Hawllo der folks, the current time is 7:30 AM, EST.
My life's been pretty crazy, though what I really want to talk about is the Grateful Dead.
I will just say what I've been up too since June. I've now finished both The Original Scroll of On The Road, and the 1957 version...and I want to read them again. Mhmm-hmm.
For the past 3 weeks I've been at a Larping (Live-Action-Roleplaying) camp. It was quite exhausting, though much fun! I got to play crazy goblins, bandits, & ferocious vampires!
I am also single now (my choice) but I'm not really gonna go into it. If you're really curious, I'd be down to talk. Anyways, I'm going to Chicago!! Frankly, according to "the plan" I was supposed to be there by now (9:22 AM, see how 2 hours went by in just a couple of paragraphs)....but I missed my flight. My freakin' 6:25 flight.....Ughbazzam. I'll be leaving in a couple of hours, and arrive over there around 3.
And whaaaaayyyyyyy might you ask (or maybe not....)? Because of friends! Friends, love & joy! Friends being love & joy that is. Mainly the Souers (Emily & Wyatt) & Will Surhbur, but I plan on seein' as many folks as possible! They are all wonderful & cool!
We shall jam too! Wyatt, Ty (another hip Chicagoian) & I will have a beautiful blues jam I'm sure. Ahh! I'm excited! Then after the fun in Chi-Town, I'll be home for a night, a single night before Dance New England! DANCE CAMP! The wonderful hippie camp I call home (been going since I was in de womb :)
Then, after those kicks, it's time for more adventure at the Northeast Unschooling Conference! Fun fun! I'm so ver excited this year. I'll be stayin' with the Kimi Biegler kid (what a surprise!) but we'll be joined with two good friends; Abbi & Brianna'h! It'll be a party :D
So, the Grateful Dead....my love. Jerry Garcia's birthday was 2 days ago, on the 1st of August. He woulda been 69 (and I'm sure still playing). And now comes "The Days In Between", the time span between his birth & death. Datewise, not age wise. First-ninth of August, verse 53 wholes years (well, some leap years...)
Now I don't have a lot of time, for brother Jason is buggin' me to watch somethin' on Netflix (Since I missed the flight, we've finished Clerks, which is utterly fantastic, and played two games of magic....and ate), but anywho, story time of how I got into the Dead. I had heard their name as a small child (for my father has a Dick's Pick's Grateful Dead Cd), but never listened. Not that I know at least....but this memory of the cd, and the cover photo (a flying magic ticket) stayed with me. After my Dad & I moved into our Mystic Valley residence, I found a "Best Of" cd for the Grateful Dead. I then listened, and oh boy, did I dig it! Yass yass yessir I did. It was wonderful, & totally rockin'. So I looked for other cds at the library. I took two out, Reckoning, & Go To Heaven. None of the Best Of cds had any tracks the other cds had. Even better I thought!
Well, I was disappointed. I think I listened to Reckoning first. It now holds several favorites of mine....but when I first heard it, I only liked "Dire Wolf" the first song...that rest was "eh" to me.
Dire Wolf
I then listened to Go To Heaven, which had some cool stuff....but I wasn't really diggin' it. Now, what I didn't know was the Best Of was made in 1974, "only" 10 years in the Grateful Dead's carer. Reckoning was made in 1980 (though the songs were mostly from the early 70's) & Go To Heaven also came out in 1980. It was definitely way more 80's than, well, the 70's & 60's stuff. But I was annoyed, the Best Of had such great tracks such as sugar magnolia, Casey Jones, & Uncle John's Band!
A rockin' Sugar Mangnolia, from '73
I felt compelled to like them, but I needed to genuinely like them of course. I didn't wnat to only like "the best of". The summer before, at a camp (North Woods) some of the councilors had Grateful Dead shirts, talked about them, or sang a song of theirs. They were cool, I looked up to them (Not knowing anything 'bout them though...just a little kid, lookin' up to the cool older guys....which I saw at Larp Camp, from now the perspective of the older kid, being "idolized"). I listened to the albums again, trying to like it.
And frankly, I guess it just happened. I'm not really sure. All of a sudden I like it! Mainly Go To Heaven. Reckoning wasn't a big on my list (the like list that is) till a little while ago (as I said, I dig it now!). And since this was 3 or 4 years ago now, my love for the Grateful Dead has only grown. Man, I freakin' love 'em!
Here's a whole show of theirs, I haven't listened to to much, but it's good man!
Love ya
Liam
http://www.archive.org/details/gd72-08-27.sbd.orf.3328.sbeok.shnf
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