"From Neurons to Nirvana : Psychedelics in the 21st Century" Film

Dear friends (and family) of Bluelight,

I hope this post finds everyone well, enjoying the last days of summer (or winter, for all our friends in the Southern hemisphere). ☺

I want to first say thanks to all of you for your patience during the recent upgrades, with special appreciation to our engineers, Hoptis and Chr15. Without their efforts the daily operations of this site would have come to a screeching halt long ago. It’s exciting and humbling to know we have so many talented people dedicating their free time and expertise to make Bluelight the powerful resource (not to mention fun place) that it is today.

That being said, it is now my pleasure to share some exciting news regarding a landmark opportunity for all of us at Bluelight.

As many of you know, TheLoveBandit and I have been investing a great deal of time analyzing Bluelight’s strengths, potential and opportunities for improvement as we plot a course for our community going forward. Building on our strong sense of community and history of information sharing, TheLoveBandit and I have outlined a shared vision to see Bluelight expand into new areas and make a greater impact in the world. In this spirit, we decided to reach out to Oliver Hockenhull -- the director of "From Neurons to Nirvana: The Great Medicines.” Our friend Rick Doblin of MAPS first introduced me to the film’s trailer, which is currently circulating on the web:

http://vimeo.com/channels/neuronirvana

The people already involved with this project: Rick Doblin, David Nichols, Dennis McKenna, etc. represent a “who’s who” list of psychedelic celebrities.

First let me say that it's not everyday that I speak with a professional film director. ;) However, after watching the trailer and additional footage made available through the Vimeo portal, I began to feel strongly that Bluelight had a place in the important message Mr. Hockenhull wishes to convey in his film. For over a decade, Bluelight has sought to shift mainstream attitudes towards an acceptance of psychedelic research and raise awareness of the therapeutic potentials that await mankind. Individually and as a collective, with sites like Erowid and MAPS, Bluelight has played a significant role in building grassroots support for psychedelic research. With shared goals in mind, we have committed our services to help raise awareness for and ultimately help launch the film once it's been completed.

Mr. Hockenhull and I have been exchanging ideas regarding content and fundraising options for the past few months. I think you’ll all be pleased to hear that Mr. Hockenhull was already familiar with Bluelight, and had a number of flattering things to say about our community and members. He was also excited to hear of the transformation Bluelight has undertaken as a community – maturing from little more than a “raver site” in 1999, to a legitimate harm reduction resource involved in academic and private research.

A few weeks ago, Mr. Hockenhull launched a page on Kickstarter – a fantastic web resource for projects of this type. Kickstarter provides a quick and easy Internet portal for supporters to get updates on a project and raise enough money to hit a pre-determined goal. With the global reach of the Bluelight community, I believe we are in a unique position to help get the word out about “From Neurons to Nirvana” and direct significant traffic to Mr. Hockenhull’s kickstarter page.

To be involved in a project of this scale and prestige would be one of the great milestones in Bluelight's history. For this reason, I am asking each one of you for your help. This is indeed an ideal opportunity for our site, as we step out of our 2000's look and feel, that we take this chance to start spreading our wings beyond the web while utilizing all we have at our fingertips to make a difference. TLB and I have discussed this with the Senior staff and have gotten full support in launching our public support of the film and Mr. Hockenhull.

Soon, you will be seeing banners and videos placed around Bluelight related to these efforts. We will be pushing this message through our social media outlets via our Twitter, Facebook and Google+ account to send out teasers, updates, reminders, etc. about the film and Bluelight's involvement. In this way, it is our hope that Mr. Hockenhull is able to raise the funds necessary to complete the film and bring it to the masses.

Please review all that he's done on the project to date if you wish to learn more. I realize that times are tough for some, but it would be great if each Bluelighter stopped over at the “From Neurons to Nirvana” kickstarter page and pledge whatever you feel is appropriate and within your ability. I’ve recently done so myself.

In addition to monetary donations, you can also help by posting links to “From Neurons to Nirvana” on other web communities, your Facebook page, or anywhere else it might be appreciated. We already have a thread in DiTM, but to give this a bigger push for attention, we will indeed be launching an all out push to get our members, and their friends, to pledge what they can in support of this project. It aligns with the goals and aspirations we hold for this site and is the first of many such efforts we'll be bringing to you for your education, entertainment, and support.

Thank you to the Admins, who have already expressed their excitement and motivation regarding this project. Furthermore, Our thanks goes out to our now 200k+ registered members and staff, as well as the vast numbers of lurkers who read our site and can help in a positive cause like this. Let's make this happen, and let's make sure they know Bluelight played a part in getting this message to the world.


Are you with us??? ☺

SG
 
This is a tremendous opportunity for Bluelight to show it's support of another individual trying to change society's preconceptions on safe use of drugs. As such, I'm proud to put name, and contribution, to this endeavor. We encourage anyone who is a member, or even a lurker, of Bluelight to help get this film made and distributed. The message can only help those who hear it.

