I’ve been listening to Snoop Lion‘s latest album Reincarnated for a few weeks now.
I toyed with the idea of writing a review, then figured what’s the point? I’ll just share it so you can make up your own mind whether to buy or not. I like it enough to listen to at least once a day for the last 2 weeks and am still enjoying it.
Check out the full playlist on the insanely brilliant Grooveshark. The shining discovery on this album for me is Jahdan Blakkamoore.
Check out the excellent Vice’s B.C. Bud documentary. You can see all three parts below and I can highly recommended watching them.
Here’s four Snoop Lion official videos for his imminently dropping Riencarnated album. I’m liking what I hear so far.
I had my first vape experience a couple of months ago whilst in Amsterdam. It went something like this. I passed Noon coffeeshop and grabbed 5g of my favourite weed, blueberry. I then dropped by the Hash Museum, which is like walking through the pages of Jack Herer’s “Emperor Wears No Clothes” in the middle of a red light district.
After the museum, I stopped by the Cannabis College which is about 3 doors away and run by the same people. It was staffed by two red eyed guys from the UK. Their job appeared to be to smoke and talk about cannabis – a cool gig if you can get it. I arrived 30 minutes before closing so they were partaking more in the former than the latter. A table next to them displayed “the best vaporizer in existence”, a wood and glass contraption that looked like it belonged in a 1950s school chemistry lab. It was called a de Verdamper and was filled with water and plugged into the wall. It had a sign above it saying “Ask us about vaporizers”. So I did.
To cut a long story short, the blueberry ended up in the plug-in bong and I had a Mark Haskell Smith’s “Heart of Dankness” moment.
I was sold on vaporizers.
FlashVape is my first vape. I’ve smoked in various ways for 25 years, finally settling on a trusty glass spoon pipe. I’ve been interested in vapes for a few years now, mainly to avoid inhaling combusted plant matter, but held off. A plug-in is not practical for me. I really don’t have anywhere to put one. Non of the portable ones I’d seen appealed to me. Ugly plastic things with electronics that are way too complicated for their own good. I wanted a design classic.
FlashVape “silver bullet”. Also available in black.
The FlashVape is the first portable that made me think, “want one”. This is the Maglite or Zippo lighter of portable vapes. Best of all, it reminds me of a light sabre and matches my MacBook Air.
I bought direct from FlashVape. I’m in Europe (them in Canada) and they said they’d honour their free shipping as non were available to buy in Europe at that time. How’s that for customer care? Super friggin’ awesome I’d say.
It arrived as quick as you would expect from the other side of the globe. Packaging was well beyond what I’d expected, these’s guys are pro. It’s solidly built. Stick batteries in the bottom, press button like a flashlight and suck on the glass tube after a few seconds. Doesn’t get more complicated than that. Spare glass tubes and other parts are available on the site. I cannot imagine breaking any other part of this thing.
The simplicity leads you to get creative on the timing of your button pressing and sucking. Even down to the speed of your draw. I tend to press and hold, then slowly suck after 3-4 seconds for as long as feels comfortable. It’s like sipping from a wine glass. This thing requires technique and this is what makes it so wonderful. Maybe having to learn how to do it is not for everyone but it is everything for me and I appreciate it wildly. Judging by the reviews others feel the same way.
I’m about a month into owning mine and I still think I can learn more techniques and master those I’ve got to grips with. Sometimes you fail. I managed to combust an old nug of mine that I had kept aside for a special occasion. Everything tastes so much better with a vape. Alas, it was stone dry and started to burn earlier than my fresh stashes. I guess I should’ve just smoked the smoke out of the thing but it felt wrong and nasty after vaping for a few weeks. It only happened the once, and this thing has had plenty of use.
I’d recommend one, if you trust someone’s advice on a vape who’s only ever used 2 models of vaporizer. That said, they could well be the two best vapes on the planet.
You can find out where to get one on FlashVape.com.
In an incredible turn of events, teen pop icon Justin Bieber (@JustinBieber) calls on his 37,301,164 twitter followers to help end the war on drugs. His tweet from 9 April reads.
“shoutout to @UncleRUSH . gotta support him to #EndTheWarOnDrugs and show that we the youth have a voice. hashtag and support the cause”
@UncleRUSh is Russell Simmons an American businessman who was one of the founders of hip-hop label Def Jam.
Simmons’ #EndTheWarOnDrugs campaign is sweeping the twittersphere and beyond in it’s call to ask President Obama to end the war on drugs for good.
19 year old, Bieber has been the topic of several reports in which he is accussed of smoking marijuana. Let’s face it very few artistic young adults do not. This is the first time that he has openly voiced an opinion on the topic of drugs.
Danny Danko, High Times cultivation editor takes us through the history of Haze’s. Starting with the origins in the 60s, he follows the development in Amsterdam through the 80s and goes on to look at the top 10 haze strains. It even has a handy haze grow tips section at the end of the piece. Great stuff, check it out!
Here’s a recap of Mr Danko’s top 10 Haze’s of all time, check out the original article for more in depth details on each strain.
As you can probably guess, I’m a big fan of haze strains and the creative tsunami they unleash. I’m very happy to see the inclusion of the amazing Amnesia Haze though surprised to find an autoflowering haze in the mix (will have to check that one out). Even more surprising, perhaps, is the absence of Green House’s multi award winning Super Lemon Haze. What do you think, what’s your favourite haze strain?
