Spark up the candles (or, you know, whatever you spark on birthdays) and get ready to sing a happy 34th go-round on this earth with lots of good wishes and eskimo kisses to the lovely and talented Milla Jovovich! One of my favorite Model Citizens, mothers, and all-around good-time gals. Keep on rocking in the free world, kiddo.

High Times, October 1994.

It’s your birthday; do what feels right!

lost credit please help

And we should really all say thank you to Milla for the memories. I mean, you do not even know how grateful I am for the huge folder on my computer, chock-full of amazing pictures of the girl. It took me ages to pick the right ones for this post.

by Ellen Von Unwerth for Vogue Italia, July 2009.

Besides screencaps from films like Dazed and Confused, the Fifth Element, Joan of Arc, and the Resident Evil flicks, I had to decide between photographs from devil-horned shoots with Ellen von Unwerth, topless shenanigans by David La Chapelle, that phatty spread in High Times, even … it was truly a challenge.

Paper magazine, 1994.

Man, this girl has given me some smiles over the years. Do your thing, chicken wing. Haters to the left! You keep on keepin’ on.

by the notorious EVU, 1997

Lately I’ve been very interested in the marijuana legalization efforts.  I’ve never been a smoker, and only had a handful of experiences with the vital herb.  I was raised to believe that it was a gateway drug, had no medicinal qualities, would kill brain cells, take away your initiative and ruin your life forever.  When Nancy said “just say no”  I did too.

I no longer subscribe to those beliefs and this is why I’ve changed my position.

This year I started taking the anti-depressant Zoloft daily and Lorazepam as needed.  The Lorazepam was to help me over the hump of my depression, but I was advised by my doctor that it was addictive and should be used with caution.  I took it for about a month before dropping it from my daily regimen.  Shortly thereafter I started taking Trazadone in the evening to help me sleep.  I’m not sure if the insomnia was related to depression or my chronic shoulder pain.  But, either way I wasn’t sleeping.  Additionally, after I started taking these meds, I increased my alcohol consumption.  My doc said to avoid booze while on these meds, but a couple drinks wouldn’t hurt anything.  So I took that to mean I can drink as I want.  I’m convinced that a side-effect of the meds was/is that my tolerance to booze has increased greatly.  I was drinking a lot, and never had a hangover.  But, it was a bit like falling off a cliff, I would be drinking and feeling nothing, and then suddenly blitzed.  Even my wife started to comment about my drinking.  So I started to look for an alternative.

My first effort involved Salvia Divinorum.  I watched a few videos on youtube and decided, I’m going to try that.  I found a headshop that sold it and made my purchase.  I was very excited to try it.  When I finally did, nothing.  No buzz, no change in mood, nothing.  A huge disappointment.  It was then I decided to re-visit my understanding of marijuana.

I think the policy changes of several states are really what intrigued me most.  How could this evil plant possibly be legalized?  Clearly, I didn’t have all the information, but I was obsessed with trying it again.  I made an acquisition and I’ll be honest with you, that first try gave me nothing.  However, I should also state, that I had been drinking before trying it and had quite a bit of beer in my system.  I wondered if I was smoking schwag and overpaid for ditchweed.  This sample was feminized, no seeds, no stems, quite a bit of bud, but didn’t do anything for me.  So I made arrangements to try a different sample.  I smoked more this time, and finally felt a bit of a buzz and also discovered 2 things.

1.  I slept through the night.

2.  My shoulder pain was greatly diminished, I could feel the muscles in my back relax.

Since then I’ve been reading everything I can find on the subject.  I’ve been reading the magazines High Times, Skunk and Weed World.  These mags have piqued my interest into growing my own, but that isn’t very likely.  I have 2 kids and don’t want to send a mixed message about drugs.  I see the hypocrisy in this position, but choose to accept it.  I may revisit it after I have better educated myself on the topic.

I’ve started listening to the NORML podcasts as well as Marijuana Radio.  I’ve been reading about it on the internet and I’m still looking for a good site that has lots of facts.  I was glad to hear that the AMA has restated their position on Medical Marijuana, I’m hopeful that this will bring about more studies.

Jag är nog ganska sent ute med det här bandet. Tror att den här kassetten kom ut någon gång i sommras. Tyvärr är den slutsåld men det finns en EP, Life of leisure, att beställa på Mexican Summer.

Phone Call

It´s Kate´s Birthday

Lyssna mer på Myspace. Här finns också en remix av Small Black´s asschyssta Despicable Dogs som jag bloggade om igår.

Why not? If you get caught you ain’t heard it from the Wiseguy!

