GREAT MOMENTS IN PHISHTORY

Sometimes it can be hard to be a die-hard Phish fan when the boys aren’t touring because it seems that everyone is a critic. Between Fantasy Tour, phish.net and other online fan forums and podcasts, not to mention articles and other fan based reviews, there can be a great deal of negativity about the band and the Phish scene from fans turned critics. It starts to feel like you need to defend your favorite band from its own fans, which is why it is important to remember why we LOVE this band and why it is still worth going to as many shows as you can possibly attend!

With this goal in mind, I am proud to introduce a new forum for Phish fans called Great Moments in Phishtory! GMP will be a place for us to share stories about being on the road and seeing the boys in all their glory. Not only will there be stories about how great they played, but about the moments when the world disappeared and all that was left was the music and everything just made sense. There will also be stories about the Phish community and how we make tours work for each other -- that time when someone was broken down on the side of the road and was miraculously saved by another touring stranger, or that time when you were completely broke and someone gave you a miracle ticket for the best show you ever saw, better yet, the day you reunited with your long lost best friend right when your favorite song began. Great Moments in Phishtory will be a regular feature on my blog: centralpartoftownpins.blogspot.com and I hope that people will contribute more stories and participate in the discussion so that we can come together and remember why this is not only the best band ever -- but an amazing community of nomadic music phanatics!

Phish Pheeding Phrenzy

Ever since the Phish Reunion at Hampton Coliseum in March of 2009, I’ve had a dear friend who works for the ticketing company that makes all of the mail order lottery tickets. He has been very generous with me and makes sure that I get the returned and unused mail order tickets that are left over after tours and runs. It is a fun collection to have and has grown to be an impressive size at this point.

At the Halloween show in Indio during Festival 8, I brought the collection out with me for trick-or-treats; I had over 100 unused mail order tickets by that point. For Halloween I was dressed as the Bride of Frankenstein with a thrift store wedding dress and my large hair twisted up on top of my head that night. Of course the dress had no pockets so I tucked the large pile of tickets from Hampton and Summer 09 tour into my cleavage for “safe keeping”.

Now, I don’t need to tell all of you fans out there that the boys went as the Rolling Stones that Halloween and played Exile on Mainstreet with Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings as a backup that night. The show was absolutely stellar, with a particularly awesome Lovin’ Cup during the Stone’s set. I was so excited to be there and was just having a grand time all night long! Still, the costumed set paled in comparison to the last set of the night with all of pyrotechnics and a setlist I will remember for the rest of my days. One of the best parts of the last set was that Sharon Jones and her gorgeous diva backup singers stayed on and just wailed our favorite Phish songs.

When the setlist got to Suzie Greenburg, I don’t think I was prepared to have my mind blown. Suzie is always a fun song, but a regular rotation song, far from that “Holy Grail” category of rare songs we Phans are always seeking. Still, there it was: The sickest Suzie the boys have ever played (in my humble opinion). Right in the middle of the song, they stepped back and handed the mic to Sharon Jones and her backup and they tore Suzie to shreds. It was a soulful scat jam that would have made even the great Ella Fitzgerald shake her hips and I just got lost.

When the boys stepped back up to the mic, the anticipation was almost painful. We were all waiting for that big SUZAE-SUZAE-SUZAE-SUZAE!!!! and when we got it, I leaped up into the air with my hands above my head -- I was thrilled! The big leap caused the huge stack of mail order tickets stashed in the front of my dress to fly up into the air and flutter back down in a huge spray over the crowd. All of a sudden someone yelled, “TICKETS!!!!”.

Tickets for the Hampton reunion and first summer tour back were expensive and hard to get; I think people thought the tickets were for upcoming shows. One way or the other people were diving to the ground and shoving people out of the way to get at the tickets as they came slowly down over the crowd. I don’t think even cash money would have gotten that big of a reaction at that moment. It literally was a Phish Pheeding Phrenzy as people all around my section dove and scrambled to get their hands on the scattered tickets and all the while Suzie was raging in the background.

It was a Phish moment I never will forget. The image of a huge section of people just hitting the ground and scrambling for tickets was like something out of a movie and it still gives me a belly laugh to this day. I still have a good friend who gives me tickets after tours and runs are over so I usually bring them to shows to share with people who want to fill in the gaps of their tour ticket collection. Stop me and ask to see them if you ever catch me in the lot!

