Daily Loaf

Routes Music is a documentary film acting as a roving music census, taking in the true musical passions (and disgusts) of the American people. We’re traveling all across the country, stopping along the way to interview local bands, take footage of live performances and chat with anyone and everyone. Learn more about the documentary here; check out all previous entries here.

“Where eeez yer pipe?”

A 6’4 security guard towered over me, glaring.

“Where eeez yer pipe?” he repeated in a thick Islands accent.

“What?” I replied, not sure he really just asked me what I think he just asked me.

“Where eeez yer pipe?” he asked again.

“My what?” I said again, still shocked.

“Yer pipe. Yer pipe.”

Now he was aggravated. I’m enjoying feigning ignorance.

“I don’t know what you’re saying, man.”

The guard switches tactics.

“Drugs?”

I smile.

“No, no drugs.”

“OK, go ahead.”

So began my very first experience at an extended-day music festival, and only my second time ever seeing the seminal jam band, Phish. Luckily, the rest of the three-day fest at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, Calif. went smoother than my entry.

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“Oh yeah, oh yeah… omigod, I’m so close. I wish I had some beer, but I wanna come. Ooo, I want a burrito. Why can’t I come?!”

Sound familiar? An Australian study has found that men who smoke marijuana on a regular basis are four times more likely to have difficulty reaching orgasm than men who don’t smoke. The same study also discovered that potheads experience premature ejaculation at three times the rate of non-smokers. What gives? Read the rest of this entry »

Routes Music is a documentary film acting as a roving music census, taking in the true musical passions (and disgusts) of the American people. We’re traveling all across the country, stopping along the way to interview local bands, take footage of live performances and chat with anyone and everyone. Learn more about the documentary here; check out all previous entries here.

Five things you should never forget on a cross-country music documentary tour:

1.  Granola bars
2. Phone charger
3. TV theme song CDs
4. Stun gun sold by a shifty young man on the street
5. A wild and open mind

The last was crucial as our Routes Music crew (Phil, Alex and Terrence — known collectively as P.A.T.) rolled into Orlando on the first day of the tour.

Weary and hungry from a two-hour drive down I-4, we pulled our 2009 Toyota Sienna (known as the “Big Gray Box) into “the world’s largest entertainment McDonald’s.” We grabbed some burgers and were making out way out when Terrence heard an announcer in the far room. Turning the corner, he spotted a stage featuring five Latino teens, ages ranging from 11 to 18. Terrence called us over. “You guys have to see this.” At that moment, the band broke into synchronized dancing over a drum track. Microphones appeared. The performance began. The Los Mega Boyz, a Latino boy band in the vein of the Backstreet Boys and N-Sync, crooned their way around Ronald McDonald murals and teenagers munching on cheeseburgers. They sang saucy numbers about girls and ballads about Selena.

We’d stumbled upon the most bizarre McDonald’s ever. (Video after the jump.) Read the rest of this entry »

What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:

Finding an emotional connection with our planet- Doing so allows us to look at what our needs are in life and what is of the highest and greatest importance to us and our environment.

Best of the Bay Readers’ Poll 2009: The race for Greenest Politician has Linda Saul-Sena in the lead- Who do you think should take the title of this year’s Greenest Politician in the Bay?

Clean energy and anti-offshore drilling rally in Ybor this Thursday- Thursday, August 27th, join Sierra Club, 1Sky Florida, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and other environmental groups for a real grassroots rally outside Big Oil’s staged gathering.
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Although we are finally seeing signs of improvement, the economic downturn here in the US is far from over. We are still dealing with massive unemployment, failing banks, and soon, rampant inflation from the trillion-dollar “stimulus” forced upon us by the federal government.

There’s also a Mexican drug war brewing on our borders, and the instability caused by the drug cartels could cause a greater influx of illegal immigrants into the United States. That’s a problem if we’re talking about universal health care. It’s also a problem if we’re talking about violent crime, and for that matter, national security.

The remedy for all these problems could literally grow out of the ground. It has always been said that marijuana has medicinal properties; perhaps it is time to let pot nurse our economy back to health.

This is a frightening subject for soccer moms and politicians everywhere, but facts are stubborn things. In an open letter to the President, Congress, and all state governments, more than 500 notable economists, including Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman, argue that legalization of marijuana could not only save the government money, but generate revenue in the billions.

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It’s not as buzzworthy as her wardrobe malfunction in Tampa, but ya gotta hand it to our gal Brit — she knows how to go viral. And who knew she was going to turn into an anti-weed crusader? And “rock with your cocks out?” What does that even mean? Check the video from the close of her concert in Vancouver above — read about it here.

