Category: Just Kids (Page 1 of 2)

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• One of the most brutal wars of the 19th century
• It was a gorilla war “war that was not fought traditionally”
• It was fought using hit and run tactics and traps
• Also the first televised war.
• South Vietnam civilian casualties- 195,000-450,000
• North Vietnam and Vietcong civilian casualties 50,000-65,000
• Both sides had 1,000,000 + military casualties
• War lasted officially 19 years (1955-1975)
• Because this war was televised and at this time many people had televisions they experienced the horror of actual war
• This had a lasting effect on society at that time now that everyone could see what really happens during war.
• Now that teenagers could see the realities of war they decided to protest it instead of joining the war effort.
• The movement against the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War began in the U.S. with demonstrations in 1964 and grew in strength in later years. The U.S. became polarized between those who advocated continued involvement in Vietnam and those who wanted peace.
• Many in the peace movement were students, mothers, or anti-establishment hippies. Opposition grew with participation by the African-American civil rights workers. Additional involvement came from many other groups, including educators, clergy, academics, journalists, lawyers, physicians, civil Rights Movement leaders and military veterans.
• American opposition to the Vietnam War fell into several main categories: opposition to the draft; moral, legal, and pragmatic arguments against U.S. intervention; and reaction to the media portrayal of the devastation in Southeast Asia.

Johnny Winter was a pioneer of blues-rock on the late 60s when people were questioning whether white men can actually play the Blues. He signed to Columbia records in 1969, which is considered the largest solo artist deal of its time. People enjoyed his fresh take on classic blues, which was popularized by artists like Jimmy Page and Clapton. When he is playing, Winter constantly shifts between simple country blues to electric guitar slide blues rock. Later on in his life, he signed another deal with Alligator Records and wanted to play nothing but authentic blues. He released an album called “Guitar Slinger” there, earning him a Grammy nomination. Winter also headlined prestigious events, which also contributed to his developing fame such as the New Orleans Jazz and heritage Festival, Chicago Blues Festival and many more.

Unfortunately, very recently on July 16, 2014, Winter passed away at age 70. He struggled with a drug problem for some time but managed to keep performing and recording until the day he passed away. That summer, Winter was on a tour in Europe and he died in his hotel room in Switzerland. His last album called “Step Back” was released last month.

• The Summer of Love refers to the summer of 1967, when an extraordinary gathering of 100,000 people converged on the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco,
• It created a phenomenon of cultural and political rebellion.
• It caused many ‘ordinary citizens’ to begin questioning everything and anything about them and their environment.
• You might recognize this event as the “Hippie Revolution”
• Hippies did gather in other places like New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, and across Europe
• But San Francisco was the epicenter of this revolution,
• College and high-school students began streaming into the Haight during the spring break of 1967. The government was afraid that mass of students would go as soon as summer break starts so some schools tried to delay the vacation and this caught media attention and caused more people to join.
• And they believed they could change the world. Live in a place where there is peace so basically a Utopia.
• It was a naive dream but during that summer it seemed possible.
• People would use LSD and marijuana in the middle of the park
• Sexual freedom was a key, and people would make love in public and there was nothing weird to that because many did it.
• It was a magical time for rock music, which expanded in many directions aided by the use of LSD and pot, some music were openly against the war in Vietnam.
• The song “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)” written by John Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas and sung by Scott McKenzie was initially designed to promote the Monterey Pop Festival.

“If you’re going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair…If you’re going to San Francisco,
Summertime will be a love-in there”

• “San Francisco” became an instant hit (#4 in the U. S., #1 in the UK) and quickly transcended its original purpose by popularizing an idealized image of San Francisco.

• It was a clash between old and new
• This video of Jeff Lynne’s (ELO) lovely song ‘One Summer Dream’, as that title so neatly describes The Summer Of Love. hopefully gives a flavour of that heady time.

Elijah Blumofe

Cenotaph

When I was very young, my mother first took me to the White City.

The pride of our race, that gleaming pearl in the sand.

Marble gates ablaze in the desert sunlight, blinding in glory, bound either side by gilded lamassus, ferocious in their dignity.

Paralyzed by sensation, past ivory cobblestones and sandstone titans, my mother guided me, like some eudaemon, into the vast epicenter, the city square.

And there, my child’s eyes beheld the monolith.

A pale, terrible obelisk, so large as to darken the sky.

Shrouded in its shadow, fear then took hold of my heart.

Engraved upon it were countless scratches, innumerable scars.

Names.

Twisting perversely, etched over one another, crudely borne, chiseled with the trembling hands of fresh grief.

Memoriam is left to those who cherished most, she said.

Those left behind.

Gazing upon this sea of souls, my lip began to quiver, and my eyes welled.

