Project: Upon turning 50 years old on August 16, 2020, Dave Olson (me, hello) is posting a photo (or maybe photos) a day / per year – starting with 1970 with intent of chronicling existence through various primary evidence sourced from studio portraits, class photos, ID / passport photos, or occasionally other “casual/group/random” shots when the above don’t exist in my archive (note: not “artificial intelligence,” really me, pulled from shoeboxes, journals, wallets and whatnot – diligently scanned and dated via glasses and haircuts, lightly annotated).
My hippie and hempster credentials are/were never in need of validation, however… for your consideration, may I present a portrait of a much younger Uncle Weed at a HempFest near Nelson, BC circa 1993. Had just returned to another journey around Japan and spent the summer selling him bags and juggling sticks at various festivals, concerts and street corners. (this is a guy called Hamish next to me0
On Dec. 25th aboard a lake ferry on Kootenay Lake, DaveO offers thanks and greetings to friends and co-conspirators while recounting the highs and lulls of year past plus offers non-dogmatic greetings to all festive people.
photo by UW on Christmas Eve at the hotel bar, art’ed up by Bread the Producer who also edited and mixed this episode
During the Festive season – holed up at an historic hotel in Nelson BC sampling local hashish – a sloppy Uncle Weed stumbles through stories with the loquacious harmonica master Xomaha who shares songs and harp licks while annotating the history of the mouth harp from German beer halls to American plantations.
Along with wise ganja analysis comes a story about a trippy night in Peru influenced by giant psychedelic Morpehus mushroom moths; his roots from Seattle “paying dues” in a changing city; youthful times in the Bay Area seeing Taj Mahal, Grateful Dead, Crosby Stills and Nash, Jefferson Airplane, Steve Miller, Cat Stevens… Plus anecdotes from Hunter S. Thompson and Dalai Lama, and a call to action to contribute to the collective intelligence.
Festive Flashbacks from Orion to Nelson – Choogle On! #99
Hustling to a bus, Uncle Weed ends the festive period with vaporization session and recounts highlights, hi-jinks and life remixes from 2010 including gut surgery, True North Media House social reporting at the Olympics including Olympic Outsider podcasts, Subpop Records, Hockey Hall of Fame, SXSW, Komasket Music Festival, UW40 party, Halloween at the Waldorf hotel, visits from friends, and then a decompression road trip to Nelson with forays to ferries, hot springs and local organic beers.
Ends with clumsy thanks to the Chooglers who had my back during the past year. Musical interludes including an skat/vocal rendition of a Charlie Parker tune by Nico from Savage Blade. See also Best Year in Years ~ 2010 Flashback blog post including more 2010 highlights a video from the aforementioned ferry ride.
You may want to head north to Crawford Bay where you can take a free ride on the Osprey 2000. This ferry trip takes about 45 minutes, so add this to your driving time. Also in busy summer times you may have to wait an extra ferry sailing. Having said this there are beaches to walk, sometimes vendors at the parking area and drinks to purchase, plus it can be a relaxing break in your journey. The scenery is absolutely stupendous and this alone is worth making the trip! Ferry Schedule: Ferry Schedule
If you are traveling during the winter
Please check road conditions for your route. Road closures are common on mountain passes due to avalanche and snow removal.
