On this day in 1975 - 8 July

Yes, I'm following on from yesterday, mostly because this is a cringingly embarrassing entry! I guess the only thing I did this day was philosophise... I must have still been shaken up by Cathy Clemon's meningitis diagnosis.

July 8th, 1975

Ian Hunter - "Shades Off"

Where do you go when you've somewhere to run ...

[No, I am NOT going to transcribe the full poem, but I did so in my journal! I did this often in the early years, and have one whole journal devoted to the lyrics of Syd Barrett. You can hear it here, in his own voice: Shades Off]

I LOVE Ian Hunter!!!! I want to write something like that! Everything I write it too simple. Complexity is the spice of life. Life life, what is life? A song by George Harrison - ha ha!

Weird when you think about it. Everything's weird when you think about it. Especially thinking. I don't think anyone else thinks like this... the only one. Lonely you, only you. Yes I do. Why is there an "e" added in "lonely"? Makes it look lonelier! Cause it contains the word "one"... I love Peter Ham and I miss him horribly and "Song for a Lost Friend" is perfect. But I didn't know him personally and if only I could have. How horrible to be so lost that you'd want to die. What am I talking about - I've wanted to! But then I must always realize that there is a solution and there always is. Always. Always. Always. There's always more.

Anyway, if I were Cathy I'd be shaking 24 hours a day instead of maybe one. But I'm not so scared now. We were talking about what if Todd came. If he did.... He would. [He would what? I have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about here...] He's that kind of person. I know he is. I know I know I know I know....

I think I will die when I am 83. Or else 28. [Whew! Missed that one!! Actually someone who read my palm when I was about 20 said that my life line said I would die before I was 30... more fool him!] But I will have no advance warning. I will just die. Like, be alive one second and gone the next. And I'll haunt Kristin [my sister] - ha ha!!!

Why do I continue speaking of death? "I love you to death!" That sounds evil! Like a vampire - once bitten, twice shy, babe... Ha ha - see how I brought it all back to Ian Hunter?!

On this day in 1975

Yes, now we're going way back in time; this is from the second volume of my original journals. It was Ringo Starr's birthday...

Mike is Mike Nolte, my boyfriend at the time, actually, my first boyfriend. We had not been getting along since I returned from my family vacation, during which I had missed him terribly. It was complicated! When he later came out we became much better friends, still are!

Cathy is Cathy Clemons, who I lost touch with in the early 80s. At this time she was one of my best friends, slightly older and much more worldly. We had bonded over Todd Rundgren, whom she had met briefly having briefly shown a roadie her tits. Now she had just been diagnosed with menengitis - the serious one. She was in the hospital for a while later that summer but made a full recovery. Not sure what the two grand referred to, although I think it had to do with the fact her parents were suing her former doctor for a missdiagnosis. Nor do I remember what shoes I wore to walk to Jill's ... (It was not very far! Probably some awkward platforms...)

Also, if anyone has any idea who or what L + GTITRS is, please let me know!

Newsflash! It just came to me. The acronym had two typos and should be L + GTRS, or, more appropriately, L&GTRS... Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones! (I must have thought there was an "It's" in there and somehow added another T...) I still don't remember this clearly, but I think Mike went without me; it would have been playing at the Fox Venice or Nuart, and at that age I hadn't started going to movies on my own, especially ones miles away as I could not yet drive.

7 July 1975

Well, one Beatle is over the hill! Now, until October 9th they are 35, 34, 33 and 32! [And I thought that was soooo old!!!]

Head was on again - great movie!!! So is Pajama Party. LOVE The Porpoise Song!! Called Dan [Winter] to tell him that. [Eh? I think I meant I called him to tell him Head was on!]

Now I'm really mad at Mike!!! I wanted to see L + GTITRS. [Might have to give this acronym some thought... I have no idea what I'm talking about, but I was always mad at Mike in those days.] If I ever call him he'll probably think nothing is wrong. I can't stand it!!!!!!!

Cathy came over again, yesterday when Ava was over. She won't die; I know she won't!! She can't!! $2000 a month. I can't believe it.

I did absolutely NOTHING today except talk to Dan (he was gonna come over on the 4th but didn't) and go to Jill's [hamburger stand], which killed my feet and made me hobble around all day. Felt like such a klutz.

I could not find a photo of Jill's on Sepulveda, so here's one of me that summer.

