Visualize, vizualize ...

Wally started eating again yesterday. To start off, the nurse brought up a few glasses of fruit juice. After she left the room, he said what he really wanted was something like some kind of creamed soup; at that moment, the nurse came back in with a complete lunch tray. "Well, I didn't order a lunch tray for you," she said, "but for some reason they brought it up anyway. So here it is if you want it." On the tray: a cup of cream of mushroom soup! That brought a chuckle.

Just after he got done eating, the phone rang. Still in visualization mode, Wally said "Ah, that must be Joni" as he picked up the phone. And it was!

Joni had just returned to LA after taking a short post-tour breather -- looking through a large stack of paper that had accumulated while she was gone, she'd found a memo from her manager telling her that Wally was in the hospital (Wally had advised Joni's management that he was going to be out of action for a while, and they apparently forwarded the contact information directly to her). The memo didn't elaborate on the reason for the hospitalization.

Needless to say, Joni was very sorry and concerned when she found out what was wrong. She voiced her distress about the prevalance of cancer, about how it's "in the water and in the food and everywhere," and told Wally about a few related experiences she's had. One acquaintance had colon problems and treated them by taking natural therapies like slippery elm bark, and a certain kind of mushrooms (I've forgotten the name) that you would size up before you ate them -- if the mushrooms looked like angels, they were good to eat, but you'd avoid them if they looked like devils.

Wally recalled that her kahuna (that's Hawaiian for medicine man or woman, I've learned) had battled colon cancer. Joni wondered where a kahuna would go when they get sick -- her kahuna unfortunately wasn't able to cure herself.

They talked about healing energies, too. Joni said she has used yoga to help through periods of ill health, and described a process in which she visualizes spinning discs, white at the top, then purple, continuing with other colors as she works her way on down. She visualizes the discs spinning clockwise 20 times, then 20 times counterclockwise, repeating the process over and over again ("You can't do it too many times").

As most of you probably know, Joni had polio as a child; she learned the power of "tone" at a young age. The tone that you put behind what you say can be even more important than the words you're saying, she told him, as she recalled her early experiences with that dynamic. ("I'm not going to be a cripple!!") They also talked about energy centers at different locations in the body, what I know as chakras -- Joni said that she often uses the 6th chakra (which I've heard described as the "third eye," located in the forehead) in her work. Wally had me tell Joni about "body enneagrams," a series of movements I've learned that identify one's dominant chakra (everyone has one principal chakra that tends to be more active than the others) and helps to open and balance the others. Wally and I are both "5's" in enneagramspeak, meaning our dominant chakra is the 6th or crown chakra at the top of the head (it governs comprehension and understanding).

Wally told Joni about how the JMHP project has provided healing energy for him, how it got him through his first bout with cancer and helped him keep going; she agreed that it's a good thing to have somewhere to direct your energy. He was thrilled to hear that Joni had visited the site with Kilauren and her boyfriend Teddie just after Laura Nyro died last year. She said she read an amusing exchange in the Cafe section (the JMHP's discussion area, which Wally later released to Les and is now the JMDL) about "who was more oriental -- Joni or Laura Nyro." Wally voiced his opinions about the value of discussion lists and the opportunity they give fans to share experiences, correct misconceptions, and explore feelings about late-breaking news.

They also talked about the tour; Wally told Joni that he had a great time. He told her that he'd known about the cancer recurrance before the tour started, but didn't bring it up because he was afraid somebody would become concerned and wouldn't want him to go. He also mentioned how visits to the JMHP increased dramatically during the tour (48,000 visits as opposed to 36,000 visits the previous month), which to him proved that "interest really increases when you're out there."

"You do get attention out in the limelight," Joni agreed. She asked if Wally had heard that she'd picked up a bug at the Gorge and wasn't feeling well for much of the tour; he remembered when she mentioned it during the performance. He learned that Joni also developed an allergy to some kind of glue on the tour bus, which, together with the "Gorge bug," left her feeling a bit dazed and "on automatic" at times. As far as Wally was concerned, it didn't affect her performance at all. He told her that if anything, the bug gave her voice even more depth and served to emphasize her poetry.

