Wednesday, July 12, 2017
THE DAWN OF CANNABIS CHIC
Can' nois' seur, (kan' us sur') n. One competent to render critical judgement on the qualities and merits of cannabis
We are witnessing a new baby step in America's consciousness. The slow but steady acceptance of weed as a benign herb.
To be sure the accompanying economic boom has perked up the unbelievers. Colorado made so much in taxes they gave some back. Shortly after this post predicted marijuana infused vodka, wine savant Marc Capobianco reported sipping pot infused wine at a tasting. High end chefs are coming up with any number of pot drizzled appetizers. A week after Nevada went legal Las Vegas ran out of weed.
And just this past week in San Francisco, an LA based start up called Beboe threw a launch party in a Pacific Heights mansion. Beboe bills itself as "a cannabis brand targeting the luxury market." The founders Clement Kwan and celebrity tattoo artist Scott Campbell are described as "inhaling from a rose gold vaporizer and nibbling apple spice pastilles" from a beautifully decorated container. The party was hosted by Zak Williams--son of the late, beloved Robin Williams--who joked "I'm proud to be here as an investor in Beboe at the first cannabis cotillion."
The party was attended by a host of social notables including ex-mayor Willie Brown. And in the grand Hollywood tradition Goodie Bags were distributed.
Cool. My only question is, does paying luxury prices deliver a luxury high?
Until now cannabis has been nurtured by true believers, growers who lived outside the law and who, by experimentation, education and inspiration developed the finest weed on the planet.
And the price until now was dependent on quality.
Unless the rose gold vaporizer and that lovely pastille dispenser can amplify the cannabis experience and transport me to a better place than my hand-rolled joint...what's the point?
Be that as it may, the future of pot has become very clear. No doubt Big Alcohol and Big Tobacco are salivating. Red Bull and Coca Cola are probably already in line.
I recall when a local New York cream cheese called Breakstone's was bought up by Kraft Foods. It went from a fine creamy treat to bland and mediocre.
Just sayin'.
DOLCE VITA 1973
I had left the ad agency in a blaze of glory and set about learning how to be a bestselling author. Qui Magazine, a subsidiary of Playboy commissioned me to do a piece on the world's leading sadist. I was stoked and delivered a blazing interview. Unfortunately Qui was queasy about an article featuring a homosexual. I got paid but my work had no home. No matter, I was off to Tangier to write ta new Doctor Orient novel using the material I'd gleaned from the interview as background. I had already written a sequel to Raga Six but Bantam balked, since the sales of Doctor Orient had been tepid. Undaunted I sold Lady Sativa to a small, new publisher Curtis Books, run by legendary editor Pat O'Connor. I took a small advance by yesterday's standards (a huge advance by today's standards.) and resigned myself to the world of advertising. So when Raga Six went big Lady Sativa went unnoticed. However I did get a healthy advance for Baron Orgaz and booked a cabin on the Cristoforo Colombo, an old school luxury liner. After years of freighter travel I decided to go legit.
In a word the eight day trip across the Atlantic was a disappointment. Compared to my Yugo freighter the cabin was cramped and cheerless. Outside it had the tawdry veneer of a Vegas casino. Lots of food, lots of people I normally avoided, lots of consumption, very little glamour except for the ship steward in a beautifully tailored tux trolling the bars for a rich widow to betray.
When the ship reached Seville Spain it was to large to dock at the tiny port so we debarked, luggage and all, into a small boat far below, which took us to shore.
We were in Seville a beautiful, gracious city. Later in the year I planned to go to Egypt and the Pyramids. The weather was perfect and I was living the dream.
Next: The Writer at Work
RECOMMENDED READING: CHINATOWN BLUES by Frank Lauria
The NEW SMOKER.COM (Issue #7)
Edited by Robert Gilman
With special thanks to Carolyne Zinko
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
INTERESTING TIMES
Can*nois*seur (kan ' us sur') n. one competent to render critical judgement on the qualities and merits of cannabis.
"The most amazing property of Cannabis is its ability to fog the minds of those who do not use it."
Future Shock
With the dawn of the Post-Truth Era on January 20th one of the many items on the table is the legalization and decriminalization of Cannabis. Certainly the economic realities are there. But zealous conservatives have never been above cutting their own throat--and ours--to make some self-righteous point.
Or--they may very well say, let the degenerates have their evil weed while we drink martinis, collect those cannabis taxes and steal democracy from those dumb passive stoners.
As you know an old Chinese curse states "may you live in interesting times". Well we have gone from Interesting to Swiftian to downright Orwellian times.
We all know what's happening. The freedom of the press, other basic constitutional rights are all up for grabs by the most dangerous political gang in the USA.
Hey baby--that's the way it is.
Rather than lament hard-assed reality right thinking Cannoisseurs (and the limp Democratic Party) need to get off the damn couch and start beating the drums for 2018 elections like the Tea Party did after Obama's first win.
We've all had it good until now but in the immortal words of the Beastie Boys: "You got to fight for your right to party"
Do not go gently into the new Dark Ages.
Pot Shots:
At the moment both the Bloom Room, 471 Jessie Street SF at Mint Plaza and Medithrive (415 562 6334) have several fine strains at decent prices. My current fav is Medithrive's Hazy Train Littles at $35 the eighth.
