Firesign Theater: Excellent "Sixties" Comedy Radio Shows -and- The Fourth Tower of Inverness: Cosmic Mystery Radio Show

 Temporarily Humboldt County:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqUyI5IIDOM

The Further Adventures of Nick Danger - Third Eye: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky8e_UTlhKA 

W.C. Fields Forever: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW_l25G33Co

~~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~~

Lothar and the hand people-space hymn... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gqnu__c8vk

Oh, the Places You'll Go at Burning Man!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahv_1IS7SiE&t=15s

~~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~~

It's difficult to Find all the Episodes of the Fourth Tower of Inverness... 

https://archive.org/details/jack-flanders-the-4-th-tower-of-inverness-a-162k 

I Think This is the Entire Trip... 7 Hours!

Ham Radio... Selling Equipment at Radio Shack in the 1990s - I Met a Lot of Interesting and Obsessive People who were Amateurs.

It was Really Fun to Be Introduced to The Ham Radio Culture... a World I Had No Contact With...

Dot Dot Dot DASH DASH DASH Dot Dot Dot (SOS - Save Our Ship)  

One Man Had a "Mobile Command Center" Built into an Old School Bus. His Plan was that When All Communication Failed During an Earthquake, He and His Ham Radio Friends Could Help Firemen, Policemen and the National Guard... A Pretty Likely Occurrence in San Jose, CA... There Have Been Major Earthquakes in San Francisco, Oakland and Los Gatos... or... Maybe this Old Hippie Just wanted a Valid Excuse for Living in a BUS... With a Sure Fire Way to Avoid Police Harassment was to BE Part of the Law Enforcement TEAM... 

We DID Sell Amateur Radios that Require a Licence from the FCC to Operate. We DID NOT Check to see if the Customer HAD a License... or Planned to Have a License... However we Did Inform Every Customer of the NEED for Them to GET a License to Operate the Radio Legally... But anything that Happens OUTSIDE The Store Was NOT Our Responsibility...

Many Ham Radio Operators Who DO Have a License Say That They HUNT DOWN ILLEGAL OPERATORS as a Fun Hobby... Using Triangulation to Locate the Bogus Radio Operator... and Reporting Then to "Friendly Cousin Charlie." Maybe this is a False Story but... Who Knows!

I do know that Getting a License is Difficult. They require that you understand Electrical Engineering and The Basic Physics of How RADIO WORKS... and They also Test Your Speed and Accuracy in Morse Code... I knew a Ham Radio Operator who said the Morse Code Training Helped Him with his Piano Playing... a Deep Understanding of Rhythm... 

A Bigger Problem was Citizens Band Radios with an Illegal Linear Amplifier. CB Radios May Operate without any License BUT there is a Maximum Power Output for legal Radios... Well, People DO Sell Illegal BOOSTERS that allow a CB Radio to Work over VAST Distances... One Customer said he could talk to Guatemala on his CB... It Saved him a LOT of Money on his Telephone Bill... BUT... That much Power Interferes With... TV Reception, AM and FM Radio Reception, Police Band Reception and Fire Truck Communications... THAT'S WHY There is a Limit to the Power Output... FCC Laws... So Everyone Can Play Nice and Share the Airwaves... Those FCC Laws are also the Reason That WOLFMAN JACK Had His Radio Station in Mexico... No Laws to Limit His Broadcast Range. 

One Blessing of Working at Radio Shack was the Requirement That I Learn Electronics Theory... and How things Work. The Corporation Found out that More Products GET SOLD and STAY SOLD if the Clerks Understand Electronics. Selling Someone the Wrong Part Does NOT Make a Profit... It only wastes the Customer's Time and Patience... SO... We Were Required to Study and Pass Tests in 14 Different Subjects... I Learned the Physics of Antenna Design... How A VCR Works... How a TV Works... Etc Etc Etc... FREE COLLEGE ON THE TIMECLOCK... 

