Still true...

You're never gonna see a dude, dudette, or anyone, walk into a party with a big bag of pot, and suddenly, yes, instantly, they all flock/sashay ostentatiously to that person/dude, dude(tte)s. Never. Unicorn time. Didn't happen, anywhere.

this site's most popular post ever...Mr. Smiley

Ed.-Iffin' you never heard of "Mr. Smiley," let me clue you in: it's some weird marijuana substitute that was once sold over the counter here and elsewhere across the US, mostly at shady gas stations.

I smoked it. It does produce intoxication. It's also very, very bad for you, and I don't recommend you try it. They only reason it didn't harm me is that I took two tokes, no more.

Without being too prolix: http://chickasawpicklesmell.blogspot.com/2010/05/mr-smiley-product-review.html

14 down, 36 to go in the push towards legalization of marijuana

But what does this all mean? What does it mean when we're rapidly heading towards a surveillance state, let alone a police state? Will we be able to smoke pot in a police state? Consider that. What does this mean? I have no idea, it just boggles the mind, but you have to realize that many states of existence and social trends can live alongside one another simultaneously. Some things can be true and false all at once.

Is this all Huxley' warning, the phantom of "soma," and a populace that could find itself under some serious illusions of personal freedom while simultaneously narcotizing themselves, and not merely by television and the Internet (the unimaginative misuse of the latter)? I don't know, but it sure looks like it. There are many illusions and conceits in the counterculture and the outlying one these days, too many myths, too little reality.

California nearly passed Proposition 19 this election cycle, which would have all but decriminalized marijuana with a mere fine for up to the personal possession of one ounce of marijuana, similar to Ontario's experiment with decriminalization beginning about (or "aboot") a decade ago thanks to the ruling of an Ontario Superior Court of Justice (like our own higher Federal District circuits). But the fun didn't last long in Ontario and later rulings have pushed back the right to personal possession of marijuana. Tell 'em that in Toronto's Kensington Market, or even parts of Los Angeles and Oakland and the neighborhoods around the University of Toronto.

Local custom often trumps the law, which in the case of marijuana, is fine since it's not someone being lynched. That's what the drug laws are for.

As a criminology professor in college told me, "We never learn in America, because we don't want to." The truth has been plain for ages: Prohibition just empowers cartels and gangs, it doesn't make society a better place to live, and in fact is one of the sources of social disintegration. But it serves narrow interests, some who are in-collusion with drug lords. Without prohibition, there would be almost no potential for bribery and similar forms of corruption, especially with a decentralized model granting private citizens the right to grow set amounts for personal use, never mind medical marijuana dispensaries.

Meanwhile, the executive branch is enjoying the ability to conduct unrestrained surveillance of everyone under the rubic of the war on terror and the war on drugs. The states are moving one way, while the federal government is moving another. There could be no greater example of counter-trends of the democratic versus anti-democratic other than the newfound freedom and ease of communication created by the Internet, but the legalization movement is surely another one when juxtaposed with the ever-widening surveillance state. This isn't simply a states' rights battle, though there is certainly a fear of opening that door. It underscores that there are natural tendencies towards the democratic and anti-democratic in all nation states.

What if we do witness the virtual legalization of marijuana for personal use in the United States? Will it be a blow against anti-democratic trends? That would be a major affirmative. American drug laws were first formulated as race laws and the statistics of who gets sentenced to the most time are implicitly clear: Minorities suffer the most for the same amounts as their Caucasian counterparts, and class is also an issue, the ability to pay adequately for one's own defense at trial. So, yes indeed, this will be a step forward for civil rights across the board for Americans if we can end prohibition of marijuana since it will lead to and end in the case of the other substances to interdiction and the punishment model.

"But who's going to sell it?" is the usual question. In the case of marijuana, it should be nobody. Again, it's a hardy and easily grown plant. Yes, there will still be a market for the "best," there always will be, but any good law decriminalizing the plant will have to include the right of private citizens to grow their own. The other substances? The government should be dispensing them for tracking and statistical purposes, just like Canada does with "The Beer Store," albeit I have no answers as to manufacture, though my preference would be by the government. The money made from these sales could just as easily go to addiction treatment programs.

