August 10, 2016

21 years ago Jerry Garcia passed

I wrote this on the 15 anny of Jerry Garcia's death:

The day Jerry died, I was working on changing the photos and frames of the GD to blues artists for some blues festivals coming up..(I sold photos then). Michele, my girl at the time, called me from work to tell me. I was floored. Something we all knew was coming, but something we were not prepared for, too... I got on the phone and made a ton of calls, Some of my friends knew but a good number did not....many people called me to share their condolences, some who were not deadheads or even friends, but they knew that this was a tragedy for me and they wanted to share. For that I thank them. I spent a good deal of time on the phone with Toni Brown, then Editor of Relix, talking aobut how and what we were going to do.

Michele could not hold it at work and came home and we all went over to my friend Eric's house to talk and reminisce. At the time the GD meant a lot to me, not only musically but also as an income source. They weren't my only income generation but still about 1/3 of my income came from Dead tour....

At Eric's, I thought why don't we do a retrospective of the Dead and Jerry and put up a display at the Memorial planned at the State Capitol in Sacramento later that night. So we stripped all of the blues artists out of the frames and replaced them with Jerry/Dead shots. Shots from 1965 and shots from the Vegas run a couple of months before and everything between....

I thought, man we need to get something to remember people's thoughts and stuff, so we went to Borders and found these incredible music notation books with Beethoven on the front. So we got them and after we set up the display we put them out with a couple of pens so people could express their thoughts on them.

We didn't sell anything (wouldn't be right), we just put up the display so people could connect. We had a hundred photos, all framed 11X14 and 16X20, and people loved it. We lit the display with candles and so many people wrote the most incredible stuff in the books. Page after page of people pouring out their feelings about Jerry....The next night there was a memorial in Tahoe, so we got more books and took the display up there (again not selling anything). More people came out and more people wrote the most incredible stuff in the books.

Now we had three of the books filled to the brim with some of the most incredible stuff about Jerry in the books, so we needed to get some more. But our local stores were out... We scoured all the Borders books in NORCAL till we found some in Emeryville. And we bought them out, ten in all, I think.

We then headed to Golden Gate Park for the big memorial there in the Polo Grounds...We set up the display in the middle of the polo field and set the books out. This time Dead crew, family etc all came by. All wrote in the books.... Again we did not sell anything, but eventually we made a lot of money by handing out cards to people who wanted to buy stuff on those days...

They had a New Orleans funeral parade and a friend, Jeff who I knew from 49er games, was at the display with me and I asked him if he could watch the display so we could march with the parade. He said sure and off we went to join the parade. that was the last time I ever saw Jeff too.....

At the end of the day I was reading the books and I could not believe the incredible stuff written in them. Some stupid stuff too, but people really poured their hearts out in them. Dead family members, crew and fans all contributed...

We switched business focus back to street fairs and blues festivals, but we decided to honor Jerry with his own special space in the back and kept the books out there. Let me tell ya, we sold a shit load of Jerry shots everywhere we went after that. More people wrote in the books. We went to LA for the OC Blues fest and Street Scene in San Diego and did very well with Jerry being the big seller...(As he remains to this day)

Then on labor day, we went to the Hog Farm PigNic up at Wavy's place in Mendo. Ratdog (Just Rob and Bob then), JJ Cale and Leftover Salmon were among the bands at that fest. We had prime vendor space and set up a huge display for that show. Also in attendance were Tim Leary, Ram Dass, Kesey, the Bus, the Pranksters etc...It was the first time anyone in the GD family had a chance to really mourn for Jerry in a way that was appropriate. And they did. By mid day it was obvious that everyone was tripping balls. Leftover Salmon told everyone they were tripping too hard to finish their set due to the giant electric balls on stage. Hilarious.

This guy came in the booth and asked if I had any JJ Cale. I told him that I wouldn't know JJ Cale if he came up and pissed on my shoes. the guy left and about 10 minutes later I looked up on stage and there that guy was, JJ Cale! (for the record, I still would not know him if I saw him)..

After RatDog's set the mainstage closed down for the night and my girl and the kids all went to sleep and I thought that i should write the last page of the books. By now we had 15 of them all filled with the most incredible stuff ever. But I had not written a word and thought I should get my thoughts in there. I was all tripping and schrooming and sitting in the booth with pictures of Miles, Jimi, Jerry, Dizzy, FZ, Pigpen etc...Heavy stuff. I was bawling like a baby, writing in the books and all alone when Wavy came in the booth...

He said "Photo guy come with me" and took me backstage. there were huge dayglo banners all over. A trippers paradise. Eventually we ended up at the center of the compound. One that was surrounded by 20 huge teepees. and in the middle was a campfire. Around the fire was Leary, Kesey, Wavy, Bobby, and many GD family members and Leftover Salmon... We sang songs and laughed and told stories about Jerry and our experiences etc.

