last night (7:30 am sleepless at heathrow or thereabouts) was the last of this short UK stint, Southend, a large sold out show at one of those old theaters that are cooler to play at, i had a really good sound on stage… see the sound varies considerably from one place to the next, its like the place that we are in becomes part of the equipment, adds or detracts a lot to whats going on with the band… so about three songs from the end the power went out on stage (!) the only other time i can remember something similar was in Bangkok but that wasnt really the same so this was a first of sorts, it came back on and then went out again during the last song ‘one way’ so it made for a kind of anti climax to say the least, clem threw some cymbals at the crowd and kevin demolished his little usb keyboard and passed out the bits… back to NY shortly… next thing is a tv show in the US… thats gonna have the duet w Shirley Manson, years back we toured with her early band ‘Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie’, the name is a reference to the bowie film i presume… i am looking forward to that we have a special number we are gonna try and pull off on the 8th i believe is the upcoming Ramones benefit in NYC, the dough from it is gonna go to two cancer foundations in behalf of Joey and Johnny… we all knew that John was in trouble but it is still a drag to have all of these guys go down like that… this business is mega fucking frustrating, we all are filled with dissapointments and so much loss and things we would have done differently, i guess its the same for everyone, but being in a position of supposed influence while at the same time feeling stifled and held back is kind of the way things work for many of us in the rock and roll field… its sad that the Ramones are being recognized on a greater scale now that they arent around… how many times can one say the same stuff; that the Ramones should have been in the same league as the Beatles or Stones while they were still here etc etc i was closer to Joey and Tommy than to John but i always was a Johnny supporter, there was a period about ten years ago and i dont have a clue why, but i was the only one with Johnnys ‘secret’ phone number and Joey or some one else would call me and say like “please tell Johnny we need to talk to him…” this state of affairs went on for a few months and i dont remember how it resolved itself, i suppose it sort of never did… those guys craziness was no doubt a big part of their genius… really the end of an era here lastly thanks to Takeshi our main Japanese travelling fan… he brought me a copy of a pre-DVD sampler from the upcoming long awaited part two of “GHOST IN THE SHELL”, this second one now many years later is titled “INNOCENCE”, this is major breakthrough stuff, you heard it here “Innocence” is going to tear the ass of the anime world big time its some of the most amazing animation ive seen and i havent even seen the whole film yet… a few weeks ago i showed Kevin the first “Ghost” film on the bus, i’d really forgotten how the whole of the opening sequence as well as the titles were lifted by Matrix… the streaming vertical green glowing type that everyone associates with matrix is taken note for note from ghost, anyone whos into anime etc and isnt already familiar should catch up in time for the US release of Innocence… why do DVD palyers all refuse different regional types? in San Francisco i bought an all region player for just sixty nine bucks that i’ve been watching all the Asian stuff on, what is the deal with that? who makes the money?

firstly im proud to announce that i got a couple of pictures up on http://www.streetmattress.com one is at http://www.streetmattress.com/sm.php?mattress=5096 and the other is at http://www.streetmattress.com/sm.php?mattress=5094 i forget how i came upon streetmattress, probably in a search for “weirdness” as before im fairly disturbed about the pissed off cranky nature of the election, the media, the way sides are being drawn etc etc its really fucking depressing… i have to say one thing here and maybe i will give it up for a bit, everyone knows how i feel about the war etc you know we have been travelling for the past year, we’ve been all over europe, in spain, england, italy, switzerland, holland, belgium, and many other countries (check the tour dates) in all of these places i talk to people all the time, not just to fans and rock and roll types but to people who work in shops, in airports, cab drivers, people on the street on and on… now you have to believe me on this EVERYONE, EVERYONE i talked to about the war and about US foreign policy thinks that america is making bad decisions in regard to how its handling its image in the world… we were in a cab someplace i cant even remember what country, and the driver asked where we were from “New York” someone said to which the guy said “oh this is a bad time to be an American” the media here doesnt report this stuff at all and im afraid that the reaction of many is “go back to russia” etc its a drag supreme that one cant criticize ones countrys policies without opening oneself up to attacks gotta go to sound check

