Where's the Beef ???

Today I was reminescing within my mind and an old commercial came to light...

A old automobile drives up to a fast-food drive-in window and places an order. When they are given their order, one of the old ladies opens her sack and opens her hamburger sandwich to reveal the contents ... a button-sized piece of cooked meat ... and she says ... "Where's The Beef ?"

This started a whole wave of fad and fabulous commercials of "Where's the Beef?"

So ... today, with that memory fresh in mind ... I ask ...

Where's The Beef ???

I would like to know:

1. whats bothering you as Older Hippies in relation to this forum ("Old Hippies")?
2. are you unhappy because certain folk have been frequenting this forum ("Old Hippies") lately?
3. assuming a problem exists, what suggestions can you give or offer to fix it, or at least make it more comfortable for you to participate?

perhaps you can suggest other questions we should be asking ourselves and the path that leads to a cessation of the source of discomfort!

Obviously a problem does exist as I'm just now beginning to read the opinion of one or several folk who are displeased and/or unhappy.

So, now the board is open ... let's talk ...

And don't give me any of this ... it's too late for that ... it's never too late ... even if all the older hippies of two years ago dropped out today, it's still never too late ...

So ... come on ... let's talk ...

Where's The Beef ???

Darrell

 

For the time being, I've temporarily un-stickied the two threads Usless Information and Quote of the Day until this thread has a chance to go somewhere.

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Okay. I'll go first. Only the people who are Problems to the site aren't welcome in THIS, The "Old Hippies" forum. Otherwise, I can only speak for myself, Darrell. I havo no problems with ANYONE who posts in here no matter the persons age. We consider "UnionPacificRailroad" (Josh) to be one of us. Myself, I welcome the younger people because I figure they are in here for two reasons. To learn something or share something. And To start crap. If it's the latter, I just ignore them and they usually just Go Away.

 

Same here, no problem with anyone posting here and I'm old enough to ignore threads, I don't like. I think the main problem is, that hipforums are becoming bigger and bigger and because you have only a limited time, you can't be everywhere. There are all this private forums of people, who posted regular here, for the non-US-people here are language-specific forums, but overall, this community is alive and growing. A few weeks ago. I had a similar thought, like where is the beef? I thought, where is our moderator, long time not seen here, I did a search and saw, Darrel ist still posting here, but not in OldHippies, same with a lot of other people, who posted regular here in the old forum. I think, there is some kind of cycle here for coming up of the same old themes again and again, most jokes are allready made and new themes not in sight. What we need here is a central action to use the possibilties, this kind of information-exchange offers to us, coordinated actions of people from all over the world, to stop agression, pollution and so on, but, on the other side, forums for this exist allready elsewhere here.
I hope, this thread helps to get more action in this forum.

 

As has been mentioned by MattInVegas and Southernman, the problems get bored with no one fighting them and they return to the rock they crawled out from under.
Life cycles around and around, ebbs and flows. Perhaps we are at low tide.

 

from another old has been, having been there - and I'm saying I told yah so darrell - don't take it personal.
People will always be unhappy - boil it down and it's at themselves
This forum is doing fine.
You are doing a good job
Unlike some may think, a good moderator is not so obvious - does their job, and let's the forum take itself where it may.
I mean this is not your personal forum, you should not be expected to interact greatly here - and those who think you should, tend to want someone to argue with anyway.

So do people think a moderator should be the main moving force in the forum they moderate ? Did you know that moderators have their own personal forums where they can be their own little tin gods if this was their desire ? - Me I'm real happy we have moderators so self-effacing and - well - moderate.

Hey you all have a good time - even the lurkers sometime come out from under the rocks to bask in the company - even when they don't have much to say...

 

Seems to be the consensus across the board. No forum wants Problems, but you have the solution ... don't feed a fire the fuel and it goes out ... ehh? ... "If it's the latter, I just ignore them and they usually just Go Away."

That may be, however, I think there is something else ... more like a boil is to a sore ... the sore will never go away until the core is removed. We see the sore as being the main problem, when it's kinda deeper than that

Tell me if I'm wrong, but I kinda got the feeling that it's like the Older Hippies want the Old Hippies forum to return to the state it was when it was just that Old Hippies ... am I anywhere close? A place where they gathered as a group or clique for people their own age !!! Where those who were the original and real hippies of the era can congregate and say ... "Hey, I was there, I was a hippy" and everyone else who was there knew they were ... well ... unpretentious ... not ... well ... I cringe at using this word ... posers !!!

Yeah, it's easy to ignore. But the more you ignore, the less you post. The less you post, the more you long for the days when you posted two, three, four times a day or more and it was fun.

