Seed Jim Sclavunos yesterday (meaning that, if you were waiting on me, you missed the show in Porto!):

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Facebook has let me down, gang. They had photos of Nick Cave, but not any good ones today.

I had to go to the desktop stash for this one:

Nick Cave!! (Wondering: What the fuck is the deal with Facebook??)

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All righty!!

Here it is: “The wonderfully true tale of LUNCH and how it went!!”

Wow, gang.

I’m not even sure where to start. I can at least start by saying again: What a nice man. And it is safe to also say that it looks like we’re officially DATING.

Even though he leaves for Florida later today. So it’ll be “long distance, over the phone” dating for a while. (He’ll be back for a week in January, to check on his house — furnace, water pipes, etc.)

We share the same sense of humor and he is so easy to talk to. He says the sweetest, while totally unexpected things. For instance:

“You should enter a beauty contest, you know, in the category of women your age — you’d win that, easily!”

Okay, here are a few things, in no particular order.

In all the best ways, I feel like my dad is back. This guy is taller than me, bigger than me, older (mid-70s), he gives great hugs, he’s smart and he likes to laugh, and he can fix absolutely everything.

And he has plenty of money and property (3 homes in Florida and one across the road from me!).

But 2 of the homes in Florida are up for sale. He loves to buy older homes and rehab them and then sell them. He can’t stand being retired and needs to stay busy… The one remaining home that he is keeping (and living in) has 4 bedrooms and 2 baths and is really pretty– he said (more than once) “Come visit me in Florida! I’ll pay for it! I’m all by myself now.”

He’s a widower with grown children and a couple grandchildren.

And probably most importantly of all!! He owns an enormous RV. He keeps it parked on some property not far from my house, where other campers are parked, but his is in an isolated area because it is huge.

(BTW, he was showing me all this stuff on his phone while we were at lunch.)

I love RVs and campers. I love to go camping. But this RV is 2 stories tall. It’s nothing like the campers of the 1960s. The bedroom is upstairs. It looks a lot like this, but this is not his:

He said, “I really hope you’ll come out and see it. It’s just sitting there now.”

And then he showed me the view outside the upstairs bedroom window — green fields and tons of trees . He said, “You could run around naked out there and no one would see you.”

I thanked him for the head’s up on that…

Anyway. He is of course retired. He worked various kinds of construction his whole life. He’s very down to Earth and just very nice. And after lunch, he came inside for a few minutes to meet the cats and they seemed to really like him, too.

He did not ask me anything specific about my life yet, he was being very polite — he knows I’m divorced, that I’m a writer and that I lived in NYC and worked in publishing for about 30 years. He didn’t ask what kind of writing I do, so I didn’t tell him. I have decided I’m not telling him anything unless he specifically asks me. (Oh, and I mentioned I’m returning part-time to the health & wellness store in town and he has actually shopped there before, because his son is into natural healing and health food, etc.) (He grew up, got married and raised his family in that area of town where the store is now, a long time ago, when it was still just cornfields and farms.)

So we’ll just see how it all goes.

We texted quickly this morning around 6AM and he does indeed use smiley-face emojis!!

I thanked him again for lunch yesterday — I really did have a nice time with him. And he texted back that he feels “good vibes”! (So, yes, we are both kinda OLD!!)

But I’m excited to see where it goes. We’ll likely be talking on the phone for 3 months before I see him again. So I should have a pretty good idea by January.

Meanwhile!!

That’s it for today, gang! Gotta work on the M. Christian anthology now, and tomorrow– my book signing!!

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Enjoy your Friday, wherever you are in the world!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this today!!!!

I don’t think it needs any explanation. Enjoy, gang.

Keeping track of all the departments!

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Today is going to be all about taking care of loose ends, gang, before I get really busy — and then also washing my hair!! (Tomorrow I’m supposed to be going to lunch with the gentleman across the street!)

Because, also, tomorrow — the official deadline for contributing stories to the M. Christian tribute anthology arrives. So, beginning tomorrow, I will have my editor’s cap on a lot. Here’s hoping it won’t mess up my hair!!

So with all that hard work in mind, let’s tackle some of these loose ends together!!

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In the “Guess What Day It Is” Department:

Here’s this!!

