FIVE YEARS AND ONE ISSUE AGO ANDRE GROSSMANN WAS THE SUBJECT OF HIS FIRST PAGE SIX TRIBUTE. It described his physically rugged and extremely dedicated approach to photojournalism. While on location in Jamaica, John Holmstrom wrote back then, “Andre amazed everyone with his work ethic.
I was much edified by the Tom ForÇade article by Albert Goldman (Jan. ‘93, HT). I once smuggled 40 pounds of grass to NYC, but I’ve been “out of it” for a long, long time. I remember hearing the founder of HT had committed suicide around ‘79. Of course my reaction was “Ugh, so much for that."
“Come on into my twisted fuckin’ soul.” Thus Bill Hicks begins a “giggle tour” of mass murderers, whose highlights include a Jeffrey Dahmer Tupperware party. But what he really lays bare tonight, on the eve of an impending European tour, is the twisted fuckin' soul of Just-Say-No America.
Patrick Mata, leader of Sativa Luvbox, recently stopped by the HIGH TIMES offices. Following my nose down the corridor, I heard some righteous tuneage and came upon Mata and his fiancée Sativa in the conference room. “We’re like a cross between Syd Barrett and the Chocolate Watch Band,” Mata was saying.
The debut work from these Los Angeles pot-rockers demonstrates that horrible noise can be a very pretty thing. With equal nods to My Bloody Valentine and the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, Medicine swirl up layers of psychodrone and then drape the caterwaul over sweet, well-crafted pop tunes.
Bob Dylan’s repertoire of American music—country, blues, gospel, folk—is as vast as that of any recorded musician this country’s produced. This should be acknowledged to fully appreciate the natural grace and beauty of his latest studio effort, a disc consisting of 13 traditional sides, proffered simply with guitar, harmonica and that voice.
The man who distilled the influences of Syd Barrett and cult crooner Scott Walker with his own acid-drenched excesses, creating the highly combustible fuel that has powered his treacherous career, celebrates over a dozen years in the trenches with Floored Genius.
Who is Raymond Scott and why has Columbia released 22 tracks he recorded more than 50 years ago? Well, cartoon fans, if you’re still hooked on “Looney Tunes,” then you’ve been listening to Scott’s music all along and just didn’t know it. Instrumentals like “Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals,” “Twilight in Turkey" and “Huckleberry Duck” are the “Merrie Melodies” behind numerous Warner Bros, ’toons.
Imagine Hüsker Dü’s Flip Your Wig without the smack distractions, or Revolver pumped up with anabolic steroids, and you’ve got an idea where the Bay Area's Overwhelming Colorfast Is coming from. As vocalist Bob Reed confidently belts out catchy popblasts, brother Dan slaps away at the drums.
Before Ken Kesey became KESEY, he’d written an epic (Sometimes a Great Notion, 1964), and had a sure-tobe-classic (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, 1962) tucked securely under his heavy belt. Born in the heartland and schooled in the wooded Northwest, Kesey was a guy just like and yet unlike everyone else.
Auburn “Pat” Hare was one of the standout American blues guitarists of the ’50s. He created a brutal, barbedwire-edged style that influenced an entire generation of young players, both black and white. His life was short, violent and quite fascinating, and warrants retelling.
Innovative, ominous and jarring, Emergency Broadcast Network (EBN) must be seen to be believed. News clips, sound bites, explosions, implosions and even Mariah Carey screeches mount an assault on the senses that will leave you slack-jawed.
DRUG POLICY FOUNDATION MEETS IN DC: CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM IN THE REFORM MOVEMENT
DAY ONE A SPIRIT OF PRAGMATISM
FRONTLINE FIGHTERS: FEAR, ACT & FAMM
MENTAL HEALTH REFORM, ICASH & NORML
INFORMAL SCHMOOZING: SERIOUS BUSINESS
DAY TWO PROHIBITION VERSUS PERSONAL RIGHTS
AIRING CONTROVERSY, CREATING COALITIONS
WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY
URINE TESTING AS SOCIAL CONTROL
IS THE DRUG WAR ABORTING WOMEN’S RIGHTS?
HOT GOSSIP IN THE CORRIDOR
DAY THREE IS THE DRUG WAR RACIST?
TOKERS COME OUT OF THE CLOSET
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PETER GORMAN
BILL WEINBERG
Deep in the heart of the Drug War machine, surrounded by the federal offices responsible for administering the nation’s anti-drug crusade, the Drug Policy Foundation held its Sixth Annual International Conference on Drug Policy Reform— the annual convocation of the reform movement’s black-tie set—this past November 11-14.
The DEA has agreed to provide reimbursement for damages sustained to the home of Gracia Figueroa of Pasco, WA, after it was ransacked by their agents in a raid which turned up no contraband. But Figueroa, who says agents broke down her door, pulled her daughters from their beds and held them at gunpoint, still plans to sue.
An Oregon man, 24-year-old Sean Vinson, stabbed himself over 100 times in the arm with a steak knife while high on methamphetamine or “crank.” Police said that the man was trying to pop an imaginary air bubble beneath his skin. —Gadsden Times, September 27, 1992 Paul Hines, 29, of Burwood, Australia was placed on a 12-month goodbehavior bond for the cultivation and use of marijuana.
An Alaska civil liberties group has filed a lawsuit to invalidate the state’s 1990 anti-marijuana referendum, arguing that it violates a 1975 court decision that declared smoking herb at home a Constitutionally protected right. The group, Alaskans for Privacy, is trying to get the new law thrown out on the grounds that “an initiative cannot overturn a court decision on a Constitutional principle,” said Bill Bryson, one of the two lawyers heading the suit.
