Saturday, October 27, 2007

Cheech to be at Ratatouille DVD Launch Party

Next week, Disney Pixar is hosting a party to promote the DVD release of Ratatouille. The event, which takes place at Social Hollywood, will feature Cheech Marin and chef Michel Richard serving food dishes to celebs and filmmakers.

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Friday, October 26, 2007

Hanging with Stonerdude and Stern Regulars in NYC


The Weedmaster ran into Stonerdude outside New York's Sirius Satellite Radio headquarters Thursday night. He is in town for Stern Fan Roundtable, as well as for tonight's Stern Fan Halloween party in the village.

Also outside, were Howard Stern Show regulars High Pitch Erik and the Bleeding Deacons.

Stonerdude is the designer of the "F*ck The FCC" and "Free Tommy" shirts. He also plays drums for a band named Bong.

Access His Site

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Catch Tommy at this Weekend's Wonders of Cannabis Festival

Roll it, weave it, smoke it, eat it; the benefits of cannabis and hemp are featured in this two-day concert, expo and festival.

San Francisco, CA - Pot, weed, bud, herb, hemp, ganja and grass; whatever you choose to call it, the cannabis plant has permeated the fabric of American culture and counterculture, with the San Francisco Bay area a hot-bed for continued activism and debate.

On October 27 and 28 the Wonders of Cannabis Festival returns for the 3rd year at the County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park. Emceed by special guest Tommy Chong with his wife Shelby, the indoor/outdoor showcase will feature live music, comedy, speakers, forums, and vendors. The enlightening two-day event is meant to educate and celebrate this versatile plant and the dynamic culture that has surrounded it for over five thousand years, and will touch on important topics suck as user rights, advances in research.

Hours are: Saturday, Oct 27th from 11am-7pm, and Sunday, October 28th from 11am-6pm. Tickets are $25; $20 seniors/disabled, and are available at the door. The Hall of Flowers in Golden Gate Park is located near 9th Street and Lincoln Avenue.

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Along with Tommy Chong, comedians Ngao Bealum and Geechy Guy will keep the crowd laughing during the “green” event, which will also feature a full line up of entertainment including live music from the JGB band, BLVD, Ry Kihn Band, and The Basics, among many others. The large exhibit hall will feature a celebration of the craftsmanship and artistry alive within the culture. Each day will feature the popular Rolling Contests with prizes for the fastest, longest, fattest, and best one-handed joints.

“Cannabis is a helpful herb used by millions of people,” says Ed Rosenthal, activist and founder of the event. “We want to educate the public about the truth gained through legitimate research.” In order to playfully, yet pointedly, draw attention to the magical qualities of the herb, Ed will appear at the event in full magician's gear with cannabis elements to add flare.

The Wonders of Cannabis Festival is a fundraiser in support of Green Aid, a medical marijuana legal defense and education fund based in Oakland, CA.

DEA Administrator Resigns

DEA Administrator, Karen Tandy, has resigned to take a job at Motorola. She was one of George Bush's henchman who helped take down Tommy Chong.

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Sunday, October 21, 2007

Cheech to be on Bloodsucking Cinema this Friday

This Friday, film critic Richard Roeper is hosting Bloodsucking Cinema on Starz. The horror film marathon begins at 8PM. From Dusk Til Dawn, which includes an interview with Cheech Marin, begins at 12:35 a.m.

Updated: Tommy Chong Coming to PIttsburgh

Tommy and Shelby Chong will be coming to Pittsburgh, PA this weekend for a gig at The Improv.

The Post Gazette conducted an interview with Tommy.

The funniest quote was about hosting High Times' Stony Awards last weekend.

"Can you imagine a stoner comedian playing to an audience that's too stoned? Because you got no reaction time. You're working in front of a brick wall. Their brain cells are busy trying to figure out: 'Am I sitting or standing?'"

He also discusses the chances of a Cheech and Chong reunion.

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Update: Pittsburgh Live also conducted an interview with Tommy. Regarding the breakup with Cheech... "Cheech chose to sort of disown it. He wants to have his cake and eat it, too. You can't go to the Geraldo Rivera parties and expect old stoners to stay in your corner. Especially when you go on TV and disown them."

He also mentions that he's writing "The Unauthorized Biography of Cheech and Chong." This is set to hit stores summer 2008.

