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Hippie artifact of the day

Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing

"Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing" from the eponymous album Buffalo Springfield, 1966 on youtube.

This was the first single released by the band. It was written by Neil Young, but Richy Furay sings it. The song was a top 25 hit in Los Angeles, where the band had come together from disparate locations.

This is my favorite period of Neil Young's writing (the sixties). He does time signature changes and key changes that are so fluid and perfect that you don't even notice them.

Stephen Stills and Jim Messina were also in this band.

Genuine Hippie Sez:

Trump is trolling us all, y'all

There is this Sociologist, Harold Garfinkel, the "Father of Ethnomethodology." Something he is famous for is having students experiment on peers and family by breaking unspoken norms (hang up the phone without saying good-bye; keep saying "Why?" like a little kid; stand too close or too far while conversing with someone) and report on how people react.

Needless to say, hilarity ensues. People become exasperated quite quickly, e.g.: "Why to you keep backing away from me?!"

We have this vast assortment of uncatalogued norms governing human interactions. (And it's worth noting that these norms vary: there is wiggle room, and the proper distance for casual conversation is not universal among cultures.)

But rules are rules and there are similarly rules about how a President should behave. Hippies could hate on Obama for drones, surveillance, deportations, and jailing whistle-blowers, but the guy knew how to look dignified and sound erudite and earnest. Basic civility was natural to him to portray.

After Bush, the lying fake cowboy who ruined everything, Obama became a real hero to a lot of folks. No Drama Obama.

Then there's Trump. He breaks all of the unspoken rules about how to conduct oneself when leader of the free world. Needless to say, hilarity ensues.

To his base it is stand up comedy. To genteel folks it is horrifying and rage-inducing.

What I'm saying is: Apart from any real danger Trump represents-- and I don't discount it-- it's not worth being triggered and getting angry every time Trump is boorish and stupid. It happens too often. Or, if you must get angry, also get over it.

I'm not saying don't oppose him. Far from it! I'm just saying don't let him ruin your whole day. If you do, he's winning.

Peace and Love, baby.