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THE MAILBAG 5.10.96


Subj: '69
Date: May 3 1996 2:29 AM EDT
From: jp@deadhead.geac.co.uk (Jeremy Poynton)


Good thoughtful start to the day, checking in and seeing your start page.
Here's something for you ... long threads on Bill Weir's together-list
newsfeed about what constitutes 'IT' ... that all-consuming moment
when you're there (wherever there is), in the moment, here, now ... it's
a poem from Seamus Heaney's lates collection, forwarded to you without
permission (don't know the man :-) ), but it struck a chord, and your start
page stuck a chord, so ... enjoy. (Did you get to Ireland when you lived
over here?)


Keep well
JP


And some time make the time to drive out west
Into County Clare, along the Flaggy Shore,
In September or October, when the wd
And the light are working off each other
So that the ocean on one side is wild
With foam and glitter, and inland among the stones
The surface of a slate-gray lake is lit
By the earthed lightning of a flock of swans,
Their feathers roughed and ruffling, white on white,
Their fully grown headstrong-looking heads
Tucked or creating or busy underwater.
Useless to think you'll park and capture it
More thoroughly. You are neither here nor there,
A hurry through which known and strange things pass
As big soft buffetings come at the car sideways
And catch the heart off guard and blow it open.


|Jeremy Poynton <jp@deadhead.geac.co.uk> |
|Geac Computers Ltd., Hollywood Tower, Hollywood Lane, Bristol BS10 7TW, UK| |Voice: + 44 117 9509003 Fax : + 44 117 9590718 |


Jeremy,


Thanks for a letter I can actually print, Redeye.
rh


Date: Wed, Apr 24, 1996 5:09 PM EDT
From: RSbklyn
Subj: Alabama, Silvio and Friends in Hyde Park
To: K9Luna


Robert,
You may have heard the announcement about The Who performing 'Quadrophenia' in Hyde Park this summer...also on the bill, Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan--what an event! Dylan and his band are absolutely razor sharp lately...he should fry many a British brain (pardon the mixed metaphor, mate). Check out this setlist from 4/21/96, Portland, Maine:


Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
If Not For You
All Along The Watchtower
Under The Red Sky
This Wheel's On Fire
Silvio
Mama, You've Been On My Mind (acoustic)
Masters Of War (ac.)
Friend Of The Devil (ac.)
Maggie's Farm
When I Paint My Masterpiece
Seven Days


ENCORES
-------
Alabama Getaway
My Back Pages (ac.)
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
--
Yes, that's THREE of your lyrics in one outrageous Dylan concert!! You should be awesomely proud. Silvio and Alabama have been everyday players since last Fall...Friend was reintroduced last week. I saw Dylan sing it in San Antonio, TX in...'90. It's not a GREAT Dylan show unless I find my self babbling "I can't believe he's playing this song!" at least once. I would've been saying that virtually every song if I'd been at the 4/21 show! And I imagine you'd have said it at least three times...
See Ya,
Richard


Subj: web site
Date: May 2 1996 10:12 PM EDT
From: ebabbs@lane.k12.or.us (ken)


Hey rob't this is babbs. i finally got netscape up and running but
i can't find the url for your web page that alan trist sent me so howsabout
sending it to me?


kesey's time article was out in the April 29 issue, page 73.


we're supposed to go on line live back and forth to leary a week
from friday on the tenth.


yak yah later. i see what you mean by eyeball burnout. i get it
just reading all that web site stuff.



Date: Apr 30 1996 10:47 PM EDT
From: placebo@cs.oberlin.edu (Benjamin Greenberg)


Hi... me again.
pre script: I'll keep in touch from time to time, but please don't ever
write back when you don't feel like it.


I was logged into the Grateful Dead last night, (still more powerful than
any computer network) and my mind decided to wander. It is always
causing trouble when I want to be focusing on the music, surfing the waves.


These thoughts though, they didn't distract me like most- they didn't
pull me out of the water or take me offline...they just made love in the
back of my mind, lighting the song with sense and color, and they were
thoughts of your web tunnels. Amongst all the hurrying about, amongst the writing of poems and spinning of webs and amongst the scaning and posting and organizing, have you sat back for an instant and felt it shifting?


Shifting to us, and to a leader who has been the leader all along.
yes it makes you blush the same shade that Jerry used to.
Maybe you don't want it like Jerry didn't want it but we feel it shifting
like the sand.


But I hope that it does make you happy because you are bringing so much
to it, to us. Mick's band, the web, the lyrics, the communication,
its all in progress in the present...


come to Laguna Seca, hey?
ben


Ben,


thanks for the inspiring words. I spend so much time in those tunnels myself it's hard to figure how they look to someone else.

rh


Date: May 2 1996 10:40 PM EDT
From: RSbklyn
Subj: Big Dada & The Holy Goof


Hey Robert,
Excellent new webness. Start off with Duchamp, The Big Dada, hey baby, you know what I like! Lots of nice graphics...the "On The Road" scroll (which I felt compelled to drop to my knees in front of at the recent Whitney museum 'Beat' exhibit); also "The Giant's Harp" book cover-type thang.....sweet! Hope for more woodcuts, and more reports on Maureen's incipient computer nerdism. Go Mo!
I'd love to be able to download the GH 'cover'. And yes, please let us hear your "Cody" reading! My appetite is all whet...can't wait to hear it. More Cassady stuff would be great as well.
Bye Ya,
Richard


Subj: Capsicum on homepages
Date: May 3 1996 5:36 PM EDT
From: molson@ucla.edu (Marc Olson)


I definitely think you should have more chilis on your home page. I think
more legumes help out any WWW site. Maybe if you don't want to be too harsh
to first time web surfers you should put some mild bell peppers. The deeper
we get into the page you can make them hotter. Maybe a jalapeno (sp?) then
a tobasco pepper, finally at the bottom with your signature put a Tai pepper.


Maybe also get some .gif's of things you use chili peppers in. Maybe some
nachos or enchaladas.


Some may call this a waste of bandwitdh, but I call it a cheap attempt to get
a week of fame in your mailbag.


Marc Olson
University of California Los Angeles


Marc, you got your week and welcome to it! rh


Subj: chile (correct spelling) chili is the sauce. (fwd)
Date: Wed, Apr 24, 1996 12:07 PM EDT
From: btwind@well.com (Thomas Stalzer)


Robert-
I dont think this was meant for me! Perhaps for our
common friend Steve? digaman@well.com.


hope all is well.
-tom


,-~~-.___.
/ | ' \ It was a DARK and STARRY night...
( ) 0
\_/-, ,----' Tom Stalzer
==== // btwind@well.com
/ \-'~; /~~~(O) http://www.well.com/user/btwind/
/ __/~| / |
=( _____| (_________|


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 24 Apr 1996 11:30:54 -0400
From:K9Luna@aol.com
To: btwind@well.com
Subject: chile (correct spelling) chili is the sauce.


Steve,


Didn't realize that was an animated gif. wisht I had that program. Do they
make it for the Mac? No wonder GIF converter had a puppy when I ran it
through to get the AOL format off it, producing another red chile, which I
now understand is just one of its permutations. I haven't managed to fire it
up yet, but will get it on a netscape page and look. I kept the original, I
think. If it got permutated, I'll need another. A dancing chili would be OK.


rh

Subj: cows
Date: Apr 29 1996 12:57 AM EDT
From: hippie@iglou.com (Michrel L. Standefer)
forwarded by: frankie@dead.net


Economic and Political Theory 101


FEUDALISM
=========
You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.

PURE SOCIALISM
==============
You have two cows. The government takes them and puts
them in a barn with everyone else's cows. You have to take
care of all the cows.