San Francisco… several days spent wandering in chinatown, fantastic the one here though i cant always help but think that it must have really rocked in SF a hundred years ago… but great dvd stores (an amazing film by ‘audition’ director Takashi Miike, [im starting to think this guy is the best living film director aside from Marty] “Bird People of China”, why doesnt this stuff get US releases? uncanny… now i have to apologize big time for my comments about “the Chronicles of Riddick” which i had suggested was gonna be bad several postings back… i should have had more faith in director Twohy and i thought ‘Riddick’ was almost totally great, i understand that it didnt do well in general release and was only out a short time (i saw it in a hotel which is where i see most current films) i could have done without all of the ‘Dune’ references and there is a weird timeline thing in the supposed five year period between films that seems more like two thousand (in the story) but i guess they figured that the majority of kids who are gonna see it have never been exposed to ‘Dune’… i escape into films and writing… fifty more days till the election and id like to think that even if bush does win things wont turn to total shit, in the airport every magazine has a picture of w on the cover and i keep fluctuating about his chances… its quite depressing to feel things so polarized in america, that people are so cranky about politics that everything else is tossed out… i guess the biggest disapointment for me is just being out in huge crowds of people who are all dressed in uniforms, have lost so much of their individuality and are driven by desires for the shallowest manufactured goals… SF on labor day week end, host to hordes of tourists, much bigger homeless population than in other cities, so amidst the clone masses these poor beat up men and women begging for handouts on all the street corners… still there are enough freaks to keep things upbeat around here… kevin and i keep fantasizing about going out to burning man for two days but in reality im gonna have to wait for next year… B, thanx so much for reading to me on the phone yesterday… much ‘respect’ and love as a late addition one of the uk fans sent a link to an article that seems to support my view about international feelings about the election and the US http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3640754.stm it’s polls from around the world check it

just a couple of things: its pretty grotesque to see and feel the level of anger and animosity that the current election climate has engendered… the other day the post headline that americans owe it to the 9-11 victims to vote for bush was downright surreal, it made me wonder why he, bush, doesnt recieve more criticism for being the guy in charge when this horror was perpetrated in the first place… ive even gotten a few ‘crank’ messages saying i should refrain from discussing anything besides music and that i should stop ‘spreading hate’ (someone really wrote that and here i thought i was a love advocate)… i know i often just scan shit on the net without really reading it and i got a presumably well meaning message from someone who said why didnt i see that the michael moore film was propaganda… this guy obviously didnt check out all of my writings or missed the bit where i said the Fahrenheit film was propaganda but its about time there was some coming from the other side or something to that effect… the convention in nyc was certainly an odd event, there was a full page story again in the post about all of the weird personal ads placed by weird new yorkers soliciting conservative visitors for sex… like “submissive republican wanted for abuse” etc apparently this was a trend that i doubt got much national attention… i read and recommend Dee Dee Ramones funny and sad book “Legend of a Rock Star”, it struck a lot of chords and made me feel bad about his passing all over again, honestly the paintings are ok but there was something genuinely great about his writing… “Chelsea Horror Hotel” also is oddly brilliant there is something going on there that transcends just the weird ass comic book quality of that is what one gets on first impression, there is a powerful psychological basis in his writing about childhood fears translated into the real world, all of his longings and fantasies etc… its really too bad he just didnt hang around and write some more, i know i would have liked to see what he came up with later on we are in Tacoma (and i havent seen anyone with a plaid shirt yet) for the next ‘leg’ (thats what we call the different sections of the endless tour here) everybody in the band (well except for just one member) including myself is deep into Ali-G, this guy is a fucking comedic genius… i only recently discovered him, saw the movie in the UK and then went on to watch the show… initially i didnt get what he was about i just thought it was some mtv hip hop thing, we all sit around during bus rides watching the show and now that the first season is out on dvd everyone is going to be doing his bits endlessly… we watched the ‘day after tomorrow’ on the plane, what a load o crap, what happened to the polar bears from the zoo huh?? plus i think the statue of liberty was facing the wrong way… its fucking amazing, the credits must have had several hundred names maybe even five hundred i think tomorrow is “the burn” at burning man, i wish we could have made it this year, barbara and i have missed two in a row now, mostly cause of that crazy baby, next year for sure… if any of you out there at black rock city come upon this “stay hot!!”

briefly, we all were very pissed about Alanta being rained out, we all stayed until it started raining the second time, the guys in the psychedelic furs stayed on as well i just wanted to personally say i’m sorry that anyone was dissappointed and hope we can get back soon to make it up… we’ve only had to cancel maybe two other shows that i can remember… today in Asheville N.C. we went on the tour of Thomas Wolfes mothers boarding house that is the setting of his first novel “Look Homeward Angel” Nashville was fun, so many younger kids, we all enjoyed playing after being off

