As adamantly anti-patchouli-stench as DaSauce happens to be�there is something kinda wonderful about being from the state that brought you Phish. Not that I am a fan of their music. Sadly, I ain't. But, as an expat-Vermonter, I am a huge fan of their absurdist approach to the whole-life-thing. They, like many Vermonters, seem to say, �Don�t take this shit (yourselves and humanity, in general) so seriously. Have some fun with it, eh?�A Slate article about those boys (this morning) entitled Phish Schtick (again, apologies for my lack of html: http://www.slate.msn.com/id/2076316/) reminded DatSauceGuy about how much he valued a particular bent�this being an angle that hasn�t been seen (minus a few pals and odd sods) outside the Green Mountain State.
To quote a chunk from that article: �Phish still takes a flippantly postmodern approach to performing. It's as if they're play-acting at being rock stars. No matter how big they've gotten, Phish has continued to delight in sticking out their tongues at the pretensions of the music world� � Us, rock stars? Phish seems to be asking. We're not nearly that silly.�
Vermont is a culture of dichotomy�and revels in it. They seem to manage to vote republican in most presidential elections (fiscally-conservative-lot that they are.) And yet, they are the state that brought you the first Socialist Mayor in the country (who later became the first Socialist member of congress�and eventually relabeled himself independent.) Why, you ask? Because, they, (for the most part) minus a few hardcore and self-proclaimed local hicks--are socially liberal to an absurdist degree.
Vermont was the 14th state in the union. Why? Well. They had been an independent country for a bit (before the original 13 got their chance) and liked it. After Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys used a rift between the Brit governors of New York and New Hampshire to become a no man�s land in the middle�they wanted to go it on their own--even with the invitation to be a member of the Original 14 States. Thus, there were the 13 Originals instead. Now this didn�t last--as there was something to be said about the economic realities of larger groups.
Vermont constitutionally abolished slavery in 1777�partly because the United States refused to do so (at the time.)
As a state, in Town Meeting After Town Meeting, we did vote to secede in the 80�s (the U.S. said no�and war seemed silly.)
We rocked Congress when Jim Jeffords decided to accept a snub and smack The Shrub�and he bailed out of the G.O.P. leaving lots of happy turmoil in his wake.
For a state with less population than the town of Syracuse, New York, there seems to be a whole lot of visibility given it�from politics and folks like Pat Leahy�all the way to bands, like, er, um, Phish.
Want deeply absurd? [With advance apology to any LDS-types who are reading DisSauceGuy�s coffee and smog-user content. Yeah, right.] We even brought you Joseph �I-truly-hate-Missouri!� Smith and Brigham �Marry-Your-Dead-Female-Relatives-To-Me, OK?� Young. The Angel Macaroni and His Gold Tabs were found in upstate New York. Thus, Vermont doesn�t take responsibility for his golden-lame-trump-blowing-ass on silly-display at the tops of temples across the nation.
So. When you periodically decide that DaSauce and his antics with DaKid are absurd, consider the source, please.
DatVermonterAndProudOfItWhileTrappedNearHell-Asauce
PS. Lake Champlain didn�t want to be called a great lake�so it isn�t.