Those Founding Fathers Were Some Far-Out Groovy Cats Who Definitely Passed the Acid Test, Man!

Nick Gillespie | July 7, 2008

Extend the Fourth of July weekend—and trigger LSD flashbacks galore even if you've never taken the drug—by watching this totally psychedelic 1976 production from the old U.S. Information Agency of all things.

This three-minute film makes Zabriskie Point look like a drug-war episode of Dragnet and is, simply put, beyond description. I mean, how do you successfully describe a red-white-and-blue cornucopia that spits out hamburgers, TV sets, hot dogs, and baseballs to a rocking soundtrack? I just tried and failed. It's as if Fred and Barney were smoking dope rather than Winstons, for god's sake and it's groovy to the max, all thanks to the sharp of eye of Howard "Extreme" Mortman, the Augustus Owsley Stanley of the blogosphere.

So check it out, then take some hard drugs to bring you back down to Earth. It's Monday, fer chrissakes, and the start of a very important week of work.

Update: Here's the MySpace page of the animator, Vince Collins.

Comments

|7.7.08 @ 9:50AM|#

Mr. President? I took these pills and I'm freaking out!

Bob|7.7.08 @ 9:56AM|#

Just like the Feds to make a 1968-style video in 1976 and think it's groovy.

First Little Pig|7.7.08 @ 9:59AM|#

Educational, man, educational.

But why didn't Washington make the Mt. Rushmore segment?

You gotta love the 70's

NP|7.7.08 @ 10:34AM|#

Who the hell needs any freakin' drugs when the world has just witnessed the single greatest tennis match in history? Forget the 1980 Borg-McEnroe final, this was the match to surpass any effete psychoactive agents.

*** For those who were unfortunate to miss it, you can catch this instant classic tonite on, fittingly, ESPN Classic. ***

ed|7.7.08 @ 10:38AM|#

the single greatest tennis match in history

Doesn't that belong in the torture thread?

Episiarch|7.7.08 @ 10:42AM|#

For those who were unfortunate to miss it, you can catch this instant classic tonite on, fittingly, ESPN Classic.

If you want to sit down for nearly 5 hours.

It was a great match, agreed. I have to say that Federer is a very classy guy, and a gracious loser.

NP|7.7.08 @ 10:57AM|#

ed,

Not sure if you said that as a non-tennis fan or facetiously, but seriously, sports simply doesn't get any better than what happened yesterday at SW19.

Episiarch,

I have to say that Federer is a very classy guy, and a gracious loser.

Agreed me-self. But Fed will be back. Nadal's game on hard courts isn't yet good enough to challenge Fed's or Djokovic's, and I'm sure Fed will be extra motivated in Flushing Meadows this year to hold on to his No. 1 ranking. And hopefully Safin can keep up his good form for the rest of the year; he's certainly the most underachieved tennis player I've seen in my lifetime.

Episiarch|7.7.08 @ 11:26AM|#

But Fed will be back.

Of course. This rivalry will probably run for a few years.

Roscoe|7.7.08 @ 11:29AM|#

It would have been a better video without all that flag shit.

Guy Montag|7.7.08 @ 11:33AM|#

Doesn't that belong in the torture thread?

If we had real torture threads, rather than threads about discomfort, yes.

ed|7.7.08 @ 11:34AM|#

a non-tennis fan or facetiously

It was snark. Sorry. I'll watch tennis when good-looking hetero ladies play in low-cut tops which is, let's see...almost never. But five hours of men's tennis? Whew, that's Abu Ghraib-brutal.

Naga Sadow|7.7.08 @ 11:54AM|#

Jesus Christ! My eyes! I felt like the time I got lost in Wal-Mart with the spins!

NP|7.7.08 @ 12:01PM|#

ed - Are you saying you'd actually care if the ladies were homo? :)

Epi - Let's not forget Djokovic, who's actually younger than Nadal. And I'm also keeping my eyes on Ernests Gulbis, who looks like a potential Grand Slam contender.

Lucille Austero|7.7.08 @ 12:06PM|#

So check it out...

You have undone all of Dr. Sandor Plumb's work.

ed|7.7.08 @ 12:06PM|#

care if the ladies were homo?

Not if they kissed between sets.

Ska|7.7.08 @ 12:28PM|#

The opening of that video is enough to give Japanese kids seizures.

Not if they kissed between sets

Sometimes my mind reads what my eyes don't see. Kiss between where?

|7.7.08 @ 1:09PM|#

Didja ever look at a dollar bill, man? There's some spooky shit goin' on there. And it's green too.

|7.7.08 @ 1:19PM|#

NOW I understand America!

|7.7.08 @ 1:44PM|#

nick gets cool points for the zabriskie point reference.

Nigel Watt|7.7.08 @ 1:49PM|#

What the hell is going on with H&R today? Did five posts just go down the memory hole?

|7.7.08 @ 1:50PM|#

Speaking of Zabriskie Point,

Turner Classic Movies was scheduled to show it a couple of months ago, but their S&P department pulled it. Lameasses.

|7.7.08 @ 1:58PM|#

Gravel used this movie in one of his weird ads.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S2zkh6ZOGE

J sub D|7.7.08 @ 2:01PM|#

What the hell is going on with H&R today? Did five posts just go down the memory hole?
The server squirrels.
[cue ominous music] They're Ba-a-a-a-ck!

ed|7.7.08 @ 2:20PM|#

Somebody forgot to wind it.

|7.7.08 @ 2:47PM|#

RE: Server Squirrels
The post about Vince Miller is still AWOL.

|7.7.08 @ 4:27PM|#

I'm with NP. That was an incredible contest at Wimbledon yesterday.

|7.7.08 @ 5:07PM|#

"drug-war episode of Dragnet"

Don't care about LSD but it's too bad Jack Webb turned into such a cornball for the TV "Dragnet." He was one of the best sarcastic noir detectives ever, on radio way back in the late 40s and early 50s. See "Pat Novak for Hire."

NP|7.7.08 @ 6:47PM|#

joe and I actually *agree on something! Sports brings people together!

*Actually, I prolly agree with joe more often than the majority of H&Rers. Just wanted to contribute to any remaining Olympic spirit.

And ed,

Not if they kissed between sets.

Now you're asking for too much. They already do at the end of the match, and you know they don't do it for, you know, any "friendly" reason.

|7.8.08 @ 8:04AM|#

Juego al tenis?

No, yo quiero los albondigas.

tp|7.10.08 @ 7:43PM|#

Just another flagrant attempt by The Man to brainwash us with his nationalistic imagery laced with subliminal messages:)