Monthly Archives: April 2018

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF NEW YORK by Peter Nolan Smith

Back in the 1920s New Yorkers returned from Florida holidays with baby alligators. The little reptiles grew fast and their owners flushed the saurian relics down the toilet, thereby creating the myth of albino alligators slithering through the city sewers seeking to devour cats and dogs. While this urban legend has been broadly dismissed as […]

The Dangers of Marijuana

REEFER MADNESS was a 1936 film financed by a church group intent on informing American youth about the reputed dangers of marijuana. A ten-minute Google search failed to reveal the name of the church group, however the film’s focus was hijacked by the addition of salacious scenes by an exploitation producer, Dwain Esper, supposedly a […]

Quote of the Day – Jack Kerouac / ON THE ROAD

“One of the biggest troubles of hitchhiking is having to talk to innumerable people, make them feel that they didn’t make a mistake picking you up.” Jack Kerouac / ON THE ROAD Truman Capote commented about the writing style of ON THE ROAD, saying it wasn’t writing so much as typing. I read ON THE […]

War on Drugs Victory

I was a good boy throughout the 1960s. I did no drugs. I drank beer, fought in senseless brawls, and drove my 68 VW Beetle like it was my father’s Delta 88. The summer of 1970 was my baptism into the drug culture. Coming back from the Surf Nantasket after seeing the Chosen Few I smoked a […]

Eastport to Block Island

Every morning in my youth the Portland radio station broadcasted the maritime weather report by stating the sea conditions from Eastport, Maine to Block Island. This announcement covered the coast of the Northeast and two summers ago the conditions off Block Island were calm seas and gentle winds. The Atlantic Ocean was at peace, however […]