The Weblog Of Dr. Dot Stein
St. Patrick's Day and night was out of this world fun for me and my friend Chrissi. I was naturally there to massage and I brought her to just hang out and enjoy the sights and sounds of wild rock stars.
The first time I saw Buckcherry was in Berlin around 10 years ago. They were opening for KISS . When I heard the name “Buckcherry” I thought, THAT is a clever name. Then I heard/seen them play and thought “THIS band will make it BIG”. Now they are HUGE.
Staying home on a cold Friday night here in NYC as I have my sex columns due NOW and I am on antibiotics AGAIN. My lungs couldn't handle the 5 mile jog I did Sunday night before going out to karaoke (wild night of karaoke) with my friend Jill. I am sure inhaling all the put smoke in the karaoke bar didn't help. I was jogging my ass off down in FLA without any problems, I guess I have to quit jogging in the winter OR move down South.
Some buddies of mine have their own radio show called The Hooter and Greenway show and they have been waiting for about a year for me to pose in their shirt so I finally did it. I have a stack of t-shirts I am suppsoed to pose in, but I never think of doing it. Doesn't cross my mind.
(you can see Pooh to the left of me, sniffing my armpit as usual)
I HOPE I get over this round of Bronchitis before I fly back to Berlin (within the next ten days). NOT looking forward to landing in Berlin this time as I head it is BELOW zero (it was 19 below the other night). OMFG. I have to go, lots to do over there. Lots to do everywhere for that matter.
Gotten used to the USA way of life again, been here since August and there are some things here that are much easier than in Europe. You don't have to force a smile out of anyone, people are happy- rich or poor, they are still happier here. Making a living in NYC is much harder, but the mood is better in general. Gas prices are SUPER low now (filled my tank for $20 the other night). GREAT FOOD everywhere here. I gained 3 kilos since August (5 pounds?) but it seems the pounds went straight to my tits anyways, so I am not moaning. I will surely hate Berlin for the first few weeks, then I will grow to love it again and hate to leave. Never ending story! I would write more now but I have to do my sex columns.
I have some fun pics from our Sunday night out and will load them later
x
So after a lovely Spanksgiving Thursday, I dropped Jasmine off home and headed to BB Kings (42nd street) to the Jimi Hendrix 66th Birthday Bash to see my friend Lance Lopez do his thang. I get invited to so many shows to see friends play and hardly ever have time to go see them, but this time I went ( I am a HUGE Hendrix fan). First to go on stage was Jimi's REAL brother, Leon (same mom and dad). Sadly I missed his set due to typical NYC traffic hell.
BUT I still got to hang out with Leon, who is very friendly and charming. I heard from the others he has only started playing guitar 5 years ago; perhaps that's why he went on first? I told him straight up "I would have been one of those ladies that fucked the hell out of your brother given the chance. His music turns me ON". I have to admit, the thought of procreating with Hendrix DNA did cross my mind, for a sec. Heh heh.
The Staff at the BB King are so friendly to me, I get VIP treatment when I show up and I don't even ask for it, but I'm like, "ok".. why not? I did insist on paying though ($50) to see the show, hey, musicians bust their BALLS doing what they do, and if I really want to see a band, I pay. I know how it feels, having my own band in Berlin (Bitchfest) when 200 people show up and half are on the guest list and you earn FUCK ALL after all the rehearsal room costs, flyers, PR etc..
Anyhow, I got a great seat and watched Lance in awe. I just about got off listening to him play Hendrix tunes, PERFECTLY. It was like Jimi came down and channeled himself through him. The voice, the guitar lics, omfg, I wanted to get up and dance my ass off, but everyone was seated and so head bobbing and though slapping was the norm. Lance got a standing ovation after EVERY SONG!!
The guy who came on after Lance, Frank Marino MUST have received the headlining slot out of habit, as he was sloppy (some said it's because he is in his mid 60's, but that never stops BB King when he plays) and at times it really sounded to me like the band skipped crucial beats which made it sound to me like a record skipping. He did an amazing job at the star spangled banner though, I must admit. BUT watching Lance Lopez play first and THEN having to endure Frank after was just like having an outrageously perfect shag and THEN having a lonesome wank after. No comparison. Not exaggerating here folks, Lance nailed it. PLUS, Lance only needed THREE in his band, as in, him plus two, just like Jimi, to do it right. Frank needed an extra guitar player. Yawn.
