Mike Edison is one colorful character, a trait that no doubt helped him as an editor and publisher at High Times. He also contributed no shortage of pornography to popular culture, as an author and columnist. His gonzo exploits are documented in a recently released book/CD with the very long title I Have Fun Everywhere I Go: Savage Tales of Pot, Porn, Punk Rock, Pro Wrestling, Talking Apes, Evil Bosses, Dirty Blues, American Heroes, and the Most Notorious Magazines in the World.
New York punk-blues maestro Jon Spencer teamed up with Edison (pictured) to produce and play on the CD, which features spoken-word readings of the riotous book set to music from Edison’s band the Rocket Train Delta Science Arkestra. It’s a good fit: Spencer’s incendiary band Blues Explosion has released some of the most sexually charged rock in the biz. And Edison is no stranger to music: He once caused an uproar by putting Ozzy Osbourne on the cover of High Times and even worked with the late, hated rocker G.G. Allin.
But it is Edison’s infamous ChroniCaster that truly explains why he has fun everywhere he goes.
It’s a hacked ax created by Tommy Chong that also nicely functions as a bong (that rhymed), as the video at right illustrates. Built by Chong for an aborted High Times film, it is reportedly the only one of its kind on Earth. Edison’s tutorial on the guitar is a good time, even as it is broken up by the author’s coughs and inability to remember his book’s extended subtitle.
One can only wonder what would have happened if The Facts of Life‘s Tootie would have run across the ChroniCaster during her bong shopping spree.
"I don’t like to look a gift bong in the mouth," Mrs. Garrett told Tootie, before scolding her.
Amen to that, Mrs. Garrett. Amen to that.
Photo: Dave Allocca
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