i totally agree with you, trifecta. i'm sure that jerry and the boys would have been making good music either way but without hoffman, kesey and leary who knows what direction they may have gone. that is one of the greatest "what if" questions of all time. what would the music have sounded like? would the "Grateful Dead" even exist? would any of us be here together in this big ol' cosmic circle? would this website exist? would i have been a banker or a lawyer instead of ... oh, never mind scratch that idea!! Whew! thinking about it blows my mind. and would the saying: "blows my mind" even be part of our vocabulary?. to quote a passage from "kid charlemagne" by steely dan: "just by chance he crossed a diamond with a pearl and turned it on the world"

"Unusual travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God" ...
... the Books of Bokonon

Did anyone ever see the coverage from Israel during Holocaust day? With the 2 minutes of silence and the loud sirens? Wow saw the coverage on CNN the other day and literally had tears rolling down my face. Does anyone know why they do this on this particular day?

this interview was today posted on the Eurotraders site and I figured folks here would be interested too.

Mountain Girl (Jerry Garcia's ex-wife) interviewed AH on 24 March this
year - just five weeks before he died. Here's an article about it:
----------------------
Dear dear man, a ball of energy, and so useful and kind to spirited people,
and women, and all of us, sadly, he's gone.

I was fortunate that he lived long enough for me to meet him, he kindly
invited me up to his house, just 4 weeks ago. March 24th. Life has some
twists and I caught one. Sad, but good. At 102, yes.

I had given a speech at the World Psychedelic Forum in Basel, home of
historic medieval alchemists, over the weekend, and was honored to be asked
to meet the great wizard himself. It was a lovely ride up into the hills,
going from Easter flowery spring, to howling winter in a few klicks. His
house perches over a great fall of fields down to France on one side, and
back to solid snowy Switzerland on the other. It's a concrete flat-roofed
modern home, not large, set with cherry trees and swaying alpine firs,
pasted with ice.

His dear wife had just passed away around Christmas, after a long illness,
and you could see how hard it had been for him, that he'd been through a
terrible ordeal.
He was so sweet to me, chatted and joked about musicians and black market
LSD, chocolate and cherry trees, instructed me very seriously about the
importance of hanging upside down every day, to improve the blood flow to
the brain.. The snow flying outside, I sat on the warm polished wood bench
by the window and he sat in a small ornate chair, with an ornate brocaded
footstool. We compared chocolates. His old friend Juri Styk brought along
some little cakes which we split up but no one touched.

I asked him about purification of LSD, wasn't it a long process? He denied
it vigorously, saying " LSD is very easy to make, you just do the recipe and
if it crystallizes, that is it, it's done and very pure. No need to do
anything else. " And then launched in to a rapid exchange in German with his
lovely daughter sitting on the couch, a petite elegant mother of two paying
very close attention to her father. ( Juri later told me it was about Dr.
Hofmann's eldest son, who had rejected LSD all his life till just recently,
and then absolutely loved it and wanted more.!)

I wish my German had been better, I could have spoken to him more easily.
His English was excellent, anyhow, and I told him a little about the
Grateful Dead, and he lit up and said he had always been hearing about them,
they played existential music, yes? And from small beginnings, it got large?
With the help of LSD, the energy and telepathic melting together as they
played... he understood that. He asked about Jerry. And Juri reminded him
about the Acid Tests, and he lit up again and said "Oh yes, the Acid Tests.
and the Grateful Dead played there long ago?, and you were there? " And I
smiled, yes, and pulled out the Acid Test diploma I had made for him. I
presented it in the usual fashion, saying that he had proven beyond doubt
that he had fulfilled all the requirements and had certainly passed the Acid
Test, and had earned this Acid Test diploma!
He took it and tried to read the Paul Foster decorations, and then had me
sign it, with both my names, and date it. He said it was no good unless I
signed it. I took a picture of him holding it up. He was really delighted!
Not just being polite, either, but actually giggling.

Dr. H. bragged proudly that he now had three women to look after him. And he
hoped they wouldn't argue about him.

And then it was over, and we stood up, and Dr. Hofmann staggered , almost
fell as he got to his feet, and I steadied him up. He must have weighed
about 85 pounds, so small and light. And perfectly mannered, took my arm and
walked me to the door. Juri took a final picture of him with my camera, and
the doctor smiled and asked me to come back, and bring the sun please. The
wind whipping the snow out of the trees as silent puffs of feathers. The
walkway to the car was thick with ice. A few cat tracks showed the way. I
didn't get to meet the cat, who sleeps on the doctor's bed since his wife
passed away. Now where's the cat sleeping tonight?

I had been thinking hard yesterday and today, about getting this meeting all
written down, as the conversation ran to many topics in my short hour or so
with him. I wrote a couple of letters to friends today, about my visit with
the great man, and didn't realize he was dying today. Chances sometimes only
come once, and I'm so glad I took this one. I'm really sad, mostly for
myself. Wanting more, not to be.

All my love to my dear, living friends, MG
--------------
>From www.skypilotclub.com where there's a piccie of the meeting.

Thanks Badger, what a touching interview.
Can't go wrong with Chocolate, Cherries & LSD! Haven't tried hanging upside down since I was a kid on the Monkey Bars. Very interesting.
RIP A.Hofmann