Are hippies cool?

erik · Post by **erik** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 4:35 pm

After you vote, describe what, in your mind, makes a "hippie".

john m · Post by **john m** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 4:46 pm

Had one as a roommate for a college year.

Pros:
- They will let you whatever the fuck you want
- As a roommate: Are often gone to smoke lots of pot, leaving you with the room
- As a roommate: Have no discernible schedule of any kind, letting you dictate when sleeping time begins and ends
- If you like pot, well... duh.
- Given that they're looking for the legalisation of marijuana, the more intelligent ones are at least moderately aware of/involed with current events, so you can have intelligent conversation

Cons:
- If you don't like pot, or have asthma or something, you may not appreciate when roommate-person lights up in your room and closes (and seals) all windows and doors for the sake of not being caught
- You have no fucking idea how quickly jam bands get old.
- The dumber ones don't really understand much other than "Weed's in the drawer" and "Dude, Phish is the best."
- If you don't know who Jerry Garcia is, you're probably in for a rough time. If you don't like Jerry Garcia, they'll probably unhand the dummy pipe long enough to kill you.

If I only kept my former roommate in mind, I'd have voted yes, but then I remembered most aren't that capable of being cool guys, and are instead dull, overweight, odorous people who make you resent at least one person's existence.

fodroy · Post by **fodroy** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 4:57 pm

someone who smokes alot of pot, wears dirty clothes and makes me laugh with their odd theories and ramblings.

Jim of Seattle · Post by **Jim of Seattle** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 8:43 am

Hippie isn't so much a yes/no thing, it's a level of degree. The general rule of thumb:

Let H = Amount of hippyness
Let G = Quality of personal grooming
Let L = Liberalness of political leanings
Let P = Amount of pot smoked

H = L+P / G

jack · Post by **jack** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 9:16 am

wait...there's not enough dumb-ass ignorant hippy cliches being thrown around here! more! more!

there are plenty of hippies that don't smoke pot. there are plenty of hippies that don't like the grateful dead, or phish, or jam bands period.

some of the stupidest stereotypes i've read around here. congratulations!

fodroy · Post by **fodroy** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 10:18 am

did some hear that big sucking sound? hey, there goes all the fun!

erik · Post by **erik** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:21 am

jack shite wrote:wait...there's not enough dumb-ass ignorant hippy cliches being thrown around here! more! more!

there are plenty of hippies that don't smoke pot. there are plenty of hippies that don't like the grateful dead, or phish, or jam bands period.

some of the stupidest stereotypes i've read around here. congratulations!

I didn't say "tell everyone their definition was wrong", I said "describe what, in your mind, makes a hippie".

What makes someone a hippie, then?

mkilly · Post by **mkilly** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:38 am

john m wrote: - You have no fucking idea how quickly jam bands get old.
- The dumber ones don't really understand much other than "Weed's in the drawer" and "Dude, Phish is the best."
- If you don't know who Jerry Garcia is, you're probably in for a rough time. If you don't like Jerry Garcia, they'll probably unhand the dummy pipe long enough to kill you.

ugh, seriously. I went to a String Cheese Incident/Bob Dylan show last year (for Bob Dylan, not for the String Cheese Incident) and lordy b'goo, there was so much cigarette and pot smoke and shirtless white guys with dreadlocks dancing around. Oh it was awful.

jimtyrrell · Post by **jimtyrrell** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:54 am

Jim of Seattle wrote:Hippie isn't so much a yes/no thing, it's a level of degree. The general rule of thumb:

Let H = Amount of hippyness
<b>Let G = Quality of personal grooming</b>
Let L = Liberalness of political leanings
Let P = Amount of pot smoked

H = L+P / <b>G</b>

Now I'm no mathematician, but I think dividing by zero will create problems.
But seriously... I don't think there are many hippies anymore, just people who look like them. Same goes for punks.

jack · Post by **jack** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:54 am

15-16 puzzle wrote:
What makes someone a hippie, then?

usually someone elses broad-based generalizations.

erik · Post by **erik** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 12:08 pm

BZZZZZZT

According to you, what makes someone a hippie?

I mean, you said you knew of hippies, ones who didn't get baked or listen to boring music. So clearly, those things are not key. What then?

Poor June · Post by **Poor June** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 12:11 pm

peace and love man... peace and love... that's what it is all about... :::cries::: the rest of that is just some harsh stereotyping goin' on....

(some do fit those descriptions)... but don't have 2...
not everyone is gonna fit a stereotype to a T... so to me it doesn't seem like a really good point to pin anyone in a lil' box...

