Wednesday, January 30, 2008

What has the world come to?

Pot Vending Machines Take Root in LA By DAISY NGUYEN

LOS ANGELES - The city that popularized the fast food drive-thru has a new innovation: 24-hour medical marijuana vending machines.

Patients suffering from chronic pain, loss of appetite and other ailments that marijuana is said to alleviate can get their pot with a dose of convenience at the Herbal Nutrition Center, where a large machine will dole out the drug around the clock.

"Convenient access, lower prices, safety, anonymity," inventor and owner Vincent Mehdizadeh said, extolling the benefits of the machine.

But federal drug agents say the invention may need unplugging.

"Somebody owns (it), it's on a property and somebody fills it," said DEA Special Agent Jose Martinez. "Once we find out where it's at, we'll look into it and see if they're violating laws."

At least three dispensaries in the city, including two belonging to Mehdizadeh, have installed vending machines to distribute the drug to people who carry cards authorizing marijuana use.

Mehdizadeh said he spent seven months to develop and patent the black, armored box, which he calls the "PVM," or prescription vending machine.

A sliding fence protects the tinted windows of his dispensary, barely distinguishing it from a busy thoroughfare of strip malls, automobile dealers and furniture shops. A box resembling a large refrigerator stands inside the nearly empty shop, near a few shelves stocked with vitamins and herbs.

A guard in a black T-shirt emblazoned with the word "Security" on the front stands at the door. A poster of Bob Marley decorates a back room.

The computerized machine requires fingerprint identification and a prepaid card with a magnetic stripe. Once the card and fingerprint are verified, a bright green envelope with the pot drops down a slot.

Mehdizadeh says any user approved for medical marijuana and registered in a computer database at his dispensaries can pre-purchase the drug and then use the machine to pick up.

The process provides convenience and privacy for users who may otherwise feel uncomfortable about buying marijuana, Mehdizadeh said.

At the Timothy Leary Medical Dispensary in the San Fernando Valley, the vending machine is accessible only during business hours. An employee there said the machine was introduced about five months ago, and provides speedy service.

"It helps a lot of patients who are in a lot of pain and don't want to wait around to get help," Robert Schwartz said. "It's been working out great."

Mehdizadeh said he sought the advice of doctors, and decided to limit the amount of marijuana per user to an ounce per week. Each purchase from the machine yields 1/8th or 2/8th of an ounce. By eliminating a vendor behind the counter, he said, the machine offers users lower drug prices. The 1/8th ounce packet would cost about $40 - $20 lower than the average price at other dispensaries.

A spokesman for a marijuana advocacy group said the machine also benefits dispensary owners.

"It limits the number of workers in the store in the event of a raid, and it'll make it harder for theft," said Nathan Sands, of The Compassionate Coalition.

Marijuana use is illegal under federal law, which does not recognize the medical marijuana laws in California and 11 other states.

The Drug Enforcement Agency and other federal agencies have been actively shutting down major medical marijuana dispensaries throughout the state over the last two years and charging their operators with felony distribution charges.

Mehdizadeh said the Herbal Nutrition Center was the target of a federal raid in December. He said no arrests were made and no charges have been filed against him.

Kris Hermes, a spokesman for advocacy group Americans for Safe Access, said the machine might benefit those who already know how much and what strain of marijuana they're looking for. But he said others will want to see and smell the drug before they buy it.

A man who said he has been authorized to use medical marijuana as part of his anger management therapy said the vending machine's security measures would at least protect against illicit use of the drug.

"You have kids that want to get high and that's not what marijuana is for," Robert Miko said. "It's to medicate."

Some cool stuff

From KISSONLINE.com:

Thirty five years ago today - January 30, 1973, KISS performed their very first concert at Popcorn (The Coventry) in Queens, NY. The band performed 2 sets at the club that night for a crowd of under 10 people.

Earlier this week, Gene recalled how that show came about:

1973 was the beginning.

Wicked Lester had just finished its album for EPIC RECORDS. There were five members in the band, including Paul and myself. Though we had a real recording contract with a major label, and though we had finished an entire album, we were depressed. It just wasn't what we had envisioned.

