Berkeley History Mural on Amoeba Music Store Telegraph Ave
Amoeba Music was a famous record store... Used Records, Obscure Bands, Licorice Pizzas that you just couldn't find anywhere... Also on Telegraph Ave is Rasputin Music...
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Everything I remember about Visiting Berkeley...
Ecology became popular when I was growing up. I participated in the "Youth Walk for Survival" at UC Berkeley. It was a fundraising benefit for Ecology groups. We asked people to sponsor us for a few cents per mile walked. We started at the Football field on campus, walked around Lake Merritt in Oakland and then back to the football field. Then there was a concert and Malvina Reynolds sang "Boxes, little Boxes". I also worked for the Sierra Club in the Action Clean Up project at the Little Kern River... We camped out for two months and picked up garbage, burnt it in a campfire and packed out the remaining waste to a big dumpster at the trail head. I got a fine Peace of Mind living in the woods with some other kids for a couple of months. One night I was walking in the moonlight near the trail head and a bear that was sleeping on the hood of a car jumped up and ran away... I'm sure glad that he ran away...
I remember Visiting Joe Franck at the US Navy Fraternity House on Frat Row Near UC Berkeley. Joe accepted a Two year scholarship to UC paid for by the Navy under the agreement that if he took all FOUR years he had to serve as a sailor. However, If he only took TWO years he didn't have to do Nothing except for go on one boat ride in the summer. So Joe spent the last Two Years at UC Santa Cruz. His Frat House had a Volleyball Court on the roof and Many Chairs, Chaise Lounges and a Beverage Cart. We watched the Sun Set over the Golden Gate Bridge... EPIC... We also played soccer in the mud at a school field and I got some mud splashed into my eye and had to stop playing. No permanent Damage.
Years Later I was walking across campus and I saw Peggy (Savannah) Franck in a Circle of People Singing "Will the Circle Be Unbroken."
My Father and I went to a Volleyball Game That my Niece Nicole was Competing in. It was Indoors, Loud Cheering and There were Beautiful Tall College Women Playing... Arguably, they were "The Crown of Creation."
Mom, Dad and I went to Band Day at the Cal Football Game. A Dozen Marching Bands from Cal & Other Colleges took the Field to Compete. We did not see that but they did all play together at Halftime. Not much marching because the Entire Field was Packed with Musicians, until they Marched Off the Field and Down The Street...
My Wife, Victoria and I went to her doctor to have tests done on her hand when she was applying for Worker's Compensation. She had developed Carpal Tunnel Syndrome due to a lifetime of Numerical Data Entry on a Computer at work. There were no Work Comp Certified Doctors in Eureka so... We drove to Berkeley and... Her Doctor Had Severe Medical Crisis of His Own and Was Rushed to the Hospital. And he never worked again. So, we took the rest of the Day off and wandered around Telegraph Avenue. Visiting Amoeba Music and Vic got her Palm Read by a Long Haired Young Man at a Table in front of a Mystical Gift Shop. I did not get my palm read nor did I find out What She Heard. That's Confidential... Private... We visited The Print Mint. A Historic Poster Shop where many of the Artists from the Sixties Had their work printed. And we had a Cup of Coffee in a Shop with a window that overlooked the Street and the Endless Parade of Dikes and Fairies, Freaks and Hairies, Tell Me Where Is Sanity? Not on Telegraph Avenue... That's for Sure...
Once, in High School, We went to Buy Marijuana from a Dealer who lived One Half Block from Telegraph Avenue. We tried some and It was the most powerful I had ever smoked... But I purchased the Hashish instead... My friend was playing "The Wheel" on a Jews Harp... A Song by the Grateful Dead...
I went to a Concert by Procol Harem with Robin Trower at Berkeley Community Center with Classmate Doug Stoner. Good Music. Especially "Conquistador."
My Father and I went to an Art Museum in Berkeley and I Enjoyed an Installation that was a very long wire stretched tightly, the"viewer" was asked to WHACK the wire with a stick and Enjoy the Sound as it Traveled from One End to the Other and Reflected Back. It made a Singing Sound and The Note Varied because of the Wiggling of the Wire and The Doppler Effect.
I rode the AMTRAK Train thru Berkeley... Did not Get off... and Rode BART Too... Had no Money so I Jumped the Turnstile to avoid Paying...
After I retired, I was driving from the Central Valley to Eureka and went over The Altamont Pass, admired the forest of windmills and then Stopped at the Claremont Hotel in Oakland. No Parking unless you were a Guest, so I parked at a Shopping Center Nearby, drank a Cup of Starbucks Coffee and Drove UP Telegraph Avenue. The People looked Scary so I Did not Stop and walk around... I Dead Ended at the Gate Leading to Sprowl Plaza and Turned Left... Drove over that Bridge in the North Bay, Got on Highway #101 and Came Home...
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