ZYGONE
Wanta yak with the Capn? Click on:
YAK



SATURDAY, MAY 11, 2013

Here's a vidie Girl George did of our radio interview on cinco de mayo 2013, last Sunday.
Lots of great pics to go with the audio.

FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

Here's a short bit from the Cronies book I'm working on, in the section of the bus trip of '64.




WEDNESDAY, APRL 24, 2013

Here's a neato youtube of the night at New Zone art gallery in Eugene when
I talked about my brother John's paintings. Good shots of the painings with
great musical background.

ART SHOW TALK




the youtube of the art gallery talk was done by Hedda, who covers many
activities in Eugene. To see her many works, go to her website:

http://hedda-arts.blogspot.com/





TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 2013
TAXES ARE DONE AND GONE
HAVE A COW



And a calf, as purchased by our daughter, Liz, and parked in the pasture we
fenced in over the weekend.



Come on, darling, time to drain the udder, is that an udder delight or what? I'll
tell you what, four gallons a day and that's with the calf taking half.

HERE'S THE WEBSITE FOR OXBOW FARM WHERE MILK AND OTHER
GOODIES CAN BE HAD




FOR MORE, GO TO:

OXBOW FARM


FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2013

MY BROTHER JOHN DIED A YEAR AGO TODAY

photo of one of John's paintings by Kenneth Roberts

I celebrated the anniversary of my brothers death by tidying up his grave site and
sending in my income taxes, then had a whiskey and ginger ale, his favorite drink.


Here's a collaboration I did with James Kinkead. I sent him a recording of me
doing some of my verbal ramblings and he added background. Came out purty
good. You can listen here and download it if you want.

kb
SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 2013

Per usual, I'm spending so much time working on book, been neglecting the
website, but on the other hand I've got five fingers, good for working the gear
shift on the riding mower between rainstorms and let's not forget the necessity
of the trombone and the wood splitter. Maybe I can combine some of these
activities.





TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2013

Don't know how long it's going to take to get used to the time change but
I wish they would leave it alone. Talk about government intrusion into our
lives. What are you gonna do? At this point all we can do is blast, blastus
smashus, begorgeous and begashus, as Cassady said.

I was interviewed by Matt Reed at the University of Tennessee for the school
newspaper recently.

    

To read the interview, click on:

MATT REED INTERVIEW


FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Been working full bore on my new book, Cronies, all about the adventures with
Kesey and the Pranksters and friends, so the poor website has been pining for
action.

Here's the lead in to chapter three of Cronies:

                                      ON THE BUS

    "The bus was an experience machine. That was what you had
when you went on it, was an experience. Every time you got near it
you started experiencing, hotly."

--Roy Sebern



    The pump don't work ‘cause the vandals stole the handle but
it doesn't matter because papa’s got a brand new bag! Reworking the
old 60's beat. What were Mom and Dad doing when the kids went to bed,
Mister Jones? Not working on Maggie's Farm, that's for sure. I've got
the REAL PICTURES and the AUTHENTIC TAPES and I'll be showing them
and playing them back with no let up and no get up until I've
answered every question, solved every mystery and  explained every
oddity. So lie back and let these oldies but goldies wash across your
brain pans better than two hundred mikes of sunshine daydream dental
flossing you ear to ear with easy listenings...but it's got to have
that EDGE!...starting right this instant and continuing until I've
gone through the fifteen hundred still photos shot by Ron Bevirt, the
forty hours of film and all the sound tapes that were made while
riding ON THE BUS, The Legendary Road Trip of KEN KESEY!...wall to
wall sound...coast to coast tripping...things you won't believe...I've
been humiliated by professional humiliaters, but this stuff makes my
ears turn red.. so, remember, boys and girls, breathe through your
nose....this turf is that strong...natural as hair in a biscuit...don't say
I didn't warn you!



FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 2013

COMING IN LIKE A LAMB


From bus to cow to hay bobba ree bob he covered it all.

Craig Kirland:
You mean bobba re "bar bar bar"? Hck ck ckk kk! Was he cow-towing
the bus to the Smithsonian? Leave it 2 a Prankster
.

Butt to butt and if they slow down, poke em with the pitchfork, but first a bite of hay
bobba ree bob's your uncle.





SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2013


Between sets, sitting in the back of Mickey's bus, rehashing old stories and inventing
new ones, at the McDonald theater in Eugene, Oregon, last night, when the Mickey
Hart band rocked the boat.





FOR AN MP3 CASSADY POME, CLICK ON:

NEAL POME 1


FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE CASSADY POME
                           
                      CLICK ON:

               NEAL POME 2


SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2013

A page out of Kesey's Cuckoo's Nest inspres me:




THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2012

Here's a short youtube of Los Tres Caballeros (KapnKen, Walker T. Ryan and
Eric Richardson) doing a musical and verbal number called Telephone Fakeout
live at Tsunami Books in Eugene, Oregon in December, 2011.


