cannabisnews.com: The Burning Question at Woodstock '99! The Burning Question at Woodstock '99! Posted by FoM on July 27, 1999 at 10:14:36 PT Promoters Puzzled, Aghast After Music Festival End Source: Washington Post ROME, N.Y., July 26—Gusting winds scattered the clouds of smoke that hung today over the site of Woodstock '99, but the disappointment was not so easily dissipated as organizers struggled to explain why the summer's biggest music festival ended in chaos. "I'm bummed big time," promoter John Scher said this morning. "I don't know if we'll ever know why these kids did this. I really don't think there was a kid out there that wanted there to be mass destruction."The three-day festival, which drew more than 200,000 at Griffiss Park, a former air base, veered out of control Sunday night as it drew to a close.By this afternoon, the site reeked of smoke, garbage and human waste. The remains of 12 burned-out refrigeration trailers were lined up a quarter mile from the East Stage. Several of them still smoldered. A line of more than a hundred state trooper cruisers formed a barrier between the concert area and the adjacent campgrounds. No one was allowed to return to the concert site after leaving.A number of ATMs were battered during the fracas, and as of this afternoon, one bank machine was still missing.The trouble started before midnight Sunday with several impromptu bonfires lit during the Red Hot Chili Peppers' set. At first, it seemed to be another spontaneous celebration. But soon the fires raged out of control as people removed sections of the "Peace Fence" -- erected to keep gate crashers out -- and threw them into the flames. When police and firefighters attempted to put out the largest blaze, which burned along the north wall of the festival grounds, they were pelted with bottles and rocks. Festival-goers then knocked down a light tower, tipped over a car and a trailer, looted and burned vendors' booths, and then set fire to nearby trailers.Although hundreds were involved in the melee, police said they made seven arrests Sunday night. Charges included resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, petty larceny and reckless endangerment of property. Seven suspects were taken to the Oneida County jail, all of them men. Police said today that they still had not tallied the injuries, but Scher said that more people were injured Saturday night than on Sunday. The Saturday night lineup was a testosterone-driven metalfest that included the groups Limp Bizkit, Rage Against the Machine and Metallica. Limp Bizkit's set was interrupted when moshers pulled down a barrier around a sound and light tower and used the wooden planks for crowd surfing."There were no serious injuries. Thank God nobody was hurt. Thank God nobody was killed," Scher said. "It could have been tragic, and thank God that it wasn't." According to Scher, Woodstock '99 cost approximately $38 million to produce. He said it was too early to determine how the reimbursement costs for the damage and overtime hours of police and emergency services would affect the festival's finances. "At the moment it's not a profit situation," he said. Tickets for the three-day festival, whichfeatured dozens of top music acts, sold for $150 plus service charges. At a news conference today, co-promoter Michael Lang, an organizer of the original 1969 Woodstock, insisted that the mayhem that marred this year's event does not mean the end of the Woodstock anniversary concerts. "I would not condemn this crowd" because of the actions of a few, he said. "I don't think it was an anti-Woodstock statement. I think it was an anti-Establishment statement."It was not lost on anyone that Woodstock, once a symbol of the counterculture, was saved by the police. "There was a time in my life when I didn't trust anyone over 30 and thought that all cops were pigs," Scher said. "The cops here were fantastic."Kenneth Donohue, the festival's security director, defended the emphasis on protecting the stages Sunday night. "Some things are symbolic," he said. "If you lose the stage," said Lang, "then you lose the entire crowd."He also defended the decision to allow some private security guards to leave on Sunday afternoon. Lang said he had no second thoughts about allowing the Red Hot Chili Peppers to continue playing as the fires burned. The band's set included Jimi Hendrix's "Fire.""It was a preordained set list," Lang said. "It had nothing to do with the fact that there was a fire burning at the time."In the hours before dawn today, the festival site resembled a surreal war zone. Fires were still burning, and the sound of sirens echoed across the runways of the former airfield.Halfway between the East and West stages, a line of helmeted state troopers holding wooden batons stood arms' length apart. They created an effective barrier to keep people from entering the east side of the grounds and from setting fire to the propane tanks in the vending areas along the southern wall. An officer wearing a bulletproof vest distributed bottled water to