So, we started again. We tried firing the other three guys in Wicked Lester, but some wouldn't leave.
So, we quit.

We started again with a vision. "Let's put together the band we never saw on stage."

We got a manager named LOU LINET, who managed JF MURPHY AND FREE FLOWING SALT and DIANA MARCOVITZ (or something like that)...and when he heard the newborn baby -- KISS. He thought it was the worst crap he had ever heard. Needless to say, he was gone immediately.
So, we were managerless.

I put together a bio kit, while I worked at the Puerto Rican Interagency Council, as assistant to the Director. Peter's friend owned a printing press and printed up our invites.

But, where to play?
We didn't have a manager.
We didn't have an agent.
We never had.

I made a phone call cold to a place called Popcorn in Queens, NY and on the phone convinced the guy to hire a band, who would soon be changing their name from WICKED LESTER to KISS.

We got the gig -- three nights -- Wed, Thurs and Fri for the sum total of $150.

That was the beginning.


New article coming out with this cool pic and more info about the new Indy film. You can check it out at http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=21881.

Pics up at MySpace

Added some cool pics like the one above to my Photo Album on MySpace. You can check them out at www.myspace.com/ericshirey.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Late to the punch, but still a brilliant film - soon to be desecrated by the usual American remake

***Edit: When I said late to the punch, I was referring to me finally seeing a film from 2003***

Absolutely brilliant film. I don't have enough thumbs to put up. As usual, Asian horror is so far ahead of the American industry - so much more intelligent, intricate, and sophisticated. The trailer alone will convince you to see this piece of art.

Boycotting the rest of the season of Celebrity Apprentice

I have decided that I am boycotting the rest of this season of Celebrity Apprentice on behalf of Gene Simmons. I believe he was prematurely fired (like there would ever come a "right" time to actually fire Gene Simmons) and will not stand for it. May Omerosa have fun stabbing everyone in the back for the rest of the show. I also recommend fans of Mr. Simmons and KISS to take the same stance to show Mr. Trump what a joke he has made of himself.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

RIP Heath Ledger

Heath Ledger
1979-2008

Some fun personal info updates

I just put a link to a song I did under the name Coarse way back when. It was featured on a pretty popular Industrial compilation that came out on Flaming Fish Records called Full Frontal Lobotomy. I've thought about doing another couple songs with different musical acquaintences of mine, but just have never got around to it. Who knows - maybe in the future. It would be way more metal now - but still poppy. Probably along the lines of Rob Zombie or something like that.

I also posted an article I wrote for HM Magazine about ChemLab a long time ago. I used to do interviews and record reviews for them way back in the day. It was fun. Just thought I would post this for anyone who wants to read it and has some time to waste.

Star Trek XI Teaser Trailer



I know that there are a lot of skeptics out there, but I for one am intrigued and can't wait to see this.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Me in HM Magazine

I forgot to post that I was recently interviewed / wrote for an article on As I Lay Dying. It's one of those reflections on where the band came from type things. It's the Sep/Oct 2007 Issue which is #127. I thought it was just going to be like some added comments in the main article, but when I got it, my section was actually the "Afterward" or "outro" of the article blocked in red. Pretty cool. Check it out.

Walt Disney and KISS partner together - haha



Hanna Montana with Aly and AJ performing "Rock And Roll All Nite" live. Walt Disney would be proud. Haha.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Diet Hell / Apprentice Joke / Hot Rod

So I started this calorie counting diet where I write down all the calories I eat. Man, what a pain. I really am tired of being the fat funny sidekick guy in life. I really do need to lose weight for my health. We'll see what happens.

Gene Simmons got fired on Celebrity Apprentice. What a joke. His presentation was a million times better than the other teams. He also saved the the Men's team (Hydra - which he named, by the way) from losing their butts the last two weeks. If it wasn't for him, they would have made close to no money at all. Whatever. I guarantee you that the show loses a ton of viewers because he got fired. KISS and Gene Simmons fans are very loyal and they will stop watching it. He was the only reason I was watching it. I don't give a crap about that show. I just wanted to watch him work his business magic and take the other contestants to school.

