American History: "The Thunder Machine" was a Giant Sheet Metal Sculpture that you Got Inside and Played like a Drum. Made by Ron Boise and used at Ken Kesey's Acid Tests.

Thunder Machine:
Their (with Joe Lysowski) best-known collaboration was a large “Thunder Machine”—big enough to enter, and covered in swirling psychedelic color—which produced a cacophony of tone and echo from the pounding, drumming, mumbling and shouting of those within and without. It was a favorite at the San Francisco Trips Festival and occasionally at Ken Kesey's Acid Trips—popular enough to require repeated repainting and re-welding:

Ken Kesey and the Thunder Machine



I have heard many people inquire lately about Kesey's THUNDER MACHINE > Here are some close ups, including a rare shot of the inside! I believe that Zane made mention that it was a "remake of the original" but I very well might have misinterpreted? I must thank Zane for graciously having us all over to the "art barn." posted by Fred Schrott




1967: The Summer of Love... San Francisco, Hippies, Flower Power, Peace, The Diggers, Haight Ashbury, LSD and the Grateful Dead. It certainly has been a Long Strange Trip. Congratulations to all those of us who have survived... One thing is for certain... The culture of the United States was radically different After the 1960's...The conformism of the 1950's was blown away when LSD became widely available. Owsley made the chemical and made it available at Acid Tests with Ken Kesey and the Grateful Dead. He also gave it to the Beatles for their Magical Mystery Tour. The spirit lives on in a yearly camping trip called The Rainbow Gathering. It's like Woodstock but the performers are not paid and I'm in the Band.
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The Diggers of San Francisco were a street theatre company famous for their slogan "Today is the first day of the rest of your Life." They provided free food in Golden Gate park to needy Hippies during the Summer of Love. They also created a "Free Store" where all the merchandise was free. I suppose that they were skilled in getting donations. They also walked around Haight Street with a giant picture frame that passers by could step through in order to change their "Frame of Reference." The Diggers were part of the SF mime troupe, Bill Graham worked for them also as a benefit dance promoter/arranger to raise funds by having local bands play and selling tickets. He later became the most successful rock music show promoter in the USA.
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Currently, a peaceful village called Arcata, California thrives using the basic concepts of Flower Power. It's on Highway 101 near the Oregon Border... Home of Humboldt State University... If you want to experience the bliss yourself, take a loan from the Federal Department of Education and go to college at HSU. Arcata also is the center of Marijuana farming in the USA. The vast majority of the Grass is grown in Humboldt, Mendocino, Del Norte, Siskiyou and Trinity Counties... The extreme North Western corner of California. http://gvan42.blogspot.com/2017/06/did-you-ever-notice-arcata-california.html

https://thegdwheel.com/page-231/

Big enough to stand inside a person simply hit the metal sculpture with sticks, mallets, hammers or your hands and you created "Thunder" ... It also had microphones and electric guitar pickups to allow the sound to be fed into the mixing board and modified electronically with echo, wah-wah etc...


Ron Boise
http://boiselifeworks.info/

The Acid Tests were LSD Parties where hundreds of people took the Psychedelic Drug and Danced, Painted Each Other with Blacklight Body Paint under the Ultraviolet Bulbs... played with electric and electronic music machines and instruments... There were trippy light shows and some people spoke into Microphones attached to Echo echo echo Machines.

The Grateful Dead (An American Rock Band) played. Ken Kesey had his own band that played MODAL Oriental tunes... Modal music is easy to teach non musicians because on a keyboard instrument all the black keys may be played in any order and it sounds good... You can learn a modal song in about 10 seconds...

