Popsicles, Assembly Line Revenge and the Most Interesting Cardiologist Ever
Three things happened. All of them need to be discussed. None of them are normal.
This week on Thoughts Off The Stem, Justin Barone covers the definitive rule on dudes eating popsicles in public, a two hour assembly line revenge plot that was absolutely worth it, and a cardiology appointment at Toronto General that briefly felt like the opening scene of a Spanish soap opera.
He was not high for any of it. He deeply regrets that.
It was a heat wave. The company put out a freezer full of free popsicles. Justin watched what happened next and cannot unsee it.
Here’s the rule. If you’re a dude eating a popsicle in public — you bite it. That’s it. Full stop. End of discussion. There is no alternative. You do not hawk that thing. Don’t wrap your tongue around it like a giraffe taking food from someone’s hand. Bite it, you eat it, you move on with your life and your dignity intact.
Justin is not saying this to be immature. Justin is saying this because he had to watch an entire assembly line of men completely ignore this rule during a heat wave and he needs everyone to understand that this was a problem.
Bite the popsicle. This has been a public service announcement.
Assembly Line Revenge
There’s a coworker. This coworker is fast, spazzy, micromanages everyone’s technique, and cannot handle a unit being placed on the wrong side of a hash mark. He also made the catastrophic mistake of laughing at Justin with another employee while Justin was still learning.
Justin clocked it, then he filed it and said nothing.
Then one rotation later this coworker did the full stare down — picked up a unit, held it up, made eye contact, and slowly placed it back down on the correct side of the hash mark like he was Vanna White revealing a letter. Justin, being the completely reasonable adult that he is, spent the next two hours inching every single unit millimeter by millimeter from the correct side of the hash mark to the wrong side of the hash mark.
By the end of the rotation Justin could physically feel the laser stare boring through the back of his skull. Worth it. Completely worth it.
Don’t laugh at people for trying. Especially not Justin.
The Most Interesting Cardiologist Ever
Justin has a heart condition. He goes to Toronto General every two years for a full cardiology workup. This time he had a new doctor.
This new doctor walked into the examination room, got approximately six inches from Justin’s face, looked him dead in the eyes and said — “I just want to meet the Superman.”
Justin was not expecting this.
She proceeded to do what Justin describes as the full Don Juan strut across the room, extended her hand with her fingertips pointed downward like she expected him to kiss the ring, introduced herself, and then told Justin he was the Batman now.
Everything checked out fine by the way. Heart is good. The edibles are approved. Smoking is not approved. Vaping is also not approved but Justin has stopped so that’s fine. And at some point in the future Justin will experience a weird heartbeat from the edibles and when that happens he is to call the doctor directly and say “hello, yes, it happened.”
Justin’s girlfriend is going to find out about all of this by listening to this episode. Justin acknowledges this may cause problems.
Also — Justin wants his defibrillator X-ray framed on his wall. The hospital spent 20 minutes looking for it and couldn’t find it. The search continues.
Listen Now
Popsicles, Assembly Line Revenge and the Most Interesting Cardiologist Ever is available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms.
New episodes of Thoughts Off The Stem drop every Friday at 4:20 PM.
Stop Playing Games: Know Your Value In The Job Market
A lawyer on TikTok said that anyone who answers the salary question in a job interview is an idiot. You should deflect. Check with your family first. Never put a number on yourself.
Justin answered the salary question in a job interview.
Justin has a lot to say about that.
This week on Thoughts Off The Stem it’s a fired up, unfiltered rant about knowing your value, the games employers play, and why the people at the bottom of the org chart — the ones actually keeping everything running — keep getting squeezed while the people at the top drink Scotch and wonder why nobody wants to work anymore.
Here’s the scenario. You apply for a job. The posting says the salary range is $30 to $35 an hour. You have ten years of verified experience in exactly the function they’re hiring for. At the end of the interview they ask what you’re looking for in salary.
You say $35 an hour. Because that’s what you’re worth, it’s the industry standard for your level of experience. Because you have the skills, the resume, and the track record to back it up.
And then nothing. You don’t get the job.
According to a lawyer on TikTok you should have deflected. Said you needed to check with your family. Kept the number vague. Justin disagrees. Loudly. If you’ve spent 25 years building skills that an employer is actively looking for — you should be able to say what those skills are worth without being made to feel like a moron for knowing your own value.
Stop Posting Fake Salary Ranges
Here’s the part that actually makes Justin’s blood boil. If you post a job listing with a salary range of $30 to $35 an hour and you have no intention of paying $35 — don’t post $35. Just tell people what you’re paying. Stop wasting the time of people who are already dealing with enough.
The economy is tight. Gas prices are through the roof. A single dad with three kids and one in university does not have time for salary range fuckery. Nobody does. If you want quality you have to pay for quality. If you only want to pay $26 an hour just say $26 an hour and let the person decide if that works for them.
The games aren’t cute. They’re just cruel.
Blue Collar Workers Are Being Criminally Undervalued
This is the part of the episode that lands hardest. The people on the front line — the ones actually doing the physical, exhausting, relentless work that keeps companies functioning — are chronically underpaid while executives sit in boardrooms making decisions about golf holidays and quarterly bonuses.
Cannabis retail is a perfect example. Stores bringing in over $200,000 a month paying their managers $50,000 a year. In Canada. In 2026. You can’t live off that. So they hire younger, less experienced people and pay them less — and then wonder why the service is inconsistent and the turnover is brutal.
Justin’s theory — and it makes sense — is that paying experienced people properly would make you more profitable in the long run. Because experienced people don’t break. They show up, know what they’re doing, and keep your shit functioning without you having to babysit them.
Know Your Value. Say It Out Loud.
Here’s where the episode lands. In every other area of life you’re told to know your value. Know what you bring to the table. Know what you’re worth in relationships, in friendships, in every human interaction.
Then you walk into a job interview and suddenly saying what you’re worth makes you an idiot?
No. You are not an idiot for knowing what 25 years of experience is worth. You are not an idiot for expecting a company to pay the salary range they publicly posted. And you are definitely not an idiot for walking away from employers who play games with people who don’t have time for it.
Know your value. Say it out loud. And stop working for people who don’t.
Those are the thoughts off the stem this week. 🌿
Listen Now
Stop Playing Games: Know Your Value In The Job Market is available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms.
New episodes of Thoughts Off The Stem drop every Friday at 4:20 PM.
Manufacturing is for Robots, THC is for Back Pain and TOTS is for Everyone
Justin’s back. It’s been a month. And manufacturing almost killed him.
Not literally. But close enough that he earned a nickname — Chafee Chafersen — from walking funny after a week of 10 hour shifts in 45 degree heat. This week on Thoughts Off The Stem it’s a full shoot the shit sesh covering the manufacturing job from hell, a real talk breakdown of THC vs CBD for back pain, and an honest life update from a 45 year old single dad who is very much still figuring it out.
Here’s what nobody tells you before you start a manufacturing job. You have 43 seconds per unit on the conveyor belt. You will pick up approximately 67,000 screws per 10 hour shift. Your feet will feel like someone from Misery got to them by the end of day one. Your hands will swell to the point where a size 13 ring no longer fits your middle finger. And the billion dollar company you work for will charge you $18.99 for a replacement work shirt and make you pay for your own lunch.
You’re welcome.
The first week Justin could barely walk from his car to the front door. By week four his hands had built their own muscles. The conveyor doesn’t care about your arthritis, your fat fingers, your leather shoes that need three weeks to break in, or the fact that yesterday you were doing absolutely nothing. It just keeps moving at exactly the speed it was always moving at and you either keep up or you don’t.
It’s grueling, it’s mindless, and it’s temporary. Six month contract. That’s the only thing keeping Chafee Chafersen sane.
THC vs CBD for Back Pain: What the Dispensary Got Wrong
Justin’s dad has been dealing with back pain — specifically degenerative disc disease — and went to the dispensary for help. What he got was a 100mg CBD gummy with barely any THC. What he needed was something completely different.
Here’s the real talk breakdown — and this is not medical advice, talk to your doctor:
CBD is non-psychoactive. It helps with inflammation, joint recovery, muscles and ligaments. It can help you feel calm and relaxed and ride the wave of the day. But CBD alone does not kill pain.
THC is the part of the plant that, because it’s psychoactive, actually helps your body deal with pain directly. If you need real pain relief — especially for something like degenerative disc disease — you need a minimum of 10mg THC alongside your CBD. Not 1mg. Not 0.1mg. Ten milligrams minimum.
The dispensary gave Justin’s dad the wrong thing. A 100mg CBD gummy with trace THC is going to make him feel calm. It is not going to touch the disc pain.
Talk to your doctor. Talk to a physiotherapist. And if you’re using cannabis for pain relief, make sure what you’re getting actually has enough THC in it to do the job.