Happy heavenly birthday Marc Bolan!! Born September 30, 1947 (and gone by September 16, 1977):

And here’s this, appropriately enough! “20th Century Boy,” performed on England’s Top of the Pops, 1973:

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And in the “I had a feeling this was gonna be a good one”‘ Department:

Rave reviews are in for the one-man show, “How Shakespeare Saved My Life,” at the Public Theatre in NYC!

You can still BUY TICKETS HERE

“ONE OF THE TOP ONE-MAN SHOWS I’VE SEEN THIS YEAR”— DAVID WALTERS, THE FRONT ROW CENTER

“A deeply moving testament to transformation, forgiveness, and the power of finding one’s voice” –Deirdre Donovan, Off Off Online

“Brilliant showcase of his dramatic range.”—Kenji Fujishima, TheaterMania

“Ming-Trent’s talent shines through as he portrays a wide range of characters.” —Thom Geier, Culture Sauce

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In the “I actually didn’t know that” Department:

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In the “I’m not really clear if he’s gonna be onstage or in the audience” Department:

From Bad Seed Jim Sclavunos:

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And this next one falls into 2 separate departments–

The “Updates on my dog’s relieving himself in the live studio” Department

And the “I’m not really clear if it was Warren who swallowed the button after playing his viola or the dog did” Department:

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From the “Cool things my heroes said when I was a wee bonnie lass” Department:

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From the “Cool things my heroes are currently doing” Department:

Ronnie Wood has 2 new portraits of Jimi Hendrix, along with some other Jimi Hendrix prints, on display right now at the Handel-Hendrix House in London!

You can buy prints of the new portraits HERE.

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From the “Cool things my heroes did together a long time ago and I wish I could have been there” Department:

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From “The only reason Facebook is cool” Department:

(And if you are not American — the song referenced below is an old-timey song sung at every baseball game throughout eternity.)

(And if you are American, don’t even THINK of singing even the opening line to this song, or it will get stuck in your head the whole fucking day!!)

This next one also fits into 2 separate departments–

In “The only reason Facebook is cool” Department

And the “I could look at this photo everyday for the rest of my life” Department:

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And I think that covers all the departments for today!!

I am still kinda flying high from that Lammy nomination my publisher made for my new novel yesterday. (See post here if you missed it.)

“Lambda Literary nurtures and advocates for LGBTQ writers, elevating the impact of their words to create community, preserve our legacies, and affirm the value of our stories and our lives.”

And this next thing was so cool — it appeared in my Instagram feed yesterday. Not an account I had heard of before, but apparently she was having breakfast with my publisher!!

And in case you live anywhere near Newark, Ohio, please don’t forget to join me on Saturday afternoon! Books will be on sale at the event.

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And I guess that is it!

Oh — I am having a great time looking at the private app James Tabor setup for our conference memories — looking at everyone’s photos and reading everyone’s comments really makes me wish I was still in that wonderful hotel with everyone in Charlotte!!

Okay!

Have a wonder-filled Wednesday, wherever you are in the world, gang!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this.

I am still reading Conversations with Tom Petty (2005) and Tom was talking about what a thrill it was to hear Johnny Cash’s version of Tom’s classic, “Southern Accents”.

So, of course I had to drop everything and listen to it! (I also played it many times on my trip to town yesterday.)

So here it is for you!

Johnny Cash, “Southern Accents,” from his album American II: Unchained, 1996. Enjoy, gang.

“Southern Accents”

There’s a southern accent, where I come from
The young ‘uns call it country
The Yankees call it dumb

I got my own way of talkin’
But everything is done, with a southern accent
Where I come from

Now that drunk tank in Atlanta’s
Just a motel room to me
Think I might go work Orlando
If them orange groves don’t freeze

I got my own way of workin’
But everything is run, with a southern accent
Where I come from

For just a minute there I was dreaming
For just a minute it was all so real
For just a minute she was standing there, with me

There’s a dream I keep having
Where my mama comes to me
Then kneels down over by the window
And says a prayer for me

I got my own way of prayin’
But every one’s begun
With a southern accent
Where I come from

I got my own way of livin’
But everything gets done
With a southern accent
Where I come from

c – 1985 Tom Petty

What a great morning!

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I’m trying to make the absolute best of it because not only is the weather perfect — and the rest of the week, we’re supposed to have a lot of rain.

But also, tomorrow morning is when I’m supposed to report for Jury Duty again. I will find out later tonight if I do indeed have to show up, so we’ll see.

But regardless of tomorrow, I am trying to just have a really nice morning here.

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Before I forget!!

