At RoneBreak we’re all about being exposed to different ideas. It’s a difficult yet vital part of developing a balanced life perspective. Here are some videos expressing ideas that are outside the mainstream social perspective. Watch them with an open mind, and if you disagree with any of the points, examine the reason why. It will alter your mind.

And what would mind altering content be without a Terence McKenna video?

What do you get when you take four guys with a sick sense of humor who decide they want to make a movie and throw 10 g’s, gallons of coffee, and a semi-twisted degree of ambition into the mix?

Self Helpless, a film by first time indie filmmakers Patrick Simone, Patrick Cassidy, Andrick Deppmeyer, and Adam Jaroszewski who collaboratively wrote, directed, and produced this comedic masterpiece.  It would be easy to check out their trailer, blog, merchandise, and categorize it as just another underdog slacker comedy.  While it doesn’t fail to deliver its share of fart jokes, cocaine innuendoes, references to “pussy,” and the perfunctory guy-gets-walked-in-on-masturbating scene, all it takes is a little bit of digging or a conversation with one of the easily accessible and unexpectedly quick-witted and intelligent filmmakers to gather that this endeavor was not only immaculately well thought out but that their efforts are making colossal strides for young, independent filmmakers on micro-budgets everywhere.

Not long after meeting Adam Jaroszewski it was clear that he and the rest of the Self Helpless crew are the proprietors of the next generation of independent film.  While some areas of the entertainment industry have begun to embrace the tribulations associated with the level of accessibility that the internet provides, think how far the record industry has come since the days of Metallica vs. Napster. The film industry seems to be having the most trouble accepting that one of the largest segments of consumers, essentially Generation Y (those born between 1982-1995), now has access, through legal websites like Hulu.com or more underground ventures like Ninjavideo.net, to practically any and all films that they would like to get their hands on, without having to pay a dime.

This may seem like less of an issue for the baby boomer CEO’s at major studios who are looking at the situation through a key-hole padded with millions of expendable dollars. But for independent filmmakers like the Self Helpless team, who are self-releasing with a significantly smaller budget, the question of how to market, distribute, and then (maybe) make money off of your movie when it is as easy to get as a freshman sorority girl, poses a different set of obstacles.  When failure isn’t an option however, obstacles aren’t an issue, and these guys have managed to use their ass-backwards approach to get them to the forefront of the first-timers.

At first glance, their plethora of hare-brained schemes ranging from straight-up ponzi-esque Facebook domination to giving their movie away for free may seem ill-advised and a little bit crazy.  That said, pay close attention and you will quickly notice that there is a well-calculated method to their madness.  It appears that these guys may have actually smoked themselves smart and the pay-off is sure to prove that they are far from self helpless.

For starters, how much did it cost and how did you manage get the funds?  What was the biggest expense and what was the most surprising?

Adam: The total budget for the production of Self Helpless was somewhere in the range of 10G’s. This was, of course, all out of pocket, with each one of the ensemble kicking in $2500. But there are other costs that usually go unmentioned.  Like the opportunity cost of four people dedicating two solid years to this project. When we got back from Mexico and quickly realized that to even have a chance at finishing filming, never mind getting it out there, we basically had to adopt a straight-up monastic lifestyle.  So we worked the crappiest jobs ever and basically funneled every red cent and every minute we could find into keeping this thing alive.  So while the budget is small, which is something we are definitely proud of, there were other significant costs. But these costs kept us pretty hungry, which is why made it this far. So things have a way of balancing themselves, I guess.

The Biggest single expense was probably the trip to Mexico; airfare, bribes, tacos as payment for the cast and crew (literally), and all the “props” (drugs) added up. Oh yeah, we blew up a car down there, too.  That whole retard show cost us about 600 bucks. This was the most surprising expense.  Not because we doubted that we could pull it off, it being, ya know, Mexico and all–the land of opportunity—we  just figured it’d be cheaper, ‘cus, well, it’s Mexico.  The dollar is supposed to really stretch down there.

What was the most difficult part about shooting the film?