TOTS is for Everyone
Here’s where the episode lands. Justin is 45. He’s been out of work for a year. He spent that year trying to get TOTS420 off the ground, took a project management certification, watched the listener numbers climb to within 385 of 1000 on Spotify, and then took a manufacturing job because the bills don’t care about your goals.
But the six months isn’t wasted time. It’s a reset. A chance to stop investing emotional energy into jobs that don’t deserve it and redirect that energy into the things that actually matter.
TOTS420 is one of those things. The sesh is one of those things. And if you’ve been listening — share it, follow it, tell someone about it. Because a 45 year old single dad with fat hands and a touch of arthritis is out here putting screws into car parts for 10 hours a day so he can come home and do this for you.
Those are the thoughts off the stem. 🌿
Listen Now
New episodes of Thoughts Off The Stem drop every Friday at 4:20 PM.
Let’s get into it. A UFC commentator texts the president about psychedelics on a Saturday. By Monday he’s in the Oval Office watching an executive order get signed. Men are literally hitting themselves in the face with hammers to get dates. Africa is cracking in half. The government published alien documents so redacted they might as well be a grocery list. And in the middle of all this absolute chaos — strangers on the internet decided I’m a bad dad.
Because of comedy clips.
That’s where we are. Everyone just wants to be right all the time and nobody wants to laugh anymore. This week on Thoughts Off The Stem it’s a high energy, zero filter rant about a world that has completely lost the plot and the people making it worse.
Gear Up For The Sesh.
King Palm is what’s on the table when the mic is on. The same wraps used on the show — now available for your sesh. 🌿
We Are Living In A Simulation And Nobody Sent The Patch Notes
Look at the headlines. Just look at them. Psychedelics in the Oval Office. The manosphere trying to build harems of obedient wives like it’s the dark ages with WiFi. Paid protest crowds you can order like an Uber. Social media turning an entire generation into people who can’t hold a conversation longer than a TikTok. Wars. Oil prices. A continent literally splitting apart.
I changed my mind — we are definitely living in a simulation. And whoever is running it needs to be fired immediately.
But here’s the thing that actually gets me fired up. It’s not the chaos. The chaos is at least interesting. It’s that instead of laughing at any of this — instead of stepping back and acknowledging that everyone just wants to be right all the time and the whole thing is completely absurd — people are out here getting angrier. Picking fights. Attacking strangers. Convinced that their outrage is the most important outrage in the room.
Bad Dad? Come On.
So I post comedy clips. Clips from the show. Unfiltered, raw, sarcastic single dad humor. And some people in the comments decided that makes me a bad dad.
Not people who know me. Not people who have spent five minutes around my actual kids. Strangers. People who watched a 60 second clip and decided they had enough information to weigh in on my parenting.
This is exactly what the episode is about. Everyone just wants to be right all the time — and when you can’t actually put in the work to back it up you just get mad at people online instead. It’s easier than looking inward. It’s easier than doing anything. You just find a stranger, decide they’re wrong, and unload.
I see you. And I’ve got thoughts.
The Real Reason You’re Mad At Strangers Online
Here’s where the episode lands and it’s worth hearing. The reason you’re mad at strangers on the internet — the real reason — has nothing to do with the strangers. It has everything to do with the stuff you haven’t dealt with about yourself.
The world is unhinged. Life is hard. Things are genuinely frustrating. But people who spend their energy attacking comedians in comment sections aren’t fighting for anything meaningful. They’re just avoiding the mirror.
Find the humor. Find the irony. Enjoy the moment. And maybe — just maybe — take a hard look at what’s actually making you that angry. Because I promise you it’s not a podcast clip.
Listen Now
Everyone Just Wants To Be Right All The Time is available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms.
New episodes of Thoughts Off The Stem drop every Friday at 4:20 PM.
Gear Up For The Sesh.
King Palm is what’s on the table when the mic is on. The same wraps used on the show — now available for your sesh. 🌿
Someone slid into my DMs last week and asked me to have a guest on the podcast.
Now I get approached from time to time and most of the time it’s pretty straightforward. But this one stopped me cold. Because the person reaching out was Kristin M. Davis — better known as the Manhattan Madam — and she wanted me to interview the CEO of a company called Crowds on Demand.
So I did what any self respecting pothead would do. I went down the rabbit hole.
What I found was way more interesting than any interview would have been. And honestly? Way more disturbing.
What Is Astroturfing and Why Should You Care?
Before we get into the Manhattan Madam and the fake protest guy, let’s talk about astroturfing — because if you don’t know what it is, you need to.
Astroturfing is the practice of manufacturing the appearance of grassroots public support where none actually exists. The name comes from AstroTurf — the fake grass — because that’s exactly what it is. Fake grass roots.
Paid protests and astroturfing go hand in hand and in 2026 the industry is booming. According to public reporting, Crowds on Demand saw a 400% surge in paid protest requests in 2025 alone. That’s not a niche service anymore. That’s an industry.
And somebody is buying it.
Listen to the sesh:
Thoughts Off The Stem | Cannabis Infused Comedy
Meet your Idols, just don’t be shocked at what you get
Let’s start with who reached out to me because this is where it gets immediately weird.
Kristin M. Davis — the Manhattan Madam — ran a high end prostitution ring in New York City that allegedly serviced some very prominent clients including Eliot Spitzer, Alex Rodriguez and David Beckham. She served time at Rikers Island, ran for Governor of New York in 2010, was contacted by Robert Mueller’s office in 2018 in connection with Russian election interference, and was later convicted for distributing drugs.
She has since founded Hope House to help women in need — and I’ll give her credit for that because second chances are real and people do change.
But now she runs a PR firm called Think Right PR that specializes in rebranding people and companies with — let’s call it complicated public histories. And she reached out to me to have Adam Swart, the CEO of Crowds on Demand, on my show to talk about the mechanics of fake protests and manufactured reality.
I’ll be honest. My first thought was — why would the Manhattan Madam be repping the fake protest guy?
My second thought was — actually that makes perfect sense.
Crowds on Demand: Your Reality Has a Price Tag
Here’s what Crowds on Demand actually is.
Adam Swart founded the company in 2012. It started with “celebrity experience” services — fake paparazzi, hired fans, that kind of thing. Over time it expanded into organized protests, political demonstrations, and publicity stunts using paid actors posing as members of the public.
In plain English — you can buy a crowd. Right now. Today.
Service
What They Say
What It Actually Is
Celebrity Arrival Service
Professional crowd for your event
Hired fans to make you look important
Advocacy Group Creation
We create and staff advocacy groups with suitable leadership
Inventing fake grassroots organizations from scratch with hired actors as “leaders”
Protest Organization
Amplifying your message through demonstrations
Paid protesters starting at $39.99 per activist
Mergers & Acquisitions Support
Shaping public company deals
Manufacturing protests to tank a competitor’s stock price
Message Amplification
When other strategies have failed
When the truth isn’t working — buy a fake consensus instead
A Washington Post columnist described receiving a marketing email from the company offering their “Celebrity Arrival Service” to politicians — promising to stuff events with paid actors to make candidates look popular.
John Oliver dedicated a segment on Last Week Tonight to them. They’ve been sued for alleged extortion. They’ve been accused of creating a fake Black Lives Matter organization in Dallas called Dallas Justice Now that sent letters urging wealthy white families not to send their kids to Ivy League universities. The same Republican marketing firm was also behind a pro-police group called Keep Dallas Safe.
Both sides. Same company. Same fake grass.
And demand is up 400%.
The Whistleblower Who Won’t Blow the Whistle
Here’s where it gets really rich.
Swart is now positioning himself as a whistleblower. He wants to come clean about the fake protest industry. Says he wants transparency. And to expose the manufactured outrage machine.
Except — he won’t name his clients. He won’t name his sources. And his company bio still openly boasts about creating fake advocacy groups from scratch.
Let me say that again. The guy who wants to blow the whistle on astroturfing still sells astroturfing.
Here’s a breakdown of what his own bio says versus what it actually means:
What His Bio Says
What It Actually Means
“We create advocacy groups and staff them with suitable leadership”
We invent fake organizations and hire actors to pretend to be their leaders
“We shaped large public company mergers and acquisitions”
We manufactured protests to pressure companies into deals
“We amplify messages when other strategies have failed”
When the truth isn’t working we manufacture a fake consensus
“I want transparency in the protest industry”
I want to be the regulated gatekeeper of the very deception I pioneered
When you’re whistleblowing you’re supposed to do it for the better of society — not for the better of your bank account.
He isn’t blowing the whistle because he grew a conscience. He’s blowing the whistle to become the “legitimate” face of an industry he built. It’s the same hustle with a press release attached.
The Inversion of Truth: Two Peas in a Very Shady Pod
Here’s what struck me most when I put these two together.
Davis uses her criminal past to create trust as an expert on corruption. Swart uses fake crowds to create the appearance of truth through manufactured consensus.
They are both selling the same thing — the idea that nothing is real, so you might as well buy their version of reality.
