Message Board
So, you wanna read my mail or what?
What 191 miles in S.D.? I plan to place ads in local newspapers to see if
people remember FURTHER cruising through the plains of my home state.I am
currently on a Further trip with my girlfriend and cat in a 83 CHEVY van,we
are in Panama City FL. now. I was 5 when the Pranksters came through my state
and I just finished the book,I did'nt want it to end. I hope we can help you
out with these ads that I will run when we get back in May.Best of Luck on
this great site.
TEXANINMS@aol.com
Monday, February 19, 2001
I think I found the towns and roads Further traveled down___Hwy 212 into S.D.
through WATERTOWN to REDFIELD then north on Hwy 281 through ABERDEEN into
North Dakota. I will place ads in these towns newspapers. Do you think this
was the route? I live in Brentford between Aberdeen and Redfield pop.60
salute.Thanks for your quick responce earlier. d.e.
TEXANINMS@aol.com
Monday, February 19, 2001
I've had someone ask me if I know anything about the connection between the Merry Pranksters and the Yippies and #9 Bleecker Street in NYC. Any one out there got any clues to pass along?
On a similar note, a friend of mine is making a television documentary about Del Close, the world-famous comedy director who trained John Belushi, Dan Akroyd and Bill Murray, Mike Meyers, and Chris Farley, to name just a few. What's that got to do with this site you ask? Well, Del lived with Wavy Gravy back in the day and probably had something to do with the LA acid tests. Anyone know more? Here's a picture to jog memories.....
Here's a message from Sharon about Kesey:
Although I have never personally met the man, his writings and pranks have indeed had an effect on my life! I was unprepared to find your site (and by the way - I love it and the idea behind it!), so when I have thought this through and can write you something good, I will e-mail it on to you....
I am a 51 year old woman, advertising account manager by day and freelance writer - mostly covering concerts and festivals evenings and weekends...because I STILL have a love of music and people watching!
If you have time, take a look at our Web site, http://www.totallyillogical.com , and then you will know a little bit more about me. My VW camper, nicknamed Sunflower, was originally going to be called A Little Bit Further....but, we pretty much decided Ken had taken it 'further' than we ever could, so the name should rest! I would love to drive Sunflower out to Oregon though...a year or so ago I saw a picture in the newspaper of Ken standing next to the old bus...had to cut that one out for a 'future' file! I would love to actually walk in side the old machine and see what springs to mind!
Good luck with your project!
PEACE.
Sharon
Sunday, February 18, 2001 8:12 PM
"just some mind funk." from Chuck
3:08 PM 8/2/01
i stack words into a sculputre that i hope helps to illuminate, or expose
my restless soul. sometimes, the living medium just is not enough for me to
convey what i wish.
these emotional structures sometimes stand strong, and sometimes they fall
down. i build things for a living. i build thought castles with words to
help me understand this life.
the castle that im about to build, i must admit, does have some preconceived
blueprints..... as i was driving home this morning, into the rising of the
full sun, with caffeine flowing through my circulatory system, i had these
thoughts.... these kind veggie thoughts of positivity... all the things that
im thankful for.
its almost 7, so im going to get to work.....
for these, we can give thanks.
life lasts, at most, 90 years.
there is possitivity everywhere, if we choose to see and acknowledge it.
life comes with an 'undo' button....
sincere appologies transgress most mistreatments.
we can 'say' "i love you"
we have at our disposal, so many mediums through which we can expose and
exercise our shy souls.... writing, dancing, climbing, smiling, art,
befriending, and for some... working.
in nature, we can allow her to pull us thru challenges..... be complacent
and go with the flow as in kayaking with a singing and dancing waterway.....
or we can find challenges in going against the flow: as in climbing away
from gravity's pull.
sometimes that fellow motorist lets you merge, and even does so with a
smile.
sometimes you behold a natural spectacle just when you need it. a gift from
mother nature for no apparent reason... not on any 'giving' holiday.
the sun is always full. the moon is only once a month... giving us
something to look forward to when we cant find anything else to anticipate.
we are all friends. some of us just dont know it cause we are being pinched
in the side by our self-created reality.
