"shanty" cheryl strikes again! (and we're all the better for it...)

Thorns of Life
Originally uploaded by "Shanty" Cheryl

talk about guts...cheryl was so sick when she took these shots of the secret "thorns of life" show this past weekend in long beach, ca, that she had to go out to the band van to to chug shots of wild turkey --      

STILL she got right up front, to the point of personal injury (a bashed-in shin...as shown above), and, she climbed some very scary scaffolding in an effort to capture the insanity of the evening from above...she's quite something, dude~                                                                                                                                                 

oh mrs. parker...

algonquin roundtabler and remarkable writer, dorothy parker, gave her entire estate to dr. martin luther king when she died in 1967. if you don't know about mrs. parker click on the link and you'll learn more than you ever wanted--          

she left him all of her copyrights and about $30 grand -- she didn't even know him...                                                                                  

parker fought against injustice most of her life and was quite outspoken on the issue of bigotry -- she was a founding member of the writer's guild, ('member when all those hollywood writers struck last winter and your t.v. scheduling got all screwed up), that was a huge part of her legacy...                                                                         

in the 50's, she was blacklisted for her leftist views and couldn't find much work...                                                      

when king was murdered in 1968, as stipulated in her will, parker's estate was transferred to the n.a.a.c.p.                                                     

oh if she could have been here the last two days--who knows, maybe she was~                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

but it was...

i don't have a t.v. so i don't know if anyone has begged the question: what can gil scott heron be thinking today? america the beautiful took a huge leap forward to truly becoming an america of and for "we the people"

how about cheney in the wheelchair, huh? bye, bye--                                                                                 

YEA FOR THE WE PEOPLE!!                                                                  

REVOLUTION BABY!

i was talking to some people yesterday in west hollywood about the inauguration and asked if there, 'was going to be some kind of group celebration out here by the pacific'                                                              

let's see, as i recall it was me; uh, that would be one WHITE person, and a guy; yet another WHITE person or some sort of CAUCASIAN, and another guy; who happened to be HISPANIC, i reckon. we all had tears in our eyes and chills talking about what this meant--WHITE & HISPANIC!! it's a chance, it's exciting and it's definitely a change in the universal mapquest: we keep misreading the directions to happiness and sometimes they fly out the window altogether!

i wasn't able to vote, much to my sadness, because i couldn't walk and i didn't know anyone out here yet...but, i'm going to the inauguration celebration tuesday because, in my own life, this beats landing on the moon...                                                                                                                                                                        

i mean, i love the father of our country, ol' GW, but all those old-1700-white- dude's-thatched-powdered-wigs must be spinnin', i tells ya,' spinnin'~                                                                                       

brand, spanking new music on the way -- isn't that fun!

photo courtesty the green day authority~                                                     

my photos & i

My Photos & I
Originally uploaded by "Shanty" Cheryl

i got to take a picture of one of the greatest photographers and nicest people, 'shanty' cheryl, and i was pretty nervous~

go to pomona to see...

'shanty' cheryl's photography exhibit  --  power & beauty...it'll be up for a month...                                                            

and...toys that kill  from san pedro are a must~                                                                         

some former students (and friends) checking in...isn't that nice~

the boones, the hannah boys, max and drew, the crowell beauties, and punk-rocker anthony black~

bjork~

"niki and I at the underground railroad to candyland"

niki and I at the underground railroad to candyland
Originally uploaded by cuttyj

the master and his pabst...that's right--a cutty named j...you never know just where he might show up~                                                                                                             

breakcreepfast

breakcreepfast
Originally uploaded by cuttyj

toys that kill and underground railroad to candyland -- here are members priming for battle! you must see...you just must~

"I WAS A SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMER!!"

yep...

PRIMA DONNA--(these guys are famous!)

you just may not know it yet...

my best friend

my best buddy, scooby doo, died yesterday: he was an 11-year-old american eskimo in fine health. he traveled shotgun with me when i made the drive from baltimore to los angeles this july; he was definitely the leader of our little traveling circus between the cat, myself and him. light and smiling, nobody could resist wanting to snuggle up to him.  even with his early passing, these last years were his best --  he had two owners prior to me.                     

before i moved out west, i'd been going to eastern animal hospital (EAH) in baltimore, maryland, for 18 years because the people who run that hospital are some of the greatest people i know; right there on the edge of town...on the edge of east charm city--                  

none of us knew at the time of my trip to california that a cancerous tumor was growing inside of scooby's spleen and that it would burst this past sunday and that i would have to rush put him to the vet monday to have him put down before he suffered --         

this spleen cancer is a horrible cancer; there's no way of knowing it's there until it' too late; it happens with no warning,  and there is no cure or reasonable treatment--                          

however, many years earlier, prior to the discovery of scooby's killer tumor, EAH dr. estelle ward, phoned me with an interesting, yet circuitous question which sounded something like, 'how i would i like to take home a 2-year-old beautiful dog that's too be to cute to be euthanized.' the dog, sky, had been hit by a car and the owner didn't want to pay for the surgery; they wanted to put sky down.           

after i agreed to take sky home, i subsequently change his name to scooby (which was controversial yet, as a purest, stricly based on the cartoon character, not those dumb ass movies)                                 

so, on his day off, EAH owner dr. jonathan kaufmann, came in to the hospital to perform the $2500 leg reconstruction surgery on scooby for $0 and in so doing gave me the privilege of sharing my life with that sweet dog for the next nine years...you couldn't not love him

                                                                                  

to everyone at eastern animal hospital; thank you for always treating him like a king.              

and to jonathan and estelle, thanks for yesterday even so late into the night~                                                                                 

i love you scoob...(i hate cancer; you motherfucker!!)

changes...

it just takes one fucking foot in front of the other~                                  

NEW USE FOR THE OL' DILDO...

prima donna lead singer/guitarist kevin tyler preston uses his, (dildo that is), as an accessory for his guitar; it's his slide -- and it definitely does...slide                                   

you gotta check out this sparkly, sexy, tuneful band~

dillon and drew (and gino)

the hannah family from catonsville, maryland, are some of the most creatively inspired people i know -- i'd often joke that coming to their house to teach their youngest son dillon guitar was like entering a magical portal where imagination ruled...                                                        

above is a link to a crazy little video 11-year-old dillon and his friend drew made one day when they were bored --  just click on their names...                                                                                                                          

it took about 800 digital photos (and one day) to make the short and this was their first try! also, dillon's 18-year-old brother gino did the soundtrack; i believe that was a first try as well~                                     

EARTHQUAKE!!

they say there hasn't been an earthquake round these here parts of california in nigh on 14 years--hmm...

well, at least i'm no longer a virgin~                                                            

yea!

--for a little more freedom--

(of speech, that is...i thought they were both going down)

"FCC reaches deal to approve XM-Sirius merger" the wall street journal~                                                                                                         

THE BOYS FROM CATONSVILLE

right now there are four teenage boys sleeping on the floor of my new home in los angeles...(and one of them really snores!) -- they strolled in last night at about 1 a.m. on this, the last leg of their cross-country drive from catonsville, maryland to santa barbara, california...                                                              

without eating, drinking or even peeing, these four old neighbors of mine hit the wooden floor of this 1907 cottage with an array of blankets and pillows and, bam, they were out...they're still out (and my cat keeps walking in between their splayed bodies)                         

i can't make a move without waking all of them; that's how small this place is...i'm trapped, trapped like a rat i tells ya, in my own house! WAKE UP!!~