The craziest thing you ever saw in real life

Dead person blind folded, gagged, handcuffed, hanging from a noose in a tree with a head full of molly.

Birth

&

Death...

richfield oh, pre show 1991.  buddy and I were way out there trying to make it to the "woods" that surrounded the lots in richfield to take a leak,  we are barely able to figure out our own zippers to take said leak when someone from about 10 feet away is yelling to us for help.  turns out it was a dude with no legs (not lieutenant Dan) who took himself out of his wheel chair to take a dump and could not get himself back into his wheel chair in order to venture back into the lot

we helped the dude but not before pissing ourselves laughing about the whole damn scene.  tripping balls and we scooped the dude up and pushed back to relative safety 

that and eating chinese food in north carolina once was the craziest things I have ever seen in real life 

Craziest? Watching a pit bull tear a guy to shreds

It wasn't life or death, but the time I saw Tippy Martinez come out of the bullpen to walk and then pick off the side at first base because the Orioles had run out of catchers and the Blue Jays base runners were taking big leads, was wild.  To top it off, the emergency catcher, Len Sakata hit a walk off homer in the bottom of the inning.  It was one of those "did that really just happen?" moments.

from Wikipedia:

>>>>

Martinez may be best known for picking off three Toronto Blue Jays at first base in one inning during the August 24, 1983 game at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. The Orioles, having replaced both their starting catcher and his backup while rallying to tie the game in the ninth inning, entered the tenth with reserve infielder Lenn Sakata in the game at catcher. Three consecutive Blue Jays hitters reached first base and each one, thinking it would be easy to steal a base on Sakata, took a big lead. Martinez picked off all three baserunners, then became the winning pitcher when the Orioles won the game on Sakata's home run in the bottom of the tenth.

--------

As far as the Dead, the storming of the balcony at SPAC in '85 was a trip.  One moment, I'm sitting on the lawn watching a huge flying tortilla war, the next I'm sitting in the front row of the balcony right above Jerry, listening to Bobby tell a corny joke and Phil admonishing us.  I've got miracle ticket stories from Red Rocks, MSG and JFK Stadium that are up there too.

-----

In late summer of 1985, I decided to hitchhike from Eugene to Berkeley by way of the coastal route.  As I headed out from downtown Eugene that morning, three young hippie women greeted me and asked if I'd like to come chant with their group, and that food would be served.  I politely declined their offer, telling them I was trying to get to Berkeley to join some friends there and go see the Dead at Boreal Ridge.  They gave me their card, and said that if I chanted what was on it, I would get whatever I desired.  I put the card in my back pocket and quickly caught a ride to the outskirts of town, near Veneta.  There I was, stuck by the side of the state highway out to the coast for a couple of hours, as the day got hotter.  I was getting bored with taking target practice at a road sign with rocks and wondering if anyone would stop, when I remembered the card the girls had given me.  I pulled it out, and started doing the chant I read off it, "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo".  I hadn't been chanting for even a minute, when an old pick-up truck with a retired logger heading to the coast to do some fishing pulled over and told me to hop in.  In all my experiences hitchhiking, it's the only time a senior citizen ever gave me a ride.  He dropped me off at Florence, and several more somewhat bizarre rides later, I was in Berkeley by the next afternoon and off to Boreal Ridge the next day.

Sports, countless...

here's one:

NYR Mark Pavelich scoring 5 goals in '83 @MSG on a night there was a  NYR hat giveaway. Hats raining down on the ice for goals 3&4 then all kinds of clothing items (bras, etc )for goal 5...

Thanks Herbal, love the Eugene > Berkeley story.   Don't yet have a story to share for this thread. 

I was  curious about that chant and found this info that describes the beautiful meaning behind it.... and personally, I needed something like this today!   

The Meaning of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo

The essence of Buddhism is the conviction that we have within us at each moment the ability to overcome any problem or difficulty that we may encounter in life; a capacity to transform any suffering. Our lives possess this power because they are inseparable from the fundamental law that underlies the workings of all life and the universe.

Nichiren, the 13th-century Buddhist monk upon whose teachings the Soka Gakkai is based, awakened to this law, or principle, and named it “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.” Through the Buddhist practice he developed, he provided a way for all people to activate it within their own lives and experience the joy that comes from being able to liberate oneself from suffering at the most fundamental level.

Shakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, who lived some 2,500 years ago in India, first awoke to this law out of a compassionate yearning to find the means to enable all people to be free of the inevitable pains of life. It is because of this that he is known as Buddha, or “Awakened One.” Discovering that the capacity to transform suffering was innate within his own life, he saw too that it is innate within all beings.

