COMING TO A THEATRE NEAR YOU- THIS VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!

HOMEPAGE FOR DIRTY DANCING 2: HAVANA NIGHTS

"Her life was about Rules. His life was about Freedom."




http://www.dirtydancinghavananights.com/home.html

From: "Ruthie" | Add to Address Book
To: "robert register"
Subject: Re: Alabama-Cuba Week and Sela
Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2003 20:25:52 -0500




Robert,
I have forwarded your email.
Have a good week,Ruthie
----- Original Message -----
From: robert register
To: Ruthie@selawardtv.com
Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2003 8:21 PM
Subject: Alabama-Cuba Week and Sela


Ruthie:

The University of Alabama is holding Alabama-Cuba Week from November 17 through November 20.

Details of the events are linked on my weblog "Cuba, Alabama".

My weblog explores all things related to Alabama and Cuba and has extensive archives. You get there by clicking on http://www.robertoreg.blogspot.com

Please do me a favor and forward this email to Sela.

Best wishes,
Robert Register



DIRTY DANCING 2: HAVANA NIGHTS (2004)
February 13th, 2004


Diego Luna, Romola Garai, Sela Ward, John Slattery, Mika Boorem, Jonathan Jackson, January Jones, Rene Lavan
Artisan Entertainment, Miramax Films
Drama, Musical, Romance
Not Available




Set in 1958 Havana, this is the story of a lonely 17-year-old American girl (Garai) who moves to Cuba in the days right before the Revolution with her parents, where she soon meets a charming and talented local dancer (Luna), who encourages her to discover her natural dancing abilities. Undoubtedly, it all leads to an exciting climax as Castro's forces take control and the Americans are forced to leave

Robert:
Here are two notes of interest to you I have on Robert W. Shufeldt.

U.S. Navy lieutenant, "resigned from the service to become a merchant ship captain for the New York and Alabama Steamship Company while John Quitman was planing the Cuba expedition. He quit the conspiracy fearing that the Spanish authorities might detain him in Cuba during his biweekly voyages to Havana. (Robert May, Manifest Destiny's Underworld, 34)
"Havana. Arrival of the Quaker City." The United States Mail steamship Quaker City, R. W. Shufeldt, Commander, left New-Orleans on the morning of the 12th inst. for New York via Havana at which port she arived at 9 A.M. of the 14th after a rapid run of forty-eight hours from city to city; left Havana evening of same dayfor this port and arrived at her wharf at 6 o'clock last evening. The Quaker City brings 174 passengers, $118,000 in silver spicie, a full cargo for this port. (N. Y. Times, May 19, 1859, 4).
I have also enjoyed your website.
Regarding my review of Tom Chaffin's book, not only is it badly researched and written because he does not understand Spanish, but I have compared where he ripped off every single reference to Portell Vila from my Ph.D. dissertation. That makes him an "authority" on rip-offs.
Antonio


http://images.virtualology.com/images/4302.jpg
This is the biography of Robert Wilson Shufeldt who negotiated with Quitman in Mobile in 1854 for the command of the filibuster navy the junta planned to send to Cuba. At the time Shufeldt was commander of the side wheeler, Cahawba(I believe this should read "Catawba"), which the junta negotiated to purchase from the New York and Alabama Steamship Company
SHUFELDT, Robert Wilson, naval officer, born in Red Hook, Dutchess County, New York, 21 February, 1822. He entered the navy as a midshipman, 11 May, 1839, was attached to the naval school at Philadelphia in 1844-'5, and became a passed midshipman, 2 July, 1845. He was promoted to master, 21 February, 1853, and to lieutenant, 26 October, 1853, but resigned from the navy, 20 June, 1854, and was connected with the Collins line of Liverpool steamers as chief officer for two years. He then commanded the steamers "Black Warrior" and "Catawba" on the line between New York and New Orleans, and had charge of the party that surveyed the Isthmus of Tehuantepec for a railroad and interoceanic canal. When the civil war began he was in command of the steamer "Quaker City," of the New York and Havana line of steamers, and was appointed United States consul-general at Havana. In April, 1863, he resigned, and was reinstated in the navy with a commission of commander, dated 19 November, 1862. He was given the steamer " Conemaugh," on the blockade at Charleston, where he participated in the engagements on Morris island. He commanded the steamer "Boteus," of the Eastern Gulf blockading squadron, in 1864-'6. After the war he had the "Hartford" of the East India squadron, in 1865-'6, and the "Wachusett," of the Asiatic squadron, in 1866-'8. He was commissioned captain, 31 December, 1869, and commanded the monitor "Miantonomoh " in 1870, after which he had charge of the Tehuantepec and Nicaraguan surveying expeditions of 1870-'1. He was chief of the bureau of equipment and recruiting in the navy department in 1875-'8, and was commissioned commodore, 21 September, 1876. In 1879-'80 he sailed in the "Ti-Conderoga" oil a special mission to Africa and tile East Indies, to ascertain and report on the prospects for the revival of American trade with those countries. While he was on this expedition the sultan of Zanzibar, Said Barghash, presented him with a sword. He was promoted to rear-admiral on 7 May, 1883, and was retired, 21 February, 1884.

