READERS: I'm sharing with you my birthday greetings to a friend from many, many, many years ago...that the winds of good fortune recently blew back in to my life. We initially met at the DMV in Queens, NY - where we were working as fill-in Driver License Examiners conducting road tests for new drivers...until NYS could give a Civil Service test and hire permanent replacements. Some days this DMV job resembled the DMZ...
Charlie and I together did both the East and West Coasts together. On the "other coast" he even crashed in "my pad" for a while so he could "patch his bones...and get back truckin' on..." On that part of his cross-country trip, he acquired a wonderfully friendly dog that he named "Truck" - likely because his mode of transportation was a Blue Dodge Van.
Eileen and I even accompanied Charlie and Meg to the altar...
Hey, If you two ever "Dew" a re-commitment ceremony, here's a neat ring:
...and when the celebrant asks you to re-state your intention, simply say:
"I DEW"
And for those at the party that don't do spirits, here's an option:
Charlie and I both dug the Dead and still "Dew".
In June, we met at the Landmark Playhouse in Port Washington where they were hosting a Rock & Roll Playhouse celebration of Grateful Dead music and fun. Read about it here.
Okay, let's get onto the BIRTHDAY CARD...
Some blokes from the UK say it’s your birthday…
But I’m choosing to go back to the USSA…
You and Truck chillin’ at the Pacific Ocean many moons ago…
Just cause it’s musical…found it among the search results...
This next image captures the vibe of another “children’s” story that also has adult implications. Hmm…perhaps they ALL “Dew”…🤔
“Doesn’t look like Kansas…more like San Francisco…”
Charlie, was this how you introduced yourself to Meg?…
Today’s Main Act
--Soundboard recording of the Grateful Dead performing live at the Beacon Theatre, June 14, 1976. Slideshow of the Dead, Merry Pranksters & friends, from the 1960's to the present.
Bonus Track
This came by…(in my search results)... and I got on...
B4 watching, consider this...
Hadn’t heard this song in years. As I watched, I had several thoughts.
1. Racial Profiling by Walt & Company (see upcoming separate post or check this out for yourself - they have since added disclaimers.
I’m grateful for my new eyes and heart that can now recognize this mistreatment. A lot of this change is due to spending time with and getting to know people who have been personally mistreated.
2. Those Disney creators musta dropped some acid onto their drawing boards…
(In 1969, when my surfing friends and I went to California's Magic Kingdom for the first time, we tripped…Later, as we joked about that experience, we called the park “Dosneyland”.
Might not have been two far from the truth...Here's one of many pieces about this supposed connection...
Was the genius behind Walt Disney's films actually a result of his love for psychoactive substances?
This scene was referred to in the article:
OKAY, now let's watch this portrayal...
Post...Card...conversation of consequence...
Required Reading: The Annotated "Mister Charlie" - David Dodd
-- 1997-1998 Research Associate, Music Dept., Univ. of California Santa Cruz
David is my chief SME (subject matter expert) for all things Dead. Here's his opening unpacking with a focus on the work "Charley." Check out the article for "Furthur" exploration...
Mister Charlie
From The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang:
"Charlie: white men regarded as oppressors of blacks.--used contemptuously. Also Mr. Charlie, Boss Charlie. [1923 in E. Wilson Twenties 164: Mista Charlie, I hear--I hear the niggers is free, is that right?] ... 1928 McKay Banjo 217: We have words like ofay, pink, fade, spade, Mr. Charlie, cracker, peckawood, hoojah, and so on--nice words and bitter."
An article by John Cowley, "Shack Bullies and Levee Contractors: Bluesmen as Ethnographers," in The Journal of Folklore Research, vol. 28, nos. 2/3, pp. 135-162, recounts the story of the Lowrence family, a set of seven brothers, the oldest named Charley, who were notorious contractors of cheap labor, mostly African American, to build the levees alongside the Mississippi in the 1920's. A number of songs quoted in the article refer to "Mr Charley" specifically in this context, giving rise to speculation on the part of Alan Lomax that he may have "discovered the identity of the elusive "Mr. Charley." Cowley's article goes on, however, to quote a comment by Alan Dundes on Lomax' article that 'Mr. Charley' "would appear to date from antebellum times." But the repeated reference to a "Mr. Charley" by southern bluesmen was undoubtedly in reference to Charley Lowrence.
A similar sense of the white man in authority as oppressor has been ascribed to Mr. Benson, familiar from "Candyman."
This note from a reader:
Date: Wed, 23 Apr 1997 18:33:05 -0700 From: "Avtar S. Khalsa" [portion of message snipped] Another suggestion: Since your commentary on Mr. Charlie includes the early African-American use of the term, I think a refernce to James Baldwin's play Blues for Mr. Charlie would be appropriate. Thanks, Avtar Singh Khalsa San Francisco, CA
These notes from a reader on the theoretical Charlie Manson connection:
End of citation...read on if curious...
"Go ask Alice...
My friend...Fare thee well...
And a fitting song for all the paths life places before us...
#music #humor #Charley #Truck #racism #mushrooms #PsychoactiveSubstances #CharlesBlackman #GratefulDead #DavidDodd #WaltDisney #Disneyland #Doseneyland #Alice #WhiteRabbit #CharlieBrown #Snoopy #Fantasia #LedZeppelin #JohnMuir #JerryGarcia #BahaiFellowshipOfLongIsland #MulticulturalSolidarityofLongIslandDiversityFriendshipListeningCircles