{Friday, June 06, 2008}
 TOM HAYDENBobby and Barak For one who has experienced both eras, the current movement for Barack Obama has achieved a living remembrance of Bobby Kennedy's campaign in the week when RFK's murder is painfully remembered. On June 4, 1968, I watched from a New York townhouse the murder of a second Kennedy in five years. Martin Luther King already was gone, Vietnam and our cities were burning. I was in the midst of chaotic planning for anti-war demonstrations at the Democratic Convention coming in August. I drifted off with friends to St. Patrick's Cathedral where Kennedy staffers let us through the doors late at night. After sitting a while in silence, I found myself as a member of a makeshift honor guard standing next to his simple coffin. I was wearing a green Cuban hat and weeping. The last political hope of the Sixties vision -- a movement-driven progressive government -- was finished, whether by chance or plot, it mattered little. The violence I had resisted under white racism in the South was seeping into my veins. Like many who took their rage even farther, I was hardening, and never dared again to recover my young idealism. "Dad, don't you recognize anything of yourself in this movement?", asked an angry email from my son Troy, nearly forty years later. He was working 24/7 with his [now] wife Simone, for Barack Obama, spreading the boundless energy of the young and an artist's flair for silk-screens. How could I share your giddy utopianism, I wanted to respond, after the murders of the Sixties icons -- John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, all of whom I had known as a young man? [MORE »] hat tip to krinda  |
{Friday, June 08, 2007}
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The Hippie Narrative: A Literary Perspective On The Counterculture Mount Vernon’s Scott MacFarlane examines the key works of prose of the hippie movement of the 1960s and early 1970s and how the works are reflective of the counterculture. He mentions that "Siddhartha," written in 1922, and "Stranger in a Strange Land," published in 1961, were very instrumental because these narratives shaped the formation of a hippie counterculture and were written before the sixties movement. And he covers Kesey, Brautigan and Wolfe. Nationally influential. link  That leads me to the Foxfire Books, which is one of my favorite books of all time.  Regionally influential in the South were the Foxfire Books. Especially to those of us living on communes and/or outdoors. Firefox has branched off to teaching and workshops now, but originally it was the communer's bible here in the South, where you could find sections on hog dressing, log cabin building, basket weaving, preserving foods, making butter, planting by the signs, snake lore, hunting tales, faith healing, and moonshining, which we left to the pros. We made blackberry wine. Read FOXFIRE Series 1 - 6 (PDF) **UPDATED: JUNE 22, 2007 - Caution: Not all of these are working links, but these are the only online FOXFIRE books I could find and for the links that ARE working you will almost certainly be able to get a feel for what the FOXFIRE series were about. Thanks. --Editor Labels: books, communes, counterculture, firefox, sixties |
{Thursday, February 15, 2007}
 Utopian Bliss Balls is a product exclusively available at Azarius. They are derived from the real Bliss Balls from the sixties, made of psychedelic LSA seeds and bee wax. This modern variety contains Hawaïan baby woodrose (Argyreia nervosa), fo ti tien (Centella asiatica), damiana (Turnera diffusa), ginseng (Panax ginseng) and bee pollen.Very popular in the sixties among hippies and artists in California. Azarius gives them a brand new look! Made with the traditional ingredients like the Hawaiian baby woodrose seeds and damiana. Gives you an LSD-like trip. Never heard of them, but it's sure got a great name. Labels: 60s, drugs, lsd, psychedelic, sixties |
{Wednesday, June 14, 2006}
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Sex (Circa 2006) Is "oral" the new 2nd base? The "mostly" girls (as in mostly straight) keep on kissing girls. Do you have a friend "with privileges"? And the "bro job" has also arrived. "So are you, like, gay now that Ernie sucked your wang?" "No! It was totally just a bro job. I loves the ladies." No one is inhibited whatsoever. Everybody's "bi" or "mostly". My daughter is so free and uninhibited. We used to tell her to put some clothes ON. I never thought anything could compete with the sexual revolution of the sixties. What was once considered slutty-hoochie is now acceptable in dress and attitude and sexuality. I can't believe I'm saying it but pondering the evolution of today's sexual young adult is a mother's nightmare. link |
{Saturday, May 06, 2006}