The record of Shakyamuni’s teachings to awaken others was captured for posterity in numerous Buddhist sutras. The culmination of these teachings is the Lotus Sutra. In Japanese, “Lotus Sutra” is rendered as Myoho-renge-kyo.

What may to one person seem a simple problem may be experienced by another as overwhelming and insurmountable. But the process of summoning up the courage required to take action is always the same regardless of how seemingly big or small the challenge.Over a thousand years after Shakyamuni, amidst the turbulence of 13th-century Japan, Nichiren similarly began a quest to recover the essence of Buddhism for the sake of the suffering masses. Awakening to the law of life himself, Nichiren was able to discern that this fundamental law is contained within Shakyamuni’s Lotus Sutra and that it is encapsulated and concisely expressed in the sutra’s title—Myoho-renge-kyo. Nichiren designated the title of the sutra as the name of the law and established the practice of reciting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as a practical way for all people to focus their hearts and minds upon this law and manifest its transformative power in reality. Nam comes from the Sanskrit namas, meaning to devote or dedicate oneself.

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is thus a vow, an expression of determination, to embrace and manifest our Buddha nature. It is a pledge to oneself to never yield to difficulties and to win over one’s suffering. At the same time, it is a vow to help others reveal this law in their own lives and achieve happiness.

The individual characters that make up Myoho-renge-kyo express key characteristics of this law. Myo can be translated as mystic or wonderful, and ho means law. This law is called mystic because it is difficult to comprehend. What exactly is it that is difficult to comprehend? It is the wonder of ordinary people, beset by delusion and suffering, awakening to the fundamental law in their own lives, bringing forth wisdom and compassion and realizing that they are inherently Buddhas able to solve their own problems and those of others. The Mystic Law transforms the life of anyone—even the unhappiest person, at any time and in any circumstances—into a life of supreme happiness.

Renge, meaning lotus blossom, is a metaphor that offers further insight into the qualities of this Mystic Law. The lotus flower is pure and fragrant, unsullied by the muddy water in which it grows. Similarly, the beauty and dignity of our humanity is brought forth amidst the sufferings of daily reality.

Underlying the astounding diversity of life’s manifestations are ten common elements. Buddhism calls these the “Ten Factors of Life.”Further, unlike other plants, the lotus puts forth flowers and fruit at the same time. In most plants, the fruit develops after the flower has bloomed and the petals of the flower have fallen away. The fruit of the lotus plant, however, develops simultaneously with the flower, and when the flower opens, the fruit is there within it. This illustrates the principle of the simultaneity of cause and effect; we do not have to wait to become someone perfect in the future, we can bring forth the power of the Mystic Law from within our lives at any time.

The principle of the simultaneity of cause and effect clarifies that our lives are fundamentally equipped with the great life state of the Buddha and that the attainment of Buddhahood is possible by simply opening up and bringing forth this state. Sutras other than the Lotus Sutra taught that people could attain Buddhahood only by carrying out Buddhist practice over several lifetimes, acquiring the traits of the Buddha one by one. The Lotus Sutra overturns this idea, teaching that all the traits of the Buddha are present within our lives from the beginning.

Kyo literally means sutra and here indicates the Mystic Law likened to a lotus flower, the fundamental law that permeates life and the universe, the eternal truth. The Chinese character kyo also implies the idea of a “thread.” When a fabric is woven, first, the vertical threads are put in place. These represent the basic reality of life. They are the stable framework through which the horizontal threads are woven. These horizontal threads, representing the varied activities of our daily lives, make up the pattern of the fabric, imparting color and variation. The fabric of our lives is comprised of both a fundamental and enduring truth as well as the busy reality of our daily existence with its uniqueness and variety. A life that is only horizontal threads quickly unravels.

These are some of the ways in which the name “Myoho-renge-kyo” describes the Mystic Law, of which our lives are an expression. To chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is an act of faith in the Mystic Law and in the magnitude of life’s inherent possibilities. Throughout his writings, Nichiren emphasizes the primacy of faith. He writes, for instance: “The Lotus Sutra . . . says that one can ‘gain entrance through faith alone.’ . . . Thus faith is the basic requirement for entering the way of the Buddha.” The Mystic Law is the unlimited strength inherent in one’s life. To believe in the Mystic Law and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is to have faith in one’s unlimited potential. It is not a mystical phrase that brings forth supernatural power, nor is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo an entity transcending ourselves that we rely upon. It is the principle that those who live normal lives and make consistent efforts will duly triumph.

To chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is to bring forth the pure and fundamental energy of life, honoring the dignity and possibility of our ordinary lives.

