SKYPILOTCLUB HOME PAGE

MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 2011

Been all caught up in big job of cutting down the huge oak in front
of the house that was splitting at the base and a threat to the roof if
it ever fell, now there is a big mess from the effort and the cleanup
begins.

And after a few days the cleanup is well under way with the wood
bucked into wood stove lengths and some of it split, read to haul
to the woodshed, next winter's firewood.

Main man, Dave Barton, and ye olde Kapnken atop a pile.

QUESTIONS FROM GREECE FOR A MAGAZINE AND ANSWERS FROM A MUSE

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

1. When was your first desire to become involved with the psychedelic area & who were your first idols?

There I was taking a nap with my mouth open, snoring like a logger sawing wood and some
prankster dropped a tablet in my mouth and I woke up choking and coughing and the lights
went crazy color and hovering over me were angels laughing like maniacs and they became
my idols although no one can accuse me of idolatry.

2. Which is the most interesting period in your life and why?

Most, as opposed to least, is a hip expression you hear, like, the food at that restaurant is the most,
and they aren't talking about quantity, they are talking about quality, for you can guess who was
the cook, that's right, the intrepid traveler hisself who skated on the greasy skillets and walloped
the pots and why was that so interesting? Because it was the intersection of appetite and cleanliness
and led to what came next.

3. From whom have you have learned the most secrets about the life?

From whom, indeed, and once again the word most doesn't necessarily mean the greatest number
but could mean the wildest most outrageous secrets there are, and to get to the bottom of that one
I would have to mine the depths and plumb the quests and come up with the Marine Corps Captain
in Okinawa who coached the basketball team and taught me there is an invisible string connecting
me to the man guarding me and with that string I can move that man anywhere I want, although
I scissored him out of the play when I went to the toilet.

4. What experiences in your life make you a GOOD people, how do you want to be remembered?

Oh so many experiences, so little time to recount them all, such tired fingers from typing, but there is a
good memory, of typing on a manual typewriter, to race to the end of a line, the ringing of the bell,
the reaching up and slamming the carriage back to begin the next line without a pause, the letters
whacking the paper faster than the mind can formulate the thought, ah those were the days my
friend and they aren't over yet, just with a different typing contraption, but did all that make me
a GOOD people? Certainly helped give me the chops to blast out the words, but what it really
amounts to is when you get up from the typing and deal with the material world, how do you
treat other people? With kindness, that's how, and it would be good to be remembered as being
kind to others, forgive me my transgressions, those times I was flawed.

5. Which memory from Merry Pranksters makes you smile?

The time we were going to burn our Prankster shirts to commemorate the end of the making of
the bus movie and realized we were starting a fire in the bus over the gas tank and we all bailed
out of the bus and stood waiting for the explosion but nothing happened and when we peeked
inside the bus we saw the fire had fizzled out.

6. Are there any memories with Ken Kesey, which you'd like to share with us?

Kesey used to talk about the goatheads of home; you know, those little sharp things grow on
weeds down in Arizona? They are mean mo-fos and can really tear up your bare feet.
When we were on the bus Further in '64 and would go through one of the Prankster's home
town and the Prankster would go weird on us Kesey would say, "He's going through the
goatheads of home." In Hawaii they are called Crown of Judas.

7. What are some of the most memorable tales with Pranksters?

In san francisco they have a st. stupid's parade every year. someone
emailed me once to tell me I had been inducted into the stupidity
club for all the great work I've done, and it was a compliment thing.

8. How do you describe the philosophy of Pranksters.

Pranksters definitely are a collective but it is a collective of the spirit and that American
spirit has been passed on from the founding fathers through the literature of Melville,
the transcendentalism of Emerson, the elusiveness of Whitman, the eyeopening of
Faulkner, zoom into the Beat authors and here it takes a wild turn of spontaneity in
tribal dance, uninhibited jazz, nonsensical word raps and other unfettered reaching
of the spirit toward new found freedoms.

9. What is the "think" you miss most from the Pranksters "family"?

The "think" is to be mindful of those who are here and those who have passed on and
to think, isn't it wonderful we are still all good friends and miss those great gatherings
when we would tootle on our instruments and warble with our voices and slop great
gobs of paint on inanimate objects and dip and whirl in happy dance and film the
whole thing and then watch it to see if what we're doing is anything worthwhile,
afterwards sleep it off and get back to work.

to be continued:

MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2011
MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY

IT SNOWED ON THE CEREMONIES

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

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2011
JAMBANDS INTERVIEW BY BRIAN ROBBINS

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

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

"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