POLL: What was the BEST Suzie Greenburg ever played? (you already know my vote)
visit centralpartoftownpins.blogspot.com to cast your vote -- and don’t forget to include your reasons why!

TWEEZER SPINNER PIN DROP

We are very excited to release our latest design. This 3D pewter Spinner pin is under two inches.The two posts will be on the back of the life size 3D tweezers. The spinning frozen water molecule has six endogenous and exogenous molecules, from the tryptamine family, represented in raised metal. Now accepting pre-orders ready before Memorial day weekend shows. Wont you step in to the Freezer?????!!!!

spring update

CPOT SPRING NEWSLETTER

It is shaping up to be a great spring and summer and we at CPOT are getting excited about upcoming shows and tours! We have exciting pin designs coming up as well as completely new collectibles and memorabilia. To kick off the spring season, we released a new pin for the String Cheese Winter Carnival. The pin was well received and the shows were fun. They got us excited for music and hitting the road again.

As we climbed into the car exiting the first night of winter carnival in Broomfield Colorado, news was just breaking about earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan. We were deeply saddened to learn about this news and our hearts reach out to our friends in Japan. As a way to help out, we have decided to dedicate our upcoming meatstick design to earthquake/tsunami relief efforts in Japan. Our goal is to raise at least $1111 from the sales of the new “Shocks my Brain”

( 頭がショック ) pins to be donated to Red Cross Japan.

We already had the pin design with Japanese lyrics in the works when the quake hit, but we immediately put the brakes on production because we were not sure how to proceed and if it would be taken the wrong way. After some careful consideration we knew what we had to do, and we went ahead with it. We only have the best of intentions. We are sure that those of you who know us, and get our pins, know that we are in no way making fun of the disaster in Japan, even though Meatstick is a funny song. This is just a way for our community of Phish fans to reach out to a country that we have a strong connection to as fans. There have been so many awsome Japanese Phish fans that we have met over the years. Some we have only been able to communicate through the language of Phish and the Lot and then later online with computer translation. We have even been lucky enough have Japanese Phans stay at our house while on tour.

We just feel that if we put our "Meatstick Brains" together we can help out. This is the least that CPOT can do.

The pins will be 15 dollars a piece with the option of donating more to the cause.

We are accepting orders now. We really hope you guys like the design. Here is some of the original Pen & Ink Collage work for the rough

draft on the pin. (With the digita-Proof on the way). Weird? Yes! but I'm sure you get it...if you get it that is....

We do have a limited stock of pins leftover from Phish New Years Eve in New York City as well as Winter Carnival pins. The “Train” (Back on the Northbound Train) is a collaboration with the live artist Crazy Red Beard and has the date 1111 written on the front of the iron steam engine. Our “Carnival” pin (above) has a big-top circus tent with the backdrop of a snowflake made up of a spread out "Spirit Molecule". It says Winter Carnival 2011 and is based on Winter-Olympics-Style pins from the seventies. We will be offering these pins 2 for $15 dollars through the month of May – so get them now before we sell out!

We are also announcing the release of the “Nug” pin for April of this month. The pin’s official release will be at the Hampton Furthur show, but we hope we will be able to keep carrying the pin throughout the tour season. (Look out though, because April 20th festivities and the way people have been buying these ten at a time may wipe us out of the first batch before we know it!)

We look forward to seeing you out there and be watching for something ENTIRELY NEW!

Peace and Much Love from the CPOT Crew

A CPOT BIO

So we have been asked by the administrators of some web sites and blogs to come up with a bio about our little design group here. We figured it would make sense to post it here and then you guys can get a little insight into our origins. Here is the article hope you enjoy it.

Central Part of Town Pins is a Tour based and Family owned group of Pin designers and music lovers. If you go to a lot of shows you may have seen David and Caroline “on lot” with their super cool kid Conrad and his aunt Becky. Over the last two years they started to carry boards full of brass tour pins that they designed together.

David and Caroline (Yagga and Lioness) have been going to shows since the early 90’s. They met and fell in love at a concert in ‘98, and bonded over their mutual love of Phish, live music, and the freedom of the road.

Back in January 2009 David and Becky went to Washington D.C. for the Obama inauguration. David had produced an NPR story about the Obama vendors during the campaign and had gotten to know several of them. David was invited to sell Obama merchandise with an experienced vendor from Dead tour. David and Becky where tasked with selling buttons with hippie style designs. They found that they were very good at it. The feeling in that crowd was unlike anything they had experienced before, there was electricity in the air and every one was smiling. It was like being at the biggest show you could imagine. Of course with huge events usually come some form of street commerce and this one had the biggest “Shakedown Street” they had seen in years of going to concerts.