Lots of hospital stories (Gun shot wounds, Motor vehicle accidents, odd foreign bodies, bizarre traumas, etc)

Wildlife stories (Africa stories, Pacific NW stories, SE Asia stories)

Violence (Africa and SE Asian stories, a few from our cities)

a legit UFO story  (will need hypnotherapy at some point for that one, with a possible abduction and all)

But i'll go w/ a hospital story from the Oregon Coast;

 

A guy came in with a foreign body complaint...  (he had something up his ass)

So the doctors got him into an exam room, and inspected his bum for the foreign body, and sure enough, he's got a flashlight shoved up his ass (and it was turned on)!

The flashlight was positioned so the light was beaming out his ass.  Undisturbed by this (it is the coast, after all),  the doctors turned the room lights down, lubed up, and got prepared to remove said flashlight.  Next, while working feverishly to remove the foreign body, the nurses started busting up something fierce, to which the doctors complained about being unprofessional, but the flashlight in conjunction with their hands was creating a "shadow puppet" show on the exam room wall (you know, bunny rabbits and shit)...   which caused them all to lose it!   

Turn on your lovelight, let it shine on me!  

OMG, LOL. 

OMG, LOL. 

Seeing A Womans Dead Body At 6;30 a.m. just above The Tideline at my local beach in 8th Grade before going Surfing

In China a blind person with a walking stick leading another blind person across and intersection.

In Oakland people competing to buy houses that were less than a 100 yards from the Hayward fault and if you expected your offer to be accepted you had to waive your right to an inspection.

Walking to work on a weekday at 7 AM on 16th St in SF near Mission when a well-dressed -  but clearly spun up guy stepped aggressively in front of me and asked me what time it was. I told him it was 7. He hesitated for a moment and then said AM or PM? I said AM. He screamed FUUUUUUUCK and then walked away.

Went to rave on the waterfront in one of the piers in SF with my wife. We pre-loaded before we got there so things were sparkly. Got inside and realized the promoters had fucked up and the porto potty guy hadn’t shown up which means there was one bathroom for about 1,000 people. So we got our money back and left after a brief argument with the door man. Went to another rave where what is now the Thirsty Bear right near MOMA. It was fine but there was a hole in the roof and the place was freezing so we decided to leave there. Decided to go to Power Exchange the new SM club. I had been selling the owner advertising so he had put my name on the list. So around this time the preload really started to kick in and my wife an I were sitting at this bar with full on SM scenes going on all around us, but the strangest one was the women strapped to  big wheel that spun around with two guys whipping her, but the whole thing was more like a Penn and Teller act than anything remotely erotic. That was pretty crazy.  

The PhilZone

I saw the Palladium Balcony Leaper.

Saw two drivers, both tripping balls, crash into each other in a wide-open section of the lot at Nassau.

The paint-by-number evening sky had us all distracted, including them.

....and I saw a leaper from the Warfield balcony... need to remember which show -- around 2010, I think. 

I did remember a couple that fit this thread: 

I was in downtown Seattle, leaving a building in the center of downtown... I was approaching a corner to cross the street, and suddenly saw people ahead of me turn around w/ weird expressions. I heard a loud noise of impact. I looked up the hill to the next building and realized that someone had just jumped and did not survive.

In Salzburg, Austria...I was very purposefully doing a walking meditation through a labryinth garden with really tall hedge walls on a foggy morning, and when there shouldn't have been many people there. I turned a corner and was surprised by the classic man-in-an-open-trenchcoat....and I was at a tender-enough age where that was a shock, LOL. Luckily I was wearing good escape shoes! 

Probably a Hell's Angels knife fight, with one of them struggling to get away with a knife stuck in his head and blood pumping out.

As for sports, I don't know if it's "crazy" but I saw a perfect game thrown in a MLB game. In the history of major league baseball there have been over 218,000 games played, and there have only been 23 perfect games, and I was at one of them.

That's pretty crazy.

The naked dude jumping over and dancing in the fire that was in the middle of a drum circle back at glow woods campground after 3rd night deer creek 93 I also saw the two hands let go from the second tier giants stadium 93...I was seated further up the second tier. Then in the lot of the palace which were the next shows I saw a dude in a cast with crutches. I asked and of course that was the guy that jumped and als made it to michigan for the next shows

...

That second set on 12/31/99 at Big Cypress was pretty crazy. 
 