REALity checK: yes my friends, i do live in this often scary world..... i
know that there are hurdles lurking everywhere, with the ability to trip us
in our effort to make happy strides thru this life. sometimes the hurdles
are really high ones. im only 5'-5", maybe 5'-6" in the morning.... some
challenges i must CLIMB over, or duck under if no ones looking. sometimes i
stop in front of a hurdle, kneel down, and let a fellow traveler climb up on
my shoulders to make his or her crossing easier.
lets freek onward in our flight to find colorful vegetation in the desert...
a deep breath can dull pain, stress, worry and fear.
we have the fortitude, maybe with the help of others.. maybe alone, to
overcome any obstacle that life gives us.
we each share something unique into this experience.... and very often, what
im looking for is givin' to me at the appropriate moment.
ADMIRATION of other peoples successes in hardship fuels our life fire....
i admire Papa Bear for bravely traveling this country side and learning the
lessons of life and experiencing the pleasures.....and for sharing his
earned knowledge and colorful wisdom with me.
i admire Sturdy.... he didn't grab onto the coat-tails of his reality and
try to hang on.... he stripped the shirt off of his reality and put it on
and wore it proudly.
i admire Pride of Britain for showing me how i wish to live when im almost grown up.
i bet gravity often doubts its dominance over this man. his beautiful
family.... he has found a balance that inspires me.
i admire Swerve for his grounded nature, and nearly unbreakable positive
outlook on this life.
i admire miss T for her courage.... she follows her heart and dances to her
music like i hope to someday.
i admire The Dancing Duo for their shine. their beautiful family and for
creating such a nice space for beautiful people to gather.
i admire.... all of you my friends.... if i built a room onto my structure
with words describing my appreciation of each one of you.... i would exceed
my property lines....
WOW. this coffee buzz is resilient. its hanging around... like a hippie on
your couch.
i saw a deer the other day. no ordinary deer. this dear deer not only
tripped on one of those hurdles that i speak of, he.... he attached to it
and dragged it around with him. this poor guy had a paint can around his
head... i imagine that he saw some yummy looking grass beneath this
bottomless paint bucket... and dove in chewing.... then he heard something
that he couldn't see on account that this bucket encompassed him.... and
lifted his head in a panic.... now he eats and a lives with a paint bucket
around his neck. i doubt that it'll decay before he wakes up from this
dream called life.
im thankful that i don't have a paint can necklace.
oh yea, one more thing....
life can last up to 90 or even 100 years!!!
Be curious. Prolong wonder. Investigate the beauty and mystery of life.
Quarrel with complacency. Smuggle simplicity back into the American
culture. Unrich to enrich.
Thursday, August 02, 2001 2:40 PM
Here's some more from Chuck. This one he calls ."The NOT QUITE AS FAR bus" sent on August 21, 2001
we drove. and we drove. and we drove.
a great geological feat transpired over a couple of weeks in august.
the lucious rift called perris valley (my mini-motorhome's name) parted the
great stone rise of the continental divide 5x. yes 5 times. she wheezed
and coughed as she labored over the rockies.
all the while, the greatful dead echoed off of her canyon walls.
chuck and tara.....
....two young and delighted souls at love's confluence.
the two seperate rivers,
that each of our soul's were floating in thru this life,
have joined waters in perris valley.
ohh what a great adventure we shared.
string cheese on the flanks of mt. shasta saw us off on our journey. we
danced and we smiled as the music flowed. we reunioned with our friends.
tara cried a little over some chuck drama. i wanted to leave the show early
and climb the mountain and rejoin her at the next night's show. high places
have an unexplainable magnetism that just pulls on my..... toe ring???
anyway, we overcame this hurdle and only missed one set! tara's clear
thinking sanitized my whirly dream.... i will go up later...
