Becoming defined by a false label

well now... that is akin to giving in

to the notion of life as a fable

a story, others tell, which is a sin

because then nothing is your own to own

the beginning, the middle, and the end

those are just a tall tale told for some bones

in hot pursuit of a book that will trend

for a few weeks, maybe even a year

then after that comes the bored apathy

due a worn plot so obviously clear

it doesn't even deserve empathy

well now... that is just a form of defeat

not worth even a token cup of meat

The Central Intelligence Agency

conducted research with mind bending drugs

specifically one called "LSD"

while this might seem to be the work of thugs

far from it, because pursuing mind control

led to freeing consciousness from restraint

like a bad parent that wants to console

a spoiled child who cries over his spilled paint

turns the floor into a brand new canvas

they only turned the world into a place

where imagination's brand new compass

expanded beyond the limits of the space

The Beatles could stop singing "Love Me Do"

to write songs like "Within you without you"

With a hambone juba juba git

strum a rhyd'm dun made dem all  gon' quit

goin' t'church to play in dat gig band

play wit da devil while dey dance in sand

ware da co'bra snake fo dare ol' necktie

wid a ear ring out of rattler snake eye

cuz de devil he go on to look best

when he dun look bet'ta dan all de rest

dance dat rhyd'm all way from Africa

danced it a'gin when got to 'merica

ya know ya herd it 'n de eye can see

cum from th' one de only Bo Diddley

so go on tell me now who do you love

dat sand below or dat heav'n above

finally. 

we're doing it, 

we're really going places. 

I heard that you bought a plane ticket, 

so I bought a radio. 

I might take a bath with it. 

Waylon Jennings counted his lucky stars

because he was supposed to take that flight

getting frostbite on a bus behind cars

stuck in the snow turned out to be a plight

preferable to crashing and burning

in a plane that crashed into a corn field

but that is a lesson well worth learning

because the truth gets finally revealed

Even though on the day the music died

those names would live on in eternity

being reborn's a miracle implied

that close call earned him his posterity

so let's drink some whiskey to the near miss

like Jesus staring into the abyss

Through the backdoor he went, he preferred it

out to the dark street completely hidden

because that was the only way he fit 

through the door without his getting ridden

by as many hangers on could hold on

the pretty girls screaming, the gossips, good ol' boys

they all take their piece of meat whereupon

stripped naked of all of life's earthly joys

the Colonel makes sure to get his cut of half

of everything including his soul

sacrificing him as his golden calf

to worship the cash cow's blood in a bowl

he promises to handle all life's ills

following to mop up where the blood spills

Lightning strikes bright light flashing in the sky

the briefest burst of electricity 

which lights a fire to just a passerby 

prone to his own insensitivity

it rocks his socks off and opens his eyes

wide as can be due to the sudden shock

for it comes on as a complete surprise

like getting hit in the head by a rock

but expecting the unexpected when

you might least suspect it is denial

of life's great possibilities often

it's enough to ruin most people's smile 

because if you could see lightning coming

earth angels would not be as becoming

The Grateful Dead have a very unique history that is full of intriguing facts but here are five that tie them to tech and engineering in surprising ways.

1. One of the original "Acid Tests" which included Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters was hosted by Stewart Brand, who created "The Whole Earth Catalog" and the original online community "TheWell"; the Grateful Dead were the house band for the event and members of the band including the lyricists John Perry Barlow and Robert Hunter were original participants in TheWell.  

2. The tech connection deepens... Some of the first files traded on ARPANET were Grateful Dead set lists. The founder of archive.org is a deadhead, and Wozniak and Jobs were fans and had the Dead play at their US Festival,  

3. Sound system and instrument technology companies launched through pioneering efforts in support of the band, including Alembic and Meyer Sound. The only free gear Alembic ever gave a musician was the guitars it gave to Jerry Garcia. Meyer Sound used the band's live shows as a laboratory to develop groundbreaking sound systems in conjunction with UC Berkeley. 

4. The Dead's "Wall of Sound" concert system (shown above) in the early seventies of the past century is still considered one of the best stadium sound systems ever developed, and literally innovated the world of concert sound production.

5. Barlow, one of the lyricist's, is a founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation which protects rights online.

