The Stoner Bucket List: 20 things to do for 4/20

Posted by Chris Spags
From: http://guyism.com/

This Wednesday is the biggest day for pot smokers everywhere, an international celebration for lovers of cannabis the world over. But it can be difficult to figure out how to make your 4/20 different than any other day so we’re providing you with this Stoner Bucket List of things do to this 4/20 (or any day, really).

20 Use a vaporizer to get high

We’ll start it off easy for you guys. 4/20 is a celebration of pot culture and nothing out there screams “I know my way around a bowl” quite like a high end vaporizer. Whether it’s a Volcano or some contraption you got off Amazon that looks vaguely like Johnny-5 from “Short Circuit”, the vape high is a different feeling, and one everyone should try once.

19 Build a giant “Scooby Doo”-esque sandwich

Scooby Doo and Shaggy were, as far as I can tell, the first and biggest potheads ever captured in animation. So what better way to celebrate 4/20 than embrace their ways? Grab twenty slices of bread, your favorite cold cuts and condiments, get high enough that you can pretend your dog can talk, and eat away. Even if the sandwich sucks, at least you’ll have an awesome homemade version of Jenga to play.

18 Buy your pot from the shadiest spot imaginable

Yes, when most traditional media outlets cover marijuana in a positive light, they act like the only way people smoke pot is from purchases in legal medicinal places with a license. Fun fact: Most states don’t allow that. So live on the edge and eschew your friendly neighborhood pot dealer. The weed may be heinous and smell like a bonsai tree, but at least you could feel like you were living in “The Wire” for just one hour.

17 Hit up a Bob Marley cover band show

The patron saint of pot may have passed away a long time ago but his music lives on through not only his albums, but countless cover bands across the nation. In Southern Cali? Try to find the One Drop Redemption. In Dallas? Maybe the Island Boogie Steel Drum Band will move you. It’s the closest you can get to the real thing without a time machine or a lot of planning repeated watchings of “Weekend at Bernie’s”.

16 Watch five classic stoner movies in one sitting

There’s nothing better after a nice hit than lounging around and zoning out on something entertaining. So why not use this time to pick out five of the best stoner movies you haven’t seen (or have seen and adored) and hit them all in one night? At a certain point, it even becomes a challenge within a challenge. Sure, watching “Still Smokin’” seemed like a good idea at 8PM, but when you’re four movies and three bowls in and fighting to stay conscious, it becomes the ultimate test of will. “E.T. The Extra Testicle” loses its charms a bit.

15 Paint or draw a picture while high

This seems like some “Oh, I’m an artist…let me CREATE” type of thing, I know. But who hasn’t loved painting or even fingerpainting at some point in their lives? The point of this exercise is to do awesome things you wouldn’t normally do sober. So screw it, go get some crafts, get baked, and embrace your inner Picasso. Your horse looks more like a giraffe but hey, you made that bizarro horse-giraffe monstrosity. Cherish it.

14 Eat a pot brownie or, for the advanced, a fancy pot dessert treat

Again, another basic one. But if you haven’t done this one and you fancy yourself a smoker, you probably need to cross this one off your list early. Make sure to find a quality recipe though: it’s a thin line between “Awesome, I’m really high and eating a delicious brownie” and “Oh God, I think I can see the future and this brownie tastes like sugary dirt.”

13 Smoke within 100 feet of a police station

Reckless? Perhaps. But if you’re one of those politically active “the government needs to stop overregulating our bodies” types of smokers, what more ballsy-yet-passive-aggressive way is there to thumb your nose at the man and his laws? The judge will definitely account for your awesomeness during your trial.

12 Stare at a midget

Okay, this one sounds kind of cruel. And perhaps it is. But you know that classic clip from “The Simpsons” where Otto is so stoned off his ass that he talks about his fingers and their “finging”? That’s sort of what staring at a midget is like. Mentally, you know the little person is just one of the universe’s quirks. But you smoke enough and this becomes a whole metaphysical discussion you haven’t even scratch the surface on.

11 Break out the Gravity Bong

Everyone’s favorite absurd way to smoke up in college needs to be tried at least once. Some say it’s the most potent way to get high. Other say you just look like an a-hole. But either way, it’s an important part of pot culture. Here’s a helpful how-to guide to make your own Gravity Bong this 4/20.

10 Get high on a hot air balloon

Odds are that going into space while high isn’t something you’ll be able to approach in the next decade or two, so why not do the next best thing and get on a hot air balloon ride? Check out the majesty of the earth, say “Wow, everybody looks like ants from up here!” seven hundred and thirty times, and bring your big book of Jules Verne jokes that you’ve been saving up for just such an occasion.

