I was just living in Taylor world for the ten days she was in Toronto doing six sold out stadium shows — something no other artist has ever come close to doing here. Six stadium shows … and you couldn’t get a ticket. Well, you could if you wanted to pay $4000 for one on […]
Taylor Swift in Toronto — from a Deadhead’s Perspective
December 2nd, 2024 · No Comments · Grateful Dead, Music
Tags: Alice Cooper·Beyonce·Bob Dylan·David Bowie·Deadheads·Fare Thee Well·Grateful Dead·Madonna·Paul McCartney·Shania Twain·Swifties·Taylor Swift·The Beatles
Didn’t Work
November 26th, 2024 · 3 Comments · Politics
. The ideas didn’t work, the policies didn’t work, the empathy didn’t work, the life story didn’t work, the billion dollars in fundraising didn’t work, the millions of volunteers didn’t work, the field offices didn’t work, the phone banking didn’t work, the door knocking didn’t work, the huge rallies didn’t work, the inspiring speeches didn’t […]
Tags: Barack Obama·David Plouffe·Kamala Harris·Michelle Obama·Tim Walz·Vincent Van Gogh
Kamala Harris is an Empath — Donald Trump is a Sociopath
October 31st, 2024 · 16 Comments · Politics
Kamala Harris is an Empath — Donald Trump is a Sociopath . One candidate is trying to scare bitter people into voting out of fear and resentment toward the world. The other is appealing to “the better angels of our nature” as Abraham Lincoln so poetically put it 150 years ago. One candidate sees beauty […]
Tags: Abraham Lincoln·Kamala Harris
Magic Trip movie — Introduction and Background
September 29th, 2024 · 16 Comments · Merry Pranksters, Movies
Here’s part of the script I’ll be riffing from when I introduce the movie “Magic Trip: Ken Kesey’s Search for a Kool Place” at Lowell Celebrates Kerouac on Sunday October 13th. Edit Update — Here’s video of the event . . . . Here’s the post-screening Q&A . . . ============================================ This is the original […]
Tags: Alex Gibney·Alfred & David Maysles·Bob Dylan·Chuck Workman·D.A. Pennebaker·Ethan Hawke·George Walker·Grateful Dead·Jack Kerouac·Ken Kesey·Larry McMurtry·Merry Pranksters·Neal Cassady·Pull My Daisy·Robert Frank·Robert Stone·The Beatles·The Warlocks
The Battleground Swing States 2024
August 17th, 2024 · 43 Comments · Politics
The Battleground Swing States 2024 . One thing to remember about 2020 vs 2024 numbers — 4 yrs of old trump voters have died off and 4 yrs of young pro-Roe liberal-leaning voters have come onto the rolls. Trump’s rallies are significantly smaller & fewer than 2016 & 2020; there’s far less yard signs up […]
Tags: Bob Casey·Hillary Clinton·Joe Biden·Josh Shapiro·Kamala Harris·Ruben Gallego·Tim Walz
The New Kamalot
July 31st, 2024 · 4 Comments · Blissfully Ravaged in Democracy, Politics
The events of Sunday July 21st 2024 into Monday the 22nd then all the days that followed reminded me and most of us politicos of the political ‘birth’ of Barack Obama in early 2008. Whether you experienced that on January 3rd when he won the Iowa caucus, or on the February 3rd Super Bowl weekend […]
Tags: Barack Obama·Beyonce·Ella Fitzgerald·Joe Biden·Kamala Harris·Louis Armstrong·Modern Family·Taylor Swift·will.i.am
Dead & Company at The Sphere in Las Vegas review
June 30th, 2024 · 7 Comments · Grateful Dead, Music, Real-life Adventure Tales
. Sphere & Laughing in Las Vegas photo by Jay Blakesberg for Dead & Company . This is the Acid Tests … in a two-billion-dollar spaceship! I’d been reading about The Sphere for years before it was ever built. It sounded too wild to be true! And of course I immediately thought how perfect […]
Tags: Acid Tests·Bob Weir·Dead & Company·Duke Ellington·George Lucas·Grand Canyon·Grateful Dead·Jay Lane·Jeff Chimenti·John Mayer·Las Vegas·Millennium Falcon·Oteil Burbridge·Sphere & Loathing in Las Vegas·Taylor Swift·The Sphere
Anne Murphy’s “Tripping With A Viper” about Neal Cassady
May 4th, 2024 · 16 Comments · Kerouac and The Beats, Merry Pranksters
. Beat & Prankster fans rejoice! A new firsthand memoir has just been released of life with one of the Mount Rushmores of both the Beat Generation & the Merry Pranksters. That doesn’t happen very often, and there aren’t many options left. Anne Murphy (who later reverted back to her birth name Anne Marie Maxwell) […]
Tags: Acid Tests·Allen Ginsberg·Anne Marie Maxwell·Anne Murphy·Arthur & Kit Knight·Carolyn Cassady·Diane Di Prima·Edie Kerouac·Gavin Arthur·George Walker·Helen Weaver·Hettie Jones·Hunter Thompson·Jack Kerouac·Joyce Johnson·Ken Kesey·La Honda·Lu Anne Henderson·Merry Pranksters·Mountain Girl·Neal Cassady·Spit In The Ocean·The Beat Generation·The Beat Museum·The Grateful Dead·The Trips Festival·Tom Wolfe
Eclipse Totality in Bronte Ontario
April 10th, 2024 · 13 Comments · Real-life Adventure Tales
. TOTALLY DRAMATIC . . It wasn’t just a big-screen spectacular — it was a nail-biting drama! An old brother of ’70s shenanigans flew from Winterpeg to my place in Southern Ontario because I lived on the Path of Totality for the 2024 solar eclipse. We had invites to a big acid test weekend with […]
Tags: Bill Graham·Bronte Astronomers·Bronte Ontario·Grateful Dead·Oakville·Path of Totality·Solar Eclipse·toronto maple leafs·Winnipeg
The Benefits of Biopics
March 30th, 2024 · 8 Comments · Movies
The Benefits of Biopics . With James Mangold’s Dylan biopic currently shooting in New York with the Bobster’s blessing; and four different Beatle biopics greenlit for Sam Mendes; and Michael Jackson’s cousin Jaafar playing the King of Pop in a coming Lionsgate production; and Coleman Domingo directing, co-writing and starring in a musical based […]
Tags: 'Sully' Sullivan·Austin Butler·Baz Luhrmann·Bob Dylan·Bob Marley·Bonnie & Clyde·Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan·Charlie Chaplin·Clint Eastwood·Daniel Day-Lewis·Danny Boyle·George Clooney·Gus Van Sant·Herb Brooks·Howard Kaylan·I'm Not There·James Mangold·Loving Vincent·Martin Scorsese·Miloš Forman·Morgan Freeman·My Dinner With Jimi·Nelson Mandela·Richard Jewel·Robert Downey Jr·Ron Howard·Sam Mendes·Shakespeare·Steven Spielberg·Ted Demme·Todd Haynes·Vincent Van Gogh·Woodward & Bernstein