Phish’s reunion shows at Hampton Coliseum where right around the corner with less than two months to go. Only a few folks in their crew had tickets. With the excitement of the trip to D.C. still tangible and with Yagga and Becky both being artists in their own right, it seemed obvious to them that they should create some form of button to commemorate the historic event.

They started to brainstorm with Caroline and other close friends. Many fresh pieces and designs where created in this very fertile time, as friends tossed ideas around, and dinner parties doubled as pin meetings. It was around this time that their focus changed from political themed spoof buttons, to the fresh hit that would become the brass Hampton pin named: “Better than a UFO”. This pin was a total success and everyone in their crew got into the shows.

As they continued to create more pins for special events, such as the Phish tour opener at Fenway Park, the reunion tour for the Dead, and small festivals, it became clear that this group had something special to offer to the scene. Drawing on a background in fine arts and an education in art history they have used their knowledge of rock, art, history, and fashion to create refreshing pieces. They also began to create pins that represented songs and song characters. At this time they have produced and released over 20 designs.

Central Part of Town Pins has a special respect for the bands that they love and follow, so their designs never cross the line into copyright infringement. As a group they vowed to always use original designs and to donate a portion of proceeds to charities related to the bands. This sense of responsibility and integrity laced with a healthy sense of humor has helped the group have a lot of fun on the scene.

As this group of designers looks to the future they have their sights set on Phish New Years at MSG, making official designs for rising bands, non profits, excusive apparel companies as well as collaborations with their favorite, internet radio shows. They are currently collaborating on a pin with the renowned live painter, Jon “Crazy Red Beard” Blake.

So that's part of our story. Let us know if you have any questions. We would also really like to thank every one who has helped and supported us out there. We really appreciate you being a part of the crew.

Obituary

Daddy died, August 11th, at 3:30 AM. We were with him when he said goodbye. It was very peaceful, and it went exactly the way he wanted it to go. With Dignity.

Before he died, he made sure that my sister Natalie had his obituary in order. He proofread it and gave it the big thumbs up. That was the last piece of unfinished business that he needed to tend to. Once it was done, he was ready. He died about one day later. I am going to copy it here, in its entirety. Daddy was super inspiring, adventurous, honest and amazing. I feel so blessed to have had him as my father.

This is what I shared with the congregation at his memorial service.

My Father taught me to love Music, the Written Word, Cinema, photography, Theater and Live performances of all kinds. The arts surrounded me in my youth. We had a dark room in our basement and we spent summers touring museums and ancient castles. Some of My earliest memories include him showing me the hidden rhythms of classical music while stomping his feet on the floorboards and driving in our VW bus, or me sitting at the edge of the stage as he directed plays in the church. From Daddy I learned the gods of Ancient Mythology and the importance of the hero’s journey. To appreciate, the Classics and to explore the worlds of Science Fiction. He showed me that the mysteries of the past would always be connected to us and to future generations, when we participate, through story telling, music, poetry, painting, sculpture, and architecture.

He was a self described “Romantic”. He also had a great sense of humor.

He taught thousands of students how to express themselves.

Before he died he asked me to read him a poem aloud. As I read it he was using his hands and face to direct my cadence.

I would like to read a portion of that poem to you. Then I would like to share a poem that means a great deal to me that I think he would have loved.

Ode to the West Wind, by Percy Bysshe Shelly 1820 part 5

Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is:

What if my leaves are falling like its own?

The tumult of thy might harmonies

Will take from both a deep autumnal tone,

Sweet though in sadness. Be thou, Spirit Fierce,

My Spirit! Be Thou me, impetuous one!

Drive my dead thoughts over the universe,

Like withered leaves, to quicken a new birth;

And, by the incantation of this verse,

Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth

Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind!

Be though my lips to unawakened earth

The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,

If Winter Comes, Can Spring be far behind?