So.where to start? I guess this is a online diary that people can see. I will tell you something now. my start off? kinda weird. then again normal isnt real.Just conformity.

My dad is my favorite family member. He used to smoke pot a lot, but he is cool that way. I never needed him to take care of me cause when I am with him I am another guy and take care of myself. and we have a great relationship. he is always and forever my favorite family

My mom is my least favorite. I dont love her. She is the cool hot mom. She is a stripper and a druggy.it wasnt always that way, just after she left dad. in high school she was a druggy stripper. she got pregnant and stopped the drugs. My older brother was born when she was in high school but she stopped the drugs. 2 years later out popped me. she was a good mom but now that woman is gone. somewhere deep inside.

My brother,Richard. He grew up with mom. after I left at age 6 he stayed with her and loved and idealized her. but seeing her drug use and sex use he decided never to do drugs.  Thats one reason he will never fully know and except me.

Then Grandma. of course, she raised me. she is mean,scary, and gets over things easily in front of people. she is the only reason I care what happens to me. When I was the kid in 2nd grade who couldnt read, she helped even though at the time I hated her for it. after she yells at me, I go to my room and get mad and say I will hate her forever but as soon as I see her the anger is gone physically. Shes the only one who cares fully an knows and is a good influence on me although I DONT idealize her what so ever, I deep down need her to bo ok.

So when I was 5 mom left home. it was me,mom,dad,Dick,Grandma, and Grandpa in the same house and she waited till everyone was gone then packed me and Dick up and left. they didnt know where we were for months. Grandpa(not biological) had cheated on Grandma and she kicked him out, then we left leaving her all alone with dad.

So mom me and Dick live with my ‘aunt’ who was really moms girlfriend.  she started using drugs again. and little by little the mom I loved disappeared and some women with her body was in her place. She took up her high school job again too, stripping.  So eventually I got sick of it and asked to live with grandma at the age of 6. So I did. So now I live with her still.almost 17 years old and I live in the basement appartement. I smoke pot all day. and go to school. my grades were Cs-Fs but since I started smoking, they went up. Its in my blood from mom and dad. to bad if Richard or Grandma knew, they would be really mad.

This is my high times,my life, and how I feel. This is a dead story in the dust. This is my diary.dont love or hate, just be.

You’ve got to salute anyone taking the plunge into paper at a time when magazines meet their makers faster than the startling, saddening number of A, B and C-listers over the last five months. That’s not to say that just because you’re bloody minded enough to swim against the deadly swells of the magazine industry’s slow decline your publication will be any good, but it’s admirable nonetheless. With any luck, the new breed of editors and publishers will possess a single percent of the lunacy of Tom Forcade rather than sitting blandly in an office of vintage Eames pieces, stroking a vintage Woolrich coat.

For those of us a little bored of “you weren’t there maaaaaaaan” yippie types talking about dropping out and pranking folks, it’s nice to hear about something genuinely subersive, and the origins of High Times are just that. Tom started the magazine in 1974 with 12k and the proceeds of a drug deal and what could have been a burn-out fanzine, was a glossy creation, well-designed, hiring the best writers and at one point carrying over a hundred staffers. The professionalism of the Trans-High Corporation just made it all the more subversive.

Reading through Martin Torgoff’s excellent ‘Can’t Find My Way Home,’ his section on the magazine’s genesis with contributions from onetime High Times editor Glenn O’Brien who testifies as to just how manic the offices were and that the mysterious Mr. Forcade was very much the real deal, shifting and smoking a serious amount of dope, and suffering extreme mood swings that left him acting like a weed-addled Howard Hughes, even rocking a Fu Manchu ‘tache. How the hell did he get away with it all? Maybe the whole operation worked under the notion that authorities would never accept that the rag would be so closely affiliated with shifting weight, as that would be too obvious, and noone in their right mind would take a risk like that. Tom wasn’t in his right mind though, and reportedly attempted suicide a number of times, suffering depression over the death of his friend Jack Coombs in a plane crash during a smuggle gone wrong, and shooting himself on November the 19th 1978.

Tom was a product of the ’60s who left the army and became heavily politicised, before becoming THC’s own Hefner but rehashing (get it?) his life story here would be pointless, as friends and associates tell it a lot better in pieces like this George Petros piece, talking to cartoonist John Holstrom (‘Punk’ magazine and Ramones covers). The magazine industry needs mavericks, not business planners and reverential fanboys. Without Tom’s direction High Times entered an interesting phase – from 1979 to the mid ’80s, it added yayo to the table, (Holsteom cites the coke period as being 1981 to 1985, we’ll use the October 1979 issue’s freebase kit ads) with it superseding the weed focus; a sign of the times, think disco, Studio 54 and Hollywood’s blizzard, but it was Tom’s passing that opened these floodgates.