9 Find someone new to smoke kiss

Let’s be real…whether you like pot or not, you have to admit that stoner girls tend to be the coolest girls around. So why not share in common interests you both will share with a smoke kiss? By making out after one of you takes a hit, not only do you get to make out with an attractive girl with a fun side, but you also get high. Putting lipstick on your vaporizer and tongue kissing it is a less recommended replacement.

8 Take someone’s pot virginity

Ah that first smoke. The moment when boys become men and men become…kind of lazy and occasionally paranoid. Even though the urban legend says you can’t get high your first time, there’s nothing better to entertain a long time smoker than to watch a newbie act like they don’t feel anything, only to find themselves passed out on the floor singing the “Facts of Life” theme.

7 Smoke with a relative, preferably an older one

If you’re one of those “cool kids” who grew up with parents in the house who gave them weed and said things like, “Hey, I’d rather you do it here under my supervision,” you can skip this one and punch yourself in the groin. For everyone else, this is one of those things that might seem awkward at first, but could be quite liberating. Plus, now you’ll know who’ll tell you funny stories about getting caught beating it to Farrah Fawcett while you’re celebrating Aunt Ronnie’s 77th birthday.

6 Have sex while high

If you’re enough of a pot smoker to be checking out this list, I’d have to assume you’d have already crashed through this barrier. But if you haven’t, now’s the time to do it. So grab that special guy or gal in your life and let your two bodies become one. Bonus bucket list points for involving extra people, objects, and farm animals.

5 Combine three “classic” stoner foods to form a Megazord snack

Lately, combining foods into new foods is all the rage (see: The Doritos Taco Loco). So why not put on your lab coat and goggles, pick up your favorite stoner foods, and see what you come up with. Want a hot dog covered in Funions and peanut butter? Who’s to say that combination won’t be awesome? Take the leap, put a bunch of stuff together like a buffet with your friends, and go nuts.

4 Get high at a transcendently beautiful location

Light up at Machu Picchu? Take a hit at the Grand Canyon? Hot box before entering the Sears Tower’s Glass Box (pictured left)? The only thing that could make these locations more mind-blowing than they already are is the welcome addition of weed. Just remember: Safety first. By which I mean always wear a condom while getting high and falling into the Grand Canyon. It’s just good manners.

3 See any of those big Vegas shows

Blue Man Group, Cirque du Soleil or even Criss Angel put on a hell of a show when you’re sober. But the vivid colors and outlandish presentation become an otherworldly event went you’re stoned off your ass. Get your ass on the next plane to Vegas (or whatever town near you has one of their touring companies), smoke up harder than you ever have, and see where the night takes you. And hopefully that’s not somewhere having sex with a flamboyant leprechaun with a French accent.

2 Go to an amusement park of your choice, Disneyland being tops

Anyone who’s been to Disneyland can tell you that the place really lives up to the hype of the “Happiest Place on Earth”. Nowhere else in America can you see people so overcome with joy and fun in one area. And what better way to appreciate that than by sparking up a big bowl before hitting the park? You probably haven’t lived until you’ve been stoned off your ass and sat on one of the talking benches in Cartoon Town without realizing it was going to yell at you. That’s what Roger Rabbit’s life was like every single day.

1 Make the pilgrimage to the mecca of pot, Amsterdam

The snobs out there will say that Amsterdam pot isn’t even the best in Europe or that the region is nothing more than a tourist trap. But fuck the snobs. There’s a reason Amsterdam has become this iconic place in pot culture, enough so that (for better or worse) it’s the first thing that would come to most people’s minds when they hear the city’s name. Get over there, bring your camera so you can remember everything that happens, and go crazy. Not crazy enough to end up in a real life version of “Hostel”, but crazy.

Thanks to Reddit’s /r/trees, Highdeas, and this image for some partial inspiration

Best Stoner Theories for Why 4/20 Is the Day of Weed

By Victor Gonzalez
From: http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/

Pass the dutchie, bro

​Yesterday we learned that there's a lot more to 4/20 than just bong rips and bloodshot eyeballs. April 20 marks the anniversary of some pretty serious shit like Hitler's birth and the Columbine Massacre. It's also the day BP ruined the Gulf of Mexico and killed 11 workers in the process after the Deepwater Horizon Semi-Submersible Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit exploded, and released a shit-ton of crude oil into the ocean. It was a total 4/20 buzzkill.

So why is it that a seemingly haunted date is celebrated as pot's counterculture Christmas? Well, there's a bunch of different theories that only make sense when you're high. From pot-related penal codes to Jerry Garcia's favorite hotel room, 4/20's origins remain widely debated. Check out some of our favorite theories after the jump.