The Walls Of the Cave Lyrics by Tom Marshall 2002

I'm leaving you a message,
I'm leaving you a trace,
I'm leaving thoughts for you
I hope that time will not erase.
And when the moment comes
To read the words that I engraved,
You'll find them on the walls of the cave,
Of the cave.
I know you heard the question
But you didn't make a sound,
And when it fell you caught my heart
Before it hit the ground.
But if you ever need the names
Of those you couldn't save,
You'll find them on the walls of the cave.
You'll find them on the walls of the cave.
Look at me and time stands still
A mountain here is now a hill.
Look away,
Look away,
The time goes past.
These rocks will fall away at last.
Look away.
Maybe you will see it
As you're passing by alone,
Below the moss forgotten
where some words that turned to stone.
It might have been an etching
On a marker of a grave,
Or maybe on the walls of the cave.
Listen to
The silent trees
But still your words float on the breeze
Look away
I see them all
Carved into the cavern wall

Listen to …the silent trees

Listen to…. The silent trees

John E. Heins, 74, much loved in the community and in the classroom, died from metastatic cancer of the neck and head on August 11th, 2010. He died in Arlington Virginia, in his home of 40 years, surrounded by loved ones. He was a kind and gentle man, who left this world a better place, and went out smiling.

Born June 5th, 1936 in Kolar, India, the son of Missionaries, John led an exciting childhood: cobra sightings and tiger hunts were normal for the adventurous John. By the time he reached college, he had traveled around the world three times. He settled down in the United States from 1954 to 1958 and got his degree in English from Hope College in Holland, Michigan. Soon after, John received a scholarship to be in the first graduating class at the school of International Service. He wanted to attend the school and get a Master’s Degree. Before he could complete this dream, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. In 1960, his Army assignment was in Puerto Rico, where he was taught to teach English as a Second Language to Spanish speaking recruits. After two years, he was given the chance to return to his Master’s Degree which he continued at American University in Washington, DC.

In the Spring of 1963, John graduated with a Master’s Degree in Latin American Studies. After President Kennedy spoke at A.U’s commencement, John finished his research in Guerrilla warfare and counter insurgency in Cuba, and then felt inspired to see the world. He took off on an adventure of a lifetime. Starting in San Francisco, John traveled on a Lambretta 150 Motorscooter. He managed to make his way, traveling only with an old Army shelter half, down to Panama, but was not allowed to import his scooter over the border. He then made the rest of the trip down through Latin America by hitchhiking, on foot, riding busses, in the back of trucks, on horseback and in a dugout canoe. His travels lasted 18 months.

John returned to the United States in 1965 and began teaching at the Institute for Modern Languages in Washington DC. He started as a teacher, and when he left that job in 1967 he had moved up to management. What followed were several years of John managing various language programs all over the nation. He worked his way up to becoming vice president of the the American Express Language Center. This job took him all over the world. In 1967, John met Edith Craig, a creative, young high school art teacher from Mississippi, at a Halloween Party in Georgetown. It was love at first sight. John and Edith married the following Summer, on July 13th, 1968. Once he was married, and had started a family, he was ready to stay put. He quit his job at American Express and went back to A.U to get his PhD in Latin American Studies and International Relations. He had a scholarship and an assistantship to pay for classes, but to help pay the day to day bills, John moonlighted in several capacities. He substitute taught at his wife’s school and several others in Fairfax county. Because it was his specialty, he was asked to start the very first English as a Second Language program in Fairfax County, at Annandale High School. The pilot program was much needed, and hugely successful. John had found his calling.

In 1974, the PhD (which only needed the dissertation to be completed) was abandoned for full time work at Annandale high school. John started teaching in classes where ever he was needed. He taught English Language Skills, English Literature, and History. He loved working with high school kids. He has described these years as the most important years of his life. When he was finally assigned to teach English Literature classes to English speaking students, he realized he was doing exactly what he wanted to do with his life. His classes were always spirited. He had a passion for literature that made everyone want to sit up and learn. His favorite novels to teach ran the gamut from “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee to “The King must Die” by Mary Renault. His deep Bass voice could be heard from the hallways, as he recited poetry to the students, and schooled them in Shakespeare Sonnets and his favorite John Dunn masterpieces. John loved to teach. He was a master at it. A little bit later, he discovered his joy in teaching film studies, as well. John was a high school teacher for 23 years at Annandale highschool. It was his life’s work. He retired in 1999.

During John’s entire career in teaching, his wife, Edith, taught Art in the Fairfax County Public School System. Together, during the summers they had off, they traveled with their two children all over the country in a Volkswagon pop up camper. When the kids were old enough, they camped across Europe together. Everything was on a shoestring budget, but it was all a great adventure. Because of his wife’s artistic leanings, John began to take an interest in more creative outlets. He wrote short stories, developed photography in his basement dark room, learned to throw pottery on the wheel, and then discovered a deep love of woodturning on the lathe.

