Hippie Begins Video Career
A television would upset the balance in Mike Oehler’s back-to-basics underground house just south of Bonners Ferry.
But one may move in soon. A video Mike shot at the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle last fall convinced him to shoot and sell videos about the hippie way of life.
“Hippies are coming back in,” he says.
Mike should know. At hippie Rainbow gatherings, he’s one of the few scraggly graybeards among 20,000 free spirits. At 62, he has clung to his lifestyle for 35 years.
The influence of video hit Mike the moment he reached Seattle last November. Labor unions had organized rallies and protests against the 5-year-old WTO and its big-business approach to running the world.
Mike made the trip, sensing a chance to relive the glory days of the protest movement.
He lugged along a video camera as an afterthought and wrangled press credentials as a correspondent for Columbiana Magazine. The nonprofit magazine out of Chesaw, Wash., promotes a lifestyle harmonious with nature.
“The first day of shooting, it occurred to me that this is great stuff,” Mike says. “It was definitely the way to cover it.”
He returned home with five hours of videotape, a story to tell and visions of a new career.
Mike edited his videotape, “Battle of Seattle,” to 80 minutes. It’s the protesters’ story, from colorful banners and college girls dancing to “We got to beat, beat back the corporate attack” to eyes stinging with tear gas, appeals for peace and police shooting rubber bullets.
Mike captures the flavor of an American protest - a cultural mix of men and women in hard hats marching with students in bandannas, families in rain ponchos and vegan lesbians going topless. Drums and band music are everywhere. People are laughing, thrusting placards over their heads and shouting poetry.
Mike narrates his video. His occasional hesitation reinforces the refreshing amateur approach. These aren’t exciting 20-second snippets on the nightly news. This story is from the midst of the crowd.
“Battle of Seattle” also catches the small stretch between peace and pandemonium.
“People just ripped apart NikeTown,” a protest organizer shouts over a loudspeaker to a crowd caught in an alarming turn of events. “We don’t know who. It’s very important to keep the peace.”
The next footage shows police in riot gear shooting tear gas and frightened protesters running. Smoke follows explosive thud after thud. Mike shows viewers his own watery eyes.
He can’t resist a few parting remarks suggesting that government provocateurs were behind the violence and that the police overreacted. But, in a thought-provoking addendum, he reminds viewers that police are laborers, too.
Mike plans to tour colleges and union halls with his video. He’ll sell it for $9.95 plus shipping costs.
Any money he makes will go toward equipment for his next videos, a series on back-to-the-land skills such as operating kerosene lanterns, chopping wood and making cheese.
Mike is searching now for people who want to share their old-time skills.
“I think we’re going to have fun,” he says. “These hills are just filled with talented people.”
Mike will show “Battle of Seattle” at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Seven Oaks Center in Bonners Ferry. There will be no charge. For details, call Mike at (208) 267-7349.
For the kids
Coeur d’Alene’s Youth for Christ needs cash to run its nonreligious after-school program and day camp. Nearly 300 Panhandle kids participate. The organization’s auction Saturday at 6 p.m. at The Coeur d’Alene Resort will include dinner. Tickets are $25. Call (208) 664-2407.