OB Time – the Old Hippie Writes

Editor: This is the first post of a regular column that the OB Rag hopes to publish weekly, “OB Time – the Old Hippie Writes”. Let us know how you feel or what  you think about it.

Hey, kids – that’s right – I am an old hippie – and here we are – in “OB Time”.

Do you know what OB Time is? If you have to ask, I guess you don’t live here. It’s why the annual Holiday Parade starts at 5:05 p.m. and not 5 sharp.

It’s reflective of how laid back OB is. We don’t care about time. We’ve dropped out of the ol’ rat race. That corporate rush-rush-rush life style is a downer, man.

OB Time is also why this here OB Rag doesn’t publish as early as its sister online partner, the San Diego Free Press. Those guys are up early and they’re done by 8 or 9 in the morning. Here, in OB, and on the OB Rag, we’re just getting started, dude.

And I was a hippie – I had long hair, smoked my share of weed, and I was around OB when it became the Haight-Ashbury of San Diego. If  you were a hippie in San Diego in the late Sixties and early Seventies,  you were in OB – or at least visited it alot.  OB was  the hippie town of this part of the world. Some say it’s where ‘the hip meets the surf’.  I was also active in OB, politically active – and in fact, we used to call ourselves not “hippies” but “freaks” and “radicals”.

So, what’s this all about? Why my own column? Well, there’s just some things that don’t get talked about, don’t get written about, which I’ll do right here. Plus, it’s a way for me to remind you of things goin’ on around this here village. Yeah, far out, man.

A couple of things got stirred up lately didn’t they? We got rain and we had an election.

The heavens opened up last weekend and gave us the most rain in a long time. But, it still wasn’t enough to get us out of this drought. And the heat this week has reminded us that, hey, we still live in a desert – and the drought ain’t up yet. November can be a dangerous month, fire-wise, so please, kids, be careful and don’t waste that water. Drink beer instead – and OB’s got a lot of damn good brew.

Okay, the election. Ugh. What a downer, dude. But elections are always mixed, some good, some bad. As long as I can remember, there’s the ying and the yang. So, what’s good, you ask?  Prop 47 passed! That is no small deal. Californians finally woke up and we’re maybe getting out of this stupid and wasteful Drug War, and the waste and costs of imprisoning human beings for stupid and small things.

Whose to blame? Can you believe the Democrats? Couldn’t even hold  on to the Senate. Their message was horrible, and they did it to themselves. How can voters get inspired by such antics of the Dems.

So, okay, these next two years will be screwed up – as the Republicans now control two branches of government – Congress and the Supreme Court. But there will be a backlash against them – watch. Don’t get demoralized by the temporary mid-term election results. And marijuana will be legalized in California in 2016.

It’s not that the pendulum will swing back – I don’t think it is a pendulum – it’s more of a spiral – but in politics as in physics, there’s always an equal and opposite reaction. The GOP will piss people off even more because they’ll show they really can’t govern a modern nation-state-empire with democratic aspirations.

Trouble in Paradise. A sad thing is happening right here in our little seaside paradise and within one of the most iconic – and famous – OB institutions: Hodad’s.  We’ve heard wind that there’s strife between Mike Hardin and Teresa who have worked at the hamburger joint for decades – and some bad blood that has led to a law suit. They’re fighting over Teresa’s status – was she an employee all these years – or was she more than that?

Terriers – On more a light note. My spouse and I have taken to watching old series of the TV show Terriers that was filmed in OB back in 2010. Now that I’m not focused on seeing the OB landmarks on video, I can follow the plots closer – and they are not bad at all – they’re great actually. You can still see them on Netflix.

Meeting to organize the float for the OB Community Plan: this upcoming Monday Nov. 10th at 6pm at Dog Beach Dogwash. We’re trying to keep the idea and issue of the Plan in front of the community – as the last hurtle is still down the road (Coastal Commission sometime in January).

OB Woman’s Club – tonight – Nov. 7th – Roaring 20s fundraiser – is really worth checking out, from 6 to 10pm.

Veterans’ Plaza fundraiser also coming up on Nov. 11th.

As we pass the joint for Larry Himmel, who passed this week, we remember with smiles his early days – first as a bartender in OB, then on the radio, later he was the hip surfer on TV. Larry worked till near the end. What a guy – he was a character, and loved for it. He definitely was unique. And he will be missed.