SET 2: Meatstick -> Auld Lang Syne[3] > Down with Disease[4] -> Llama, Bathtub Gin, Heavy Things, Twist -> Prince Caspian > Rock and Roll, You Enjoy Myself[5], Crosseyed and Painless, The Inlaw Josie Wales[6], Sand -> Quadrophonic Toppling[7], Slave to the Traffic Light, Albuquerque[8], Reba, Axilla[8], Uncle Pen, David Bowie, My Soul, Drowned -> After Midnight Reprise, The Horse > Silent in the Morning> Bittersweet Motel, Piper -> Free, Lawn Boy, Hold Your Head Up > Love You > Hold Your Head Up, Roses Are Free, Bug, Also Sprach Zarathustra[9] > Wading in the Velvet Sea > Meatstick

 

 

Second plane hit and both towers coming down from about 30 blocks away. F14s buzzing Manhattan.  Felt like being in a movie. 

My stepson's first show (not counting when he was 6 and I brought him to a show).... Phil & Friends at Red Rocks.  Post show, he was on the wrong side road to get out of the park with bumper to bumper cars on the main road and no one being kind to let him in.

From unknown direction, a person in full pro quality lion suit steps in, stops the traffic and waves him in. Laughed all the way home....

Great thread, great stories. 

Space Mountain with the lights ON.... and a nasty bike accident where the dude went into serious convulsions before coming around and riding away.

 

While not even in the top 5 for craziness today, they are sharable

 

 

 

I once saw the Chicago Cubs win the World Series.

It was 7 days of complete, unadulterated, absolute bliss.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Atta' boy felina!

Great to see you on the black screen. Hope all is well in your world.

Don't be a stranger!

I saw Bob Weir jogging in Berlin with an entourage surrounding him and jogging with him. Looked like the secret service protecting the President. Great 2 shows at the ICC.

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ai_M6NJZLs&t=322s

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjtKc2JwZ7Q&t=379s

That jobs report ranks right up there

The aftermath of Hurricane Andrew in summer 92.

I was living in Coconut Grove and had to drive the 35 miles to Homestead (the epicenter) for work.

For the full length of a cassette tape you would see utter devastation in every direction. 90 percent of everything destroyed due to 160 mile/hour winds and crappy construction. It wasn't like, "there's a house blown apart" -- it was miles and miles and miles of houses, shopping centers, and apartment buildings blown apart.

[The only "funny" thing about it is that I was just starting a new job in Homestead a few days after the storm and all the street signs in South Florida (which is basically laid out in a numbered grid) had turned sideways due to the winds, so it was impossible to follow directions and find my place of employment -- remember, no Google maps back then].

Election night, 2016. 

Dolittle -- Funny about your jogging Bobby story:  During an early 90s West Coast tour, I was staying w/ a girlfriend at the Hilton close to CalExpo, and we were running around the halls -- I opened the door to the workout room and lo and behold, there was Bobby on the treadmill. He was surprised, too, I think.   

From the same run, I was in Eugene having breakfast in the hotel restaurant... across the room was Jerry.... then Mickey arrived and was seated right next to me! He pointed to my bowl of fruit and granola and said "I'll have what she's having."  The entire cafe was full of deadheads, good times! 

<That must have really been something to live through.>

I actually slept thru the actual hurricane (ok, maybe passed out is the right word) -- it happened mostly at night. I hunkered down in Boca in a older cinder block house -- not the 80s houses that were built with plywood and staples.

Even that far north, coconuts and paving stones were flying thru the air.  Which is a bit frightening. My big worry was which side of the house to park my (first) new car (Tercel) next to, since everyone still had big tv antennas on their rooftops, ready to crash down. Seeing big boats literally up in the treetops while driving along the coast to get to my new job was a little strange.

One of the freakiest feelings I encountered for the first time was realizing there was no money in the ATMs and all banks were closed for miles around. Not that there was much open. I was mentally prepared to have to be stocked up on food and stuff, but no access to money is a little disturbing. That wasn't a problem in the SF earthquake -- it was relatively easy to drive out of the damage zone for needed supplies.

>>>and I saw a leaper from the Warfield balcony... need to remember which show --

 

yes, one of the crazier things I ever saw, or felt... I didn't see him actually jump, but I felt the impact through the floor and looked back and saw the poor people he landed on laying there unconscious.

 

And I found this blast from the past while searching for the image... definitely saw some cRaZy shit in that place:

http://philzone.com/shows/setlists/459920/303053.html

Thanks Googly! I was definitely there, that was a birthday run for me.  Was in the center balcony. 

That thread is an epic Zoner read, thanks. 

some good L there...

But Too Much Too Fast (a good PLV thread title)

I think that was the night Phil's bass was making the straw in my drink on the rail go around in a circle...

Hall,

several  old timers in that thread, thx

Some RIP...

Hope all is well with you and misses...

>>>some good L there...

