No Mas presents “Dock Ellis & The LSD No-No”, an animated short by James Blagden about Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis (who died last year) who pitched a no-hitter while tripping on LSD playing against the San Diego Padres on June, 12th 1970.

In celebration of the greatest athletic achievement by a man on a psychedelic journey, No Mas and artist James Blagden proudly present the animated tale of Dock Ellis’ legendary LSD no-hitter. In the past few years weve heard all too much about performance enhancing drugs from greenies to tetrahydrogestrinone, and not enough about performance inhibiting drugs. If our evaluation of the records of athletes like Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Marion Jones, and Barry Bonds needs to be revised downwards with an asterisk, we submit that that Dock Ellis record deserves a giant exclamation point. Of the 263 no-hitters ever thrown in the Big Leagues, we can only guess how many were aided by steroids, but we can say without question that only one was ever thrown on acid.

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National Geographic takes a look at scientists who create 3D brain maps of people taking psychedelic trips on LSD, recording imagery their hallucinogenic experiences.

Psychedelics over-stimulate serotonin receptors in the brain, resulting in a blissful experience or a horrifying one.

via Huffington Post

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DearSteve –

Over on The Huffington Post Ryan Grim has posted an unpublished letter from LSD inventor Albert Hofmann that he sent to Apple CEO Steve Jobs in 2007, asking him to support a proposed study of LSD-assisted psychotherapy.

Hello from Albert Hofmann. I understand from media accounts that you feel LSD helped you creatively in your development of Apple computers and your personal spiritual quest. I’m interested in learning more about how LSD was useful to you.

Thanks to Jon Alloway for the tip!

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J.R. Baldwin created a board game loosely based on the novel “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” by Hunter S. Thompson.

It comes inside a inside a suitcase, perfect for taking on “trips”.

UPDATE: J.R. has put the game up for auction on eBay.

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guest post by AreWeReally?

The Bus Further tripped around San Francisco Monday afternoon… did you see it?

Can you, did you, or would you even consider passing the Acid Test? It is a question posed over 45 years ago by the Intrepid Traveler and his Band of Merry Pranksters. Ken Kesey, Ken Babbs and their audaciously creative friends embarked on a mission to find the “Cool Place” in 1964. They loaded up a 1938 International Harvester school bus with audio and film gear. They painted the Bus in psychedelic swirls and wrote FURTHER on the front and WEIRD LOAD on the back. The Merry Pranksters riffed and raffed around the United States documented by Tom Wolfe’s book “The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test“.

photo by AreWeReally?

After that first long, strange trip, the Pranksters moved the fun to the great state of Oregon which has since been home base. The Merry Pranksters spawned dozens of kids and grand kids who grew up in the most creative, enthusiastic and positive environment imaginable. Neal Cassady, Jerry Garcia, and Ken Kesey may be gone… but we’re not! Ken Babbs is still in Oregon writing a new novel and cavorting online at the SkyPilotClub. Kesey’s son Zane manages the Bus Further Two and the original Bus Further that reside on the family farm. His son is a world class chess champion. The Kesey and Babbs families’ Merry Prankster offspring along with a bevy of other Prankster offspring are in San Francisco for The Dead Shows at Shoreline. The Offspring are conducting an “Acid Test” at the Mission Rock Cafe Tuesday, May 12 with The Everyone Orchestra, Steve Kimock and Melvin Seals and the Jerry Garcia Band. Are you a Merry Prankster? It’s Coming Around!

Further videos about the Bus from Oregon by Simon Babbs.

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guest post by John Law

Church of the Sub-Genius High Priest (REALLY high!) and KPFA radio personality Doug Wellman or “Puzzling Evidence” as he’s known of to cultists and the power elite, has been posting edited videos from his backlog of tens of thousands of hours of the weirdest and most ridiculous events to take place in the Bay Area and Beyond from the last 25 years.

