I feel like the results of this study might be a lot less shocking to some folks in my generation. As an ’88 baby, I feel like I must have just barely missed soaking up a lot of the Reagan-era stigma that used to be so pervasive. The longitudinal study in question, conducted by researchers at Cardiff University’s Centre for the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement tracked just over 7900 individuals, starting in 1970, and taking a broad survey of both men and women who had taken IQ tests at ages five and ten.
In addition to other questions, researchers polled the participants about adult drug use (marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy and amphetamines, among other things), and found a consistently positive correlation between high IQ scores early in life, and drug use as teens and as adults. Naturally, words like “stimulation-seeking”, “openness” or “willingness to experiment” all figured into the researchers’ discussion, given the seemingly paradoxical results. With that said, yeah, there are still plenty of stupid people doing drugs, and plenty of intelligent people staying sober. But suffice to say, conventional wisdom isn’t always that wise.
It’s always nice to get the opportunity to see two brilliant folks reminisce about how they got to where they are now. In a lot of cases, it’s like a free buffet of game to be put up on. Shane Smith and Spike Jonze are both mavens of culture in their own right, having made some distinctly original contributions to the zeitgeist through various media. Spike, after establishing himself beyond a doubt as the definitive music video director of the ’90s MTV era, went on to produce Jackass, and helm three feature films: Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and most recently, Where the Wild Things Are.
Shane on the other hand, is the co-founder of Vice, the now ubiquitous brand behind Vice Magazine, a pillar of hipster culture, as well as VBS, The Creators’ Project and Noisey, among other things. Needless to say, a Saturday with these two is bound to be interesting On the way to talk to Al Qaeda rebels in Yemen, Spike and Shane took a brief detour to a gorgeous island off the coast of Somalia, to discuss the history of Vice, sex, drugs, and the legend of Shane Smith.
Now that a few million eyes are tracking the Odd Future collective’s every move, it seems only appropriate that a few folks not named Tyler or Frank take their turn in the spotlight. Aside from a few remixes surfacing over the last few months, Syd the Kid has been pretty quiet thus far. As introductions go though, “Cocaine” is pretty much all you could ask for. A trippy, great-looking video, a lesbian love affair, some serious hard-drug use, and a delightfully groovy piece of futurist funk. While Tyler’s been grabbing VMA’s and Frank Ocean’s been rivaling The Weeknd for the indie R&B crown, it’s become increasingly clear that the rest of the crew — Left Brain, Hodgy, and Syd in particular — are poised to do some damage in their own right. The Internet, Syd and Matt Martian’s collective moniker, is scheduled to drop Purple Naked Ladies this December.
For many of the folks that have dabbled in psychedelic experiences before, this may not come as much of a surprise. But it’s always nice to have the evidence to back up or validate your intuition. A recent study led by researchers at Johns Hopkins found that psilocybin, the active chemical in magic mushrooms, when administered in an appropriate dosage, often led to a number of long-lasting psychological and therapeutic benefits. Among participants, aged 29 to 62, many even reported their drug experience as one of the most spiritually significant of their lives, with their newfound insight often leading to positive changes in relationships and behavior. Not to get on the after school special hype, but the choice is always up to you. Just try to stay informed.
Watching this one now, it’s hard not to draw parallels to Charlie Sheen. I suppose Charlie’s been living out his own gonzo fantasy of sorts, if you want to call it that. And yet, Fear and Loathing on the Road to Hollywood, despite the similarities, offers a portrait of a figure not only decadent and depraved, but also deeply talented and fascinating in every way Sheen isn’t. Filmed in 1978, Fear and Loathing was director Nigel Finch’s attempt to capture Hunter S. Thompson in all his glory, revisiting the sites of some of his most storied works. Rampant and varied drug use, odd humor and incoherent mumbling abound. If slightly unflattering, it’s a pretty fascinating portrait of one of the 20th century’s most peculiar and revolutionary journalists.
I don’t want to say this kind of art wouldn’t be made without drugs. But this kind of art wouldn’t be made without drugs. Probably. Combining inspiration from ’60s counterculture and the acid house music of the ’80s, The Golden Sun Movement fused those influences into a distinct aesthetic. Drawing on classic album art, philosophical and musical traditions, and other mixed media, each of the collages speaks in vivid color. As far as I know, I won’t be in London any time soon, but ON, an exhibition showcasing Golden Sun Movement’s work, looks it’s not one to be missed. For the rest of us, there are always pictures of pictures.
It was a sunny afternoon when we got together. We always had fun, our adventures knew no limits. The magic of our youth making it all seem so trivial. She was mature for her age. A worldly girl, I found myself trying to act cooler than I was in her presence. So content with herself, who she was, her place in the world. I thought it was sexy.