It was Heaven for Hendrix fans. sigh, purrrrrrrrrrrrrr. It has inspired me to hurry up and get that Hendrix tattoo I have been putting off for so long. I asked Jasmine to draw me a Hendrix head which I will have tatttooed on me, not sure where yet. Leon said he "REALLY wants to see it, in the flesh", once it's done 🙂
Do to the hurried blur called 'my life lately', I forgot my camera in the car and had to make due with my Crackberry camera. Hence the crappy quality pictures. sigh.
Lance just sent me a text message with his set list he played at BB Kings last night:
1. Midnight. 2. Hear my train .3. Gypsy eyes .4. One rainy wish .5. Izabella .6. Them changes .7. Voodoo Chile slight return
See Lance Lopez LIVE:
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PORT 41 | NEW YORK, New York | ||
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GUITAR CENTER (In-store clinic) | SAN FRANCISCO, California | ||
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THE SWEETWATER STATION | MILL VALLEY, California | ||
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COZY’S | LOS ANGELES, California | ||
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BOOGALOO LOUNGE | LOS ANGELES, California | ||
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CORNER CAFE | EL DORADO, Arkansas |
So I am all out of watch with the blogs, I still need to do the Italy blog from last spring, the Flogging Molly, Ac/dc and Project Object blog as well as the FLA trip/Zappaween blog. OMFG. I am living in Blog shame. Stay tuned.
x
Dr. Dot
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| Jet Li ^ |
Jonas ^ |
Jet Li is in Berlin and called for a massage. I was so EXCITED… until he said it has to be a male. Sigh. So I send my assistant, Jonas (who massages me every week, so I KNOW Jet is in GREAT hands. I will be adding Jet to our list of “satisfied clients”. Yay!! I guess he feels only a man can give him super deep tissue. Ahem, he has never met me. Hands of steel that heal. 
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Last night I visited my friend Ron, an American cult figure here in Berlin. He is a karaoke whore to the extreme. He went so far as to open his own karaoke club (Moster Ronson’s Karaoke bar ). They have karaoke 7 nights a week (he said he LOATHES Bachelorette groups/parties with a passion fyi- they show up already pissed out of their heads (drunk) and don’t buy any drinks at all and hog the mic). Ron’s place is very bizarre. Some men wearing dresses, women wearing motorcycle gear, people arriving at 5am- I guess it never closes. Drinks are dirt cheap and finally, it’s finally smoke free, HUGE song list, I mean EVERYTHING and it’s free to get in and sing. No tourist there at all. Just freaky Berliners. Is it just me or does that guy above resemble Barney? ^
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| Karaoke Stripper |
Another cool thing about Ron’s karaoke place, is you just NEVER know what’s gonna go down. Ron announced that this guy, above, in dread locks, will take off his clothes AND swing round the stripper pole for TEN EUROS. He started a collection, asking the crowd to donate, to raise the 10 Euros to have this guy get good and naked and give us a show. Naturally, the Berliners held tight to their pennies. Fuck that. I just gave him 10 Euro. Get yer kit off, I need entertainment dammit.
Something me told me this guy has done this before (his female friend sang the Kiss tune “I was made for loving you baby” during the strip. Gene would have vomited.
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My friend “M” ^ and I posing for Monster Ron.
M sang some Rocky Horror Picture show (and Pulp and Bowie) tunes which drove the crowd MAD. I sang some Led Zepp, Rod Stewart and Janis (‘Cry Baby’).
Every 2nd Friday they have karaoke at Oscar Wilde’s Irish Pub on Friedrich strasse and their sound is THE BEST. Another bonus, NO SMOKING. So your hair and clothes won’t smell disgusting when you get home. HUGE song list, great sound, but LONG WAIT.
I have so many pictures from the last few months that I have to cram them all into one fat blog. I have so much going on that finding peace and quiet to blog has become harder and harder. I suppose that's a good thing, when one becomes too busy to sit and write, but if I don't write I feel constipated. My goal this year is t rewrite my book all over again as it's like a patch work quilt right now, in pieces that need to be sewn together. It's overwhelming to me, all the things I have in line to do and yet all I can think about is how Jasmine is doing traveling around Europe. I'm going to just comment on each picture, and hopefully it will end up as some sort of chronological story of the last few months of my life. Well, at least a tiny version of it 😉
Melissa and I down in Douglasville Georgia ^
"Mel" as everyone calls her and I get along like two peas in a pod. She is my cousin. My Dad, who adopted me at age one, Chester, has two sisters, Nancy and Caron and although we don't share the same blood, they have been my Aunts as far back as I can remember. Caron has two kids, JC and Melissa. Mel is a little fire cracker and I can see a lot of myself in her even though we are not blood related. She has a wild heart and is very passionate about life. She is a clever little cutie who will hopefully go really far and not take any shit from anyone. LOVE YOU MEL!