Amateur Radio Operators Collect Cards from Each Other Proving that they were able to Contact People Far Away. When they are Chatting, they ask for a Name and Street Address and then Mail a Postcard with the Other Person's Call Sign on it. Then they POST those Cards on the Wall of Their SHACK... 
My Friend Had a card from a Man named Fletcher on Pitcarin Island... a Descendant of the Mutiny on the Bounty... I guess if You Live on an Island in the Middle of the Ocean a Radio would be handy for Contacting People On Different Islands or The Mainland... 

Two Way Radios Either TALK or LISTEN. But Not Both at The Same Time, Like a Telephone. That's Why People say "Over" when they have finished Talking... and they release the BUTTON... People say "10-4" to tell the other person they Heard What their Friend Had to Say and Understood the Words... 

We sold a Lot of Personal Communicators that had a Short Range but 49 MHz FM Quality... They Were Small and Trendy... People Bought them for Communication While Skiing... or Going to The Mall... or Organizing a Stage Show... You Could Wear the Microphone and Speaker on Your Head, and have the Radio Clipped to Your Belt... a Really Trendy High Tech LOOK... 

I remember the Watergate Burglars Used Radio Shack CB Radios to Orchestrate Their Crime... Those Radios DO NOT WORK WELL INSIDE BUILDINGS... In G Gordon Liddy's Book "Will" he complained about the Quality of the Radios... HOWEVER... He Simply Did Not Buy The Right Product... a 49 MHz FM Radio would Have been Wonderful For Their Job... BUT... I Bet Liddy Did Not Explain His Intended USE to The Clerk... Being all HUSH HUSH and Clandestine... Dumbf*ck! His EGO caused His Failure... 

Of Course, all this is Ancient History because Cellphones are What People Use Now... 

"The Path Forward" - 20 Simple Suggestions for Making the World a Better Place to Live... #1. Tax the Rich, Cut Taxes for the 99%. All that Extra Money in People's Paychecks Will Bubble UP Thru The Entire Economy;

2. OUTLAW GERRYMANDERING: That way We Could Have Majority Rule in the USA. In Fact, Most People Prefer Majority Rule... We Tried Corporate Rule and That Was a Disaster!

3. The EPA=Enable Polluters Agency. Let's FLIP The Mission to Protecting the Environment; 4. Legalize Marijuana Nationwide, Tax It and Free All Cannabis Prisoners; 5. Legalize Medicinal Psychedelics; 6. End The Electoral College; 7. Overturn Citizens United; 8.Cut Pentagon Spending in Half; 9. Build Solar Powered Desalination Plants - We Need Fresh Drinking Water!

If YOU Have Any Ideas, Tell Me and I'll Include them in this eBook. gregvan[at]yahoo[dot]com

READ MORE: https://gvan42.blogspot.com/2020/09/what-is-path-forward-we-will-have-great.html

FREE Chart of Where the Notes Are on the Guitar and Piano. Print As Many Copies as You Like and Give 'em to Friends... or Strangers That Are About to Become Friends!

My AutoBiography: Growing Up in Los Gatos, California in the 1960s by Gregory Vanderlaan - and Living in Chico, Washington DC, Eureka and Orangevale.

 https://gvan42.blogspot.com/2018/03/growing-up-in-los-gatos-california-in.html

Here's a Sample Paragraph or Two... 

One peak experience in Los Gatos while I was in High school was attending "The Tower of Power" concert outdoors at the Chateau Liberte... In the Redwoods near Summit Road...  I remember going with my friend Rich Field  ( a trumpet player) to the Concert. We saw how "The Tower" achieved the flute to trumpet blending on the song "Diamonds Sparkling in the Sand". One man walked towards his microphone while the other walked away... both were playing the same note... This amazed Rich as he was a jazz band member at school and this effect was a mystery to him until we saw it done... I also remember that the Hell's Angels and The Gypsy Jokers Motorcycle clubs both arrived at the concert at the same time and I was concerned that there would be violence... so I walked to the other side of the concert as far as possible away from them.... Years later I learned that they OFTEN partied together at the Chateau and my fears were unjustified... and then I rode down the mountain in a convertible sports car... all while I was high on LSD, so every emotion had amplified significance... what a wonderful trip.

