Thoughts On The Dead

Musings on the Most Ridiculous Band I Can't Stop Listening To

Month: February 2016 (Page 9 of 25)

Love In The Middle Of A Firefight

February 23, 2016 / / 2 Comments

[PDF] Vancouver kiss couple

The police can have
Their balaclavas and
Their rubber bullets and
Their armor.

No armor,
not for me,
please.
How could I feel your speed bump ribs,
and your hand on my arm?

The people can keep
Their signs and
Their slogans and
Their demands.

My only demand is that this kiss last a little longer
All good things should last just a little bit longer.

Because I know the truth
can’t be shouted through a bullhorn.
Nor printed
in block letters
on oaktag.

The truth is in your neck:
The whispered crease where it meets your jaw.

We’ll lay low there ’til this blows over.

I Stick My Double-Neck Out For No Man

February 23, 2016 / / 7 Comments

bob weir double-neck englishtown

There is very little scholarship needed on the subject of Weirdo Guitars the Dead Were Photographed With: there’s just a few pictures, and it’s an exceedingly trivial subject. A scholar should be embarrassed to study it.

Luckily, I am not a scholar, so I can link to some Guitar Nerd bullshit, and then make stuff up.

It would be a shame to leave Bobby out: you’ve probably seen this photo before; I’m sure I’ve posted it. It turns out to be a bit of a mystery.

An interview with the head of Ibanez (actually a more interesting read than it sounds) says this:

When I first went to see the Dead in ’74 or so, I didn’t really know what guitar or guitars to take to show them. The copy we did of the Rex Bogue doubleneck was about the snazziest thing we had, so I brought it. I can’t recall what else we took down there. I brought my partner in crime, Roy Miyahara, with me to the show, which was at the old Philadelphia Civic Center – one of those massive airplane-hangar-style joints.

You might already see the problem: not only is the picture clearly not of a joint, massive or otherwise. In fact, I thought it was Englishtown. It can’t be ’74 for many reasons, not the least of which is the missing 75-ton sound system.

BUT

By the date of Englishtown, Ibanez already had a double-neck in (limited) production and it wasn’t the one Bobby’s playing. Look:

ibanez artwood twin

That’s not the guitar Bobby’s playing. Compare the headstocks. The one Bobby’s playing is a copy of John McLoughlin’s custom-made guitar.

Here’s the point where I become lost: that picture of Bobby up above is definitely from Englishtown. Here’s a picture I got directly from Garcia’s website that labels it as 9/3/77:

jerry bobby englishtown

Nothing makes sense.

Space Is The Place

February 22, 2016 / / 9 Comments

 

jerry weirdo guitar 72

Continuing the general topic of weirdo guitars, there’s Garcia playing this sucker: the body looks like a Gibson 335, but the headstock looks like one of those Vox teardrop guitars. Also, the best I can make out: the words on the headstock say “Micro Frets.”

(A very tiny amount of research shows that Micro Frets is a fully-defunct guitar company that made many bitchin’ guitars, including the Spacetone Garcia’s trying out. Hell, you can buy one right now if you got two grand.)

An Update And A Picture Of Josh Meyers

February 22, 2016 / / 3 Comments

If it’s not obvious, re: the Comment Section/images, I am pressing buttons at random at this point. Success, if achieved, will be accidental, and nothing should be learned from it.

Here is a picture of Josh Meyers:

img_3504.jpg

This has been an Update and a Picture of Josh Meyers. Join us later in the evening, when we’ll assuredly be back with more episodes.

Call Me Alice…

February 22, 2016 / / 33 Comments

…because there is some housekeeping to do.

  1. I believe that you can now view images in the Comment Section. I did a thing, and now: good. Maybe. Dunno. Someone post something. (My view of the Section is the weird HTML view and I’m completely oblivious to any other point of view.)
  2. With that in mind, please use this post to tell me what sucks and I will fix it, if I can.
  3. Keep the requests reasonable, though: this whole year is going to suck, and I cannot fix that at all.
  4. There was a call for the “Like” button to be reinstated, and I believe it has: It comes up on my screen, at least. (Laptop, not mobile.)
  5. There was also a call for me to disengage the plug-in that allowed me to hack into your webcams and watch you while read the site.
  6. I considered it, but I’m going to keep that feature running: one of you might be a terrorist.
  7. Finally, the Donate button is now the Gift Certificate button.
  8. Maybe you should leave the humorous list format to explain this one.
  9. …
  10. …
  11. …
  12. Yeah.

So: the old Donate button was linked to my personal Paypal account and if you were nice enough to send me a couple of bucks–and thank you–then you got a receipt with my name, and e-mail, and Social Security number, and address, and a video explaining the best way to pick the specific lock on my front door.

This wouldn’t do. Please take this the right way, and with the love that I intend it, but I don’t want you fuckin’ people knowing who I am. You’re the nicest bunch of fuckin’ people in the world, but at your cores, you’re fuckin’ people and I have made my position on fuckin’ people quite clear.

(I didn’t mean you. I meant everybody else. You’re my favorite.)

And the only way to get the account to just say “Thoughts on the Dead” instead of my real name (Eugene Huffnagle) was to upgrade it to a Business account.

I do this.

The PayPal site is helpful and intuitive and creates the buttons specially for you, so when people click on it, the money doesn’t go to the wrong place: it’s all automated and behind the scenes and takes two minutes.

Except.

When–as a Business account–you attempt to create a Donate button, PayPal starts laying all kinds of heavy shit about “non-profits” and “401c’s” and “tax number” on you, so I became frightened and clicked off the site to soothe my mind with various pornographies.

The Gift Certificate button, on the other hand, had neither frightening mumbo nor horrifying jumbo attached to it, so here’s how we shall choose our own adventure:

The Gift Certificate button is the Donate button.

If you choose to put some money in the swear jar, then I assume you will receive an electronic gift card. I also assume it will be blue, because that is the color I clicked on when the site asked me what color the electronic gift cards should be. Maybe you can frame them? Blue is a pretty color for art, and you should enjoy your home.

The gift certificate is only valid at this site, and I sell nothing. Perhaps I will shortly, but you will not be able to use the gift certificates to buy my wares. Because I want no one to enter into any financial transaction without all the facts, I repeat:

The Gift Certificate button is the Donate button.

The truth is this: I began by giving this away for free and will continue to do so. It’s mostly for me, anyway. You know I love you, but it’s mostly for me.

I’m not a busker: I just think the street needs music.

(And, again: not actual gift certificates, and please don’t sue me, because I’m quite sure this is a tort.)

 

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