1. "We've got a 420 in progress, we're going to need back-up."

It's been rumored that 4/20 was the California penal code for marijuana possession, but sorry stoner, it's not. In fact, penal code 4-20 is about obstructing access to public land and "every person who unlawfully prevents, hinders, or obstructs...is guilty of a misdemeanor."

2. Drug Dealer Pager Code 420.

What came first, the stoner or the beeper? The stoner did, and so did the 420-pot connection that inevitably became a beeper code like 42, 143, 555. The 420-pot/beeper connection pretty much died when cell phones took over, and texting your drug dealer became all the rage. "Yo bro, got work?"

3. The Grateful Dead Insisted on Staying in Room 420.

Yes, the Grateful Dead might be the most overrated dad-rock jam band in the history of modern music, and the only reason pot's become so synonymous with the band isn't because the group members were a bunch stoners, but rather you must be high to listen to their music. The thought of the entire group sharing room 420 is ludicrous. What fourth floor room of any hotel you've ever been to could possibly accommodate Jerry Garcia's fat ass, and a bunch of other sweaty, smelly hippies? None.

4. It's Tea Time in Amsterdam.

Really? Everyone knows teatime in Holland is at 3 p.m. Actually, we're not sure if it is because last time we were in Amsterdam, we were so fucked up on mushrooms that we regrettably missed afternoon tea, and opted for a tour of the Van Gogh Museum.

5. 1970s San Rafael, California "High" School Kids Coin the Phrase

According to a High Times magazine article and in-depth research by Huffington Post, a group of stoner classmates who called themselves "The Waldos," coined the 420-term in 1971 when they heard a plot of weed plants near the Point Reyes Peninsula Coast Guard station had been left unattended. They'd meet outside of their San Rafael High School, and embark on a quest to find green each day, but came up short every time. But 420 stuck, and they found it to be a clever code word for pot smoking.

Forty years later, "four-twenty" is still part of the American lexicon.

What did we learn today? Nothing of serious value, just a bunch of useless trivia y'all can share with your frat bros tomorrow when you're posted up on the couch hitting that sweet, glass-on-glass Roor you spent last semester's tuition money on.

4:20 Girl of the Day: August 10, 2010

4:20 Girl of the Day: August 9, 2010

The 420 Soundboard: Click On It

From: http://www.complex.com/

There’s a science behind “420.” It’s not only the police scanner code for “marijuana smoking in progress,” it’s also the angle at which you need to hold a magnifying glass toward the naked sun to light a bowl without a lighter. It’s Cheech Marin’s birthday, as well as Jerry Garcia’s, Chris Tucker’s, Aldous Huxley’s, and Helen Keller’s (holla at your first medicinal marijuana advocate!). Divide 20 by four and you get the price for a common quantity of weed ($5 you dope); divide four by 20 and you get the approximate number of brains cells lost to a typical session. Add four and 20 plus the number of plants George Washington grew, divided by the number of blunts ‘Pac smoked while making All Eyez on Me, minus the number of times Bill Clinton inhaled and you get… Nevermind. We’ve collected the stonedest quotes of all time for the fourth Complex Soundboard (slept? Try the original, the junior, and the Jersey Shore). So explain “420″ however you want (yes, most of the above is the product of some seriously blunted minds), just enjoy (and share!) our 420 Soundboard. After all it only took us 1,512,000 seconds to put it together.

Happy 420 from THOR

Find a Sweet Stoner Housemate on 420 Room Search

By Ashley Harrell

Apparent dilemma: Where can San Franciscans find other pot smokers?

​Are you tired of being surrounded by clear-headed people? Do you resent the fact that only every other Craigslist roommate posting includes the phrase "420 friendly"?

Now there's a better place for all you reality-resistant folks to congregate! 420 Room Search will help you "find people you actually want to live with," the Web site explains. "Low key land lords and easy going roommates."

We found 420 Room Search advertised on its competition, Craigslist.org, in a Bernal Heights Housing ad entitled, "alternative roommates situations." Gotta say, it would be more alternative to find a place to live in San Francisco where nobody smoked weed.

4/20 in Boulder preview: "An orgasm of cannabis consumption"

By Michael Roberts

Photo by Leland Rucker

4/20 2009 in Boulder: Orgasm alert!

​In an interview last week, NORML executive director Allen St. Pierre confirmed that he'll be attending the politically oriented 4/20 rally at Denver's Civic Center Park this year.

It'll be his second straight 4/20 in Colorado. Last year, he was at the bash at the University of Colorado at Boulder, which he likened to "an orgasm of cannabis consumption."