the troopers. A hundred yards in front of them, a crowd of youths had formed a defiant drummers' circle. They repeated wordless chants and banged on empty 55-gallon metal trash cans. Some danced to the pounding rhythms, others lay on the ground, staring dreamily into the increasingly hazy sky. Several women wielding glow sticks danced naked on the trash cans.The night was marked by several confrontations between festival-goers and police. Two long-haired young women in batik skirts argued with police. Soon after, four baton-wielding officers chased a skinny young man into the drummers' circle before a lieutenant ordered them to retreat.Such images suggested a different time and a different place. It almost seemed that both sides were playing out roles that had been written by a previous generation. One yound woman was dragged away from the site after pushing an officer. "[Expletive] pigs!" she shrieked.One of the officers who helped pull her away from the site wiped his hands after delivering her to another trooper. "Why don't you go to Canada or something?" he yelled.A little later, Guy Salesse, 29, ignored the tensions and jerked his body back and forth to the drumbeats. "We don't want any trouble," he said. "We just want to enjoy what's left of the festival." Not much was left, though. The event's final rave party, slated to take place Sunday night, was aborted. "They should have had the rave so we could use up all our energy," said Steve Blackwell, 25, of Ocean City, Md., as he sat on the ground and watched the drummers. "Look at this. This is the people's concert."The air was thick with smoke, limiting visibility and making breathing distinctly uncomfortable. Vendors sat in chairs, protecting their booths and watching the show. "We lost a million and a half bucks tonight," said vendor Russ Mour. "The trucks burned for more than 35 minutes before they even got a fire truck out there." Vendor Michael Sozek was still there this afternoon. "This is a war zone," said Sozek, 38, shaking his head. "You didn't get this with the old Woodstock crowd. This new rock-and-roll is all about a bunch of butt-heads. Smoking a joint isn't enough for them.""They were trapped in here," said vendor Bill Hemsley. "The haves were the vendors. The have-nots were the people. When they ran out of money, they took what they wanted."Throughout the festival, fans groused about food prices, though they were similar to those at other major concerts and sporting events. The concert "was too big to control, too many people," said Sozek. "It was a money grab by the promoters. They were too greedy."Hundreds of stragglers remained in the campsite. Rich MacGregory, 18, sat in a latticed lawn chair, surrounded by fetid garbage.Wasn't he ready to go home?He looked up, dazed. "Do we have to leave?" By Alona WartofskyWashington Post Staff WriterTuesday, July 27, 1999; Page A01 © Copyright 1999 The Washington Post CompanyLight My Fire - July 26, 1999 http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2212.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #15 posted by FoM on March 26, 2000 at 00:40:58 PT: Better Search Results of Woodstock Presently This search tool is currently bringing up more articles on WoodStock 99 from CannabisNews so I thought I should post it.http://alltheweb.com/cgi-bin/search?type=all&query=cannabisnews+woodstockPlese drop in and check out my New Drug Policy Talk Message Board and leave a comment if you so desire & Enjoy!Peace, FoM! My New Drug Policy Talk Board [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by FoM on March 16, 2000 at 11:21:36 PT Google Search of CannabisNews - Woodstock Articles Google Search of CannabisNews - Woodstock Articles:http://google.com/search?q=cannabisnews+woodstock [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by FoM on December 26, 1999 at 15:31:32 PT Wood Stock 1999 Photos http://www.nandotimes.com/nt/images/woodstock/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by FoM on August 04, 1999 at 11:19:48 PT: Cannabis News Chronology Of Wood Stock 99 Dates Between July 17, 1999 & August 3rd, 1999Rome Sees Hope in Legions of Rock Fans - 7/17http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2092.shtmlWoodstock '99 Boasts a Bundle of Contradictions - 7/18http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2102.shtmlWoodstock Puts Locals' Fears to Rest - 7/20http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2126.shtmlSpirit of the '60s Lives On Through Eulogy - 7/21http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2145.shtmlPsych. Services at Woodstock '99 Has Hands Full - 7/22http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2154.shtmlCelebs Spark Spitfire Tour - 7/22http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2158.shtmlWoodstock Rocks Again - 7/23http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2169.shtmlGimme Swelter: A Happening That's Almost Too Hot - 7/24http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2187.shtmlThe World Remembers Three Days of Peace & Love - 