For I knew, drowned among these, were letters that formed the name of my father.

Immortality. Obscurity…

In the shimmering heat, the stone seemed to bleed.

Above these mutilations, where no widow could reach, were carved those words the State had seen fit to display with some decorum.

Do you see? My mother gestured to the same.

Yes, mother.

Read to me.

I summoned strength to my small voice, and began:

Arise, O Ares! Look hard upon your children as their bones meld with the land.

Look hard, and see your land fed with glory.

Gaze upon us with pride, God of War,

for we are your first sons.

Masters of the spear, yet you were ever master of our fate.

Death was never our king, for we spat in the face of Death.

Never did his mortal whip, the one they call Fear, compel us into slavery!

Rather, O God, was your spirit ever within us, and so did we become immortal.

Our names bleed from the wounds of the fallen, condemned to the dust.

Our names bleed from the eyes of our women, bent, but never broken.

Our names bleed from the mountains, from the rivers, from the shimmering sea that was our greatest joy to look upon in life.

Our names bleed from the songs of our Homeland, ever attuned to glory.

Our names bleed from the mouths of our children, who shall whisper our names in gratitude and awe.

Our names bleed from the minds of our comrades, those who yet survive, yet take our phantoms with them.

Our names bleed from this stone, and thus does blood, cheap as dirt, common as water, become sacred, the elixir of eternal life.

Remember us, O Ares, for it is men such as us who allow you to exist.

Remember us, and the enemies of our children shall tremble.

And you, countrymen, as you tread upon hallowed soil, look to the sky, and remember.

From paradise we shall meet your gaze, with love and honor always.

I felt my mother’s hand.

Time to leave.

Elijah Blumov

Annotated Bibliography: Jimi Hendrix

James Marshall Hendrix, better known as Jimi Hendrix, could easily be argued to be the most influential musical figure of the late 20th century, if not of its entirety. As a guitar player, he was innovative beyond the scope of any predecessors or peers, and with a manic emphasis on high gain, volume, feedback, and distortion effects, transformed the landscape of electrical music, carving out a new, post-British Invasion epoch of modern musical expression. Bringing new life to both new and old traditions, Hendrix engulfed, revolutionized, and anticipated a dizzying breadth of genres, becoming an instrumental and critical influence on Blues, Psychedelia, Hard Rock, Progressive Rock, Funk, Avant Garde, Pop, and Heavy Metal. At the peak of his powers, Hendrix was an American and global phenomenon, and, during the latter half of his career, the highest paid musician in the world.

Furthermore, Hendrix  embodied and transmuted the zeitgeist of the Vietnam War era perhaps better than any other musician of his time,  most famously exemplified during his headlining performance at Woodstock, where his controversial rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, which for many conjured images of a troubled, war-torn America (or, alternatively, the sheer glory of the American heritage), became lauded as a pivotal moment in musical and political history, the New York Post even going so far to say that it was the “single greatest moment of the sixties”. Tragically, after producing only three albums, Hendrix died at the tender age of 27 after overdosing on barbiturates. Such an early death however, served to function as a form of martyrdom in the eyes of the American public, and his iconic status was sealed, facilitating his ascension to become forever exalted alongside Elvis Presley as the American patron saint of Rock ‘n Roll.

“Blazing Saddles”- A. Van Jordan

This poem is a review given by Van Jordan of the central message of the Mel Brooks movie “Blazing Saddles”. The movie was made in the 1970’s and focuses on black Bart, the first black sheriff in the West. He is made sheriff so that a railroad company and corrupt governor can bulldoze the town he is sent to “protect.” Although the movie is a comedy its uncomfortable racial scenes are a statement on the race relations of the time.

Van Jordan himself is African-American so the irony inherent in Mel Brooks works carries even greater relevance. I choose the poem because of how much I loved the movie and the way that Van Jordan saw it was new to me. The poem speaks about different instances in which Bart makes fun of racism through the seemingly ridiculous idea of a black sheriff. Everyone in the movie calls him a nigger and is constantly belittling him but he ends up being their savoir.

I personally believe that there is a lot of truth in humor. At times it can seem silly but it has the ability to be profound. The utter absurdity described by Van Jordan in the movie makes the viewer think about how ridiculous the ignorance that existed and exists is. Sheriff Bart is a manifestation of racism in America. He defies what is expected of him and makes everyone seem very foolish along the way. Because what was slavery and racism if not the product of a sick and twisted culture alive for many centuries? Even today the killing and arrest of blacks is much higher that whites. Satire is very important because it’s the most detailed form of analysis. If Mel Brooks was still making movies I’m sure he would satirize the police killings of Martin, Brown and Garner.

