While I have some “intellectual” lucubrations to emit, I’m traveling and need to save my brain till after I talk today. Anyway, I have some photos of our food-and-drug excursion in Portland last night.
Portland is a town that prides itself on quirkiness: people wear weird clothes, sport lots of tattoos, and ride bicycles that are either six feet tall or “recumbent” bikes that you ride while lying down. There are lots of people with goth clothing and blue hair, as well as white people engaging in the culturally appropriative sin of wearing dreadlocks. As Peter Boghossian says, “People in Portland try hard here to be different, but they wind up being different in the same way.”
Regardless, it’s a wonderful town, and I’ve always said that, like Berkeley and Cambridge, Massachusetts, it should be declared a “National Historical/Cultural Preserve” to prevent its Sixties-ish nature from being corrupted.
Last night Peter and I went out to eat. He’s a big sushi maven, and apparently can eat more sushi than any human alive. (He tells me that, unrestrained, he can eat 100 pieces or more!) I love sushi, too, though I can’t eat that much, so we repaired to one of Portland’s best restaurants of the genre, the Yama Sushi and Sake Bar. We had a lobster roll followed by an enormous plate of sashimi. Here is the evidence:
It was quite a feast. Afterwards, Peter suggested that I might want to sample the wares of “Fifty Licks,” a very famous ice cream store in Portland. How could I refuse? The ice cream is homemade on the premises.
Here’s the ice cream menu for last evening. How could I possibly decide? Fortunately, they let me sample several flavors, but I really wanted to try them all:
Lavender mint chip! Grapefruit rose sorbet! (I didn’t try those.) I did try “G.O.A.T”, which is made with goat cheese, and was great. The “Thai Rice” flavor really did taste like rice, though I found it a bit bland. And I didn’t try “caramelized honey” 🙁
I wound up ordering two scoops (one is never enough): cardamom and blood-orange creamsicle. The first scoop was rich with the incomparable flavor of that Indian spice, which I love, and the creamsicle was a full-cream ice cream with swirls of blood-orange ice cream mixed in it. My prize:
On the way home, Peter suggested that I might want to see a marijuana “dispensary,” since marijuana is now legal for both medical and recreational use in Oregon, and is sold widely. And, as I did in Colorado, I visited one. It’s a lot more laid back in Oregon, as they don’t demand that you show your driver’s license if you’re old like me, they don’t have cameras all over the place, they don’t allow only two people max into the shop at a time, and—they not only allowed me to take pictures, but encouraged it!
There are two counters in the shop: one for everyone (“recreational” drugs, which comprise only dried weed), and “medical” drugs, which include extracts, vapors, and the stronger stuff. But the recreational pot itself is very strong, as it’s now grown by people who can breed for higher tetrahydrocannabinol levels (THC; the stuff that gets you high), but also can breed for higher levels of cannabidol (CBD, which isn’t psychoactive but has side effects, like reducing nausea, that are useful for medical users). They sell a number of dope varieties, all labeled with their levels of THC and CBD. You can buy pot that has low THC but high CBD, or vice versa.
It’s all much stronger than it was when I was in college in the Sixties. It’s also more expensive, but you can still buy a fat joint, pre-rolled, for between $2.50 and $10.00.
We went to the highly rated Pakalolo Dispensary (the owner came from Maui, and I think it’s a Hawaiian word), and here are the varieties of pot and some of the joints and edibles on offer. Each big jar below contains a different variety of marijuana, all with the levels of THC and CBD labeled. Dope growing and selling is big business here, and yesterday the store did a brisk trade because it was April 20: 4/20 or 420 is the insider’s magic number for marijuana.
