Tribes in China wear the same orange clothes in the National Day

In 사회
Groups of African People Celebrating

Now that the orgy of insufferable hipsterism known as Coachella is finally behind us, it’s officially music-festival season, when hundreds of concerts will take over entire cities, towns, parks, and fields across the United States. As everyone knows, events like Lollapalooza, Lockn’, and Bonnaroo follow in the grand tradition of the Woodstock Music & Art Fair held in August of 1969. That’s when a dairy farmer from Bethel, New York, named Max Yasgur opened his pastures to half a million unwashed flower children and hippie-wannabes.

“The Piano Drop definitely started Woodstock. In our own minds, of course.”

Groups of African People Celebrating
Groups of African People Celebrating

Actually, Woodstock was not the first outdoor festival to feature multiple bands over several days performing on a stage set up out in the middle of a farmer’s field. In fact, the organizers of Woodstock may well have taken their cue from the Sky River Rock Festival and Lighter Than Air Fair, held over Labor Day weekend of 1968, a full year earlier. At Sky (short for Skykomish) River, some 20,000 people descended on Betty Nelson’s organic raspberry farm in Sultan, Washington, to turn on, frolic naked in the mud, and tune into the music of 20 or so bands and performers, playing everything from folk and blues to jazz and rock. A young Richard Pryor was there (his debut comedy album would be released that November), as was the Grateful Dead, whose unscheduled appearance on the last day of the festival was as big a surprise to the concert’s exhausted and bewildered promoters as it was to the appreciative crowd.Whether Woodstock would have happened without Sky River is, of course, anybody’s guess, but Sky River absolutely would not have happened without an even less-heralded event called the Piano Drop, a one-day Dadaist spectacle held on April 28, 1968, in a tiny town (its population was just 455) northeast of Seattle called Duvall.

As the name of the event suggests, the Piano Drop featured a dropped piano (which organizers hoped would land on a specially prepared wood pile with a resounding crash), plus music byCountry Joe and the Fish. Depending on whom you talk to, at least 3,000 and as many as 5,000 people showed up for this experiment in sonic mayhem.

The Piano Drop definitely started Woodstock. In our own minds, of course.
-Tim Cook
The “official” history of the Piano Drop, as chronicled by the late writer, artist, and political activist Walt Crowley in “Rites of Passage: A Memoir of the Sixties in Seattle,” credits artists and musicians Gary Eagle and Larry Van Over (aka Jug, for the jug band he played in) for the idea. Everyone agrees on that, but exactly what inspired them is tougher to pin down. According to Crowley, Van Over and Eagle were listening to a radio show one night when the station aired a recording of 200 “revelers” dismantling/destroying a piano with sledge hammers. Apparently, wrote Crowley, the two friends were disappointed with the “aural experience” and thought they could do better.

“It was, like, a happening, you know?” says Joe McDonald today. “We didn’t do a lot of artsy happening things,” he adds, “but I was personally open to all sorts of crazy kinds of ideas, so I wouldn’t have objected to that.”

Amazing beach for relaxing
Amazing beach for relaxing

That may be true, but today, almost half a century later, Gary Eagle says it was only part of the story. “Well,” he begins, “it was a few things. We were hauling a piano through the Central District of Seattle one time and it fell off the truck. We thought that it sounded kind of cool when it hit the pavement. So we were playing the piano one night, trying to figure out how to replicate all the noises. We were pretty loaded, but we decided that if we dropped it, it would make this huge boom, and that would really be cool. So we went around Seattle trying to find a hall that would let us drop a piano in it. But they wouldn’t do it, especially when it was a bunch of crazy hippies asking. So we decided, hell, Larry has this piece of property out in Duvall, we’ll just do it there.”

Haries’ enthusiasm for cooking is infectious, his altruism unwavering. His sweaters are loud, colorful woolen garments that match in eccentricity the animal-themed hats he often wears to lighten the mood. His soup-of-the-day is served in styrofoam tumblers and includes local vegetables and spices he brought from his home in Kuala Lampur. Bringing a smile, along with some hot tea and soup, has become his simple daily mission.

1. Good places for weekend

“I need more cumin!” he shouts out above the chaos as traumatized refugees arrive on the beach. Volunteers from around the world frantically tend to dazed families, wrapping them in emergency blankets. In Arabic, mothers scream out for their children — the first to be given and grabbed off the boats — terrified they will disappear in the confusion. Everyone is cold, their clothes saturated and stuck against shivering skin.

