HippieClownCamp2011
Introduction/Definition/etc
So what's Hippie Clown Camp?
Difficult to explain... Remember the 1960's?
Well, then, you haven't lived it...
as they say...
Many may not have been alive during the 1960's,
as a whole new generation has popped out,
and the resurgence of 1970's shows like
That '70's Show and stuff, some fashion/
bad fashion and nostalglia which seems to go
on the 20-30 year cycle, remember or learning
what their parents grew up with, so for 2000
it would be the 1970's or 1980's? Not the 1960's
but well, like Vietnam Veterans and lots of others,
some hippies are still back there...
Body
Clowning
At Gesundheit! Institute, (see http://PatchAdams.org )
a month long thing for medical students,
we learned a little about Clowning, BY DOING,
and a little after processing, went on two
Clown trips, one to a senior's center, another to a VA
Veteran's Administration Hospital, which as fun,
and somewhat scary, but interesting was
"Bring In The Clowns" as I started calling it,
getting a bunch of people into cars,
and to a place, with all the clown paraphernalia,
large funny hats, some coats with 20 or so arms
sewn on, big sunglasses, wigs, balloons to tie,
pumps to fill the balloons, instructions for how to
tie the balloons, and make shapes (they seem
to sell them with some packages, I've discovered)
and getting people to a place, likely in an unknown
and new area, possibly on time, and well,
like a Chinese Fire Drill, or How Many Clowns Can
You Put in a VW Beetle type thing, it is funny
in preparation...
Jesters, Fools and Shakespeare
Most people, myself included think that clowns
are just for kids birthday parties, but the court
jester or Fool, has long been around, and not
just for kids. Shakespeare had Fallstaff,
which I happened to have done some
Shakespeare when first went to college,
and later, but not the big funny role,
leader of rebel forces (worked out a lot of
anger and shyness issues on that, BTW),
but somewhat hated and a negative role,
clowns, jesters and fools get to be
more the life of the party, so to speak,
like kids and animals, you don't try to upstage
them, just consider your role, and try to stay
in the role... (I tried rewriting Shakespeare,
which most really don't appreciate, not as
a director, (Vague 12 Step Big Book reference
here), but as an actor... And my last Shakespeare
performance...
StreetSense on St E's Theatre Group
Locally, StreetSense, by the way, recently mentioned some
theatre group at St. Elizabeth;s on the Cover.
Hippie
And the other parts of this, the Hippie part,
we made Tie Dye T Shirts, and mine turned out
OK, I'm not full spectrum colors, my traditional
two colors blue (remember depressed) and green,
seems to go with the blue, instead of all those
happy pink, and reds, and yellows, and bright
stuff that I find annoying and rarely up enough for
wearing much less being around, but that's my life...
Camp and Creatures
And the Camp part,it was Rural in West Virginia,
and near 3000 feet mountain areas, COLD,
I was in a Yurt (read large semi-permanent
but moveable tent, as late arrivers by train),
and we had farm animals, cows in nearby fields,
and well all over the place, some jokes about
going cow tipping, but I said he would have
to buy the cow (realizing it was probably not popular
with the vegans, nor particularly healthy or painless
for the cows, either), deer, walking up to
the apple tree, not scared of people, dogs,
who like barking at the deer, and a stray cat
mostly the great unwashed dogs, farm outside
dogs, unlike the lap dogs we are used to in the city,
though they got some attention, I would have liked
giving them a bath, but they just jump in the pond
or something and it becomes a Sisyphus type thing...
(Vague Greek mythology reference)...
Patch
And some of the people, Patch, I'd characterize
as somewhere between Dr. Phil and Abbie Hoffman,
still a radical, and activist, though aging like the rest
of us... Hasn't lost the fervor, and if we had
that activism of the 1960's, I don't think we would
be in the War in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc...
Occupy This
But people are mellow and non protesty,
the little Occupy events, some went to new
York City and got in the paper, I was sick,
started my cough and could not do 10+ hours
EACH WAY in a crowded car, while worried
about police violence, not that that alone
would stop me, had stuff to catch up on too,
as some news reports started hearing about
violence (some say there can be a PTSD type effect
with protests and police brutality)...
Stung and Sympathy Seeking...
Instead of going to Occupy NYC. I stayed
and got stung by a bee, I quickly grabbed a trash bag
to go visit the dump, and get out of the farm/
community for a bit, got a little sympathy on the bee sting,
jokes of playing doctor here...
plus a little persistent insistence to force meds,
antihistamine, I refused, luckily not epi pin
necessary (If I'm unconscious on the ground
then they can stick me with a pin/ needle),
but some reaction from the mostly cute female
med students or wannabes, but I don't
react to meds and stuff the way most do,
I was allergic to the soaps, and we
were not to use paper towels, but rags/
hand towels instead, contributing, plus
likely ragweed, trees and stuff, plus stress,
social and presentation material, otherwise,
compounded ended up sick...
Happy?