Always knew talent when he heard it

the way a cook knows when the meat's ready

just by the sound of the sizzle; it lit

his imagination, held it steady

so that he could settle the arrangement

the colors of chords in brass, strings, those things

that put light forth from the core filament

in a steady back beat, the triangle's tings

it takes one to know one, genius, that is

for otherwise who would have even known

but you see that was a talent of his

seeing in others how the light is shown

only never to be recognized too

except by those that were the chosen few

Tim Woods was one of those guys who couldn’t catch a break. Everything he did went sour. Like the time he settled in for a romantic evening with himself and he accidentally typed “Pornhub.com” as his Facebook status. Or when he learned to never trust a fart. Especially at a singles mixer. Still, every morning he’d wake up, look in the mirror and say, “Tim, today things are going to change. Today is YOUR day! Grab it by the balls!” Every morning he was convinced “today was a new day.” By mid- afternoon he’d be beaten back down. Some girl would trip and splash scorching hot coffee on his crotch or he’d have no cash when his metro card ran out and he’d have to walk home, or he’d find out the hard way that there was shellfish in the pasta primavera.

Bookkeeping work suited his shy ways and that’s what he did at a small adult entertainment shop in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. “Pleasures and Treasures” was owned by David and Harriet Hendler. Originally David wanted to name the place something like “Slippery When Wet” or “The Snatch Patch” but Harriet was a classy lady and back in 1978 when they opened the place there were rules about such things. So Pleasures and Treasures it was.

David Hendler walked like a man-shaped water balloon, jiggling with every step. He dabbed sweat from his hairy neck and flushed brow so often it became a tick. That Wednesday morning he had an extra bounce in his step and a gleam in his eye.

“Happy Hump Day!” Hendler gave a wink before slurping from the boob-shaped coffee cup. Tim peered over his readers which were held together with masking tape at the ear.

“Thanks, Dave. What’s up?” Tim smiled. He liked Dave. He was a good dude and a decent boss.

“I have good news and bad news.” Hendler squeezed himself into the armchair across from Tim’s desk, grunting until he got settled. “We’re retiring, Tim. Harriet wants to travel before we die, which I hope is soon if I have to spend so much time with her” he laughed but there was obviously some truth to his words.

“Is that the good news or the bad news?” Tim tensed up, ready for the other shoe to drop. It always did, and it usually weighed 50 lbs and landed on his bare foot.

“Depends on your perspective, Timmy old boy” sometimes Dave put on the Groucho Marx voice. It suited him too well.

"Harriet's cousin Julie is gonna take over here. We told her to keep you on, but you know. It's up to her now. I'm sorry we didn't give you more notice. It happened so fast."

Great. Just what Tim needed. A woman boss. Not that he had anything against women. He just had no luck with the ladies. They didn't find him attractive or charming or funny. They never seemed to have any use for him. He'd surrendered to the idea that he would never marry and would die alone with a load of crap in his shorts.

Sometimes Tim would get on Match or OKCupid and try to go on dates. There was the time he started getting close to a woman and they went back to her place. Right as they were getting heavy into it he got a massive Charlie horse and fell off the bed doubled over in pain. The girl laughed at him and called it a night. He tried to play it off like he was cool with it but... It stung. And it made him even more hesitant with women.

"You'll like Julie. She's smart. A real straight shooter.”

"I appreciate your telling me, Dave. I'm happy for you guys."

A woman with a gelatinous face framed by fluffy brown hair strode into the office and hugged Dave.

"Here she is!" Dave beamed with pride "Julie, this is Tim. He's wonderful. Tim, Julie, your new boss. I'll let you guys get acquainted." and he jiggled his way out of the office into the store.

"Well, this is awkward" Tim said trying to break the ice.

"Not at all. I'm excited to take over the store. I've been telling Harriet for years they should change it up. It could be a real destination if they could make it more modern." Tim looked her up and down. She wasn't the beauty queen type and he imagined she spent most Saturday nights with battery operated companions.

“I don’t plan on making too many changes, maybe brightening the place up, gearing it more toward women. We could do an evening of cocktails once a month.” When she said “cocktails” she emphasized the “cock” part and gave him a spastic wink. “We’re changing the name too, The G Spot! Isn’t that a goodie?” she laughed and he couldn’t help but smile along with her.

On the train home Tim had a renewed sense of hope. Julie seemed cool and he liked the idea of new energy in the shop. Maybe it was just the change he needed.

An old woman sat fidgeting next to him, distracting Tim from his reverie. She opened her old Nokia flip-phone then flipped it closed again. She did this repeatedly for a while then turned to him and said “Every time the train stops in the tunnel I get really scared this is it." Her voice quivered, "Is this it?” Tim tried to comfort her, letting her know they would be just fine. She rambled on about her anxiety and that she felt like she was losing her mind. Her eyes went wild and her head shook. He didn’t even see the straight razor coming when she slashed his throat right there on the R train during rush hour. Nobody noticed Tim’s corpse traveling back and forth from Brooklyn to Queens until after 2 am when the train stopped short and he flopped over on his side and tumbled to the floor.