What I did on my summer vacation - Katemas '92

[rhill@netrun.cts.com (ronald hill)]

        What I did on my summer vacation
        by Ron Hill

        [Transcribed by Ronald Hill]

        Well, I left on Thursday Morning, July 23.  My plan was to not 
get too much sleep the night before and then spend the day doing things 
here in San Diego and that way when my plane took off at 8pm, I'd be 
tired out and be able to go to sleep.  Well, of course it didn't work out 
that way as I had the coolest, cutest woman sit down next to me, so I 
didn't get much sleep at all!!  She even knew who Kate was!! (Her, Val, 
Meredith, Jessica, etc - I was _swimmin_ in women on this trip!  :-) ) 

        So I landed in Philadelphia at 6am local time and went to Valley 
Forge (cool!) and then on a trip around the area.  I was surprised by how 
much of the city looked _really_ old.  Then I took the train to New 
Brunswick where I met up with Jessica and stayed the night alone at 
Greg's.  Next morning, Greg was there and we mussed with his computer 
some, then went over to the nearby computer center where I used FTP for 
the first time, unfortunately the archives weren't available at the time. 
 Then it was over to Jessica's for a cool meal. 

        Next day it was off to DC in the morning.  The first day I went 
on a bus trip around the city, and saw the national cathedral (definitely 
recommended!).  Then I went off to a Jazz club where I got a little 
drunk!  :-)  The next day I went on a helicopter trip around DC which was 
really cool.  Then I saw the pentagon, the Arlington cemetery, and the 
Iwa Jima (spel?) memorial.  Then I went to The Library of Congress at 
around 6.  I foolishly expected I would be able to research the magazines 
I needed by the time it closed at 9:30.  The problem was the magazine 
functions of the library close around 6!  So I did all I could and then 
came back the next morning and basically spent the day there.  It was 
incredibly frustrating cause they had most of the magazines I needed, but 
not the _specific_ issues that I needed, they would have a mag up to say 
1977, or would be missing a specific issue only, or would say they had it 
and then didn't.  So I got about 15 or so, which I should start 
transcribing soon.  I did a special order for some so hopefully they'll 
find them in which case I should have about 6 more.  If anyone in the 
area would like to volunteer to pick them up (if they come) then write me 
at this address.  
        I had wanted to see the Vietnam Memorial, but didn't finish until 
an hour before my train left, so I had a cab driver take me there and 
wait for me and then take me to the train station. 

        Then it was back to New Brunswick which I stayed at for the next 
two nights as I went into The City (New York).  The first day I spent 
cruising around, and I went to The Dakota (where John Lennon lived and 
died) and Strawberry Fields (the part of Central Park dedicated to John). 
 It was there that I saw this woman playing Bob Dylan songs.  I shouted 
out "Play Kate Bush", and she said "I'd love to, but I don't think you 
can do it on piano".  Then she started fingering her guitar and said 
"Wuthering Heights?".  Then I went to see Les Miseribles.  The next day I 
went on a tour of New York and saw all the normal stuff. 

        That night Greg, Jessica, and I drove up to Boston.  The next day 
we stumbled around Cambridge and stayed up late making pizza.  The next 
day was the day of The Party.  In one room was set up CDs of more obscure 
artists then most people see in a lifetime, and in the other was the Kate 
Stuff.  I brought my videos and those were played.  A whole group of us 
left to cruise around the Cambridge record stores.  I finally got to see 
some actual bootlegs of Kate, as well as zillions of Neil Young and 
Beatles boots.  I was also surprised to see the Collector's book for 
sale, though it was 20 bucks, which is about 6 bucks over what you can 
get it mail order for.  Back at the party I played the forty seconds of 
the Rocket Man video and then the Comic Strip shows Ken (which Kate did 
the music for) and GLC (which Kate appeared in).  Then the band played.  
After the first song, I got freaked out 'cause someone walked up to me 
and said I had a phone call, most unusual as no-one knew I was there!  
:-)  Of course, it was Chris Williams from the Chicago party.  He told me 
the news about his message from Homeground (Kate's album being delayed 
till next year) and the great news that Peter from Homeground really 
likes my book Cloudbusting!  Then we went out for _fireworks_, which was 
funny cause as I was lighting one, Val took a picture which I though was 
a cop arriving to arrest me!  Then some of the fireworks started to come 
perilously close to hitting some of us!  It's not a party if there is not 
some physical danger involved!! :-)  Then we had a guy doing some 
juggling  (cool).  After most people left we saw the tape of the 
performance of the band (great).  

