Dr. Van Dyke at the podium

In the last year, what lessons of life have we Amurricans learned courtesy of some of our favorite AHOTHEWs? (AssHoles Of The Week). Well, from Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson, we learned that one should be tolerant of all sexual persuasions (although Phil, if you actually read his comments in GQ, really wasn’t that horrible. The ole Head Duck sorta got hosed, but that’s another column for another time). From Paula Deen and Riley Cooper, we learned that white people should really keep it together with their N-bombs. From Richie Incognito, we learned that you shouldn’t be a dick or a bully. From Donald Sterling, we learned that you shouldn’t be a bigot. And from Ray Rice, we learned that you shouldn’t slug your woman.

Well, hell, no wonder I'm bored into a state of semi-permanent quasi-somnambulism. I learned all this stuff about 50 damned years ago! And the beat goes on … la dee da dee da, la dee da dee dee …

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Speaking of old Sonny and Cher songs, an old friend putting together a class schedule for the community education program at Truckee Meadows Community College gave me a buzz a couple of months ago and said, “Hey, you know I've got a music section here with all kinds of classes about Xylophone 101 and Get Krazy With Your Kooky Kongas but there is nobody—I mean, nobody—teaching any kind of rock history whatsoever, and I know you're just out there in the desert pickin' and flickin' and why don't you get off your lazy no 'count ass and give me an effort of some kind waddya say?” As it turned out, his timing was pretty good. I'd been feeling the jones to get up in front of people and spout off about something.

And since I've been in the throes of nostalgia for that rock music that burst forth in a dazzling kaleidoscopic mess in the mid-'60s, I came up with a class called “Welcome to Wonderland—The Golden Age of Psychedelia.” This will be a loving and appreciative retrospective of an extraordinary era, an era that saw a truly remarkable explosion of creativity and, well, just a whole bunch of great music that almost 50 years later still sounds pretty damned terrific. Wanna be in the class? It'll be on Wednesday nights, 7-8:30, at the TMCC Meadowood Center across from Sears at 5270 Neil Road. I would say “Hurry! Class space is filling fast!” but it's not. There's still plenty of room. First, go to washoecommunityed.org. Then click Register Now. Then Music classes. You'll find W2W in there. Cost is $49. And yes, I'll try to make it fun, informative and illuminating for those who lived through it and also for those who wanna learn about it. If this class isn't a good time, that means I ain't doin' it right!