Facebook is just so strange.

Yesterday, I got another really cool “friend request” from someone I’ve only known for 54 years!!

She was, basically, my best friend all through Jr. High, high school, and most of adulthood… It’s only been a few years since I last heard from her. But we’re supposed to catch up in the phone sometime today!!

We met in the 7th grade, in September of 1972.

Yes!! There is someone still alive on Earth who knew me when I looked like this and wore plaid palazzo pants to school!!

Me, in the 7th grade yearbook

When she and I were teenagers, we had mostly the same tastes in music, movies, literature, theater. We were both really smart and we laughed so hard about so much insane stuff.

I don’t know, but if you’re familiar with the playwright Eugène Ionesco, and his Theatre of the Absurd plays, our lives were kind of like that. 24/7.

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Okay!

Let’s go straight to the “here’s this’s” today!

Apparently, I need to get back to Shanghai by Sunday! (Which is also the start of Yom Kippur, so that’s dicey, right there!)

But I’ve already bought all 150 of the available tickets, so it only seems polite that I make the effort to show up…

Johnny Depp will be appearing at the Modern Art Museum Shanghai, in connection with his exhibit there, “Figures of the Fringe”!

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And here are a couple of great photos of Richard Hell!

Again, from the fantastic Phyllis Stein!!

Here, Richard Hell is seen with the “tiny Richard Hell head” that was really popular back then!

And here he’s seen at CBGBs in 1978 with Elvis Costello, who was also really popular back then!!

And I can’t help it, gang — we gotta hear this one, one more time!! Elvis Costello, 1977, “Mystery Dance”!!

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And here’s this!

Warren Ellis and one of his dogs appear to be very excited by Sundays!!

And taking a cue from Warren’s t-shirt, how about this? An AI version of the other Elvis singing Kris Kristofferson’s song, “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” the way Waylon Jennings sang it… (that’s right, but it’s actually pretty good…)

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And here’s that other thing that Facebook is good for!!!

Old photos of Nick Cave!!

I don’t know if I posted this one here before, but I love this!

And here’s Nick Cave, either taking off his coat, or pretending to wear handcuffs — or perhaps both! A long time ago! In color!

And this wasn’t on Facebook, but here it is anyway!

Nick Cave on TV in NYC, in 1990!

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And here’s this — from my own life!

This movie came out in 1968, when I was 8, and my mom and I went to see it together in Cleveland and I just loved it.

Throughout my whole life, really, I wanted to have a huge family. I really did. I used to think about it all the time. (And by the time I was in my early teens, when things in my home life were getting really bad, I had a huge imaginary family in my head that I would retreat to all the time.)

In fact, the hardest part about leaving Wayne, in 2003, was knowing that I would never have even one child, let alone the 14 or so that I wanted…. I was 43 when I left Wayne and I was already in early menopause. Wayne had finally decided that he didn’t want to have kids. So that whole dream was all over.

Anyway.

I am currently re-watching “Yours, Mine, & Ours” on TUBI. From 1968. A glorious family with 18 wonderful children —

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And that’s it for today.

I will let you know early tomorrow morning if I have to report for Jury Duty again or not.

Meanwhile, enjoy your Monday, wherever you are in the world!

Thanks for visiting!

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this.

This was sort of magical, gang.

I’m still reading the Conversations with Tom Petty book (2006) at night.

And last night, Tom was telling the part where he was going through his divorce, and to pick up his spirits, Rick Rubin had Tom (and the other Heartbreakers) come onboard the Johnny Cash albums Rick was producing at the time, on his American Recordings label.

Tom had such an incredible time doing that — it was very detailed in the book. He loved Johnny Cash.

I knew I had all of those Johnny Cash American Recordings on my phone, but I wasn’t sure which ones I still had on actual CDs. So I got out of bed, went downstairs in the dark, went to one of the many CD racks I have and turned on the light — and the very first CD I saw was Johnny Cash’s American III: Solitary Man–– with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers!! (And others.)

It really felt like magic, gang. I still had it!

I hurried back up to bed, popped the CD in the retro boombox next to my bed, turned out the light and just listened. And, wow, was it good!!

And, oddly enough, it’s the CD that has Johnny Cash’s cover of Nick Cave’s classic, “The Mercy Seat”!

So, let’s listen! From 2000, Johnny Cash’s version of “The Mercy Seat.” So different from Nick’s version, but still so good. Okay. Enjoy, gang.