The People
Kristin M. Davis
Adam Swart
Background
Manhattan Madam, convicted felon, Mueller witness
Former journalist turned fake protest entrepreneur
Current pitch
Reformed criminal turned PR expert on scandal
Fake protest pioneer turned whistleblower
What they’re selling
Trust through criminal credibility
Truth through manufactured consensus
The hustle
My past makes me an expert on deception
My deception makes me qualified to expose deception
What they won’t reveal
The full client list from her past
Current client list and protest contracts
It’s not a reformation. It’s an expansion of the same hustle with better branding.
So Should I Have Him On The Show?
I asked my audience this at the end of the episode and I’m asking you here too — because I genuinely don’t know.
On one hand I don’t think I’ll get an honest conversation. He won’t name clients. He won’t name sources. And everything about the way this pitch landed in my DMs feels like exactly the kind of manufactured narrative his company specializes in.
On the other hand — sometimes the most interesting interviews are the ones where you already know the guy is full of it.
What do you think? Drop it in the comments. Should I have Adam Swart on Thoughts Off The Stem?
The Real Issue Nobody Wants to Talk About
Here’s the thing that actually bothers me most about all of this.
Most people can’t be bothered to protest. Real grassroots movements are hard. They require time, energy, belief and sacrifice. The fact that there’s a booming market for fake protests tells you something really important — the people with money have figured out that they can skip all of that and just buy the appearance of public support instead.
Your outrage is for sale. Your reality is manufactured. And most people scrolling their feed have no idea whether the protest they just watched was organic or ordered off a menu at $39.99 per head.
I basically assume at this point that anything I watch or read is at least partially bullshit. And honestly? That’s a really exhausting way to live.
So smoke one, think critically, and maybe — just maybe — question the next “spontaneous” protest you see trending on your feed.
Those are my thoughts off the stem. 🍃
🎙 Listen to the Full Episode
Everything Is Fake: Your Reality Is for Sale is out now on Spotify and YouTube.
I go deeper on both Davis and Swart, break down exactly how the fake protest machine works, and ask you directly — should I have him on the show?
New episodes drop every Friday at 4:20PM. Subscribe so the sesh comes straight to you — we’re pushing to 1,000 followers on Spotify and every follow counts.
The world is full of BS, King Palm isn’t – just like Thoughts Off The Stem. Relax and enjoy a longer smoother, full flavored sesh.
Looksmaxxing and incel culture have produced some truly unhinged ideas over the years — but hitting yourself in the face with a hammer to get dates might be the one that finally broke me. There are grown men doing this. On purpose. With an actual hammer. And they have hundreds of thousands of followers cheering them on.
I’ll let that sink in for a second.
Welcome to the world of looksmaxxing — the incel community’s full-send obsession with optimizing your physical appearance at all costs. And I mean ALL costs. We’re talking steroids at 14, crystal meth to hollow your cheeks, and a daily hammer session to your jaw because apparently that’s a thing people do now.
I’m Justin Barone. I’m 44 years old, I’m 260 lbs, and I used to be fit back in my 30s when I was about 185. Somewhere between Doritos and laziness I became what these kids would probably classify as some kind of ogre. But you know what? I still figured out that personality is the move. These kids apparently haven’t gotten that memo yet.
Let’s get into it.
What Is Looksmaxxing and Incel Culture?
Looksmaxxing is the practice of maximizing your physical attractiveness — and it started in incel culture. Incel, if you don’t know, stands for involuntarily celibate. These are dudes who can’t get a date and have decided that the reason is entirely their bone structure.
Looksmaxxing and incel culture are more connected than most people realize — the whole movement was born on incel message boards before it jumped to TikTok.
The movement got a massive boost from a 19-year-old content creator named Clavicular — and yes, that’s his actual name, or at least his online name. Braden. His name is Braden. I don’t know what we expected.
At 14 years old this kid started taking testosterone, using steroids, and by his own admission on camera — meth. Why meth? Because he thought it was basically just street Adderall. One derivative away, he says. He also took a hammer to his face every single day.
Not to bits and pieces. Just until it got red and puffy. Because he believed it would create micro fractures in his jaw that would heal into a sharper, more square jawline.
You know what else gives you a sharper jawline? Puberty. Which he was going through at the time. But he couldn’t wait.
This guy is now 19, has hundreds of thousands of followers, and allegedly earns over $100,000 a month teaching other young men how to do what he did. And somehow we as a society have decided this is acceptable.
I take partial blame. Not personally. But as a generation? Yeah. We dropped the ball.
Where Did We Go Wrong?
The looksmaxxing community and incel culture didn’t create these insecurities in young men — but it weaponized them.
When I was a teenager and I wasn’t getting invited to parties — and I wasn’t always, I was a chunky kid with a belly from eating too many Doritos — I didn’t smash my face with a hammer. Instead I went outside. Mingling with actual humans and correcting my personality in real time through real interaction was how you figured things out back then.
These kids don’t have to do that anymore. They can find a corner of the internet that validates whatever insane thing they’re thinking, and that corner will attach itself to them and grow. Before you know it you’ve got a 19-year-old doing meth for his skincare routine and an audience of young boys watching him do it.
I asked my kids about looksmaxxing. You know what they did? They rolled their eyes. Both of them. “Can you believe it, dad?” No. No I cannot. But I went deep on this one so you don’t have to.
The Weed Facts: Does Cannabis Actually Affect How You Look?
Since we’re talking about looks this week I figured we’d pivot to something actually relevant — what does weed do to your skin? Because if you’re going to take a hammer to your face you should probably know what your edibles are doing to your collagen first.
This segment’s facts come from Cosmopolitan, who spoke with dermatologist Dr. Karan Lal, MD. Here’s the breakdown:
Factor
What Cannabis Does
The Verdict
Testosterone & Acne
THC may slightly increase testosterone, which spikes oil production
Could cause breakouts in some people
Appetite & Glycemic Index
Munchies + carbs = higher glycemic index
Associated with increased acne
Anti-inflammatory Effects
THC is anti-inflammatory, may calm inflammatory pimples
Could actually help some skin issues
Stress & Cortisol
Weed can reduce anxiety, lowering cortisol
Less stress = less oil = less acne
Skin Picking
THC may reduce itch and irritation
Could help chronic skin pickers relax
Edibles & Sugar
Gummies contain sugar that causes glycation — stiffening collagen and elastin
Could contribute to sagging and wrinkles
Smoking & Skin
Smoke sits on your skin and can irritate it
External irritant regardless of strain
Dirty Equipment
Unwashed pipes and bongs spread bacteria
Can cause acne around your mouth
The honest takeaway? It’s not really the weed. It’s what you put in your body and how you take care of yourself. Clean your bong. Watch the sugar in your gummies. Manage your stress. That’s basically your cannabis skincare routine right there.
Oh, and I’ll say this — I’ve been smoking pretty regularly for years and I still get the occasional pimple along my hat line. I think it has more to do with cleaning your skin than anything else.
Dude For Real: The Looksmaxxing Terminology You Need to Know
This stuff comes straight from the looksmaxxing community and I genuinely couldn’t believe some of these are real terms that people use with a straight face. This week’s Dude For Real comes from Buzzfeed’s looksmaxxing explainer and dude — for real.
Term
What It Means
Mogging
Displaying physical superiority over someone nearby
Softmaxxing
Improving looks through skincare, diet, exercise, grooming
Hardmaxxing
Extreme methods — surgery, steroids, bone smashing
Bone Smashing
Hitting your face with a hammer to create micro fractures that reshape your jaw
Ascending
Significantly improving your physical attractiveness. The looksmaxxing version of a glow up
Mewing
Resting your tongue on the roof of your mouth to sharpen your jawline
The PSL Scale
A scoring system for facial attractiveness based on harmony, symmetry, and sexual dimorphism
Chad / Stacey
Highly attractive man or woman. Top of the PSL scale
Subhuman
The lowest PSL score. The most unattractive. Literally called subhuman
Sub 5
Anyone ranking below a 5 on the PSL scale — considered unattractive
Lookism
The belief that your value and place in the world are determined entirely by your looks
Gesture Maxxing
Using humor to attract women rather than appearance
Femoid / Foid
A dehumanizing term for women. Short for female humanoid
Hunter Eyes
Almond-shaped, deep-set eyes with low brows — considered highly attractive
The system literally calls people subhuman based on their face. That’s not self improvement. That’s a cult with better lighting.
Looksmaxxing, Incel Culture and Why Personality Is the Real Move
If you’re not getting invited to parties — and I say this with love — it’s probably not your jawline. It’s probably your personality.
You can change everything about how you look. Get the surgery. Smash your face. Chew the gum. But when the mask comes off — and it always does — if your personality is garbage, people are going to figure that out. As a result they’re going to walk away every single time.
