August 26, 2006
THE ENCHANTED KINGDOM
The undress code that’s the height of teen fashion (James Bone, The Times, August 26th, 2006)
Sightseers in the trendy Vermont town of Brattleboro may get more of an eyeful than they bargained for.All summer, youths have been taking advantage of a loophole in local laws to strut their stuff naked in the town.
The young men and women, many still in their late teens, are not merely indulging in the long-cherished Vermont tradition of nude sunbathing and skinny-dipping. They have been riding their bicycles naked down Main Street, busking in the buff and congregating for nude hula-hoop contests in a car park.[...]
Vermont — increasingly populated by well-heeled refugees from Boston and New York — has no state-wide ban on nudity, but some of its cities and towns have passed their own ordinances. Not Brattleboro, the first English settlement in Vermont in 1724, which has a large community of artists and writers and a proud history of nakedness.
This summer about two dozen youths, including a self-declared anarchist who calls himself “Pat the Bunnyâ€, have been engaged in a polite social rebellion by taking off their clothes.
“We have a nuclear power plant a few miles away and a ridiculous war in the Middle East,†said Ian Bigelow, 23, who had gathered with some of his friends outside a book store. “So why is it such a big problem if we get nude?â€
Ah, beautiful, bucolic Vermont, where your ice cream cone comes with a free geo-political lecture, where you can drive for hundreds of miles fruitlessly seeking a hamburger but the antique shops outnumber convenience stores, where you can listen to childless boomers that do crafty things wallow in middle-aged bitterness and raise Bush Derangement Syndrome to a whole new level of madness, where there are almost no road signs because life is just about meandering without purpose and where serious people can argue that public nudity is a weapon in the anarchist struggle for universal peace and justice without being certified.
Vermont offers us a glimpse into a childless future where a whole population is dedicated to neurotic self-indulgence. It is, of course, mad, bad and dangerous to know, but my goodness it is pretty. Why does the left get to live in all the gorgeous places?
Posted by Peter Burnet at August 26, 2006 8:31 AMWell for one reason, the "man" interviewed is 23 years old and is loafing around Brattleboro with no apparent means of support (pun intended). Just another trust fund free spirit who draws younger and less well endowed (pun intended) groupies to act the part of his loyal supporters (pun intended).
Posted by: erp at August 26, 2006 10:14 AMVermont was not pretty until bent to that purpose by the hand of Man. The Right rembembers this, and has no problem moving to new places and making them pretty too.
Posted by: Robert Mitchell Jr. at August 26, 2006 10:42 AMSounds like Vermont is no longer producing any Ethan Allens or the Green Mountain Boys; however, it does sound like Steve and Jeremy can go antiquing with mother this weekend in Vermont.
Posted by: pchuck at August 26, 2006 10:44 AMDue to their disinterest in having big families, either within marriage or due to alternative lifestyles, the left tends to have more disposable income to live in high-cost locales, and then bring their politics to the area which degrades the quality of life for all those not rich enough to be able to live apart from it (go visit Santa Fe, N.M. for a great example of that problem outside of the northeastern states).
Posted by: John at August 26, 2006 12:13 PMJohn's got it exactly right, and can add places like Missoula and Bozeman in Montana (as opposed to Great Falls, Billings or Butte), or Jackson, Wyoming (compare to any town along I-80 west of Laramie).
Posted by: Raoul Ortega at August 26, 2006 1:29 PMRaoul,
For every Missoula, Jackson, or Bozeman the left is trying to price people out of, there's a St. George (UT), Bend (OR), or Rapid City (SD) the right is trying to sprawl for everyone's benefit. So it's a wash.
Posted by: Brad S at August 26, 2006 1:53 PMI lived in Bend during the early '80s (Worked at C.O.C.C.). It was sprawling even back then, if you knew where to look (LaPine). With the lumber mills shutting down all that was left was to appeal to tourism, both summer (Sisters) and winter (Bachelor Butte). I'da thought it would have gotten overrun by Leftists by now, but then again, not only it is in Oregon already, there's no state university to serve as an infection center, either.
Someone once made the comment that VT and NH are the same state but differ because in VT the Dems/liberals rule while in NH the GOP rules. Still sounds reasonable to me.
Posted by: AWW at August 26, 2006 4:34 PMC'mon Orrin,
Tell us what you really think!
VT is France!
Mike
Peter:
Never actually been to Vermont, have you?
Many times, Bryan, although always as a visitor. The very word "Vermont" drives my wife (a Montrealer)into dreamy swoons. I try very hard to be a good cranky Juddian when I am there, but it is no use. It's just too darn magical.
I can hardly wait to go back and scorn some more.
Posted by: Peter B at August 27, 2006 8:52 AMThe magic fades after the first mud season.
Posted by: erp at August 27, 2006 1:48 PMWell Ian Bigelo what the hell is wrong with you?? I can already tell you are the kind of kid that hasnt had a hard day in his life and still takes that completely for granted. And this rediculous war in the middle east you speak of... I'd be willing that you base your opinion and statements on empty rhetoric fueled by your fellow hippies. Or mabie you're the ringleader of it all. Either way you should be ashamed of yourself.
Posted by: eric at August 28, 2006 12:03 AM