The government gives you as much milk as you need.

BUREAUCRATIC SOCIALISM
======================
You have two cows. The government takes them and puts
them in a barn with everyone else's cows. They are cared for
by ex-chicken farmers.

You have to take care of the chickens the government took
from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as
much milk and eggs the regulations say you should need.

FASCISM
=======
You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you
to take care of them, and sells you the milk.

PURE COMMUNISM
==============
You have two cows. Your neighbors help you take care of
them, and you all share the milk.

RUSSIAN COMMUNISM
=================
You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but
the government takes all the milk.

CAMBODIAN COMMUNISM
===================
You have two cows. The government takes both and
shoots you.

DICTATORSHIP
============
You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts
you.

PURE DEMOCRACY
==============
You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the
milk.

REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY
========================
You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to tell
you who gets the milk.

BUREAUCRACY
===========
You have two cows. At first the government regulates what
you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it
pays you not to milk them. Then it takes both, shoots one,
milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it
requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing
cows.

PURE ANARCHY
============
You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price
or your neighbors try to take the cows and kill you.

LIBERTARIAN: ANARCHO-CAPITALISM
===============================
You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.

SURREALISM
==========
You have two giraffes. The government requires you to
take harmonica lessons.



Date: May 2 1996 1:55 AM EDT
From: Mr crrctn
Subj: crrctns
To: K9Luna


Mr Hunter,


Please be informed that your 'rest of this letter' link is not working as of early AM 5/2. Also, please pdf chapter five of The Giant's Harp ASAP...and how about the pdf's of A Strange Music...when you have a spare day or two.


This has been a message from...


Mr correction
ps--Please let me know Cosmo Nitram's email address, if he has one.


Yes Sir, Mister Correction! Will try to get all 5 chapters up tomorrow on one pdf file. The other error was caught. Plenty more to come, so you keep an eye on me, y'hear? Cosmo got no. rh


Subj: DeadNet
Date: Apr 29 1996 1:11 PM EDT
From: pfreedma@osf1.gmu.edu (Paul Freedman)


Robert:


It's great to see you are so productive. That's why
it wasn't "indignant venting" or "self-righteous
venting" or some variant thereof. For a long time
the feeling has been that the sum-of-the-parts was
exceeding the possibility of the whole, and, no
matter how partial, decontextualized,
missing-the-mark whatever or plain bullhockied
ax-grinding Scully's tales out of school were, it
was as if a name could be put to the malaise. The
flip side is, undeniably, that once a person
becomes a personality then that imago floats out
into the ether and everybody starts feeling that
they have the right to appropriate a tiny piece of
that construct-illusion for themselves. But that's
the only way the game gets played in the first
place so what to do?


In the end we're all wondering "what the devil did
the Rebbe mean by that?" Who's Messiah? So at odds
whether to tip over the tophats of stockbrokers or
to throw myself from the nearest pier I wandered
downtown by the docks until hearing music I stepped
inside a crumbling brownstone.


Inside the "Twilight Hasidism" were consolidating
primageniture through an arranged marriage. A glass
partition divided the room, and a screen was set up
to further separate male and female so that only
the bride and the groom, seated in mirror
symmetrical tables could see each other directly.
The windows were blacked out. The only illumination
was from heirloomed silver plate candelabra.
Meanwhile four greysmocked children with fake
beards and sidelocks mimed klezmer playing
invisible instruments. One fiddled an unseen
violin. A boy of six, perfectly miming the palsy of
advanced arthritis and debilitude tentatively ran
his stiffened fingers over an unseen clarinet.


As wavering dancers danced in expanding circles,
the heat compounded by the press of bodies and the
vodka freely consumed, a combo of ghostly pale and
fervered elders drove us on with an interminable
Yiddish version of "My Sharona" rendered on
disconcertingly electrified instruments, shouting
the verses with winks and leers as each musical
break reoccured in expanded rounds and the dancers
twirled and stomped faster and faster.


Nobody mentioned semiotics, however. Go figure.


Paul Freedman



Date: May 4 1996 5:59 PM EDT
From: Bassmule@aol.com
Subj: Glad You're Here


Hello Robert Hunter,
After hours of visiting web sites and searching for something of interest on the internet I began to feel like I entered the online world too late, It seemed everywhere I looked was an advertisement or an order form. When I finally stumbled on your archive a sensation of familiar relaxation settled into my room and I knew that there was something of tangible merit here and that spending time at this pc would not all be wasteful or just practical workaday drudgery. Thank you for being here.
As a teenager I watched the movie version of The Beatles breakup in Let It Be and left the theatre disappointed by the dissolution of that wonderful band. It seemed to be an indicator that things had changed and for me was a nail in the coffin of the positive and uplifting period they helped personify. The negative forces had struck another blow and seemed to be inching ahead and were painting greys all over my rainbows.
That summer I heard snatches of Aoxomoxoa, and Workingman's, at a friend's house followed by a late night viewing of Box of Rain on Clyde Cliffords' Beeker Street. The technicolor was back! The imagery,humor and humanity flowing from Dupree, China Cat,Dire Wolf, Cumberland, ignited new curiosity for me in word and tune.There was hope and you fellas were mixing it up with a
living, rhythymic,harmonic,story telling organism that has inspired and entertained the peawhiny out of me ever since.
Thank you and your very musical friends,
Ricky Long
Bassmule@aol.com


Subj: Great Internet Art site
Date: May 8 1996 5:31 PM EDT
From: jhorowitz@realtech.com (Jeffrey Horowitz)
To: K9Luna@aol.com


Hi Rob H,


I originally emailed you in reference to your essay on grateful.dead.net. My subject heading was "publishing on the net rules". You were nice enough to respond and even post my email on your mailbag page. Anyway I wanted to pass on to you the best art web site I have seen. It is at http://chain.syr.edu/matrix/ and is a very interesting experiment exploring how everybody perceives aesthetics differently and incorporates interaction between the program running at the web site the person doing the browsing. To save you some time I have included text from the introduction below:
---
Each of us has an innate as well as an acquired sense of how we prefer things to be organized in the world. This general sense of order can be inferred from reactions to compositions on the plane. If you are not fully aware of these preferences, interacting with informatrix may reveal a few things about your sense of order that you did not know you knew. During a session, informatrix will gradually nudge you towards identifying your personal style. The word style, is used here to signify a process, mainly, the ability to understand and reason by analogy.

At this stage, Informatrix sets up a situation in which certain personal preferences can be revealed to a participant through a visual dialogue. Successful sessions are recorded and compiled as an on line repository for sharing stylistic flavors.
---
Check it out if it sounds interesting. The first "interaction" will take no more then 15 minutes and I bet you'll find it very unique. I know you are looking at ways to which put the web to better use, to me this is good example of what creative minds could come up with. Ed Zajec is the leader of the department that created this site at Syracuse University where I received my MFA in Computer Graphics in '86. It is phenomenal department that gets a lot of good art out unto the world.


-Jeff
Jeff Horowitz
Pre-Sales Engineer
REALTECH SYSTEMS

Subj: Happy is inadequate!
Date: Apr 12 1996 9:10 PM EDT
From: grateful@ultranet.com (Reilly L. Platt)


Dear Hunter,
Early this morning m'lady and I fought the gremlins, took 10
minutes to acess the page, the usual. When we arrived at the promised land,
she helped press the keys to launch into Portia's intro to the world. It
was such a thrill looking at her woderful words for all to see and enjoy. In
real time, Patricia wants me to type to you, "I appreciate beyond words you
giving Portia her international debut online, and all the work it took for
you to do it. We saw your background on a friends computer (doesn't show up
on our small laptop) and I really love it. I even thought I saw a pink cloud
pony in it! Thanks a trillion and hope you saw our Portia cheer in our
previous message. thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!!!"
Are we excited. Yup! Thanks for everything. I did catch the line
about poets needing line spaces. a-yup as we say here in new england. The
sleighride is neat.
Today anyway.