Yeah, that's what I think. I think you (not just you Southernman and MIV, but everyone of the Old Hippies genre over the age of 45, 50+) miss the Old Hippies forum as being for just Old Hippies.

Aye ! I agree. Life is like that. Changes from one moment to the next. Even the universe is like that, collapses and expands. The seasons go through that every year. Humans have going through it for as long as the Universe itself has existed (not just this time around either). And it will continue doing so, even against our wishes and against all our efforts to prevent it. It's just a painful process full of unhappiness and suffering if you resist it.

Not in the least.

Aye ! I agree, again.

I moderate the Philosophy and Religion forum also ... Philo ward as Meagain is fond of calling it. I post all the time there. Reasons, if anyone is interested, is because I do have to moderate that forum vigilantly. If I leave it for a moment, my personal e-mail is flooded with complaints about the intollerance and fighting going on ... the thread hijackings ... the off-topic posts. The P&R demands my attention. However, the OH forum is another story. No one has sent me e-mails or PMs on this or that or any such business that required my attention.

What's the old saying ... the squeaky wheel gets the grease ... Where'd the squeak go here? I never heard it.

So I figured the OH forum was doing quite well on its own. The one time I did see something going on I was not even a moderator then and it was something Sam was going through at the time and she needed someone to take it out on ... so there I was right in the middle of it ... hook-line-and sinker.

Well, here I am now ... I'm intersted in listening cause I'm sure gonna look the shelf over for the right grease ...

It's also time for the Lurkers to come out for a moment and talk ...

Come on folks ... where's the ones who have said "I've just about had my fill of all the Bull Shit that one must endure inorder to post in the Old Hippies forum". If you don't provide some input, it won't ever change.

I'm all ears ... literally ... I'm all ears ... and well ... if you don't feel comfortable talkin with me, there's two other Forum Moderators here ... Peace-Phoenix and StellaBlue. Although I haven't seen much of Stella since February.

Darrell

 

Hi Darrell and everyone:

I have been guilty lately of what has been the only sad point I feel from the forum and that is that I haven't been coming around as much.
As I was telling a friend here today...we had to deal with a fire, and then 2 deaths in the family in the past month or so....also Larry is trying not to go back to work out of town this spring and we are doing what we can to make money so he can stay home...

I have no problems with anyone, I enjoy all opinions and conversation even when I don't agree. I am only sad when I don't see alot of the old regulars coming around much.
As I told Sam (well maybe she saw it after she left) in her forum,when I do come in there are so many new names and less and less of the old one's and I have lost so many people in my life that it just makes me feel sad.

But this is the best forum in cyber space as far as I'm concerned. I have made so many friends here and you were all here when I was alone all week and needed some connection.
I have alot of friends I met here that I talk to outside the forum and have sent packages to and gotten packages from, I've sold art to and I have a few of the youngins who have actually written to me on actual paper using an actual pen...haha.All this has meant the world to me and I am so grateful to Skip for providing this for us all.

I have gone into threads where there were problems with a few posters and have seen them make a great turn around and realize that they do have a place here and they don't need to show off or show their ass to be heard. I have seen younger people grow so much here. And some of the older ones too...haha

So the only thing I see lacking is the time I spend here, But it is an ebb and flow thing...and sometimes we have to make the time for things we find important because if we don't ..time slips away.
If you support the forums....support the forums. Peck out a few words every week or so and let us all know you're around. Or whats going on with you, or what the dog did with your favorite whatever or what pisses you off.

Love to every single one of you,
teepi

 

Darrell,

I just found this forum. Nothing to be depressed about. The posts from the teenagers give me a good feeling. It's a brave new world (Steve Miller go'in thru my head) of kids out there. My son is 18 in the thick of it. He votes. He is tuned in to alternative radio. So are the other young adults in his dorm, and if this war goes on too much longer, they're going to take it to the streets again. I'll look forward to the new music which grows from THAT! They need our support because big brother isn't going away any time soon.

the other Darrell (spelled like all the great left-handed pitchers)

 

OLD HIPPIES FORUM?

That's what the sign on the door say's. But,its not the reality.This forum has become a play ground for any and every youngster who wishes to enter. My patients are not endless. My ideology of caring and sharing is not without its limits. This forum is quickly becoming an intellectual graveyard. Filled with immature posts from teenagers and young adults.This forum is for the elders who went to Woodstock and to Vietnam. There are even a few of us here who lived in the Haight for a time and wish to reach out to others with similar experiences and to hopefully continue living the lifestyle we created out of our dreams and ideas many years ago.