The conversation turned to comparing notes on reactions they had heard to the tour. Wally told Joni about many positive remarks that had been made by Dylan and Morrison fans who were impressed with Joni's unique guitar sound (she used twelve tunings on the tour) -- they loved the richness of the VG-8 and thought it sounded like more than one guitar. They also spent a few moments puzzling over some of the odd comments made by reviewers. "Ignore 'em, they don't know what they're talking about," Wally said. At one point, Joni wondered if a Bay Area reviewer who had made some "senselessly negative remarks" (my words, not Joni's) was the same one who panned Carroll O'Connor's recent play, prompting him to quit the business; she sensed a sameness in the bitter shades of the writing.

(This reviewer, I remember, is the yutz who had never thought of Bob Dylan as anything other than Jakob Dylan's father up until the night of the San Jose concert -- as I said in my Internet Community review of the second LA concert at Pauley Pavillion, "Now, there's somebody with a far-reaching sense of perspective -- reviewing concerts for a major metropolitan newspaper! Get a clue!")

As Joni and Wally talked about the taping sessions May 29/30, she mentioned rumors that she was going to play a lot of oldies had somehow started to circulate. She's sorry that so many people just want her to concentrate on recycling her old material; Wally agreed, saying that he wished more people were interested in looking at music in a "historical" way, watching artists grow and mature long term instead of clamoring for oldies all the time or just hopping from one "flavor of the month" to the next.

Joni has seen the raw footage of the two taping sessions and thinks there are enough magical moments in the tapes to make up a really good set (I can't wait). The Eagle Rock Productions footage apparently makes the background black behind her -- she expects that some Super 8 footage taken by Don Freed will be used as well, because it shows the audience comfortably draped over couches in the set she designed. She originally expected to direct as well, but it now looks like she'll come in later to make the changes she wants before the final version is released.

She said that she had a harder time connecting at the Friday night taping session due to an overflow of industry types, but Wally said that he didn't think there was any noticeable effect -- he thought Joni looked great during the tapings and told her so, prompting a short exchange about "Hollywood Hair" and "Hollywood Makeup." Paul Starr, who did her makeup for the show, is an "artist who just picked faces to paint," she said. She did look wonderful, if I do say so myself -- we're all in for a real treat later this year (probably around October).

By now, they had been talking for almost an hour and a half and Wally was starting to worry about taking up too much of her time (although she apparently didn't mind hanging with him on the phone for a while longer). Before they hung up, they talked about Taming the Tiger for a while; Wally mentioned that he thought "Harlem in Havana" would have fit nicely on Don Juan's Reckless Daughter. The song is a childhood recollection of a carnival she went to -- Joni says songs that come to her when she's thinking about her teenaged years always end up as shuffles (think "Cherokee Louise" and "Ray's Dad's Cadillac"). She'll most likely just sing if she does "Harlem in Havana" live, as it's a difficult song to sing and play at the same time.

After making some preliminary plans for a pre-Taming the Tiger interview (once Wally's up to it), the conversation ended with a few recuperation recommendations from Dr. Mitchell: "Watch some comedies, like Nick at Nite or comedy movies -- laughter is a healing thing, even if you prefer dramas."

"Well, I am kind of a drama queen, but OK, I'll take your advice. Bye, Joni."

Well, well! That sure perked him up!

I brought Wally home (to my place, that is) around noon today. He's in my living room watching TV as I type (Judge Judy can be a great source of healing laughter). More on how he's doing tomorrow.

Remember: visualize, visualize ...

Hi everyone,

I want to say once again how much joy I felt traveling along with Joni's tour over the last few weeks and what a pleasure it was to meet folks from the JM Internet Community. In addition, your e-mails about how much you appreciated my tour reports and about how thrilled you were that I'd finally met Joni meant a great deal to me. I fulfilled one of my own dreams but also felt like I was a stand-in for the dreams of many others.

My message today is rather like True Confessions -- I've been keeping a big secret from most of you out there in the JM Internet Community. I feel that it's time for a round of personal revelations about myself and my history.

I was diagnosed with colon cancer in March of 1995. During the ten days between my diagnosis and surgery to remove a large tumor, I took stock of my life and promised God (or my personal equivalent of that energy) that if I survived the operation, I'd commit myself to a project that was creative, beautiful and unselfish. I had no idea then what it would be, but decided to make myself available for the mission.

While convalescing from my surgery, my best friend Jim set me up with a high speed modem. As new arrivals to the Internet often do, I surfed through Web search engines trying to locate information on my favorite subjects. When I typed in Joni Mitchell's name, I was shocked to find there was nothing of any quality or quantity about her on the web. I found a picture or a mention of her on other musician's sites, but no site dedicated exclusively to her and her career. With that, I set about learning HTML and the Joni Mitchell Homepage was born.

