Writings about VM*
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1998 11:15:34 -0800
From: "Wheeler Ranch" <whranch@inreach.com>
Subject: A virtual move to Virtual Morningstar
Hi everyone!
I've heard that a
Virtual Morningstar is opening up not too far from
here in Virtual Sonoma County! Virtual Morningstar, so I
hear, is very, very
similar to Lou's old Morningstar , with access to denied to no
one!
So I'm planning on making a virtual move to VM* on New Year's
day.
Think I'll just hike over - maybe my black and white cat,
Scooter, who
disappeared from here nine weeks ago, will show up to come with
me.
Maybe some of the
faces from the old days will show up over
there too!
Merry Christmas!
David
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 25 Dec 1998 00:59:09 -0800
From: "Wheeler Ranch" <whranch@inreach.com>
Subject: Santa's map
Hi everyone!
St. Nick has come and
gone. In my stocking he left a rolled-up
paper. Brrh! it was cold when I unrolled it - I wish
he would get a heater for
his sleigh. The paper is a map of Virtual Morningstar, and
it is completely
congruent with our old M* ! It shows Lou's old cabin
(looking much like in
the photo in the latest MOST newsletter) and kinda looks like a
shrine.
Also there is a Lower House and an Upper House, an old barn, and
a well; and they look just like the ones many of us
remember. Check
your stockings and see if your maps looks like mine.
If you get there
before I do, remember I got dibs on a few pieces
of plywood and a few 2x4's out in the apple orchard nearest to
where
it slopes down to (virtual)Graton Road.
More Merry Christmas!
David
A little bird has told me more about
Virtual Morningstar!
Everything done there has to be done with the consent of
those involved - if
someone (X) would write to the most-digest (or some other e-mail
digest set up for
people at VM* to communicate publicly with one another) that he
harmed someone there,
did something with someone, or,say, burned down the place;
if the other
person or people involved said no it didn't happen to them, then
X obviously
was imagining things, having his own private fantasy.
People who want
to do things at VM* with other people involving large commitment
on their part would have to set it up first through private
e-mail first before
writing about it to the digest. Dictators, murderers, child
molesters, etc can have a
Virtual Self (VS) come visit or live at VM* because they can't do
any real harm
there, though maybe their VS's should spend their time meditating
on the
bad karma their real selves (RS) are accumulating!
VM* is a paradise as far as weather is concerned!
Maybe a good
rain about once a week, but sunny and warm (just right!) the
rest of the time, with the days getting longer and shorter as
in the real world. VM* therefore will be very fertile - the
pot plants might
reach amazing heights!
Birth and death go on at VM* to parallel that
in the real world,
but not as painful. My cat, who disappeared many weeks ago,
may still
be alive, so maybe he will hook up (virtually, anyway) with me
when I take a
virtual hike to VM* on New Year's Day.
Since VS's really don't take up much room, there may
be room at VM* for
20,000,000 (give or take a zero) of them eventually.
Thank you, little bird!
-David
David's VS arrives at VM*
Hi everyone!
The following is an account of the trip by my Virtual Self (VS)
over to Virtual Morningstar (VM*) this New Year's Day in 1999.
"Hiking to Occidental seemed to take no time at all.
Passing through town, my cat Scooter came out from
behind the dumpster back of the Union Hotel, where
apparently he had been living for weeks, and came with
me after a tearful reunion.
We got a ride up Graton road by a man in a '63
yellow TR3 convertible - I did a double take when I saw the
familiar dent on the front fender, because it used to
be my car! I drove it when I first came up to
Morningstar in May(?) of 1967. At that time I was living
in San Francisco and working as a computer programmer.
Guided by the vague directions of a free Haight
newspaper (the Oracle?) I was getting worried about
finding M*, but passing through Graton I picked
up a girl going back there after a grocery run (Zenny
was her name) and so it was no problem.
So Scoot and I got left off at the front entrance
to VM* and I realized immediately it was a lot warmer
than back in Occidental. Walking up the dirt road,
I instantly noticed how rich and healthy
the vegetation was, with a proliferation of all kinds of
flowers, some of which I picked as I went along.
I spotted some 15' high pot plants
growing down by the creek! Hmmm...
