The Pot-Intelligencer
OK, I smoked a little weed on the P-I's roof at 6th and Wall, as Tom Robbins recalls in a video clip here today, but it was done in the spirit of high journalism: as copy editors, we all inhaled as part of our mandate to turn out memorable headlines (Phnom Penh Phalls). So what if it later took, as Tom says, 20 semi-comatose minutes to edit two paragraphs...every letter turned out perfect! (Then there were those late-night respites at Danny's 4th Avenue where the happy hour included every other drink for a penny. At the bar, we also proofed P-I news pages for errors, always making the next day's paper a delight to read). Update: For posterity, I should include the other journalism drug of newsroom choice then, acid, which had its hallucinatory drawbacks. In the words of a reporter (now an editor elsewhere) on the day he dropped a tab in the P-I newsroom: "It backfired, man. There were two city editors giving me twice as much shit!"
12 comment(s)
Noncon4m Freely says:
Ahhh...finally we\'re privy to the secrets that made the P-I the best damn paper around at the time. Hey, Rick--do you think the formula would work for the Weekly, too?
;~)
Posted On: Friday, May. 25 2007 @ 2:46PM
Brian Barr says:
Ah, those were the days, eh Rick? I love the \"spirit of high journalism\"
As for your suggestion, Noncon4m Freely...maybe we should get Fefer to weigh in on this one. Fefer?
Posted On: Friday, May. 25 2007 @ 3:23PM
RiotAct says:
Alas, poor journalism. But I found it works the other way too - if you\'re a P-I reader who smokes pot.
Posted On: Friday, May. 25 2007 @ 4:01PM
Noncon4m Freely--and with Joy! says:
Ah, RiotAct...don\'t kid yourself--that was brilliant and shining journalism...and it can still be found like a rare and precious jewell. It was daring, and exciting and profound--pot or not. The spirit of the people who put it together somehow became a part of the final copy on the newstands--their exhuberance was contagous and in the long run earned them more loyalty, love and readership than all of the corporate PR dollars to be had.
Rick, your headline and blog made me laugh so hard the tower shook. I can\'t remember a more elated day at work. Thank you and keep up your award-winning work.
Fly High, Brother! :~)
Posted On: Friday, May. 25 2007 @ 9:44PM
david stoesz says:
I am having trouble following who the people are in this discussion or what exactly some of you are saying, but I would like to express my support for the pro-drug side.
Posted On: Friday, May. 25 2007 @ 10:30PM
Xman says:
Your inability to follow the thread and your pro-drug stand tend to explain each other.
I just wish the P-I\'s columnists would take a toke now and then - loosen up and quit the sob-sister moralizing already! (Though the Times\' columnists are even more boring).
Posted On: Saturday, May. 26 2007 @ 8:18AM
david stoesz says:
You\'re right, I must be high, and It has nothing to do with the cryptic pseudonyms.
Posted On: Saturday, May. 26 2007 @ 10:40AM
Sean says:
Nice, Rick! I\'d like to imagine all of Seattle\'s newspapers continue the noble tradition of blazing up on the roof, or at least the fire escape. I\'d be happy to smoke you all up anytime.
Posted On: Saturday, May. 26 2007 @ 5:36PM
MaryW says:
Carefull there, Sean...you\'re dealing with a seasoned and experienced (award-winning!) newspaper man in Mr. A. :~)
It\'s ok, David...just follow the bouncing ball. You\'ll catch on in no time.
And hmmmm...so that\'s how they get that chipmunk to keep on running inside that globe.
Posted On: Saturday, May. 26 2007 @ 8:43PM
G. Conner says:
Has anyone noticed the P-I is suddenly looking and reading better? I\'d like to think it\'s weed but it could be the high of winning that \"joint\" battle with the Times.
Posted On: Saturday, May. 26 2007 @ 9:54PM
Sean says:
No problem, Mary, the more distinguished the toke circle, the better.
As for the PI, if it had any business sense, it would distinguish itself from the Times and veer a bit more leftward. We are talking about Seattle after all...
Posted On: Saturday, May. 26 2007 @ 10:20PM
MaryW says:
I agree, Sean. Sometimes it seems that everybody\'s trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator in their frenzy to compete for sales, rather than stepping to the exhuberant edge and taking the risk of distinguishing themselves from the pack. The dumbing down factor to appeal to the swarming masses. That\'s what distinguished people like Rick Anderson, Tom Robbins and Darrell Bob Houston here in Seattle. They wrote for themselves and the individual readers first, rather than watering their writing down merely for the sake of mass appeal. Their editors gave them that space to express themselves. (Well, mostly.)
Posted On: Sunday, May. 27 2007 @ 9:16AM