Here is the latest news from David Gans, producer and host of the Grateful Dead Hour.
The Projection Party, again
Special privilege?I gather Lisa Cohen is a member in good standing of the Projection Party. How else to explain her remark? Let’s not forget that it was the Republicans in Congress who ground the government to a halt a few years back, bleating about “the rule of law” all the while, to nail Bill Clinton to the wall over private behavior that caused no harm and had nothing whatsoever to do with his performance on the job.Editor — Congress must immediately conduct a full investigation regarding Rep. Patrick Kennedy’s 2:30 a.m. automobile accident in the Capitol Thursday morning (“Rep. Kennedy denies he was drinking before crash,” May 5)! His driver’s license should be permanently revoked and he must pay fines and do community service. Lastly, he must step down immediately!
Oh wait, he’s not a Republican. Never mind.
LISA COHEN
Menlo Park
We still have a Republican-controlled Congress, and that Congress can’t be bothered to dig into any of the countless crimes against “the rule of law” and common decency itself. Let’s start with the lies that led us to war in Iraq and work our way down the docket, past domestic spying, “signing statements,” the FEMA/Katrina debacle, and so on. Maybe eventually we’ll work our way down to Duke Cunningham’s hookers.
David Gans
Oakland
UPDATE: The Chronicle published a response from Tom Wood today. An excerpt:
2. Patrick Kennedy recognized there was a problem, admitted his mistakes and took actions to rectify the situation; whereas, Republicans deny problems exists and shirk responsibility up to the moment they’re convicted.His other points are good, too.
WELL GD conference 20th birthday party
The WELL‘s Grateful Dead community, which began to create itself online on March 1, 1986, celebrated its birthday with a potluck at the Log Cabin in San Anselmo, California.
Tons of photos, sound and text will be coming soon. For starters:
Franklin posted a video of our gang singing “Ripple” near the end of the party.
Grateful Dead Hour #920
Week of May 8, 2006
Part 1 32:49
Grateful Dead 4/17/72 Tivoli Concert Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark
DARK STAR
Part 2 24:01
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones 2/15/06 KPFA Performance studio, Berkeley CA
CHENNAI
WHO’S GOT THREE?
WHISTLE TUNE
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, The Hidden Land
SUBTERFUGE
A few weeks ago, I posted some notes on the digital audio restoration tools I was using on this 1972 recording.
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones performed live on KPFA’s Dead to the World on February 15, with guest host Tim Lynch.
Support for the Grateful Dead Hour comes this week from the 10,000 Lakes Festival, July 19 through 22 in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. 10KLF features Phil Lesh & Friends, Trey Anastasio, The String Cheese Incident, The Benevento Russo Duo featuring Mike Gordon, Keller Williams, Railroad Earth, Umphrey’s McGee, MMW, and many more. Information on camping and and tickets at www.10KLF.com
And from Little, Brown and Company, publishers of Phil Lesh’s autobiography, Searching for the Sound. The first book from a member of The Grateful Dead details his 40-year journey from the 60s counterculture to the loss of Jerry Garcia and beyond. Searching for the Sound, available in paperback wherever books are sold.
Meme of the month
I spotted this in a coffee store here in Oakland, where family values actually have something to do with human values:
MAY THE FETUS YOU SAVE BE GAY
A dream I had
I’ve been sick in bed with a nasty intestinal thing, accompanied by a high fever. When I was a kid, I had high fevers, and they were always accompanied by really great hallucinations. I had a very intense dream the morning the fever hit, and this time I was able to write most of it down before it evaporated.
Rita and I were driving in Charleston SC, and lost. Arrived at an intersection where streets came together strangely, and there was a restaurant so we went inside to look at a map and get our bearings. There was a chef there who I recognized – a tall man who I’d met at Jon Carroll’s. I asked his name, and he told me but it was garbled. We talked for a while and then he disappeared back into the kitchen in mid-conversation.
There were a lot of people eating at big long tables, huge piles of golden fried chicken which was referred to as “the baked dinner.”
I kept waiting for the chef to came back out. Other chefs walked by on their way out of the kitchen.
A man walked in, and as I was thinking, “Isn’t that Elvin Bishop?” Then Michael Bloomfield walked in, accompanied by a couple of other guys. One of his companions recognized me and introduced me to Bloomfield, who was very big and had very big hands; when he shook my hand he only took a couple of my fingers. Nice man, tho.
“I guess we ought to eat here,” I said to Rita.
Still waiting for the chef to return.
I looked into another room and there was Blair Jackson, talking to a man I don’t know. I walked over and sat at his table. Blair said he was there for the wedding of (mumble), and I said, “Ah, so there will be a lot of us around.” The man sitting with Blair pulled a large television set in front of his face, and then the TV screen showed an amateur rocket launch of sorts that appeared to be the lifting of a large, rectangular concrete object a few feet into the air in a cloud of black smoke.
Feel free to post your interpretations!