That’s the California law whose health statute legitimizes the use of cannabis for anybody suffering from an "illness for which marijuana provides relief." An article in the latest Rolling Stone sheds some serious light on how modern-day medicine men and women brave the frontier of medical marijuana to do business.

Friday’s series opener was meant to drop Mardi Gras 2007 into a contemporary context, one where New Orleans and its people still face the ongoing and difficult process of recovery.

But enough with the wake-up call and socially redeeming babble: let’s get on to the party! After all, that’s what the celebration is all about…right? For today’s sequel, Frank brings you the historical context surrounding this year’s Fat Tuesday jump-off.

A couple highlights include mention of what might be the occasion’s ancient prototype, "a circus-like orgy held in mid-February in Rome," and the fact that nothing short of two World Wars and one police strike has ever cancelled a 20th century Mardi Gras.

Bone up on your knowledge of the King Cake, as well as the sordid history behind Flambeaux Carriers who light the way for parade floats.

Can you imagine being David Hasselhoff in the 80’s? We can’t even imagine what took place in the backseat of that car.

Recently, San Francisco based Om Records have been making a lot of noise with the release of the acclaimed Strange Fruit Project on their Om: Hip Hop imprint.  However, for those of us who first got to know Om through classics such as the incredible Mushroom Jazz series by Mark Farina, the release of Om: Chilled is a great return to what made some of us gravitate towards them originally. The Chilled album is a mix that is perfect for lounging around the house on a rainy day and smoking a J while you make an omelette for your girl, or coming home after partying on a Saturday night smoking a J and making sweet love to your lady friend. Any way you slice it, your ears are the winner, and you will definitely chill out and relax when you put on this mix. Check it out here   

As all eyes turn to the Big Easy in the coming days leading up to Mardi Gras, Frank brings you a portrait of the celebration itself and the city that made it famous. In three installments the image of New Orleans, wearing a wreath of beads around its neck and still bearing the black-eye Katrina left on its face, takes center stage on your favorite blog.

Chapter 1 takes you back a bit to the midway point between last year’s Mardi Gras and this year’s. Drawn from reporting done these past Thanksgiving and Winter breaks, the attached dispatch by a contributor born and bred in New Orleans is a trip through the streets of the Bywater and the Marigny.

The neighborhoods, which together comprise a chunk of the Upper Ninth Ward adjacent to the infamous Lower Ninth, by no means reflect the entire gamut of woes the city runs through these days. They are, however, indicative of a community dusting itself off and coming together to overcome adversity.

Frank fam DJ Synapse was on the one-twos at Soled Out this past weekend, so we decided to check it out. Soled Out is a new semi-annual event that takes a whole bunch of upmarket sneaker vendors, puts them into a room, and charges ten bucks to get in. The result is the sneaker culture equivalent of a high school dance.

When we got there, everyone was dressed up in their best fruity pebbles all-over print sweatshirts, and awkwardly waiting for just the right moment to trade air maxes.

The place was packed with heads of all ages, but exactly how old they were, we have no idea. I mean, just take a look the picture at left.

Is that his brother or his dad? It’s hard to tell when they’re dressed exactly alike. I LOVE THIS GAME! (Shout to David Stern.)

Speaking of 14 year olds, since when do so many have 300 bucks to spend on Jordans? Back when we were that age, the only way to get sneakers like this was robbing them off someone’s feet. Or so we hear. We wore Keds.

The vendors at Soled Out were a pretty interesting mix. There was the old-guard, the immigrants who have had the NYC retail sneaker game on lock for so many years, as well as the new-guard of the sneaker boutiques.
At two in the afternoon it looked as if all the good gear had been picked over already.

What’s the deal with clear dunks?I don’t see any point, unless you have REALLY AWESOME SOCKS or you happen to be him.

This guy loves music, and he doesn’t care who knows. Take that, dad.

Just when we were about to get cynical, we found this original throwback Chalk Line Dream Team Jacket, and sneaker culture redeemed itself.

Look at the detail in Patrick Ewing’s face. Beautiful.

This has been Frank 151, reporting.

Happy Valentine’s Day. More important  than the holiday to many, it  also happens to be the birthday of Blowfly! Look for some Blowfly coverage in the upcoming Miami Chapter of The Frank Book. Hats off to the real King of the Dirty South, and one of many possible originators of Rap.

Last Thursday the Boost Mobile snowboarders took to the streets and polished their rep all over NYC’s Union Square Rail Jam. For a glimpse into the mayhem that ensues when snow sports hit the city, peep the rest of the event’s flicks.

But dem Boost riders know better than anybody that you can’t whip your hat off after pulling a sick trick unless you’ve got the haircut to match.

That’s why Louie Vito (center left) and Aaron Bittner (center right) stopped by the Chop Shop beforehand to get trimmed.

As if that wasn’t already enough fun piled into one day, Frank treated riders and spectators alike to the Snow Kings After Party. Dirty Disco played host to a slew of guests while DJ Don Cannon spun the night away. Pictured here with Marc Frank Montana (bottom left), Janae Twisselman of Boost (top right), and Jeru the Damaja (right), Eddie Wall (top left) came out on top as champ of the Rail Jam.

Chalk it up as another reason General Winter ain’t so bad after all.

Frank received an alert from Cut and Paste Music Savior Steve "Steinski" Stein about his new Blog and word about some new material. Always the uniter of word and music, Steinski will continue his reign on mixed, mashed, cut, spliced and edited content.

Learn "How a nice Jewish boy from the suburbs became one of the most influential producers in hiphop, sampling, and cut&paste." Also, Steinski will give readers their well needed dose of music, copyright, politics and life. Like Frank, Steinski loves a good book…

Self proclaimed inventor of the Electric Slide, Ric Silver, is calling on the 1998 Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) to get all unauthorized electric slide videos off of the internet. He has also hit the Ellen DeGeneres show with licensing demands for her use of the dance on TV. Read the full story at news.com.  As for us? We’re still trying to get royalties out of this little bastard…