Satire cuts through the fluff straight to the point and that scares some people. There are people out there who really hated “Blazing Saddles” when it first came out. Bart is to be seduced by a German temptress but he ends up grabbing her with his “endowments”. Van Jordan sees this as one of the movies funniest moments because it has the perfect degree of silliness and truth. Of course it is a stereotype that blacks are sexually gifted but his triumph over the temptress is one of a many in the movie. It is mainly Bart triumphing again and again over stereotypes and boundaries that are placed physically and psychologically in front of him.

Van Jordan loves “Blazing Saddles” because it makes fun of the right things. The Old West was a crazy time full of wild happenings. Why not throw in a Yiddish Indian and black sheriff? They both make fun of what is wrong with being racist. Van Jordan’s prose details Brooks using humor to show not only why ignorance is wrong but also what fools it can make of seemingly normal people. It is possible that Brooks did not intend to make the movie so deep. A lot of the gags are just funny because they are funny. But the instance Van Jordan mentions of the Count Basie Orchestra playing in the desert is too great to be just a gag. Van Jordan says that imagining the brass band playing is just as absurd as a world where minorities have no rights. Van Jordan loves that the minorities win in this movie. The forces of ignorance are either defeated or taught the true way of brotherhood. In the end Van Jordan is satisfied with a gut piercing laugh and a nice satire of ignorance.

The Woodstock Festival was a three-day concert that involved lots of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll. It was held at Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to 18, 1969. During that festival, 32 acts performed outdoors before an audience of a little less than 500,000 people. The acts included Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter, and Janis Joplin. It is known as a crucial moment in popular music history and the festival is also linked to the larger counterculture generation. This festival synergized a way of life that had been growing through the sixties; antiwar, pro-drugs, individualism, breaking down racial barriers, unconventional sexual practices, and new philosophies. The organizers of the Woodstock Festival were John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfeld, and Mike Lang. Roberts and Rosenman were looking for a way to use Roberts’ money to invest to earn more money. They placed an ad in The New York Times to look for partners and met Kornfeld and Lang through the ad. Kornfeld and Lang proposed to build a recording studio and a retreat for rock musicians up in Woodstock, New York. The idea turned into creating a rock concert for 50,000 people. Many things went wrong such as the location, contracts, constructions, and their estimation of the people that will come to the rock concert. On Wednesday, August 13, there were already 50,000 people camping near the stage. They had walked right through the gaps in the fence where the gates had not yet been built. There was no way to get the 50,000 people to leave in order to pay for tickets and no time to built the gates to prevent even more people from just walking in. The organizers ended up being forced to make the event a free concert. The news spread and an estimated one million people headed to Bethel, New York. It was estimated that about 500,000 people actually made it to the Woodstock Festival.

Jackson Pollock

• Born January 28, 1912- Wyoming

• Moved to New York and studied under Thomas Hart Benton at the Art Students League of New York

• Was an alcoholic and underwent Jungian psychotherapy- speculated that maybe it was because he moved around a lot during his childhood

• Married American painter Lee Krasner

• Most known for abstract art. Pollock apprenticed by an artist by the name of David Siqueiros and was a major influence for Pollock’s famous “drip technique.”

• He would lay a huge canvas on the floor and drip paint on it using sticks, basters, or holes in a paint can.

• “Action Painting”- walk around the canvas on the floor with steps that were dance-like.

• One of his most famous paintings- “Lavender Mist” is described as: “a work unsurpassed in terms of linear complexity, energy­charged suspense, and coloristic brilliance.

• Had a relapse in alcoholism, drove drunk, crashed into a tree, and died in 1956

• His work brought together elements of Cubism, Surrealism, and Impressionism, and transcended them all.

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It is also known as the Chelsea Hotel or the Chelsea. It is a historic hotel built in New York City between 1883 to 1885. It is located at 222 West 23^rd, Chelsea, Manhattan. It permitted long-term residencies until a recent change in policy. In 1966 it was designated as a New York City landmark.

Over the years, it has housed many famous residents. Many incidents with famous residents happened here. Some were mysterious and fatal, others simply romance inspiration for songs and literature. In the early 1960s, Arthur Miller wrote a piece titled “The Chelsea Effect” about life at The Chelsea in the early 1960s.  Nancy Spungen, girlfriend of Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols, was found stabbed to death on October 12, 1978. Valerie Solanas, a resident evicted after failing to pay rent, shot resident Andy Warhol in June of 1968 out of jealousy and lunacy. Patti Smith had moved out of the Chelsea in 1970 when she fell in love with playwright Sam Shepard who was residing in a seventh floor room of the Chelsea. Patti Smith also lived here with Robert Mappelthorpe for some time.