I think he probably meant the LP Special Double-cut at lower-right of that second photo.
So how ya been, Krash?
Ah, the cherryburst LP Studio DC. (It does have an arched maple cap like "regular" Pauls, so not a flat-top Special.) Yeah, that burst is hard to photograph and get the colors right. It's a shade or two darker red than it looks in that photo. I tend to forget that colors can be off in photos, thanks.
This is a bit more accurate:
As far as your other question, I'm above ground so I reckon I can't complain. At the end of February of this year I had surgery for prostate cancer, often only takes 3 hours or so, but I was on the table for 7. But that's OK because it meant that the surgeon was being very careful to try to minimize damage to the surrounding tissue and structures. To date the surgery has shown to have successfully eradicated the cancer, so obviously I'm very happy about that. A lot of people don't survive cancer, and I've now done so twice (first was totally unrelated, tonsil/lymph nodes in neck, 15 years ago). Albeit with quite a few new scars to show:
That was when they were fresh, of course. They're still there but considerably faded.
Anyhow, although both cancer responses were successful, I still have a long list of significant health problems caused by the respective treatments that kept me alive. My jaw broke due to osteoradionecrosis 6 or so years ago, and had to be rebuilt with a piece of hipbone and veins from my ankle, leaving my neck on that side pretty disfigured (the neck
flesh was also damaged by the radiation and wouldn't heal after the jaw surgery, so I had
another surgery to repair that-- my neck on that side is now pretty lumpy or bulbous, in addition to the scars, because it's actually my pectoral muscle flipped up from my chest!). Most of the time out in public I wear a shemagh/keffiyah or other scarf or neck gaiter to cover it, and always for gigs. I also no longer stand center stage in Crash Pad, despite being the frontman in that band, so that there are fewer photos of my "bad side." Which I know is pretty vain, but it is what it is.
Which I'm sure is more than you wanted to know, haha! I'm actually very fortunate. Still working (self-employed, from home) at 67. My main band, Crash Pad plays 4 or 5 shows a year (I'd like it to be a few more), often benefits, and I'm in a couple side bands that play even less frequently (one is a weirdmusik/performance art collective, the other a woman-fronted/woman-centric 7-piece (me and the drummer are the only guys) cover band that is slowly trying to work up enough material for several sets, as is typically required for cover bands.
So, despite some setbacks (the latest cancer surgery side effects have, to my surprise, really effected me psychologically as well, to the point where I'm arguably clinically depressed), I'm still doing better than a
lot of folks. On Monday I'm leaving for 3 weeks vacay in northern Italy (we have friends in Bologna) and Switzerland! And of course, any time with the bands is like a little holiday.
2026 will be Crash Pad's 30th Anniversary, and we hope to do another DIY album (which will be our 4th).
Sorry about the novella, DVM. Now do you!