;It's amazing all the things you see in the suburbs^
My Dad and Mom separated when I was 11 and he then married a woman named Allyson when I was 14. Allyson, my step-mom, had it hard when she joined our family as I was only 4 years younger than her and she had to take on 3 rowdy kids when she married my Dad. Me, my 7 year younger sister, Michele and 9 year younger brother, Chester (Chet the 4th). Then a year later, they had their own child, Zack. Zack is my step brother and we have always gotten along. Zack recently had his own child, above, also named Zack ^
I call him mini-zack. He is a cutie and gets spoiled rotten as you can imagine. He is like a photo-copy of his father. They look exactly alike.
The guy with the sun glasses is my brother Chester. We shared the same Mom but different Dad's (I never met my biological father, an Italian Stallion who was too cool to stick around). Chet married Dana, the woman in the picture with him, and they have a child together (not pictured here) named Chester the 5th! The little girl in the picture is Dana's daughter she had with another man (long story).
Dana is cool as fuck. I wish I had a picture of Chet the 5th, but for some reason I didn't take that many pictures down there, I was just chillin' like Bob Dylan. Plus, I am always unsure about posting pics and info about relatives on the net as some like it, some hate it etc.. So I feel restricted.
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That is Marcel ^, my sister Michele's second son. He is a very serious child, don't remember seeing him smile much but he was pretty much glued to Jasmine's lap the whole time. He loved his cousin Jasmine. Michele has an older son, Danielle, who hangs out non-stop with Chet the 5th, that's probably why I haven't any pics of them, they run around like wild fire the whole time. The only time I saw them hold still was when I hooked up the karaoke machine. They loved it and it was pretty difficult to get the microphones out of their hands. They sang Bon Jovi, the Beatles, Led Zepp, etc.. AND Pat Benetar too. HILARIOUS!
The other pic is of Melissa and Mini-Zack. The family is tight down there. I wish I could stand living there, but I can't. I tried for a few months when I graduated high school, in between Grateful Dead tours and I went Banana's. Not enough Rock and Roll down South. UGH! Also, they are far behind in many things, like no one recycles there (unless you live in DOWN TOWN Atlanta). No one cares about eating healthy. I was cooking some tofu and the family was looking at me like I had two heads. The kids had never seen or heard of it before. They all smoke cigarettes, no one recycles or exercises or like I said, cares about healthy eating. I prefer the NYC pace, where everyone works out, eats healthy and recycles. I need that.
It's not like my family refuses to recycle, it's just not an option in the suburbs in Georgia (and probably most of the states in the USA unless you are in a major city). What the fuck is taking so long people? RECYCLE please. Gotta take care of this planet dammit.
The whole family down in Georgia posed on Christmas for a group picture, all wearing these fake teeth I have in my mouth above. The picture is hilarious but it's a private thing, so just imagine a massive group of people, young and old, all smiling with these teeth in their mouth. They are a humorous bunch; love to have a good time, that is for sure.
The green Jets hat above was given to me in 1988 by Frank Zappa backstage in Long Island. I am sure someone gave it to him, he wore it a while, then just gave it to me. I had it in my closet in Georgia for years then I finally gave it to my aunt Caron as I really hate hanging onto things. She gave it to her husband (who is now her ex) Jim. Jim is still very close to the family and is there all the time. Jim is Melissa's father (and JC's too). Jim brought the dam hat over to my Dad's for a photo-shoot. Hence the above pics. The hat is alive and well. Thanks Jim 😉
< Jim, with "the" hat.
