☮ Social ☮ PD Social: Nexus for gibberish of the psychedelicized genius and veritably insane

[PepperSocks]

get a musical instrument

I think it's sort of subjective. For me that's definitely not how I would like to spend time (I tried guitar, it didn't take), I'm just not a music creator. On the other hand I am a creator of objects. I love building and fixing things. When I have time to burn I'm always tearing apart something that doesn't work right or building some neat thing that came into my mind.

When I was a kid me and my best friend would spend our summer days building bike jumps and tree forts; throwback from the 50's

 

[effingcustie]

My friends from home like to have vinyl listening sessions sometimes. Nothing like the sound of nice vinyl; after listening to digital for most of our lives, it's amazing to hear how authentic it is and what you've been missing.

It really is crazy how much of a difference there is, even on my not very nice stereo. I actually remember reading once that they did a study on analog vs digital sound with some kind of machine to monitor pleasure centers in the brain, and there was a much higher reaction with analog.

Neil Young is working on developing some kind of technology called pono that's supposed to somehow restore some of the clarity to digital recordings. I think it's going to hit the market next year and I'm really interested to check it out. Going analog > digital is pretty easy but it doesn't really make any sense in my head how you would go back.

 

[PepperSocks]

Yeah; garbage in garbage out. The only way to make any digital version better is to take it from the master tapes, or a vinyl record and use whatever latest and greatest digital sound capture method there is.

I think the best way of doing it is to stick with what works; make new vinyl records from the master tapes. New phonographs and stereos may improve it a bit better than it was in the 70s, but yeah, we still use old equipment we found in the shed and it sounds better than the best digital.

That's one thing the music industry might have an upper hand on; no pirating of vinyl records. If someone really wants an album on vinyl they have to buy it. They've already started doing this; the White Album I saw for example, but they're also playing on people's heartstrings as the price was ~$60, compared to the ~$15 CD.

 

[Dondante]

And speaking of beers, before I started this octsober thing I was getting into a new brand called Unibroue.... absolutely exquisite beer, literally some of the best i've ever had. They're canadian, actually, so p-sox you should check them out. :D

Also, when you're done, try this one to celebrate your month of sobriety (if you haven't already).

 

[Roger&Me]

It really is crazy how much of a difference there is, even on my not very nice stereo. I actually remember reading once that they did a study on analog vs digital sound with some kind of machine to monitor pleasure centers in the brain, and there was a much higher reaction with analog.

Definitely agree on the quality of analog over digital. Its just an inherent thing with an analog system... digital is a totally binary input and output, 0's and 1's, but analog is a whole continuous spectrum so you get all the overtones.

but I find I'm more intrigued by making my own liquor.

lol

I think that would be a lot of fun too, and you could even play around with distilling at different pressures and seeing how the product differs. Distillations freak me out in general, though... I actually had one blow up on me at work this summer, and I was really lucky too.. I pulled the cover to my hood down, turned around to check something at the bench, and BOOM! I jumped halfway to the ceiling like a startled cat :D And I really mean that fucker EXPLODED too, like a pipe bomb or something... cracked the plexiglass on the front of the hood, irreparably damaged all the equipment that was in the hood at the time (stir motors, schlenck line, etc). It was just crazy. Apparently the stuff in my flask had polymerized with heating to a thick goo, which stopped the stirring, and I think that had something to do with it.

So yeah, I treat distillation with utmost respect now, be extremely careful if you ever try one... and if it starts to do anything funny at all (like your temp is climbing but you don't see distillate condensing), then turn that heat off and run in the other direction until it cools down LOL. And also use an oil or water bath (preferably a water bath if you can get away with it, because it won't catch on fire) instead of a direct flame like the old-schoolers used to do (lol, actually on an unrelated note in PIHKAL and TIHKAL you'll see countless examples of shulgin doing crazy stuff like distilling at atmospheric pressure with a bunson burner flame and whatnot, totally old school and crazy to me).

Also, when you're done, try this one to celebrate your month of sobriety (if you haven't already).

Thanks for the tip, man. That's one of theirs that I haven't tried yet, but its def on my list (the color of that beer is so beautiful in the pic, btw). I also enjoyed the trois pistoles, but it was just a tad on the sweet and estery side for me. Still a fine beer, though.