(since there are no real punks, and real hippies anymore huh?)... cause they have to be ONE way to be real??? O_o... stupid

john m · Post by **john m** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 12:22 pm

Oh man, I'm so sorry I didn't list every personality trait of every single person who has ever called themselves a hippie. I just thought it would be a bit easier considering, you know, most of them fit the stereotype. There's a reason stereotypes are created.

jack · Post by **jack** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 12:37 pm

what makes a hippie? who knows? everyone has a different view obviously. a few characteristics i'd say are universal for the most part:

- a non-confrontational attitude (with the exception of protesting a cause they believe in)
- a non-conformist attitude
- friendly
- more socialist than capitalist
- usually abreast of current events and politics
- a passion for cause and life
- gregarious
- usually caring of the environment and the impact on it
- conscious of the foods they eat and how they impact their health
- less interested in materialistic things
- less interested in superficial things like impressing people with how they dress (this plays into the materialistic point, and i think it also fuels the stereotype that hippies are slobs, and while i'd admit that for many this is true, it's not universal)

as for their smoking dope, well, i'm sure everyone has their favorite vice. and the hippie view (as well as mine) is that it's a better vice than alcohol. but i certainly know plenty of folks that don't use it, and the great majority use it less as they get older. as for the jam band label, again, there are many that enjoy that sort of music, but i'd hardly call it a defining trait. back when the word was invented, "hippies" were listening to jazz music, like miles and coltrane, which i guess is just another form of "jam band" music.

john m · Post by **john m** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 12:41 pm

jack shite wrote:jazz music, like miles and coltrane, which i guess is just another form of "jam band" music.

Ouch.

Poor June · Post by **Poor June** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 12:46 pm

the food and health part i don't know...

that sounds more yuppie to me... :::nods:::

hahahaha (i just gave a speech on harsh stereotypes 2... is that horrible or what)

Hoblit · Post by **Hoblit** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 1:58 pm

john m wrote:
jack shite wrote:jazz music, like miles and coltrane, which i guess is just another form of "jam band" music.
Ouch.

Ouch but true...

ask yourself which Miles Davis or John Coltrane song is the shortest...then note the actual length of the song... then calculate how many times the song was 'played' before it developed the accepted structure...THEN ask yourself how often a band re-creates it to a perfect structure without adding several minutes back onto it while getting down to the jam.

Jack, John is right... stereotypes are exactly that... cliche's and they come about because of their GENERAL accuracy. I've known a lot of hippies in my time. Real ones too..not just the posers in the highschool with long hair or dreadlocks.

All but one that I have known liked to (all of the above):

1. Smoke lots of pot (even by my standards back then)
2. Listen to Phish & The Greatful Dead
3. Garden (verb)
4. Argue about politics and are very socialistic / communistic (not the red kind)
5. Care about their health and enviroment (but #1 was ok)
6. Drive very crappy vehicles that were terrible for the enviroment
7. burn or wear petouli oil and incense
8. Aknowledge all theRainbow folk and their beauty

the ONE that I speak of didn't smoke pot nor drive a car

So in risk of offending 'real' hippies... those traits pretty much sum up what *I* think a hippy is.

for the record, I love hippy chicks...and have had sexual relations with more than one girl who didn't shave. Anything.

jack · Post by **jack** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 2:42 pm

even though e money and i are both "hippies", we can laugh at ourselves.

http://www.spewgrass.com/music/brody/brody_nhg.mp3

with apologies to beck hansen...

Poor June · Post by **Poor June** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 5:27 pm

i have the love all mentallity to some extent... but i don't share alot of political views and such that a lot of hippies do... so i wouldn't consider myself one...

i don't know what i'd be really O_o

mkilly · Post by **mkilly** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 5:41 pm

jack shite wrote:as for the jam band label, again, there are many that enjoy that sort of music, but i'd hardly call it a defining trait. back when the word was invented, "hippies" were listening to jazz music, like miles and coltrane, which i guess is just another form of "jam band" music.

back when the word was invented, "hippies" were listening to rock. especially psychadelic rock. yknow, acid, lsd? strawberry alarm clock? jefferson airplane? doors? motherfucking grateful dead, father of jam bands? i've never heard of a gang of hippies following miles davis around on tour in a beat-up VW van.

beat(nik)s were the ones that listened to jazz, friend. they wore black, not tie-dye.

most of the folks that i'd call hippies like jam bands or reggae, smoke dope, have dreadlocks, wear nontraditional or foreign clothing, smell funny, shop at the co-op, and drink a lot. YMMV, but those are the kind of folks i'd call hippies; folks that exhibit a few or more of those traits and have with them the hippie aura.

your talking about perpetuating stereotypes is a bunch of stupid bullshit. i don't know anybody who would call themselves a hippie, just as punks and goths generally don't call themselves such names. goths : industrial :: hippies : jam bands. there's no contemporary hippie movement, or punk movement, but some people are nevertheless evocative of what once was.

jack · Post by **jack** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 5:53 pm

marcus kellis...20 years old and the voice of fucking experience.

i take your opinion about as seriously as i take your music.

JonPorobil · Post by **JonPorobil** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 10:35 pm

Man, we can get riled up aout anything, can't we? Truly, songfight is a wellspring of talent.