For the record...

Alfador · Post by **Alfador** » Thu Feb 07, 2002 6:18 am

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Octapus:
 Hm, I get something like that. Peopel often come up to me and say something along the lines of "You're hair is really long". Like it grew when I wasn't looking or something.
-Octapus "Tuffy" E
-Hey, and you're a human!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>And I get the same reaction to my tail. (Yes, I really go out in public wearing a belt-on tail. Phear the phox.)
------------------
Three-tailed fox, in the <A HREF="http://vcl.ctrl-c.liu.se/vcl/Artists/Alfador" TARGET=_blank>house</A>--<A HREF="http://alfador.8m.com" TARGET=_blank>Fox Den</A>, that is!<A HREF="http://umlauthouse.keenspace.com" TARGET=_blank>Rick/Jake</A> Shipper #00017

Schol-R-LEA · Post by **Schol-R-LEA** » Sun Feb 10, 2002 10:16 am

To Black Lemonade I'd add Brainwash, the cherry-jalapeno soda with more caffeine than Jolt and more herbs and spices than the Colonel's Original Recipe. Ma huang? Skullcap? Three types of ginseng? Mad Dog Weed? Skelteen sodas should have had biohazard warnings on their labels, yet they tasted vastly better than the malted battery acid (as the esteemed Mr. Breathed once put it) that Pepsi and Coke push.

Ray_D · Post by **Ray_D** » Mon Feb 11, 2002 10:02 am

Brainwash was indeed good, as was that Fukola Cola stuff... But while massive amounts of sugar and caffinee are wonderful, they also wear thin after building up years of immunity. That other stuff was too weird to have built up a resistance to; hence the stronger reaction and greater devotion. Plus, you just can't beat a skull for a label.

ZOMBIE USER 1887 · Post by **ZOMBIE USER 1887** » Thu Feb 21, 2002 11:20 am

From The "Cyberpunk Handbook"

"... Jolt cola is another staff of life. Jolt's a smart drug, naturally rich in caffeine. But for special occasions, the ultimate softdrink has to be navy-blue Brainwash. Read the label. You'll notice many misspelled Chinese herbs, two kinds of chili peppers, and other powerful yet legal ingrediants that just won't leave you be. You'll pace, rant, stay up all night. The Skeleteens make other brain-slamming softdrinks, but Brainwash is the mightiest. We don't know the Skeleteens, and we hope never to meet them. They are probably very scary.
Cybertip: This is not a product placement, nimrod. In fact, after several Brainwashes, we're ready to kick your az for even thinking that.

A great book, although now more than a little dated (it came out in 1995, during the previous centuary!). It should be forced on every college student in America.

ZOMBIE USER 1887 · Post by **ZOMBIE USER 1887** » Thu Feb 21, 2002 11:24 am

All of these images were taken from http://www.bevnet.com/reviews/skel/ They have reviews of several Skeleteen beverages.

Leirele · Post by **Leirele** » Thu Feb 21, 2002 10:27 pm

... btw...
this whole thread started with 'I agree with Pig'... doesn't that make it an evil thing by default?

- lei
fool on the hill

Yun648 · Post by **Yun648** » Thu Feb 21, 2002 11:47 pm

On 2002-02-10 10:16:00, Schol-R-LEA wrote:
To Black Lemonade I'd add Brainwash, the cherry-jalapeno soda with more caffeine than Jolt and more herbs and spices than the Colonel's Original Recipe. Ma huang?

Heh, Mahuang is the $#!^ if only because it's the subject of the longest surviving running gag among me an my friends, with severely anglicized pronunciation so that it sounds like "My wang."

To wit:

"Mahuang will keep you up all night."
"Mahuang is an endless source of inspiration."
"Can't get enough of mahuang."

And of course after a female friend of ours started laughing uncontrollably (complete with soda out the nose) we jumped on that like a pack of vultures.

"Mahuang never produced that reaction before."
"Heh, mahuang made her choke."
"Is it a bad thing when a woman can't stop laughing at mahuang?"

This, of course, only made her laugh harder. ^_^_v

Delirieuse · Post by **Delirieuse** » Sun Feb 24, 2002 6:23 am

*laughs* So now I just gotta know; what exactly *is* "mahuang"??

*sigh* We don't get most of those funky beverages here in Australia. And apparently even our Mountain Dew is a watered down version of the original; something like commercially available absinthe versus the real mind-melter of the *last* turn of the century. I have difficulty enough trying to find sarsparilla in Melbourne.