~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~

I remember playing my harmonica at a school play with Barry Hill. It was called "Sneaky Fitch is Dead" and I had a great time performing... Every new scene had a song to listen to while the actors and stagehands got ready for the next scene... A segue...

We also performed "Hippie from Olema" by the Youngbloods at a talent show in the high school gym. Barry Hill, Rich Field and Nancy King and Rachael Ludlum were also in the band. Washtub Bass, Jug, Guitars. harmonica and Washboard...

We used to play "Keep Away" with a volleyball in the LGHS Pool. Swim Team vs Football Team. We, The Swim Team Always Won because all I Had to do was Hold a Football Player's Head under the water and they Panicked and Released the Volleyball. WIMPS!

Many of the LGHS students performed as "Spearchuckers" and Slaves in the Opera "AIDA" at the San Jose Civic Auditorium. There was a touring opera company and they filled the stage with locals from high school drama departments... They instructed us to move our mouths BUT DO NOT SING... They had a choir that did the singing and we would have just been annoying and off key. Since the big scene we were in was when the hero came back from the Africa with the spoils of war (an elephant and a tiger). We had to cover our bodies with dark brown stage paint... We were supposed to be playing the part of black people but there were no Actual black students at LGHS... I had long blond hair but they just tucked that up under a hat... Big Fun... My girlfriend Liz Dunbar was in the Opera also... and when we got home we took a shower together to wash off the Makeup... 

In 1971, a friend of mine went to San Francisco and went to the Fillmore West and came back to our high school and said... LET"S BUILD OUR OWN using the old mill in the center of town. We formed an organization called "Youth Unlimited" and got the Town to Sponsor Us with $1 per year rent for Forbes Mill. 

That was the beginning of The Forbes Mill Teen Club in Los Gatos California... We had a light show and electric rock music every weekend... On Wednesday nights we performed folk music.  I was the head of security and did advertising posters. I used the mimeograph machine at the High School to print the posters for upcoming shows...

"Youth Unlimited" first held a concert in the Rec Room of the Presbyterian Church next to Old Town on University Ave. There was a live rock band that featured a saxophone player with an electric sax. We also formed a drum circle outside with me playing harmonica and a couple of guitar players. 

Since we had Town sponsorship of our "Teen Club" thru the organization Youth Unlimited, we had to make sure no laws were being broken at Forbes Mill or the police would shut us down. Certainly no drinking or illegal drug use or housing of runaways. My take on law enforcement was to direct potential lawbreakers to the nearby hole in the fence that lead to the wooded area next to the freeway.  I admit that a lot of laws were broken on State of California property, but that was NOT MY CONCERN. I was responsible for making sure that OUR property was crime free.

The light show was created by using four slide projectors and two spinning wheels with variable speed motors that blocked the light from reaching the white wall behind the bandstand. Each cardboard wheel had holes cut into it so that the slides would be projected in a stroboscopic manner.  Some slides were abstract art created by "crystal craze" paint and others were photographs.

We also owned a strobe light and I learned to not point it at the electric organ player because the blinking light made it impossible to see which keys were black and which were white...

"Youth Unlimited" also built a crisis center called Fre-Ba-ZAK House. 

 It was in an old wooden home on North Santa Cruz Ave. The idea was to have a place for runaways to have a safe location to negotiate with their parents. Kids that had nowhere else to go could go there ... My friend Richard Bergholdt worked there as a counselor. I used to go there because it was a fun place to go talk with other classmates... I remember drinking coffee and discussing weighty subjects late at night. One time I went there because I couldn't go home. I had gone to the Ike and Tina Turner concert at the San Jose Convention Center and took a Large Dose of LSD. I had to wait until my parents went to sleep before going home. It was a great concert and I remember that MANY of the students at LGHS went. I also remember listening to the FM radio there. Talks by Alan Watts about Buddhism... and the story "The Cave" by Plato. There were some totally free radio stations then. They had the freedom of selecting what to play and when to play it. I heard "Space Hymn" by Lothar and the Hand People at Fre-Ba-ZAK House.

