So I split San Mateo with Dan and headed to Santa Cruz last Thursday. The Granola Funk Express rocked the house! The vibe was all freed up and everyone was givin’ er. There’s something special that happens when hippies get all stoked out by some conscious hip-hop. And that reminds me of the chill flow of the previous update. Something says don’t stop; even when it seems like I just might be late. Because no matter the time, I’m right on it, where I’m meant to be, fulfilling my destiny, presently. I mean right here, right now is how I try to live. Sometimes it’s on purpose and sometimes it just happens. Somehow, living is like bowling, I mean you’re always hoping for a strike, and sometimes you get one. It’s not like you did anything different. It’s just like being in the groove.

Like I think I’ve said a lot of "likes" lately. Hope it’s not over, please don’t hate me. I’m still in the somewhat hazy post-traveling headspace. We got down to Los Angeles by one p.m. and returned Daniel’s rental car, then got onto a shuttle bus which took us to a cab who brought us to the lot. Whew! And we made it there before the lot even opened! Talk about being on someone else’s timeline. Dan kept me in line, making sure we arrived early, even though, upon waking he could be surly. All in all we traveled well together.

Will-O called me when he got on the lot and met us at the tabling spot. Which happened to be right in front of a Canadian dude’s (I think named john) rental car. I swear, where ever I go, I always bump into Canadians. In Vegas, I saw a couple of the guys I saw in New York on the way into the Phish show there. Back to L.A, a dude came along on a bike with tickets early on, and since someone had donated $50 into the tin at the previous GFE show, I felt Okay spending Face on a ticket. D’oh. Later that day a girl miracled me with a floor ticket, so I ended up trading the first ticket for a stone, which is really neat. I forget the name, but it’s in the Desert Rose family and it’s pointy in all directions. Dan had called it; there were many extra tickets and whoever wanted in, got in. They also encored that night with Lovin’ Cup. Dan had predicted that as an opener or encore, being Valentines and all.

I got into the show late after talking with a dude from the Twelve Tribes. Finally I was like I just gotta get in there. I can’t remember what was on when I first got in there, www.phish.net but bathtub gin was sick. Golgi Apparatus has always been a favorite and Prince Caspian to close the second set was great. I basically spent the entire night on the floor behind the soundboard. There was lots of dancing space, and my eyes were closed for most of the show anywho. Lovin’ cup was a perfect way to end the show.

Afterwards, I found Will-O in the lot, packed up my stuff, couldn’t find Dan, but a bro named Matt was happy for the ride. We drove late into the night. At some point Will-O pulled over and we slept about an hour away from Vegas. The plan was to go and find a room, but everywhere on the "strip" was booked. The word on Phish lot was that the Vegas Not In Our Name Rally was on Saturday, meeting at noon in front of the Bellagio. Will-O took me to an Office Max, where I made a bunch of copies on a copier that kept jamming all the time. What a pain when you’re in a rush. And to top it all off, they wouldn’t cut me a deal for using my own paper www.livingtree.com, so I decided to wait to use it at a time when I could really benefit from having my own paper. Will-O took me to the Bellagio and dropped me off in this ritzy pickup/drop off spot. It took me a while to get all of my stuff out of the car and we ended up holding up all these ritzy gamblers. It was pretty funny, Will-O was cracking Abbey Hoffman jokes and really got a gas out of my "activism". The rally started out pretty sparse but, by the time we started marching we had over eight hundred people out. That’s pretty good for Vegas. We made the best of it to be sure. Lot’s of people honked and waved peace fingers in support. On the other hand, there were more supporters of the War in the general public in Vegas then I’ve seen anywhere. "Bomb them" was a counter-chant I heard several times. I handed many people a leaflet with the "Pledge of Resistance" on one side and the two sides of the "Hemp Handbill" on the other. All in all, it’s a rather effective presentation of facts and ideas, I think It was also great to be reaching such a broad cross-section of America.