I got spun on some that the stranger who gave it to me said was L, but it was super gnarly/speedy and made me real jumpy for like 36 hours.  fuckin' wannabe chemists...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We're all good here... got stocked up last week (and thankfully our earthquake kit has no freeze dried food,  lol).

How are you guys holding up? 

 

 

Hall good to hear, we be fine

although I just ran out of half&half and virus be damned if i drink my java with some soy milk...

wasn't the rumor that the jumper was Alton Kelly's kid?

what, no half decade old powdered milk in the camping kit??

 

This. 

http://mr4m2d.wikifoundry.com/page/Yossarian

This. 

http://mr4m2d.wikifoundry.com/page/Yossarian

review from jambands.com of the 5/19 show...

Phil Lesh and Friends, Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, CA 5/19

Prologue Rest in Peace Larry “Ram Rod” Shurtliff

“He’d spent enough time riding shotgun with Neal [Cassady]“More bennies, Rod”to be far from straight, but he was still a rock, the quiet, honest man who over the next years would become an internal balance for the band.” – A Long Strange Trip, Dennis McNally

By the time I arrived in San Francisco, I was in great spirits as I walked down Market Street to the venue. The ticket for the two-day run was, shall we say, HOT, to put it mildly. Scalper seats for the sold out run ranged from $90 to $150 on the floor, $150 and beyond for the loge and balcony seats. As I came to the entrance, you couldn’t shake a limb without hitting a wayward Wookie finger looking for a miracle ticket. I had no idea how good the scalping and extra ticket action went but I did see the same faces holding their lone fingers aloft late in the eveningstill out front as if someone would fork over their shaggy tickets during the sets and head home in the dark San Francisco night.

The event marked the first time Phil Lesh and Friends were being filmed for a future DVD release and the possibility of famous and non-famous guests aplenty hitting the stage to share space with Lesh and his mates ran very high in the head community. For example, Trey Anastasio was said to be in Northern California at Les Claypool’s abode with Stewart Copeland practicing for the pending Oysterhead gig at Bonnaroo. A quick pre-show text message alerted me to the fact that Trey was definitely not on the West Coast so I was prepared for an evening of fine music with the possibility of no guests whatsoeverBig Red or otherwise. The green velvet backdrop hung from the rear of the stage and that was the only accoutrement inside to signal “special event.” Oh, that and the fact that the place was filled to the gills with teeming heads, old and new, while the humidity appeared to weigh a bloody ton. Lesh came out on stage and the Dead bassist dedicated the show to longtime GD crew member, Ram Rod who had passed away two days prior. As a matter of fact, both of the Warfield shows were played in honor of the fallen Dead icon and it gave the events an added warm hue of poignant pathos.

Set I The Road Lesh & Friends Traveled

The gentleman on my left in the balcony called “Passenger” as the set opener and we quickly exchange high fives while I pondered his ESP skills. It was a perfunctory opening number that was a joy to hear but the real buzz began with the opening thunderclap riff of “Viola Lee Blues.” The band soon charged into the psychedelic stratosphere and pretty much stayed there for the remaining portion of the set. The old chestnut was long, sinewy and full of the breathless improvisation during its mid-point spatial peak that makes one remember why traveling to a Dead show was never given a second thought. This was all IT and X-factor and the toxic sound became even more luxurious when the band seamlessly segued into a very hard and fast “Cumberland Blues.” The end of this fabulous duo of a different flavor had the crowd on its feet for several moments as Lesh acknowledged the resounding cheers with one of his patented “Aw, shucks” grins. This was one of those highlights you drag along with you during the long summer tours to remind your ears what is music, per se, and what is really strong live music being played by musicians thoroughly drenched in the eternal NOW. Led by Lesh, of course, on bombing bass runs and vocals, the band consists of Larry Campbell on guitar, mandolin, pedal steel, fiddle and vocalsa longtime member of Dylan’s touring band and one of the guitarists on St. Bob’s 2001 album, _Love and Theft_John Scofield, also on six-shooter guitar, the expert keys and vocals of Rob Barraco, the returning percussion champ, John Molo, Greg Osby on a sweet saxophone and the always welcome dynamic vocal range of Joan Osborne. If SUPERGROUP is the buzzword of 2006, this band certainly qualifies for that term as much as G.R.A.B., Oysterhead, Derek and Slowhand