In the 1960s I made tie dyed shirts using rubber bands and boiling the dye... one color... RIT brand named dye... Mom sewed a shirt with bell sleeves and a Nehru collar... I wore it with a bell around my neck. Like, totally "mod" like the fashion that was popular with the teenagers in England... 

READ MORE:

 https://gvan42.blogspot.com/2018/03/growing-up-in-los-gatos-california-in.html

What Happens When You Point a Video Camera at the Monitor That Is Displaying What The Camera Sees? Runaway Visual Echo... Technical Name is Video Feedback Loop...

The Basic Idea was written about in a Book Called Godel, Escher Bach by Douglas Hofstadter.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_feedback

While I was working as a clerk at Radio Shack, I Had use of all that equipment... after the store was closed... I payed with this idea and had a lot of fun...

Ham Radio... Selling Equipment at Radio Shack in the 1990s - I Met a Lot of Interesting and Obsessive People who were Amateurs.

It was Really Fun to Be Introduced to The Ham Radio Culture... a World I Had No Contact With...

Dot Dot Dot DASH DASH DASH Dot Dot Dot... SOS...  

Link to More About Ham Radio Operators...

https://gvan42.blogspot.com/2020/05/ham-radio-selling-equipment-at-radio.html

Great Book: "How the Right Lost Its Mind" by Charles Sykes - Explaining Trumpism and how reasonable people became rabid dogs... Trump's Secret Prisons Might be coming for YOU and ME NEXT...

Once at the center of the American conservative movement, bestselling author and radio host Charles Sykes is a fierce opponent of Donald Trump and the right-wing media that enabled his rise.

In How the Right Lost Its Mind, Sykes presents an impassioned, regretful, and deeply thoughtful account of how the American conservative movement came to lose its values. How did a movement that was defined by its belief in limited government, individual liberty, free markets, traditional values, and civility find itself embracing bigotry, political intransigence, demagoguery, and outright falsehood? How the Right Lost its Mind addresses:
*Why are so many voters so credulous and immune to factual information reported by responsible media?
*Why did conservatives decide to overlook, even embrace, so many of Trump’s outrages, gaffes, conspiracy theories, falsehoods, and smears?
*Can conservatives govern? Or are they content merely to rage?
*How can the right recover its traditional values and persuade a new generation of their worth?

https://www.amazon.com/How-Right-Lost-Its-Mind/dp/1250147174

National Debt at HIGHEST LEVEL since WW2. Trump is BANKRUPTING THE COUNTRY. Now The Republicrimes want to cut Social Security, Medicare and Food Stamps.

Their Tax Cut for the Rich Law has CAUSED Debt to Spiral Out of Control... Increasing Spending on the Military plus less taxes collected = insanity.

Did anyone else notice that Trump and Hitler have similarities? Building Secret Prisons for Minority Groups... Auschwitz concentration camp in 1945... Detention Centers for Immigrant Children Along the U.S.–Mexico Border

Blame the Jews for all Germany's problems... Blame the Mexicans for all of America's Problems...

Have giant rallies with lots of shouting... Heil Drumpf! Heil Drumpf!

Build camps for Jews... Build Camps for Mexicans...

Trump's Tariffs CAUSE Harley Davidson to move factory to Thailand. Jobs Lost in America. Stock Market declines due to Trump's Tariffs....

Harley shifting production overseas to address EU tariffs

https://www.biztimes.com/2018/ideas/government-politics/harley-shifting-production-overseas-to-address-eu-tariffs/

Pentagon to build Secret Prisons for 20,000 people... First they will house Immigrant Children... and then... Will they house journalists? Democrats? Protesters?

Pentagon Agrees to Provide Space for 20,000 Migrant Children

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/06/21/pentagon-agrees-provide-space-20000-migrant-children.html

Pentagon asked about housing 20K migrant children at military bases

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/393531-pentagon-asked-to-house-up-to-20000-migrant-children-at-military-bases

While Working at the Quito Road Radio Shack in Saratoga, CA I sold 65 Packages of Hearing Aid Batteries Every Three Months to a Man Exporting Them to Poland.

Hundreds of People Could Hear... Impossible to Buy There... Maybe it was Czechoslovakia... Whatever... This is MY RIGHT LIVELIHOOD... 

