Do the Grateful Dead and Steely Dan occupy opposite poles of some optimist/skeptic spectrum? I’ll allow that they just might. The two bands definitely have little in common aesthetically, what with the Dead’s trademark move being the lengthy improvised guitar jam and the Dan opting for a much tighter method that might just involve importing several seasoned sessionists in order to nail down a difficult solo, as famously happened with “Peg.”
If you picked lyrics from the two bands at random and presented them in the form of a quiz, most knowledgeable music fans would have little trouble telling the two apart. 

Which brings us to the official Steely Dan website, which has an unusual status among such entities for two reasons: its existence runs back very nearly to the very dawn of the World Wide Web, and Becker and Fagen clearly perceived it as a potential venue for their own personal expression.
According to the Internet Archive, Steely Dan’s website first surfaced no later than April 11, 1997, which is two years after the accepted inception of the WWW but remarkably early for an act as established as Steely Dan. The site is so old that it was was and running several years in advance of Steely Dan’s return to presenting new studio material to its audience, namely Two Against Nature, released in 2000, and Everything Must Go, released in 2003, both of which events it duly documented and promoted, as well as the many tours the Dan has undertaken over the years (remember when Steely Dan didn’t tour?). 
The website has an unmistakably personal touch. As stated, whoever is running the website is expansive and expressive, with all sorts of pages dedicated not only to their albums and tours but also to such matters as the Dan’s tongue-in-cheek letter campaign to get set the terms of the band’s inevitable induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which didn’t last long because it happened in 2001 (the Dead beat them by seven years).
Amusingly, much of the website is in straight HTML, enough so to make one positively nostalgic for an Internet without any way to spread the word to LinkedIn or whatever. One such page is an amazing guide for music lovers who aren’t yet sure if they can handle Steely Dan, with detailed instructions on how to make the leap from Grateful Dead fandom to Dan fan status.
The “Deadhead/Danfan Conversion Chart” offers detailed illustrations of how to shed the “rectangular granny glasses” favored by Deadheads in favor of the “LA Eyeworks clipons” that are more typical of the pussyhound/drugrunner characters one might encounter in Steely Dan songs. In each case there is a transitional item named, occupying the creepy and simultaneous “Deadfan/Danhead” category—in the aforementioned example of eyewear, “rayban knockoffs” occupies that slot.
There are 20 such triads (Deadhead—Deadfan/Danhead—Danfan) and nary a weak one on the list. As a kicker, the final entry offers the Grateful Dead and Steely Dan themselves as start and end points, but I won’t name which artist they picked to be the transitional figure. But it’s kind of genius.
Here it is, but you can see the original version here:
 

 
Thanks to Sydney Aja Peterson for the find.

(11-20-2017, 07:54 AM)Greg Wrote: I also saw Dead and Co perform on the Stephen Colbert show. That was terrible.  Is Weir the only original Dead member left in the band? Granted, he's the only one I recognize.

Quote:Concert Review: Dead & Company Honor Florida High School Victims, Students

Dead & Company made its Florida debut on Monday night with a powerful and emotional show that will be remembered for years to come. The rescheduled date, due to guitarist and vocalist John Mayer’s emergency appendectomy in December, couldn’t have been more timely following the horrific tragedy in nearby Parkland just 12 days prior. Marjory Stoneman Douglas (MSD) High School is located just 13 miles north of Sunrise, Florida’s BB&T Center.
Emotions were high as the band took the stage with bassist and vocalist Otiel Burbridge and guitarist and vocalist Bob Weir walking out wearing maroon MSDStrong T-shirts. At the beginning of the second set Burbridge changed into a “March of Our Lives” rally shirt and drummers Bill Kreutzman and Mickey Hart donned the MSDstrong shirts. By the end of the concert each band member wore maroon shirt paying homage to those who were lost and supporting the survivors as they fight for change. The statement fits right into the spirit of the Grateful Dead, who were born out of the turbulent 1960s and brought with them a message of peace, solidarity and unity that was first embraced by the counterculture over 50 years ago.
The band didn’t opt for any heavy-handed political or empowering speeches, however. Rather, they let the music and the lyrics do the talking. Opening with an epic 10-plus minute “Shakedown Street,” for example, the crowd erupted when Bob Weir stepped to the mic to deliver the first line of the song, “You tell me this town ain’t got no heart.” Tears flowed as people danced and the audience collectively prepared for what would be an emotional evening of music.
The first set provided many highlights including a beautiful Oteil Burbridge-led “Comes A Time,” an inspiring “Bird Song,” which was reprised briefly after “New Speedway Boogie” and an uplifting “Deal” to close the first set. John Mayer shined all night long channeling the late great Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia with fiery and bluesy guitar work and leaving the crowd in awe.
The second set was one of songs that seemed to subtly nod to the recent tragedy. It kicked off with a cover of The Band’s classic “The Weight,” followed by a jam-fueled 30-minute trifecta of “Help on the Way,” “Slipknot” and “Eyes of the World,” which included incredible solos from Mayer, Burbridge and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti. During the politically-charged 1987 track “Throwin’ Stones,” Weir changed the poignant line, “Selling guns instead of food today” to a chill-inducing scream. “You can buy the whole goddamn government today,” he declared, whipping the crowd into a frenzy.
Dead & Company closed the show with “Touch of Grey,” which let loose the capacity crowd on a more hopeful note: “We will get by. We will survive.”
Dead & Co MSD groupDead & Company worked with Congressman Ted Deutch’s office to bring together a group of Marjory Stoneman Douglas students, parents and teachers who were impacted by the shooting in Parkland, Florida. The Grateful Dead’s _Bob Weir has long been politically active, and serves on the board of Headcount, which empowers and informs young people and music fans by staging voter registration sign-ups at events. _
Set List:
Set One:
Shakedown Street
Cassidy
Comes A Time
They Love Each Other
Birdsong
New Speedway Boogie
Birdsong (Reprise)
Deal
Set Two:
The Weight
Help on the Way
Slipknot
Eyes of the World
Dark Star
Drums
Space
Days Between
Throwin’ Stones
Encore:
Touch of Grey

Quote: 
Pisces Horoscope for week of June 28, 2018

I suspect that sometime soon you will come into possession of an enchanted potion or pixie dust or a pouch full of magic beans -- or the equivalent. If and when that occurs, consider the following protocols: 1. Before you use your new treasure, say a prayer to your higher self, requesting that you will be guided to use it in such a way as to make yourself wiser and kinder. 2. When you use it, be sure it harms no one. 3. Express gratitude for it before and during and after using it. 4. Use it in such a way that it benefits at least one other person or creature in addition to you. 5. See if you can use it to generate the arrival or more pixie dust or magical beans or enchanted potion in the future. 6. When you use it, focus on wielding it to get exactlywhat you want, not what you sort of want or temporarily want.