FIRE. fire in the lot! fire in the back of Brett and Helen's van. more
drama. but friends united and all were safe and secure.
the next night, i had an epiphany... (this is the first time that i have
ever used this word)... i concluded... "I WAS THINKING....."
tara and i saddled up in perris valley and headed thru oregon.
at klamath falls, perris valley decides that she needs a break. "i WILL
stall at this stop light! this one, right here in front of this state court
house. thank you very much." so i get out and push her... accidentally....
into a handi-cap spot right in front of the court house. i open her hood
and begin to tinker with this and doey-dag with that. this older fella
comes on over and strikes up a conversation with me. i try to be patient as
he chats aimlessly. so this guy turns out to be some sort of angel that was
kindly sent our way to help us fix perris valley. he applied his magic and
we continued on our journey.
after leaving that scene, tara and i were both scratching our heads to the
tune of.... "who was that guy? did that really just happen?"
we drove thru the day and skin deep into the night. our camping in western
idaho was interrupted by a gorgeous sunrise... so we are up early heading
north. our destination for this day is glacier national park.
we swim in the salmon river. together. (naked?) yes.
elk cross our path.
a police officer making a flashy rucus behind perris valley?? what's this?
we are only going 45.
"no officer, i didn't know that we only have one functioning headlight"
but tara had on both of her high beams! ....... forgive me dear, but you
shant be embarassed.
a little bit of a scare... but he never wanted to look inside!
so we limp and wheeze thru the thin air into glacier at a
later-than-expected hour. this became a common theme for our trip.... i
think.... i think that we left the pacific standard time zone.... and got
caught up in the perris valley slow motion time zone... before we entered
the mountain time zone!
tis fine with us though.... we love to nap together in the shade of pines..
in the path of cool mountain breezes... in the audience of a mountain scape
symphony.... maybe even naked.
we spend an afternoon walking amongst wildflowers, streams and big horn
sheep high up in the park. we laugh together and giggle alone. she tells
me nursery rhymes to educate me and also to scare off any bears. she won't
shush even upon my expressing interest in actually SEEING a grizzly bear.
it was one of those times when silly soup was flowing thru my veins. you
know the flavor....spiced with good mood and seasoned with happiness. we
had fun and complemented each other like only friends falling in love can.
ohhhh and what sights did we behold! and then...... mountain goats! on
the side of the road and unafraid of the seething mass of tourists capturing
this moment on film! are these park issued mechanical look-a-likes i
wonder?
that night, the altitude triggered interesting dreams.
we depart early the next day for jackson hole, wyoming.
we take a 30 mile 'off highway' shortcut thru the northern montana
wilderness. we walk thru an old cemetary and drive thru a ghost town. all
these sights. all the joys of life bombard us at once!
one of the often overlooked joys in life.....
struggle.....frequented perris valley also. between tara and i. between i
and i. ....... this is such a part of our trip into love! we overcame and
learned with each passing storm though.
guess what??? we arrive in jackson later than expected.... but only after
passing thru yellowstone and grand teton national parks. more of those
sights. more of those feelings.
tara and i begin tooting around each other. sometimes falling into love
entails crawling in a state of shameless comfort.
the next morning we eat the best breakfast of our trip, at Bubba's.
if you are ever hungary in jackson.... eat at bubba's.
if you are ever hungary in jackson in the early a.m..... eat the 'working
man's special' at bubba's!
i try to touch in with an old high school friend.. but he's out living
somewhere unreachable by phones.
so we freak onward with steamboat springs, co. in our sights. we arrive
later than anticipated. much later.
the gateway to the night is decorated with an interactive thunderstorm /
sunset. incredible. sights..... feelings....
struggles have occasionally been residing in our valley. but the two
occupants know that this union is powerful, and we eventually end up
twitterpated and laughing.
we camp by the yampa river in steamboat, and are greeted the next morning
by..............
hey! who hard-boiled eggs in this here name-sake spring? pee-ewww. its
nice though, cause you can camoflage toots in the funky air.
we walk to a bluegrass bakery called mocha molly's and are welcomed by the
local folk. tara checks her e-mail, and i poke her fun-ly in the side.
tease and giggle, we are becoming good friends.
we decide to take a backpack trip out of strawberry hotsprings. we
four-wheel the little camper up the dirt approach road, and begin to pack
our gear beneath gathering thunderheads. a thunderhead / deadhead
sandwhich. with water between the two slices. we leave anyway. blurred
minds guide us down the trail about a mile. we stop next to the stream and
play. we just play. like little kids with no supervision. its great and
fun, and who cares about the lightening and hail and thunder and torrent
falling out of the sky. play play, fun fun. oh my everything is soaked.