The vendors:
Joints (where did that word come from?). Notice the Obama Kush, presumably named after the President, who of course lived in Hawaii:
Peter decided to purchase a single joint, which they will roll for you on the spot (including inserting a filter!): this place is one of the few dispensaries in Portland that will roll a joint for you to order. Peter selected a very strong weed, although not the strongest, which had 26%+ THC. This one was called “Wedding Cake,” and smelled unlike any marijuana I’ve ever smelled: incredibly powerful, spicy, and even cake-y. The owner said that it was highly reviewed by several drug-rating websites and magazines (see here, for example). Things have changed a lot since the Sixties!
They weigh out a gram of the stuff, which is enough for one joint (you buy it by the gram when you’re having a custom-made joint; the rolling is free):
The roller then put the weed into a plastic cup with points in it. I never saw one of these and was of course curious about its purpose:
It turns out that this device is the best way to crush the buds of marijuana into flaky weed to put into a joint. Doing it with your hands, which is the way everyone in my generation did it, is bad, said the owner, because you lose precious THC on your fingers, and don’t get an even grind. You simply close the drug-containing cylinder and rotate the top: the points help crush the buds without loss of THC:
The result. Imagine: there are companies that make devices to crush buds into dope ready to be smoked! I asked if the device removed seeds, and he said “There aren’t any seeds in there. And if you found one, you’d best save it and grow a plant with it!” Since this dope is a hybrid, though, I’m not sure if that would breed true for the product.
The owner was, of course, a real expert in rolling joints, and used a kind of translucent paper that I’ve never seen:
Tamping it down with a chopstick:
\A filter was added (to the right of the joint), they topped up the joint with some extra stuff (no charge), and then put it into a protective tube:
They even labeled the tube! As I photographed it, the owner put his card in front as he said he’d appreciate the publicity for his store. So, if you’re in Portland and want to sample the wares, you’ll know where to go:
I didn’t smoke any because I’m lecturing today, and it was late by the time we got home. But I want to essay it before I leave Portland.
I suspect legalized possession might come to Illinois before long, and perhaps even stores like those in Portland. As Steve Pinker asserts, the world is getting morally better. If alcohol is legal, then surely marijuana should be too.
You guys didn’t have grinders in the sixties? How primitive…
I’m guessing you’ll assay it instead of essaying it.
😉
Essay? Assay? I say “Let’s get together and feel all right.”
I had the same thought, however, according to the OED, the verb essay means “to attempt or try” the origins were in the late 15th century where the meaning was more like “test the quality”. Origin is the same as assay (it says)
PCC(E) apparently knows more words than we do!
Well blow me over! Before my comment I verified the fact that “assay” was a verb that might apply (to assess the quality of metal, usually… ok… so “metal” is off-base!) but I didn’t bother to check the dictionary for “essay” and see if that might also be used as a verb and might apply.
Yes, that’s the sense in which I used “essay”; I didn’t know it wasn’t that widespread.
And I think that is the direct precedent to the name for short, non-fiction writing: essay. To try/test something: written consideration of the factors bearing on a question.
Correct: it comes from the French, “essayer”, to try or to attempt. Michel de Montaigne I think is credited with using this term first for the style of writing.
If you do get to share a doobie with Peter before leaving Portland, may I suggest you crank up the brand new King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizzard album, (streaming at http://www.npr.org/2016/04/21/474678543/first-listen-king-gizzard-the-lizard-wizard-nonagon-infinity )?
I normally go for straight-ahead, even simple, rock, soul and blues, etc. as you can see from my Youtube playlists, but for some reason I really like this new KGLW album and their “I’m in your mind fuzz” album from a couple of years ago.
Just checked them out, really looking forward to the rest of the album.
Outstanding review. The ice cream and sushi were good too.
Does someone know what the tax on weed is in Oregon? Probably different for the medical stuff but what about the regular. Wish it were legal here in Iowa (fat chance) as I would want to do some farming…
I don’t know the specifics but one fun fact for those of us who still work in Portland is that the legislature estimated about $300 million extra in taxes from weed for the year. They exceeded that figure in the first quarter.
I’m still not a fan.
