'Freedom's Orator,' by Robert Cohen Sep 24, 2009
He was also the progenitor of a radical style that would be borrowed and adapted by Abbie Hoffman of the Yippies and Mark Rudd of the Students for a Democratic Society ... Jonah Raskin is the author of "For the Hell of It: The Life and Times of Abbie Hoffman," and a professor at Sonoma State University. (San Francisco Chronicle)
'Inappropriate' NEA Conference Call; White House Pushes New Guidelines... Sep 23, 2009
So take heart libs and progressives (not that you're worried, but in case you, like me, have family or friends that don't get out much and think like the wingnuts) as Kevin puts it: "... there's good news here for liberals: if this is the direction Breitbart and Glenn Beck and the rest of the crew are going, they'll soon be taken about as seriously as Abbie Hoffman and the Yippies. The first stunt is kind of cool. The second one, not so much. The third one is a yawn. There's just no there there.... (The Drudge Report)
The Mysteries Behind Society's Most Famous Suicides Sep 15, 2009
Or that Abbie Hoffman was watching his favorite film, The Godfather, as he swallowed a fatal dose of whiskey and barbiturates. Or that when the police departed and she was finally left alone with her dead husband's corpse Courtney Love dipped her hands in Kurt Cobain's blood before eerily washing a piece of his blown-out skull. (Time.com)
Movies about radicals have not always had a radical effect on viewers Sep 6, 2009
Turning the transcripts of the landmark 1968 court case into an animated documentary reenactment may be a tad theatrical - but Abbie Hoffman would approve. Hank Azaria provides the voice of the Yippie prankster and Roy Scheider plays Judge Julius Hoffman, cluelessly turning the 10 activist defendants into counterculture martyrs. (Boston Globe)
Kerouac's unintended legacy? A legal limbo Aug 16, 2009
Contrary to the belief of '60s radicals like Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, who thought him a hopeless redneck, Kerouac actually opposed the Vietnam War. But his reason for opposing it was unique - he claimed it was "a conspiracy between the North and South Vietnamese to get American jeeps.". (San Francisco Chronicle)
Some weeds in the garden Aug 15, 2009
In the midst of a post-midnight set by The Who, Abbie Hoffman strode onto the stage and tried to make a speech. In response, Who guitarist Pete Townsend raised his guitar and bonked Hoffman on the head. (Albany Times Union)
Woodstock: How Does It Sound 40 Years Later? Aug 15, 2009
At least the Who so enchanted with the vibe that Pete Townshend bonked a speechifying Abbie Hoffman on the head and wrote "Won't Get Fooled Again" in the concert's wake come off as professional. Not passionate, but professional. (Time.com)
What's not being celebrated Aug 14, 2009
Leftist radical Abbie Hoffman even wrote a book about the festival that declared there were two Americas: the sex-drugs-and-rock 'n' roll crowd of Woodstock Nation, and everybody else, Pig Nation. The-People-and-The Pigs dichotomy was a common one in 1960s radical politics, a literal dehumanization of political opponents even before Hoffman's tirade had already reached terrifying proportions. (Juneau Empire)
Young Israeli settlers go hippie? Far out, man! Aug 10, 2009
"The kind of hippie that I'm talking about is Abbie Hoffman. We stand up to aggression.". Clashes predicted. (Christian Science Monitor -- World)
* The enduring appeal of Woodstock Aug 9, 2009
Politicos like Abbie Hoffman, who is widely credited with coining the phrase Woodstock Nation, wanted to claim Woodstock as a symbol of resistance to repression. But Pete Townshend batted Hoffman off the stage with a guitar when Hoffman interrupted the Whos set to protest the imprisonment, for drug possession, of a fellow activist, John Sinclair. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
Greene: Beer won't heal this wound Aug 4, 2009
Many of the marquee players from the famous Democratic convention -- Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin from the dissenters, the first Mayor Richard Daley from the city, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley from the national media that spread the pictures -- are dead. And the former police officers who were approaching the front door of the lodge. (CNN -- US)
Review: Two books about Woodstock bring readers back to Yasgur’s farm Aug 2, 2009
He relies on about 110 sources some living (David Crosby, Paul Kantner) and others dead (Jerry Garcia, Abbie Hoffman) to take readers back to Yasgur s farm in Bethel when the s - hit the fan (or, in some cases, when the fans hit the s - ). Fornatale s belief is that you didn t have to be at Woodstock to be at Woodstock, and his mighty task here is to weave the recollections to prove that paradox. (La Crosse Tribune, WI)
Woodstock revisited ... 40 years later Jul 26, 2009