On this day in 1979

In our spare time, Mary and I were making a surprise birthday present for our friend Rod Donahue. He had told us how those large figures beside the freeway (for example selling tires; more common when we were growing up... I just realized I drove to San Pedro today and didn't see the one that had been there for ever!) creeped him out, so we decided to make a six foot papier maché Mau-Mau warrior. As you do. We called him Mahumba and it took a long time as we only used newspaper and flour and water paste. We worked on him out by the pool and played this Ike and Tina album constantly. I so wish I had taken photos! (I do have a short video on Beta...)

I was on my "gap year" from UCLA and working for peanuts at Focus on Video; so was Mary. This was during the gas shortage and not only was gas really expensive (like probably 60 cents a gallon?), you could only get it every other day. Hence the constant attempts at cadging lifts.

When bands played the Whisky or Roxy in those days they always did two sets a night, and the sets were rarely identical so we would try to go to both. I had seen all the 999 gigs earlier that year and the band members were all so nice that I had been inspired to bake them a cake for the last night. 999's drummer Pablo had just broken his wrist or something so they were using a sub, Ed Case, on this tour.

Re: my savior Lorri Blum at the end; I went to high school with her but had not seen much of her, if anything, for the past three and a half years. I'm pretty sure I never saw her again after that, although I recently found out that mutual friends are still in touch.

5 July 1979

Mary came over and helped with Mahumba.

Jill [Jordan] said Eileen [Who?] would drive to 999 since I was probably sick of driving. True. But also that we wouldn't leave till 9:30! Oh well There were no tickets left for the early show. 999 were coming on so they said to go in - I did. [I guess this was the generous soul who was on the door at the Whisky!]

I danced the first half - leaned on the stage for the second. They were great but still were better last time. [They had played a series of shows just three or four months ago.]

I asked Paul Problem [Whatever happened to him?] if he was going backstage. We went together. It was lame though. The guy told us to have a seat and wait a few minutes then we could go back and the other guy comes and says to go backstage or leave!!!

So everyone got to go back there then some guy comes and says you hafta leave if you're not a close personal friend. [Suddenly the members of 999 had a bunch of close personal friends, obviously.]

So I went back and immediately Guy [Days, 999] came up and asked if I was still baking cakes. I went up to say hi to Nick [Cash, 999] and he said hi, but like, who are you. I felt really embarrassed and insulted [Wow, now that's embarrassing!] and nearly left.

Oh yeah, before we went up, Paul was talking to Pablo! He was there and cuter than ever. But backstage he was always talking to people; he talked to this one couple for way over an hour!!!

Jon [Watson, 999] recognized me and said hi. I was talking to Paul and Rick [Gershon], then Patty [Duarte] and Sally came and then Nick comes up to me and says, "Hi, how are you?" SAVED. Weird. [I guess he needed the context of my friends to remember me?]

We were commenting on everyone [we were such bitches!] and Sally stole Nick's shirt, which wasn't very nice. [In more ways than one!] He had hung it up to dry out a bit and she stuffed it under the back of her shirt. I warned her that it was all sweaty and now the sweat was running down her butt.

It seemed like an eternity that I was back there . Last time Guy was the one who never talked to me, this time he was the only one who did! I asked him about the guest list - he said he'd either put me on or sneak me in. Then he told (thump thump thump) Pablo to take me down!!! Pablo said to wait for him to go to the toilet - then I had him wait for me.... As we were going down the stairs he put his arm around me ... We went and sat at the bar and he bought me a screwdriver with his last money. [Awww.... Corrupting a minor no less!]

Pablo showed me his scar and muscle. He didn't see much in Frisco. (Here in LA he had been planning to walk from the airport to the hotel - ha!!!) I asked where they had played in SF and he said somewhere that started with a G: "G.... g.... g.... g...." The Old Waldorf? Well, that had reminded him of a walrus - tusks - something with a G... (Huh??!) He liked it here, said he never gets bored by anything.

He went to talk to the band before they went on and came back to me. He said not to let him get drunk cuz he'd jump onstage and punch Eddie and take over the drums! He kept saying, "That's my drum kit!!"

After a couple songs he stood over by the backstage and I went down to look for Jill with no success. So I decided I'd better go out but I wanted to to say goodbye to Pablo and now he had disappeared. Found him after a couple more songs. He hugged me goodbye.

Went back out and no Jill. I asked Helen if she'd seen her and she said they'd just left! I started running and she said they had driven by. Great. I hoped they'd return. Patty wasn't going home. [She lived in my direction; not many did!] After it was over I was just about to give up and call Mom when someone came up and said, "Hi, do you remember me?" It was Lorri Blum!!! What a godsend!! They gave me a ride home. Whew!

