mushrooms freak me out bigtime!
i end up sitting alone in the corner - paranoid as fuck - thinkin why is no one else talkin to me? do they all hate me? why hasnt anyone spoken for ages?
i just cant seem to make the connection that everyone else is just as fucked as me and cant manage to string a sentence together either!

but that said, it still doesnt deter me from taking them the next time....

Metalmaniraq

now i get adrenaline highs daily from mortars, rockets, small arms fire and rpg's and the only way to calm my ass down is to listen to a devy record and close my eyes. his albums bring back good and bad memories of the past and i can't complain one bit.

thanks dev (and family/friends) and to all of the fans for getting me through 13 months in baghdad. i appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.

thanks again!

That's awesome man, get home safely and throw a big ass party when you get there, you deserve it.

Hey metal man, thanx for the support! Been a little over two months now and goin! And be safe man...

My two cents:

In Sweden we have a drug-culture that makes it socially (and legally) forbidden to use anything except things like coffee, cigarettes and alcohol.

This means that I get a tad uneasy reading posts about how great this or that album is if you listen to it while stoned. Because to me, drugs aren't about enhancing certain moods - they're about suppressing others. And that makes them - not necessarily destructive, but - rather conservative. They "keep you in place", so to speak. Which in some cases might be the same as survival, but it can never be the same as moving forward.

I can be quick to judge drug-users that talk about drugs as "enhancing" as hopeless romantics with a loose grasp on reality. In some cases this might be true. But hopefully most of them see their drug-use as recreation - comparable to going for a swim or seeing a movie (that's what I did) - not a door to a higher (pardon the pun) reality...

I don't doubt that drugs can - in certain ways - "enhance" the experience of - say - Devins music. But - mind you - it will never tell the entire truth.

i'm from europe too and i don't know what you're talking about, in the right crowd drugs are fine...

forget everything u've heard about drugs cuz 99% of it is bull shit. Sure ppl use it for escapism, ppl use everything and anything for escapism, doesn't mean "drugs" (nonsense grouping of often unrelated substances) get in the way of life. TV gets more in the way of life any day.

Dont get me started on alcohol, which is the most fucked up drug around.

deconstruct the bs

[Blazingmonga]

I am very glad that even though everyone here has quite different opinions on this topic that we are able to discuss this very maturely, kudos!

I think one thing that everyone here can probably agree on is that drugs dont make you cool and also that you dont need them to enjoy this kind of music.

i'm from europe too and i don't know what you're talking about, in the right crowd drugs are fine...

Well, not to stir things too much, but everything's fine in the "right" crowds.

It would be nice if you cared to elaborate about the 99% about drugs you claim to be bullshit. Because from what I can gather (and I've tried a variety of them) is that all they do is make you escape reality - and that function is one we already seem to agree upon...

ok, i said 99% of what u hear about drugs from the government or the church or whatever is bull shit. No, acid does not make you cut your arm off thinking it's a snake, NO pot does not make you impotent, NO pot is not a gateway drug, and if it is in any way it's because making it illegal puts it in the same hands that deal other substances, it's not that something about pot brings on cocaine, duh.
Obviously drugs are not for everyone, some people can handle their shit and some people cannot. Generalizations are are innately flawed.
And this talk about escaping reality... what the hell is reality anyways? is me tripping my balls off not reality? i think it very much is. It's not my normal state of mind, sure.
Haha, and if u claim pot makes u escape reality than u're GROSSLY overestimating it's powers. Hehe, actually if you smoke enough you can see the future...HA.
give me a definition of 'drug'. Something that alters your mind/reality? reading a book alters your reality, watching a movie does, listening to Devy alters you> in more subtle ways of course but the same rules apply. I'll read a book and be in a weird mood after, the book has altered my mind, obviously, because im in a different place than before. There, conclusive proof. 'Drugs' are more powerful in their effects, but it's all chemical and interelated anyways.
hmm yeah im doing a poor job of explaining here.
Anyways, it's all relative, chemical responses in ur brain and emotional responses are linked so that everything u do and see and read and hear alters ur mind chemically and emotionally. I lost my original point..
But yes, 'drugs' not for everyone, have different effects for everyone, doesn't mean u can't use responsibly and thus prove generalizations to be bull shit.

as for everything being good in the right crowd, this is true... But this is true for everything and i don't see how that's an additional point against Drugs. Obviously if i want to smoke im not going to chill with someone who thinks pot is bad and makes u freak out and whatnot. Hehe, ask your average person what their opinion is of heavy metal...

pot is only illegal in britain cos the government dont make any money from it. as soon as pot is legallised here, the government will be taxing the fuck out of it -just like theyre doing with alcohol (a far more potent and dangerous drug IMO) at the minute.

