I don't want to jinx him by saying it, but Scott Weiland looks as close to death as any animated being I have ever seen. You can see Death hovering over him, heavier than the stage lights, vectoring out on his breath when he sings. From his outfit I would say it's likely he's travelling with a stylist: well coordinated big hat, big glasses, scarf, layers of shirts and jackets that he stripped off throughout the show, until he was a pale-skinned skeleton in low, low jeans and nothing else. But Death hasn't gone after his talent. He was mesmerizing, and the band itself kicked ass. Though his voice weakened considerably as the set wore on. I wondered why sound didn't crank up his mic levels, but in a way the fact that they didn't sort of confirms what I heard. Maybe it gets more than weaker. Maybe it gets off key, too. Still, back in the '90s when I was a music critic (and stuff) for the Nightlife, most of my co-writers and musician friends looked askance at my love of STP's work. I've always thought they were under rated, and now I'm sure of it. Those are great songs, and they do them really well.
While Weiland seems to live with Death as a Familiar, I, as everyone knows, (knock on wood) scare It off no matter what I do. It's not on purpose. I have no problem with Death. But I do have further confirmation that my presumed diagnosis of the black widow spider bite was correct. The strange symptom of the skin looking and feeling burned on the bite area? Then blistering and peeling, exactly like a sunburn? And then ending up (now) discolored (tanned, and pink where the peeling occurred)?
:
Annals of Burns and Fire Disasters - vol. XII - n. 1 - March 1999
BURN-LIKE SYNDROMES
Atiyeh B.S., Kayle D. I., Nasser A.A.
Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, American University of Beirut Medical Centre, Beirut, Lebanon
http://www.medbc.com/annals/review/vol_12/num_1/text/vol12n1p39.htm
Skin disorders manifested by blistering and exfoliation mimic burn injuries in their clinical presentation and behaviour as they are characterized by sloughing of the epidermal layers, which uncovers the underlying dermis. When extensive epidermal loss occurs, the condition exceeds the capacity of general medical wards as well as medical intensive care units, necessitating transfer of the patient to a surgical intensive care facility or even to a burn unit. Such burn-like syndromes may be congenitally inherited, such as epidennolysis bullosa, or they may be a manifestation of severe viral, bacterial, or fungal infections. They may also be a post-vaccination reaction or a manifestation of a neoplastic process such as Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, leukaemia, or ovarian and prostatic carcinoma. Similar conditions have been observed in graft-versus-host disease, in severe forms of lupus erythernatosis, and following black widow spider bite [emphasis mine].
So, to the skeptics I say: when are you going to learn? How often do I get a diagnosis wrong? Uh, huh. That's what I thought. And when I was cramping and puking and achy and feverish, and I knew that if I went to the ER they'd just get it all wrong, I didn't feel the ole Angel of Death coming in, not really, though I did kind of feel Him pull the curtain back for a sec to take a peek at me -- anyway, faced with the alternating prospects of either taking myself to the ER or calling a friend (who would surely insist on taking me to the ER), I pretty much just said fuck it, if it's time it's time and waited Him out. Then, it turns out that people rarely die from black widow spider bites, anyway. Though they can be debilitating. And I did find, as well, confirmation of my experience of diving into depression and major emotional rollercoasterness for those first few days after: BW spider venom seems to effect neurotransmitters, quite specifically, including norepinephrine "and all neurotransmitters" (http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=392921)! That would include serotonin, I suppose. Duh. I knew it. I said it to Metal Ox and to Springblossom. [btw, one can find additional sources of both my claims, in the googles; I've just sited the two because I'm lazy).
So, well. It's pretty interesting, I think. Life, Death, rock, venom. How close do we get to these things? Close as we want, if we're willing to look, stop pretending we didn't see that curtain move. Sometimes Death just, you know, wants to see how we're doing.
And Scott? You, too, buddy. Hey -- heads up. I wish you well.
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