http://boiselifeworks.info/ Ron Boise (1931-1966). American sculptor who worked primarily with sheet metal, often from junked cars, to create nude figures, large abstract pieces, and fanciful musical instruments. He first came to prominence when, in 1964, the San Francisco police seized his series of male and female figures engaged in sexual unions described in the Kama Sutra.1 In the ensuing highly publicized trial, a jury rejected the prosecution’s claim that the works were obscene. Not long after, a large musical instrument—The Thunder Machine—sculpted by Boise and painted in swirling psychedelic abstractions by Joseph Lysowski, was displayed, strummed and drummed at the San Francisco Trips Festival, at the Rolling Stones’ ill-fated Altamont Free Concert, and occasionally at the Acid Tests conducted by Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters. Boise's early death, at 34, came before his reputation was firmly established.
http://www.gratefuldeadfamilyalbum.com/page-231




http://www.o-art.org/history/50s&_60s/Trips/Boise/RonBoise.html
The Pranksters had just held an Acid Test at the Fillmore Auditorium, a big ballroom in the middle of one of San Francisco's big Negro slums, the Fillmore district. It was a wild night. Hundreds of heads and bohos from all over the Bay area turned out, zonked to the eyeballs. Paul Krassner was back in town, and he heard the word that was out on ... The Scene. Everybody would be "dropping acid" about 5 or 6 P.M. to get ready for the Acid Test to begin that night at nine o'clock at the Fillmore Auditorium. Krassner arrives and__shit!__he sees:

...a ballroom surrealistically seething with a couple of thousand bodies stoned out of their everlovin' bruces in crazy costumes and obscene makeup with a raucous rock 'n' roll band and stroboscopic lights and a thunder machine and balloons and heads and streamers and electronic equipment and the back of a guy's coat proclaiming Please don't believe in magic to a girl dancing with 4-inch eyelashes so that even the goddamn Pinkerton Guards were contact high.


http://www.o-art.org/history/
The Emergency Committee to Make Time Go Forward presents The History of Experimental Music in Northern California...


It was actually Stewart Brand who thought up the great Trips Festival of January 1966. Brand and a San Francisco artist, Ramon Sender. ...The Trips Festival was set for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, january 21-23, at the Longshoremen's Hall in San Francisco. The Trips Festival was billed as a big celebration that was going to simulate an LSD experience, minus the LSD, using light effects and music, mainly.




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Shredded Rainbow Spiral Business Cards For Sale.

https://www.zazzle.com/shredded_rainbow_spiral_business_card-256163553649539936 <--- Click on the Link!



MORE Shredded Rainbow Spiral Art


Link to Spiral Art Painted on Bling:
https://www.zazzle.com/store/gregvan/products?qs=spiral&st=Popularity


Link to Rainbow Art Painted on Bling:
https://www.zazzle.com/store/gregvan/products?qs=rainbow&st=Popularity


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The "Beyond Counterculture" Book is the History of the Hippies who fled The Haight Ashbury District of San Francisco and Moved to MATEEL in Southern Humboldt County to Earn their living farming Cannabis. Originally a Doctoral thesis.


Between the Eel and Matole Rivers, Garberville and the Lost Coast.

Mateel is a Sunny and Warm.

Once PALCO logged the area, the land was really cheap. Perfect for growing Marijuana Outdoors. This location is Not on Google Streetview.
Beyond Counterculture: The Community of Mateel – June, 1990 by Jentri Anders.
https://www.facebook.com/jentri.anders



https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Counterculture-Community-Jentri-Anders/dp/0874220602




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Cosmic Art Show - Absurdist Images created in

Potatoshop by Greg Vanderlaan

http://gvan42.blogspot.com/2017/07/cosmic-art-

show-absurdist-images.html


Free Psychedelic Art - Global Awakening is Real

and Happening Now

http://gvan42.blogspot.com/2017/06/free-

psychedelic-art-global-awakening.html


Rainbow Gathering Idaho 2001: A Gathering of

the Tribes...I went to the gathering with a specific

goal in mind. I wanted to play my guitar and sing

in public. Yes, mission accomplished. I was Living

in Chico, California and working at the plastics

factory. When there was a layoff, my wife suggested

that I borrow the car and drive over to the

gathering. My friend Mike Jensen wanted to go

and so we checked the oil, brake fluid, transmission

fluid and water and set out on a classic American

road trip. We made it as far as Reno the first day

and slept by the side of the road.... READ MORE:

http://gvan42.blogspot.com/2017/06/

rainbow-gathering-idaho-2001.html


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Grateful Deadhead ART and MyStory... American
History...


