I'd like to extend my happy anniversary wishes to all of the Woodstock attendees with whom I shared a mud puddle 40 years ago. A lot of things have changed since then. A lot!
Other things haven't changed quite so much. We're engaged in a different war but it's also undeclared. Racial issues have evolved to a point that we never dreamed possible. Having a black man elected President was not even on our radar; we would have been happy just to stop the discrimination and segregation. People are protesting political policies and we now recognize new cultural differences that require some attention.
Other things haven't changed quite so much. We're engaged in a different war but it's also undeclared. Racial issues have evolved to a point that we never dreamed possible. Having a black man elected President was not even on our radar; we would have been happy just to stop the discrimination and segregation. People are protesting political policies and we now recognize new cultural differences that require some attention.
Teenaged boys are growing their hair long again and the stores are full of tie dyed clothing with peace signs on them. Everyone uses the word love, a little too loosely in my opinion. It's one thing for a parent to say "Love you" at the end of a phone conversation with a child, but when an American Idol contestant says, "I love you all" at the end of a performance, it occurs to me that they may not understand the concept. Nobody 'likes' anymore; everybody 'loves' now.
At the last concert I attended, a no smoking event, at the end of the show everyone held up their cell phones as if they were lit matches to show their sincere thanks to the musicians. We didn't have cell phones 40 years ago and if we did, we probably wouldn't have had any reception due to the weather conditions out in the middle of nowhere. Our matches kept going out due to the rain, but we just lit more matches.
Reminiscing is good. If you really want to take a look at how things have changed, refer to GRAND Magazine's cover article for the August issue. GRAND is a webzine targeted at baby boomer grandparents. What better way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the event that affected so many cultural changes than to feature an interview with Arlo Guthrie written by, none other than -- Susan Cross (shameless plug).
http://www.grandmagazine.com/
By the way, Arlo has 4 children and 7 grandkids and is a card carrying Republican. That alone should tell you that anything is possible -- even me meeting my deadline 10 days from today!
2 comments:
Arlo Guthrie a Republican?!
I agree with you about the whole saying 'love' so often. Both 'love' and 'hate' are very powerful words, and should be used sparingly.
Yes, Arlo said he was proud to be a Republican. Then he qualified it and said, Ron Paul Republican. He stressed the need for balance of power in government and the fact that things are way out of balance right now. I was quite surprised by some of his views. Here's another Little known fact: Arlo's dream of a perfect life? To be a forest ranger and sit in a tower by himself watching for forest fires. Who would have guessed? It was a very interesting interview followed by a longer conversation.
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