Your So Heady Mitch Hedberg...

So the other day I had the truly unique experience of attending Seattle's 18th Annual Hempfest. It was dope. No really, it had some pretty amazing aspects to it.

The first thing that stoned me about the event was its numbers. Apparently over 150,000 people came down to Myrtle Edwards Park on Friday alone! The issue of legalizing marijuana and hemp in America appears to be very potent.

The second really amazing thing about Hempfest was the artwork. Glassblowers, visual artists, musicians, and culinary artists all came out with a high level of creativity. I was especially impressed with this guys work. Basically, he stencils pictures on old vinyl records. He gets some really trippy effects. If your a myspace head check him out, he does everything from Willy Dixon to The Dude.

Other then the things I listed above, Hempfest was pretty much what you'd expect it to be. Cannabis culture brings together a truly odd group and sadly, it is much of the reason the movement gets minimalized in mainstream American politics.

Well at Hempfest, a friend put me on to a comedian named Mitch Hedberg. I came home and giggled to his little antidotes about absurdity. The man was completely silly and people loved him dearly for it. Ironically, he moved to Seattle the same year the first Hempfest was created. Tragically, he lost his life to drugs. Hate to be a downer but drugs can ruin peoples lives for real. In order to have a discussion about the legalization of any substance, we must first differentiate what is recreation and what is abuse. Besides, laughter is the best drug of all.

You can check out the Mitch Hedberg official page here. Also stay tuned for a post about Isaac Hayes, another great soul who lost his life sometime last week.