You have to be stoned to fully appreciate it.

The tornado has passed. The last of the hordes that descend from mid December have departed. Orthodox crassmass, celebrated using the older Julian calendar, is on the 7th of January for most (6th for some). They have left; there is glorious silence.

The last high/low-light was a testament to the joys of the ubiquitous $2 shops that largely support the bulk of sweatshop labour in the third world. Ma pulled apart a crassmass bonbon with my 3 yo nephew and it exploded with an anticlimactic pop and the usual tissue paper hat and junk gift fell out which junior gleefully grappled and pulled apart. The “gift” fell out – a flimsy plastic case full of sewing needles. I thought one of the others was a bit dangerous for kids, a cork screw. But fucking sewing needles? In children’s crassmass crackers? Those wacky Chinese sweatshop entrepreneurs. No harm was done in this case – Ma was paying attention. But the lesson of the day is never trust anything you buy at those junk shops, especially where kids are involved.

Another gem fell into my lap a few days ago in digitised format. A copy of Bill Cosby’s contribution to the War on Drugs – the 1972 Grammy Award winning (best kids album) Bill Cosby Talks to Kids About Drugs, which I actually do possess on vinyl. Personally, I have never heard a record better suited for being ripped off your tits. It leaves Cheech & Chong for dead. Back in my pothead days, this thing was glued to our turntable. Genuine crowd pleaser. It’s somewhat of a collector’s item nowadays. Here’s a couple of the choicer samples. Happy new year to non-baboons everywhere. Regular programming will resume shortly.

Info: Long out of print, never made it to CD – vinyl and casette only. Mint editions of vinyl start at around $US85 (Ebay). Used from around $45 (Amazon).