Regards - Reilly & Patricia




Subj: home pageness yr highness
Date: May 4 1996 7:50 PM EDT
From: ebabbs@lane.k12.or.us (Ken Babbs)


i say, rob't old chap, you are doing one awesome job, and i don't
give my platitudes lightly, no, I weigh them down with medallions, esoteric annotations. If that makes sense.


No, what you are doing is quite impressive-- a new way to connect
with audience; plus having audience participation.


I tried to send something in on your leary mail in thang but it
didn't send. for one thing, the longer you stay on your site the slower it
gets as more and more people tap in.


I wanted to read your novel, chapts. 1-5, but do I have to go to
adobe and capture their acrobat program to be able to print the work?


Of all people, Owsley is helping me work my way through the
macintosh learning curve. He sent me Fetch which is a downloading program and with that i downloaded Netscape and then i got on the web.


I really like the way you recorded the bit from Visions of Cody. I
bought this mac to do audio editing on. Viking wants whatever i put out.
Also i have a guy in england who produces audio works and he was here a few days ago and he wants whatever i can come up with.


So howsabout sending me your dat of your cody reading and i'll put
in into one of the tapes i'm doing. practically everything i'm working on
is vintage shit, plus my additions from the hear and now. The record
producers will work out the permissions stuff.


Have you got the kerouac cd they did? Not as impressive as half
the stuff on the net.


the way things are going, we'll be able to hear your visions of
cody reading right off your web site in not so far future. Electronic
publishing!


did I tell you kesey and I are doing a live internet video show
with Leary on Friday the tenth of May? Leary has an isdn or is it idsn or
whatever fast speed line into his house and kesey and i are going into
eugene to a place where there is one too, button your shoe...


this might be of interest to your readers. i don't know the
accessibility factor for everyone out there. that thing you did of having
people email in their thoughts of leary dying was really good. i was able
to print that out. i hate to read stuff on the screen. i'm already up to
16 pts on screen text size.


enuff of your time, my friend. keep up the good work. luckily i
wake up every morning at four and i'm going to check out more of this web shite then when you don't have to sit and wait.


much love, babbs



Ken,
your encouragement is gratefully welcome and meaningful. Gracias.
Let's get to your problems point by point.
1. SuicideTL is on AOL so there should be no problem delivering
email. They have a mail system which I grudgingly admit is pretty versatile. So it has no connection with how many folks visit my site. I don't even know how many, since I don't put a counter on the thing & don't intend to. I judge the success by the quality of the response mail which is pretty damned high as these things go and once in awhile brilliant. We've gotten past the "welcome to the net" stage and on to ongoing dialogue.


2. If you don't want to download Acrobat on your 5bph modem, find somebody with a new computer and get a copy from them. Adobe bundles it with all new computer systems. No, you can't read or print pdf without it, though you can download the files. You could download and print the source files of the html versions if you're obstinate. There's not a lot of code on them. You could run "find & replace <BR> with a blank space" and get a readable if ugly version. I've never tried. My printer has been down for months. Damn system 7.5.2. I hear 7.5.3 is even worse, singling out internet stuff to crash. Our guys are rewriting it as best they can and testing it out on poor Alan's computer, which is crash city now. I'm too busy with my site to dare experimenting with the system. I'll load when it's safe.


3. I didn't do a Cody reading other than what you have. I did do a snazzy 20 minute reading of "Railroad Earth" from "Lonesome Traveler" that Stanford probably has a copy of. Couldn't release it for copyright reasons. Shame. I think Grove Press holds the © rather than the estate. If you can get past that you're welcome to it. Don't think I have the CD you speak of, unless it was that boxed set.


Maureen just handed me a spirulina drink she whips up. Tastes like seaweed but assuages hunger. Am exercising and getting unfat.


I'm up to 14 pixels of screen size and so are the pdf printouts. Wish I'd never gotten that RK operation. Improved my distance vision at the cost of what I really use my eyes for: reading and writing.


rh


(ps: I'll print your letter and this reply, if that's ok, changing shit to shite -I think English scatology is ok with American censors. That's chickenshite, I know, but I've got to protect deadnet from easy targeting by the right wing who are bound to view with dim eyes the intercommunications we're attempting. They probably figured we'd shut up and die when Garcia vamoosed. Not bloody likely.)

Subj: Ideas for GD, Inc. Ventures
Date: May 7 1996 11:41 AM EDT
From: donenv@village.ios.com (Tim Donohoe)


Would GD, Inc be able to/interested in running tours for other bands?
Who could run a tour more smoothly than the pros who carried the dead
around for 30 years? No other band has better sound, more efficient
mail orders, knows more about the the arenas, treats the fans better.
I would love to see Dylan's neverending tour handled more like the dead
shows. It would also increase the tour/band's popularity. I would guess
that runing/promoting the Further tour, a west coast Dylan tour, a few
Phish shows and the next rh tour (I know, but I just thought I'd bury
that here anyway)would be a profitable start. Except for the problem of
the earth spinning off its axis if the bands aren't properly robbed by
the promoters and ticketmaster, it may be a relief to the bands to tour
with the best people in the business.
tim


Tim,
well, it wouldn't be the GD then, would it? It's be like calling an ice cream concession "the Beatles" .... wouldn't be surprised if it went down that way, but it doesn't tickle my personal motivation. I'd just like to see our own mutating configurability get out there under GD auspices.


Say, don't know where you got this email address. I've only checked it twice in two months, this time by mistake. It's utterly inactive and chances are that if you use it I won't see what you wrote in any timely fashion.


Thanks for a well written letter. May drop it in the mailbag, though I'm not sure I want to open the dialogue on "what the GD should do!" I've got pretty definite in house ideas I want to push as you'll see in my next journal.
rh

Date: May 9 1996 2:28 PM EDT
From: rscruggs@ail.com (Richard Scruggs)


hello, robert !


i Never write letters, but your site has infused me with
a Need to write this one. if you have affected other people
similarly, you must be getting a Lot of mail, so i'll try to
keep it brief:


- first, a real big THANK YOU for this incredible
website. your generosity with your time and your writings,
your warmth and real-ness (human-ness), your accessibility,
and the sense of community you share with us are truly
wonderful and most gratefully appreciated.


- it occurs to me that your site combines literature,
art, communication, and the subculture in ways that never
existed before. somehow you've managed to turn a technology
into an art form. Nice Going!


- Yes, Yes, keep the chile pepper! (and i like the grin
graphic also.) My dictionary says chile is the same as chili,
but i don't want to get into that...


- the new watery ripples background (on 2hunterarchive)
is Beautiful! Great Choice! (am i the only one who, among
other things, is reminded of jerry's Final watery
adventures?) actually, All of your graphics, backgrounds, and
page layouts are exceptional... you've really done a
terrific job of designing and decorating this place!


- i couldn't help but to notice how fast your pages
load. you probably made a significant effort to achieve this.
don't think that it goes unnoticed.


- yes, of course we are reading the giant's harp. i'm a
somewhat picky reader, and I'm enjoying it very much. you've
created a very real place, with very real characters. i feel
as if i am right there when i read it. you have given it Life
(no small accomplishment). and, i must mention again how
impressed i am with your generosity. you must be aware of
stephen king's current "serial" scam... for you to be
releasing this work for free, every Week!, is Very cool.


