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?