Lesh slowed things down a tad with a sublime reading of “Fennario” with Campbell on mandolin trading off brilliant melodic lines with Osborne as the old Garcia favorite was given a new skin. Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” with Osborne on vocals was muscular but the transition into “New Speedway Boogie” was just as breathtaking as the aforementioned “Blues>Blues” glorious twin duo. Scofield and Campbell, as they did throughout the opening set, played various layers of six string call-and-response that added punctuation, took away sentences and paragraphs and laid down pages and pages of stream-of-conscious riff magic that lifted the rhythm and spun it around like some sort of mad, electric flying burrito. (I was a little hungry at this point.) Indeed, Scofield and Campbell echoed, emphasized and enhanced each other’s licks so often that to write down all of their peaks would require too many pens for my sagging pockets to carry. The segue between “Watchtower” and “Speedway” also contained a very trippy and delicious instrumental tease of War’s “Low Rider” theme that sailed in and out of the transition with minute grace as they effortlessly floated into the latter number and its subsequent lyric commentary about that fateful day back in December 1969 at Altamont Raceway in Northern California.

Suddenly, the songs ends and Lesh lectures the band for quite a while so I immediately think: “Hmmminterestingcomplex Lesh number?let’s see

“Unbroken Chain”

Perhaps, Lesh’s most underrated song over the years, the pearl written in 1974 for the Dead’s From the Mars Hotel album wasn’t played live for two decades. When the gem finally made its debut in one of those Mother of All Breakout evenings at the Philadelphia Spectrum in March 1995, the roof damn near caved in on the old hockey joint. “Unbroken Chain” began its slow journey without anything special but when the famous interlocking riff commenced its drunk man following down a flight of stairs’ portion of the tapestry, the band stretched out for a very intense jam that lifted higher and higher and higher until everyone was flying throughout the scorching hot building in one of those legendary Dead moments that Lesh has been a part of so many times in his illustrious career, I looked around and massive grins and laughter and beaming arcs of pure euphoria filled the theatre like the greatest Cheshire cat smile one can imagine: ramshackle glory draped in an utterly spirited brilliance with an incredibly beautiful and perfectly improvised slow jam at the masterpiece conclusion.

“Unbroken Chain”

Setbreak Everyone Was Flying

“when they finally turned that corner in some long sequence. Garcia would be flyingLesh, Weir, Bill, Mickey, everyone would be flying.” – The Road Lesh Traveled, Jambands.com column, May 2006

Life is a circle and with every lofty peak, there must be a valley to restore balance in our mathematically precise zzyzx universe. I think I read that in one of those I Learned Everything I Know From the Words Written on the Bathroom Wall books. Wellthis one ranks as one of the more bizarre doozies in my long concert career. The gentleman next to me during the first set perhaps felt that Nirvana edge a little too personally and during the setbreak decided to run from the stairs, leap on the loge railing and dive with his arms stretched out first as an airplane and then back together like an Acid Test Superman. Fortunately and very unfortunately, a handful of audience members were standing on the floor below and broke his fall and femur. I went backstage to check the damage. All people were blessed and walked away without any major injuries but this episode delayed the set for at least another 60 minutes and completely reminded everyone about the fine line between hard-earned perfection and total mindless catastrophe.

Set II Grateful Dead Greatest Hits from the Phil Zone

By the time Lesh and his band hit the stage for the second set, all positive energy seemed to be sucked out of the building for obvious reasons after the surreal airborne launch. The band tried to make amends with a perfect-setlist-on-paper series of numbers that all worked but failed to generate the same buzz that had lifted the audience into the next galaxy in the opening set. Quite frankly, a large portion of my shattered mind which had only had a beer and a couple of Wild Turkey shots was so downcast and sober and worried about the injured patrons that it was hard for me to grasp the music being played. They were damn good, don’t get me wrong, but part of the job of being a critic is doing your research while being honest, fair and open-minded, knowing your vibe, the audience group mindset and the ethereal temperature check within the complicated biorhythms of a heady crowd. ALL temp check scores were negative but we endured and the music helped heal a stunned and still buzzing Warfield audience.

“Uncle John’s Band” was played with bluegrass passion with Campbell on mandolin before the band slid into a thoroughly intoxicating run with the goosebump majesty of “Eyes of the World”again, with Campbell standing out on vocals. “Eyes” segued into a truly epic run of songs that kept the entire portrait as one long continuous set. “St. Stephen>The Eleven>Caution” echoed some of the great Dead Fillmore shows of ’69 and ’70 before toppling into an unexpected and brilliant set closing placement of “Help>Slip>Frank” that had the audience once again on their feet and attempting to reach that splendid arc of the opening set. A fine set that in any other circumstance would’ve sealed the deal on a classic show but I was still numb while thinking about my erstwhile seat neighbor who had taken the ill-advised plunge injuring others along the way.

