AFTERMATH – DAVID CARRADINE MORGUE PIX
BY ANTONIO PINEDA

Fools rush in, where angels fear to tread. I stride across the opulent lobby of the Swissotel Nailert Park, take the lift to the 5th floor, where investigative journalist Mark Ebner admits me to his suite. He has had dinner with Dr. Pornthip, the famous Thai forensic scientist the night before. He found her to be a dissident voice, who questioned the ambiguities in the Carradine case. Pornthip has been a thorn in the side of authority in a conformist culture. She is an attractive woman, a bit of a local celebrity cum personality. She however stands by auto erotic asphyxiation.

Ebner is no stranger to the true crime story. His book, entitled Six Degrees of Paris Hilton, examines the sordid  sex, drugs and crime scene of Hollywood. In a sense he has reinvented the noir crime novel. It is a non fiction work, the names have not been changed to protect the innocent. He is a hard boiled, old school investigative journalist.

There is a knock on the door. Mark gives entry to the mysterious Monsieur X. He is revealed to be Guy Armand Montblanc. He is tall and angular, with a head of wavy chestnut coloured hair, and an ariaticratic air. Guy claims to possess pix of Carradine at the morgue. Although Mark and I are casually dressed, Guy is tres chic in a gunpowder grey suit. He affects no necktie, a gold chain around his neck supports a tiny gold penis. He is fluent in English, French, Russian and German.

Over coffee and cookies, we engage in small talk. Mark engages us once again in his dominatrix conspiracy theory, compounded by David Winters Katoey theory. Guy lights a cigar. Mark, who is teetotal, indulges in his last worldly pleasure, a menthol cigarette. Guy tells a charming story. While escorting a legendary British popstar about Bangkok recently, they picked up two lovely ladies. They went back to the 5 star hotel . The girls handcuffed he and the popstar with their hands above their heads. The girls concluded the experience with good old fashioned oral sex. It all comes off with soap and water, mes cher amis.

Mark encountered a curious scene in the hotel garden, which is also the grounds for penis shrines. He saw an elderly lady wandering about there. She was followed by a large retinue of cats. She laid down a banquet of cat food. The cats ate and cavorted among the penis shrines. Freud, Nietzche and Sartre would have had a literary and philosophical field day with this scene.

The ancient Greeks composed a quadrant of 4 male godheads. These were Zeus, Apollo, Hermes and Dionysius. The rites and rituals of phallic worship were ascribed to Hermes. In India, they worship the lingam of Shiva. Penis shrines are a reflection of an old culture, in Thailand there is no shame or guilt attached to this form of phallic worship. In the USA they just arrest one for deviant behaviour.

Time for the moment of truth. Guy sits on the computer and brings up pix of Carradine . The body is laid out in state. The rope is still tied from neck to genitals, although the genitals are covered up. Guy states the cord is still tied to his testicles. Mark sees a ring on his finger and claims it to be scarab. Guy disagrees and says it is the Cross of the Royal Knights of Malta. The sides of the body are covered in fading tatoos.

There are ligature marks around the neck. Blood stains the neck and backs and sides of the hair. Mark examines the stains carefully. He states that there may be signs of physical trauma to the head. Carradine has been cut open from stem to stern, and then sewn back again.   Perhaps organs have been removed for the toxicology report. Guy runs pix of different shots and angles. It is a sad testament to the life of a brilliant cineaste.

Mark claims the hotel manager stated that room 527, where Carradine died is no more. The entire floor has been renumbered, the room has disappeared. It is a scenario straight out of the X Files, or The Twilight Zone. If there was blood at the scene of the crime, there may have also been follicles, fibres and blood splatter. Curiouser and curiouser. Wierder and wierderer.

The seance is over. Mark Ebner must catch his plane to Los Angeles, where he will report his conclusions for Maxim magazine. The enigmatic Guy Armand Montblanc is on his way to Paris, then London where he will shop the pix to the tabloids. So my dear Watson, is this the hand of the nefarious Moriarity, a serial killer on the loose, a suicide, a mysterious bondage and domination game gone wrong, or a sado masochistic murder in the best tradition of Hollywood Babylon by Kenneth Anger. That my dear Holmes, is a question that may remain unanswered, the sands of time may erase all clues, Carradine may be consigned to many cases that  to Scotland Yard, like that of Jack the Ripper, remain unsolved.

EPILOGUE – THE CARRADINE AFFAIR
BY ANTONIO PINEDA, Bangkok Thailand Blogger

Antonio Pineda talks to Mark Ebner about David Carradine in Bangkok, Thailand

David Carradine was interred at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills. The invitation only services were attended by 400 mourners. Services were held indoors at the Hall of Liberty. Brothers Keith and Robert received family and friends. Michael Madsen (who has a moving tribute to Carradine on his website) and Lucy Liu, who starred alongside David in Kill Bill, were among the cineastes who came to mourn, as well as to celebrate the life of an actor who accomplished a life of excellence in cinema.  Carradine married his fifth wife, Annie Bierman at Madsens home five years ago.

Guests gathered and embraced. Jane Seymour and Tom Selleck, attended the funerary services which lasted for 2 hours. Frances Fisher, Daryl Hannah, and Edward James Olmos came to celebrate the life of an extraordinary actor and friend. Rob Schneider carried a basket of flowers.

Meanwhile back in the Big Mango, inside the belly of the beast, I recieve a phone call from award winning author cum investigative journalist, Mark Ebner. He has found me via my invaluable blogmeister and social media rockstar from Austin Texas, Paul Terry Walhus. Maxim magazine has dispatched Ebner to Bangkok to investigate the Carradine affair. I arrange for a summit meeting with David Winters and Gary Stretch.

Ebner arrives at Winters penthouse office. He and I exchange books. I receive Six Degrees of Paris Hilton, which has just been optioned by 20th Century Fox TV, in exchange for my novel, The Magick Papers. David Winters and Gary Stretch are going over the script for their next film project, The Warrior King, to be shot on locations like Bulgaria and Thailand. We exchange pleasantries. Mark Ebner inquires about the career of Jan Michael Vincent, whom he considered to be the next James Dean.

Winters reveals that Vincent worked on a film with him. Jan Michael had a son whom he encouraged to be a stuntman. His son died in a horrific on set accident. Jan Michael succumbed to the demon rum. David had to post a sentry outside his hotel room, to prevent Vincent from sneaking into town at night to drink himself to death.

Gary Stretch, fresh from Cannes and the success of his film, The Heavy, graciously acquiesces  to show us two gold WBC championship belts, which he received as former WBC middleweight boxing champion. The Heavy also stars the evergreen 87 year old film icon, Christopher Lee. Oscar winner Stephen Rea, Vinnie Jones, and Lee Ryan of the pop group,  Blue, round out the cast.
David gives a tour of his cinema museum. Ebner takes pix of David next to the West Side Story film poster. David began his career as a dancer in that film. David poses next to two films he produced for Carradine, Future Force and Future Zone. Winters states that today, in order to contract a film star, one needs an army of lawyers and a sheaf of documents. He and Carradine signed the contract for the aforementioned films on the back of a napkin over lunch in Hollywood. Ebner shoots a pix of Gary Stretch in front of a poster for The Kingmaker. David produced this film on location in Thailand, Stretch starred opposite the redoubtable John Rhys Davies, and the former Miss Thailand World, Cindy Burbridge.

Mark Ebner

Ebner drops the bomb. He researched the scenario. His research brought him to an actor- film director in NYC.  Here is the game plan. The dominatrix shows up at his fashionable penthouse on the Upper East Side. As the door closes behind the actor – director, the dominatrix punches him to the floor , and demands him to grovel before his lord and master. The sexual pathology is one of transference of power. The dominatrix binds him by rope in the same intricate fashion as Carradine. He is then taken to the bed where the dominatrix jams a wire up his urethra. The dominatrix engages him in wild aberrant sex, at the moment of orgasm, the erotic asphyxiation element is played out. In NYC an hour with the dominatrix costs 350 US D an hour. The same service can be had here all night for the same price. Ebner has done his research, and we are all in tune with his theories.