Quite a mixed bag today, people

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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.”

SUBMIT STORY HERE

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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!

From Uncle Julian Lennon’s Instagram page yesterday morning

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!

Photo by Victor Bockris

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And here’s one that’s NOT from Phyllis Stein… (wtf? how’d that happen?)

Joe 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

Okay! Just Waiting!

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Made the phone calls I had to make — you know, to alert Honda that I paid nearly $1200 in car lease payments over the weekend…

They took care of it. (Oops! Forgot to close out your Honda Civic account!) So now I’m just waiting to get a good chunk of that money back.

And I vacuumed the whole house.

Watered all the flowers.

Took care of the many cats…

And now I’m just waiting for the Medicare Insurance Nurse to arrive. And once she gets here, the checkup takes maybe 15 minutes, since I’m not on any prescription drugs and don’t have any health problems.

SHE: “Do you have any questions?”

ME: “No.” (Well, I have a lot of questions but none of them have anything whatsoever to do with my health, so I don’t even bother to ask.)

And then off she goes until next year…

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Speaking of taking care of the many cats, though–

Some really great news!

My birth mom called me yesterday afternoon and said that she’s going to be able to come here to take care of my cats when I go to North Carolina at the end of September!

Apparently, when my younger sister found out that I would be away and that cat sitters were going to be here, she told our mom: “No. I’ll take you to Marilyn’s and you can take care of her cats. And while you’re gone, I’ll look after your garden.”

So, wow, gang. That made both of us so happy. (My mom had been worried that she’d lose her tomato harvest if she came here to look after my cats.)

I much prefer it when my birth mom is here. The cats love her and she’s really good with cats. Plus she takes such good care of my house, too.

Not my actual birth mom

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Actually, my birth mom is still a brunette, even though she’s 79 now. I am the only one in my birth family whose hair went totally white by age 40.

What’s with that?

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Okay.

Here’s this! I thought it was pretty cool.

Filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan has a personal YouTube channel!

This is the short introductory video from the other day (2 mins):

And this was his first actual video from over the weekend (16 mins):

You can view or join his channel HERE.

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Johnny Depp has MORE art in ANOTHER country (Germany) at another gallery! (Or, um, palace…)

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And here’s this!

Keith and Dr. John. One smoking, both laughing:

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Bad Seed George Vjestica posted some great end-of-tour photos.

Here’s one of them! (Photo by fellow Bad Seed, Colin Greenwood!)

And here’s the soundtrack to George’s photos!! The beautiful Rolling Stones song, “Moonlight Mile”! From their legendary album Sticky Fingers, 1971:

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And, yes, it’s sad but true — now that the tour is over, here is my one & only photo of Nick Cave for today.

But it’s a good one!!

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And I guess that is it for today.

The rest of my week looks pretty nice, gang.

The book editing project is complete. So I can now focus on my own (new) writing for a little bit, and then on Thursday, I will probably head to town to have lunch with my Q-following girlfriend that I haven’t been able to hook up with for lunch for a couple of months!!

And then I’m also going to stop in at both of those bookstores in town that will be carrying my book (in 12 days!!).

Maybe I can find out the date for when the book signing will be, too.

Other than that–

Enjoy your Monday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this!!

And dedicate it to Nick Cave and his fantastic tour of Europe and the UK, 2026!!

Barry Manilow, “I Write the Songs”!! 1975. Enjoy, gang!!

“I Write the Songs”

I’ve been alive forever
And I wrote the very first song
I put the words and the melodies together
I am music, and I write the songs

I write the songs that make the whole world sing
I write the songs of love and special things
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
I write the songs, I write the songs

My home lies deep within you
And I’ve got my own place in your soul
Now when I look out through your eyes
I’m young again, even though I’m very old

I write the songs that make the whole world sing
I write the songs of love and special things
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
I write the songs, I write the songs

Oh, my music makes you dance
And gives your spirit to take a chance
And I wrote some rock ‘n’ roll, so you can move
Music fills your heart, well, that’s a real fine place to start
It’s from me, it’s for you
It’s from you, it’s from me
It’s a worldwide symphony

I write the songs that make the whole world sing
I write the songs of love and special things
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
I write the songs, I write the songs

I write the songs that make the whole world sing
I write the songs of love and special things
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
I write the songs, I write the songs

I am music (music), and I write the songs…

c -1975 Bruce Johnston