I've accomplished many goals with this project, foremost of which is providing a place for Joni-philes to group together, learn about and celebrate their love of all things JM. I've also enjoyed conversations with fascinating people who have worked with Joni, Brian Blade and David Crosby among them. In addition, there have been magical events connected to the JMHP that went way beyond what I could ever have expected, particularly the reunion between Joni and her daughter, Kilauren.

Today I face another crisis in the fight with my disease. I must have another operation to remove a recurrence of the tumor that threatened my life three years ago. I found out about the need for more surgery before Joni's tour with Bob and Van began, but I talked my doctors into delaying the operation until the tour ended so I could travel along with it. They prescribed anti-spasmodics and pain killers to help me through my bad episodes (of which I had more than a few). I think I successfully hid my pain from almost everyone I met; the friends who traveled with me put up a protective barrier around me when I needed it. My surgery is scheduled for sometime within the next two weeks, with 6-8 weeks of recovery time and perhaps 6 months of chemotherapy following that.

Why am I announcing my condition to the Internet community? My reasons are twofold: First, I think it's important for people to know how much can be accomplished when a person is forced to face his or her own mortality. Creating the JMHP under these circumstances allowed me to muster energies I might not have otherwise become aware of. Second, the positive energy that I get from you folks is essential to my well being because I don't seem to be able to generate it as easily myself this time around. In my darkest moments, I wonder if my pact with God is now fulfilled and that it's time for me to move on. At other times, I know there's much more for me to accomplish: for example, I'm really looking forward to designing a new JMHP section where you'll be able to order t-shirts and lithographs from Joni's tour.

There have been unexpected benefits, too. While editing text for the website, I've discovered many new situations where a semicolon works perfectly well.

Needless to say, this will not be an easy time for me. I'll maintain Joni's website as well as I can, but once I have my surgery I'll be pretty much out of commission for a few weeks until I start to feel better. My buddy Jim will keep you up to date on my recovery. Please stay tuned...

Sometimes change comes at you
Like a broadside accident
There is chaos to the order
Random things you can't prevent...

Last weekend (May 29th and 30th), Joni gave two concerts at Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, Ca. With a guestlist of less than 200 people, she appeared before the cameras for two and a half hours each evening, performing both solo and with her touring band.

The concerts were filmed by Eagle Rock Productions and a video will be compiled of the best of the performances from the two shows, and this will be offered to TV in Canada, the U.K. and other countries. In the U.S., it will be shopped to PBS and VH-1 before it's offered for sale as a home video this coming October.

Joni asked that her fans be included as some of the guests, and Eagle Rock and Reprise asked for my help.

My "On The Road" (with Joni/Bob/Van) reports are now up on the web, as well as the reports of others from the Joni Mitchell Internet Community.

The new pages I designed for my "On The Road" reports are up. There's not much info on them yet but as the tour rolls on, they'll be filled with both my reports and the accounts of anyone else who submits a review of a show, as well as the photos that my photographer takes.

I leave for Vancouver B. C. and the first of Joni's seven shows this Thursday the 14th. In my dreams we fly...

I'm launching two new pages on the website today. First up, a conversation with Brian Blade, who plays drums on Joni's new album Taming the Tiger. In fact, she's referred to him as her "musical partner" on the project. He's a soft-spoken guy from Shreveport, LA., whose first JM album was Hejira, which he listened to in his VW Bug driving to and from high school. Brian is also one quarter of the band that will be playing with Joni at her shows with Bob Dylan and Van Morrison this month.

The Official Joni Mitchell Internet Community Shirts are now available. There are two types, a "t" and a denim which you can now buy directly through the [expired] link below. Wearing one of these shirts at the upcoming JM concerts with Bob Dylan would be the perfect way to show your support of Joni's music and her internet community, and for us to identify each other at the shows!

For the latest news on Joni's upcoming tour with Dylan, go to the WHAT'S NEW & UPCOMING page.

Today, I'm launching a new page containing my conversation with photographer Mark Roth. He took all the photographs for Joni's first album, "Song to a Seagull," and he's given me permission to reproduce those photos as well as a couple of shots of Joni from that era that have never been seen before. Mark has also taken photos for Life, Fortune and other renowned magazines. In addition, he's worked for many years with performer Richie Havens as a co-producer and songwriter.

