On October 30, 1993, River Phoenix was performing at the Viper Room with his band “Aleka's Attic” along with “Flea” of “The Red Hot Chilli Peppers”...
The Viper Room was and still is an infamous late night Hollywood “STAPLE”. Everyone pretty much knows what happened that night with regard to River Phoenix. I never met or hung out with River but I would come to learn and know EXACTLY what happened to River Phoenix on that ominous night - It would all happen four years later - in a house at the top of Beachwood Canyon...
A house that was once owned by “James Dean” and YES we were all doing serious drugs. And in retrospect their isn’t a doubt in my mind that house was haunted in one hell of an unnerving way.
CUT TO:
4 YEARS LATER:
I was living in a pretty nice condo in Silverlake - the landlord was crazy and my friend from NYC had just moved in with me and my house-mate, his name was PINCH and he was sleeping in the living room and the 2 bedrooms were occupied by myself and Kung-Pow - Kung-Pow and I met on the set of an independent film and for the most part; he was cool. He then got me a gig on another independent film as the Assistant Director for an actor named Adam Goldberg - if the name sounds familiar it’s because Adam’s been in allot of movies and TV shows but for some reason the only thing people really remember him from was for the role he played in “DAZED & CONFUSED” - he was the quintessential neurotic, intellectual JEW who got his ass kicked in at the keg party by Nicky Katt. He also played the Jew in “Saving Private Ryan” - the funny thing is in real life - Adam’s sort of the furthest thing from that, he’s got a bunch of tatoos and he’s the complete opposite of what we’ve all seen of him play. Anyway he wrote a feature and gets Giovanni Ribisi, Nicky Katt, Clea Lewis, Cole Hauser and himself as actors, he produces and directs 177 pages of the most pseudo-contrived black and white “Swingers” meets “Touch of Evil”. And yes, Kung-Pow got me on board and it most definitely opened allot of doors for me with people and connections - even though in true Hollywood fashion @ the 11th hour I quit - because I got another gig on a major Hollywood motion picture that paid 15 times more then Adam’s film - so I split and worked with Jennifer Lopez - So now Kung-Pow is still working on Adam’s little movie - as what? To this day I still don’t know and I’m working on this enormous Hollywood movie, and Kung-Pow could barely pay his rent and my buddy “PINCH” from New York is now living with us in our living room and I’m being pretty generous with everyone. But I’m also starting to feel like I’m being taken advantage of and I don’t like feeling like that...
THEN:
My Father and Grandfather die within 3 days of each other by straight-out coincidence - so I have to leave the huge movie I’m working on and fly East for the funerals - that’s correct - plural - “Funerals” and when I return after 7 days - I’m a bit RAW to say the least and the whole Kung-Pow and Pinch leaching off me is wearing thin VERY QUICKLY - I need a change.
ENTER:
PEG, Pinch’s very good friend from NYC who I also sort of new from way back because she used to be my other buddy’s girlfriend - Peg was a model and she just moved to LALA LAND from NYC. She was living in a house at the top of Beachwood Canyon with 2 other models - until 1 of them ends up with the dude who wrote “Traffic” - they actually ended up getting married and the other one ends up becoming famous in her own right but what-ever - so now Peg has this house to herself and she starts seeing some dope fiend rock-star - He was in bad shape when I first met him but Peg and I were becoming closer and closer and I guess Pinch told her about my dad. So, she truly seemed to have an authentic fondness for me plus we just got along really well, we had the same sense of humor and I liked her ALLOT. So, one day out of NOWHERE - I was truly at the end of my rope with the whole Kung-Pow situation and Peg says, why don’t you and Pinch just move in with me until you figure out what’s what. Two days later, me and Pinch end up moving in with Peg and JJ. I had NO fucking clue who JJ was, I’d heard of “The Red Hot Chilli Peppers” but I was and am a DIE-HARD Rap fan, so whoever the hell he was meant nothing to me. 1997 would become the most unbalanced, psychotic, insane, certifiable and bizarre year of my entire life - I’m just happy - I’m alive and able to write about it.
TO BE CONTINUED:
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