DR. CALVIN M. LEE came to Tucson to visit. We had a grand
time and he stayed at my first digs in Tucson: the Congress Hotel.
We went all over the place; downtown to the Museum of
Art, to the preserved historic neighborhood and then to lunch at the glorious
Mexican restaurant that makes Carne Secco in a solar dehydrator which CALVIN
explained to me very wittily. We went to the Desert Natural Museum and
on to the Casino at Tohono Ood'ham reservation. He is a great date.
BEGO and I got together for the TUCSON MUSEUM ARTS FAIR.
BEGO's GEORGE STRAIT book was so popular that it's being re-issued. He
was in town just last weekend for the 'STRAIT' show in Phoenix! His next
book is CHER & a new offering on the MARX BROS.. Recently, I have seen
him on half a dozen biography and Arts channel and E Entertainment shows
discussing the MONKEES, MICHAEL JACKSON, MADONNA, 3 DOG NIGHT, MARTHA REEVES
& MARY WILSON & ARETHA FRANKLIN.
www.markbego.com
The more I see him on television; the more I think he
should have a music/film interview show with performance & film clips
(live audience). He is so personable and charming. He is very knowledgable
about his subject and compassionate. That sounds like a recipe for a great
Entertainment show! I watch INSIDE THE ACTORS STUDIO often and JAMES LIPTON
has that same appeal, don't you think?
Stacia came to visit a couple of times; Stacia will be
21 on July 24th. I can't believe it! I am putting together a visual celebration
of her first 21 years and MR. FUNTONE assures me that we will help her
celebrate her birthday in style! Stacia brought some wonderful shots from
her Mastrianni session and so we will have exclusive birthday shots.
I go up to the Coronado Forest to get rocks; Michael has paved the front and back gardens with them. On Thursday after Stash arrived on her her visit last week; I suggested she come with me to get rocks. "Oh sure," she said, "I've been up there with Bradley and the dog! Do you go to the Falls?"
I thought she was confusing the Sabino Canyon Falls with this expedition. I said there were no falls on this trip.
"Oh yes there are," she said, "I'll take you to them."
For years I have been driving up there to choose gorgeous
rocks for the yard. I never knew there were WILD NUDIST ROCK FALLS at the
end of my road! We walked for about 15 minutes, clambered about on a well-worn
path and then out of the blue; there was a glorious strip of river that
fell with giant stairs, slabs of granite, the water crisply cold! And frolicking
nudists! I had a long chat with a gentleman called George who told me all
about the place. Stacia knew even more than he did: "If you hike for a
mile up this valley you get to a big rectangular natural pool/tub," she
said, "But you have to take water and a picnic!" She's always got more
to add!
April was here for 2-3 weeks. Then I made a couple of
trips to New York and Michael and I went to Georgia for a week at Christmas
time.
Socialized with MR. FUNTONE and BETTY JACK DIVINE, PEG,
MR CHUCK, ARGE and all their beautiful friends from Atlanta. Felt right
at home at the METRO (?) We got home in time for the NEW YEAR.
ROBBIE the GENDER BLENDER is always so interesting. His friend: P.5 sent me a cool 'zine called PUSSY. (See if I can find the photo of them) There are lots of marvellous cartoons and articles. I'll include the place to find it and Robbie's take on the NEW YORK CLUB SCENE.
Got busy with some interviews for magazines and MOON GODDESS reviews. I met so many interesting writers: Nick Setchfield from SFX-U.K., Melanie Bromley, Mark Spitz from SPIN magazine.
MUSIC
I met Bill Cashman @ Cavern Recording Studios, Tucson,
AZ. Tel 520 881 1212.
Bill is just great; I asked him why he had a studio:
"Everyday is a pleasure to go to work because there's such diversity of music: Rock N Roll to Country; Rap Hip Hop to Christian."
Cavern recovered the album and then digitized MOON GODDESS. They are very cool and FUN to work with!
TKK
Tamara Mastrianni introduced me to Groovy Man of THRILL KILL KULT of "KOOLER THAN JESUS", "I see Good Spirits, I see Bad Spirits". We have been conducting a lively correspondence. I am crazy about their albums; one track in particular "....And This Is What The Devil Does". From this friendship came an introduction to Chris Connelly & The Bells. Check out their albums: "The Ultimate Seaside Companion"
& -------------. Talk about Deja Vu voice-wise! Chris and The Bells will be on tour later this year, will keep you posted.
LINKS
I have been working on putting together one big LINKS department.
Before I go any further, let me remind you of the new Music store that MR. FUNTONE has installed. Here you may purchase such classics as:
the POP TARTS, RU PAUL'S STAR BOOTY, the NOW EXPLOSION, MOON GODDESS plus THE WORLD IS CHANGING. The glorious DEEAUNDRA PEEK.
Let's wish all good things for MR FUNTONE'S RECORD STORE.
Another web site launch that promises the best information and help is David Goldman's AIDS PREVENTION NEWS UPDATE SITE. On Wed, 18 Apr 2001 the site was launched and I received this press release from him:
Dear friend--
I hope this finds you well.
Since I joined the Atlanta office of Prospect Associates, many people have asked about the Web site I'm writing for. I'm happy to report that, after several months in "practice" mode, our content is now "live" on the CDC's Prevention News Update site at
http://www.cdcnpin.org/news/prevnews.htm.
Every weekday we search national, international, community and medical media and present summaries of the top 8-12 stories about HIV/AIDS, STDs and TB. I'm proud of my own work as editor of the PNU and of the work of my colleagues on the HIV media monitoring team, and I encourage you to come visit the site. If you'd like to receive an e-mail copy of the PNU each day, just click on the "subscribe" link at the bottom of the site. So come see us; let us know what you think about the Update; and keep in touch!
Most cordially,
David Goldman.
Goldman is the celebrated author of THE INSIDERS GUIDE TO METRO ATLANTA and a contributing writer to the BETTYJACK phenomenon sweeping NEW YORK, CHICAGO & the SOUTH.
He has been profiled by QT Canada & this latest work is a triumph for all the crew involved. We want the light of awareness in the recesses of need. Bravo!
I am negotiating with the BIG KAHUNA for PORTALS directly from BACKSTAGEPASSES.NET to the FUNTONE RECORD SHOP & to the AIDS DAILY AWARENESS PAGE on BACKSTAGE PASSES MAIN BOULEVARD.
Work on LACITTA begins soon.Wish us luck!
Subject: Smashing shirts and signed photos!
Hi Angie,
I'm a fan of yours from England and I wondered if you could
send me a signed photo, I don't mind whether the photo is old or new, or on a scrap of paper! I'm 22 and studying Film and Literature in Canterbury. I read "Backstage Passes" around four years ago, it is a great memoir, not just of your life with David, but of the changing times of the seventies. Did you know that you are on a t.shirt? The shirt design can be found at WWW.smashinggrandpa.com the site is named after Mick Jagger because he is a grandpa, and still smashing! You are featured on a t.shirt with Marianne Faithfull and Anita Pallenberg with the phrase "some girls", I think it's a great site. I wouldn't have found your future space site if it had not been a link on the SGrandpa site.
You know what thelinks page is going to have to wait until the second part of Web Site Replies II next week.