On this day in 1981

When we learned the Fall were coming to LA, Kevin and Don got in touch with their booking agent and somehow managed to wangle a show with us at Al's Bar. The photo below is from our previous show at Al's Bar sometime in June. Today/tonight it was sweltering and I was wearing my Donna Summer Bad Girls black slip as a dress...

People:

Gerard - can't remember his last name - used to go around with Patty Duarte. His friend John Spencer was a fan of mine with whom I went out with at a later time.

Sally had been a fixture of the early LA punk scene but since settling down and having a kid with Roger Hands from Bristol, had rarely been seen.

Karl is Karl Precoda; I had met him the summer before. I forgot he had pursued me so ardently! His friend (and later flatmate) Scott Gaulke I had met the last time we played at Al's Bar, when Brian had arranged a dance contest with the winner winning a date with yours truly. I had run outside and met Scott, who said he'd take me out instead, so I could tell the contest winner I was already booked. (This was Merrill Ward, who never managed to take me to the race track as promised, but I forgive you!) Then I never heard from him.

Who else... Don Garstang was the drummer of our band; he had arranged the show along with Kevin Wood. Suzanne Williams was my friend from high school. Tova Celine I knew from Hollywood, and Sneady was Mark Kenneth "Animal Boner" Snead, sadly no longer with us...

4 July 1981

We were gonna go to Michael's [Livingston] family picnic and to the reggae ting in Exposition Park, but got tied up. So we just went straight to Al's Bar. No Fall there yet.

Frankie [Marley] was there though. We took photos [I believe I'm referring to the photos on the steps across from Al's Bar that Ed Colver took; I should find and scan this!] and went to the liquor store. I sat and drank and read and eventually we did a sound check.

People were arriving early. Now there was a mirror in the bathroom. They [those in charge I suppose] had already said it was too late for the Fall now. But they arrived while I was in the bathroom and it was so weird hearing their sound check out there. [Al's Bar, which later on hosted a number of name bands, was quite a dive then and I daresay the Fall were by far the biggest band that had ever been booked to play there at this point; they were even charging five bucks at the door!]

I watched the sound check for a bit, then went to put my junk in the car but Michael had my keys and was nowhere to be found. I was so mad!! [Easily irritated, are we?] But now Steve [Wynn] was there so I put my bag in his car.

I must have been smashed by the time we played - it was great but last time sounded better. I dedicated Macumba to the Fall and I think Respect to Mark [Stern]. (Outside right after I was talking to someone and then I saw Mark; he had seen our whole set. He still didn't feel that great.)

Oh, earlier, before we played, Gerard said John was there. I sat and talked with him - and Sally and Roger were there! They didn't look quite as normal as I'd expected. Sally didn't say much; Roger seemed his old always nice self - but much better looking than I'd remembered...

Saw Karl outside - didn't even recognise him at first! Found out that girl is or wasn't his girlfriend, that he's going to UCLA in the fall (English major!!!) and that he's known Mark for ages. Also he knows Scott - who was there also. It turned out Scott had lost my number - that's why he had come down!!!

I was sitting on the car talking to all of them... then went back inside where I met Patrik of Kommunity FK. He accused me of giving him dirty looks when I was on stage; had a rant about it! But I always stare at people when we do Macumba, and if I was looking at him I was only noticing his Phil Oakey hair-do! [Or hair-don't, as the case may be...]

Michael who works there got me a free beer; some guy praised our political consciousness etc.!!!! [This made my day, I recall, as most people just thought we were a good-time funky dance band.] I met the guy who produced Theatre of Hate's first single.

When I went in the other room to see the Fall I walked in with Karl and he took my hand. I stood on the side with him and Scott and Suzanne.

The Fall were very good - the sound wasn't too great - but I could only stand it for five songs or so! [Well, it was really hot and crowded, and I was seeing them in a better venue this week anyway.]

After the show Karl asked me to be his date for the party but there was no room in the car as I was giving Tova and Sneady a ride. Scott was also leaving and I was sitting there and while Don was negotiating for money [Al's Bar were not paying us but The Fall gave us a hundred of their half a grand fee], Scott kissed me goodbye, and when John left, so did he.

So the four of us (very cramped!) went to the Silver Lake party - saw Keith [Morris I think] and it didn't exist!! Then Tova talked me into giving them a ride to Hollywood. She gave me a couple bucks.

