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If you are dutch please read this
SPEAKA
DA
LINGO
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about to go to press we scrapped most of the front page. Instead
of the intended second lead story on page one we ran a story
about a news grabbing scandal involving a painting by Dutch
artist, Piet Mondriaan, and a very large sum of money. But for
Piet's sake, what could we do? The original front page story,
another piece of onanistic self-promotion explaining exactly
why Coffeehouse Culture had come into being, got relegated to
the inside back page. The fact that our misguided foray into
cultural confrontation knocked this story off the front page
was of something of a shame because the piece was a crucial
part of the Coffeehouse Culture 'create your own myth' package.
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be patronising the Dutch in
anyway, we felt it incumbent upon
us to address them directly to
give our reasons for producing
Coffeehouse Culture. This article
was supposed to do just that.
However, on very little real
evidence we had made one small
assumption that rendered this article redundant from the start.
It is, indeed, true that almost
IN A DARK &
DESPERATE AGE
some English and many speak it
perfectly. English as a second
language is, however, very
different to English as a mother-
tongue. And speaking English is
different to reading English.
he appearance of the first issue of Coffeehouse Culture on thestreets of Amsterdam marks the start of a new era in publishing.
Although Coffeehouse Culture extends a respected ‘60s tradition
of alternative journals, it is a groundbreaking venture that aims to
take publishing into new dimensions. Based on an original, visionary
and innovative concept, not only will Coffeehouse Culture serve a large
English-language newspaper in a
country where English is the second
it will fulfil a function that
goes way beyond convent-
language other than their
mother-tongue is inevitably
reason. Although we cringe with
embarrassment in owning up,
Coffeehouse Culture is not really
meant for the Dutch.
To be honest -- and, apart from
when we are lying, we are always
honest -- when we came to
Amsterdam we had not realised
just how highly developed the
coffeehouse society was. It was
a revelation for us to speak to
Dutch people for whom this highly
elevated culture was a fully
integrated part of their lives.
Having been here for six months,
we now know that there is very little
that we can tell the Dutch about this
experience or its implications. We
had always intended Coffeehouse
Culture to be primarily for English
tourists but to make sure everybody
understood it was for anyone who
spoke English, we came up with
the slogan: ‘Capturing the spirit of
Amsterdam for English readers
everywhere.’
And, as we know that
Amsterdammers speak such
incredible English, we hoped that
they would feel included in that
slogan.
And that is really the challenge for
us -- coming up with stuff that will
be interesting enough to captivate
the Dutch. We are hopeful that we
can; we are, after all, Space
Cadets, 1st Class. We have spent
a lot of time (over 30 years, in fact)
studying consciousness in every
way. This has given us immense
knowledge and a chesty cough.
But, by God, we had a good time
doing it.
In absentia, far from this haven of
consciousness, in our hearts and
in our heads (but more in our
hearts in recent times) we have
been members of this society.
Now, we hope, we will be able to
demonstrate it.
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DeDevoted to a concept and
an ideal that has wide-
ranging social implications,
Coffeehouse Culture will be
the first publication deal-
ing with the subject of
increased consciousness and
the culture that surrounds
and underwrites it. In
exploring its subject it will
be reflecting the attitudes
and interests of those who
are into the experience of
increased consciousness. Its
identification of Amsterdam
as a city that contains a
clearly defined and well-
established society based
on increased consciousness,
will provide a foundation for
its editorial and an inspirat-
ional focus (if it is not
already one) for readers
who live elsewhere.
DeAs well as the first public-
ation devoted to increased
consciousness, Coffeehouse
Culture makes claim to a
number of other ‘firsts.’ It is,
it says, the first publication
to place cannabis use into a
broader and more realistic
context; the first New Age
publication; the first public-
ation devoted to evolution,
the first truly European
publication and the first
high-circulation publicat-
ion to be produced in a
language different from
that of the country from
which it is published.
DeClaiming that it ‘will
reach the parts other
publications don’t even
know exist,’ Coffeehouse
Culture believes that its
content can overcome any
Dutch or European resist-
ance to an English
language publication.
Speaking at the launch of
Coffeehouse Culture in early
October, the publisher and
editor acknowledged that
DeDescribing the Coffeehouse
Culture team as “foolishly
confident,” he said: “The nature
of Coffeehouse Culture’s subject
matter will ensure that its
editorial content will always be
exciting and relevant to anyone
who is into increased
consciousness. What is more,
Coffeehouse Culture will offer a
bill of fare that is totally different
from any other publication
currently around. Nowhere else
will readers be able to get the mix
of unusual subjects and the
unique perspectives that
Coffeehouse Culture can give
them. We are intending to make
Coffeehouse Culture so enticing
that everyone who believes in the
things Amsterdam is all about
will want to read it.”
