October 10, 2008 Nar­row Cen­ter for the Arts, Fall River, Massachusetts
Moonalice poster by Chuck Sperry

Legend

According to Moonalice legend, the tribe in eastern Massachusetts was a leader in Moonalice architecture and design. To protect against cold winters, the tribe shifted from burning bails of hemp in the fireplace to a furnace. They called it central hemping. The one drawback relative to the old fireplace was the lack of smoke. Forty Whacks Moonalice, who lived near Fall River, perfected central hemp by adding copper pipes to distribute smoke to every room. You accessed it through hookah tubes that plugged into the wall. As you can imagine, Forty Whacks’ central hemp system became a key selling feature in Moonalice homes.

According to Moonalice legend, the tribe had a relatively small presence in Fall River in the 19th century. No one in the tribe could afford the real estate in Fall River, so the few Moonalices in town generally worked as servants to rich people or day laborers.

Do you remember what happened in Fall River on the morning of August 4 1892? Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks. And when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one.

Great rhyme, but bad facts. Mrs. Borden had received only 18 whacks, while Lizzie’s father got 11. But the nursery rhyme is not really about the murders.

We consulted the Moonalice legend and got a bit of clarity. The Borden family was well-to-do, and Lizzie decided to give her family the luxury of central hemp. She hired Forty Whacks Moonalice and his son Forty-One to install the system, which they were doing down in the basement on the morning of August 4, 1892. Both were passed out cold, which was a common occurrence during the installation and adjustment of central hemp systems. So Forty Whacks and Forty-One missed the murders. However, Moonalice legend suggests that the hatchet wounds were probably self-inflicted.

According to Moonalice legend, October 10 is World Mental Health Day. We recommend you celebrate by losing your mind. We celebrated by going to the LIzzie Borden house. There was a wedding there. We kid you not. Bride in white. Groom in tux with corsage. White stretch. Ghosts of the Mr. and Mrs. Borden.

According to Moonalice legend, today is Party Foundation Party Day . . . in North Korea. Moonalice has always believed in redundancy, particularly when it comes to parties.

According to ancient Moonalice legend, there was once a holy shrine called Wow! It was supposed to be some kind of giant double-barreled hookah with magical powers. While the existence of Wow! has not been proved, the city of Fall River has a life sized replica.

A momentous record at this show: 5 different bass players!!!

Poster Details

Artist:	Chuck Sperry
Performers:	Moonalice
Venue:	Nar­row Cen­ter for the Arts
City, State:	Fall River, Massachusetts
Date:	October 10, 2008
Printer:	PsPrint
Dimensions:	12.75 in. x 17.25 in.
Medium:	Offset Lithograph
Paper:	14 pt
Series:	Moonalice M121

Buy Now
 

Notes

• Number of bass players: 5!
• Listed in the art database at ExpressoBeans.com.
• Listen to this show at Moonalice.com.

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October 9, 2008 Sell­ersville The­ater, Sell­ersville, Pennsylvania
Moonalice poster by Chuck Sperry

Legend

According to Moonalice legend, the tribe played a little known role in saving the Continental Army at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777-78. Under the command of noted hemp farmer George Washington, the Army made camp in Valley Forge with hopelessly inadequate supplies and training. As a result, 2,000 soldiers died of disease over the course of a normal Pennsylvania winter. Yet somehow the Army emerged in the spring of 1778 as a first-rate fighting force. How did that happen? History credits Baron Freiderich Wilhelm von Steuben, a Prussian offer who trained the soldiers. What history doesn’t properly explain is how Steuben did it. Fortunately, the Moonalice legend fills in the holes in the story.

Steuben was unusual for a European officer in that he understood and worked directly with enlisted men. He understood how to motivate them. He eschewed traditional methods, such as the cat o’ nine tails and the firing squad. Instead, he used metaphorical carrots. Actually, the substance underlying the metaphor was hemp. George Washington’s hemp.

To reward the troops for a job well done, Steuben initiated a ceremony that the French later named the “feu to joie.” The translation is Fire of Joy. The French used it to refer to a parade-ground salute with hundreds of musket shots. Steuben’s version used hemp and matches. Whose approach do you think was more effective?

According to Moonalice legend, you can’t get there from here. We recommend that you enjoy the herbal products of your choice and then go somewhere else.

According to Moonalice legend, October 9 has been a date with ups and downs. Exactly 1005 years ago, Leif Ericksson first landed in North America. Leif was into Viking entertainment. The local Moonalice tribe was open minded, but chose not to join in. So Leif had a few hits of the local herb and then went home. In 1919, the Black Sox “lost” the World Series, leading to an ugly scandal and a premature end to the career of Joe Jackson, a Moonalice on his mother’s side whose refusal to use footwear prevented him from getting a Nike contract. The fact that he left the game in disgrace 50 years before Nike may also have been a factor. The weirdest event of all came in 1992, when a 13-kilogram fragment of the Peekskill meteorite landed in the driveway of a family named K—-, destroying their 1980 Chevy Malibu. It could have been worse, the meteor just missed the barn where the K—-s were curing their hemp harvest.

In India, today is Vijayadashami. (Vee-jay-a-da-shami), which celebrates the triumph of good over evil. In this country, we will celebrate this on November 5.

