I remember going to Montalvo - a Fantastic Mansion/Park in Saratoga, CA. We went there often because there was a beautiful lawn and many hippies congregated there and played guitar... etc, etc, etc...

One time a Classmate (who shall remain nameless) and I ate LSD and then hitchhiked to Montalvo. We were relaxing and enjoying the beautiful gardens and the Gazebo that looked like a Grecian Temple when... up drove my Parents! Disaster! Panic! They drove my friend to his home and then we went to our home and ate lunch (I had no appetite because I was Tripping... and MOM Noticed... Danger-Danger...) and then we all saw a Woody Allen Movie (Take the Money and Run) at Century 21. That would qualify as a Bad Trip... 

Another time Mom, Dad and I went to a Hypnosis Seminar. The man used the sound of tinkling keys as a trigger. I don't recall actually getting Hypnotized. I have had a lifelong Desire to learn Self Hypnosis but have had absolutely no success. and no success with Prayer, Meditation or Lucid Dreaming. NOTHING! Supposedly there is some benefit to those practices but I have been totally disappointed... One Out of Body Experience I have had was Playing the drums in a Circle of Friends. I took a Drumming Class at Adult Education in Paradise, CA. We met at night at an abandoned Chinese Restaurant and Played the drums for Hours. Sometimes I thought I saw Ghosts. Actually, Those classes were a High Point of My Life. I attended with a VERY Beautiful Woman who was NOT my wife... Exciting to be with her but TOTALLY off limits... SIGH... 

There is a Very Long trail up the Mountain behind the Mansion. I don't know how long it goes or where it leads...

At Montalvo, I took piano Lessons for a very brief time. In my youth I took Piano Lessons at Home and Hated it. However, I did learn to play... Decades later I had countless hours of fun playing Piano and Synthesizer with friends. We all owned those Analog Machines made by Roland, Korg and Yamaha... and drum machines... Those machines allowed up to create "Outer Space" fifties Science Fiction Soundtrack "Music" - or more accurately described, Noise... a lot of Whoosh Whoosh and space ships taking off sounds. Big fun with a home made Laser Lightshow and a bag of weed. I inherited my Family Piano and had it moved to my home in Eureka. It's an Upright with Excellent sound. Often I would take the front off the piano so I was exposed to the strings and... improvise while holding the pedal down... eventually, all the strings vibrated simultaneously... quite an astonishing sound to listen to while smoking grass. After I retired from work, the State of Oregon Legalized Marijuana and I drove there every two weeks and bought an Ounce. One entire winter in Eureka. Then in the Spring, I decided to take a Driving Vacation to the Deserts of Nevada and SoCal... I left the weed at home because whenever I go camping in my Van I meet the Police and at that time Marijuana was Illegal in California and Nevada... anyway, I remained Stoned for A Month! Without Smoking at ALL... I went to the Hospital for an Infected Blister on my foot and they said I tested Positive for THC... a MONTH after Stopping Smoking! 

I took my Wife to a Folk Singer Concert at Montalvo. In the Back yard behind the Mansion there is a Stage and amphitheater seating. We saw Janis Ian and 8 other Greenwich Village Type Folk Singers. I can't remember any names and they were all boring... EXCEPT Janis Ian! She was great! She sang her hit song (At 17) but most of the time she played abstract Jazz using Digital Footpedals for Echo, Sampling and Reverb. Quite a talented performer... It especially blew my mind because I owned the Exact same equipment but She really made magic with those machines! We parked the Car at West Valley Junior College and rode a special shuttle bus to Montalvo. Overall, it was just another one of those Husband Events... She really liked Folksingers and I... EH! 

Villa Montalvo in Saratoga, California



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LINKS TO MY BEST BLOG POSTS!
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*HEADLINE: Deadline for "Real ID" for Air Travel Postponed AGAIN Until May 7, 2025... WONDERFUL!

*My Music Video: FREE ALL THE CANNABIS PRISONERS - A Mockery of Nancy Ray Gun... Jest Say KNOW

*Bubble UP! Economics. Raise the Minimum Wage, Social Security and LOWER Taxes on 99% of Americans. Actually Collect Taxes on the Top 1%... We The People Will Spend that Extra Money in Our Paychecks and it will BUBBLE UP! Throughout The Entire Economy...

