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Day of the Dead

This morning, feeling a little under the weather - allergies, cold, etc. - I put on a ball cap and forced myself to go to the bank and to Amoeba Records to buy the two new Westerberg albums. Upon returning, I parked the car and beeped it secure when I saw Michael des Barres driving by in a shiny new Mercedes Kompressor. He was going slow, looking for addresses, thankfully not noticing me noticing him. I know Michael - at least I used to. (see 14 year old photo)We still say Hi whenever we run into each other, but I couldn't tell you what or who he's up to until I see it on the big or little screen lately. For those of you saying, "Who the Hell is Michael des Barres," I offer you this little bio. First he was an English rock star in the 70's. Second he was married to the most famous rock groupie of them all, Pamela des Barres who wrote the book "I'm With the Band". Then he joined the infamous band Power Station and then he became a working actor. I think I met him at or shortly before the party honoring his appearance in Clint Eastwood's "Pink Cadillac" in 1989 - I was the party photographer.

The years have been kind to Michael. He went gray and then blonde. He is never seen with a woman over thirty except for his ex wife. I recently saw him on screen in The Mayor of the Sunset Strip, the documentary on radio legend Rodney Binganheimer and Michael got the big laughs, still the charming tale teller. Today I watched as he parked his Mercedes on this LA street, jumped out of his car and hopped up and down like a little kid as a young woman came bounding out of the building next to mine, skipping across the street to meet him in a leaping embrace. They kissed and hugged and leaped some more. He opened her door for her then they drove away. Its good to be Michael des Barres in 2003.

I ducked inside, put both new Westerbergs into the CD player, sorted laundry and took cold remedies. I wonder if he's got a dog I could paint.

Posted by nora murphy at November 1, 2003 01:45 PM | TrackBack
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