I thought I had blogged in a few times since the 14th? Hmm?
Probably forgetting to click in- too distracted by thoughts of strategies to get to some of the upcoming dog shows!

First addy, I am posting is where to go to play 'Fantasy setlist " Dave at Ratdog.org has been offering this game for several Bobtours now- It's free and simple- You predict from a list of choices which songs will be played when (better instructions at the site) and when your choices are played- you get points and rankings..Dave keeps up with the stats and posts them - on DNC, some folks are pooling cds to send the winner/highest ranking points...
http://www.ratdog.org/fantasy

The other addy is long, but if you like to keep up to date on when the Bobstar will be on tv- this is the place to go:
http://www.musicstation.com/cgi-bin/rotv/rotv_cgi?search_type=artist_exact&sort_by=artist&type=tv&search=168991

Insomnia doth suck!
However, it doth gave me time to find this useful addy:

http://www.musicstation.com/cgi-bin/rotv/rotv_cgi?search_type=artist_exact&sort_by=artist&type=tv&search=168991

if you can get it in to your browser, it should take you to a site that will give you the latest scheduling of any Bobby Television appearance which would be coming up..
...this week, Bobby will be on TV about 4 or 5 times- reruns of "controversy" and the Ratdog segment of Austin City Limits.

Here's Reisha's review of the Jemimah Puddleduck show at the Fillmore last night-

ok, MY thots ( like anyone REALLY cares?) on last nites gig - :~>) :~>) :~>)!!!! I 1st got turned on to these QUACKS @ the schnoz in bezerkley ( by {{ARROW!!}}) a few yrs ago. fell in love w/ their sound that nite. have 'followed' ( not stalked!) em ever since. played their cd into the ground ( my fave gardening cd, lol! :~>). watched em go thru several keyboardists. they were playin w/ ( im gonna SLAUGTER his name, goddess forgive me) arlen schrimebaum. i REALLY liked him, & have kinda cringed at a coupla the replacements. but this j.t. thomas ( did i get that rite?) character - (played w/ hornsby, rite?) is a good fit. or, maybe ive seen him enuff to finally be comfy w/ his style?
they all looked, & sounded awesome last lite. i think mark was really gettin off on bein on THAT side of the rail - dream come true.
whad'did they play.....( im SO bad at recall - shoulda brought a scribble set) .... uh.... rock your papa - hmm, did they maybe open w/ that? i think they did. wasna so sure that should be the opener, but i went w/ it ( or, i could be mistaken bout the whole thing?) u can stay was EXCELLENT, as was memphis radio - maybe those 2 were together? & i was thirsty & had to pee & started to take care of that, but then they went into the one or the othre, so i aborted mission! & groooved to both, & then i REALLY had to take of biz, so i kinda dinna get.... uh,.....i forget - antoerh song i like alot, & uh... oh! bait the hook was ROCKIN too. molo & gross are prolly my two ( current) faves at what they do, & together, they morph the rythem into this funky beast ( kundalini?) inside of me. (+ theyre both really delightful eye candy, in different ways).& mark has come into his own. confident, talented, adorable..... oh! & who was doin the lite show?!?!?!?!? {{{{KUDOS TO THEM!!!}}}} ttrrrrrrrrrriiippppppyyyyyy stuff, i felt dosed after watchin that for a while!!!! i wandered around a bit, judging sound & crowd - sound was great, crowd was into it. made me happy. my ONLY critique would be to suggest a strong ending to the songs. while *I* like them morphing on into another, as a 'new' band, i think the crowd was a lil confused as to when to clap. but i had a better time than i was expecting, i TOTALLY got what i wanted ( well, close enuff ;~>!) - even down to marks green shoelaces! ;~>

WELL DONE, GUYS!!!!! :~>
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey! Still sore- fell down again off a step in the garage- I'm all off kilter- better get myself into some sort of regime before I become too uncoordinated..Speaking of undertaking a fitness regime- here is the addy to John Perry Barlow's blog-
http://blog.barlowfriendz.net/
seems he's been doing some working out lately- havent finished catching up with his blog but I'll thank him for the inspiration..

Just back from Mark Karan and Sons of Champlin at the Fillmore...Again, the beautiful Kemmie drove me in as Scott is resting up for tomorrow-today- It's Valentine's Day..and that means it should be a busy crazy day for jewelery sales at the Pawn shop..Mark & Puddleduck played well- loved the Elephant Walk jam in the middle of "Annie Don't Lie"...Met up with Reisha, Mazzy, Val and most of the usual suspects...only hung around for a few S.O.C. songs- then back to the peninsula for us..
The Fillmore is so yummy- can't wait til Mar2!

I received the following article this morning from Miki...I've watched Bill Walton commentary before just for those wonderful Dead references...He is afterall, the Dead's first appointed "Hall of Famer" ...I wonder how he liked that chocolate birthday cake? Forgot to mention the cake story to my friends the other night at the Warfield- guess we'll catch up at the Fillmore....

Anyhoo- here:


Bristol, CT -- In a confidential memo leaked to the press Tuesday
morning, executives at ESPN expressed growing concern about incessant references to legendary counterculture rock band, the Grateful Dead, made by NBA analyst and lifelong "Deadhead," Bill Walton.

"If we could all make an effort to help Bill reduce the number of
references to Grateful Dead lyrics, concerts he's attended, and past and present band members throughout an average broadcast," the memo said, "it would go a long way toward bringing more viewers to Fridays [ESPN's Friday Night NBA coverage]."

"Seriously, I'm not kidding here," the memo continued, "it's got to
stop. Before we all gouge our own eyes out with sporks."

While the memo is believed to have been sent by ESPN executive vice president of programming/production, Mark Shapiro, anti-Walton-Dead-reference sentiment has been growing company-wide since ESPN began cove! ri! ng NBA games this season.

"If he tells me one more time how he did mescaline with Mama Cass and David Crosby backstage at the Greek Theater, Berkeley, '71, I'm gong to smack him," said Walton's broadcast partner, Mike Tirico. "And that's exactly how he always says it, too: 'Greek Theater.Berkeley..seventy-one.,' and then he starts grinning and grooving to some Dead music in his head, going, 'Yeaaaah, man..yeaaaah' like a total stoner."

"The guy's, what, fifty-one?" Tirico added. "Hey Bill, the 'Summer of
Love' ended thirty-three years ago. Time to move on, pal."

Shapiro's memo also indicated that Walton's references to songs,
concerts, people and events from more than three decades ago is not helping ESPN's NBA Friday night ratings.

"We're targeting a younger demographic," Shapiro's memo said, "so if you could all please remind Bill that today's 18- to 24-year-old viewer simply does not care that it's the 13th anniversary of [Grateful Dead ! ke! yboardist] Brent Mydland's death. They don't care who Ron! 'Pigen' McKernan was, and don't understand why Bill is comparing Pigpen's leadership abilities in
the Dead's formative Haight-Ashbury years to Jason Kidd's ability to run the Nets offense."

"No wonder we're losing Friday viewers to 'John Doe.' Why? Because 'John Doe' doesn't have some sad, aging, hippie freakster spewing Robert Hunter lyrics every three seconds."

While ESPN management had been initially lenient with the random Grateful Dead trivia, facts, and anecdotes that Walton began injecting into broadcasts for no apparent reason, insiders believe that it was the recent Bulls-Wizards matchup-which featured Michael Jordan's last appearance in Chicago-that was the last straw for Shapiro.

Toward the end of the game, Walton managed to shoehorn approximately 168 Grateful Dead mentions into a seemingly endless monologue.

"While these great Chicago fans hope to see Michael 'One More
Saturday Night' perhaps in the playoffs, he's beginning to show a ! 'T! ouch of Grey' in his hair, and while I've always believed that Michael must be a 'Friend of the Devil' to have had such a wonderful career, and he still plays with the aggression of a 'Wharf Rat,' his 'Unbroken Chain' of success must come to
an end. But his legacy will 'Not Fade Away' even as he disappears down the 'Golden Road.' For us fans, there's 'nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile.'"

Tape of the broadcast then shows a visibly confused Tirico about to open his mouth to speak, but being immediately cut off by the former UCLA, Portland Trailblazers and Boston Celtics star.

"This is horrrrrible, Mike, just horrrrible," Walton nearly screamed.
"I > fear the NBA will go to 'Hell in a Bucket' without Michael, and the 'Eyes of the World' will be upon the next generation of NBA superstars, and David Stern is clearly saying 'I Need a Miracle' to the Kobes, the Garnetts, the McGradys, even the Lebron Jameses of the world, hoping that MJ's retirement! d! oesn't lead to a serious case of the 'U.S. Blues' for NBA! fans."< BR>
Walton then made a tangental reference to Michael's wife "Althea," and three children-"Bertha," "Casey Jones," and "Tennessee Jed"-all of whom, he claimed, were in the United Center that evening. When Tirico informed Walton that Jordan's wife is, in fact, named Juanita and his children are Jeffrey, Marcus and Jasmine, Walton paused.

"Hey now, Mike," Walton said, "hey now, Aiko Aiko all day, jockomo
feeno na na nay, jockomo feena nay. Hey now--"

It was then that ESPN producers abruptly cut to an emergency
broadcast system test pattern, then back to ESPN studio analysts, David Aldridge and Dr. Jack Ramsey.

"Well, I.." Aldridge said, awkwardly shuffling papers and clearing
his throat.

"Did Bill just say that Michael Jordan's son is named 'Tennessee Jed,'" Ramsey asked.

While Shapiro is clearly concerned about the effect Walton's Grateful Dead over-referencing will have on the success of ESPN's Friday night NBA coverage, he a! dm! itted in a later interview that it could be worse.

"At least he's not mixing in John Wooden stuff, too. I mean, can you imagine if he combined all that Jerry Garcia bullshitt with his incessant Wooden motivational quotes? Christ Almighty."

Shapiro then shuddered

HMMM- Received this in my email- I'm not sure of the original source as it was sent cut & pasted rather than in link- Here goes:


Bristol, CT -- In a confidential memo leaked to the press Tuesday
morning, executives at ESPN expressed growing concern about incessant references to legendary counterculture rock band, the Grateful Dead, made by NBA analyst and lifelong "Deadhead," Bill Walton.

"If we could all make an effort to help Bill reduce the number of
references to Grateful Dead lyrics, concerts he's attended, and past and present band members throughout an average broadcast," the memo said, "it would go a long way toward bringing more viewers to Fridays [ESPN's Friday Night NBA coverage]."

"Seriously, I'm not kidding here," the memo continued, "it's got to
stop. Before we all gouge our own eyes out with sporks."