Epilogue The Dark Box of Gloomy Rain

“Cowboy Neal was at the wheel” – “The Other One,” Grateful Dead

Did I mention it rained on this evening? Fitting, eh? Anywaythe encore stretched out into a full-on mini third set after Lesh’s donor rap and band introductions. “The Other One” charged into the second verse of “Dark Star” closing the sandwich that had been opened the previous evening before returning to “The Other One” which led into a tear jerking and very soothing bit of Lesh reassurance called “Box of Rain.” If this review appears to end with a silent sigh, it is only symbolic of the fact that I walked out of the theatre and up the haunting street towards my hotel in a stupor as I neither attempted to assimilate or think much about what had just happenedmankind in all of its beautiful and wretched gloryin the end, an accurate portrait of who we are in full 4-D.

>>>made me real jumpy for like 36 hours

Evidently you weren't the only one.  ((((yosssarian)))

 

Looks like I enjoyed the show....I'll have to give it a spin. 

i've seen some things

Just watched the first 12 minutes of the 5/19 show. Wow. Crispy jams.

Just watched the first 12 minutes of the 5/19 show. Wow. Crispy jams. Check out Molo's cool glasses!

Nice to see Larry Campbell and Joan -- I just read yesterday that Larry is COVID-positive and quarantining in upstate NY.  There is info going around on Facebook. 

My wife's second c-section, I got up and looked around the screen 

Very interesting reading that old zone thread.

Those shows were what nudged me toward the Philzone. I was sitting in one of the booths in the back of the floor the first night, bored with the music so just watching the people, and for the first time I really noticed how YOUNG so many seemed to be. I clearly remember thinking, "Who the hell are all these younger heads? Where did they come from, how are they so into this music?" Which got me poking around the internet and I found the zone not long after.

One of the first things I remember when I started gong to the Philzone was that Yossarian guy starting an apology thread on the zone. He seemed genuinely distraught by the whole thing and tried to explain that he had accepted something from someone he didn't know and got out-of-his-mind high, and he got roasted by the zoners, nothing he said made any difference. I thought, "Jeez, tough crowd."

I also remember another long ongoing conversation after that about whether it was possible to get so high that one could not hold onto a rational place and might do something crazy.

Some agreed, many did not, arguing that there was no way one could be so gone that they couldn't be aware of their actions. I've never been a deep space explorer but I've seen some crazy shit from people on drugs at shows. I tend to believe anything is possible, especially if you're not sure what you're taking.

As for those shows, I didn't care for them. I thought they were stiff and too linear, something I've always thought about Scofield with Phil. I did think the second night was better than the first, and I was again sitting in the back of the floor and had no idea that someone had fallen and I couldn't understand why the set break was so damned long, until an usher friend told me what had happened.

I think depending on who you talk to, the lesson from that night is either - Don't take drugs, or Don't take drugs from people you don't know.

Obviously the first one is open to discussion, the second one seems like a no-brainer.

http://zenster.net/images/yossarian.gif

 

it might be playing out right in front of us...

a piece of RNA wearing a protein coat that adapts and evolves over time to utilize its host solely to make more of itself

a microscopic obligate parasite that has the top-of-the-food chain worldwide hoarding, hiding and worrying 

and, as always, in times of human crisis, the macroscopic parasites are adapting and figuring out how to make a buck off of their host's current emotions...

beware of both

My wife's second c-section, I got up and looked around the screen <<

I hear you.  Can't unsee that.  Old Irish Doc says, "You dun want to look at that, Da."

And I'd watched open heart surgery before.

My wife's second c-section, I got up and looked around the screen <<

I did that as well. um, really gross. I thought I was going to lose it. Held on and it was all good in a few mins.

 

I saw a Toyota prius hit the median wall of the freeway on i-75 in Atlanta going 70+ mph. It did a couple flips in the air and landed on its wheels. I was one of the first 5 or 6 cars behind it. By the time I got close and pulled over, it had stopped and the guy was looking around like WTF just happened. I bet he was texting. He seemed to be ok from what I saw. 

Me and my dad were driving when a speeding car coming at us took off of the road air born and flipped end to end like a football about 6 to 7 times. We pulled over and a girl from my school and a friend crawled out unhurt. Early 70s pretty sure the did not have seat belts on. That one is up there 

When i was 15 i saw a woman walking across the highway in the desert get hit by a karman Ghia doing about 70 mph.  Her head hit the windshield and she did about 10 flips in the air before she hit the road. Saw her take her last unconscious breath about 5 minutes later as I could hear the ambulance off in the distance. Kinda thing that sticks with you. Reminds me of the scene from the Doors movie when young Jim sees the "Indians by the roadside dying...ghosts crowd the child's fragile eggshell mind."