out to the mother or is it father land in three days or so, (do any of you ww2 students get as nervous about the use of the word ‘homeland’ as some of us liberal leftists?) heres some stuff all culled from ‘adbusters’: about 300,000 people born every day, almost equal to the entire current population of great apes… human mass exceeds the body mass by 100 of any species that ever existed including dinosaurs… world population expected to exceed 9 billion by 2050 kids born now obviously still around… heres a good one: UN panel on climate control says that business as usual “economic growth” could cause a rise of 6 degrees centigrade in global temperatures… a similar 6 degree rise 251 million years ago at the end of the Permian period is believed to have wiped out 95% of the worlds species in 2003 half of the worlds cement output and a third of its steel went to china… 1.5 billion tons of coal this figure expected to double by 2020, only the US imports more oil… if the chinese get up to american standards it will be like having another 3 united states… i think the point here is that america is not a good role model at the moment, its kind of like in high school where the bully is emulated for all the wrong reasons… lets not forget we are in the KALI YUGA, (see http://pages.zoom.co.uk/thuban/html/kaliyuga.html or http://www.blavatsky.net/theosophy/judge/articles/kali-yuga.htm or just put it into google lots out there) in hindu religion the last of the four cycles before they start up again, 200,000 years to go by some reckonings, if you subscribe to this stuff or not the age of kali is generally described as the age of rampant materialism, the winter of the four great seasons etc etc so on a lighter note of rampant materialism saw AVP today and its a shame when one starts to see Lance Henriksen as a good actor, its like fuck the psychology and anyone actually “having a feeling” about anything on stage when we’ve got these kick ass special effects, but its funny about the predators though its like “Damn dis is what these guys do for fun!!??” they must have some sense of humor, what is a predator stand up like?… at least they gave Giger a fucking screen credit, i was prepared to be really pissed off especially since they co-opted his current spiral alien logo for numerous spots on their sets, i still dont like that stan winston or whoever gets “creature effects” … still had to suffer through the miserable horrid humiliating series of commercials that precede the damn film (barbara just pointed out that the ones in the damn film are bad enough)… maybe after the election i could try and organize something about this hideous practice, its as unbelievable as all of the above stuff that people put up with this… every little bit that we give up, give in to adds up to the big stuff like mentioned above…

back in the us, today went to the city (new york), in a cab, driver says: “we better go uptown on the west side cause there is an orange alert”, i say “oh al queda is only hanging out on the east side?” thnx for all of the encouraging sentiments regarding the moore film, somebody around me made a great point which is why the fuck arent we exposed to bits of media like bush sitting in the classroom after the attack, this stuff is all out there who decides what is released for public consumption… we are trying to get ‘rock the vote’ or some voter registration group to be at the US shows, i should know pretty soon if this is accomplished… let us not forget that the last election was one of the worst attended ever… more to follow pretty soon

briefly, we apparently will have reps of ‘rock the vote’ and or other voter registration groups at upcoming US blondie shows… i can only personally urge any of you who havent done so to come prepared to take a little extra time to get down with this if you havent already done so on your own… again the election that got bush into power was one of the worst attended in US history and its grim to think that just a few more people could have made the difference… how fucked is it that the republican convention is placed in new york to capitalize on 9-11 when the bush administration reneged on most of the promises that were made in the immediate aftermath of the attacks…

Vigo Spain, Guilfest was a struggle but we managed to have a good time… festivals without soundchecks and the crew only having a short setup time are difficult situations, we use ear monitors and when we got to the stage mine kept cutting out and i could only pray and fly blind while hoping that my guitar was on in the house… i finally stabilized about half way through, very much like flying some kind of weird ass vehicle, for sure… it was really nice to see Dave and The Captain from the damned, Strangler members etc., very much like highschool reunion or something… Captains teenage daughter was on hand and i couldnt help but wondering about Ak’s hanging out with us in later years even if i wonder how much longer we can do this stuff for, “the steel wheelchair tour” etc. so again a brief thank you to the UK fans and supporters for being so terrific, back in sept.

so Fahrenheit 9/11 in Cork Ireland with a fairly full house at 2:30 in the afternoon no less… what the hell can you say, DH kept saying she felt ill on the walk back to the hotel (Leigh, Paul, Kevin and me all went together) i sincerely hope enough people see the film, i know its propaganda but its about time we got the other side put forward like that in a package for the masses, (for myself i think that the truth is even more awful than what the film portrays and that Moore had to hold back somewhat to get the thing released at all and to not be labled a complete maniac paranoid) in new york the very pro-bush NY Post condemned it as being badly done and i’ve seen similar reports here and there in the conservative brit press… i can only urge you to make up your own minds etc etc and for those of you who think we need to change things… a reaction i had was something that i always am dealing with; how badly distracted from the real issues of our time the youth of today are, what the fuck is it gonna take to get people active in 2004? entertainment and video is fine but i just know too many people who think that films and music are more important than whats going on in the world… (no doubt this may strike some of you as ironic coming from someone who works in the music/show biz industry, i know its certainly ironic to me) i can see why the film won the prize at Cannes if only someone had been able to put such an eloquent statement together during Viet Nam… this is one of the good things about our age of deep communication… also thanx to Miramax for having the balls to back this thing… about it, again really no more room for warfare in the world today, (believe me i love kung-fu movies, swords, guns etc etc, but this stuff should be left in the realm of entertainment, leave it to Quentin to do not to people we elect to help us) (oh yeah seeing the movie in Ireland was funny cause we were the only ones laughing at a lot of the shots of Bush and pals being ridiculous, i wondered if it hit the local crowd the way it did us) once more go see Fahrenheit 9/11, drag people to see it