Poster Details

Artist:	Chuck Sperry
Performers:	Moonalice
Venue:	Sell­ersville The­ater
City, State:	Sell­ersville, Pennsylvania
Date:	October 9, 2008
Printer:	PsPrint
Dimensions:	12.75 in. x 17.25 in.
Medium:	Offset Lithograph
Paper:	14 pt
Series:	Moonalice M120

Buy Now
 

Notes

• Listed in the art database at ExpressoBeans.com.
• Listen to this show at Moonalice.com.

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August 24, 2008 Com­mons Beach, Tahoe City, California
Moonalice poster by Chuck Sperry

Legend

According to Moonalice legend, Lake Tahoe is a study in contrasts. Very dry land surrounds the lake. The mountains are tall and the lake is deep. On one side there is Nevada; on the other, California. We didn’t understand the significance of this last one until a couple of months ago when we played in Crystal Bay on the Nevada side. Everywhere we looked in Crystal Bay, there were casinos. Enough to support an entire economy. But what supports the California side? They have boats, and golf courses, ski areas and fancy homes. Where does the money come from? We consulted the Legend. The answer was so obvious we slapped our foreheads. Gold. One hundred fifty years ago, the gold was mineral. Now it’s vegetable. We understand the local Moonalice tribe grows enough “gold” to support every Tahoe resident in high style!

According to Moonalice legend, August 24 is Mundus Patet, a harvest feast involving the dead. That sounded kind of creepy, until we discovered that Mundus Patet was the first known Acid Test. The Testers were Romans about two thousand years ago. They smoked hemp products and consumed unusual mushrooms. For them, Mundus Patet was a very high holy day. No wonder the tribe liked it so much.

According to Wikipedia, on this day in 1858, 90 blacks were arrested in Richmond, Virginia for learning. In 1967, Abbie Hoffman and the Yippies brought the New York Stock Exchange to a halt when they dumped a bag of dollar bills from the visitors’ gallery to the Exchange floor. Traders who normally worked in millions scrambled for singles.

Poster Details

Artist:	Chuck Sperry
Performers:	Moonalice
Venue:	Com­mons Beach
City, State:	Tahoe City, California
Date:	August 24, 2008
Printer:	PsPrint
Dimensions:	12.75 in. x 17.25 in.
Medium:	Offset Lithograph
Paper:	14 pt
Series:	Moonalice M104

Buy Now
 

Notes

• Listed in the art database at ExpressoBeans.com.
• Listen to this show at Moonalice.com.

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Social Media

Ten years ago today… 8/24/08 Commons Beach, Tahoe City, California @Moonalice poster M104 by @YoSquirt Chuck Sperry! https://t.co/siWEmZdhri #art #history #gigposter #lithograph pic.twitter.com/FosxrU66OW

— Moonalice Posters (@MoonalicePoster) August 24, 2018

June 7, 2008 Great American Music Hall, Olive Alley, San Francisco, California
Moonalice poster by Chuck Sperry

Legend

According to Moonalice legend, one of the tribe’s annual high holy days was called Burning Bud. It was a one-day event devoted to the building of a henge. The tribe was not very practical. It took them a while to figure out that you can’t build much of henge in one day.

The one-day limit led to much experimentation with building materials. They tried dirt. Then mud. They even tried water. They tried practically everything that was available. Then one day, someone decided to make a henge out of hemp.

They built the entire thing out of hemp and it was done in a day! It was huge!!! It smelled great!!! They wanted to call it Hemphenge. Then they set it on fire. They got really stoned. And a name came out of nowhere.

Stonedhenge.

So began the festival of Burning Bud. With it began Fire Arts and people getting buzzed and running around naked in the desert. It is our understanding that some of these customs persist to the present day.

Poster Details

Artist:	Chuck Sperry
Performers:	Moonalice, Barenaked Ladies, Crucible Fire Arts
Venue:	Great Amer­i­can Music Hall, Olive Alley
City, State:	San Francisco, California
Date:	June 7, 2008
Printer:	PsPrint
Dimensions:	17.25 in. x 12.75 in.
Medium:	Offset Lithograph
Paper:	14 pt
Series:	Moonalice M77

Buy Now
 

Notes

• 678 Party – 25th Anniversary party for Ann and Roger McNamee.
• Listed in the art database at ExpressoBeans.com.
• Listen to this show at Moonalice.com.

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February 13, 2008 20th Century The­ater, Cincin­nati, Ohio
Moonalice poster by Chuck Sperry

Legend

According to Moonalice legend, the waters of the Licking River near Cincinnati in southern Ohio can make anything float. Upon such small advantages are great fortunes built.

History tells us that a surveyor originally called the place that is now Cincinnati “Losantiville.” They claim Losantiville combines bits of Greek, Roman, French, and English to create a word that means “City on the mouth of the Licking River.” How can Moonalice legend argue with the mouth of the Licking?

Poster Details

Artist:	Chuck Sperry
Performers:	Moonalice, Tea Leaf Green
Venue:	20th Century The­ater
City, State:	Cincin­nati, Ohio
Date:	February 13, 2008
Printer:	PsPrint
Dimensions:	12.75 in. x 17.25 in.
Medium:	Offset Lithograph
Paper:	14 pt
Series:	Moonalice M44

Buy Now
 

Notes

• Listed in the art database at ExpressoBeans.com.
• Listen to this show at Moonalice.com.

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