On this day in 1977

I was planning to sell photos (8 x 10s of various bands) at the Record Swap Meet, held in the parking lot of Capitol Records at Hollywood and Vine. Hard to believe that music fans ever got up so early, though in the latter days we would usually go there after a gig and Canters etc., and sleep all day the rest of Sunday. I really miss the swap meet; it's where I got my music/record collecting education! Anyway, the night before Jade and I had stayed at Steve Tigerman's place in WeHo so at least it wasn't a trek...

People mentioned: Brent was a good friend from high school who often had given us lifts to Hollywood. Ava was a friend I had known since Kindergarten with whom I had virtually nothing in common, tastewise and aspiration-wise. She was a freshman at Stanford, and could not refrain from mentioning it at every opportunity. Dan and Bill were my best buddies from high school.

3 July 1977

So I hardly got any sleep cause we had to go to the swap meet. A lot of people looked at my photos, but the only ones I sold were of The Babies and Detective. All to guys too, that's weird!

Tiger kept going off and finally I got him to look after my pitch and let me walk around and I swear I couldn't have been gone for more than fifteen minutes but he insisted it was more than half an hour! [I never wore a watch back then.] He had picked up all my pictures cause they were curling up in the sun. And we got in a really big fight. He complained about everything I looked at. He said that Jade had left but she was still there. She had been with the Van Halen geeks. [I have no idea who these people were, unless it was members of Van Halen themselves? They were still just a club band then. But probably they were just fans.] We saw Brent. He's so DEAD now! [Brent, I have no idea what I meant here!]

So then we went to Chinatown. It wasn't too thrilling at 9 o'clock on a Sunday morning! We went home and I talked to Ava. I was going to go shopping with her, and Dan and Bill came over. Said "How did you know?!" [Again, I have no idea what this all means!] They left, and Ava and I went to the Hawthorne Mall, It's so big!!! Ava has such normal tastes in clothes. I want to get some fishnet gloves, the kind that come up over your elbows. [I eventually did; there are photos of me wearing them a couple of years later.] So then Ava had to show me all her many boyfriends in the Stanford yearbook.

When I got home [Jade did not come shopping with us], Jade said my parents were on their way home. [They had been away somewhere.] Oh great. There was no way to get in touch with Tiger. So he came over and we watched a little of Sleuth, then we watched The Spell, which was pretty dumb. [Even though somebody spontaneously combusts!]

By NBC - http://www.blu-ray.com/The-Spell/716545/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57312640

On this day in 1984

It was the fourth day of my vacation; on the 29th of June I had flown to Chicago to stay with my pen pal Di(e) and her husband Ray. Last night I had lost a contact lens (hard one; I had no spares in those days!) and today I was flying to New York, my first ever visit there. I was going to stay with another pen pal, William Tirabasso, in the East Village. Anyway, although I had had a good time with Di and Ray the previous three days, this day was a bit Planes, Trains and Automobiles... (Note to Di: I blame the cab driver, not you! xo)

2 July 1984

Die and Ray spent nearly an hour looking for the lens with me, with no luck.

We took the bus downtown. It was an ultra bitch carrying that case to the bus stop. At least downtown Ray carried it for a few blocks. [I've never been able to pack light but also we had gone thrift shopping and to Wax Trax...]

Went up to Die's office and left my bags. Then I went out shopping. Got some sox and Frango Mints at Marshall Field's. Went back to Die's office and out to lunch with her for quiche, and she took some photos of me.

I went to a few more places including Woolworth's for a luggage cart!

Went back to Die's office one last time. She suggested I get a taxi to a train station. I did, but I should have just gotten the airport bus; it was $7 or something, but I could have walked there easily with the cart and there would have been no transferring.

Die had drawn me a map which the taxi driver did not understand. He said there was no such station. He took me around in a big circle and it cost $2.00! [I drew a diagram of the taxi's path in the margin of my journal. And hey, two bucks was a lot of money back then!] I wasn't anywhere near the cross streets Die had told me to go to. (The taxi driver had insisted there was nothing there!)

I asked a cop and first he started saying I was blocks away, but then when I said I was going to O'Hare, he said I could get a train at the subway station right there.

The cart did not go up and down stairs [as the packaging had claimed] nor did it stay on the suitcase when you picked it up! [Ditto.] I should sue!!!

That was not the right station. I had to go up and down more stairs to an adjoining station which turned out to be closed.

Went back up some more stairs - by now I was going crazy... I somehow found the right station which was another full block away - and the taxi had driven right past there!!!

