Grateful Dead

Since Ive been active in the vineyard I dont think anything has ever bothered and confused me as much as this markinthedark thing. A few weeks ago I couldent even imagine him stalling a vine much less killing one. He must be going through some serious stuff or something. I hope that he gets it all straightened out. Peace and Love, Trevor "You know the one thing we need is a left handed monkey wrench....."

Not to be a dick, but he has stalled more than that. He stalled Winterland '74 for a long time and also RFK '73, which I get Oroboros to reseed. Both of these vines got sent to me by DHBen at the same time and it took me by surprise because I had no idea they were coming. I know that he does have Santa Fe '83. As far as I am concerned he is the biggest offender. So much for me not wanting to call people out, but this is info that needed to be shared.

After an exhaustive, and exhausting, perusal of all the Grateful Dead and JGB (and LOM, and Recon, etc) vines, but NOT vines for other bands or even the current incarnation of the boys, here is what I have: (1) For all the trouble we seem to be having, this is an AWESOME place. The MAJORITY of vines are either still alive or have died a natural death, i.e., the last person on the list received it and no one signed up after. My collection has grown by leaps and bounds because of the vineyard. Let's be grateful for what we have. It reminds me of the saying that democracy is the worst form of government, except for every other kind. Sure, we have problems, but all in all this may be the best place for Heads on the internet. (2) Communication is the key. Going through the vines, I noticed the lack of communication. It is difficult to figure out on some of them where the vine died. Post often, post when you receive the vine, post when you mail it out and to whom mailed it. (3) Although I initially disagreed with the recommendation, I now agree that we should PM the person after us, both to confirm they are still active and their address. (4) Emergencies happen. We need to be patient with that. Just let us know and we will be. As we all know, Hal has a family illness. He has a few vines and I am sure we all want him to take whatever time he needs. (5) As I said, sometimes it isn't clear, but when your name appears numerous times it is tough to give you the benefit of the doubt. For example, if 3 different people say they mailed you 3 different vines, and none of the vines turn up again, it is difficult to blame the mail (it DOES happen, but NOT to the same person that many times). (6) The bad guys. No doubt about these characters. They are the Bermuda Triangle of viners. DO NOT SEND THEM ANY MORE VINES UNTIL THEY CLEAR THINGS UP WITH THE COMMUNITY. Do not just send them a PM and ask if they are active; they have caused too many vines to disappear for that. They are vine killers. They have killed before, and they will kill again. (a) Chinacat503 appears to have killed at least 3 vines (Nov 72, Eurovines # 4 & # 5). (b) Markinthedark, once a great viner, appears to have absconded with at least 6 vines (KPFA, Maples 2/9/73, Flac Me Flac You, 12/27/77, Early Stuff Vol 1, 3 and Augusta 10/12/84); (c) gratefulmikes appears to have killed at least 8 vines (funiculi funicula, 93 by request, Legion of Mary, Winterland June 77, NYE 83, Summer 82, Greek 84 and LOM Mystery). NOTE THAT he is signed up to soon receive Europe 74 so heads up birdsong1969nj and Jimbo (unclear who has it right now)!!!! He may also have killed Red Rocks 9/8/83 (or Deadhead Ben never sent it to him) (d) Day Glo Louisville appears to have killed at least 4 vines (Eurovine Acoustic, Garcia/Saunders 73, March 28,31/73, Jerry solo 4/10/82). He is also an interesting person in the Garcia Party disappearance; (e) j.straw (NOT to be confused with jackstrawfromcolorado) seems to have disappeared with at least 5vines (Lewiston 9/6/80, Beacon 6/14/76, Fox 85, 3 from 82 and Hampton 89 reseed) (f) canyon critter seems to have killed at least 4 vines (Acid Test, 1985 vine, History Buffs, and Fillmore East 9/20/70); (g) PAPPYPGH appears to have killed at least 3 vines (Hampton/Harrisburg...84, 2/17/82, JGB 1977 Part 2, Silver Stadium 6/30/88), not to mention the Fall 79 Part 1.5 Rhino fiasco (either Pappy or Solix killed this one, tough to tell who). Pappy also should have recently received the Spring 88 parts 1 and 2 vines (Stephen in PA sent them on 5/28). Finally, he is up soon on More May 77 and JGB Keystone 12/21/79 (DON'T SEND THEM TO HIM!!!!) (7) Guys who have a little explaining to do. I am not sure here whether they have commited multiple vine slayings, or were just irepeatedly n the wrong place at the wrong time. These guys should explain to the community what happened before being welcomed back, but any old explanation will do. (a) Sakparadise is a suspect in at least 2 vine kills (Glen Falls 82, Fall 79 Part 2) and there are some questions about 2 other vines. Sakparadise posted on 4/29 that he would mail out the March 90 vine to Row Timmy. The vine