UPDATE: Free Tommy Protest

Decent turnout this rainy afternoon. The media was on-hand. The Sacramento NBC affiliate is running a report on today's protest (watch this evening's NBC news).

Photos above are of Bobby Capps (dressed as Pedro), Stoner Dude of Knumbskull Records' band, BONG, and others.

Another person is currently organizing a protest in Fresno. We'll give you the details as they emerge.

Free Tommy Protest Scheduled

A major Free Tommy Chong rally is taking place this month in California. If you care about Tommy Chong and your rights as an American, you must attend.

Location: North steps of the state capital in Sacramento, CA.
Date and Time: 01.24.2004, 12PM
Purpose: To get Governor Schwarzenegger to call George W. Bush to free Tommy Chong.
Costumes and signs are requested. NO BUSH BASHING SIGNS, PLEASE.
Sign Ideas:
Free Tommy Chong
Arnold call G.W. Bush
Repeal Paraphernalia Law
Unfair Law
Bails Fines Punishments
Tommy Unfairly Punished
Ashcroft Beatnik Bashing Bully
John Hitler Ashcroft
Pardon Tommy Chong
American Freedom Abuse
Laws Not For Ego Boosting
Tommy Chong P.O.W.
Costume Ideas:
Statue of Liberty
George Washington
Uncle Sam
P.O.W.s
Hitler Ashcroft
Tommy Chong
Bill Clinton with sign I toked but didn't inhale
Jerry Brown with sign I inhaled but didn't exhale

This protest is being organized by the infamous Bobby Capps. He's the person responsible for hanging Free Tommy signs from overpasses, as well as writing it in the burnt brush along Route 80. Email Bobby with any questions you may have.

Judging Cheech

Cheech Marin makes his debut on Judging Amy Tuesday at 10PM EST on CBS. He plays a potential love interest of Amy's mom, played by Tyne Daly (YIKES!).

Chicano Visions Comes To Indiana

Cheech Marin's 15-city traveling art exhibit, Chicano Visions, is coming the Indiana State Museum later this month.
Location: Indiana State Museum, Indianapolis, IndianaDates: 01.31.2004 - 05.05.2004
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Chongstock Concert

The bands Mule, Mike Stinson, Dale Peterson, Random Joe Citizen and Cody Lapow are doing a show in support of the Free Tommy Chong movement. The event takes place Saturday, December 13th at THE CINEMA BAR, 3967 SEPULVEDA BLVD, CULVER CITY, CA, 310-390-1328. Send an email to the organizer for more information. Be sure to bring a pen to sign petitions.

Update: Chongstock was a huge success. Mule and others played to a sold-out crowd this past Saturday. Petitions were signed and the crowd went crazy when Mule covered Earache My Eye. Mule says they may do another in the future.

Commie Chong

Congratulations to Tommy Chong who won the award for "Funniest Person Behind Bars" at Comedy Central's Commies. Cheech accepted the award on Tommy's behalf.
To protest Chong's imprisonment Scott Thompson, of Kids In The Hall and Larry Sander's fame, spent the evening in a David Blane-esque booth suspended high above the theater. He sported a "Free Tommy Chong" t-shirt.

LA Weekly Interviews Chong Family

LA Weekly has published an interview Precious and Paris Chong, two of Tommy's children. In the article, they describe the events surrounding the arrest, what it was like being raided by the feds, Chong Glass and more.
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LA City Beat's Interview With Chong

California magazine, LA City Beat published an in-depth story about Tommy Chong's arrest which includes an interview with Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin. During the interview, Chong says that it was a mistake to plead guilty and felt like he was ambushed. He also said that Taft had to change the visitation rules because people were visiting inmates just to get photos with him.

When he was arrested, he was in the middle of writing his auto-biography. The book will now include a detailed account of his arrest and prison life. The completion date for the book is unknown at this time.

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Cheech Gets Stoned With Staind

On today's Howard Stern Show, the band Staind admitted to smoking pot with the dopemaster himself, Cheech Marin. They wouldn't elaborate, but said that Cheech was trying to hide what he was doing so his wife wouldn't see.
In case you didn't notice, Cheech and Chong Dot Com has been running live spots on the Howard Stern Show all week. The next one airs tomorrow during the 8 o'clock hour (eastern time).

The Holiday Auctions Have Begun

The annual Cheech and Chong Dot Com Holiday Auctions are underway. Nearly three dozen items will be listed during the next forty eight hours. We've outdone ourselves this year. Items include sealed out-of-print albums, one-of-a-kind animation cels, rare promotional items, LPs, 45s and more. The featured item this year is Tommy Chong's personal storyboards which were used in the making of Nice Dreams.
Access The Auctions

Bobby Capps Strikes Again

The Free Tommy Chong movement is stronger than ever in California. Actor Bobby Capps has struck again. This time he wrote "Free Tommy Chong" using lime at a burnt out spot along Route 80. He had been planning it for weeks, but the rainy weather caused numerous postponements.
This mission was conducted under the dark of night. After his accomplice dropped him off, he proceeded to walk 1/4 mile up a muddy hill to access the ideal location. It required over forty trips up and down that steep embankment to make it absolutely perfect.
When asked what he learned from the experience, Bobby Capps said it best, "dont eat a big potroast dinner with all the gravy and taters before the mission...you just might end up hurling your dinner over the side of the freeway."
Brilliant words from a brilliant man!
Email us if you're interested in contacting or hiring actor Bobby Capps.
While you're at it, check out this hysterical flash animation of Ashcroft arresting Chong. It was created by Bad Dog Graphics.

