Anyone here ride along with Ken Kesey and his band of Merry ol' Pranksters? I've watched a bit of footage of the Merry Pranksters and loved what I saw. I'm interested in doing some research and finding out more. If anyone was on the magic bus "Further", I'd love to hear about the ride. And if anyone knows of any resources that would be worthwhile checking out, please recomend them.
www.key-z.com www.intrepidtrips.com (may be hyphenated, i dunno) And of course The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
I was on the Further Bus a few times.. It was parked on Haight St a lot.. I have cleaned the bus a few times also..twaz nasty.. imagain 30 or forty freeks on acid crammed in a tuna can.. heh heh.. I never acctully took any trip on the bus as far as leaving the Haight, but I have gotten high in the bus, as far as the Pranksters. They certenly were that. They were street theater preformers and acted out skits on everyone that passed their way. Between the Pranksters and the Mime Troup San Francisco never had a chance. After the Summer of Love 67' they started dwendeling down and they just kinda faded off in the woodwork. The Mimes stayed around a bit longer but were very annoying.
I don't recall the Diggers or the Merry Pranksters being shorthairs.. they were in fact and deed very bazar, they shapeshifted their way through life. Strongarming the merchants into submission to 'donate' food for the mulitude of people that was flooding the Haight Ashbury District. The community at large could not handle the influx of numbers verses supply. The Diggers,(Emmitt Grogan, Peter Coyote, The Merry Prankstest), and various other individuals that were down on consumerisum went from merchant to merchant 'liberating' merchandise from the local Mom n Pop operations to distribute amoung the new arrivales that gathered in the Park. They would pull up each day at The Panhandle Park and throw out the food on the ground and everyone would scurry for a handfull of something to eat. I thought it reminded me of 'sloping the hogs' and was a little primative to my thinking, but them were strange times and I was very young. I learned what hunger was..
Those Diggers were largely a bunch of street-wise NYC con-men. I knew this girl who was attending Bennington College and decided to go summer-slumming in the Haight. Well, one day she goes to the Digger Free Store and laid down her cashmere sweater while she rooted through a pile of jeans. When she picked up her sweater to leave, someone told her that it was no longer hers-- she had "donated" it to the poor, or something these fucking leeches decided was apropos to the moment. She, in tears, returned with me. I picked it off the table and gave it to her, whereupon some goon threatened to kick my ass (peace and love, indeed!), whereupon I told him that in that unlikely event, I'd return with the police. After being accused of being a "pig-lover", we retreated unmolested. The Diggers were ex-cons ripping off naive hippies. Fuck 'em all. Shameless-- you were truly there. I probably passed you on the street many a time. Remember in spring of 68 when they dug up Haight Street to put in new gas lines? That was the last time I was there.
There is a Ken Kesey website-- probably www. kenkesey.com-- where there are photos of the bus and other things. Sorry, I don't know the exact website. Google Ken Kesey.
Here's a site for you ^ http://www.key-z.com/ http://www.univie.ac.at/Anglistik/easyrider/data/KeseyPrs.htm
