exceptionally for Suzanna C

from the archives:



Dear S-

There's been about four long days here, in Buenos Aires, where I've had exceptional luck and love and down time. I mean "sad" by down time, but I mean it as an exception. Exceptionally, I am sad here.

Except:

On Sunday I learned how to use a camera. I learned by forcing my way backstage and borrowing a friend's camera. I found a professional newspaper photographer in the midsts, and asked him how to put the settings. The ISO was all wrong, the F-stops were poor, and so we vindicated things.

With about 200 shots, I gained maybe 10 fine ones, and 30 OK. I sat in the dressing room for a while just before the New York Dolls were going to play. I talked with Sylvain about his son who knows French, and about some bar where the Dolls opened for Rush in the 70s in Toronto: before Rush was big.

I also watched the meagre, skeleton, Jagger-of-a singer, David J, warm up his vocals with a large marijuana cigarette with the company of his beautiful, vampiric wife.

Auto check is telling me that vampiric is not a word. But it is, surely, a word.

"Oooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmphhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" David groans, sitting, smoking a tobacco cigarette now. Resting head on one fisted hand.

David Johansen looks like a man who is thinking, always. When we spoke, just alittle earlier. It was rough, my questions were poor, the settings were all wrong: light, camera, microphone.

There were many problems. I looked nervous (I have seen the footage).