Vanda

Nabraxas, I think paranoid society must be much easier to control or something...I think we are being fed more and more bad news every day just to keep it going. "If you don't send your kids to private school, they'll end up as a troubled non-achieving trash, and have no place in our society" or:" Violence conquering our streets - don't miss it tonight!"kind of message... What's even more depressing is that I doubt there's a way out of this.So far I just chose to ignore those ridiculous rules, but no doubt one day I'll be informed of my wrongdoing by some vigilant, overprotective and paranoid parent at the school event, that taking photos of my kids is not on.

"after all a cuddle with daddy isn't frowned upon" Not yet...have you heart of prohibition on taking pictures of your own kids at school events? I'm a farther and have to think twice sometimes if I want to immortalise my own kids on film...It's an increasingly said world we live in...

they're too beautifull to eat. their beauty's what makes them sacred. I have quite a collection, but stopped eating them long, long time ago...there are far better, cheaper and less profane ways of getting high. right Smogs?

Off the top of my head - I'm quite sure they'd just keep growing. even if the leader is lost the side buds will take over, forming most likely a small colony of 2-3 or whatever individuals connected to the same rootball. That way, I think, they could keep going for ever. Recently one of mine has started producing a lot of little plantlets from where the usual cottony tufts are, some of them resemble little cacti already. bearing in mind this variety is a non-puping one, and rarely has produced any pups,it's quite amazing. Seams they're quite good at proliferating and multiplying in any way possible. Leaving in harsh environments it makes sense I guess...

as far as I'm aware it's a full-on tropical. It probably will grow in, say, Sydney, but will not flower. Also, flowers are quite tricky to pollinate.

Unlike us, subs like cold, shitty weather(fruiting). After unusually wet and mild Summer we're experiencing here in Melbourne, I'm expecting to find absolute shitloads this year. I'll start looking in May, however. Even late July could sometimes be too late. In my opinion if you start looking in September you're missing the boat and wasting your time. It's only my experience though...

and what about health aspect? any clues at this stage. sounds promising.

shame plastics still keep you busy Ed. Just started reading Mushroom Cultivator(again...)and can't put it away. It reads like a novel...

...And me too. And it's raining like hell. good season.

My recent experience(as Smogs might remember?) with euphorbia sap in my eye is not something I usually like to dwell on. Good point Smogs: if it oozes white sap - stay clear, avoid consuming and be very carefull handling. Also, recently I've read that the chemicals in Euphorbia sap belong to the group called co-cancerogenic esters. I'm not a chemist or a medical practitioner, but this kind of terminology doesn't encourage experimentation...

Some resort to mutilating, shading and starving T. pachanoi (for example)in hope to increase alkaloid content. It's pretty much accepted, that the alkaloid /poison production can be, and most likely is, a defensive response.

Sorry Puck. cheers Vanker

Puke wrote: "You can produce 98% ethanol at home". I'd really like to know your secret. From what I've read you can, wait let me refrase that, it's possible to produce say 94.5 or maybe 95% ethanol at home if you good and have the right gear. and probably at higher cost too, as you'll have to work at higher(?) reflux ratio, which makes it more expensive. From what I gathered, it's possible to atchieve better results only under vacume? Anyway, for those interested and that way inclined, there's an excellent site to check: www.homedistiller.org cheers Vanda

yea, handling some of them can be a challenge...Aseroe's 'egg' is full of mucus and very slipery to say the least. extracting any material from the ball of slime in a glove box full of jars and plates and other stuff's not easy, but so far none contaminated. I used H2O2 as a wash...Smogs, your pink oyster is doing well too. Haven't tried King stropharia syringe yet.

I've had my little share of interviews with the media here and there and can only say one thing: Please, please, please, avoid media at all costs! What do they call it in the business? 'Getting an angle on the subject? You know, when they twist everything around, take it out of context etc? I will refrain from stating any more obvious reasons for this. even uttering a few words on this subject (ethnobotanicals etc) on tripple J can easily get out of hand(or out of the box...). there's absolutelly NOTHING to be gained from any more exposure(in my humble opinion of course).