the caffeine poll

[Vedius Pollio]

Has anyone seen "Coffee and Cigarettes"? It's probably the greatest caffeine movie ever made:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6Mw6b1T50U
And it has Iggy Pop. In a movie about caffeine, of all substances. Kinda weird.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggqrEMtA3TU
Another good scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6EZkIaJcCI
yet another good scene. With Bill Murray!

If you haven't seen the film before, please check the links out.

[Churba]

HFC? I just don't get it. Us poor Australians with our Dirt Cheap Cane sugar don't understand anything but Soft-drinks with real sugar.

high fructose corn syrup

its a stupid american gimmic to use more corn to put more money into dead dude's pockets

I was taking the piss, Xero - I know what HFC is, I just meant that it's a rarity in Australian Soft-drinks, because it's cheaper in Australia to use Cane Sugar.

[Churba]

Has anyone seen "Coffee and Cigarettes"? It's probably the greatest caffeine movie ever made:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6Mw6b1T50U
And it has Iggy Pop. In a movie about caffeine, of all substances. Kinda weird.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggqrEMtA3TU
Another good scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6EZkIaJcCI
yet another good scene. With Bill Murray!

If you haven't seen the film before, please check the links out.

And it also has Jack and Meg White, of the White Stripes, talking about Tesla Coils. Awesome.

[RavenxDrake]

HFC? I just don't get it. Us poor Australians with our Dirt Cheap Cane sugar don't understand anything but Soft-drinks with real sugar.

high fructose corn syrup

its a stupid american gimmic to use more corn to put more money into dead dude's pockets

Actually, I thought it was because increasing tariffs and a steady, worldwide price increase on sugar meant that, pound for pound, High Fructose Corn Syrup was cheaper than sugar and would effectively sweeten a greater amount of product, hence making it more attractive to US producers. (Obviously, other countries who either imported all their sweetening products anyway, couldn't produce the High fructose syrup as cheaply, or were able to acquire/produce sugar more cheaply wouldn't find the same draw).

[Xero]

HFC? I just don't get it. Us poor Australians with our Dirt Cheap Cane sugar don't understand anything but Soft-drinks with real sugar.

high fructose corn syrup

its a stupid american gimmic to use more corn to put more money into dead dude's pockets

Actually, I thought it was because increasing tariffs and a steady, worldwide price increase on sugar meant that, pound for pound, High Fructose Corn Syrup was cheaper than sugar and would effectively sweeten a greater amount of product, hence making it more attractive to US producers. (Obviously, other countries who either imported all their sweetening products anyway, couldn't produce the High fructose syrup as cheaply, or were able to acquire/produce sugar more cheaply wouldn't find the same draw).

everytime someone uses american corn some dead dude gets money
same with corn ethenol(worst idea ever)

[WangyJohn]

Jasmine: We got three fig newtons and a bottle of snapple
Huey: Oh, the white mans poison?
Jasmine: ...
Huey: Corn syrup.
Jasmine: ...
Huey: Read on it, the stuff will kill you.

[Vedius Pollio]

Let's keep the conversation to caffeine.

It's far less yucky than evil corn syrup.

Speaking of syrup, I found a nice bottle of Robitussin DX when I was in Sydney. Hopefully, it won't be as yucky as the other brand I used before. According to Chinese scientists, taking DXM alongside an opioid makes it harder to develop a tolerance. I am currently interested in trying codeine. I have no interest in the pleasure caused by it. Caffeine gives me more than enough pleasure. But I am interested in codeine's dream-inducing potential. It seems that codeine is the safest way to get dreams like Coleridge's "Kubla Khan" and Tennyson's "The Lotos Eaters".

If the above isn't justification enough, I should add that my smoking and drinking habits are almost non-existent. (The last time I drank alcohol with any regularity was when I was at the pub with Lulu in Thailand, and I have only smoked two cigarettes in my entire life.)

The following chart, by The Lancet, shows popular drugs in the order of how likely they are to fuck you up:



Let us assume that codeine and DXM are both safer than buprenorphine. If this is the case, and I do not smoke or drink, then that means that I have enough "danger points" saved up for using codeine, DXM, and ecstasy.

The reason why I plan to try these things is because I am planning a novel with schoolgirls in it. And I do not feel that I can write about the lives of private schoolgirls without having at least some familiarity with ecstasy, Big Day Outs, etc. (And taking ecstasy is the MOST RELIABLE way of thinking like a schoolgirl without actually having a vagina.) The novel I am planning will be ULTRA-GIRLY, sort of like Girl Interrupted, meets Itty Bitty Titty Committee, meets But I'm A Cheerleader, meets Frost/Nixon, meets Little Women. And with extra cerebral palsy. (By the way, I have heard that DXM might be useful in treating CP, because it has shown results in treating hypoxia-related neurological disorders, of which cerebral palsy is one.)