- i haven't had any trouble printing out and reading the
html's (Except when the text is white), but i wasn't all that
thrilled with acrobat.


- i'm starting to see your influence and handiwork at
dead.net. keep up the good work! we're looking forward to
those new buttons. i Know they couldn't have picked a better
webmaster!


- PLEASE don't burn yourself out on this web stuff. as
an occasional computer burnout myself (way too many "just a
few more minutes"... till 4am sessions) i'm hoping you'll
pace yourself. please don't get to the point where you never
want to see a computer again (as i sometimes have)... what
you are doing here is way too cool to allow it to fade
away...


- and, btw, i'm trying, but i can hardly keep up with
you... i've been so busy reading the frequent installments of
the journal (i really enjoy your journal the most - it's one
of the things that make this site so human), the mailbag (a
great idea that's working very well), and the giant's harp,
that i haven't had a chance to check out any of the Many
other archive treasures.


- thanks again for everything, especially, as someone
else wrote, for keeping the bus rolling. you've given us a
place to go when we need it the most.


- and, of course, thank you for all the great lyrics
that have become a part of who i am...


sincerely, rick


ps. i hope i sent this to Your correct address... please
clarify for all of your readers: which is better -
K9Luna@aol.com or mailbag@dead.net?


(mailbag is for those who cringe at aol,
though aol is simpler to retrieve with
its flashmail utility. In and out with
letters receive and send in half a minute,
which is great for high volume & cheap. rh)


pps. also please tell us how you prefer to be addressed:
robert, mr. hunter, bob, rh ??? knowing this would really
help the "connection."


Rick,

thank you for reading the stuff I'm putting up. I don't get a general sense that too much other than my journals, some dead related stuff, and the mailbag are much perused. Which is, of course, the nature of the internet. It's a place to cruise, not sit and stare at what could be pulled from a bookshelf.That's why the pdf files, where it can actually be a book.


I try to put lots of light weight stuff in, and enjoy doing it. Am getting behind on my email, taking some time to do the next page more leisurely - but suddenly feel the need to get my journal online because it's got so much I'm very anxious to communicate to the people who count.


I could go on at length, but that's where I've got to budget my time - so I'll just say thank you for an extra rewarding letter. Glad I checked before ducking out of email to edit, edit, edit. The new page is suddenly taking form and wants to get out and tap dance on the net. Burn out, as you describe it, is a real and present danger. I have a vacation to England coming up next month. Believe I can maintain this page from there, via laptop, phoneline and modem. Will have to steal more images since I won't have a scanner. This is more than a full time job, but obviously I love it.


rh


ps. Robert will do. It's what my family and half my friends call me. Rob never, and no one named Robert can avoid Bob. I've never felt much attachment to my name. Is that normal?

.
Date: May 1 1996 11:39 AM EDT
From: brooklyn@netcom.com (Levi Asher)

Hi --

My name's Levi, and I've been vicariously enjoying your
correspondence with my friend Xian Crumlish for a while.


Then Xian pointed me to your journal entries about Neal
Cassady, and I just had to write: What? Graham Parker???
They must be insane. Neal with a British accent ... I
don't get it.


I was in the Bay Area last week, and Xian and I went down
to Los Gatos to meet Neal's 43-year-old son John Cassady.
John's about as wonderful a guy as I've ever met. We
ended the long night jamming, and played a bunch of
your songs, like Bertha and U. S. Blues. Fun night.


Over a year ago, back when I was just putting my Literary
Kicks website together, a Deadhead friend sent me a
memoir of Neal and the writing of the song "Cassidy" that
John Perry Barlow had privately sent him -- I then got
JPB's permission to put it up on my site where it's been
ever since ... which just gave me the glimmer of an idea --
if you ever had anything to say about Neal that you could
send me, then I could have twin Neal pages from Hunter
and Barlow and I'd just be one of the coolest people in
the universe. Also I'd love to hear what you have to say.
Of course I totally understand if you're busy and this
isn't in the cards right now.


I also wanted to tell you that you're doing a great thing
with your web pages. I love it that your site is big
and sprawling and spontaneous -- you seem to have jumped
from beginner right to obsessed expert, totally skipping
the dilettante phase -- I'm very impressed. We all started
this way. You are truly a citizen of the web community.


Also wanted to say that the reason I love your lyrics is
that you have the rare ability to tell a story. Why
aren't more word-writers able to deal with characters
and settings? To me only a handful of lyricists -- you, Dylan,
Chuck Berry -- really qualify as *writers*. I'm thinking of
simple, earthy phrases like this one:


Jack Straw from Wichita cut his buddy down

Or ...

Gotta get down to Cumberland Mine
That's where I mainly spend my time
Make good money five dollars a day
Made any more I might move away

Or ...

What's the use of calling shots?
This cue ain't straight in line


Tho I always thought the following line was "keyboard's made
of styrofoam" -- did you ever play a piano where the keys had
no action at all, and just stayed pressed when you pressed them?
Oh well, "cue ball" is good too.

My all-time favorite lyric is probably China Doll.

Anyway, I'm certainly rambling now, and I'll stop. Thank
you very much for extending yourself into the world of
the net. We've all been hanging around here just hoping
to see people like you walk thru the door.

Also, Xian Crumlish really is an exemplary person, as
you may have noticed. A true seeker -- after *something*,
I'm not sure what. And when he gives me advice on my web
pages, which is not often -- I take it, no second thoughts.

Thanks again for "being here."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Levi Asher = brooklyn@netcom.com

Literary Kicks: http://www.charm.net/~brooklyn/
(the beat literature web site)

Queensboro Ballads: http://www.levity.com/brooklyn/
(my fantasy folk-rock album)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Let's head back to Tennessee, Jed


Levi,

thanks for the big, sprawling letter on my big, sprawling page. I'll put it in the big, sprawling mailbag if you don't big, sprawling mind. No time for big, sprawling Cassady stories on email -I bounce through this stuff pretty quick - and save enough energy to do my journal, giant's harp chapter and all the other chores of a full time job. A big, sprawling job!
Xian is good for a caustic right-on comment just about any time.

rh
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subj: Subjects
Date: May 10 1996 12:17 AM EDT


Hey Hunter, cyberspace eh? Ain't the f'n Pony Espress is it? Got on last
week... I's already workin 10,12, 14+ hour days six and seven days a
week, plus editing a book of poetry, reading everything under the sun,
monitoring the world, and trying to get real real gone on my "new"
Gibson J200... doin' some Patti Smith songs I copped off Lenny Kaye this
last tour, Dancin' Barefoot, of course, and Ghost Dance... Ghost
Dance... phew, practically bring tears to my eyes every time. And now
this internet stuff. I'm in for it now. My provider gives me dos MB web
page free, so it's off to HTML and the rest for me too. Goodnight Irene!
So I'm sleuthing along the doubleya doubleya doubleya, run Grateful D a
course, and lo and behold... NICE PAGE! poetry, musings, journals,
graphics, forums, novels, comics, dissertations, literary theory, mail,
on and on and on... surprised? Of course not. Maybe some of the less
developed personalities among the deadheads will gather how it is you
and JJG came up with so much. It's not ALL magic. Nothin' beats work and
commitment. Dug the Goethe link. Right on. So I'm listening to Warren
Zevon's Learning to Flinch, caught that tour at the Noe Valley Ministry.
He's so great. Need more of his literacy in the world. How come when I
download Strange Music to read (Netscape 2.0 to Word) I lose the line
breaks? Have you not readied it yet...or is it me? I'm on Earthlink...
are we suffering same as AOL?
Cosmo's Sonnets are okay. Try some a this on for size... numbers 5 and 6
of a twelve sonnet cycle called "Reconstruction Days:"


The shadow of smoke
falls to the cold wall.
A wakeless morning
a night of ice water
in my veins.
Harnessed lasers deliver folk music
the subterranean rumbles
I'll tell you about old glory
my saddle soaking wet.
Orion's belt whips me,
language a needle in the brain
books on fire
busses full of kids
the light is changing.

