Grateful Dead

Jim, you may not have heard the phrase "cosmic yawn" before because I made it up on the spot as I typed that comment. Good one, though, huh? Now that everyone is growing mushrooms in their closet, the supply is bounteous. Denver recently decriminalized them, a wholesome development. Though that won't help me in the rural counties, so I try to behave.....

Daverock, a pronghorn is essentially an antelope, but not technically speaking, I believe. These freakin' things typically rove in bands on the Colorado Plateau and you have to watch out for them. They can run 60 miles per hour for fairly extended distances. In Wyoming, highway signs warn you -- a band could be streaking across the prairie and cross a paved highway at any angle at high speed.

I once was returning from a sojourn and spotted a band off the road. I watched them for a half a minute, at 100 yards, wondering what they might look like close up. Oh boy. As I returned my gaze to the road ahead I saw to my momentary horror a pronghorn just clearing my bumper as it streaked right to left across the highway. I'm doing 75 probably. I probably missed it by two seconds. I got a real good, close-up look. And promised myself I'd never again take my eyes off the road for more than a milisecond.

Yeah, sitting around, staring at a candle, listening to some self-appointed "guide" sounds like serious BS! I get the visceral attraction of tripping with the original Pranksters, but personally, I seek on my own.

Now that #41 is tucked away on the '77 shelf, I've been looking at the shelf with the 1965-1975 shows and man oh man do I have some listening to do while it's still winter and I'm spending the evenings inside. If a big storm crops up, I'll microdose, take a long walk in the snow, come home, make a fire, and plug in a guitar. Last time I did that, I played for about five hours straight and my fingers hurt like hell. When that's over, I have a couple hundred GD shows and a stack of Miles and Coltrane for the stereo. Life can be good!

What a show, especially that 1st set! I wish the Dead would have played China Cat Sunflower at these shows .

I have been interested in the recent scientific and public interest in psychedelics, and the increasing evidence of their positive effects. It certainly seems true to my experiences with mushrooms. I would never have said that I was depressed prior to my experiences, but looking back, my life changed in all sorts of positive and unexpected ways during and after my time of taking them. It seems a bit contradictory, but they seemed to straighten me out. I also wonder now if L.S.D use in the 60's and 70's may actually have set psychedelic culture back decades.

With acid ,I never knew how strong the stuff was before taking it. The differences between the strengths of the few trips I had on it were massive. Like with most drugs, the biggest danger in it, to me, lay and still lie, in it's illegality. As far as I could make out, no-one - certainly as far down the chain as me - had the faintest idea what they were taking. I can remember when I was on the social work course in 1991, the police gave us a list of all the drugs they had picked up one recent weekend that had been sold in clubs as "ecstasy". Everything from caffeine to STP. I remember one guy who told me he sold dogs worming tablets as ecstasy.

At the end of the day, I feel it is important to take care of ourselves, and of other people, in the best way that we individually can. I wouldn't want to be a part of any group that disregards the welfare and happiness of it's most vulnerable members.
And driving - I am sorry PT, you are a prince among men - but I have known several people-I am sure we all have - who have killed themselves or others in motor accidents. Horrendous experiences all round - for the victim, the family and friends left behind, and the perpetrator. Any activity that increases the possibility of creating such a tragedy should surely be ruled out.

Incidentally, what the heck's a pronghorn ? I think if I had seen one of them in Oldham in the 70's I would have thought it was the devil.

I've never heard that term used before, but it happens to me every time.

There was a period mid-career where I did not indulge, plus it seemed hard to get for a while. ..but I still seem to dip my big toe into the cosmos at least once a year.

In terms of place and setting, early on I found myself either wanting to be in a small group and away from phones and random people or in such a large group as to be ambiguous. So it became nature, camping, backcountry or frankly dead shows. That seems to work.