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Friday, October 19, 2007

Recap: Chong at the NORML 2007 National Convention

Tommy Chong was at the NORML 2007 National Convention last weekend.

A great quote from Chong, "About three months after I got to prison, I woke up one night and thought 'Man, I shouldn't have put my face on those bongs."

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Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Owner of Pittsburgh's Giggles Arrested...Again

Akhil Mishra, the owner of a Pittsburgh novelty shop named Giggles, was arrested again. The police charged him with possession of drug paraphernalia and prohibited weapons, including daggers and stun guns.

His first bust in 2000, led to the fed's launch of Operation Pipe Dreams. This investigation led to the wrongful arrest of Tommy Chong and other wholesalers and distributors. Chong spent 9 months in prison.

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Sunday, October 14, 2007

Cheech at the Great Read in New York City




Cheech Marin was at New York's Columbia University today, as part of the New York Times/Target Great Read event. The annual Great Read brings together author's of children books, albums and whatnot.

Cheech was there to promote his new book Cheech The School Bus Driver. He came on stage at 1:50PM to read his book to the hundreds of excited children who eagerly looked on.

Cheech picked a little girl from the audience to come on stage and turn the pages for him.

Afterwards, he signed autographs at the signing tent. He was nice enough to autograph anything that was presented to him. In fact, one Cheech and Chong fan had the newspaper advertisement signed to "Sister Mary Elephant."

We had a pile of Sleeping Beauty and Let's Make A New Dope Deal CD booklets signed. We will be giving them away this holiday season (late Nov-Dec).

Watch the video of Cheech's reading here (please pardon the shaky hands). It's mpeg4 format. Unzip and play using Apple's Quicktime or itunes.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Cheech Donates Prints to El Paso Museum

Cheech was in El Paso this week for the Haskins Sports Fund Charity Pro-Am. While in town, he donated prints to the El Paso Museum of Art. Cheech has been donating series of prints of his "Chicano Vision: American Painters on the Verge" exhibit to various museums across the country. The series of prints is valued at $31,950.

Don't forget that Cheech will be at the Great Read at New York's Columbia University this Sunday.

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Tuesday, October 09, 2007

American Conservation Film Festival Announces Schedule

Shepherdstown, West Virginia (Vocus/PRWEB ) October 9, 2007 -- In recent years, a new category in filmmaking has emerged which can be referred to as “eco-cinema,” movies that focus on nature and our environment. The American Conservation Film Festival (ACFF) in Shepherdstown, West Virginia prides itself on providing high quality eco-cinema that educates and inspires moviegoers. Films and filmmakers featured at ACFF combine masterful storytelling with a passion for the environment.

“Our films aren’t just about animals and trees. The films featured at the American Conservation Film Festival examine humans and nature, and how the two interact,” stated David Lillard, Executive Director of ACFF. “This year, we have an incredible line-up with over 20 films, including nine award-winning films and two world premieres.”

This year’s festival will highlight films that have been described as inspirational, informative, and simply beautiful. The complete schedule is as follows:

Thursday, November 1, 2007 at the Shepherdstown Opera House ($7 admission)

7:00 pm: Greasy Rider (47 mins.) From French fries to fuel, a cross-country trek to avoid high-gas prices with talking heads Tommy Chong, Yoko Ono and others.

7:50 pm: Off the Grid: Life on the Mesa (70 mins.) A hardscrabble community of eco-pioneers living on the fringe in Northern New Mexico. Viewer discretion - contains adult language and subject matter.

9:00 pm: Southbounders (85 mins.) Feature film adventure walking south from Maine to Georgia along America’s longest national park--the Appalachian Trail. Viewer discretion – contains brief nudity.

Friday, November 2, 2007 at National Conservation Training Center (free admission)

6:45 pm: Conversing with Aotearoa (15 mins.) Explores our most intimate relations with wild places—a blend of animation and the so-called real world.

7:00 pm: National Geographic's Arctic Expedition (60 mins.) Explorer Jon Waterman hosts this special preview of an upcoming film on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

8:00 pm: Gates of the Arctic (57 mins.) In this world premiere, take a spectacular journey to the Gates of the Arctic National Park focusing on the people who live there.

9:15 pm: Aeon (15 mins.) A landscape documentary of life and death in Wellington, New Zealand.