But even when I got on the train I was not positive it was the right one! I couldn't even sit at first; it was so crowded. When I did find a seat this nice old lady talked to me. She thought I was going to New York because I was a dancer!!

More stairs at the station where I had to get that bus (no one collected tickets or transfers!) and got to the airport just in the nick of time... to learn that.... MY FLIGHT HAD BEEN CANCELLED!!!!!!!!

I got on the next flight an hour later and in the meantime tried phoning both Ma and William [Tirabasso, my pen pal in New York City with whom I was staying] - no answer at either number. [Not many people had answerphones yet.]

Got off the plane and no William.... Went to find a phone. Spoke to his roommate. He said William had phoned and said my flight had been cancelled and he'd wait around for half an hour or so. Well, the flight I'd been on was also late, so now it was an hour and a half later.

His roommate started telling me how to take the subway - no way! [This was when the New York subway at night was a notoriously dangerous thing to an Angeleno; I did not know that there was an express line from the airport...] And there was no way I could have found my way to William's apartment had I been so daring! (I could have taken the airport bus and then a cab...) I said I'd go look by the luggage and call back in a while when I knew what I was gonna do. At the time, a nice clean motel room with a bathtub sounded so inviting!!! I didn't even care how much it cost!! I felt so grungy and exhausted.

But before I could do anything there was William down by the luggage claim. I was so relieved...

We took a bus to the subway. The subway was not fun, especially changing trains. Everything stunk of piss! But we survived.

Carrying the suitcase up six flights of stairs was another matter... after passing the junkies in the doorway...

William had to go off and edit. [He was a film student at NYU.] I was too exhausted to go along. So I watched TV, had a shower and slept. (Or tried to.... It was soooooo hot and I kept thinking about the cockroaches I'd seen in the bathroom ...)

On this day in 1976

I was alone in the house; the rest of the family had gone to Hawaii. I'd had a pool party the day before.

2 July 1976

Bill [Stomp - sadly no longer with us] came over at 9:00 to help me clean up. [What a sweety, but did I really manage to get up at 9:00 am in those days??] We went over to his house to get a Hefty bag, then realised we had left the package there and had to go back! Then Cheryl [Harvey], Susan [Richards] and I went to the movies; we saw Lifeguard and then went into Tunnelvision. The lifeguard story kind of reminded me of me chasing after Robert [Williams], but of course I'm not so forward!

So then that night Neil [McIntyre] and Wee Jim came over, and after a while Mary did; then we had to go get Trudie and on the way we saw Kristi. [Name is familiar but I can't place her!] Then we went to Jack in the Box and they gypped us like usual. I was very cranky. Neil bought me an orange.

We went swimming. Oh, last night Jim had asked me how I was going to get out [we were skinny dipping with all the lights out; it was really quite innocent, honest!] and I said I was going to put my suit back on as I had it in my hand, and Neil goes, "Is this it?" and throws it, so I made him get me a towel.

Anyway, tonight Jim said he wasn't getting in cause Susan had a suit on as well as a swim mask and she would look at his willy and find out why they call him Wee Jim - ha ha. And Mary "pimped" [Scots dialect] in the pool.

When Susan got out she turned on the light for a while and locked the door to the house and went home! That neighbor yelled at us. I kept calling Trudie but she couldn't hear me and I couldn't open the sliding glass doors so I had to climb up that trellis thing to the balcony and my towel fell off an I fell on that thorny plant! But at least the balcony door was open.

We watched TV and listened to records and Mary and Trudie went to sleep and the others would wake me if I did so we listened to the Kinks downstairs and finally they wanted to go to sleep at 4:30. So Jim slept on the green couch and I slept on the other one with Neil - not with him of course, I mean one of us at each end!

On this day in 1982

The night before, we had driven out to Lake Delores in the Housden family's camper. Lake Delores was a collection of man-made lakes or ponds with water slides, trapezes and a zip-cord thingie. But it wasn't like modern-day water parks; at this place you had to sign a death and dismemberment disclaimer thing. Here's some more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Dolores_Waterpark

The year before, everyone urged me to try the zip-cord James Bond thing. You launched off the top of a hill and once you were over the deep water, you'd let go. Here's the description from the Wikipedia page:

On the "Zip–Cord" ride, riders hung from a hand–held device attached to a guide wire for approximately 200 feet (61 m) at a 30–degree downward angle. At the end of this wire the hand–grip would slam into a blocking mechanism and come to a stop about 20 feet (6.1 m) above the water, with the momentum thrusting the hanging rider 20 feet (6.1 m) forward into the lagoon.