Washington Citizens for Drug Policy Reform is leading the struggle in the Seattle area. Says activist Gerald Diamond, “we are educating community leaders to see the potential for jump-starting our sluggish economy by turning to fiber crops (including hemp) for pulp production.
—Homosexuality will dominate the news. Gays will finally be allowed to participate in the military. Their first demand will be that the traditional 13-button fly be replaced by zippers. Robin Williams will land the part of Harvey Milk in The Mayor of Castro Street, and he will delve into the role so deeply that he will become gay himself in the process.
Hurricane Andrew left a trail of death and devastation nearly 50 miles wide through the Caribbean, South Florida and up into Louisiana. Entire communities were destroyed and others immobilized by unheard-of Aeolian forces. This "act of God," however, was just a run-of-the-mill disaster in terms of the lethal capabilities of an angry earth in upheaval.
In commenting on one of his many busts for possession of "dangerous drugs," the stand-up prophet of comedians, Lenny Bruce, said, "They are not! They' re friendly!" Decrim and legalization proponents may talk a pretty good talk regarding all the "friendly" uses of cannabis for "fuel, food and fiber," but we sometimes forget the fourth F, fun.
A MODEST PROPOSAL ON THE PLIGHT OF THE AMERICAN FARMER
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JOEY TRANCHINA
WHAT IF WE MADE WHEAT ILLEGAL LIKE MARIJUANA? IN THE WAY THAT WE MAKE DRUGS PROFITABLE, IT MIGHT BE THE BEST THING FOR THE AMERICAN FARMER. JUST THINK: WHEAT GROWING BETWEEN THE CORN ROWS, A GREENHOUSE BEHIND EVERY FARMHOUSE, WHEAT PATCHES STASHED BACK IN THE HILLS, WHEAT BERRIES IN 1 LB.
The voice belongs to Mike McCready, Pearl Jam’s lead guitarist who’s just taken a few licks with LA hiphoppers Boo-Ya TRIBE. It’s a day off on Lollapalooza tour, but the music and partying hasn’t stopped. Backstage at CBGB, the legendary New York punk-rock dive, Ministry’s Mike Scaccia—we met on his band’s tour bus less than 24 hours ago—apparently has informed the slightly built McCready that I am indeed “HIGH TIMES.”
FOR THE 5TH ANNUAL CANNABIS CUP, DUTCH COFFEESHOPS, GROWERS AND SEED COMPANIES ALL BROUGHT THEIR TOP POT TO THE TABLE. OUR LEATHER-LUNGED PANEL OF ROCK’N’ROLLERS AND FREEDOM FIGHTERS DECIDED IN FAVOR OF HOMEGROWN FANTASY’S HAZE/ SKUNK, WITH BLUEBIRD’S NORTHERN LIGHTS FINISHING RIGHT BEHIND.
The Bluebird Coffeeshop—located on San Antonibreesstraat 71 in the heart of beautiful downtown Amsterdown—provided 14 varieties for consideration at the 5th Annual Cannabis Cup. We selected four, so as not to weight the contest in the Bluebird's favor.
Not so many years ago, in a hamlet known as New York, a merry band of revelers gathered in the village square to toast National Marijuana Day. They were called yippies, and a boisterous bunch they were, for their antics were legendary and many a time had caused local authorities to become most unpleasant.
As a veteran of the San Francisco Mime Troupe and the Diggers—who provided free food for the hippie hordes of Haight-Ashbury—Peter Berg has seen the development of this movement from the reckless questioning of traditional Western values in the ‘60s, through the “back-to-theland” ethic of the ‘70s, and the emergence of new environmental commitments in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
I picked up my January subscription copy of HIGH TIMES and, as a member of NORML, was struck by Lawrence Serbin’s letter from BACH called HEMP PEACE. I was also attentive to Marilyn Craig’s letter to which Serbin had responded. This issue of blame, or failure in regard to legalizing marijuana, has continually renewed itself in some fashion or other during the nearly 10 years I’ve been working with NORML.
These plants from brown Mexican seeds started growing in July and were harvested after a bad rainstorm. Luckily, they were ready to harvest and the storm did no damage. I fed the plants throughout the growing season with bat guano, chicken manure and fish emulsion, all mixed in a water pitcher (and looking a lot like chocolate milk).
GROW SIGHTS ON STEEP HILLS WITH NO WATER IN SIGHT ARE PREFERER. FOR THE SIMPLE REASOltl THAT SO FEW PEOPLE WILL GO THERE.
AUGUST TO EARLY OCTOBER
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BUDDY HEMPHILL
LIke many of my good brothers and sisters out there, I enjoy fine herbs#&x2014;and what better way to enjoy the profound healing and awareness effects of herbs than to grow your own? Sharing the cannabis flowers of your labors with friends can very special.
This month's THMQ must be read while listening to Neil Young’s “Cowgirl in the Sand.” THMQ gives you the latest, most accurate and thoroughly researched soft-substance price wisdom available anywhere. Even the cops refer to us. We are a reader-driven, semipreposterous nonsectarian herbalization dispatch requiring current information from you, our holy public.
The "Joe Pipe" article finally did it. I'm surprised he didn't have a pipe made from an old faucet. Nothing ruins the taste of your expensive smoke worse than brassor chrome-plating not to mention the toxicity of the chemicals involved in the plating process.
A popular over-the-counter tranquilizer and painkiller in Europe, valerian is virtually unknown in America today, though it was listed in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia and the U.S. National Formulary as recently as the 1940s. It's a remarkable plant that bears closer inspection.
HIGH TIMES What A Long Strange Trip It's Been by Peter Gorman and Bill Weinberg On April 16, 1943, Albert Hofmann, a young chemist working for Sandoz Pharmaceutical in Switzerland, accidently absorbed through his fingertips a microscopic amount of a new experimental chemical.