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May 31Randle, Rock'n'roll, Gordon Gheller and the monitor boy (who looks about nine) also called John and me - all head off in the early hours to a bar called Rattlesnake. It has a Filipino girl band playing and it's packed. Rock'n'roll was excited, 'They must have named it after Motley Crue's Rattle Snake Shake, we've got to find the Kiss bar and hear some real music!' The whole place was shaking - got to bed at dawn.. Spend the afternoon being cooked by the pool. Steven, Joey and even the whitest man in Dubai (Tom Hamilton) are relaxing. Lots of Aerosmith in all the papers. Off to Dubai Exiles Rugby Club this evening to "Kick Ass With the Smith's" so to speak... Some more pictures from the desert shoot in Dubai with Steven and Joe. See more... 
 May 30At 2am I am standing in Club 400 which I think I've been to before when it was a brothel. It is full of arabs all getting drunk, pumping r'n'b music, and everyone smoking. All the girls appear to have beards or stubble. I stand with Steven and co in the middle of this - it is truly awful. I have had enough and leave him there and retire to the hotel bar to find Rock'n'roll John Bionelli and Randle Fagin having a rock'n'roll party. This is more like it - we just need Motley Crue playing Girls, Girls, Girls... Got up at dawn, well 9am. Don't feel like doing anything after John and Randle's rock'n'roll party, but as I am here to work I go with the band for a visit to the USS Nimitz, an aircraft carrier on patrol in the Gulf. We drive for an hour to the Dubai Freeport, a strange place.Full of security and not governed by International law. We pull up in front of the Nimitz - it is enormous, looks about the length of Oxford street. It is full of aircraft and lots of guns - I'd love to fire them... We meet the Captain and get taken on a huge lift which is a chunk of the flight deck on the main runway - the bit where the aircraft take off . This carrier had a vibe, it was jaw-dropping. I The band had a press conference at 2pm, which was frankly boring - 'What do you think of Dubai etc,etc...?' Go out with Joe Perry and family to the desert. Did manage to make it look different to Steven's. Steven's was styled, Joe's was more gritty and grainy. Joe looked the part - a camel even walked by as we were shooting. He reminded me of Omar Sherif in Lawrence of Arabia. 
 Shot until it was dark, then all went to dinner. Back to the hotel at 11pm. May 29Spent the day with Steven Tyler, which is fun but he never stops. Started off with him looking for me at 9am (I was picking up my computer). Gym, pool, then the desert. We drove out on the way to Oman. I thought I'd get 30 minutes out of him, he did photos for two hours with full concentration no messing about. It was so hot I took my sneaker off and the sand burnt my foot. We stayed out there until dark. We get back to Dubai as Joe Perry and clan arrive, with Rock'n'roll John B already stressing. 'I've got to sort out the set list, the show is in two days time!' Joe says to me 'We're in your neck of the woods.' Where does he think I'm from? I'm of the chosen race, then again so is Danielstein and he's from Iran, just across the water. Joe introduces me to his mother. 'I have to keep your son in order when he's being bad,'I tell her. 'My son is never bad. I brought him up properly.' I can't argue with that... Steven then wanted to eat, local food. We all (Kazuyo, Kripa, Gordon, Erin, ST and me) ate overlooking the water, outdoors. It was like having dinner in a sauna. Erin took a photo of Steven and me with me refusing to smile. 'Come on, I want a smile your mothers would like.' She got it in the end, I'll put it in the diary when she sends it. Kripa ate local chicken. 'Not bad, but it's not the same as a KFC large bucket.' Tonight here is like Friday night - we go clubbing. May 28Woke up late for me - 11am. Felt I'd lost the day. My Macbook is broken. I find an Apple service centre run by Asians. 'No problem, you can have it tomorrow for $600'. 'It has a three year warranty.' 'Yes sir, but warranty takes two weeks... 'What bollocks! I end up paying. I cook, that is the right word, by the pool. It is nice if you like hot. Go off and try to shoot some travel type photos. Dubai resembles a building site since I was last here, traffic and high rises everywhere. I shoot the new tallest building in the world and the Emirates Towers with the moon in the middle. Shooting Steven Tyler out in the desert tomorrow - Aerosmith are all arriving in stages. 