Hearing about the 100,000 plus people here in San Francisco and my grandma says she thinks about 300,000 were in New York, I at first had a twinge of "I shoulda been there in San Francisco" It’s very powerful sharing the space with thousands of people who share similar ideals or have the same goal. That’s what draws me to big concerts, and I think it’s a big reason I like to demonstrate. I get excited and inspired when the people come together. I am really happy to have participated in Vegas’s demonstration. It was good to go and see other Phish heads there, as well as to represent Peace to all the visitors and inhabitants of Las Vegas, the crazy place that it is. There was a coluorful group of locals who had musical instruments and we sang a song that was something like: War leads to Fear, Fear leads Anger, Anger leads to Danger, and Danger leads to War! Second verse: Love leads to Truth, Truth leads to Understanding, Understanding leads to peace, and Peace leads to Love. I think that the really important thing about the Vegas demo was the fact that dissent to war is everwhere! Dissent is present in Sin City, where people go to get away from their conscience. People who went away on vacation will tell the folks at home that even Vegas was demonstrating! I have no link to the Indy media of Las Vegas, but www.indymedia.org is worth checking out to see the footage from protests and rallies around the world.

Lot’s of Phish heads are down with the mentality of Peace, but few seem to really act upon the body of knowledge that is available. I find that there’s a lot of apathy on the lot. People express hopelessness, and say that we can’t make a difference. To that I say; Where would Phish be without their Phans? We know the power of collective action, we feel the intensity of passionate people, we know the system is corrupt, and we feel the tear gas and billy-clubs in parking lots across America! I distinctly remember instances of Police brutality on the Phil Lot last Summer, and I know that there have been similar cases on Phish Lots too. Activating the masses of Phans and Heads is part of my mission. I find dancing to be therapeutic, meditative, and calming. I do a lot of thinking, and mulling over of ideas, while getting connected to the people around me and also the Earth. I find that sometimes Earth’s pain echoes within me during a show. I get a lot of good ideas at concerts through interacting with plants and people. I think that the freedom I’ve felt at shows has helped me to understand myself and the Universe more better. I hope that the info I help to disseminate at shows reverberates within and helps to promote a conscious connection to our actions. Firstly, I must admit that I am a hypocrite. I don’t want war. I don’t agree with creating climate change, I appreciate clean air, pure water, and healthy community, yet still I drive. I know it can be a dead horse to beat, but until I change, and we change, I’m gonna hafta keep on dead horse beating. I’ll strike a dead goat’s skin that’s tied to my djembe’. I’ll keep on drumming and striving, realizing, hypothesizing, and recognizing. Minimizing CAUSES, to reduce EFFECTS. Aggressively Passive, creating JUSTICE through ACTION while creating PEACE through IN-ACTION, and vice-versa. Through introspection, communicating, learning and sharing, I will focus on MYSELF to co-create Harmonious Balance to life on Earth.

I tabled all afternoon on Saturday and Sunday. I had the posters of Hemphry, so people would make the connection this site and the whole Pure Hemp advertising effort, as well as to the awareness of hemp as an alternative resource. I displayed the San Francisco posters for their antiwar rally, and talked to folks about a lot demo that never really got off the ground. People on the lot responded positively to the information I was handing out. A lot of people thought there should be more of this kind of thing and were supportive to my cause and the cause. Financially speaking, the handouts pay for themselves in donations and increased Papers sales. People like free information, and once you talk to them, many people realize they can use a pack of papers. Many more don’t, but in the end, they’ve got hemp info, and might read it.

I ended up missing the first night, sleeping, then seeing the second night, which rocked! When I came out of the show, Will-O (my ride) was in a head-space which caused him to feel that he couldn’t give me a ride because he had to go meet somebody and I had half an hour to find a ride! Wow, O.K. There were people in the lot who I knew were heading to the Bay Area, I just had to find them.

Long storey short, I found a ride, traded cell numbers, went to Granola Funk Express, met old friends, crashed in their room in the Rio, awoke, called the number, found out my new also left, made a San Francisco sign, wandered around "the strip", looked in the Luxor, crossed the interstate, ate homefries in the IHOP, then found myself on the side of the Freeway, hitch-hiking to San Francisco in Las Vegas. Holy Smokes! I saw a couple of cops go by, thankfully, and I was picked up in about half an hour by some kids heading to Los Angels. They said they could get me to the State Line at least. I ended up driving their car to near L.A. where I caught a city bus downtown, transferred and arrived at the Greyhound station near midnight. My bus rolled out near Three a.m. and I got into S.F. at noon on Tuesday. I Give Thanks! Fortunately, I’d come up in Vegas and was able to afford all the bus travel and such. Will-O has my stuff, and I’m going there now to get in San Francisco.

Oh, what a Long Strange Trip it’s been. The Dead are the Dead! Did ya hear? I guess they’re touring again this Summer!

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Johannes Chapman, Pure Hemp Caravaner