*

I see the strong survive.
Standing by the ocean
casting my breath
harvest moon wane
wakes of fire
aligned with my other;
you don't need to know any more
about time than that, do you?
When you wish upon a falling city
makes no difference what you are.
Marigold children sag,
The Large Magellanic Cloud
containing star nurseries
is in labor.


Ya kinda need all twelve, but what the hey. Showed these once a few
years ago to Anselm Hollo and he said, "Hmmm. Marigold children. Is this
a subspecies of flower children?" Which shows, again, that readers are
easily more perceptive than writers. Some times. Specially, I guess, if
they're Finnish geniuses of many languages.


So- smoke on the water, fire in sky. The hek with this ashes
controversy. Sheez. Grow up. where did all these people get a sense of
ownership? No one's entitled to a goddamn thing. This is nature man.
We didn't ask to come here and we weren't even invited. I got news for
these friggers: All bets are off!


So, signing off. Here's what I wrote. I treasure that I was alone in a
bar with him once. And together with him in various stadiums and
theatres a few dozen. The race is on!


ROSES ARE BLUE

In the wake's wake
in the silver green sky
in America
after the colliseum
past the purple, gold bay
and up over an ocean
where cremed ashes are
scattered...


harmolodic overtones
from octaves in the key of Venus
synchronicle the horizons of eras.
We'll remember
it was a beautiful day to die
and all that unbounded joy
and the way the wound
just as the word or wind
created and destroyed
a hole in space where
promethean fingers
could bear down
and sear through
to bring light
from manifest universes
birthright and denied...


This is where a darker star
recombines to shine
like a birthday candle
or headlight,
a high beam
like his smile
his mind
and everybody's love


Cheers and regards,

(name deleted by request 11/28/99)

John,
Happy New Year to you, too. Glad you're online. Don't burn out the first week!
rh



Subj: Magic Bus Music Forum http://mbus.com
Date: Tue, Apr 23, 1996 11:46 AM EDT
From: llpoe@ix.netcom.com (Laura Poe)


Greetings,


Congratulations on your recent acquisition of the Dead.net. Granted,
you already live in silicon country and probably have enough talented
people to help you on your new endeavour, but we here at Magic Bus
Enterprises want to step up to the plate and -volunteer- our services.
My wife and I run the Magic Bus Music Forum on the net, which is a
truly interactive database of up and coming bands & clubs and both
regional & national music festivals around the country.How about a
Link, we currently link to the dead.net and supply updated info on the
Further Festival. We also have the honor of creating Vassar Clements'
WWWsite(http:mbus.com/vassar)[please note vassar is still under
construction, but will be final in a day or two.


After Jerry passed over, we still had the incredible urge to pack up
the musical caravan and drive. However, we didn't know where to go, so
many roads ya know? So we decided my wife should quit her job
(computer engineer) and start the Magic Bus Music Forum. I maintained
my job as a sound engineer to stay in touch with the industry and to
feed my addiction for sound pressure and stress.


We met each other through Jer' and the boys, and have been in bliss
ever since. The music must never stop! We want to ensure that the
music doesn't fade away, so if there is -anything- we can do in regards
to the web site or anything for that matter please, zap us back.


Regards,


Christian & Laura Marks
http://mbus.com
mbmf@mbus.com
P.O. Box 1974
Dunedin,FL


Subj: No Subject
Date: Fri, Apr 26, 1996 9:16 PM EDT
From: mblackburn@earthlink.net (Mark Blackburn)


Bob, I just brought up the front page of the dead.net I smell serious
growth in the air- are you really the new webmiester? In reading your
journels online you sound as if you've slipped into total compnet madness.
I'm very impressed by what I've seen, both in your archives and now the
dead.net also. I am ,at the moment trying to get out of construction after
30 yrs, due to health and philisophical reasons. And I'm completely
fascinated by the internet and it's potentials, and am pursuing some
education starting this summer. Any way, I would appreciate any tips on
reading or classes you've used to gain expertise.
Thanks Mark Blackburn


Mark,
I've got no expertise at network stuff other than getting SiteMill & sitting down to write web pages. Picked up the other necessary programs along the way, photoshop, a few gif & jpeg converters - glanced at the manuals, got a scanner, didn't read the manual, just scanned until it started working. My pages are simplistic, as far as chops go, but hopefully that is covered by other tactics.
What I'm doing anybody could do easily. And of course you learn by doing, more than any manual could teach. The books I've looked at hardly make sense until I already know what they're talking about through experience. HTML was a stumbling block, but now PageMill or SiteMill write it for you. You just wail.


rh

Subj: Just Saying Hi!
Date: May 3 1996 3:03 PM EDT
From: Thomas.Melvin@MVS.UDEL.EDU


Howdy Robert. We've actually met a few times, but I don't think that you'd
remember. The first time was in October of 1976. I had just moved to the Bay
Area and there was a club on Market Street, north after you went under the
freeway on the right (can't remeber the name), that was closing and I went
down because they said you'd be playing. This was back when you were a little
less public and I had never seen a good picture of you, so I had little idea
of what you looked like. I started talking to someone and then the MC got up
(this was a VERY small little club or coffehouse) and introduced you and you
turned to me and said "Gotta go play a few songs", or something like that, and
I realized that I'd been talking to Robert Hunter without even knowing it.
After that I saw you with Roadhog up at the Shady Grove on Haight Street quite
a bit. I liked Comfort, but I liked Roadhog better. Gimme' those rough edges
any day. We talked recently at the Chestnut Caberet in Philadelphia after your
poetry reading there. I was the guy who asked you if you ever read any of Don
van Vleit's (Captain Beefheart) stuff. HIghly recommended, but you have to
buy the albums to read the stuff (he usually printed the lyrics) because no
one has had the foresight to publish his stuff in book form. Anyway, thanks
for putting up a great page and sharing youself with us. I wanted to
contribute to the Leary comments but couldn't get in for some reason, so I'll
just say that I've often thought that if Tim and Ken had been a bit more
discreet that we all might be a little less constricted today in our ability
to explore the mind. What was it that Phil said about realizing that if you'd
never turned anybody on to pot that it would still be cheap? Well, that's in
the past now and we must carry on with the situation at hand. I'm a librarian
now at the University of Delaware (good karma, helping people navigate the
maze of information sources out there) and that's in great part because of the
flash on the power of words and literature that your work gave me. One of
your mail people mentioned Blake, and I've always thought of writing a thesis
on the parallels between the Romantic Poets and the sixties writers (youthful
idealism tempered later in life by experience, at least for those who lived
long enough). Glad you didn't go the way of Keats or Shelly! By the way,
please temper your comments about republicans a bit (Nixon, Carter, et al).
As Ralph Stanley said in a recent biography of his, "I've been a Democrat all
my life, but when I stop and think about it, the only politicians who ever did
anything for me were Republicans." Go back and read Edmund Burkes'
Reflections on the Revolution in France and you'll find a deadhead in there.
Really! Self sufficiency, self reliance, suceed on your own terms without
interference from big brother, and belief in some sort of higher power.
Republican are getting a bad enough rap these days from idiots like Limbaugh
without more misinformation being fed into minds that are predisposed to
accept whatever misinformation they're presented with. Anyway, I've wasted
enough of your time. Thanks again for putting up this page, and take care of
yourself and your family.
Tom Melvin



