4/20 nineteen(1969)sixtynine

Damn, I love this title, its like I’m pulling up on a Five Point Intersection, its like I need to decide which way I’m gonna go, these times I’m writing about now, all seem to run together. Rains had ended out west, five tries it took, before finely, I broke through the ring, the DC Beltway, it still confuses me. I’d end up late at night, back at the White House on these failed attempts at getting out of town, sure am glad, looking back on those times, that guard was there, can’t remember his name, I almost can see him though, I learned a lot of history, listening to him, hearing him talking about the things he saw, that man watched over me. So enough about this for a while, I want to talk about the riot, you know, it being Easter Weekend and all, turns out, as I look into it, as I look back, I confuse this with another riot, the one in Griffith Park. Does anyone remember Puff The Magic Dragon, this was at, about that time, today, I found out, all about the Purple Dragon, the Feast of the Drunken Dragon is coming up soon too! So this is what I know, there’s something called the net, a step along the way, in turning lead into gold, somewhere in this net, something purple is involved, its very important, this purple, in completing this process. You can read all about it, Isaac Newton’s research on Alchemy, I also saw a little something there about a Green Dragon, myself, I’m a Water Dragon. So anyhow, if I had been boring you with this story, go check out Newtons “black magic”, if for nothing else, for an Easter Mission, a hunt for the metaphor. So I’m out in Venice, it was a raw town back then, 4/20, Nineteen(1969) Sixtynine, John Mayall was giving a concert on the beach. You know, I think I’ll go down there tomorrow, Easter Sunday, maybe find some metaphor that relates to my life there, go visit my old friend Ben. He’s not really that old, his name isn’t Ben either, I didn’t know him back then, he was homeless, he lived up in the Old Ocean Park Pier, these days, he looks over that spot. You know, I must be something of an anomaly, I remember being told, I wasn’t gonna be able to, I know, I jump around a bit, my thoughts a bit fractured, I know, its all not liner, hell, I’m not liner! I remember hearing more than once, if I was there, really there, having all the good times, back in the 60’s that is, that I wouldn’t remember, I do! A warm spring day in Venice, a May-June morning mist had burnt off, John Mayall was up on stage plugging in. Big crowds, big smiles, lots of acid in Venice that day, I was right up front, jeans, sandals, by this time I’d lost my shirt. Lots going on, lots to keep me entertained, on the roofs, the cops were lining up, they’re all sporting riot gear, they all seemed to be keeping out of the mix though. Excitement was building, the crowd was really ready for some British blues, a gang of cops start breaking through. I never knew what that was all about, maybe some cop commander, misinterpreted some signs, the smiles, there wasn’t any trouble yet, back then, it got to be, anyone who looked happy, was suspicious. Well, we all stopped acting happy, the gang of cops, pushed their way through to the front, the crowds started screaming…, booing…, pushing…, pretty angry!!!,! John Mayall, up on stage, had the look of a buck, caught in a beam, bottles started flying, the cops that had been lining up on the roofs, were gone, it was on, it was ugly! These guys had a plan, they were setting traps, they were beating the people they trapped, a lot of people bum tripped that day. I was flushed out, caught out on the sand, it was a wide beach, I ran hard, I’m going for the water. A few of us are caught out here, storm troopers in pursuit, we all got to swim. the North side of Ocean Park Pier marks the border, the Santa Monica Police hadn’t signed on to this action, we’d get through the surf, pounding the pilings, we’d be free.