This picture is from 2000, taken backstage at an Eminem show in Hartford, CT. What the hell is it doing here you say? The girl in the middle is my sister, Michele. As I said, she is 7 years younger than I am and we shared the same Mom (Mom died in 1998 ) . She and Chet the 4th are from my Dad, who raised me and my Mom. Freakin' complicated I know. Anyways, I don't have many pics of Michele and didn't even get a new one of her during my last trip to Georgia, so I am posting this one. I was on part of that Eminem tour, doing massages and when he played in Hartford, my sister begged me to bring her backstage. Em and co were so nice to me and allowed it. She only got to meet Em for like 60 seconds, but this is the pic from that dream moment. Proof, the black dude on the right, was Em's right had man for years. Proof sadly died in 2006 from a gun shot wound. Anyways, my sister was in 7th heaven meeting them. Michele and Chet look like my Mom and I look more like my Italian father (seen pics of him).
Magenta ^
Ok, back in NYC, some friends of mine and I went to see the Rocky Horror Picture show at the Chelsea cinema. They act out the film, as the film plays every Friday night. I played Janet when I was in the 9th and 19th grade in Virgina Beach, Virginia. It was a fight with my Dad and Step mom to get out of the house so late each weekend, but I prevailed and had a blast.
The cast I worked with had a fairy decent looking Frankenfurter, which makes things easier. This NYC cast, however, is apparently not choosy when it comes to casting. I swear to GOD I am not being catty when I tell you their Janet was as useless as a wet paper bag. She was HUGE and not even worth photographing and she showed NO emotion what so ever when delivering her lines, which usually came out much too late. Their Riff-Raff, Columbia and Magenta were out of this world good. Columbia being the best of the whole lot. Their Frankenfurter was in my eyes, too big and too gay. I mean, if you are too gay to even portray Frankenfurter, you need to tone it down a notch.
I went with my buddy Danny and Jill and some other lesbian fag hag he dragged out who hated me when I wasn't accepting her sexual advances. Sorry, I have been there, but I prefer cock. Plus, she wasn't my type.
Riff-Raff and Magenta time warping it ^
Columbia was the fucking BOMB ^ LOVED HER!
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Columbia again ^ and my English friend, Jill ^ and I. Jill lives half the time in London and the other half in NYC. We get along perfectly.
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Jill and I enjoy going to LIT on Sunday nights in NYC for some karaoke. They have the BEST fucking sound in NYC. Huge song list too, only thing I don't like (there's always something) is that people are still allowed to smoke there. I guess that's why it's called "LIT". Another annoying part is that tattooed guy above ^
He is there every time I go there (the MC told me he hasn't missed a Sunday night since 5 years). He is always high, which isn't the problem, thing is, he can't STAND it when someone else, besides him, is on stage. He is extremely LOUD when anyone else sings. He will stand right in front of you and talk to anyone who will listen (or pretend to listen) at the top of his lungs, that is, if he isn't trying to snag the mic out of your hand and sing with you. He simply can not bear it if all eyes and ears are not on him constantly. I really want to make a documentary about karaoke as each place I have visited (London, Manchester, NYC, Berlin, LA well, all over the place) always has some sort of weirdos fighting over the mic and stage time. It's so exciting to me to see all of this. It's even funnier than a Ben Stiller flick.
Remember the movie "Cable Guy" how Jim Carey invited all of his customers to a karaoke party? It's pretty much like that but louder. I love the drama, and of course I love to sing. But this tattooed punk has the worst breath you can imagine. Like compost heap mixed with a side of rotting gums. He is always asking me to get high and I tell him, as I try and run away, "NO THANKS!". Oh man, the pro's and con's of karaoke. You want great sound, you have to put up with HIM and smokers. You seriously can't win.
Anyways, the picture on the right is of Jill belting out "rock and roll" by Led Zeppelin. Her favorite group is Led Zepp, and I love that.
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Oh, another thing about Lit (which is on 2nd ave, lower east side) is that it's ALWAYS filled with colorful strangers. These two chicks were basically parked in front of the stage, making out wildly, I mean, they were the main attraction that night, much to dismay of the ego-maniac bad breathed punk.
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Another friend of mine ^ John was there at Lit, celebrating his birthday. He has the "I hate birthdays" look on his face and who could blame him. The chick on the right simply had a magnificent ass, so I had to snap her pic.