Would we want corporations to manufacture heroin as a commodity? I don't think so, and believe that that would be the true road to Huxley's Brave New World. Corporations are only capable of being held-accountable through the power of government because nothing else is powerful enough to. Before we knew it, we could all truly be addicts were they to have complete control over the process. But a part of me wonders: Where is this all headed? Will legalizing marijuana make a big difference? I believe that it can, and likely will, offer a "third-path" model, but Americans are going to have a big fight on their hands with--no surprise here--corporations, and the people who service, defend, and have an abiding interest in them.

Will we be smoking pot in a police state? Stay tuned...

Cheech & Chong, live @ The Morris Performing Arts Center, April 11, 2010 (review)

What do you expect from a Cheech & Chong concert? A lot of pot jokes, right? Some of the old routines from the albums, how the boomer and gen-x crowd (the latter being my generation), some Q&A, some songs, etc., right? That's pretty much what the show was, with some interesting surprises and insights from two of the most recognizable counterculture's personalities.

Even though the war on drugs is hardly over with the election of Barack Obama, it's safe to come out, and the duo beckon everyone to do likewise. Fear and loathing were not the main themes of the night. For most of us, Cheech & Chong were untouchable icons who were over and done with after the 1986 album "Get Out of My Room," a pretty lackluster coda at that, and their movies weren't especially funny by then either.

But imagine it: Cheech & Chong haven't done a show in South Bend, at the Morris since 1977. 1977. That's 33 years ago, an entire generation. The world is beyond changed from that time after the Reagan blight (still ongoing). The next year, the comedy duo would foist "Up in Smoke" on the world, grossing $100 million at the box office and holding the record for the most successful comedy for a little over two decades. Americans still smoke a lot of pot, but I have to wonder if a film like Up in Smoke would do as well today. Very possibly looking at the polls when it comes to legalization! The real treat of the night for me was when Cheech began talking about Tommy Chong's days up in Vancouver during the early 1960s when he was playing with the R&B combo of Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers (one of their sometime stage names was rumored to be "Four Niggers & a Chink"). Cheech had fled the United States in 1967 along with a lot of other Americans to avoid the draft.

Chong had started up a blues club in Vancouver in 1962, began playing with the Vancouvers not long after that, and in a few years, they were discovered by the management of the Supremes and on Motown records, charting at #29 on the R&B charts for Chong's co-written "Does Your Momma Know About Me?" The Supremes went on to do a rendition of the song that Cheech later saw a copy of, and noticed the co-writer was a "T. Chong," right before he met Tommy. Rumors that Jimi Hendrix played with the Vancouvers are unfounded according to Chong, but he played his song during the show with Cheech accompanying him on vocals. What was a little sad is how it became evident that Cheech & Chong began as a musical duo and kind of wanted to do that mainly, but that nobody knew when they were kidding or not simply because they were and are entertainers who are just inherently funny.

This was the case at the Morris when they did this song--some audience members actually began laughing at what was a fairly heartfelt rendition of a really great song, but oh well, they got to enjoy being a musical act anyway. What makes them funny is what makes Mel Brooks and a lot of the comedy of the 1970s funny: obvious, dopey (in their case, literally) humor. Sketches like "Dave," "Let's Make a Dope Deal," "Blind Melon Chitlin," and even trotted out the character "Hairy Palms," a real treat! The sketches were also a reminder that the majority of C&C sketches aren't funny because they're about drugs.

Chong's chops as a guitarist were excellent and Marin showed that he does indeed have a very pleasant voice and put it to good use. Besides that, the duo did fine renditions of "Save the Whales" (from the opening of the movie "Nice Dreams," a favorite of mine), "Basketball Jones" (1973), "Earache My Eye" (1974, just the song, not the entire sketch), "Born in East L.A." (which is really closer to a solo thing for Marin), "Beaners" (from "Next Movie"), "Mexican Americans" (ditto), and a few others I was too stoned to remember at the time, or even now.