Tom,
yes, I remember you from Philly. The Green Earth on Market Street stretches my memory a bit. So you saw me at the beginning and end of my performing career.
Was I being mean to Republicans? Carter hardly qualifies. You'll have to excuse my attitude toward Nixon, who instigated a censorship into what could be said in songs which successfully kept Uncle John's Band (goddamn, well I declare) Truckin' & Casey Jones (both mention cocaine) off the air under threat of FCC license review. That was my bread and butter man, and I was eating margerine off my hand at the time.
Once again dealing with the threat of censorship here on the net. Give me all the good reasons in the world why it should be done, I still don't like it. Enforced provincialism is galling.


rh



Date: May 9 1996 5:19 PM EDT
From: Mr crrctn
a cool graphic 5/2MZ
with Zero and S 5/1


Subj: Deja woo

Harpo,
Congrats on getting chapter 6 up! However, I want to point out that you repeat eight paragraphs (forgot to X it out?).
It starts on p 65, "The young man's hands moved..." and goes through "forbidden boundary". Then the whole section is repeated (p 67). If this is a technique meant to convey the confusingly circular nature of dreams, please accept my apology.
Also please accept some minor corrections: you left the period off the sentence ending "not a monent to waste" (p 66 or 68, whichever). Then there are a few extraneous dashes, starting with "enchant-ed" and "encamp-ment" on p 69, then remem-ber on p 70 (also some spacing problemson that page); then "har-mony", "them-selves" (p 71) and "whirl-wind" (p 73). Minor, but dis-tracting.
A request: it would be great if you also offered each separate chapter in pdf format. That way those of us who already have the previous chapters printed could easily run off each new chapter as they appear, rather than wrangling with trying to print just a portion of the "allharp" file. Thanks.
Oh, furthur congrats on the pdf of "A Strange Music"! Looks great (haven't proofed it yet!), though I do miss that olive background.


This has been a message from...


Mr Correction




Mr. Correction,

Holy cow mr. C - you mean those hyphens I dared insertmanually in MSWord were flung back in my face by pdf when I changed margins? Ouch. Fix that, will you Bill Gates? Thank you for the edit. Great to have it all on one list. Every single thing will be fixed according to your command. As for single chapter pdfs, er - maybe, but not right off. My plan is to do three seven chapter files and then print the whole thing up in one file. Is it difficult to print partial pdfs? Don't know - my printer has been unaddressable ever since I went online with this machine.


You know, I miss the olive background too. Maybe I'll see about it, can't cost much memory to do a solid background.


thanks again,
rh


Date: May 3 1996 3:10 PM EDT
From: jimc@kurz-ai.com (Jim Contalonis)


Hello Robert,


I love the work you are doing on your archive and
dead.net. The water graphic that I just saw load-up was
fantastic!
So, Eileen Law saves everything huh. A few years back
I sent a letter to the office about trying to get the band
to play in the Boston Garden again. It had been years since
they had played there. I am just curious if the letter had
any impact. The next fall tour they were back in the Garden.
Was this another case of the group mind of the deadheads at
work, or was the letter actually read...? Just wonderin'.


ps-Give me job at the office :} :} :}


Jim,
I found that patch of water yesterday & thought it'd make a fine background for next weeks page. Then I thought, why don't I just sneak on the server & do it now. I messed up & kept failing to load it, so after an hour and a half of cursing, when I finally fired up netscape, opened my screen wide, and that lake came cascading out of my screen, it was like the waters of Heaven.


I got rid of the brick wall background because of so many complaints from IBM users. IBM & its running dogs interpret pixels taller & thinner than does Mac, so what looks good to me can annoy them. By the time I'd run the bricks through a converter to lower their gamma enough times to satisfy everybody, it just looked like faded brick wallpaper, to me, rather than satisfying masonry.


rh



Subj: Ralph Reed
Date: Apr 30 1996 9:15 AM EDT
From: hippie@iglou.com (Michrel L. Standefer)


The following landed in my e-mailbox today...
==========================================================
The Christian Coalition has set up a temporary 800- number
service which will direct your call to the office of any
U.S. Congressperson, ostensibly so that you can voice your
support for the Communications Deceny Act. But they don't
ask any questions, so you can likewise voice your support
for opposition to the CDA,... or drug decriminalization
for that matter. I've been calling my representatives
during slow periods of work and thoroughly enjoying the
irony of the whole situation. Call away!
Let Ralph Reed pay! 1-800-962-3524


Date: May 1 1996 8:25 PM EDT
From: RSbklyn
Subj: re: 4/30 journal entry


Re:
" From Zip to Zoroaster in a week is not flimsy backpacking. Erasure stains modify the cytoplasm of our tears. The measure alines. The beats fall into place. Surely Weirdness and Mersey shall swallow us all the days of our lives and we will squat in the dive of deliverance for six months to a year. Last week's lesson is not this week's lesson, and that's a lesson in itself. All else aside, what can you give other than all you've got?"


Cosmo? Is that you? Or are you cribbing unpublished sonnets for your journals, Robert? Come clean.
By the way, a Hypnocracy page would be great. You wrote:
"Remember, in the sea of Hypnocracy, the shore is just another wave."


Rich,
be another Cosmo in next edition. Forgot about the old boy. There are sixty sonnets in all but I didn't know anyone was paying attention.
rh


Subj: Re: hell of a f...ing letter (one good turn deserves another)
Date: May 1 1996 9:36 PM EDT
From: pfreedma@osf1.gmu.edu (Paul Freedman)


Robert
I was reminded of something Jerry said in an interview: "Like I'll see
Hunter and it'll be what's up and what's happening and Hunter will say
something like: I've translated this canto from Rilke and I'm working on
this poem from Goethe, what've you been doing? And I'll say: Well, I just
finished two neat model boats"


Trying to download html chapter of Harp in the browser. The Netscape error allows anyone to save the download, but I think Netscape tries to reference the file as if it were PDF when it first grabs it.


Take care,
pf
(Paul - it sure will if you load the Acrobat program rather than the plug-in into your browser. rh)

Subj: Re: power of songs
Date: Apr 30 1996 11:18 AM EDT
From: tomc@rosenet.net


Robert: Thanks for the comments. As obtuse as my poem was, it meant to thank
you for all your poems over the years. As a community college teacher, I have
played Uncle John's band, among others of yours, to my classes for years. I'm
sure your'e aware of the gradual "mainstreaming" of the Dead's work into our
culture. I'm not even sure that's well done, at times. I've heard "trucking" in
the strangest of contexts. So many of us ex-hippies are making the world a
better place, one tiny act at a time. Keep up the good work. Love and peace,
Tom Cook.

Subj: Hearing Secret Harmonies
Date: Apr 29 1996 7:21 PM EDT
From: danlevy@well.com (Dan Levy)


Thanks for your note a few weeks ago about Anthony Powell, Proust and such.
I guess I agree that the last couple of books (of Powell's 12 part novel) were disappointing.


Here's an idea, something that might be a kinda groundbreaking idea for the Web.


Are you familiar with Terence McKenna's work? I've been working with him
for seven years...edited three of his books...business advisor...currently
producing a documentary with him about alchemy, the Rosicrucian
Enlightenment, John Dee, Rudolf II of Bavaria, etc.


He maintains his own web site, as do you.


Does the idea of an ongoing email dialog between you, posted to both web
sites, appeal to you? You guys could talk about anything at all; the
results would be of interest to lots of people.