We are rolling deep in the street. I arrange to meet Mark with Monsieur X, who possesses pix of Carradine at the morgue. Mark invites me to bring Monsieur X  to the scene of the crime, the Swissotel Nai Lert Park. We arrange to meet after Ebner has dinner with Dr Pornthip, the Thai forensic scientist. David and Mark arrange to brainstorm over the autobiography David has in development. Ebner conspires with Stretch to do a story on The Heavy.

David Carradine and Michael Madsen

The precedent for this sexual scenario can be found in the writings of the Marquis de Sade. The Marquis lived during the 200 years reign of the Capet Regency when the libertine exalted sex beyond art. De Sade wrote most of his controversial works from prison. If Kraft Ebbing had not existed , he would have had to be invented , to understand the pathology behind de Sade. The intellectually challenged video games – YouTube generation with a short attention span would do well to consult, At Home With The Marquis De Sade, written by the brilliant Francine du Plessis Gray. Du Plessis Gray is an intellect and historian of the same calibre as Antonia Fraser, wife of the late playwright- screenwriter and poet, Harold Pinter.

I appear to be an innocent in this modern world of whips and dominatrixes. Auto erotic asphyxiation and its variants appear to be much more mainstream than we surmise. Dear readers, we will meet again at the penis shrines at the scene of the crime where Les Paroles du Monsieur X shall reveal the final installment of the Carradine mystery. Join Mark Ebner, Monsieur X and I , as we bravely go where angels fear to tread.

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BANGKOK BABYLON, DAVID CARRADINE RIP
BY ANTONIO PINEDA

I wander by the old Madrid pub in Bangkok. Set in the heart of Patpong, the oldest entertainment area in Bangkok, the Madrid and Sarika steak house were once the watering holes for CIA spooks back in the day. I ascend the stairs of Sarika , Joe Cummings, editor of the biweekly Sunday Bangkok Post supplement , The Magazine, is drinking a glass of red wine with his lady, Ae, Joe is an accomplished author. He is also the front man of a band, the Tonic Rays. Billboard voted their music no. 6 of the top ten recordings in 2008.

He is the skeptic world weary reporter. Over a dinner of steak and vin rouge, Joe declares the pix of carradine in Thai Rath to be a hoax. The photo has been touched up, it is a mockup.  Joe possesses 12 pix of the body at the morgue, well lit and of excellent quality. Joe also hosts a cinema evening every Thursday at Raindogs, a bohemian boite.  He screens films like Performance, with Mick Jagger. The James Brown Saves Boston film was a favourite of mine, as well as Control, the film bio of Ian Curtis of Joy Division. Joe wants to see hard evidence of the katoey-transexual conspiracy theory.

Curioser and curioser, I roll down to Pattaya Beach to interview Peter Rnic, the actor and publican. Peter is a crack character actor in films. He also owns the Celebrity Corner, a happening pub in Pattaya. Peter totally debunks the theory that Carradine committed suicide.

Cinematic work is the meat and drink of an actor. Carradine was booked solid for years. Peter invites me to bring Gary Stretch, whom he worked with in Alexander, directed by Oliver Stone , to come to Pattaya to do radio and TV interviews.  Peter accepts a copy of my avant garde novel , The Magick Papers and sports me to a vodka tonic.

Back at the penthouse lair of David Winters in Bangkok, things are hotting up. He dictates a birthday greeting for Nancy Sinatra to his secretary Mina, a pretty and vivacious Thai girl. The greeting sparkles with bonhomie. He reminds her of the beauty of their friendship, and the love her father, Frank Sinatra, expressed to David re Nancy.

Bob Burns, senior reporter for Globe magazine has contacted David. He is fascinated by the theory espoused by Wnters, that a katoey carried out the murder, and the crime scene was staged. Burns and Winters conduct an interview by phone.

David refers me to an article in The Nation Newspaper. Forensic pathologist Dr Michael Biden , the former chief examiner for New York City, determined that Carradine did not commit suicide. He conducted the autopsy in California, and concluded more information was needed from Thai authorities before reaching a final determination of the case.

Back in the day in Haight Ashbury, my hipster mate Al Nieman and I ran The Straight Ashbury Viewing Society. We screened the ouevres of Bruce Conner, Stan Brakaghe, Robert Downey pere, whose son Robert Downey fils is a super star today. Kenneth Anger hosted and screened his Magick Lantern Cycle. Soul survivors of the Straight Theatre today are Reggie Williams and his sister Connie, and Hillel Resner. This was underground theatre at the apex of its existence. The Straight Theatre served as a conduit for Janis Joplin and Big Brother, Santana, The Grateful Dead, James Cotton, Lightning Hopkins and a cast of thousands. Anger also performed his mythic Equinox of the Gods show there. The Equinox of the Gods included the music of the Magick Powerhouse of Oz, fronted by Bobby Beausoliel, who was later sent to prison for his involvement with Charles Manson. Bobby once auditioned for Iron Butterfly. Oddly enough Wnters once managed Iron Butterfly.

Anger was far ahead of his time. The music video clip techniques he utilized in Scorpio Rising invented MTV. The esoteric arcana he employed in The Inaguration of the Pleasure Dome defined psychedelia. Lucifer Rising, perhaps his most controversial work struck fear into the hearts of cornpone middle America. Anger is a must study for all modern cineastes, as are Bunuel and Dali for Un Chien Andalou, and Jean Cocteau for La Belle and La Bete. He was also a film historian in the great tradition, his legendary book, Hollywood Babylon, is revered today as a masterpiece.

Anger is the most misunderstood cineaste of his generation, because of his association with Aleister Crowley, and his devotion to Thelema, his sacred religion. Anger lent me his magnum opus, Hollywood Babylon, to read. The book chronicles the misadventures of everybody from Valentino to Harlow. It is a manifesto of outre sex, drugs and alcohol abuse , and the occasional murder. It has as its antecedents the works of The Decadents and Les Poetes Maudites. The Carradine mystery belongs in the pages of Hollywood Babylon. I would ascribe it to a volume of Bangkok Babylon. There are ten million stories in the Naked City. This was just one of them.

These are my links for May 13th through June 10th:

• ICSI Netalyzr – analyze your network connection, very detailed and comprehensive, web based
• How to install the Windows 7 Release Candidate – Windows 7 Release Candidate: Installation instructions
• Twitter Lists – twitter lists, resources and how tos
• 10 Ways to Change the World Through Social Media – Our children will inherit a world profoundly changed by the combination of technology and humanity that is social media. They?ll take for granted that their voices can be heard and that a social movement can be launched from their laptop. And they?ll take for granted that they are connected and interconnected with hundreds of millions of people at any given moment.
• Live social actions map | im doing my part.org – live twitter map of social actions around the world, a very useful toll for social activists who put on events like twestival

David Carradine was murdered and there is a cover up over here in Bangkok. It was probably done by a ladyboy, either on purpose or accidentaly. The ladyboy would be strong enough and big enough to pick him up and place him in the closet. I want to see the tapes from the hotel’s cameras. Please try to get your hands on them and check them out as they may have been tampered with already.

I think the police and the hotel are both involved.

David would never kill himself …. for sure …. he was happily working and that was all he wanted in life … he was on a roll as Chuck and Tiffany his managers say.  He had many more films to make and money was rolling in.

When he called me i told him how wonderful Bangkok was, i wish i had never said that now.

Keith is correct in wanting the FBI to investigate the case.

David starred in 2 films for me and i knew him quite well as a personal friend and he would not do this when he had a rebirth so to speak as a Star!!