1974: The Trophy Year
Is anybody ready for a dream come true?
With the appearance of Raga Six on various bestseller lists, life shifted into a higher gear. Suddenly i was invited to hip parties which was a big change from no parties at all. My circle of friends expanded exponentially. Doors opened. My phone kept ringing with good news. An editor from Playboy's new magazine Qui contacted me about doing a piece for them.
I pitched an unusual premise: while in Tangier i had heard about a man who was one of world's leading sadists. This title by dint of his powerful position in New York's art world. Mind you this was '74 when the sexual revolution was just beginning to emerge from the relative innocence of the'60s to major experimentation but S/M was still underground and somewhat frowned upon even by The Happy Hooker. THH had a column in Hustler where she answered letters and disapproved of queries that concerned spanking and such. Later when she realized there were a lot of kinks out there in the Bible Belt she retracted her statement and was born again into the joys of SMBD.
So my decision to interview this man (i had a mutual friend connection) was considered both far out...and suspicious.
Me? I was fascinated by the subculture, the secretive nature of the SM network.
Six years later Al Pacino would star in Cruising, a film set in the those underground gay bars scattered around the meat district (now a most posh hood).
But in '74 i was ready to explore this new world and perhaps use it as background for my next Doctor Orient novel.
And i intended to write the interview in a new journalistic style, as championed by Norman Mailer and Tom Wolfe. This rookie was primed for the big time.
Or so i thought...
Next: Reality Sandwich
Highly Recommended: La LaLand
Edited by Robert Gilman
Saturday, October 8, 2016
HELLO AGAIN
Can*nois*seur (kan' us sur') n. one competent to render critical judgement on the qualities and merits of cannabis.
"The most amazing property of cannabis is its ability to fog the minds of those who do not use it."
THE BILLION DOLLAR BUD BIZ
Hello Dear Readers, after a hiatus of 3 years during which i wrote 4 novels i'm back at the same old stand surveying the booming present and wide-open future of legal cannabis. The states that legalized completely are enjoying a tax windfall that benefits everyone. Here in San Francisco where the sale and distribution is limited to Medical cannabis it's clear the all dispensaries are thriving and awaiting the vote in November. Right now the dispensaries have a semi-monopoly on the market. Legalization will change that. How is not yet clear. As of yet there is no equitable plan in place.
At the moment however my favorite dispensary is The Bloom Room at 471 Jessie Street SF at Mint Plaza. Consistently high grade buds and righteous deals on their "littles". Check their well presented home page, click on Menu then click on Cannabis for their sale days.
THE HUCKSTERS 1972
Being an account executive was frustrating. My first instinct was to dream up a campaign and write it up. Unfortunately that was the creative department's job. My job was to deal with the client. The ladies at Ms. were a gracious bunch but extremely wary of male influence.
Still one day, when the agency's art director, a strapping dude who resembled Tom Selleck, visited the Ms. offices, our wary feminists reverted to blushing high school girls. Can't fight Mother Nature.
Everything seemed to be in a holding pattern. Cocaine was sweeping the city and i was scooping up my share. Certainly there was more money than the bohemian days in Rome the previous year. There were parties with friends, dinners, perks (free magazines). i had found a two room duplex on the upper east side which was both cheap and cool, My novel Raga Six was due to be published in December a month considered certain death for books. Having already died my first time out with Doctor Orient i was bracing for extinction. (During that period i began writing song lyrics.) The art Director at Bantam books Len Leoni was the best in the business. we had maintained a friendship since my early days at Bantam based in part on our mutual admiration of Alex Raymond the extraordinary comic artist who drew Flash Gordon. i asked Len if he could get the artist Szafran to do the cover to Raga Six. He had done a brilliant cover for Bradbury's I Sing The Body Electric.
Len hired Szafran and H.B. Gilmour wrote the copy. The "package" when finished was striking with a deep blue cover and the same typeface Len used for The Exorcist. When I showed a proof to Gloria Steinem she thought Raga was a beautiful name. Future author Letty Cotton Pegrobin accused the cover illustration ( a voluptuous semi-nude female) of being sexist. i thought it looked good for a doomed novel.
Meanwhile my relationship with my other client Saturday Review was deteriorating. The publishers who were fresh from a huge success with their first venture Psychology Today had the bright idea to split the venerable Saturday Review into 4 fucking magazines. As the recipient of a shit load of free magazines each month, most of which remained unread, i knew along with everyone else at the agency the world did not need four new magazines to do the job of one. Underlying this brilliant idea was the fact they managed to quadruple the stock--if not its value.
The more the magazines faltered the more abrasive the publishers became.. Finally December rolled around and New York was in all its holiday glory. It became clear that my days in advertising were numbered and i had vague plans of getting back into publishing. One Saturday night the phone rang. It was Basel Winston new husband of dear friend Arlene Erb.
"Have you seen tonight's New York Post?"
"No why?"
"Raga Six is on the bestseller list."
My brain blew right through the top of my skull. And stayed up there for weeks.
NEXT: HIGH SOCIETY
Edited by Robert Gilman
"The most amazing property of cannabis is its ability to fog the minds of those who do not use it."