 

[PepperSocks]

So yeah, I treat distillation with utmost respect now, be extremely careful if you ever try one... and if it starts to do anything funny at all (like your temp is climbing but you don't see distillate condensing), then turn that heat off and run in the other direction until it cools down LOL. And also use an oil or water bath (preferably a water bath if you can get away with it, because it won't catch on fire) instead of a direct flame like the old-schoolers used to do (lol, actually on an unrelated note in PIHKAL and TIHKAL you'll see countless examples of shulgin doing crazy stuff like distilling at atmospheric pressure with a bunson burner flame and whatnot, totally old school and crazy to me).

Yeah, a distillation is something to be monitored and not left alone. Using an open flame is straight out of the question in an indoor situation. If I ever made a still for the outdoors it'll be put over a small woodfire but that's a totally different situation.

I won't be dealing with any potential polymerizations or funky stuff like that. These don't even have any stirring in them to start with. The inherent safety mechanism of a homemade still compared to well sealed lab glass wear is that if there were any pressure buildup (even a couple psi would do it), the clamped lid on the pot would break its seal. If not that, then any of the other joints in the system would pop off their sealant. Nothing in this is going to be permanently JB-welded or soldered (even with so called, non-toxic, safe plumbing solder). There's also going to be a blow-off safety valve at the top of the column.

Apparently James Watson was taken out of the lab and given a strictly theoretical job when he was found boiling an open beaker of benzene with a bunsen burner. 8)

 

[nearjat]

WARNING POINTLESS PERSONAL BLOGGING FOR THOSE CURIOUS OR BORED​

Hello PD. Long, long long time no see Even out about in my "real life" I often feel guilty for not saying hi to all my PD electronic-penpals (that's what I refer to you guys as to non interweb savvy folks lol). Since I last stopped in, I had my suboxone doctor randomly decide to retire giving me no easy option to get my medication, sending me into the most hellish withdrawal I've ever experienced or heard of. At that same time, my ex girlfriend was living with me. Yes, the one that I was/am crazy in love with and never got over haha. She had been kicked out, from her small town home, and I was the only person she knew in the cities that was willing to help her. I helped her get a job, get all her government docs sorted out and gave her a place to stay while she hunted for apartments. It was tough, because obviously since I'm referring to her as my ex, she wasn't interested in a relationship with me. She had also JUST broken up with her boyfriend, the same guy she left me for way back when because I was being a junkie. So there I was, living with my ex who I'm by no means "over" whatsoever, while she's all sad about leaving a guy that she left ME for in the first place, while going through intense withdrawal from buprenorphine, with absolutely no medications to aid in my suffering. No benzos, booze- nothing. Now I don't want to down-talk buprenorphine, I really think it's a wonder drug. But if you don't taper off properly (didn't even have the option), it's truly a living hell. The only reason I didn't IMMEDIATELY relapse was because the "fiending" factor was missing, since it was more w/d from a "medication" than a drug of abuse that I crave for the high. Despite the emotional stress of the living situation, that women was the only reason I made it the whole 7-8 days of sickness without using. Despite her aversion to physical closenss with me to avoid any attatchment, she would give me massages and cuddles all day long even with her 10 hour shifts to bar-close every day. She was a real sweetheart, she's never gone through opiate w/d or any w/d before, but definitely had the capacity for empathy and it was a life saver- maybe literally- because in that state I was primed to do something REALLY dumb. That primal torture of w/d makes me do things way out of character at times. I was quite proud of myself, and very grateful for her attempts to comfort me despite her many reasons to not want to. It was even during the week of my 20th birthday. At one point I had to abruptly leave my birthday dinner at this crab/seafood restaraunt because of a panic attack coming, right before the waiter wanted me to dress up like a cheerleader and dance with the waitstaff lmao. It would've been so fun too . After a cigarette and a backrub from the lady I calmed down but the staff had moved on, likely thinking I was such a nutcase that I couldn't even handle the birthday shenanigans. I even kept up with my work towards become a volunteer literacy tutor at my old elementary school. (full time position, they send checks for a "living allowance" that isn't dependent on your hours though). Theeeennnnn one day this lady packed up all her things, told me she wanted to go home to her parents house, then out of state to either South Dakota or Texas. At that time I was still somewhat hopeful that she and I could work something out, me being clean again and all. We had been having sex and getting a lil more intimate living together as well. So I didn't really freak out hearing that, because I thought maybe this plan didn't necessarily exclude me. When I helped her load her boxes back into her hometown house, I didn't know it'd be the last time I'd see her. I was supposed to be picking her up the next day to grab her last check from work. Well I slept in slightly and was like 30 minutes late, she got really upset and told me to forget it. (during all this she was extremely stressed out, there was a truly ridiculous amount of turmoil occurring in her life. Enough to make me shed a tear thinking about it even) I thought maybe I'd just do it the next day, but I never heard from her at all. I found out through facebook for fucks sake that she had moved to Texas with her grandparents. And I'm sittin there damn near shitting myself all day, shaking and sweating while on the verge of panic constantly. She and I weren't dating, but I definitely thought we were very close friends- so that was a heavy blow for sure.