Sure, Jon Stewart spent time raking business net CNBC over the coals a few weeks ago — a well-deserved drubbing if there ever was one. However, that’s no reason not to highlight an example of network doing something right. What follows is a killer Power Lunch segment from last week that debates whether or not marijuana should be regulated instead of outlawed. Normally, these news channel weed debates are one-sided affairs meant to scare the pants off parents and reinforce the status quo. Not this one. Here, the debate is framed in economic terms (this is a business network, after all), and the consensus may surprise you. Video after the page break …

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From California (where else) comes news that a new, state-of-the-art testing lab for marijuana is giving customers of legal grass stores the peace of mind they need when it comes to strength and safety of the bud.

From DrugReporter at Alternet:

At downtown Oakland’s Harborside Health Center, the hairy green buds have numbers. The new nomenclature beckons viewers from within seven gleaming glass display cases. Antiseptic white placards boast authoritative black digits. Each stands erect next to a Petri dish of high-octane “White Rhino” or “Afgooey Super Melt.” They read: 7 percent, 11 percent, 18 percent, or 21 percent. Even 80 percent.

“80 percent THC?” asks a potential customer. He’s referring to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol – the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

“That’s a concentrate,” reminds Stephen DeAngelo, proud owner of the three-year-old collective. DeAngelo’s facility boasts 20,000 members and grossed more than $10 million last year. Even amid the recession, lines are a constant phenomenon and DeAngelo is looking to double his space. Hundreds of new customers sign up monthly, attracted partly by the immaculate facility: its savvy, well-paid “budtenders” and $40, eighth-ounce pot dosages. But part of the appeal is the new placards – the result of a disruptive new service by Harborside’s partners at the Analytical Laboratory Project.

“For the first time in the 3,000-year history of human cannabis consumption, consumers will be provided a scientific assessment of the safety and potency of products prior to ingesting them,” DeAngelo announced in December.

Among other nasties that are being tested for: the common mold, aspergillus, that is often found in high amounts in homegrown weed.

Woo hoo! They are partying like it’s 1997 down on Wall Street. I don’t know about you, but I’m waiting for it to hit 1933 levels before I start my bargain hunting.

• Obama plans “a more transparent budget.” I presume that means it will be printed on clear paper.
• “I have already talked to (Defense Secretary Robert) Gates about a thorough review of the helicopter situation. The helicopter I have now seems perfectly adequate to me.”
• The FBI is hot on the trail of Buddy Johnson.
• Obama remains popular in opinion polls.
• Keep your bikes off the Selmon, hippies!
• Destined to go down in flames: A bill to legalize weed in California.
• Academy Award ratings not quite as horrible as last year.
• Jell-O wrestling at the ends of the earth.

Good morning, South Carolina. Good news! There’s no more real crime in your state. How do I know? The cops spent time yesterday arresting eight college kids for being at that party where Michael Phelps was caught on camera sucking on a bong. Phelps was not among the incarcerated. (Of course.)

• Late-night bargaining in The Stimulus Debate That Will Not Die.
• Jesus Geithner, you can’t announce that you’ll have details of a plan soon. That means you don’t have a fucking plan in the first place!

More news after the break …

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He inhaled. On camera. So now USA Swimming has to save face by kicking him out for a while. And Kellogg’s is not renewing his contract. Anyone else think this is bullshit?

Poor Alberto Gonzalez. He can’t seem to find a job. What a shocker after the bang-up job he did as Attorney General.

• You win some: Obama signs SCHIP expansion into law.
• You lose some: The stimulus package wrangling continues …

Much more news after the jump.

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The AP reports:

The International Olympic Committee expressed confidence Monday that Michael Phelps will learn from his “inappropriate behavior” and continue to serve as a role model after a British newspaper published a photo of him inhaling from a marijuana pipe.

Phelps, who won a record eight gold medals at last year’s Beijing Olympics, apologized and acknowledged “regrettable behavior” after the picture was published Sunday by the tabloid News of the World.

Oh, those ever-so-proper Brits. Here’s the tabloid’s tut-tut story, and the pic is after the jump.

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Here’s a great piece on the impact of the recession on this year’s Super Bowl. (From Al-Jazeera, no less!) Tampa looks great in the video, and looked stunning in all the overhead shots during the game. Nice job, Bay area. See you in 2014, NFL.

• The Steelers win one for the other thumb.
• NBC does a super job with the Big Game.

Lots more after the break…

• Super Bowl excitement taxes cell phone systems to the limit.
• Jennifer Hudson nailed it.
• Incidentally, I paid no attention to the ads this year. Guess what: I don’t feel like I missed anything.
• Hot Obama nominee trend: screwing up you taxes.
• OMG, Michael Phelps smoked some weed! The whole fucking world is going to end!!!!
• Over the weekend, Google decided every other website was a virus.
• A new iPhone in the wild around San Francisco?

Obama’s first day in office was a success. Business was done. Executive Orders were released. A BS church ceremony was attended. I didn’t think about Bush all day. Damn, now I ruined it.