THE BILLION DOLLAR BUD BIZ
Hello Dear Readers, after a hiatus of 3 years during which i wrote 4 novels i'm back at the same old stand surveying the booming present and wide-open future of legal cannabis. The states that legalized completely are enjoying a tax windfall that benefits everyone. Here in San Francisco where the sale and distribution is limited to Medical cannabis it's clear the all dispensaries are thriving and awaiting the vote in November. Right now the dispensaries have a semi-monopoly on the market. Legalization will change that. How is not yet clear. As of yet there is no equitable plan in place.
At the moment however my favorite dispensary is The Bloom Room at 471 Jessie Street SF at Mint Plaza. Consistently high grade buds and righteous deals on their "littles". Check their well presented home page, click on Menu then click on Cannabis for their sale days.
THE HUCKSTERS 1972
Being an account executive was frustrating. My first instinct was to dream up a campaign and write it up. Unfortunately that was the creative department's job. My job was to deal with the client. The ladies at Ms. were a gracious bunch but extremely wary of male influence.
Still one day, when the agency's art director, a strapping dude who resembled Tom Selleck, visited the Ms. offices, our wary feminists reverted to blushing high school girls. Can't fight Mother Nature.
Everything seemed to be in a holding pattern. Cocaine was sweeping the city and i was scooping up my share. Certainly there was more money than the bohemian days in Rome the previous year. There were parties with friends, dinners, perks (free magazines). i had found a two room duplex on the upper east side which was both cheap and cool, My novel Raga Six was due to be published in December a month considered certain death for books. Having already died my first time out with Doctor Orient i was bracing for extinction. (During that period i began writing song lyrics.) The art Director at Bantam books Len Leoni was the best in the business. we had maintained a friendship since my early days at Bantam based in part on our mutual admiration of Alex Raymond the extraordinary comic artist who drew Flash Gordon. i asked Len if he could get the artist Szafran to do the cover to Raga Six. He had done a brilliant cover for Bradbury's I Sing The Body Electric.
Len hired Szafran and H.B. Gilmour wrote the copy. The "package" when finished was striking with a deep blue cover and the same typeface Len used for The Exorcist. When I showed a proof to Gloria Steinem she thought Raga was a beautiful name. Future author Letty Cotton Pegrobin accused the cover illustration ( a voluptuous semi-nude female) of being sexist. i thought it looked good for a doomed novel.
Meanwhile my relationship with my other client Saturday Review was deteriorating. The publishers who were fresh from a huge success with their first venture Psychology Today had the bright idea to split the venerable Saturday Review into 4 fucking magazines. As the recipient of a shit load of free magazines each month, most of which remained unread, i knew along with everyone else at the agency the world did not need four new magazines to do the job of one. Underlying this brilliant idea was the fact they managed to quadruple the stock--if not its value.
The more the magazines faltered the more abrasive the publishers became.. Finally December rolled around and New York was in all its holiday glory. It became clear that my days in advertising were numbered and i had vague plans of getting back into publishing. One Saturday night the phone rang. It was Basel Winston new husband of dear friend Arlene Erb.
"Have you seen tonight's New York Post?"
"No why?"
"Raga Six is on the bestseller list."
My brain blew right through the top of my skull. And stayed up there for weeks.
NEXT: HIGH SOCIETY
Edited by Robert Gilman
HELLO AGAIN
Can*nois*seur (kan' us sur') n. one competent to render critical judgement on the qualities and merits of cannabis.
"The most amazing property of cannabis is its ability to fog the minds of those who do no't use it."
THE BILLION DOLLAR BUD BIZ
Hello Dear Readers, after a hiatus of 3 years during which i wrote 4 novels i'm back at the same old stand surveying the booming present and wide-open future of legal cannabis. The states that legalized completely are enjoying a tax windfall that benefits everyone. Here in San Francisco where the sale and distribution is limited to Medical cannabis it's clear the all dispensaries are thriving and awaiting the vote in November. Right now the dispensaries have a semi-monopoly on the market. Legalization will change that. How is not yet clear. As of yet there is no equitable plan in place.
At the moment however my favorite dispensary is The Bloom Room at 471 Jessie Street SF at Mint Plaza. Consistently high grade buds and righteous deals on their "littles". Check their well presented home page, click on Menu then click on Cannabis for their sale days.
THE HUCKSTERS 1972
Being an account executive was frustrating. My first instinct was to dream up a campaign and write it up. Unfortunately that was the creative department's job. My job was to deal with the client. The ladies at Ms. were a gracious bunch but extremely wary of male influence.
Still one day, when the agency's art director, a strapping dude who resembled Tom Selleck, visited the Ms. offices, our wary feminists reverted to blushing high school girls. Can't fight Mother Nature.
Everything seemed to be in a holding pattern. Cocaine was sweeping the city and i was scooping up my share. Certainly there was more money than the bohemian days in Rome the previous year. There were parties with friends, dinners, perks (free magazines). i had found a two room duplex on the upper east side which was both cheap and cool, My novel Raga Six was due to be published in December a month considered certain death for books. Having already died my first time out with Doctor Orient i was bracing for extinction. (During that period i began writing song lyrics.) The art Director at Bantam books Len Leoni was the best in the business. we had maintained a friendship since my early days at Bantam based in part on our mutual admiration of Alex Raymond the extraordinary comic artist who drew Flash Gordon. i asked Len if he could get the artist Szafran to do the cover to Raga Six. He had done a brilliant cover for Bradbury's I Sing The Body Electric.