http://www.civilwar-photos.com/images/maffitt.jpgIn 1862 John Newland Maffitt was given command of the Confederacy’s first commerce raider, Florida. May 4, 1862, then commanded her until October 1863. At some point during his command he was photographed by a Northern firm, C.D. Fredericks & Co., based in New York. However, they had branch operations in Havana, Cuba, and Paris, and it is at one of these that Maffitt sat for his photograph. On August 7, 1863, Maffit was promoted to commander. The commander’s cap badge bore two stars, while the cap badge in Maffitt’s photograph bears the single star of a lieutenant.

Maffitt was twice in Havana when in command of the Florida. The first time was in early August 1862, when the crew was struck with yellow fever. Maffitt had to put into a port. On August 19 he anchored off Cardenas, Cuba. The local Confederate official then reported to Richmond that Maffitt was “prostrated by yellow fever” and unable to comply. He was deathly ill for ten days, but recovered to take the ship to Havana on September 1. Unable to get necessary help there, however, a still ill Maffitt put to sea that night for Mobile. It’s unlikely the photo was taken then.



The second time was on January 20, 1863. The log entry for January 21, reads, “Many persons visited the ship. We were enthusiastically welcomed at Havana.” On January 22 the Florida left Havana. Certainly Maffitt would have had a chance to have his photograph taken between the 21st and the 22nd, while leaving his executive officer to oversee coaling operations.

In August 1863 the Florida, badly needing repairs, put into Brest, France. Maffitt left the ship there in October to return to the Confederacy. He was then a commander, with a new cap badge, but could have visited Paris with his old hat to be photographed then. However, Maffitt is more likely to have taken advantage of being in Europe to obtain a new uniform


JANUARY 16,1863- C.S.S. Florida, Lieutenant John N. Maffitt, ran the blockade out of Mobile in the early morning after having remained in that port for some 4 months in order to complete repairs to her equip-ment. Confusion in the blockading fleet enabled Florida to escape, for the Confederate commerce raider passed within 300 yards of U.S.S. R.R. Cuyler, Commander George F. Emmons. Upon her arrival at Havana on 20 January to debark prisoners from her first prize, U.S. Consul-General Robert W. Shufeldt described the raider: ''The Florida is a bark-rigged propeller, quite fast under steam and canvas; has two smoke-stacks fore and aft of each other, close together; has a battery of four 42's or 68's of a side, and two large pivot guns. Her crew consists of 135 men . . . is a wooden vessel of about 1,500 tons." Farragut was concerned by Florida's escape: "This squadron, as Sam Barron used to say, 'is eating its dirt now'-Galveston skedaddled, the Hatteras sunk by the Alabama, and now the Oreto [Florida] out. . . . The Admiral's son, Loyall Farragut, com-pleted the letter: ''Father's eyes have given out; so I will finish this letter. He has been very much worried at these things, but still tries to bear it like a philosopher. He knows he has done all in his power to avert it, with the vessels at his disposal. If the Government had only let him take Mobile when he wished to, the Oreto would never have run out."

http://www.geocities.com/theprezz/trent/trent.htm
Wilkes reached St. Thomas on October 13, 1861,where he took command of two other cruisers, and then sailed onward, arriving at Cienfuegos, Cuba eleven days later. While in port Wilkes learned of the arrival of the Confederate commissioners in Havana. He then set sail in the hopes of catching the Theodora, but by the time he reached Havana on the last day of October the Theodora had already left. Rather than attempt a near futile chase of the Theodora (which had a two week head start), Wilkes turned his attention towards the two Confederates.