The First Annual Writers Contest is now closed for submissions. You may now vote for your favorite entries with these rules:
You may vote only once.
Voting ends at midnight EST on March 21, 1998.
You must be a member of the JMDL on March 21, 1998 for your vote to count. All votes will be verified with the JMDL roster on this date (using the email message's return address) and votes by non-members will be disqualified.
Within each valid vote received, first place votes receive 3 points, second place votes receive 2 points, and third place votes receive 1 point.
At the end of the contest, the entries with the 3 highest total points will win the contest.
All entries have been randomly numbered.

Welcome to the First Annual Writers Contest (presented by the Joni Mitchell Discussion List & Cafe in cooperation with The Joni Mitchell Homepage). Send in your original essay, short story, poem, etc. (fact or fiction) with Joni as it's primary theme. For example, you can send an account of how you were first exposed to Joni's music, the first time you went to a JM concert, a poem about Joni, and so on. The most well-written submissions will win a copy of "Joni Mitchell: The Complete Poems and Lyrics" and many other great prizes.

Three winning essays will be chosen by vote and published in "The Written Word" section of the JMHP. They will also be hand-delivered to Joni herself! Deadline is February 20th. (Contest is now closed.)

Today, I'm launching two new pages which contain my conversations with two women linked by their love of the dulcimer. Ruth Barrett worked on the Hits & Misses songbooks project last year by transcribing the songs which Joni wrote on the dulcimer for her album Blue.

Ruth partnered on these songbook transcriptions with Joellen Lapidus, who also has a longtime link to Joni due to the fact that at the Big Sur Folk Festival in 1969, she sold Joni her very first dulcimer, an instrument handbuilt by Joellen. Some of you may remember that in concert in the early 70s, Joni often talked to her audiences about Joellen as she described the beautiful dulcimer (with it's intricate carvings) which she was playing on the tour.

Here they are:
A CONVERSATION WITH RUTH BARRETT - OCTOBER 17, 1997
A CONVERSATION WITH JOELLEN LAPIDUS - OCTOBER 18, 1997

The newest biographical section, "Just Rewards 1995-97," is ready for launch. Within this two-part review, I report on Joni's Grammy Awards, the Polar Music Prize, the interview by Morrissey, her reunion with her daughter and much more!

Elektra has begun it's re-release of the eight Joni Mitchell albums that came out on the Asylum label in the 1970's. These projects are re-mastered in HDCD and re-packaged to include all the original artwork, lyrics, typesets, etc. from "FOR THE ROSES" in 1972 to "SHADOWS AND LIGHT" the live album from 1979. I had the occasion to listen to DAT tapes of six of the eight HDCD releases and I have to tell you that this is such a wonderful present for appreciators of Mitchell music. These are stellar sounding and beautiful re-issues. If you have "HITS" & "MISSES," (and if you don't, then why not?) try comparing (A/B) a song between the original CD release and the HDCD version on the anthologies, and you'll hear how good these CD's sound. The upgrade of the sound was done by Joe Gastwirt of Ocean View Digital Mastering in W. Los Angeles.

The first two album packages to be eased into general circulation are Joni's biggest seller "COURT AND SPARK" and her first live album "MILES OF AISLES," both from 1974. I received an e-mail from Robbie Cavolina, art director for the projects, and he told me that "COURT AND SPARK" is "a triumph of repackaging. It's just like the original album." Four minutes of segments of Joni talking to her audience that were removed from "MILES OF AISLES" to accomodate the mid-1980's limit of seventy-five minutes per disc have been restored in their entirety. The inside photos (by Henry Diltz) have been changed from black & white back to color and are now in their proper dimensions. The cover has actually been re-designed to fit Joni's original concept and intent. Robbie Cavolina told the "ICE" newsletter the following about the cover art-

"David Geffen had just sold Asylum when the album came out. Joni designed the cover and had given it to the art director, but she didn't like their proofs; the picture was supposed to be airbrushed to the drawing. They were supposed to sync up together. And she hand-wrote the type up in the corner for them to typeset, (not reproduce as is). She didn't have anybody left on her team there, and they ran out of time...."

I've seen this "MILES OF AISLES" package and it's beautifully done, complete with a fold-out of the photo of Joni with the members of her band, The L.A. Express. Watch the stores throughout 1997 for all eight HDCD re-mastered albums to replace the older versions as they sell out.