 Saw Paul Brannigan in today's Guardian. I didn't realise he was so well read. I thought he only watched "Yo Cribs" or "The Metal Years" while singing along after several cases of anything alcoholic. I now see Paul (or Danny, as he's known to his close friends) in a new literary light. "Top Of the morning" as he would say... May 27Thought about Mick Wall's book on his hero Axl Rose. You know people will hate it (GNR fans) - remember, you can't say anything bad about Axl, he's not a loonie. But Mick was there and you were not and everything in it is true - that is, what he's been allowed to put in it. Got up at 5am, still feel rotten. Spoke to Krippa Jones, Steven's Man Friday in Dubai. He was ecstatic that he'd seen a KFC - Krippa loves his chicken and is now happy he can get a bucket or two a day. Nice to see Americans enjoying the local food - all friendly. Off to Dubai this morning, looking forward to a full English breakfast at the airport. I'm going to enjoy my local culinary delights... Flew out of terminal 2 at Heathrow, which for some reason is always a pain. Terminal 3 is at least acceptable, here the security seem to think Adolf Hitler won and they are they are the Third Reich. Had a huge fight taking a camera bag on (and I was flying first class). I won, but only just, everybody working here has an attitude. They are all working class Worse to come was my Full English breakfast. I order off an Eastern European girl who is (a) brusque and (b) cannot understand any form of English. I wait for ages and when it comes it is two meals all with the wrong food. I tell the girl I'd like the bill and don't want the food - I have never done this before. 'WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEEEEEEEM?' she shouts. I look at Kazuyo who is with me carrying my bags, 'Is it me?' 'No, she can't speak fucking English!' Good to know Kazuyo has mastered the subtleties of the language. Kazuyo would be good at being upper class - she hates everyone... I'm not racist against Eastern Europeans - I am one, mixed with Scottish blood (all animals). Connect through Frankfurt on Lufthansa. Shoot huge rain clouds flying out. The pilot announces it's 105 degrees in Dubai, which is fine by me. The service on Lufthansa is exceptional, as an airline should be. My ear hurts, still throbbing. If I was with THE CAVEMAN I'd be on my seventh bottle of something to deaden the pain... I watch the route map - it is cloudy all the way to Mosul. Shoot quite abstract blue light, the sort of thing I like. Rothko, eat your heart out (could someone please buy a print for £42,000,000?). Fly over Tabriz, Kirkuk and other strange places. Esfahan, right across Persia. Get in at 10.30pm, it is baking. Been a while since I was here - got escorted (because I'm with Aerosmith) straight through customs and direct to the hotel. May 26Had another sleepless night with my ear going thump, thump, thump. Woke up tired and grumpy. Read Mick Wall's blog. Got to give Mick ten out of ten for crawling, in fact it was a masterpiece of grovelling to Chris Igham, publisher at Future. It was so sickly I threw up - honestly I did! Perhaps it was the antibiotics for my ear, although I'm sure it was Mick's blog... I did speak to Michael Wall to congratulate him on his literary work. I ended up feeling quite sorry for him. He's pissed off and I know how he feels. I did remind him his publisher friend described me as "Yesterday's man". Coming from someone who's favourite bands are Kiss and Iron Maiden that's quite amusing. Went to London, decided to invest in a couple of pairs of Vilebrequin shorts for the summer. At $200 each I couldn't bring myself to buy them. Must be the Danielstein in me - and I like shopping. Spoke to Rock'n'roll John Bionelli who's now clean shaven and wants to go to the Kiss club in Dubai. 'Can you check it out? It's a club which plays only Kiss. Just think, a club with real music!' I'm not sure it exists... Staying in, like last Saturday, to pack. Thinking about it I haven't unpacked... I watched The Seven Ages of Rock expecting it to be cringingly awful - it was good. You forget how good Roxy Music were. Re-Make Re-Model, Virginia Plain - I loved the 70's compared to now, the music's over. Mick Wall had asked if I wanted to do the episode on Heavy Metal. The BBC were interested but could I deliver Jimmy Page? Let's just say Mick's in it and Jimmy and I are not... May 25Went to bed and slept a whole hour - woke up with an ear infection. The whole side of my face was throbbing and locked. Ended up staying up nearly the whole night reading the Tom Wright book. I hadn't realised what a conduit he was with The Who, and the story of The Faces photo shoot in the woods of Ann Arbor is good. The only letdown for me is Tom, like all Americans, seems to think smoking pot is some form of nirvana. I've always hated pot smoking - the smell, the idea, everything about it. Give me class A anytime. I mean, look at Peter Makowski - the drugs do work... Got up finally - off to the doctors... Some recent magazine covers. See more... 