The Captain sent to of his officers to call upon Mason to try and ascertain through casual conversation what the Confederates' plans were. Mason, however, realized their intent and made sure to thwart their efforts. Wilkes, however, discovered through the United States consul-general in Havana, Robert Shufeldt (himself a formal naval officer), that the Confederates were planing to sail November 7th on board the British mail packet Trent. Wilkes began making preparations for the capture of Mason and Slidell and provisioned his ship with supplies for their comfort.

His executive officer, Lt. Daniel Macneill Fairfax, however, objected to Wilkes' course of action. He felt that the capture of the Trent could ignite a war between the United States and European powers such as Britain and France. Fairfax urged Wilkes to consult an expert in maritime law before continuing. Wilkes, however, was confident in his own interpretation of the law and was unmoved by Fairfax's arguments. Fairfax, realizing the futility of further reasoning with his commanding officer, dropped the issue.

On November 2nd the San Jacinto departed Havana, making sure to leave the impression that she was sailing directly for the United States, as per her original orders. However, during the night Wilkes had the ship double back towards Key West. There Wilkes planned to take on additional supplies for the planned "guests" and he hoped to find additional Navy vessels to aid in the capture of the Trent. Unfortunately, no vessels were then at Key West, so Wilkes turned the San Jacinto around and set a course to intercept the Trent in the Bahama Channel, 300 miles east of Havana.

At 11:40 am on November 8th, the San Jacinto's lookout spotted the Trent less then 10 miles away. Wilkes called his officers to his quarters and explained to them his plans. He put a number of them whose loyalties he doubted under arrested and then selected the members of the boarding party, to be commanded by Lt. Fairfax. The boarding party was authorized and ordered to board the Trent and demand her papers. If Mason and Slidell were on board, Fairfax was to make them and their secretaries prisoners, seize their possessions and dispatches, and make the Trent a prize of war.

At 1:15 pm the San Jacinto fired a shot across the Trent's bow, and that vessel stopped and received the boarding party. Fairfax encountered no resistance beyond the verbal variety and the reluctance of the Confederate commissioners to leave the Trent. However, they eventually realized the futility of resistance and allowed themselves to be taken prisoner. Then, disobeying his orders, Fairfax departed the Trent without making it a prize. He was able to convince Wilkes, however, to overlook that fact by claiming that put a prize crew on the Trent would inconvenience its innocent passengers and would also impair the San Jacinto's fighting ability.

Unfortunately, as the San Jacinto sailed back to a hero's welcome in the United States, Wilkes and Fairfax had no way of knowing that the British didn't appreciate their generous act of allowing the Trent to go rather than making it a prize. Little did they know that their actions would bring the United States and England to the brink of war.

The following chronology is adapted from Stephen R. Wise’s Lifeline of the Confederacy (Columbia: University of South Carolina, 1988), Robert E. Denney’s The Civil War Years: A Day-by-Day Chronicle (New York: Grammercy, 1992), and U.S. Navy's Civil War Naval Chronology, 1861-1865 (Washington: Navy Department, 1971). Note that some dates of Denbigh’s arrivals and departures are unknown, and so have been left out of this chronology.

Date Denbigh Elsewhere
September 10, 1863 Denbigh is written up in a Liverpool area newspaper as being fitted out "to go to China." This attempt at what a later generation would call "disinformation" fools almost no one, least of all U.S. Consul Thomas Dudley, who's been keeping a close eye on this particular vessel.

October 19, 1863 Denbigh sails from Liverpool for Havana.

December 7, 1863 Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus V. Fox forwards to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron intelligence reports on Denbigh and other suspected blockade runners.

January 10, 1864 Denbigh arrives at Mobile on her first blockade-running voyage. Confederate officers in Mobile are discussing the previous day’s message from President Jefferson Davis, warning that Mobile will soon be attacked by Admiral Farragut’s West Gulf Blockading Squadron.


March 14, 1864 Denbigh arrives at Mobile on her second blockade-running voyage.

March 16, 1864 Denbigh clears Mobile for Havana.

April 14, 1864 Denbigh arrives at Mobile on her third blockade-running voyage, carrying (among other things) a large lot of cobbler’s tools.


April 16, 1864 Denbigh clears Mobile for Havana.

April 30, 1864 Denbigh arrives at Mobile on her fourth blockade-running voyage.

May 7, 1864 Denbigh clears Mobile for Havana.