I will probably get my face ripped off when Jasmine sees this picture ^. Not because she is hugging my best friend Jonesy, but because she banned me from posting pics of her. But I can not help myself. I mean, I have a few cute pics of her from Christmas and Georgia and from our night out to see the Beatles cover band The Fab Faux, but this one can't be left on my Mac. I have to share it. Two of my favorite people, both of whom I would stick my hand in fire for, together in one shot. So cute. It's worth the wrath that is sure to come my way. 😉
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MAX, from Berlin, aka Charlie Crawford and the singer of Empty Trash; runner up in German's version of American Idol (Deutschland Sucht ein Super star) came to NYC for a week of fun. No, he didn't stay with me! He is only 19 so get those naughty thoughts out of your mind. Anyways, I showed Max around a bit, as did Jasmine. He is a big star in Germany and can sing his ASS off. I wrote about him already in my Thanksgiving day blog. Click HERE to see it.
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Eric Danville ^, managing Editor, Penthouse Forum/ Girls of Penthouse and friend of mine, was sadly mugged the night we were initially supposed to meet to sign my contract. "It happens" he said. Luckily only his arm was hurt, he could have been killed. Anyways, a week later we met at a bar called "2a" because it's on the corner 2nd street and avenue A. It's a really popular hang out for artist and people in the entertainment biz. The wine is as bad as the service BUT it is still fun. The pics above are of Eric and his boo-boo arm and me signing my contract, with Penthouse Forum. My sex column "Calling Dr. Dot" will premier in the magazine's May issue (it hit's news stands on April 14th though). I am so happy and grateful, I won't let them down. Hell, I never let the NY Press down either, my columns were always early and entertaining, they are just unorganized and change editors as often as Lindsay Lohan does boyfriends. Well, you know the saying, one door closes and another one opens. I was sad when the NY Press dropped my column (along with many other columns at the same time) but now I am glad it happened as writing for Penthouse Forum is way better in my eyes.
The night I met Eric at 2a to sign my contract, the service was great. But when Tom Clark ^ isn't bar tending/working, you can fucking forget it. The other bar tenders are too busy making love to their crack-berries to notice you are drying of thirst. Meow.
Anyways, I was there before Eric. Never been in 2a before. I sat at the bar, alone, asked for a wine list. The bar tender shows me a bottle of white and a bottle of red (pretty sure they had screw on tops) and said, "here is the wine list, red or white?". I thought, what a cheeky bastard this guy is. lol. He gives me my wine and then asks "are you Dr. Dot?"
My jaw dropped. Eh? "yes, why? How did you know that? Did Eric tell you I was meeting him here?". He says "Eric who?" then explains he recognizes me from myspace. EH? Still puzzled. I was like "wtf?". He then explains that he and I have been pen pals for almost 2 years, writing on myspace, mostly about music and my desire/obsession for Karl Geary. Karl frequents the 2a fairly often. Tom told me on myspace 2 years ago that he sees Karl rather often "at the bar he works at" and so we started chatting about him and music etc.. anyways, to me, people look different on myspace then they do in person. Especially if you aren't looking for them. I wouldn't have put two and two together in a million years. lol. Anyhow, I felt like a dumb ass that he recognized me but I didn't him until he refreshed my memory. Guess I need to buy a few more mega bites of memory for my head.
Behind the bar ^ …makes me laugh every time I read it.
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I was asked to come to a recording studio in Weehawken, NJ to massage the band Matchbox 20. I know the sound man, Jim, for almost 15 years now. I massaged Jim in trade for him tuning up my JBL equalizer in my car. My Amp and equalizer in my trunk are so HUGE you can't really fit anything else in there. It's FUCKING LOUD and now, the sound is even more perfect than it was. Listening to music in my VW Golf is one of my favorite things to do (while driving through NYC, windows down). Anyways, the piano above ^ used to belong to John Lennon. It now belongs to the recording studio. John recorded the song 'Imagine' on that piano. I felt honored to touch it. sigh. |
I went into some rock and roll shop in Greenwich Village and bought a SHIT LOAD of rock and roll t-shirts and all of the guys working there are from Mexico and all had really long hair and were listening to Black Metal, which apparently is "much harder than Death Metal". In fact, they tell me Death metal is just for pussies. Black Metal is the most evil music around. They have it playing really loud and as you shop for rock and roll memorabilia, you think to yourself "mmmm, so if I went to hell and turned on the radio, this is what would be playing".
