July 1st, 1973 at the Universal Amphitheater in Universal City, CA. Have at it.
MP3: Grateful Dead – Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo (7/1/73)
Archive | June, 2012
Volkswagen 360 Trailer
“It has enough sleeping room for four adults or two adults and three children, however we suggests that the occupants be friendly. Of course, after spending several hours en route in this car, they’ll either be good friends or bitter enemies.”
Trail Mix XI
A few years ago, I was sitting at the counter of Eisenberg’s in New York City, waiting to meet a guy from Portland, ME who I had emailed with a few times after starting this rag. Jay walked in wearing striped overalls and a big smile, ordered a corned beef sandwich and told me about some project he had worked on where he drove around the desert picking up vintage clothes. If I remember correctly, I think he was in town that day to meet some folks from this little no name denim company…
Many moons later, after a few beers here and there, countless “HOLY SHIT, CHECK THIS OUT” emails and a fun afternoon spent making a video in my old apartment, Jay texted me while I walking down W San Antonio in Marfa, Texas. I’d only been in that middle of nowhere town an hour when he mentioned he was about to take a tour of Donald Judd’s house, located just a few short blocks from where I was standing. So I walked on over to meet him, took the tour and spent the first evening of a month long stay in Marfa at a party that Jay had organized, filling my belly with Shiner and making a few new friends with 10 gallon hats. The perfect start to a perfect couple of weeks.
Jay, he of One Trip Pass, is a good friend, a hell of a guy and the creator of one fucking awesome (yep, those are the words I’m picking) Trail Mix. Y’all can play it this weekend on your way to wherever it is you’re going, but I’ll be saving it for a Labor Day excursion with Jay and the Juniper Ridge gang.
See you guys in Yosemite.
Download: CS Trail Mix XI – One Trip Pass Keeps It On The Road
The Dipsea and Jack Kirk
Northern California’s Dipsea is the oldest trail race in these United of States. It started in 1905 and now falls on the second Sunday in June each year, which means the 2012 version happened just a few days ago. The Dipsea is a 7.4 mile course from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach. Not a bad place for a jog…
Jack Kirk, known as the “Dipsea Demon,” ran that race 67 consecutive times before passing away in 2007 at the age of 100. He won the thing twice and ran his last race when he was 95 years young. And the kicker no pun intended) was that he would show up in long pants, a long sleeve collared shirt (see photo above) and boat shoes. Genius.
Watch a short documentary about Jack here.
Sleeping Pads
A few people have written in and asked about sleeping pads over the last couple of weeks, so I thought I’d ask everyone else out in the cosmos what y’all sleep on when under the stars. For many years I used a blow up version of a pad and would always hate getting the air out while groggy in the morning. It wasn’t comfortable enough for all that trouble. So for the past couple of years, I trade off between a Ridge Rest and a Z-Lite (both of which are Made In The USA if you care about that kind of thang), depending on which one is the last to be snagged out of my trunk while friends put their packs together. Comfortable, light, easy. Perfect for spring and summer. And sometimes beyond.
**So, what do you use for a sleeping pad?**
A VISIT WITH PETER PARNALL
I don’t know why it’s taken so long to post these photos, but last summer I found my way up to southern Maine to visit one of my favorite artists in the history of artists, Peter Parnall. He showed us around his house, talked our heads off about working with Byrd Baylor and told us a few stories about the little people that live in the woods behind his house. More to come, but for now, check out the photos (taken by Kalen) after the jump.
Merit Badge Series
**Words by Bennet Bergman
Last month I made the trip up to the famed Elkhorn Flea Market in Wisconsin, where I picked up a dozen of these Merit Badge booklets from the 60’s. Similar to the Foxfire books or the American Boy’s Handy Book, these babies are chock full of information on good American pastimes. They’ll tell you everything you need to know to earn your Merit Badge in basketry or, say, Indian lore. You know, in case you’re a Boy Scout or something. Chapter one of the camping pamphlet starts right in with the big question, “Why go camping?” And those scouts lay it out for us like no big deal:
“Every Scout probably has his own reasons for going camping. If you asked him what they were, he might not be able to tell you. It may be something he can’t put his finger on—like the smell of last year’s pine needles or the sound of bacon sizzling over a crackling campfire. He just likes the outdoors and everything about it—he likes to live on his own in the open, whether in the desert, prairie, or woodland—he likes to be a part of the great outdoors.”
Sounds about right to me.
McCARTNEY IN THE WOODS
Pitchfork interviews Paul McCartney about the making of Ram:
Pitchfork: What are some of your early memories of loving nature?
PM: I lived on the edge of Liverpool in a new housing estate, ’cause my mother was a midwife. I could walk for about half an hour and suddenly I would be in deep countryside. I used to take a lot of walks on my own and I had a little pocket book called The Observer’s Book of Birds. I still have a copy, actually. I would walk around and, if I saw a bird, I’d look it up: “Oh wow, it’s a skylark!” I loved that. I realized marvelling at nature was a deep pleasure of mine.
The funny thing is, when I first bought the house in Scotland, that pleasure didn’t occur to me. But when I met Linda, she said, “I heard you got a place in Scotland, can we go there?” And I said, “Yeah, sure.” So we just went up and she said, “Ah, I love it.” That’s when I reconnected with it.
RIDING THE WIND
While driving around Hood River this last week, talking about a friend’s past life working at New Balance, we got on the subject of Anton Krupicka’s blog, Riding The Wind. (Krupicka is an ultra runner sponsored by NB.) Anton – his friends call him “Tony” – posts loads of photos recounting his running conquests around the parts of Colorado that CS would frequent while attending college (Mt. Elbert, Chautauqua, Green Summit etc.).
The photos/musings of his training are a real treat, so head on over to RTW and get your ass out running.
Enjoy it.
