Recently by John Kruth

very sad news - joel dorn has got his hat - the masked announcer checked out this past monday

after a sudden heart attack - the great producer/hilarious liner note scribbler/grand imagineer/photographer had a heart attack on monday and has left us behind in this very sad and square world - it was an honor to be his friend and collaborator - as a teenager i would buy records by guys i never heard of simply because his name appeared on the back of the jacket - beyond the far-out rufus harley blowin bagpipe jazz there were incredible - life-changing discs by rahsaan, yusef, les and eddie, fathead and hank, leon redbone - on and on

if you don't know - as hal willner says "google his ass!" jd gave me the shot when most folks closed the doors - as he said about rahsaan or yusef - he was "truly singular" more thoughts to come on the late, great jd - i'll miss him terribly - i'm sure we all will... he was the only guy i knew who called a pakastani cab driver "babe"

- jdk

I don't have the time to go to my storage space and dig out my diary from 1979 so I'll have to write these notes relying on memory. Please forgive me if I've got the story a bit jumbled. I was in my last year at MCAD (Minneapolis College of Art and Design) when my teacher/friend the neon artist Cork Marcheschi was awarded the DAAD grant and given a studio and an apartment in the Kreuzberg section of Berlin, just about a hundred yards from the wall. He told me he could give me a place to stay if I'd fly over and help him out, photographing, cataloging and installing his work. So that January I took off for Berlin. It was a cold but wild winter. Working with Cork I met quite a few big leaguers in the art world including Ed Kienholz, who was a serious poker player. And I really dug the Turkish section of town, where I met some great musicians.

In case you didn’t know Bo Diddley had a stroke – Here’s part of an article that appeared on Fri, 18 May 2007

Four days after being stricken by a stroke, rock 'n' roll legend Bo Diddley's condition is steadily improving, according to manager and longtime friend Margo Lewis. Although he's still having trouble speaking, Lewis said she was "encouraged" by Diddley's condition, but adds that it's too early to know whether he'll be able to perform again.

Thinking of Bo I thought I’d share this little story of mine.

A couple years ago I was traveling in Fez, Morocco when a pair of interesting characters approached me and introduced themselves. They resembled the Moroccan version of the old American cartoon characters Mutt and Jeff. Mutt was short of course, with a mustache and dressed in a blazer and loafers. He did all the talking, while Jeff stood beside him, silent and patient. Lanky in his striped djellaba and fez he sort of resembled Boris Karloff in The Mummy with his hollow cheekbones and somnambulant eyes that would occasionally roll back into his head as if he was about to pass out.

orry I've been out of touch, things have been a bit hectic lately - had a lost weekend in Bangalore, hanging out with DJ Anoop Absolute and his lovely wife Roxy, who works a heavy schedule for Tommy Filthfinger... I mean Hilfgiger - I finally succumbed to the electronic throb after a couple Johnny Walker Blacks and danced with the lemon-lime lollipop girls - In a land of a thousand talas - the complex beats of Indian music - But you gotta just about break down and weep when you see everybody shakin' what their mama gave 'em to that tired old 4/4 - Ate every chance I could at Koshy's - delish tandoori fish - Yep, finally fell off the veg wagon for a bit of tasty violenece - My apologies to my finned friends - Next time dinner's on me...

These cacti have nasty thorns - 3 inch nails that pierce your pant legs and sneakers with complete ease - Incredible snake houses made of mud - peacocks, wild chickens/roosters, flocks of hawks they call "eagles," a "bison" - water buffalo chewing leaves, plenty of spotted, white tail deer bounding around, a couple wild asses on the loose - (not me and the guide)

Just got back from Karnataka last night - in Bangalore last night suffocating in a traffic jam - made it to the airport late and luckily our plane was delayed - praise Ganesh!

hey sharks - there is no internet in the jungle - which was where i was for the last 4-5 days - i actually saw a tiger in the wild about 20 feet away from me - in the process of killing a boar - then drop its kill when he saw us and bolt off - it wasn't pretty - but it was powerful - the guide told me in 20 years he never saw anything like it - it's the chinese year of the pig - so what does it all mean you guys? - many photos to send and lots of stories to tell - truly kruth

John Kruth sent along the following batch of images without titles, saying little more than "Don't worry, I ain't smokin' - just muggin' for the camera." Enjoy, Ed.

And now for Part 2 of How I was Exploited by the Indian Film Industry and Enjoyed Nearly Every Aspect of It -

Suddenly this little adventure seemed to come with a tight leash attached - Every time I even thought about going for water or juice or something one of the assistants would say - Please John Kruthi, your place, your costume - which meant my sunglasses - even when they were busy fiddling with cameras or some such thing - they only had two of course with no lights - shooting had to stop by 6 pm when the sun went down - Just one step above art school...