 SCENTS EVOKE SWEET MEMORIES(or Incense, It's Not Just For Hippies) Weirdpixie mentioned incense and I also began thinking about it -- the different types and scents, my favorites and where I was when I first smelled it. It comes in sticks, ropes, powder, coils, dhoops, wood chips, cones. And comes from India, China, Japan, and all over the world. You can light it for rituals or light it 'just because'. I've enjoyed many scents from the basic cheap to the handmade expensive and I always return to sandalwood. Or a sandalwood mix. It loyally permeated the sixties with me and followed me into the next century. Sandalwood has the history and the memory factor that none of the others have. My first sandalwood incense experience began at a head shop in Daytona Beach, Florida. The 'after dinner' crowd was shopping and people watching on the sidewalks next to the beach. My senses were riveted with sounds of motorcycles, music by the Tams, kids screaming for snow-cones, Moms sipping on Singapore Slings and the freaks were stopping in the head shop to buy some new music or a peace sign patch. I could smell the incense long before I could see the head shop. I go inside and buy a ring with a large red stone. I hear Surrealistic Pillow on the turntable and we discuss the songs and talk about Grace Slick. I stood out like a sore thumb in my small town, but these were my people and I feel a real kinship with them. Anticipation surrounded me that summer night and I felt I was in the midst of a beautiful memory that would last a lifetime. Permeated in a young girl's adolescence and the smell of sandalwood. |
{Wednesday, August 24, 2005}
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Imagine for a moment that you could take all the spin off the Iraq conflict from the main stream media, the administration, the pundits, etc. And think about the money spent on the current military, the loss of lives from the war, the weapons of mass destruction that never were...Colin Powell is extremely embarassed about that now. Just consider the undisputable facts. Have you noticed the intensity at which the American public is speaking out against the war? It's not the radical militants demonstrating and raising hell like we did in the sixties, where we all knew each other or had similar lifestyles and beliefs. Now, it's a mixed bag. It's your neighbors, your grandmother, and your priest peacefully demonstrating and they're mad as hell. As long as I've spoken out against war and marched and been cuffed and maced in the name of peace, I can tell you that this is an unprecedented and different vibe against the war. It's already more unpopular than Vietnam ever was. If the Iraq war continues much longer, I fully expect to see everybody in the street. Labels: 60s, Iraq, peace, radical_ideas, sixties |
{Monday, January 26, 2004}
 The Motorcycle Diaries: Notes On A Latin American Journey - by Ernesto Che Guevara In short, Guevara leaves Argentina a boy on a lark and returns eight months later a man at the beginning of a mission. Robert Redford, who produced the film, took it to Cuba Sunday for a showing with his widow and family. Che was very much admired in the sixties, and his fiery revolutionary ideas frightened and intimidated many, too. I remembered being asked to leave a grocery store once when I had on a Che t-shirt.
NORML Issues Pot Report Card For 2004 Presidential Candidates - Some haven't really made their positions known yet.  "I don't think they ever existed", said Special CIA adviser David Kay, leader of 1400 inspectors in Iraq, when asked about the illusive WMD. Kofi Anan concurs. Now, they're in Syria.
{blog site of the day} I try to visit Healing Iraq often for gripping day-to-day dose of reality stories by an Iraqi Dentist usually posting from the local internet cafe. {today's quote} Even the least work done for others awakens the power within; even thinking the least good of others gradually instills into the heart the strength of a lion. ~Spiritual leader Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)  Have envelope. Will push. |
{Friday, October 03, 2003}
 Good Morning. I couldn't get Skyler up this morning. I tried every five minutes. She finally got up at 9 and I just took her to school. Speaking of her, this morning the keyboard had rice on it. Yes, rice. She had Chinese last night. Really, if I didn't hose it down each day, it'd be a freakin' smorgasboard here. How gross can a teenage girl be?
{spirit} Want a Tarot reading? Facade also has other fascinating entertainment. I-Ching, Runes, Numerology, and Biorhythms. {flashback} From Oct 3, 2002 Post- 1) Ari Fleischer spinning outta control; 2) 'The Firesign Theatre'; 3) If the US and Iraq do go to war; And 4) Al Gore. Wow, what a difference a year makes. {music} 7-part series The Blues on PBS has been exceptional. Tonight's show (part 6) is about the music of the early sixties British invasion that reintroduced the blues sound to America with Eric Clapton and Cream, Jeff Beck, the Stones, and more influenced by Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and others. {weird} I Read It On The Internet So It Must Be True Dept - In Tasmania, a widow is required to wear her dead husband’s penis around her neck for a period of time after his death. [via: andreas ohrt] {quote} Love the earth and sun and animals, Despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks, Stand up for the stupid and crazy, Devote your income and labor to others... And your very flesh shall be a great poem. ~Walt Whitman  Confucious say: He who stands on toilet is high on pot. Labels: 60s, Al_Gore, Iraq, Jeff Beck, music, sixties, Skyler |
{Tuesday, July 22, 2003}
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What a beautiful Tuesday... 
meanwhile, back at the Linkslut Rodeo...   Too early to plan for that Halloween costume? Consider this shocking outlet duo. Click pic. [via j-walk]
Jane's Addiction on Letterman tonight. Queer Eye on Bravo tonight, as well.