May 18, 1864 Denbigh arrives at Mobile on her fifth blockade-running voyage.
Confederate Admiral Franklin Buchanan, "Old Buck," manages to get the new ironclad ram Tennessee over Dog River Bar and into Mobile Bay. C.S.S. Tennessee greatly increases the strength of Confederate forces on the bay, and sets the stage for one of the most dramatic naval actions of the war.

May 26, 1864 Denbigh clears Mobile for Havana.
Union Rear Admiral Farragut, watching Confederate boats setting out mines at the entrance to Mobile Bay, writes that he has "come to the conclusion to fight the devil with fire, and therefore shall attach a torpedo to the bow of each ship, and see how it will work on the rebels -- if they can stand blowing up any better than we can."

June 7, 1864 Denbigh arrives at Mobile on her sixth blockade-running voyage.

June 14, 1864 Denbigh clears Mobile for Havana. At Cherbourg, France, Captain Semmes of the Confederate raider Alabama concludes that he will have to fight the U.S. Navy's steamer Kearsarge, which is waiting for him outside the harbor. Semmes judges that the ships are about evenly matched, and that he has a good chance of defeating the Union ship. He will be proven wrong five days later.

July 26, 1864 Denbigh clears Mobile for Havana. Mobile is now cut off from the sea – Denbigh is the last blockade runner to safely escape Mobile. In just over a week’s time, Admiral Farragut will lead his ships into Mobile Bay.

Yours truly,



Barto Arnold

http://nautarch.tamu.edu/PROJECTS/denbigh/2001Crew.htm

THIS IS A PAINTING OF THE DENBIGH,LOADED WITH COTTON AND LEAVING MOBILE FOR HAVANA-THE LAST BLOCKADE-RUNNER TO SAIL OUT OF MOBILE BAY
Barto Arnold
Principal Investigator and DENBIGH Project Director
Austin, Texas
Barto Arnold is a native of San Antonio and studied anthropology and archaeology at the University of Texas at Austin. Arnold’s introduction to nautical archaeology came when, as a graduate student, he was hired to work at the conservation laboratory handling artifacts taken by salvors from the 1554 Spanish wrecks on Padre Island. Arnold served for more than 20 years as the State Marine Archaeologist for the Texas Historical Commission, and in 1997 moved to the Institute of Nautical Archaeology as Director of Texas Operations.

Dear Robert,

Thanks for featuring the Denbigh on the blog. Very nice, indeed.



Got the map and the bird’s eye Xerox yesterday. Thank you, it looks like I’ll be able to scan and stitch the map’s pieces together, at least for the part of Havana of most interest. Where can I get an original of the bird’s eye? I’d like to use that one, too.



Thank you for being such a big help. Please consider yourself officially appointed to the Institute of Nautical Archaeology’s Denbigh research team.

Yours truly,



Barto

Denbigh To Be Featured At Galveston County Historical Museum Denbigh
To Be Featured At Galveston County Historical Museum




GALVESTON - The Denbigh, a Civil War ship excavated by Texas

A&M University's Institute of Nautical Archaeology and one of the

most successful blockade runners of its time, will be the subject of

the Galveston County Historical Museum's newest exhibit, beginning

Saturday (Oct. 25).
The exhibit, part of the museum's "ArtWalk," which is scheduled

from 6 p.m.- 9 p.m., will highlight artifacts related to the

Denbigh, a British merchant ship and blockade-runner that made six

successful runs into Galveston before running aground May 23, 1865

at Bird Key, a sand shoal just off the Bolivar Peninsula.

The wreck was discovered in 1997 and is now a protected

archeological site under the stewardship of the Texas Historical

Commission (THC). The exhibit, done in conjunction with the

Institute of Nautical Archeology, will feature artifacts recovered

from the site, including the connecting rod that transferred the

motion of the engine to the paddlewheel.

Topics discussed in the exhibit will include blockade running,

the history of Galveston and the United States in 1865, the

engineering of the Denbigh, her loss and eventual site discovery

underwater archeology. The Denbigh exhibit will run through April

11, 2004.
"This is an exciting exhibit for the museum as it relates to

Galveston's involvement in the Civil War," states Christy Carl

Director of the Galveston County Historical Museum.

The Galveston County Historical Museum is located at 2219

Market Street in Galveston and is a joint project of Galveston

County Commissioners Court and Galveston Historical Foundation

Galveston Historical Foundation preserves and revitalizes the

architectural, cultural and maritime heritage of Galveston Island

for the education and enrichment of all.