NORML@CU executive director Alex Douglas, who recently decried the university's ban against medical marijuana patients smoking in dorms, laughs when he hears St. Pierre's description. However, he thinks a more apt description for what's going to happen at CU tomorrow at 4:20 p.m. is "an orgasm of cannabis consumption -- and students standing up for what they believe in."

According to Douglas, "We're expecting the largest gathering in the history of 4/20 at CU -- between fifteen and twenty-thousand people at the Norlin Quad," directly in front of Norlin Library, which he calls "one of the most academic buildings on campus."

The Denver event has a full schedule of live music and speakers such as St. Pierre, who will be delivering the bash's "invocation." Unfortunately, because of what Douglas calls "limitations from the school," that's not possible at CU.

Choosing another location in Boulder would add such options, but "that wouldn't be the attention-grabber it is at CU," Douglas feels. "It wouldn't make the same statement. These students aren't going to classes. They're protesting for what they believe in at their university, and that statement alone makes it so popular and newsworthy.

"We have so many top-rated programs here, and I believe a CU education is really amazing, and really carries students far after they graduate. So with all the recognition CU gets, it makes having 4/20 on campus that much more meaningful."

Douglas, who's currently a CU senior, is far too young to have experienced the genesis of 4/20 celebrations at the university. But by virtue of his role with NORML@CU, he's become something of a historian of the event.

"Back in the '80s and early '90s, there were people who would go onto Farrand Field, which is a recreational field in the middle of the residential dorms on campus," he says. "They were never large groups. Then, in 1997, the owner of a prominent store in Boulder put out a flier for people to meet on Farrand Field on 4/20. It was kind of rainy that year, but some people did show up -- and from that point on, it really seemed to gain interest. Like, in 1998, there were 75 to a hundred people -- and it just kept building and increasing."

Then, in the middle of the last decade, "CU-Boulder began getting a lot of attention because of the tactics they used to stop the students from participating in the 4/20 event," Douglas continues. "One year, they shut down the field and hired outsourced security to stand around. And they also turned the sprinklers on -- but that didn't really stop anybody. And then, the next year, they took video and put stills online and tried to get students to identify the people. It was absolutely ridiculous. There was a lot of mockery going on."

As April 20, 2007 approached, "the university did something very smart in their eyes: They destroyed the field to make a new one, thinking that was going to help 4/20 simmer down," Douglas says. "But it actually wound up making it more interesting, because that's when it moved to Norlin Quad -- and that's where we really got to see the increase in numbers." This was also the first year Douglas attended personally.

In 2009, CU administrators tried a different tack: The university sent an e-mail to students under the signatures of interim chancellor Phil DiStefano, vice chancellor of student affairs Julie Wong and dean of students Deb Coffin arguing that participating in the rally "debases the reputation of your University and degree" and creates safety risks. Read the e-mail here.

"I actually saw that e-mail a long time before they sent it out," Douglas notes. "I told them, 'What are you doing? This is just going to make more people go. If you're really, truly, honestly worried about the safety of students, why don't you tell them, 'Please don't bring barbecues and trampolines.' And two days after they sent out that first e-mail, they sent out another one that said, 'If you go to 4/20, be safe.' And I was happy about that."

He's also pleased that this year, CU supervisors seem resigned to the 4/20 festivities going forward whether they like it or not. Although he'd be even more upbeat if the university actually supported what was going on.

"They think it's a black eye to the school, but to me, I think it's something they should embrace," he says. "These students pay a lot of money to go to CU, and they're standing up for what they believe in. The university thinks that's debasing the degree -- but why would taking a stand for something do that?"

As for Douglas, he's got a simple message for the thousands upon thousands of people expected to light up tomorrow afternoon: "Make sure you're safe, you treat everyone with respect, and you stand up for what you believe in."

Those sound like the ingredients for quite an orgasm.

Happy 4/20: 10 Great Stoner Songs

420: Wiki page

Legend has it that the 4:20 phenomenon began with a group of California teens in the early ’70s, who would gather together at 20 past 4 in the afternoon to avail themselves of one of Mother Nature’s wonders. Ever since then, the word has spread and the, er, grass-roots 4:20 subculture has grown bigger and bigger. Today 4/20 is the day 4:20 is saluted not only across the country, but around the globe. So whether you’re marking the day in a herbaceous way or you’re simply in sympathy with the spirit of the whole thing, here are 10 essential stoner songs to make your April 20th a smokin’ one.

“Willin’” – Little Feat

Linda Ronstadt’s cover version made this trucker tune about “weed, whites, and wine” famous, but it’s Little Feat’s good ‘n’ greasy delivery that puts “Willin’” straight across the plate.

