Hux

The 1990 Grateful Dead concert at Copps Colliseum in Hamilton never really happened. I've kept my silence on the subject for 22 years ... now it's finally time to come clean on the whole subject. The whole idea began back in late 1969/early 1970. The Department of Defense, CIA and the RCMP were very disappointed by the way the Vietnam War was progressing. Not only was the US losing but, more importantly, the US public did not approve of the war and, worse yet, weren't believing everything the military said about what was happening. This was an unprecedented event. Every other recent war was viewed positively by the public ... or at least with apathy in the case of Korea. Something had to be done. They decided to take a page from the Soviets and experiment with mind control. Together with Disney and a fledgling computer company called Microsoft, they set out to prove that brainwashing could really work on the very people who opposed them: the hippies. It isn't widely known but Copps Coliseum was actually the second test of these mind control procedures. The first occurred in mid-1975 and was a dismal failure. 2 major mistakes were made. First, they picked the one time that the Dead were not touring. This created all sorts of problems with the subject audience. The more serious mistake was in not updating the criteria of the experiment. Due to typical government inefficiency, they used the 1969 version of the Dead that was playing when the program was conceived. The sudden appearance of Pigpen, who had died 2 years earlier, literally blew the minds of those in attendance. 6 months were spent erasing all traces of the "show" and carefully rebuilding as much of their minds as possible. The subjects were eventually released and most of them became evangelists, their only lingering memory of the whole experiment being an unshakeable belief that they'd witnessed a true miracle. Unfortunately, no tapes have been found from this first experiment. That's a real shame because the version of Dark Star->St Stephen->Eleven->Lovelight used was supposedly the best ever. After a few drinks, the original scientists still speak in awe about the music heard that day. By 1990, everyone was ready for the second test. This time, they learned from their mistakes. A small group of college students (including yours truly) were hired to attend shows from 1976 through 1989. Our job was to collect tapes of the Dead's performances, select which tunes to use, and to help identify subjects for the upcoming experiment. The location and date were chosen with equal care. It was a off-day during the tour and the location close enough to the real concerts to be believed. Of more importance was the late snowfall that day. That unusual and easily confirmed event provided the glue that would hold the implanted memories together. Even now 22 years later, people "remembering" that concert use almost identical words to describe leaving the show. Overall, the experiment was a great success. Of course, some people were given slightly different memories. Some, like Teddy Goodbear, "remember" taping the show and were even provided "Audience" tapes to further cement the hoax. Still others remember getting "horribly smashed" up front. None of this actually occurred. A week after the "concert" experiment, a 2nd test was done on the city of Hamilton itself. In order to perfect this hoax, the town itself must also be convinced that the concert took place. Disney had acquired owner-ship of all the local TV and radio stations through dummy corporations. Using special chips developed by Microsoft, they played subliminal messages to every man, woman and child in a 100 mile radius of Copps Coliseum. For the most part, this programming still holds today although some people did prove resistant to the message. As far as the source of the music, for the most part the list posted by "brew ziggins" is correct. The only mystery remaining is the Scarlet->Fire. That was actually performed by the Dead specifically for this experiment. Since Jerry worked for the CIA, it was easy to convince him and the rest of the band to go along. Plus he liked the idea of "pranking"a large group of people like this. The fabled 2/6/77 "take a step back" rehearsal tape is also from material taped for these experiments. The soundboard tapes in circulation were leaked by Dick Latvala who edited the original tapes. Leaking these tapes also provided the first cracks in the hoax to appear since the tapes were distributed to people who were not in the experiment and who knew that no show was performed that day. It was necessary to obtain their silence through blackmail, bribery and in extreme cases, mind control itself. That's also how this "show" came to be listed in all the popular Dead show guides like DeadBase. So what's happened to these mind control techniques used in this experiment? I got out of the program in 1992 but it's obvious that they are still being used today. Microsoft has used this power to become one of the biggest, most influential companies in history. They sure didn't become that big by providing quality products. It was used to shape public relation to the Gulf War. It's also clear that George Bush never understood the full power of these methods. After the Gulf War, the technology was leaked to a young governor who used them to be successfully elected to 2 terms as president and remain in power despite facing numerous charges that should have seen him removed from office or even thrown in prison. There are also indications that this technology might explain the otherwise unbelievable popularity of rap music. That's the whole story. I'll probably end up in jail (or worse) for revealing this but it feels good to finally get the whole thing off my chest. My buddy Scratchie, who is currently on Hiatus from rmgdead, requested that I post the real story. So here it is: In honor of the anniversary of The Greatest Show That Never Really Happened...

Me too, specifically I'm going to find the cheesiest original photo and engage in a tsunami of email badmouthing with Booche about it.

...he plays a prostate like a ringin' a bell..go GO!

Although that chord in the .gif is like four fingers, booche is still figuring out the two finger chords as far as I know...

I will do the same when MuchMusic discovers quality programming.

:::vomits a little in mouth:::

I've been dead inside since Uncle Seth broke up.

Booche'll hook you up, PM me for directions to his house.

Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah.

It could do anything as long as you can still stand at the back and talk through the set. Srsly, hope to make it.

Where can we send sympathy cards?

I'm sure 50 years of chain-smoking has nothing to do with her health...

Hey, if they can have a Leonard Cohen cover band playing at the Olympics opening ceremony...

- Leonard Cohen. I agree, give it a rest already.

What is the consensus on tempos? Are these guys playing the tunes as slow as certain suspects have been known to do recently?

Hoping he'll finally nail it on 3.0

Hold on, I thought you were at a GnR concert, not PLQ?

May not matter, the NDP fried tofu will split the vote...

I use a similar approach when describing my "friendship" with Booche...

What does this mean in the context of this thread? Plenty...

Cocaine is a hell of a drug...

I would start with getting a more talented bass player.

Prorogation has traditionally been used when the government's set agenda, ie. what they had laid out in a previous election campaign platform or previous Throne Speech, has generally been completed and they want to lay out some new plans/overall direction in a Speech from the Throne, then new legislation, etc. The motivation for Harper's last two prorogations has been completely different - to avoid things...ie. the coalition challenge in the fall of '08, and now the Afghan detainee issue... The only other time prorogation has been used in this way was once in the late 50's when the Liberal government of the day wanted to avoid debate on "the pipeline scandal" (I think it was called).. the results was the biggest Conservative Majority government in history (until Mulroney '84)... Some food for thought eh?

Sinatra.