Is there a 60s revival going on I didn't know about? Or maybe it's just local to me? Last week I posted that the psychedelic Age of Aquarius invaded my personal space lately. Big reason #1 is the stash of vintage booklets I'm listing on line for a neighbor. Laugh with me on a trip to the past where

Peter Max meets Betty Crocker

But that was just the start! I recently read Tom Brokaw's 'On America', his thoughtful overview even handed evaluation of the current state of US social and political culture. I had checked it out as an ebook and made good use of my bus commute time.

Shortly after, I picked up 'BOOM Voices of the 60s' (his next book) for $2 from the library sale shelf.

One of the first chapters is a lengthy look back at the how/what/why of the Vietnam war and effects of that issue today. OK. I was kinda young (preteen) at the time but it was good information from a trusted source.

Other chapters discussed women's lib (HA! now THAT I remember more as a 5th grader). Also a long analysis of presidential politics, Reagan and the following Christian conservative movement. Then Clinton and Bush and Cheney and Rove. And lots more. Fascinating. This guy would know, he was in the thick of it as a newsman.

On Paul Simon: Simon, who campaigned for Eugene McCarthy in 1968 and George McGovern in 1972, has used the power of his fame and his bank account to perform benefit concerts for the homeless, for health care for the inner city, for autism, and for environmental causes. He is a serious student of music as a force in culture, and he seems dismayed that, as he puts it, "music is not the language of this generation."

On Lorne Michaels: When Lorne Michaels and I talked about that transition in television entertainment, he had a neat summary. When he was a writer on Laugh-In at the age of twenty-four, all the other writers were fifty and older, and most of them were veterans of radio comedy shows. When Michaels started SNL he was, at thirty, the oldest member of a staff that had grown up entirely in and on television. SNL was the first major show produced by a purely television generation. "I don't think it would have worked without Watergate. That made everything fair game. The resignation of a president, the imprisonment of his closest aides, the vice president forced from office for accepting bribes..."

Next post - The Help. Why on earth did that fall in my lap? It was a mere $2 on the library sale shelf and I hadn't seen the movie but knew it was good. So I read it. Oy. Back to 1963.

Thanks for reading, see you next time!