Rock Legend Dickie Peterson Dies

by Bobby Black, Tue Oct 13, 2009

Dicki Peterson, founder, frontman and bassist for the legendary rock group Blue Cheer, passed away yesterday (Oct. 12th) in Germany after a battle with prostate cancer. He was 61 years old. 

Named after a type of LSD, Blue Cheer emerged from the 60's psychedelic rock scene of Haight-Ashbury and began gigging at every club in San Francisco and Los Angeles, quickly earning the respect of fellow musicians on the scene. With their biker attitude and wall of Marshall amps, Cheer were considered by many to be the first American  heavy metal band, and were even the first to be named the World's Loudest Band by the Guiness Book of Records.

Cheer released their first album Vincebus Eruptum in 1968, and had a big hit with their cover of Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues,” which reached No. 14 on the Billboard chart. It wasn’t long before Cheer were touring with all the major acts of the day—Hendrix, Cream …READ MORE

tags: blue cheer, bobby black, doobies, almost infamous, headline news, entertainment news 5    « add a comment

HIGH TIMES Presents: Coffeeshop Confidential

by Bobby Black, Wed Sep 2, 2009

tags: almost infamous, october 2009, coffee shops, bobby black, amsterdam, potcast 16    « add a comment

HEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY CONTEST: WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT!

by Bobby Black, Mon Aug 31, 2009

We get so many letters every day from people who are dying to work at HIGH TIMES that I finally decided to do something about it. So in the August 2009 edition of my column ALMOST INFAMOUS, I announced a contest that would allow one lucky stoner to become an honorary HT "Editor-For-a-Day."  The requirements were simple: a resume, a writing sample and some photos. There was also an option for an extra credit video resume to be posted on http://420.com. Kudos to those few of you who took the time and effort to submit a video. Some of you didn't even submit all of the components required, and lost points as a result.

The deadline for entry was August 1st. I'd received about 20 entries, and then on the last day I received about 20 more (shame on you, you procrastinating stoners!). Because of this, the winner announcement which was originally scheduled for …READ MORE

tags: bobby black, almost infamous, contest, kbhaze 12    « add a comment

ALMOST INFAMOUS - MARIJUANA ON THE MARCH

by Bobby Black, Thu Aug 27, 2009

On the first Saturday of each May, tens of thousands of people gather in over 300 cities to march and show their support for marijuana legalization. But what many may not know is that this global phenomenon had its origin right here in New York City.

Back in 1967, a small but vocal political party dedicated to activism, anarchy and countercultural ideals was formed—the Youth International Party (or “Yippies” for short). Adopting a red star with a green pot leaf as their official flag, these radical hippie tricksters staged smoke-ins, pied politicians and masterminded the launch of the Alternative Press Syndicate. Among those involved with the Yippies were activists Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, poet Allen Ginsberg, satirist (and fellow HT columnist) Paul Krassner, HIGH TIMES founder Tom Forçade, and a guerrilla journalist/publisher named Dana Beal. It was Beal who, in the mid-1970s, began organizing an annual pot protest in New …READ MORE

tags: bobby black, almost infamous, september 2009, norml 1    « add a comment

BOBBY BLACK ON MARIJUANA RADIO

by Bobby Black, Wed Aug 19, 2009

I was on MARIJUANA RADIO again last night to discuss the 22nd Annual Cannabis Cup this November, as well as our new Cannabis Cup Preview issue which features my expose of Amsterdam's cannabis industry entitled COFFEESHOP CONFIDENTIAL. Fire up a bowl and listen to it right here!

CHECK OUT THE OCTOBER 2009 ISSUE...
High Times-Oct-09

tags: bobby black, almost infamous, cannabis cup, marijuana radio, coffee shops, amsterdam 1    « add a comment

Coffeeshop Insider: Amsterdam Run-House Gallery

by Bobby Black, Mon May 25, 2009

Head to Inside an Amsterdam Coffeeshop - Part Four for more on Bobby's experience in an Amsterdam run-house.

tags: coffee shops, amsterdam, almost infamous, bobby black, cannabis cup, october 2009 19    « add a comment

Inside an Amsterdam Coffeeshop - Part Four

by Bobby Black, Thu May 21, 2009

These past two days have been the most revealing yet. I’ve left the relative glamour of coffeeshop life behind and descended into the shady underbelly of the business—the secret life of the runner.

