Debbie asked me to specially thank everyone who got together to get her the birthday present of…? a trip to a spa in NYC? something like that IM not sure but she said she cant wait to go also everyone else who sent her greetings and stuff for her birthday thanx again all of you for the nice remarks, a lot of these hotels have high speed connections which make computer life much easier… if only the goddamn windows would open, one weirdass aspect of this particular tour is the constant air conditioning, im freezing a lot of the time with occasional blasts of horrendous heat… i find myself sort of brain dead during the down time, haven’t had the patience to read, i have been spending a lot of time in the world of grand theft auto 3, i can understand somewhat why various parents groups would mistakenly object to a game whose object is destruction and mayhem as one climbs the ladder of criminality while engaging in bloody high speed pursuits and shoot outs with the police… but as usual confusion reigns as video games, professional wrestling, M&M etc etc etc are given the rap as being the causes of things that they’re really the result of im continually amazed at the difference between individual and mass intelligence, what everyone will put up with as it comes drooling and puking out of tv’s and radios disguised as information and ‘news’…this week and last debates about whether or not the media is merely stirring up fears in its approach to the supposed ‘wave’ of child abductions, is there really a rash of kidnappings or is it just sensational journalism… i saw somebody make the point that although crime statistics have been steadily decreasing for the last ten years the reporting and focus on crime in the media has increased proportionately, the grinning chick reporter wonders dumbly why we cant focus on the ‘good’ things in the news, (presumably stories about flower gardens and cute kittens rather than death and violence) i cant tell if this is stupidity or just blatant hypocrisy… so STILL no one in all of this babble EVER EVER addresses the crux of the matter which is very simply peoples morbid fascinations and how they’re dealt with…dont you think its about time people just could say ” uh, yeah i like to watch car crashes, seeing death and destruction fascinates me, maybe it makes me feel more alive, gets my fear fed adrenaline going, im attracted to things that terrify me…” etc etc how long is this all going to be part of the ‘big lie’ that underlies american culture on so many levels… does anybody really fucking believe that they want to see the story about the guy who had his face removed so that they can gain deep insight into his courage or his wife’s self sacrifice? that the reason for watching “best police pursuit crashes” is for getting driving tips?… i think i’ve raved along these lines previously but of course its business as usual, nothings changed, the line between entertainment and ‘news’ continues to erode, by 2004 i think most network news broadcasts will have soundtracks of sentimental music accompanying stories… all of this eats away subtly at the quality of life, things get a little bit dumber and false and no one seems to give a shit (when we were in the UK a few years back we went to a movie and were surprised to see regular product ads, commercials, running before the film, before even the trailers for other upcoming movies; “gee…” i naively said, “no one in america would stand for this!” hah! i’ve heard that cd’s will eventually have audio advertisements on them) pretty soon we’re gonna see the big gear up for the 9-11 anniversary which promises to be absolutely nauseating in its lack of dignity and level of exploitation… anyway if anyone has any tips on secret stuff in GRAND THEFT AUTO let me know, i still haven’t been able to get off the first island… when does the tunnel open? when does the bridge get fixed?… what else? well i hope everyone understands about the autograph/photo deal, debbie and i frequently talk about how to deal with requests, she specially gets frustrated about having to turn down people who want there pic taken with her, all i can do is assure you that she wont decline for any kind of ego related reason, that generally its quite the opposite; that she feels unattractive, isn’t made up, is preoccupied, or just feeling private thanks again…also dont hesitate to ask stuff, the postings here have all the info about the next record so as far as that goes just go over the older stuff ive written, i’m sure you all are smart maybe there’s something that you’d like to know about that everyone else might think was interesting… send more pictures see you chris