I also Sold an Entire Recording Studio (microphones, tape recorder, mixing board) to a Lady doing an Interview Radio Show on Alternative Medicine for KARA in Santa Clara. She felt the people would be more relaxed and talkative is the interviews were held in her home... 

We failed to sell a Stopwatch to the Head Coach of the 49ers Football Team. The one we had in stock was the Complex, Muti -Function Watch and he wanted the Simple One... We found what he wanted at the Next store down the road... and He bought it there... 

I was also involved in PREDICTING THE FUTURE. The Question was "What will people want to buy Six Months from now?" My Opinions were passed on to Corporate Headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas by my Boss, Carol. She was often asked her opinion because she could tell them "What Women Want." - Since 40% of the money at "The Shack" was spent by women... Knowing what Women Want is Important. She asked for Multi-Color Telephones... Before, all phones were Black... but with the Invention of "The Princess Phone" we switched to a Rainbow of Pastels... 

A Benefit of working at Radio Shack was the EDUCATION required by Corporate to keep your job as a salesman. We studied 14 different subjects and had to pass a test. "How a VCR Works", "Antenna Design", "Computer Science" and "Marketing FUN-da-mentals."  No Matter What, I still remember How a Radio Works and How a TV Works etc etc etc...

I was driving down Union Ave from the Unemployment office after a frustrating day looking for a Job and I Saw The Radio Shack and said to myself -"Hell, I Can Do THAT!" - and I was Hired. I found out later that they hire almost everyone and fire those that fail quickly. I did not fail and Rode That Horse for SIX Years... Eventually getting fired for drinking on the job BUT, I did buy $6,000 worth of Stock which paid for a Four Month Vacation in Chico, CA where I attended Three AA Meetings a Day, Played my Guitar on the Street for Tips, Met my Wife and Got a Job at WREX Plastics making Wheelchair Wheels, Vending Machine Parts and Swim Fins. What a Blessing Getting fired was... Remember: It's All Just Grist For The Mill. (A Book by Ram Dass) https://www.amazon.com/Grist-Mill-Awakening-Ram-Dass/dp/0062235915 

Digital Lotus Card for sale... 

Two Sided Card... Unfold and Thumbtack it to Your Wall for an Instant Visual Mantra... Just Look at it and You are Blessed With Bliss!

Click on the Picture to see the Back Side Art!

Digital Lotus Card
by gregvan

Digital Lotus Mug for sale... 

Instant Visual Mantra... Just Look at it and You are Blessed With Bliss!

Digital Lotus Mug
by gregvan

Original Art For Sale...
and there is a different picture on the back of the Greeting Card... a Rainbow Spiral...

"Art in the Time of Coronavirus" Holiday Card
by gregvan

I remember FM Radio Quadraphonic Broadcasts of the Grateful Dead New Years Eve Concert in 1976... I was lucky enough to Get in to the Cow Palace Show in 1975... Carlos Santana played Up Until Midnight... then Festivities/Celebration... The Dead Started Playing After Midnight...

They Broadcast the stereo Front-Left and Front-Right sound on ONE Radio Station... and they Broadcast the Rear Left and Right on a Different station... If you owned Two Stereo Radios you could listen to True Quadraphonic Sound at your Home... The Reason they did this was that Tickets for New Years Eve were very difficult to get and Many people could not get in... BUT... We had a wonderful time at Home with all our Friends...

~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~

I'm a big fan of Lyricist John Perry Barlow... He wrote "Estimated Prophet", "Throwing Stones" and "I Need a Miracle" and others... Great Meaningful Songs that Make you Think...

He also helped found the EFF, Electronic Frontier Foundation... an Internet Freedom of the Press Organization...