Sounds fun, eh? Well, I don't usually succumb to peer pressure but everyone seemed to be loving it so I got up there, looked down and changed my mind, but before I could turn around I lost my footing and away I went.

I had stupidly chosen the lowest, ie, closest to the ground zip line, not remembering my geometry lessons; it was closer to the ground of the hill but therefore went at a much sharper angle, as the end points of all three zip lines were at the same height. It was not fun at all; I did not have a good grip and was hanging on for dear life. I was going so fast that my body was almost perpendicular to the water and as I let go, I landed in the water on my chest and was knocked out. A lifeguard rescued me and I've had a fear of heights ever since!

We would camp at a place down the road near another smaller man-made lake, Lake Kerr. Tyrone is Jeff McDonald and Roman is Steve McDonald; their names from the Ella and the Blacks days. Steve Housden, Janet Housden and Al Hansford completed our party.

July 1, 1982

The water was positively freezing - it hurt my legs! So for quite a while I sat on the shore listening to tapes. I was even reading in the RV for a while.

I didn't do anything new - the big slide or the trapeze or the high dive or the zip line again - no one was so keen on the zip line any more - weird. At first I kept munching it on the slides but later on it was OK.

However there was some new stuff. Bumper boats that went really fast around. Those cage swings. Tyrone  went in and it took him ages to get round and the same for Steve and the guy [operating the cages] starts calling Steve a wimp! Roman and I went in one but couldn't get it around. Too much weight. Seemed like you were gonna land on the roof! My arms ached so much later.

But oh, the motorboats! They were $1 (as were the other things) and fantastic! They went so fast and you hovered above the water. I still took it slow for the first lap then floored it for the second, racing Roman, then we saw Tyrone had stopped; turns out you only got one lap! We had to turn round but got a free extra half lap - ha!

We were starving and thirsty and the snack bar was shut for ages, then out of nearly everything! Went in the diving pool before we left; we stayed till it closed, thought we were gonna get locked in!

Ate dinner at the truck stop. [I drove by it a couple months ago!] This old lady was telling someone she'd worked there all her life and lived there - in Yermo, California - imagine!! [See http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6020/5943261087_676bac2e8b_z.jpg ]

Then onto our favorite campground - Lake Kerr. Still as tacky as ever and now there's a body in a covered wagon as well! Got our pick of the spots - with a hut (not that we used it at all!) [The "huts" were covering the picnic tables; most camp sites didn't have shade.]

We had brought all this food and were too lazy to make anything.

We took the stuff [use your imagination here] - and went to hire boats and inner tubes. But everything was busted apart from a huge rowboat, which was great as everyone could fit in it. Took the ghetto blaster and blue tape. [This was my favorite compilation tape of the time; on a blue cassette.]

It was WONDERFUL. It was dusk and the bats were flying about, eating all the mosquitos. At first it was just me, Tyrone and Steve; finally the others got in.

The stuff wasn't working at first and I wanted to go get the rest of it but I couldn't cos we'd lose the boat. We were trying to stay away from the docks cos it'd been an hour.

The bats were flying really close.

And then it arrived. Pure heaven!!! We just drifted about while it got dark and the same tape played over and over.

We eventually docked on the island. [There was a tiny island in the man-made lake.] I kept playing that one bit of Sinbad over and over and over and kept dancing around the island with the blaster.

It was really dark and from the other side of the island, it looked as if a hut was on fire! Everyone else thought it was too, so we asked Steve [he had not partaken] and he would not tell us. He was talking in different voices and at one point I thought he was the sheriff! At another I thought he had taken the boat away and stranded us.

However, the Fat Lady of Limbourg [the woman who ran the campground and from whom we had hired the boat for an hour] did yell at us to come back. We all got in the boat and Steve, the only capable one, just sat on the bow and refused to row. Tyrone and Roman were making a mess of things and I was yelling my head off at them, trying to be authoritative as I believed there were loads of cops on shore waiting for us. Finally I took hold of the oars and managed to ram into the dock several times. I was the last one out of the boat - looked around - and there was no one there!!! Felt a right idiot...

I had to go to the toilet really bad and whille I was in there the floor was rocking like crazy. Then I realized that some of it was cos I'd been in the boat so long. Next I heard these horrible scratching noises... It was Tyrone of course... When I came out I ran into the Fat Lady of Limbourg and she started saying how it wasn't safe to be out in the boat after dark ... Oh, it was trying!!!!

