It's The End of the World

People are panicking in the markets. More toilet paper! More Purell! Utter madness.

It's also pissing cats and dogs.

And I spent 4 and a half hours at the mechanics this morning, paid a ridiculous amount of cash, and the Jeep still isn't driving right. Neither the time nor place for this bullshit, driving gods. 

But at least I have cool friends.

I did this shoot with Rik Garrett a couple of weeks ago over at The Crooked Path. I stumbled across Rik's work when his Earth Magic book came out. I was still living France. In fact I was staying at a village chateau in Chalabre working on Sisters of the Wasteland when a friend sent some of the images to me. I was captivated. Film. Black and White. Gritty. Scary. Beautiful. Super Charged. Elemental. Naked. Witches. What's not to love? So, of course we he asked to shoot me I jumped at the chance--even if I am getting a little long in the tooth to be in front of the camera. 

Here's one of the first images. I commandeered the fancy throne chair. 

I really love this photo. It has a certain command and innocence to it. It's kinda nice to see through all the trials and travails I haven't lost my wonder of the world, even if it's been beaten out of me at times. Look at the depth and luminosity of film. We really have lost an element of beauty in this digital age. It's funny, in my younger modeling days I used to say my images were only moments in time and meant nothing. But as I get older those moments mean a lot more. I'll leave it at that. Oh yeah, and thank you Rik Garrett.

While sitting at the mechanics (it was only supposed to be a small fix) I read the Madame Blavatsky memoir Isis in America. So far, I reserve judgement. I'm not certain why I grabbed it out of the bookshelf. It's not the most entertaining book, although the way Olcott defends her not so spotless reputation is charming in its doggedness. He does call the fake mediums who succumb to monetary temptations 'psychic hookers'. I can think of more than a couple of people who claim that title in this day and age. But my big question is, if one has power over the elements, and the astral realm, and hypnosis, and minor daimons, why, as a test of your powers, make butterflies appear and flit about the room? That's so Disney. Before Disney. I do like the description of the Italian magician who blows black smoke over the moon which covers the sky and a rainstorm rolls in. Then he call HPB a devil and is promptly banished. But yeah, if you have these powers bring in a storm. Do something majestic. Do something terrible. So something larger than life. Yeah, that's probably all ego--but what's a little hubris at the end of the day? Butterflies. Flowers. Why fucking bother? 

Wow. I'm a charmer today. 

But it's been one of those days. 

Plus, it's the end of the world. Good to know at the end of the world the number one thing on people's minds is hoarding toilet paper. The human race is really the shit. Literally...

Referendum: So I finally watched Annihilation tonight. Fitting. Having read numerous reviews about Color Out of Space which state, 'Annihilation wants its script back', I thought I would give it a go. I get the comparisons now. Especially the whole 'it's inside us, not outside of us' thing. But in all honesty, I wrote that line for Ezra (named after my step-brother, not some biblical reference as Tommy Chong insists) in 2011--maybe 2012? But the strangest moment for me was when they were first describing 'the shimmer', which I took to be 'the zone' in Roadside Picnic or Stalker, and she (Jennifer Jason Leigh--who I originally nominated for Theresa in Color Out of Space back in the early days)--describes it as a 'shared hallucination'. 'Nuff said. A shared hallucination is something in the zeitgeist. Some ineffable coincidence that explains the strangeness of the moment. The dream we all dream. Alien. Other. Unexplainable. Love it.