The WELL: inkwell.vue.214: Martin Torgoff: "Can't Find My Way Home"

#160: At least they had cool uniforms: (oilers1972) Sun 13 Aug 06 00:27

Sun, 13 Aug 2006 00:27:00 PDT

Thanks mcdee!

To me, the REAL darkness became palpable when the talk on the '80s edition turned to how crack came to be, circa 1985. That segment feels like the onset of a very long and deadly storm arriving, with the very first shots of people sitting on the curbs and alleys with crack pipes in their hands. It is like the reverse of the famous Wizard Of Oz scene--everything suddenly turns from color to black-and-white. Or rather just black (not the racial category, of course). [Read entire topic]

#159: Carl LaFong (mcdee) Tue 1 Aug 06 06:09

Tue, 01 Aug 2006 06:09:00 PDT

Also a lot of civilians (straight people) got into hedonism in a huge way in the 70s. Although I agree with your interesting comments. [Read entire topic]

#158: At least they had cool uniforms: (oilers1972) Mon 31 Jul 06 17:03

Mon, 31 Jul 2006 17:03:00 PDT

I for one can't wait for the Deluxe Unedited Edition of _Can't Find My Way Home_ to finally come out.

As for the drug culture of the 1970s degenerating into recreational obliteration, well the times themselves had a lot to do with that, especially the early portion of the decade. Vietnam was still raging, Nixon and his crew were taking a blowtorch to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights (where are Ellsberg, Bernstein, and Woodward now when we really need them?), there was severe racial strife, and the U.S. economy was beginning its downturn. In addition to that, the high ideals of the Civil Rights Movement, the radical/anti-war movement (although by this time the anti-war movement had largely become mainstream), and the counterculture had been sunk for a variety of reasons, and the more utopian feelings that were associated with cannabis and psychedelics accordingly abated as well. It seems to me that a lot of people turned to downers in this period just to forget their own pain and heartbreak over those lost ideals, as well as to momentarily escape the on-going strife in this country. [Read entire topic]

#157: Cynthia Dyer-Bennet (cdb) Tue 25 Jul 06 06:26

Tue, 25 Jul 2006 06:26:00 PDT

Yeah, depending on where ya went with exploring the drug culture, the '70s got more than a little disturbing. [Read entire topic]

#156: Amy Keyishian (superamyk) Tue 18 Jul 06 20:01

Tue, 18 Jul 2006 20:01:00 PDT

Oh, I watched this when it came out! Funny that it popped up now. I found the earlier episodes joyful and funny, and then when we got to the '70s, it started feeling a little dark and scary... I guess that makes sense. [Read entire topic]

#155: neil (nlg) Fri 23 Jun 06 15:14

Fri, 23 Jun 2006 15:14:00 PDT

I thought it was well-done. Coulda used four more episodes to even begin to do the topic justice, but it was nicely done with the limitations they had. [Read entire topic]

#154: (rosebud) Fri 23 Jun 06 12:14

Fri, 23 Jun 2006 12:14:00 PDT

I just watched it this week on the Sundance channel - all four episodes. It was excellent.

Ahhh - - the memories. [Read entire topic]

#153: David Gans (tnf) Sun 11 Jun 06 22:43

Sun, 11 Jun 2006 22:43:00 PDT

Reminder: Martin Torgoff's series "The Drug Years" airs on VH1 this week. Looks like 6pm PDT Monday thru THursday on my Dish - not sure if that's the east or west feed. [Read entire topic]

#152: virtual community or butter? (bumbaugh) Tue 30 May 06 11:31

Tue, 30 May 2006 11:31:00 PDT

Exciting! [Read entire topic]

#151: David Gans (tnf) Sun 28 May 06 12:59

Sun, 28 May 2006 12:59:00 PDT

From Martin Torgoff:

> "The Drug Years," a four-part, four-hour documentary series that is based > on my book, "Can't Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945- > 2000," is coming to VH1, starting on Monday, June 12th, at 9pm. The series > is a production of Hart and Dana Perry and VH1 in association with the Sun- > dance Channel, with me as Writer, Consulting Producer, and one of the prin- > cipal commentators in the piece (yes, I'm actually in it--a lot). For > those who miss it that week on VH1 (or who can't get enough of my visage on > your television), there is a special encore presentation on Sundance begin- > ning June 16th. [Read entire topic]