#eddie who has to deal with this ever time is greatly amused

[shushmal]

"Holy shit, Ed," Steve hisses. "We're going to die."

Eddie, teeth chattering, rolls his eyes. "No, we're not, you big baby," he says. Sure, it's January and there's a foot of snow outside and the heater in their little shithole apartment is dead. But they're not going to die. "Go get under the electric blanket."

Steve shuffles off, still complaining. "You won't love me anymore if my toes fall off. You'll call me stump feet and leave me for a man with 10 more toes than me."

"Oh my god," Eddie says, laughing. Steve's lucky he's cute. "I'll love you even if both your legs fall off."

"Will you love me if I'm dead? Because I'm going to die."

"Oh, just you now?" Eddie turns on the burners and the oven, opens the oven door wide, and starts a pot of water boiling.

"I forgot you're indestructible. Unkillable."

"Hell yeah I am. Like a vampire."

"Or a roach."

"Wow, maybe I won't make any hot chocolate afterall."

"Eddie, nooo," Steve whines, instantly pitiful. "Baby, I love you and all your roach qualities. They're my favorite qualities."

"Okay, fuck you, I'm making hot chocolate for myself."

"Nooo," Steve wails. From the couch, Eddie can see him flopping over dramatically, already burritoed in two blankets. "I am forsaken. Left to despair and desolation. Banished into the cold, chocolate-less night."

"Damn, we've really expanded your vocabulary."

"Fuck you," Steve says, before falling back to whining. "Will anyone save me? Will anyone take this cold, weary soul into his arms? Where is my roach prince?"

Eddie, face hurting from grinning, takes over two mugs to the couch. "Here you goof, now quit bitchin.'"

"My prince! In all his gross, buggy glory!"

"Oh my god, shut up!"

[natromanxoff]

11 - Van Halen...

Hi there one and all.

Can I first start by saying farewell to Cozy. I've known him for about fifteen years and would not say he was a close friend or anything, but whenever we caught up with each other there was always time for a beer and chat. He was an A1 guy and will be greatly missed as a person and as a brilliant drummer. When John Bonham died he left the crown for the best rock drummer to Cozy, and I can't think of anyone worthy enough to take over. When Bonzo died we were doing a show at Madison Square Gardens, and as they were going into Champions Fred said, "This one's for John Bonham." The place erupted. If that's Bonzo's song, then I think Cozy should inherit We Will Rock You, because he was THE best rock drummer.

My social life has been quite hectic again. Caught up with Status Quo when they played here recently, they're always good fun to chat with, and they still put on a decent show. Next Sunday I'm gonna see Matchbox 20. Have a listen to their album, it's really good. Last night was the all new Van Halen, and thanks to my mate Nick I had one of those wonderful VIP passes hanging round my neck. I, along with the rest of the world was curious to know what Gary Cherone was going to be like. Brilliant. This has to be the best VH line up yet. The show was being filmed by MTV, so if you see it and the camera pans around to the sound desk, just look for the best looking guy in the building and that'll be me, standing next to him.

Anyway, back to VH. They are still a great rock band, a great live act and great musicians, and I still hate drum solo's. But back to Mr Cherone. We all know what he did at the Tribute, and we all know he's a huge Queen fan, and he's the closest singer to Freddie I've ever seen. His outfit, black satin shirt and flared black satin pants. I seem to remember FM wearing that around 75/76. His mic stand is the FM 'wand', except it's a lot longer. His movements are very theatrical, and dare I say camp at times, with lots of twists and turns, very Freddie. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not knocking him at all, he is an amazing showman and doesn't stop all night, even jumping into the crowd and running up the steps to the top of the arena, and then tumbling down like a stuntman. It's good rock 'n roll, so try and check them out, I don't think you'll regret it. (I've become concert reviewer all of a sudden) At times he even sounds like another singer, but I won't keep on, I'll leave it to somebody else. On the rock station, Triple M, one of the jocks this afternoon said, "He's been watching to many videos of our dear departed friend Freddie Mercury. His movements were exactly like his."