While the memo is believed to have been sent by ESPN executive vice president of programming/production, Mark Shapiro, anti-Walton-Dead-reference sentiment has been growing company-wide since ESPN began cove! ri! ng NBA games this season.

"If he tells me one more time how he did mescaline with Mama Cass and David Crosby backstage at the Greek Theater, Berkeley, '71, I'm gong to smack him," said Walton's broadcast partner, Mike Tirico. "And that's exactly how he always says it, too: 'Greek Theater.Berkeley..seventy-one.,' and then he starts grinning and grooving to some Dead music in his head, going, 'Yeaaaah, man..yeaaaah' like a total stoner."

"The guy's, what, fifty-one?" Tirico added. "Hey Bill, the 'Summer of
Love' ended thirty-three years ago. Time to move on, pal."

Shapiro's memo also indicated that Walton's references to songs,
concerts, people and events from more than three decades ago is not helping ESPN's NBA Friday night ratings.

"We're targeting a younger demographic," Shapiro's memo said, "so if you could all please remind Bill that today's 18- to 24-year-old viewer simply does not care that it's the 13th anniversary of [Grateful Dead ! ke! yboardist] Brent Mydland's death. They don't care who Ron! 'Pigen' McKernan was, and don't understand why Bill is comparing Pigpen's leadership abilities in
the Dead's formative Haight-Ashbury years to Jason Kidd's ability to run the Nets offense."

"No wonder we're losing Friday viewers to 'John Doe.' Why? Because 'John Doe' doesn't have some sad, aging, hippie freakster spewing Robert Hunter lyrics every three seconds."

While ESPN management had been initially lenient with the random Grateful Dead trivia, facts, and anecdotes that Walton began injecting into broadcasts for no apparent reason, insiders believe that it was the recent Bulls-Wizards matchup-which featured Michael Jordan's last appearance in Chicago-that was the last straw for Shapiro.

Toward the end of the game, Walton managed to shoehorn approximately 168 Grateful Dead mentions into a seemingly endless monologue.

"While these great Chicago fans hope to see Michael 'One More
Saturday Night' perhaps in the playoffs, he's beginning to show a ! 'T! ouch of Grey' in his hair, and while I've always believed that Michael must be a 'Friend of the Devil' to have had such a wonderful career, and he still plays with the aggression of a 'Wharf Rat,' his 'Unbroken Chain' of success must come to
an end. But his legacy will 'Not Fade Away' even as he disappears down the 'Golden Road.' For us fans, there's 'nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile.'"

Tape of the broadcast then shows a visibly confused Tirico about to open his mouth to speak, but being immediately cut off by the former UCLA, Portland Trailblazers and Boston Celtics star.

"This is horrrrrible, Mike, just horrrrible," Walton nearly screamed.
"I > fear the NBA will go to 'Hell in a Bucket' without Michael, and the 'Eyes of the World' will be upon the next generation of NBA superstars, and David Stern is clearly saying 'I Need a Miracle' to the Kobes, the Garnetts, the McGradys, even the Lebron Jameses of the world, hoping that MJ's retirement! d! oesn't lead to a serious case of the 'U.S. Blues' for NBA! fans."< BR>
Walton then made a tangental reference to Michael's wife "Althea," and three children-"Bertha," "Casey Jones," and "Tennessee Jed"-all of whom, he claimed, were in the United Center that evening. When Tirico informed Walton that Jordan's wife is, in fact, named Juanita and his children are Jeffrey, Marcus and Jasmine, Walton paused.

"Hey now, Mike," Walton said, "hey now, Aiko Aiko all day, jockomo
feeno na na nay, jockomo feena nay. Hey now--"

It was then that ESPN producers abruptly cut to an emergency
broadcast system test pattern, then back to ESPN studio analysts, David Aldridge and Dr. Jack Ramsey.

"Well, I.." Aldridge said, awkwardly shuffling papers and clearing
his throat.

"Did Bill just say that Michael Jordan's son is named 'Tennessee Jed,'" Ramsey asked.

While Shapiro is clearly concerned about the effect Walton's Grateful Dead over-referencing will have on the success of ESPN's Friday night NBA coverage, he a! dm! itted in a later interview that it could be worse.

"At least he's not mixing in John Wooden stuff, too. I mean, can you imagine if he combined all that Jerry Garcia bullshitt with his incessant Wooden motivational quotes? Christ Almighty."

Shapiro then shuddered

This would be interesting to see/hear! well, maybe? It's a Bobby cover band!
http://WEBSPAWNER.COM/USERS/WILMUTT/

And here one last one from Blair ( note:I do not agree with the comparison to the schweppes or cough drop guys, hmmpf!)
Not only was drums super short, it had NO trance-y, quiet, spacy part. I had really been looking forward to that, too. Mickey didn't stay out there long at all...a first! Or maybe Bob came out too early...always a possibility.

Does anyone else think Bob is starting to look like the Schweppes guy? And is it just the first step toward looking like the Smith Brothers (of cherry cough drop fame)? Or is ZZ Top going to be his ultimate goal? (I hope not, because knowing Bob, he'll get his beard caught in the guitar as he tries to spin it! Hey, we kid him because we love him, Irenie!)

Forgot to mention that the person behind me in line, who I was chatting with, was stopped for havinga counterfeit ticket he'd bought on ebay! Yikes! Nice guy from New York; was very excited to be goin' to the show. He did manage to get in--at the break, due to the good graces of someone from GDTS. But it certainly gives one pause about buying tix on ebay....

BTW, I was in the sixth row of the loge (three above the aisle) a little on the Warren side (did anyone mention that Jimmy has moved all the way across the stage and is now next to Jeff?) and i thought the sound was FANTASTIC from the get-go; really good. Lights were nice and un-busy, too.

Need to also remark that I thought the "Throwing Stones" was really well done. Never a favorite of mine, but I hadn't heard it in a couple of years live and they played the hell out of it--the big triumphal jam was as good as it can be, with Jimmy and Warren wailing away. And though "Around and Around" has been known to sop me dead in my tracks, this one fairly kicked serious ass! Truly!

Encore was a treat--I love what Warren does with "Madman" (I kept hoping Elton would come out and sing a verse...he woulda dug it, too) and then the "Iko" and "NFA" were like icing on the cake. "Iko," in particular, had some really exciting leads in there by both Jimmy and Warren.

I went out into the cool night air with a smile on my face, Plucked the parking ticket off my car (no parking midnight until 6...didn't see the sign, got in the car at 12:11...rats...35 bucks!) and drove back to Oakland listening to the "Dark Star"> "Eyes" from the semi-recent '73 Dicks Picks...perfect!

I will definitely go see this band again. How about a nice run at the Greek?

I also enjoyed the harmonies on "inspiration," etc; nice touch. And I know I'm probably in the minority on this one, but I actually like "Self Defense" and liked it in that #2 slot. Nice little blast of Santanaesque stuff; always a good solo or two in there. (If Mickey had never written "Baba Jingo" you wouldn't be thinking about "self defense's" similarity to that tune. But SD actually has a melody and Mickey actually "sings" said melody decently.)

I'm not usually a big fan of Weir singing Jerry tunes, but thought he did a great job on both "Althea" (a definite highlight of the night) and "West L.A.," which was mostly really good (until Bob tried to do a fancy-Dan ending he couldn't pull off--one of the few actual miscures of the night. One of the others was, unfortunately, on the aforementioned "Stella," where Jimmy got COMPLETELY and UTTERLY lost on the solo--never seen him mess up that bad before. Maybe the tapes will reveal that I'm wrong about that one, but I don't think so.)

"Unbroken Chain" was a real treat. Phil sang it really well, great jam, etc. Really dug "Built to Last," too, with Warren giving that song plenty of heft...thought of Jerry when WH was singing the line about "one more star sinks in the past...."

Didn't know "All That We Are" but liked it. Something in the chorus really sounded like a '60s band to me (I remember thinking of Quicksilver or even Big Brother); not sure why. "Just A Little Light" is always hot...

Appreciated getting the 'Lost Sailor"/"Saint" and though they were having to work pretty hard to keep the "Sailor" together, they did ultimately, and the "saint" was a nice solid, rockin' payoff.

Drums seemed really short to me, but I could be wrong. There was a nice period when Phil and Billy were playing alone; very cool. "Space" was not super-spacy or long. Haven't read earlier reports, so forgive any redundancy on info like this: The jam before "Friend of the Devil" started out with Bob alone onstage with his acoustic guitar. Thgen he was joined by Warren for a short jam, then Jeff, then Phil, then the drummers, and that's when "Friend" emerged.

Kudos to Jeff, by the way, who brought a bit of jazz to nearly every solo he played

Blair Jackson's comments :
Mornin' all...
Had a great time last night seein' the new, and I must say, much improved lineup. I was one of those people who dug Joan's singing and liked what she brought to Garcia's songs, but I found that her NOT being there was fine; much less distracting, of course. Totally changes the vibe of the band, but in a good way, I think. Warren has the gravitas this band NEEDS, and, of course, the vocal prowess to pull off a "Stella" or--oh joy, joy, joy!--"Terrapin" (thanks for lettin' that one go, Phil!)

Wasn't until that "terrapin" that Warren totally cut loose, IMO. It's not that he seemed uncomfortable earlier; he was juck pickin' his spots, listening more. Jimmy seemed to be playing even MORE than usual, if that's possible, and louder, up until then, but the clash of three guitars I was expecting didn't really materialize. Bobby stayed out of Jimmy's and Warren's way quite effectively--I really dug the tone he had playing a telecaster most of the night...

Wooo!
I'm recovering from my night out... Sleep deprivation along with a tumble (I'm such a klutz!) I took on the street behind the Warfield has made me sore and lazy today...

