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.
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.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011
From an
article in the Eugene Register Guard by Bob Welch, Nov 6, 2011
Geneva gave birth to Ken in La Junta, Colo. The family came west
after World War II when Geneva's husband, Fred, got a job here at a
creamery.
"Ken was always
attentive,
always rebellious," she says.
"When the books came out, they were not red-letter days for me,"
Geneva says. "They should have been. But I didn't appreciate all that
he had put into those books.
She loves the
downtown statue of Ken reading to the
kids.
And yet, in a sense, that was about someone else's Ken.
Her Ken is the kid fishing off the stern of the family boat at Odell
Lake. The man who brought her gifts from wherever he was in the
world, her favorite a
turquoise
necklace from Egypt.
photo by Kirk O'Green
"I never gave him
credit for all he
accomplished," she says,
Not that it's ever too late to show your pride. The other day, when a
doctor made reference to her turquoise necklace, she didn't hesitate
with her response. "My son, Ken Kesey, brought this for me from
Egypt."
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2011
Been deep into the toils of computer
repair, my brother's mac OS 9
machine having taken a dump. Dug out all my old pooters, tried to
cobble one together, nothing worked, finally took my own reliable
7200 with a G3 card, the one I use for emailing, took it into my brother's
and success at last, just in time to go food shopping for Thanksgiving.
machine having taken a dump. Dug out all my old pooters, tried to
cobble one together, nothing worked, finally took my own reliable
7200 with a G3 card, the one I use for emailing, took it into my brother's
and success at last, just in time to go food shopping for Thanksgiving.
A pile of junk
You remember the old 73 Chevy pickup
that got towed away to the junk
yard? Of course you do, but in case you can't remember what it looked like:
My son, Simon, wanted the engine to put in his bus so when the
pickup arrived at the wrecking yard they pulled the engine and
saved it for Simon who drove down in his Volvo wagon, towing
a small trailer that he put the engine in. A mission completed.
Except for the small part of replacing the one in his bus.
yard? Of course you do, but in case you can't remember what it looked like:
My son, Simon, wanted the engine to put in his bus so when the
pickup arrived at the wrecking yard they pulled the engine and
saved it for Simon who drove down in his Volvo wagon, towing
a small trailer that he put the engine in. A mission completed.
Except for the small part of replacing the one in his bus.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2011
ARTICLE IN THE MIAMI STUDENT
NEWSPAPER, 11-11-11
Ken Babbs was a helicopter pilot during the
Vietnam War. Before that, he was a scholarship
basketball player at Miami University, a member of Miami's Navy ROTC and a writing
major under the instruction of Walter Havighurst. After Vietnam, he was a psychedelic
beatnik-hippie and "Merry Prankster" who traversed the country with the likes of Ken
Kesey, author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Neal Cassady, the real-life model
for Jack Kerouac's character Dean Moriarty from On The Road. He is also an author,
whose first book, Who Shot the Water Buffalo?, a novel based on his experiences in
Vietnam, was published earlier this year.
basketball player at Miami University, a member of Miami's Navy ROTC and a writing
major under the instruction of Walter Havighurst. After Vietnam, he was a psychedelic
beatnik-hippie and "Merry Prankster" who traversed the country with the likes of Ken
Kesey, author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Neal Cassady, the real-life model
for Jack Kerouac's character Dean Moriarty from On The Road. He is also an author,
whose first book, Who Shot the Water Buffalo?, a novel based on his experiences in
Vietnam, was published earlier this year.
THREE GREAT PICTURES FROM FROM
GARRICK BECK
WHEN IN 1975 TIMOTHY LEARY FLEW IN
TO EUGENE TO
GIVE A TALK AT SOUTH EUGENE HIGH SCHOOL AND
KESEY AND HAGEN AND I PICKED HIM UP AT THE AIRPORT
IN KESEY'S GREEN PONTIAC CONVERTIBLE
GIVE A TALK AT SOUTH EUGENE HIGH SCHOOL AND
KESEY AND HAGEN AND I PICKED HIM UP AT THE AIRPORT
IN KESEY'S GREEN PONTIAC CONVERTIBLE
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2011
Here's the deal:
The
Furthur
band
is
coming
to
Eugene
to
play
the Cuthbert three nights in a
row,
this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Across the street, at the Cooler, a big old barn
of a bar, Eli and his band, Lost Creek, are hosting a pre-concert and post-concert
party. The pre-concert party will be in a big tent set up in the parking lot. KapnKen
and Walker T. Ryan and Eric Richardson from Kwatro Kwartet will be performing
along with George Walker on the Axaphone. Lost Creek will play at the post-concert
party inside the Cooler. Come one come all, be sure to come, y'all.
this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Across the street, at the Cooler, a big old barn
of a bar, Eli and his band, Lost Creek, are hosting a pre-concert and post-concert
party. The pre-concert party will be in a big tent set up in the parking lot. KapnKen
and Walker T. Ryan and Eric Richardson from Kwatro Kwartet will be performing
along with George Walker on the Axaphone. Lost Creek will play at the post-concert
party inside the Cooler. Come one come all, be sure to come, y'all.