I’ve seen the ugliest people with the most friends because most people genuinely do not care what you look like. Instead they care whether you’re fun to be around, whether you make them laugh, and whether you’re loyal. That’s it. That’s the whole list.
Be that person. That’s the move. Not the hammer.
That’s the real problem with looksmaxxing and incel culture — it sells young men the idea that their value is their face, and there’s nothing they can do about it except suffer or smash.
As for Clavicular — I watched a bunch of his content researching this episode. He’s shallow, uninformed, and has a massive platform teaching young boys that their value is their face. That’s a failure. And it’s on us as the older generation to push back on that wherever we can.
If your kid is watching this stuff, talk to them. Ask questions and be present. Because we can’t leave them to figure this out on the internet.
Use a hammer if you want.
Those are my thoughts off the stem.
🎙 Listen to the Full Episode
This week’s full seshisode — Looks Maxxing: Guys Who Smash Their Face With Hammers to Get Dates — is live now.
We go deeper on Clavicular, the full Dude For Real terminology breakdown, and the complete weed facts science on cannabis and your skin.
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From The Manosphere to Marijuana: Comparing Tactics and Ideologies
From the Manosphere to Marijuana, what do a 1930s paper tycoon, the DuPont family, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and a modern-day “Alpha” influencer have in common? They are all fueled by the same thing: A massive, fragile ego, an overabundance of pride, and a scorned inner child who runs the show. In our latest Seshisode of Thoughts Off The Stem, we’re exploring the link between the Manosphere and Marijuana. We’re talking about Louis Theroux’s Inside the Manosphere documentary and connecting the dots to the “Great Hemp Wars” of 1937. It turns out, the history of cannabis prohibition and the rise of the “Taint”—sorry, the Tate brothers—are fueled by the exact same playbook: fear, gaslighting, and overcompensation.
The People
tHEIR BACKGROUND
William Randolph Hearst
was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation’s largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications.
The DuPonts
Du Ponts have been one of the country’s richest families since the mid-19th century, when they founded their fortune in the gunpowder business. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they expanded their wealth through the chemical industry and the automotive industry
Inside The Manosphere: Ultra Masculine and Ultra Fragile
I recently watched the Louis Theroux doc, and like everyone else, I’m familiar with the ultra-masculine “women are only here to serve men” schtick. But honestly, It’s exhausting. These dudes are basically frat bros in the wild, uttering the stupidest collection of words I’ve ever heard while contradicting their own ideologies.
Take HSTikkyTokky—a name that sounds like a five-year-old’s favorite toy. Seriously it sounds like something that lights up and play sounds when you push it’s keys. Definitely not very masculine if you ask me. He preaches “masculinity” and says he doesn’t hate anyone, yet his content is a factory for hate speech and chaos. It’s all for the stream, all for the money. Young men following this movement need to wake up and see the parallel between the Manosphere and Marijuana prohibition: both rely on selling a false “authority” based on fear.
New Age Street-Corner Prophets: How the Manosphere Sells Insecurity
Their logic claims women are “born with value” (purely physical), while men must “create value” through financial wealth, supercar collections and a haram of women if they want. If you think a woman’s value is limited to anatomy, and men have no value, you’re a lunatic. Character is what gives us value. It’s what separates men, from boys, women, from girls and good people from losers.
When Andrew Tate brags about throwing a fight to bet on himself and triple his money, he isn’t being “manly”—he’s being a snake. These guys are nothing more than street-corner prophets in shiny suits, funding their lifestyles through the pockets of easily manipulated young men. Let’s call the Tate brothers what they are: The Taint Brothers. They are that smooth, untouched part of the male anatomy between the balls and the a**-hole.
They aren’t men; they’re boys starved for attention, protecting their fragile egos by degrading others because they never got enough hugs.
The ORIGINAL Manosphere
In keeping with this high level of self-absorbed nonsense, let’s look at how a group of old rich white guys successfully lobbied to criminalize marijuana. They didn’t want to make life better; they just wanted to protect their wallets. So instead of revolutionizing their industries and using or switching to more natural products, they lobbied congress to institute the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. Instead of trying to make life better for the human collective they decided they needed the most money so, they said screw society, our profits are more important, and they launched a what would be the beginning of the war on weed.
William Randolph Hearst:
A pulp and paper giant worth $200 million in the early 1900s—the equivalent of owning the moon today. He didn’t want hemp competing with his timber. He couldn’t be bothered to retrofit or even change some of his pulp and paper mills to hemp textile factories, because as you know, white rich guys don’t want to give away a penny unless they get back 6. A little short sighted. Hemp is much more durable than paper.
The DuPonts:
In 1935, they released Nylon. Hemp was a direct threat to this new petroleum-based technology, so DuPont decided it had to go. Cause why use an eco friendly substitute, when you can use sinthetics to create what the natural world already did. Sure, hemp is a little more itchy but we’d have a lot less plastic in the ocean.
Harry J. Anslinger:
The first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. He was the original “talking head” bully, using gaslighting and fear to make a name for himself. Just like the Tate brothers, he needed to be the authority on something. He was probably just following the lead of the other two, but he bought their lies, hook, line and sinker.
The Manosphere and Marijuana: Gaslighting and Fear Mongering
When you compare the Manosphere and Marijuana history, you see the Anslinger Tactic in full effect:
Create Fear: Print articles claiming cannabis makes you a killer.
Divide the Public: Spew hate and lies to make something harmless look like the “worst evil imaginable.”
Target for Assassination: Use lobbyists (the 1930s version of “bot farms”) to kill the competition.
From the Manosphere to Marijuana we Need a Beginners Guide
If you want to learn more about cannabis and how it works. Check out our Cannabis 101 guide. Educate yourself before you make snap judgements. Do the opposite, of the hyper masculine dopes in this post.
Thoughts Off The Stem | Weed Infused Comedy Podcast
What You Really Need to Know About Cuba – Seshisode 195 Transcript
Traveling to Cuba in 2026: Fuel, Food, and Fines
Before you pack your bags, know that Cuba in 2026 is facing a major humanitarian and energy crisis. With frequent blackouts and shortages of basic goods like bottled water and medicine, your ‘relaxing getaway’ might require more planning than usual. Most importantly, while Canada has embraced the leaf, Cuba remains a Zero Tolerance zone. Vapes, gummies, and flower are all fast tracks to a long stay in a Cuban prison.
What You Really Need to Know About Cuba 0:06
What You Really Need to Know About Cuba: Adventures With an Infused Tourist!
went on vacation and lost weight.
How does that happen?
Well, you go to Cuba, of course.
The beaches are amazing, that the food is questionable at best.
Let me take you on a little journey this sesh.
It all starts in the bathroom of Toronto airport before we get on a plane to go to Cuba.
Before we head to the gate and after we deal with the bags, Captain Justin decides that he’s got to take a tinkle.
0:26
So off to the washroom.
My prance.
Now I’m walking in as the dudes walking out of the last stall.
Of course, it’s the only available spot to go, so I guess I’m going to do my business in there.
Well, that dude, he decimated it, man.
Decimated it.
0:42
It was a tsunami of shit inside and outside the bowl.
Do you have any idea how hard it is to take a leak while you’re straddling poop landmines?
Yeah, that’s right.
Poop was on the floor, dude.
And no, it’s not easy to arc your pee from the door of the stall to the bowl and not hit your pants or shoes.
1:02
So I finish up in the stall and I’m leaving, and as I walk out of the stall I almost run into this dude in the middle of the room who’s repeatedly slamming his hat on the floor and yelling and fighting ghosts.
And no, the floor wasn’t even kind of clean.
1:18
Poop landmines, dude.
So I squeeze by Captain Fights a ghost, and I wash my hands real quick because I got to get the hell out of there before feces start getting chucked across the room.
That was the beginning of the trip, dude.
1:34
That’s right.
We hadn’t even got to the gate yet.
So we get to the gate, we’re waiting to board the plane, and now it’s my girlfriend’s turn to get a little visit from the Tinkle Fairy.
So off she goes to the bathroom.
Boop A doop.
A doop.
Just after she leaves, these two ditzy college chicks walk past me and ask if this is the line for the plane.
1:54
There’s only one line, dude, and I’m not even kind of in it.
I’m kind of off to the side ’cause, you know, they bored you by section, so the line is kind of pointless and a little dumb.
Anyway, I say yeah, yeah, it is.
As my girlfriend comes back, she’s just in time to see Ditzy 1 and Ditzy 2 come walking by again, trying to retrieve reusable plastic Starbucks water cups from this oversized shoulder bag they’re carrying.
2:19
Now, as they’re walking, they realize that they’ve spilled all the water in the bag.
Now you’d think they’d be line it to the bathroom, right?
To clean it out before they board the plane.
Nope, not even kinda.
No, not these chicks.
These chicks pop a squat in the middle of the seating area, empty the contents and dump the water right there.
2:41
Why?
Why you ask?
Well, ’cause people are dumb, dude.