9:30 pm: Red Velvet (58 mins.) A haunting and graphic look at the subsistence lifestyle of a remote Russian village harvesting deer antlers. Viewer discretion – adult content and brief depictions of antler harvesting. The animals are released afterward.

Saturday November 3, 2007 at National Conservation Training Center (free admission)

Family Film Festival

1:30 pm: Critter Quest (22 mins.) Find the wilderness and wildlife in your backyard on this hi-definition safari from the Smithsonian Channel.

2:00 pm: Charlotte’s Web (80 mins.) The most poetic of children’s tales gets a spectacular film treatment. Some pig … some movie!

4:00 pm: The Worst Journey in the World (60 mins.) The tale of an epic hunt for penguin eggs during Captain Scott’s polar expedition of 1910-1913.

Student Film Competition

11:45 am: Aeon (see description above)

12:00 pm: Conversing with Aotearoa (see description above)

12:15 pm: Eco Views (28 mins.) Students collaborate to tell short tales on the environmental history of the Chesapeake Bay from four different perspectives.

12:45 pm: Greasy Rider (see description above)

1:30 pm: Against the Current (19 mins.) Examining the balance between ranching economy and the natural river systems that support native trout.

Independent Film Forum

2:00 pm: Restoring Balance (28 mins.) Monty Python alum John Cleese investigates an ongoing battle against invasive rats.

2:30 pm: Bird Song and Coffee (56 mins.) How caffeine and conservation are united in shade grown coffee.

3:30 pm: Blowing Up Paradise (60 mins.) The A-Bomb meets a tropical paradise in this tragic tale of the Cold War in French Polynesia.

4:30 pm: Lusha of Samage (25 mins.) Fascinating Chinese film exploring the rarely seen black and white snub-nosed monkey.

5:00 pm: The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil (53 mins.) What happens when the oil runs out? Find out how one nation faced this energy crisis.

Filmmakers’ Forum

5:00 pm: Strange Days on Planet Earth: Predators (58 mins.) This futuristic National Geographic film examines the most dangerous animals on the planet.

6:00 pm: The Town That Was (58 mins.) The stranger than fiction tale of a town that’s had the life burned from under it by a coal fire that’s been burning for more than 20 years—and of one man obsessed with keeping the town alive.

7:00 pm: Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People (58 mins) Sissy Spacek, E.O. Wilson and Henry Louis Gates explore our amazing mountains, people and culture.

8:00 pm: Student Award - The best student film of the year will be honored and screened.

8:30 pm: Summercamp! (85 mins.) The day-to-day drama of a summer camp in northern Wisconsin.

Sunday, November 4, 2007 at National Conservation Training Center (free admission)

1:00 pm: When Pigs Fly (62 mins.) One woman’s attempt to protect 700 pigs. Viewer discretion – contains adult content.

2:30 pm: Charlotte’s Web (80 mins.) The most poetic of children’s tales gets a spectacular film treatment.

2:00 pm: Gates of the Arctic (56 mins.) Encore presentation of this world premiere.

3:00 pm: Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People (58 mins.) Encore presentation of this world premiere.

Since 2003, ACFF has shared more than 100 films featuring landscapes, cultures, and topics ranging from endangered species to urban environmental justice. The 2007 ACFF will be held in conjunction with the Potomac Arts Festival (www.PotomacArtsFestival.org) and the Goose Route arts collaborative performances of Remember (www.GooseRoute.org) at the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) in Shepherdstown, WV. For more information about the American Conservation Film Festival, visit www.ConservationFilm.org or call (304) 876-7373. Please note that the schedule is subject to change.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Tommy Chong to be on Yo on E! Tomorrow

Tomorrow afternoon, Tommy Chong will be a special guest on Yo on E!. Michael Yo is the host of E!'s brand-new, call-in talk show on Sirius. His three-hour live show tackles the hottest topics in Hollywood and features listener calls, emails, IMs and voicemails, so fans can share their opinions.

Schedule
Live daily 4-7 p.m. ET on Sirius Channel 107
Encores 5-8 p.m. PT

Recap: Cheech at Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Convention

Earlier this week, Cheech introduced Latino comics at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute convention in Washington, DC. The crowd was laughing hysterically watching Alex Reymundo, Carlos Mencia and more performing their stand-up acts.

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Tuesday, October 02, 2007