has not been seen since. On 5/20 jackstrawfromcolorado, the good jack straw, posted the he would mail the Pink Floyd vine to sakparadise. That vine hasn't been seen since. It hasn't been that long for Pink Floyd (it was my vine, that is why I looked it up) so it may be ok, and Row Timmy has his issues so it may have been him on March 90. (b) Row Timmy was apparently involved in a couple of mysterious vine disappearances. March 90 discussed above and 3 from 75, which PKpotter said he mailed to Row Timmy on 9/12/08. (c) Brother Tom is suspected in 2 vine slayings. Solix said he mailed Cream Filling 73 to our holy friend. Brother Tom was the last person to receive Matrix Volume 1, and it wasn't until 2months later that anyone else signed up, but he doesn't seem to have passed it on. (d) Deadheadben seems to have slayed the infant Cleveland Convention Center 12/06/73, before it had much of a chance to travel the country. Either he or grateful mikes killed Red Rocks 9/8/83. And either he or Hard To Handle killed Sante Fe 83. (8) Guys who had minor hiccups [hopefully) (a) my friend Dave C was the last to have Early 69 (shoot, don’t know what volume this was, sorry) (posted 5/13) and should have received Early Stuff Vol 2 (unclejon posted on 5/20 that he mailed it out). Dave C posted that he had computer problems. I am sure he either sent these vines on and didn’t post (here, another call for communicating, post often) or is resolving his computer problems and will soon send them on. Ejjd is next on Early 69 and Jake R on Early Stuff Vol 2. (b) Darkstar1971 (aka Estimatedprophet 1971) rides the rails quite often. I think he is an engineer, the kind you think of when you are kid (a train engineer) but never meet. Hal posted on 3/19 that he mailed DarkStar1971 Fall 77 Part 2. No word since. DarkStar1971 was the last to have Orpheum 7/12/76, pisting on 4/20. Pomo1 is next for Orpheum. (9) Specific vines not mentioned above, many probably involved miscommunications. If you are involved here and can help resolve, please do. You don’t even need an excuse here, just a “I never got it” or “I sent it out” or even a “sorry” will suffice. (a) 3/28/81: Benny Jakes stalled this one for 3 months but eventually passed it on to On The Road Again, who apparently killed it. (b) Felt Forum 1971: greatfullygrateful was the last to post having it, said he had a family emergency, never posted having sent it on to Arkdeadhead. © Repatriation 1971: Fluffhead420 posted on 4/8/09. He was last in line. 3 weeks later Jake R and dpwstldeadfan signed up. No word on where this vine is. (d) Eurovine # 1: Dead Man Telling Tales posted on 4/20. He was last in line. Jake R and others signed up later. Now word on where this vine is. (e) Keith’s First Few Months: dpwstldeadfan posted on 5/6. Only Gr8tful Ted is signed up after. He may have received it and not posted. (f) Valentine’s Day: fluffhead420 posted on 3/9. He was last in line. Lord Monkey and Jake R signed up after. No word on where this vine is. (g) MSG 93 Part 2: Tommo posted on 3/24 that he sent it to Toddsnc. No word since. (h) Jai Alai 74: On 5/12 KingCargoJB posted that he mailed it to Emily J. Slimee is after her. No word since. (I) Northern New England Wish List: on 5/19 fluffhead420 said he would PM Tommo for his address. Estim8ed was after Tommo. No word. (j) 70 & 73: On ½ Estim8ed said he mailed it to Chasmo, who said he never received it. Probably lost in the mail. (k) BCT 86: on 4/13 ark deadhead posted that he would mail to Pkpotter. No word. (l) Little Bit of Jerry: on 4/14 Long Rifle posted that he had it. OneGratefulDad and Fleaflicker were next. No word. (m) 5 Garcia shows: on 5/21 cacthim hickory matt (or something like that) posted that he got them. Fleaflicker and Space Otter were next. No word. (n) Dead/NRPS 1970: on 5/5 birdsong1969nj said he would mail out to test4965. No word. (o) Pigpen Shotgun: on 5/8 Phat Moye said he would mail out to Jake R. Da roach was after that. No word. (p) Brent’s Last show video: lost in mail btwn gadeadhead and JimmyC (q) More May 77: on 5/28 Pomo1 posted he would reseed to Larry Here. PAPPY IS NEXT. LARRY HERE SKIP PAPPY!!!! ® More Mary: on 1/23, rambleinbearisgrateful posted that he mailed to Tommo. Stuman, then bearisgrateful were next. No word. Lost in mail? (s) Bill Graham Tribute: Playdead apparently killed. This vine was reseeded to the person after him. (t) Shoreline 91: on 12/24 Chasmo posted that he had it. ark deadhead was next. No word. Apparently Chasmo killed it. (u) merriweather 6/30/85: on 4/29 fluffhead420 posted that he PM’d OneGratefulDad for his address. No word. (v) Boston Tea Party 1969: on 5/11 Slimee posted having it. Dpwstldeadfan was next. No word. (10) I am too tired for final thoughts. All will be forgiven, except for that first group. I hope those that have disappeared with vines are ok, and are only AWOL here and not in reality. Others can figure out what to do next. I am not proofreading this so there are probably some spelling and grammatical mistakes. Vine on!!!