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Back in Berlin I was invited to a VIP party, thrown by several press agencies, news papers etc.. It was fucking boring but the food and drinks were free and in abundance. The above girl band was playing all night. Yawn. I hate VIP parties. |
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This poor bastard is getting married ^. Had to take a pic of this guy on his Stag night in Berlin. Good luck sucker. |
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Above ^ Freaky (on the right) and his female companion wearing their lighted baseball hats. I have known Freaky since 1991. He is an artist, jack of all trades and really REALLY fun to watch when he sings karaoke. The words to describe him properly fail me. He calls himself Freaky, so you can just imagine I guess.
Recently my friend "Scruff" was in Berlin and I showed him around. It was sadly gray and raining the whole time he was here but I am sure he enjoyed himself anyways.
BIZARRE light-billboard directly across from the Estrel Hotel, where the "stars in concert" show is held. Do Berliners think that Beastiality is ok? I mean, if this was on display in Boston, I doubt it would go over well. Weirdos!!
I brought Scruff to see "Stars in Concert" which is a show that has been going on in Berlin for almost 10 years. It's all made up of celebrity impersonators. The man who plays Elvis, Grahm, is from Dublin and is one of the worlds best Elvis impersonators and a buddy of mine. He used to do it in Vegas for years, but wanted a change and moved to Berlin. He invited us and paid for everything. The whole experience was amazing but Elvis was by far the best part of the show (The Blues Brothers were pretty good too). It was funny how "Elvis" came out to our table after his part of the show was over (he was in normal clothing) and still had all of his Elvis make up on, as he had to still do an encore. Elvis buying us drinks. Nice.
I fly to France next week, will be there for about 30 hours, then I fly to Rome, stay a few days, then go to Florence. Looking so forward to enjoying Italy again. Ciao Bella
x
Sometimes it’s hard for me to express in words the excitement of touching certain people. This doesn’t happen often. Last week, June 8th and 9th to be exact I was in heaven and it has taken me a few days to get my feet back on the ground. For some it may be hard to grasp being so excited about a musician, but I could tell you, it would be the same for a boxer to win a match, a soccer team to win the world cup, you get my drift.
I have met Roger Waters several times over the years and each time I am over the moon with glee. He has always been an object of my desire since the first time I heard his music. The fondness grew stronger when I first laid eyes on him in the film the Wall when I was in the 7th grade. Such a talented mastermind and so attractive and on top of that, he is the coolest. If you have any doubts, please watch the film “Pink Floyd: LIVE AT POMPEII” and after you watch it, think of me saying “I told you so”.
It may sound odd to some but for me, Roger is the UK version of Zappa, but probably just to me. His lyrics are so deep, so meaningful, they teach. Waters and Zappa wrote lyrics that I studied more than any subject in school. Ditto with the Beatles, but Waters (as well as Zappa) did many concept albums and they are not just entertaining, they really changed my way of looking at life. Animals, Dark Side of the Moon and The Pro’s and Cons of Hitchhiking are 3 albums I could not live without. I know, sounds obsessive, but we all have our cravings.
Roger wrote 98% of all Pink Floyd lyrics and music, (for example, Roger wrote the Wall and The Pro’s and Cons ALONE, and then presented them to the rest of the band and said “I will do one of these as a solo project, which one would you all like to do as a group. They chose the Wall. The Pro’s and Con’s is just as good, if not better, than the Wall. “Reg” is beyond AWESOME. He IS Pink Floyd in my opinion. I can not go see “Pink Floyd” if Roger isn’t there. I have videos of Floyd when Gilmour wasn’t even in the band. I do love Gilmour and the rest of the band, but I am a Roger fan and stand by that 100 %. Once in 1987, Roger was on tour and so were Pink Floyd. In Providence, RI, “Pink Floyd” (without Roger!) played and the very next day, Roger played ( I went to the show). There were so many fools walking around wearing shirts that said “Fuck Roger” I wanted to hurl! They bought them at the Pink Floyd show and they were black with the same writing as there is on the Wall album. How tacky. Enough ass kissing you say? Bollocks, don’t get me started, I could go on and on about “Reg” (Roger’s nickname). My 4 musical favorites are Beatles, Zappa, Floyd and the Stones; sometimes it changes, as in, some months it’s Floyd, Beatles, Stones and Zappa, and other times it’s Zappa, Stones, Floyd, Beatles; know what I mean? Those are my top three, and just like you shouldn’t choose your favorite child, don’t press me to choose just one favorite. Although over the years I have sort of loved the Beatles way more than the Stones. Long story..
