TESTIMONIAL

Read this morning at Los Angeles City Hall...


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I am one of the most media-friendly celebrities around, and my being here this morning is not in contrast with that; rather, it's in keeping with it. There is no doubt that the new frontier of entertainment is taking place informally on the street. Sound bites that used to be given on red carpets and in arranged interviews now take place beside a restaurant's valet stand, and there's no changing that. I don't want to beg the city of Los Angeles to give me 1987 back. I love being a famous musician in 2008. I embrace technology, but I also believe in thoughtfully adapting it to fit within a societal framework. And in the specific areas of both tracking and close-quarter engagement by the paparazzi, there are changes that must be made.

I'd like to define the scope of my argument by first defining what lies outside of it. I'm not here this morning to talk to you about the media at large, blogs, tabloid magazines, or entertainment news shows. I'm not even here to talk to you about photography itself. You don't have to ultimately be photographed to have been dangerously pursued in the attempt of getting a shot. The danger exists in methods and tactics having absolutely nothing to do with picture taking. In fact, removing the camera from the equation is a very effective way of looking at this situation candidly.

A scenario:

It's two o'clock in the morning and you're driving home from a friend's house. You notice there is a vehicle behind you that has no license plate and that has been following you for the last 15 minutes. The driver is so brazen that he or she has even taken to ignoring red lights just to stay behind you. As you begin to turn onto a small neighborhood street just blocks from where you live, you now realize this person has definite intentions of engaging you at your house.
The question I ask you is: Are you in danger?

The answer is YES. Not "depends if you're on TV."

It doesn't matter what you do for a living, and it doesn't matter that there might turn out to be a digital camera on the passenger seat. You are IN danger. Danger is defined as the possibility of suffering harm or injury.

CHICAGO.

1 hour, 12 minutes post-show.

Chicago...

This has become more than just ticket sales and career advancement.

In fact, this has nothing to do with it.

These shows have transcended.

This is about making 20,000 people feel okay in the world.

Not alone.

Full.

Hopeful.

JOYFUL.


To the magazines, blogs, entertainment shows, et al...

I say to you with my chest out and a big part of Chicago to stand behind me and back me up:

You may have my image, but you cannot take my sound.

Thank you Chicago.

With love for music...
and my band,

David Ryan Harris - Guitar/vocals

J.J. Johnson - Drums

Sean Hurley - Bass/Vocals

Tim Bradshaw - Keys

Brad Mason - Trumpet

Bob Reynolds - Saxaphone

Robbie McIntosh - Guitars/Vocals

john

APOLOGIES/HUMILIATED

Photo Courtesy: TMZ

I want all my fans to know that it is with great humility and embarrassment that I have to inform you that I was arrested tonight.
I hope that my forthrightness and honesty will help to ease some of your hurt. Here are the facts.

After my show in Mansfield, MA, I decided to try my hand at mixing the perfect watermelon margarita. Having served more than two dozen, and sipping from each drink as it was delivered, I became very inebriated. The rest makes me sick to my stomach, but here goes:

I thought in my impaired state that it would be a good idea to play Grand Theft Auto 4: Liberty City. It was not. As I left my cousin Roman's apartment with the afternoon to spare, the alcohol (and the loneliness) got to me. The combination of Patron, Triple Sec, Watermelon Pucker and my cousin Roman's misleading promise of the American Dream brought out the darkest side of me.

I decided to walk into traffic and stop a cab. When the driver came to a halt, I opened his door and ripped him from his seat. This is when I began to pummel him without mercy. When he fell to the ground covered in his own bright red blood, I slid into the driver's seat and drove through a busy park with reckless abandon.

I won't lie to you. I hit many, many people. While I can't say how many it was exactly, I garnered 4 white stars and a large police search canvas area. I know I should have surrendered, but I just don't know what got into me. While listening to my favorite hip-hop station, I led police on a three-mile chase through areas dense with innocent people. I was eventually shot, leading my vision to become monochromatic.


I want all my fans to know that I will do my best to redeem myself in your eyes. Though I came-to outside of the Liberty City Police Station two hours later after my arrest, I know that the damage has been done. I have decided from this point on to obey the plot's directive; to figure out just what the hell I'm supposed to do in this game while hitting fewer people and lampposts.

I hope those who hold tickets for the upcoming dates on my tour will still come to enjoy the shows to come.


Regretfully,

John,
proprietor,
Niko Bellic