Take your time. You are providing an invaluable service to this vineyard!!

Soon, soon, another 1/2 hr

I hate to say it but we need to figure out who is stalling the vines and cut them out of the vining process until they begin to be more responsible. I am not sure what the exact issue is. Some new people bite off more than they can chew and sign up for everything (which is why you caused such a stir Fluff, but you have more than proven yourself), or they are people who have previously vined and for whatever reason decide to bow out in this manner. There is one particular individual who seemed to be moving along just fine and then all of a sudden he became a bottleneck and wouldn't respond to pm's. I don't know and my psychological analysis isn't solving the problem. We will have to wait and see. There are too many people who care so much for this vineyard, and I know that we collectively will solve this gordian knot.

the problem is that people are not sending them out, sure they can give us their address and we can send it to them but they have to send it out Seems like we are addressing the front end for a rear end problem. But I have no solution to offer. It seems that we should hear from dstache first and see what he finds before we seek a solution. Where are the specific problems? If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. William Blake

Such an easy solution. "Escaping through the lily fields, I came across an empty space. It rainbow then exploded, left a bus stop in its place. The bus come by and I got on, thats when it all began. It was Cowboy Neal at the wheel of the bus to never ever land"

Instead of sending addresses to the person in front of you months prior to actually getting the vine why don't we contact the next person on the list for an addy request (via PM) after we recv the vine? We already go on to post we recvd it....it clearly shows who's next on the list...we can then send them a PM and if there's no response in 3-4 days they get bumped...that way if circumstances have changed the person can req they be skipped, not respond and be dropped from the list, or they send their addy if they still want the vine...no response in 4 days: you're bumped to the end...simple as that....problems solved....everybody's happy and our heads are being fed....am i wrong? "In a bed, in a bed, by the waterside I will lay my head. Listen to the river sing sweet songs, to rock my soul."

but the first step is admitting it. ;o}Hopefully we can take a look a the solutions for this issue. I will take a look back at the vines that I started and try to give them a jump (or is it bump?). I will also think about the solutions offered and what can be done to be part of helping out with this endeavor. Things do seem a bit scattered currently and quite a few vines are dropping away as a result. And the Vineyard has grown quite a bit which make this all more difficult to manage. It is good to hear of other ideas and methods to get the music to those who desire it. Maybe this is all a new 'evolution' of the Vineyard? We will see. The Truth is realized in an instant, the act is practiced step by step.