Free Tommy Protest Parade

Join the ìFREE TOMMYî Doo Dah Parade Brigade! Wear your hand-made FREE TOMMY t-shirtÖbring your protest signÖand your best Tommy Chong ìlookî to the corner of Raymond and Walnut Street in Pasadena at 10:00 am for a wake and bake pre-march gathering on Sunday, November 23 plus ten bucks parade entry fee to march. This salute to Tommy Chong will be a historical event filled with many laughs. We look forward to having you join us. Feel free to drop an rsvp note to spacedearthling@trafficking.com Öor just show up in Pasadena at ten bells for the 11:30 am parade.
For more parade information, check out http://www.pasadenadoodahparade.com
Update: The Doo Dah Parade was a huge success. Approximately 8,000 people participated in the parade and amazingly there were no arrests. The free Tommy Chong group drew tons of media attention.

Forbes Article on Chong

Forbes Magazine posted a little blurb on Chong. Nothing new is discussed, but the article is useful in getting the word out about his ordeal.
Read Here

Cheech Joins Cast Of Judging Amy

With the future (or actually the start) of Cheech Marin's new sitcom, The Ortegas, in limbo, Cheech has chosen to join the cast of CBS's Judging Amy. He will have a recurring role as Ignacio Messina, a landscape architect who is doing work on the Gray's home. He becomes a potential love interest for Maxine. Marin's first episode is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 6 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT).

Chong Supporter Risks Life

This morning, aspiring actor/Chong supporter, Bobby Capps, risked life and limb when he hung a Free Tommy Chong banner from California's Foresthill Bridge. The banner, which we mentioned on the Allan Handelman show earlier this week, measured 80 X 6 feet.
According to Capps, "With Cars going by it was very hard to do it without getting caught." In fact, he almost did get caught. Two police officers asked Capp's wife (who was standing on the bridge) what she was doing there. She told the officers that she was just taking photos of the landscape. They believed her and left. If they had looked over the edge, they would have seen that her husband had climbed down the side of the bridge and was hanging the sign.

Cheech Joins Shelby On Allan Handelman Show

This Sunday, Tommy's wife, Shelby, returns to the Allan Handelman Show...and this time she's bringing Cheech Marin. They'll be discussing the movie, Tommy's sentencing and much, much more. See the official Allan Handelman Show website to learn how to hear it live.

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Update: The show was great. If you missed it you can hear a re-broadcast tomorrow. Here are the highlights.

• Cheech indicated that his new sitcom, The Ortegas, has been shelved indefinitely.
• There is a possibility that Stacey Keach may return for the reunion movie.
• Shelby indicated that Tommy is being treated well in prison, he did not have to do kitchen duty, was given his own chair in the television room and begins school next week. She didn't indicate what he'll be taught at school.
• Shelby will continue touring without Tommy. She'll be appearing at Sanford and Son's comedy club in Kansas City this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. She'll be joined by the Family Stoned Band which consists of her son and others.

Details On The Reunion Movie

People keep asking for the latest information regarding the Cheech and Chong reunion movie.

Here's what we know:

• The current working title of the movie is Get Blunt.
• New Line Cinema will be releasing it.
• Shooting was set to begin summer 2004, but will be delayed by as much as year because of Tommy's legal woes.
• New Line Cinema says that the project will not be cancelled as a result of Chong's incarceration.
• New Line Cinema is presently looking for a director, as well as someone to pen the script.
• Cheech and Chong wrote the storyline together and had a great time doing it.
• The storyline: Pedro and Man invent a hair restoration marijuana lotion, but don't recall which marijuana they used. They go on a road trip testing and smoking numerous crops of marijuana, trying to find the type they used. All the while, they are being chased by law enforcement officials, who want to bust them, and the pharmaceutical companies that want the recipe.
• The original script penned by Tommy's two daughters was hysterical. However, Tommy and Cheech felt the premise was unrealistic...Man was a drug counselor in this script.

Jay Leno Damage Control

On the Tonight Show last night, Jay Leno pointed out that what Bill O'Reilly said duing his recent appearance was incorrect....Tommy Chong had not been arrested eighteen times prior to "Operation Pipedream."

Chong Won't Be Released Pending Appeal

With Ashcroft's crew on hand, a federal judge ruled today that Tommy Chong will not be released pending appeal.
There is still no word on whether or not the spice, oregano, will be outlawed because it sort of looks like marijuana.
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Cheech At Large With Geraldo

Cheech Marin and Robie Chong, Tommy's daughter, appeared on this evening's edition of At Large With Geraldo Rivera. The Fox News Channel program reiterated much of what we've heard already...a comparison of Limbaugh and Tommy, as well as a debate on the first ammendent. We also learned that Cheech was the best man at one of Geraldo's many weddings.
The quote of the day came from Cheech, however. When asked if he's concerned that he'll get in trouble for making movies about dope, he replied "everyone smokes dope."