The first time I ever saw Van Halen was at a place called the Circus Krona(!) in good old Munich. I went along to see them with the curly one, and when we got there I had to instantly phone the studio and try and get Rog to come along because it was the biggest PA system I had ever seen in a place that size. When they started the intro tape it was so loud I thought my chest was gonna cave in, the bass just pinned you to your seat. Needless to say Brian was like a pig in shit. Before I tell you my little Queen story, I have to tell you about what I consider to be the best onstage patter I think I've ever heard. David Lee Roth was talking to the crowd between numbers and somebody in the crowd chucked a paper cup or something at him, he stopped talking, looked round in the general direction and said, "Hey man, you can throw what you like at me. Because tonight I'm going to f**k your chick." 20,000 people loved it, and so did I cause I still remember him saying it.

OK. We were touring the States, probably around 81/82, and we were flying to Portland. The band entourage were traveling on a wonderful private plane, and as the crew would have been in the bus for about 24 hrs we took as many as we could with us. The date was Sept.1, I remember because thats my birthday, and when we boarded the plane there was a huge cake with 'Happy Birthday Crystal' on it, and even more booze than we normally had. (Somebody must have expected something) One of the nice things about private planes is that you can make detours and the pilot flew around Mt St Helens a few times so we could see right into the crater, and it was still steaming, an amazing sight. Back to my birthday and a few of us needed some privacy, so Jim 'Mary' Devenney, Jimmy ' Idiot Boy' Barnett, Peter 'Feebie' Freestone, Roger '*******' Taylor and myself stocked up with a couple of drinks and retired to the Master Bedroom for a discussion on world politics. When the plane landed we were still a few thousand feet up in the air, legless is the best way to describe us. Hey, it was my birthday after all. We fell into the limo's and headed to the hotel, and the crew went on to theirs.

On arrival I found out that Van Halen were staying there, and they were playing that night, so I secured a few million passes and went looking for somebody to go partying with. After all it was 4pm and if I went to sleep I'd wake up feeling awful so I had to continue. RT said he was gonna crash, but Feebie and Terry were ready to go, so we said we would go to the first bar we came to. As it turned out it was a topless joint, and needless to say I was shocked and stunned, but a deals a deal. We were drinking shots of peppermint schnapps with vodka and orange chasers, very intelligent. At about 8pm we all shot off to watch VH, and they were great. After the show both bands arrange to meet in the bar at the hotel, but the bar is one of those stupid ones in the middle of the lobby. So there we are, the four Queenies, Feebie, Wally, Tunbrige, Terry and me, and the four Van Halens, all sitting around having a slurp, and VH's minders running around like headless chickens in the CIA. Outside the main doors were hundreds of fans, with a VH gorilla keeping them out, even to the point of stopping Ratty coming in. I had to argue with this moron to let one of our crew in, and he said, "If he goes anywhere near David or Eddie I'll throw him out." I could only answer with that wonderful two worded phrase starting and ending in F. Because it was like being in a fish bowl we decided to leave the bar, and everyone wandered off to various rooms to continue, the biggest bash being in Rogers suite.

At some unknown hour whilst I'm having a very pleasant conversation with a charming lady who called herself 'Naughty Nancy,' Jobby says to me, "I've been looking for you, Tunbridge wants you to call him now, it's urgent, Brians had an accident." Jobby was very drunk and I didn't know if he was serious or joking, so I phoned Tunbridges room and there was no reply. What do I do now? If Brians asleep and I wake him I'm in trouble, and if he has hurt himself and I don't call I'm still in trouble. What do I care? I'm drunk and fearless, so I phone and Tunbridge asks me to get there asap.

When I go in, Brians lying on the bed on his side, with the waste paper bin close at hand, and Tunbrige is grinning and mopping his brow with a damp cloth. Brian was mumbling stuff like "Don't let me die." (I'm sure most of us have been there at sometime or another) I probably shouldn't say this, but I had to grin, I thought it highly amusing. I got an explanation and told Tunbridge not to let him sleep on his back, and call me if there were anymore problems. I then returned to NN.