So finally the call for boarding goes out.
Now guess who gets on the plane first?
That’s right.
This guy right here.
As I said, lines are dumb and it’s kind of pointless.
3:02
So we get on the plane, we find out we’re on the emergency row, and that’s why we boarded the plane first.
This also means legroom, and that’s a hot commodity on a plane.
So excitement.
Yeah, out 100.
Added bonus, we get to watch all the people board the plane.
And since we like the people, watch it talk shit.
3:20
It’s like a celebration of joy.
You ever seen a selfie queen?
Me neither, until this day.
On this day, I got to witness one in the wild.
Baby.
This chick 2 rows in front of us took selfies the whole time at literally from the time she sat in her seat to the time we got off the plane.
Then there’s these two chicks behind us and they’re talking about their boyfriend’s red flags.
Apparently this one dude asked why way too often and it drove one of the girls nuts.
3:57
So of course, I had to eavesdrop on the conversation to find out what their red flags were.
You know what they were?
Well, I must have heard the phrase and like about 900 times.
Dude, imagine listening to this for half of a three hour flight.
And like I was at work and like I was wearing my red dress with like the open back and like I got really cold and Bonnie didn’t even like offer me her cardigan when the air conditioner broke and like made it like a meat locker in the office office.
4:21
And like when I called my boyfriend at lunch, he didn’t even like ask why my like, well, like, like my teeth were chattering like and like I was very hurt and like I was expecting him to like say something and and like I wanted him to say something.
So like I would I could feel better because like I wanted to be warm and I couldn’t be warm and like he didn’t care And like Bonnie was being a total bitch.
4:41
And then like my nipples got cold.
And then Robert made a comment and like, I just wanted to die.
But like, I didn’t, I didn’t die.
The flight to Cuba is 3 hours, 3 1/2 tops.
Imagine half of that.
This.
Now our flight was not 3 hours.
No, our travel time was about 9 hours because five other dopes delayed the flight by half an hour because apparently planes don’t wait for people.
What You Really Need to Know About Cuba 5:04
Now who knew?
The last time I was in an airport missing the plane, I had to Sprint across the whole airport just in time to see the plane taxi to the runway.
And I was only 5 minutes late.
Dude, WestJet doesn’t play by those rules.
They hang out on the tarmac until you show up.
5:20
You don’t have your documents ready?
No worries.
No problem dude, we’ll help you fill them out at the boarding desk.
Because forget that 200 other people have been waiting 45 minutes for your dumbass.
Why do we have a rule that people have to be at the airport 3 hours ahead of their international flight if the departure time is just kind of a guideline?
5:45
So we finally take off about 45 minutes late.
No big deal, right?
It’s only 45 minutes. 45 minutes doesn’t make that much of a difference, except for the giant storm over the airport we have to circle on our arrival to Cuba.
So now we’re circling Cuba for two hours, just flying up and down the coast, just cruising up and down the coast in the plane baller, right?
6:05
No, no, it’s not.
You know why?
Because this is how dumb people are.
You can see the giant storm cloud and lightning flashing outside the right side of the plane.
Now people start asking the crew at this point why we haven’t landed yet.
Seriously, half the plane is taking videos out their window of lightning going off, lighting up the cabin like mortar shells, and you don’t know why we’re still in the air.
6:31
This is the same time when you can see the mob mentality starting to build.
Just as tension builds to a boil, the cabin crew comes out all smooth.
That’s right, they soothe us like babies breaking out chocolate chip cookies and some sweet treats because just like toddlers, you can’t talk when you’re chewing.
What You Really Need to Know About Cuba 6:54
Finally we’re able to land right and it’s about midnight and we make our way through customs, then to the baggage carousel and the bags start coming out on the carousel along with a dude and his drug sniffing Cocker spaniel.
7:11
They’re walking over the bags and of course the dog stops at my bag and gives it a pretty good huff a couple times, You know?
I mean I get it, my bag was in my basement before I left, so it might have smelled like weed a bit, but also cat, cat litter and dog.
So I take the bag off the carousel, right?
7:29
Well, doesn’t Buddy and his drug sniffing Cocker spaniel beeline it right to me?
So I push the bag out towards them so the dog can sniff it again.
Because what kind of drug mule puts the bag full of drugs in front of the drug sniffing dog, right?
That’s my logic.
7:45
So the dog sniffs at once and then moves along.
No Cuba gel for Justin baby.
After about an hour bus ride we finally get to the resort.
We’re definitely we’re exhausted, we’re definitely agitated, and we’re definitely ready for sleep.
8:02
So we check in and the room they give us was gross dude with a capital GROSS.
OK, the air wasn’t on in the room and it was the most humid.
OK, everything was damp or at least it felt damp.
The worst part was my fat ass couldn’t even handle the humidity for the first two days.
8:19
I was sweating like a pedo and gentpop dude.
That’s right.
So the next day we had them change our room and that’s when I figured out you if you tip the right person you can get pretty much anything you want to.
Also dudes will try and get you to give them your shoes, especially if you have some slick ass Nikes because they love that shit.
What You Really Need to Know About Cuba 8:37
It’s definitely a little off putting though when a waiter comes up to you after breakfast grilling you about the cost of your shoes and he’s trying to find a way to ask you to give him your shoes without actually asking you to give him your shoes.
You know it’s weird dude.
So when we got our new room, we were introduced to the concierge and she set us up with obviously the way better room on the opposite side of the resort.
8:59
It was much quieter, there were fewer people, the the room was nice and cool when we got there, there were no wet sheets or moist towels, and the tub didn’t look like a breeding ground for alien dude.
OK, it was definitely a step up, but I learned very quickly that you don’t go to Cuba for the hotel rooms or the food.
What You Really Need to Know About Cuba 9:16
You go for the vibes bro.
Now here’s something to keep in mind.
I’m the kind of guy who has some stupid thing happened to him on the first day, like a wicked sunburn or a broken ankle, you know?
And then it’ll limits my ability to do things for the rest of the trip.
9:32
So I tried to take every precaution not to have that happen.
So I spent a week working in my new slide so I wouldn’t get blisters.
I sunscreen regularly so I wouldn’t burn.
I watched what food I was I was eating so that I wouldn’t poop myself.
You know, all the good stuff.
After one day of being a bobbing head in the ocean, I get back to the room and I’m as red as a lobster and my feet are burnt.
9:52
Burnt dude who burns her feet?
This guy, This guy burns their feet.
There’s wicked blisters on both my big toes and again, I’m pouring sweat like a waterfall in the Burmese jungle.
OK.
Oh, and I had a heat rash that made me look like a bright red beacon of disease.
10:11
You want to know what’s good for all of that though?
Salt water, dude.
That’s right, Just a little salt water.
Three days in the ocean and it all started to clear up except the feet.
The feet didn’t get better till like you know, the last day.
In fact, these puppies are still peeling and healing.
10:27
I’ve been home for like 3 weeks too.
We spent all our days on the beach, My girl getting bronze like a goddess and me showing up like you know, half boiled bull meat.
But otherwise good time.
The ocean was pretty awesome.
It was amazing actually.
Item
Status in Cuba (2026)
The TOTS420 Advice
Cannabis / Edibles
Strictly Illegal
Don’t even bring a stray seed.
Vapes / E-cigarettes
Confiscated
They will take them at the airport.
Cigars (Export)
50 loose / 200 with receipt
The only thing you should be smoking.
Cash (USD/EUR)
Essential
Cuba is cash-only; your cards won’t work.
What You Really Need to Know About Cuba 10:42
The beach was clean, the water was so clear that you could see the bottom.
You know what was gross?
The pools, dude.
Resort pools with the swim up bar, Those are gross.
You want to know why resort pools with the swim up bar are gross?
Because everyone’s just sitting there all day warming the water periodically so they don’t have to get up and lose their spot.
11:05
Yeah, that’s right.
You’re swimming and pee, dude.
For sure.
I mean, I know people pee in the ocean, but I feel like based on the size of the ocean versus a pool, there’s a lot more particulate dilution happening in the ocean.
Plus it’s just better for your skin.
What You Really Need to Know About Cuba 11:21
Dude, in between ocean Bob sessions, we hit up to 24 hour snack bar for hot dogs, fries and beer.
Or sometimes, you know, we go to the main buffet for rice and bread because that’s all we ate for seven days.
Because apparently you don’t go to Cuba for the food.
Dude, you can ask anybody.
Normally when you hear buffet, your heart flutters and you get a little rush of excitement, right?
What You Really Need to Know About Cuba 11:42
Not in Cuba.
In Cuba, your butthole puckers and your stomach becomes a Nazi dietitian.
Yeah, that’s what happens.
Actually, we did have eggs and sometimes sausage in the morning, but it was definitely limited.
You know, the rest of the time we were fueled by cappuccino and beer.
11:59
From time to time, we heard some people talking about how good the food actually was, and quite frankly, it blew our minds.