The
Kwatro
Kwartet
Minus
One
played
at
the Cooler on Friday evening at
five-thirty, but not in any big white tent in the parking lot, insead up on the
little stage inside the Cooler where Friday Happy Hour folk were eating and
drinking and yakking it up but we soldiered on and there were great fans
enjoying our performance, the ones sitting up close to the stage. Songs and
yaks and jazz and country and rhythm and blues and scat till six thirty when
we scatted on out of there.
five-thirty, but not in any big white tent in the parking lot, insead up on the
little stage inside the Cooler where Friday Happy Hour folk were eating and
drinking and yakking it up but we soldiered on and there were great fans
enjoying our performance, the ones sitting up close to the stage. Songs and
yaks and jazz and country and rhythm and blues and scat till six thirty when
we scatted on out of there.
Three Lovely Ladies waiting outside for the show to begin. Three Dapper Gents also waiting.
Walker T. leading out, KapnKen mumbling along, then let's get real psychedeic, take the fans on a trip.
Eric is digging it and strumming it and bowing it and KapnKen is bloobering and joogering it, Bruce Hornsy told
him, "There's a song title about a bone, goes, I Hate Ever Bone In Your Body Except Mine."
Coming down now, bringing it down, bringing it home, back to reality, shaping up, gonna ship out, adios amigos.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2011
Leaving for Ohio on Sunday and leaving behind a big mess.
What we called the Lair, back when we
had the Loyal Order Of The Crawdads, evolved into a shed which must be
redone.
And so, all the junk inside is now spread out all over the yard, scattered, as Kesey said, "Like a mad woan's manure."
The walls made out of any old windows and feed sacks and plastic floaties all nailed and stapled together, removed.
And so, all the junk inside is now spread out all over the yard, scattered, as Kesey said, "Like a mad woan's manure."
The walls made out of any old windows and feed sacks and plastic floaties all nailed and stapled together, removed.
First the back wall, using actual wood,
there's a window salvaged, and look, pallets used as stud walls.
Seen from the front, what progress.
There on the side is the old 51 Ford pickup wth the crushed cab, since
removed.
Now, a side wall and funky floor of
boards laid on he ground. A table in the back.
THURSDAY,
OCTOBER
20,
2011
HOME
FROM
OHIO
In front of the guest house at Miami U, ready to go talk to a writing class.
I had a great run to
miami u in ohio with ed mcclanahan, watched part
of magic trip movie, had to take a leak, didn't go back in, but I did
do a great intro to the movie, talking about the bus trip and the
movie kesey and I made. I thought I was going back to squaresville
but t'wasn't so. Everyone right with it and the students were great.
for they gave me as much as I gave them. It is always great to be
reassured the country and world will be in good hands when they take
over.
You know anyone who wants to make a mint, Oxford Ohio and Miami U are
ripe for an explosion of bicycles. Huge camps and miniscule numbers
of bikes. First person to open a bike shop-- sell, rent and repair--
will do real well and it could be a startup thing if the person
didn't want to stay with it: sell out in a couple of years and walk
away with a bundle.
of magic trip movie, had to take a leak, didn't go back in, but I did
do a great intro to the movie, talking about the bus trip and the
movie kesey and I made. I thought I was going back to squaresville
but t'wasn't so. Everyone right with it and the students were great.
for they gave me as much as I gave them. It is always great to be
reassured the country and world will be in good hands when they take
over.
You know anyone who wants to make a mint, Oxford Ohio and Miami U are
ripe for an explosion of bicycles. Huge camps and miniscule numbers
of bikes. First person to open a bike shop-- sell, rent and repair--
will do real well and it could be a startup thing if the person
didn't want to stay with it: sell out in a couple of years and walk
away with a bundle.
Ed and the Kapn at Morris Bookstore in Lexington KY.
Been reading Ed's new book, I Just Hitched In From The Coast, which
is a collection from his works, real good, Ed is an excellent writer
and some of his stuff really goes out there. We drove to Lexington
and did another reading at a bookstore owned by some friends of his,
a brand new store relocated from an old setting, and a spiffy place,
makes independent bookstores look good in the econcomy. They loved
Ed, all his friends and family packed the place a fantastic tribute
to the love and literary respect the people have for him, and he was
suitably overcome, wiped tears from his eyes as he read.