This will probably get me killed too!!  But someone has to speak for David as he cannot!! RIP…

David Winters

ENDGAME,
THE DAVID CARRADINE AFFAIR
BY ANTONIO PINEDA

http://magickpapers.com/blog/

The strange demise of actor David  Carradine in Bangkok continues to generate contreversy.  The family of the actor have asked the FBI to intervene. Lumpini police chief Col Samprasong Yenthuam states that the FBI need approval from the Office of the Attorney General in order to do so.

I run into investigative journalist David Walker on the street. He says he and a CBS crew were denied access to view the corpse at the morgue. CCTV tapes were also unavailable to view. Walker points out the strange similarities to the death by hanging of former INXS singer Michael Hutchance. The late pop star was found to have ingested quantities of alcohol, ecstasy and barbiturates. Death by misadventure perhaps, or something more nefarious.

Painter, sculptor and author Richard Diran checks in. He is the author of Vanishing Tribes of Burma, an ethnographic study of the tribal structures in Burma. Richard has seen the pix of the body, bound by curtain rope, in Thai Rath a Thai newspaper. His hands were bound behind his back. Diran questions how he could have hung himself in the closet hands bound behind his back.

Martin Zweiback continues staunch in his claim that David would never commit suicide. Martin scripted the original Kung Fu TV series. From his home in Santa Monica he recalls the glory days of their halcyon youth. Martin remains a dreamer and visionary. He remembers Carradine as one of the great talents of his generation. A show biz family whose credentials rival the Barrymores.

A great French writer declared that upon completion of a manuscript, the ink must be left to decant. Like a fine bottle of wine a writers ouevre grows in ststure with time. Luis Bunuel, Picasso, and BB King created ceaselessly because art knows no temporal boundaries. The true artist will die in the saddle. That is the legacy that Martin wishes to preserve for Carradine. The worth of a man is in his work, and an actor defines his existence by his role on the stage of life.

I recieve an email from Myke Brown, the manager of Tata Young. Tata is the premiere pop superstar in Asia. She will release her new album on August 25. Tata will then tour Japan, Asia, Australia and Europe. Myke has arranged for Dr Bruce Hensel to interview David Winters , under the auspices of NBC 4  in  Los Angeles.

I roll to the penthouse office Winters creates from. Memorabilia of his work adorn the walls, Pictures of Elvis Presley, Ann Margaret, Kirk Douglas, Diana Ross, and Paul Newman grace the walls. Among these artifacts of The Golden Age Of Hollywood, Dr Bruce is in the process of interviewing the legendary producer director. Winters sits in front of classic Hollywood cult  film posters of 2 films he shot for Carradine, Future Force and Future Zone.

Dr. Bruce queries David re the mysterious circumstances of Carradines demise. Winters explains Carradine portrayed a bounty hunter in the films. He scoffs at the premise that Carradine died of auto erotic asphyxiation. He points to a poster of the young Josh Brolin in a film he produced entitled , Thrasher. David stresses he originally proposed a young unknown, Johnny Depp , for the role.

Gary Stretch, who is staying with David, mans the camera. Gary is the star of The Heavy, a film that premiered at Cannes. Christopher Lee, Steven Rea and Lee Ryan of the pop group Blue are also cast in this tale of a London hitman. Gary Stretch possesses the distinction of being the former WBC middleweight boxing champion. He retains the animal grace and vitality once the sacred providence of Hollywood stars . The film will premiere in London on June 31. Dr Bruce asks David if Carradine comitted suicide. Winters emphatically replies in the negative.

Winters talked with Chuck and Tiffany, the agents for Carradine. The actor was lined up for work years in advance. People of a certain social class always have the obligatory  gold Rolex watch, diamond ring and gold chain plus the mandatory roll of mad money in their billfold.  No mention was made of this by police. David produces the wild card from the deck. He contends that a katoey, ie a ladyboy or transexual, could have easily possessed the strength to murder Carradine. Katoeys are part and parcel of the Bangkok scene. They blend into the fabric of the demimonde. They are often indistinguishable from the real deal.

The bomb has been dropped. Winters is the only person who has had the courage to initiate this view to the media. He contends that confidential informants utilized  by the police have erected a wall of silence. In his view this silence is being bought by big players, who do not want the real nitty gritty of this case to be revealed. The film industry  and tourist industry have suffered setbacks due to the economic downturn and political instability, another scandal celebre would not help. The Swisshotel Nai Lert Prk where the body was discovered in room 352 is pursuing a course of vested interests.

Dr. Bruce asks David his plans for the future. He declares that he will attend the preniere of The Heavy in London with Gary Stretch. Gary also starred in The Kingmaker, which Winters shot on location in Thailand and sold on to 36 foriegn territories. Gary and David are then on to Bulgaria, to work on The Warrior King, an epic film in the great tradition of historical sagas. Winters excuses himself. It is the birthday of his dear friend Nancy Sinatra. Having recently lost his best pal Paul Newman, and now Carradine, he wants to take time to congragulate Nancy.

David graciously writes an epilogue to this story which is the subject of the next post on this http://magickpapers.com/blog/ blog entry. With his permission I am making it available to the general public.

I am a blogger on the scene in Bangkok at the hotel where Carradine died and am blogging about this on http://magickpapers.com/blog

ICON OF AN AMERICAN FILM DYNASTY
BY ANTONIO PINEDA

The announcer for the BBC breaks the story on TV. David Carradine was found dead in the Swiss Hotel on Soi Nailert. The film star was found in the closet of his room bound by curtain rope around his neck, and the inference is that his genitals were bound as well. The news ran through the Bangkok film colony like a forest fire.

I consult investigative journalist David Walker. He is also a screenwriter and author of the cult classic book, Hello My Big Big Honey. Walker is at the hotel. He has already led a CBS crew to legendary film producer-director David Winters penthouse office. Winters is a dear friend of Carradine from their glory days in Hollywood. Walker wants to see the surveilance tapes. No chance Bagger Vance. Dr. Pornthip, a colorful Thai forensic scientist is on the scene at the hotel. Walker says Pornthip, who is famous for sporting many hued punk hair styles and is a bit of a celebrity,delares the case to be death by auto sexual strangulation.

I roll up to Winters penthouse office. He is devastated by the tragic loss of a dear friend. He has not slept. CBS and People Magazine have already come by to solicit intelligence. David is shocked by the tawdry inferrences. He has spoken to 3 of Carradines agents. The agents declare that Carradine was on the roll of a lifetime. Quentin Tarantino redefined the 72 year old actor in Kill Bill. Carradine recieved a Golden Globe nomination for his work with Tarantino. The actor of the classic cult TV series Kung Fu had starred in 13 motion pictures since Kill Bill. His salary was in the stratosphere.

The strange circumstances of the verdict by auto- sexual strangulation trouble Winters. It takes two to tango. Why indeed would a man of his talent take his own life alone. Bangkok is known as a city with love for sale. Film people come here to shoot and avail themselves of the pleasures to be found in the gilded city of sin. Kinky sex is no big deal. Could this be a coverup for a sex robbery murder. The Royal Thai Police have shut the door on this case all too quickly. The tourist industry has been severely damaged by the recession and political instability. The murder of a famous film star would be a final nail in the coffin of the tourism industry. Winters says that Carradine, son of John , iconic members of an American cinema dynasty were above the fray. David Carradine was according to Winters a consumate gentleman, a brilliant actor, and a man for all seasons.

I run into local film producer Tom Waller at a reception hosted by the Italian Embassy. Tom does not believe in the verdict of death by auto-sexual strangulation. He concludes that it was a sex robbery gone wrong, and that to cover the motives the body had been arranged to fit the profile of death by auto- sexual strangulation, a theory once confined to the genre of novels classified as psychological thrillers. The denizens of the film colony in Bangkok are incredulous at the grisly circumstances of the sad demise of this brilliant talent.

The reception is attended by beaucoup des artistes and cineastes. Film critic Nick Palevski and I schmooze at the bar. Between glasses of vino rosso and spumante Nick expresses his distaste for the tawdy belching of the media and press. He is the critic for Auteur, a web site devoted to film criticism. He can not believe the shabby and sensational manner in which this case is being exploited.

