Fantasy / Reality ... फंतासी / रियलिटी

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It seems so long ago - almost like a dream.
Like a different Lifetime ago...
Here's another sketch done in Allentown when I lived on 6th Street. The prostitutes used to stand on my front porch. I had them in for tea or hot chocolate a few times on the cold nights. Don't think the Pimps or Police ever knew about that. LOL...

The girls were always very good to me, and I thought it was great to come home to a pleasant hello and hug. (Sometimes more) They were always welcome to stand on my porch out of the elements (I lived alone on the second floor, and 4 of my friends lived upstairs on the third)... Down the street was the old fire-bombed out bar "The Caboose" where some people had lost their lives a few years earlier due to some ridiculous argument. That whole neighborhood is gone now - made way for parking downtown.



When I lived in that apartment, I came home one night and found a naked man passed out in my bathtub. I couldn't revive him and there was some blood smeared around the tub. Frantic, I ran upstairs where there was always a 24-7 party going on. (I had no phone) They told me Tommy was sleeping it off. I went back downstairs only to find, that he was sitting on my bed in the buff and fully erect - waiting for me... I tended his wounds. He cleaned up nicely. I wasn't alone that night either...

[:::]
A truly horrible & unforgettable event from that time - happened next door. I never met my neighbor, I'd only been there about a month by then, but it seemed that she went away for three days and left her baby in the crib. Of course I didn't know that at the time, but I heard a dog constantly growling & barking, and when the Police came around they found that the starving German Shepherd had mauled and half-eaten the baby ... it was very sad. He was only 7 months old. Not even a chance at life. You could probably note the sparrow near the center of this drawing with a 'point seven tag'. That's the reason. I never told that story before.

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Below is another example of the automatic neo-polypsychedlic type drawing from this period. This drawing "Eat In" another study for a painting, was done above a popular Quakertown Restaurant at the time. We had our own little resident artists & musicians group going on up there, and would practice with the band after service hours.



During the day a few of us had jobs downstairs. At night sometimes we'd sneak down there for a drink or some ice cream in the wee hours of the morning. We would figure out some song progressions on the house piano that was in the great hall. Sometimes I'd even get in a jump start on some prep work for the next day. [polishing silverware, or cracking open lobster tails etc...]

I usually had the responsibility of recording everything in the studio until we happened on a friend (we called him "Country") that used to do sound for the keyboard player of Blue Öyster Cult - that's when we had an awesome sound for an amateur band... Ahh those were the days. Always something creative in the mist. I learned much about recording sound from him. I had a bad thing for his girlfriend Kat. She was a sexy little DeadHead who was always flirting. They tried to get me into a threesome once, but Country never really turned me on that way. Believe me, I've had my share of threeways though... never gender relevant, and never initiated by me...

We had a great time until our lead singer was arrested for murder sometime in early 1978, which really happened to be a 'self-defense drug situation' that the judge saw in a different light. He's still in jail to this day serving Life without Parole. Fucking Lawyers & Judges. We all still miss you C-D, and we all kind of lost the heart to go on playing as a band without you. K-B and I get together for "jam sessions" still. We've been writing original material for over 30 years now... and K-B still corresponds with C-D.

I had this thing for T-P, who was the keyboard and percussion genius of the band, but he disappeared sometime in late 1978 for years. He was K-B's Brother, and disowned his whole family (there were 10 kids in that family if memory serves). He showed up years later for K-B's ill-fated Wedding, to act as Best Man - then disappeared again for 10 more years. Finally saw him again 2 years ago, but the magic was gone. He still looked good though. I often wonder if that little band couldn't have been something great.

During practice sometimes I'd drift off to the corner and sketch. The above study is from one of those times.