The High Times 2003 Stony Awards Show
'This is how it can be'
text and photos
by Preston Peet
for DrugWar.com
Posted at DrugWar.com
March 20, 2003
Frank Serpico admiring his
2003 Thomas King Forcade Stony Award
What with the depressing warring on Iraq about
to begin a mere week or two hence, (as I write this now as a matter
of fact) it was with distinct pleasure that I set out with my
girlfriend on March 5, 2003 for the 4th Annual High Times Stony
Awards show.
Who ever thought that a political statement (which
is really what a High Times awards show is after all) could be
so much fun? The event was a blast, a smoky affair that brought
out a standing-room only crowd to show their support for marijuana
smokers and users and those who support the counter-culture by
filming them and their lifestyles. The evening offered a much
needed respite from the ultra-serious vibes happening in the world
these days.
The supportive and happy crowd
Arriving at the club, the air was already hazy
blue from the copious amounts of herbal smoking going on, but
no one attending seemed to mind in the slightest bit. Nor did
the guests and nominees who showed, like the host, Pauly Shore,
who was obviously, and self-admittedly, utterly ripped to the
tits on extraordinarily tasty herbal samplings. Shore was a perfect
host for the night’s proceedings, leading the assembled crowd
seamlessly from one moment of hilarity to the next, making sense
and improvising even as stoned as he was. But there were often
moments of seriousness as well, with a number of presenters and
winners making sure to draw attention to both upcoming attacks
on Iraq, and the ever worsening War on pot smokers and growers
in the US.
Jimmy Breslin introducing
Frank Serpico
The person I was personally most eagerly
waiting to see receive an award was the legendary ex-NYPD cop
and whistle-blower Frank Serpico, who was given the Thomas King
Forcade Film Achievement Award by Pulitzer Prize winner Jimmy
Breslin, who himself took the opportunity to make serious remarks
about the upcoming slaughter by the US of so many 15 year old
Iraqi children. Recipient of the 2003 Life-Time Stony Award Dave
Chappell was on hand to give Saturday Night Live’s Horatio
Sanz the Stoner of the Year Award. Mike Gordon from Phish won
the Best Music DVD Award. Sadly for me the film I was rooting
for was writer, director and star Asia Argento’s Scarlet
Diva, which was up for three awards but won none. Another great
film I was rooting for, Interview with the Assassin, written and
directed by Neil Burger and reviewed by for High Times by me,
also didn’t win.
“There are these movies out there that
don’t get any attention. They don’t get nominated at
any, or at least many other awards shows. These are movies that
are often counterculture in theme and pot friendly,” said
Stony Awards Executive Producer and High Times Senior Editor Steve
Bloom. “We’re trying to celebrate the movies that don’t
get the Hollywood treatment, and give them a place to go to. I
mean, who is going to give an award to Ram Dass Fierce Grace?
Who else gave an award to Super Troopers? Who is giving an award
to Harvard Man? This doesn’t at all mean these are bad movies
so they aren’t getting noticed, it’s just they’re
not on the Hollywood radar, even if some of them come out through
the Hollywood system. This is not an independent awards show.
There already is one, the Independent Spirit Awards, so that’s
not our focus.”
The famous Kyle Kushman
“I think it’s all about normalization.
I think that it’s more of a personal thing to me, and to
most everybody,” explained Kyle Kushman, High Times Cultivation
reporter and editor. “Put it this way- say we had a party
like this every week. How long do you think it would take before
people weren’t listening [to the prohibitionists], weren’t
afraid to be smoking pot anymore. It’s about trying to get
together a roomful of people who then go home and think, ‘this
is how it can be.’ There’s no reason for it not to be.
I know I’m normal, but a lot of people think, ‘yeah
maybe this is wrong but I don’t care.’ I know I’m
normal and that marijuana use isn’t wrong. It’s about
getting hundreds of people together and helping them realize they’re
normal too. ‘Look, there are stars around, look there are
people from all over, young people, old people, famous people.’
It’s about normalization of the whole culture. We’re
having an event like everyone else does and that’s having
a profound effect. When it’s all over and no one got busted,
that’s really cool. I had a great time. I was and am so proud
to be an employee of High Times. All lot of people came out, went
out of their way, got on trains and came to this event, to show
their support.”
Steve Bloom, Executive Producer
and High Times Senior Editor
Bloom notes that interest in the event is certainly
growing since the first Stony Award was held. “The first
year we were at the Anthology Film Archives in the Lower East
Side of Manhattan and we pretty much had to invite all our friends
to come to fill the place up. The second year there we had a standing
room only. Last year we went to BB Kings and it was a pretty good
crowd and this year it was standing room only. Maybe its just
the people who were involved, like Pauly Shore and Frank Serpico,
plus the publicity we got prior to the event, but whatever it’s
getting on the radar of the film and entertainment industry.”
Pauly Shore, the MC of the evening
“What I learned at this event is the power
of television,” Bloom says, pointing out that this was the
first year with television categories. “We included Best
Television Series [Which the Simpsons won] and Stoner of the Year
categories which Horatio Sanz won, and it seemed like the biggest
reaction in the crowd was to the tv awards. The Simpsons got the
biggest cheer of the night, and Horatio was certainly well received.
That’s partially because these people are well known to pretty
much everyone out there. For stoners and non-stoners alike, tv
is the most prevalent form of media in this country.”
Carolyn Omeni, Simpsons
executive producer/writer
“We’re getting a great response from
comics to our shows, finding a lot of new friends out there,”
Bloom continued. “The hardest sell of all is getting the
film stars to the show. For three reasons: they’re busy,
working, or their management is protecting them. Coming to the
Stonys is pretty much embracing what we’re about. Having
Breslin there was important because people know him and his work.
He is essentially a mainstream journalist who has worked for all
the New York papers over the years, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and
a great book author. He also tried to get people focused on the
War issues. We were looking for someone who could connect to Serpico,
and Serpico himself was very supportive too.”
Horatio Sanz, Pauly Shore, and
Dave Chappelle end the evening on a good note
The night only had a only two jarring moments
for both me and my DJ girlfriend. The first was the horrid live
rendition of HBO’s Porn n’ Chicken theme song, Nuts
in Your Mouth, rapped out badly over canned beats. The second
one came upon leaving the venue after a night of great vibes,
amazing speakers, presenters and entertainment, and best of all
peaceful communion with friends and strangers alike. Conspicuously
parked imperiously outside the main entrance to BB King’s
were three NYPD horseback officers, almost as though they were
there to remind us all that despite an evening of freedom inside
the event, we were now back in the real world with all its oppression
and fear-mongering.
But not at all willing to let anything disturb
our feelings of good will, we both admired the horses then took
our high and happy selves to the High Times after party to smoke
succulent strains of pot, hear good reggae music and dance until
the wee hours of the night, all the while thinking of how to carry
on the positive energy raised by the event, to focus it on making
the normalcy of pot use declared by Kushman and myself and the
hundreds of others in that room that night a reality.
See the complete listings of the
High
Times 2003 Stony Award Nominees
See the complete list of the
2003
High Times Stony Award Winners
More photos of the evening
Kylie waiting to hand award to winner
Allen St. Pierre, NORML Foundation
Exectuive Director
Ruth M. Liebesman, Legal Director
NY NORML
Dan Vinkovetsky, High Times
Marketing Coordinator
Rob Braswell, High Times
Associate Art Director
Activist Dan Goldman and High Times
Contributor Valerie Vande Panne