Doug has been with Subgenius since the halcyon days of the early 80’s. Among his exploits in intensive voyeurism, surreal tourism and enigmatic conspiracies, Doug has, among other notable accomplishments, killed (allegedly) Subgenius Prophet Bob Dobbs, inspired David Byrne to write the song “Puzzling Evidence,” been accused of being a Oakland Police Intelligence officer by a crazed anarchist lawyer and survived a combat tour of Viet Nam as a naval officer.

Doug and his fellow Subgenius potentate Dr. Howlin Owl Robins have hosted the Puzzling Evidence Radio Show for twenty years. Joined by Subgenius co-founder Philo Drummond in recent years, this show is now (I believe) the longest running show on the venerable lefty station as well as being the most confusing and the least dogmatic.

Doug was at the 1st and 2nd How Berkeley Can You Be Parade “PETA (People Eatin’ Them Animals” float/performance and recorded the tense exchanges between the Meat People and protestors.

This event (staged three years in a row for the family friendly Berkeley parade) was comprised of various “meat providers” such as Steven King’s Carrie White, Texas Chainsaw Massacres Leatherface , Farmer Vincent from Motel Hell and others. Our very own anti-meat protestors the “Veget-Aryans” were there with bullhorns decrying the offense of edible flesh. Badly burned BBQ and fresh GPC cigarettes were tossed out to the throngs of aging Berkeley hippies and their tie-dye wearing progeny (“…here kid, first smokes free!”) My favorite part was when two 15 year old Berkeley High debutants poked at one of the massive pigheads and, in true bewilderment asked: “How did you make these things???”

Doug shot one of the last large group ascents of the Bay Bridge prior to Homeland Security making it almost impossible to climb bridges post 9-11.

Doug recorded some interesting moments at Burning Man during the apocalyptic 1996 event. Watch for the “official” radio call response to an unsanctioned “protest” of the burn!

Doug was there to record for posterity Dick Cheney’s final hurrah in San Francisco:

If you want to know what young officers recently graduated from their respective academies (Naval, West Point, set) were doing on the tax payers dime as the Viet Nam War wound down in the early 70’s look no further than here.

Some other winners are:

• Extra Action Marching Band at Pt. Arena’s 100th anniversary
• The band Abu Ghraib playing after the ’08 St. Stupid’s Parade
• Cyclecide at ace Auto

There’s tons of St. Stupid, Ask Dr. Hal, Extra Action and rare Subgenius edits from another time and another place…….

Check them all out on the Puzzling Evidence TV YouTube channel.

photo by Scott Beale

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guest post by Violet Blue

David is a 7-year-old who had an extra tooth removed; lucky for us, his dad had a camera handy to film David’s reaction to the experience — of being high on drugs for the first time. Anyone who’s ever done psychedelics will cringe, LOL and generally empathize at David’s stages of drug-induced self-realizations and reactions. But mostly we look at what is typically experienced over a 4-6 hour trip — boiled down into a two-minute summary, point by point. It is all too familiar. Unintentionally hilarious, if anyone asks you what it’s like to try psychedelics, you can pretty much just show them this video.

UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal interviewed David’s father about the controversial video. [update by Scott]

Thanks, Ed Hunsinger!

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“The LSD Story” the first episode of Dragnet from season one of the 1967 series, originally aired on January 12th, 1967.

Also it’s a bit ironic that the LSD episode is the first episode of Dragnet in color.

Viewing Note: Here’s information on how to view Hulu videos outside the US.

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guest post by mikl-em

Just when you thought that weird Anti-Drug PSAs were a thing of the 70’s…

Tonight I encountered the above banner ad (I split the animation into 2 images). And yes, although the guy above looks like he’s out of the 1970’s this is a current ad.

But wait “Teen Brain Guide”? That seemed kinda odd. So I clicked through. And it only got weirder.

The site is by Partnership for a Drug-Free America which I had at least heard of before. So I hoped it would start to make more sense. No such luck.

It’s really an odd site, confusing as to even what the point is. It talks about some odd ways your kid may be behaving but then seem to say these may NOT indicate your child is on drugs.

The site claims to have “the science in a nutshell” that explains all of this wacky mysterious behavior. Awesome!! Cuz it was getting confusing.