It turned out that when we all left the bar, Brian had gone to Eddie's room where they consumed huge quantities of Jack Daniels, and Brian not being a bourbon drinker, went to the toilet to worship the porcelain god, and threw up with such gusto he hit his head on the cistern, split his head open and nearly knocked himself out. The following night we played the same place VH did, and Mr May with band aid on head, played a blinder. A couple of years later, in the Rainbow in LA, I met Alex Van Halens estranged wife, and that, as they say, is another story all together.

Crystal

[costaxserena]

Introducing Richmond Shepard. He is an Actor that belongs to the Wild District. He’s 26 years old and strongly resembles Jack Falahee. He’s taken.

Get to know him…

Richmond Finnley Shepard has portrayed a lot of different characters in the span of his career, but his real-life personality often mirrors those adventurous renegades he loves to play. Richie’s just as brave and audacious, always ready to stand up and fight for what he believes in. Even though he has been greatly praised and rewarded in his field and can be somewhat of a diva at times, with name-dropping being his specialty; Richie still has a heart of gold and a pure, childlike wonder about him. He can be a little foul-mouthed or even offensive with his jokes at times, but he never really means to hurt anyone, his humor is his comfort zone and protection. Beneath all his charades, the ones that truly take the time to know him are aware that he would do just about anything to protect them.  

Welcome to the coast…

As a kid, Richmond was always the type of kid to try and amuse people, putting on voices and making up characters to make his group of friends smile. There was nothing he loved more than knowing he had the ability to brighten everyone’s day�� even if they did end up collectively rolling their eyes whenever he took it too far. It was Richie’s closest friend, Eddie, who often found himself the butt of his jokes, but it all came from a caring place. After a while, childhood friends became young lovers and everything seemed like it had fallen in its rightful place. It was when Eddie needed him the most, that Richie’s parents packed their things and flew their family out from Manhattan to Los Angeles; force-starting their son’s acting career as a series regular in a TV show that quickly blew up. Richie barely had the chance to say goodbye, let alone help Eddie out when shit hit the fan. They tried to stay in contact, but Richie’s awful schedule proved to be a hindrance. Eventually, any type of messaging between them stopped; every promise he had made to Eddie to go back to him and visit, broken beyond repair. It was when Richie turned 18 that he was finally able to get his parents off his back and money; when his manager helped him out to regain some sense of independence and control over what kind of proyects he actually wanted to be involved in. Little after that, Richmond Shepard became a household name.

Stay a while…

Richie spent years acting around the world, enjoying every single second under the spotlight. Due to plot-related reasons, his most famous show, Bolt, found itself changing settings from Hollywood to Palm Beach in its third season. Not really wanting to be near production in his own time, Richie found a great apartment in a nice town just a couple hours away. The relaxing Costa Serena scenery quickly became a highlight for him… a highlight that both made his heart jump and shatter once he realized Eddie was living there as well. It didn’t take longer than two months for Richie to sign the lease in his apartment; even if he yet had to talk to the guy, he was unable to take that coincidence as anything less than a sign that he had to make things right again. Aside from that, Richie is grateful his busy schedule opened up for a well-deserved vacation; he enrolled in one of Ancora’s screenwriting classes and it proved to be something that actually gave him a lot of joy. For the first time in his life, Richie feels like he’s not running around trying to achieve everything he dreams of all at once, but actually enjoying the present.

Connections:

Louie Berlioz (Childhood Best Friend / Ex-Boyfriend): Over time, their friendship turned into something else. Unfortunately, life got in the way and, while Richie was busy with his career, Louie had to deal with his parents and moving. Eventually, they lost contact because of Richie’s scatter-brained tendencies. He hasn’t been able to forgive himself for having hurt the only person he’s ever actually loved.

Flynn Rider (Best Friend): He met the guy at The Sandbar and it was an instant click. While Richie can seem rude with all of his joking around, Flynn overdoes it on the vanity; somehow this works for them. At this point, Richie knows he’d be completely lost without Flynn, he trusts him.

Daisy Golightly (Nemesis): Maybe Richie likes to be a little dramatic, but he doesn’t understand why the girl hates him for it. Still, it’s not as if he doesn’t enjoy getting on her nerves. He hopes one day she’ll finally appreciate his humor… or at least doesn’t decide to shove him off a cliff.