        The next day five of us went off to find the Wilhelm Reich 
museum.  It was a five hour drive out there, two hours there, and then 
five hours back!  It was an interesting place.  There is quite a bit more 
trees then the video, so it's hard to imagine Peter tumbling down the 
hill like in the video.  When we turned off the road, we started singing 
"Cloudbusting".  I asked him how many people who went there knew about 
Reich or Kate and he said that about half the people who went there went 
cause they knew about Reich and about half just cause they happened to be 
in the area and needed something to do!  He said people coming because of 
Kate was a bit of a "rarity".  When Val asked what Reichian people 
thought of "Cloudbusting" he said that it was a "just a curiosity".  He 
also said that due to all the fighting among the various disciples of 
Reich, they only sold books _by_ (not _about_ Reich) at the bookstore 
there, and that that may be the reason they didn't have 
_A_Book_Of_Dreams_.  The guest list went back to 1986, and I looked 
through the 1986 and 1989 section to see if I could find Kate's name, but 
no luck.  (Looking through _Deeper_Understanding_ I've just found a 
mention in 1987 from someone who went and said that the tour guide then 
had said that he had heard Kate had been there.)  Val looked through back 
issues of the Reich newsletter for mentions of Cloudbusting, but no luck. 
 The tour guy said there have been a few other Reichian references in 
art, including a "Reichian Physiologist" in (I think) Magnum P.I.  There 
were a couple of Cloudbusters on display, including the very first one 
ever built.  They were basically just a couple of tubes shot pointed into 
the air.  The tour guy said there are people in Northern California who 
are supposedly using them and have "attained statistically relevant 
results".  There was also an interesting experiment where they had two 
glass containers that were identical except for the fact that the bottom 
of one had "Orgone collection material".  This container was consistently 
hotter then the other, which science supposedly can't explain.  Reich 
supposedly showed it to (I think) Einstein and he couldn't explain it, 
but (supposedly) shied away cause Reich was too infamous at the time. 
        On the way home we stopped at an (I think) Ethiopian resterant, 
which was fun cause the guy seemed to have the attitude that "if you 
don't like our food, I'll kill myself!"  He was so eager to please!!  
When Bob didn't like one dish (not because he thought it was prepared 
badly, just because he hadn't had it before and didn't happen to like it) 
I thought the guy was going to die!  On the way home we read from 
Cloudbusting and The Garden.  
        The next day Val and I went around Boston on a bus tour.  We had 
lunch at the place that inspired "Cheers", which wasn't as friendly as on 
TV!  There was a really drunk and load SportsFan there, who kept talking 
about various sports stuff I knew nothing.  I kept saying things like "go 
team" and pretending I knew one sport from the next.  Then we headed off 
for Middletown, Connecticut (or Bullshit, Nowhere) where we spent the 
night at a friend of Val's and went to a couple of really cheesy diners.  
The next morning Val was kind enough to drive me to the train station.  I 
arrived in New York in plenty of time to catch a bus to Newark, so I 
walked around Times Square a little, and then missed the bus I intended 
and then the next bus got stuck in traffic, so I arrive too late to catch 
my plane!  Luckily they put in a really small plane to Philadelphia, 
where I got on the same flight and plane I was supposed to connect to in 
Kansas City!  So I didn't loose any time at all!  Unfortunately the plane 
was delayed and hour and a half while they worked to replace (of all 
things) the black box!   So then I arrived home at 1am and slept most of 
the day.  

        Thanks to everyone I met on my trip, especially to Gr"whata 
guy"eg for putting me up, Va"whata gal"l for showing me around, Jes"whata 
hair"sica for not physically hurting me.


---
rhill@netrun.cts.com (ronald hill)
NetRunner's Paradise BBS, San Diego CA