and muddy. mostly me though. my love for the earth materializes in the
form of mud frosting all over my body. i eat it. and put it in my hair.
and in my eyes. in my topside smile. elsewhere too.
tara gets cold and wise, and heads back to the camper. i lay on my backpack
like an overturned turtle and wonder who is welding in the sky behind the
clouds. later i return to tara, and our shared river almost dries up
leaving our gasping souls flailing like beached fish.... BUT.... all this
rain feeds our river and we endure yet more struggles. whew.
the backpacking trip never happened.
back to town we contact my cousin rob, and head to his house... hand in
hand... heart with heart.
two more days in steamboat springs takes us hiking and biking thru fields of
furns and groves of aspen. we get caught skinny dipping twice by passing
mountain bikers. all smiles though ... we are all respectful outdoor
enthusiasts... clothed or not. we spend quality time with my cousin and his
wife, and his neighboring family of foxes.
we zoom at a blistering 45 thru the utah and nevada desert.
whats this? more flashing ruckous behind us?
"no officer, i didn't know that im traveling thru all this craziness with
only one headlight" i lie. "yes i'll step out of the car." 'believe it or
not, im an engineer back in cali. i'll be on my way mr. nevada state
trooper. i mean no harm to anyone, really."
obviously i still have some learning to do!
a whilwind of a trip my friends.
lots of miles. even more smiles. some tears. many fears.
wonder and worry. awe and.... stinky toots. laughter. lots of silence.
reading. growth and learning of course. just life happening. i guess.
im visiting work for a while. i will go home sooner or later....
out there where the air is full of lightening flair, and i dare to bare...
it all... in pursuit of a life lived.
Here's a message from Chris Cole, author of The Closers Song and contributor to this site about his experiences at woodstock
The Mud of Woodstock Still Squishes Between My Toes
Three long score have I stumbled forward in pain
Weighed down by indifference and mediocrity
Adrift in the glare of self pity and inactivity
A mechanical being devoid of feeling and sympathy
Squinting in the bright light of day to day drudgery and gain
Pushing forward to avoid the task masters disdain
An adjustment here some grease there no big deal
Content to power the load like some shinny cog in the systems wheel
With rounded teeth chipped from the strain
A precision component with a heart of steel
No room for tears no room to feel
Awakened from this nightmare putting the paradigm to rest
I twist this reality inside out and try my best
To return to the living and Love before it is too late
And smile again and try to relate
Only to realize the mud of Woodstock still squishes between my toes.
Peace,
Christopher Cole
www.TheClosersSong.com
Here's a message from someone who wants some like-minded souls to help her with a bus project.....good luck Prankster Girl
I'm living in Germany and I' m trying to buy a '53
psychedelic bus that has been used as a Toy/playmobile
since decades, as a direct result of the prankster's
and other people's bus projects in the sixties. The
prize isn't a big deal, because it's almost nothing.
What is more important for me is that the owner will
not give that little FURTHER in the wrong hands and
sell it to a bunch of jerks who don't appreciate it or
who are just party people, go to a techno event and
wreck it down afterwards.I would love to buy and use
it with a gruop of interested people as a stage for
art /burningman-related projects, holidays and more,
always with the idea that it's the synergy of the
whole group that counts.
Maybe in this forum I can find real or
virtual participants. Real participants should buy,
use and maintain the bus together, virtual ones could
promote events or give financial support.
I would like to find "bus soulmates" via this forum.
Thanks, Prankster Girl
This from Mike in Honolulu. Contact me if you can help and I'll pass your message along.
I'm looking for someone who may have been a Prankster.
His name is Michael D. Brown. He may be Aborigine of Black, and may have had involvement with the Black Panthers too. Have you by a chance in a million come across this individual? Your assistance would be
appreciated....thank-you. Mike in Honolulu.
Page URL: http://pranksterweb.org/index.htm
© Copyright 2001, Rick Dodgson
Webmaster: Rick Dodgson
Revised: February/14/2003