Adam: The most difficult part of shooting the film was probably having to wear all hats at all times.  There were four of us, true, but for the most part, that’s pretty much all there was.  So we handled everything.  We wrote, directed, produced, shot, and edited the whole thing, not to mention filled the main roles.  So sometimes it was difficult to do everything and still have our acting on point or have the energy to improvise.  A typical shoot would require that we take care of all logistics, coordinate extras, the location, direct the action, and plan and do the camera work, all while trying to quickly learn lines and deliver them with authenticity, then break everything down and make the cast and crew lunch. At times shit got stressful and we were exhausted, but the crew was rock solid and we had the hydrogen psychosis for the project: the crazy eyes.  So we genuinely felt like nothing could stop us.  And of course nothing did.

What was shooting in Mexico like?

Adam: Shooting in Mexico was a fucking adventure in every sense of the word, and I feel like I could write a novel about this experience.  From striking back alley deals with old Mexican women pedaling “explosive powder” so we could then blow up a ‘78 VW bug in a vacant lot next to a paper factory (see: flammable), to forging filming permits and somehow evading arrest by the federales when they found our “props”, to sleeping three dudes to a double mattress turned horizontally on the floor of some godforsaken apartment floor in the bowels of Mexico city for two weeks.  And the tacos.  Yo, the tacos in Mexico are legit!  This might seem self evident, but yeah, take it from me, it’s true.

What other locations did you shoot in?

Adam: So Besides Mexico (which accounts for 1/3 of the movie), we shot in Southern Vermont, Burlington, Hartford, Ct, and Washington D.C. D.C. is where we shot the Devin the Dude scene.

How was it cast?

Adam: The cast was money.  Besides us, we pretty much just used friends, friends of friends, and family to fill all the parts. Everyone was real gracious and pretty down with the project.  So we had a lot of fun with it.  We got some pretty tight performances out of them, too.  Especially in Mexico.  Those dudes rule.  They worked their asses off for tacos and the promise that we would actually finish the project.

What equipment did you use?

Adam: We used a Sony Z1U, some pretty cheap, used lighting and audio equipment we got off eBay, and The Drake’s computer (a graduation gift from his lovely parents) to edit the footage with Adobe Premier 3.  It was a bit rag-tag at times and cumbersome, but certainly adequate.

How long did it take to write the script?

Adam: The script took about 3 months to write.  This is kind of an interesting subject, so let me expand a little bit.  The script was written in a very…unique (ass-backwards) way.  More like a TV show than a movie, I guess.  So we knew who was going to play the main parts–the four of us–so that really helped frame things.  We also knew we had some unbelievable contacts in Mexico and that we’d be fools if we didn’t write that in somehow.  So we first discussed the characters in depth and came up with a skeleton script consisting of the general plot movements of the story.  From there we wrote a more detailed outline.  Then we assigned the writing of each scene and imposed pretty strict deadlines to have shit done by.

So we’d go home, work independently, then come back together each weekend over the summer of ‘08, meeting as a group, sitting around a big table with our computers in front of us, playing chess, drinking gallons of coffee and eating pistachios while we tossed around ideas and wrote. Slowly we pieced things together into one coherent narrative.   Maybe because we didn’t really know what the hell we were doing, or maybe because there was some real genius in this method, we came away with a script that was pretty original.  One voice, four distinct characters, many shades and styles of comedy, some subtle, some way over the top, but all of it uniquely us.  I guess we knew it was ready when we couldn’t give it a read through without repeatedly stopping because we were laughing so hard we were crying.

What was the motivation for making the movie and why the DIY approach?

Adam: The motivation for making the movie was pretty simple: We wanted to do something creative, entrepreneurial in nature, ridiculously ambitions, and way cooler than all of our other friends. We really wanted to do this as a group of best friends, and we knew our time was limited.  We went DIY with it because we wanted to actually do something; I mean this is the fucking point.  So not only if you want something done do you have to do it yourself–it’s not like we’re famous, we have no industry contacts or agents.  So to think we’d write this and somehow the Hollywood gods would come down from the sky and magically make this movie was a fantasy.  In reality, the only option was DIY, which is cool because that’s exactly what we were after.