TELEPHONE FAKEOUT

Kapn' thanks for the hookup. Watched and listened with rapt ears and eyes.
I was taken back back way back to something I read along time ago about Kesey's
elimination match for the Olympics. Given some kind of speed to compete in the
exhaustive pursuit he stood, his brain moving fast faster fast but his body not quite
up to it, he trys to but fails, his wrestling career comes to an end. But he was a stud
of the highest order. A champion rastler indeed. He had a tuff head and was tough
minded as well. The instincts of a lion and the heart of a saint. To you a best friend.
For us a champion. We all were the better for the encounter. The synchronicity of it
all, the sum larger than the parts, brave hearts all. Thanks again Kap'n, for the flash
of thoughts.
Your friend, #43 johntaby shamokinpa "Love Never Fails"   



PAPERBACK OF WHO SHOT THE WATER BUFFALO



AVAILABLE AT TSUNAMI BOOKS IN EUGENE

$14 includes free shipping in U.S. All books signed.

Phone: 541-345-8986

email: tsunami1@opusnet.com


SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2012


Last weekend I was in San Francisco and went to City Lights Bookstore where I found
a copy of my book on the shelf, so with my grandson Dylan to witness it, I signed the book
with an inscription to the reader and put it back on the shelf, no one the wiser until some
unsuspecting reader buys it.



THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012

Ken,

VICE is finally running our interview. Everybody is really excited about it
around the office. Apparently VICE feels like they're following in the footsteps
of the Pranksters. My editor says there is a direct line between what you guys
did and what VICE is trying to do, now.



Here's the interview:

http://www.vice.com/read/cleaning-out-sheds-with-the-merry-pranksters-ken-babbs

My editor forced me to say that your bathroom stalls are in your living room,
even though I repeatedly tried to explain that they weren't. At a point I just
had to shut up and do what my boss told me. I hope that doesn't piss you off
TOO much. It's building the myth, right?

Talk soon,

River


A QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION

 My name is Craig Zolotorow. I am a student at Howard Community
College in Columbia, Maryland. I am a self-described hippie and as
such I am doing a research paper for my American History Class on the
early part of the San Francisco scene (ie 1965-1966). I have a few
questions I was hoping you could answer.

How common was shorter (straight) hair styles during the early hippie
scene in '65-'66?

Pranksters were short hair people because when we got started in 64
that was our hairstyle and long hair hadn't taken hold yet. the
musical and movie, Hair, pushed the long hair fashion and also as the
hippie movement came on no one wanted to go to a barber.



What were their clothes like during the same time period?

Our uniforms during the bus trip in '64 was striped shirts, everyone
had his own striped shirt, to give us a continuity look in the movie
we were shooting. Once the psychedelic revolution got cooking in lat
'64 and on into the summer of love in '67, western leather fringe and
headbands and flared pants and tie dye and flowery long dresses were
all the rage.



How did the merry prankster make a lasting influence on American Society?

By being written  up in Tom Wolfe's book, The Electric Kool Aid Acid
Test. Hadn't been for that, we'd just have been one group of hundreds
in the S.F. Bay area who were doing the same thing. Except for the
bus trip to Madhattan in 1964. No one else did that. And no one else
had Ken Kesey as the main man, the man who wrote to great novels and
if it hadn't been for that, Tom Wolfe would never have written us up.
So we became the ones everyone heard about but don't for a minute
think we were the only ones. When meatball hit it hit everybody and
everything, including the rocks, the earth, the plants and the
animals.

Is there any info/photos you could point me to on the early hippie scene?

Yes. Google images. Type in early hippie scene. Type in Merry
Pranksters. Type in Ken Kesey. Type in The Bus Further.





Has imagination fled for higher realms? No. Alive and well as proved
by this short youtube shot in Kesey's bus barn. The floor is littered with
shredded scripts.

http://youtu.be/ZeDmntf-jVI





MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2012

NEW YOUTUBE


Christophe Dreher, on the left, came from Germany a few years back
to interview me. Here's a short excerpt from the interview.

THE BEES



SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012



Sterling Lord, literary agent numero uno and KapnKen


"METALLIC FISH" oil painting by John Babbs




THURSDAY, JULY 26, 2012



This Youtube isn't quite as meshy as the previous one but it's in the same
vein and needs a big broom to clean up the mess.

http://youtu.be/pAShkvmhoGE



THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2012



Youtube of KapnKen and ace guitarist, Don Latarski doing a totally
extemporaneus number called "The Mesh," at the Fourth of July

THE MESH



SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 2012

THE JOHN BABBS ART SHOW WAS A BIG SUCCESS



33 out of 42 paintings sold, all the money went to the college fund of
John's 9 year old great niece. Thanks to all for the help putting the
exhibit on and thanks to New Zone Gallery for great hosting.

