Comments on: On The Road

By: Rick in Detroit

Rick in Detroit — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 04:23:15 +0000

WTF ? Did they let Manson out of prison ?
They look like the Charles manson auxillary leauge.
Fucking hippies. Who is passing the new red crabs ?
who is passing those crabs these days ?
Are we supposed to be impressed ?

By: jane23

jane23 — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 02:31:44 +0000

hadn’t seen all the pics until now
why do these people always own dogs?
with a rope for a collar
i guess it’s ok if you choose to be this way
some of them seem happy
i like the guy eating a banana with hot sauce
but there is not enough hot sauce in the world
to entice me to eat that possom

By: xorg

xorg — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 22:49:39 +0000

It strikes me as a tad perverse that these people have apparently adopted the hobo/vagrant/bum lifestyle as a fashion statement. Unless of course it’s some bizarre post-modernist joke.

The sweaty armpits etc of the Mothers was a by-product of their choice to be starving musicians working for Zappa! Ref: “If we’d all been living in California…” track 3 side 3 of Uncle Meat.

By: jim

jim — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 22:40:55 +0000

I rode freights once in 1986 w/ a sibling, all the way from Saskatchewan to BC & back … very dirty loud & dangerous but the fare is right.

Folks doing it in an open-bottomed car is just plain Championship-Stupid.
Got to be some meth or crack “logic” afoot there.

Soap implies water, which’s a constant plight for ANY nomad, voluntary or otherwise. Phew!

By: Paul Sempschi

Paul Sempschi — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 22:18:34 +0000

They look more like Freaks ala ‘Freak Out’ than hippies or Beats.

By: Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Barry's Imaginary Publisher — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 17:47:35 +0000

I admit “beatnik” is an overly ambitious term, and I probably shouldn’t have used it. At the same time, judging from the pictures, these people — at least some of them — do not strike me as braindead hobo’s.
They show an awareness of, a pride even perhaps in their way of living.

Oh and as for the call for “soap”, which seems to be a recurring theme in this thread’s comments: take a time-machine, travel back to NYC’s Garrick Theatre and smell some armpits. That’ll teach you a lesson or two…

By: Jeroen

Jeroen — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 16:45:26 +0000

The big question with me is always: why do people spend their last money on cigarettes?

By: SOFA - Philostopher/Chef

SOFA - Philostopher/Chef — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 15:16:59 +0000

A distinction should be made regarding the difference between Hobo & Beatnik…

By: Jamez

Jamez — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 08:49:14 +0000

Ugliness.. Ugliness!

By: Bálint

Bálint — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 08:30:51 +0000

Wow… these pictures somehow frighten me…

By: wuzza

wuzza — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 02:21:52 +0000

Didn’t anyone ever tell ya ’bout soap ‘n water, darlin’?

By: urbangraffito

urbangraffito — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 01:15:43 +0000

Hmmmm… what goes best with terminal cynicism in the morning… I’ve got it! Bacon Fat from last Friday’s boot! Yum, yum, good…

By: HairFarmer

HairFarmer — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 18:13:57 +0000

and tatoos are DEFINATELY the new MaGGSEP

By: HairFarmer

HairFarmer — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 18:13:01 +0000

My impression was more along the lines of “New American Vagrants” rather than Beatniks. To paraphrase Patton Oswaldt:

I agree with the Hippie ideal. I’m all for peace. I just want peace that smells like…

soap.

By: Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Barry's Imaginary Publisher — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 16:57:17 +0000

I love the smell of terminal cynicism in the morning!

By: jane23

jane23 — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 15:55:17 +0000

are tattoos the new mod-a-go-go-stretch-elastic pants?
film at 11:00

By: Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Barry's Imaginary Publisher — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 14:32:29 +0000

Choice or predicament? It did cross my mind…

By: Al Stone

Al Stone — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 14:04:53 +0000

‘Food gathering in post-industrial America’

By: G.

G. — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 12:52:18 +0000

I actually saw these photos a few weeks ago and did some internet sleuthing. Apparently the “Poodle-Free Montana” thing has nothing to do with FZ (at least directly). It was created by some nutty artist in Montana named Greg Leichner.