In no way is this story meant to impugn the reputation of the Royal Thai Police, their meritorious service is well known. Nor is it meant to slander the bereaved Carradine family. The American Embassy has issued a statement wishing the family the best in this tragic moment, embassy staff have no other conclusion re this case except the finding of the body. Aristotelian logic might conclude that something is rotten in Denmark. Western countries would conduct a far more sophisticated investigation.

The epilogue is delivered by my dear friend in Santa Monica Martin Zweiback. He is a writer- producer director with 50 years of credits in Hollywood. Martin scrpted the original Kung Fu series and is a close friend of David Carradine. Martin is a gentleman of class and distinction. He often graces the Bangkok film colony with his presence. It is fitting that a cineaste of his stature have the final word in this affair. I recieved this e mail from Martin, and with all due respect to this fine bloke it is represented here below as a final testament to this sordid affair.

Antonio, my friend,
Sorry I’ve been neglectful about keeping in touch of late.
Thinking about Carradine this day, I recall when writing the Kung Fu show, how often his image inspired the words, and how much depth he brought to them. They sometimes had to pour him onto the set but he never read a line wrong. He was a gifted and underrated actor. I saw him at a screening of Kill Bill not too long ago. He seemed vibrant and clearly excited by the “second chance” Tarantino’s film had given him. Suicide in the middle of shooting a movie at this point in his life just doesn’t compute — but it does remind us to count our Blessings, Gifts, and Challenges — and be careful what we wish for.
With All Good Thoughts,
Martin

more to follow on http://magickpaperrs.com/blog

Just to the right you’ll see our twitter feed, if you want to get fast changing Bangkok and David Carradine news, click “auto update” and you’ll see it as it rolls in live.  Right now, obviously, most of the news coming out of Bangkok, Thailand is all about David Carradine’s mysterious death in a luxury Bangkok hotel.

Antonio Pineda, Chief Blogger, is doing a behind the scenes investigation with his extensive sources in the film and movie industry in Bangkok and will have a commentary soon here on this blog about the David Carradine situation that you won’t want to miss!

Now, don’t forget to click on “auto update” on the twitter feed on the left to get the news as it rolls in live.

excerpt from People Magazine

After a maid found David Carradine’s body in a closet in his Bangkok hotel room, police called it a suspected suicide. But the actor’s manager refuses to believe it.

“I can tell you 100 percent that he would have never committed suicide,” Tiffany Smith, who along with Chuck Binder managed the Kill Bill star, tells PEOPLE. “He was too full of life.”

Carradine, 72, was in Thailand filming the movie Stretch when his nude body was discovered Thursday morning. The body was in a sitting position, with a yellow rope wrapped around the neck and attached to a closet bar, said police Col. Somprasong Yentuam, chief of the Lumpini area station. “We believe that Mr. David committed suicide but it is suspicious,” said Yentuam.

Although Carradine had spoken openly of his past battles with drugs and alcohol and thoughts of suicide, his manager says the actor had been in good spirits, eager to work on the current film and three more lined up when he returned to the United States.

“We are not saying it’s an accidental death because we don’t know,” says Smith. “Right now we are just letting everyone know that it’s under investigation and we’ll see … I just know he didn’t do this to himself.”

The actor’s family was stunned by the news. In a statement, Carradine’s niece, actress Martha Plimpton, expressed the family’s sense of loss. “My Uncle David was a brilliantly talented, fiercely intelligent and generous man,” Plimpton said.

“He was the nexus of our family in so many ways, and drew us together over the years and kept us connected. I adored him as a child, and as an adult I admired and respected him. We will all miss him terribly.”

David Carradine dies in Bangkok

David Carradine, died in Bangkok on Wednesday, was a sly, devilish, and at times downright freaky, movie presence who, when he appeared onscreen, automatically made matters twice as interesting.

Carradine’s dramatic skills were recognized by such directors as Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, and Hal Ashby who cast him in, respectively, 1972’s Boxcar Bertha, 1973’s The Long Goodbye, and 1976’s Bound for Glory. He was also beloved by Quentin Tarantino. The Reservoir Dogs auteur referenced Carradine’s TV show Kung Fu in Pulp Fiction and later cast the actor as the eponymous villain-assassin in his Kill Bill films.

David Carradine appeared in over one hundred films

Carradine was born Dec. 8, 1936 in Hollywood

Carradine was the eldest son of actor John Carradine

1972 to 1975: Carradine played Kwai Chang Caine on tv series Kung Fu

2005: Carradine won Saturn Award for best supporting actor for Kill Bill: Vol. 2

A news report said he was found hanged in his hotel room and was believed to have committed suicide.

DIRECTED BY LAB KY MO
BY ANTONIO PINEDA

Lab Ky Mo, director of Monks and Mamasans, strides impatiently and
peers into the camera lense as he awaits the set up for the next shot.
The venue is the Peppermint a-go-go bar. Comely damsels are on stage,
as the featryred actor Brendan Mackey prepares for his scene.

Brendan is an Irish-Brit whois a bright new face in cinema in the UK.
Lab is the brilliant young director who made a splash with his first
film, TEN DEAD GAY GUYS. Lab calls out ACTION, the cameras roll, svelte
dancing girls twist and shout on stage as Brendan runs through his
scene. In an improvised moment, Brendan breaks into tears, at the
plight of the dancers lack of social mobility.

Brendan lights up a Marlboro inbetween takes. Lab sets up a new shot
Brendan sits at the bar with me. A starlet comes on stage to do her
show. She is a stunner, light skinned, svelte and sexy. Ballons are
placed on stage. Her gig is to shoot darts from her pussy and puncture
the baloons The cameras roll. this scene is beaucoup hotWe chill at the
bar. The ambiance is cool and the beer is flowing. Lab wraps for the
day and clues me to the location for my next scene.

I make the scene the next evening to the Jomtien Beach area of Pattaya.
Bank, a cool Thai film star with long hair is smoking a cigarette. Lab
sets up the shot. Tuk, a pretty girl with black hair and a cracking
figure is in the scene with me. Lab explains the setup. I am a sex
tourist, Tuk and Iare rolling in the back of the songtaew as Bank
drives. Tuk is to sdimulate masturbation and oral sex. The cameras
roll. The scene goes down a storm. Bank catches us in flagrante delicto
and kicks us off. I give him the finger. Lab gives the order to cut.Its
a wrap.

We roll from there to the wrap party at Ali Baba, a hip Indian bistro.
Raine Grady, producer and queen bee of Capital TV is hostong the wrap
party. Wine, flows, conversation sizzles, bonhomie rolls deep. Brendan
has to get back to UK. Lab is on his way back to London. He teaches
film at the London College of Art and Print near Elephant and Castle.

Raine is the perfect hostess. The actors and crew drink and smoke up a
storm In the words of Alaister Crowley, the three bad kinks. SMOKING,
DRINKING AND FUCKING. Well 2 out of three aint bad baby. As Bob Dylan
was wont to say about western society  -AND YOU ASK WHY I DONT LIVE
THERE HONEY HOW COME YOU DONT MOVE.Check out the link below to see a
clip from the movie shot on location here in Thailand . Are we playing
sexy football or what.

During the week of May 24 through May 31st AustinLifestyles.com, The Spring, BHI, and RegistrationAssistant are hosting a visitor from the Netherlands, Paul Geurts of MyNameisE.com. He is bringing the first prototypes of a social networking and business card connector to Austin, Texas.  If you’re around Austin next week and want a demo, call Paul at 512–699–4000 or email terry at spring dot net.

My Name is E

The E device can be used at conventions, trade shows, and meetings, in metropolitian areas like Austin and on college campuses like the University of Texas.  There are over 1.2 million conventions, trade shows and events in the US every year.