ten-twelve hour bus from Orlando to myrtle beach here…i frequently wonder if i should just stay on the bus, a major pain is getting to sleep on it for a few hours and then not being able to get back asleep when we arrive and enter the hotel… but the pacing of everything is pretty relaxing all in all, grogginess isn’t cumulative, and if anything there’s an abundance of extra time… its always great to be out in the summer… one forgets… here ive got a room overlooking the beach and the warm winds blowing in are really great, very luxurious… last night was really great at Orlando house of blues… the different rooms we play in are like instruments, the sound in each one is unique to itself, now that we’ve gotten the stage volume finally under control after years of struggle im much more appreciative of the texture changes from one venue to the next… i think pumping out a louder level of sound makes the audio clash with and overpower the nuances and subtleties of the room and i much prefer having the acoustics of the place become part of the sound… i’ve really never been a volume freak, the volume issue is a constant debate in rock and roll and i really am pretty solidly on the side that attributes power to content and style rather than to loud presentation, Robert Johnson, Lightning Hopkins etc etc, no amps but still full of power… in a similar context the audience of course contributes heavily to how i feel on stage, it is a tribal event after all, interactive…Atlanta was strange with the dinner vibe and i got a few messages referring to it…the audience reaction to the songs has also changed the set around a bit, we’ve replaced one or two that didnt seem to hold attention, for ex not too many are familiar with “love comes in spurts” or “see no evil” but while the latter stands up on its own and keeps getting an enthusiastic response, it turned out that “spurts” wasn’t getting nearly as warm a welcome, probably would only appeal on a home movie level just pleasing someone who was closely related, familiar…we’ll try it again in the UK, (its curious to see the difference in reactions there… those who assume the UK and US to be similar due to the common language are victims of a misconception that probably goes back to WW2 when it was necessary to stress political bonds socially)i for one am really looking forward to getting back to England,i wish we were there for a longer period…i dont know anything about INXS except for their name, ive likely heard some of their music without knowing who it was, i mention this since getting a couple of messages regarding the wisdom of the bill, hope it works ok i wish we/i could have a “hands on” approach to everything but it never seems possible, i frequently have to defer to the opinions of others who are out of the artistically creative circle of the band, people who have a better grasp of the business end of things; its nice to want to do a double cd but it would make it more expensive and even later with its release, etc. over the next year or so i hope to start working on some of my own things outside of blondie, beyond that we all are always talking about doing this or that odder project together but a lot of that means we have to be stable enough and at present its still a struggle getting blondie really established, this sounds weird right?… along these lines i just saw SYLVAIN of the NEW YORK DOLLS who we’ve known since the beginning, we were reminiscing and were amused to have both noticed the same phenomena; that various trashy clothing knock off outlets in new york sell t-shirts that say “New York Dolls” and that we both saw them worn by little teenage girls who dont have a clue that the words refer to a band im gonna sign off for now, ill continue in a few days when i think of more to report… as usual thanx so much for the writing, i have finally started getting approached by people who say they see the site, i haven’t checked out the chat thing that i hear is on the site but maybe i can get on and write live at some point i really have been enjoying the shows as much as you all say you have, nice its working out all around… dont hesitate to send me pictures and or weirdness… i hope this posting wasn’t too serious… ill definitely be at “burning man” again this year, Barbs and i will be at the post office all 4 now love chris

from Ouspensky again: “…art which does not reveal mysteries, which does not lead to the sphere of the Unknown, does not yield new knowledge, is a parody of art, and still more often it is not even a parody, but simply a commerce or an industry.” and dude wrote that in like 1915 or so… wonder what he’d think of the current state of affairs ol’ P. D. Ouspensky is pretty dense stuff, it takes me quite a while to get through one of his books but i’d heartily recommend it to anyone who wants to try and stretch their brain a bit, i find that studying his writing has the effect of making me think less about the dumbass side effects of what goes on in the world and more about the basic human condition, about why the human race seems to only be able to ‘rise downward’ as it were… theres a great film playing on cable tv these days entitled i think “grass” or such, is the history of marijuana ‘reform’ and legislation in the US… beyond the questions of drug use what i got out of it is just the general way terror media tactics have always been used here to influence popular opinion, it never fails to amaze… apparently there was a period following the civil war where morphine, heroin, cocaine and various related heavy ass stuff was readily available to the american public in the form of “remedies” for this and that… interestingly, a great deal of this use was the province of the middle rather than lower classes since they were the strata of society who could afford doctors… just when the problems and dangers of addiction were about to come into focus suddenly along comes the ‘horrors of the killer weed’ etc etc completely diluting and adding a layer of insane bullshit to the whole subject… i’ve always thought that the post WW2 generation had none but the fuzziest information available to them about drug use, the results being that me and a lot of others who came up in the sixties were a lot less cautious than perhaps they should have… and of course this relates to the way so much is dealt with here, young people who have to cut through layers of lies and misinformation arent going to bother to question etc etc thanx again for the baby related encouragement and advice it really is much appreciated… the american deal seems to be almost done so we should have an actual release date for the next record pretty soon, (while working on the thing for so fucking long i of course wondered if it was any good but having been away from hearing it and being confronted with the finished thing i think its really fantastic, one of the best ones etc etc) great electrical storm here last night, first one this season… i got a great letter, i quote: “but, cHRIST, aren’t you a little old to be cranking out kids?? I’ll never understand you Hollywood types…” …i love it,… yeah, like i was just saying to ben and j-lo the other day “well the baby isnt born yet but at least its got a good agent…” all 4 now love chris