For the most part,this forum should be for those who have paid there dues and raised there children. And need a place to go and exchange thoughts,opinions and ideas with others of our own age. I doubt very much,if there is one elder here who can say I have not done enough to help the young people who have come here over the years. In truth, I have given hundreds of dollars of my own money and countless hours of my own time in helping those in need who have come here seeking support during the last four years. And,in return,I have asked for nothing. I have no real problem with young people coming here who are sincere. But my patients have been worn thin by the constant stream of nonsense contained in the ever increasing thoughtless posts. Perhaps the fault lies with me? I am known to have a very low tolerance for B.S.

 

You can't do it on stage anymore.

Let's be honest, even in the old forum, two, three years ago, there was only a handfull of people posting regulary here before the server crash happened one year ago and some people didn't return to the new forum. From one day to anpther all the still living threads were gone and are now only some content of the archieves. The problem isn't, that a lot of youngers are posting here, the problem is, that a lot of us elders are not using computers. For the USA, if you count the several hundred thousand people at woodstock and all the rest elswhere in the USA, there are just 10/15 people posting here from million hippie-minded people in the 60ies/70ies. Same for the german forum here, 2 old people and the rest 10/15 teens and twens, nearly the same in 2 german Hippie Forums by counting several 10.000 people here at Germany in the old days.
Getting back the old forum isn't possible, it was a selfgrowing thing, feed by a handfull of people, it's up to us elders to revitalize this forum.

 

In the younger days of the hip forums...... ahh nostalgia - ain't that what we old hippies do best - talk of the old days.
Back then the subjects were new - and human nature looks to the life of the one living it - having talked about a subject - even those dear to our hearts - after many replies and several threads we kinda feel like the subject is done. And then when we turn around it's a whole new group of people and sometimes we just don't want to sound like a broken record - remember those old vinyls that used to skip and repeat the same lyrics over and over ?

Traditionally in many cultures the aging population move their attention to the spirit. Deathis not so far away as it used to be and we've seen friends and loved ones cross over - to where ? ... And what's this all about Alphie ?
Many of the older hippies who still follow the thread of their youth were even in the old days seekers of deeper meanings - trying to find more coherent reasons and methods than those that had been passed down to us - for too many the ways of yore had become tainted by the blind following the blind - and we wanted the blinders off !
So we experimented with mind altering drugs trying to peer under the rug of reality - trying to find the method of the mad weaver - does it make sense - is there a purpose ?

And that my friends was a grand adventure - loosing the holds of years of habits taken on only because those before us had practiced living and thinking in that mind set.
But as time wore us down we found the adventure had some tedium to it and we relaxed our vigilance of not us - we won't go that way - we will light the fires of truth seeking and guard them well. Kids came along - and we had to provide for them. Society had the cage all set up with the wheel for those needing money, the green stored energy used for exchange of goods and services. And the greed mongers baited the trap with what they knew all parents wanted - what was best for their children.Unfortunately too many of us forgot to look for new ways and put on the bracelets of not following your dreams and found a terrible time of dream walking in life become nightmarish - by our own hands - and because of that an unwillingness to look too closely at what our lives had become and where they were headed - could it be that the change we had sought to bring was wasted upon those who called for it - did we forget to nurture the fires if Change ?
Yup you bet - and now the cycle repeats - as ever they do and though sometimes something new slips through....
But the rebels of old are growing old and their kids are grown - so now what excuse have we that we do not follow our hearts ?
And some of us are giving ourselves permission to re-awaken to what was once so precious - freedom of the mind and the courage to follow our hearts.
The old daze this was the talk - that we would make a new Way. Now the young look to those that DID bring Change to the world - so much that the generation was known for that - and they come asking - how to make Change.
Shall we forget that even in our days of youth there were the older people in the guise of the professor, the beatnick, the older rebels cast out by society, that helped us. Better not - so sometimes we must take a deep breath and go deeper and be there for the youth of today even though they be so callow - as of course we were not (yeah...right - not !)
And back when I was moderating this board the We without the 1 after the name (no offense intended) berated me when I complained that the forum was being over run by the young and the olders were leaving because of it. I left off moderating the forum because I recognized that I was wrong - yet still wished that it was just us oldsters (never did think of myself that way - yuck !) could wax furios about what was and maybe even what could be.
But it's always in the hands of those that continue after those that were active slow down. So Help those who follow - their numbers are nowhere near as stong as ours were. And yeah there are a lot of posers in this new generation - you going to tell me there weren't a lot during our day ?

