Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with hippies

Tell Me About Hippy Communes

extrabox — Fri, 22 May 2009 11:25:39 -0800

Hippy communes. I want to know more. Looking for recommendations of photo archives, first person accounts, books, documentaries, stories from adult children who grew up in one, how surviving ones evolved from their roots, blogs, whatever you got. Also looking for similar material about "Jesus Freaks"

Dating a hippy?

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 07:38:04 -0800

So, I've hit-it-off with someone and things seem to heading in a certain direction... there's only one catch: she's a big hippy (not-sizeist) and I'm not. Everyone involved is about 30 yrs. old and so we are old enough to know that people have differences and can love each other despite them or maybe even because of them... on the other hand, I have a background in the hard sciences and am, generally speaking, a rationalist. So, when she starts talking about 'energy' I have to keep my mouth shut and try to translate it to something I feel more comfortable with. Then, of course, there are musical and assorted cultural differences: jam-bands, really?

Obviously, this is about me dealing with my prejudices against hippies, but I wonder whether the differences are just too great to pursue things. Perspectives? Experience with hippy/non-hippy dating?

Help with the text of a poem about the disparity between funding for education and the military?

goo — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:09:48 -0800

I'm looking for the text of a poem/ statement that was printed on tea towels (where I saw it but could very well also be elsewhere) about how governments are willing to spend millions on armies and navies but schools have to hold cake stalls to provide basic services. The tea towels were popular among my friends' hippy parents in Canberra, Australia in the early- to mid-80s and were possibly printed by the Nuclear Disarmament Party, but just as likely found elsewhere. I've searched with all the terms I can think of but can't find the text. Can you help? Thanks.

best tips for a first time music festival attendee?

baphomet — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:51:53 -0800

Next month I'll be attending my first weekend outdoor concert festival- what should I know, bring, be aware of, and/or avoid? I'll be attending Festi di Bella Sol in Geneva, MN. My metal-loving self isn't usually attracted to festivals like this, but my sister and her boyfriend are big jam band fans and I thought it would be awesome to spend some time with them doing something they love (I was convinced by the fact that the festival is being headlined by the almighty BUCKETHEAD).

I went camping quite a bit when I was in Boy Scouts but haven't slept in a tent in probably 8 years...I'm familiar with camping basics, but when it comes to attending a music/camping festival I'm at a loss. What should I know before I go?

(PS- any MeFites who are attending should hit me up via MeFi Mail- it'd be fun to meet up)

Free Radicals

sully75 — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 03:55:15 -0800

Do young activists change anything? I'm speaking to a radical activist group about covering an issues and project their working on, as a photographer/multimedia producer. It's a group that I know pretty well, sort of by accident, and I like the things they do and what they produce (Educational Materials about different economic issues).

They are fairly solidly in the anarchist mode, but they party pretty well (that's how I know them). They also seem to bust their asses. The quality of this work is really high, there is no way around that. A very talented group.

Their asking me to donate some time this year for this project, and have been very positive and excited about me joining them. It would be a somewhat big commitment, with no money and a lot of travel and some crappy living conditions. I'd have somewhat free reign over what I was doing and I'd have the chance to cover an issue that is very interesting to me, in a place that I'd like to go. (sorry to be vague). It would also give me a chance to build some skillsets...they're asking me to do things that I know how to do well but haven't done a whole lot of. And to plan the project, something I haven't really done a ton of either.

At first they were looking for a larger commitment, and I was way more off the fence than on. I laid it out that I could commit for short, intense periods, and try to get as much done in that time as possible, and they seemed to think that was doable.

I should say I'm not an activist at all, and that bothers me, to some degree. But I've pretty much given up on myself as an activist. However, a lot of the issues they are dealing with have meaning for me.

That's the background. My question is, do you think that anarchist/radical organizations are able to change things? This group goes around the country with educational projects, teaching about the issues that they are dealing with. They are looking to use the materials we produce to do this teaching, and my work would feature in this process. I just can't get the idea out of my head that this will be one group of radicals talking to another group of radicals about things that they already agree on. But I have no idea what kind of people attend these things. And I have no alternative model in my head about how things get changed. And maybe going around to colleges and talking to passionate but ill-informed college students is the best thing to do?

I think part of the problem is that I'm generally well informed about the issues they are dealing with, and sometimes have a hard time understanding that other people aren't. And I wouldn't generally go to an educational meeting about this, I'd rather read about it.

Sorry if it's an amorphous question, I'm not totally sure how to ask it. I'm leaning towards doing it, mostly for my own work and experience, but would like to feel excited that the materials we produced would at least have the chance of doing something.

I'm searching for an obscure organic hippy magazine from the 70's

watercarrier — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 15:07:45 -0800

I'm looking for a magazine from the early 70's that was geared towards natural hippy lifestyles, homesteading, composting, crafts, self-sustainability and organic gardening. Does this ring a bell with anyone and can you help me find some back copies?

Post-Hippie Living in the 21st Century?

picklebird — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 11:55:47 -0800

Alternative living filter: I am a single woman in my mid-30s, seriously contemplating having a child on my own. Except that I would really rather not do it on my own. Ideally, I am imagining some sort of cooperative living arrangement with other women in my situation (or even couples, etc.) who would like to create a non-nuclear family environment, where resources and primarily labor power are pooled together to make this work economically and emotionally. The closest model I can think of is kibbutz living and of course the hippie cooperatives of the 1970s. Anyone know of anything like this out there anywhere in the U.S.?

Can I go to Bonnaroo and not smell like I'm at Bonnaroo?

viachicago — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 22:55:07 -0800

BonnarooFilter: Planning on attending for the first time this year, and am looking for some first hand accounts of what it's like and how to prepare. Yes, I have Googled this and came across semi-useful sites and message boards, but am looking for some MeFite expertise!

Particularly, advice on where to set up camp and shower, what/how to pack (what could you not have survived without?), when to get there, and how to stay comfortable in that Tennessee summer heat.

Your lucky numbers are 1, 7, 8, 27, and 4 billion.

kcm — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 20:28:56 -0800

Is there any basis to astrology? I know I've seen some brief explanations for the art of astrology, such as the developmental period of a baby/child being affected by the season they were born in contributing to their nature.

I also know that most horoscopes and such are both general enough to apply to anyone as well as being positive enough to make most folks *want* to believe them (see: fortune cookies).

However, I feel that the profiles of each sign have more often than not been fairly accurate in my past relationships, and that things such as sign compatability "reports" could ergo hold a grain of truth.

Does anyone have either "scientific" backing for these issues or personal experiences that would be interesting to tell more about? I realize the latter will probably devolve into a raft of "I agree" vs. "I don't agree" antecdotes.

Yes, I did search for previous questions on this, no dice.

Have placenta, will travel.

padraigin — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 17:44:05 -0800

Keeping frozen stuff frozen, while moving halfway across the country. I swear on the lives of my children, this is for a friend :)

Said friend is getting ready to move from Northern California to Wisconsin. She'd like to bring along some pumped, frozen breastmilk, and a placenta, also frozen.

What is the best way to pack, move, ship, whatever these items and maintain their frozen integrity?

Her family will be traveling for about two days, stopping to visit relatives for a few days, then driving for another two days.