I first noticed the Grateful Dead in 1968 in English
class at junior high school. Our teacher had put up
posters on the wall of the classroom and we wrote
essays about them.


He was attempting to stimulate creative
WRITING but more importantly,
creative THINKING.


One was an American flag made out of swastikas
and another was a solarized/negative photo of 5
hairy men standing in front of "LITTLE BOXES"
type suburban tract homes.


Our English teacher
stopped working for the school system that year
and has never been heard of since. That has
happened often to people that go to see the Dead...
They change their lifestyle and start associating
with a different set of people... READ MORE:
http://gvan42.blogspot.com/2017/06/grateful-
deadhead-art-and-mystory.html


Grateful Deadhead Tribute Webpage. Pictures and
Stories. Many thanks to all that made the Grateful
Dead an American Miracle... Just remember, if our
lives together were written as a fiction story,
everyone would dismiss it as being unbelieveable...
Yet it all really happened!
http://gvan42.blogspot.com/2017/06/grateful-
deadhead-tribute-webpage.html


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Great Books: Project MKULTRA: CIA/LSD
American History "The Search for the Manchurian
Candidate" by John Marks

MKULTRA: Was a CIA Mind Control Project in
the USA during the 1950's and 1960's. They were
looking for a way to use drugs as weapons of war.
For example: LSD as a way to simply get the
"enemy" to lay down their arms, voluntarily...
like, too stoned to fight...


The project conducted tests on college students at
Stanford University. Ken Kesey and Robert Hunter
both were employed. Later, Ken started having
"ACID TEST" parties where the participants took
LSD and danced to the Music of the Grateful Dead.
Robert Hunter wrote lyrics for the Dead.
http://gvan42.blogspot.com/2017/06/great-books-
project-mkultra-cia-lsd.html











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Rainbow Gathering in California 2004.
Photographs and My Story...Om...



What IS the Rainbow Gathering? To me, it is
Woodstock with amateur musicians and I’m in
the band… Thousands of people go backpacking
for a couple of weeks… Every year during the end
of June and the beginning of July… The location
is different every year but it is always in a
National Forest… It’s an intentional temporary
village…


This is a description about my trip to The Rainbow
Gathering in California 2004… I wrote this to help
me remember… READ MORE:
http://gvan42.blogspot.com/p/what-is-rainbow-
gathering-to-me-it-is.html






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It appears That The Hippies were right.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKEZoY-TMG4

DO YOU SEE SOUNDS?
HEAR COLORS?
WELL...YOU DO NOW!
Imagine that you are floating in a tub of warm water...
every muscle in your body is completely relaxed...
your mind drifts and contentment blooms
like a time lapse film of a Rose... Awakening...
you leave your body and rise up to the ceiling...
you look back and see your body...
it is resting with a cup of tea in it's hand...
ahh...mint...

as you watch your body, your mind seeps
thru the ceiling and you see the
world. there is a forest...
it is for...rest...
on the shore of a lake a spiral of deadheads
dance around a fire. the flickering light seems
to be perfectly synchronized to the rhythm
of the drums... alas...

The reversal of entropy is merely an illusion.
one of the deadheads reaches into the
shadows and lifts a five gallon can of gasoline...
it is tightly sealed. he places it on the fire...
they all move back...

it will take time for the gas to expand enough
to burst the can...
a slender woman with strawberry blond hair
raises a conch shell to her lips and draws
a deep breath. she blows a long note signaling
The beginning of a new era of mankind.
everything is dripping with meaning.
significance saturates every
leaf of every tree ...
then a tiny hole appears in the gas can and
a cone of fire reaches for the sky...
you contemplate metallurgy, welding and
strength of materials...

then the gas can resigns itself to fate
and a ball of fire searches for oxygen
and of course finds it.
the spiral of deadheads emit a massive
yeah! and you drift on...
~~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~~

This tale is not a verified experience...
it was just a story someone told me
about at a Grateful Dead concert...
None of my friends EVER
put a 5 gallon can of gas on a fire
just to have fun...