Devin's music + marijuana = Amazing experience

Amen.

[Blazingmonga]

pot is only illegal in britain cos the government dont make any money from it. as soon as pot is legallised here, the government will be taxing the fuck out of it -just like theyre doing with alcohol (a far more potent and dangerous drug IMO) at the minute.

Actually, as far as I remember when you import seeds to grow your own plants (the actual purchasing of seeds is legal) they tax that.

Somebody correct me if I am wrong though!

Thanx for the quick answer! I just want to comment on a couple of things...

...this talk about escaping reality... what the hell is reality anyways? is me tripping my balls off not reality? i think it very much is. It's not my normal state of mind, sure.

This isn't a philosophical discussion about what "reality" is. The point I wanted to make when I talked about escaping reality, was the escaping in itself.

...give me a definition of 'drug'. Something that alters your mind/reality? reading a book alters your reality, watching a movie does, listening to Devy alters you> in more subtle ways of course but the same rules apply....

Again, don't get caught in the use of certain terms, please. Try to see my point instead. The difference between reading a book or listening to Devy, compared to physically altering the functions in your brain by the use of "drugs", is major. As you said yourself, "generalizations are innately flawed".

...'drugs' not for everyone, have different effects for everyone, doesn't mean u can't use responsibly and thus prove generalizations to be bull shit... ...as for everything being good in the right crowd, this is true... But this is true for everything and i don't see how that's an additional point against Drugs.

It's not a point for drugs either, which was kinda my point... But yes, you're right, everyone reacts differently to drugs, and the reasons for that are both chemical and contextual.

And that's exactly why I react to the generalizations that sometimes occur here (and elsewhere) about how "Devy's music + marijuana = amazing experience". Because that's only true for the person writing it. But it comes out like the Truth. And taking into account what drugs can do to a person, it's strikes me as somewhat irresponsible...

...But on the other hand, that's how I was raised...

(and thus I end my part of this discussion)

[Blazingmonga]

Good thoughts Janne...

It is easy to forget that what is wonderful for one person can be a nightmare for another. What one person needs to enjoy something is something another person may need to be free of before enjoyment can take place.

Everybody has totally different experiences of drugs, both of taking them or observing their effects indirectly. I have seen and felt both good and bad sides of both perspectives.

Nothing is ever this simple you see!

Janne said:
Again, don't get caught in the use of certain terms, please. Try to see my point instead. The difference between reading a book or listening to Devy, compared to physically altering the functions in your brain by the use of "drugs", is major. As you said yourself, "generalizations are innately flawed".

but what im saying is, EVERYTHING PHYSICALLY ALTERS THE FUNCTIONS OF UR BRAIN, DEVY MUSIC INCLUDED... And everything about reality is philosophical.

Everytime you hate on drugs another stoner does time or looses their job for getting high and chillin, or is taken their college loans. For getting high. FUCK THAT.

I reserve my right to do drugs if i choose to, and i shouldnt be punshied for it damnit.

So im being very responsible when i say open ur minds and screw this gov. propaganda. I was brought up devoutly christian, doesn't mean shit. Devin Townsend's music is excellent sober, and it's excellent stoned.
sorry if im coming off as agressive, but i have my reasons. I have to be fierce about this shit to compensate for all the lies u hear on TV or at school that make it a legal danger for me to blaze or trip.
Reality TV should be made illegal frankly. How's that for escaping reality? you spend ur life watching somebody elses. COME ON PPL.

Snaga - you raised most of the points I was going to.
Saying 'drugs suck' exposes a DEEP misunderstanding of the inner workings of the mind.
EVERY SINGLE THING you ingest is psychoactive in some way. 'Drugs' literally are everything you eat drink and breathe. Some simply affect the consciouss more then others. Pot is a beautiful substance which I've been smoking habitually since I was twelve - that's amost 6 years now. Even you, Snaga, I imagine will feel uncomfortable hearing this, however before I even touched the shit I did THOROUGH reading of all the research done on this drug. What I found is that it's virtually harmless, with the slight risk of an individual having a personal psychological (as aposed to chemical) reaction to the effects.

There are some substances which I'm happy to say are stupid - because they can kill you, or seriousily fuck you up. However, I find it difficult to listen the ignorance of some people when they some up 'drugs' as being fundamentally evil or wrong.