The last decade I find myself liking to be alone, mostly kayaking/hiking/biking where I won't run into some unexpected situation where somebody needs me. Concerts too when I don't have to drive or the show is long enough to fit it in. I want no responsibilities whatsoever. Oh, and headphones, music is good - almost a must. So I still explore when I can find the time and tranquility to pull it off. I can't speak for everyone, but I find it helpful for me. It gives me a chance to reformat my internal hard drive and reorganize thoughts, priorities and who I am.

Those are my tricks.. but I have to admit the HF approach is quite appealing to me. If you notice some unexpected rando behind you on the trail, I'm the one with earphones and a tie dye (and the bad orange hair and pasty white complexion). :D

Cosmic yawns.. so true. That cracks me up.

There's a lot of great research on micro dosing that's come out lately. Encouraging to me.

As to tripping with the pranksters or at an acid test, be it a good idea or not, I would do it in a heartbeat. But alas, I was born too late. That ship sailed while I was playing in the sand box out back. Babs.. I am here, once you come out of your heart injury, if you want to have one last foray into the unknown, give me a call. I'm all in.

driving under the influence can be fun, and frightening. I knew a guy who wanted to drive, he said he could see so well that anything that could have collided with the vehicle he could see long before it would happen. He was a great driver and drove us all to and back many a show. We in the back seat could only jiggle as he navigated the roadways so gracefully, with a huge grin on his face (aka Neil like). The road always seemed to get away from me whenever I tried, like a ribbon that would unravel. On deserted roads, it was fun, on the freeway, not so much.
Back in the day when I first started (69) it was the thing to try and freak each other out, aka pranksters, with double talk and echo talk and endlessly trying to get each other to lose it laughing, especially in a crowd of er...non dosed. After hearing about Leary and his way of spiritualizing psychedelics it just wasn't as much fun sitting around trying to concentrate on any one thing for very long. Pranking and laughing was way more fun.
Not being a musician, never really wanted to hang out with bands, but I always wanted what they were smoking, drinking or taking in any other form. Would have loved to hang with Kesey and Babbs, what a trip that would have been.

may be (probably is) just one man's approach, possibly idiosyncratic. First off, know your materials well (potency) and decide if you want a micro-dose, a medium but significant journey or a little over the top approach. Because I'm in the backcountry alone, I need to be confident that I can get somewhere and back in a day, handle the terrain, maintain my orienteering skills, and calmly apply my behavioral knowledge if I run into a bear or cougar. (Don't surprise 'em, talk, wave arms, don't look 'em in the eye, give 'em room to avoid you, take the guard off the pepper spray, be sure you're upwind, etc.) I get moving early in the day and have an objective before dropping so as the agent (psilycibin for me) comes on, I'm in my element in terms of orienteering, body and mind synch and thus avoiding the initial, potentially debilitating awkwardness of the limbs and thoughts that comes with the cosmic yawns at "onset." And make sure I'm actively striding and finding my way as the peak comes and goes. I usually don't stop for any length of time. Occasionally I miscalculate the powder at the bottom of the bag and get a little walloped. But an 8-hour hike through spectacular terrain where I won't see humans -- this is trackless country, no trails -- typically does the trick. And there's nothing like a shot and a beer and a toke back at camp or, if camp is the truck, then a chair and guitar. Last fall I did just that across a wild plateau called East Cactus Flats, returning to my truck in a forsaken place called Disappointment Draw. I cracked a beer and started fingerpicking when I heard a strange noise. A good-sized pronghorn, traveling alone, approached to within maybe 50 feet and kept querying me -- no mistaking that querying sound. Essentially, who or what are you? What the hell is that sound you're making? And, have you seen my peeps? I've noticed that wild animals, as well as domesticated dogs, totally key in to a person who is psychedelic. The other major part of this approach is what I'd call "digestion." Take the time to fully absorb the lessons of the day and seek ways to incorporate those insights into your ordinary reality and dealings with others. Be patient and kind. (I do not always succeed; this is a work in progress after 50 years.) Too much repetition of the experience without "digestion" and, to me, it's just repeating the high without drawing the lessons. Note that I did none of this the first ten years. We'd find out the LSD's potency the hard way. Lessons might be impressed upon us without our consent(!) The chaos and human interactions could be frightening -- usually to others, but sometimes to me. (Don't try driving!!) But over the decades I kinda honed an approach that essentially comprises medicine for the soul, for me. I think the currrent surge in interest by scientists and the general public is good up to a point, as psychedelics, used constructively, can help bolster our humanity and -- perhaps -- ease difficulties. But I could not recommend them. Either they work for you or they don't. And finding out can be tricky. Sure makes me a better-adjusted person -- and now I'm echoing Paul McCartney, I believe!