This occurred to me last night as we were talking about something someone
had laid on him recently, that evolution could be considered to be the
process of gaining receptor sites. In other words, as humans evolved our
brains were able to receive more and more of the sensory information
available to us. Then Terence did something quite uncharacteristic for
him--he quoted a Hunter lyric, saying, "You know...'wake up to find out
that you are the eyes of the world'..."


I'd be happy to help in any way, and have no expectations about how often
mail would pass between you. When I suggested this idea to him, he was
enthusiastic.


Thanks,
Dan


Subj: RH, JG, GD and the movies
Date: May 3 1996 1:10 AM EDT
From: blankman@ix.netcom.com (Matthew Blankman)


Robert-
Well, since writing to someone whose work has meant so much to me is
oh-so-daunting, I suppose I shall just dive in.
I remember reading an interview with the dear departed Mr. Garcia and
yourself (with Blair Jackson?) in which Jerry mentioned his fondness
for John Ford westerns and their influence on his personality and work.
Being a fan of both the Dead and Ford, I found this incredibly
interesting. It has led me to listen to Garcia/Hunter compositions and
Jerry's playing from yet another angle. I have always found your lyrics
to be very cinematic, particularly the cowboy/cardgame tales (aah,
there's John Ford again). Of course, some of the stories you have told
would only translate to a cinema of the mind (China Cat Sunflower would
need a HELL of a budget). Although some of those less obviously
filmable lyrics could be the basis of a doozy of a screenplay: I've
always felt that Dylan's "Isis" would make a great, bizarre, sprawling
fantasy/sci-fi-western (with Jack Nicholson as the man in the corner
who approaches our hero for a match).
So, my question for you, Mr. Hunter is this: If "My Darling
Clementine" and "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" hit Jerry where he lived and
breathed, what films and/or filmmakers do it for you? Any at all? Too
many to list? (By the way, for me its Welles, Ford, Cassavetes,
Huston, Billy Wilder, Scorsese, Kubrick, Hawks, Renoir, Allen, etc etc.
Not to mention James Cagney, Bogie, The Marx Brothers, et. al.)
Ok, I'll cut this off before I use any more parenthetical statements
(is this excessive?).


Take care,
Matt Blankman


"There are three questions you have to ask yourself: who you are, where
you came from and why you do what you do. I don't know why I do what I
do, I do it because I'm Evel Knievel and I don't question it."
-Evel Knievel
(Daredevil and American Huckster)


Matthew,
Wim Wenders is my current ace director. And Greg Lachow, whom I enjoy so much I went up to Seattle to play a part in his latest movie: "The Wright Brothers" in which Orville Wright is played by Greg's wife Meegan.
rh


Subj: warped quips
Date: May 1 1996 2:11 PM EDT
From: gwiz@wco.com (Doug Greene)


Hi Mr. Hunter (Robert?)


Can't resist your illustrious invitation to speak easy (so to
speak). Great Scott, your site is getting popular!! Don't have any stories
for you, but a poem and three questions:


Are the lyrics for Zero available anywhere in your pages? [no, but in "A Box of Rain" book rh]


How do you refer to your muse other than the mermaid? Man, she loves you. Nice swirls with that tail.


I read your comment about the inception of "far out", a term whose meaning I
grew up in. Did you and Jerry coin this? Hemp it? Can you recall it's debut?


This is more than three questions (further and further out).
Now the poem:


She comes to me
At odd hours
Gentle, insistent
As on wings of a hummingbird
Demanding I dance,
Make music, write.
She breathes me
Like wind kissing trees
Making me float and sing.
To reject her
Means to risk
Not being visited again.
I am her servant
She is my Muse.


This is my (too ponderous; I need to gather with 'like-minded people')
give on the muse.
Our dog barks asleep in my lap. The garden shrivels in the heat. And
rows to hoe before I weep..
If this were paper mail I'd fold it like a fan. Yours,


Sid


Subj: Web page, Second Sight, etc
Date: Apr 29 1996 7:33 PM EDT
From: Fran_Harris@quickmail.ucsf.edu (Fran Harris)


Hi Robert -


I've been enjoying your Web page immensely. It does what a good Web page
should do - it keeps me coming back to explore further. And they think I'm
working ...


The GD Web site has been somewhat stagnant, and it's great to see it suddenly expanding all over the place. Just one suggestion (but I'm getting to that).


I've been checking out a lot of different music in the Bay Area in the past
several months. I've seen a lot of good "one night stand" music, but have
found that only Second Sight and Zero give me that feeling that we're all
together on a trip into unexplored territory every time they play.


So my Web page suggestion - in the Hot Line section, where it discusses what
the various former band members are up to, it says that Vince frequently plays
with Zero and Second Sight. There is a link going to the Zero page, but none
for the Second Sight page. Their site address is:
http://www.dnai.com/~ssight/


Also, it'd be great if someone could help Vince get something up in his
section, other than his picture. Anything about what he's doing, musically or
otherwise, would be appreciated by a lot of people. I saw him last Friday
night with Second Sight, so I know he's looking and sounding great. But a lot
of people have been worried about him (all kinds of rumors flying around), and
no news is generally taken to mean the worst in the rumor mill.


Thanks for your time, and of course thanks for all the music!
Fran




Date: Apr 29 1996 1:44 PM EDT
From: Laura_SHAW@CO.FREDERICK.MD.US (Laura SHAW)


Just a quick note to let you know how great www.dead.net is looking
these days. What an improvement to log on and see something new for a
change. Keep the good times rollin'! FYI, I'd get rid of the chile.


Laura,
that's 8 for and 2 against the chilly as of 5/11. (updated reply) rh


Subj: Wednesday nights on dead.net
Date: Apr 29 1996 1:00 AM EDT
From: barrows@netside.com (Catherine Gould Barrows)


Hey, Robert! Congrats on receiving the *prestigious* position of
grateful.dead.net webmaster! I like what you've done already, especially
the link to Rex.


A few of us like to IRC to dead.net (channel #gdead). We used to do this
so frequently that we could always find someone to talk to there, but
lately we've had to start planning our get-togethers. Anyway, if you have
IRC capabilities, please drop in and join us for some online chat on
Wednesday nights. The interaction level here has ranged from the
ridiculous to the sublime. Pick a level and join us some time.

Peace,
CathyB


Cathy - the Rex file is Alan Trist's work, as is the deadheads button. The idea is to get 'em online and then let the appropriate parties take them over. I like to think of it as a service of GDP. I kibbitz, but my hands are full with this page. rh



Subj: ZERO Song
Date: Sat, Apr 27, 1996 5:48 AM EDT
From: witheld by request


'ello sir-


"Jim" here. Thanks for the reply last week re:my mail to you about
the wonderous band known as Zero. After learning that you and Zero
(Anton?) had penned another tune for a "SAVE THE TREES" recording, I
skipped merrily to the Family Dog for the rather bizarre Zero gig that
evening (4-20). Midway through the first set the boys (love that term)
charged into a NEW song that some of the Zeroheads have been calling either
"Possession" or "System".


My brother is a Federal Public Defender (better make this e-mail
**PERSONAL**) and I really dug what lyrics I could understand through the
PA. Spending some time "on tour" gives anyone a horrific reality check
(narcs, checkpoints, et al) on our so-called "liberties". Having seen "The
War" on Deadheads from the parking lot, and then seeing "The War" on poor,
generally non-white folks from my Brother's Federal Perspective, and THEN
noting the complete lack of concern from mid-America (where's dat?)...has
resulted in me becoming pretty f...ing depressed about the state of
Prison-economics here in the U.S.A.