Perhaps for all his madness, he was keen to keep the class-As to the background. That’s not to say tooters, Triple-Beams and even Methaqualone-themed paperweight weren’t sold in the legendary ads section of the magazine, but cooking coke brought a certain darkness to the proceedings. For that half of the ’80s, writing for the magazine reportedly became an embarrassment to match Allan MacDonell’s Hustler tenure, as documented in ‘Prisoner Of X,’ (much to Larry Flynt’s displeasure) and removed the journalistic stepping stone it provided the previous decade. There was a LOT of cocaine coverage. Glenn hastily left. But here’s the thing – the content became even more morally murky, and with five years of great cover art under its leaf-buckled belt, High Times’s covers during the coke-era were pretty batshit crazy too, less subtle, but vastly superior to the current lurid look of the magazine, which seems to have stayed static since the ’90s. There’s a scattering of coked-out covers below.

The infamous Ohaus Triple-Beam

It doesn’t end there though. Journalist Steven Hager’s entry into High Times and as a documenter of subcultures is invaluable. You should know him as one of the first to get the term ‘hip-hop’ printed, and his fine 1984 book ‘Hip Hop’ remains hard to obtain. He also wrote the book ‘Art After Midnight,’ documenting NYC’s avant art scenes.You should probably give them a read, and help is at hand, as the very much in-print, ‘Adventures In The Counterculture’ incorporates both essays that made up the backbone of each book.

Hager is also quoted in ‘Samo Is Dead,’ Phoebe Hoban’s Basquiat story for New York magazine. Steven took over as editor of High Times in 1988 and his first editorial move was to focus on bud, and jettison opiates and cocaine from the magazine, taking it into the Cannabis Cup era. Steven’s hip-hop credentials, and the rise of blunted rap meant more rap talk in the magazine and a new audience of readers during the early ’90s willing to pay a Tower Records markup price because of a mention in The Source’s ‘Media Watch’ column.

Now High Times seems to be showcased locally in the racks outside gaudily decorated head shops, it’s great that it’s still going, but in 2009 a publication dedicated to weed feels like it page upon page of a stoner colleague crowing about how they hotboxed all weekend and were, like, stoned for three days solid and ate nine pizzas etc. etc. etc. Smoke the shit – don’t talk it. But High Times was the vessel that created that overfamiliarity with THC-babble, so their longevity is well-deserved. Long may it run three thousand word pieces on secret harvests, and break down lighting technology with alarming levels of detail.

There’s a great film to be made from Tom Forcade’s life story – aspiring publishers should be thinking in terms of their own biopics after they pass. Are your day-to-day antics maniacal enough to fuel a film? On a lighter note, there’s a great documentary in there too, charting the friendy softball tournament rivalry that High Times’s ‘Bonghitters’ squad maintains with fellow New York magazine Vanity Fair and their ‘Veefers’ who frequently marvel at the stoners’ sporting ability.

Well, I only have a little over 48 hours to go until my first flight leaves Detroit.  I am excited and overwhelmed at the same time.  This is my first European adventure, and I certainly have enough stuff to do in the next 2 days to make it busy.

Steven Hagar reported yesterday on the Cannabis Cup Blog that the Cannabis Cup weather forecast calls for temperatures from a high of 54°F on Sunday, Nov. 22, to a low of 47°F on Thursday, Nov. 26.  Showers are expected every day of the week.  Looks like I should make sure to pack my umbrella.  I don’t mind the weather in The Netherlands, even at the worst of time, it is still better than the crap we get here in Michigan.  At least my other destinations this year have a better climate.  I will be travelling to Las Vegas and the Florida Keys before the end of the year.

A couple of other announcements were made, including a limited seating concert at the Melkweg Old Hall on Nov. 25 at 8 p.m.  The first 200 people that show up at the door with a Cannabis Cup judges pass will be admitted.  Magic Heart Genies will be moved to the Melkweg Max and will open for Barrington Levy on Wednesday night.

Well, I should be packing something, I hope to see you all in Amsterdam!  If you are not attending, I expect to update this blog at least nightly.

I did it. All the sudden talking to one self in aid to practice speech all paid off. The kids were very open & keen to receive me & what I had to teach them about. I asked them several questions through out the talk to keep them engaged & they were all too willing to reply. I hope it brought them closer to God & the love He & Jesus has for each and everyone of those kids.

The GB team was also grateful & rather chuffed with the talk. I’m not sure if they knew this was my 1st ever talk, but they thought I did a brilliant job.YaY.