I really like my painting I got at the auction yesterday. John's skill
as a painter totally surprised me. The one I got which I think you
called 'reflections'  has metallic gold,  silver and bronze paint underneath,
that changes with the light and as one moves past it.  It has so much
life and liveliness. I am just tremendously  pleased with it and  am
eager to pick up the other one I bought, "Night Fishing".  Tell John
"thank you" for me and I will keep him in my thoughts.
There is a message I think, in all these paintings. It is about
preciousness and clean water and the life within it.  It is also
about precariousness, where one misstep and the you fall in the
water on slippy rocks and maybe lose everything in the rushing
cold river.  Over and over he shows the interplay and the moment
of capture that highlights the shimmery life-water-man thing. 

Thanks for an awesome exhibit.
Cheers,  MG


SATURDAY, MAY 19, 2012

Walker T. Ryan and KapnKen got together to rehearse the song they
would perform at John Babbs's Remembrance on April 21.



You can see it in its glory and glitches on youtube. Click on:

GONE FISHING


WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012



ALL ABOUT JOHN BABBS.
INCLUDING HIS ART SHOW
CLICK ON:

JOHN


SUNDAY, MAY 13, 2012

Here it is: an insider's look at the foibles, fiascos and celebrity events of
the Merry Pranksters, still going strong after almost fifty years.



Written in a smometimes humorous, sometimes serious mode by "Sometimes
Missing," a Prankster who was not always there (and is now deceased), this
book describes happenings never before revealed, with philosophical insights
into the workings (and lack of work) of the extended family.



John Babbs was a writer, photographer, painter and fly angler. He was also
the author of Yellow Leaves, a novel of angling and romance.

You can order PRANKSTER MEMOIRS from Tsunami Books,
in Eugene, Oregon


$12 includes shipping in the U.S. Call or email:

phone: 541-345-8986

 email: tsunami1@opusnet.com




John was the younger, smaller, quieter Babbs. In the dedication of his book,
"Prankster Memoirs," John wrote "For my brother, Ken Babbs, whom I've known
all my life, but he hasn't known me all of his." John, like Kesey's brother Chuck,
was On The Bus. Pranksters of the Earliest Order. John's Prankster name was
Sometimes Missing.

 

"Prankster Memoirs" has some great photos of John the Fisherman. Before I
interviewed him about his novel, YELOW LEAVES, John dropped off a copy of
the book with a note, which read in part, "I am available most days - when I'm
not playing basketball or fishing!"

 

John described YELLOW LEAVES as "a novel where romance and trout fishing
intertwine with passionate intensity." Here's wishing John Babbs Great Fishing
in the Great Beyond. Fish on, John!!!

 

Tripp Sommer


HERE'S WHERE YOU CAN GET YELLOW LEAVES


$12. Free shipping in the U.S.
Call or email Tsunami Books.
phone: 541-345-8986

 email: tsunami1@opusnet.com


Let's put faces on these guys who are mining Parvin Butte to the detriment of the
quality of life of the people who
live on and around the Butte:

The McDougal Brothers and Greg Demers.


Parvin Butte photo by John Bauguess

The McDougal Brothers, bought Parvin Butte, right outside of the community
of Dexter and plan to level the whole mountain, taking out the rock and selling
it for a railroad bed in Coos Bay, way over by the coast. They started by clear cutting
the trees, then excavating, without a site review, paying the fine as part of doing business.
The noise is horrendous, the impact on the neighbors' lives is huge, but they care not
a whit, for, to them, like the military, this is merely collateral damage.
The citizens are fighting back.
There is a facebook page: HelpSave Dexter and a website www.SaveDexter.com

FOR MORE ON PARVIN BUTTE GO TO:

PARVIN BUTTE


Here's Walker T. Ryan, ace singer guitarist. Pic isn't from the gig, but by going
to his website you can see a vidie of Walker doing Big Road Blues, live at Tsunami
Books in Eugene on December 16, 2011.


http://walkertryan.wordpress.com/current-videos/




Here's a youtube of Walker T. Ryan doing "Stealing" along with Ken Babbs in
the green room of KLCC studios, Eugene Oregon, December 16, 2011, before
they joined up with Eric Richardson to go live on the air as Los Tres Caballeros.

"STEALING"


           AMERICA AS AN EMERGING FOURTH WORLD NATION
      CLICK ON

 FOURTH WORLD

PUTTING HOME IMPROVEMENTS ON A NEW PAGE



HOME REPAIRS

                                                                        MOVING BOOK STUFF TO A NEW PAGE
includes info about book and some
interviews and reviews and youtubes

WSTWB PAGE


Putting all the other book reviews and interviews on another webpage.
Click on:

REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS

Putting all the other reading youtubes on another webpage.
Click on:

READING YOUTUBES



ANOTHER NEW WEBPAGE
PICTURES FROM READINGS


READINGS PICS



I've saved the old frontpage and you can go to it by clicking on:
FRONT PAGE

You can look at all the old pages (59 in all) by clicking on:

OLD PAGES


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