12-21-08 LA CA: 1644 hrs. An interesting week full of irony and moments cause one to pause. I did the bronze mask thing with Peter Harper. He’s a good guy, very smart and sharp. I was made to lie down on a table while he put a mixture of olive oil and bees wax on my face, straws were put up my nose for breathing purposes and then my face was completely covered with some kind of quick drying material. There I was, lying still, trying to keep my face relaxed while Heidi poked me, talk about suffering for art. It was all over in less than an hour and my skin is radiant from the olive oil.
As it always does, the anniversary of the murder of my old friend Joe Cole came around on the 19th. It was 17 years ago but many aspects of the incident are still very fresh in my mind and there is a certain element of déjà vu involved I am sure. What gets to me the most is the waste, the loss of it all. I think Joe’s 30’s would have been a great time for him. I believe he would have accomplished a lot but it was all taken away from him and the rest of us for nothing. The information hasn’t changed since it all happened but at times it saddens and frustrates more than at others. It’s never an easy time and there’s nothing to do about this kind of thing, you just deal with it in your own way. With things like this happening in America all the time, almost, if not every night of the year, someone in America is having their own version of this on some awful level. Over the years, people have written to me about similar things that happened to them and the stories are as awful as almost anything you can imagine. It’s hard to think that they are talking about the same country you’re living in but they are.
So, on the 19th, while thinking about my friend, I went to a studio near the airport to take part in a photo session I had agreed to do with GQ magazine. I am not exactly sure what the thing will look like in its final form. I think they were photographing different people from bands. I did a bunch of photos with Exene Cervenka, John Doe and Keith Morris. I am a huge fan of all three so it was fun for me to see them and to be in some pictures with them. Keith is to me, one of the best frontmen of all time. He’s the original and best singer of the band Black Flag, Exene and John are from the legendary band X. I have been seeing these people play for almost 30 years now. What they wanted us for GQ is beyond all four of us I think but it was a good time. The best part of it all was after we did the photos, we all sat down and did an interview. The things the other three had to say were really interesting. Keith talking about seeing AC/DC at the Whiskey and hanging out with the band after the show merely by walking into the dressing room, Keith Morris and Bonn Scott in the same room, that’s too much to get your head around! What’s more, all those times you read about when the Los Angeles scene was starting, you’re sitting in a room with three of those people and everything they say is pretty special. It was hearing what they had to say that made the long drive back into town worth burning an entire afternoon for such trivialities.
I recorded three new radio broadcasts for my radio show and posted another thing at Vanity Fair
Besides all the normal office stuff, that was the week. We will be sending Live At McCabe’s and Human Butt off to the pressing plant very soon so those two awful old things will be back in print soon. I think HB sounds better, thanks to some channel steerage and level adjustment by Chuck Dead Air in remastering. The new book, A Preferred Blur is almost done and should be off to the printer early in the year. The limited 1st edition will be really cool.
Well then, until next Sunday or whenever you read this, thanks for doing so and be careful over the holiday season, we will be needing you in 2009. –Henry
PS: Someone sent me the link to this short video on the Youtubes, I thought it was interesting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLBE5QAYXp8.