Took the 5:04pm train (just down the hill from my house) up to San Francisco- arriving at station at exactly 5:42pm...Scott arrived about a moment later and off to Market street we sped. The neighborhood around the Warfield is a blend of theaters and peep shows. Even with "The Lion King" playing across the street from the Dead, we were still able to get a spot in the parking garage behind the Warfield. Scott had brought super burritos from the Mission for us..we caught up on our day and munched those burritos before leaving the car. As usual when the Dead play there, the sidewalks were filled with all sorts of deadheads, dogs, ticket scalpers and a limited number of peddlers. More than the average amount of kids holding up variations of signs looking for a miracle...There were absolutely NO tickets left. We ran right into Reisha - who had been in line all day, and she told us that all the Deadnetters in need, had been able to find tickets through the day! As predicted, the box office did release a very small wave of tickets sometime during the afternoon and our buddies had been waiting in that line there since very early in the morning . Later on, we learned that one of our friends had unfortunately purchased a bogus ticket from someone on the street and ended up having to leave :O(
The scene in line was basic chaos, though the doors were noted to have been opened at 7:00, we didnt enter the building until 8pm...the delay due to the abundance of bogus tickets- the staff was being extra vigilant in checking everyone's tix.
Finally, inside, connected with many friends, bought a diet cola and found the way up to our seats in the balcony. Imagine the surpise to find myself seated behind the famous GDTS Goddess, Ruby...Especially since we didnt make the cut with our mail order tickets this time around...We got our tickets from a friend, who had bought them from Ticket master in case she couldnt get in on mail order- she got her mail order floor- and gave us her balcony tix which landed us in a very nice part of the balcony- right by Ruby oooo the synchronicity of it all!
The show was fun! Of course!!! Our guy looked well from afar, all seemed happy. It was all enjoyable not quite on par with the smooth NYE show, but after all it was the first show of this configuration of players and the Warrenheads said that Warren had just flown in from Florida (Gov.Mule on tour?) and it was fun! I have already forgotten the order of all the songs but it was somewhere in the middle of MAMU that I first got lost enjoying myself in the Bobby moment. All I need is one Bobby moment..There were Brent tunes sung by Warren (wonderful voice for those)and also 'Madman across the water" which was unexpected (I've only been to/heard a few Phil shows) though it is known to be part of his repetoire. There were many highlights in this show for me..
Must attend to some things round here tonight- but hang around- I'll go try to dig Blair's review out of Deadnet and post it here...

Okay, well I love my Ratdog shows being only Ratdog, However-
this morning, I noticed in the Pinky (it's the Chronicle's entertainment guide) that Ratdog Fillmore shows will have opening musicians that go by the name of "The Waybacks"...I was disappointed and dubious..but then - thanks to Dave Rosenberg's Ratdog.org site, I was able to follow a link to The Waybacks website and am quite excited to see at first glance that they seem to be kinda folky and I've been on a real roll with folk music lately- My new family slideshow movie is set to a Nickel Creek song "When you come back down"...
Great choice (if there must be an opening act) !!!!!!!!
http://www.waybacks.com/index.html

Funny how things turn out...
Original plan was to see who could be rounded up to help answer phones for kpfa...Then there was the possibility of fumbling up to the Avalon to catch MK and Molo opening up for The David Nelson band...none of it came together...but I am listening to PigPen doing the Good Lovin thing off of KPFA as I'm blogging- final hour of the marathon..I pledged online a few hours ago..I will be very excited when my pledge gift arrives (Hard to believe I had managed to put off getting a copy of "The Illustrated Trip"til now, eh?)
After fiddling around on my homepages , I tried to watch Lord of the rings with my family but it just wasnt working for me...So, I retired to my room and began the remote roulette...I don't usually watch Country Music Television, but they were talking about murders..I pushed my Info button and discovered the show entitled "Controversy: Murder They Wrote-2004" was "A look at country songs about murder, includes interviews with Joan Baez, BOB WEIR, etc" How lucky was that? Bobby was among many folks (Tanya Tucker, Willie Nelson, Porter Wagoner) interviewed. Bobby's comments were about "Folsom Prison Blues" and "Goodbye Earl" ...
This is the second time Ive stumbled on Bobby on CMT. The other show is "Elvis" which shows up semi regularly on CMT. I'm not sure what the difference is between country and Folk.. I like em both.

Ah, a few more daze until Bobness with The Dead at the Warfield!
We've got seats in the balcony- splendid! I'm saving my strength for The Fillmore rail next month..Last Valentine's day, The Warfield was superpacked. The line wrapped all the way around the block-and it's a pretty long block. Since I won't be able to join the Deadnetters in doing line duty- I'm quite relieved to have seats-the floor is open space with some tables (most better floortables are reserved for VIPs)..It can be difficult to navigate and just way too crazy.

My son's new teacher is a deadhead-how about that?!
We got to talking and he said he has been looking everywhere for Dead tickets...Mr B. is one of 5 teachers at that school who are Deadheads, that I know of! Last December, I saw the 1st grade teacher and his wife then saw the 3rd grade teacher and her daughter at the SEVA benefit...The PE teacher used to do the Grateful Dead tours..Suzy, the kindergarten teacher has a picture of herself with our Bobstar (from the 80's) ..and Scott's cousin Andrew- (he was in the luxury suite with us on NYE in exchange for some kidsitting) works at the same school with all these charactors...he doesnt teach but works in the after school homework club.
This is so Bay Area!

Today is the best day I've had in a couple of weeks!
The learning different child was accepted back to his old school..the work will be difficult but the community of friends he had made there will see him through. I have read where our Bobstar had also struggled through school because of his own dyslexia. Having a brain that works in it's own unique way is said to make for an extra dose of creativity...
Meanwhile back in the cyber weir freak world, I have now received word (2nd time this week)that there just might be a UKDog in 2004..The dates are slightly different from the first round of rumors-and source unrevealed but even without confirmation from TPTB, I google trailed the source of the first rumor and found that such a person does exist and indeed is/has been involved in booking bands- including Ratdog. ...Of course, nothing is very certain until Bobdog puts the info out (and sometimes even then...)
at any rate, that anything is there to ponder, makes me happy!

LOL- How funny is this- another Ratdog blogger! Well sort of!
here

Superbowl and the Bobstar! Someone at DNC linked this article-

http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/football/article/0,1406,KNS_321_2623953,00.html

Well, this is an exciting development in the Warfield Dead show (one week away!) Phil Lesh's organization Unbroken Chain has released a bunch of tickets to eBay to auction off . The profits will be donated to helping schools..For a pair of Lower Loge (excellent seats) I might have to get in on the action..There are also the much sought after GA(floor)tickets available...
Check it all out @
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/unbrokenchainfoundation

OOPs!
While daydreaming about future Bobstar sightings, I forgot to mention in my prior post there's MK on Feb 13th @ the Fillmore with Jemimah Puddleduck! Opening for Sons of Champlin <- now that ought to be one awesomely sensational night!

Well, now it seems the eurotrader deal about Sept UK Bobdog is not a definate go. Management wouldnt confirm it ...But, still I'm hopeful...and it's still just January.
In the meanwhile, much to look forward to:
Dead to the World marathon (have I put up the url yet? It will be broadcasting online) on Feb 7th...If I can find a buddy to go with I hope to volunteer to answer pledge calls- I went with Gwen, Arrow, Evad and a few other Deadnetters to do that a few years ago. It was GREAT fun! Wavy Gravy was hanging out with us for a few minutes. Havent gotten it together to answer phones since, but have enjoyed listening- DG even answered my request that he dig up "Goodnight Irene" which I think was played NYE (my birthday) in 1982...
Then , on the 9th, there is the newest Dead at The Warfield ! I'm immensely grateful to Gwen for thinking of us. I'm hearing that only 1/4 of GDTSTOO orders were able to be filled. However, for the super serious ticket seeker there look to be a plethora of tickets available via EBay at double/triple prices...If a person feels lucky, a solution would be to be the first in line at the Warfield box office on the 9th. According to local lore and Legendary Rob, there is some funny little law (attributed to Bill Graham) that SF venues hold back selling a teeny percentage of tickets til the day of the show...I mightve passed on doing this or believing it but last year(Valentines Day Dead), the fellows in line with us did exactly that and ended up with prized floor tickets...
After the 9th, unless fate surpises us, we will have a few weeks and then the very very very long awaited set of Ratdog Fillmore shows! YAHOO!

Yes, things are looking better!
Scotto and I are Warfield bound and we owe it all to ((((Gwennie))). Gwennie was the 2nd Deadnetter we met- on New Year's @ the Kaiser, I think it was 1999...Locally, Gwennie is known for gifting concertgoers with buttons. I was priviledged to be shown the design for The Winter Jam and its terrifically appropo!

And to make an irenie even glowier, is that rumors of a late summer/early Fall Bobdog UK tour are starting up on the Eurotraders board...I'm not sure I know the Eurotrader who had brought it to the board but the Eurotraders that I know I met, seem to know the fellow and that's enough to get me wondering how I'm gonna work out an overseas tour during late September (Bobtember!)
Eurotraders are located @
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eurotraders/messages

I think this guy has been to Dead shows...
Thanks, Maz for the link!

http://www.theonion.com/4004/news2.html

Still dealing with a bit of a situation with one of the kinder...But, everything ought to be resolved by tomorrow afternoon ..or maybe not! The end of the world is not here yet but when one of my children is down, it affects me in the deepest darkest ways. Learning differences/Dyslexia ((Bobby)) may make for an extremely creative thinking and productive adult but from my front row observance/participation here in the "Mom" role, it doesnt make for an easy childhood at all.

Thank Dog there is music to help lighten things up!!

Meanwhile, though- the ticketmaster side of the Warfield Dead saga has ended... 9:30-ish AM on Sunday, Scotto was told to get up and get down to Tower Records his mission was to obtain those tix (which went on sale at 10AM)! While he did that, I was manning both the computer and the telephone...And I was sucessfully on line -tickets about to be purchased but I hesitated to jump in- instead, I asked the Ticketmaster lady to see where the seats were- in that very instant-my almost seats disappeared off the screen- The show had SOLD OUT right then and there at 10:01 Am...OUCH!!!!!!!!!!
Scotto arrived at Tower with moments to spare-fourth in line! Bonding with everyone in line and most assuredly telling everyone about our UK adventure...Only the first guy in line was able to purchase tickets at all...not a very sunny Sunday at all!
But, things quickly improved when a fellow Deadnetter who probably would prefer not to have his/her name mentioned, offered up a possible set of spares to us! Amazing! Wonderful! Terrific!!!
Wow!!!

Just a quick url to drop off-
http://www.fingerlakes1.com/addedstories/20031029105419.php

I was hoping to have a happy ending to coordinate with the tale of my mail ordering for Dead tickets for the upcoming Winter Jam but sadly, my money order was returned- we are embarassingly enough "the unchosen"...I checked-double checked-triple checked and beyond to be sure every detail was per GDTSTOO standards...It all looked fine - okay so, I didnt state a preference for floor or balcony- we were willing to take anything- was that the fatal flaw or were we just unlucky? I had the whole saga- how I decorated at least 12 envelopes, how we got the wrong kind of money order and had to exchange it then get the desired type...how we had the middle schooler tear her backpack apart in search of a 3x5 index card....

It's hard not to feel rejected...all my local Deadnet friends seem to get not just GDTS tickets- but really nice seats. Aw, well then again, they've been mail ordering forever and certainly deserve such for their loyalty there...

