When You Lack Meadowlarks . . .

I not infrequently enjoy passing through audio tracks of high quality when out on my walks at lunch, though there is always the risk of an ear-worm.  The other day I had the rare occurrence of passing the same way twice, the sidewalk speakers courtesy of a deli-grocery just north of downtown.  On the way out I got the early notes of Sympathy for the Devil; on return it was latter stages of When the Levee Breaks.  Yeehaw!

 And it was fun to share a little joshing with clerk in another venue when it occurred to me I was hearing ? and the Mysterians' "96 Tears."  I guess this was not literally a one-hit wonder band, but at least for me, close to it, and that was the clerk's take, too.

It Was Forty Years Ago Today

"Tricky Dick had it going his way"  (just to finish bowdlerized rhyme-scheme)

Where were you on May 4, 1970?  It was a somewhat momentous day in American history.  Shortly thereafter, many of my cohort found ourselves concluding that our higher education should take a backseat to actions that might help to halt the Viet Nam war.

The ridiculous actions by the Ohio governor and resulting maybe-inevitable panicky murders by the Ohio National Guard at Kent State were the trigger for domestic demonstrations on a grand scale.  The unrest that had been festering in the country for several years took flame.  You'll find that classic Pulitzer-winning image of 14-year-old runaway at the first link.

I eventually managed transit down to DC, joining the general melee and eventually getting an inadvertent taste of teargas.  I guess I got my number counted or something.  I was not then or now prone to political demonstrations, though I strongly support (and even admire) those so-inclined.  I am more politically motivated and attuned now than I was then, for that matter.  Or I want to think so.