DukeNuke · Post by **DukeNuke** » Mon Feb 25, 2002 8:22 pm

On 2002-02-24 06:23, Delirieuse wrote:
And apparently even our Mountain Dew is a watered down version of the original; something like commercially available absinthe versus the real mind-melter of the *last* turn of the century.

o.o

What's the difference between Mountain Dew and watered-down Mountain Dew? They both taste nasty.

Mountain Spub

Octapus_E · Post by **Octapus_E** » Mon Feb 25, 2002 8:42 pm

What's the difference between Mountain Dew and watered-down Mountain Dew? They both taste nasty.

The difference is: one tastes nasty and is very-very bad for your teeth, the other tastes nasty and is slightly less bad for your teeth. And is probably a bit less useful in the art of metal engravery.

-Octapus "O-no" E
-I don't know where I get this stuff. Wait, yes I do, I just can't say it on a family forum.

Yun648 · Post by **Yun648** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 9:51 pm

On 2002-02-24 06:23, Delirieuse wrote:
*laughs* So now I just gotta know; what exactly *is* "mahuang"??

*sigh* We don't get most of those funky beverages here in Australia. And apparently even our Mountain Dew is a watered down version of the original; something like commercially available absinthe versus the real mind-melter of the *last* turn of the century. I have difficulty enough trying to find sarsparilla in Melbourne.

Mahuang is an herbal stimulant, I presume of Chinese origin, used in dietary supplements. I've never had it cause I believe "herbs" are nothing more than legal drugs

In other words I've never put mahuang in my mouth, and don't see myself doing so any time soon ^_^

Schol-R-LEA · Post by **Schol-R-LEA** » Fri Mar 01, 2002 7:07 am

On 2002-02-28 21:51, Yun648 wrote:
Mahuang is an herbal stimulant, I presume of Chinese origin, used in dietary supplements. I've never had it cause I believe "herbs" are nothing more than legal drugs

While that is not the general case (historically, 'herb' meant a spice used for primarily its aroma, rather than it's taste), the word is indeed often used as a code for 'drug' (both in the medical and the legal senses). It certainly means that in this case.

Ma Huang is the Chinese name for ephedra, a traditional medicine used around the world for treating colds; it is also a powerful stimulant, and regular use is thought to cause heart problems. While ephedrine (the active ingredient) was still used in conventional medicine until the 1960s, it fell out of favor when a chemical analog, pseudoephedrine, was developed which didn't have the stimulant properties (in fact, it is a depressant, and many over-the-counter cold remedies which use it have aded caffeine to prevent the drowsiness so often associated with it). Ma Huang tea is still sold as an herbal remedy, especially in Asian markets, and it considered by some to be more effective than it's moddern counterpart, but that's a minority opinion.

Like most stimulants, it also encourages wieght loss, but it's wide use as a replacement for the even more dangerous fen-phen is controversial because of possibility of heart damage.

In the case of Brain Wash, it was a straightforward case of rereactional drug abuse - no one had any real doubt about the intentions, and Skeleteens were a lot more honest about it than, say, Coca-Cola, Phillip Morris, Nestle, Anheuser-Busch, or the importers of cocoa, coffee and tea usually are. They were a little too open about it, in fact, and they were forced (by stockholders or the FDA, I know not which) to remove that one particular ingredient

As for not putting 'drugs' in your mouth, everything you eat, drink and breathe is mind-altering to some degree; the only choice one has is whether they will control what they consume, or whether they will let it control them. If you abstain from all use of chemicals intend primarily for mood-alteration - even those which most people don't think of being so, such as chocolate and refined sugar - then I respect your dedication to good health; otherwise, leave you hypocrisy at the door. I am very sparing about my use of most ceremonial chemicals, avoiding some and using others with careful will (and massively abuse a few, such as coffee, sugar and chocolate, I will admit) but I won't deny that they have a part in my life and everyone elses', and won't turn my back on the responsibility that implies. I am willing to trust that others will do the same, and face the consequences if they fail to do so - because to do otherwise is to assume that I am wiser than they about themselves.

As for the drug laws, they serve, and are intended, not to protect the citizens but to infantilize them, denying not so much their 'right' to choose as much as their competence to. These laws, especially as currently 'enforced', are pernicious in how they both undermine protected freedoms, and encourage graft and corruption. The 'drug problem' comes mostly from the laws, not from the drugs themselves - any strongly habit-forming behavior could have been substituted for them, to the same effect.