I see on the kickstarter page, he's only got a limited time to raise the funds - but I believe with the support of Bluelight and it's following we can help him get there. The Kickstarter drive allows for pledges as small as $1, but nothing is donated if the full amount isn't pledged. Help us help Mr. Hockenhull, pledge what you can!

As SG indicated, you should see a more concerted push by our site via FB, Twitter, and of course some on-site advertising to put the full force of what BL can accomplish behind this effort!
 
Dear Bluelight

Note from the director of the film/media project Oliver...

Want to thank Bluelight for the interest and communication about the media project.

From Neurons to Nirvana: The Great Medicines is about what many of you have been thinking about for years — how can we use these tools, these remarkable substances most appropriately to enlighten our lives, our relationships, our worlds. What do we know about their neurochemistry? What are the personal, social and political ramifications of their use? What are the benefits and what are the costs of their use? Why are alternative modes of consciousness, such as the ecstatic state, criminalized, taboo? What does it mean for oneself to take an entheogen, an entactogen, a hallucinogen, a psychedelic — and what kind of civilization would we create if society was authentically informed by their responsible use?

You can find out much more by going to the Kickstarter page. You are welcomed to email me about the project with any questions, comments, and suggestions you may have (preferable via the kickstarter page).

Oh, and I am also looking for 'inkind' and creative co-production assistance too — so if you're a wizard with aftereffects or cinema 4d or have done some iphone media apps — please don't hesitate to contact me.

Thanks

La Luz,
Oliver
 
wow...looks pretty awesome! I would donate but right now I just donated to animal rights activist..but for sure I will be trying to donate soon! KEEP THE FEELING ALIVEEEE! That doc is totally right we only USE 10 percent of our brain b/c we were TAUGHT that way..but if you step outside of it and explore it for yourself...u come to realize the truth....and for me the one that opened that door WIIIDE OPEN ..was def ECSTACY...I mean I know it had a bad effect afterwards, the depression and all but for what it was worth the 6 hours it lasted....oh man...they were incredible and I vividly remember the feeling..not so much what I was doing but the feeling in my memory will never fade...and I always thought...GOSH if there was any way that I could just remove the part where it brings you into a depressive state ...then it would be a miracle drug! b/c it makes you feel sooooo damn goood! aaah
 
I touched base with Oliver last night, and although this is great news, he is still waiting for all of the payments to be successfully processed via the various credit cards and Amazon.com (which as I understand, were not charged until the project succeeded). FYI, to all who may have donated to N2N, please make sure that your payments have cleared. I personally had to update my credit card number due to it being stolen last month. :X

Oliver sends his sincere thanks to everyone who has supported his cause, as do I. I'm excited to see more of the film as it comes to fruition. More to come very soon from us -- stay posted to the front page for more announcements. :)
 
Given that we get a copy of the film for donating, this'll make it the only film I ever paid for outside of a cinema.

This is what being Jesus must've felt like.
 
Hi there!
It was extremely exciting to read about your vision of community building through this site and networks! I don't post here much (it's been about a year since I logged in here), but I am a regular on the Shroomery...
Anyway, I don't want to SPAM ths site here with the link, but if someone could link up with me from administration here about sending over a link to our project to see if it is in line with the community goals and visions here....We're a small family-owned company, and we hand make psychedelic, blotter, and molecule art in a variety of media. Thanks for supporting Global Psychedelic Community Art!
 
Apparently the funding was not succesful, after all. Anyone have more detailed info? This looks like a really promising project...
 
^ I'm curious too. A few of you said this was successful but the site says it was unsuccessful, so which is it? The goal was reached, but kickstarter is an "all or nothing" initiative, and if the money wasn't received by the final date, none of the donators will have been charged. So I'm curious as to what actually happened, I was really hopeful about this project :)
 
Last I heard via Oliver's emails, a couple of the last-minute backers (who promised significant sums) pulled out.

So the project made the kickstarter deadline, but was ultimately deemed unsuccessful. Backers were refunded accordingly.
 
tambourine-man;10093437 said:
Last I heard via Oliver's emails, a couple of the last-minute backers (who promised significant sums) pulled out.

So the project made the kickstarter deadline, but was ultimately deemed unsuccessful. Backers were refunded accordingly.
buzzkill
 
Hi
Posting this on Jan. 20, 2014.

We did get the film finished! It's now available on Itunes, Sony Playstation and even on Walmarts...it's everywhere!
I was unsuccessful for the first try with Kickstarter but was successful in the second round with getting distribution support via Kickstarter.
The first time with Kickstarter some guy pledged big bucks and then vanished and didn't honor his pledge. Big disappointment at the time. If we don't respect
our own words...well that's pretty pathetic. Anyhow we managed — with lots of additional help...Thank you bluelight for your help and support. I'll also be releasing the longer cut of the film in about a 10 months from now — at that time I'll make sure we have discount code for the Bluelight people!
Light, Oliver
 
Top