With the exception of my nephew, who was born in 1994, everybody in this picture was born in the 60's and we all met and became friends in the 1980's.   We smoked a lot of sunshine from 1982 till 1986.  Four of us attended Good Shepherd Elementary School, a.k.a. Beverly Hills Catholic School, together.  Four of us were neighbors  who lived walking distance from each other in the 90210 sector of Beverly Hills.  Three of us lived next door to each other.

In the early 1980's we saw The Who, U2, Tom Petty, Jethro Tull, Al DiMiola, Dire Straits, CSNY, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, the Grateful Dead, Uli Roth, Michael Shenker, Judas Priest, The Scorpions, Motley Crue, et al.  St. Tommy saw Frank Zappa in 1984 before the rest of us really knew FZ.  We all  imbibed the horticulture daily; that is, we met with Manny Mota muchas veces.  We still do.  We were rousted by the BHPD often.  Not any more.  Three of us are now proud parents.  Five of us are adults and tax paying citizens of Los Angeles.  One of us lives on Bohol Island in the Philippines.  Not me...although I lived on Bohol Island in the PI in 2006.

My nephew is a straight A tenth grader who plays wicked Metallica licks on his Fender Strat and whose favorite bands are Led Zep, Pink Floyd and The Doors -- just like the rest of US back in the 80's.  My brother and I attended the US Festival back in the 80's, Heavy Metal Sunday -- Ozzy, Scorpions, Van Halen, Quiet Riot, et al, all in one day.  I'd never seen so many people in one place at one time.  I still have never seen so many people in once place at o,ne time.  300,000 of us.  It was kind of like Woodstock.  I remember I passed from heat exhaustion while standing in line for a beverage.  I didn't get any free beverage.

My  nephew hasn't brought home any tests or assignments under an A this year.   His teachers love him, cuz he's smart, but he's not a geek. 

Today I watched the movie It's Complicated and in it Steve Martin smokes a joint with Meryl Streep.  Her ex-husband Alec Baldwin, the one who gave her the joint, is JEALOUS because, as he says "I wanted to smoke it with you."  I later watched Weeds, where the protagonist Nancy Botwin is a pot dealer, reminiscent of the LA Stage Play Pot Mom from the 90's. On The Rules of Engagement, a so-so sitcom with David Spade and Puddy from Seinfeld,  the geeky neighbor smokes 'old pot they found' with his fiance and they get stoned and eat a lot and comedy ensues.

Prop 19 may not have PASSED, but as the SF Giants announcer said during game 5 of the World Series in San Fran, "There's a lot of people smoking out at McCovey Cove.  You'd think Prop 19 already passed!"

I miss Hank Greenwald and I wonder wonder do do do doop doop doop.  Who wrote the book of love?

I've been back in LA for one year now, almost, and I've met no one new that I meet regularly.  I have a band with two OTHER Spleef Posse members who I first met in 1987.  Everybody I now know in LA I've known since the 80's.

I'm in a Cocoon right now.  That's the breaking story that has interrupted original programming.

The New TV SEASON 2010 Review to appear next week  STAY TUNED