The facts are plain: there was no serious problem with abuse of cocaine or heroin in the US until after the laws against them were passed (the drug addictiont hat did exist was primarily due to either use of unlabelled patent medicines containin ghtose substances, or morphine addiction following its use as a medical anaesthetic). Similarly, marijuana use in the US was almost entirely restricted to a small number of immigrant workers from Mexico, who were for the most part growing it themselves; extracts were also used as a prescription medicine under then name of cannabis, and it wasn't until the laws were passed that it was found that they were the same drug. When Leary argued against banning LSD, his argument was that making it illegal would create a black market trade for the drug, which is precisiely hat happened - after the law was passed. In each case, the moment that organized crime saw that they could make money smuggling these drugs, they went about creating the market for them, which up until then was nonexistent. I am not quite convinced that the Mob has intentionally manipulated the laws to make them illegal for this purpose - ordinary leislative short-sightedness is sufficient to explain the Marihuauna Tax Act and its brethren - but I don't doubt that they have been active in seeing that they remain illegal. It is certainly true that the so-called Drug Enforcement Agency, but the mid-1980s, were doing most of their 'enforcing' for the drug cartels; their public 'raids' were staged publicity, targetting those who refused to give the bosses their cut, while elsewhere the DEA blocked other agencies from interfering with drug operations which paid them off, on the pretense of 'jurisdiction'.

The most insidious part of this is, it is hard to argue against drug laws. Anyone can see that there are plenty of people out there who can't behave responsibly with them - whether by abstinence or willpower - and that those addicted to a drug can be a danger to themselves and to others. The temptation to try and wish them away - which is what legal prohibition of a habit-forming behavior amounts to - can be overwhelming, and it can be hard to see what the long term outcome of such prohibition will be without a firm sense of history.

_________________
Schol-R-LEA;2 ELF JAM LCF BiWM MGT GS
First Speaker, Last Eristic Church of Finagle and Holy Bisexuality
The greatest strength of the Conspiracy is that it doesn't exist.
The greatest weakness of the Conspiracy is that it does.

[ This Message was edited by: Schol-R-LEA on 2002-03-01 07:44 ]

Fell · Post by **Fell** » Wed Mar 06, 2002 7:41 am

I've read all these posts so far, and I don't know whether I'm glad or that I'm saddened that no one has brought up what I consider the best of all soft drinks. Josta. That's right, black panther, purple liquid. It was wonderful chilled, at room temperature, and once, just once, I drank a 20 oz. that had been sitting in my close-windowed car on a 100 degree sunny day. It was wonderful. On the one hand, I'm glad that I got to be the first to bring it up, but it just makes me feel more alone. Since its disappearance I've quested for it - like a search for the holy grail, I've heard rumors that this city has it, no this city. But I've yet to be re-united with my lost love. But where did it go? Why did it leave? Again, nothing but rumors plague the internet, and no one knows for sure. It was removed because of dangerously high levels of caffeine, some say; others say it was discontinued b/c of a Christian Coalition outrage at the guarana content of the violet concoction. None know for sure. At least, not that I've been able to discern. However, I've recently discovered a liquid that rivals josta in many ways, in its guarana content, in its caffeine levels, and most importantly, in its flavor. Sobe Adrenalin Rush is a 12 oz can of josta concentrated into an 8 oz black bullet of pure sex and caffeination. However, only one little problem with Adrenalin Rush. It's $2.00 a can!!! Ack!

-Fell

ZOMBIE USER 1159 · Post by **ZOMBIE USER 1159** » Wed Mar 06, 2002 9:45 pm

Interesting, Schol-R-LEA, interesting.

Can't really argue with your points, but I'm not an American, so I'm lacking certain information and perspective. I'm also not sure I agree with some of your points.

What would you suggest instead of those type of laws? Lump 'em under the same area as drunk driving? Blow your mind and/or your health if you want, just don't take it into public? I've always thought that would be equally ineffective, and law enforcement savings would be eaten by health care costs, public or private, and the costs/damage to the economy from these people 'disconnecting'. Not to mention the grief caused by those who would be unable to keep it private, to those around them.

There's also the concern that a number of these substances are obscenly addictive and people could be easily hooked on them for life, removing the need for illegality to jack the price. Indeed, removing illegality would just allow some of these...predators, free reign.

I'm also concerned about the age of some of your supporting evidence, good surveys and information was more difficult to obtain at that time, as well I don't think they really knew what they were looking for. I believe the problem was more extensive then they thought. Especially amoung the upper classes. 'The problem was always there, it just seems worse now because we recognize it as a problem and are trying to do something about it.'
One of the things I'm trying to say is that society has to deal with the costs/fallout from this at some level, the only question is, where? What level?
I'm not trying to say your idea that these bald legislations are bad is wrong (or right), but I am interested it what alternatives you have thought of.