Went back in the RV... Wrote some letters... tried to write a sane normal one to [my pen pal in New Jersey] Joon and it seemed so pointless. I tried to play my Birthday Party tape but no one would let me - it was too scary. They kept playing Ace Frehley's solo album and we started to worship it. So then I wrote a letter to Ace: "Dear Ace, I'm sorry you got kicked out of Kiss. If you need somewhere to stay I'm sure my mom won't mind if you sleep on our couch. By the way, don't you think Anne Murray is a suitable spokeswoman for our generation?" Janet kept saying that: "Yes, I think Anne Murray is the spokeswoman of our generation."

We played the Partridge Family too. We were shining the torch on the island - it looked fantastic! - and the campers next to us yelled at us - why? Didn't they think it looked fantastic?

Roman's feet were really sunburned and peeling. I lent him some Sea Breeze and it felt both terrible and wonderful on his feet.

Steve kept trying to freak us out, going outside and making noises. But later he went to sleep, and I was climbing about on the roof [as you do] and I looked at him through the vent. He was inches away and I was freaked out. I was also terrified of going into the bathroom and when I did, it seemed like a journey - it felt as if it was moving.

But all in all, a lot of it was boring and I kept looking at the clock. Time was going by so slow. Ate a lot of Oreo cookies.

Then ... went outside and sat on the little dock of the lake. I was terrified of falling in the water, but it was wonderful. Al and I discovered The Secret of Lake Delores! [even though we were at Lake Kerr... I must have promptly forgotten it, as no explanation was forthcoming.] The moonlight on the water made all these swirling colors and shadows looked like people drowning...

Somehow I eventually got to sleep for an hour or two. But I was still frying.

On this day in 1977

The 30th of June in 1980 was rather dull, so I'm going back a few years, to the summer of '77. We've just missed my "review" of the Germs' first gig, but I will publish that separately, soon, I promise!

School was out and I was living at home in Manhattan Beach, working part time for this crazy numerologist lady, and my friend Jade, who used to live on my block, was staying with me. (She had since lived in the valley, then Hermosa Beach, then in Nowheresville, Texas, from where she was visiting. During her visit she got a call from her mum and learned they would be moving back to England.) Robert Williams (R or RW) was a drummer I had met hanging out at the Santa Monica Civic a couple years before, when Jade and I went to go see a band who shall not be named. He had left a message the day before saying that his latest band, The Best, were playing at the Whisky. Tiger was my boyfriend, Steve Tigerman.

My best pals, Mary, Trudie and Helen had gone (on vacation) to New York City. I was still heavily into the remnants of the glam scene and obsessed with martians and anything outer space; for the past couple years I had called myself Mar Star or Mar Tian, although by now I was also known as Kari Bromo.

30 June 1977

I talked to R. for two seconds; he was going to sleep. There was no guest list - bah! Jade and I went to the beach - nay, toad! Then went in the pool. While I was out there Jade called Phreddie and asked him to drive us to the Whisky. It did work out though Tiger was mad cuz I forgot to call him again.

Phreddie is a killer driver, with language to match, too! He made an "erratic" U-turn and a cop pulled him over. The cop was real nice though - asked where we were going. He said something like he couldn't help not noticing Jade's shirt [Wow, in this day and age couldn't you sue for harassment?! He was not referring to any logo or decoration...] and to me he said, "What's your name, Lipstick?" I forgot he was a cop and answered, "Mar Tian."

When I walked to the back of the Whisky with Tiger I thought this guy in a car looked like RW but it wasn't his car. [Did I add that I was also still a bit obsessed?] Then I went in and let Tiger in. [That good ol' back door at the Whisky!] But I guess that waiter saw cuz he kicked Tiger out. I was sitting down by the door and R. and that chick walk in, but I wasn't sure it was him till I saw his tennis shoes. [Funny, nowadays that makes me picture white shoes that tennis players wear, but back then we called all sneakers or sports shoes tennis shoes; these would have been black Converse style.] But I didn't wanna go running after him. But when I was going upstairs he was coming down. He said I was dressed as a punk! [Wish I could remember what I was wearing; probably some thrift shop duds...] But he had seen me wear that before! I go, "But look at you!' He was wearing some weird striped pants.