Len hired Szafran and H.B. Gilmour wrote the copy. The "package" when finished was striking with a deep blue cover and the same typeface Len used for The Exorcist. When I showed a proof to Gloria Steinem she thought Raga was a beautiful name. Future author Letty Cotton Pegrobin accused the cover illustration ( a voluptuous semi-nude female) of being sexist. i thought it looked good for a doomed novel.
Meanwhile my relationship with my other client Saturday Review was deteriorating. The publishers who were fresh from a huge success with their first venture Psychology Today had the bright idea to split the venerable Saturday Review into 4 fucking magazines. As the recipient of a shit load of free magazines each month, most of which remained unread, i knew along with everyone else at the agency the world did not need four new magazines to do the job of one. Underlying this brilliant idea was the fact they managed to quadruple the stock--if not its value.
The more the magazines faltered the more abrasive the publishers became.. Finally December rolled around and New York was in all its holiday glory. It became clear that my days in advertising were numbered and i had vague plans of getting back into publishing. One Saturday night the phone rang. It was Basel Winston new husband of dear friend Arlene Erb.
"Have you seen tonight's New York Post?"
"No why?"
"Raga Six is on the bestseller list."
My brain blew right through the top of my skull. And stayed up there for weeks.
NEXT: HIGH SOCIETY
Edited by Robert Gilman
"The most amazing property of cannabis is its ability to fog the minds of those who do no't use it."
THE BILLION DOLLAR BUD BIZ
Hello Dear Readers, after a hiatus of 3 years during which i wrote 4 novels i'm back at the same old stand surveying the booming present and wide-open future of legal cannabis. The states that legalized completely are enjoying a tax windfall that benefits everyone. Here in San Francisco where the sale and distribution is limited to Medical cannabis it's clear the all dispensaries are thriving and awaiting the vote in November. Right now the dispensaries have a semi-monopoly on the market. Legalization will change that. How is not yet clear. As of yet there is no equitable plan in place.
At the moment however my favorite dispensary is The Bloom Room at 471 Jessie Street SF at Mint Plaza. Consistently high grade buds and righteous deals on their "littles". Check their well presented home page, click on Menu then click on Cannabis for their sale days.
THE HUCKSTERS 1972
Being an account executive was frustrating. My first instinct was to dream up a campaign and write it up. Unfortunately that was the creative department's job. My job was to deal with the client. The ladies at Ms. were a gracious bunch but extremely wary of male influence.
Still one day, when the agency's art director, a strapping dude who resembled Tom Selleck, visited the Ms. offices, our wary feminists reverted to blushing high school girls. Can't fight Mother Nature.
Everything seemed to be in a holding pattern. Cocaine was sweeping the city and i was scooping up my share. Certainly there was more money than the bohemian days in Rome the previous year. There were parties with friends, dinners, perks (free magazines). i had found a two room duplex on the upper east side which was both cheap and cool, My novel Raga Six was due to be published in December a month considered certain death for books. Having already died my first time out with Doctor Orient i was bracing for extinction. (During that period i began writing song lyrics.) The art Director at Bantam books Len Leoni was the best in the business. we had maintained a friendship since my early days at Bantam based in part on our mutual admiration of Alex Raymond the extraordinary comic artist who drew Flash Gordon. i asked Len if he could get the artist Szafran to do the cover to Raga Six. He had done a brilliant cover for Bradbury's I Sing The Body Electric.
Len hired Szafran and H.B. Gilmour wrote the copy. The "package" when finished was striking with a deep blue cover and the same typeface Len used for The Exorcist. When I showed a proof to Gloria Steinem she thought Raga was a beautiful name. Future author Letty Cotton Pegrobin accused the cover illustration ( a voluptuous semi-nude female) of being sexist. i thought it looked good for a doomed novel.
Meanwhile my relationship with my other client Saturday Review was deteriorating. The publishers who were fresh from a huge success with their first venture Psychology Today had the bright idea to split the venerable Saturday Review into 4 fucking magazines. As the recipient of a shit load of free magazines each month, most of which remained unread, i knew along with everyone else at the agency the world did not need four new magazines to do the job of one. Underlying this brilliant idea was the fact they managed to quadruple the stock--if not its value.
The more the magazines faltered the more abrasive the publishers became.. Finally December rolled around and New York was in all its holiday glory. It became clear that my days in advertising were numbered and i had vague plans of getting back into publishing. One Saturday night the phone rang. It was Basel Winston new husband of dear friend Arlene Erb.
"Have you seen tonight's New York Post?"
"No why?"
"Raga Six is on the bestseller list."
My brain blew right through the top of my skull. And stayed up there for weeks.
NEXT: HIGH SOCIETY
Edited by Robert Gilman
HELLO AGAIN
Can*nois*seur (kan' us sur') n. one competent to render critical judgement on the qualities and merits of cannabis.
"The most amazing property of cannabis is its ability to fog the minds of those who do no't use it."
THE BILLION DOLLAR BUD BIZ
Hello Dear Readers, after a hiatus of 3 years during which i wrote 4 novels i'm back at the same old stand surveying the booming present and wide-open future of legal cannabis. The states that legalized completely are enjoying a tax windfall that benefits everyone. Here in San Francisco where the sale and distribution is limited to Medical cannabis it's clear the all dispensaries are thriving and awaiting the vote in November. Right now the dispensaries have a semi-monopoly on the market. Legalization will change that. How is not yet clear. As of yet there is no equitable plan in place.