With no tape of the show (yet), I can't revisit the music to
become more familiar....BUT, my amateur ears did lead me to think that
these lyrics were penned by yourself. If this was the case I'd like to say
Thanks, because its about time someone wrote a song about this situation.
I remember an interview years back where you stated that so-called "protest
music" was one genre that you didn't feel comfortable with. While I don't
want to label anything (for fears of covering something else up), this tune
definately succeeds at...something. :-)


So, Robert, if you don't mind...I'd really love a response to this
e-mail. I understand (& empathize) with your ever increasing mail load, so
I am only asking for a two word reply. Please Answer:


1) Did you write this song? (YES or NO)


2) (if YES) What is it's title? (feel free to use more than 1 word)


thanks for everything,


P.ssssssst I'll be at the upcoming Eugene, Portland, & Seattle Zero gigs
awaiting whatever shows up. Cheers!



> Jim, yes I wrote it. The title is "Possession." Glad to hear they're doing
>it. Shame I can't print your letter, but I understand. rh


Go ahead and print the letter, just make sure that my name & e-mail
address isn't on there. Thanks for the response, enjoy this beautiful
weather!!


wishing I was skinny-dipping,



Date: Tue, 30 Apr 96 01:58 EDT
From: Jim Brown <brownj1@teleplex.com>
Subject: Further Festival


Since I first found your home page I have been intrigued with the
possibility of communicating with Robert Hunter. I am 45 and have been a
Deadhead since the first album. Living on the East Coast , I never came to
the Haight , but the music has always been the haven to which I turned . You
are truly one of the great bards of our time , the test of which is that
when revisited your words have taken on new and wonderous meanings as I have
grown and changed. As we the deadheads grow older and the task of
documentation and recognition falls to us I feel your talents will gain more
popularity and the recognition you deserve will finally come.
Last Summer it was my pleasure to re-unite Mickey and an old Army
buddy. As a reward my son and I were allowed backstage at Charlotte to meet
Mickey , Dennis and several others. As a result a long distance freindship
has occured. Dennis is graciously providing backstage passes to us for the
Atlanta , Charlotte , and Raleigh shows of The Festival. I hope you will be
"On Tour" this summer , because I can think of no greater thrill than to
meet you and spend some time in conversation with one who has meant so much
in my life.
My son and daughter are Deadheads and musicians ( my son the guitar
and my daughter the sax). My daughter and I are great Zero fans. Horses ,
Catalina , and Home On the Range are our favorites. I know they will also
welcome an opportunity to meet you. PLEASE , come on Tour!
I have rambled enough. There is so much more to say , but "let the
words be yours , I'm done with mine".
P.S. Who is in Mickey's new band and when can I buy a copy?


"May the four winds blow you home again"
till next time - Jim Brown


Date: Wed, 1 May 1996 12:32:57 -0700 (PDT)
From: Timothy Lynch -- da Flower Punk <tlynch@violet.berkeley.edu>
Subject: Ralph J. Gleason


Hey now! My name is Tim Lynch, and one of my ways of combining business
and pleasure is to write my Ph.D. dissertation in the UC Berkeley History
Department on the work of one of my heroes, Ralph J. Gleason.


I would really benefit from any and all Dead "family" folks' recollections
of RJG, his work, his interactions with "the scene" and his role as a type
of "media/tor" between artists, freaks, activists, kids, cops,
bureaucrats, etc. and the mainstream American public from 1953-1975....
It's more complicated than all that, but that's a bit of the kaleidescope
in a nutshell....


The particular emphasis of my work is perhaps best stated in the working
title for the dissertation:


_The United States Blues: Ralph J. Gleason, music, media, culture and the
public space, 1953-1975._


If you want more information on me, my project, whatever, cool. If you
just want to respond in any way, great. Want specific questions? You got
'em. Too busy, disinclined, whatevers....? "A chance in a million is
better than none...," to borrow a phrase....


Thanks much!
Tim



Date: Fri, 3 May 96 07:17:49 UT
From: "Christopher Lincoln" <clinco@msn.com>
Subject: chili


Robert Congratulations to the dead for making you Webmaster
I really like your personal archive, especially The Giant's Harp and
The CHILI Keep up the good work
Your friend
Chris Lincoln

(lost the address on this one transfering it from mailbag@dead.net. By the way, I know I've lost at least a dozen letters over 2 months, some posted to wrong addresses, some just fallen down the cracks. I've answered all but a few dangerous sounding letters and some courtesy replies to my own replies )


> dear robert
>
> again, thanks for the unboiled cabbage(yes, yes! we want it fresh
> and raw); please keep it comin', apologies to Mom, Maureen, and Katy.
>
> i love the new background on the archive page, it's very soothing.
> disappointed about the viking decision--their loss, and ours.
>
> i finally got to read Giant's Harp, which has definitely captured my
> imagination and curiosity. i "have" a wolf, who sings to me(and to
> the universe), and i am strongly identifying with Echo at the end of
> chap 5.
>
> i am currently homeless and getting my net fix at libraries(Eugene
> public and U of O) where it is not ok to download software onto the
> computers, so iv'e not been able to see the pdf version; is it dif-
> ferent in text from the html? also, what does "shyp" mean?(chap 4,
> paragraph 32).
>
> oh yeah, also very delighted, Mr. Dead.Net, in your breathing of life
> into the rest of the web page; the "dead freaks unite" concept finally
> viable and then some.
>
> love
>
> marian


Marian,


&shyp means I tried to transfer an elipse (. . . ) from a word processing document onto an HTML document which won't recognize it unless it's typed in directly. I hope people all get pdf pretty soon so I can quit the time consuming process of turning my chapters into non-indented html paragraphs with big double spaces between paragraphs instead of indents. The difference between the pdf & the html is formatting. Pdf reads like a normal printed page with a nice looking font of my choosing, rather than the html palette of plain and teletype. Other than that, there's no change in the words.


Glad you like Echo. Just finished Chapter 6 which is all about her.


rh

Ever get one of these?

Date: Thu, 02 May 1996 21:53:10 -0700
From: Mail Delivery Subsystem <MAILER-DAEMON@globalpac>
Subject: Returned mail: Local configuration error
To: postmaster@globalpac
To: <mailbag>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Auto-Submitted: auto-generated (failure)

The original message was received at Thu, 02 May 1996 21:53:02 -0700
from Administrator@localhost

----- The following addresses have delivery notifications -----
<Brooks@gptmail.globalpac.com> (unrecoverable error)

----- Transcript of session follows -----
553 gptmail.globalpac.com. config error: mail loops back to me (MX problem?)
554 <Brooks@gptmail.globalpac.com>... Local configuration error

Content-Type: message/rfc822

Return-Path: mailbag@dead.net
Received: from ns.relay.net (Administrator@localhost) by globalpac (1.0 (Berkeley 8.7) Build 340/Configuration 4) with SMTP id VAA00168 for <Brooks@gptmail.globalpac.com>; Thu, 02 May 1996 21:53:02 -0700
From: mailbag@dead.net
Received: from dead.net by ns.relay.net with smtp
(Smail3.1.28.1 #2) id m0uEtLM-00007OC; Thu, 2 May 96 01:02 PDT
Received: from [199.182.243.156] by dead.net via SMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/940406.SGI.AUTO)
for <Brooks@gptmail.globalpac.com> id AAA07277; Thu, 2 May 1996 00:51:36 -0700
Message-Id: <v02130502adae1c8fb3b1@[199.182.243.156]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Date: Thu, 2 May 1996 01:02:54 -0700
To: Dr Who <Brooks@gptmail.globalpac.com>
Subject: Re: snot

>arf.arf


OK, that's thirteen for the fattest mailbag yet.

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