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Camino del Monumento a la Burghesia

During my visit in 2011, we went to a restaurant called Meson Ca’n Pedro II for Thanksgiving, our first Thanksgiving dinner together in 50 years (we think).  We liked this restaurant so much that we returned to once or twice more before I left.

Above the restaurant is a statue called Monumento a la Burghesia, so we went up to see it.  The road was quite narrow and reminded me of a rally road so when we got to the bottom, I asked Patrick if we could go back up and down, and I’d record it. It offered spectacular views.

Along the way he mentioned how Stephanie was in some crowd scenes in The Magus, a film with Anthony Quinn, along with other conversational tidbits.

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Patrick Plays Chopin

I haven’t touched my piano in months. The tuning is long overdue. I shirk those responsibilities.

Now, while looking for something completely unrelated, I stumbled upon this video, a recording of Patrick playing Chopin from 2014.

He hadn’t touched a piano in several years, perhaps since November 2011 at Jack and Vera’s, yet he was able to sight-read the entire piece. Yes, there were a few minor oops. Yes, the piano was as out-of-tune then as it is now (and it’s not a superb instrument to begin with.)

Still, I’m still amazed that he can look at the dots and lines and squiggles and turn them into something amazing, from something written by a guy who has been dead for over 100 years.

Here’s the video:

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Barefoot and Pregnant

Here’s the transcription of a conversation with Patrick about my mom and some other family members, recorded on 18 March 2017 in a very noisy restaurant. If there’s interest, I’ll convert the audio file to YouTube so you can hear it.

Patrick: One of the stories I haven’t really worked on, but I’ve got the title: “Barefoot and Pregnant.”

JP: Okay

Patrick: That’s what John Dillon said when he was introduced to me. Continue reading “Barefoot and Pregnant”

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King Leer

You do what you have to do to make a living….. Not one of Patrick’s proudest moments, but something more to add to the long list of things he did to get by. He wrote this in 2004.

I remember Deià when the village was a haven for pornographers.  A burgeoning nest of bohemian writers and painters soon becomes a honeycomb for dope dealers, Don Juans, and other hangers-on. Such was the case by the late sixties and seventies.

To cite a few examples: Michael was a pint-sized Manson type who used his sexual charisma to send his women off to Morocco to smuggle hash and kif into Mallorca; when one of these was busted and jailed, he fled his house down the Clot road, leaving quite a few ruffled birds in his wake.  Another dealer new to the village showed up one Sunday afternoon with a suitcase packed with slabs of dark brown hashish, but his buyer didn’t show, and he had to sell a key for a pittance to get back to Palma and off the island.  And more than one trafficker in acid had graced the village with their dreams; they shall remain nameless, though all residents know who they were. Continue reading “King Leer”

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A Reminder of Stephanie

Sometimes we are reminded of loved ones at the oddest times and places.

Shepard Place Shops in Carpinteria, CA

Last Wednesday I drove out to Carpinteria to help a friend cut down a dead tree, to spend several hours turning it into firewood and sawdust.

With chain saws and rope in the back of my truck, I stopped at a nearby strip mall for a phở lunch.

The name of the strip mall, as you can see here,  is Shepard Place Shops.

Stephanie sprang to mind, of course. I imagine she would have appreciated the new trees and fresh growth planted alongside the sign.

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Zenobia, Long Island, Gallilea, and Tampa

This is the transcription of a recording from 9 Nov 2012. It covers a variety of topics. If there is interest, I’ll see about making the recording available via YouTube since it’s too large to post here.

Patrick: Zenobia.

JP: Oh yeah, I was asking about Zenobia, and Lois, and oh, as a pre…

Patrick: Prelude.

JP: Prelude, yes. As a prelude, you’ve given me a lot of these letters from Howard, I’m sorry…

Patrick: Fred.

JP: Fred. I don’t know where I got Howard. I’m thinking Howard Rayon… Anyway, as I read them I’m seeing some letters from Alice as well, and of course there are lot of references to Zen and some others.

Patrick: That was Alice Berridge and her husband was Edmund and they had a daughter. They were good friends in south shore of Long Island. Yeah. That whole teaching bunch that I met in 1968, 1969. Continue reading “Zenobia, Long Island, Gallilea, and Tampa”

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Warts and All

Both my dads were amazing men. Since this site is dedicated to Patrick and Stephanie, my focus is on Patrick, but this effort has refreshed and revitalized thoughts of John and Willie. Maybe “refreshed” isn’t the right word since they’re always in my mind, even before Patrick’s suicide. Continue reading “Warts and All”

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Letter to Sissy

Here’s part of a letter from Stephanie to Sissy (Stephanie’s Aunt Lillian) dated 42 years ago today, describing the love that she and Patrick share.

Click on the image to enlarge it so you can read it more easily. 

 

Letter to Sissy, 20 July 1976