But if you want said nut-encased info, the link they offer you leads to a registration form:

Hey now! That’s a tactic that porn sites (so I hear) or other folks trying to sell something or get my personal information use. It’s weird to bump into on a site that’s supposed to be providing a vital public health service. Why won’t they just tell me? Isn’t it in everybody’s interest for parents to better understand their kids? What gives?

And there’s the video, shown on the right above, of a doctor talking to parents and children about drugs. This also hints at science without ever actually offering up any. And when the medical professional appears in front of an issue of Teen Brain Times… it kinda undercuts the credibility. I half expect the credit to read Dr. Troy McClure, University of Springfield.

Oh, and I forgot to note that the form is accompanied by an option to receive the latest information and new parenting tools from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. Which is checked by default, so you’d be opted-in to the PDFA tool-of-the-month club.

Weird? Is it just me?

They use a relatively interesting art style (kinda like old Mad Magazine meets Maurice Sendak with a little Rug Rats thrown in), so that at least comes off well.

But wasn’t there supposed to be some brain science here somewhere? I guess if I registered they’d fulfill the promise to help me: Gain insights into teen brain development and apply your new knowledge of normal teenage behavior to real life. Sweet. What’s “real life”?

And what does this have to do with Mr Tinted-shades in the banner ad and how a job in computing makes you a grownup??!! I mean I know that one’s not true.

If you are brave enough to actually click through (I’m not… paranoid??) and get details of the post-registration experience, feel free to let us all know in the comments.

I just think it’s creepy. And there’s more, I found another PDFA site that’s even hipper than this one, check out the with-it lingo, you squares:

Got 5 minutes? It really could rock your world! Okay, that’s likely over the top, but it certainly can answer your questions and benefit every aspect of your relationship with your teen — and their health!

You’ll find that “straight” talk at Decoder: Breaking down teen culture, substance abuse, and parenting. Breaking it down!! In the good way, I suppose.

Turns out that the Partnership for a Drug-Free America are the fine folks responsible for the This is Your Brain on Drugs ad from the 80’s. It was 21 years ago, and thereby hangs a series of flashbacks, starting with the original commercial…

Then in 1998 Rachael Leigh Cook updated the egg-fryingpan relationship:

Today the PDFA, understanding the importance of their place in pop culture, have a page dedicated to the history of their egg-as-brain metaphor, it includes this priceless tidbit about how sound design leads to appreciation:

When the original idea for the “Fried Egg” spot was presented to the Partnership’s Creative Review Committee, it received mix reviews. It wasn’t until the voiceover and “sizzle” sound effects were added that it came to life and was truly appreciated!

Truly. And the Fried Egg spot was just one ally amongst the coalition of media mobilized to fight “The War on Drugs“. It was and is a war that lends itself nicely to a highlight reel, so below are key clips from the battlefield.

Nancy Reagan famously chaired the Just Say No campaign. On the Reagan Foundation page they refer to it as “Mrs. Reagan’s Crusade“. Here’s the iconic ad from that campaign:

Then of course there was RAD (Rock Against Drugs–get it?). This campaign dates back to that bizarre and troubling time in our nation’s history when MTV showed music videos. Thank goodness that’s over, huh?

The RAD stable of spokes-rockers leaned rather heavily on the Metal stars, so here are two prime examples.

Gene Simmons “You believe that crap?” is, in my opinion, the best anti-drug message ever. Because it’s cool. Which may be the wrong reason. But I have to say that, looking back now, it has remained damn cool which is more than we can say for Gene himself these days:

Vince Neil “I’m on top of everything I do…”, I bet you are Vince:

As a bonus, for anyone who is absolutely hooked on drug PSAs at this point, here’s a pretty funny round up of the Top 11 funniest nostalgic drug PSAs. Somehow he doesn’t include the Gene Simmons one, but there are a lot of other great ones.

See Previously:

- 1970 Anti-Drug PSA by Hanna-Barbera
- Spiders on Drugs

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