Today after church, mum put out the biggest meal ever. Emma’s other uncle & his family came to see her & eat with us. We also got an unexpected Matei turning up to church & so he came to eat with us also. Mum was quite worried about Matei because he was having marital problems & seemed rather depressed. He put it down to his wife not being in love with him anymore because he isn’t so Romanian anymore, but rather English.

I tried to help Matei & talk to him about how God & Jesus is fun. He still had this harsh & fearful image of God from what Romanian religion had embedded in him.

Emma then went to the evening youth service too. She seemed to have enjoyed it. I was quite chuffed that at home she doesn’t go to church at all, but during the 10 days she stayed with me she went to church 3 times. Result. She’s leaving very early tomorrow morning to get back home.

Will started his first ever pre-school session. Aww my little guy is growing up so quick. He loved it.

Tonight I also organized a baby-sitter so that me & Emma could go out for a few drinks.
Hmm I think I may have got just a little bit carried away on the drink, but even so I still managed to talk to people about God & Jesus.

In one of the pubs we met a weird looking guy who was out with his girlfriend & we found that he was an anglican church attending guy. His dad was also there & he offered to play pool with us. It took us awhile before we realized his top had a pool champion logo on it.

Although the pool champion was in his 40’s, he had a confident swagger about him, so confident that he thought he would try & flirt with me a 23 year old. Even after putting him straight that I was taken & rather besotted with my guy, he then thought he could change my mind by telling me & gloating about all the money he had gained from winning pool competitions. If anything that made me think less of him. But still, I tried to change the subject around onto talking about God & Jesus.

The night came to an end, & as we left he leaned over & kissed me on the cheek. Emma felt left out & said something like: ‘Charming, where’s my kiss then?’ I found that a little childish, but it was amusing at the same time because the guy did then reach in to give her a kiss also.

Tomorrow she’ll be spending the day & eve with her uncle Andrew, so it will mean that Rob & I will get some time together.

The High Times Cannabis Cup is held annually in Amsterdam and is one of the most famous cannabis events among cannabis smokers and cannabis-oriented businesses. The public is exposed to a large variety of marijuana strains which they then help to judge. A team of VIP judges decide which seed company brought the best marijuana, while the judges-at-large decide the Cannabis Cup, best new product, best booth, best glass, best hash and best Nederhash.

According to the official Cannabis Cup FAQ the Cup is always held in Amsterdam during the week of Thanksgiving (U.S.). The 22nd Cannabis Cup will be held from November 22nd-26th 2009. Pre-registration begins on November 19th and 20th for those of us who will be in town a few days early. The benefit of early registration is avoiding the long lines that typically form on opening day, and also to get a head start on the coffeeshop crawl. All registration takes place at the PowerZone.

This year there are 29 coffeeshops entered in the Cannabis Cup.  There are also 33 seed companies that have submitted their wares to be judged.  High Times also reports that there are several stand out companies that have racked up many Cups.  The Greenhouse leads the pack with 60 Cups.  Barneys and De Dampkring follow with 46 and 23 Cannabis Cups respectively.

Also every year a distinguished member of the marijuana community is inducted into the Counterculture Hall of Fame.  This year at the 22nd Cannabis Cup, Thomas King Forcade, the founder of High Times magazine will be inducted into the High Times Counterculture Hall of Fame.

And lets not forget the great music at the Melkweg!  This year we will hear great music by Gomez, Slightly Stoopid, Los Marijuanos, Yellowman and Barrington Levy.  On Thursday night Jefferson Starship and Quicksilver Messenger Service will play at the Awards Show.

Finally, there is the reason many people attend the Cup.  With cultivation seminars held by many of the big players, speeches, movie screenings, book parties, and meet and greets, there is no shortage of things to do at the expo held at the PowerZone.  It is a very busy 5 days and nights in Amsterdam.

Today I dragged Emma to Hillsong Church. I got the impression ideally she’d like to just avoid church all together, but not while she’s with me. I wanted to show her that Hillsong was full of young people that all had a common love for God. Young people that were all excited to be there & keen to learn more about Him. She said that she enjoyed it, but I’m not sure if that was a polity reply or if she really did enjoy it.

We had quite a late night yesterday because my church put on a Fireworks display, so we didn’t get home ’til 11ish nearly. It was nice to see Rob’s dad though, because he’s not been in my house-group so much as he did the Alpha course with his relative instead.

I wanted Rob to come to the Fireworks too, but he thought he would have something else on. In the end he didn’t have anything on but he still didn’t come. Sometimes I feel a little disappointed that he doesn’t quite have enough time to be my boyfriend. I’ve invited him to quite a few of my church events but he’s always had something on. I’m starting to feel like he’s avoiding my church for a reason.