7/24http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2196.shtmlNo Peace? Psychiatric Workers On Call At Concert - 7/25http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2208.shtmlLight My Fire - 7/26http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2212.shtmlThe Burning Question at Woodstock '99 - 7/27http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2237.shtmlA Teen Takes Stock of Woodstock ’99 - 7/28http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2248.shtmlWoodstock's Bitter Ending - 7/29http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2263.shtmlState Police Surfing the Web For Woodstock Criminals - 8/3http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2330.shtml Cannabis News [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by cracklin bones :) on July 30, 1999 at 18:08:57 PT woodstock 99 well, what a different 30 years makes.. and what a difference 20 years has made. Maybe we were just young and fooling once, but it seems like POT was for peaceful, pleasant times. Maybe if those kids weren't corrupted by the crazy corporate America and brainwashed into thinking they need to have their hands held or be controlled, they culd have thought for themselves not to act like Fools. If they were smoking da herb, the heat would have been bearable. Booze and chemicals makes people crazy. Water should have been freely given away. THe young people of this country deserve better. At this rate, they will just want to put old codgers like me to sleep. Pot is a peaceful entity, a harmless giggle, I believe John Lennon once said.Booze makes a person aggressive, and chemicals just eat up the brains... oh, yeah, THC is a chemical, but it's not adulterated, you just plant the seed and add water and sunshine, right? anyways, the good memories of woodstock are now smeared by the folks who want us to remember the 60's with Charles Manson and the Kennedy assasination, not the great improvisional music and friendly, friendly times that were. Man.... is it time for the Brownshirts? [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by FoM on July 29, 1999 at 19:59:02 PT: I Can't Imagine! Thanks for you comment Cindy,I can't imagine what it will be like 20 years from now.It's hard enought to comprehend now!Peace, FoM! [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by FoM on July 29, 1999 at 10:55:41 PT: Woodstock's Bitter Ending Related Article:By Alona WartofskyWashington Post Staff WriterThursday, July 29, 1999; Page C01 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/front.htm Woodstock's Bitter Ending [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by cindy on July 29, 1999 at 10:32:47 PT: woodstock '99 I'm of the opinion that the young people at this concertare the result of DARE and Zero Tolerance, and also that theyoung people just are ready to blow up because of the unrelenting hypocrisy shown by the "leaders" of this country. In 1969 it was considered pretty cool to be friendly, mellow, gentle, nice, peaceful, loving and potwas everywhere. In 1999 everyone is HARD, tough, mean, self-centered, and think anyone who advocates peace and loveis some kind of anachronism. This is the first batch ofkids grown up under zero tolerance. Gee, I can't wait forthe next bunch. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by FoM on July 28, 1999 at 15:34:25 PT: My Opinion! This behavior at Wood Stock 99 will hurt the marijuana decriminalization issue, I think. Wood Stock 69 was a wonderful event filled with love, freedom and acceptence of others. Young people these days are very angry and out of control. Many reasons will cause this to happen but the way our government wants to control behavior that they seem is unfit in a Democratic Society( Doesn't that sound strange )contributes to the young people's rage. In a Democratic Society all people are supposed to be given a voice not just the right wing people who want to poison our crops just to get rid of marijuana! It is so dumb, illogical and absolutely wrong.Thanks again for you comment!Peace, FoM!PS: Wood Stock 69 was well on it's way to helping change the laws in favor of decriminalization of Marijuana until the person was killed at a concert where the Rolling Stones hired the Hell's Angels to protect them. That ended the hope way back then, in my opinion. Thats why I feel this riot will hurt us now or for sure they will keep it illegal for those under 21 and only because they'll feel they can't control themselves even though alcohol was the culprit and designer drugs, I bet. FoM's Freedom Page [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by FoM on July 28, 1999 at 12:01:59 PT: A Teen Takes Stock of Woodstock ’99 - 7/28/99 Related Article On Wood Stock 99. A Teen Takes Stock of Woodstock ’99 - 7/28/99 [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by Happy on July 27, 1999 at 21:38:06 PT: Woodstock=Teenage Rebellion Was it people paid to riot and undermine the show? Was it a reflection of Columbine and the still continueing bombing at schools? Was it anger over the PRICES OF