obtuse

These do indeed sound really intersting. can anyone provide links to the zip file mentioned. "Non-Sterile Mushroom Cultivation" sounds really interesting. cheers, Obtuse

Hi Everyone, Who / what is your favoute: Author / Book Ethnobotanical author / Ethnobotanical book Whacko out there author / Whacko out there book Most severe mind Bending book I'll start with me hard choice between Jack Kerouac, Thomas Hardy and Shakespeare - any by these guys Terrence Mckenna - at the moment his "Food of the Gods" Carlos Casteneda - his "The Eagles Gift", was when he lost me. "The Invisible Landscape" by Terrence Mckenna, or "A Thousand Plateaus" by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari (I can't decide) cheers, Obtuse

Wow, Sounds really cool. Very generous of you Fezza. I'll PM you. Cheers, Obtuse.

Hi nabraxas, Interesting question. Do drugs change your life? I don't think so, not the way you mean anyway. I got into drugs too when i was 16, but i got into them because i was unhappy with life and i guess looking for an escape. I was fascinated by maths and physics, and Quantum Mechancis was messing with my views on reality, i read Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra, which led onto Carlos Casteneda and more and I became interested in alternative ways of seeing the world. So yeah i got into pot, and it was amazing. And through that experience, and others, i realised why i was unhappy. so yes my life changed but because i was open to other experiences, and in my case it was drugs. In the same way, some peoples lives are changed by Reiki, or Breathwork Therapy or Holographic Repatterning. Because they are open to the experience. But of course i kept reading interesting literature and became more and more interested in what was available. I have quite a few friends who lives were definitely changed by drugs, and they too were all unhappy, but they did it because they thought it was cool, not because they were interested in what it had to offer them. But their lives were not changed in a positive way, they became schizophreic and now they are either still medicated or quietly recovering. I fckd up too, so im not indestructible either. Sorry, I'm being negative. But i guess i'm over that "Drugs changed my life" stuff. The thing i love about growing plants is that it teaches you respect and appreciation for the produce we harvest, and of course patience. cheers, Obtuse. (well, to answer your question, it was the Quantum Mechanics that did it for me - heavy stuff man !!!)

Hi Everyone, Yeah the Maxx was really interesting. I'm still not quite sure i got it. I should watch it again. I remember it being very psychoananlytical. Aeon FLux was fantastic. a simply amazing cartoon. I agree with Gomaos. I think good comics are few and far between. And these days its a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Of course its like everything, each to their own. But i love deep and heavy comics / cartoons that you can come back to years later and still wonder what the hell was going on, but they do seem to be very rare, and growing moreso.

Hi everyone, Yeah benzito, that was my understanding. That the original strain is the one that is probably the most active. I read a report, i think on erowid, tho about someone finding an active hybrid. Who can say, but my line of thinking is to get back to the original Coleus Blumei strain. The article i had been reading also mentions Coleus Pumila. perhaps this might be an alternative on which to do research. Is anyone aware of, or have seeds of pure strains of both these species? Any info would be appreciated by interested parties. cheers, Obtuse

That is one serious cactus collection. I am so envious. I bet a lot of hard work and a lotta love went into that. Its very cool.

Hmmm, Never heard of them. had a quick look and seems interesting. will have a better look later. thanks for the tip Passive Demon. Cheers, Obtuse

Hey Everyone, who out there remembers "fabulous furry freak brothers". Another fun comic was "Groo". And "Asterix", who could ever forget the old druid getafix. Recently i discovered Moebius after having watched Blueberry, and was wondering if anyone knew if there were any english translations of the "Blueberry" comics and of any of his other works. cheers, Obtuse

Hi Everyone, The bit Ace was talking about I'm sure goes something like the following: (from http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=39&z=5) cheers, Obtuse

Hi Everyone, It would be good to clear this up once and for all, as its fairly confusing - some people say yes and some no. some say this and that hybrid are active while others say only unhybridised are worth exploring. I'm confused on whether this plant is active or not (especially after looking through erowid), As im sure a lot of others are too. cheers, Obtuse

Hi Gerbil, Sounds cool. i'll be interested. cheers, Obtuse

Thanks Blue Meanie, your a champ. Taking all your info and putting it in a list we have: Psilocybe Subaeruginosa - Pretty well everywhere - Tassies main species Psilocybe Semilanceata - central highlands Psilocybe Alutacea - Mt Field national park And then we also have the following: Psilocybe Tasmaniana - appears to be very rare Psilocybe Brunneoalbescens - inactive (anybody have any ideas on where it may be found?) And there may also be: Psilocybe Strictipes (which an internet search reveals is a variation on Semilanceata - thus its other name is Psilocybe Semilanceata var. caerulescens - this info via http://www.biolib.cz/en/taxon/id126542) Thanks Bluemeanie for confiming my thoughts on Psilocybe Subaeruginosa. I think that answers a lot of questions for a lot of us here in Tasmania. While i have never heard of the "white bulb thing" (i will have to do further reading on this) there is the Psilocybe (???) with the Brown cap and particularly twisty stem which is still a mystery. Bluemeanie, any ideas on the "brown cap" variety? Or does anybody else have any info? Anyway, Cheers, Obtuse.

Mmm Interesting, When i gave up cigerettes last year i went on patches, and for the first two weeks had incredibly vivid dreams. The pharmacist had mentioned that it seemed to be common but there was really no scientific evidence so it was more a point of interest. I didn't give it a second thought, as i thought well its only nicotine like its going to affect my dreams. I was quite surprised. My dreams were indeed extremely lucid. So is it purely a chemical reaction or is it psychological or a combination. In my case i was giving up a ten year addiction, so it would be quite reasonable to expect that it was my subconscious reacting to the fact that a major part of my daily / evening routine had suddenly ceased. But i guess also the changes in chemicals, a change in dopamine and/or serotonin levels most probably. Anything to do with the body not having to stimulate acetyl-colene levels as much as normal due to the constant flow of nicotine from the patch? Anyway whatever the cause it was certainly very interesting. And i wonder if using patches for a night or two recreates the effect, or whether you have to already be a smoker for it to work. Anybody in the know? I'd be interested to know more about what may cause this perculiar effect. cheers, Obtuse.

Hi Again, I was over at shroomery.org and found this list: this is copied from http://www.shroomery.org/9130/Australia so thanks to the people at shroomery who put this list together, and other interesting information as well. Of course it describes other shrooms outside the psilocye species, and looks to me like it misses quite a few considering my recent internet searches. Any tasmanians agree with the selection for tasmania, i am very dubious about Psilocybe semilanceata being in tas, maybe up north, but not down south. Also, here is another interesting question, are there in fact members of the Psilocybe species that are not psychoactive i.e. do not contain psilocybin. I'd love to hear peoples opinions on the list. Cheers, Obtuse.

FANTASTIC. If you can make it, do. These people really are fighting for a good cause. Can't wait. nothing beats two days in the bush with cool people, and good music.

Yeah i thought this was a fantastic little documentary. It sums up most of the good teks really well. Definitely well worth watching for beginners as it stresses again and again about things like sterile conditions etc. but also sets the scene for Stropharia Cubensis (Psilocybe cubensis). so you may need to keep in mind how relevent it may be for you own particular species of interest. its worth it too as a visual aid, if you have problems visualising whats going on in the teks. anyway, well worth watching, cheers, Obtuse.

hi there, I have these sick looking Acacia Obtusifolia. there are two of them. I would take them outside to half shade during the day, and back indoors for nights, which i have since learnt is a no no. we have had a lot of cold days then suddenly really hot days, so is it the weather? or am i just over / underwatering it. is it too much phosphorous? I have others that arent as old (a week younger), but are all looking really healthy, and have all been indoors the whole time, so i suspect i have just shocked these two. I'm learning, but would like them to pull through. I would like confirmation of what i have done wrong. anyway, cheers.

Hi everyone, thanks for the great responses, and sorry for the delay in answering. Pala, they were about 6 - 8 weeks old. IndigoSunrise and Phloom thanks for your answers. I am definotly doing something wrong. I have eight other plant who are all doing ok, although another died recently after a really hot day. I think i planted that one way too late in the season. otherwise they are all slow growing. They are all still inside, will it shock them too much if i move them all outside? I think i should move them outside permanently but i am worried about shock. they definotly need more sunlight. I'd really like to see photos of how they are meant to look at say 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 6 months etc. so i can compare what i have with what i am supposed to have. any more info would be invaluable. cheers. Obtuse.

Hi everyone, I'm looking for the same type of info. Would love to find info about buying / growing cactii and other interesting plants in Tasmania. Also very keen to make contact with other tasmanian ethnobotanists and mycologists. cheers. Obtuse.

Hi there, A friend of a friend asked me recently about collecting spores from dried mushrooms. He has some tassie woodlovers left over from winter. He has recently taken an interest in researching mycology, but being a newbie hadn't taken any spore prints. knowing i have read a lot (but not enough me thinks) about the subject, he asked if i would look into it. I have done a pretty good search through this forum and others. about to give up, but thought i'd ask. Sounds feasbile to me, but how would you do it. scrape whatever possible from the gill areas. maybe pulverise the cap. what is the possilbe risk of infection from other biological matter present on the cap or gills. would there still be any spores present. Anyway, cheers. =)