OC Hippies

I think that Orange County probably has less hippies than anywhere I've lived, besides perhaps South Dakota, which is too downtrodden, desolate and full of real nature to properly ferment Flower Children.
Most of the coastal cities have their share of beach bums, who share the hippies affection for mild hedonism, convenient spirituality, general uncleanliness, and probably marijuana, but don't give a toss about activism or protesting unless it directly involves both a). sand and b). salt water.
But the beach bums are far and away more anti-establishment than most of those in the O.C. who outwardly appear to be hippies, or at least hippiesque. Here it is, of course, all about fashion. One of the most visible centers of counter-culture in the sprawl is The Lab in Costa Mesa. It is hip, it is bohemian, it is progressive and it is "The Next Generation of Retail." The Lab bills itself as an "antimall," meaning of course that it is a mall. There are things I like about the place -- and I'd certainly rather hang out there than South Coast Plaza -- but when I read things about it being Orange County's "only progressive, lifestyle-culture, specialty retail shopping destination of its kind" I want to throw up.
My most outwardly "hippie" friends here loved nothing more than talking about the things they buy at Ikea and Banana Republic. Another friend wore bell-bottoms, read Keouac and kept a "Peacenik Barbie" in her dorm room, but would forbid me from ever speaking out against the war in Iraq or President Bush.
I'm not actually why I'm talking about this -- the Hippy Movement is fascinating from a historical perspective and also jaw-grindingly embarrassing. But there aren't really hippies around today, regardless of what popular nostalgia will tell you, and that is no different from saying there are no Legionaries around today. Hippies are tied to a particular time and place. I guess what I'm talking about is something pretty different. But I'll have to get into that tomorrow.
More soon.