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The San Francisco Oracle / The Psychedelic Newspaper of the Haight Ashbury
A complete digital re-creation of the legendary psychedelic underground newspaper originally published in San Francisco's Haight Ashbury during the Summer of Love.
420 pages, CD-ROM
First published September 1, 1990
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October 26, 2008
The total print run of the legendary counter-culture/alternative newspaper "The San Francisco Oracle" has now been encapsulated onto one CD-ROM by it's founder, Allen Cohen.
A view of the issues presents a fascinating look into the 'golden era' of the Haight-Ashbury community. Some of the articles are very much of their time, but some still seem scarily relevant to now. An earlier version of the "Oracle", printed in 1966, presents a group of anti-war protestors holding a vigil outside a munitions base, while weaponry is being dispatched to Vietnam. The protestors are taunted by local pro-war/'patriotic' types, have objects thrown at them...even violently attacked. The local police do very little to help the protestors. Sound familiar?
There's also what you might expect, plenty of articles about psychedelic drugs, some record reviews (the one for The Beatles' "Revolver" is worth reading--just for the fact that it was written before the legend surrounding the album began), neighborhood reportage and events listings. Loads of great artwork by some of the leading S.F. doodlers, like Rick Griffin, made it into the paper as well.
A DVD is included with the CD-ROM, showing the history of the paper, along with interviews of Cohen and cohorts--but I haven't got round to watching it yet. The set seems essential for those who want to know more about the most famous American alternative community in the 1960s.
The controls for the CD-ROM are a bit awkward, which is why I didn't award it five stars.
A view of the issues presents a fascinating look into the 'golden era' of the Haight-Ashbury community. Some of the articles are very much of their time, but some still seem scarily relevant to now. An earlier version of the "Oracle", printed in 1966, presents a group of anti-war protestors holding a vigil outside a munitions base, while weaponry is being dispatched to Vietnam. The protestors are taunted by local pro-war/'patriotic' types, have objects thrown at them...even violently attacked. The local police do very little to help the protestors. Sound familiar?
There's also what you might expect, plenty of articles about psychedelic drugs, some record reviews (the one for The Beatles' "Revolver" is worth reading--just for the fact that it was written before the legend surrounding the album began), neighborhood reportage and events listings. Loads of great artwork by some of the leading S.F. doodlers, like Rick Griffin, made it into the paper as well.
A DVD is included with the CD-ROM, showing the history of the paper, along with interviews of Cohen and cohorts--but I haven't got round to watching it yet. The set seems essential for those who want to know more about the most famous American alternative community in the 1960s.
The controls for the CD-ROM are a bit awkward, which is why I didn't award it five stars.
Displaying 1 of 1 review