What is the E device? In its current incarnation, E is small white, sleek looking device much like an ipod nano or USB storage device. With E, you can share your contact information and social networks in one simple gesture.

Connector allows you to safely transfer an online business card and your set of social networks in a simple gesture like a fist pump or a high five. Tap two Connectors together and you’re connected. Synchonize Connector by using the built-in USB plug with your PC or Mac. It is ideal for networking at large events and conferences.

During the week that Paul Geurts is visiting Austin, we will be meeting with venture investors, potential partners, customers and forming a team to distribute and promote E throught the US and North America.

There is no setup with connector, it can be used immediately out of the box. It’s equipped with a lithium polymer battery which allows you to use it for 72 hours on a 2 hour charge. It holds two of your E Business Cards (one for personal and one for professional) and connects to RFID tags as well as other Connectors and iphones. It gives you intuitive feedback through LED lighting.  The RFID tag feature opens it up the world of “choice based advertising” and integrates these connections in to your social network activity stream.  It connects you to objects and to the environment as well as to people.

Antonio Pineda

AN ANTHOLOGY OF POETRY AND PROSE
BY ANTONIO PINEDA

This anthology of poetry and prose contains the short stories , HOLLYWOOD, and DOWN AND OUT IN BANGKOK. The latter has the architecture of a novella. The poems posess echoes of Pinter, Faulkner, and Oscae Wilde. The theatre piece MINUIT  Au PERE lACHAISE is present in the English and French translation by Anthony Georges Whyte.

The mise en scene for the theatre piece is the cemetery of PERE LACHAISE in Paris. The protagonists are Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, and Oscar Wilde. It is an evening of poetry and chansons. The one act play has antecedents in Jean Paul Sartres, NO EXIT. THE BEARD, by poet Michael McClure is also an influence. All the aforementioned transpire in a fixed eternity, the protagonists are mythic. Art knows no boundaries, philosophy is an infinite expression of mans divinity,. Theatre, high cinema, literature, and chanson still define the superiority of the divinity in man as opposed to the artificial intelligence the technological revolution has brought to the new millenium.

Dan Brown and J.K. Rowling rule the franchise best seller lists tody, and I am a fan. However 100 years from now thy will no longer be read. Nietzche and Simone de Beauvoire will still be relevant. Sartre and Harold Pinter will be regarded as important as will Antonia Fraser and Anais Nin. The surrealists will be revered. Pushkin and Tolstoy worshipped.

Art movements reflect the measure of society. Today the work of Damien Hurst sells for a higher price than Pablo Picasso. As much as I admire Hurst, there is no comparison to the tecnique, importance or relevance of the ouevre of Picasso. Poets and Painters were once red blooded and alpha males. This is also an element that is missing in the art of today, inspired by theb revolt of the machines, and the lack of carnality in artificial intelligence.

DOWN AND OUT IN BANGKOK is an exposition of ETA, the Basque resistance network. It presents a parable of rogue democracy confronted by radical, reactionary forces. The confrontation between ETA and Spain has raged for half a century. Solutions to tis war have been lacking. The story explores the reasons and possibilities for a reapproachement, while providing an anti- hero through which these concepts can be played out.

The poems are influenced ny the Beat Culture, Les Poetes Maudites, and modernists like Pinter, Faulkner and Wilde. The influences of The Decadents are mixed with re-echoes of the enlightened. The Poet at the Gates oF Dawn is a title intended as a homage to the late Syd Barrett of the Pink Floyd , and the eponymous lysergic legacy, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Psychedelia has been demonized by the far right white power elite. The common folk as always  have been conned by slick politicians. It is payback time.

Aseries of poetry readings-cum book launches will be inagurated to propogate the release of the anthology. Please contact this blog site to arrange readings in your cities and towns.

CONFESSIONS OF A DAY PLAYER PART 2
DARK BRIDGES
DIRECTED BY MARCELO VON SCHWARTZ

The Furama Hotel is the venue for the shoot for Dark Bridges, directed by Marcelo Von Schwartz. It is a boutique hotel situated next to the prestigios Siam Society in Bangkok. Attired in the guise of bespoke poet , I join my accomplices in crime, Nate Harrison and Chris Evans to shoot a 3 page scene.Theakeup person gels my hair straight back like John Travolta in Get Shorty. I look like Al Pacino on crack.

Marcelo confers with Pui, she was second unit camera on Sly Stallones Rambo , filmed here and in Burma. Oscar, a slick Mexican bloke is first AD. He escorts us into the room for the shoot. Marcelo possesses a background as an architect, and it shows in his penchant for detail. We shoot the scene straight through in the morning. We toss the dialogue back and forth, easy money, good craic.  After lunch in the hotel dining room, we shoot the closeups, over the shoulder, two shots and three shots. The shoot is going down a storm.

after dinner we are ready for the banquet scene. The dining room sports a tasty buffet and real beer is on the table for ambiance. I can roll with this. We shoot til midnight. Vom Schwartz wraps for the day and informs us our next shoot is at The Texas Bar in Washington Square.

Dressed in bespoke garb for the sake of continuity, I enter the Texas Bar. Oscar is setting up shop. I engage thje choreographer in conversation. Ramona is Rumanian, her family is in the jewelry business in Bangkok. She speaks impeccable Spanish. Ramona is a resident salsa queen on the dance scene, Keysha, a gorgeous actor-singer is getting made up for the scene. She is dressed in requisite mondo bondage stripper gear.

The scene is ready to roll. Von Schwartz yells for ACTION. Cameras roll, Keysha performs a smok8ing erotic dance. Depeche Mode plays in the background. The house rocks as Keysha prowls on top of the bar like a cat on a hot tin roof. She gives Chris a lap dance.  Keysha .ROLLS MY WAY, vON schwartz orders me to resist her advances. I down beer as she whips the bar with her riding crop and pulls at my necktie. Are we having fun yet. The extras and audience break into a standing ovation.

The next scene is shot at the bar with Nate and Peter Rnic. I eat the house specialty , tacos and gumbo , as they set up. Peter is a veteran actor of 50 films from the East End of London. He was featured in Harry Potter and Alexander by Oliver Stone. Peter is a revelation, powerful and possessing a wonderful presence, his work elevates Nate and the blokes are burning up the scene. I schmooze with Richard Diran , an author, sculptor and painter from San Francisco. Von Sshwartz directs Chris and I to grab Nate as the scene ends and throw him out the door. We grab him off the bar stool as he and Peter toss lines, roll to the door and throw him onto a waiting matress to butress his fall.

The shoot wraps . Von Schwartz invites us to the wrap party. The venue is Nomad , ahip watering hole at soi 12. The night of the party i consult my veatuary, select a blue Moschino 3 button suit,complement it with a crisp white shirt and a tie that flies the Jolly Roger, skull and crosbones.The pirate of Savile Row goes down a storm as i meet Olga and Galina, who are lovely and fashionably turned out. We hop a cab to Nomad.
We are greeted at the door by Ben the manager. The place is hotting up. Von Schwartz is in his pomp, drinkink with Jiab, a starlet and model featured in the film. A video clip frm the film is rolling on the screen over the bar.

David Winters holds court at a table in back. David is chuffed as his son Jonathan is a featured actor. Jonathan is following in Davids legendary footprints as an actor, director, producer and choreographer. I introduce David to His Excellency the Argentine Ambassador, Felipe Frydman. They converse on tango, cabbages and kings. Peter invites me to his bar in Pattaya , The Celebrity Corner for a drink. Peter is a West Ham supporter. A crowd of club kids roll in. Ben says they come every weekend. They are well turned out and hit the dance floor. Ben introduces me to a girl who works at the American Embassy. It is her birthday, we hit the dance floor. A fierce thunder storm erupts outside flooding the streets. Man about town Joe Cummings rolls deep. Joe is front man for the band, The Tonic Raya. He ia an author and editor of The Magazine, as well as a film actor.

