A red eyed
cross-section of proselytizershooters espousing the company line of Freethinkershooters,
political candidateshooters, organizershooters, headshooters, multiple
sclerosis inflicted comedianshooters, wannabe cancer patientshooters, communal
lead-assed peashooters, aid-to-Nicauraga victimshooters, musicianshooters,
bandshooters, guyshooters, straightshooters, crookedshooters, entrepeneurshooters,
liberalshooters, conservativeshooters and yes, even Prankstershooters and
oystershooters were hand in glove outstretched pleadingshooters.
This was all
things proclaiming heed the pleaseshooters, the peaceshooters, the peashooters,
the pleashooters pleading medicinal, industrial recreational sign on the
fence sign on the dotted line, sign on, sign off, sign in while entering
the Hope Future. And the crowd meant it.
The speakers
spoke it, but they were preaching to the choir as the musicians played
it and we danced to it and The vendors sold it and the world bought it.
So the Merry Pranksters
had settled in and gotten down when all of a sudden there was a ruckus
at the front of the Buskus. This... person... this boisterous human being
in camoulflage carrying a large rifle had entered the Bus. 
He/She/It, whoever the hell it was, obsteperously proclaimed
the right to bare arms and arm bears and if anyone gave a thought about
it otherwise, why she was gonna... SHE!!! Hey wait a goddamned minute.
We know who that is, you can't fool us... It's Mar Barker! Never Trust
a Merry Prankster!!!
The sun was high in the sky driving
the temperature out of sight but the vibes easily overwhelmed the heat.
The live music was most
excellent inparticular a band called Toys whose most recognizable tune
has the line "sfrolic from your funny bone then fun your frolic
bone dolt!@mars.com." Toys really got the joint rocking with their
rendition of the Macarena. However, they substituted Mary Jane in the lyrics
making for an amusing song about mellowtonia, to which the crowd did the
Macarena! George had climbed onto the top of the Bus and was bopping right
along having taken their advice.
Precisely at
4:20pm... Kesey, Babbs, Phil and George hit upon
the stage rapping about about the impending zloom and gloom that was besetting
the country in the form of some guy who once upon a time had played Moses
and was now leading the lost and forlorn on a mission to ALLOW ALL OF
THE BOZOS TO BARE ARMS. It was interesting that in this crowd, there
were only good vibes. Moses is basically a benign dude. But like guns,
in the wrong hands he can do miserable damage. So children if you are hell
bent on weirding out in the first degree, ferrchrissakes stay off tricycles
and most certainly stay away from gunsoles!
And the bands
played on... and the kids shook their bones and, did I say kids? Inside
the Bus, the Pranksters in their Merry way blew up balloons and tied strings
to them in preparation for the always popular BALLOON STOMP. A master pied-piper,
Kesey rounded up several dozen youngsters who willingly allowed the balloons
to be tied to their ankles. 
The
kids were herded up in front of the stage where Kesey, Babbs and his trombone,
Phil and George were extolling the virtues of creaming the balloon tied
to another's ankle. OK KIDS, ARE YOU READY... on the count of three...
GO!!! The kids ran around, some agressively, others defensively. Balloons
were popping, a small dust cloud began to rise as the riffs and sounds
from the stage gained momentum. KeSeY yeLLs to STOP... all of the
kids freeze in their places. The kids with the popped ballons are cleared
out, some unhappily! Hey kids, that's life, take the good with the bad
and don't be sad. OK, ARE WE READY? On the count of three again... GO!!!
There's five left, no four, PoP,
POP, just two left. Wait-a-minute. The bigger of the two kids seems to
have tricked us. His balloon had popped and he somehow had gotten a hold
of another balloon and told Really? that his balloon had come untied and
Really? being the good sport he is tied it back on. But he couldn't fool
the Head Wiz who had witnessed his antics from up on the stage. Remember
kids... that man behind the curtain knows it all!!! We have a winner!!!
She was cute as a bell and received eight bucks and fifty three cents for
her efforts.
The afternoon
wound down as the sun reached the horizon. The heat dissipated and the
Merry Pranksters chilled preparing for the evening adventure. While music
continued from the stage, the crowd danced, and shopped. Among the vendors
were Sunshine with her beautiful glass sculpturettes, and Zane and Stephanie's
Key-Z Productions boothful of books and tapes. 
MG
held court with with Annabelle and Trixie and good pal-ette Goldie. This
was the hub of Pranksterism outside of the Bus. It was an oasis in the
midst of a desert of fun! Kesey signed books and hung out, Babbs came and
went. We all refreshed on ice cream in the shade. 
When
the sun set and the sky turned from blue to black, things began taking
a twist toward the weird. It was time to suit up for fun!
Little did the soothsayers say anything about what would
happen next. It was beyond their sooth, as they say. Luckily darkness had
fallen and the shadows hid the figures prowling the denizens awaiting their
chance to sport with the citizens..