Here is a Newspaper Article about Him and Julian Assange... Founder of Wikileaks...
Julian Assange and John Perry Barlow in joint interview on NSA Prism leaks: "Snowden is a hero" https://boingboing.net/2013/06/11/julian-assange-and-john-perry.html

An Obituary...
Tech Utopianism And Our Walled Gardens: Is It Time For A Jailbreak? 

https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2018/02/12/585110447/tech-utopianism-and-our-walled-gardens-is-it-time-for-a-jailbreak 

John Perry Barlow, who died last Wednesday at 70, was one of those unusual figures whose obituaries find no point of common agreement. An Internet evangelist who once wrote song lyrics for the Grateful Dead, Barlow was also a poet, activist, cattle rancher and corporate consultant, whose peripatetic career defied easy summarization. Billboard wrote about his music career; Wired about his Internet activism; Wyoming's Casper Star-Tribune about his boyhood on the Bar Cross Ranch. Barlow, louche and charismatic, had an astonishing number of friends, and their testimonials suggest a man with a taste for the good life and a certain facility for bulls***. No one seemed certain of Barlow's place in history, or how to answer the tougher questions: Is Barlow's utopian futurism still relevant? Was his work as an activist defensible? Was his music any good? But as writers struggled with the complicated legacy of John Perry Barlow, most readers, I suspect, had a different question: Who? Don't worry: Unless you enjoy suing the government, or were in the tapers' pit at Fillmore in 1976, you are forgiven for not knowing who Barlow was. Born in Wyoming to a family of cattle ranchers, Barlow showed early promise as a writer, garnering a significant advance for his first novel shortly after graduating college. He never finished it, instead discovering LSD and living for a time on an Ashram. Although he retained, throughout his life, the laconic drawl of a cattle hand, Barlow's intellect and charisma permitted him access to an extraordinary range of acquaintances, including Bob Weir, the rhythm guitarist for the Grateful Dead. In the early '70s, when Weir was feuding with the Dead's primary lyricist Robert Hunter, Barlow was temporarily brought in to replace him.

A Review of his Top Ten Songs... 
 https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/02/08/john-perry-barlow-remembering-his-10-greatest-songs/ 

“Cassidy”: The Weir-Barlow duo was never better than on this memorable tune originally released on Weir’s first solo album, 1972’s “Ace,” and then on 1981’s “Reckoning,” 1990’s “Without a Net” and other Grateful Dead live efforts. The song was reportedly named after Cassidy Law, who was the daughter of legendary Grateful crew member Rex Jackson and Weir’s close friend Eileen Law. Also check out the great version Suzanne Vega does on the Dead tribute album “Deadicated.” 

 “Mexicali Blues”: It’s believed to be the first Weir-Barlow collaboration and it’s definitely a keeper — a rambling cowboy tune that owes a debt to Marty Robbins’ “El Paso” (which the Dead often covered). 

 “Throwing Stones”: One of the standout tracks from 1987’s “In the Dark,” “Throwing Stones” is a definite nominee for the best song the Dead created during the later part of its career — a powerful rocker addressing social concerns. 

 “Estimated Prophet”: The song provides a mesmerizing start to 1977’s “Terrapin Station,” kicking up a dust of psychedelia that still sounds satisfying to this day. 

 “Hell in a Bucket”: It’s another great rocker from “In the Dark,” which formed a great one-two punch with “Touch of Grey.” 

 “We Can Run”: Barlow collaborated with Grateful Dead vocalist-keyboardist Brent Mydland on a number of songs for the band’s last studio effort, 1989’s “Built to Last.” This passionate number addressing environment concerns might be the best of the bunch. 

“Black-Throated Wind”: Another keeper from Weir’s “Ace” album, which is thought of as de-facto Dead album since the rest of the band backed Weir on it. 

 “The Music Never Stopped”: This song from the Dead’s eighth studio album, 1975’s “Blues for Allah,” became an anthem for the band and, especially, its fabled fans – the Deadheads. 

 “I Need a Miracle”: Speaking of Deadheads, the title of this song became the ultimate catchphrase for anyone needing a ticket to a show (sold out or otherwise). 

 “Weather Report Suite”: Barlow contributed to this magical musical epic that brings the Dead’s sixth album, 1973’s “Wake of the Flood,” to a satisfying conclusion. 

 “Looks Like Rain”: Our final pick from “Ace,” which was a highlight of Grateful Dead shows for years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Perry_Barlow

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Perry_Barlow