I'd imagine not everyone was happy
in the 1960's and 1970's,
or even the Roaring [19]20's
usually it was a reaction to the events
prior, like post war depressions,
industries, killing machines shutting down,
and people don't know what to do with themselves,
less work, more guilt and anguish, people coming
back dead or wounded, etc. And on Nov 22, 1963
Kennedy was shot, and April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King, Jr.
and students killed in protests, and it was
"interesting times" as the Chinese say,
the crisis/ curse of
"May You Live In Interesting Times..."
Love Strategy
Patch talked about being grounded following
9/11 attacks and developing a "Love Strategy"
instead of the normal "War Strategy"
Gandhi would be proud, I've since looked
up Abbie Hoffman and learned of NYC bombings,
all sorts of FBI files and other stuff, I hadn't
known much about before, the 1960's I was
too young to really know what was going on,
and I'm sure conflicting reports, traditional
upbringing on one side, former military, AFAICT,
didn't talk about it much, as most don't want
to remember, others can't talk about it,
If I Tell You I Have To Kill You,
the uninformed or hippie type reaction
is a threat, more around Warshington,
would know better, it's a don't ask,
not in the don't tell sort of way, but similariies
exist...,
and back from digression, growing up more
radical on the other side of the family,
so mixed messages, to be sure, split/
broken home complicating it all,
would be the makings for a bipolar life,
but I got just the down part instead, Bummer,
Man/ Dude (later terminology).
Bad Trip, (Acid reference) in some ways, OK in others,
had a little fun, the actually doing something I wanted,
looked forward to, just before my birthday,
nature and something new, but as many things
didn't turn out as I had wished.
Free Love?
Like some people hooking up, others persistent loners/
outsiders, mostly staff were understanding and older,
sometimes Part Of sometimes/ feeling Not,
maybe that is the Autism, maybe that is
somewhat universal, but it's probably a
matter of degree, or severity, in clinical terms,
how far outside the group is one,
does one feel?
Sad or Suicidal Clinical Depression
Like Depression, people talk about feeling blue
and the average non clinical person knows
of feeling sad, but it's a matter of degree,
is one suicidal, as I had become returning
to housing hell, and other sadistic abuse
by housing people and the system,
punished for being myself, and taking care
of myself, when I was supposed to die,
or be kicked out, same thing...
Acceptance or Not?
Some think I was accepted at G, and sometimes
I was, but then, same day, locked out of the Farm House,
right after presentation, and forced you're
happy/ (read glad done with project,
like relief of pounding head against the brick wall
of Community that doesn't get that patients are
the reason for the system, the customers
and final metric of successful care,
not happy doctors, at low prices, but
like drinking, docs and students can drink,
but it ultimately doesn't help the patients.)
talked at by Patch, next to last day
when sick, exhausted and down, and upon return,
looking back on video, and photos from participants,
not respecting my requirement not to be photographed,
as I discussed so many times, and asked to delete..
Largely ignored, and that is Compassion?
Lots of things, events, I didn't even hear about,
missed the party so to speak, not invited,
or I refused because it was a drinking environment,
or just went to rest and be alone instead,
and up in the middle of the night for
getting WiFi, sharing a DSL line with
15-20 people meant I couldn't function
when others were around, noise, interruptions,
etc, and Autistics beware, some similarities,
but other differences, a difficult environment,
sound (people just changing music I had put on,
when I turned my back), light (Compact Fluorescents
almost only and everywhere/ pervasive)
smells, scented stuff also, odd mixed foods,
no real control over menu, etc, and part of why
I listed all this in the project report, not to trash
G, but to list some things learning about Intentional
Communities, to keep in mind, while I was kind of living
in one short term, to think about for when creating one
sometime for disabled. Patch, when he was there,
only a few days of the month, off doing other things,
and missed a lot of the "updates" and changes,
mentioned the clean vs messie, and other conflicts,
IIRC, early vs late, alcohol vs sober, etc
that tend to arise.
Alcholics
I found the Alcohol consumption a problem,
as did a few others, typical college students think
life isn't living without beer/ distilled/ etc...
Leon Redbone
I went to a concert at the Opera House,
alone, Leon Redbone, really good,
funny old guy, but I tired, lonely,
hoping to meet up with someone
who didn't show, AFAICT,
and exhausted...
SpeakEasy
I also went out, once, with a group, to a SpeakEasy,
thinking it would be about the music, but ended up sitting
in the parking lot waiting for it to be over,
it also, was about the drinking, and while I could
hear the music in the parking lot, plenty loud,
getting tired late too. Speakeasy, Check,
been there, done that, don't need to repeat
it...
Policy
They eventually re-instituted the original rule
they had suspended, pending review,
to No Alcohol, or asked to leave within
24 hours (would not work with transit options,
train people and flights, as only happened
every few, like 3? days)...
What's The Diff?