All of these passions were pursued after his retirement from teaching. John once more, began to travel the world. He returned to his childhood home in India, visited Egypt on a cruise, went on an around the world trip with his wife, and rediscovered Europe, many times over. He was able to create art, and was passionate about singing Bass in his church choir at Rock Spring Congregational Church in Arlington. His final years were spent enjoying time with his wife, his two children and his two grandchildren who loved him very much.

John is survived by his wife, Edith, his daughter Natalie, (married to Kevin Campbell from Fremont, California), his son David (married to Caroline in Charlottesville, VA), his two grandchildren, Margaret and Conrad and John’s younger brother Conrad. Services will be held on Saturday, August 28th at 11 AM at Rock Spring Congregational Church.

Memorial contributions can be made toward the P.E.T. project -- an organization which John spent years promoting. This non-profit helps amputees obtain special wheelchairs in third world countries. www.petflorida.org

Bobby Spotted Wearing Pins in Rolling Stone, on CNBC and ESPN!!

Central Part of Town Pins Staff Shocked and Grateful

"Its a total thrill that an artist who has inspired us as much as Bobby would be caught in public wearing our art" Caroline Heins

Back in March we were thrilled to hear that Bob Weir was sporting one of our pins. We heard it through the grapevine and suspected that we were only one or two degrees of separation from him. We also heard that people had slipped him the pin, and that crew members had been into the scarab, but we could never find the videos or pictures we kept hearing about. Then in April things started to change. We checked our messages in facebook (which took awhile cause FB changed stuff all around this winter) and found that Moldbreaker had sent this link. It's Bobby on CNBC talking about the Dead's business model. There it was, just shining back at us, twinkling like a little star. It felt like this real shout-out from someone who we totally admire. you know, like "Nice work kid" (with a little bit of: "get back to work kid")

Then I opened Rolling Stone's April 15th addition and got this weird feeling. I was flipping through it, and Eddy Vedder is wearing some nondescript pin, plus Trey is all over that issue, so I was thinking that it would be cool if that happened with our pins with one of the bands we love....then on page 24
Pretty cool Right? Double Click the pictures for a closer look ...go ahead....

Then I over heard some talk on the Ratdog message board about the RS shot. Still I did not post it just to see what would happen. Then, last week, someone on Reality-Tour posted pictures of Bobby at Daytona. So a buddy who is a member of that board sent me the shots The pin is so clear on it that I was shocked. I am not sure where this was published, or who this lady is. I think its ESPN. Maybe someone on the board took it. The RT message boardies say this is his "half daughter" whatever that means! Whats a Half daughter? Maybe daughter in-law or stepdaughter or could even be half sister, with the right math. I don't know and this is not a news source so, sorry.

There is also a picture of bobby hugging Danika Patrick on ESPN , but you can barely see the pin there. Here is a good Close up. Now..I did zoom in on it with photoshop but I did not alter the images here, I promise....
I do want to thank Red Beard for the kind words that he posted on the board that really meant a lot too. I am not really a long term member of any boards and don't want to post to much pin stuff as a newb, so I appreciate the words of support.
I just thought ya'll would appreciate this as much as we do. Plus you probably notice that this is not all on the same day or the same jacket....so he obviously likes that pin enough to keep up with it and change it around the way you guys probably do. I know I love my Scarab and we totally LOVE The DEADS MUSIC so I guess the whole thing makes sense.

Our Top Three Pins Are Back and how to Order

We are happy to announce that we finally got enough capitol together to reorder the pins that we get the most requests for. The Scarab
A very limited number of the scarabs will also be available in Gold colored plating to commemorate a year of production.

the Famous mocking bird and our...








Delta 9 Hunab Ku















To Order these or any of the other pins that you see on this blog
just send us an email to:
centralpartoftownpins@gmail.com
Let us know how you heard about us and what you are interested in.
We love getting to know about the people that are wearing our work. Its fun to know where the pins are going. This is part of the reason we don't just use a "buy it now button" and collect your money.
We have a paypal account connected to our email and also accept checks, and money orders or we can send you a money request if you have no paypal account.

Also the supply fluctuates on these little sub-cultural time pieces, So you got to ask us if we got them in stock.
Please let your friends know that these pins are back in stock now and maybe we can afford to get all the way to the shows and pay rent.
much love
yagga out.