The news about Joni being reunited with her daughter is truly marvelous. Here's what I know :

Joni gave birth to a daughter in February 1965, but was not able to handle raising the child by herself. Difficult as it might be for some to comprehend these days, it was a great disgrace to have a child out of wedlock at that time; Joni didn't even tell her parents about the birth until two years after she gave the child up for adoption.

Joni did make a few attempts over the years to find her daughter, but adoption secrecy laws in Canada are apparently very strict. She hit one barrier after another in her search, but fortunately her daughter also began looking for her birth mother recently.

A friend told her about a report he'd read in a Canadian tabloid newspaper about Joni's search and she went to the research library at a local college but was unable to find any substantial information on Joni there.

Now here's where it gets amazing: Joni's daughter, who was taking computer classes, then went to the internet and found the Joni Mitchell Homepage (here!). She discovered 15 leading facts about Joni's history from reading the bio sections that matched information she'd received about her parents; After reading the information, she decided that she'd found her birth mother. She then contacted me thru e-mail.

Joni had mentioned in an interview that her daughter had been born around Valentine's Day, so I asked one pertinent question: her birthdate. When her answer was close to that date, I referred her name to Joni's managers. She'd contacted their office by phone around the same time but she'd met, as could be expected, with distrust. There had been many pretenders who'd contacted the managers and myself claiming to be "Little Green." (I had inquiries from more than a dozen women looking for their mothers). The managers eventually investigated and verified her authenticity after she faxed her birth records to their office.

Les Irvin from the Discussion List was also contacted and he e-mailed her a couple of articles about Joni's search that had been printed in Canadian news periodicals.

Sue McNamara, who at the time was assisting me with the mail, was also helpful in urging me to be certain to pay attention to this particular e-mail. She said she had a feeling about this one.

Joni's daughter's name is Kilauren Gibb, a former model and current computer student living in Toronto with her boyfriend Ted, and her 3 1/2 year old son Marlin. (So Joni is now a grandmother!). Kilauren flew to L.A. in mid-March and spent nearly three weeks with her mother there. When she returned to Toronto, she e-mailed and told me : "Just got back from L.A. It was wonderful. Thanks for your help. If it wasn't for your J.M. home page I would have never found her!"

I was told by Julie Larson, my friend at Reprise, that Joni was preparing a statement about her experience for publication on the homepage, which she thought was appropriate considering the role that the Web played in helping Kilauren find her. When the news leaked out to the Canadian press, however, Joni decided that she must talk to the L.A. Times, which she did.

My very best wishes go out to Joni and Kilauren.

I feel that the Web connection to the reunion was the spiritual purpose of my project. My work began from love, and more love still has sprung from it. This is real magic and no one can ever take that away.

My work here, however, would not have progressed so far without the encouragement of the thousands of folks who've written and thanked me for providing a place for everyone to join together to celebrate Joni. I thank all of you for your emotional support. It was a lonely place for Joni fans on the Web before I started the homepage two years ago, and now look what we've created together!

I also salute those who've directly helped me. Because of their assistance and enthusiasm, I was inspired to spend a year building the bio sections and when Kilauren came to the Web, the information that she needed to positively identify her mother was there for her to read.

The only credit I'll personally accept for the reunion is for doing a great job on this website. And it's a job I'll continue to do. The fact that my homepage was here to facilitate Kilauren finding Joni, that I share with all of you. Thanks for being here with me.

By James Leahy

Joni Mitchell didn't do a lot of publicity for Hits and Misses in Canada. She accepted the Governor General's Performing Arts Award in Ottawa in November and did a few newspaper interviews while she was there. However, before coming east, she snuck down to Vancouver from her house in Sechelt, BC, to do an interview with Vicki Gabereau for CBC Radio. It was broadcast in two parts, October 9 and 10, 1996, and yours truly actually missed it. Thank goodness for CBC's audiotape service! Vicki is one of the country's best interviewers -- tough as nails but with a heart of gold. (In fact, Joni personally requested an interview with her for her Canadian promotion of H&M).

Each half of the interview was bookended with songs from Hits and Misses. Total talking time was under an hour. Here are a few of the highlights:

· Polar Music Prize ceremony. In Stockholm, Joni was tired and giddy from jet lag and felt like a kid in church during the ceremony. She was in the mood for giggling, but she had no "conspirator" to fool around with. She wore army boots under her floor-length dress -- she dresses for comfort nowadays. Joni said Sweden's King Carl Gustaf had a mischievous air.