But the show basically began with Shelby Chong conducting a kind of Q&A about where they'd been all these years, Chong's time in prison, the state of the nation and the war on drugs, and even a few personal tidbits about the comedy team that were both funny and sometimes harrowing to hear. Chong seems pretty unfazed and unafraid to speak out against marijuana prohibition thanks to his nine months in federal prison and spoke of how easy it was "to kick" smoking pot when he went inside and extolled the health benefits of the soft drug as did wife Shelby. Cheech was unapologetic as well and has said in recent months that he realized he was "never going to escape" the legacy of Cheech & Chong. So be it.

To say that there are a lot of "heads" in Michiana would be an understatement: the place was packed and you could see nearly everyone heading on foot to the venue imbibing in the sacred plant, so really, you didn't even need to bring anything since a contact high would have probably done you straight anyway. My mother saw C&C in 1972 at the Morris, so this was truly a full circle affair. Was it a good show? Did we laugh? Yes we did, and sometimes at the most innocuous things Cheech & Chong said about themselves and their lives. A good evening out all around, catch them if you can...literally. They still got it folks, they still got it, and people shouldn't have to apologize for being heads, it's harmless. They were unapologetic, as it should be.

http://www.cheechandchongtour.com/splash.html

Michael Phelps and bong hits

WWW--Yeah, I know, I know: we don't want to know anything about the smoking gun evidence regarding torture under the war on terror, it's too icky. I won't even go into the details of Phelps smoking dope a year ago, it's stupid and asinine of the mainstream media to keep this story alive. I'm here to kill it right now.

Phelps is a young man in his twenties who's in college. What else do you need to know? We know Sarah Palin's daughter rejects abstinence--we knew it well before she ever uttered it. Young people do these things and should be allowed time to screw-up since that's what learning is all about, that's how one grows-up. LEAVE HIM ALONE, THERE IS NO STORY.

Now, you journalists need to go smoke a fat one, you need it more than the rest of us. Imagining Phelps's lung-capacity just makes this writer cry... ;0)

Michigan decriminalizes medical marijuana

The Midwest--This is a truly incredible development that could only have happened with disciplined grassroots (pun-intended) organizing that has continued unabated for over a decade, and the main fact that the economy of Michigan needs something--anything--to give it a "boost" (pun-intended). This means jobs and more tax-revenues for the State of Michigan, say what you will...and I'm sure some of you out there will.

The medical applications for How does it make me feel? It's a good development, because now doctors in Michigan can legally prescribe marijuana for the people who need it very badly, such as chemotherapy patients, AIDs patients, and so on.

The medical applications of marijuana/THC are numerous, and the full number of them have yet to be expended. As many Americans know by now, there are also numerous eco-friendly consumer applications of the hemp plant, including the generation of energy.

The Michigan law defines users as having a "debilitating medical" condition, and will be issued registry-cards authorizing them to use and even possess and cultivate medical "marihuana" (an old legislative-spelling):

3. Definitions.

Sec. 3. As used in this act:

(a) "Debilitating medical condition" means 1 or more of the following:

(1) Cancer, glaucoma, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus,
acquired immune deficiency syndrome, hepatitis C, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,
Crohn's disease, agitation of Alzheimer's disease, nail patella, or the treatment of
these conditions.

(2) A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment
that produces 1 or more of the following: cachexia or wasting syndrome; severe
and chronic pain; severe nausea; seizures, including but not limited to those
characteristic of epilepsy; or severe and persistent muscle spasms, including but
not limited to those characteristic of multiple sclerosis.

(3) Any other medical condition or its treatment approved by the
department, as provided for in section 5(a).

(b) "Department" means the state department of community health.

(c) "Enclosed, locked facility" means a closet, room, or other enclosed area
equipped with locks or other security devices that permit access only by a
registered primary caregiver or registered qualifying patient.

(d) "Marihuana" means that term as defined in section 7106 of the public
health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.7106.