In talking about a figure like Owsley ‘Bear’ Stanley, it’s hard to separate the man from the myth. For one, he’s credited with producing and distributing literally millions of acid tabs, the quality of which was pretty much unquestioned. Add to that the fact that he was one of the primary sound engineers of the late ’60s, creating the first P.A. system specifically designed for music, and a host of other high end equipment. Other stories have it that his acid was the subject of Hendrix’s “Purple Haze”, that Steely Dan’s “Kid Charlemagne” (See: Yeezy’s “Champion”) was a tribute to him and that both the dancing bears and the skull emblem of Grateful draw a direct line back to him.
In essence, the passing of Owsley yesterday from injuries sustained in a car crash, marks the death of one of ’60s counterculture’s most mysterious icons. In any case, my knowledge on Owsley was hazy at best, until I did a little research. In 2007, the SF Chronicle, well, chronicled the man behind the myth, taking a closer look at Stanley and his enigmatic life story. Read on for an introduction, and check here for a full obituary.
Taboos are a funny thing. Some have clear, logical or practical reasons behind them. Others don’t. Sometimes, they’re based on fear or tradition, and other times they’re just based on the best evidence available at the time. In any case, I got love for those open-minded scientific researchers out there who continue to push the boundaries and collect the evidence we need to make informed decisions. For those of us who grew up with the post Reagan-era, “ice cream scoops out of your brain” rhetoric, this one might come as a surprise.
A recent study, conducted by Harvard Medical School professor John Halpern, concluded recently that no evidence supported the long-held belief that ecstasy causes brain damage. The study, recently published in Addiction, showed that the subjects who took ecstasy (and no other drugs) showed no significant difference in cognitive function over time. Criticizing past research on the subject, Halpern asserts that “too many studies have been carried out on small populations, while overarching conclusions have been drawn from them”. As always, read this one carefully. At the end of the day, you get to choose how you get down. But it never hurt anyone to be informed. Full story below via The Guardian.
Propaganda’s a trip. Watching shit like this, it’s tempting to be like, “damn, I’m glad we don’t get manipulated like this anymore”, but honestly, who knows? Yeah, information’s probably more free than it’s ever been, but a little skepticism is always healthy. This educational gem, recovered by Vice, was put together by the DEA, along with the San Mateo High School District back in the late ’60s, and runs through the horrific, insanity-inducing dangers of tripping on acid, with narration from the character of LSD himself. Like most dated anti-drug propaganda, this video actually doubles as great drug entertainment, partly because it’s stupid, but mostly because it’s full of trippy sounds, scenes and colors. If you’re looking for a good example of irony, here’s a solid place to start.
Dicks. Boobs. Lines of coke. Orgies. Sex, drugs and rock and roll. These kinds of things are inherently interesting, considered in and of themselves. The other day, Owen alluded to a sort of destructive instinct we feel as humans; a sort of pull toward that which is wild, unrestricted and dangerous. If anyone’s work encompasses that feeling as effectively as Dash’s Polaroids, I haven’t found it. With these pieces, some created or taken by Dash, and others simply showing snapshots of his life taken by friends, the line between art and simple documentation isn’t always clear. Whether you decide Dash’s short journey was wasted on vice, or a life well-lived is up to you. What’s important to me is simply that it was a real life, and a life well-documented.
These are crazy times that we’re living in. Just think, the speed of communication made it all possible. This video came out like a week ago, and now he is famous. Literally an overnight sensation. For those just hearing about this, a viral video spread across the internet this week as Ted Williams, a homeless man living in Columbus, Ohio was discovered by a passing driver for his extraordinary voice. With the voice of a stadium announcer, the short video captured Ted’s innate talent in its entirety. Shortly after, the video hit Youtube, and it reached the tipping point. And now we’re here.
If nothing else, I think this story speaks to the incredible power of the internet as a medium for communication. These sort of things were not possible 20 years ago, and now it’s at our fingertips. Literally. It’s all happening so fast, but we need to be aware of the power we hold.
The way we read the news is a little strange to me. It’s not that we shouldn’t be concerned with floods, wars and other things that happen on a grand scale internationally. But it seems like we tend to take for granted the things that happen in our own backyard, which are often more substantial than we give them credit for being. I don’t know. Maybe this one isn’t mindblowing, but I think it’s a cool example of how clever people can pull off something really meaningful and helpful to their community.
Over the past month, the small town of Soquel’s Granny Purps Dispensary managed to to collect over 11,000 pounds of donated food for the hungry, all with a simple initiative. For every four cans of donated food, the “patient” (let’s be real, customer) received a free joint, with a maximum of three joints per person, per day. With just eight employees, Granny Purps was able to collect as much food for their holiday season drive as a company five or six times their size. Sounds like a win win to me. Check out the full story here, from the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
