Grateful Dean

Now that Jerry Week is over, we can get back to the business at hand. For many of us, that’s not really true. Many of us are living Jerry Life and August just means there are a few official tributes that we honor and participate. Moving on to what’s cookin now, Dead & Company’s Mexico shows sold out pretty quick. Last year’s Mierda Con Queso trip proved that you can’t just make up a band out of anyone you feel like and have a wildly successful event. I personally felt no urgency to see The Dead, String Cheese, and Panic all thrown into a blender and served up luke warm. Based on the attendance and availability of packages months after they went on sale, I wasn’t alone. I’m not saying everybody didn’t have a good time, I’m just saying I personally wasn’t motivated to activate or alert the resource management and acclamation settings that reside in my subconscious mind. Add Oteil, Mickey and John to the band and I’m busy meditating and manifesting an extra 8 grand quicker than most folks took to message boards to complain about it.

Contrary to popular belief, I have to work my ass off to make this shit happen. There are no benefits that come with being me. I had to log on and buy my shit like everyone else. Dead & Company Incorporated won’t be sending me a plane so I can fly out of Teterboro with the family. No, I’ll be like a fuckin mule carrying all kinds of shit we don’t need all the way from Newark to Cancun. My bride will likely need to have a replica of the bathroom in our home set up in Mexico. All 250 products will need to come with us along with 25 pairs of shoes. None of that shit will get used and she’ll be barefoot the whole time but it’s all gonna have to make the trip with us regardless.

I’m sure my 2 kids are gonna need to bring every damn toy they own. Fuck it spinners, shovels, buckets, you name it, they’ll have to bring it. My personal philosophy states that the beach itself is your playground and you have a left and right shovel, called hands, that should be all you require. I left home in 1988 with $40, a backpack and a car. I returned home 1993 with $40 and a backpack. The car got left in the parking lot at The Spectrum after I got tired of dealing with it. Amazing that I traveled probably a hundred thousand miles and saw 300 shows over 6 years with a net loss/gain of $0. In all reality, I gained everything required for life during that time, it just didn’t appear as financial energy. Well, life has changed a little since then. In my mind, I’m still that kid. I don’t even like buying pieces of furniture because I feel like it’s just another anchor on my existence. Even with decades clean and living a somewhat anchored and productive life, my mind is under the impression that we should be able to throw all of our belongings in a backpack and split at any time.

Enough of that, here’s everything you need to know about Mexico…

1. It’s not 1979. The music industry has changed and events exist outside of the $7 range. If you can’t swing it, I’m sorry and I sincerely wish you could. That being said, it’s not the band or managements’ responsibility to take your budget into consideration when planning shows. Those that can make it are no different than those that can’t. If you can’t make it at this time in your life, please realize that the people that are going are just like you except they’re not staying home. I won’t be roaming around the Barcelo wearing a fuckin Ascot and complaining about the absence of Grey Poupon. We’ll all be as close to naked as possible and lovin life in a unique and beautiful setting. The costs associated with this aren’t much different than planning a tropical family vacation that doesn’t include Dead & Company and CID acted like a travel agent to plan this shit out so I didn’t have to. Once again, I’m sorry if this isn’t a fit for you but the problem isn’t with the event.

2. While shitty things happen to people all over the world, the chances of one of US falling prey to such things is pretty close to zero. I’ve seen people posting articles about folks getting Cosby Cocktails and waking up in a negligee in the middle of the jungle. That shit isn’t gonna happen. The same stories revolved around murder rates in Chicago proceeding FTW. We’re not amateurs at travel or partying. We travel as a tribe and are pretty unfuckwithable. That’s a good word and it represents our long history on the road. If you do some dumb shit, it’s pretty much your own fault if you get some dumb shit results. When you’re on a resort that’s filled with DeadHeads, the acceptability meter for tolerance of dumb shit is extremely high and you will have more than enough leeway. I hope nobody oversteps the boundaries of dumb shittedness.

3. Bring a few rolls of toilet paper with you. You should probably bring the stuff that has aloe in it. Regardless of how careful you try to be, chances are you’re getting a case of the shits at some point. If you do, and you’re using that macho wipe at the hotel you’re gonna have a serious case of flaming o-ring syndrome. Hotels are famous for having toilet paper that could work a second job as a cheese grater in the kitchen. If you end up like a red assed monkey from National Geographic, trying to dance while your asshole is on fire, I told ya so…

4. Almost every resort is All Inclusive. That means you can eat and drink as much as you want! In the same way, air is included with every trip to a Porta John. You can breathe all ya want! I’m certain it will all be much better than a trip to the Porta John but my expectations are usually very low and I’m always happy when they’re exceeded. For those that are alcoholics, you’ll be able to drink more than the cost of your entire package over 4 or 5 days… Reason enough to celebrate!

5. We’re all gonna have the best time ever!!! While many folks say shit like, “Jerry wouldn’t approve of this”, I personally wish we all did more shit like this when Jerry was alive. Keep in mind, Jerry didn’t give a shit if you could make it to Egypt or Europe. I don’t think he would give a shit whether or not you could make it to Mexico either. I don’t know what Garcia would and wouldn’t approve and neither do you. Keep Garcia out of it. Brother is probably Scuba Diving in some mystical waters of the great unknown and chances are he’s not thinking about most of us at all. Getting a few thousand of The Deadicated to a tropical paradise with our favorite musicians in the middle of the winter sounds perfect to me. I look forward to seeing all of you there! This is the first time in forever that I’m looking forward to Winter!

6. There’s probably a consolation prize for those that can’t make it. That’s all I’m gonna say about that… You’ll know about it soon enough!

Dead To The Core,
Dean

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