Not a fan of money or the weed. Just kidding.
So a Billion & 200 thousand a year and they are just getting started. And that is just taxes. No wonder the criminals love the illegalities.
Why not a fan?
Seems to me, as long as they have a way to detect DWstoned, all should be fine.
(The THC-containing candy is a bit of a worry, though.)
25 years on the trauma service left me pretty cooled to mind altering drugs of any kind. Plus this is no longer your parents weed. The THC concentrations are through the roof compared to the old stuff even before you put it into consumables.
Fair enough.
I think it’s pretty much in the same bucket with alcohol.
I like alcohol. I used to love weed. I’ve experienced both the weak weed of the 70s and modern high-test weed. When people say that it give s a unique (and very often wonderfully pleasurable) view of the world, I can only agree.
Oddly, I find myself wondering if smoking pot would be as fun now that it’s legal…
As Peter Boghossian says, “People in Portland try hard here to be different, but they wind up being different in the same way.”
Let’s Get Branded
by Roy Zimmerman
“Let’s get branded, yeah
Let’s individuate and distinguish ourselves like cattle”
The music video is available on YouTube, but I was worried about embedding it.
“Always remember that you are unique, just like everybody else.”
Fascinating stuff, I hadn’t realised that marijuana was legal there.
Interesting to see how the crime figures are going.
I smoked pot when at college, but I didn’t inhale.
I inhaled, but didn’t smoke.
pakalolo. Noun. (plural pakalolos) (Hawaii) A cultivar of marijuana said to be the world’s best. (Hawaii) A person who smokes this cultivar.
I loved cycling through Hawaii (Big Island): You always knew when you were coming up to the HI Hwy Dept. road works: You could smell the wed smoke a long ways off!
weed smoke, obviously …
“Pakalolo” is said to be (I know no Hawaiian) a composite of words meaning “smoke” or “tobacco” and “crazy”, so “crazy smoke”, and generic for marijuana. But it may also refer to a high-THC strain cultivated in HI.
“Portland is a town that prides itself on quirkiness: people wear weird clothes, sport lots of tattoos, and ride bicycles that are either six feet tall or “recumbent” bikes that you ride while lying down.”
From what I understand Portland has one of the highest per capita populations of SJW’s in the country. Looks like you may have spotted some, did you capture any photos for a readers wildlife post?
Oh I missed where you mentioned “blue hair” that’s a dead giveaway.
I haven’t spotted any obvious SJW’s (do they have a “look”?), but there are plenty of people with tattoos and dyed hair.
Blue hair is a common attribute of Sjw homo troglodytes, but not all blue haired humans are of that species.
Other field marks of SJWs include unusual piercings,”Surly-ramic” jewelry, and 1950’s-style eyeglass frames.
Guys, that’s over the line. This isn’t an appropriate place for veiled comments about individuals you don’t like.
What is veiled about it, and who likes SJW’s aka regressive liberals, besides other regressive liberals?
OIC I guess you were referring to Surly-ramic referring to a particular individual. I didn’t really catch that, if that’s what you meant ignore my inquiry.
Now I’m confused…
Sushi, ice cream, and ganga…it must be heaven.
I’d have lots of trouble choosing just two of those ice cream flavors – they all sound good.
I did my PhD in Eugene OR, and many years later now, nothing makes me LMAO like the TV series Portlandia (with Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen). Highly recommended.
How do you avoid grass falling out when the joint is handled?
If the product is too dry it will. He showed them tamping it down with a chopstick. Sometimes that helps. But proper moisture content is needed to do rolling and that goes for tobacco as well. Always remove the seeds because they tend to explode and wreck your cig.
I never heard of filters, guess that is something newer. I guess with a filter you don’t need a roach clip.
Also, when the seeds go “bang!” in the middle of a toke it can be um…alarming. Or at least that’s what I’ve been told.