Here in the Bay Area lots of long time heads we knew-know, get tickets in mode that could be thought of as a spin on the parlour game called "6 degrees of Kevin Bacon" -Here it would be called "6 degrees of the Grateful Dead" ...Til lately, we were players...It goes like this- the longer one has been living in the area, the more likely it is that one will have some connection to someone who is in the Dead or associated with them...Example- A collector of old pocket watches comes into the shop where Scotto works, Scott developes an acquaintence with the collector-the collector turns out to be a powerbroker for a company that works with the Grateful Dead. He/She can get us tix/passes to just about any Dead show- just ring him/her up! He or she is only 2 degrees away from the grateful dead...One pal was always able to get tickets via his chiropractor-the chiropractor was also the chiropractor to a member of the band. Someone else was friendly with someone related to Bill Graham. A Rabbi we know somehow grew up knowing someone 1 degree away from the Dead and we see him in the good seats at most shows(when the show doesnt fall on Shabbat that is) and so it goes/went...
Meanwhile, our "friend" has moved on and others with connections are wary to trouble their people as this is going to be a rare and crazy night- the first hometown glimpse of Warren Haynes (another wonderful singer) as a member of the Dead...
Meanwhile, our next step in the quest for Dead Tix is to try Ticketmaster. One possible plan is to go down the hill and be the first one in line at the Tower Record TM outlet...or try online or via telephone...or try all 3 methods...if we end up with extras- we will make a few other unconnected folks really happy!
And if we don't get tickets thru today's efforts, it might work the other way round!
And if we can't find tickets- we will survive- Two nights of RatDog at the Fillmore is coming up next- and I could never stand to miss that!!!

Life as always is good except -Argh- family issues have taken over this week but hopefully everything will be back under control by tomorrow and I can swing back into my happy cyber weirld!

For the first time, Scott and I are trying GDTSTOO mail order for the Warfield Dead show...More details on that when I get back online...Tomorrow for sure!

wHOA! cRAZY HERE!!

Finally finished and posted my slideshow movie of the UK tour!

It's here:
http://homepage.mac.com/irenie2/RDUKTOUR/PhotoAlbum13.html
uh, wait- that's not it! But I think you can click on the link to get to it from there? Well, I'll figure it all out...

Kids are home in honor/celebration of {{{Dr MLK jr}}} and so my time online is limited (everyone wants to fiddle with new applications)...
Now gotta go get a envelope and decorate it! Tomorrow is gdtstoo mail order day for The Weirfield Show!!

WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Announcing "The Second Annual Winter Jam"
with The Dead: Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann,
Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, with Jeff Chementi, Warren
Haynes and Jimmy Herring.

Monday, February 9 at the Warfield Theater,
San Francisco, CA.
Doors open at 6:30 PM. Show time is 7:30 PM.

Mail order tickets are available at $54.00 per
ticket for both general admission on the floor
and balcony seating. Please specify.

Hey!
Hearing about a few more Bobdog dates coming up!
Excited to hear that Robin & Teresa may be coming over for The Fillmore shows!!
The following sounds like a commercial but I just can't keep it to myself!!
The latest distraction for me is having updated my Mac to OSX and also adding in the iLife 2004 apps..It's sooooo awesome! All my Eurodog & Marin Music Fest & NYE photos (THERE ARE HUNDREDS & HUNDREDS- this app can store up to 8,000 photos!!) only took about a minute for all to pop up. It's so freaking easy to enhance, edit,crop, retouch AND blow up & minimize each photograph- I may be here for the entire 3 day weekend!! Seriously. There's a whole new life or two for each picture- I've blown (LOL) Bobby up and cropped out the excess stuff and turned him into a sepia dream out of a photo taken from 100 feet away. I realize folks have been able to do this stuff via photoshop apps but I barely have time to blog let alone learn photoshop- the new ilife photo app is quick and easy! I need to find out what I need to do to put pictures up here on the blog so you can see what I'm talking about..I'll see if I have any room left at the Mac.com homepages and post a few.

What can be more fun than (as Mia described it) the "shell game" that goes with the first few daze of the announcement of Ratdog tour dates? One day they re listed as playing Ventura and Los Angeles- a few hours later Los Angeles is switched to Hollywood (HOB) and Ventura disappears. Dates get changed and the tour is suddenly all jigjagged...Since it seems I'm just going to the hometown shows it's more amusing than tragic...The bright spot is that the tourdates are being announced in a fairly timely manner compared to some of the past tours.....I wouldve loved to hit that Vegas show though...

I finally upgraded my mac to OSX and am having a bit of a challenge figuring things out. In a few days I will also be adding something called ilife 2004- which is the newest upgrades to some of the applications (I think they are applications- I really don't know what I'm talking about) Anyhow all of this is my explanation (excuse) for not blogging in as often as I can.

I'll try to get back on track here tomorrow- right now must upload some pix (my NYE Pix are on my homepages now)...

I thought it was today but I might be wrong but at any rate wishing a very Happy Berthaday to Mark Karan
and also to Bearlyanne! Goats do rule!!!!!!!

How cute is this?!
Florida Jen posted the link on the Weir page at Deadnet.
It's a site called "Rockin Roadies' and there's Bobby and crew!
Here's the url:
http://www.rockinroadies.com/

New Year's Eve Dead can be listened to at:

http://nugs.net/attics/031231_mp3.asp

I can't even believe The SF Chronicle published this miserable thing on their open forum today!

You may need to skip if incendiary anti Dead articles make your blood pressure shoot up!
Here is the url:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/01/09/EDG9Q45I4F1.DTL

Now, Below is what BlairJackson put up on Deadnet in response. I sure hope it gets published :

"Have no idea if the Chronicle will run my letter, but here was the response I fired off this morning in the heat of passion:

A letter…

What, pray tell, was the Chronicle’s point in running Chris Plunkett’s slam on hometown heroes the Grateful Dead on the Jan. 9 “Opinion” page? Besides the fact that it read like the hysterical ravings of some anti-drug government propaganda film from the late ’60s (or a John Ashcroft missive from ’00s), it was filled with inaccuracies: Garcia’s coma years before his death was not “drug-induced”; it was mostly a result of adult onset diabetes. The Dead’s “dancing bears” logo may have, in fact, at some point been printed on LSD, but so have images of Mikail Gorbachev, Opus the Penguin and dozens of other real and fictional characters. The dancing bears are just that: dancing bears having a good time! Leave ’em alone, you buzz crusher! True, the segment of music known as “space” may be more interesting to some if they are psychedelicized, but the bottom line is it’s just great freeform improvisational music, a chance for the musicians to stretch in interesting directions without the imposition of song form.

As for the rest of the article…well, it is not exactly news that the Dead and Deadheads were perched on the libertine edge when it comes to consciousness altering agents. And the Dead HAVE been bashed through the years about drug use--check the record! Yes, there have been folks, band members even, who carried their drug use too far and died as a result. But the overwhelming majority of people who have followed the Dead through the years have benefited immeasurably from joining on the “long, strange trip,” and from being part of a cultural atmosphere that encourages tolerance, brotherhood, ecstatic communion, spiritual, musical and psychic exploration, and fun with a capital F.

Blair Jackson
Oakland, CA


And I want to share Steve Silberman's great response, too, while we're at it:

Dear Editor:

Thank you for publishing Chris Plunkett's courageous op-ed piece on the Grateful Dead and their immersion in the drug culture. You will probably get hundreds of enraged letters from wild-eyed Dead fans decrying the lack of fact checking or timely relevance in Plunkett's piece, but I say, compared to the threat of reefer madness taking hold among America's youth, who cares about such elitist matters of journalistic "integrity"?
It's high time -- oh, sorry -- for the silent majority to speak out. Surely Plunkett could write similarly timely pieces on how Elvis' gyrating pelvis planted the seeds of the STD epidemic, and how the Beatles' suspiciously girlish "mop-tops" -- to say nothing of acid-addled lyrics like "I Am the Walrus" -- led several generations astray. The jazz "music" of known addicts like Charlie Parker, Billie Holliday, and John Coltrane, and the booze-fueled hallucinations of the Abstract Expressionist painters, are also worthy of Plunkett's wrath. I say it's never too late to save our children.

Steve Silberman
Cole Valley, San Francisco "

Yay! It's Friday!!
Received this news today-
More info when we get back late next week...

Jemimah Puddleduck is going to open for the Sons of Champlin on Friday,
February 13 at 9 pm at THE FILLMORE. Yep- fillmo debut. Spread the word.
www.thefillmore.com

Hey!
I'm listening to Ratdog Radio!
Here's the web addy:
http://www.gdradio.com/ratdogradio/

If you suspect 2 nights at the Fillmore might leave you sore or you just want to be a little decadent, there's the Kabuki Springs & Spa on the corner of Fillmore and Geary Streets in what is known as Japantown...I've been there before for a soak and a massage and it's clean, nice and the staff were very professional.....I'm very tempted to stop in there on my way to do line duty!

www.kabukisprings.com/

two more photosites- not sure if I already put them up?
CJ's site at:
http://live-dead.co.uk/

and Norman Sands' site at:
http://kingidea.com/

my kids are coming home tonight so that's about all the time I've got to blog for this evening!

woof!
New photos on the official site!

http://www.rat-dog.com/photos.html

This morning, Chuck aka Father Time was on KFOG speaking of his NYE experience...Of course he had a great time! Had his friends fly in from Utah to join in the fun. He got to watch the soundcheck, joined Mickey's party which was next door to his dressing room, appreciated the folks from Another Planet who sounded like they were the ones who handled his end of stuff. Said rehearsal didnt quite happen (might explain the deal with the spacecraft's untimely lift off). He didnt say who the kids on stage with him were, but that they were just as nervous as he was! They gave him a basket full of guitar pics, flower petals and I forgot whatelse to fling around. LOL, He said it was the longest he ever had to keep himself together at Dead NYE show...and of course, he's ready to it all again!

This is the url to Julie's(aka Graceful Dead from the Deadnet discussion group) tour memories journal (with photos)..She did the whole facepainting costume thing all over the states...You might recognize her sans paint from being in the photograph with Binki, Bobby and I at the SEVA post show reception.

http://www.gcalabels.com/too/

All this stuff about no Eurodog is upsettling. We look forward to returning and carrying on with all our new buddies.. I like to think Bobby is aware that he's really got a hand in creating what there is of the current Eurohead's scene.
Scott and I went to see Ratdog in 2002 in The Netherlands and Cologne..Plenty more people this year came to see him- imagine if Ratdog werent playing the same nights as The Rolling Stones! If there were tee shirts and what not available that wouldve helped too...Guess we need to be patient after all it's only January...Good time to start stashing the spare change for whatever comes up....
And speaking of what's coming up, there are Ratdog dates going up for more West Coast shows! Two Fillmore shows (HURRAH!) at the beginning of March!!! Dates in Ventura, Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. being shown at the official Ratdog website-www.ratdog.com...