We are getting as bent as Twisted Sister. Keysha takes fotos of me with Olga and Galina. Everyone flirts madly. David introduces me to a brace of lovelies. David and I entertain them and flirt beaucoup. This is good. Flirting is good for the soul and the metabolism. Oscar rolls out, he has to catch a plane to Spain, his next gig is in Palma de Mallorca. Von Schwartz will also be on his way to Barcelona. Argentine by origin, he lives in Spain and the film will be featured at film festivals all over Europe. There is no rest or no quarter for the wycked. I consult with Felipe Frydman. He is a consumate gentleman. My anthology of poetry and prose is in the final edit. Felipe consents to assist me in a poetry reading cum book launch. That mes cher amis is another story for another day, for tonight we eat , drink and roll merrie. Hail Ceasar, we who are about to drop salute you.

from the organizers of BarCamp Bangkok

We still have a lot to do because we are making this Barcamp a truly awesome Barcamp. We need people to jump in and make things happen.

Just a quick note to let you know that Barcamp Bangkok 3 dates have been
announced.

Barcamp Bangkok 3 will be held on May 23-24, 2009 at Sripatum University.

We will have more details and open registration shortly.  We will send another
announcement when registration is open.

For more details on why Barcamp Bangkok 3 is going to be even more exciting,
see the announcement on our website at [ http://www.barcampbangkok.org/node/86 ]

If you are coming from outside Bangkok, it’s a great time to book your airline
tickets, there are some amazing deals, we have put some of them online at [
http://www.barcampbangkok.org/super-low-airfares-for-barcamp-bangkok-3 ]

Please forward this to your friends and encourage them to sign up for the
mailing list so they will be notified when registration opens for Barcamp
Bangkok 3.

Or you can follow us on Twitter: [ http://twitter.com/barcampbangkok ]

If you blog about Barcamp Bangkok 3, please use the tag barcampbkk3, if you
tweet, use #barcampbkk3.

barcamp Bangkok 3, May 23-24, 2009 – It’s Official!

Submitted by jfxberns on Sat, 04/18/2009 – 08:45.

BY ANTONIO PINEDA

I roll out of bed at 5 AM, catch a coffee at Mickey Ds, and hop a cab to Lad Phrao 60. A mini -van awaits , Jenny the casting director, hustles her charges inside and we rumble through the streets of Bangkok on the way to the location for the shoot. The film is the sequel for Thai star JeeJa Vismistananda and the production team of the hit film, CHOCOLATE. JeeJa portrays an autistic girl in CHOCOLATE, which garnered her much attention. She is a huge star in Thailand.

We arrive at the location on the outskirts of Bangkok. The set is an unfinished building long abandoned for construction. On one of the floors , the set designers have ingeniously built wooden walls, draped them in black curtains, and ornamented the set with candles, furniture, and Thai art. The ceiling has been construed so that a camera can be installed for overhead shots.

I shmooze with the actors as we await breakfast. Two presentable Thai lads who are students at Ramkhampaeng University, 4 young girls who are extras, and a set of delightful twins, Pui and Pom, are my fellow players. The twins are lovely and fashionable, they tell me they are Leos, and are polite and well groomed. We are ushered to wardrobe and makeup and recieve our marching orders , as the tropical sun beats down on the trees and foliage surrounding the location.

The catering service consists of a carpet on the concrete floor, a gas tank is hooked up to 2 stoves, pots of rice and spice are cooking, attended to by the kitchen crew.  Breakfast is served. You will not get fat on the rice topped with pork and spices.

The title of the film is JEEJA. The star is petite and pretty. JeeJa has a martial arts physique and short cropped hair colored blonde.  She is attired in a sort of bikini which accentuates her best assets, her body has been painted gold, creating a look that is sexy and ethereal. Stunt men roll in and out of scenes as she disposes of them with kung fu elan. Lunch is called, more rice and spice, the shoot is rolling late , Jenny tells us we are headed for overtime.

After dinner I am finally summoned by the director for my scene as the mad scientist. His aides de camp escort me into the inner sanctum. Pui and Pom await with the lads on the sidelines. JeeJa is hanging from the ceiling by chains. They shoot my hand opening her closed eyes and unchain her. The director and his mates walk me through the next shot and give me my lines.The gorgeous twins and the lads wait stage left for their entrance.The set is lit by candleabra. It is tastefully decorated by orientalia. Candles flicker and flare. The DOP  lights up the scene.  The overhead camera is manned, the camera on ground level is good to go, the makeup artist touches me up, JeeJa and her posse are watching the scene on the monitors outside.

The cameras roll, the director shouts action. A cloud of smoke envelops me. I stare into the camera a la Boris Karloff and deliver my opening lines, turn and walk slowly to Igor, belt out my final line and stare into the camera. The director approves the master shot, He explains my character has aleady been done in by JeeJa, a stunt man has rolled with the punches for me.  I am instructef to lie down and play dead with my assistant Igor. The twin Leos and lads make their entrance and find the bodies. They feign horror. Pui and Pom could read the telephone book and make it sound like Shakespeare. The shot is wrapped. I shake hands all around and thank everybody.

I walk out and see JeeJa and her posse sitting around the monitor having a good laugh. I bow to them and thank them for having me on board. JeeJa and her crew thank me and wai me with great aplomb. It is a pleasure to be among such unaffected stars. Jenny gives us our paypackets as we bundle into the mini-van for the long drive back to Bangkok.

That night I have a most extraordinairy dream. I am rolling through the streets of San Francisco in a forest green 59 MG  driven by my childhood chum Brian Murray aka Chops. Brian and I had been best pals since we were 14. The MG peels rubber down Broadway, cruises round the neon lights of North Beach, and rolls past The Condor, a night club of 60s fame. Brian guns the MG past The Jazz Workshop, the marquee proclaims the tenure of John Coltrane and his legendary sidemen. We are high on primo Owsley acid, and have just dug Jim Morrison and the Doors burning up the house at the Avalon Ballroom.  Chops died prematurely in his mid forties. Perhaps he was too beautiful for this world. The charismatic Irishman pulls along a vintage 55 Chevy driven by a cute blonde  with her surfer chic girl friend riding shotgun. Classic rock blares from the 55 Chevy, it is Roy Orbison singing, ONLY THE LONELY. His operatic voice sends shivers down my spine. The  blonde is smoking a joint, she rolls down the window and passes it to Chops. Roy croons DOWN DOWN DOWN DABBE DOO WA , Chops hits on the driver, the birds are down with it, we arrange to hook up at Mels Drive In. Chops wheels the Brit sports car vieing with the Chevy for pole position, the air sparkles and glitters, Brian passes me a hash pipe, the pungent aromas evoke the ruins of Baalbek, we laugh hysterically at the joys of being young, alive and psychedelisized. If you want to soar angelic take a pinch of psychedelic.

I wake up in a cold sweat and ponder this nocturnal visit by Brian. I reflect on the spledid immortality of halcyon youth as I twist up a fattie and light up. It was a time of innocence,classic cars and vintage rock, California girls and altruism. Our hair was long, the marijuana was bitchin, psychedelic dreams were just around the corner and the music was colored paisley. Wherever you are Chops, this Bud is for you.

These are my links for February 22nd through April 11th:

• 8 Steps For Building Community On Twitter: Tips For Membership Organizations – Here?s a quick eight-step rundown of how to set up a Twitter account for your ?.org?. This isn?t the only way, of course. But if you are starting from scratch, this is what we?re finding works the best.
• TwitterForBusyPeople – Friends At a Glance – twitter at a glance for busy people … great mouseover action
• Texas Social Media Award Winners – I won an award! I made it in to the top 25 Social Media Award winners in Texas
• Free Twitter Designer – great tool to design your twitter background, I need this!
• Super Screenshot! – web app that makes a screen shot of any web page you choose and it can be any size

STRIPTEASE AS AN ART FORM
BY ANTONIO PINEDA

Once upon a time in America, the striptease was elevated to an art form. Ecydiasts were trained in classical ballet. Their acts were superbly choreographed and contained elements of the theatre. Unlike the lap dancers of todaywho perform buck naked and leave little to the imagination, the strippers of the Golden Age of Striptease revealed layers of erotica, and appealed to the greatest aphrodisiac known to man, the human imagination.