That's all the blathering for today. As you were........

If I had to choose.... I would choose neither of them. While the pranksters now seem a bit ghastly, Leary seemed a bit over ambitious. I still have some of his books -that one which is a psychedelic version of The Tibetan Book of The Dead comes to mind. I think the idea was that you read it to someone who was tripping, as a means of helping them locate the light. I wonder if anyone ever did that. That idea of set and setting does ring true though - and I would say that advice has stayed appropriate down through the years

Mr Ones - I still haven't got round to listening to Planet Waves. I always assumed it was a weaker one, but I read recently that it was very much a part of a trilogy, with "Blood on the Tracks" and "Desire", so I am hoping to check it out soon.

My sister lives in Mill Valley, and she used to see Weir around town all the time. (Not so much lately.) She’s not a fan, so it’s no biggie for her, but I’ve sometimes thought about what I would do if I saw Bob getting coffee or something while I was visiting her. I wouldn’t want to bother him, but I think I’d have to at least say hello, right? Say ‘thanks for the music’ at least? My other sister lives in Kauai, where Kreutzman lives now, and I’m going to be visiting her in a couple weeks. Wonder what I should say if I see BK grabbing a shave ice?

I can definitely relate to what hendrixfreak sed: shows just got too big for my liking in the ‘80s. As a rule, I’d usually much rather see a decent band in a small club than go see some superstars in a sports arena: better sound, fewer assholes, fewer cops, room to breath. Throw psychedelics into the mix and the gap gets even wider. It’s one thing to be shrooming at the Warfield with 2,000 of deadicated Heads, quite another to try to deal with 50,000 people who seem like they just got bussed in from MTV’s spring break special. Not to mention all the security.

In principle, I always thought it was cool that the Pranksters had such a wide open, “let’s get high and freak freely” approach to tripping, as opposed to the Millbrook thing of sitting silently in a room with a candle and saying Om or whatever. That said, I’m not sure I could’ve passed the Acid Test. My best experiences, aside from Dead shows, were always out in nature: a deserted stretch of shoreline on the Lost Coast, backpacking the Sierras, etc. I think if I would've had to try to simultaneously process Babbs' babbling, Cassidy's hammer juggling, the Dead, and 500 mics worth of Koolaid my brains probably woulda dribbled out my ears.

Last thought: how lucky are we? The StL box continues to delight. Seven shows from three different tours, all in good-to-great sound. And the last two DaPs have also been great. I mean, millions of people love Zeppelin, the Stones, the Eagles, and other bands from back in the day, but nobody (well, except the ABB I guess) has anything like the Dead's archival release thing. Blessed be us.

Comus-First Utterance-Tip ‘o the hat to DAVEROCK!!
Beatles-Get Back Rooftop Performance
Elvis Costello-The Boy Named If
Shuggie Otis-Inspiration Information
Bob Dylan-Planet Waves

It’s a crazy, mixed-up world, but Music is a consistent balm(for me at least!!).

Dave’s 42 anyone?? It’s only about 62 days away!!

Billy - thanks for jogging my memory - Viola Lee Blues from 4/26/69 is included on The Phil Zone too . I didn't know they interpreted What's Become of the Baby at this show either. Bit of a missed opportunity there - if that had been included, then this show, as released, would have been unique. In a way then, Dicks Picks 26 short changes 4/26/69 a bit.