For more information about the Denbigh exhibit at the Galveston

County Historical Museum, call Christy Carl at (409) 766-2340 or

christy.carl@galvestonhistory.org.



Garcia

10/22/03




AggieDaily
Office of University Relations
Texas A&M University
(979) 845-4641



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Denbigh To Be Featured At Galveston County Historical Museum

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GALVESTON - The Denbigh, a Civil War ship excavated by Texas A&M University's Institute of Nautical Archaeology and one of the most successful blockade runners of its time, will be the subject of the Galveston County Historical Museum's newest exhibit, beginning Saturday (Oct. 25).
The exhibit, part of the museum's "ArtWalk," which is scheduled from 6 p.m.- 9 p.m., will highlight artifacts related to the Denbigh, a British merchant ship and blockade-runner that made six successful runs into Galveston before running aground May 23, 1865 at Bird Key, a sand shoal just off the Bolivar Peninsula.
The wreck was discovered in 1997 and is now a protected archeological site under the stewardship of the Texas Historical Commission (THC). The exhibit, done in conjunction with the Institute of Nautical Archeology, will feature artifacts recovered from the site, including the connecting rod that transferred the motion of the engine to the paddlewheel.
Topics discussed in the exhibit will include blockade running, the history of Galveston and the United States in 1865, the engineering of the Denbigh, her loss and eventual site discovery and underwater archeology. The Denbigh exhibit will run through April 11, 2004.
"This is an exciting exhibit for the museum as it relates to Galveston's involvement in the Civil War," states Christy Carl, Director of the Galveston County Historical Museum.
The Galveston County Historical Museum is located at 2219 Market Street in Galveston and is a joint project of Galveston County Commissioners Court and Galveston Historical Foundation. Galveston Historical Foundation preserves and revitalizes the architectural, cultural and maritime heritage of Galveston Island for the education and enrichment of all.
For more information about the Denbigh exhibit at the Galveston County Historical Museum, call Christy Carl at (409) 766-2340 or christy.carl@galvestonhistory.org.

Professor Thompson has taught at Yale since 1961, and has served as visiting curator at UCLA's Museum of Ethnic Arts (1970), at the National Gallery of Art (1974). He has organized several major exhibitions, including The Four Moments of the Sun (1981) and The Face of the Gods: Shrines and Altars of the Black Atlantic World (1985) at the National Gallery of Art. Prof Thompson has received research grants from the Ford Foundation (1962-1964), the Yale Concilium on International and Area Studies (1965), the National Institute of Medicine and Science (1975), the National Institute of the Museums of Zaire (1976), and the National Gallery of Art (1977, 1979, 1980). He has served on the Joint Committee on African Studies of the Social Science Research Council and American Council of Learned Societies (1966-1973), as Chairman on the Humanities Committee of the African Studies Association (1966-1970), and in numerous capacities at Yale.

In November 17-20, 2003, the University will sponsor an Alabama Cuba Conference on the University of Alabama campus, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Go to Robert Farris Thompson for a brief biographical sketch of our main speaker, scheduled for the noon hour, Wednesday, November 19th, Birmingham Room, Bryant Conference Center, The University of Alabama campus. Thompson will give a presentation on Cuban mambo in the world, with slides, music, and video.

Alabama-Cuba Week Conference

Event dates: Nov. 17-20, 2003

Cuban science fiction writers Angel Arango and Michel Encinosa will be at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa for the university's Alabama-Cuba Week conference, Nov. 17-20, 2003, and everyone's invited.

Arango and Encinosa will join Juan Carlos Toledano and James Stevens-Arce on a panel devoted to Cuban science fiction at 10 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 20. Andy Duncan will moderate. (Biographical information on all the panelists is below.)

All four guests also will speak to the members of the Tuscaloosa Science Fiction Society at the society's monthly meeting, 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19. The meeting is open to the public. Also in the works are a public reading and a party in the science fiction visitors' honor at the home of Andy and Sydney Duncan, details TBA.

Dozens of Cuban artists, scientists and scholars, as well as a number of their U.S. collaborators and counterparts, have been invited to the Alabama-Cuba Week conference. Three days of panels will be devoted to all things Cuban, from poetry and photography to wastewater treatment and baseball. The conference officially begins with an evening reception Monday, Nov. 17, at the university President's Mansion, and concludes with a dinner Thursday, Nov. 20.

