Two weeks ago, a truly wealthy, notorious bully named Wayne Shilling was abducted in the hallway outside his Penthouse Suite. Precisely one week later, he was returned (gently used) – same time, same spot. The billionaire had immediately gone to his room and locked himself in. A few days later he emerged, game face crushed […]
Grace Notes – Sept 12, East Stairwell, Twilight
It was like bread crumbs. Someone had left a trail of crumpled pieces of paper leading up the back stairwell between the 14th and 15th Floors. I picked up the first one, read the finely scrawled handwriting. It seemed to be a love letter. The next one was a confession of some unspecified crime. The […]
The Secret – September 5, Hotel Lobby, 2AM
Post midnight, just me and Stanley Cooper, Night Manager at the front desk in the deserted Lobby. Cigarette between two stained fingers, he paused to watch the smoke dart and weave upwards then waved me over to join him. “I’ll tell you a secret,” he said leaning in, “and you’re gonna think I’m doing the […]
Open Letter
Hello All! In 1993 I wrote a song called Strange Times/Hotel Earth – a troubled vision of oil-slick skies and dreamless men. Two decades later I find myself living in a world divided…a planet at risk. Like many of you, horrified at the rising stakes, I felt called upon to take some kind of meaningful […]
Strange Fruit – Aug 20, servants’ quarters, evening
There are things I don’t need to remember… and things I must never forget. The latter took me down many flights of back stairs to the servants’ quarters – to sit outside a door with no number… to listen with my heart … and be reminded. Her name is Emma Masterson, a gray-haired woman of color […]
First Sighting
On first sighting it seems surreal – a massive structure parked recklessly in the middle of nowhere. Nobody knows who built it or why – it simply is. The battered sign says Hotel Earth. We approach the Front Desk and ask to sign the register. We’re informed we’ve already checked in. In fact, we’ve been […]
Trakker – one foot off the planet
Trakker is a musician/poet – part real, part illusion – who thrives on city streets and alternative universes. Always the outsider – dismayed with the small talk while the world goes up in flame; frustrated with the sleepwalkers who lip-sync their lives without question or outrage. For a while he played the clubs in LA […]