I looked at myself and pretty much thought "fuck man, I've made it this far stepping on hot coals and being sodomized by satan himself everyday, but this is too much." And I picked up the needle. (not emoticon available that's sad enough). Well more accurately, I tried other less extreme solutions first. Loperamide for w/d symptoms is a load of shit unless the placebo helps you out I guess, I tried finding weak opioids like hydrocodone or codeine to lessen the suffering until the bupe left my body- but literally the only opiate I had access to was the big H. I did it, it made the sick go away, I got high- but FUCK did I hate myself. Wasn't even enjoyable at all. There I was, repeating the same bullshit that lost me the love of my life all over again, partially because of my asshole suboxone doctor, and partially because that same love of my life truly seemed to have stopped giving all fucks about me. The whole situation felt filthy, dirty- absolutely despicable. One thing I am proud of myself for, is that I immediately continued searching for a new suboxone doctor (I originally planned on toughing out the sickness and just stopping). And as soon as I found a doctor that accommodated my financial needs I dropped the needle and got back on maintenance with no delay. I suppose it was easier since I never wanted to get high, just to be able to function, since I had an incredible amount of work to do regarding the tutoring job.

To top the bullshit I've described thus far off, when I tried to re-induct myself onto the buprenorphine, I apparently didn't wait long enough since the last dose of heroin (even though I felt the signs of w/d pretty clearly). For those who don't know, this causes something called precipitated withdrawal. The bupe, with its very high affinity for the opiate receptors along with it's comparitively low activity on those receptors, boots out the remaining full agonist opiates from your receptors and attatches itself. The low activity and partially agonizing nature of bupe causes a net loss in opiate receptor activity, IMMEDIATELY shooting you into the most extreme stage of withdrawal. In simpler terms, the subs RIP any other opiates out of your brain, causing you to go from well to 100% in w/d in anywhere from seconds to minutes. I had actually administered the bupe IV in a small dose, out of paranoia that I might cause PWs. Although this made it hit MUCH faster, it also passed in "only" an hour as opposed to an utterly insane amount of time that might have resulted from another ROA and dose. I went from sniffling, teary eyed and anxious (mild withdrawal) to feeling like I had been set on fire, frozen to the core (at the same time, magic!), shaking like an epileptic, projectile vomiting, shitting liquid with my stomach very obviously spasm-ing in impossible positions and speeds. Along with a sense of anxiety, panic and pure terror that seriously could be called traumatic. All that, literally as soon as I pushed the plunger down with ONE FUCKING MILLIGRAM of bupe in the syringe. Awesome start to trying to get back on the right track lmao. I can laugh at it now, but for a couple weeks I'd practically have to force myself to take my subs in the morning like I had PTSD or some shit lol, even knowing there was no way it'd happen again. Now that I'm steady on my maintenance, that memory serves as a very efficient deterrent to going back to regular opiate use. So those of you on bupe maintenance that occasionally go on a "holiday" like many do, if you don't already know, WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT MOTHERFUCKING-WAIT until you are OBVIOUSLY in withdrawal before taking that pill or strip. I know it's hard, w/d sucks on a primal level that makes any chance at wellness seem all too appealing, it's what makes opiate addiction so gripping. But trust me, if you haven't had PWs before, it's one of those things I HONESTLY would not wish on my worst enemy. Worse than heartbreak, bad psychedelic trips (I mean BAD not difficult), horrible injury, death of loved ones. I'm not exaggerating any of that at all haha believe me if you want, I can't make you, but I'll try. I'm currently heavily stimulated, so forgive the length and whatnot, just thought maybe someone would find this interesting or is curious about what I've been up to.

