In this famous 2001 photograph, Zane Kesey, son of author Ken Kesey, watches as his father's casket is loaded onto the bus "Furthur" for the final ride.
Since his father's death Zane has been sifting through the Prankster Archives in search of things to offer for the entertainment and enlightenment of the public. Yesterday he sent me an email signed "Never get off the bus" reminding me of what a good place the Kesey website can be for those special holiday gifts. Here's some things I've bought in the past that maybe you should consider buying for that special acidhead in your life - or for yourself!
This is a fascinating collection of some of the oldest Merry Prankster Acid Test footage, with the Grateful Dead performing when they were still known as The Warlocks. Great closing shot of a too stoned Jerry Garcia sweeping up after the show.
In 1974 Ken Kesey invited the major poets of America to his Oregon farm for a massive poetry slam. The results include priceless performances by the likes of William Burroughs, Anne Waldman, Allen Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky, Gregory Corso, Jack Micheline, Paul Krassner, Wavy Gravy, the Flying Karamatzov Brothers and the amazing Mr. Spoon.
One night the visiting Neal Cassady took a large dose of LSD while the Prankster's turned on the camera. The result is this classic film Cassady in the Backhouse which was viewable for decades only in bootlegged form but is now finally available in high quality. Alas, the original soundtrack is lost, but other recordings of Cassady as well as some Dead music is mixed in. Cassady is only wearing tight jeans through most of the film, providing ample evidence of why gay beatniks like Ginsberg and Burroughs were ga-ga over Cassady.
Besides these DVD's there are also books and clothes and just about everything else you can think of, including psychedelic toilet seats!
Check it all out by clicking here.
A curious document is coming up for auction in London. According to MSNBC:
LONDON - A 97-year-old document that contains clues to the identity of Eleanor Rigby, the subject of one of the Beatles’ best-loved songs, is expected to fetch 500,000 pounds ($775,000) when it goes on sale this month.
The manuscript is a salary register from Liverpool City Hospital and features the name E. Rigby, a scullery maid who has signed for her monthly wage. Her annual earnings were 14 pounds.
According to its owner Annie Mawson, the document was sent to her in 1990 by former Beatle Paul McCartney when she wrote to him on behalf of her charity the Sunbeams Music Trust (www.sunbeamsmusic.org), which uses music to help people with special needs....
According to music Web sites, previously McCartney has said the heroine of the poignant song was fictional.
The grave of an Eleanor Rigby was also discovered in the churchyard of St. Peter’s in Woolton, Liverpool, close to where McCartney met John Lennon in 1957.
“I wonder just how much Paul McCartney meant to unmask when he passed it on,” said Ted Owen, managing director of the Fame Bureau which is selling the manuscript as part of a pop memorabilia auction on Nov. 27 in London.
I wish I knew the story behind how McCartney came into posession of the document. Did he own it before the song was written, or was it given to him afterwards? Seems to me that would make an enormous difference in what it was worth. If he referred to it when writing the song than it is priceless. But if a fan or someone gave it to him after the song came out, then its only real value is that McCartney once owned it.
The words to Elenor Rigby are one of the few examples of song lyrics that commonly appear in academic poetry books.
Eleanor rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window
wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for?
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
Father McKenzie writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near.
Look at him working
darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there
What does he care?
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
This image circulating online proves that the hero-worship of Obama has finally gone too far!
Major Models has been running a series of pics of top male models wearing Obama t-shirts. It's worth checking out whatever your political persuasion.
I'm not a big fan of Keith Olberman, however his recent commentary on the repeal of gay marriage in California is attracting a lot of attention, and deservedly so. It's a little over the top at points, but he really nails it when he says it comes down to the question of, "What's it to you?"
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