At the moment however my favorite dispensary is The Bloom Room at 471 Jessie Street SF at Mint Plaza. Consistently high grade buds and righteous deals on their "littles". Check their well presented home page, click on Menu then click on Cannabis for their sale days.
THE HUCKSTERS 1972
Being an account executive was frustrating. My first instinct was to dream up a campaign and write it up. Unfortunately that was the creative department's job. My job was to deal with the client. The ladies at Ms. were a gracious bunch but extremely wary of male influence.
Still one day, when the agency's art director, a strapping dude who resembled Tom Selleck, visited the Ms. offices, our wary feminists reverted to blushing high school girls. Can't fight Mother Nature.
Everything seemed to be in a holding pattern. Cocaine was sweeping the city and i was scooping up my share. Certainly there was more money than the bohemian days in Rome the previous year. There were parties with friends, dinners, perks (free magazines). i had found a two room duplex on the upper east side which was both cheap and cool, My novel Raga Six was due to be published in December a month considered certain death for books. Having already died my first time out with Doctor Orient i was bracing for extinction. (During that period i began writing song lyrics.) The art Director at Bantam books Len Leoni was the best in the business. we had maintained a friendship since my early days at Bantam based in part on our mutual admiration of Alex Raymond the extraordinary comic artist who drew Flash Gordon. i asked Len if he could get the artist Szafran to do the cover to Raga Six. He had done a brilliant cover for Bradbury's I Sing The Body Electric.
Len hired Szafran and H.B. Gilmour wrote the copy. The "package" when finished was striking with a deep blue cover and the same typeface Len used for The Exorcist. When I showed a proof to Gloria Steinem she thought Raga was a beautiful name. Future author Letty Cotton Pegrobin accused the cover illustration ( a voluptuous semi-nude female) of being sexist. i thought it looked good for a doomed novel.
Meanwhile my relationship with my other client Saturday Review was deteriorating. The publishers who were fresh from a huge success with their first venture Psychology Today had the bright idea to split the venerable Saturday Review into 4 fucking magazines. As the recipient of a shit load of free magazines each month, most of which remained unread, i knew along with everyone else at the agency the world did not need four new magazines to do the job of one. Underlying this brilliant idea was the fact they managed to quadruple the stock--if not its value.
The more the magazines faltered the more abrasive the publishers became.. Finally December rolled around and New York was in all its holiday glory. It became clear that my days in advertising were numbered and i had vague plans of getting back into publishing. One Saturday night the phone rang. It was Basel Winston new husband of dear friend Arlene Erb.
"Have you seen tonight's New York Post?"
"No why?"
"Raga Six is on the bestseller list."
My brain blew right through the top of my skull. And stayed up there for weeks.
NEXT: HIGH SOCIETY
Edited by Robert Gilman
"The most amazing property of cannabis is its ability to fog the minds of those who do no't use it."
THE BILLION DOLLAR BUD BIZ
Hello Dear Readers, after a hiatus of 3 years during which i wrote 4 novels i'm back at the same old stand surveying the booming present and wide-open future of legal cannabis. The states that legalized completely are enjoying a tax windfall that benefits everyone. Here in San Francisco where the sale and distribution is limited to Medical cannabis it's clear the all dispensaries are thriving and awaiting the vote in November. Right now the dispensaries have a semi-monopoly on the market. Legalization will change that. How is not yet clear. As of yet there is no equitable plan in place.
At the moment however my favorite dispensary is The Bloom Room at 471 Jessie Street SF at Mint Plaza. Consistently high grade buds and righteous deals on their "littles". Check their well presented home page, click on Menu then click on Cannabis for their sale days.
THE HUCKSTERS 1972
Being an account executive was frustrating. My first instinct was to dream up a campaign and write it up. Unfortunately that was the creative department's job. My job was to deal with the client. The ladies at Ms. were a gracious bunch but extremely wary of male influence.
Still one day, when the agency's art director, a strapping dude who resembled Tom Selleck, visited the Ms. offices, our wary feminists reverted to blushing high school girls. Can't fight Mother Nature.
Everything seemed to be in a holding pattern. Cocaine was sweeping the city and i was scooping up my share. Certainly there was more money than the bohemian days in Rome the previous year. There were parties with friends, dinners, perks (free magazines). i had found a two room duplex on the upper east side which was both cheap and cool, My novel Raga Six was due to be published in December a month considered certain death for books. Having already died my first time out with Doctor Orient i was bracing for extinction. (During that period i began writing song lyrics.) The art Director at Bantam books Len Leoni was the best in the business. we had maintained a friendship since my early days at Bantam based in part on our mutual admiration of Alex Raymond the extraordinary comic artist who drew Flash Gordon. i asked Len if he could get the artist Szafran to do the cover to Raga Six. He had done a brilliant cover for Bradbury's I Sing The Body Electric.
Len hired Szafran and H.B. Gilmour wrote the copy. The "package" when finished was striking with a deep blue cover and the same typeface Len used for The Exorcist. When I showed a proof to Gloria Steinem she thought Raga was a beautiful name. Future author Letty Cotton Pegrobin accused the cover illustration ( a voluptuous semi-nude female) of being sexist. i thought it looked good for a doomed novel.
