"The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" Book Discussion

OK, let this be the official thread for the book discussion of The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.

The Dead are pertinent to this discussion because they formed, as the Warlocks, about the time that the Acid Tests began and were the "house band" for these gatherings (but their music was different then and some performances could last as brief as 13 minutes).

As far as the Doors go, "they" played 2 shows in LA last week (one with Earl Scruggs opening). They are supposed to play in Toronto at the end of the month. John Densmore has signed on but hasn't played with the current incarnation live because he is being treated for tinnitus but supposedly he will be playing with the band when they go in the studio and for the possible tour. For now, Stewart Copeland is drumming, Ian Astbury is singing and there are a couple of other musicians sitting in (Robby Kreiger's bass player, for one).

The Doors did one or two followup albums after Jim's death and they swore that some of the songs were on par with the old songs for hit potential but they knew that none of them were singers of the caliber of Jim (for delivery of their material). I haven't listened to this albums, if the songs are that good, hopefully they'll dust a few of them off.

She's baaack!

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=638&u=/nm/20020910/en_nm/anniversary_yoko_dc&printer=1

Yahoo! News Wed, September 11, 2002

Yoko Ono Pleads 'Give Peace a Chance' on 9/11
Tue Sep 10, 3:03 PM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Yoko Ono Tuesday pleaded with the world to "Give Peace A Chance" with the release on the MTV music channel of a short film to mark the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

John Lennon's widow said in a statement: "Let's create peace, unity and light. I think John's words are needed just as much now as when they were written -- 'Imagine all the people living in peace' and 'Give Peace A
Chance."'

The film starts with the viewer trailing down a dark corridor to reach a door with light pouring through it. Yoko Ono greets the viewers and takes them up a ladder to read the words "Give Peace A Chance" written on the ceiling.

"Like all of us, I'd like to see the human race survive, living in health and in love with each other," said the Japanese artist whose Beatle husband was gunned down in front of their New York apartment in 1980.

The quick search I did online indicated that Aldous Huxley's final request was for an injection of LSD.

Timothy Leary's website as he was dying included an account of his daily intake of prescription and illegal drugs. The site has been redesigned since his death and some links are broken. I could not find any account of his final day's intake. He reportedly died "in his sleep" but he did stir at some point to say "Why not" repeatedly with different inflections.

An article on Leary's website states that the video of the head removal is a fake (although it appears to have been done at the scene of his deathbed with participants who were there, I've seen it).

Timothy Leary's Last Trip - FAQ

Did Leary get his head cut off like I saw in that movie?
No. Absolutely not. That was a simulation created by profiteering filmmakers. At one point in his life, Leary was planning to have himself cryonically preserved, which would have resulted in a variety of gruesome procedures, but it did not happen. The filmmakers capitalised on this and secretly recreated the sequence without permission from Leary or his family, who were shocked and dismayed to see it on screen in graphic detail. After the movie's release, the filmmakers displayed poor taste and fueled rumours by not admitting it's falsehood, apparently to generate hype and sell tickets.
Was Leary cryonically preserved?
No. For a number of years, Leary was excited by the possibility of freezing his body in cryonic suspension. As a scientist himself, he didn't believe that he would be resurrected in the future, but he recognized the importance of cryonic possibilities and was generally an advocate of future sciences. He called it his "duty as a futurist", and helped publicize the process. Leary had relationships with two cryonic organizations, the original ALCOR and then the offshoot CRYOCARE. A few months before he died, Leary discovered some internal company memos that seriously slandered him and exposed a plan to defame Leary and exploit the situation to the benefit of Cryocare and the detriment of Leary and his family. Outraged, Leary kicked them out of his house and cancelled all his contracts.

I never heard of any lawsuit to force a disclaimer on the film/video.

I did find this review of a film fest screening of "Timothy Leary's Dead" with some explanation for the inclusion of the sequence:

Leary Laughing in Film Hell

I had read about the no-hitter that was pitched on LSD so I'll include a reference of it here:

Doc Ellis Says He Pitched 1970 No-Hitter Under The Influence of LSD

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