I'm still not done with all the stuff I need to do before resuming real life tomorrow...After such a fab Decembweir, there will be a nice quiet January. By February, Dog or Dead dates should continue to pop up...Scott is all set to go after Bobdog for his own birthday fun. And so it goes we blast off into 2004!

No word on Euro or the UK but lots of speculation. I found this online today- it's Kevin Shewan's 2003 UK Ratdog reviews (hope I got the name right!) Nice job! LOL- I saw he found some of my pictures-cool! Anyhoo here's the web addy (since I still havent figured out how to link stuff in here):

http://www.shewan.com/music/dead/ratdogastoria2003.html

I lost my place in the entire NYE review I started a few daze ago.
Let's see..Did I tell ya after I raced down to meet up with The DNCrs and Ratdog.orgers Reisha songled a huge group of folks in Happy Birthday - blush-blush! I hung out til the lights were dimming. Then I charged back up to the suite- grabbed a diet coke and Scott's 21 power Binoculars, settled back in a big leathery chair and turned all my attention to Robert Hunter! He played Ripple- an excellent NYE song and my number one choice for the set. Ripple says it all for how my year went...
Tween the Hunter and Funk Brothers set, Tree and I returned to the floor to find more familiar faces- and there was Shady Backflash! Shady was the first Deadnetter I ever met- He came to town for the Kaiser RAtdog NYE back in 98>99. I didnt know what he looked like-but he needed a place to hang for the night of the 25th- So, WE invited him for dinner, "How will I know who you are?" I enquired as I would be needing to pick him up at SFO..."I'll be the only 6ft guy standing there in a rainbow beanie with a propellar on top" and so it went!

OKay, setbreak over-back in the elevator to the suite.

THe Funk Brothers had us dancing- JOan Osborne came out and did some stuff with them and all too soon it was over...Tree and I ran back down to the floor but it was treacherous to try -even expect to get as far as the soundboard. To hundreds if not thousands of Deadheads, this was the point of the night to get as close in as possible to the stage. Tree and I were almost trapped in the deep middle but along came a blind man-red tipped white cane, and folks were kindly letting him move around-Tree and I lined up behind him and straggled back to the stairway- back up to the suite! The Dead came on and most of us were dancing. I loved being Dead Bobby Center even if it was a long way from the rail. The speakers were aimed right at us- nothing to block any of the view (The Mezzanine level is only suites- a flight of stairs away from everyone below). It was awesome!
Drat! Gotta blog off again!
But I won't forget-don't let me forget to mention the Bill Walton cake thang...lol!

Tonight I'll be getting back to Blog about the rest of the NYE extravallama but right now, I feel a real need to post my friend Reisha's special rant about The Dead. Sort of balances out or adds to Blair's review.Reisha worked for Bill Graham for years and sometimes still wears the blue coat at local shows- Okay, Here goes:

"as to The Boyz......well, boys will be boyz...... they can ( & damnwell DO) do whatever the fuk they want. some of it, i will love. some of it, i will not. & some of it ill have to turn to the folx next to me & scream 'DO THEY have TO DO THAT?!?!?!?!?' same as i ever did. so, no big surprise/change THERE. look at their entire history. t'aint nuthin but what what theyve ALWAYS done. continued. gone on. furthur. morphed, adapted, SURVIVED!!!!!! & folx can just go piss on their OWN damn cheerios if they're resistant to the changes, the evolution that continues. NO, it aint jerry. it aint pig, or brent, or keith. it aint Bill Graham. & weather its grateful, other, too, CRSB, or the dead........the elemental SPIRIT of creation thats unique to this scene, these individuals is still there. maybe a lil older, maybe a lil grittier, greyer, forgetfull-er, but goddamnit!!!!!
  it really irks me, some of the naysayers - kicking & screaming cuz it aint the 60's no more. well, if youre that ridgid & unflexible, that unwilling to consider, for a moment the possibilities......why then, in the fuk are you still trying to identify w/ it all? you missed the bus, get off & give the seat to someone who WANTS the ride?!?!
thats all. ill climb down off my soapbox now. but keep the railing, i mite need to get up there again..... "

Hey there!
My head is still spinning from NYE!
Scott is also still somewhat glazed over. It was just incredible fun.
Be patient with me as I wind down from the last week...
I have many notes of thanks to send out received lots of sweet gifts at the arena as well as from my little students (school resumes on Monday)...but don't let me forget to blog about my entrusting Bill Walton with a huge piece of Chocolate Decadence Birthday cake to pass on to friends behind the laminate curtain....That was crazy!! Need a little more time than I can muster up right now....

In the meanwhile, there's a campaign brewing over on the Eurodead boards to guarantee that Ratdog returns to Eurodog this Summer...And HOB in Anaheim (DisneyDog) is happening in February which indicates the possibility of a Bay Area Ratdog coming up (OH PLEASE!!!!!)

ignore the preceeding url-
to see the pix- you must login/register (it's free) here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DeadNetCentral/

sorry for the confusion!

Cool- here is where I was able to post some of my pictures- you will need to register or login into yahoo to view them, though.
http://login.yahoo.com/config/login?.src=gr&.done=http%3a//photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/deadnetcentral/lst%3f.dir=/%26.src=gr%26.view=t&.intl=us&.linkdone=http%3a//photos.groups.yahoo.com/

Blair Jackson has okayed my request to reprint his NYE review(originally posted @ Deadnet) on my iblog -So, here goes!
Blair Jackson-
My .02, FWIW. Had a great ol' time last night. Usual pre-show screw-ups--like trying to not open the lots until 4, despite the fact that folks like me showed up hours before that. So you've got folks driving around aimlessly for hours or (my choice) parking on weird side streets, lining up, then, when they opened the gates for cars (and people) at 3:30 (rather than 4 as they told all the cars they'd turned away)I had to re-park (for 15 bucks!). Line management was shoddy, the entrances inadequate and over-crowded. Not up to old BGP snuff, to be sure.

Once in, though, the vibes were good and surprisingly relaxed considering it was NYE. Helped that it was WAY not full. In fact, it wasn't until around the time the Dead came on that the upper reaches started to be populated at all. Well, the 70 buck ticket price was pretty intimidating to many (including me!). Tickets were much cheaper outside, of course.

Hunter came on a little after seven and played one of the best sets I've seen him do. Opened with a nice "Doin' That Rag," tossed a "Loser" in there, somewhere, and "Might As Well," but the coolest were the three newish songs (all post JG), including a new epic about keys to a room or some such, which had some very cool passages, as well as some odd chordal moments that could use some re-thinking IMO. But Hunter was ON, and the crowd was amazingly attentive for the most part--not always the case with his sets, I'm afraid. A GREAT "Standing on the Moon" was the big late winner...cut the "be with you's" (unfortunately) to charge right into a warm "Ripple." "Boys in the Barroom" is always a rousing good time, 'specially if it's been a good set, and this one was. Kudos to Mr. H. I'd love to see him go into a studio with a full band and record songs like "Keys to the Room" or whatever it's called), the magnificent "Blow Wind Blow" and any other new 'uns he has. Billy on drums. Phil on bass ('cause let's face it, he owes Hunter for delivering so many good lyrics the past few years), Barney Doyle on guitar...Great album there somewhere...

Funk Brothers were awe-inspiring on a certain level, and I basically dug their trip, though frankly, a lot of that material has been so over-played through the years, and because their arrangements are EXACTLY like the hit records, some of it was just like listening to a loud radio or a really good cover band. I liked what Joan added on her couple of tunes and really got off on a handful of favorites ("I'll Be There"! "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"). It was a little long for my tastes. Needless to say, it would've been a bit different if we he's had Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, Junior Walker and all the other "real" singers, rather than the very capable and talented but essentially faceless singers who did front the band. But only a Grinch would diss the Funk Bros. and you'll get no true diss from me. They rock!
Really enjoyed the Dead's first set, which had a disntinctly jammy second set feel for much of it, especially the whole "Westher Report Suite," with the long, long "Let It Grow." But we're jumping the gun..."Good Times" was sweet...but useless, just as it was with the Grateful Dead--a way to ease into the show, but without much to offer. (Did like Joan doing verse two, though) "Jack Straw" got things cooking, as it always does--very nice version. I still have the memory of the wonderful Shoreline "Peggy-O" in my head, and this one didn't kill me the way that one did, but it was still pretty nonetheless. Greg Osby was onstage for much of the night (less in the first set, I think) and he occasionally added some nice sax solos and punctuation. The guy definitely has chops, but IMO he rarely soared. He didn't have the Jerry-like melodic genius or assertive power of a Branford Marsalis, but he picked his spots pretty well. I was sick of saxophone by the middle of the second set, though. There's plenty of noise onstage and noodling without another solo element. Needless to say YMMV. Loved "Rubin and Cherise" (another Shoreline highlight). I am so pro-Joan. If ever a band needed a capable on-key singer, this is the one and she is it--she does justice to the Jerry tunes in ways that Phil and Bob do not. If this was her swan song, I bid her a fond adieu. "Rider" was a nice kick-ass ending to a very strong set.

The midnight moment was a total bomb, a mess-up that must have had Bill Graham spinning in his grave. At about ten til midnight, a huge flying saucer started decending slowly from the ceiling and gliding across the crowd toward the stage. There were a few blips and pops and odd sound effects, but NO music or giant build up, and it's still not exactly clear to me what the point was. It finally ended up hovering over the front lip of the stage, but there was no one onstage, and as I said, no music of any kind. It stayed there a minute, then slowly made its way back up to the rafters without anything having emerged from the spaceship or having any interaction with anyone on the (empty) stage. Bizarre. So there we were at five to midnight with the big visual effect over, still no band onstage. Finally, someone started the countdown (beginning at 8!)there was the big Happy New Year moment, balloons and confetti falling (actually, the one over us wouldn't open at first)..but still the stage was empty! For the second year in a row, we had a music-less New Year's moment! How lame is that?! At last the band came out and whipped out the expected (and greatly appreciated) "Sugar Magnolia"--a full version with SSDD. Excellent! Joan looked fantastic in her slinky black dress and New Year's top hat! Style-y! That was then followed by a typically explosive "Saint Stephen" (complete with "High green chilly winds..." Yay! My first time ever hearing it live...when I started seeing the band in '70, they'd dropped it already). "Born Cross-Eyed" was also cool. I kind of thought the rest of the set would build on this raucous energy, but it quickly turned spacey (neat "Mountains of the Moon" in there somewhere)and it really ended up being a pretty spacey affair for most of the show. Now, normally that would be exactly what I like the most--I'm a jam man through and through--but quite frankly, last night I was in a rockin' mood and the second set didn't satisfy me in that regard. I thought there was an awful lot of what felt like pretty aimless jamming in between fine versions of a whole slew of great songs: "Dark Star" (another complete version), "The Wheel," etc. Can't truly complain about the songlist, I guess...just the pacing of the set which was so drawn-out and lacking in focus--having Greg Osby up there did not help that.

