Natasha Shneider, the righteous woman on keys from Queens of the Stone Age, lost her battle to cancer on July the 2nd. Shneider had a long musical career, that included work with Chris Cornell, Louis XIV, Eleven, and I’m sure about a hundred other kickass bands that most of us will never even hear about. Shneider was 52 years old.

Breath easy internet, I have returned to my blogging post. Over the last week and a half I’ve been journeying up the Pacific Coast with Bear Hunter . As it turns out, when I try and write on my laptop while in the van I start to puke all over my band mates — hence, my absence from Synthesis Blog. Over the next few days I will be recounting my harrowing journey (in between fascinating posts about pop stars getting busted for drugs, children with weird growths on their bodies and general paranoid-paranormal fodder). Get ready, dear readers. Get your asses ready.

As if the subject hasn’t been touched 100 times here or on any other blog site, the loss of George Carlin was a pretty big hit to American pop culture. Here is Carlin’s last interview, which touches base on censorship, drug use, his writing process, personal life and just about everything else. Carlin himself said it was the most complete interview he’s ever done, which seems to be a very appropriate thing to say in proceeding the given circumstances.

George Carlin, comedic legend, died today of heart failure at St. John’s medical center in Santa Monica, CA.

Carlin was a pioneer in the realm stand-up comedy, pushing the limits of good taste before it was cool. His epitaph would be complete with the “Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television”: Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, CockSucker, MotherFucker and Tits.

RIP

It is my firm belief that every person on the planet should take Lysergic acid diethylamide, (or LSD, aka acid) one time in their life. Not so sure if most people should continue to use the stuff, because man, oh man, that’s a powerful drug. It will make you see things more clearly than you’ve ever seen them, and at the same time more opaquely than ever before. Then laugh like a hyena for hours.

The scientist who first discovered LSD in 1938, and then accidentally spilled some on himself, marking the first use of acid, has passed away. Swiss-born chemist Albert Hoffman died from a heart Attack at his home on Tuesday. He was 102 years old.

From Radio Netherlands:

Albert Hofmann discovered the drug by accident while he was researching medicinal plants. A bit of the synthetic fluid spilled on his hands during a laboratory experiment in 1943, leading to an unintended first hand experience with the new hallucinogenic drug.

The chemist later referred to LSD as his ‘problem child’, he never expected LSD to become a popular drug among the Hippy community in the 1960s. Mr Hofmann continued to defend the medicinal qualities of LSD long after the drug was banned in the 1960s.

Tune in, drop out man…..

The most hXc man to ever live, Evel Knievel died today at age 69. Having a massive amount of health problems over his life (might have had something to do with the millions of bails he took… riding motorcycles… over busses…) I’m surprised he lasted this long. Knievel had been battling diabetes and a chronic, incurable lung condition, as well as contracting Hep. C in 1999 (probably contracted from his injuries). The guy was a true icon and a part of American pop culture. Pound a beer for him tonight

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