Shit - I apologize for the length... let me go sit under that rock and drop the temperatures that the spring sun stirred up to action.
One last thing though - a lot of us oldsters were new to the computer and the net when the forums started - and now ...s many recognize that this is cyber space and does not often square with the reality outside of the screen. I mean what HAPPENS from our being here - does the outside reality change.
Yeah we still need to get together and talk - but god wouldn't it be refreshing to see us getting together to actually DO something too ? and after years of hot air even the green grass wilts and fades
Hey It's Spring wake up ... another year given to us to make of it what we will.
So what excuse shall we give ourselves for not doing that which our hearts call for - or have we conveniently become deaf to our inner promptings ?

Too often words not followed by action leaves those partaking little choice but to go seek elsewhere for the Changes they Know are needed.... Talk not brought into Action in your personal life increases global warming LOL

All right I shut up, someone else please grab that talking stick before I start a new paragraph

Love to all of you
Be the Being you want to Be
Blessings on your Way

 

Ack !!!

No Guilts ... please !!!

This is not about guilt. It's about dissatisfaction, and how we can change it. And if we can't change it, then how we can live with it. And if we can't live with it then how we can tolerate it while still trying to make meaninful and useful contributions.

This forum kinda reminds me of home ... remember those days ... before the kids ... when the wife would wake up and make coffee? You'd smell the brew, get up and go sit in the kitchen and you'd both just sit there sipping the morning away. It was quite then. The kitchen would be dimly lit ... not too much light, you just woke up.

Then came the kids. Getting up for that morning coffee became a habit to wake up before the kids so you get that extra umphhh energy you needed just to deal with those dynamyte packages still in the crib.

Slowly waneing are the days of peace and quiet ...

Now the kids are no longer kids, but teenagers. For those lucky enough to have more than one, there's the rivelry ... screaming, bickering, fighting ... hurry off to school ... eat your breakfast ... grab one running for the door and say "Oh no your not ... eat!!!"

Hustle, bustle ... oh, how we long for the days of peace and quiet of just sitting there in the mornings ... just me and her (or just me and him). Sipping that first cup of coffee in the mornings ... "Hey!" you yell, "Stop picking on your sister!" as the screaming interrupts your reminiscing ...

Well ... the kids are not grown up here yet and moved off to college.

That's what this forum reminds me of ... home with ma and pa ... sure we can be the grouchy grandparents and tell our own kids who have kids of their own not to let them stay here. But even grandparents miss out on the joy of bringing up grandchildren ... so what now?

The parents/grandparents sit at home now. Wake up early in the mornings, thinking "Ahhhhh... quiet at last!". Sitting there drinking that first sip of morning coffee, looking at each other and wondering how it all went by so fast ... and ... God forbid ... missing the hustle and bustle of kids running around the house (forum) in the morning ...

One day ... they will become you!

Like you teaching your kids the rights and wrongs of day-to-day living. Hopeing they will not make the same mistakes you did (for those who entertain these kind of thoughts) you try to tell them in the stories you tell of what it was like when you were their age.

Everyone makes a contribution in one way or another ...

You're either known as the "sourpus" ... "grouch" ... "wise one" ... "friend" ... "partner" ... "equal" ... "kind sage" ... whatever word fancies your imagination. Probably the same words we have for our own parents and grandparents, ehh??

Ahh hah ...

I was thinking the very same thing ... I remember that WE back then also ... hanging out in the Young Hippies forum with help and assistance ...

_____________________________________

Gone are the days ...

The kids, they are a growing up ...

Peace and quiet is only an illusion we long for like the dream we had last night ... Going back to sleep is not going to bring that same dream back ... if anything it will only atrophy your life away.

But you can make tonights dream as good as or better than the one last night ...

I'm not gonna get all religious and explain this but let me say ... Karma has a way of working out ... it always does ... it always will ... you put in good karma, you get good karma in return ... likewise with the bad ...

Stay frosty for those hot steamy nights ...

Darrell

 

I have a question ...


If it were possible, and I'm not gonna commit to anything by saying it is ... but if it were possible to separate the teenagers from the Old Hippies by creating a new sub-forum ... what would you name it?

Geezers Gazette

Query the Old Ones

Sages Corner

Ask

Ask the Oldies

What Do You Want

Ask Pa

Ask Ma

Ask the Old Hippies

Oldies Corner

____________________________

Suggestions ?!?!?!?

Darrell

 

Understandably ...

It's the whole change thing. Some people don't like change. They become complacent, comfortable in the way things are ...

I know I don't like change. You get use to the way things are and you want them to stay that way. I for one didn't like the way I had to relearn the "New" forum all over again. It was way too complicated. It didn't even look the same. I wanted it back the way it was ...

One thing being Buddhist has taught me ... change is inevitable. Change is the nature of reality. We cling to it every moment of our lives and we suffer because of the clinging ... like hanging on to old rotting corpses, if you can't take the smell then let go of it and let it rot without holding on to it.