· Travel: Joni doesn't travel to exotic locales because of her propensity to come back on a stretcher. Africa is out because of "air-borne AIDS," which I have never heard of -- nor had Vicki Gabereau, who could only repeat: "air-borne AIDS?"

· House in B.C.: Evidently, property taxes on her island are going through the roof so that property owners will be forced to subdivide their land. Joni hasn't done this yet, but says that her property is becoming dangerously full of wildlife.

· Joni Mitchell hates her job: Joni says she was on the verge of mouthing off to the entire music industry when she accepted her Billboard award. She even approached Reprise to tell them she hated the music business and that she needed their help to make things better. She said musicians are viewed as sharecroppers and the record company as the shareholders; the artist's work is reduced to "a ribbon of red."

· The dream: To illustrate her distaste for the music business, Joni related a dream she had. She was getting off a bus in early spring on a bleak Prairie landscape. As she stepped off the bus, she stepped into a puddle of slime. On an embankment she saw a blue heron, its mouth propped open with popsicle sticks. The bird said "Don't look at me." Dream-Joni realized that she didn't have to look at the bird -- the bird was her.

· Geffen Records -- Bah! Humbug! One Christmas, Joni was preparing some of her paintings to give to her record company at the time, Geffen Records. Their gratitude took the form of "obliterating" Wild Things Run Fast and Dog Eat Dog by deleting them from the Geffen catalogue. [Of course, we know they were eventually reinstated.]

· The hostile press: Joni lambasted the Toronto press for their treatment of her during her Turbulent Indigo press tour there (here!). One critic said that Raised on Robbery represented Joni's "sexual awakening." Joni: "Did he actually think I go into bars and pick up men with lines like 'I'm a pretty good cook, I'm sittin' on my groceries'?" Joni tells of meeting Emmylou Harris at a recent awards ceremony. Emmylou looked tired and explained that she had just finished doing a press tour. "Why can't they leave us something of ourselves," she said to Joni.

· Vicki and Joni square off: Joni continues dissing the press. Vicki shoots back that artists always want interviews when they're trying to promote something but when Vicki wants Joni, she never returns her calls. "You use me when you want me," said Vicki.

· Small People: Joni talked of meeting a writer named Michael Small. Small told her he would like to do an in-depth interview with her for People magazine. "Isn't that a contradiction in terms?" Joni countered. Small said that the magazine "owed him one." The only trouble, he confessed to Joni: "I'm not a very good writer yet." [This article did eventually appear in a December 1985 issue of People magazine -- and it was a biggie.]

· The Fez: Joni talks of her appearance at New York's Fez club in November 1995. Since this story has been printed numerous times, I won't go into details. However, I like the way Joni described how Chrissie Hynde was allowing her irritability from touring to fester: she was "mulching" in it. Joni confessed that she too is irritable and grumbles a lot, but "it's not fruitful and people don't want to hear it ... I like to sit alone in cafes a lot." [Personally, I think Joni just has low blood sugar -- that explains all those melancholic masterpieces from the seventies.]

· Polite Canadians: The more she lives in the States, the more she seems a foreigner when she's in Canada. To Joni, Canadians appear nicer on the surface but there's a meanness bubbling under all that politesse -- "when it turns it really turns." "The U.S. has a tradition of criticizing itself. Canada doesn't. I can criticize the States, but I can't criticize Canada."

· Good friends: As an only child, Joni wanted to have brothers. Today, she gets along with men but has a hard time with women. Most of her buddies in LA are gay men.

· Special good friend: Her latest beau, Donald Freed, is six years her junior. They both grew up in the same town, and hung out at the same places -- listening to the jukeboxes in town, smoking driftwood ("I was always looking for something new to smoke"). However, they did this separately and never knew each other until they were adults.

· Smoking: Joni tells of meeting a Hawaiian kahuna lady. This woman was told to smoke at age 14 -- so she smoked Sobranis and carried around a purse ashtray because it wasn't considered ladylike to smoke in public. This kahuna told Joni that for certain people tobacco is a grounding herb. "I canÕt think well without it." The kahuna died at age 65 of colon cancer.

And that's about it, folks. In all, a very relaxed interview between two "good old gals."