Change never exists
in a vacuum.
It's a chain reaction mechanism...
Human beings generally
spend their lives attempting to "escape"
and "belong" simultaneously.
Seems paradoxical, doesn't it? We
gravitate toward
people who will "understand" and places in which
we will be "understood".
And finding like-mindedness is pure
euphoria... at
first.
Then, inevitably,
comes the hard work: The process of determining
whether or not one
has indeed found freedom...
or just another trap.
A phenomenon occurred
from approximately 1965 to 1967. A massive movement, loosely termed "The
Counterculture",
zeroed in on a section of San Francisco called
The Haight-Ashbury District and turned it into a
world reknown mecca for the cerebral traveler.
I discovered while
researching the subject, that the neighborhood
itself possesses
a colorful history of ups and downs (dating from
1870) in correlation
with the needs and whims of its widely
varied inhabitants.
The question is: Was the late 60s invasion
"good" for Haight-Ashbury?
The answer is a two-sided
coin... Or maybe a handful of dimes?
I used to look mainly
to books for information. But the library
looms distant these
"daze", beset by pitfalls such as time
constraints, traffic...
laziness.*S* And my budget allows few
literary purchases.
So the "information highway" beckons--
And the net has become
a virtual Haight-Ashbury,
in more ways than
one.
A seventy-five cent
paperback I bought in 1969 was first to give
me an in-depth look
at both sides of the coin. Its title snagged
me: WE ARE THE
PEOPLE OUR PARENTS WARNED US AGAINST. Its subtitle: A Close Up of
the Whole Hippie Scene (by Nicholas Von Hoffman). The book was initially
published in July, 1967, so chances are it's out of print. Unfortunate.
Reading it shattered my fairy tale illusion of perfect peace and love.
And somebody had to do it...
So,there were bad
guys *gasp*... and they festered among us.
But changes had taken
place, for better and worse--
A runaway train was taking society
on one of the most
momentous thrill rides in ages.
Methinks this chaos
was a catalyst, leading ultimately to the
intriguing little
mystery of cyber communities. Hmmm, sounds
familiar! We're warned
daily about society's latest henious
"drug", the evil
internet. But I see it as a self contained world
of almost limitless
possibilities... At the very least, it's the
most palatable placebo
served up in years.
Cyber communities
such as TRiBE represent, in my opinion,
a safer rebellion. A way
to make a statement, stage a protest,
express yourSELF... even
be someone else. The potential for
both negative and positive vibes
is there. As in LIFE...
As a mind-blowing
starting point in finding answers (and more questions!) on the topic of
Haight-Ashbury and hippies
in general, I wildly recommend SIXTIES.COM.
It's retro paradise, whether you're re-livin' the 60s or
takin' the
Psychedelic Time Machine for a test drive.
The
Haight Ashbury Home Page plants you amid the sights and sounds
of the Bay Area via live Web-Cam...
And THE
HAIGHT ASHBURY FREE PRESS is a provocative "must-see". If you're
ready for real adventure, the links list alone
is one of the most
expansive playgrounds for brain cells I've
yet to encounter. The scope of all
three websites delves
fathoms deep, so do bring your mind.*S*
All togedder now!
Drivin' dat train...
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