Grateful Dead

What Charlie said, well done.
Doing anything everyday is probably not good for you, whatever it is! Yin/yang etc., Balance is the key to life. Compounded over many years/decades will most likely lead to health issues, or worse.
Also, everybody is different, and so every substance wether asprin or whatever, can effect people differently. That is one reason why I feel the methodology employed by law enforcement to determine a persons ability drive is unconstitutional........I’m not for a minute suggesting that there is no regulation needed there, only that the current methods are not right!
We old timers talk crazy about the old days, but it’s a much different world now. “Law come to get ya when you don’t walk right”....So have fun, but get to know your body, know what your taking, be safe, and more importantly be responsible!

This public service announcement brought to you by old burned out freaks, convicts, recoverers and others who’ve been there. 😉

I kinda sorta wanna know, but not really.

I recall in a toxicology class learning that the poison is in the dose - in other words most things can become toxic if taken to excess. Don't believe me? Google what can happen if you drink too much water at one time. Spoiler alert, it can kill you. Minas is correct to the extent that excessive use of psychedelics can cause some crispiness to ensue, however, moderate use did not seem to have the same impact, and use of other substances may complicate the issue. There was a period where I was probably tripping a couple times a week and I was crispy, although I was also high 24/7. At a frequency of dosing approximately once per week I was not crispy and did pretty well in my calculus class, a good indicator that I had not suffered any real damage. After regular consumption, lets say an average of once per week for a period of several years, my scores on standardized testing for post-bachelor degree education still came out in the top 1-2%, again, support that no real damage was done.

With regard to the treatment of depression and anxiety and the administration of psychedelics, mushrooms or ketamine for example, the dosing regimen that I have seen involve administration of a low dose, talk therapy for a couple weeks followed by administration of a higher dose of the psychedelic. That's it, two doses, and the depression and anxiety is alleviated for months or longer. Unlike cocaine's effect on depression, which is to briefly alleviate and then exacerbate it, the impact of psychedelics is persistent from one or two doses. How many Xanax do you have to take in that time? Also, Xanax is no joke, it is a benzodiazepine with some serious potential side effects, including negative impacts on cognitive abilities, the fact that you are physically dependent after a period of use and will have severe side effects if use is suddenly stopped. It is not innocuous.

Use what works for you at a frequency that works for you, but be aware that whatever you are using can probably be overdone. Sorry to ramble, but I could talk about psychedelics and the current research all day.

I don't care what the next box is I'm looking forward to it. It'll have cool packaging and be old (new) live Dead music that I don't already have... what's not to love.

I've done as many drugs as anyone here. I'm sure of it. Not that it's a contest, but I used to live for that shit. Now, I can say without doubt that the best one can ever feel is fresh out of bed early in the morning, or just after exercise. But to each his own... just don't get lost out there. Peace everyone.

So, no box Announcement this week. 😡
Looks like we will have to wait at least another week!

Been Listening to Dick's 28 from early 1973 the last two days, just love this one. 73 was such a strong year for the boys. Have not come across one that I don't love.

To say that psychedelic use is a great cure for depression it's kind of like saying cocaine is a great cure for depression. I'm never depressed after a line of coke!

I have two friends who microdose acid everyday to help deal with anxiety. Buddy one, he says it helps, and I'm not saying lithium makes people any more coherent than psychedelics, but he is a completely different person now. I think he's actually become manic. And very forgetful. He told me twice in the same 3 hour get together that he had begun micro dosing. He completely forgot that he told me the first time and started the story fresh about two hours into a poker game. The other day he texted that his car was stolen so I called him to make him feel better and to hear his story. We spoke about it for 15 minutes. The very next day he texted me that I was never going to believe it but his car got stolen. The manic part I spoke of his that he just comes up with these crazy ideas that he gets fixated on and goes on and on in a nonlinear fashion about it. Like an invention to replace windshield wipers. LOL he is a dear friend but he is greatly changed. When he was on real depression medicine he did very well but complained that it made him tired and required a nap in the day. This all transpired in the last year. He was on the Xanax for 6 months and now he's been microdosing instead for 6 months. I miss Xanax guy.

Special message to Hendrix freak. I am not at all criticizing you or your use of recreational psychedelics. I trip once or twice a year, or at least did before I had an accident last year. I like tripping. I just don't think that it can be used everyday without changing a person. And I am not saying that it has changed you for the worst. I don't even know you so it would be ridiculous for me to make any kind of judgment like that. I just want you to know that my comments above relate to my buddy. A case study if you will.