 Some more of The Scorpions went up today. See more... 
May 24Home to a hot, sunny England. Henry Rollins was on my flight, I haven't seen him for a few years. Bumpy flight, seems to be everytime out of Los Angeles. Slept all the way, was still half alsleep driving home when I realised I'd dropped my glasses coming through the airport. Bollocks, fuck, fuck, fuck, or words to that effect... Have to go straight to London to get my visa for India - off there with Aerosmith next week. May 23
Yesterday morning Billy Gibbons greeted me in his pyjamas. I've seen rock stars drunk, naked, out of their minds, but never in their pyjamas. I got the idea of him as a strange Cormac McCarthy character, a guitar preacher. I convinced him to pose topless against the wall of his house, looking almost Christ-like in the sunshine. Billy was so skinny he was all muscle - looking odd, in a good way...
Had breakfast with Rock'n'roll John Bionelli who's in town on a shopping trip with his lord and master, Joe Perry. John has grown a goatee type beard. 'It's to help me fit in when we're in Dubai, I want to get a dish-dash so I look like Lawrence of Arabia'. I tell him T E Lawrence was gay, 'No way, I saw the movie, didn't he have ten wives?' Maybe in David Lean's film, in real life he had ten boys - all friendly. Rock'n'roll looks forlorn. 'I'm shaving it off tomorrow. All you English are homos.' Only the upper classes John...
I went back to Billy Gibbons house, he was still in his pyjamas. We did more photos and got a lot more done including the inside of his house which I expected to look like something out of Dallas, with Miss Ellie cleaning. The best way I can describe is it was looking like a student's squat. Stuff everywhere. I'd admired his two black Telecaster guitars, called Scorpions. 'Hey, one's for you, what case do you want?' Billy gives me a guitar and even signs it. This made my trip. I should learn to play - can't play a note.
I get a call from the producer of the Anvil film about using my photos. She tells me everyone is giving photos "gratis". What a nice word, "gratis", as in for free. I tell her this is a strange concept that might be alien to her but I actually work for a living and get paid for what I do. I also point out (and she doesn't disagree) that Sasha the director is richer than Danielstein Hay. It's funny how all film, tv and cable shows have no budget. Amazing how they do everything out of the goodness of their hearts - they must be all members of Oxfam. Checked out and headed to the airport to go home. Check in and find out I'm in a middle seat. Nice, someone must really like me. I ask if I can move. 'Sorry, we're full.' How wonderful, only eleven hours in the middle row... May 22Came out of the Sunset Marquis and saw at least fifty paperazzi photographers. Now I'm no one to judge but lets face it, it's not photography. They were waiting on Posh Spice - Victoria Beckham. Here are some more pictures from my sessions with The Scorpions in Paris last week. See more... 
 
Here's some old ZZ Top from when I was young - shooting Billy Gibbons today... See more... 