back in nyc for a day or so, tomorrow is the nyc show at jones beach… gratifying to hear everyone likes the direction of the tour, set, etc… i have really been enjoying these shows a lot, tempted to say ‘more than in the past’ but stuff like that is so realative and i cant really be sure its true as ive gone through so many different incarnations within the band… all that aside i HAVE been liking these shows a lot, somehow they feel less like work and more like play the american cities are just weird i cant figure why some are so seemingly hip and youth oriented while everyone on the steet dresses so conservatively… i couldnt believe the fucking statue of mary tyler moore in minneapolis… thus far i havent been able to talk to too many of you, we generally get in the bus and leave after the show… i regretted not taking my laptop and will have it for the next leg… id like to write more but “time” is limited right now… what else… oh the hip hop exhibit at the walker museum in minneapolis was totally great anyone around there should try and catch it… so far ive run into WYCLIFF, THE ROOTS, and DANZIG in various hotels… i was also playing “GRAND THEFT AUTO” on the bus and noticed debbies ‘scarface’ song “RUSH RUSH” in it, (also debbie is going to be a voice on the next one i think)… im really sorry that anyone has trouble getting into any of the shows due to age restrictions, that sucks as far as the band is concerned and i would just recommend some creative i.d. usage to try and get around it… i dont know what we could do about it now that we’re already booked into places with restrictions… ill try and report at greater length from the road when i have more down time in hotels etc thanx again as usual you all rock chris

back in ny after first three shows… thnx for the comments as usual everyone seems to have enjoyed the shows… we’ve made some changes in the band setup, (yeah this doesnt refer to jimmy’s absence of course, he’s got some stuff going on that he couldnt avoid attending to and will catch up with the tour as soon as possible, his keyboard/synth tech kevin who’s job is usually dealing with sequence triggers, acting as extra hands is doing a great job of filling in) we set up closer together now, clem is playing electric drums that produce much lower stage volume and as a result doesnt have to be isolated like last time, no side fills, everyone is using ear monitors including clem, and i never drink anymore… theres prob some stuff im forgetting but so far the sets have felt different to me, i cant speak for everyone else but i feel more in control relaxed… we’re still puzzling over the set, i see that those of you whove written are liking the material we picked, it was totally debbies idea to make the show more rock, harder… the two new songs are “diamond bridge” and “golden rod”… everyone recognises “havana affair” by the RAMONES but im not sure how many know “love comes in spurts” which was writ by RICHARD HELL/JOHNNY THUNDERS and performed by the HEARTBREAKERS… when the HEARTBREAKERS split up so did the song, it became JOHNNY’S “one track mind” with the same music and RICHARD’S second version of “love comes in spurts” with a slight alteration of the chord sequence, any way we’re doing the original version which i always liked the best of the three, also we’re playing “see no evil” by TOM VERLAINE and TELEVISION which is an all time classic rock song and fun to play… im still a bit concerned that the general audience will want more of the ‘standards’, but we’ll see how it goes over the next few dates… it was nice standing in the warm rain with the troops in st. paul… as yet i havent been approached by anyone who mentioned the site… today im back in nyc, next show is in walker mn. see you chris

 i was gonna send this in and ask barry to attach it to the last bit but i see that hes already put it up so i guess this is really the actual final pre tour yak
amazingly i sent in the last posting about six hours ago, in the meantime i went uptown and did a very small amount of work on two new songs we’ve got going,earlier i’d called Arturo Vega of RAMONES fame (hes the guy who does all their graphics, invented the eagle logo etc etc though id expect the majority of you all to know that) about the poem i referred to that Dee Dee wrote about Joey
Artie, as he’s known, sent it to me a few hours ago so here’s the whole e-mail i got from him:

 Hey Chris, this is exactly the way DeeDee wrote it, he did not care much for grammar

JOEY

I LIKE DRAGONS SO MUCH THAT I LOOKED UP AT THE SKY TO TRY AND SEE ONE. I SPOTTED ONE IMMEDIATELY IT WAS A SEA DRAGON DESGUISED AS THE TIP OF A CLOUD FRAMING ITSELF IN A BEAUTIFUL BLUE SKY.

