The JA Visual Icon

[redrabid]

Jim Morrison died in 1971, Keith Moon in 1978.
That says it all.

[rjwh]

Aliens? Saucers? Everyone knows what the aliens want:

"SEND MORE CHUCK BERRY!"

[babson]

I hope this doesn't ruin my credability on this forum, but I have seen "1" saucer. It was 1966.I wasn't alone, 4 other people were with me. I was 16 years old.

[babson]

I remember the people coming into the hippie culture from the summer of '67 on. There were absolutely no social barriers. They came from neighborhoods that were rich, middle class and poor. No racial barriers either. Blacks as well as whites. The toughest bravest boys and young men and the weakest. Quite a few Bikers had come into it it and had long hair and peace signs. These were some bad ass dudes before became "experienced". Oh, and tons of Veterans back from their tour in the Nam. They ranged in age from 14 to 27, except for Timothy Leary, of course. Society today has feminized "Peace", and it is something just for the girls today because it's cute and sweet.

I can do the sexual revolution part of it if anyone's interested. I think I could keep it fairly clean.

[Susan Butcher]

I really tried to be normal, but I just couldn't do it. It made me ill. I've got some degree of freedom now, but occasionally it seems like failure. What I mean is, it's not very romantic at all.

[babson]

I really tried to be normal, but I just couldn't do it. It made me ill. I've got some degree of freedom now, but occasionally it seems like failure. What I mean is, it's not very romantic at all.

Know what you mean. Like watching American Politics makes me ill.

[redrabid]

Doing whatever you want to do seems to me pretty normal. On a global scale Americans seem to be doing nothing else. But to call that Freedom, I don't know. If you want to smash television sets, you can of course start with your own. If you smash other people's television sets I hope you are willing to accept the consequences and pay the price. Because whatever you do, you"ll always have to answer for your deeds, you can't walk away from your responsibilities, you will never be free from that.
I agree with Susan. I have been living a non conformist life because that is who I am. It didn't make me happy per se, but if I hadn't lived MY life I would have been very unhappy indeed. But I met good people to guide me on the way. I think it is wise to choose better examples then those two silly persons Jim and Keith.

[jimmie ray]

Society today has feminized "Peace", and it is something just for the girls today because it's cute and sweet.

Looking at a Victoria's Secret catalog or a K Mart sale paper for preschool kids, it all looks like the same fashion themes. Peace signs or skulls, "Love" or "Bitch" - they want to be everything, while truly feeling nothing.

[EmbryonicRabbit68]

I guess you're right, Keith and Jim are far from the best examples, I was just in an odd mood.What I was trying to say was, I wish there were more people like them, as theres too many people on Earth and most of them are either boring or evil.I also wish I could break the constant cycle of feelings I have, of either freedom or depression, and they both come out at the wrong times.

[plasticfantastic]

I've never tried to conform. Not to the norm, not to anyone. I've done everything I can to be true to myself, and not change for anyone.

My friend started psychoanalyzing me a few weeks ago (we were bored, okay?) and cam eot the conclusion that the only reason that I am the way I am (a hippie, as she put it) is because I was raised like that. I never would be the person who I am if someone hadn't told me to be it. She was wrong. I always knew to some degree who I was, and I've found things like my music, my appearance, my tastes, my politics, and my beliefs organically though my sense of self. I find it sad, really, that more people can't think like that. I don't hold it against my friend for saying it, because I could understand where she's coming from, but I just find it unfortunate that the idea of being your own person, and choosing that person for yourself is so unheard of nowadays.

Sorry, that was a little bit off topic, but I had to rant.

I know where you're coming from, ER. You just wish people were less afraid to be different. I feel the same way exactly. If more people were willing to break the status quo, then perhaps it would be less rigid, resulting in more opportunities for all.

[Susan Butcher]

You could learn to meditate, ER. Maybe that would break your "cycle" for a while.

(WARNING! I have heard that too much meditation can destroy sane people.)

[EmbryonicRabbit68]

I agree PF, It can be sad when you find no one can believe that you got into older bands on your own.People are shocked when they find I know so much about the 1960s and 1970s by researching myself, as if I should have just conformed to what I was born into.That tells you something about the world when people cant believe you've gone outside your world to enjoy others.

I know I've started to get into meditation, slowly though.Mostly, if things get intense or I'm angry, it helps to just stop yourself and breath deep for a moment, thats something more people should do, it helps.There would be a lot less angry people out there.It also helps if you know peoples birth signs, you can understand how they think much, much clearer.

And too much of anything can be bad.

[Susan Butcher]

I don't really think meditation can do much harm, just the religious beliefs that get attached to it. Locally we have Tibetan Buddhism, which is ridiculously complicated, and for some people anxiety-inducing; and Theosophy, which expects adherants to turn their back their meat-eating beer-drinking former friends. I was taught by a student of Stan Grof. Grof's OK by me.

[babson]

Sisters Of Mercy
from Songs Of Leonard Cohen

LYRICS

Oh the sisters of mercy, they are not departed or gone.
They were waiting for me when I thought that I just can't go on.
And they brought me their comfort and later they brought me this song.
Oh I hope you run into them, you who've been travelling so long.

Yes you who must leave everything that you cannot control.
It begins with your family, but soon it comes around to your soul.
Well I've been where you're hanging, I think I can see how you're pinned:
When you're not feeling holy, your loneliness says that you've sinned.

Well they lay down beside me, I made my confession to them.
They touched both my eyes and I touched the dew on their hem.
If your life is a leaf that the seasons tear off and condemn
they will bind you with love that is graceful and green as a stem.

When I left they were sleeping, I hope you run into them soon.
Don't turn on the lights, you can read their address by the moon.
And you won't make me jealous if I hear that they sweetened your night:
We weren't lovers like that and besides it would still be all right,
We weren't lovers like that and besides it would still be all right.

Written by Leonard Cohen, Stranger Music Inc. (BMI).

[babson]

I do Qi Gong, and you have to learn how to breath properly. Have to breath with your abdomen, in and out. It is a more relaxed, effortless breathing, and just that reduces stress.