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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. Call or email:

phone: 541-345-8986

 email: tsunami1@opusnet.com


Trip Sommer, news director of KLCC radio
in Eugene, gave a sweet remembrance of John Babbs



Here's Trip looking ahead, this is what he sees:



John was the younger, smaller, quieter Babbs brother. 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.
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

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2011



Today, the county hearings officer said the McDougal brothers don't
need a site review and can begin mining Parvin Butte in the middle of
the community of Dexter, Oregon. He also dismissed the fines levied
on the brothers for mining without a site review. Greg Demers, who
is on the mining team, said, "Like good neighbors we would be willing
to sit and listen to any of their concerns." He doesn't live anywhere
near the mining operation. No noise, dust, pollution, gravel trucks up
and down the road in his neighborhood. The Dexter Lost Valley
Community Association will appeal the county hearings officer's decision.

photo by John Baugues



photo of Parvin Butte by John Bauguess

LETTER TO THE EDITOR
EUGENE REGISTER GUARD

Demers makes things happen

The recent Register Guard “Demers file” articles — especially the one appearing on the cover on Feb. 20
— paint a blatantly skewed picture of the personal character of Greg Demers. I have known Demers for
years and have always found him to be a good man. His generosity to the community has been enormous:
in addition to single-handedly building a church and school in Veneta, he has supported many organizations
 such as Relief Nursery, Sacred Heart Foundation, and Children’s Miracle Network.

Additionally, I remember how Demers stepped up to rescue the Campfire Girls’ Wilani Camp from
bankruptcy in 1999. He bought most of the camp for over $300,000, leased it back for a pittance, and
also donated $300,000 to refurbish the camp — all of which were instrumental in allowing the decades
-long tradition of kids’ camping to continue.

Despite that history, the reporting painted Demers as if he were nothing more than a financial “speculator”
with secretive business entities. By contrast, the person I know is investing in visionary ventures
including an intermodal facility that has the potential to bring much needed economic activity to Lane County.

Yes, successful entrepreneurs sometimes have sharp elbows; however, they are also human beings
who have their own challenges and adversities. The difference is that a person like Demers makes
things happen — which is exactly what Lane County desperately needs now. At a minimum, fairness
demands that Register-Guard readers hear the “rest of the story.”

Janice Standeford

Eugene


Afflictions, tornadoes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are hardships caused by forces beyond our
control, but hardships caused by humans trashing other people and their lives while in pursuit of riches is
another thing altogether.

The letter to the editor praising Demers as a philanthropist and humanitarian doesn't hold water
when you consider the damage he and the McDougal brothers are willing to inflict on the families
living on and around Parvin Butte. Demers may be generous to the people of Veneta but he doesn't have an
iota of concern for the well-being of the people in Dexter. All for the sake of easy money. As if there weren't
plenty of other places in Oregon, away from homes and families, where rock can be mined to be used for a
railroad bed over on the coast.

"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

Ken Babbs

Dexter



WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT US AND OUR
EFFORTS TO SAVE OUR AREA




Al Lewis

From the business section of the eugene register guard's sunday paper, a column by Al Lewis, a great writer

who nails the wrongdoings and wrongdoers in the financial world:

In  CFA Magazine, trade mag for chartered financial analysts, an article by Sherree DeCovny, former investment
broker who claims one out of ten people working on Wall Street are psychopaths, saying the estimate comes from
researchers, including a psychologist who treats wall street professionals.

DeDovny defines them this way: "Back when were were little children...and we were learning right from wrong,
they didn't get it."

In her 2005 book, The Sociopath Next Door, harvard psychologist Martha Stout defines sociopath as a person
with no conscience. Plus other anti-social traits, including a lack of empathy, no regard for consequences and
unbridled risk taking.


When Krassner was asked, "What do you consider the world’s biggest problem of the world?"
Krassner said, "Greed combined with the lack of compassion."



MCGONIGLES, A MORALITY TALE









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"



QUESTIONS FROM GREECE FOR A MAGAZINE AND ANSWERS FROM A MUSE


photo by Richard Hayner
http://blues.gr/profiles/blogs/an-interview-with-novelist-ken-babbs-of-merry-prankster-answers
Yiassou (hello) Mr. Babbs
Greetings from Athens,
I send you the questionnaire.
If you believe that are many questions - but REALLY GREAT STORY - to answer
as many as YOU like !!
Questions are many because we do not have direct communication to be options,
and are a little bit general, but is a 1st contact with the Greeks!

Please feel free for the time YOU want to send the answers back.

Just i bend my head with respect to you ...and thank you once again

love, peace, and happiness
mike 



the Joint chief of staff
wants to know
how's the elbow
where's the backbone
who's got the glue
why's the war
makes me so sore
it's all blood and gore
say no to any more
make it a peacetime lore
let our vets snore
without cannon's roar

ah, my stories don't have the gore
for I was there early in the war
I made everything up
just like a maid and the bed
now don't puncture my balloon she said

you don't wanna put yer mouth on it
is what hemingway tole his boys
double barrelled earnest advice
sometimes the load gets heavy
other times it is a feather
blowing in the happy wind

beat up but
not beat down
we continue to beat
the peace drum



AMERICA AS AN EMERGING FOURTH WORLD NATION
CLICK ON

FOURTH WORLD

PUTTING HOME IMPROVEMENTS ON A NEW PAGE



HOME REPAIRS





Pic by Kathy Harrington.

I saw my picture of the water buffalo on your site.  Glad you didn't think it was
too staged. However, minor correction that's actually a big deal to me. My dad
didn't obtain the water buffalo on a "visit" to Vietnam. He bought it when he was
stationed in Qui Nhon, Vietnam in '65 as an officer for the Army. He was a veteran
of three wars and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. That's Colonel William
J. Arnold. : ) I know how you feel about officers, but hey, I'm proud of him even
if he was a damn Republican.

Kathy


Book on down to your local bookstore and procure this book, post haste ! 
It has Ken Babbs written all over it -- not just on the jacket and title page.
Ken's elevated repartee and warmth shine through in a story of camaraderie
set in the early days of Vietnam, when most Americans were blissfully unaware
of the brewing conflict in Southeast Asia. It's not as much about Vietnam as it
is about young men coping in the trying circumstances of wartime.
A great summer read. Kudos, Ken. It was worth the wait.
-- Don Groble

 If you are going to order the book over the internet, or
by phone, get it from Tsunami Books, a locally owned
bookstore. Or go to the store in Eugene, Oregon.

You will get a signed copy.

Costs you $22. Free shipping in the U.S.

Order by phone: 541-345-8986

Order by email: tsunami1@opusnet.com


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



SHIRTS AND OTHER WSTWB STUFF

FROM SKYPILOT ALI BOB
click on:

SHIRTS AND MUG


"A lovely if chilling read, chilling because it brings home the
reality of a tragic war."

-- Larry McMurtry




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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