Runners are like delivery services for coffeeshops. They are responsible for supplying the shops with all of the weed they sell and must be on call at all times during shop hours to replenish whatever stock is running low. They operate out of hidden little rooms called “runhouses” or “drophouses” where they store, sort, weigh, bag, seal, label and deliver all of the shop’s inventory of strains. To experience what their job is like, I rented a bike and followed one of these runners on his rounds, helping him package and deliver a few runs. Then today, I met with the head runner, who brought me to the main inventory storehouse. I gotta tell ya, working at HIGH TIMES I’ve seen some pretty big piles of weed before, but this …READ MORE

tags: bobby black, almost infamous, amsterdam, cannabis cup, coffee shops, october 2009 7    « add a comment

Coffeeshop Insider: Barney's Farm Gallery

by Bobby Black, Wed May 20, 2009

Y'all asked for a photo gallery? Well, here it is! More to come soon...

Head to Inside an Amsterdam Coffeeshop for more on Bobby's Amsterdam experience. 

tags: bobby black, amsterdam, cannabis cup, seed company, almost infamous, october 2009 22    « add a comment

Inside an Amsterdam Coffeeshop - Part Three

by Bobby Black, Tue May 19, 2009

Wow… I’m back here at Amnesia after a fun, busy few days. This weekend, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to [Location Withheld] and visit six of the growrooms that comprise Barney’s Farm. The two guys entrusted with this crucial job of breeding and maintaining Barney’s and Amnesia’s entire genetic stock are known as Genesis and Jeepster.

The gardens were scattered across a few different cities and contained several strains in various stages of development. This included rooms of males, mothers, clones, and flowering females bursting with seeds and ready to put forth their bounty. Genesis demonstrated his seed harvesting methods and gave me a chance to get my hands sticky and harvest a batch of K9 seeds. I also learned how to trim and pollinate, saw some beautiful views along the coast, and ate some unique local cuisine - including squid, rabbit, octopus, and an entire bowl …READ MORE

tags: october 2009, coffee shops, amsterdam, almost infamous, bobby black, cannabis cup 5    « add a comment

Inside an Amsterdam Coffeeshop - Part Two

by Bobby Black, Mon May 18, 2009

I'm sitting here in Coffeeshop Amnesia, where it's about to turn 4:20. Of course, back in the states its only 10:20 am, which means my coworkers back at HT are just starting their days. Me, I’ve already been working for about 4 hours—that is, if you consider weighing out grams of hash and mixing milkshakes “work.” The manager here—a beautiful brazilian girl named Raphaela—has been kind enough to teach me how to work the weed counter and handle the rest of her duties. After my quick training session, I'm soon wheeling and dealing—first, I sold a gram to a nice dude from Virginia. A few minutes later, I sold another American guy an assortment of strains, including G13, Utopia Haze, and Laughing Buddha.  It’s a wild feeling …READ MORE

tags: bobby black, almost infamous, amsterdam, coffee shops, cannabis cup, october 2009 9    « add a comment

Inside an Amsterdam Coffeeshop - Part One

by Bobby Black, Sat May 16, 2009

DAY 1

I arrived this morning, hopped a train into Central Station and met Derry at Barneys Breakfast Bar for coffee. He hooked me up with a nice chuck of Malana Cream and a few grams of Hawaiian Snow. As I got my hippie speedball on, he filled me in on what’s been going down in town. His main coffeeshop is closed for remodeling and won’t be open until September, so he’s temporarily transformed this smaller store on the corner into his coffeeshop. Then, after some brunch across the street at his Uptown restaurant, he takes me out to the place where I’ll be staying for the next two weeks—it’s a former drophouse (a secret storage site for inventory pickups and dropoffs). It also happens to be a penthouse with a balcony overlooking the river. Obviously, it pays to be a playah.

Sissi was waiting for us when we arrived. I met Sissi on my first trip to the Cannabis Cup back in 1994 (the 7th), and over the past 15 …READ MORE

tags: bobby black, almost infamous, amsterdam, coffee shops, cannabis cup, october 2009 0    « add a comment

Inside an Amsterdam Coffeeshop - Introduction

by Bobby Black, Fri May 15, 2009

When you think about stoner dream jobs, there’s one place (other than HIGH TIMES!) that’s at the very top of every tokers list: working at a coffeeshop in Amsterdam.

To live in this stonertopia city and be surrounded by, smoke and sell the world’s best weed, seems almost too cool to be considered work. But this romanticized vision is only half the story. What’s it really like to own and run a coffeeshop, and be a Cannabis Cup champion? What’s it like to work behind the counter at a coffeeshop, and is it really possible for an American to leave everything behind, run away to the Netherlands and land a job selling weed legally?