Yeah, that’s right.
Do you know what it’s like to be terrified of ice?
Getting ice in your cup was like having your worst nightmare manifest into reality or a spider run up your leg.
12:20
For the next hour, you’re on high alert, waiting to see if you shit your pants or develop puncture wounds.
Dude, I’m just saying there’s nothing like wondering if you’re going to wake up the next day with a deformity.
OK, then about four or five days in, we catch ourselves talking about how good some of the food was.
12:36
You know what that taught me?
Well, it takes five days to reset your standards for greatness.
All you need is a little deprivation and bam, your standards drop faster than a boner being bit by a hooker.
What I’m saying is, the food is not great, but after a few days rice can be as satisfying as a Big Mac.
12:58
We met some pretty awesome folks, but like I said, it also helps that we figured out who to tip right.
We worked it out so that almost every spot through the resort we had somebody taking care of us.
Our waiters at the buffet made sure we had the table we liked, the beer we liked, and they always gave us a heads up on the state of the buffet before we went to the buffet.
What You Really Need to Know About Cuba 13:16
You got to have an inside man.
Dude, it was awesome and we met a couple ladies in the coffee lounge who made sure that we always had drinks or cappuccino when we passed through.
We never had to actually go to the bar when they were working, they always came and found us.
So we got served while we were sitting there doing whatever we were doing.
What You Really Need to Know About Cuba 13:35
I think it started to make an impression though, like kind of across the resort, because within a few days we started to notice more of the staff making a point of acknowledging us just in passing.
Waiters also started to meet us at the entrance to the buffet and entice us to sit in their section.
13:51
Then one night a gardener comes out of nowhere while while I’m smoking a cigar on a patio and gives flowers to my girlfriend.
Now you didn’t want to tell me that guy didn’t want a tip.
If I’m being honest, it was kind of awesome, but it was also kind of off putting and because you know, so we had to get a little more strategic with our tipping.
What You Really Need to Know About Cuba 14:10
Overall it was a pretty good experience.
So it was my first time to Cuba and I definitely go back.
Maybe I’ll check out a different resort though.
Here’s the thing, you just, you can’t have expectations and you have to be adaptable, right?
Because the Cuban people, like I said, are awesome.
The travelling people, not so much.
Man people are much more selfish than I remember.
What You Really Need to Know About Cuba 14:28
A lot of people they would actually empty trays from the buffet onto plates just for their table without like any regard to the fact that there were, you know, hundreds of other people there.
Manners and etiquette were definitely lacking from most of the tourists I saw.
14:45
The messed up part was there were very few Americans though.
Because they can’t go.
I’m just saying that’s behavior that we would expect because, you know, let the the resort population was basically Europeans, Canadians and French Canadians.
15:01
So what made the food hoarders even more surprising?
We’re we’re supposed to be like a nicer people.
Maybe we are, but we’re definitely a selfish, OK?
There was a lot of questionable fashion sense, which makes people watching super fun.
15:21
I don’t think I saw so many shiny fake accessories like the big wannabe Gucci sunglasses.
Old dudes were wearing those.
Dude, there were fake gold watches everywhere.
Rings, chains, chains.
People wear the chains in the ocean.
It looked ridiculous, tacky.
You know, it kind of came across as a little desperate.
15:38
Maybe pay attention to me, attention seeking.
But I guess, you know, whatever makes whatever makes you feel good about being you.
I’m just saying I’d rather not be chuckled out in passing, that’s all.
So by the time the food seemed to be running out and my skin started to clear up, it was time to fly home.
15:59
And of course, our return flight was like 11:00 PM and luckily it was on time, right?
And the flight only took about 3 hours this time.
The downside was that the end of our flight was through a thunderstorm.
This time there was no circling though.
No, the pilot just took us right through that bitch.
16:17
It didn’t seem to matter that at any moment the cabin could have been filled with an excessive amount of barf.
There was a lot of turbulence, a lot of lowering levels really quickly.
So other than flying through storms on the front and back leg of the trip, the first night’s room, and the, you know, 7 days of starvation, the trip was a great time.
16:36
I was able to forget I had kids.
I got to enjoy the moment.
Get lost to the fantasy of being present.
You know, drink some decent beer and have a few cigars.
Because that’s what Cuba is about, baby.
I will say this though, research your destination before you go so you have an idea of what to expect and then keep those expectations low.
What You Really Need to Know About Cuba 17:00
Be flexible because shit’s going to happen and you don’t want to let it ruin your perfectly good time, dude.
Overall, I give my first visit to Cuba a pretty good experience dude.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself even though I came home a little redder than I wished with a few more foot injuries than I had planned, you know what I’m saying?
What You Really Need to Know About Cuba 17:25
And because I liked it so much, I try to keep the vibes going and it gives what gives me the laid back vibe.
OK, is low key what is it?
Let me try that again MTL cannabis low key frosted flakes.
17:42
It’s pre rolls they’re half grams, they are 32% THC and they’re a nice laid back indica.
And if you want to tell me this isn’t an indica, if you want to label it something like that, it’s a hybrid leaning indica, whatever.
17:59
It’s nice and relaxing.
So it makes me kind of like feel like I’m back in Cuba because when I got back a few weeks ago, you know, I was just cruising along and then all of a sudden you get back into like, you know, regular life and you start to speed up a bit.
18:17
I want to be island slow again.
That’s my plan.
So when I want to feel like that, I smoke these because they’re actually pretty good.
They’re a little peppery.
The pre rolls are a little tight, so they burn a little more like they burn a little faster than you want them to.
18:36
But yeah, if you want to relax, if you want to take the edge off, it’s a good after work weed.
When you get to sit down, you just get to, you know, lay back and do your thing.
I wonder if it tells us what the terps are on here.
So the terps.
Oh, I can’t read when I’m high.
It’s an indica, the mix.
OK, so here are the stats.
18:55
Frosted Flakes by MTL Cannabis.
They’re low key brand or version?
It’s indica, it’s cereal, milk and Mach one mixed together.
There’s farnacine, limonene, linaluol, Osamine and bazabilol, bazabilol, bizbolol, whatever that is.
19:22
Those are your terps.
And I think it’s like a one point something.
It doesn’t say does it say I don’t see anything that says what the percentage is, but it’s a good smoke if you want to relax.
It’s nice and tasty.
You got to like the peppery side of things though, because it is a it does have like that peppery taste to it.
19:47
But I’ve been smoking these for like a week now and I got to say I quite enjoy them.
They’re pretty good.
So if you’re looking for something laid back and you’re looking, they’re a little more expensive though, if I remember correctly.
No, I think it’s like 7 pack for like 25 bucks maybe.
Anyway, it was pretty good.
20:03
It was a pretty good pick.
I say if you’re looking for something relaxing, get that.
It’s a good smoke.
It’s Hardy, gives you good mouth feel, you know, good exhale, nice clouds.
20:21
Yeah.
So those are my thoughts off the stem for this week.
If you get a chance, go to Cuba.
Keep your expectations low.
But overall, if you just expect to drink and visit the beach, you’re going to have a great time.
I would have liked to go out into Havana, but time did not permit.
20:37
And also, I hadn’t been on vacation in 20 years.
So, you know, I wanted to sit on a beach and think about nothing.
I achieved that.
So yeah, so that’s what I say.
Go to Cuba, don’t take weed.
But when you get back and you want to feel like you were you’re back there, then smoke some of this Frosted Flakes.
20:56
They’re good.
Thank you for joining me, Justin Peroni, your friendly neighborhood pod head on thoughts off the stem.
Hope you come back next week and join me for another session on Spotify, Google Podcast, Apple Podcast, iTunes, YouTube Pod, Chaser, Pandora, Good pods Pod being whenever you get a podcast, it’s out there.
21:25
And don’t forget to check out tots420.com.
Follow us, follow us, follow me on Instagram.
You can follow me on Facebook.
All of it under thoughts off the stem at thoughts off the stem.
Yeah, until next time, keep your lids low, baby.
Why You Should Leave the Stash at Home
The Airport Trap: Cuban customs dogs are highly trained, and vapes are often flagged as “drug paraphernalia” even if they only contain nicotine.
Severe Penalties: We aren’t talking about a small fine. Drug offenses in Cuba carry lengthy prison sentences in very harsh conditions.
The “Zero Gravity” Rule: If it’s in your system or your suitcase, you are under Cuban law the moment you enter their airspace.
Have you ever had a “close call” with customs while traveling, or do you play it strictly by the book? Share your travel horror stories (or tips) in the comments below! If you have a friend heading to the Caribbean this year, send them this guide before they pack their bags!
THCV a cannabinoid with unique potential stands out as a fascinating compound with distinct characteristics and promising therapeutic potential. While THC and CBD often dominate the spotlight. THCV quietly garners attention for its unique properties and emerging research findings. Join us as we embark on a journey to unravel the mysteries of THCV, exploring its diverse effects and potential benefits.