On another KISS note, my year and a half old son now sings the "me" in "Do You Love Me". You got to teach them young. Supposedly, KISS is touring this summer - here's hoping so.

We watched Hot Rod the other night. It was pretty funny. I was surprised. I wasn't expecting much, but it was relatively entertaining. Watching a guy crash and burn and get hurt over and over again never stops being entertaining. And that fake moustache - you don't get any better than that.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Comic Con Saturday / Fright Night Screening & Casting Reunion / Got My Ace Frehley Tix

So me and the kids strolled over to Dallas Comic Con 10 on Saturday and hung out. The kids both got a couple cool little toys. Ephraim got a Spider-man kid toy and an X-Men car. Everett got a Flash action figure (finally - he's been looking for one for a while) and something else I can't remember for some reason. I got some free passes to Studio Movie Grill, so that was cool.

The icing on the cake was getting to meet Steve Niles. He was giving away signed 30Days Of Night posters and comics. Very cool guy. I talked to him for about 20 minutes about the possibility of a sequel (they're in talks right now for Dark Days) and the plan to bring Criminal Macabre to the big-screen. We also discussed how the graphic novel translated to film, which we both thought went really well. I think it's one of the only films in a long time not to glorify the vampire as some seductive / sexual predator neo-gothic whiner. He agreed. The only thing that sucked was I took a picture of him with Everett on my phone and then forgot to save it. I'm not one of those starstruck weirdos, but I do like to document things that are exciting to me in my life.

I also made some cool contacts for my upcoming events and shot the proverbial bs about the upcoming Fright Night screening and cast reunion with the guys who put on Fearfest. Very excited about this event, since I'm a huge Fright Night and Fright Night 2 fan.

I also got my Ace Frehley tickets for his upcoming tour. He's playing at the House Of Blues on February 24th. I get to see 1/4 of the original line-up of KISS performing his material. His solo album is my favorite out of the group from the 78 albums. I can't even begin to explain how excited I am about this. I may even get to do an interview with him for HM. That would be a dream come true.

Friday, January 4, 2008

Christmas Vacation / New Years Explosions / Showers On Dallas

I haven't posted in a while personally, so felt like it was time to tell everyone what I've been up to. Here we go:

I went to my parents for New Years Eve, which has become a somewhat annual thing. We always make a long weekend or short vacation of it because that's when we celebrate Christmas with them as well. That was pretty cool. I got some more tools and my brother got my thegreatest gift of all time...a nose and ear hair trimmer. How much more practical can you be than that? I also got a pack of Star Wars playing cards - each card has different poster art from one of the films. Very cool. We watched the Star Wars Holiday Special, which caused much laughter and sarcastic comments from all around the room.
We blew up some firecrackers - the expensive one was the crappiest of them all and barely caused any explosion or noise. Man, it was cold out. Then we toasted with non-alcoholic grape juice and ate some food. I was a little under the weather, so I slept a lot in the sofa-chair.

We finally got to the part in Dallas where Pam wakes up and finds Bobby in the shower - revealing that the entire last season (30 some episodes) had all been a dream. Lizz was less than impressed with this and watched the last two episodes in contempt, as I laughed because I knew it was going to happen.

I read Gene Simmons' book, "KISS and Make-up". It was great. There were things in there I never knew and some were shocking. I really do admire him as a businessman and musician. We have certain beliefs that we definitely do not agree upon, but overall he is an extremely smart individual who seems to be a pretty nice guy.

Hopefully, I'll be going to the Dallas Comic Con next weekend for a while to meet Steve Niles. I really love his 30 Days Of Night series and would love to get an autographed piece of work from him. I haven't read anything else he's done, but I definitely love those and the movie. It's a non-gothic pretty boy take on vampires.

We saw Underdog, which was a pretty cool movie. I'll watch anything that has Jason Lee in it. Both of my sons thought it was great. The effects were pretty cool. We also watched Meet The Robinsons, which I fell asleep watching. It seemed pretty cool. I'll have to attempt to watch it again sometime.