Like a Rolling Stone

Krystal, the true Keith Richards pirate

On My Own

Reflection

Proper Mates

The Passenger

Down in the Hole

Crossfire Hurricane

Scarf Dandies

There is something very elegant about a scarf wearing man.

Brown Sugar

Wherever I May Roam

Never thought I would quote Metallica, but the track "Wherever I May Roam" of the black album hits home. Since the end of April I have been on the move, and tonight is my first night in my new downtown apartment. I'm starting to understand the meaning of the line "Wherever I may roam, where I lay my head is home." I think this apartment (I will give it a kitschy name later) will be HOME for a while.

And the road becomes my bride
I have stripped of all but pride, so in her I do confide
And she keeps me satisfied, gives me all I need

And with dust in throat I crave
Only knowledge will I save, to the game you stay a slave
Rover, wanderer, nomad, vagabond
Call me what you will

But I'll take my time anywhere
Free to speak my mind anywhere
And I'll redefine anywhere
Anywhere I roam, where I lay my head is home

And the earth becomes my throne
I adapt to the unknown, under wandering stars I've grown
By myself but not alone, I ask no one

And my ties are severed clean
The less I have the more I gain, off the beaten path I reign
Rover, wanderer, nomad, vagabond
Call me what you will

But I'll take my time anywhere
I'm free to speak my mind anywhere
And I'll never mind anywhere
Anywhere I roam, where I lay my head is home

But I'll take my time anywhere
I'm free to speak my mind
And I'll take my time anywhere
Anywhere I roam, where I lay my head is home

Carved upon my stone
My body lie but still I roam

Wherever I may roam

Prince of Rags

In my mind, there is no one greater than Keith Richards.

I think that is self evident in the preceding posts.

But in my mind he is also one of the greatest style icons for rock and roll.

There is something about his disheveled appearance that

draws you in.

I'm a fan of his scarves, hats and hair accessories in older age.

I especially enjoy that Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow was based off Keith's looks and attitude.

I also severely enjoy his flamboyant side in his early years

like the giant afghan coat and purple velvet pants.

But nothing is more iconic than the Keith and Anita couple

who would wear each others clothes interchangeably.

Long Live Keith

Chestnut Mare

Dear friends,

I'm very sorry for the lack of posts and social media action, but it is only in result of my "free" internet ran away from me a month ago. So today, I've found some wifi and some time to do some updates.

I've been plowing, slowly at times, through Keith Richards book Life. It has become a true part of me. Everytime I read a biography, I feel like I become a part of that person. It has happened with Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Pamela DeBarres, and Anthony Keidis, and now Keith Richards. And i will take that in stride. I would love to be Keith Richards. A true lover of music. A modern day pirate dandy. A truly talented and blessed soul.

I have also been connecting with my inner "crafter", coloring some velvet pictures and, inspired by The Monterey Pop Festival 67', a yarn craft. Photos are to follow. I finally completed my first dream catcher and I am now onto my second. It was harder to make than I thought. My first dream catcher looks very earthy and traditional. I am very proud.

My love of the desert, south west, cowboys and Navajo things is growing. Turquoise is becoming part of my soul and it is beginning to influence my clothing choices.

I constantly say "Party on Wayne" for no reason. Like I am in search of my "Party on Garth" soul mate.

Cassettes are making a comeback, which to me, seems more logical that vinyl. Most people might still own a cassette player. For vinyl, some hipsters had to run out and buy a brand new turn table.

My friend and I have been busting around my hometown in a early 90's mini van, blasting our cassettes as loud as we can. Our collection includes: Guns n' Roses, KISS, the Offspring, The Band, Neil Young and many others.

This weekend should be full of shenanigans. I am attending a famous family wedding which should bring many stories and photos, and hopefully more blog posts.

Peace up until then!

Survivor

My love for Keith runs deep.

Fire Burns

The more I read Keith Richards book Life, the more I realize how much he actually loves music. He is a true musician, and he was never in it to make a buck. He truly loves what he does, loves to play his guitar. It just happened that he stumbled upon drugs, which according to him did not hinder his music, or help it either. In the book, it does not appear that Richards condones drugs or discourages them either. Rather, he states that he did take drugs. A lot of things happened when he was on drugs. He did not state that drugs helped write songs. He states that drugs helped "insulate" himself from all of the crazy shit that happened around him.

Some quotes:

On playing by ear:

"I don't need this paper. I'm going to play it straight from the ear, straight from here, straight from the heart to the fingers. Nobody has to turn the pages."

On Gram Parsons:

"When I fell in with Gram Parsons in the summer of 1968, I struck a seam of music that I'm still developping, which widened the range of everything I was playing and writing. It also began an instant friendship that already seemed ancient the first time we sat down and talked. It was like a reunion with a long-lost brother for me, I suppose, never having one. Gram was very, very special and I still miss him."

On writing songs:

"What is it that makes you want to write songs? In a way you want to stretch yourself into other people's hearts. You want to plant yourself there, or at least get a resonance, where other people become a bigger instrument than the one you are playing. It becomes almost an obsession to touch other people. To write a song that is remembered and taken to heart is a connection, a touching of bases. A thread that runs through all of us. A stab to the heart. Sometimes I think songwriting is about tightening the heartstrings as much as possible with out bringing on a heart attack."