Bonus:

More Info:

Self-Helpless | Website (Download the Movie FREE!)

Self-Helpless | Blog

No, it’s not that dude–even though he’s a winner because he has the balls to wear a fanny pack and a speedo.  Nevertheless, when we began this contest we honestly had no idea how the response would be.  Thankfully, Joe Rogan’s fans share his passion for fanny packs as the moment the contest went live my inbox was under constant assault by people looking to snag a sweet fanny pack.  The vagueness of our guidelines for the contest also led to a wide mix of Best 10 lists, and while many were good we had to pick one since there is only one fanny pack.  The question we then had to deal with was whether or not to judge the list on practicality, on humor, on creativity, and the like.  In the end, practicality won out.  After all, we are dealing in fanny packs here and any other focus on judging besides practicality would be blasphemous to the ole Buffalo pouch.  So, without any further gibber jabber, we give you the winner of the Joe Rogan Fanny Pack Initiative and Contest. Continue Reading

There’s more to the notion of good vibes and psychedelics than we, as a society, have been led to believe.  A few years ago, John Hopkins University set out to find what exactly psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, did for people.  The findings shocked the leader of the study, Roland Griffiths. Continue Reading

When Gil Kerlikowske was tapped to be the country’s drug czar there was plenty of hope among potheads everywhere.  After all, he was the police chief of Seattle, a pot friendly city that hosts an annual festival, Hemp Fest, which pretty much consists of people just walking around and openly smoking pot.  Rather than order his officers to rain down baton blows on stoned citizens Kerlikowske simply let the people have their fun.  But now it appears he’s taken on a more czar-like position on the matter saying, “Marijuana is dangerous and has no medicinal benefit.” Continue Reading

Humanity loves beer and wine.  It isn’t surprising either.  Not only does it help take the edge off a long, hard day, but it is a social lubricant that helps pull people out of their self-conscious shell.  And sure, the two can sometimes cause some serious problems, but without beer and wine modern life would be quite different. Continue Reading

Drugs, recliners, and intercourse with the opposite sex.  Three things prisoners shouldn’t have easy access to, but down in Montague County, Texas they do their jailin’ differently.  In what is being called the Inmates-Gone-Wild scandal, the former sheriff, Bill Keating, and 16 others have been indicted on 106 counts of having some serious fun.  The sheriff was sexing up the female prisoners while the female guards took care of the male inmates.  In Montague, going to the hole took on an entirely new meaning.  Drugs and cell phones were also a part of the day-to-day routine–a major difference from the more uptight jails that typically frown upon such behavior so much that they are willing to investigate the anal cavities of inmates any time they suspect something might be in there.

Best of all, multiple surveillance cameras were disabled and various locks were either broken or left unlocked–and nobody left!  They easily could have, but they stayed.  And who could blame them?  No job, no financial worries, just a lot of relaxation, sex, and altered states.  Maybe Sheriff Keating was on to something.  If jail is made enjoyable, then all the leisure-loving, sex-and-drug crazed degenerates will flock to jails and prisons nationwide, and then we’ll finally be able to get things done once and for all.  After all, with the CEOs in prison humping and snorting away, we won’t have to worry about the fuckers raping the economy for shits and giggles.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/animal_house_jail

Maybe you’ve been up late and happened to catch a lovely pharmaceutical ad for the drug Abilify.  You haven’t? Well, by all means check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJxbK1p_mfE

Abilify is an anti-depressant add-on for those people who are so depressed that regular anti-depressants don’t quite cut it.   The side effects of Abilify–all of which appear to be common and potentially fatal–illustrate one very unfortunate truth about our country’s attitude towards drugs: we really are absolutely clueless, misinformed, and horribly confused.  We say things like, “drugs and alcohol,” when alcohol is a drug.  We spent years embracing the concept that cigarettes were nicotine-laced symbols of class and coolness.  We’ve allowed the prescription of Ritalin and concentrated opiates to our nation’s youth.  Meanwhile, we’ve imprisoned, victimized, and inconvenienced millions of other Americans for smoking a drug, whose active ingredient never killed or severely harmed a person until it was extracted, concentrated, and pressed into a pill called Marinol, which the FDA gave a seal of approval to.