Check out this new Strain Hunters trailer from Swaziland. It will be available online on 4/20. In case you have not seen any of the series you can find them all on one page here.
Also, here is a special feature showing some of the details in the documentary. The camera work seems to be improving with each release and these shots look amazing. You’ll want to crank up the HD setting on YouTube to the max!
The prohibitionist arguement that cannabis should be illegal because it is so much stronger than “back in the 60s” is completely flawed. This is because the high THC content that we are seeing in todays illegal market is actually caused by prohibition NOT, as we are lead to believe, something that prohibition should protect us from. It’s like saying beer should be illegal because it is possible to make really strong moonshine.
In an illegal climate people are producing cannabis under extremely high pressures and they want to get more bang for their buck. It is the equivalent of people producing liquor in stills during prohibition rather than making beer. In a legal market people are left to develop products with more subtleties than something that will just get you completely blasted.
I’ll stick to the alcohol analogy as an example, my Dad makes some of the best beer I ever tasted in what (as I understand it) amounts to two large buckets with a tap on it. I’m no beer aficionado but I’ve been living in Belgium for the last 12 years so I know a good beer when I taste it. It’s probably around 4-5% but it tastes wonderful. It’s 100% natural and you know it is made with love and not in a huge factory. If alcohol was illegal to brew then he probably would not bother. Those that would bother are more likely to produce high alcohol content liquor to shift it as fast as they can for as much cash as they can get.
Right now we are seeing some very strong (high THC) marijuana on the market. Marijuana contains many cannabinoids. These are the active components that give the therapeutic effects. THC is just one of these cannabinoids but is the one that gives the head high. Illegal market forces have pushed growers to produce very high THC content strains.
Lower THC content strains exist (such as high CBD hybrids or autoflowering) and in a non criminal market people can easily grow these in their garden or windowsill. Rather than people growing in high energy intensive underground grow operations. There are concerns of the environmental impact of high electricity demanding cannabis farms.
Personally, for recreational use I find sun grown marijuana much nicer to smoke and the effects much more relaxed than super high THC strains that are common. For certain medical conditions there will still be a market for more potent indoor crops.
Occasional smokers can find very high THC quite uncomfortable and may experience anxiety. This helps fuel the prohibition argument that these stronger strains lead to schizophrenia. Someone may try a high THC strain, experience anxiety and then fully believe these stories. However, facts are not on the prohibitionists side. If more people are smoking much stronger marijuana (which are both true) why are we not seeing an epidemic in schizophrenia?
An environment where it is not a criminal offence to grow your own cannabis plants opens the door to exploring some of the other less potent but easier to grow strains on the market. This gives the consumer more choice and the future will allow recreational users to try more mellow marijuana to wind down at the end of the day just like choosing a nice beer rather than a shot of tequila.
On his pilgrimage to Jamaica, Snoop Dogg says “I finally made it to paradise”. He dropped the Dogg, replaced it with Lion and a new a reggae star is born. In a trailer for his upcoming documentary, Reincarnated, which chronicles the recording of his new album, Snoop Lion announces the bomb, “I’m tired of rapping”. The lion symbol is as synonymous with reggae culture as dreadlocks but what does it signify?
Snoop Lion is quoted as saying “Rastafari called me” and “I always said I was Bob Marley reincarnated”, hence the new album’s name.
Marley’s message is preserved in the lyrics of his songs and will live on for generations. He once said “People want to listen to a message… This could be passed through me or anybody… The words of the songs, not the person, is what attracts people.” Can Snoop’s new persona live up to this legacy? “La La La”, the first single off of Snoop’s forthcoming album Reincarnated, is certainly very catchy but not quite “One love”, “Get up, stand up” or “Buffalo soldier”.
Whilst at a Rastafarian temple in Jamaica, Snoop Dogg told a high priest his name, the priest’s response was, “No more. You are the light; you are the lion.” and Snoop Lion was born.
The lion is symbolic of Rastafarian culture but has it’s roots in Judaism and Christianity.
The Lion of Judah was the symbol of the Israelite tribe of Judah in the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible, which forms the Old Testament. The story goes that both King David and Jesus were from the tribe of Judah.
In Christian tradition, the Lion of Judah represents Jesus. Jesus is mentioned as the Lion of Judah in Revelation. Many Christian organizations and ministries use the lion of Judah as their emblem or even their name.
The Lion of Judah motif figured prominently on the old imperial flag, currency and stamps of Ethopia and is still seen as a national symbol.
In Rastafari, “The Lion of Judah” represents Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, crowned November 2, 1930 with the titles King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God and Power of the Trinity. Rastas hold that Selassie is a direct descendant of the Israelite Tribe of Judah through the lineage of King David and Solomon, and that he is also the Lion of Judah mentioned in the Book of Revelation.
Snoop Lion’s name change is deep. It’s not just a case of sticking on a green, yellow and red rasta tam and filling it with dreads. There is no doubt Snoop Lion realises this. Though time will tell if he sticks with his new persona even if record sales wane. It’s a safe bet they won’t. Bob Marley’s music has had universal appeal for decades and channelling this could help expand Snoops listener base globally.
This is the best coverage of the “wietpas” I’ve found yet. Several coffeeshop owners discuss their views on the new members only coffeeshop rules. If you have any interest in coffeeshop culture this is a must watch.
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