THE FREE REPUBLIC WELCOMES THE MERRY PRANKSTERS!!! (9-09 Book Discussion Thread)

Self | September 2, 2002 | PJ-Comix

[PJ-Comix]

Okay, I tried to track down some of the Merry Pranksters mentioned in “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” so that they might participate in our discussion on this book on September 9. However, I have been unable to contact any of them so in the spirit of the Merry Pranksters, who in 1965 hung a banner in front of Ken Kesey’s La Honda home that said “THE MERRY PRANKSTERS WELCOME THE BEATLES,” I am now hanging this virtual banner in Cyberspace---“THE FREE REPUBLIC WELCOMES THE MERRY PRANKSTERS.”

Hopefully this message will carry across the Cyberspace ether and reach Mountain Girl, Ken Babbs, Gretchen Fetchen, Owsley, The Hermit, George Walker, Hugh Romney, Norman Hartweg, Hagen, Doris Delay, Zonker, Black Maria, etc..

I will also be sending this thread to Tom Wolfe’s publishers. They told me that he usually doesn’t do such events but, hey, there’s an EXCEPTION to every rule.

If any of you happen to know the Merry Pranksters or know someone who knows the Merry Pranksters, please pass this thread along to them. Hopefully on September 9 (or soon afterwards) we can WELCOME THE MERRY PRANKSTERS!!!

Oh, and on October 14 our next book assignment is due. It will be a big change of pace---“Homage To Catalonia” by George Orwell.

[weegee]

Leary and Rammed Ass (someone's nickname for his alias) were also involved in the school of theology at Boston University (I got that from Leary's autobiography "Flashbacks").

[weegee]

Actually an interesting take on the "commune" is in the movie Easy Rider where the riders drop in on a commune where things are mind numbingly boring and no one is pulling their share. The theory in practice.

[weegee]

I don't watch the nightly news any more (Ray Bradbury convinced me to give it up at a lecture); the information is available elsewhere.

Even Bob Dylan ridiculed a journalist from Time in the movie Don't Look Back saying that his magazine was worthless and not good for any real information.

Everyone's life serves a purpose. Some people may be an example of how not to live.

[weegee]

The locals of Lowell Mass certainly saw him as a beligerant alcoholic. I attended at summer semester in Lowell and may have stumbled in one of his old haunts.

There was another good read that I can recommend "Crimes Of The Beats (aka the Unbearables)" that deconstructs the myths of the beatnik authors; satire is a powerful weapon.

I haven't had a chance to dig into The Holy Barbarians yet (I opened it but wasn't ready to go to far before getting caught up in some other book).

[weegee]

The way I see it, a prankster is a mindset, not a political ideology. I align with them with my irreverance but I do hold to my principles.

Weegee is an odd name (swiped from an odd photographer). I do post serious thoughts; I also post to humorous threads and leave some interpretation up to the reader.

Paul Krassner originally used the Realist to assail a number of topics (including the Kennedys) but when he brought the zine back he was clearly Clinton's butt-boy.

I may not be an equal opportunity offender but I make no claims otherwise.

[weegee]

Here are some key examples of Rick Griffin's work (sorry, I couldn't find the Who "Beetle" poster or the Hendrix "Eyeball" poster online):

[PJ-Comix]

Welcome Al Gore or Dan Rather or Michael Moore. It makes just as much sense.

Naw! Moore would eat all the mushrooms.....and the pizzas they are sitting upon.

[weegee]

I think that Dan Rather went to the same high school as Gilbert Shelton (and possibly the same time). Giblert was well into the journalism at UT by 1962.

[weegee]

OT but I mentioned this elsewhere with no response:

Anyone seeing the Doors in LA this Friday? Los Lobos cancelled their free Houston show to play this gig. Earl Scruggs (of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs) is the middle act.

[weegee]

A BU literature/symbolism professor of mine was a researcher of mushrooms (Carl Ruck? I'd have to look it up). When one of my friends went to a faculty discussion and mentioned his name, there were collective groans (this was in the late 1980s).

[weegee]

Some of us were lil' tykes 30 years ago. I was raised on tee vee of beatniks, hippies, and assorted Hollywood stereotypes. Modern Hollywood does no better job portraying conservatives these days.

[weegee]

I'm familiar with Wilson (and read some of his essays in the best of the Realist) but I have not read any of his books fiction or non-fiction.

I've added all sorts of things to my library that I have not read yet. I don't think that Leary was all bad but I do see him as an addict who sought to fill his vices/self-medicate.

There is an odd dichotimy between G. Gordon Liddy and Tim Leary. Leary starts in a military academy and both cross paths several times. Is there any comprehensive video of the lectures that these two did together? I've seen clips but nothing else.

There is a video (something like "Timothy Leary, the Final Cut") that covers his final months and ends with his head being severed for cryogenic freezing.

[weegee]

I do not disagree with many libs on the ills of society. I disagree on the solutions. No party "owns" an issue.

[sushiman]

I have the Rhino Records box set ( with lovingly prepared 30 plus page album size booklet full of info and pictures - 3 CDs ) and am listening to the Steve Allen disc now .
The track with mention of lifting wallets and bathroom shots is called " McDougal Street Blues " . This is NOT an autobiographical piece . First of all , I don't believe Jack was capable of doing these things . Secondly , the year 1910 is mentioned . Jack was born in 1926 .

[Ol' Sox]

I still do not get your idea.

That's because you're not on the Bus.

ROFL!

[tallhappy]

In one of Kerouac's spoken pieces on the Steve Allen album, he mentions taking a shot in a bathroom stall (along with lifting wallets from men's coats).

Cite it.