mmm?

Soap.

Cupon for a hacky-sack re-beaning?

A haircut

John Oswald's 'Grayfolded'? Rare vinyl?

'Fan' gifts, in my experience, have a high likelihood of disappointment. Does this person have any other qualities?

As a goof I was going to link to some Jerry Garcia ties. But they almost made me vomit, so I decided to spare you.

The Cadillac with the Deadhead bumpersticker that Don Henley saw?

Um, my brother gave me the Lithuanian team basketball jersey with Garcia's name on the back.

I was trying to find a link but I do not think they are available anymore.

I did find this, though.

Call Village Music in Mill Valley, CA, at (415) 388-7400. John, the owner, was good friends with the band,(all of whom live(d) in town) and may have some interesting suggestions. Heck, if nothing else, you could buy your friend a plane ticket to visit the store. Last time I was in there, Carlos Santana dropped in to say hi to John.

Everyone's a comic!

Thanks, Triode.

For the record, the grown-up, decent-smelling, clean-shaven person in question has lots of other qualities, but I haven't exploited this one yet.

I stayed away from this thread because I *wanted* to say all those things that everyone else was saying. But I figured any friend of Miko's probably wasn't one of those stereotypical burnouts I so deeply despise, but rather a devoted music lover who just happens to like a kind of music that I just cannot fathom liking.

I'd totally love to have an Al Swearengen action figure.

If your friend's a collector, GEMM has quite a few rarities--foreign pressings, backstage passes, all kinds of stuff. Even a contract from 1981.

But I figured any friend of Miko's..

I knew that too, the difference between us is that I still decided to be a jerk.
also the phrase 're-beaning' once it occured to me, could not be kept private

A Grateful Dead-worthy bong would be nice. :-)

A tie. However, as somebody who does, in fact, really like the music AND has a ton of friends who have never entirely gotten off the bus, I'd urge you away from the dead themed gift. Chances are, if he wants it, he has it. However, if you insist. . . I personally would LOVE one of those.

A tie is not a good gift.

(I think there may have been some Jerry-print Birkenstocks manufactured at some point, though.)

Why is Grateful Head so expensive? That would be perfect! My prace range was gonna be considerably lower, though.

On rethinking this, I realize that those who recommend staying away from the Dead-themed gift are probably correct. I won't pick the right thing; I don't know enough about the topic.

When people ask me whether I like the Dead, I have a stock response: "I do like them. But you should know that I like them in an amount equal to, and not exceeding, the amount that I like many other bands." I think this neatly provides the information that they're seeking.

In all fairness, though, what bean says is right. The friend I'm shopping for has got good taste, and other than this is a jazz and soul listener. There are musical elements to Dead compositions that he thinks are pretty original. I can see what he's saying. It's true that if he ran around with a drooling, smelly dog, wearing a blanket and selling grilled cheese, you're right, I probably wouldn't be counting him among my friends.

But then again, who knows.

"Selling grilled cheese"? Is that a euphemism? Or just a culturally-specific thing that I've avoided Deadheads well enough to not know about?

Well, back in the day, when you went to a Dead show, there was a lot of parking-lot life that went on. People just lived in the parking lot during a run of shows. And many said people were, of course, out of their heads most of the time, and hungry. So enterprising (ie broke) Deadheads would sometimes set up a Coleman stove and sell food. Grilled cheese was popular. Rice-y dishes with veggies in them, also.

My friend who sells used restaurant equipment calls them The Fry Guys. They come around to his warehouse every spring to buy cheap ass half broken grease encrusted kitchen equipment to schlep around in the back of their Vanagons for the summer festival circuit. Bonnaroo, Smilefest, Merlefest - we're right in the center of it all here.

Well Miko, my boyfriend's a deadhead, the old-school hippie kind with a book full of ticket stubs of old dead shows; he was going to dead shows when I was in grade school, and I'm forty-freakin'-two. Frankly, I don't try to get him *anything* dead-related, because he either has it all or has heard of it and rejected it. Personally, I couldn't give a shit about the dead, so it's not like I'm gonna stumble on anything he doesn't know about. The only time I deviated from this was when I found some Jerry Garcia wine. Because, you know, we like to drink.

Though I will say he loves the ties, but he's got a tie-wearing job, and again, he's got all the ties before I ever hear of them. His sister scored by finding, I kid you not, a Jerry Garcia throw at a yard sale, but you can't count on that kind of luck. Go for the wine or nothin', I say.

HIPPIES ARE CRAZY AND THEY EAT BABIES LAMMO!