Leading concert promoter Bill Graham didn't want them cutting into his business, and Yippie leader Abbie Hoffman was extorting money from them for co-opting a hippie culture that he seemed to think he owned. Beyond that, there were a multitude of details involved with managing the money, booking the bands (the Who and the Grateful Dead wanted cash up front), constructing the stage, fences and other buildings, and trying to hire security after the New York police withdrew its support. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA)
Obscenity, Belly Laughs and a Sacre... Jul 23, 2009
In the 1960s Paul Krassner dropped acid with Tim Leary, conspired with Abbie Hoffman and thumbed his nose at J. Edgar Hoover ... Paul Krassner, Yippie co-founder, iconoclastic journalist, counterculture leader, stand-up comic, pal of Abbie Hoffman and Lenny Bruce, social satirist, publisher of The Realist and, some might say, pornographer, was reading from his latest book at a Napa wine shop recently ... He founded the Yippies along with Abbie Hoffman, dropped LSD with Tim Leary, Ram Dass and... (Suite101.com)
Back to Yasgur’s farm Jul 19, 2009
He rented Yasgur s farm for $50,000 and appeased radical activist Abbie Hoffman with $10,000 to set up a printing press for political pamphlets on site, though no political discussions were allowed on stage. Lang does a fine job of recreating the crazed spontaneity of the weekend. (Boston Globe)
The glory days of the rock of Boston Jul 18, 2009
Given Boston s role as a cultural and political crossroad in the 1960s, virtually every major political, social, and musical figure from that era crossed paths with the city, and with WBCN. Activist Abbie Hoffman was a station regular; John Lennon talked politics with the station s News Dissector, Danny Schechter; Jane Fonda announced her Indochina Peace Campaign on the WBCN airwaves; and Duane Allman and Jerry Garcia jammed on acoustic guitars on-air until late into the night. A 23-year-old... (Boston Globe -- Editorial)
Paul Krassner: Button-pusher redefines obscene Jul 16, 2009
As an omnipresent figure in the '60s, he edited Lenny Bruce's autobiography, "How to Talk Dirty and Influence People," took LSD with Timothy Leary (and introduced it to Groucho Marx), rode with Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters, co-founded a political party with Abbie Hoffman and started a magazine with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. He currently writes columns for High Times magazine and the online magazine Adult Video News. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Entertainment)
Tuesday Trivia: Rock 'N' Roll Urb... Jul 14, 2009
Pete Townshend smashed Abbie Hoffman over the head with his guitar at Woodstock. And here's a rumor to keep the rockers alive (we can't bust the entire bubble, now can we. (New York Post -- Entertainment)
Good Luck With That May 30, 2009
A lot of middle-aged and younger conservatives seem to have completely absorbed the liberal counterculture values of the 60s to the point where their ideal man isn t John Wayne or Ted Williams, it s a right wing version of Abbie Hoffman and the other loudmouth boors of that era. Mike. (The American Conservative)
Past Picks: Chicago 10’ rates a solid 8 Apr 28, 2009
These protests were loosely organized by a handful of college activists and other social advocates such as Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, Bobby Seale and David Dellinger. Hundreds of thousands gathered, mostly in Grant Park, and most (if not all) would have been content to stay there. (La Crosse Tribune, WI)
Is Notre Dame Still Catholic? Apr 1, 2009
To paraphrase Abbie Hoffman s takedown of some 1960 s Indian fakir; Notre Dame truly is a Catholic University, but it s just the kind of University that Catholicism deserves. Since abortion became a national issue after Roe v. Wade, national-level Catholic politicians in the Democratic party (which is their ancestral home) have either been on the wrong side of it or so tepid in their opposition to it that they had might as well favor it. (The American Conservative)
Inside Politics Weekend: Peace porridge cold Mar 29, 2009
Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin with a parade permit. But hey, everybody's welcome. (Insight on the News)
R. Crumb on display at Mass. Art Feb 25, 2009
The most recognizable piece of Crumb's work is his legendary "Keep on Truckin'" illustration, which was even replicated by 1960's radical Abbie Hoffman in his how-guide for the underground, "Steal this Book.". Crumb's work is an unabashed embodiment of the counterculture, skewering everything from sex, the establishment, to the clich;s found in other comics. (The Suffolk Journal, MA)
Book review: Toward 2012, Perspectives on the Next Age Feb 10, 2009
The best thing here is a two-decade-old interview with Abbie Hoffman, recorded a few months before his death in 1989. His corsucating, menschlike good humor makes you realize what's missing in this book. (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