Now, in case I seem drug-obsessed (which I have always been, ever since dropping lidocaine on my tongue as a child; and plotting to poison one of my teachers with digitalis extract as a Year 11 boy) I should note that my novel deals with some VERY UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY, so I will also have to research:

* Welsh Mythology and Literature
* the history of one of Melbourne's private schools (where Cate Blanchett went to)
* Methodism (specifically the Welsh kind)
* a fair chunk of the course material covered in 1st and 2nd year Medicine, which I have never studied
* the organisation of the Liberal Party of Australia
* Cerebral Palsy (and the corrective surgery used to treat cripples; also bo-tox; also common hemiplegic gait patterns)
* Radical Feminism (specifically Dworkin and Solanas)
* popular Bangkok night spots that aren't located on Samsen Rd.
* the complete ring cycle of Wagner
* [POSSIBLY] enough information to accurately depict minor characters who are drug addicts (without ingesting the dangerous drugs themselves )
* sexual harrassment law (surprisingly, I have never had to deal with the anti-sexual harrassment statutes at my university)
* whether or not a closeted lesbian is likely to hire working girls.
* the history of several Melbourne suburbs.
* an accurate blueprint of Siriraj hospital.
* whether or not opium is likely to loosen a character's lips and make her confess a crush to a cripple. (if so, how much opium? Eaten or smoked?)
* the precise details of what goes on at a Big Day Out (never been to one!).
* what private schoolgirls do to entertain themselves.
* vibrator ownership statistics among private schoolgirls.
* details of what sort of campaign work is done at the Liberal Party HQ.
* the staging of Gilbert and Sullivan musicals
* popular Australian garden plants
* which prescription drugs were most heavily advertised at different years (so my character's doctor mother would have the right pens and mousepads for the right periods; I remember her having lots of anti-herpes drug merchandise in the late 90s; maybe anti-depressant merchandise for earlier: red/grey Effexor ballpoint pen; Prozac keychain; etc.)

So many details. I feel like I'm writing a sequel to Finnegan's Wake.

Edit: Also, a history of Melbourne's Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital, and its Royal Women's Hospital.
Possibly also a history of Bumrungrad hospital in Bangkok.
Also, another trip to the Nana Hotel is appropriate to describe the setting with more lyricism.

[Aeridus]

But I am interested in codeine's dream-inducing potential. It seems that codeine is the safest way to get dreams like Coleridge's "Kubla Khan" and Tennyson's "The Lotos Eaters".

So you want to borrow my brain then? My dreams are far more entertaining and vivid than most movies I've seen. Maybe it helps that I removed any "brain blocks" (conscious efforts to suppress specific uncomfortable thoughts) years ago.

[Vedius Pollio]

But I am interested in codeine's dream-inducing potential. It seems that codeine is the safest way to get dreams like Coleridge's "Kubla Khan" and Tennyson's "The Lotos Eaters".

So you want to borrow my brain then? My dreams are far more entertaining and vivid than most movies I've seen. Maybe it helps that I removed any "brain blocks" (conscious efforts to suppress specific uncomfortable thoughts) years ago.

My dreams are a little above average, but not that great.

Didn't I previously post on the "I Confess" thread that I had a dream that was sort of what "Drugstore Cowboy" would be like if Jason Alexander was the star (and if he raped and shot people).

[Vedius Pollio]

Although that chart I posted is a little weird.

Why are solvents safer than cannabis?

[ManaUser]

What's Khet? I googled and only found a radio station and a board game, probably not what they mean.

[WangyJohn]

That's beacuse it's called khat.

Also, V? You crazy.

I mean certifiable, nigga.

[ManaUser]

Oh, duh. Yeah that would explain it. I even knew about that drug, though I'd only seen it spelled with a Q before.

[Vedius Pollio]

Also, V? You crazy.

You'll have to elaborate

[WangyJohn]

You'll have to elaborate

Well, the novel, for start.

Then, uhh.... just about everything. You one fucked up puppy.

[Vedius Pollio]

What's Khet? I googled and only found a radio station and a board game, probably not what they mean.

Khat is one of the reasons I want to visit Yemen someday. I read an article about it by an arab. He said that it was a fairly safe stimulant that even children use.

Then again, just because children use something doesn't make it safe. Look at Burmese kids.

I find it weird that caffeine and meth aren't on the list of drugs above.

I mean, both caffeine and meth are more dangerous than amyl nitrate.

(Caffeine hasn't permanently fucked me up, but it has caused me a lot of embarrassing hyperactive incidents and impeded my essay writing ability from time to time. But every good piece of poetry or fiction that I've written has been under the influence of caffeine, so I'm never going to quit it.) I doubt that amyl nitrate can delay an essay or cause hyperactivity (or cause breast cancer, like caffeine can do with women).

Caffeine should probably go directly behind ecstasy on the drug list (because ecstasy kills people once in a blue moon). And meth should go directly behind heroin and in front of cocaine.

(screw Khat and Amyl Nitrate. Very few people use them. But caffeine is the most popular drug in the world, and there are twice as many meth addicts as heroin addicts in Australia. In fact, I bet that meth is going to be the big drug menace of the 21st century, just like heroin was the most notorious drug of the 20th. Who knows? As we speak, the Burroughs of meth might be writing his magnum opus.)

VP

[RavenxDrake]

I find it weird that caffeine and meth aren't on the list of drugs above.

... Meth-Amphetamine. I assume, at least, that's what the entry is for, because they evaluate other Amphetamines separately on the chart, so the "Amphetamine" entry, I would guess, is for Methamphetamine and it's ilk of similar potency...

But, I could be wrong.

[MistressMaggie]

1. I've been caffeine free since 2005 when i ended up in the ER with an irregular heartbeat. more than one cup of hot chocolate in a day gives me heart problems.

2. Diet Dr. Pepper here (canada) has caffeine listed as an ingredient, someone tried to give me a can once, believing it was caffeine free.

[Ltc_insane]

1. I've been caffeine free since 2005 when i ended up in the ER with an irregular heartbeat. more than one cup of hot chocolate in a day gives me heart problems.

2. Diet Dr. Pepper here (canada) has caffeine listed as an ingredient, someone tried to give me a can once, believing it was caffeine free.

ouch, thats not cool.

welcome back Maggie

[Aeridus]

*hugs Maggie*

It sucks that caffeine is bad for your heart. :/ I didn't think the small amount in chocolate would be enough to cause problems.