So is it that I'm 48 years old now, and they
are 20 somethings? I'm their parents age,
not a student still, not a med student,
but Patient and MH at that, and other differences,
the Substance Abuse stuff usually comes up,
it has locally with Bike Coops, and elsewhere,
or my role in the family, Identified Patient,
community/ Outsider, or Autism,
or Depression or whatever Label I Use
(Patch: "Stop with the F***'ing Labels"
or similar), I was using them to train other
people who had never heard of them,
much less C/S/X Consumer / Survivor/
ExPatient for Mental Health
(Patch's views on MH, I don't agree with,
he basically seems to think people are faking
it, as schizophrenics tend to skip out on doing dishes,
and other social obligations, in community,
not a Crazy thing, but I can tell you,
from an Autistic and MH standpoint,
the noise and social interactions, much less
sleep deprivation, are Painful
trying to stay awake, or do group cooking,
cleaning, and other group stuff, and eventually
I was forced to hold hands, apparently
arms over shoulders were not good enough for
Patch, I'm using the Infectious Control
learned in traditional hospital environments
15 years or so ago, and ended up sick,
so there, self preservation doesn't count?
Some Things I Did Like
I like the anti med perspective,
I like the humor part, but some of the rest,
I really didn't like, and felt
almost guru, cult-ish, had to believe
what others believed, revolved around one personality,
do what others do, some of it with Patch forced upon me,
not the alternative and compassion we talk about/
lip service, it is?
And that isn't the counter culture, and personal
freedom, I'd think it was about.
We don't all have the military death benefits
paying for Med School, nor other advantages,
some are in the slums, and still in the slums,
and other social and societal issues,
not a pitty party, but some reality that some
don't experience, the "privilege" some
talk about. Able-ism, Elit-ism, Class-ism,
and other 'isms pervaded, Racism externally,
IMO.
Not always, but I ran up against it a lot,
to not acknowledge it, or mention it,
would be wrong
Group relations, Tavistock, and Therapy,
would analyze the hell out of it,
but it went largely unmentioned...
Still Sick
Plus I'm still sick, going on 5 or so weeks,
likely aggravated by housing retributions coming
back, but I'm older too...
Yurt Alternatives
I had an option to move to someplace
besides the Yurt, and eventually did,
as everyone else had left the Yurt
for warmer refuge, later in the month,
by then, but I tried to stay with
the original group (YurtMates), instead of
wandering lost, aimless, without foundation,
or community, entirely...
Alice's Restaurant
So, I'll close, for now, with some references to
Alice's Restaurant, realizing Thanksgiving
is an American thing, and anyone with a
tie dye t shirt, much less made tie dye
t shirts should know about...
An Email I sent to the Community:
Found a book at a thrift store
that we were talking about on the way
to the Train station, leaving the last day,
and it's an American Folk/ Hippie /Yippie type
song that anyone who has a Tie Dye T Shirt
should know about (read cultural literacy)
http://arlo.net/resources/lyrics/alices.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice%27s_Restaurant
BTW: It typically plays on American
Radio stations around Thanksgiving
or Thanksgiving Day, (check alternative
radio streams on the internet too)
Alice's Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie
Drawings by Marvin Glass
Grove Press, Inc. 80 University Place, NY NY 10003
copyright 1966,1967,1968 by Appleseed Music
Available on record (read vinyl back then)
Reprise R-6267-Mono
Reprise RS-6267-Stereo
Wouldn't surprise me if it's on iTunes
or YouTube too...
yep, here's one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8DtpdXZi0M
Conclusion
Summary of experience or similar
Why so negative about something I had some
fun at? Well, back in the real world, even
as housing is not fatal, at the moment,
some very negative experiences overshadowed
some of the good and fun things, and largely
at the end of the month, at least for me,
but that is also the depression, "pulling defeat
from the jaws of success" as they say...
Last Words
At some point you just have to experience it,
and the final words of the presentation,
the Grand Finale: It's Weird, You Have to Try It,
went unsaid, as not prompted,
and I'd gone on long enough, I really am a PITA,
usually a Euphemism for Advocate
(Patch on circle: "Former PITA", missing
the Euphemism for advocacy part...)
but I don't recall much of anything, likely
chemical labotomy, and sleep deprivation too...
Like WoodStock?
That's what the pictures and video were for...
Disability Accommodation, and maybe like
WoodStock, a bust while there, over crowded,
mud, etc, for all those that didn't make it,
(I went to 1999 30 year, the one the trailers
later burned down, so much about commericalism,
$5 water bottles, tourist trap, and I sunburned so badly
in the tent most of the time during the day,
coming out at night, a rave or something, but
other parts were fun/ interesting...)
Anyway, Woodstock, the Festival didn't break
even, it was the movie, that saved collapse,
but Patch Insists That I Not Make Money on the
Photos/ Video... I guess pushing his non
commercialism/ non / anti-capitalism...
Can't afford to go back like that...
Discussion
A place for feedback on the page presented
What have you heard or experienced about the
1960's and/or Patch Adams?
(Rumor has it the Zanies were around Arlington,
and Fairfax, VA, I heard from Patch it was on
West Ox road, and he didn't seem to understand
why that was so funny, having goats on Ox Road,
now that it's likely so developed, after 40 years...
probably hasn't seen the sprawl, and housing
developments, farms gone condo, etc...)
So are we throwbacks?
Refusing to change, grow and mature
with the times?
Or has everyone else sold out?
Or has counterculture gone to alternative
to mainstream? Like some of the music...
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20111122 Jerry
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