**Understanding THCV:**
THCV is a naturally occurring cannabinoid found in cannabis plants, albeit in smaller quantities compared to THC and CBD. Like other cannabinoids, THCV interacts with the body’s endocannabinoid system. Which plays a crucial role in regulating various physiological functions, including mood, appetite, and pain perception. However, what sets THCV apart is its distinct molecular structure.
**Distinct Properties of THCV:**
One of the most intriguing aspects of THCV is its biphasic nature, meaning its effects can vary depending on the dosage consumed. At lower doses, THCV may act as an antagonist, blocking the effects of THC and dampening its psychoactive effects. Conversely, at higher doses, THCV can exert psychoactive effects of its own. Albeit with a shorter duration compared to THC.
Moreover, THCV is known for its potential to modulate appetite and metabolism. Unlike THC, which is often associated with stimulating appetite, THCV has been found to suppress appetite in some individuals. This appetite-suppressing effect has sparked interest in THCV as a potential treatment for obesity and related metabolic disorders.
**Potential Benefits of THCV:**
While research on THCV is still in its early stages, preliminary studies suggest it may offer a range of potential health benefits:
1. **Weight Management:** THCV’s ability to suppress appetite and potentially enhance metabolism makes it a promising candidate for weight management interventions. Some studies have suggested that THCV may help regulate blood sugar levels and improve insulin sensitivity. Which are crucial factors in managing obesity and type 2 diabetes.
2. **Neuroprotective Effects:** There is growing evidence to suggest that THCV may possess neuroprotective properties, offering potential benefits for neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis. THCV’s ability to modulate neurotransmitter levels and reduce inflammation in the brain could play a role in its neuroprotective effects.
3. **Mood Regulation:** Preliminary research indicates that THCV may have mood-regulating properties. Some studies suggesting that it could have antidepressant and anxiolytic effects. By modulating neurotransmitter activity in the brain, THCV may help alleviate symptoms of mood disorders and improve overall emotional well-being.
**Conclusion:**
THCV represents a promising frontier in cannabinoid research, with its unique properties and potential benefits capturing the interest of scientists, healthcare professionals, and consumers alike. As our understanding of THCV continues to evolve, so too does the potential for harnessing its therapeutic properties to improve human health and well-being. By delving deeper into the science behind THCV and conducting further research, we can unlock new avenues for utilizing this fascinating cannabinoid to address a wide range of medical conditions and enhance overall quality of life.
I’m holding back a cough when I’m Justin Barone, your friendly neighborhood pot head.
There it is.
There’s some more dude.
I haven’t hit the bong in a while.
I’ve generally been just been smoking joints or hitting the stunden glass.
0:30
I guess the stunden glass is kind of like a bong, but it’s a little easier because it’s concentrate.
So I find it a little smoother, a little more flavor as opposed to just like drier burnt weed flavor.
But yeah, today we’re smoking blue.
It’s actually pronounced blue, but it’s spelled BLEUH.
0:52
We’re smoking French cookies.
It’s their sativa.
It is 28.42% with 4.11% terps.
Does it tell me what the terps are?
No Anyway, as you can tell I’m wearing all blue smoked out of a blue bong hit with a blue a blue lighter.
Spread Love and Stay Positive
1:17
I love weed dude.
I love having fun.
I love weed and having fun.
I love having weed and having fun.
That’s like my whole goal with this sesh or this podcast.
The whole point is to make it a sesh, Make it reflective of what it’s like to sesh so that if you don’t have anybody to sesh with, you could sesh with me always.
1:41
There’s a hundred and well, 80 something episodes of this seshisodes.
That’s right, they’re seshes.
That’s why the topics are so like broad and they vary so much because it’s, I wanted to, I want to sort of like bring the concept of a sesh to a podcast.
2:00
But like a proper sesh, you talk about anything.
There’s no like real one situation for you.
You know what I mean?
There’s no one topic of discussion.
You generally like bounce around to a bunch of different things.
For me and my group, when we used to smoke in circles, we haven’t done that in a while.
2:20
You would start with talking about what you were smoking and then you would talk about, you know, whatever was sort of like going on that day.
And then you would end up talking about whatever’s going on in like the news.
And then you would shoot the shit and just try to, you know, make each other laugh.
2:37
And it would go on different variations of that, but there was no one conversation.
So when I started thinking of like, OK, I want to do this podcast called Thoughts Off the Stem.
The whole point is, is that you’re session, you’re just having a good time.
You’re just here smoking, you know, smoking some weed, getting some new ideas for weed.
2:56
And then I thought what else I would like to do is also because I worked in the cannabis industry is educate people or help to educate people that don’t really understand weed, right?
I started as a smoker and then I worked at a dispensary as a bud tender, then a supervisor and then an assistant store manager.
3:16
So I’ve got a pretty good base of knowledge and experience.
And I thought, you know, because now that weed’s been what weed is, legal, they maybe people need somebody that can help them out, you know, point them in the right direction without having to like, go to the store.
3:34
I want to prepare you for understanding what you’re getting into before you go to the store so that you’re not getting the wrong information.
So, yeah, so that’s basically the whole point of the podcast.
And I love weed.
So like, why not sit down and sex?
Spread Love and Stay Positive
3:50
Like I, you know, I don’t always have somebody to sesh with.
And sometimes it’s boring just sitting there smoking away and doing nothing, you know?
And I thought, hey, I could provide at least a little bit of like a discussion or something, something like that, you know?
4:08
So that was my idea for the podcast.
That’s the reason that the podcast was born.
It was born out of a bong hit, a bong hit and a sense of humor.
But I talk about all kinds of stuff.
I had my I had it evaluated by an SEO website and apparently it’s a mix of wheat cannabis.
4:31
It’s a mix of cannabis culture, personal growth and comedy.
That’s what they told me.
I know some people watch this and they’re like, what’s funny, you know, But if you’re a pothead, you’ll get it.
4:49
You’ll want to be part of it.
Oh, I also have in my mouth a dip.
Where did I put them?
I don’t know.
But yeah, So I, I’ve got a dip.
It’s, it’s a, it’s a THC infused dip.
There’s no tobacco.
5:08
It’s only 10.
It’s 10% per like pouch.
I don’t know if you want to put too many pouches in your mouth at once, but I’ve been, I’ve had this one in for like what time is it?
I don’t know, 20 minutes now and it’s adding to the high of the blue.
5:28
The blue is, this is good.
Actually, I’ve had it for a little while.
I haven’t really tried it ’cause I wanted to try it on the podcast and it’s good.
It’s got a body buzz like a little a nice amount of body high with like a touch of head high, a little bit of zone out.
5:51
Yeah, it’s a pretty solid daytime sativa because like my brain is active, but my body is relaxed.
Mm hmm.
It’s a nice touch.
I don’t know how long you’re supposed to leave these dips in for, though.
6:10
I guess until the flavors gone.
It’s still minty, so it should be still good, right?
I think they’re nice though.
These ones are nice to TV too.
They’re a little bit of an uplift.
You know, one of the things that I like talking about on the podcast too is stuff that happened when I worked at the store.
6:33
Because dude, at a pot shop, there’s so many characters, so many funny people come in.
Like I remember so many, such a wide variety.
When COVID, when COVID was still happening, a guy showed up in a Boba Fett helmet, a Wookie, like a jacket that resembled A Wookie, all furry and had the little sash, you know, And he just sat there talking to us as if like that was life, dude, you got a picture this, you have to picture this a guy.
7:10
You can’t, you don’t know who it is, right?
But he’s got a Boba Fett helmet on and a a Wookiee body and he’s talking to you about weed as if like whatever is happening there is normal.
I get it.
7:25
I’m weird too, dude.
But yeah, so there was that guy.
There was a guy that came in once and he rapped.
We were, I did a podcast about it, about some of these guys.
He came in and as he was doing his, as he was doing his like transaction and finalizing it, dude, I’m getting high.
7:48
That’s good weed.
It’s starting to hit me in the forehead a little bit.
But as this guy was doing his transaction, he he looks at me and he goes, hey, man, can I rap for you?
And I was like, OK, so as I’m giving him his change, he raps a verse.
Spread Love and Stay Positive
8:08
Don’t get me wrong, the rap wasn’t bad.
It was just that’s maybe not his thing.
Maybe like, write, maybe write it for other people.
You know, there was always guys that would come in and be like, like, they hated everything.
Like one guy would just come in.
It seemed like every week just to go down the, like row of cabinets and just be like, hey, I don’t like this.
8:31
This is bullshit.
This is bullshit, this is bullshit.
Like everything had a story.
Everything was bad.
All the Purdue, the people that like made it were contributors to the the the the horribleness of it, as he put it, you know, people.
8:50
I wither OK, one time, dude, this is crazy.
So one time I, I did, I talk about, I don’t know, I might be repeating myself, but I was, I was working at the counter and the door dinner goes off.