EVERYTHING? Maybe the war Woodstock is now protesting is the war on Americans, not the war we waged on people just like us in Vietnam. If our government was at war with it's own people, would they burn churches? Would they destroy families? Would the people be paraniod of it and keep spinning conspiracy theorys because everyone KNOWS WHATS GOING ON, feeling both enraged and defenseless against a government designed to protect us from itself.Was Woodstock 500,000 Hippies trying to love the world better or 200 children of Hippies trying to destroy the evil their parents hadn't anticipated, still screaming at the process those parents did not fix. Well, both. The Happyhouse Church [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on July 27, 1999 at 20:51:04 PT: Excuses Rise Amid The Ruins! The Times Unionhttp://www.timesunion.com/By ALAN WECHSLER, Staff writer First published: Tuesday, July 27, 1999 As local officials play the violence down, police try to understand why the most organized of the three festivals so quickly came apart at the seamsROME -- As fires still smoldered at the site of one of rock 'n' roll's most destructive concerts, authorities Monday defended their decision to let a riot rage out of control for hours before acting to stop it. The riot began at the end of the Red Hot Chili Peppers set, at the close of the Woodstock '99 festival at the former Griffiss Air Force Base. It could not have come at a worse time, officials said. Inside the Woodstock walls were only 600 internal "peace patrol'' guards, half the number during previous days. And dozens of state troopers were tied up for hours directing traffic as tens of thousands left the venue.What happened next may forever taint the name Woodstock, previously associated with peace and love. Between 9 and 10 p.m., hundreds of concertgoers in a crowd of 150,000 lit fires all over the field. Over the next few hours they burned trucks, smashed lights, threw bottles at police and looted vendor booths. Five hundred troopers were called in from as far away as Albany. But it was hours until the troopers were deployed and fires put out, and the site was not brought under control until dawn.On Monday morning, some tried to downplay the mess. Rome Mayor Joseph Griffo called it a "disturbing incident,'' and organizer Michael Lang described it as "a sour note.''But James W. McMahon, superintendent of the State Police, said it was a riot -- and a riot that could have been much, much worse. There were only five injuries -- three concertgoers and two troopers, the worst of which was a broken leg that occurred when a trailer fell on a reveler, he said.Police will investigate if anyone was at fault for the riot, or if more could have been done to prevent it, McMahon said. But one of the biggest questions remaining is why it occurred in the first place.Rock 'n' roll is no stranger to violence, of course. But while the two previous Woodstocks in 1969 and 1994 had myriad problems, violence had always been a rarity.Woodstock '99 was clearly the most well-organized of the three concerts. People began arriving Thursday, and by Saturday an estimated 250,000 were there. There were problems with heat and everyone complained about the high prices of food. But the 12-foot wall held and kept out gate-crashers, and there were only a few dozen arrests, most of them for minor offenses.There also were early indications that violence could be ahead. Saturday night, during the metal-hardcore band Limp Bizkit's set, some unruly fans began to knock down a fence surrounding the PA system's power transformer. Organizers had to turn off the speakers for fear of someone getting electrocuted.The fracas occurred during the song "Break Stuff.'' And a day later, that's just what they did.As the Chili Peppers left the stage, half a dozen fires raged. The fires may have started as a result of thousands of candles given out by an organization called Pax. Candles were used to close Peter Gabriel's set at the 1994 Woodstock, and there were no incidents, officials said. But while the candle-lighting was approved by Woodstock '99 organizers, fire officials were never told it would take place.When the Sunday night blazes began, a few troopers did try to surround some fires, McMahon said. But they were met with flying bottles, and withdrew until more could be called. Firefighters trying to put out one of the early outbreaks along the wooden fence were met with similar aggression."You want to go in with sufficient numbers,'' McMahon said.So fire and police personnel waited for hours, as the fires expanded and the destruction grew, although it remained unclear who made the decision to hold back. Police estimate only 200 to 500 people were doing most of the breaking and burning. But thousands more stood and watched as the violence spread -- against property, but few people.Some cheered as propane tanks exploded. Others just watched. Many saw it as just a way to blow off steam after a long and hot weekend."As long as people didn't get hurt,'' said concertgoer Dave Warren, "I