(e) "Medical use" means the acquisition, possession, cultivation,
manufacture, use, internal possession, delivery, transfer, or transportation of
marihuana or paraphernalia relating to the administration of marihuana to treat or
alleviate a registered qualifying patient's debilitating medical condition or
symptoms associated with the debilitating medical condition.

(f) "Physician" means an individual licensed as a physician under Part 170
of the public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.17001 to 333.17084, or an
osteopathic physician under Part 175 of the public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL
333.17501 to 333.17556.

(g) "Primary caregiver" means a person who is at least 21 years old and who
has agreed to assist with a patient's medical use of marihuana and who has never
been convicted of a felony involving illegal drugs.

(h) "Qualifying patient" means a person who has been diagnosed by a
physician as having a debilitating medical condition.

(i) "Registry identification card" means a document issued by the
department that identifies a person as a registered qualifying patient or registered
primary caregiver.

(j) "Usable marihuana" means the dried leaves and flowers of the marihuana
plant, and any mixture or preparation thereof, but does not include the seeds,
stalks, and roots of the plant.

(k) "Visiting qualifying patient" means a patient who is not a resident of this
state or who has been a resident of this state for less than 30 days.

(l) "Written certification" means a document signed by a physician, stating
the patient's debilitating medical condition and stating that, in the physician's
professional opinion, the patient is likely to receive therapeutic or palliative benefit
from the medical use of marihuana to treat or alleviate the patient's debilitating
medical condition or symptoms associated with the debilitating medical condition.

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/sos/ED-20_11-08_Props_Poster2_251561_7.pdf

It's a 16 page statute with a thoroughness that's thrilling, it should be applauded as well-written and clear in its language, a rarity in most legislation. You would think this is big news, but the majority of the major media outlets are doing their best to talk as little about it as humanly possible. Most interesting is the State of Michigan's assertion of state's rights in the matter of marijuana-interdiction:

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

1. Short Title.

Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the Michigan Medical
Marihuana Act.

2. Findings.

Sec. 2. The people of the State of Michigan find and declare that:

(a) Modern medical research, including as found by the National Academy
of Sciences' Institute of Medicine in a March 1999 report, has discovered
beneficial uses for marihuana in treating or alleviating the pain, nausea, and other
symptoms associated with a variety of debilitating medical conditions.

(b) Data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reports
and the Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics show that approximately 99 out
of every 100 marihuana arrests in the United States are made under state law,
rather than under federal law. Consequently, changing state law will have the
practical effect of protecting from arrest the vast majority of seriously ill people
who have a medical need to use marihuana.

(c) Although federal law currently prohibits any use of marihuana except
under very limited circumstances, states are not required to enforce federal law or
prosecute people for engaging in activities prohibited by federal law. [My emphasis.] The laws of Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Washington do not penalize the medical use and cultivation of marihuana. Michigan joins in this effort for the health and welfare of its citizens.

Once the domain of California, the Northwest, and even some of the plains states and Southwest, medical marijuana has made a beachhead right here in the heart of the American Midwest. Times are certainly changing, just another part of our rapidly-shifting demographics. Now, if only that prostitution statue had passed in San Francisco. Don't worry. Eventually, another one like it will. Get organized, the fight has only begun on this issue in Michigan.

The first shots of this battle were fired at Rainbow Farm, once overshadowed like everything else by the events of September 11th, 2001. The gloves are truly off now.

One from the Vaults of a pre-9/11 world: A 2001 Interview with avante garde hip-hop group dälek

DÄLEK INTERVIEW

words: Matt Janovic

Big hip-hop groups and artists come and go, but some names stick, and are recalled as timeless. There is the word, and the thing itself. Without question, the New Jersey unit, dalek is of this calibre, and hip-hop is what they do so well. With their acclaimed first release of "Negro Necro Nekros", on Gern Bladsten in 1998 (and their new 12" on Matador with "post-everything" Techno Animal), the reminders of rap's wilder days were clear.

And this is one of many paradoxes to this enigmatic group: a synthesis of the past, present, and future of rap, as well as life. And the future (by way of the past and present?) is what dalek and this interview are all about, oddly enough.