The registration fee for the whole conference is only $25, though meals are extra. Details and registration forms should be online in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, questions and suggestions regarding the science fiction events may be directed to Andy Duncan (aduncan@sa.ua.edu, 205-348-9298); questions about the overall conference may be directed to Carmen Taylor, associate dean of UA's College of Arts and Sciences (ctaylor@sa.ua.edu, 205-348-7007).

About the Panelists

Angel Arango was arguably the first Cuban science fiction writer, publishing his first stories soon after the 1959 Castro revolution, and he remains perhaps the most widely published and widely respected. His story collections include Where Do the Caphalhoms Go? (1964), The Black Planet (1966), Robotomachy (1967), The Monkey's Rainbow (1980), Transparency (1982) and Juncture (1984).

Michel Encinosa leads a weekly Havana writer's workshop that is a spiritual center of the "new wave" of Cuban science fiction. He is the author of two best-selling story collections, Black Sun and Neon Children (both 2001). "I write for those interested in a change of point of view," he says, and he describes science fiction as "a controlled way to think and to dream about the past and the future and to throw light on the present."

Juan Carlos Toledano is assistant professor of Hispanic studies at Lewis & Clark College in Oregon. He reports on science fiction in Cuba and Spain for Locus magazine and is active in the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts.

James Stevens-Arce won Europe's UPC Award for his novel Soulsaver (2000), and his stories have appeared in Asimov's, Amazing Stories and the New Legends anthology. A Miami native, he has lived for more than 40 years in Puerto Rico, where he is a free-lance writer, producer and director for film and television.

Andy Duncan (moderator) has won the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award and two World Fantasy Awards, including one for his collection Beluthahatchie and Other Stories (2000). Recent stories are in Conjunctions:39 (2002) and Mojo: Conjure Stories (2003). He teaches at the University of Alabama, where he is assistant director of student media.

NOTE: U.S.-Cuban politics and the issuance of visas on both sides being subject to unexpected disruptions, the final conference lineup is subject to change at the last minute.

Submitted by--
Andy Duncan
Assistant Director of Student Media,
University of Alabama Director,
Alabama Scholastic Press Association
(205) 348-9298
aduncan@sa.ua.edu

From: "robertoreg2003"
Date: Sun Oct 26, 2003 9:09 pm
Subject: What's Kesey Got To Do Wid Da Chukker?


I was partying in my bedroom at the house on 8th Street back in '73
and this guy at the party started looking at my Ann Charters book,
Kerouac. He opened it up to the pictures and pointed to Neal Cassady
and said, "That's my Dad." I will never forget the glow I felt when
I first realized I was with John Allen Cassady (He was named "John"
after Jack Kerouac and "Allen" after Allen Ginsberg.)
John had come to Tuscaloosa and opened an alternative movie
theatre on University Boulevard near Johnny's Restaurant. Here's an
interview where he mentions working as the projectionist here in
Tuscaloosa:

What is here is only a sample of the conversations I saved --
many of them were interesting but not relevant enough to include in
the "real" interview. Like this exchange, which took place after
John and I discovered we were both into Marx Brothers movies:


John: Duck Soup is my favorite. A buddy and I opened an alternative
cinema in a college town in '72 and showed all of them as well as
W.C. Fields, Laurel and Hardy, etc. Two shows per night for a week;
I saw them all 14 times each and know every line.
Me: That's great. My favorite was prob. Horsefeathers, like when
Groucho is in the canoe with Thelma Todd and she says "will big
strong man give icky baby the bad little football signals?" and he
says "Was that you or the duck? Because if it was you I'm going to
finish the ride with the duck?"

John: And then he sings "Everyone Says 'I Love You'" while
accompanying himself on guitar, at which he was quite proficient, a
leftover from their old vaudeville acts. He used surprisingly
sophisticated diminished chords as passing phrases in that
arrangement (not that I studied it or anything) and of course
finishes by throwing the guitar into the lake, argh! But showing
future Pete Townshends how it's done. Chico's version of the song
had a great line: "The great big mosquito and-a he sting you" (had
to have been there). Zeppo turned it into a torch ballad, and of
course Harpo ripped it up on the harp. Horsefeathers was indeed a
classic I had (almost) forgotten.


I don't know if anybody will fully believe this, but I knew all
about those diminished chords.