I remember driving around NH, in between Grateful Dead tours, with my younger brother and sister, CRANKING the cassette: Ummagumma. I made them listen to it repeatedly. Then it was onto Meddle, Pipers at the Gates of Dawn, Saucerful of Secrets, Obscured by Clouds, Relics, a Nice Pair, even Barretts INSECTS album. I raised my daughter on great music although I never played Zappa for her until she was 18. His lyrics are rated PG. heh heh.
Jasmine can play ‘Wish you were here’ and some Beatles tunes on her guitar, which is so satisfying to me.
I have seen over 3,000 shows now, all for free. The only time I have bought tickets was before I turned 15 and for a Roger Waters benefit show in 1990 here in Berlin, his WALL show and then again for the Zappa plays Zappa show and more recently the June 8th Roger Waters show here in Berlin. Those shows were so important to me, that I didn’t want to risk it, what if no one wanted a massage? I had to be sure we were getting in. I ended up getting backstage for Zappa plays Zappa and gave my tix away to Jasmine’s pal and luckily, the same happened at the Roger Waters show.
It was looking like Jasmine and I would just be in the audience to see the show, but in the last minute, I decided to just try- I called Simon, a tour manager turned friend, whom I have known for a few years now. He worked with Dave Gahan and I saw him backstage at Live 8 with Roger Waters. He called me and he said “Dot, where are you? Can’t believe we are in Berlin and you’re not backstage”.
Um, say no more, Jasmine and I grabbed a cab and were bouncing off the taxi walls with insane excitement. The taxi driver was about 70 years old and took the longest, slowest possible route which made me want to explode, but nevertheless, we got there as the show started as we ran towards the stage singing the first song “In the Flesh” out loud (all of the Germans were looking at us like WTF??!!), but we didn’t give a flying fuck.
I was wearing an English Football (er, soccer for you yanks) shirt and this made me the object of hateful glares all night from the German football fans. They kept saying to me in amusing English “You are VEARING zeeee VRONG SHIRT!”. heh heh, we’ll see mates, we’ll see.
Jasmine wanted to watch the show from the side, but I dragged her backstage as I wanted to thank Simon profusely for the backstage passes. He was super happy to see us and insisted we watch the show ON the stage in the VIP section. Jasmine was basically hyperventilating at this point from too much joy at once. She and I have watched Live at Pompeii an unhealthy amount of times and she has never seen Roger live before. *sigh*.
Simon bring us drinks on stage, hello, could he be any fucking nicer? Simon is the bomb!!!! ^
Please don’t read me the riot act here, yes, Jasmine had a beer. She will be 17 on Monday (June 19th) . Hello! They all start really young here in Europe, enjoying their beverages. If you try to prevent/forbid it, they just do it even more. I just go with the flow and trust her judgment.
The sound was amazing, I haven’t head such amazing sound quality since last years Live 8 when Pink Floyd reformed.
Roger is a perfectionist and I am grateful for that. My ears were smiling all night long. Jasmine started to weep during Wish you Were Here. You know how certain songs remind you of a certain person/time, well, that song had a lot of folks bleary eyed. I love how Roger goes to the edge of the stage and sings, even when he isn’t in front of a mic. I told him that I like that and he said he likes to encourage people to sing along and it works. The whole place seemed to know every word to every song, even though English isn’t their mother tongue.
^ Has been playing guitar for Roger for ages. Mr. Andy Fairweather Lowe, the Great!
I am wearing the RIGHT shirt! ^
< Jasmine and I in heaven!
The set list ^ which Roger Signed the next day after his massage. So, I massaged Simon after the show and he said that Roger wanted a massage the next day at 6pm, You know I was there early, with bells on, so to speak. Simon brought me to Roger’s room to set up and get prepared for when Roger returned from Golfing. It was the first warm and sunny day in ages in Berlin, great for Golfing. Funny how so many rock stars go Golfing in Berlin (Alice Cooper is one of many).