These are the questions I’m here to answer. And to do that, cannabis power couple Derry (owner of Barneys) and his wife Sissi (owner of Amnesia) have afforded me exclusive, unprecedented access to cover the operation of their coffeeshops from the inside …READ MORE

tags: almost infamous, bobby black, amsterdam, coffee shops, cannabis cup, october 2009 6    « add a comment

2009 Doobie Award for Lifetime Achievement - Johnny Winter

by Bobby Black, Fri Mar 13, 2009

tags: johnny winter, doobies, bobby black, almost infamous 5    « add a comment

ALMOST INFAMOUS - WEEDLORD

by Bobby Black, Fri Mar 6, 2009

See the debut of Weedlord here

tags: bobby black, weedlord, superhero, almost infamous, weed nation soldiers 25    « add a comment

BOBBY BLACK WITHDRAWS FROM PRESIDENTIAL RACE, ENDORSES OBAMA

by Bobby Black, Tue Nov 4, 2008

Well, the time has finally come—Election Day. Since declaring my candidacy back in March, I have made every effort to inspire and motivate you stoners out there to get involved—to write to your representatives, to join and donate to NORML, and to register and get out and vote.

tags: smoke the vote, presidential campaign, bobby black, almost infamous 7    « add a comment

SMOKE THE VOTE PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO

by Bobby Black, Mon Nov 3, 2008

tags: presidential campaign, smoke the vote, almost infamous, bobby black, marijuana radio 1    « add a comment

ALMOST INFAMOUS - Beer & Choking on the Campaign Trail Pt. 2

by Bobby Black, Tue Oct 21, 2008

THE HIGHWAY
After our night at Mt. Rushmore, my FFL and I were back on the road—driving east on I-90 across South Dakota, then turning down into Nebraska and crashing in Omaha the next night before hitting I-80 through to Chicago. We’d have to be careful lighting up here: the pigs ‘round these parts are fed a steady diet of steroid-enriched, genetically engineered uber-corn. Some even shoot up high-fructose corn syrup like junkies. But it turned out cops were the least of our problems. From the moment we entered Iowa until the moment we left, we were bombarded by a blizzard of Biblical proportion. Blind and desperate, I wrestled with the road while the Gods vomited all manner of fury upon our windshield—wind, fog, rain and even hail. After hours of meteorological persecution, we finally emerged from the deluge and entered Illinois—the home state of my homeboy Barack.

My next appearance was at a little smoke shop in …READ MORE

tags: bobby black, almost infamous, presidential campaign, smoke the vote, december 2008 1    « add a comment

PAKELIKA'S PRESIDENTIAL ATTACK ON BOBBY BLACK

by Bobby Black, Thu Oct 16, 2008

My Friends,

Throughout my entire campaign, I've tried to inspire hope and spread a positive message to stoners everywhere—that they matter, that their persecution cannot and will not go unchallenged, and that by speaking out and working together we can bring change to Washington and make a real difference in our national drug policy. I've clearly laid out my philosophy, my platform, and have kept the discussion on the issues.

My opponent Pakelika, however, has not. Several weeks ago,  we participated in the first ever HIGH TIMES presidential debate. Unfortuntely, my opponent used this historic opportunity not to address the concerns of America's stoner constituency and offer solutions, but rather to attempt to belittle my achievements, smear my character, and insult my integrity as a stoner. His wild, gesticulatory antics and foolish banter turned a serious political forum into what can only be described as a circus. As if his behavior …READ MORE

tags: bobby black, presidential campaign, almost infamous, pakelika, kottonmouth kings, debate 10    « add a comment

Pakelika Campaign Ad

Wed Oct 15, 2008

The presidential race between HIGH TIMES' Bobby Black and Kottonmouth Kings' Pakelika is taking an ugly turn as the smear campaign of these two political machines begin to churn.

tags: bobby black, almost infamous, kottonmouth kings, presidential campaign, staff picks 1    « add a comment

SMOKE THE VOTE: A BENEFIT CONCERT FOR NORML

by Bobby Black, Fri Oct 10, 2008

I'm sad to report that according to NORML, today marks the 20 millionth marijuana arrest in America. Of those arrests, approximately 90% are for minor marijuana possession - not trafficking, cultivation, or sale. Estimates project that law enforcement now arrests almost one million cannabis users each year.

This disturbing milestone illustrates all too clearly why I've chosen to run for president, and why in the past year I've traveled across the the country trying to inspire pot smokers to come out of the grow closet, register, vote, write to their representatives, and join NORML. Only by standing up, speaking out, and supporting our legalization lobby can we end this destructive madness and live without fear.

Before my campaign comes to an end on Election Day, I wanted to do …READ MORE

tags: smoke the vote, norml, presidential campaign, bobby black, almost infamous, events, activism 2    « add a comment

HIGH TIMES PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: BOBBY BLACK VS PAKELIKA

by Bobby Black, Fri Sep 26, 2008

tags: almost infamous, bobby black, politics, debate, pakelika, kottonmouth kings, presidential campaign 17    « add a comment