“One Toke Over The Line” – Brewer & Shipley

An early example of The Man stomping on stoners’ good times, folk-rock duo Brewer & Shipley’s 1970 tune was a Top 10 hit that might have gone all the way to Number One if it hadn’t been stalled by the FCC, who decided to ban it due to lyrical content.

“Ganja Smuggling” – Eek-A-Mouse

A toker tally without reggae would like a PB&J sandwich without bread, so here comes Eek-A-Mouse to give you a little background on how the magic herbs are disseminated. Even if some of the meaning gets lost in Mouse’s thick patois, you still know just where he’s coming from.

“Along Comes Mary” – The Association

In late-’60s California, everybody was a stoner — not just the hairy hippie types, but even clean-cut, super-smooth harmony-vocal groups like The Association, whose ode to their favorite gal had the whiff of something more than puppy love.

“Tell Me About Your Drugs” – Robyn Hitchcock

Odd are that a guy who modeled himself after Syd Barrett, John Lennon, and Bob Dylan knows a bit about altered states of consciousness. And by the song’s end, when he starts rhapsodizing about “human sheep…with their curly little whirly tails,” it seems likely there’s more than just a conversation about altered consciousness going on.

“Purple Haze” – Jimi Hendrix

Pretty much the stoners’ National Anthem, “Purple Haze” is the ultimate evocation of that “not necessarily stoned, but beautiful” feeling (Yes, we know that lyric is from another song). Has there ever been a better motto for lighting up than “’scuse me while I kiss the sky?”

“Hits From the Bong” – Cypress Hill

You didn’t really think we’d leave Cypress Hill out, did you? Their faces should be emblazoned on the stoner Mt. Rushmore, right next to Dre and Snoop (okay, so we didn’t have room for everyone). Just listening to the vocal delivery on this track is enough to make you feel like you’ve spent the last two weeks in a college dorm with a poster on the wall that says “Get it on, bang a bong,” while the sweet smell of cannabis emanates from everything in the room.

“Rainy Day Women #12 & 35″ – Bob Dylan

It’s hard to imagine how Brewer & Shipley got shut down by the FCC for “One Toke Over the Line,” but four years earlier, this song — complete with drunken brass band and “everybody must get stoned” refrain — sailed up to the No. 2 spot on the charts unmolested by the powers that be.

“Because I Got High” – Afroman

One of the greatest one-hit wonders of the 21st century, Joseph “Afroman” Foreman provided the theme song for Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back with this tongue-in-cheek cautionary tale about the hazards of a weed addiction. Don’t think for a second that he or anyone involved with the film took the warning to heart, though.

“Sweet Leaf” – Black Sabbath

An actual love song to the pot leaf itself, this 1971 Black Sabbath classic starts off with the sound of Sab guitar god Tony Iommi’s hacking cough, which we assume was caused by something other than an excess of smog in the air that day.

420 Girls - Nice!!!

Taking the $670 Volcano Vaporizer for a Test Drive

By Adam Frucci

When it comes to smoking, you can settle for a pipe or rolling papers. Or you can drop $670 on a Volcano Vaporizer, the king of all paraphernalia. We took one for a test run.

So what makes the Volcano so great that people spend close to $700 on one? Well, first of all, it looks pretty awesome. If you didn't know what it was, you'd think it was some sort of German-designed kitchen equipment, which isn't too far off.

Each Volcano is built by hand by a small German company using top-notch parts. It's got a classic design to it that will make you want to leave it out rather than hide it in a desk drawer. But that's not why you buy it. You buy it because it gets you high really well.

You simply pack some vaporizables into the heating chamber and pop that into your Volcano, which has a handy digital readout to let you decide exactly how hot you want it running (it still stays cool to the touch on the exterior). You then attach a vapor balloon to the top of the heating chamber. Over the course of about 30 seconds, it fills up with vapor (not smoke, mind you). You then snap on a mouthpiece and pass the balloon around. It all sounds more complicated than it is.

So why is that so great? Well, it's all about the vapor. The Volcano heats your vaporizables up, but not hot enough for combustion. That means all the nasty tar and toxins in your herbs don't get released, just the active ingredients and flavors you're looking for. What results is a healthier and cleaner-feeling experience. It also gets you high as shit.

So is it worth the cash? Well, not really. But if you're a serious smoker and you have cash to burn, you will almost definitely absolutely love this thing and want to use it every day, not just because of the great experience but because of how good it looks. But if spending $700 on something to smoke with seems like a ludicrous and insane thing to do on your budget, it most definitely is. But hey, not everyone can afford a Porsche, either.