We came up to the well, and there was Lou's old cabin,
or a spitting image of it, decorated with paintings
by David Pratt and Crazy Allan, with several vases of
fresh flowers on the porch. The cabin seemed to give off
a glow! I saw an empty vase with water in it on the floor,
so I put the bouquet of flowers I had made into it.
Everything seemed quiet in the area. I noticed that up
the hill was the old Upper House (probably lousy plumbing
and all), while down the dirt road past the well I could spot
a bit of the Lower House. One thing that Santa's map hadn't
shown too well was the telephone booth, which looked the same
as ever!
Taking the path heading out into the
apple orchard (wow, look at all those healthy apple
trees with fruit on them at this time of year!),
I soon found the small pile of plywood
and 2x4's on the periphery of the orchard nearest
Graton Rd. Stripping off my backpack, and all the
layers of clothing I usually wear in this area (it
was really warm - just right!) I got to work building my A-frame.
It didn't take long, though I did have a painful
moment when I banged my thumb with the hammer. Klutz!
I noticed that I wasn't any hungrier than my Real
Self (RS) back at Wheeler's. Scooter caught a mouse
while I decided to rest and take a nap. My plan is to
spend most of my time here meditating, so you may not
hear a great deal from me.
All roads come here. Happy 1999!"
Virtual Morningstar is open to everyone. Send a Virtual
Self (VS) of yours here. Bring your whole family. The only cost
is a
little imagination. Be as little children. I think Ramon will let
us
use the most-digest for our stories at VM*.
Happy New Year!!
David
Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1999 07:25:20 -0800
From: "Wheeler Ranch" <whranch@inreach.com>
Subject: VM* front door
Hi everyone,
The four e-mails I have sent in previously
about VM* mostly deal with
what I will call VM* 's "backdoor" -
knowledge about VM* is restricted to
those on the most-digest list. VM* might also have a
"front door" for everyone
not on the most-digest list, since it is land access denied
to no one.
So I have typed up the following, which is a rough draft for a
Web
page which might serve as a public door for VM*. Please
send
most-digest and/or me comments about it - I approach getting
into a political angle for VM* with mucho trepidation. Also it
would require alot of effort to publicize it on the
Web. Here it is:
VIRTUAL MORNINGSTAR ENTRANCE
You may be here because you are homeless, or a victim of
a slum landlord. You may need medicinal marihuana, or may
simply
enjoy smoking pot. You may be a libertarian and fed up with
government encroachment on your rights. You may be a victim of
racism
or sexism. You may be a nudist. You may just want to imagine
yourself
living in a paradise, which Virtual Morningstar is.
Virtual Morningstar is a land of the pure imagination,
where access is denied to nobody. All acts done there need
the consent of everyone involved. It is based on the open
land hippie movement of the 1960's and 70's as chronicled in
the history Home Free Home[link].
Virtual Morningstar has many places where you can live depending
on your inclinations and resources:
1) Under towering redwood trees
2) In apple orchards
3) In grassy fields
4) Next to streams
5) In pre-existing dwellings with rooms - the "Upper"
and "Lower" houses
Simply imagine being there (with your family or group if you
want)
and PRESTO! you are at Virtual Morningstar! Camp out or
build
a simple structure if you wish. It rains about once a week
there, and is sunny and warm (just right!) the rest of the time.
But before you go, make a political statement by sending
an e-mail to XXXX@XXXX. Put VM* in the subject field and
your
name (and names of other family members or others in your group)
in the body of the e-mail. We will add the name(s) to the
list[link] of people who have opted to live (at least in their
dreams) at Virtual Morningstar.
[end of rough draft]
Still waiting for most-digest #15 to come out. Spew out all
you
have gorged, Oh Beast of most-digest software!
Peace and Light,
David
First a note from my Virtual Self at VM* :
"Quiet Steve and Rainbow from Wheeler's have beamed
over
virtual selves of theirs! We had a very nice spahgetti
dinner round
a campfire near the well Sunday night. It turns out that
all nights
at VM* are warm, almost balmy. We passed around some joints
of
VM* pot - a real stoner... It has rained twice here this year,
while in
the real world locally its been dry."