Next day we went to Wendell Berry's for lunch, what a great get
together and first time on the trip I got some decent food, home
cooked by Wendell's wife. All those restuarants, what I needed on the
trip was a portable grill, fry a fish, cook some rice, make a salad,
bread and cheese.
Caught a humongous cold on the plane on the way home and got
all slobbered up.
Lovely fall with the leaves now turning. big mess in the yard from me
cleaning out my shed and rebuilding the structure, gotta git that
done before the rains hit.
WEDNESDAY,
NOVEMBER
2, 2011
The
old
truck, 53 Ford half ton, great firewood hauler, even
after I dropped a tree on the cab and crushed it and had to torch
off the top and jury rig a windshield and keep on trucking, not
a convertible, but a dumvertible, in that there was no top to go
up and down.
after I dropped a tree on the cab and crushed it and had to torch
off the top and jury rig a windshield and keep on trucking, not
a convertible, but a dumvertible, in that there was no top to go
up and down.
Finally
had
to give up driving the old truck, the steering was shot, couldn't
keep
it straight on the road, parked it in the shed, figgering some day I would fix it, but
now on a five year plan -- if you haven't used it for five years, get rid of it -- the
pore old truck had to go.
it straight on the road, parked it in the shed, figgering some day I would fix it, but
now on a five year plan -- if you haven't used it for five years, get rid of it -- the
pore old truck had to go.
Had
to clear out the debris in the shed, make room for the hauler to yank
it out,
made sure it was in neutral on the old three on the tree.
made sure it was in neutral on the old three on the tree.
Ken
Harrell couldn't make it until after dark but he said, no sweat, he had
lights
on his hauler. He hooked the winch to the back bumper and started pulling the
old truck up the ramp.
on his hauler. He hooked the winch to the back bumper and started pulling the
old truck up the ramp.
I put more light on
the subject, old truck now perched on the hauler, time to
strap her down.
strap her down.
Say goodbye to Big Red,
that's
what we
called the old gal, she's gone but not
forgotten and will live on in other trucks, for we have made her an organ donor
and her parts will keep 53 Ford pickups on the road for many years to come.
forgotten and will live on in other trucks, for we have made her an organ donor
and her parts will keep 53 Ford pickups on the road for many years to come.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2011
Two Brits come to interview me, doing a film about the Grateful
Dead and focused on the acid tests and the band that played at
the acid tests, oh, I said, you mean the Merry Band of Pranksters,
ha ha, of course not, they meant the Warlocks who during the
acid tests run changed their name to the GD, then they wanted to
know what about people saying Cassady would fuck with them
at the acid tests and I said that's an expression that can go different
ways, like in one way it means to mess with a person, and not in a
friendly way, the other is that it means you are goofing with a person
in an upbeat jovial creative way and we did that a lot, particularly
when someone would be getting down on things and doing the
glower and sad mouth, bring their spirits back up was the trick.
Cassady, of course, was the master and we learned a lot from him.
-- kapnken
SUNDAY,
NOVEMBER 7, 2011
ANOTHER ONE LEAVES HOME
ANOTHER ONE LEAVES HOME
The '73 Chevy 3/4 ton pickup that was a
great wood and hay hauler until the tranny
went kablooey and it was easier to pick up another pickup of same vintage than to
tear the tranny out and replace it since that would mean taking the engine out, too, only
way to get at the tranny. The old dude sat for a few years, then the same wreck hauler,
the Auto Undertaker, owned by Ken Harrell, son of Chuck Harrell, the owner of Auto
Recyclers, Ken also a high school classmate of one of my daughers, also the owner of
the wreck hauler, showed up last night to take the truck away, he's coming to take her
away . . .
went kablooey and it was easier to pick up another pickup of same vintage than to
tear the tranny out and replace it since that would mean taking the engine out, too, only
way to get at the tranny. The old dude sat for a few years, then the same wreck hauler,
the Auto Undertaker, owned by Ken Harrell, son of Chuck Harrell, the owner of Auto
Recyclers, Ken also a high school classmate of one of my daughers, also the owner of
the wreck hauler, showed up last night to take the truck away, he's coming to take her
away . . .
There's Ken himself, everything ready to go. Great job.
JUST
ANOTHER DAY IN THE WOODS
But this time another big boo-boo by your intrepid woodcutter in action. He
was bent over picking up a heavy round of fir and felt the hamstring in his left
leg pop loose, dropped him to the ground on top of the round he dropped
on the ground. Gave up on the wood cutting, went home and flopped
on the couch with ice on the injury, got up to google hamstring treatment and
found all the results said the same thing: RICE. Which stands for Rest, Ice,
Compress and Elevation. Plus two weeks of recovery. Good thing I've got a
big pile of wood in the woodshed.
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