"But a songs should come from the heart. I never had to think about it. I 'd just pick up the guitar or go to the piano and let the stuff come to me. Something would arrive. In coming. And if it didn't, I'd play somebody else's songs. And I've never really had to get to that point of saying, "I'm now going to write a song." I've never ever done that. When I first knew I could do it, I wondered if I could do another one. Then I found they were rolling off my fingers like pearls. I never had any difficulty in writing songs. It was a sheer pleasure. And a wonderful gift that I didn't know I had. It amazes me."

On friendship:

"It's you can hang, can you talk about this without any feeling of distance between you? Friendship is a diminishing of distance between people. "

On Partying:

"The ultimate party, if it's any good, you can't remember it.. It's very hard to explain all that excessive partying. You didn't say, OK, we're going to have a party tonight. It just happened. It was a search for oblivion..."

(a relentless beat= trance)

(fire burn= meant hitting the drum)

(Jah= Give thanks and praises)

On Rastafarianism:

"Rastafarianmism was a religion, but it was a smokers' religion. Their principle was "ignore their world," live without society. Of course they didn't or couldn't - Rastafarianism is a forlorn hope. But at the same time, it's such a forlorn hope... They refused to work within the economic system. They're not going to work for Babylon; they're not going to work for the government. For them that was being taken into slavery. They just wanted to have their space. If you get into the theology, you can can get a little lost. "We're the lost tribe of judah." Ok, anything you say. But why this bunch of black Jamaicans consider themselves to be Jewish is a question.

On Uschi Obermaier:

"She was beautiful. She was quite famous in Germany as a model who had graduated into an icon of the student protest movement...She was a poster girl of the left; her picture was everywhere. She was a mad rock and roll fan...But Uschi's other title, of which she was proud, was the Bavarian Barbarian. She had never taken the ideology seriously, openly drinking banned Pepsi-Cola and smoking menthol cigarettes and upsetting other Commune dictates... Her road is littered with guys who tried to tame her. They tried to tame something that's untamable. She's the best bad girl I know."

On Fame:

"At first you were a novelty. But then that's what they thought about rock and roll in the 60's. And then they wished you to fuck off. And then when you didn't fuck off, they wished you to death."

"I think in a way your persona, your image, as it used to be known, is like a ball and chain. People think I'm still a goddamn junkie. It's thirty years since I gave up the dope! Image is like a long shadow. Even when the sun goes down, you can see it. I think some of it is that there is so much pressure to be that person that you become it, maybe, to a certain point that you can bear. It's impossible not to end up being a parody of what you thought you were."

Another thing that runs deep through the book, in every single chapter, is how much Keith honors these things:

1) Music

2) Friendship

Pretty much, if you become his mate, his buddy. He is with you for life. Anyone talks down to you? He will "slit their throat."

Despite his war with Mick Jagger, he still has his back. Once Keith is your friend, there is no shaking him.

The Rock and Roll Myth

I couldn't figure out what was so appealing to me about Rock and Roll for the longest time. It wasn't my childhood. I was raised on country music. It wasn't the music itself. Some of it, I could do without.

So I dug and dug into my soul and I have finally figured it out: it's the myth, the legend that accompanies each band that I worship that draws me in.

When I listen to Led Zeppelin, I am convinced Robert Plant is singing to me, telling me that he wants to be my "backdoor man."

When I hear the Stones, I buy into their excessive boozy image. I buy into the heroin mythology of Keith and the mystery that surrounds Brian Jones death.

When Freddie Mercury hits those insanely high notes, he is sharing in my search to find "Someone to Love."

When Iggy Pop carouses around the stage freaking out on drugs, and rubs peanut butter on his chest, he embodies my sense of adventure.

Rock and Roll says everything I want to say. It says "I fucking hate you", "I love you", "I want to sleep with you", and "I want nothing to do with you". It says everything that is hidden deep below the surface.

So when I put on a Who track, like "Behind Blue Eyes" I really do mean, what is going down behind my blue eyes. I connect with it more than any other type of music no matter how carnal it is.

It's much like what Penny Lane says in Almost Famous (see previous post) when you get lonely, you go to a record store and visit your friends. I really do feel like Mick Jagger is a friend of mine. That I understand the inner workings of Gram Parsons, that Jimmy Page and I connect on a spiritual level.

Rock and Roll myth is that the Rock Stars get you. They understand you. They are your friends. So when I listen to the Doors, I say to myself: "He may not love me but Jim Morrison sure as hell does..."

Midnight Rambler

Getting my rocks off

on some vintage Stones.

The top photo is my fav. of all time.

I have a copy of it in my apartment taped

to a mirror so I can look at it daily.

Pirate Lovers

Keith Richards and Johnny Depp.

Eternal Pirate Dandies.

Get Your Ya Ya's Out

Okay, let's get all the ya-ya's out.

Keith Richards

Rock god extraordinaire.

Model for Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow

Wearer of snakeskin boots

and Gram Parsons best friend.

Ya, ya...

Bat Country

The desert is my home

I dream of driving the American Dream trail paged out by Hunter S. Thompson.

The land of cacti, big skies, cowboy boots, turquoise, and head dresses.

I want to go to Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Tennessee.

I want to drive from L.A. to Las Vegas, Fear and Loathing style.

Enter bat country

I want to go to Joshua Tree and live like Keith and Gram with my bestie.

I want to go out in the desert and take peyote like Jim Morrison and The Doors.

I love the desert. It's my next stop.