don't think there was anything wrong.''Others found it positively frightening."I was really scared out of my mind,'' said Stephanie Savas, 18, of Norwalk, Conn., as she walked to her car Monday morning. "I just wanted to go back to my tent.''Around midnight, more than two hours after the riot began, 500 troopers made their way to the site in a convoy of flashing lights. Slowly, they forced the masses from the burning East Stage field farther down the site toward the camping area. The fires were gradually quenched. But it was not until dawn that the banging of metal cans and the smashing of stuff had ceased.The seven people arrested were all men from out of state, ranging in age from 17 to 35. They were charged with crimes ranging from second-degree riot to disorderly conduct and criminal mischief. There were no felony arrests. Health workers also said there were two rapes, but police did not confirm them.John Scher, the normally upbeat promoter who helped fund Woodstock '99, was the first official to talk publicly about the incident. Meeting the media at a 4 a.m. conference, he was somber and subdued as he told of watching the destruction from the edge of the East Stage."I don't think there's any excuse for that type of behavior,'' he said. "It shouldn't be tolerated by their peers or by society. It happened completely unprovoked.''When the fires began, head of security Ken Donohue told the T-shirt-clad staff not to interfere. They had been trained in controlling a crowd, he said, not a riot."We decided it should be left for the police,'' Scher said.Less than four hours before the riot, Woodstock and local government officials were calling the concert a success. At the time, they said they'd love to have it again in five years.That's changed."We'll all have to re-evaluate some of those kids,'' Scher said, "and their actions.''By midmorning Monday, only a thousand or so concertgoers were left on the site. Some packed up their tents and clothes and staggered back to their cars. Others drifted over to the still-smoldering wreckage to take pictures. Hundreds of State Police milled around in front of a line of State Police cars.Some concertgoers blamed the riot on anger over food prices, especially the $4 bottles of water. Many people left the show early because they ran out of money. Plenty of others were forced to withdraw more money from cash machines than they ever thought they needed."People didn't feel as bad, 'cause they got so ripped off,'' said Larry McHugh of Chester, Conn.Said Waiel Abdallah, 22, of Philadelphia: "To be honest, it was kind of exciting. But it was sad. It shouldn't have happened here.'' [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by FoM on July 27, 1999 at 17:59:42 PT: Confusing Standards! I really enjoyed reading your post and you're right. When people are given as much freedom as this young generation has been given then when they start to come of age and decide to experiment with some drugs we put them in jail. We will never stop, nor should we want to stop, the inquisitve nature of people. Creative ideas and art and movie writers etc. probably use drugs for mind expansion but they are rich and if they get caught it would be a nice re-hab but not for the average young person. I see the rage because they don't understand after they have been taught they have rights, it doesn't make any sense to them, so they get really fired up. They're tired of it all and this was a sure display of it too.Thanks For Your Comment! FoM!PS: This is just my opinion of this situation. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Li Chao on July 27, 1999 at 16:42:46 PT: maybe they didnt have enough pot While I was born too late for the '69 Woodstock, I did make it to the show in '94. By the time my friends and I arrived on Friday night the police had given up and gone home. The fences came down and a lot of people showed up with no tickets, but plenty of pot. There was no police presence to speak of and everyone was stoned and mellow. On Monday morning some people had "acquired" food from the vendors and passed out free breakfast to those of us around the bonfire. A few talented amateur musicians played guitars and sang and anyone with any weed left finished it before the drive home. While it may not have been the cliched "generation defining event" the original is remembered as, it was a hell of a concert and had less violence than occured in most towns with a similar sized population over the same three days.By contrast, the reports I've heard about last weekends concert said that everyone entering was searched and not even allowed to bring their own food into the tightly controlled former military base. And while I have the utmost respect for human ingenuity when it comes to smuggling contraband, I suspect there was more pot at Woody Harrelsons house last weekend than at Woodstock. Huge crowds of people, excessive attempts to control those same people, and a lack of cannabinoids........ well, call me crazy (or merely burnt) but it seems to me that if everyone there had smoked a joint and watched the Red Hot Chili Peppers (who were, by the way, one of the best acts at Woodstock '94) none of this would have come to pass. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on July 27, 1999 at 10:44:45 PT: Peace, Love and Nyah Nyah! By Gene WeingartenWashington Post Staff WriterTuesday, July 27, 1999; Page C01 An open letter to my two children, ages 18 and 15: As you have pointed out many times, I am old. I am so old I was actually at the original Woodstock.But today I am young again. Invigorated. Naked with abandon. Flushed with joy. It is as though the "brown acid" has finally kicked in.Hey, kids. This is payback time. Didja hear what happened at your "Woodstock '99" Sunday?Your generation tried to show you were every bit as coolly disaffected as mine, every bit as saturated with love and tranquillity and an appreciation of the transcendence of music as a unifying force for peace and oneness and beatific harmonious munificence and thus such.Here's what happened, as summarized in news accounts: "It ended in a destructive melee. There was looting. Marauding bands of shirtless, bellowing men set fire to twelve trucks and . . . " Hahahahahaha. This is payback for the way you laugh at my geezerdom when I refer to our home computer as a "machine," as in "Don't bother me, I'm on the machine." This is payback for the way you make fun of my hair, which I choose to wear au naturel, in solemn homage to the '60s, but which you say looks like an asphyxiated rodent. This is payback for the way you imitate me when I stand up and my joints pop like a manatee thrashing on bubble wrap. Used to be that when my joints popped, it was because of seeds. I was not always a human petroglyph.When I went to Woodstock, I was accompanied by my roommate, whom I will call Hieronymus to protect his identity. Hieronymus was addicted to Darvon, which was, among serious drug users of the time, the skankiest addiction possible, like being addicted to formaldehyde. He once stole my camera and sold it for Darvon.I read today that many of the Woodstock '99ers breathed Vicks VapoRub into each other's noses for a "high." This makes Hieronymus look like Baba Ram Dass. I also read that the '99 partygoers paid $150 a ticket, $4 for a bottle of water, and that many signed up for "Woodstock commemorative" MasterCards. Hieronymus and I, together, arrived at Woodstock with $12 in our pockets, which we spent immediately on Sugar Smacks and Pixie Stix. We "camped out," which meant we slept in the mud, in a tent constructed from a clear plastic drop cloth. We hung it from a tree and fastened the corners to the ground with forks we stole from our college cafeteria. The tent was airless and it concentrated the August heat like a convection oven. I remember crawling out into the driving rain in my underwear at one point on the theory that if I did not do so, I would actually die. Our tent was among the finest accommodations available.We had neither money nor common sense, Hieronymus and I, but we had music. We had Ten Years After, which sounded acrid, like madness, and Richie Havens, who sounded growly and grave, like the sound of a heartbeat as heard by the gut, and Canned Heat, which sounded like weeping and hiccups, and Jimi Hendrix, who sounded like Jimi Hendrix.You have Limp Bizkit. I have heard Limp Bizkit, but my views are irrelevant, poisoned as they are by insane generational chauvinism. Instead, I shall quote an in-house Washington Post rock music expert: "They are an assaultive meld of rap attitude and beats and metal menace and volume, guaranteed to set sweaty, generally doltish young men to jumping around as if the floor were a giant trampoline until they notice the song is over."He is too kind. I am sorry. This is cruel. But I would like to reiterate that while my Woodstock ended with naked exhaustion, your Woodstock ended with police in riot gear. The "Peace Fence" was torn down and fed to the rioters' bonfire. Also I would like to point out that, instead of a peace sign, at Woodstock '99 your generation flashed each other the finger. I personally have no quarrel with the presentation of a middle finger as an expression of contempt (though I prefer the New York Italian variation, which conjures a more invasive act). However, at Woodstock '99, the raised middle finger was so ubiquitous that it lost all significance, like a word reduced to meaninglessness through repetition. It was every bit as imbecilic as that thumb-linking handshake popularized some years ago by men with pompadours and cowboy boots.Also, I would like to point out that you have recently made fun of my tendency to raise the volume on the television to a level you contend, without foundation, is evidence of advancing deafness. This plants within me a small carbuncle of fear which you then maliciously prod at the dinner table by moving your lips in speech but remaining soundless. Okay, kids. Read my lips: My generation may be old and slow.But we're not lame. © Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: