∂an

yep its been a nice and wet second half of 2010 so far. here's some p. cubensis I identified and photographed at a friends property near Brisbane. note the differences between those photographed in July, and those photographed in November. July: November:

good point hyphal, HHH are just asking for trouble if they are selling research chems that are likely to be scheduled in the near future. surely they should live up to their name and stick to happy high herbs... instead of chems they don't know squat about.

hehe go Mr Snail! given that the green flesh at the growing tip is probably high in alkaloids, i wonder if the snail feels an effect? if 1kg of cactus is feeds a 70kg person, then a 50g snail needs just 0.7g to get its fill. snail shaman?

wyatt earp?!? also didn't know shakespeare had an earring.... what a dude!

the brisbane group requires you join a yahoo group first, which requires a yahoo account... is this the same for all freecycle?

yeah i don't know how people snort this kind of stuff... sets me of on a sneezing fit. a spray would be great - does it require dissolving extracted alkaloids into water?

yum that sounds amazing! yeah I find chilli's to be useful in flushing the head when sick too. i would just crush up fresh chilli's and toss over dinner. lots of garlic and ginger too. the local organic store here sells an anti-viral tincture that seems to work well. it contains echinacea, licorice and astragalus and a few others that skip my mind. go swimming at the beach and get plenty of fresh air!

how would you describe the effect of the spray?

haha nice one - gotta love the psy community!

the national parks in northern nsw are great. border ranges, Yuraygir and washpool national parks are my favourites. you can get to the border ranges in about 2 hours from bris, and there are amazing forest walks, lookouts over the volcanic crater, antarctic beech groves... plus there are plenty of our bovine friends on the drive in if you want to do a day trip from bris drive to mount glorious and explore the water falls and creeks at the top of cedar creek.

yeah nice one, there is definitely a lack of cube pics around here... subs seem to get all the attention - although I do admit I wish there was a native psilocybe in these parts... in SE QLD at least the concept of a cube season doesn't have much meaning as they actually grow all year round, provided there is enough water and sun around. i have photos of cubes taken most months since july, will dig them out. the winter cubes tend to be much smaller than their chunky summer brothers and sisters - also I found the spores were considerably lighter. winter cubes tend to grow in sheltered, wooded areas, whereas summer cubes can grow in the middle of grass pastures no worries - guess its all about where the humidity is suitable at the different times of the year. pics to follow

the new tetrameth album "the eclectic benevolence" is amazing and full of psychedelic samples (albert hofmann, aldous huxley... and joe rogan asking us to join his DMT cult). check out the album preview here. went to the album launch on the weekend, awesome stuff. is progressive psytrance and is more musical and dynamic than most trance music, so even those not into electronic music might like it. also zenon is an aussie label so support our local musicians!

captivated

for sure, but not just great or famous people. it seems to me that the universe considers each and every life a precious gift, and we all are incarnate for some greater purpose - whether it be obvious to us or not. if the fractal principle can be extrapolated to the domain of human experience, then perhaps even the most apparently mundane person can create ripples in history through synchronicities etc. but, for sure, the bob marley's and ghandi's of this world do seem to be endowed with an almost supernatural spirit, and their actions have directly influenced the course of history - if there was a puppet master pulling our strings, then these people would be their lead actors.

G'day to all the budding mycologists out there, Yesterday evening I came across what appeared to be two Amanita Pantherina mushrooms growing under an acacia (melanoxylon?) tree in the Wide Bay area, QLD. Searching the internet I could not find mention of this species in Australia, let alone in a mycorrhizal relationship with an acacia species. The closest I found were passing references (anecdotal) to A. Muscaria growing alongside eucalyptus trees. Today I went back (finding the larger one decayed and smaller one almost fully fruited) to take the following photos: insitu A insitu B mmm decaying older one supporting acacia tree A supporting acacia tree B top profile - remnants of universal veil can be seen side profile - note veil on stipe, reddish colour of stipe and bulb at base bottom profile - note white gills The mushroom has also smells similar to amanita muscaria specimens I have previously located. Would be interested in confirming my ID of pantherina and hear if anyone else has found this species in australia, and not associated with pine trees. This combination seems very unique to me. Cheers, kalika

good advice obtuse. when doing my uni exams, I used to drink damiana throughout the day to keep me stimulated and use GABA if I got too stressed. would drink coffee occasionally, but not before exams. best thing is to maintain a balanced life style and not to alter it too much from your usual routine... unless that involves not studying at all go for a run or a bike ride when u feel like its all getting too much, let all the information sink into your head. the worst thing you can do is use stimulants to stay up late at night cramming, then be tired for the exam...

yeah Dr Nutt has been a solid, reputable supporter of drug reform in the UK. particularly regarding the downgrading of cannabis to class C in the UK, which resulted in his sacking by the government. thanks for the pdf - first time I've seen amphetamine spelt amfetamine, but wikipedia tells me this is legit.

yeah it takes about 10 minutes to really get going, but then it does deliver nice thick vapour. a downside is you have to sit there sucking on it for about 15 minutes to get wrecked, but you can add tiny glass balls to the herb chamber to increase the heating rate. the volcano is superior in this respect as you can fill and hit a bag of thick vapour in one minute or so. depends on where you want to smoke really... at home or on the go?

it produces quite cool vapour actually, but not in very large amounts. you probably get 15 minutes (at best) of use from the two batteries supplied with the unit, but they tend to drop in performance with age. if you are living at home with your ma and pa and want to take a quick toke then this will work... if you want it to replace your bong then forget it - the iolite would probably be your best bet, i think they are about $250 australian and come with a 2 year warranty (just make sure u use good quality butane)

i've had a volcano digit for two years now. admittedly its expensive, but if your serious about your lavender then its the best way to go for home use. but if you want a portable vapourisor the iolite is pretty amazing, runs on butane and is very effective - not to mention stealthy (looks like a walky-talky or something - get blazed at ur local pub or library etc). if you save the 'used' herb after each session you can bake with it or extract the oils, plus you probably get 2x the use out of each batch of herb compared to combustion. in the long run you save money and most importantly save your lungs. check out this forum for a good discussion of vaporisers: the grow report, vapor central this site sells volcano's, iolite's and magic flight launch boxes (tiny battery powered unit): vapefiend

are they doing rainbow serpent also?

wow that reminds me of something I have almost completely forgotten... the second time I ever smoked salvia I was in a seattle backpackers hostel. I smoked the 5x in a joint, had a mild salvia experience with no visuals really, just fell over onto the floor... then fell asleep on the bed. I recall having a dream where suddenly everything went red, then greyscale, and I saw myself standing infront of me. As mec experienced, the dream informed me this was a salvia experience... I then woke up, and I had been asleep for 3 hours. Was this residual salvinorin-A in my system, or a dream induced psychedelic experience? who knows...

awesome stuff Rab, loved the self-replicating egg i have never taken a drug in a dream (me rejecting the DMT bowl was the closest i've come) but my dreams are highly psychedelic nonetheless. I have been attacked by a giant preying mantis, held myself as an infant in a waterfall... and dream of finding mushrooms all the time. about 2 years a go I would dream of this farm with a big wooden barn type thing. I dreamt of it many times before one time I found these huge golden gleaming cubensis mushrooms everywhere... at that time I had only ever found tiny specimens of cubes. then last year I actually found the cow paddock in my dream... complete with wooden shed, and the largest cubes i've ever found. and just yesterday I found some amanita muscaria while walking in a pine forest (in real life, but not in australia). then last night I had a very vivid and intense dream about running through an ancient forest... i came across a decaying corpse near a river and huge amanita were sprouting out of the stomach. the weird thing was some of them had square caps on them and where like a foot in width... weird shit huh... its heartening to know that the human body is capable of producing such amazing visions and experiences - or realities, as they may well be - 'on the natch' as mckenna put it. the day after these intense dreams i feel absolutely fantastic, like my life force has been recharged to a level I never knew existed. perhaps dreams are the waking reality of the soul. i'd love to hear about other people amazing dream experiences... even if they don't fit in the topic of getting high in the dream.

wow andy sounds like u have had some incredible dream experiences... i have found that codeine suppresses the effects of tryptamines dramatically, so i reckon ur right about methadone and ur lack of dreams presently. my most vivid dreams have been when i completely abstain from all chemicals... especially when its a sudden break. dreams have been some of the most profound and meaningful 'psychedelic' experiences for me, even compared to dmt trips. dreams seems to integrate more of who i am and my past into the experience than trips..

yeah guess it was just a vivid dream then, not lucid. haven't experienced a lucid dream, one where I realise i'm dreaming. i wonder if the impression of taking a drug in a dream is accompanied by a (physical) sudden release of chemicals in the brain. i have had dreams and suddenly woken up to only find the dream carry over into the 'real' world for a few minutes i.e. girl standing at the foot of my bed. this type of experience seems to indicate a physical chemical release.