IMAGINE ONE FLYING OVER ONE OF THE MEADOWS HIGH ABOVE NEW YORK CITIES CENTRAL PARK ONE CROWDED SUNDAY AFTERNOON. MAYBE THIS DRAGON COULD BE JOEY RAMONE.

HE’D HAVE TWO FLASHING AND LOVING EYES AND WOULD WINK DOWN AT EVERYBODY STAIRING UP AT HIM IN AMAZEMENT. THEN HE WOULD SPREAD HIS FIRERY WINGS AND FLY TOWARDS THE SUN TO CALIFORNIA TO BE WITH ME AND JOHN.

I DON’T SEE WHY NOT. HE COULD BE A BEAUTIFUL GOLDEN AMBER ONE WITH A SILVER LIGHTENING AMBIANCE RADIATING FROM HIS BODY AND HIS WINGS.

DEEDEE RAMONE

im not exactly sure when he did it, sometime soon after Joey died… i first saw it before Dee Dee joined him to fly around… its even more intense now, i dont know if Dee Dee was too familiar with Wm. Blake, but i get those images from it…
  oh yeah the amazing thing is that even though its only hours later i got some responses from the thing i put up before
    see you all
       c

rehersals are almost done, soo i wake up in the morning usually very early sometimes like today at around 5 o’clock am… this is really fucking weird as most of my life was spent waking at like 1pm like a normal person after walking the dog and attending to various other ritualistic behavior i got to the computr in the crowded front room here, we’re on the ground floor and the front door is always open to the street beyond the loading dock, just keep the gate closed to prevent animal exodus or intrusion, though the latter is unlikely as the dog looks threatening though he is a great wimp… today as a result of not having checked up in a while i weeded through some 70 messages from you all… this took a while… thankx again for all the words of support this whole deal with the site has become a genuine source of inspiration for me and i printed out a few letters for debbie to check out like the one from the kid who said we helped him when he was struggling with his gay orientation as a teenager, this stuff is always really moving and real and doing what we do its very easy to feel ‘unreal’ about ones self as to the record im amused and amazed by the occasional note of outrage by someone who wants to know ‘what the fuck youve been doing working on it for so long etc.’ … i do recall thinking the same stuff when i was younger, i distinctly remember wondering why mick taylor (the stones guitarist after Brian Jones) would take a year or more to make his solo record … its really pretty simple i mean damn, does anyone actually think that im sitting around in some recording studio for months on end like ‘oh lets take three days to play this note’ the time actually spent on the recording gets interrupted for whatever reason and the lack of rhythm as a result is frustrating as hell… ive heard stories of people actually being in a studio situation for long periods but in our case we’ve never spent more than maybe three months total working on an album i dont know why i feel compelled to report this as i am fairly sure just about everyone gets the idea (as a matter of fact on checking i see that its just the one dude who i must admit did get my attention by bitching and whining but we aim to please and i’d never stoop so low as to tell this guy to fuck off and blow me as that would be ungentlemanly) this is probably the last time ill write from new york before the touring starts, i hope to keep it up from the road with my shitty slow lap top… yesterday i walked down the west side hiway with debbie as she went to get her car… all around the city is just overloaded with the signs of prosperity and growth, everywhere little fancy galleries and cafes all hi tech and modern where there used to be just empty space and areas that people never went to… and i had a flash that its taken all the time since world war two for the global economy to fine tune itself to where its at now that there wont be another depression in the west that everyone is set up… but this is a fucking horrible thing because the world is now more than ever one single place and the prosperity of the west is directly connected to the misery of the rest of the third world and the death and starvation of countless people, the destruction of vast areas of environment and the mass killing of animals…i know that this may come off as just a bunch of rhetoric but i am regularly confronted with the idea that immersing my self in the material world of american pop culture just isnt enough… so all of you when you come to see us just remember that it just is no joke how lucky we are and maybe that our relationship with the world is a lot more fragile than we think, that maybe we have no right to live these easy lives at the expense of others, and that youre not going to see these ideas on the 6 o’clock news and as a matter of fact the establishment is always going to take the line that you deserve what you have at any cost… so again this stuff though perhaps disturbing is what i have on my mind and laying it on you guys is about all i can do right now as far as “doing something” goes thanks for bearing with me, i hope to get to speak to some of you this summer, dont be shy about saying you have read the site stuff… im really sorry to come off so grim but hey im right down the block from “ground zero” and thats as real as one can get… we all will miss Dee Dee too, theres this great poem he wrote about Joey being a dragon that should be somewhere on their official site ill check and if its not there put it here eventually love to you all chris

