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BillO
Boulder climber
Whittier, CA
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Feb 11, 2010 - 12:59pm PT
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Bump for Ken and The Merry Pranksters.
Zane and Stephanie Kesey's website
http://www.key-z.com/
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BillO
Boulder climber
Whittier, CA
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Feb 11, 2010 - 01:45pm PT
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"People don't want other people to get high, because if you get high, you might see the falsity of the fabric of the society we live in." -- Ken Kesey
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taorock
Trad climber
Okanogan, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 11, 2010 - 02:02pm PT
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Interesting observation Sully.
Mountain dog! Great find. I loved his one line zingers about the space shuttle, passage back, nothing for free, etc.
Especially liked (with reference to gov't sponsered LSD experiments):
"...government wanted someone to look in that room...we got this nice room..8 months later we walked out and the government said don't let anyone else in that room.
What bright lights Kesey and Garcia are in this interview.
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Carolyn C
Trad climber
the long, long trailer
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Feb 11, 2010 - 03:49pm PT
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Sometimes a Great Notion has been one of my favorites since...a long time ago.
"You've got to get out and pray to the sky to appreciate the sunshine; otherwise you're just a lizard standing there with the sun shining on you."
-K.K.
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Chief
climber
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Feb 11, 2010 - 03:54pm PT
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I spent some of my formative years living next to Rayonier's logging camp near Port McNeil on the north end of Vancouver Island. Dad worked for that outfit and we lived next to the yard in a funky neighborhood known as "Dogpatch" That would have been 67-68. I can't describe the experience as well as Ken Kesey did in Sometimes a Great Notion.
PB
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Charlie D.
Trad climber
Western Slope, Tahoe Sierra
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Feb 11, 2010 - 04:19pm PT
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In the late 60’s I started hearing wild stories about Kesey and the pranksters. I read his novels and heard some BS in Pasadena about him moving to Nepal having discovered the ultimate psychedelic flower that grew on some vine!
Moving to Eugene proved to me the psychedelic vine was some sort of embellishment, having run into Kesey fairly regularly on campus and in the community. I did see him and Wayne Morris debate at a housing co-op and remember Kesey’s opening remark after listening to the long winded Morris, “well he sounds pretty good from where he’s standing, but we’ve been standing there for a 100 years” which was accompanied by a loud applause.
My buddy Vic knew a few of the old pranksters which added to much entertainment at parties. The imagine of folks lined up in the rain waiting their turn for a hit of laughing gas off the tail gate of and old pickup amuses me to this day, indeed nothing lasts. That was a long time ago, thanks for jarring the memories.
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Carolyn C
Trad climber
the long, long trailer
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Feb 11, 2010 - 04:25pm PT
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Thanks for the cool photos, Walleye. That must have been a great experience.
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FinnMaCoul
Trad climber
Green Mountains, Vermont
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Feb 11, 2010 - 04:32pm PT
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Sometimes a Great Notion... truly one of the underappreciated jewels of American Literature.
I only wish I could have met the man. Spent some time in his world. But there is a man who put it out there for all of us to enjoy, whether we were there with him or not.
The 'Test', man. How many people has it sent on their own merry journey?
I had a funny thing happen to me while livin in Australia. Surfer stoner redneck Aussie friend of mine, Mick, saw me reading it. He borrowed it. Came back to me amazed... no idea really what they were talking about. This guy, I mean his command of English was sketchy at best... and no notion whatsoever of the scene that Kesey was writing about. AT ALL. He was confused and thrilled and he just wanted a piece of it BAD.
So he and I and a coupla girls hiked way back into this National Park on the coast and turned it on and spent all day in the rainforest and on the beach. WOW. One of THE funnest trips EVER. It all started with this couple passing by in the rainforest, naked except for their blue tennis shoes. 'Did you see that?' Later, watching the sunset, Mick the Aussie nodding and goofing, getting it, sayin 'You knew, man... you knew..."
Ahhh, moments such as these.
Thank you Mr. Kesey.
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altelis
Mountain climber
DC
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Feb 11, 2010 - 05:00pm PT
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I just gotta say Sometimes a Great Notion. Too young to have any part in, well, any of it first hand. But that book, man, that book. I read it after living in Edinburgh for a number of months during the winter and I just KNEW the rain. Not sure I would've understood it without that experience.
I might just have to pull that back off the shelf and drift through it again...
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BillO
Boulder climber
Whittier, CA
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Feb 11, 2010 - 05:12pm PT
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Some shots around the farm at the time of Zane and Stephanie's wedding.
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taorock
Trad climber
Okanogan, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 11, 2010 - 05:32pm PT
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Great photo history BillO and Walleye. Thanks.
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BillO
Boulder climber
Whittier, CA
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Feb 11, 2010 - 06:03pm PT
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Thanks taorock, I sent this link to Zane I thought he might enjoy it.
Zane and Stephanie are very good friends, they are our daughters home away from home while she is at the U of O. I'll post some more photos as I find them.
Some nice old photos there Walleye.
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d-know
Trad climber
electric lady land
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Feb 11, 2010 - 06:12pm PT
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who but kesey could have
brought two groups of people
such as the pranksters and
the hells angels together?
a visionary and great
writer.
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taorock
Trad climber
Okanogan, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 11, 2010 - 06:18pm PT
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Not to mention the lads at Apple Records. ^^
BillO - Honored that you are passing this along to Kesey's family. He was an explorer in the true sense of the word and much like the explorers of our climbing community.
tao
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Ricky D
Trad climber
Sierra Westside
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Feb 11, 2010 - 07:36pm PT
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Finally - a thread worthy of more than hyperbole and sacrosanct drivel!
I loved the idea of this man's life - as a young wanna-be-hippie trapped in the bowels of the South I devoured Tom Wolfe's novel on the Kesey trip.
After migrating to California, taking a road trip to Oregon was on my to-do list - mainly in hopes of seeing the man himself. Never did get to meet Mr. Kesey - did get to see Further - but to this day am still enthralled by Sometimes A Great Notion.
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BillO
Boulder climber
Whittier, CA
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Feb 11, 2010 - 08:31pm PT
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"Leary can get a part of my mind that's kind of rusted shut grinding again, just by being around him and talking." -- Ken Kesey
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BillO
Boulder climber
Whittier, CA
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Feb 11, 2010 - 08:34pm PT
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A few more shots.
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BillO
Boulder climber
Whittier, CA
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Feb 11, 2010 - 08:42pm PT
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A couple bus shots
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Norwegian
Trad climber
Placerville, California
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Feb 12, 2010 - 09:50am PT
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the journey is so thoroughly exhausting,
it is difficult to author the dreams that will ignite tomorrow.
thus my interjections upon the future are silenced, and the silence itself
orchestrates my march.
the clock it spun backwards for 36 days straight.
spam became gormet and i moved in to the right rear
seat of a '74 chevy club cab. two others dodging the rut shared the roof that this truck offered.
one of my mates was having her baby, so i gladly gave up my acreage for
her dula.
i slept under the truck for a night. avoiding the oil drips and the rain.
she labored right there in the back seat of the truck. the rain fell proud that night, and in the morning a rainbow dawned and a new baby too.
crazy reality. that club cab that never burdened my freedoms.
they say, according to relativity laws, as you move about faster, the clock hands slow down. i musta been at some sort of warp level to get the clock to spin backwards. backwards for 36 days straight.
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