 

How about a positive crazy thing.  My first degree was in meteorology / climatology, not only due to my life long love of the weather, but because of witnessing; 

Double and Triple bolts of lightning

Ball lightning

Desert flash floods during their initial rampage!

Los Angeles floods of 69, where the largest gravel pit excavators were going heads over tails thumpa thumpa in real time.  

Oregon floods of 96 where it was house sized boulders doing that.

7 x funnel  clouds seen (no tornados yet)

Being at the Oregon coast on a cloudy day, when right at sunset, the sun found a hole in the clouds on the horizon, and created a fireball of yellow/orange/red, while the cracks and creases in the base of the clouds became blood red, dark, yet radiant...   time stopped, the entire visible world turned red, and all beach walkers just stopped and stared in disbelief!  

Being in the Oregon Cascades during thunderstorms, when a similar as above optical fate happened.  The sun breached the base of the clouds on the horizon, and did the yellow/orange/red fireball trick again, and the base of the clouds contours became blood red...  only this time, all the rain shafts took on the yellow / orange / red, with neighboring hues of green and greenish blue, but were moving and changing in real time all the while.  Freaking breathtaking!!!  

Being in the eye of a hurricane in Virginia Beach was also amazing!  It crossed around midnight, and we were staying at my mom's parents home, about 5 homes from the actual beach.  Once the tempest stopped, we wandered down to the beach.  It's was around 80 degrees, the stars were out, but what caught our attention was all the freaked out birds trapped inside the eye.  They were making quite the racket (poor beasties).  After about 15 minutes, you could see the eye wall approaching from the south.  You could see flashes as power cables snapped, and the hotels a mile down the beach went black in bunches.  Next a gust, then a blast, we tried to sprint back home, but now the wind shift was into our faces, blasting us with sand, as the wind ramped up to over 100mph in a matter of a minute or 2.  In the morning, they dynamited the streets so the water could absorb back into the sand.

And finally, I love seeing the green flash at sunset...  and have seen it on the Oregon coast over 30 times now, not as exciting, but i've got pics, lol

(pics taken by my buddy, Paul Mandry, near Yachats Oregon)

I * saw a Double rainbow at Levi stadium during GD 50.

(*and 70,000 other people saw it as well)

Ball Lightning - tripping on mushrooms at Neil Young at blossom music center, shocking pinks tour. unbelievable thunderstorm and terential rain. Ball Lightning all over and close to the ground, what a night!!! Cannot believe they went on with the show that night. 
 

eye of the hurricane, one also passed over the house, very strange calm, and you know it is not going to last. also leaning into the a 90 mph wind  in between two houses is a pretty cool experience too. 
 

Florida Thunder Storms are great and where I live off the I-4 corridor between Tampa and Orlando it is called Lightning Alley. One of the most active spots in the USA. We have a pool hall/bar in town that sits on a big hill. Sitting at the bar you look out a huge picture window to a huge open area and during summertime at happy hour a big thunder boomer will probably go thru and you have a front row seat for the action, better than watching sports imo. 
 

 

I also live next to the Citrus Tower, tourist attraction, an observation tower that used to overlook all of the orange groves that used to occupy this area. 
 

 

word is they are converting the top to a bar/restaurant, and when they do I will be up there for afternoon storms

https://citrustower.com/

 

 

 

The Trump family making it to old age without doing time for any crimes. 

So many but this one bubbled to the top

Total Lunar Eclipse  in Wyoming 

Double rainbow, yes! Was there. 

Noodler: So cool about your meteorology studies -- did you know that Matt Zaffino from Portland's KGW-8 is a deadhead? Like Bill Walton, he works lyrics in to his weather broadcast regularly, sadly, mostly "cold rain and snow".  

That's cool about Matt (freaking hippies, lol)

 

(and agreed on the total solar eclipse, i'm now addicted to totality)

Yaquina Bay Bridge (our Willamette Valley pics were cool, but not Newport Oregon cool)

 

 

Damage from Superstorm Sandy 

 

 

Was driving on the Garden State Parkway, express lanes, when I noticed a car parked on the shoulder of the local lanes. As I drove closer, the car began to drive forward on the shoulder, but suddenly turned 90° and entered traffic. The car t-boned a minivan and the minivan rolled several times, spilling its contents across the highway. 

 

 

 

 

What is happening right now during this Covid-19 pandemic.

So much crazy, so little life.

The craziest thing I ever saw at a GD show was at the Park West show in Utah in September 1983. Just before the show started, a guy parachuted into the crowd, where a tarp had been spread out for his arrival, with purple smoke trailing behind him. Sure, I was high as a kite, but this actually happened.