In article , "Kim"
writes:

(lotta snippage)

But you're still planting flowers, and liking jewelry. Same difference.

Yeah, but I like to think that I'm being a bit of a renegade. Actually, I
don't like things all the same. Remember the good 'ol "Neighborhood
Association" debates that have come and gone here? I'm against them, for
whatever purpose; and would be so very, very depressed if I ever have to
live "in" one.

Same here. But the reason those associations exist is fear - fear that folks
won't keep up their properties in a reasonable manner if there is no mechanism
to force them.

And, as for jewelery. That is a going joke in my family. I love jewelery.
Even used to work at Ed Levin Jewelers long ago. Love to get it as a
present. Don't spend much time shopping for it or being distracted by it,
though, if set against the rest of my female population. A couple of years
ago I asked for, and received, one of those standing jewelery chests. It's
about half full. Every once in a while I'll spend an hour or two taking all
my pretties out and looking at them. LOL But, save on rare occasions,
you'll not find me with a piece on--not even my wedding band. Just don't
like the feeling of anything around me, I guess.

To each his own. I collect radio parts.

Anyway, you're right about the more we tried to be different, the
more we were the same. Uh, but we were the same together

Groovy, baby!

Gads!!! That's so funny.

Just an Austin Powers reference.

I never got into the beatniky-hippie kind of
lingo. Heck, I don't think I could even be classified as a true hippie--I
am just a couple of years too late fer it.

So am I.

Oh, now ur claiming to be a 'flower child'? Don't think so. Or
perhaps
you came in after things ended, eh? A wannabee flower child? Now
thats a
real probabliity.

Bummer, man! Why such a downer?

Some folks can be no other way.

Naw, I think Dan can be a real up guy most of the time. Cool dude.


Woodstock? Let's see, that was late summer 1969, when Kim was 15 if memory
serves. I don't think a responsible parent would let their 15-year-old go
to such a "happening".

Yep, 14 though.

All the more reason.

And, you're right. I had friends whose parents were much
more lenient than mine who went.

I'd call it "irresponsible" rather than "lenient".

I was going with them. Until I asked my parents...LOL

Even at that age I knew better.

Heck, from all accounts most of those who set out for Woodstock never
actually got there due to traffic snarls. Some of the performers had to be
helicoptered in and out, and some never made it. The whole event was
such a mess that large
outdoor festivals basically disappeared afterwards because nobody with
half a
brain would issue the necessary permits. (Altamont drove the final nail in
that coffin).

It was much nicer watching from the news on it. As "free" as I liked to
think of myself back then, I am pretty sure I would definitely have been
bummed at the rain, mud, and so darned many freaks.

'zactly.

A lot of us were mad that the clueless promoters had ruined the whole festival
scene by their incompetence. Even 30 years later there were problems doing
another one.

Give me the Philadelphia Folk Festival any day. Well managed, excellent acts,
good sound and video, well behaved crowd and it's been held every year since
long before that place in NY. People take their kids and grandkids. No visible
booze or drugs.

Counterculture? Check this out: The promoters who put on the Woodstock
festival
lost big piles of money on the concert. The whole thing was too big for
them to
control - early on they even lost the ability to collect admission. There
was
even talk of civil suits over huge unpaid expenses BUT....


I think there was more than talk. Did Yeager/Yager/Yeger (however his name
is spelled) think there was loads to be had in a suit and begin the process
until it was explained to him the debaucle of the whole thing?

Max Yasgur, now dead, I think. I'm sure he got a piece of the pie. Point was,
they made a mint from the whole "counterculture" aspect of it.

The promoters had done one smart thing: They owned the rights to almost
all
recordings (film and sound) made at the festival. So they made a
documentary
movie and record album for very little money, and made back all their
losses
and millions more. Good old capitalism...


Bought the album. You know, the one with the little kid on it? GRIN
It's the only album where I've heard Joan singing the song "Sweet Sir
Gallahad" ('least I think that's the name of it) and gosh I like that song.

Never bought the album - it was so overplayed on FM radio around here there was
no need to. Saw the movie on PBS some years back and was amazed at how awful it
was. But they both made a pile of money. Good ol' cappitalism...

Remember the song "Woodstock", made famous by Crosby Stills Nash and
Young? It
was actually written by Joni Mitchell (who also performed the first
version).
But Mitchell was not at the Woodstock festival at all!

Turns out CSNY had talked her out of going because she was to be a guest on the
Dick Cavett show (remember HIM?) and they said she'd never be back in time. Of
course if she'd gone they'd have given her serious stage time.

Then they got themselves helicoptered in and out of the festival, and crashed
the Cavett show. They wound up being interviewed along with Mitchell, who said
only a few words because, after all, she wasn't there. The look on her face
said it all....

The summer of 1969 was when human beings first set foot on the moon.
That's what I think of first when that time is mentioned.

Yeah, Summer 1970 saw the tragedy at Kent State...the beginning of the end.

End of what? Looking back, I'm amazed only four died in the Kent State mess.
Days of near-riot conditions, kids throwing rocks and teargas canisters back at
National Guardsmen (who were untrained in riot control)? KS was not a
nonviolent demonstration.

By the way, I'd have guessed you were an old hippie, Jim.

Not me. I could never afford it. I went to engineering school, remember? I
always thought that to build a better world, one had to know how to build
things in the first place. So I learned how to do electrical engineering. And
I'm still at it.

There's no substitute for actually knowing how to do things, and doing them.
Remember the movies "The Magnificent Seven" (actually a remake of "The Seven
Samurai"? The farmers (productive people) does not need the bandits (moochers).
But the bandits sure need the farmers!

Some good things came out of those times. Those are the things to remember.

At least there's still a few left upholding the original ideals.

Yeah, baby!

Actually, you might be surprised at how simple my "ideals" really are.

I gave up.

Not me.

73 de Jim, N2EY