Meanwhile my relationship with my other client Saturday Review was deteriorating. The publishers who were fresh from a huge success with their first venture Psychology Today had the bright idea to split the venerable Saturday Review into 4 fucking magazines. As the recipient of a shit load of free magazines each month, most of which remained unread, i knew along with everyone else at the agency the world did not need four new magazines to do the job of one. Underlying this brilliant idea was the fact they managed to quadruple the stock--if not its value.
The more the magazines faltered the more abrasive the publishers became.. Finally December rolled around and New York was in all its holiday glory. It became clear that my days in advertising were numbered and i had vague plans of getting back into publishing. One Saturday night the phone rang. It was Basel Winston new husband of dear friend Arlene Erb.
"Have you seen tonight's New York Post?"
"No why?"
"Raga Six is on the bestseller list."
My brain blew right through the top of my skull. And stayed up there for weeks.
NEXT: HIGH SOCIETY
Edited by Robert Gilman
HELLO AGAIN
Can*nois*seur (kan' us sur') n. one competent to render critical judgement on the qualities and merits of cannabis.
"The most amazing property of cannabis is its ability to fog the minds of those who do no't use it."
THE BILLION DOLLAR BUD BIZ
Hello Dear Readers, after a hiatus of 3 years during which i wrote 4 novels i'm back at the same old stand surveying the booming present and wide-open future of legal cannabis. The states that legalized completely are enjoying a tax windfall that benefits everyone. Here in San Francisco where the sale and distribution is limited to Medical cannabis it's clear the all dispensaries are thriving and awaiting the vote in November. Right now the dispensaries have a semi-monopoly on the market. Legalization will change that. How is not yet clear. As of yet there is no equitable plan in place.
At the moment however my favorite dispensary is The Bloom Room at 471 Jessie Street SF at Mint Plaza. Consistently high grade buds and righteous deals on their "littles". Check their well presented home page, click on Menu then click on Cannabis for their sale days.
THE HUCKSTERS 1972
Being an account executive was frustrating. My first instinct was to dream up a campaign and write it up. Unfortunately that was the creative department's job. My job was to deal with the client. The ladies at Ms. were a gracious bunch but extremely wary of male influence.
Still one day, when the agency's art director, a strapping dude who resembled Tom Selleck, visited the Ms. offices, our wary feminists reverted to blushing high school girls. Can't fight Mother Nature.
Everything seemed to be in a holding pattern. Cocaine was sweeping the city and i was scooping up my share. Certainly there was more money than the bohemian days in Rome the previous year. There were parties with friends, dinners, perks (free magazines). i had found a two room duplex on the upper east side which was both cheap and cool, My novel Raga Six was due to be published in December a month considered certain death for books. Having already died my first time out with Doctor Orient i was bracing for extinction. (During that period i began writing song lyrics.) The art Director at Bantam books Len Leoni was the best in the business. we had maintained a friendship since my early days at Bantam based in part on our mutual admiration of Alex Raymond the extraordinary comic artist who drew Flash Gordon. i asked Len if he could get the artist Szafran to do the cover to Raga Six. He had done a brilliant cover for Bradbury's I Sing The Body Electric.
Len hired Szafran and H.B. Gilmour wrote the copy. The "package" when finished was striking with a deep blue cover and the same typeface Len used for The Exorcist. When I showed a proof to Gloria Steinem she thought Raga was a beautiful name. Future author Letty Cotton Pegrobin accused the cover illustration ( a voluptuous semi-nude female) of being sexist. i thought it looked good for a doomed novel.
Meanwhile my relationship with my other client Saturday Review was deteriorating. The publishers who were fresh from a huge success with their first venture Psychology Today had the bright idea to split the venerable Saturday Review into 4 fucking magazines. As the recipient of a shit load of free magazines each month, most of which remained unread, i knew along with everyone else at the agency the world did not need four new magazines to do the job of one. Underlying this brilliant idea was the fact they managed to quadruple the stock--if not its value.
The more the magazines faltered the more abrasive the publishers became.. Finally December rolled around and New York was in all its holiday glory. It became clear that my days in advertising were numbered and i had vague plans of getting back into publishing. One Saturday night the phone rang. It was Basel Winston new husband of dancer and dear friend Arlene Erb (widow of Bruce Erb).
"Have you seen tonight's New York Post?"
"No why?"
"Raga Six is on the bestseller list."
My brain blew right through the top of my skull. And stayed up there for weeks.
NEXT: HIGH SOCIETY
Edited by Robert Gilman
"The most amazing property of cannabis is its ability to fog the minds of those who do no't use it."
THE BILLION DOLLAR BUD BIZ
Hello Dear Readers, after a hiatus of 3 years during which i wrote 4 novels i'm back at the same old stand surveying the booming present and wide-open future of legal cannabis. The states that legalized completely are enjoying a tax windfall that benefits everyone. Here in San Francisco where the sale and distribution is limited to Medical cannabis it's clear the all dispensaries are thriving and awaiting the vote in November. Right now the dispensaries have a semi-monopoly on the market. Legalization will change that. How is not yet clear. As of yet there is no equitable plan in place.