Psychedelic Poetry - "CEREMONY AND RITUAL" - a story - Fiction - written by gvan42 about Trips to Philadelphia - Grateful Dead at JFK Stadium and The Spectrum Arena

OUR MINDS HAVE BEEN FUSED INTO ONE SHIMMERING
COLONIAL ANIMAL…
FLOWING IN THE
CURRENTS OF THE MUSIC…
adrenaline, serotonin, synapses on fire !

IN THE SHADOWS,TORCHES FLICKER IN THE BREEZE.
THE ORACLE BEGINS TO SPEAK,
FEEL THE HEAT…
adrenaline, serotonin, synapses on fire!

WE DANCE OUTSIDE OF THE TRADITIONAL
REALM OF TIME AND SPACE.
THE CROWD ERUPTS IN OUTBURSTS OF FREE-FORM MOTION
AS THE INTENSITY OF THE JAM PEAKS
adrenaline, serotonin, synapses on fire!
MY BODY IS TRANSFORMED INTO A PINBALL AND
I RICOCHET AROUND THE SPECTRUM
ARENA BOUNCING OFF THE FLASHING LIGHTS.
A CROWD OF DEADHEADS
SURROUND ME INTENT ON TELLING ME STUPID JOKES…
THEY JUST…know… THAT I WILL LAUGH…
adrenaline, serotonin, synapses on fire!

THANK YOU DR. ALBERT HOFFMAN
***************************************
This was written after attending a Grateful Dead concert in JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I was sitting up above the crowd in the bleachers and could see the dancers move more enthusiastically during peaks of the music… less motion during gentle passages… as the dynamics of the improvisation ebbed and flowed, the dancers moved accordingly… like sea anemones moving in the currents of the ocean… I also mention the Spectrum in Philadelphia… It has many blinking advertisements for Atlantic city casinos in the area where refreshments were being served…




http://www.zazzle.com/gregvan/grateful+gifts
A CIA Employee Spoke to Millions of Americans and said: "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out." - Was That the DEPLOYMENT of Project Mkultra?

That's Exactly What Happened in the Late 1960s... Dr Timothy Leary (Author of the CIA's Personality Test) Went Coast to Coast Encouraging Young People to Eat The CIA's Miracle Drug, LSD and... Stop Protesting Against The War in Vietnam... because They Were Too Busy Being Holy Men, Saints... and Wanted to Play the Guitar all Day... and Go Live in the Country and Grow Vegetables, Weed and Children... and Make Paintings, Pottery and Tie Dye T-Shirts... Write Poetry... Etc, Etc, Etc...

and All of those Interests Added Up To NOT Being a Menace to The Military Industrial Complex... Dropping Out...

SO... Was "The Sixties" part of the CIA Project Mkultra? The Part Where they Actually USED LSD as a "Weapon" Against "Enemies" in the Hope that We Would Simply Lay Down Our Arms and Surrender... In a Way They Were Successful BUT... They Had Not Taken Into Account People Like Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Country Joe McDonald and Grace Slick... Who Used LSD to Promote The Protest Against The War in Vietnam (and The 1950's American Culture In General.)








Legalize Medicinal Psychedelics. Let Doctors and Patients Decide for Themselves what Medicine is Best... I Just Emailed My President, Representative and Senators. HERE IS HOW To Find Your Own!

Please Let Your Elected Officials Know That WE Have Had Enough of the Madness!
https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

https://www.senate.gov/general/contacting.htm

https://www.house.gov/representatives
I Said: "Legalize Medicinal Psychedelics. Let Doctors and Patients Decide for Themselves what Treatment is Best... Legalizing Recreational Psychedelics is a Great Idea TOO.