[Conducted via-the internet towards the end of January/early-February of 2001. All content the intellectual property of the author.]

Q:	One would find it odd that a hip-hop group would be on a punk label like Gern Bladsten, but you guys are unique. How did the deal with them ever come-into-being?
dälek:	The O. recorded a lot of bands on the Gern Blandsten roster (Rye Coalition, All Natural Lemon and Lime Flavors, Trans Megetti, Chisel, The VanPelt, etc). From there I met Charles Maggio (owner and lead singer of RORSCHACH) and hit him off with a tape of what would be "Negro, Necro, Nekros". After listening to the demo and seeing us live with Computer Cougar he wanted to put out our record.
Q:	Any future plans with Techno Animal?
dälek:	Yeah, no doubt. I dropped vocals on the And/Or remix they did for 2nd Gen (available on NovaMute Records). We did a remix for Kid606 (Ruin It, Ruin Them, Ruin Yrself, Then Ruin Me) which Kevin Martin played sax on. And I'm dropping vocals on a track for Techno Animal's full length "Brotherhood of the Bomb" which will be available in May on Matador Records. N ot to mention future tours as well as Oktopus' barbecue this summer!! You should come out.
Q:	I think there is a real connection between your sound, and the cinematic. A good part of the "Negro Necro Nekros" album is made up of extended-jams, and a lot of the sounds and instrumentation is exotic. But even better than that is the feeling of tension building and releasing in your music. Like an impending explosion of violence--that sometimes never comes until you've forgotten it was always coming!
Oktopus /dälek:	A lot of what we do musically is built on extremes. Ying and Yang so to speak. Dynamics. We try and build up to a certain level and then drop down to nothing (which lends itself to the "cinematic experience"). Most of pop music these days seems to be at one dynamic, but if you listen to jazz (American classical) or European classical or even African or Indian classical you can feel the tension build between the high and low. It used to be that rock emulated these tensions, and hiphop/punk had the feel, but lately, everything seems dead. So it might be cinematic, it might not be, but we just feel the extremes. We're waiting for a cinematographer who can depict it.
Q:	In "Untraveled Road", the line "Its all this vision that obstructs our sight...", really stood-out for me. With the intensity of your music, it reminds one of the media-overload we are all exposed to every day. And also, the sensory-overload of the urban environment.; do you think at some point the overload is intentional?
dälek:	Of course. Desensitatation is the answer to calm a blind society. 20/20 vision only lets you see what they want you to see (laser vision correction makes you of them). Vision, one of the senses that DESCARTES doubted, does not bring you closer to the self or to creation. Without senses we are left unconnected to the world that we think we experience. Blind-men could never commit racism.
Q:	How exactly did the Matador 12" with Techno Animal come about? Were you aware of them before that, or did they approach you?
dälek:	Like I said, we had a split 12" in the works. Techno Animal became the other half. They got signed to Matador Records, and they asked if the split 12" could be a Matador release, and it worked itself out.
Q:	Who are your favorite Jazz artists?
dälek:	Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, Miles Davis (Fusion Era), Rashied Ali, Gateway Trio, Jan Hammer, Thelonious Monk, John McLaughlin, Ron Carter, Canonball Adderley, Ornette Coleman Quintet, Cecil Taylor, Wes Montgomery, William Hooker, Jesse Henry, Tor Snyder, John Abercrombie, Dave Holland, Dave Brubeck, Charlie Parker, Trilok Gurtu, Grant Green, Johnny Hammond, Roy Campbell, Dave Douglass, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Bruce Eisenbeil, Jim Black, Mark Hennen, Kai Eckhart, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington (Cara), Ravish Momin, Herbie Hancock, Danny Zanker, Eric Gale, Chick Corea, Revolutionary Ensemble (Jerome Cooper, Sirone, Leroy Jenkins), Charles Hayden, Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, Don Cherry, Ramsey Lewis, Hubert Laws, Tony Williams, Billy Cobham, Jack DeJohnette, Paul Desmond, Philly Joe Jones, Dizzy Gilespie, Anthony Davis, and those who we may have forgotten and are yet to discover.