*How to Escape the Cult of Trump: Deprogramming by Family Members of the MAGA MORON is Essential... If Someone you Know has been Brainwashed... RESCUE THEM!

*The Best Five Restaurants Near Eureka, California - Eat a Fish, Watch the Boats...

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*Photographs of a Journey to the Headwaters Forest - Now a State Reserve... Near Eureka, CA - Plus The Story of How It Came To Be!

*Rainbow Gathering July 1-7, 2024 Will Be In CALIFORNIA... Exact Location To Be Revealed June 15th... and As Soon as I Know, I'll Post Driving Directions and Maps Here... What IS The Rainbow Gathering? For Me, It's Woodstock with Amateur Musicians and I'm in the Band... It's a Week Long Backpack Trip for Thousands of People...


*Add THIS to Your Bucket List: Swimming at Bear Hole in Upper Bidwell Park, Chico California. Crystallized Black Lava Rocks - Basalt from the Eruption of Mount Lassen.

*Numbers have Cultural Meanings... A list from Zero to Infinity and Beyond... For example: 007 Means James Bond. 420 Means Marijuana. 5150 means Insane... and... 420 + 5150 = REEFER MADNESS!

*"Conspiracy Theories" that are ACTUALLY TRUE. MKULTRA, Cointelpro, CIA-Contra-Cocaine, Donald Rumsfeld Selling Weapons to Saddam Hussein, UFOs are Real... Sometimes people dismiss Truth as "Just a Conspiracy Theory" because they Don't LIKE THE TRUTH.

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...



*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.

For Maximum Effect, Don't Read This Book. Write Your Own! --- "Lessons Learned" by Gregory Vanderlaan. A Lifetime of Trial, Error and Survival Yielded These Words of Wisdom...

My Biff Rose Trip: Driving To a Cabin in the Woods - down The Coast of California from Arcata thru Ft Bragg to Mendocino... An Excellent Adventure!

How To Remove Smoke from Indoor Air. Tape a Filter to a Box Fan. During Wildfire Season the Air Indoors is Bad to Breathe...


Pretty Soon the Filter Turns Brown
from Smoke, Pollen and Dust.

Who WAS Ram Dass? In the Sixties, He was a Psychedelics Researcher and Promoter at Harvard with Dr. Timothy Leary. (LSD, Magic Mushrooms and Peyote) 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...


Who WAS Ram Dass? In the Sixties, He was a Psychedelics Researcher and Promoter at Harvard with Dr. Timothy Leary. (LSD, Magic Mushrooms and Peyote)


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

I Was Born in 1954. We lived Near the San Jose Airport until they Started Landing Jet Airplanes and We had to move... We went to Los Gatos in 1960. I lived there until graduation from Los Gatos High School in 1972... an Ideal Childhood... FYI: Los Gatos is about 50 miles South of San Francisco on the edge of the mountains between San Jose and Santa Cruz.

I Went to West Valley Jr. College, learned electronics drafting and got a job at System Industries in Santa Clara... I feel blessed that not only did I grow up in a great location but I also grew up at a great time. I missed the Vietnam War by ONE Year and Silicon Valley Was Hiring Like Crazy When I Needed a Job.
Peace Sign Pie Chart
History of the Vietnam War. 58,000 Americans Died for Nothing... Something They Don't Teach in School Now... "Too Controversial" -

During the 1950s Americans went into a Mad Panic about Communists taking over the world. We built thousands of Nuclear Missiles and Fallout Shelters. The US Congress had witch hunts (Joe McCarthy-HUAC) to expose "Commies" who worked in The Hollywood Movie business and blacklisted folksingers that were leading our young people astray with Labor Union Organizing songs.


During the height of this hysteria Vice President Richard Nixon went on Television and explained "The Domino Principle" while pointing to a map of Asia. His theory was...

READ MORE: https://gvan42.blogspot.com/2017/11/a-brief-history-of-vietnam-war-58000.html

Who Won the War? DOW CHEMICAL AND HUGHES AIRCRAFT. Selling Napalm, Agent Orange and Helicopters...

Military Death Chart USA

AMERICA'S BOGUS WARS - Since 1945, The US Military Has Never Defended The USA, Not Even Once.

Ever since Victory in Japan, All of Our Wars have been Marketing to Sell Weapons for the Military Industrial Complex.







Free Coloring Book Art by gvan42 - UFO and Alien Hieroglyphics