Legal LSD Would Be Manufactured by High Quality Scientists and PURITY, QUALITY and ACTUAL DOSE would be Regulated. Often ILLEGAL ACID is Not LSD at all but some other chemical, Like DOM (STP) a Three Day Nightmare Trip... People That Buy Ecstasy Often Do Not Get Actual MDMA but get A Bizarre Combination of Methamphetamines and WHO KNOWS WHAT!

Legalize Psychedelics For the Public's HEALTH... Criminal Chemists Pose a Hazard To The People's Sanity! FDA Approved Psychedelics Would Be Better... Do It For The Kids!"
http://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/

I Also Emailed a Scott Weiner, State Senator in San Francisco using a Fake Address and Phone Number I Found on Google Maps... Click on this Link and Type In Your Home Address... https://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/






Who WAS Ram Dass? In the Sixties, He was a Psychedelics Researcher and Promoter at Harvard with Dr. Timothy Leary. Then He went to India Looking for Enlightenment and Met a Guru. Changed His Name and Published a Great Book... "Remember: Be Here Now" - It Has His Autobiography and then Many ART Drawings Explaining Eastern Religion. Real Name: Dr. Richard Alpert...

A Question asked in the Ram Dass Facebook Group...
https://beherenownetwork.com/be-here-now/

and Then he wrote a Dozen MORE Books and Gave Many Lectures... ALL WORTHY... I Especially Love "Still Here" because I'm 67 Years Old and The Question of My Own Death is Important To Me... Now... https://www.amazon.com/Still-Here-Embracing-Aging-Changing/dp/1573228710

It's Important to remember that Kermit Michael Riggs Taught Dr. Richard Alpert to BE HERE NOW. He was a Laguna Beach, CA Surfer...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavan_Das_(yogi)



and Then After Listening to The Saturday Night Alive for the Global Peace Tribe Show... I Had a Dream: 

We were walking towards the Entrance of the Los Gatos Library and there was a Thin Old Man dressed in a Small Bathing Suit ahead of Us. He pulled on the entrance to the Children's room and It was Locked... Disappointed, he turned around and I asked: "Are You Looking for the Man Who Works There?" He Said: "NO" and I Motioned towards the Main Entrance. We all Entered. He seemed lost so I asked: "Do you Need Help?" as I would ask any Lost Old Man... He Said: "NO" and then I asked again: "Can I Help You?" He said: "No. I'm Fine." and then we went on Our Own Ways. By That time it was Obvious to Me That he was Ram Dass and That it was a Rather "Heavy" encounter to Ask Ram Dass If I Could Help Him... a Meaningful Event... and I was Shaking... So we went downstairs and I went searching for a Book that I Has Started reading before (about Philosophy) - and on the same shelf was a large picture book of the Grateful Dead's Fare Ye Well Tour with four CDs (that were missing) and My friend asked me why I would want to check out that book and I said: "Too Look for Pictures of Myself." and then I woke up and Typed this Document... It's Best to Type it Up before I forget it... For Certain, I would have tried to help any Lost Old Man but It seems Important that I Offered Ram Dass Help in my dream. That's One Of His Main Teachings...

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

and then someone asked about the Rainbow Gatherings:
So what happens after these gatherings? do people just go back to their normal lives. OR are there little factions that just dispurse or stay put??? i have so many questions and I am so close to being able to start my traveling. just a few more moves to make first and tying up loose ends.

Someone answered:
I do what universe leads me to do. Maybe another gathering, back home to work, just travel, solo hike, eat acid, be goofy, basically if it keeps me smiling i'm in. Be happy. Be kind. But most importantly be urself cause everyone else is already taken

I said:
For ME... I return to my Life... WISER! I've gone four times... once a decade... and each time i got to play music and sing in public... but that's just MY TRIP... My Friend Mike Walked around Reading the Book ATLAS SHRUGGED out loud... because he felt that was important... My Friend Sonya Sophia taught a Guided Meditation Class... I also worked as a Fire Tender at the Welcome Home kitchen...