Back in the day, when a lot of us smoked cigs as well, we sometimes pulled the tobacco out of filtered cig and replaced it with MJ. I much preferred that to your standard joint…(but the latter was what we usually had, nonetheless).
So how did they seal that custom-rolled joint? Not by licking, I presume.
Given the even grind and the lack of seeds, I wonder if it would be practical to sell paper pre-rolled into tubes that can be filled from the end like rolls of coins.
The market has long been cornered…
Twenty years ago I saw a machine at work in Holland that used jigs similar to the ones in the video below but you could attach 6 of them to a centrifuge. Load op the jigs, spin it for a minute and twist the tops closed.
Easy…
He did lick the joint to seal it, whcih of course is a bit unsanitary from a commercial operation!
Sign in dispensary break room: “Employees must wash tongue before returning to work!”
Agreed. That something that could and should be improved. Must say, this takes me back.
Post rooms have long had various machines for wetting stamps and envelope seals, so appropriate technology is available. Less well-known now that “self adhesive” is more common.
I’m not very experienced with drugs. I’ve tried psilocybin mushrooms a few times, which was pretty amazing and surreal, but I mainly enjoy a few strong drinks. However, I’m envious of those who can enjoy marijuana. It seems like a fun experience. But every time I’ve tried it, it’s always a horrifying experience. It feels like my heart is racing and I think I’m going to get a heart attack. It always makes me sick too. I’ll feel nauseous and sometimes vomited and just felt miserable, weak, and get an extreme panic attack. I think it’s something more than just your casual “paranoia” that some people report having. I’m always struggling to resist calling for an ambulance. Am I allergic or something? What am I doing wrong? Again, it’s not some minor paranoia about getting caught by cops or anything.. It’s intense fear and agony about my health and well being.
P.S. I fully support the legalization of marijuana for people who enjoy it. Sadly, I won’t be joining them when it becomes legal. I always hear about how harmless weed is, but I just don’t understand. I’ve even tried a small amount of cocaine on a few occasions and have never had this sort of reaction that I have with marijuana. Maybe I’m allergic or the THC content is really that high and my body isn’t used to it. Perhaps I should try some extremely low grade quality. I’m not in any rush to conduct this experiment on myself, that is for sure!
Try smoking some hashish when you travel to north Africa or The Himalayas… It’s the bee’s knees…
Michael this is a not widespread but well recognized reaction to THC among some folks. Sorry but you should probably just avoid the weed. It always causes increased heart rate anyway but some folks do have this reaction too, sorry.
That sounds more like a ‘shroom reaction than weed, to me! I wonder if it has to do with today’s stronger weed?
As the biggest fan of food pics here I am awfully afraid to report that the sashimi is unauthentic in the extreme. Any aficionado would agree that those doorsteps of seafood are far from the delicate affair served in Japan.
Massive chunks of fish combined with gauche plastic garnish make it unrecognisable as sashimi to me. Positively off putting. Actually, revolting. Sorry…
In other news: a gram of weed for a joint? Remember, that stuff is 10 times (or more!) stronger than it was 30 years ago. Back then, we’d also put a gram in a joint. So better to smoke 10 bowls of the stuff. Far more economical. Far less waste…
I’m a recent Medical Marijuana patient in Ontario, Canada. To legally get cannabis, I have to buy through the mail from a licensed producer. There are quite a few producers, and there are different choices of product with ranges of THC and/or CBD. Right now I’m using an edible oil, and I consume what is the equivalent of 3 gm of dried plant per week. It’s a really low dose, and I’m using a high CBD, low THC product. I think friends and family are much happier with the medicated me.
That’s the preface to my new pet peeve.
I dislike it when marijuana is called dope or weed or pot. It makes it hard to legitimize the use of medical cannabis when more often than not it gets called by a cute street drug name.
*considers previous posts*
Oops! Thanks for the enlightenment; I’d never have realized that myself.