I thought to myself though I can't do this without Michele, she will be pissed off to no end if I tell her I was there without her, so I left to go back to the booth..I also knew I needed to grab a couple of the books so these guys could share their thoughts in them...So I woke her up told her to come with me and she (of course!!) was pissed to hell that I even went there without her in the first place (It was that moment that decided for me that our relationship was over) .

I wasn't even sure if I could get back there, but I knew I had to try to get her and the books. We got back there, no problem, and showed those guys the books and asked them to write something in them and then give them back after the show was over the next day. They all wrote the most incredible stuff in them too, but most did not sign their names, all except Wavy and Kesey that is.They both wrote poems and signed them...

For the next couple of months I tried to get the books published. Had a couple of offers, one for a good amount of money.

In january, me and Michele broke up for good and she stole the biz and the books from me and tried to sell them herself... Of course she couldn't and couldn't run the biz either so she screwed the photogs out of money and kept the books. Now they are worth nothing (gotta strike while the iron is hot you know).

But for me, they are priceless. I would love to get them back and donate them to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or to the band or something. Seems a shame they are collecting dust somewhere...

And that is what I was doing 21 years ago...

August 9, 2016

Trump National GC employee fired after she complained about sexual harassment

Trump National Golf Course Worker Fired After She Complained About Sexual Harassment: Lawsuit
“I followed the rules by reporting it and instead of providing any help, they have retaliated and attacked me.”
Remember when Donald Trump said that women who are getting sexually harassed at work should respond by looking for work at new companies?

Well, that’s allegedly an official corporate policy at the Trump National Golf Course in Jupiter, Florida.


The Daily Mail has obtained court documents relating to a female former employee at Trump National Golf Course who alleges that she was fired from her job after complaining about being sexually harassed by a former colleague.

According to the lawsuit documents, ex-employee Erin Breen claims that she endured months of sexual harassment from a former co-worker named Joe DiPasquantonio, who at the time served as a food and beverage manager at the golf course.

More http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/trump-golf-course-worker-sexually-harassed-fired

August 3, 2016

Purple heart giver= Joe the plumber?

Just saw this guy on Fox. Immediately I thought of JTP. Time to dig up why he did this. I am sure he got paid,is connected to T rump in some waThe timing, right after the recent controversy, is certainly suspect. The guy really was dumb too and only gave talking points when questioned.

I am sure that if we peel the onion we will see this was a managed event.

July 27, 2016

Where's Melania?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/melania-trump-biography-deleted_us_57990c1ae4b02d5d5ed3fed9?section=
Bio deleted, website gone. Looks like trouble afoot.

July 8, 2016

In light of recent events, the best song about race ever

Dan Bern, Different Worlds.

June 28, 2016

Happy birthday, Grateful Dead rainbow

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHLVPQbDVG5/


Board Settings
Happy birthday, Grateful Dead rainbow!
MT

Displaying all 2 Posts
» Salmonenchanted (OP) • Tue Jun 28, 2016 08:05 am
https://www.instagram.com/p/BHLVPQbDVG5/

Amazing it was. I still think the band was dosed that day.
» Salmonenchanted (OP) • Tue Jun 28, 2016 08:51 am
I was some really straight friends who had experienced the Dead in college. Mary Beth, Time wife, was not into them at all, staunch Catholic, anti gay, but was there because Tim was. When that rainbow hit,w she was blown away.
Coming on the heels of the gay marriage SCOTUS ruling the week before and the same day as the Pride parade in SF, and the same weekend as the Kate Wolf festival (Kate was one of the first openly gay people I remember), the coincidence was unreal.
And for Mary Beth, well she still talks about it, and went a long way to temper her opinion of gay people. I asked her then "was that the hand of God? The hand of Allan Ginsburg and Kate Wolf?"
She said it was the most spiritual thing she ever saw. Unsure of what but she is still thinking about it.

June 23, 2016

Okay Zeppelin freaks, tell me if this is cool or not....

Skip the intro......

June 14, 2016

Happy birthday Wavy Gravy! (what would Wavy Do?)

http://www.sfchronicle.com/music/article/Wavy-Gravy-the-Clown-Prince-of-Hippiedom-turns-8056531.php


The great walrus of a man in the tie-dyed lounge wear and the red clown nose rises from his onstage easy chair at a Sunday afternoon concert. An audience of 2,500, in their own tribute clown noses, silently waits as he steps ever so painfully to the microphone to rasp, “Never judge a cover by its book.”


What does that mean? It doesn’t have to mean anything, because that rasp belongs to Wavy Gravy, the Yogi Berra of the Woodstock era, and this is his 80th birthday party.