House Gymnastics is a cross breed of yoga, breakdancing, climbing and gymnastics in a domestic setting. [via j-walk]
Decade of Protest. Political posters from the US, Cuba and Viet Nam. [via sugar 'n spicy]
What's cookin', Bill?
Now you see it, now you don't. Invisiblog?
Brady Bunch pop-up killer.
Icon Factory
Ann Cooties, how many times must I flush you before you go away?
I've think I've seen this (*cough* Nader) movie before.
Coloring the comic books. They're more sophisticated and diverse now. Reverse Cowgirl attended the Comic-Con and reports on it. Although Johnny Bacardi's got to be Bloghdad's resident Comic Book expert.
Quote For Today To be yourself, in a world that tries, night and day, to make you just like everybody else - is to fight the greatest battle there ever is to fight, and never stop fighting. --e.e. cummings Onward through the fog... Labels: 60s, addiction, books, films, LGBTQ, protest, sixties |
{Saturday, July 05, 2003}
 Saturday already? Good Morning...
Does Birth Order make sense?
Strengths and Weaknesses of The First Borns. Good Team Player, Organized, List Maker, Leadership Ability. Strengths and Weaknesses of The Middle Child. Peacemakers, Independent Thinker, Unspoiled, Realistic. Strengths and Weaknesses of The Last Born Child. Charming, Likable, Manipulative, People Oriented. I am a first born and I gotta agree with being a 'list maker'. In fact, I'm compulsive about it and have been since I was a little girl. Before bed I'd lay out everything for the next morning. Then get out my notebook and write: 7:00am--wake up. 7:05am--brush teeth, 7:08am--have breakfast, 7:23am--fix hair, and so on for the whole day. I began this at about 9 years old. I also kept a notebook on theYankees, and all their stats. Pretty weird. Try to match each of the following opening lines with the correct novel on the Famous First Words Quiz. ...via fimoculous After six years, Lollapalooza tours again. Starting tonight, July 5 - Verizon Wireless Music Center, Noblesville, Ind. Fun Link Of The Day: Inflatable Bras from Frederick's of Hollywood in 1960. Yep. Pump 'er up with air. #G looks so sharp and pointy, I'll bet she could poke a spider in the ass with those things. ...via The Presurfer  Top Ten Worst Cars of the Millenium. Have you ever owned one of them? I've owned #5 and #10 before; my parents bought #9 once. The comments on their selections is very funny. ...via The Presurfer
Stew Albert is still around and raising all sorts of good radical hell. If you ascribed to the radical thinking of the Sixties, his Yippie Reading Room is just the place for you. Quote For Today "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." - Abraham Lincoln saturday morning me// 
green tea/bagel & cantelope/ back to benson & hedges/ jean shorts/patti smith tee t/barefoot/braid/ listening: Richard Thompson/ smelling: Husbands cinnamon toast/ hows about you?/ Keep your hands where I can see them. Labels: 60s, music, Patti Smith, radical_ideas, Saturday Morning Me, sixties, Stew_Albert, tea |
{Tuesday, March 11, 2003}
 Good Morning... !
»How great that Afghanistan got internet access Monday. Soon they'll have spam and porn just like the rest of us. »Is it safe to wear 'Celine' and other colognes? "Is that Canadian Bacon No. 5?" "Oui," I reply, as a gleaming-eyed young broker rises to give me his seat. "Please sit down," he implores. "You smell so good, like a warm fireplace or a new baby. No, even better--you smell like a new baby in a warm fireplace." »New cigarettes called Quest, is now available. They come in low nicotine, extra-low nicotine and nicotine-free packs, and could help you quit smoking. They're available in most states and soon should be nationwide and beyond. But, they aren't in my state of North Carolina yet. Couldn't have anything to do with us leading the country in tobacco farming, could it? »How did this Bush parody site slip by me? I thought I'd seen them all. »Which Six Feet Under Character Are You? »WTF is a Vinnie and why does he care more about menstruation that I do? (let's be on the safe side and say, "NOT safe for work".) »I was looking at Vietnam era posters online and ran across some I'd forgotten about. There's: "Would you buy a used war from this man?" A poster for a rally with Nixon pictured. "Make Love, Not War." "What If They Gave A War And Nobody Came?" If we go to war, will there be new slogans and posters printed up? I wonder if there'll be a flurry of protest songs and sit-ins and if the draft will be implemented. Will there be conscientious objectors, and people burning draft cards? Some may argue that the demonstrations and songs and teach-ins and love-ins and riots and concerts and speeches and posters did not alter the course of American foreign policy before. I know better. Quote For Today Some people believe that holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go. ~Anon What the hell, go and put all your eggs in one basket.
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