Q:	So exactly who makes up Dalek, and what do they do?
dälek:	Still (DJ, Co-Producer); Oktopus (Co-Producer/Engineer); dälek (MC/Co-Producer) and Deadverse which includes said members and: Joshua Booth (Co-Producer) and Balthazar (Co-Producer).
Q:	There seems to have been some confusion that the Gern Bladsten album, "Negro Necro Nekros" was an EP. You guys want to clear that one up for the folks?
dälek:	I look at it like a jazz album. Its five songs, but its close to 40 minutes of music.
Q:	The Raga samples are great, it wasn't obvious at all. I've heard a few hip-hop acts use Indian music alright, but it always came-off as too "hippie." But you guys use a pretty nice palette of sounds--just about anything. What makes you decide on using one sound over another?
dälek:	We don't really choose one sound over another, its what works best with the song. We don't tend to think about it that hard, it needs to be natural. Scott LaRock.
Q:	What is your basic instrument/turntable setup (no need for exact specifics if you don't want to) live or the studio?
dälek:	Laptop, Turntables, mad Efx, and Vocals.
Q:	Hah-hah, back to the psychedelic question again. Any experiences that you would say opened new doors in your mind(s)? It's fairly well-known what Justin Broadrick's feelings on that are (I'm unsure about Kevin Martin's), so was there a feeling of "kinship" on the issue of creativity and the psychedelic experience?
Oktopus:	Yeah, I would say we definitely feel a kinship with Techno Animal, except that Justin is always rollin something?? And dälek is for the CHILDRENS!!!!!!!
Q:	In "Images of .44 Casings", the line, "Cruel, evil world, I hear your laughs--I just never gave a fuck.", just hit me so hard. It made me think of all the generations of humankind that has suffered for no good reason. But what it made think of most of all was the ancient Gnostic/occult idea that the world is "evil"-- that creation and matter itself is evil. Do you guys subscribe to the idea that the world is irrevocably flawed?
dälek:	Although I'm not very familiar with the Gnostic philosophy (I'm now interested), I do hold the belief that the world is flawed. Through my own personal experiences I feel that human nature is inherently evil. The "good" of the world seem to be a biological accident (though a necessity). Even Darwin's "Survival of the Fittest" validates the need of violence and evil to insure existence. What does "good" and "evil" mean anyway? Those are "human" terms. On the level of nature good would equate survival, not moral judgement.
Q:	A lot has been written about the "reporting-side" of hip-hop/rap, telling Middle America/"white America" about conditions in the >inner-cities, or the ghetto. But what I noticed is there are many narrators in your cuts. Sometimes, it's like God looking-down and telling us, then a quick-switch into the mind of a "Swollen tongue bum," for example. It's almost like telepathy! Am I wrong on this?
dälek:	As flattering as your analogy is, the lyrics in our songs only portray my VERY PERSONAL experiences. Your interpretation is what you get out of it, obviously. I write lyrics for myself and music for ourselves. Interpretations are secondary. Your analogy only inforces my belief in the omniprescence of a creator (NOT RELIGION). The idea that this creator exists in all of us can make this imperfect world work. Religion is a POISON.
Q:	Exactly how did the whole relationship with Kevin Martin and Justin Broadrick of Techno Animal come about?
dälek:	It was because of Dan Hill. He wrote a review of our 1st album which completely hit the mark. I sent him an email thanking him. Meanwhile, Kevin Martin had read our HipHop Connection interview and was interested in contacting us to work together. Dan Hill basically hooked it all up as he was a friend of Kevin's. We had recorded our half of the split 12" and were looking for a band to do the other half. A lot of different groups were offered, but didn't work out. Once Kevin contacted us and we heard the Techno Animal stuff it fell into place. That initial contact led to a tour with Techno Animal in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland which developed into a brotherhood.
Q:	When will we be seeing a national tour for Dalek?
dälek:	Hopefully this summer. July/August????