Nevertheless, after watching the Abilify ad, it becomes clear that pharmaceutical companies have reached a new low. To all the wretchedly depressed people, a subtle Kervorkian offer of assisted suicide, packed tightly into a tiny and easy-to-swallow pill, is made to them. All they need to do is talk to their doctor and if Doc feels Abilify will help, a piece of paper is signed and off the patient goes to finally put themselves out of their misery. They will be remembered in a much better light than if they had decided to kill themselves through conscious effort. What Abilify provides is a subconsciously deliberate way to cop out and drop out.

The fact that Abilify was approved by the FDA is baffling. Here are just a few of the side effects of Abilify, which are actually posted on the drug’s website—how bold! Continue Reading

I know what you’re thinking–I’m thinking it as well.  “What the? But how? No fucking way!”  Thanks to the internet, I have managed to find what can only be regarded as a mind blowing proposition: salvia as medicine.  If you never smoked salvia then check out my essay, The Salvia Chronicles, but if you have experienced salvia, then you are just as baffled as I am right now.

SalviaSociety.org is a website that deals with everything salvia, and that includes the potential health benefits of using salvia.  According to their site, salvia has the potential to treat the following problems: Continue Reading

This is what happens when you take your 7 year old to get an extra tooth removed and drug him up with pain killers. Poor kid asks his farther “if this is real life.” At around :59 seconds he starts to resemble one of those teenagers on YouTube tripping out on salvia. Enjoy!

(courtesy of Dave)

Craigslist is the internet’s paradise island of opportunity. From renting out bathrooms to recruiting bank robber accomplices, the simple yet popular classified website has brought together employers and job hunters, landlords and tenants, buyers and sellers, cheating husbands and prostitutes, even drug dealers and web savvy drug users. That’s right; drugs 2.0!

Special narcotics prosecutor Bridget Brennan and a team of prosecutors are leading the online drug war in an effort to influence Craigslist to curb ads featured on their site selling illegal drugs. Brennan has recently written a letter to the online trade post concerning the growing issue. However, Brennan’s undercover agents have already arrested dozens of dealers selling cocaine, ecstasy and other drugs.

So who are the dealers? How about anyone from a Citigroup banker to an Ivy Leaguer to an ex-convict? If this sounds sketchy to you that’s because it is. Although, you can argue that it’s similar to using that NYC weed delivery service your co-worker referred to you.

Sound tempting? Are you brave enough to tap into the web surfing, ad posting, drug pushing exchange?

Here’s a guide to scoring your first bag of blow via Craigslist: Continue Reading

So if our educators are not having sex with their students, they are making crude comments.

The Florida school board suspended a 7th grade teacher for inappropriate comments his students about violating the dress code.  So what exactly did he say?  He was quoted saying, “Girls, if you wear short skirts and I can see your panties, I am going to tell you what color they are.”

How can grown adults, that are educators think this is an okay thing to say?!  The teach also is accused of telling male students that wearing pants too low means in prison terms that “you are open for business,” referring to male prison prostitution.  LOL O.M.G. Continue Reading

The war on drugs is non-existent and with the latest results from a World Health Organization survey of 17 countries, the United States drug policies have clearly failed. According to the recent survey, the United States ranks the highest in marijuana and cocaine use

42.4 percent of the US citizens surveyed admitted to having used marijuana. New Zealand trailed close behind with 41.9 percent. However, the United States leads the world in cocaine use by a large margin.

What is most interesting are the results from the Netherlands where adults are allowed to possess and purchase small amounts of marijuana from regulated businesses. While many U.S. officials accuse the Dutch drug policy of fueling drug abuse, only 19.8 percent have used marijuana. Looks like the land of the free has got it all backwards. The question now is whether the U.S. can flip the drug culture from drug abuse to recreational drug use; sounds like a “change we can believe in” to me.

(via DoseNation)