Rob popped in after we got back & he played me ‘Beautiful by Phil Wickham’ on my guitar. I really was left in awe. I was dumb struck or dumb found as the Americans would say it. Errmm yeah, like wow!!

Less than 3 weeks until the start of the 2009 High Times Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam!!  This will be my first time to Amsterdam and my first Cannabis Cup.  I have received the confirmation for my judges pass.  I will be placing my vote for the best marijuana in the land.  There are 29 coffeeshops participating this year, and I would like to sample the marijuana entry for all of them.  I would love to judge the hash, but I have a hard time believing that I am going to be able to smoke 29 grams of weed in the 4 days of judging, let alone that much in hashish.

This blog will have pictures, descriptions and my thoughts on each entry that I am able to judge.  I hope to be able to post with my BlackBerry using WiFi in the coffeeshops that have it.  I will also update the blog every evening with anything that I might not have been able to post due to not having WiFi.  I will not have cellular service for my BlackBerry and am going to have to rent a local mobile phone while I am there.

This adventure is something that I have spent most of my entire adult life waiting to do.  I have purchased my airline tickets, hotel room and judges pass.  I also hope to have a €200/day budget for marijuana and food.  Maybe if I can impress enough people with my journalistic skills, I may get some sponsors to help absorb the cost for next years Cup.

My U.S. Airways flight leaves Detroit on Friday, November 20, 2009 and arrives at Schiphol Airport in The Netherlands on Saturday, November 21.  My base of operations will be the Best Western Blue Square Hotel.  This hotel is outside the city center but it was a fairly inexpensive western style hotel.  It also has free WiFi which is pretty important to me.  I will be staying in Amsterdam for 8 nights and hope to not only smoke some fine herb, but to also visit some of the cultural attractions the city has to offer.

I hope to see you all there!  If you are interested in meeting up to judge a strain, let me know.  I am always looking for new friends.  I expect to be meeting up with friends from the U.S. and Canada, and hope to meet new smokers from Europe and around the world.

washed out‘i life of leisure ep on viimased paar kuud kõikjal juba kõvasti haipi saanud, aga ma tahaksin tähelepanu pöörata hoopis tema high times kassetile, mille lood mulle veel rohkem meeldivad.

washed out – phone call

My sister Sarah has kindly offered to have the kids for a sleep-over… so it’s party time. Well… or time to catch-up on chores in a peaceful manner.

I had a hospital visit to quickly get out the way. I actually connected more with my Dr today. I asked him about his holiday in Iceland & he was so enthusiastic to talk about it. It actually was quite interesting, but I felt pleased that my shy & introvert Dr was now quite keenly sharing stuff with me. He changed my pills a little, so there’s bound to be some change, hopefully a good one.

Later, Rob came & took me out to Billericay for a change. We enjoyed the beautiful tudor houses & then went to a nice, posh & quiet restaurant.

We had a meal in candle light & it was just simply the best. Rob looks good in any light, but in candle light he really does capture me in a whole different way.

Eu realmente estou pensando que vi bastante coisas na vida, mas essa eu achei sensacional, até me isncreveria, mas acho que já sou lesada o bastante. E tem gente que acha que eu uso, mas juro que minha risada de escárnio e humor ácido é natural, pessoal.

O que acham de uma Olimpíada de maconha? adorei…

Leia mais aqui: http://hightimes.com/public/cancup/

Today I listened to a lot of Romanian talk on RVE station that Teo works at. It made me like God in Romanian too. I was always quite scared of the Romanian version of Him. But it doesn’t matter what language, He’s the same yesterday, today & always. I was won over in English & now I’m won over in Romanian too! It’s fabulous…. being born again twice! Wonder if it can be done in Spanish too! Not sure I know enough Spanish, but hmmm nothing is impossible with Him!!

Today I bought some new guitar strings for Ea as she was feeling rather dull about the ones she had on from the previous owner.

Rob helped me re-string her, and even though it was a tedious process, I enjoyed learning something new. I had fun learning yet again with Rob’s help.

The guitar just sounded refreshed, & I guess that’s a useful lesson. We need new things too in our lives. New opportunities, new dreams, new hopes so that we get refreshed too.

Rob definitely can play guitar strings, & I think slowly he’s learning how to play my strings too.

My baby decided to catch up with someone from his church & it turns out that the guy does a little bit of Radio transmitting in his spare time.

Hmm I think Rob’s voice sounds surprisingly pleasing over the airways. More pleasing than it’s been so far. OK, I will let my hand type what it really wants to type. Rob’s voice is extremely sexy. Although I’m still feeling poorly, this has cheered me up  a lot.