“I don’t walk so good right now, but I can still talk good,” Gravy says in an earlier interview at his home in Berkeley. Suffering ongoing back agony that six spinal surgeries could not cure, he keeps mainly to an office chair with wheels that he rolls around his bedroom. “Collapsed weasel,” he calls his condition. But if you ask him if he is considering retirement, he quips, “My tires are good.”

Then he pulls himself out of that chair, down the rickety stairs and into a car for an hour-and-10-minute ride to an outdoor venue in Rohnert Park. His annual birthday concert is more important than the pain he is in. It is the main fundraiser for the Seva Foundation, a Berkeley nonprofit, and on this day it will raise $100,000 to prevent blindness and restore sight in 20 countries worldwide.

“There is no human being quite like Wavy,” says Dorian Jones, who is there wearing a T-shirt with the concert logo “Wavy Gravy 75th Birthday” above a list of bands — Jackson Browne, Crosby & Nash — like any rock festival souvenir. “He’s the Saint of Circumstance,” Jones adds. “He realizes it is better to give than to receive.”

Memorable lines: more at link

June 13, 2016

It IS the guns, the religion(s), the movies, TV, music

Video games, the television, the games we play, the games we watch, the vernacular, the music, the media, mental illness and hundreds of other things that go into making people psychopathic killers.

Everyone wants to say "it's not that, but definitely this", but it is all of it.

Religious extremists use violence as a weapon against innocent people. All religions, and even non religions.(Yes Muslim extremists are far more barbaric than most).

You cannot say that Christian terrorists are not violent as well. That would be disingenuous. I was raised by staunch Christians and my Father was a very violent man. His favorite song was "Onward Christian Soldiers" which he sang all the time (from the Crusades and celebrates violence). Not just me, but a lot of people back then all they knew was violence. We got beat with belts, rapped in the mouth if we stepped out of line. Most of us have moved past that, but some cultures, especially people that are new immigrants, carry that old school ideas with them.


This guy was in the FBI cross hairs yet was able to legally purchase weapons. History of violence, yet, he could buy guns. Security guard? There is something wrong there. I don't think care about the gun itself, I care more about why this happens. Why we refuse to make it harder to buy guns.

Guy probably witnessed 50k murders and violent acts on TV in his lifetime. The show Criminal Minds (a how to show for serial killers) is on TV 24 hours a day.CSI, NCIS and all the rest of the scripted shows on TV (excluding comedies) are filled with violence. Then there's cable. An orgy of violence.

The commercials are just as bad. During the NBA game, they aired extremely violent commercials for various movies. No plot, no nothing, just the violence. So bad it was, I commented on it. They do that all the time, break into sports programing and give you violent commercials for movies, TV shows and video games.

The movies are nothing but violence. Most of them anyway. When I went to see Star Wars the latest, before the movie they played, in a theater full of children, 15 minutes of violent trailers. Again no plot, nothing, just violence. So bad it was I talked to the manager about it after the movie. Star Wars is pretty violent in itself, but more cartoonist, the trailers were bloodbaths.

The media, they are a big part of the problem. In the hour i was watching TV news today the guy's name was mention a million times and scrolled even more. It is like a fame thing, guy makes his mark in the psychopath hall of fame.

The music, especially rap, is pretty violent too. But that doesn't mean there isn't violent music even from my generation. "down by the River" "Hey Joe" to name a couple of examples. My band wants to do "Down By the River" but I really don't like the violent theme so we ain't gonna play it.(and I kill that song).

Even the vernacular. Right there, above this I used a violent term,"kill". . Killer show. Constant violent terminology. Try thinking about it sometimes, you will be amazed at how often you use violent terminology.

Football. Yep. Violence. Violent men, a violent game, violent terminology. No wonder the sport has so many bad actors.

Video games? Well, that is all they are, from Mortal Combat to GTA, video game violence is commonplace. By the time a kid reaches their mid 20s, he has killed millions of foes in the games.

Now does that mean that every person that listens to "Bring Ya Whole Crew" gonna up and open fire? No, of course not. Play WoW, become a psycho killer? No. But these things get to some people, and deeply.
Violence in this country is celebrated. We have war heroes. We have no Peace heroes. The ones we did have all died in a hail of gunfire. (Bob Marley escaped an assassination attempt).


It is mental illness to. How we deal with it. Take a lil. Trying to get help is impossible unless you can afford it. The stigma hinders people from admitting they need help.

It is everything.

June 13, 2016

Thank you, Police and other first responders (Orlando)

Big time. Imagine, breaking down the door, not knowing what you'll find. The tactical side alone.."when do we go in" . "Am I gonna die now?"

Then discovering the scene, taking the guy out and then dealing with all the carnage. Without breaking down. Man oh man.

We talk a lot of shit about bad cops, I do it too, but that is a fucked up job. Thank dog we have people willing to do it.