Returning to earth after a couple of weeks in orbit has been as comfortable as a rocking chair made of cactus. I’m writing this from the beach because after a week of returning to daily life, I needed to get away as soon as possible. The memories associated with getting away for 5 days reminded of what every day of summer was like in my youth. Along with every day of Spring… And Fall… And JGB at The Warfield in between… And New Years… And Chinese New Years in Oakland… More Warfield in between… Yup… We’re gonna be fucked up in the head for a while…

It’s interesting that a scene built around something called The Dead makes me feel more alive than anything else I’ve ever known. It’s also interesting to me that the folks that make up our community are often thought of as stoners by the mainstream yet our community is comprised of more people that are absolutely brilliant, fully awake and completely aware than most mainstreamers by far. Sure, we have a bunch of people that are a few sandwiches short of a picnic but at least most of them are kinda colorful. Even if your mindset has remained intact throughout the years, finding folks carved out of the same tree as US isn’t always easy. I miss hanging out with y’all already…

Questions have begun circulating about what other festivals everybody is going to but there’s no definitive place that exists where we’ll all meet for sure outside of Grateful Dead Land. There’s great music playing everywhere all Summer long but The Main Event came early. If I wasn’t so damn happy by nature I’d be awfully depressed about now… Who the Fuck am I kidding??? I wanna sell all my shit, buy an RV and go party in parking lots all over the country again. I’d quit my job if I could just for old times sake but I’m my own boss so that wouldn’t help much… The itch to ditch is driving me crazier than a Meth Head with an 8 Ball and a screwdriver in an appliance store… It’s gonna take an awful lot of meditating to try to get the gypsy in me at bay again… I’m about to freak the Fuck out… HELP!!!!!

Next topic… For anyone that’s interested in their partial refund, the info is now posted here. I won’t be getting involved with any of your complaints about how it is being done. It’s being offered and a lot of you will be getting a considerable amount of money back if you choose. If I was a lawyer, I might be getting a considerable piece of it back too. Fortunately, I’m just another one of US. It was worth the effort to help and I’ll stay on top of it until everybody that sends for their refund gets it but my work on that is done. The deal is fair, the terms are fair, the time frame is fair. It’s not perfect but it’s all fair. That’s all I’m gonna say about that… You’ll have to complain somewhere else, I won’t host the forum for that shit…

There’s some exciting stuff coming up before long. Our favorite musicians have a lot of ground left to cover before year end. That’s all I’m gonna say about that for now too… New York is nice in the Fall… If I had to guess, Phish Tour this Summer is gonna be Off The Hook with Trey coming off of one of the best experiences in his life, aside from Big Cypress. That’s on the short list of this life’s most epic musical experiences. More to come soon, I hope your entry back into the post Fare Thee Well World is as easy as possible. Love y’all!!!

Dead To The Core,

Dean Sottile (pronounced So Tilly)