• Caroline Kennedy pulls out of the race to be appointed to Hillary’s old Senate seat.
• Barack Obama is sworn in … again. (Just to be safe.)

Click below for more news.

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I love jury duty. I really do. Civic pride, the American way, whodunnits, sitting in judgment — what’s not to like?

But I didn’t love jury duty today. Because today, at the Pinellas County Criminal Justice Center, I had to witness the gigantic waste of time, money, labor, energy and brains that is expended on taking a single individual to trial for the alleged crime of “trafficking in cannabis.”

I never got to find out how the case turned out. Maybe that’s because, when the prosecuting attorney asked if any of the prospective jurors would have a problem judging this case impartially, I spoke up with a version of what I just said above. And I didn’t say it to get out of serving — if it had been murder, theft, Hogan family collisions, hey, I’m there for you, court system. (And the state’s attorney looked like a younger Harry Connick, Jr., so there was at least eye candy to entertain us.) But I just couldn’t see the point of assembling all this machinery  —  judge and bailiff and clerk and lawyers and a roomful of jurors — for this: one guy who allegedly sold some dope.

And I wasn’t the only conscientious objector in the room. By the time attorneys on both sides had completed their extensive (and I do mean extensive) voir dire, it looked like the court would be lucky to find anyone to serve. One by one came the objections: from a woman who believes the drug war is stacked against black males (she was white; the defendant was black); from another woman who’d seen friends wrongly accused; and from people like me who feel marijuana should be legal and regulated, like alcohol, and that someone who sells it should no more be put in jail than the guy who runs the neighborhood liquor store.

But six jurors were called. The rest of us filed out, relieved. But Harry Connick Jr., Jr., if you need me for anything else, just call.

Last Friday, I detailed the Obama transition team’s efforts to reach out to the faithful by allowing them to ask questions of the President-Elect on his website, change.gov. More than 7000 questions were submitted, with the readers then voting on their favorite questions. And the #1 question people wanted answered?

“Will you consider legalizing marijuana so that the government can regulate it, tax it, put age limits on it, and create millions of new jobs and create a billion dollar industry right here in the U.S.?”
S. Man, Denton

I speculated that Obama would dodge the question. Turns out that I was wrong. Here is the pithy response.

President-elect Obama is not in favor of the legalization of marijuana.
Transition Team, Washington, D.C.

Seems a little brief, no? Especially in light of the fact that the rest of Obama’s answers were longer and more thought out.

Looks like the pro-pot activists still have their work cut out for them.

(Photo Credit: Chad Davis via Flickr.)

Barack Obama has been a busy President-Elect. In addition to trying to stay out of the Blago fray, appointing new cabinet secretaries and expressing his disappointment with Congress’ handling of the Auto Bailout, Obama is reaching out to you, the American citizenry, to find out what you think are the most important issues facing the nation.

To this end, the Obama transition team has launched “Open for Questions,” a new feature on the change.gov website. Per the site:

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(Photo Credit: jaypeg21 via flickr)

With the federal budget deficit continuing to explode, and states like Florida and California facing unprecedented budget shortfalls, we continue to spend billions of dollars a year locking up our friends and relatives for enjoying something that is demonstrably less dangerous than alcohol or nicotine (or any number of drugs that made their way through the FDA approval process only to kill or harm the sick). Perhaps it’s time for a change in America’s marijuana policy?

Enter the LA Times’ Patt Morrison and an opinion piece entitled “Should We Tax Pot?” Morrison starts off well, making the following connection:

“Friday is the 75th anniversary of the end of a nationwide ban on a substance that millions of Americans broke the law and bought anyway: liquor. Criminalizing it turned out to have complications so enormous and expensive that in 1933 a new president, faced with a profound economic crisis, wanted it legalized and taxed again. …

… A couple of years ago, the legalize-it forces estimated that the U.S. marijuana crop was worth $35 billion a year. California’s share of that was $13.8 billion. If the number is even half that, any tax windfall, on top of money saved by not prosecuting marijuana crimes, would mean a bonanza, wouldn’t it?”

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Here’s the famed “But you can put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig” Obama clip from yesterday. Republicans are freaking out, saying Barack called Sarah Palin a pig. Watch the video and decide for yourself. Then decide how Orwellian you think the name of McCain’s “Truth Squad” is.

• It’s a tie.
• Dead or Alive? Kim Jong Il.
• The world’s largest particle collider is now operational.
• Silly Arabs. Why can’t you just believe what we tell you to?
• Steve Jobs is still alive and kicking. The iPod line is starting to get a little old, though.
• Al Franken wins his primary, heads for the general election.
• “Substances in marijuana show promise for fighting deadly drug-resistant bacterial infections, including so-called “superbugs,” without causing the drug’s mood-altering effects.” Bummer.
• New Rays Hero: Dan Johnson. Who?