Then there is his partner in crime, buddy number two. We now refer to him as mr. Paranoia. I think he's a little bit beyond the micro part of microdosing. He's not even depressed. He just likes to do drugs. He has run his business into the ground so badly his wife came to me for advice. Just to give you some perspective she hates me. She's the kind of gal who believes if you criticise women you're a misogynist. So for example, I once mentioned that my girlfriend and I had a funny miscommunication due to her inability to write neatly. I literally went to the wrong airport because I couldn't make out what she wrote. She admits this freely and blames the constant use of typing on electronic devices as the reason her writing looks like spaghetti now. Buddy number two's wife laid into me about that story. The point is that these drugs they are doing on a daily basis I really turning their brains into mush. They both have families and children and I think the more responsibility you have the easier it is to get carried away on this stuff. Sure it sounds like there's an article that supports they use for fighting depression. I don't know what that authors political slant is. I don't know what the studies political slant is. Maybe they're talking it up or maybe in some severe cases of depression it's better than nothing.

Sorry for the long post. Haven't used just about every kind of drug under the sun, I am well aware of the flipside dangers to mind and health. When I was using regularly I made excuses for it and quoted the first study I could Google that seemed to support my habit. Looking back I know that all of the recreational drugs harm us if used daily. Cocaine, marijuana, shrooms and acid, opioids, etc. I believe most of us recreational users who begin using recreationally everyday kind of hide behind the label of recreation and cringe at the word addiction.

I tried changing my username to Minas Ithil but had technical issues. Minas Ithil was the White Tower before it was taken over by evil forces, becoming the Fortress of the witch King and being renamed Minas Morgul. A man with a dark streak always has a dark streak, at best he can shine enough light to keep the dog at Bay. You want to talk about a trip? Try fading in and out of fevered consciousness for a couple of days with no way to get help or even move your body without pain you never thought yourself capable of having. The thing about trauma and being close to death is that the cover of protection that you put up around your psyche to get through the days is lifted forever. You start to see things as they really are and not how your psyche wants them to be.

Very interesting that there seems to haver been a lot more research done with psychedelic drugs over the last five years or so - and that the results seem to be so positive. Earlier this week, in one of the main national newspapers-The Guardian-there was a double page centre spread on how tests with psilocybin suggested that it was possibly the best antidote to depression yet identified.

This was definitely my experience. Between 1987 and 1993, I found myself living in a flat surrounded by fields in which mushrooms grew between September and November. Consequently, during those years, I would trip once a week, maybe into December, and then nothing until the same season the following year. They were great years on every level, far and away better than the preceding ones had been. I always took them on my own, and then joined friends later in the evening. It all came to an end when I got a professional qualification in 1993, and had to leave the area to take up my new job. Which is where I still live. I never bothered looking for them here, although I was tempted to at first. In any case, it felt inappropriate, given the new role I had taken on. I haven't taken them since 1993, and although I no longer feel tempted to, I have no regrets whatsoever about taking them at that time.

As ever, the biggest risk with illegal drugs, as I understand it, is rooted, in their illegality. With acid, in my late teens and twenties, the massive contrast in potency-and in what was actually being sold as "acid" seemed to vary wildly. It felt a bit like Russian Roulette, to me. So I am not so chipper about all that.

The discussion of tequila reminds me of my drinking days in college. One night I was drinking with a couple girls and one other guy. We were drinking Jose Cuervo, with the worm in the bottle. The idea was that whoever got the shot with the worm in it had to consume it. By the time we got close to the bottom, we were all pretty sloshed. And when the girl who poured the shot with the worm falling into it saw that thing, we all roared and she shrieked, “I’m not tucking that fouching worm!” True story.

....btw. the first one you mention was the last one you listened to....
Elton John - Madman Across The Water (current)
Elton John - 17-11-70
Phish - 11.3.18 Grand Garden Arena, Sin City (was present. And it was good)
Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection
GOGD - Fox Theatre 3.18.71
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Bonus Fives. The first two Elton John records. You see, I saw this certain movie recently, and I'm committed to listen to his entire catalogue. So if I seem redundant over the next few weeks, that is why 😉. Im like the moon. Phases....
Madman ended while I was typing this. Cue Honky Chateau. Imagine putting Honky on an album title these days. Oh Lordy!!

Hey LMG, thanks for the info, I figured someone on here would know what the other show was right away.