 

[kingme]

dude, thats one seriously sad story you have going for you... i can only send you some good vibes and wish you well... i hope all will work out for you... i know this is probably useless to you when going through all this, but im sure that if enough people care, we can perhaps alleviate a little bit of your pains eh

pd power to the rescue!
group hug nearjat?

 

[twelvesevndi]

i just received a very strange PM from a greenlighter with 0 posts. WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING????!!

 

[HighonLife]

^^what did it say? sourcing?


i get people with 0-10 posts looking for me to hook em up about once every 2-3 weeks, i used to be polite n explain why i wont but now i just ignore em
they almost always come thru with a friend request too

 

[twelvesevndi]

^hahaha! clearly things have changed... when i joined greenlighters could not PM.

uh this guy was asking what subforum is best for discussion of RCs... this is the one i guess

 

[phenethylo J]

A while back some chick made a thread in NMI asking for heroin in a city that was 45 mins from me with her first post and then contacted me and some other member that lived pretty close to me but I didn't know in real life on our personal email. It was kinda sketchy especially since I did not put my email or location on my profile but it is not like I had anything to worry about since I don't buy or sell heroin.

 

[TheAppleCore]

Christ, nearjat, that sounds really rough. I agree with kingme, you deserve a PD group hug.

I think that would be a lot of fun too, and you could even play around with distilling at different pressures and seeing how the product differs. Distillations freak me out in general, though... I actually had one blow up on me at work this summer, and I was really lucky too.. I pulled the cover to my hood down, turned around to check something at the bench, and BOOM! I jumped halfway to the ceiling like a startled cat :D And I really mean that fucker EXPLODED too, like a pipe bomb or something... cracked the plexiglass on the front of the hood, irreparably damaged all the equipment that was in the hood at the time (stir motors, schlenck line, etc). It was just crazy. Apparently the stuff in my flask had polymerized with heating to a thick goo, which stopped the stirring, and I think that had something to do with it.

Wow... hm. I didn't know chemistry was so cool. (Cool is synonymous with dangerous, didn't you know?) :D

With respect to the analog vs. digital debate, I reserve some skepticism that analog is better than digital. I can't remember the details, but I've heard it argued by some fairly knowledgable people that digital is indistinguishable from analog once you achieve a certain sampling rate & bit depth. Analogous to the fact that, after about 30 (I believe?) frames per second, the human eye can't distinguish the difference between film/animation, and fluid motion.

Although, if it's scientifically proven that analog music activates the pleasure centers of the brain more acutely, it's hard to argue against that. Makes me somewhat jealous of my parents' generation, hehe.

 

[Thorns Have Roses]

That sounds terrible 'jat, but honestly, the thing with the girl is for the best, it sounds like the relationship is toxic for both of you. Beaming good vibes and healing energies in your direction.

In other news, I still feel like crap. Going to arrange to see a specialist after I get some tests done, but what I really want is for my damn symptoms to be attacked with prejudice.

And I love me some pedialyte. It's a lifesaver.

 

[TheAppleCore]

In other news, I still feel like crap. Going to arrange to see a specialist after I get some tests done, but what I really want is for my damn symptoms to be attacked with prejudice.

I am feeling similarly, although probably am suffering from different symptoms. My lungs haven't felt in the best of condition ever since I vaporized a fair bit of an impure synth of an RC (wasn't exactly the smartest thing I've ever done - who knows what impurities I could've been inhaling? ), but recently I got sick with a cold, and I think this just compounded the problem, and I've had an absolutely horrendous cough for over a week now. My lungs constantly feel irritated, and when I'm in a horizontal position, it's almost as if every breath I take triggers a cough reflex. Arghh.

 

[Roger&Me]

Wow... hm. I didn't know chemistry was so cool. (Cool is synonymous with dangerous, didn't you know?) :D

Yeah, chemistry (well, at least the kind I do -- organic synthesis on a large scale) is very dangerous. I run a lot of distillations, flash chromatography columns run at ~20psi, handle a lot of pyrophoric reagents, etc. I'm a lowly technician so I do all the crap jobs that nobody else wants to do, lol

With respect to the analog vs. digital debate, I reserve some skepticism that analog is better than digital. I can't remember the details, but I've heard it argued by some fairly knowledgable people that digital is indistinguishable from analog once you achieve a certain sampling rate & bit depth.