Encore was nice treat--Joan warbling "Must've Been the Roses" and what seemed like it was going to be "Help-Slip-Frank," but there was such a bloody trainwreck as the band attempted to shift gears going back into the last part of "Slipknot," that it crashed to nothing, but the jubilant "Truckin'" emerged--I was happy to be rockin'!

All in all, a fine time...

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!2004!!!!!!!!!
I'm so tired- what a fun couple of nights! Got to bed about 5am...Geez, where to begin??
The show on the 30th was a good one- basic. No openers They came, they played, we danced -essentially a warm up for the high energy fun we were treated to last night.

The day started with birthday calls from my family (still all in Hawaii for another week) and friends. Fiddled around until 4:20pm when our old buddy Ron came by to pick up the kid and I, then off to The Millers. Left the kid with the Millers' boys (they babysat) Ron and I jumped into Dave & Hillary's van from there and on to the Arena. Because, we had our suite, we spent as much time as possible checking out the goods on Shakedown Street. Lots of fun trinkets . Hillary is an artist also-she
has a studio and works in ceramics and watercolors. I believe her website is www.hillarymiller.com.....We enjoyed all the inspirational goodies on view. The Lot venders were starting to roll up their wares and so we four marched to the Arena. Once indoors we took the elevator to the Mezzanine level, had hands and tickets stamped with matching numbers- this makes attempts of "stubbing up" rather futile.
Our suite was exactly across from the stage. In the entrance, there was a big coat closet and a large bathroom. The room was like a living room- two couches, a coffee table a countertop with a sink a fridge and an ice machine. Where a wall would be normally be, there was a bar area with barstools..beyond that were steps that lead down to balcony type of area with two rows of 6 big comfy leathery chairs. Lots of space and leg room. There were 2 TVs, during set breaks, we turned it on to see New Year's breaking in assorted time zones as well as to check the weather as a storm was on the way.Our balcony was separated from our neighbors by walls of plexiglass. Very cool- we could see each other but were unable to hear them unless we swung our heads out off the (low) balcony. Very nice fun people to our left and to our right! Scott and Arrow and Tree were already at home in the suite when we arrived. Scott had arranged for some catering so the fridge was prestocked with waters, beer and sodas. Champagne was on ice in the ice machine. Munchies (chips, salsas,veggies & dip and popcorn) were all around. Later on, right before midnight, Chocolate birthday cake(delicious!) and coffee with cream were delivered. A little later, Tim and Linda treated everyone to a late night supper of
hot dogs, Caesar salad and chips!!!
Next to arrive was Andrew and Rachel, then Moon.

I took a few moments before the show was too begin to go down by the soundboard and wish my friends from Deadnet and Ratdog.org a Happy New Year! I met some folks I've only been familiar with from the internet. It's always great to meet in 3-d when the opportunity arrives. Hopefully, I'm not leaving anyone out but there have been all sorts of substances playing in my system since then but...(((((The Queen of Diamonds, The BQ, StaggerCT, Cheffy, EBeth, Boston Steve, Cali, Mazzy, Gwen, Reisha, GracefulDead, CDawg, DireWolfie, Rose, Katrinka,Twirl Girl, Boots,PEACE!, Shady Backflash, OMigod- so many more folks!!!!)))) I think I'm gonna need to take a nap before I can venture forth with the show..
Be back when I can....Got loads of photographs! One can be seen on the homepage of www.theotherones.net.

It's finally Dead night!
Getting ready to go to my last show of my 44th year! Spose that means tonight is my last show of young adulthood! Onward to middle age!! Time seems to go by so much faster since I turned 40 but I also seem to appreciate so much more than I used to.
Well, no time to ponder the passing of time as it's shower time and soon enough Christine will be by and off we'll be going again!
whoooooooooooooosh!!!!!!!!!!!

Did everyone have happy holidaze??!! Scott works almost nonstop these daze. The Ratdog dates are trickling out as slowly as possible. A friend who "knows things". Tells me that Ratdog will add a Los Vegas House of Blues gig to the upcoming shows...I went to see Ratdog there on December 26th-I think it was 2001? A great show. I was in Vegas for only 22 hours! It was the first time in a very long time (20 years!) that I travelled completely alone..Of course, once I checked into The Mandalay (the venue is in the hotel!) I was surrounded by Dogfreaks. Had a great time!

Its been quiet this week, no Bob sightings that I've heard of...Last night, I tagged along with Christine and Ben to go to The Avalon Ballroom to see Mark Karan sing and play with an assortment of musicians including Melvin Seals and Bobby Vega that call themselves "The Avalon Allstars". Christine is a few years older than I am and indulged me with her tales of "Back in the day" when she was a teenager and going to see the Grateful Dead in St Michael's Alley and the Fillmore.
This was best to my recollections, my first time at the Avalon...It is pretty, clean with a fancy ceiling and carpeted floor. The Allstars came on sort of late- I don't wear watches but Ben said it was about 10! Lots of jamming- to the delight of a mostly younger (school's out) crowd. Mark sounded great as did Melvin. Saw some of the people from Ratdog.org and a few from Deadnet.com plus all the usual suspects who don't (as far as I know) post but who never miss a show. It was a nice night!

Onward to Tuesday Night and NYE!!!!!!!!!

Saturday was a major black out- This morning was an earthquake-I felt the house shift a teeny bit, while the dog barked and thought maybe I was dizzy but then noticed the shutters waving...Argh, tomorrow the rain starts up again! Somehow, I will make it to both the Oakland and San Francisco airports. Jase is an adult and can get himself on his flight. Sash is just a girl, I will need to park and go through check in and the security lines with her..Why my mom decided to put them on separate flights out of 2 different airports is beyond me .With the Terror Alert so high, this should be quite an adventure...They better have a great time!!
December is always the craziest month!!
I might have to do some flying around myself soon- Look what was found online today!!!!

Ratdog at the House of Blues in Anaheim on 2/23. Tix seem to be on sale:

http://www.hob.com/tickets/eventdetail.asp?eventid=24098

And, ratdog at 4th and B in San Diego onb 2/27

http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0A003793ECC0AF3E?brand=&artistid=806204&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=1

WOOF!

:o)

Had fun at Mark's show last night. A bit of an adventure getting there. Normally it takes between 45 minutes to an hour to get to Mill Valley but last night there was a major power outtage in San Francisco which caused all the traffic lights (about 24!) on 19th boulevard and through the park to go out. Because we had to stop and wait at each intersection - it took over 2 hours to get to Mill Valley...But before going into Mill Valley, Kems drove us over to Vista Point-a parking area that looks at the SF skyline from the Marin side of the Golden Gate Bridge, so we could the extent of the outtage- very strange to not see the town lit up.

We had a fun time at Sweetwater- Reisha and Maria were also delayed by the outtage and didnt get there til 11:30! Ben made it and was dancing all night! Great to have a few minutes to chat with Mazzy..And Elizabeth too!
WDP's Jay (Allie's brother) came out all the way from Colorado just for this gig! I love that he did that- I may not be the most extreme Ratdog/Weir/Quack head in the world after all?
I have no setlist and am not certain exactly who else other than John Molo and Bob Gross are in Jemimah Puddleduck with Mark..but the band rocked! Mark will be on the upcoming Jambands cruise in January along with Robert Wasserman, David Gans and other assorted musicians..Know that I did give MK a bad time about sneaking that Bahamas gig in at the last moment! Well, let's all hope he & Maile have an insanely great time so they sign up again and we can all sail along with them.

Happy Winter Solstice!

The plan is that after Scotto gets home from work-we will do the blessings, light the candles and- I'll be out the door with the one and only Kems and on the way to Mill Valley (about an hour away) to see (Ratdog guitarist) Mark Karan and his band Jemimah Puddleduck play at The Sweetwater! Show starts 9ish-but its a tiny venue which gets really crowded. We need to be there early to grab a table in the front.
check it out!
www.sweetwatersaloon.com/

Happy Berthaday to Monet!!!!!!!


Love to all today!

Wish I knew how to put links here-more nice old Bobby photos here:
http://www.geocities.com/kesysol/morerr.html

Here's something that appeared on Deadnet not too long ago...Some small details are inaccurrate. It's from a book that either was published or is about to be published-

The title of the book is Lessons From Our Fathers.


