THE END

Mike Osterhout and Al Blanchard


Photo:GNJohn

SEE YOU AROUND

Last week my old love Friendly got up in the middle of the night, went to the bathroom and never returned. Word has it she died of a heart attack on the bathroom floor. Not a bad way to go. I hadn't seen or talked to her since just after the attacks of 9/11/01. The last drink we had together she cried on my shoulder down at the bar. Our intense affair was about to end. My boots were covered with ground zero dust and she was high. A couple of weeks later she told me she was going back to her husband and could no longer see me. I begrudgingly accepted this and moved on. I taught myself how to play the guitar, wrote sad songs and began writing a memoir- Lucky Mike. Then I bought my first computer and began writing the blogs Luckymike, Christmo and Holylgm. With her passing it seems as good a time as any to end this phase of my life. The last thing Friendly said to me was typically wry and upbeat, "See you around handsome." Amen.

R.I.P. FRIENDLY

MARTYNKA IN MASK

Photo: R. Kern

GNJOHN MAIN FRAME

THE EXECUTIONER'S EYES

Forty years ago Argentine revolutionary Dr. Ernesto "Che" Guevera was killed by the Bolivian military with the blessings of the CIA. He had been one of the rock star three, along with Camillo and Fidel riding triumphantly into Havana in '59, and later fought in the Congo and Bolivia, spreading "revolutionary chic" globally. In Havana he's omnipresent, emblazoned everywhere from billboards to keychains. In boutiques from Paris to NYC his famous mug is plastered across skimpy $50 t shirts worn by perky titted models, completely co-opted by capitalist pop-culture- still in style after all these years.
Last year I stopped at Milawyer's house in West Virginia on my way to Mexico City. In the bathroom was a big glossy book on Che. When I asked who was reading it, Milawyer pointed at his young son Mr. P. Seems P had become obsessed with Che. He didn't know much about Cuba or revolution, but after a few trips to the can he was an expert on Dr. G. What kid wouldn't find Che cool?
When I lectured at ISA in Havana all the students told a story of Fidel and Che playing golf after the revolution at the American golf club that even Batista was barred at (having African lineage) and vowing to turn it into an art school. ISA now sits on those links. Because Che died young he will always be remembered as that beret wearing, good looking dude. Because he remained a revolutionary, and did not become a politician like Fidel, he will always be romanticized.
The reality of Che's life may never be known. It is so steeped in myth and politically driven propaganda (on both sides), a true biography may be impossible. But there is one fact that sheds a little light on the life and death of Che. The Bolivian who pulled the trigger and put a bullet in Ernesto Guvera's body is still alive and recently had cataract surgery....... at a clinic established by Cuban doctors. That old man owes his sight to the man he killed. Vive revolution!

WSSP- FINISHED STONE

SELF PORTRAIT 07