once again im really brought up by everyone’s response to another delay in another one of our projects… i cant thank you all enough for being so understanding and generous in your reactions, everyone with almost no exception said they didn’t mind waiting etc… i don’t mean to get overly sentimental but i really have a ‘thing’ about disappointing the fans who in a way are the purest part of the whole system… (i know for ex that debbie feels bad when she’s hustled past groups of autograph seekers, stuff like that is unavoidable unfortunately) i didn’t really expect to get such immediate feedback…. im sorry to the dude who is worried that us “pissing around” with the record for too long is in his opinion going to be detrimental but i think aside from him everyone else i heard from has got a good idea of what goes on one of the messages i got, from Els in belgium is worth noting; here’s an excerpt I’m starting to understand the music-buzz a bit now, I always thought it was simple to record an album and release it, but now I’m getting the fact that it’s not all up to the artists but more up to the people behind the scene that are pulling the strings. A “friend”of mine “Katrina Leskanich”, she’s the former singer of the band Katrina and the Waves, has been busy with her first solo album, and that’s been delayed over and over again as well. that sums up the basics… the conflicts for me arise from trying to understand my motivations for doing this in the first place, trying to work in the system, produce mass art that at the same time is personal etc etc once again you all have made my day… debbie had been really disappointed by the delay and i know she’ll be cheered by you’alls comments more rehearsing today thanx agggggainnn chris

first the bad news ( i guess) doesnt look like the album is gonna get out till next year… its just been too slow with various breakdowns and large gaps of off time in the sessions… the good news is that i for one will try and make the album bigger, we are gonna keep on working on material so theres a chance it could have a lot of stuff on it… (simply, like everything else there are formulas that dictate release schedules, ‘windows’ where albums are put out en masse by the major labels…) aside from that plans are also afoot to get to the UK this year im sorry for the delay we thought that we could make the fall release dates but its not gonna be… we’ve got about 14 songs done as well as artwork etc (all of it needs to be mixed though and this way at least we can add new material and really perfect it…) for me the mixing is the main problem right now, i wouldnt put it out the way it is, i know debbie and jimmy agree even though we’re disappointed at the delay…. im trying to keep this on an even keel, not rant about finances etc etc… its amazing how all things tie up… sometime ill write about what actually happened to the band but doing that now would probably piss off too many people and i’d rather just keep going producing music as usual i cant thank you enough for your comments and weird messages… for example mary ann makes a good point about radio being allowed to monopolize when all kinds of restraints are put on various other so called ‘services’… as usual in our dumbass society the importance of culture and art even of a ‘popular’ variety is not in the fore… rehearsals are getting better, the shows should be different than in the past as we’ve worked out a lot of sound and volume issues anyhow im just rambling may main point was about the record being delayed and im trying to add some filler… i hope no ones too pissed off, honestly im not really sure a hold up is so bad, its not like the material is just sitting there we’re still working… two new songs last week etc… i guess thats it im pretty preoccupied with about a hundred other things any way… ill report back before we go out… i think the first date is around the first week of july chris

mail volume seems up in anticipation of the ‘tour’ i hope it comes up to everyone’s expectations… i don’t have a clue… rehearsals start monday… comments on sociology etc… what ive come to lately is that we in america are finally experiencing a backlash to the liberalism of the sixties… seems like yesterday odd it was forty years ago… i think the sixties was the last ‘jump’ in human consciousness, morality, ideals etc etc… since then things have been going forward, but in a curve as it were… im not really clear on why this has happened, nature does seem to swing back and forth, that combined with the repressive tendencies of any government (you cant have control without somebody to be controlled) and the trends in anti-intellectualism that have been in play probably since the thirties (come to think of it anti intellectualism probably coincides with the rise, and fear, of communism in the west, people coming to associate intellectuals with dangerous red types, these stereotypes being encouraged by the ‘establishment’)… for example i remember being heavily influenced by the film “performance” which starred Mick Jagger who was one of my teenage heroes, in the movie MJ plays a well read very reclusive rock star, in one scene he reads a passage from Borjes, the blind Argentinean writer, as a result of that i went out and read more of his stuff which was a little tricky for me to understand at the time but still fantastic… its not like there wasnt any headbanging when i was a teenager its just i wonder if there wasnt a wider spectrum of ‘stuff’ to pick up on… maybe im just getting old and subject to the “when i was your age” syndrome… any way thanx for your comments i did get one from a girl who said looking up the words she didn’t know that were in our songs helped her vocabulary over and out chris