Anyway, I remember seeing John at the Chukker but he says he
doesn't remember it but he does remember the girl he picked up at my
party on 8th St. I'm pretty sure it was Betty Boswell.(Sorry, Craig)

When Kesey got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he
asked John to drive the bus because "Neal wasn't available to do the
job."

Kesey also hired John to drive the Bus through England in 2000
when Channel 4 sponsored the "Searching For Merlin" Tour.

After Kesey spoke at the University with Leary in the early 90s,
Kesey partied at Tracy Priest's house on Audubon. Babbs says that
Kesey had fond memories of Tuscaloosa. Kesey actually played a video
of John's father at the party on Audubon. Babbs says that Kesey had
a big BAMA bumper sticker on the front of his desk on the day he
died.

Anyway, if any of ya'll remember that long haired blond guy who
was the projectionist at the movie theatre where "Last Tango In
Paris" was banned, it was John Cassady, the man who inherited the
job of driving Further.

And another thing. The Summer of '04 will be the 40th anniversary
of the famous road trip described by Tom Wolfe in "The Electric Kool-
Aid Acid Test". They came through Mobile because Babbs had been
stationed at Pensacola before he shipped out for 'Nam to fly Marine
helicopter.

In honor of the publication of the two new Kesey books, I tuned up
my weblog for kesey.

babbs, kesey and friends at Leary's place in the summer of '64

In honor of Fidel's 77th birthday, August 13,2003, I am giving Cuba a rest and looking at Kesey stuff on the Web. Check it out at http://www.lib.virginia.edu/speccol/exhibits/sixties/list.html

I know you're busy but please keep this information in the back of your mind. The University of Oregon is going to have a Kesey Symposium November 14-16. They're gonna unveil a statue to Kesey in Eugene and have a lot of activities involving the Bus and the Pranksters.Check out the agenda at http://kesey.uoregon.edu/ I received one of my last emails from Kesey on Friday, July 20, 2001. Kesey wrote:

Robert--
Hey you know I would write Castro a letter about our inkling to bring the
bus to Cuba if I knew where to mail it to. I figure anybody who was close to Che couldn't be completely bad.
--Kesey
I gave Ken the address of the Cuban Interest Section at the Swiss Embassy in D.C.

If we could get the Bus over to Cuba, it would fulfill one of Kesey's last wishes. It would fit in nicely on one of those warehouse barges leaving the Port of Mobile for Havana and after a 40 hour voyage to the island, there would be a different vibe in Cuba.

Also consider that the Pranksters's bus trip to New York City in ' 64, chronicled in Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, came through Mobile and next summer marks the 40th anniversary of that episode.

Keep up the good work and let me know what's going on.
Saludos,
roberto
http://kesey.uoregon.edu

Send all suggestions and other unwanted comments to robertoreg@hotmail.com
Since people are finally reading this stuff, I guess it's time to say a little about my experience with Cuba over the Internet. This all started in the year 2000 when I actually paid to have an Internet server at our house in Northport, Alabama. Three things immediately happened. Bill Casari, the curator of the FORBES COLLECTION in New York City contacted me about a possible article in FORBES about the Forbes Purchase papers which may still await discovery in Cuba. I also met Rich Chartrand and Ken Kesey over the Web. Rich Chartrand's great-great grandfather owned a plantation in Matanzas Province along the Canimar River near Limonar.The plantation was named Ariande. This was the house where William Rufus King was inaugurated Vice President of the United States. Rich emailed me photos of the Canimar River and the ruins of Ariande. I met Ken Kesey through his website intrepidtrips.com. He wanted to take his bus, Further, to Cuba and I had referred him to some Cuban websites so he wanted me to get him Castro's address so he could write FIDEL a letter requesting permission to bring the bus to Cuba. I gave Ken all I had which was the Cuban Interest Section address in the Swiss Embassy in D. C.
That's a pretty good introduction to my interest in CyberCuba but, of course, it's not the whole story. The words of Bob Dylan come to mind....
TIME WILL TELL JUST WHO HAS FELL AND WHO'S BEEN LEFT BEHIND, WHEN YOU GO YOUR WAY AND I GO MINE.

Not only is September 17th Kesey's birthday, it's also Hank's 81st birthday.

http://www.key-z.com/

THIS ZANE KESEY'S SITE WHERE YA CAN GET THE NEW KESEY BOOKS ALONG WID ALL KINDS UV UDDER PSYCODELIANA!