At the moment however my favorite dispensary is The Bloom Room at 471 Jessie Street SF at Mint Plaza. Consistently high grade buds and righteous deals on their "littles". Check their well presented home page, click on Menu then click on Cannabis for their sale days.
THE HUCKSTERS 1972
Being an account executive was frustrating. My first instinct was to dream up a campaign and write it up. Unfortunately that was the creative department's job. My job was to deal with the client. The ladies at Ms. were a gracious bunch but extremely wary of male influence.
Still one day, when the agency's art director, a strapping dude who resembled Tom Selleck, visited the Ms. offices, our wary feminists reverted to blushing high school girls. Can't fight Mother Nature.
Everything seemed to be in a holding pattern. Cocaine was sweeping the city and i was scooping up my share. Certainly there was more money than the bohemian days in Rome the previous year. There were parties with friends, dinners, perks (free magazines). i had found a two room duplex on the upper east side which was both cheap and cool, My novel Raga Six was due to be published in December a month considered certain death for books. Having already died my first time out with Doctor Orient i was bracing for extinction. (During that period i began writing song lyrics.) The art Director at Bantam books Len Leoni was the best in the business. we had maintained a friendship since my early days at Bantam based in part on our mutual admiration of Alex Raymond the extraordinary comic artist who drew Flash Gordon. i asked Len if he could get the artist Szafran to do the cover to Raga Six. He had done a brilliant cover for Bradbury's I Sing The Body Electric.
Len hired Szafran and H.B. Gilmour wrote the copy. The "package" when finished was striking with a deep blue cover and the same typeface Len used for The Exorcist. When I showed a proof to Gloria Steinem she thought Raga was a beautiful name. Future author Letty Cotton Pegrobin accused the cover illustration ( a voluptuous semi-nude female) of being sexist. i thought it looked good for a doomed novel.
Meanwhile my relationship with my other client Saturday Review was deteriorating. The publishers who were fresh from a huge success with their first venture Psychology Today had the bright idea to split the venerable Saturday Review into 4 fucking magazines. As the recipient of a shit load of free magazines each month, most of which remained unread, i knew along with everyone else at the agency the world did not need four new magazines to do the job of one. Underlying this brilliant idea was the fact they managed to quadruple the stock--if not its value.
The more the magazines faltered the more abrasive the publishers became.. Finally December rolled around and New York was in all its holiday glory. It became clear that my days in advertising were numbered and i had vague plans of getting back into publishing. One Saturday night the phone rang. It was Basel Winston new husband of dancer and dear friend Arlene Erb (widow of Bruce Erb).
"Have you seen tonight's New York Post?"
"No why?"
"Raga Six is on the bestseller list."
My brain blew right through the top of my skull. And stayed up there for weeks.
NEXT: HIGH SOCIETY
Edited by Robert Gilman
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Back in the Bigs '72
Can * nois * seur (kan' us sur') n. one competent to render critical judgement on the qualities and merits of cannabis
"The most amazing property of cannabis is its ability to fog the minds of those who do not use it."
Cruisin' With Chem Dawg: Upon my return to SF after two weeks in Sonoma where the nearest dispensary is well over an hour's drive away, i repaired to Grass Roots on Post Street between Polk and Larkin in San Francisco, a mere ten minutes from home. It was there i found an outdoor Chem Dawg priced at 10 dollars a gram that celebrates the joy of cannabis. Bright, energetic, and a tonic to the body, it is an early sign of a good harvest. Speaking of harvest and Sonoma, the drive on highway 12 to Santa Rosa winds through miles and miles of well tended vineyards. The entire landscape devoted to alcohol while the cannabis farmers still must lurk in the wooded area beyond. (Very soon we'll see strains labeled Sour Diesel '14 or
Jack Herer '09 as well as auctions of top crop years and men in tuxedos showing off their cannabis cellars in Vanity Fair.)
The absurd disconnect in our nation's attitude continues with the Supreme Court's refusal to hear a challenge by Americans for Safe Access to the federal government's (DEA) refusal to allow medical doctors to prescribe marijuana to cancer patients and victims of other maladies. See: Americans for Safe Access vs DEA 13-84
Is Michele Leonhart director of the DEA a physician, a nurse, a paramedic, a psychologist, a therapist, or even a PhD? Is she on the side of truth? Or is she just another political hack protecting an over inflated budget?
Back In The Bigs: '72
We stayed with my mother for a few months after my dad's death. Then i flew to New York alone on a reconnaissance trip, trying to find an apartment and a job. Also in my kick was a third Orient novel Lady Sativa, that i had written while living in Umbria with my Mom, but Bantam wasn't interested in a third book at the moment, already invested in the first two. Which left me holding the literary bag. However i ran into old Boston pal Barry Hoernig then a student at various colleges, now a manager of several properties and married to an Italian princess.Barry had a two room duplex on east 72nd available at 300 a month and it was a done deal. Particularly since i had just accepted a job offer from Bruce Gilmour (HB's husband) as an account executive on a new magazine called Ms. It was good to be back.
However New York was different. Not so much changed but shifted gears into a faster, more hedonistic rhythm. Everyone was hip to the lick. And almost everyone had discovered cocaine. Fortunately i had discovered an old school tailor back in Rome and had some suits made since account executives are basically suits.Wunderman, Ricotta and Klein had prospered by making a science of selling stuff you don't really want by mail, using a technique known as negative response.