Amazing Huge Building looks like a horse
Amazing Huge Building looks like a horse

Since then, he’s seen the horrors of the Aegean first hand, and it’s saddening he admits. But being a witness to the Greek tragedy that plays out daily on Lesbos spurs him on. The short, yet deadly passage across the Aegean Sea claims the lives of refugees regularly, seeing a recent spike since winter weather is setting in. Twenty-nine perished last Wednesday when multiple boats capsized off the island with dozens still missing and bodies washing ashore daily.

“We’re not talking about numbers, we’re not talking about benefits, we’re talking about another human being, that looks like you, that has the same heart, the same red blood, trying to make it to safety,” he says.

  • Van Over and Eagle were listening to a radio
  • History of the Piano Drop
  • exactly what inspired them is tougher
  • Gary Eagle says it was only part

On slower days, Haries ferries home-made brownies through the cafes that stay open late to cater to the constant stream of volunteers maintaining a presence in the small fishing village at the crux of Europe’s refugee crisis. Lesbos island alone has received well more than 200,000 refugees this year, passing through after fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and beyond.

“You know, there is something about food that is comforting,” Haries said. “Food is always hope and I just want to give hope to people. That’s the most important thing in life.”

You may also read!

안성시 여성창업의 성지를 위한 첫발을 내딛다, ‘안성시 꿈마루’ 개소

안성시는 5월 2일 여성비전센터 1층에 여성창업 지원 공간 ‘안성시 꿈마루’를 개소했다. 이날 개소식에는 김보라 안성시장과 안정열 안성시의회 의장, 경기도 고용평등과장, 도의원 등 관계자 30여 명이 참석했다. ‘꿈마루’는 경기도가 도내 여성의 창업 활성화를 위해 시군별로 조성 중인 여성창업 지원 공간이다. 안성시는 고양, 화성, 파주 등에 이어 일곱 번째로 꿈마루를 개소하게 됐다. 특히 육아와 돌봄 등으로 경력이 단절된 여성이 창업에 도전할 수 있도록 실질적인 기반을 제공한다는 점에서 의미가 크다. 안성시 꿈마루는 공용 사무공간, 교육실, 토론실, 상품 촬영실 등 다양한 공간으로 구성됐다. 창업 상담과 교육, 예비창업자 간 교류, 창업 동아리 운영, 무상점포 ‘꿈마차’ 임대사업 등 다각적인 지원 프로그램도 함께 운영된다. 이를 통해 창업 구상부터 실행까지 단계별 맞춤형 서비스를 제공하게 된다. 꿈마루의 모든 시설은 꿈마루 누리집(dreammaru.or.kr)에 회원가입한 후 이용할 수 있다. 회의실, 촬영실 등 개별 공간은 예약을 통해 무료로 대여 가능하며, 창업 준비 여성이라면 누구나 상담과 교육 프로그램에 참여할 수 있다. 안성시는 꿈마루를 통해 여성의 경제 활동 진입 장벽을 낮추고, 창업으로의 전환을 촉진함으로써 지역 내 여성 일자리 생태계를 확대할 계획이다. 안성시 관계자는 “안성시 꿈마루는 단순한 공간 제공을 넘어, 여성이 경제활동 주체로 도약할 수 있도록 실질적인 지원을 제공하는 창업지원 공간”이라며 “앞으로도 다양한 창업 지원 프로그램을 통해 여성 창업 생태계를 활성화해 나가겠다”고 말했다. 오경섭 기자

Read More...

용인특례시, 21일 올해 첫 일자리박람회…270명 채용

용인특례시, 21일 올해 첫 일자리박람회…270명 채용 용인미르스타디움 2층 데크 광장서…반도체·물류·생산 등 총 50개 기업 참여 – 용인특례시(시장 이상일)는 오는

Read More...

평택시 “미국발 관세 불확실성은 여전” … 지원책 마련에 총력

평택시 “미국발 관세 불확실성은 여전” … 지원책 마련에 총력 정부‧경기도 지원사업 관내 기업에 적극 홍보 14일 코트라와 비상경제협의체 회의

Read More...

Leave a reply:

Your email address will not be published.

Mobile Sliding Menu