I suspect, though, that the traditional names are too ingrained to undo now. Just the term “medical marijuana” does change one’s (at least, my) view of this aspect of use, though.
I do hope it’s having a beneficial effect on your reason for taking it!
What engagements do you have in Portland. I just developed a conflict with your CFI talk tomorrow.
By the way, I took a population genetics class (with fruit flies) at Columbia from Lewontin when I was a high school senior in 1965. Because I was also taking a computer class and he arrived early from Rochester, he helped me with a program.
Regarding morality and weed… Canada seem’s to be up on it. I saw this quote in the Daily Pnut this morning:
“Canada: The country’s health minister announced at the UN General Assembly that Canada will bring forth laws to decriminalize and regulate recreational weed in 2017. They really know how to celebrate the holidays.”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/20/canada-legislation-decriminalize-recreational-cannabis-weed-marijuana
I visit Portland occasionally since I have family who live in the area. Thus I am aware of the suburb with the wonderful name of Boring, and have photos of the sign outside the post office proclaiming ‘Boring, Oregon’. The Boring residents have teamed up with the town of Dull, Scotland and the Shire of Bland, NSW, Australia. Are there any other places with such charming names out there?
I love Ding Dong, Texas, but I guess that’s not the theme you’re looking for there.
Well, now we know why Peter can eat 100 sushi pieces in one session!
Had you guys visited the pot place first, I bet you could have eaten that much too, Jerry. 😉
A length of pipe is called a joint.
Old joke: Why do potheads like to work on oil rigs? Answer: Because the joints (pipes) are 21 feet long, the dope (thread sealant) comes in 5-gallon buckets and there’s a pusher (manager) on every rig.
I only ever once was offered a toke on a rig. These days, and since about 1990, the contracts have all been “you will submit to random drug tests at work and on the way to work ; failure to comply is recorded as a failed test ; failed tests are recorded in a database available to all companies employing staff offshore”. Compulsory search of all baggage, lockers and cabins has been enforced since the 1960s.
In short, one toke 2 weeks before you go to the rig has the potential to destroy your career.
BTW, it’s only dinky little rigs that use 21ft joints. Most are 10m / 31ft, and casing joints are 13m / 40ft.
Hey, Jerry, you are welcome to move to Oregon–I abandoned SoCal for Eugene (which has a lot of weirdness also) 11 years ago. Good stuff: no sales tax, mild winters where it rarely snows, low cost of living (outside of Portland, reliably liberal, rainfree summers, big trees, mountains. Bad stuff: banana slugs, rains a lot in winter
If you and Peter decide to finish your discussion on the objectivity of morality after finishing off a few of those doobies, please be sure to record it. Could be interesting.
By the seven meaty balls of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (sauce be upon Them), that is some serious blow.
Are you going to use a plane to fly back to Chicago, or go solo?
I assume that’s dry (and maybe artificially concentrated)?
Dried obviously. But the phenomenal efforts of weed breeders over the last few decades have been impressive too. Doubly impressive when you realise that most of it was done with only one method of assay.
Well, now we know how it is that Peter can eat 100 pieces of Sushi- Ha!
I read an article the other day (I can’t find the link right now) about a woman who, after pot became legal where she lived, decided to try it again after 30 years. She and her husband went to the local pot shop and the sales clerk asked, “Do you want something to put you to sleep, or a wide-awake buzz?” She replied: “We used to buy this on the street corner and just hoped that there WAS pot in the baggie.”
She finally got some pot candies at a pot “mega-store” and ate one a few weeks later (“I found it hard to set aside enough time to get high”)- she watched a baseball game with her husband and thought, “What an amazing game! Why haven’t I been interested in it before?”
She doesn’t plan on repeating the experience….
Fantastic post! Thanks.
Interesting…. Pakalolo Dispensary dispenses with basic hygiene… gross…
Chronic pain for me and not wanting to become addicted to pain pills, I find that MJ allows me to use my pain pills not as much or often.