The event began after a less-than-popular perfromance by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, in honor of Allen Ginsberg's 70th birthday and Naropa's 20th anniversary. A stunned and revved-up crowd came together on stage to dance to the ambient sounds of the Pronoia Tour band Universal Sound.
Around 3 a.m., Kesey pulled from his parking space to find a crowd of zippies blocking his white Cadillac convertible. A bespecked zippy in a bOING bOING tee-shirt stepped up to the car.
"In the name of the Zippies, I hereby kidnap you for transport to the National Rainbow Gathering in Wyoming, for the first-ever rave at a Gathering.... surely a prank worthy of your pronoia! Will you come along peacefully to this tribal summit?"
Kesey squinched-up his forehead, adjusted his hat, and squinted into the light of the video cameras.
"I've bitten the ankle of the beast," replied the Chief. "Don't ask me to bite where you want to bite."
"What about inspiring the next generation?" the disappointed zippy asked.
"Son," Kesey replied slowly, "I've done that movie... now it's your turn!" And roared off in his Cadillac.
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