Bob Weir – Founding Member of the Grateful Dead

Both my natural and adopted fathers were military men. My adopted dad attended Annapolis for seven years and came out with the military equivalent of a doctorate in Engineering. When they gave him his first commission and put him out to sea he was seasick from the time he left port to the time he got back. It was so bad they had to put him in the hospital. Then he tried it again right at the beginning of World War II. He wanted nothing more than to serve his country but it just was not going to happen. He showed a lot of perseverance.
He was quite a guy. In fact, never in my presence did he ever use bad language. Rarely did I see him ever become angry, and it was not that he wasn’t a lively, energized person, he was just a consummate gentleman. He was born with three kidneys so he could drink all he wanted and was never affected. He did not drink much, but as far as getting a little buzzed, it was not a doable deal for him. I think one time my parents had a party and he was drinking pretty much all night and toward the end of the evening I may have seen a twinkle in his eye. That was about it.
My natural father was born and raised in the Tuscon, AZ area. He was 19 when he joined the Air Force and they put him behind the wheel of a bomber. He later became a test pilot and rose to the rank of Colonel. In fact, when he announced he was retiring, they offered him a Generalship but he declined because he had a son who was terminally ill.
My adopted parents passed on in 1972 from separate illnesses. My mom died on my dad’s birthday and a month later my dad died on my mom’s birthday. So you don’t argue with that kind of stuff. Then about ten years went by and I came home from a tour and it was my first night home and I was trying to sleep in. I had this very strange dream about my family home, my brother and a stillborn baby. And at the point of the dream where my brother and I pick up the baby and hold it, and each other, I was awakened by the phone ringing in real life. It was the Grateful Dead office calling to say there was a lady on the phone by the name of Phyllis who says she’s your mother and did I know anything about this. Apparently she had known for some time who I was and had tracked me, but had to sign a promise not to contact me while my adopted parents were still living.
I myself had actually done some research to try and find her but she pretty effectively covered her tracks. But I went and met her the next day and unfortunately we did not exactly hit it off – she had twelve other kids. So I could ascertain with a fair bit of ease that she didn’t really have a need for me in her life. But I kept in touch with her, called her on Mother’s day and over this time she gave me some information regarding my dad; his name and where she last saw him which at that point was 40+ years.
The story was that when she got pregnant she ran off to San Francisco without his knowing, and had me, and then came back but never let on that I existed. So he had no idea he had a son. When she told me who he was I had a private investigator track him down. It took all of an hour for him to find him. As fate would have it, it turned out he was the commanding officer at Hamilton Field, the local Air Force base in San Francisco. But because I am almost pathologically anti-authoritarian I figured this would not go well for either of us because it does not get much more authoritarian than the commanding officer of a military base. Then I just sat on the info for close to ten years. Finally I figured this guy’s not getting any younger, I guess I better just buck up and do this. But there was still some apprehension because I didn’t know what I was going to find. If my dad was an @#%$ what does that say about me? I just assumed that military officers chose that profession so they could boss people around. So I figured I had three choices for contact: I could write him a letter – but he might crumble it up and throw it away. I could go see him – but the last thing I wanted was for my first and only memory of my father watching him clutch his chest and fall over backwards. I decided to call him.
It was early evening the next day and I called and said
“I’m looking for John Parver,”
and he said “That would be me”
and I told him “well, I’m Robert Weir and I live in Mill Valley and I’ve been doing some research and have dug up some information that may be of considerable interest to you. But first I have to ask you a question or two.”
And he replied, “ok.”
And I continued, “ It concerns events that took place in Tucson about fifty years ago” and he said “ok” and then I asked “is it possible that you were romantically involved with a woman by the name of Phyllis?”
and he said “well, yes”
and so I told him “sir, in that case there’s a very strong likelihood that, even though I’m not sure how many children you have, but you may have one more than you know.”
This was followed by a long silence and then he said
“The only Robert Weir I know is the guy that sings and plays with the Grateful Dead.”
And I said “well sir, that would be me.”
So we arranged to meet the next day at a local restaurant of his suggestion which was coincidentally a favorite of both of ours, and we have become very, very close.
We both share a singular inability to take anything seriously or an ability to make light of pretty nearly any situation. The more time we spend together the more similarities I see and realize that the apple does not fall far from the tree. And even though I didn’t grow up with him, in many ways I am as much, if not more like him then is own sons.
On a weekly basis my family and I have been going up and staying with my father in Nevada where he now lives. We stay over for a night and each morning Grandpa cooks me and my family pancakes. Towards the beginning of this Towards the beginning of this year he and his wife Milenna began to leave a guitar out that belonged to his eldest son who tragically died of Spinal Cancer some time ago. He had been a professional musician in a fairly successful band and had a collection of guitars when he died that the remaining sons divvied up but because nobody really wanted this one it was left behind with his parents. They pulled it out of the closet and it was in a funky old case and it was just sitting in the corner of their home. Now I saw this case for a month of so and finally rose to the bait and opened it up and inside there was this beat up old Telecaster with one pickup kind of sprung out of it’s moorings and broken up a little. So after looking at it for two or three weeks I finally said, “okay, I’ll bite, can I take this to rehearsal with me and have my roadie / tech guy fix it up?” and they said “we thought you’d never ask.”
So I took it to him and he had it working in no time at all. And I plugged it into my rig (amplifier) at our first rehearsal for the tour. Now I had not even picked up a Telecaster in years, let alone played one, but I started playing it and from the first note it was obvious, for me, for the band, for everyone that the characteristically tin sound really was perfect and helped everything. It became my “A” guitar.
After no one wanting this guitar it fell out of the sky one me.
All of the family, as opposed to feeling forsaken, are really overjoyed at seeing a piece of their older brother and eldest son make it on the big stage.
The whole story is really a little bit of mysticism.
The lesson I learned from my new dad is confirming for me that fate follows in your footsteps so you need to have faith in your path and live life with a sense of wonderment..

Awesome!!!

Geez, and I havent even been smoking or drinking anything! Natural born ditzy!
http://www.kfog.com/default.asp<-the kfog site...Read previous blog..........

You know, this feels so out of sync- My advice is to scroll down and work your way up but ..
Okay, here is the link to KFOG that I forgot to add in my last blog..
Too excited about the new dvd ..
Okay, Scott's waiting to check it out..
I better get going!

What a week! Tomorrow (Thursday) at 7:10 am Pacific time, Bobby is going to be on KFOG! I'll put the url up in just a moment...

Well, we received a midweek treat today..Our dvd of Closing of Winterland arrived at last! We watched the bit of it shown on public TV and in answer for to them using the footage for their membership drive, we joined the station- our gift from them for joining is this dvd. Now, I already have a video copy of this show, but its old and its from trading. I do look forward to seeing and hearing it all in digital perfection..
I forgot where I ran across the Easter Egg cheat sheet for it but here s a guide to finding those hidden snippets:

On Disk One go to the Main Menu, then Set 1 and the Song List. Select
"Intermission". The Blue Rose appears, illuminated. You can click it four times
for four more recollections of Steve Parrish.

Also on Disc One, at the end of Round and Round, the Blue Rose again appears.
If you click quickly, it will morph into 5 smaller roses, each with an item.
One is a Mickey comment about Uncle Bobo, another is another Parrish comment,
and there are three photos.

here's the rest... Disc Two:

Easter Egg #3

From the lyrics menu, turn the visible lyrics setting OFF, then move the cursor to the Main Menu button. Push UP on the DVD remote. A small barely
visible dot will appear just to the right of the rose on the left side of
the screen. Press ENTER to see another short clip from the Steve Parrish
interview.
  

Easter Egg #4
Again from the visible lyrics menu, turn the visible lyrics setting ON, then
move the cursor to the Main Menu button. Push DOWN on the DVD remote. A
small barely visible dot will appear just to the right of the rose on the
left side of the screen. Press ENTER to see a picture of Dan Aykroyd and
John Belushi at the afternoon soundcheck on 12-31-78.

Easter Egg #5

From the audio setup menu, turn the Dolby 5.1 setting ON, then move the cursor to the Main Menu button. Push LEFT on the DVD remote. A small
barely visible dot will appear just to the right of the rose on the left
side of the screen. Press ENTER to see a picture of Mickey Hart leaving
Winterland at 6:45 AM on 1-1-79.
  

The last three eggs are reached from different screens in the Grateful Dead
at Winterland section of the Bonus Menu.

Easter Egg #6

From the May 30, 1967 slide, push DOWN on the DVD remote. A small barely visible dot will appear just under the blue rose on the left side of the
screen. Press ENTER to see a picture of a Blues Brother performance at a
screening of Animal House.
  

Easter Egg #7

From the November 12, 1967 slide, push DOWN on the DVD remote. A small barely visible dot will appear just under the blue rose on the right side of
the screen. Press ENTER to see a hilarious clip from the interview with Bob
Weir.
  

Easter Egg #8

From the January 2, 1972 slide, push UP on the DVD remote. A small barely visible dot will appear just under the blue rose on the right side of the
screen. Press ENTER to see a picture of Bill Murray leaving Winterland.
  

Last... the "swap" angle, keep hitting it repeatedly and the closeups get very intense---back and forth, back and forth......the colors form diffferent patterns from their original, and the faces of Garcia and Lesh are intense.......

Seva stuff
for the ACLU Report: scroll down! down! down!
Here are photos from the SEVA Benefit taken by Binki (as she is known over at Deadnet.com
http://www.jwulf.net/dead_seva_12-13-03.htm

Eventually you ought to find the picture of Binki, Graceful Dead (she's another Deadnetter) and I surrounding Bobby...and he's smiling-unlike the picture Tiny Dancer and I took with him in England.

Okay, there are several colorful reviews of the entire Seva benefit over on Deadnet http://hotline.deadnetcentral.com/WebX?50@109.cfXgaJx2e1y.0@.4a8540c4/152
and if you scroll down here, the entire setlist is copied (thanks to Linda for sending it to me).

The Circle of Compassion entitled us to 2 event posters- each numbered (we have 120/ 600 and 121/600) and signed by Wavy Gravy. They are purple and have the eyes logo. Nice! When we went to a side table to pick up the posters, we each then received a laminate-ready for wear with the cord and clip. These were needed to get into the post show reception at The Down Town restaurant which is located up a block from BCT on Shattuck.
Our seats as I probably mentioned were row J which turned out to be quite close up! And probably due to Linda, we were right on the aisle-DBC as in Dead Bobby Center! It wasnt til Steve Earle was on stage that Bobby was visible, sitting at the back of the stage with Bonnie Raitt and another friend. Until the Dead came on the highlights for me were Hamza's one song with Mickey and the Jackson Browne with Bonnie Raitt pairing.
Finally, after setbreak, after the bagpiper played, our guys took the stage.. I was so excited,it took until about the 3rd song before I noticed Joan Osborne was missing. I have been listening a lot lately to her 'Days Between' from the Shoreline Dead show (Sept.03) and was looking forward to hearing more like that from her. Maybe New Year's then, I guess? It turned out fine though- more singing from Bobby! Bobby sounded fine and things were moving along and then they did a DarkStar that went into eyes of the world and somewhere in the middle of that, the show spun into that old timeless delirium phase...we all were dancing and smiling...The Dead's encore/last song was "Not Fade Away"..Wavy Brought out a bunch of people and some of the artists (no Dead members) for a song..I would need to peek at the setlist to remember the name but it was a bit familiar, I think my kids sang it at Camp Winnarainbow.....
Everyone poured out of the BCT..We found Graceful . We trekked over to the restaurant, flashed our lammies and entered. Foods that looked delicious were available on a buffet table..The place was well lit, clean and snazzy, a piano was being played in the corner. The grouplet of us hovered near a waiter's station as there were only a few small cocktail tables and they all were taken. After awhile, Mickey Hart popped in. Graceful went over to chat with him.
The restaurant had large windows all along the street. As conversations were taking place around me, I sort of drifted in thought and observed through the big windows a man walking toward the restaurant. With his shiny,swingy hair, sweater and leather coat he looked as though he stepped right off of an album cover. I teased Graceful- "Watch the door, Your next boyfriend is coming in!" She turned to see what I was talking about and with perfect timing, in He walked . Okay, so maybe that's an old joke - but it's not everyday one can do that and have Jackson Browne appear.
Tim and Linda took off for their home in Petaluma, just missing the arrival of Bobby! Graceful went over to chat with him. I stuck with Scott, afraid of embarassing myself. I was quite content to peep at Bobby from
behind the plant that was stationed atop the waiters station. Graceful came back and encouraged me to go say hello..So, I went with her..Bobby was wonderful..I managed to not fall at his feet or hyperventilate, I may have even squeaked out a word or two, I think I stole a hug (poor guy). A few people were now waiting for a go at Bobby. Binki's Rob had the camera in hand and Bobby agreed to having a photo with us...I somehow ended back by Scott..He watched the whole scene and was laughing at my big wide grin (I'm still grinning!)...til he realized we had about 4 minutes left to get our car from the parking lot (closes at 2am)...We quickly said our good byes, bopped out to the street and ran through the rain getting to the garage just in time!