 May 20Woke up at 6am to a glorious summer morning. Off to LA today and I didn't want to go. Just didn't feel like flying all day. The flight was full, I even had a middle bulkhead seat which I hate - nowhere to put anything. Another pet hate is the stewardesses all try to get the windows closed so you sit in darkness for eleven hours. It reminds me of a tomb, travelling at 500 hundred miles an hour. Flew over Bighorn Canyon, Lizardhead Peak, Shoshone Lake, Butte, Crow Indian Reservation, Absaroka, Range Devil's Tower - didn't see any of it, I only know because I was so bored I was studying the route map... Got in 1.30 and went straight to the pool and fell asleep, after trying to sleep for eleven hours with people climbing over me. Still, it's nice and sunny and warm. Watched The Gene Simmons Family Jewels on ET channel. I liked it, Gene came over rather as likeable in a John Bionelli-type way, talking in bad accents. Had nothing to do so I wandered up to the Book Soup, an upmarket LA bookshop. Got the Tom Wright book - Tom was The Who's first tour manager. He was also a photographer and shot The Who, Faces and all the bands I love. I wish I could write a book like this, warm and funny. If I ever did a book I'd tell the truth - no-one would publish it... I ordered a signed copy of Bruce Dern's biography called something like Things I Shouldn't Have Said. I'd call my book Things I Should Have Said or They Are not Your Friends... Off to bed to dream of Maggie Cheung, or Dover Street... May 19Went to see my mate Gordon Gheller. Everyone thinks he's of the chosen people. He really isn't, doesn't like them that much, like me. The train stations are full of Chelsea morons singing and chanting, off to the opening of Wembley Stadium. I hope they lose, just to ruin their day. Saw a couple of girls in the Armani store who were yum! Yukit (who works there) told me I was too old for them. Too old...? Went to have a look in Dover Street Market and saw the most beautiful Japanese girl working there. I'm going back next week to buy something just to stare and suggest she sees sense and becomes Mrs Halfin... May 18Spent the morning shooting Jimmy Page in the studio then tried to go to High Wycombe for a meeting. After sitting in traffic for an hour on the Fulham Palace Road on a boiling hot day I gave up. Fuck it, no wonder I'd rather fly... Spent the evening going through my Scorpions studio session - got more than I realised. It looks good. Then again, when I'm Rudolf's age I hope I look that good... May 17Got two copies of The Sadistic Mika Band Live In London. I was surprised when I saw the cd is recorded at the shows I saw, them supporting Roxy Music in '75 in London. Been playing it all morning. Saw some photos on Wireimage from Cannes. Maggie Cheung is there. I wish I shot film stars - she looked like the future Mrs Halfin. I'd even shoot her for free... May 16Went off to see Chris Cornell play at the Astoria with my chums Simon Kenton (my agent), Gordon Gheller (my tailor) and Jimmy Page (my mate). Shot some photos of Jimmy and Chris and a band shot before the show. It was packed, lots of Americans from the label telling everybody how great everything is with the utmost insincerity - as only Americans can. 
 Jordan Schur, chairman of Suretone Records (that's what his card says), is here to tell Chris he's the most important thing since the Beatles and Chris won't have to use toilet paper while he's the head of the label. Jordan is the man who signed Limp Bizkit and the legendary Puddle Of Mudd - need I say more? He tells me his new label will be different, it's like the old days. Pleaseeeeeeee - a nice record label? I tell him I can't wait to be paid a fortune for my work, and look forward to lots of jobs from him. Just remember record labels and the people in them are your friends. Jordan gives me his card. 'Call me, anything you need!' Call him - what for? I'm sure he'll take my call. Chris's band members ask what I've been doing? I tell them I was in Paris 'Why didn't you come to see us?' 'Because I was with a real band - The Scorpions!' They look at me blankly... Christopher's drummer even tells me he'd like a photo of Little Ron from the Mob Rules tour. Each to their own. Thought the band were rocking live, so did Jimmy. Spoonman, Outshined, and Rusty Cage, and even Seasons. In true Soundgarden fashion the light show was terrible - dark reds and dull blues. I left with my posse before the encores. Phil Alexander called and told me they finished with Slaves And Bulldozers, my favourite Soundgarden song. Shit, I wish I'd stayed... May 15I find myself standing in the hugely opulent bar of the Intercontinental Hotel opposite the Paris Opera House. This is my kind of hotel, unfortunately I'm not staying here. The bar is full of middle-aged East European whores, smiling and smoking extra long cigarettes. They smile at us through gold teeth. I mean, in my mind, would you pay to fuck your granny? We spend the early hours sharing gossip with Rudy and Uli. The only person missing is Sir David Coverdale. Peter and I have a really good time and we even enjoy walking back to our squat through the streets of Gay Paree.