Like the great actors of The Golden Age of Hollywood, the strippers that emerged from the burlesque milieu were simply the greatest physical specimens of their generation. Plastic surgery was not prevalent as it is today. There were no enhanced breasts, silicone lips , or dental implants.Stunning women with exotic names likeTempest Storm, Lily St. Cyr, Blaze Starr, Honey Bruce and Beverly Hills and Her Twin 44s were the alpha women of the day.

Lily St. Cyr was reared by her grandparents in Minneapolis, Minnessota. She began her training in classical ballet. Lily was a buxom beauteause, blonde and busty. To this day her tenure as a headliner in Montreal proclaim the legend, MONTREAL THE CITY THAT LILY ST. CYR BUILT. She was a super star. Lily began her career as a chorus girl in Hollywood at the old Florentine Gardens. She performed in revues with great titles like, The Wild Woman, Afternoon of a Faun, The Ballet Dancer or The Chinese Virgin.She was self choreographed and began her career as a stripper in San Francisco at The Music Box.

Gypsy Rose Lee and Ann Corrio were her contemporaries. They represented the great striptease artistes of their generation. In the 50s and 60s they reigned supreme. Joe Public thinks strippers are dumb broads, but Lily wrote a memoir in French. Like the great American Western writer Louis Lamour inferred, only the French were allowed to write about love. Lily married six times, unfortunately never to me.

As a student at St. Ignatius, the Jesuit prep academy in San Francisco, my schoolmate Joe and his parents took us to dinner at Bimbos 365 Club in North Beach, the headliner was Lily St. Cyr. We were well groomed Catholic boys in dark three button suits and skinny black ties. Lily was a revelation., graceful with creamy skin, a terpsichores perfect legs, golden hair and the mammaries of Ishtar. Yet she had so much class she could just as well have been choreographed by Roland Petit or Bob Fosse.Unlike the vulgar lap dancers of today, there was not a hint of pubic hair or orifices. She was a goddess come down from Olympus to release us poor Catholic boys from the bourgeoise constraints of fundamentalist society.

Blaze Starr was one of the most inventive and theatrical strippers ever. She was one Blaze of Glory. The hottest flame in burlesque began her career at the Two Oclock Club in Baltimore. Her trademarks were a fan dance and a baloon dance. Blaze trained a panther to remove her clothes on stage as part of her act.Talk about a hard act to follow. She also stripped on a couch that appeared to burst into flame. Steven Spielberg and James Cameron eat your hearts out , this babe was well ahead of her time.

In the late 50s while performing at the Sho-Bar in New Orleans she met Earl Long, the Governor of Louisiana. She and Earl had an affair that culminated in his involuntary stay in a mental hospital. Earl left her fifty thousand dollars in his will, but she was too graceful to accept it, showing true character.

The immortal Paul Newman portrayed Earl in the 1989 movie, Blaze. Lolita Davidovitch was Blaze. The film was a brilliant success. Blaze did a cameo in the movie. Like many remakes of great classics, it could not capture the divine spark of erotica that burned within Starr. She eventually bought The Two Oclock Club, and penned a memoir. She was no dumb ecydiast as her detracters would like her portrayed.

Stripper and film actress Tempest Storm was a drop dead gorgeous redhead. She also went by the nom de guerre Tempest in a D-Cup, a testament to her stunning physical assets. Like the eternal City of Rome, she is seemingly immortal and performed as a stripper until the ripe age of 67. Her splendid breasts were insured by Lloyds of London for one million dollars. There is no way the lap dancers and go-go girls of the new millenium could follow her act.. She co-authored a bio, The Lady is a Vamp.

She worked in motion pictures portraying herself , and as a character actress. Russ Meyer, famous for The Immoral Mr. Tease, starred her in his film Peep Show. Irving Klaws featured her in Teaserama, a cult film starring another sex icon , Betty Page. In 1999 Storm performed at the O Farrell Theatre
in San Francisco. Mayor Willie Brown declared it Tempest Storm Day.

God surely has a heaven for ecydiasts. When I pass I Pray the Good Lord take me there. May the Storm be with you for all eternity.

by Antonio Pineda

Back in the day during the halcyon days of the lysergic revolution, I went to a show at the Matrix nightclub in San Francisco. The Warlocks were were in their pomp. This was the first incarnation of a band that soon changed their name to the Grateful Dead. My childhood chums and I soon opened the Straight Theatre in the Haight Ashbury to compliment the Fillmore and Avalon. The Dead played at the Straight Theatre . The Merry Pranksters with Ken Kesey were on the scene, Neil Cassidy, one of the architects of the Beat culture, was part of the setup.

The mantra of the day was tune in, turn on, and drop out, as Timothy Leary spread the gospel of LSD and the psychedelic revolution. Underground legend Owsley aka Bear was in the hood, his girlfriend Melinda was the cashier at the Straight Theatre box office. It was rumoured she was the foil to Bear in the manufacture of the best LSD on the scene..

THE STRAIGHT ASHBURY VIEWING SOCIETY,an underground film branch of the Straight Theatre was organizes by Al Nieman and I. Al had attended LA City College with Owsley, George Hunter who was the founding force behind  The Charlatans, The Chambers Brothers and jazz pianist Lea McCANN. Reggie Williams , his brother Doug and sister Connie were shakers and movers in the Straight Theatre. Reggie formulted one of the best psychedelic light shows of the day, Straight Lightning.

The Dead had their hipster commune on Ashbury Street. The Jefferson Airplane lived in a Victorian mansion in the hood. Chet Helms had The Family Dog at 1090 Page, Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company were the house band.The Jimi Hendrix Experience gave a free concert in the Panhandle of Golden Gate Park. The Dead gave a free concert at the same site on the day acid became illegal, a day remembered by the underground as the Day of the Beast. The Dead became legendary for spreading the revolutionary culture of LSD.

The Dead were at the top of their game in 1968. The video on offer shows Jerry Garcia et allii grooving with Hugh Hefner. It is hard to believe that today the young have been hijacked by the fundamentalist bullshit of the far right, generational art movements have been emasculated by the Orwellian visions of society plundered by greed and anti-intellectualism into a world where America has the most prison inmates per capita and an economy plunged into depression by the avarice and immorality of market forces.

The remnants of The Dead are still active and mythic. Phil Lesh and Friends play to sold out houses. Bob Weir and Ratdog still pack venues, as do the bands fronted by drummers Bill Kreutzman and Mickey Hart. Hip Californians refer to them as The Undead. Enjoy this video. It is an historic link to a kinder, gentler time when young people believed in activism and social change.The late Gonzo journalist and author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas , Hunter Thompson,said it best. Being in San Francisco in the 60s was like being in Paris in the 1920s.

Check it out mes cher amis, and groove to The Dead , the interview with Hefner , and St. Stephen and Mountains of the Moon  by hitting the link below. We who are about to drop salute you.

How in the world did I get on the same list as Cali Lewis? I don’t know but it’s amazing to be on a list of the “top 25 Texas Social Networkers” with her and 23 other amazing people. To whoever nominated me, thank you! It’s an honor to be on the same list as all these incredible social networkers.

The list was pared down from 125 nominees. The actual awards show where all the award winners will get *trophies* is on March 15 from 6 to 9 pm at Ballet Austin, 501 W 3rd St, with tickets going for $15.00.

These are the Texas Social Media Award Winners.