Scroll down a few entries for The ACLU report.
Wow- I'm still smiling! Sad about missing tonight's Wasserman show @ Slim's, though...Especially since Rob almost looked a little happy to see me- Odessa of the rail- going for the stare down back through his Ratdog years...I was happy to see him - he looked a bit slimmer and well, happy...

Do I really have to talk about the entire SEVA thing? Okay just brief notes...,
The program went sort of like this:
Seva's Silver Anniverary
Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley CA
Saturday December 13, 2003

Ed Littlefield, Jr (on bagpipe) and Wavy Gray:

Film excerpt from documentary

Larry Brilliant:

Wavy Gravy:

Hamza el Din and Mickey Hart:
(1 piece)

Marley's Ghost (Mike Phelan, Dan Wheetman, Ed Littlefield Jr.
and Jon Wilcox) a capella:
I Can See Your Aura (and it's Ugly)

Buffy Sainte-Marie (with Kevin McKenzie & Neal Chapman):
Univeral Soldier
Up Where We Belong
Priests Of The Golden Bowl
Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
Starwalker

Marley's Ghost (a capella):
Lay Down Your Weary Tune

Steve Earle:
Ashes To Ashes
You Know The Rest
South Nashville Blues
Now She's Gone
Goodbye
Dixieland
Just An American Boy
Jerusalem
Christmas In Washington

Marley's Ghost (a capella):
I'm On My Way (the Story of Job)

Jackson Browne:
For Everyman
Lives In The Balance (with Ricky Fataar & Norton Buffalo)
Looking East (with Fataar, Buffalo & Hutch Hitchinson)
My Stunning Mystery Companion (with Fataar, Buffalo & Hutch
Hutchinson)
World In Motion (with Fataar, Buffalo, Hutchinson & Bonnie Raitt)
Nick Of Time (Bonnie with Fataar, Buffalo, Hutchinson & Jackson
Browne)
I Am A Patriot (with Fataar, Buffalo, Hutchinson & Bonnie Raitt)

Intermission

Ed Littlefield, Jr (on bagpipe):

The Dead (Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann,
Jimmy Herring, Jeff Chimenti, Rob Barraco):
Truckin' ->
Tomorrow Never Knows ->
Loser
Down The Road
Ramble On Rose
Jack Straw ->
Dark Star ->
Jam (with John Popper) ->
Eyes Of The World (with John Popper) ->
Dark Star ->
One More Saturday Night

Final Jam / Encores -
(The Dead, John Popper, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Norton Buffalo,
Steve
Earle, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Kevin McKenzie, Maria Muldaur, Marley's
Ghost.
and others):

Not Fade Away

Basic Human Needs (with Wavy Gravy without the Dead)

For notes on The Bob Rob ACLU lunch show: Scroll down to earlier today's entry....
SEVA
It already seems like a long time ago, but the SEVA Celebration was just last night...

Somehow, I managed to be ready to leave by the time Scott was home. Usually, it takes me forever, usually it's always that one shoe that is never where it should be which causes me to freak out at the last minute and have to change what I'm wearing- last night, I decided it doesnt really matter what I'm wearing and cut about 40 minutes out of my precious primp time....
As we were cruising across the San Mateo Bridge - we phoned Tim & Linda to remind them to leave our tix at will call. They were coming from the North Bay and were on the Richmond bridge when we spoke to them. We arrived in Berkeley at the same time. They directed us right to the parking spot .
The first people we ran into were Scott's cousin's girlfriend and her mom- they hadnt heard Bonnie Raitt was going to be there and were thrilled to find out.
Inside, it was a big ole love fest- at every turn was another familiar face...(((((Ben! Gwen! Mr Decker (my son's 1st grade teacher!) Katrinka, Dotty,Shady,Reisha,Jerry,Julie, Dave and well, the list goes on and on!!!) We picked up our special posters (numbered and signed by Wavy Gravy) and our post reception lammies. Then it was off to find out exactly where row J, seats 1,3,5& 7 were.
Absolutely Dead Bobby Center is where they were! Directly in front of me was the guy who works for Grateful Graphics- He saw Scotto was wearing the "Grateful Dad" shirt I bought from him at The Marin Music Festival and gave me stickers!!!
Will be back later with more of a report- am needed elseweir around here at the moment...check back 'kay?!

Okay, Today is still pretty fresh in my mind....Kemmie was willing to drive-her hub was home with the kids..Scotto(my treasure!) was fine hanging home with the 9er game and encouraged me to go along "Take some money-Have a great time!"
Still it felt a little like we were in high school and cutting class!!!
No hitches as we found the Argent, a rather posh hotel right next door to The Four Seasons Hotel on 3rd street...Happily, tickets were still available and up to the prelunch reception we went where drinks and cookies were available. Kem & I grabbed coffee & tea, found a table did a little people watching and gabbed a bit.
Folks were "guarding" the door of the banquet room-Kemmie has the big beautiful smile and without asking any questions the man at the door nearest to us, let us in.
The room was very large, tables of 10 and 12 had signs designating different chapters of Northern California ACLU on them. There were also tables set aside for a variety of groups including -Adopt International, The National Committee Against Repressive Legislation etc...
After doors had shut behind us- we realized we had wandered right into the soundcheck. Just hotel personell and the usual Weir/Wass crew were there. I expected for us to be asked to leave but we were left alone. Kem brought along her digicam (good going!) and used it- still we were allowed to stay!
The guys fiddled with Blackbird and KC Moan a little- Bobby sounded terrific! Time came too soon for the fun to end. Rob and Bob et al retreated to somewhere else and in came everyone else.
The elderly and disabled folks were the first to be let in, they found their tables then got into the (3) buffet lines. I was happy with my coffee and didnt eat or notice beyond fruit, cheeses or sweets what was offered. As the room filled to what I expect was full capacity, the opportunity to people watch was amazing.
There was a welcome given by Quinn Delaney, followed by a state of the union address by Dorothy Ehrlich. An award of courageous advocacy was presented to Judith Volkart for activism including speaking out about the dangers of the USA Patriots act.
Before Bob and Rob were presented, youths who took part in a youth Civil Liberties program reviewed their activities.
After that, Bobby and Robert Wasserman were introduced. Unlike the usual routine, Bobby stepped forward to make a few comments. He credited Dennis McNally for matching him up with this ACLU function and spoke about his own involvement over the years with environmental protection groups..He explained his own concern about orgs such as Greenpeace possibly having their tax exempt status revoked. He then was ready to do, as he put it, "what we does best" and the music started up.

Our first treat was "Ashes and Glass" Kem filmed all of it I believe. The sound was unbelievably clear and strong. The next song was "Throwing Stones" I was into it- but sitting on a chair facing tables, I wasnt aware til the sing a long "ashes to ashes" part- that there were Deadheads in the room- Everyone turned at the same time to see maybe 4 guys in tie dye up and dancing in the back..It was funny because they hadnt been visible at all til then- this was a suit and tie, sweater and skirt set.. Still sounding really great with a WONDERFUL jamming just going - a tall man at one of the centermost tables, leaped to his feet- tore off his coat, tie and (a gasp from the seniors) ripped off his shirt to reveal a big ole tie dye, then ran across the room to where the 4 Deadheads were dancing..(lawyers!) It was just another weird moment that seems to happen wherever Bobby happens...
Crowd applauded but that was all for Bob & Rob. Kems and I spent a few moments with Bobby & Rob and Dennis in the foyer on our way out. Everyone was in the best mood. I meant to thank Dennis for getting Bobby and Rob there..but like all my best thoughts- that one fizzled off and I said some lame thing about books..argh!
Bobby and Rob were all smiles and very relaxed..I was so happy to have been there, I couldnt really think up anything to say and so stood there smiling at both of them..The beautiful thing was having them smile back...
I love December!

WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO! Aces back to back indeed!!!!!!
Last night was the great SEVA benefit and today was Bobby and Wass at the Argent Hotel doing a short performance for the Bill of Rights Day Celebration for the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California...

Weir should I begin???????

Bonnie Raitt to be a special guest at the SEVA benefit next week! What a night that's gonna be! The Dead, Jackson Browne, Steve Earle and now Bonnie Raitt! I'm really really glad to have pushed Scotto for the Circle tickets! We've landed in row J - with center of the house seats. At the BCT -with excellent acoustics-well, it doesnt get much better than that!

I love that Bobby is gooey!
check it out-
http://www.kindweb.com/Fun/QGoo/BobWeir/

AH! This just in- Another Bobby (with The Wass) event this December in the Bay Area!!!!!!!
here's a link:
http://www.aclunc.org/events.html

:O)

Oy- such a day! I had jury duty..didnt get called up but did have to hang out in the Juror's room for about 3 hours..Who knew wasting time could be so exhausting?
Found this old but sweet interview with Bobby regarding his enjoyment of mountain biking.
Here ya go:

http://ourworld.cs.com/ckelly6447/weir_page_1.htm

Very sad to report that Smmy has cancelled the Marin Civic center gig...Heart was in the right place but apparently it is a little too close to get it together and unfortunately, Mazzy reports that The New George's Tavern has closed down...sigh...Not only was New George's the scene of last year's spur of the moment Dead/Red benefit but it was also where the Grateful Dead's "Hell in a Bucket" video from the 1980's was filmed...The "HIAB" video is about the funniest Bob related film ever to be seen- I have a copy of it on video but do hope the guys that are putting together the dvd series add it to one of them. It starts off at the bar, as Bobby sings of this wild woman the scenes go back and forth from the party at the bar to the leather clad "catherine the great" to the Rhythm Devils racing around. All the extras in the video were members of the Dead's extended family. It's fun to watch - well, it's always fun to watch The Bobstar- but, except for that Midnight's America video- this is about as fun as it gets!

Well while we may not have that extra Bobby siting in December- there will be a Mark Karan show at the Sweetwater on the 20th! I'm hoping Kems will want to go over to Mill Valley with me. Scott will be recovering from retail madness that night- he works twice as hard during December than at any other time of the year, so he will probably be crawling home on that night, too wiped out to want to go out after 9pm........