9:10
So I go up to let people in and it’s like a group of, you know, 5 or 6 university students and this one girl walks in and she’s wearing like a white pajama top, but it’s like fully see through and just comes in as if it’s not a big deal.
9:32
Like your titties are hanging out, you know, like what, what are we doing here?
Why would you leave the house with your titties hanging out?
Like you obviously need attention or want attention because you can’t not know.
You can’t not know that your titties are hanging out.
Like, are you kidding me, dude?
No, I had to go to the back on that one.
9:53
I was like, I can’t do this, I’m too old.
I’ll give, I’ll fucking catch a case.
Fucking tits, just out for the world to see.
That happened a few times.
There was a couple of those.
And then there’s always the people that feel like bug tenders don’t know what they’re doing, which I get it, a lot of them don’t, or a lot of them overdo it.
10:17
Like they’re just too into describing the weed to you.
Like, just tell me what’s good and let me go.
I was really good at taking those strains that would like mix and match together really nicely and extending your enjoyment for the evening or however long you wanted to have them.
10:38
Like I knew what what you should have at different times a day to get the result that you wanted.
So people would come to me.
That was one of my favorite parts.
People come in bringing their friends in to be like, hey, talk to this guy if you want to like have a really good night.
And then elderly or older people that come in, they they started coming in looking for like CBD and started to get interested in the planet.
11:03
A lot of them obviously very adamant about not getting high.
So you had to like, I don’t know, it was fun discussing all that stuff.
So that’s why this whole podcast has basically been me trying to explain why thoughts off the stem is thoughts off the stem.
11:20
You know, you get it.
Do you get it?
I’m sure you get it.
Yeah, yeah.
The whole point was just to enjoy weed and and have a sesh, man.
Yeah, so many characters.
11:42
But I also wanted to like.
I found that one of the best ways, the best sales, like the best sales tactics or best ways to interact with a lot of the questions that you get and the different types of the different personalities you get.
12:02
You had to transition pretty easily.
Like you had to go from one minute being like, oh bro, this stuff it like, oh, you don’t even you’re going to be a goat.
Like that’s gonna, you know, those like fainting goats, that’s you after this.
OK, You have to go from that to explaining how a CBD oil can benefit a 75 year old person that knows nothing about it.
Spread Love and Stay Positive
12:24
You know, that was fun.
You got to have all sides of my personality.
But that’s what I figured, you know, that was that’s what I figured would be a good point to doing this podcast was just to have a sesh.
12:42
Eventually I’ll get to the point where hopefully I can get some like good interviews going on.
I’ve already had a couple.
They were good, but I want to try and you know, up it.
13:06
I feel like this dip poach is pretty well done.
It’s a little minty but it gets soggy.
It’s nice though.
I also have a what is it a mango one I think that I haven’t tried.
13:22
That one might be good.
Yeah.
So I thought that in in the next few episodes, I think are going to be a series on helping understand why or what different cannabinoids are, what they do and how they can enhance your high.
Spread Love and Stay Positive
13:41
You know, take my knowledge, pass it on in terms of the feeling and the, you know, the experience.
That’s what I’m good at.
I think understanding the experience, knowing where it came from.
You.
I can’t grow.
Like I’ve tried growing a couple times.
13:58
Nope, doesn’t work for me.
I have like a black thumb.
You know what it is?
I’m impatient.
I’m super impatient.
So like, yeah, I can’t, I can’t.
I one or two times.
I tried it.
14:14
I checked on these plants all the time, dude, all the time.
It was a bad idea because I just killed them.
I tried twice.
And then I was like, you know what?
You’re not made for this.
So I thought, OK, how could I?
How could I be involved in weed other than that once it became legal?
14:32
And then, yeah, you can sell it.
Sell the experience.
That’s what most potheads want.
That’s what most stoners want.
Even if you’re not a Stoner, really, if you’re somebody that’s just interested in weed, a good way to sell it is, you know, providing the, I guess, truth about the experience.
14:55
Yeah, I love weed, dude.
I love weed.
I love the different levels that it works on.
Like it’s different than booze, you know, ’cause like booze, I feel like booze, you’re just like when you’re drunk, you’re just one way, you know?
15:17
Like if you’re happy drunk, you’re always happy when you’re drunk.
If you’re an angry drunk, you’re always angry when you’re drunk, right?
So like with weed, it’s not like that, you know, with weed you have like a multi faceted high.
15:37
You could be introspective one day.
You could be giggly and laughing and joking around Y you know, yeah highs different you can be at like more empathetic, more reflective.
15:53
Like if you’re drinking, I feel like if you’re reflecting, you’re reflecting only in like 1 avenue, you know, one way of thought.
Whereas if you, if you’re smoking weed, then you start reflecting the weed makes you sort of like try to take on a different thought, pat, like thought process or like a different, yeah, yeah, basically just a different thought process.
16:21
That’s what I’m saying.
Hi is kicking in, dude.
16:35
You know how weird it is to have a guy rap at you while you’re giving him his change?
Again, Don’t get me wrong, I feel like the writing was good, but his presentation of it.
16:57
You know, just there’s things you do and things you don’t, but I guess I get it.
You want to it’s yours.
You want to do it.
Wow, I dude, I am.
I hope you’re high because like I’m the high is really settling in right now.
17:17
I was going to smoke AI was going to smoke another unknown joint but Nope, I don’t think so.
I think I’m good.
That one little bong hit was solid 28%.
Yep, I get that.
Spread Love and Stay Positive
17:37
I smoked that in a in my dab rig because I only have a you know those straight bongs, I don’t like them get water in your mouth and shit.
I like beaker bongs, but like I don’t need such a big bong anymore.
When I need a like a bong head, it’s like I just need something little.
17:57
So I use my dab rig and dude, it works pretty well.
I’ve never done a bong head in a dab rig.
I just figured the makeup of it would like, I don’t know, dilute the high too much, but it doesn’t gives it nice clean hootie hoot.
18:15
And it’s like a nice little package, like one shot is pretty good.
You know, you’re pretty satisfied.
Yeah, man, I’m so high.
But yeah, that’s what I’m going to do.
Spread Love and Stay Positive
18:34
That’s what’s coming up.
I’m going to do a series on different cannabinoids.
I’ll start with CBD and then do CBN and then CBG and we’ll talk about how how that works and what kind of effects it has potentially, you know, because not everybody’s the same.
18:55
So it might be a little bit different, but there’s basics.
There’s basics that that are like this will a standard that’ll happen, you know?
Yeah, right.
Would that be good?
Like I’m sitting here pontificating.
19:11
I think that’d be good and helpful.
My aunt was telling me because her and some people she knows they need, they find that they need a little little help and they get they get a lot of misinformation when they go to the dispensary to try and get like CBD or whatever will fix or help or, you know, give them relief because they’re not necessarily looking to get high.
19:42
They’re looking to like, you know, just deal with some joint pain or this or that.
Dude, this weed, I’m, I’m not even, I don’t know why I’m laughing.
That’s what I’m saying.
Spread Love and Stay Positive
19:58
This weed is pretty good.
I didn’t expect that much from it.
I’m gonna try the indica one next.
But what was I saying?
Oh yeah.
I was saying that my aunt was telling me that, you know, older people need a little bit of direction and help with the with, with what they’re looking for and they, and to prepare, help them prepare.
20:21
Before they go to the dispensary so they know what they understand it a little more.
And I was like, yeah, I should do that.
I should, I should pass on my dispensary knowledge and my, my years of testing experience and help these help people that are new to it understand it better.
Spread Love and Stay Positive
20:41
So that’s what I’m going to do.
I’m going to give back.
Dude, I’m so high.
Oh, I hope you’re high.
I hope you’re enjoying the sesh.
I know it was kind of just like a explanation of what this is after 180 some odd episodes, but you know, it is what it is.
20:59
I hope you enjoy it.
I’m going to try and make it better, like all the time.
You wouldn’t believe how many people?
21:18
No, you probably would, but no, you wouldn’t.
No, I don’t know.
I don’t know what I’m talking about.
I don’t know what I’m talking about now.
All right, that’s it.
Jesus Christ.
Those are my thoughts off the stem for this week.
I hope you enjoyed the sesh.
I hope you come back next week with me.
Justin Barone, your friendly neighborhood pothead.
21:37
Check out Tots420.com if you like seeing the transcripts.
I’m starting to post them as blogs and you can read it out, reenact it.
Yeah.
You get all the links to the episodes.
21:54
If you, well, not if you should subscribe, like and share the podcast.
If you get a laugh out of it, give it to a buddy that you think will get a laugh out of it.
You know, that’s all I’m saying.
But yeah, I hope the weeks I don’t know what I’m talking about anymore.
22:16
Dude, I just got to end this.
Fuck really high off that one more hit because you know that’s how it goes.
So check out dots420.com.
Come back next week and until next time, keep your lids low baby.
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