The TV was on and the first game of the World Cup was on. Germany vs Costa Rica (Germany won that game 4 – 2 by the way). Roger arrived and was in a great mood. He remembered me and was really sweet. I started his massage with my special invention (started doing this method when I was 5 years old on my mom) the “Bite Method massage”. He was keeping one eye on the game most of the time and he loved the massage. I was paid in advance for 90 minutes but I massaged him for 2 and a half hours ( I was making it last as long as possible 
We had some small talk, I usually don’t speak during a massage, but we had tiny breaks to have a sip of water etc, and I asked him why he has never done “Across the Universe” live. He didnt recall ever doing that song and I said “I have it on video, you and Andy Fairweather Lowe on guitar”. “ah yes”, then he remembered. He said that he never thought about doing it live, but hey, if he ever does, feel free to thank me. He does an AMAZING version of that song. I asked him about the gorgeous turquoise/silver ring on his right hand. He said he has had it on since 1969. He banged it once and it bent and he can’t get it off. I found that to be really cute. By the way, no need to ask me “Did you ask him if Pink Floyd will ever get back together” because I would NEVER fucking ask him that stupid question. Don’t ask Sting about the Police; Eric about Cream and don’t ask Roger about Pink Floyd, it’s insulting and fucking annoying.
I love his work with Pink Floyd but I also love all of his solo albums, so we talked about those instead. I asked him why there is no dvd for the Pro’s and Con’s tour, He said they didn’t video tape that tour or Radio Kaos tour either. I find that VERY unfortunate. I own the “In the Flesh” dvd, it’s from Roger’s 2002 solor tour, it has Doyle Bramhall on guitar and it fucking ROCKS!!!! If you don’t have it yet, I highly recommend it. I have two copies, one for my NYC place and one for my Berlin place. Can’t be without that. Doyle isn’t on this tour, he is cheating on Roger with Eric Clapton (so all is forgiven). Clapton played the night before here in Berlin, so Roger and Doyle were up most of the night chatting and having a drink or two. Roger waited as long as he could for Eric to return from a recording studio, but he had to hit the hay eventually and they missed each other by minutes. Clapton played guitar on Rogers ‘Pro’s and Cons of Hitchhiking’ album, oh GOD, it’s AMAZING!!!
Note: I asked Roger (as I do every musician I massage) what he thought of Zappa. He said ” I used to hang around Frank a lot in the 60’s and even stay at his house for a long while, and ended up breaking Suzy Cream-cheese’s heart, unforunately.” He almost forgot about jamming with Frank until I reminded him. He said “are you sure?” Yes, I am very very sure:
Pink Floyd jamming with Frank Zappa ^
< THE ring
Rubbing Roger’s feet ( me= happy)
Roger said, even though there was no live footage for the Pros and Cons tour, he had JUST received a dvd the day before of never before seen videos he made back in the day for the Pros and Cons Album, Radio Kaos and even Amused to Death (“What God wants, God gets” with Jeff Beck on Guitar).
He said “after the massage you can see them if you like”. Uh, ya think? YAY! He set up the videos on his lap top for me to watch and HE put the head phones on me and headed for the shower. I sat there for almost 30 minutes with my jaw open, one constant “WOW”. The videos he made simply MUST be released. I told him all of his fans would buy them. He seemed open for comments/feedback. Looking into his eyes is so exciting, I am still smiling. Bad news is, he is engaged and very much in love. I told him I find that to be a pain in the ass and extremely unfair. He is ALWAYS taken. I told him him it’s not fair and he should give other girls, like me for example a chance. He just grinned, never said a word when I was talking that shit. I did tell him his ass was in GREAT shape and he is still HOT. Again, just a grin
Face the facts, I have the balls to say what you want to say, it’s as simple as that. heh heh. Jasmine didn’t make it to school that day (day after the show), we both slept until 2pm (already has those rock star habits). I wrote her yet another rock and roll excuse note “sorry, Roger Waters was in town”. The last one was “Zappa plays Zappa was in town”. Her home room teacher smiled and said “Jasmine, you are lucky I am your homeroom teacher. Tell your Mom I am jealous”.
She made an incredible portrait of Roger and I brought it for him to sign. He was really flattered and signed it “To Jasmine, love Roger”. She is gloating.
^ This is now one of my favorite photographs. He is smiling at me. Not the camera. I can die peacefully now.
I finally found out when the 5th Wheel show will air on TV. Way back in August ( or was it September?) I filmed for HOURS and hours with the producers and other contestants of the 5th Wheel show in Manhattan.
You can read about this way back in my blog. But anyhow, if you want to see it:
It will also be aired on TV on March 1st at 1:00am, so really, if you stay up late (until 1am)
Video clip of me on the 5th wheel ^
I won't bother to write much today, I will just tell you about the photos I took today during the LONG filming of the 5th Wheel -show.