Let change happen without holding on to it. It becomes less painful, less sorrowful, not quite so full of despair ...

We exist because of change ... it happens all around us. We are no longer the same people we were back 40 years ago, 20 years ago, last year, last month, yesterday, the moment that just passed ... we change with each passing moment and clinging to those moments only bring sorrow, pain, grief, despair, lamentation ... Oops ... I'm preaching ...

Here's where I'm reminded of the words that I pass on to everyone ... words from Old_Crone (compadre of Oldwolf) ... We are the choices that we make. If there ever was a key to a successful life, those words have to be it.

I like the forums the way they are now. We can do things we never even dreamed of in the last forums format. But, it too will change ... for the better, or for the worse, it's all on how much we cling to it or not cling to it ...

Karma ... the only companion we carry with us that will never leave ...

Darrell

 

OOPs

Correction
oldwolf is Not married
I yam what I yam - an autonomous individual
Old_crone is a Workmate - a compadre
It is hard to find people of like Mind - and often it seems that people of like mind have a closer than normal working relationship - many tend to think we are married - we are not - never have been.
We Do Work together to help each other and others Grow - As we do with others

 

there are no old hippies

 

Soon as I wipe away the egg that hardens quickly around the yolk I'll say ...


Oops ... there ... Now aren't I the embarassed one ...

Oh well ... you two do seem to be a married couple ... work-mates ...

I've often wondered if spending more than 8 hours of my waking day at work doesn't make this home. 45minutes walking to work, 8hours(+) at work, 45minutes walking home, 6:15pm to 9:30pm sitting in front of the computer, time for bed, up at 4-4:30am, out the door by 5:30am on my way to work ... might as well call it home, and everyone in it brothers and sisters ... we're all in the same boat together, day-in-day-out. Struggling together to make a living just so we can be in each others company all day long ...

Sorry for the misunderstanding ...

Here in Kentucky we have Common-Law Marriage ... live with her long enough and your considered married ...

I know, I know ... you're working, not livin ...

Darrell

 

When I first came to the forums a few months ago, after spending yrs in places looking for a connection to the ones that had shared a similar lifestyle and like beliefs.
Living in the woods so far from the hussle and bussel I get to feeling a bit isolated. It's mostly Redneck out here and me the only Hippie for a hundred miles(ones that were there). I joined sites and forums, but I never felt like I was learning or teaching in them. When I came here and saw the Old Hippies site I tought YES!! finely a place for me. I'm an Old Hippie. Hell Yeah. I brought the only gifts I had and laid them on the kitchen table for all to share and feast upon. I asked only for a place, a home, somewhere I could go and relate my experiences and hear others share theirs, and Perhaps find some of my OLD Family from The Haight, and So. Cali.
I only wanted to be accepted. I came for the LOVE LOVE LOVE. I never dreamed I would cause friction and be attacked for spreading Love and Healing. I like a variaty of subjects and have questions about them, I put them out there for discussion and try to find answers in others ideas. Yes I got flamed and blasted to the core. I was stomped up one side and down the other. Yet I remained. There was work to be done. There were the ones that did relate to me. There WAS love here for me. I stayed for them. Be they young, be they OLD. The younguns are the future. What WE can teach them will help them decide how things should be in that future. The future that our grandchildren will face. What we tried and where we failed or conquerd
I see a lot of posts/threads in the OHF that have been addressed over and over and it does get tiresome answering the same questions. A sugestion for the younguns: Maybe going through the old posts/threads before you start a new one that may have already been addressed would be a good idea.
I have been learned to ignore a lot of things that are said to me, not saying it don't sting, but I try to look at it as a learning porcess, and probably my own karma. I still care about them, the ones that what to do me harm or make me leave here, and pray for them to find the light. I pray for myself to find the light too.
I think the thing about not getting along is that this is the internet and you can't see the faces of the ones here and it is easy to hit and run. Like kicking a dog. That's the cowards way of doing things, wen all is needed is a little understanding that we all live here and we are all different and have opinions that are just as valad as the next ones (that are true in the quest for knowledge and understanding).
If we oldies can't get along with ourselves, how will the younguns learn to do so.

 

I have seen: Ask the Old Hippie, somewhere before on one of the other sites I have visited. I never asked. , I didnt have a question.
But Darrell it is a good Idea. A thread in OHF that ones can post questions without starting 100 threads on the same subject.
My attitude is that I went through enough HELL in the day and I dont want to be where I will have to contenually be berated for my contibutions. I give what I have been blessed with. It's all I have.