They winners are:

HENRY ADASO

• http://therapup.net
• http://twitter.com/rizoh
• http://digg.com/users/rizoh

JOSHUA BAER

• http://twitter.com/joshuabaer
• http://twitter.com/otherinbox
• http://austinpreneur.com/

PERRY BELCHER

• http://www.perrybelcher.com
• http://www.winningatsocialmedia.com
• http://twitter.com/perrybelcher

MIKE CHAPMAN

• http://twitter.com/MikeChapman
• http://budurl.com/aryu
• http://www.mlfnow.org/site/PageServer

J.R. COHEN

• http://www.thecoffeegroundz.com/
• http://twitter.com/coffeegroundz
• http://budurl.com/v5f7

MICHAEL COTE

• http://www.twitter.com/cote/
• http://www.peopleoverprocess.com/
• http://www.drunkandretired.com/

JENN DEERING DAVIS

• http://cheaptweet.com/
• http://appozitegeist.appozite.com/
• http://twitter.com/jdeeringdavis

SAM DECKER

• http://decker.typepad.com
• http://www.bazaarblog.com
• http://twitter.com/samdecker

LORI FALCON

• http://acowboyswife.com
• http://mywoodenspoon.com
• http://twitter.com/acowboyswife

KYLE FLAHERTY

• http://www.engageinpr.com
• http://www.breakingpointlabs.com
• http://twitter.com/kyleflaherty

MATT GLAZER

• http://www.BurntOrangeReport.com
• http://www.TexBlogPAC.org
• http://twitter.com/MattGlazer

LISA GODDARD

• http://twitter.com/lisa_goddard
• http://austinfoodbank.wordpress.com/
• http://budurl.com/znxe

MICHELLE GREER

• http://nerdaboutaustin.com
• http://www.michellesblog.net
• http://www.claimid.com/michellegreer

DAVID GUENTHNER

• http://budurl.com/l36q
• http://www.texaspolicy.com/policycast.php
• http://twitter.com/DavidGuenthner

KAMI HUYSE

• http://overtonecomm.blogspot.com
• http://twitter.com/kamichat
• http://www.linkedin.com/in/myprpro

CALI LEWIS

• http://www.geekbrief.tv
• http://www.twitter.com/calilewis
• http://facebook.calilewis.me

DAVID J. NEFF

• http://www.fispace.org
• http://www.sharinghope.tv
• http://www.daveiam.com

ERICA O’GRADY

• http://reinventingerica.com/
• http://twitter.com/ericaogrady
• http://peanutbuttermedia.com/

BRYAN PERSON

• http://BryanPerson.com/
• http://www.SocialMediaBreakfast.com/
• http://twitter.com/BryanPerson

CONNIE REECE

• http://budurl.com/wapo
• http://everydotconnects.com
• http://budurl.com/gpsv

BENN AND LANI ROSALES

• http://nmlab.com
• http://twitter.com/agentgenius
• http://twitter.com/laniar

DWIGHT SILVERMAN

• http://blogs.chron.com/techblog
• http://twitter.com/dsilverman
• http://www.chron.com/computing

AARON STROUT

• http://blog.stroutmeister.com
• http://twitter.com/aaronstrout
• http://brightkite.com/people/aaronstrout

PAUL TERRY WALHUS

• http://spring.net
• http://austincast.com/blog
• http://twitter.com/springnet

MICHAEL WILLIAMS

• http://williamsfortexas.blip.tv/
• http://twitter.com/michaelwilliams
• http://budurl.com/8y54

It’s a great list and I’m honored to be listed on it.  Michelle Greer has been really helpful to me and I hope I’ve been helpful to her.  She recently had the major role in pulling off the “Twestival” that raised 10 grand for world water causes.    I had the privilege of interviewing Cali Lewis as she breezed in and out of last year’s SXSW.  Below is that interview with Cali.

Michael Cote made the list, he really was the person that got me going on twitter and his “DrunkandRetired” podcast rocks, it’s the best podcast coming out of Austin, Texas.  Erica O’Grady is super, she really did an awesome job at the recent Mashable event in Austin and the Camp connected with it.  Last summer I got to co-moderate a session with Connie Reece at the SEMforSMB conference and did an hour long video with her on Youtube and all over with her on social networking.   Lani Rosales has given me a lot of great advice and she’s a riot.  I hope to get to know all the other award winners better, they’re an awesome group of people.

Resources

OrgSync, Inc

Charity: Water

Austin Twestival

Related Links

online communication

co-curricular management

More discussion with Dr DD Faye about the twestival.com on Feb 12 in Austin and around the world. One in six people worldwide lack adequate drinking water – 1.1 billion people – and twestival.com and Dr Faye are both part of the solution to providing clean drinking water to the world’s population.

Water Shortage Worldwide – twestival.com and Dr Faye from Paul Walhus on Vimeo.

twestival – helping 1.1 million people without good water from Paul Walhus on Vimeo. Twestival Feb 12 see twestival.com – above video interview with Dr Faye talking about world water solutions at the village level.

My cool app for today has to be “flickriver”; it’s well named as it delivers a river of pictures that just keep on going from flickr. I used their embed badge to create a river of Austin images.  It’s fairly awesome.

Paul Terry Walhus and Kimberlie Dykeman interview folks at the Lynn Bender GeekAustin party on Sept 30, 2008 at the Union Park bar and restaurant on West 6th Street in Austin, Texas. Julie Gomoll of LaunchPad, Silona of the Transparent Federal Budget and Austin Aaron are a few of the people interviewed.  Stay tuned for the entire series of interviews and some commentary on this night and on Lynn Bender’s terrific idea to start a “BarCollege”.  Yes, you heard it right, BarCollege.  It’s an awesome hyper extension of the BarCamp concept that Lynn hopes people will steal.  They should.  It’s an idea whose time has come and one that should spread like the co-working movement.

Here’s the schedule of events for Twestival 2009 at Ace’s in Austin, TX on Feb 12
8:00 Meet and mingle
8:50 A word from sponsors
9:00 Twestival Sumo Smackdown (see video below)
10:00 Presentation by Glimmer of Hope, a non-profit that drills wells in Africa
10:45 Performance by T-Bird and the Breaks, one of Austin’s most highly regarded up-and-coming bands. This 11 piece band won accolades from both ACL’s “Sound and the Jury” Awards as well as the Austin Music Awards. They’ve sold out their past two shows and just released a new album. See video below.

A donation of just $10 can provide someone in Africa clean drinking water for 12 years. Collectively, we can initiate substantial change for developing nations. Here are are a variety of ways you can make this happen:

- Get Tickets: http://www.amiando.com/twestivalaustin.html
- Donate: http://www.charitywater.org/twestival (Select Austin)
- Update your Facebook and Twitter statuses: Include a link to http://www.austintwestival.com
- Sponsor the event: Companies can learn about opportunities here – http://tinyurl.com/aom2hp
- Donate an item for the silent auction: Email snaxxx@gmail.com

Join over 100 cities across the globe and take part in this unprecedented event.

Twestival is going to be held around the world on Thursday, March 12.  It is the biggest twitter festival ever and has been set up to support the billion plus people in the world without clean drinking water.  It’s a fundamental cause that needs your support.  The Austin event will be at Ace’s on 6^th Street at 8 pm on March 12.

Twestival resources are downloadable below, for the media and websites to spread the word about the event and charity: water, where all proceeds are being donated.

Please use the tag #twestival in blogs and other social media, so we can find your posts more easily, which will be tracked on Delicious – head here to see the latest coverage and what global sources are saying

Contact twestival@googlemail.com or @jazcummins for interviews, further quotes, etc.

Twestival is 100% volunteer organised, but we will try and get back to you as soon as we can.

Downloads

• About Twestival [42k pdf]
• charity: water media pack [110.2M zip] – charity: water videos, logos and pictures.
• Twestival badges [265k zip] – Badges in png format for websites to link to the Twestival site.
• Twestival global press release [67k pdf]
• Twestival media pack [3.2M zip] – Twestival logos in eps format and in a pdf document.

Resources

• charity: water event kit.