I sat upstairs. Tiger came in; the waiter gave him a hassle but I had given him my ticket stub. Nicky [Beat, of the Weirdos] had got him in. The Whores were pretty good!!! [With Geza X and Pat Delaney; they can be seen in Up in Smoke; later changed their name to The Deadbeats.] Needles and Pins were ....eh... Oh, they could be good if they got a new band! [Sage advice probably; I think they appeared on some compilation but I'm too lazy to try and go find it...] I saw JB and he looked at me weird like where do I know her from, but I didn't talk to him cuz of Tiger. [Sorry, I have no idea who JB was, but Tiger was a bit on the possessive side...]

We sat in a booth for the Dils, who played five minutes and were great then the guitarist threw down his guitar and jumped off the stage. [For those not in the know, the Dils also appeared in the battle of the bands in Up in Smoke, which was filmed earlier that month at the Roxy down the street.]

But I couldn't believe The Best! Their music wasn't that punk but they sure dressed it! Robert had slicked back his hair and had black under his eyes. They were pretty good. Afterwards we went backstage. R. and I ignored each other, cuz of Tiger and maybe cuz of that chick, too. (She sort of reminded me of me and doesn't seem like she could be the beautiful Romanian.) [I would often still chat to Robert on the phone and he'd tell me about his latest conquests, but I don't recall any details of this one.] Anyway, that's weird that Tiger's friend Alek (who said "The Germs suck one!") knows Robert.

So then Robert says hi and asked how I'd liked it. I said, [perhaps uncharacteristically sycophantically, as I did really like the Dils and Whores!] "You were better than the other bands," and he goes, "That's not saying much!" He said that he thought the Dils were OK and Tiger said something about their quitting the stage. I said, "How can you tell when someone makes a mistake?" Tiger and people started talking about the Doors.

The Zippers were good - the singer is so neat looking! [I guess they played after the rest of the bands? This comment was squashed into the margin...]

On this day in 1980

Context: I had recently moved into The Manor (the Stern brothers called it Skinhead Manor but that was kind of silly as there were no skinheads - thank God) on Leland Way in Hollywood; rent $125 pcm. The house had about eight bedrooms and a rehearsal room in the garage. I had also recently been beaten up by a bunch of HBs (jocks turned thug/punks) at the whim of some HB girl who thought I was standing too near her boyfriend. (The girl who knocked at the door was my future housemate, Gloria, not the HB chick, who someone told me committed suicide a few months after this. I think the other girl was Rachel, although it might have been Critter, if I had not met her yet...)

29 June 1980

I woke up at six am cause someone was pounding on the door. I answered it and I didn't have my contacts in. There were two guys and two girls and I swore one of the girls was the one from the Fleetwood! It made me kind of nervous to have her in the house.

It was real hot and I was gonna go home and go swimming but Maicol Sinatra had put me on the guest list for Cabaret of the Undefined at Club 88, so I went swimming at Frankie's [Frankie Marley; lived in West LA] instead, yet still missed half of it. Andy [Sevrin? I can't think of another Andy offhand.] was over in the morning, surprised that I lived at the Manor. I had watched Pressure of Honesty rehearse the day before; I couldn't believe how different Chase looked!

Oh, after I went swimming we went to Venice - I hadn't been there since that time I went to that party with Earl - sigh - where I had met Frankie [early July 1979]. We watched the Chiefs [I spelled the word correctly but the band spelled it "Cheifs", which always bugged me!!!] rehearse, who were real good, and drank strawberry daiquiris; then went to a very strange BBQ party in this sort of junkyard with all kinds of neat stuff.

Anyway, as I said, missed half of the C of the U. I saw the Boneheads, Butch, couple others. It was fun outside. The Boneheads were a pretty fun dance band. Something seemed weird about Trudie playing the piano; later I remembered she had always hated bands with keyboards. [Post Keith Emerson at least!]

Butch were boring. [Who were Butch? I can't remember!] Johanna Went was okay.

It was an okay show, overall. Gave Andy and Chase a ride home; these Australian guys who were staying at the Tropicana said they had heard there was a party at my house; I said there wasn't but one of them came round anyway and I was really rude to him; just went into my room. I felt kind of guilty about it later, but I was so tired and pissed off.

Yes, I'm finally posting something!

I'm an eBay addict... Is there an eBay anonymous? Fortunately, I'm also thrifty (OK, a cheapskate), and a good and patient bidder. Still, I need to ban myself from time to time, and this year has been one of those times.

But today I came out of my hiberation cave to see these, no bids, 99p start:

Five days till bidding ends; hope the misleading headline (it has 'WEDGES' in it!) keeps the bidding low!