I have a big session in a studio with the Mighty Scorpions. I start off shooting Rudy and Klaus, then Mathias, then the band. They are very professional and I have to tell you it makes my job worthwhile. We were going to shoot at the Trocadero to finish but it was pouring with rain so Burning The Skies of the Trocadero will have to wait. Rudolph, Mathias and Klaus asked why don't I do a book of the unprintable tales I tell them? The point being do you really want to read a book about what your heroes are really like? No, you don't. I find myself with Peter and Duff at Charles De Gaulle singing Scorpions anthems. We all sing The Rhythm Of Love. As I board the delayed plane which someone has inconveniently died on, on the way from London, a woman in a suit asks, 'Are you in a band. Let me guess - Status Quo.' she looks disappointed when I tell her. Peter announces this week has been a Pole, a Jew and some Germans. I didn't know Duff was Jewish... Oh, and before I forget, Coast To Coast was awesome... May 14Spent the early hours of this morning walking up to the Arc de Triumphe with Phil and Peter, reminiscing about the good old days when they could write cover stories on bands like Trust, Tank and even Anvil. Woke up early. Couldn't sleep. Tired. Moved to another shithole (with friendlier staff, admittedly). I am joining up with the Mighty Scorpions. Peter went off to interview them at 12.15. I went off to the Trocadero to look for locations to shoot. In all the times I've been to Paris, I've never been here. It has a great vibe. You stand on a huge platform and look across at the Eiffel Tower. It is impressive. The unimpressive side of it is that it's full of filthy, thieving gypsy bastards. Unwashed, no teeth, begging scum, doing the utmost to distract you while they steal your wallet. Everyone here seems to be chain-smoking, it is fucking disgusting. You could catch lung cancer from the air. Jasmin, my assistant, is chain-smoking, claiming it has great ambience, silly cow. I meet up with Duff Battye, Scorpions PR supremo, and Peter. We take a taxi to Le Zenith for tonight's concert with the Teutonic Titans. 
 
 It is chaos backstage, there are several camps with everybody vying for power. One of the main problems is whether or not I can have an all access pass. Alex, Rudolph's PA, says no problem. Three hours later I still have nothing. He is pissed off. 'What's the problem with him having a pass?' Even Rudolph says to the Production Manager 'Give him a pass!' 'Why?'asks the production manager, 'it is not necessary,' in a Germanic voice of superiority. Rudolph gives me his pass. I go into his dressing room. 'Can Peter do more of an interview, mein herr?'. 'He was twenty minutes late, today it has been a shitty day!' 'Does that mean yes or no?' 'Okay, okay, bring him to the dressing room now!' Herr Schenker does a good interview, insightful, funny and honest. Duff comes over and asks if we want to talk to and shoot Uli Roth. 'Donner und Blitzen - of course!' Uli is also a surprising interview and has an English sense of humour. 'I come from the Fatherland and can't wait to get back to the Motherland (England)... The show reminds me of Aerosmith. A lot of rock and ruined with some ballads. Okay, I'll admit that Aerosmith do great ballads. The thing about the Mighty Scorpions is, like Steven Tyler, they really enjoy what they do and it shows. The light show was good. It was great to shoot .The only bad point was no Speedy's Coming and the truly horrendous Winds Of Change. And yes,they did Rock You Like A Hurricane. May 13Peter Makowski came to visit last night. It was a joy to see him - no bible bashing from THE CAVEMAN. Steve Gorman, famous drummer, had written to me asking if THE CAVEMAN had gone mad... As it was God's day I was off to Paris. Arrived late afternoon to beautiful Parisian sunshine. Peter was held up at Heathrow - I thought he had been arrested for crimes against humanity (again). I am staying at what resembles a student bedsit, a one-star hotel, and I use this term loosely. It was called the Hotel Accure. Phil Alexander, editor of Mojo, was also there. Phil is famous for editing the legendary French journal, Enfer, while in France. I didn't have a chance to moan as Phil exclaimed, 'What a shithole,' adding, 'Are you in the Presidential suite like me?' Yes, it was bad. We walk to the other side of the Champs Elysees to the Hotel Des Sers, a five-star hotel, where Phil is interviewing and I am shooting Chris Cornell. All of the Universal Music office are, of course, staying there. Lane, his international PR, has just flown in, first class, from Sydney where she has been wiping Trent Reznor's bottom. Lane even tells us what a wonderful person he is. I don't know what drugs she's on, but let's be honest, Trent's a plonker. I know this for a fact. He even emails people to ask them a question when they are sitting next to him - a friend of mine used to be his tour manager. In fact, Trent is in the league of Class A Plonkers... 