I've heard good arguments on both sides of the analog vs. digital debate, but when it comes down to it music is art so you really just have to go with what sounds best to you. But I've honestly yet to come across a record (in good shape) that doesn't sound at least as good as the same album on CD, and most of the time it sounds way better. And speaking of records, I just picked this one up:

and it is soooo psychedelic, one side of the record is all funk instrumental jamming that goes way out there. I really dig The Blackbyrds, I think they're one of the most underrated bands of all time.

And ya know who else I think is totally underrated? Believe it or not: Prince. That guy could jam out back in the day, and I mean he could jam like Jimi Hendrix could jam, I shit you not. Also, Morris Day and The Time, another one of my fav bands of all time, was basically his brainchild. So mad props to that goofy mofo.

 

[pharmakos]

imagine how much room you'd need to house your music collection if it was analog instead of digital =p

 

[phenethylo J]

Got a 1/4th of some amazing looking bud today but I can't smoke until Monday since my pain clinic does random drug testing. I am excited about trying my
4meo-pcp next week. I am most likely going to plug it; need to some oral syringes. I am still kinda nervous about picking them up at my local pharmacy since I get all my scripts there even though they are not needles.

 

[effingcustie]

With respect to the analog vs. digital debate, I reserve some skepticism that analog is better than digital. I can't remember the details, but I've heard it argued by some fairly knowledgable people that digital is indistinguishable from analog once you achieve a certain sampling rate & bit depth. Analogous to the fact that, after about 30 (I believe?) frames per second, the human eye can't distinguish the difference between film/animation, and fluid motion.

I think there is probably some truth to that, but part of the reason you will hear so many people saying analog sounds a lot better is that the sample rate used for CDs is definitely distinguishable from analog. With higher def digital recordings, there is more of the warmth and dynamic range you would hear on a vinyl record. I used to have a bunch of Dylan SACDs that sounded pretty good, a lot closer to vinyl, but eventually I sold them all because I had most of them on vinyl anyway and preferred them that way. It's also interesting how even electronic music created digitally will sound better on vinyl than CD since you get the full range of sound from the original digital instruments, instead of the thin compressed version on CDs.

I do really appreciate the convenience of digital sound, as well as the possibilities that are opened up to use it creatively. It's pretty cool that I can just go on spotify and check out practically any new music I want to hear, have a huge library of 10s of thousands of songs to listen to or sample in my beats, and that I can slow them down, play them backwards, chop them up and rearrange them all with the click of a mouse. It's crazy to read about the hours and hours the Beatles spent in the studio doing all the psychedelic weird tape stuff, and how easy it is to do it now. Theres so many more possibilities to how sound can be used with computers, but it's too bad that some of the richness is usually lost in the process.


This is making me think about the new Crystal Castles record which I am very excited for, partly because Ethan said that they used no computers recording it, which is pretty crazy for electronic music these days. Instead of throwing it into itunes the second it leaks I'm gonna be disciplined and go buy it on wax the day it comes out so I can really hear it right the first time

 

[twelvesevndi]

I think there is probably some truth to that, but part of the reason you will hear so many people saying analog sounds a lot better is that the sample rate used for CDs is definitely distinguishable from analog. With higher def digital recordings, there is more of the warmth and dynamic range you would hear on a vinyl record.

hmmmm... where did you get this information?

i personally prefer vinyl. its fun to hold and it does sound 'warmer' due to the low pass filter (LPF) effect that is a result of the engraving process.
debating about quality seems silly to me. the limits of the human auditory system are such that 90% of people won't be able to tell the difference 320 kbps MP3 and CD quality WAV. so even if vinyl has a broader Dynamic Range and Frequency Range than CD, i don't think many people could hear that difference (and i have always understood that exceeding CD quality with vinyl is only possible if you cut the vinyl so that 6:00 of recording fills a whole 12 inches (broader grooves allow wider frequency window), and only if you press to 180 g discs (deeper grooves allow a wider amplitude window))... the big difference in how it sounds is down to the LPF effect afaik