Broken Hallelujah // Independent Arts and Culture

A Dangerous Legal High?

Sunday, January 31, 2010

It would be easy to dismiss Ben Walters as just another casualty of illicit drug use. The 18-year-old student died at a house party in the small English town of Berkhamsted earlier this month after taking a stimulant known as Mephedrone.

But Walters hadn't consumed a banned substance. The white powder he reportedly took – which produces a euphoric high similar to Ecstasy – is legal in Britain and sold openly on hundreds of Internet head shops.

"Over the past year, the quality of MDMA that I was getting got worse and eventually dried up completely," says clubber Andrew. "I see Mephedrone as a way to get MDMA-like effects without having to go through the hassle of trying to get good MDMA."

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So many new drugs out there now but most are chemically similar to many of the old drugs. What from I understand this mephedrone is similar to "Cat" that people used to steal from Vets. It wasn't ever on my list of drugs to try but I saw some people using it. MDMA just won't go away. In manageable doses there is nothing wrong with it. People will always try to bend the laws to put it in the underground market and ideally one day make it legal.

New John John Jesse Interview!

Friday, January 29, 2010

John John Jesse is one of the first artists I fell madly in love with via the internet several years ago. From the rough NYC punk scene of the 70s and 80s, John is now living and working just outside Philly and he was recently interviewed at his home.

I hadn't seen anything new from him in a long time and have never seen such an in-depth interview about JJJ so this is a super "get" by J.L. Schnabel. Go see the rest of the photos.

Wikipedia | Website

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Doing the B-12 Shuffle

Thursday, January 28, 2010

I'm proud that I've been drug-free since 1991 except for the occasional blunt. Some would say that marijuana is a drug but I consider it a medicinal plant.

Normally when I need a pick-me-up I use caffeine or an energy drink but caffeine's not doing it anymore and I'm never going back to drugs or prescription pills. So what's an addict to do?

This morning at brunch with friends I got a few energy boost suggestions that I may try out.

One friend dug into her purse and handed me a small bottle of 5-Hour Energy, grape flavored. On the listed ingredients, it has B-12 - 8333%, 500 mcg. According to my daily Centrum, 6 mcg is the suggested daily amount so I don't know about this one.

Another friend swears by Gummy Bears B-12 Vitamins. She chews one in the morning and buzzes along all day. She got them at CVS so I'm going to try those as well.

What gives you a boost, mon ami?

Exit Through The Gift Shop - A Banksy Film

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Banksy, the renowned British graffiti artist, whose artworks are often satirical diatribes on topics such as politics, culture, and ethics, is shocking the independent film world with what may be the greatest film prank of all time. “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” billed as “A Banksy Film” , will have its world premiere Sunday night (tonight) at the Library Center Theater as part of Sundance’s Spotlight Surprise. {via}