Basically, unless you make it known you don't want their featured item of the month, be it a book, magazine or cassette, it will be sent to you and billed to your account. They also specialized in magazine subscriptions, hence they were hired by Ms to launch them into contention. And as a representative of America's new youth culture i was there to deal with these female upstarts.
H.B's novel The Trade, which i had commissioned while at Paperback Library had enjoyed critical success and some notoriety. HB was never one to mince words.
Husband Bruce was a poet in the manner of Rod McKuen, an enormously popular paperback hero. McKuen's success was due in great part to the romantic photos of the bard in various poses of contemplation. Like an ad for a men's cologne. As it happened i had snapped a great shot of Bruce, backlit among the leaves. and his work was a lot fresher than Rod's. From experience i knew the picture and poems could be "packaged". So when i visited Curtis Books, a new publisher on the scene, to pitch Lady Sativa, i took Bruce's photo and manuscript with me as well as a novel by Joel S, a friend of the Gilmours. Pat O'Connor one of the last of the great editors took on all three projects.
Lady Sativa had found a home and i turned my attention to my next book. While in Tangier John Hohnsbeen had told me about a most intriguing
character-- a New Yorker of wealth and taste who was the world's foremost practitioner of SM...
Next: The Hucksters
Recommended Reading: Force of Nature by C. J. Box
Edited by Robert Gilman
"The most amazing property of cannabis is its ability to fog the minds of those who do not use it."
Cruisin' With Chem Dawg: Upon my return to SF after two weeks in Sonoma where the nearest dispensary is well over an hour's drive away, i repaired to Grass Roots on Post Street between Polk and Larkin in San Francisco, a mere ten minutes from home. It was there i found an outdoor Chem Dawg priced at 10 dollars a gram that celebrates the joy of cannabis. Bright, energetic, and a tonic to the body, it is an early sign of a good harvest. Speaking of harvest and Sonoma, the drive on highway 12 to Santa Rosa winds through miles and miles of well tended vineyards. The entire landscape devoted to alcohol while the cannabis farmers still must lurk in the wooded area beyond. (Very soon we'll see strains labeled Sour Diesel '14 or
Jack Herer '09 as well as auctions of top crop years and men in tuxedos showing off their cannabis cellars in Vanity Fair.)
The absurd disconnect in our nation's attitude continues with the Supreme Court's refusal to hear a challenge by Americans for Safe Access to the federal government's (DEA) refusal to allow medical doctors to prescribe marijuana to cancer patients and victims of other maladies. See: Americans for Safe Access vs DEA 13-84
Is Michele Leonhart director of the DEA a physician, a nurse, a paramedic, a psychologist, a therapist, or even a PhD? Is she on the side of truth? Or is she just another political hack protecting an over inflated budget?
Back In The Bigs: '72
We stayed with my mother for a few months after my dad's death. Then i flew to New York alone on a reconnaissance trip, trying to find an apartment and a job. Also in my kick was a third Orient novel Lady Sativa, that i had written while living in Umbria with my Mom, but Bantam wasn't interested in a third book at the moment, already invested in the first two. Which left me holding the literary bag. However i ran into old Boston pal Barry Hoernig then a student at various colleges, now a manager of several properties and married to an Italian princess.Barry had a two room duplex on east 72nd available at 300 a month and it was a done deal. Particularly since i had just accepted a job offer from Bruce Gilmour (HB's husband) as an account executive on a new magazine called Ms. It was good to be back.
However New York was different. Not so much changed but shifted gears into a faster, more hedonistic rhythm. Everyone was hip to the lick. And almost everyone had discovered cocaine. Fortunately i had discovered an old school tailor back in Rome and had some suits made since account executives are basically suits.Wunderman, Ricotta and Klein had prospered by making a science of selling stuff you don't really want by mail, using a technique known as negative response.
Basically, unless you make it known you don't want their featured item of the month, be it a book, magazine or cassette, it will be sent to you and billed to your account. They also specialized in magazine subscriptions, hence they were hired by Ms to launch them into contention. And as a representative of America's new youth culture i was there to deal with these female upstarts.
H.B's novel The Trade, which i had commissioned while at Paperback Library had enjoyed critical success and some notoriety. HB was never one to mince words.
Husband Bruce was a poet in the manner of Rod McKuen, an enormously popular paperback hero. McKuen's success was due in great part to the romantic photos of the bard in various poses of contemplation. Like an ad for a men's cologne. As it happened i had snapped a great shot of Bruce, backlit among the leaves. and his work was a lot fresher than Rod's. From experience i knew the picture and poems could be "packaged". So when i visited Curtis Books, a new publisher on the scene, to pitch Lady Sativa, i took Bruce's photo and manuscript with me as well as a novel by Joel S, a friend of the Gilmours. Pat O'Connor one of the last of the great editors took on all three projects.
Lady Sativa had found a home and i turned my attention to my next book. While in Tangier John Hohnsbeen had told me about a most intriguing
character-- a New Yorker of wealth and taste who was the world's foremost practitioner of SM...
Next: The Hucksters
Recommended Reading: Force of Nature by C. J. Box
Edited by Robert Gilman
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