 
 There seems to be much fawning around Christopher Cornell, grunge rock superstar. Okay, I admit I'm jealous because he's staying in a five-star hotel. Philippe Alexander does an interview for Mojo to be called Down Seattle Way, while I shoot photos. We finish by shooting on the streets of Paris. I am very pleased by what I get. Christopher is always a pleasure to deal with. He heads to bed with some hot chocolate - we go living after midnight, retiring to the Champs Elysees for some French gastronomic fare at Le Foucet, joined by a very harrased looking Peter. 'Customs looked in my bottom' he sighed. Peter then declared 'I'm starving, let's order something typically French.' Fruits de mere, non! He ordered chicken and chips... May 12My head hurts today from being out with THE CAVEMAN. He wanted to destroy London (again) and even sent me an email with the message "I'm getting drunk". We met at Nobu where THE CAVEMAN turned his nose up at his usual vat I notice THE CAVEMAN now only talks in riddles, like a sermon. We both watch a table of drunk American girls having a good time. 'At least they're having fun,' I say. 'Yes, until they see the bill,' THE CAVEMAN prophesies. He tells me his wife sends her love and so does the dog. I thought the dog was long drowned by THE CAVEMAN in the Pacific Ocean. 'He is, his spirit sends it's love.' As I walk to the station in the rain THE CAVEMAN is telling a beggar he doesn't need money, only the lord. 'Fuck off - you're pissed.' THE CAVEMAN is undeterred, 'Your profanity cannot harm me and money will do you no good,' THE I woke up this morning and remembered THE CAVEMAN is hoping to do the next Stryper cd. He thinks it will help his marriage and pave his way to heaven. Peter rings, excited. 'I got the article in Sounds I wrote on Anvil. I used to be able to write and you used to be able to take pictures - remember Metal on Metal "shaking the place blows back your hair caves in your face"?' Must tell THE CAVEMAN. After THE CAVEMAN speaking to Peter makes me feel quite sane. And it's a sunny Saturday morning... May 11
May 10I was going to Paris with The Scorpions and Chris Cornell this coming Sunday, but it all went kaput (as they say in the Fatherland) when Sony wouldn't spend any money on the trip as they felt The Scorpions weren't worth the effort. I was pissed off - I was looking forward to it. I rang Rudolf Schenker, 'What, you are not coming?' I speak to him half an hour later. 'See you in Paris...' Amazing what a phone call can do. Brian Wheat came to visit. We discussed Tesla. I asked him how he can still get on with that idiot Tommy Skeoch, one of the vainest, stupidest morons I have ever met. 'He's long gone,' sighed Brian, 'Does that mean you'll like the band again?' I never disliked Tesla, but I did dislike Tommy Skeoch. Brian gives me the new cd. Now, to be honest, Walk Away, Stealin', Dear Mr. Fantasy, Ball Of Confusion, Rock Bottom are fantastic, better than the originals. Thank You is sung well, the drums are too fast, it has the Page and Plant ending. Bad Reputation has good drumming but the vocals don't work. Jeff Keith isn't black enough. The extra disc has I Want To Take You Higher, Not Fragile (nice and heavy) and Make It Last - and even Do You feel Like We Do. War Pigs is segued with the Star Spangled Banner and is jammed out. Out of all the cover cds it's probably the best. The two bad songs are Space Trucking and Honky Tonk Women. Okay, I confess, I'll go and see them at Shepherd's Bush Empire on June 28, especially without Tommy Skeoch. I Brian wanted to show me all the hate mail about me he'd got from Tesla fans. You know, if you don't like what I write on here don't fucking read it! And I got this email
May 9Brian Wheat, famous bassist from Tesla, is in London. Brian boringingly thinks that Paul McCartney is relevant. Tesla have done a covers cd. Brian is excited, he starts listing the songs I should hear, Thank You, Space Trucking, Rock Bottom. I mean, why do bands inflict this torture on us? How can they better Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and UFO... Okay, bettering UFO can't be hard, but butchering classic songs - I'm sure the Tesla cd will be a million times better than Poison, but why bother? Def Leppard did Stay With Me by The Faces. It's such a classic song they can never better the original. I wonder what they suffer from that makes them want to do this. Brian did laugh when after listing all the songs they've covered I told him I have no desire to hear any of it. Now I feel a bit guilty, but like I said, why, why, why...? May 8Some bad news for you all today - I'm very much