Corky wrote " Had good laughs about catching
virtual crabs and
burying virtual shit at Virtual Morningstar". I would
think that
since crabs are not a real part of one's body, one would not
have to bring them along to VM*. Even so, they would be
benign here, as they would need your permission to bother you.
Virtual shits, it would seem, are optional. WARNING: DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO SUBSTITUTE A VIRTUAL SHIT FOR A REAL
SHIT! WILL HAVE SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES FOR YOUR
HEALTH (same goes for eating)!
An interesting nuance at VM* is that virgin births
(Immaculate Conceptions)
would appear possible. While birth and death mirror that in
the real
world, that little birdie mentioned nothing about
conception. So a
woman who established a Virtual Self at VM* might get pregnant
in the real world, but not have a lover at VM* but still would be
pregnant there also.
Peace and Light
David
I was out for a walk this morning
at VM* after a rain, taking the path behind
Lou's old cabin that heads out into the apple orchard. At
the gully
where the stream crosses, I heard frogs croaking to my right, so
curious,
I walked upstream. Not very far, around a bend there was a
clearing and
a tall dam made out of fallen tree debris. Imagine my
surprise when I got to
the top of the dam and saw a crystal-clear pond of water some 100
feet
long and 50 feet wide, ringed with tall cattails and grassy
banks! I
immediately jumped in - it was nice and warm, as the sun hits
it even in the winter-time. Deep at the dam end, it got
quite shallow
at the other end. Lots of many-colored dragon flies whizzed
over the
pool, while in it water bugs and tadpoles sported about.
I felt like kicking myself for being here a
month and not being aware
of this pool's existence! I have dubbed it Beaver Pond in
honor of
its creators, who apparently have moved away. Santa's map
was definitely deficient about this feature!
Peace and Light,
David
Dear most-digesters,
Friar Tuck has created a VM* message board on
his Morningstar
site at http://www.intrepid.net/~friartuc/
It is meant as a supplement to the most-digest . Perhaps you will
like the more interactive approach that it has.
I have posted a note there saying that we are having
potluck dinners every Sunday night there by the well. We will
have
a campfire unless it rains, in which case we will adjourn to the
upper house.Rainbow is bringing lentils, Quiet Steve is bringing
chocolate
cookies, and I am bringing a spaghetti and cheese dish. Beam on
in!
Peace and Light,
David
VIRTUAL MORNINGSTAR FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
What is Virtual Morningstar?
Virtual Morningstar (VM*) is a land of the pure imagination,
where access is denied to nobody. All acts done there need
the consent of everyone involved. It is based on the open
land hippie movement of the 1960's and 70's as chronicled in
the history Home Free Home [
http://www.diggers.org/most/hfh_indx.html ], featuring Lou
Gottleib's Morningstar Ranch.
Where is Virtual Morningstar?
Virtual Morningstar, while residing in the imagination only, has
almost the same terrain and the same buildings that
existed at Morningstar Ranch in the late 1960's. The major
exception is that Virtual Morningstar has a pond that Morningstar
lacked.
What is the climate at Virtual Morningstar?
Virtual Morningstar is meant to be a paradise, and it has
warm sunny days (just right!) and nearly balmy nights. It rains
about once a week year round.
How do I get there?
By the use of your imagination - not too hard for
those who spent time at the old Morningstar Ranch. For those
who were never there, just imagine a land with towering
redwoods, apple orchards, grassy pastures, clear streams,
and a beautiful pond.
Can I live there?
Yes! (In your imagination). It is land whose access
is denied to nobody! There is no rent or other fees.
Construct (again in your imagination) a simple shelter
that doesn't use electicity, or stay in one of the
existing "virtual" dwellings - an "upper
house" (which does
have electricity), a "lower house", or a barn.
How can I communicate with other people living there?
Through the Virtual Morningstar Message Board at
http://www.extremeonline.com/cgi-bin/board/Friartuck2.cgi
For private matters, use private e-mail or the telephone!
Dear most-digesters,
The previous VM* message board crashed into the sea.
Hope no one was bummed out trying to get to it. Tuck now
has a new one, which is at http://www.intrepid.net/~friartuc/vir_ms.htm
Peace and Light
David