alive at the moment... Spent late afternoon looking at You Tube, ogling Sevara Nazarkhan (I would love to photograph her) and looking at The Sadistic Mika Band, who I saw open for Roxy Music in 1975. Mika was, ummm, yum. Hot Menu is still a good album and I'd love it if anyone can find it a copy of Live In London, with or without Obi. I spent the evening watching In The Mood For Love. The deleted ending is filmed at Angkor Wat and it make me want to go back there - perhaps I will. There's also an extra on the dvd which is a short homage to early Asian cinema, Hua Yang De Nian Hua, which is bitter sweet - go and watch it... May 7Ugh, I'm bored. What a boring weekend - typical May Day weather, shit. Although it's just been pouring with rain and now the sun is shining. Read the weekend's papers, nothing really. People going on about how sad it is that the Gumball Rally is cancelled because some rich knob killed two old people while driving his car like a wanker along a country road in Macedonia. "Gumball Rally, yes must do it and show what a spoiled rich tosser I am." Mike Figgis was making a film of it, which shows where his head is at. I was sent the new Poison covers cd where they get to massacre Squeeze Box, probaby the worst Who song ever covered by the worst band ever. They even do Little Willy by Sweet, things are that bad - I'm gong to send it to Joe Elliott. Peter Makowski called to tell me he likes the Poison cd. This is coming from the man who likes the new Velvet Revolver cd which seems to be universally disliked by everyone at Classic Rock. Slash played it while I was in LA shooting him last month, I thought it was okay, although they murder a ELO song - it sounded awful. Then again Peter liked Guns N' Roses at Hammersmith and I know that show was shite 'cos I know loads of people who went and waited five hours for Axl and everybody except Peter thought it was awful. Peter went on to tell me he's been transcribing his VR interviews and Scott Klein (Weiland's real name) is thick - fuck me, Peter should become a scientist for working that out. He missed spoilt as well... Kevin THE CAVEMAN Shirley thinks I only shoot old has-beens. Didn't realise Slash or Joe Perry were has-beens, must let Joe know while I rush out and buy one of THE CAVEMAN-produced Dream Theatre cds... Played the Findlay Brown cd which was sent to me by Phil Alexander and Peter. Both said it's better than the Scott Matthews cd. It isn't, it tries and fails to be more serious and intellectual. I mean, it's nice, in a folkie way - Scott Matthews is way better. Things have got so boring I started playing a pile of Pink Floyd bootlegs I have - Danish Blues, Heart Of Darkness, Corrosion, Swiss Made, Downfall - all from 70-71 tours. This is depressing, there must be something to do - I'm going to jump in front of a bus... May 4Some Joe Bonamassa (for THE CAVEMAN to lift for his website). See more... 
May 3Some pictures from my recent trip to LA. See more... 
Some Glenn Hughes. See more... 
May 2Some pictures of Slash in LA, fresh from the gym. See more of Slash... 
 Just added some Jimmy Page pictures - Jimmy at Shepperton Studios, 1993. See more... 
A photo sent to me by Loudon Wainwright, taken in sunny Scotland of Loudon posing underneath a poster with my photo - I think the poster needs to be bigger! May 1Spent yesterday in Dublin for a meeting and a job, can't say who as it's not out for a couple of months. Spoke to Phil Collen who'd also landed from London on a different flight. There was a huge crowd blocking the way out of the terminal, all chain-smoking (even Dublin Airport is smoke free now). Still great weather. I was half expecting to see Paul Brannigan staggering around the town and I wasn't disappointed. On the way back to the airport I saw a red-headed man, burnt bright red, stagger out of a pub and walk into a wall, and best of all was another Paul Brannigan lookalike throwing up on the side of the road as he tried to navigate crossing it. 'Top of the fooking mooorning, to be sure.' Going to watch a film called Aura tonight, by the same people who made Nine Queens. My garden in the sun. 
Glenn Hughes and Joe Perry at the Sunset Marquis Hotel, and me looking and feeling extremely unwashed and slightly dazed, outside my room after flying into LA from London. John Bionelli is holding my hand in an act of true homosexual friendship - 'All friendly' as they say down south... 
 
The photos flying out of Los Angeles are not my best, but there is something about them I like. See more...
Here's Pete Townshend from The Times Knowledge supplement.
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