DeWith Amsterdam as its
inspiration and model,
Coffeehouse Culture will set about
promoting all aspects of the
culture around which it is based.
“Coffeehouse Culture believes that
Amsterdam is a special place in
which something very important
is happening. We would like to see
the wonderful things that are to
be found in Amsterdam more
broadly available. Amsterdam
culture, we believe, is showing
the world how to make life better
and we can really get behind
that. We believe in freedom — the
freedom to expand your own
consciousness, to live, grow and
enjoy. And those are all things
that Amsterdam is famous for.”
DeProfessing to be “one of the last
surviving members of the lost
race of hippies,” Coffeehouse
Culture’s editor said: “We suffer
from an illness. It is called ‘naive
idealism.’ We believe that the
New Age is starting to dawn in
Amsterdam. And in this dark and
desperate age you have got to be
ill or something to believe things
may get better.”
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Our meagre assault on the image of dope smokers as they are seen
by the general public and sometimes by themselves. It is a sad
reflection on something when members of a culture have to be told
that they are members and what that means. Once again we find
ourselves pointing to the contradictions.
BRAIN CELLICIDE OR WHAT?
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AS we all know (and, if we don’t, we should), increased conscious-
ness means increased thinking power. So what is all this about
smoking dope killing your brain or something?
WE don’t know about you, but we have had some of our most intell-
ectually stimulating moments around coffeeshop tables deep in the
fug of professional brain cellicide. Indeed, we think that dope
smokers are by far the most interested and interesting conversation-
alists around. It must be because being unable to move from their
chairs due to extreme stonedness, they have lots of time to read,
watch TV and reflect on life. Whatever . . . . One thing is for sure,
introduce a dope smoker into an assemblage of freethinking
small-talkers and the conversation is sure to take off into new
and unusual realms. Or die completely. Dope smokers are people
with lively and interested minds who enjoy knowledge -- in its
broadest sense -- and all its fruits.
WHAT is amazing is that there is no publication for these mentally
alive, intellectual voyagers.
BUT stop, hold hard, avaunt and stop again. Now there is and you’re
reading it.
MORE than a dope publication, Coffeehouse Culture defines and
reflects the culture from which it springs. Hey, who said that just
because we smoke dope we only have to have publications that are
about dope? Aren’t our interests broader, more expansive than that?
OURS is a culture like any other -- except we have more fun. And this
publication will reflect that culture as straight newspapers (and don’t
you find them irrelevant to our interests) reflect straight society.
But this ain’t straight society and Coffeehouse Culture ain’t The
Times. As we said, this is a culture that has more fun. And we have
got to reflect THAT!
• UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE •
BUT REALLY, OLD BOY, WHAT DID HAPPEN?
Misjudgement. Plain, simple,
misjudgement. No excuse but
certainly a reason. To tell you
the truth it was all too big for
us. Putting together a 32 page
newspaper is a big job. But so
is selling the advertising and
setting up distribution. We had
the newspaper and the advert-
ising support but distribution
was a logistical problem we
simply couldn't solve. The
fanciful idea that the cover
price would be divided
between distributor, delivery
people and ourselves was just
that. We had anticipated that
the majority of our domestic
sales would be through the
coffeeshops. What we hadn't
expected was the extraord-
inary level of resistance we
would meet. Or the fact that
no one was actually prepared
to come up with any money
for the copies they sold. By
the time we realised that it
would take us years to set up
any kind of coffeeshop dist-
ribution system and forever to
set up one that produced any
income, it was too late to go
for professional distribution.
And when we tried to get
some kind of distribution
in the UK and the States
(pathetic optimists that we
are), we got turned down
fairly flat. It did not matter
that what we were saying
was about creating a
better individual and
collective reality, about
making the world a better
place, about evolution. All
that mattered to the distrib-
ution companies was that
we talked positively about
smoking dope. We should
have known better. In-
deed, we did know better.
But our realism had been
eaten alive by an excess
of positivity.
WWith the first issue 'out'
and issue two tapping us
on the shoulder (later it
got to slap us around the
face), we had to consider
our options. Funding a
paper publication is an
expensive operation that
is not viable unless all the
parts of the equation are
in place. And our equation
was missing a number of
crucial factors. However,
Coffeehouse Culture had
never been a commercial
venture; its commerciality
some way to get Coffeehouse
Culture into the public domain
that didn't cost a fortune. In a
less high tech age than this
we would have been travelling
around the country in a wagon
with a soapbox pulpit (and for
our troubles we would
probably have been burnt).
This, however, thankfully, is
the high tech age and that
saved us. Unhitch the horses,
Mary, we are staying home.
W And here we are. On the
web. The Coffeehouse Culture
web site is a low-cost
publishing option. And, who
knows, maybe we will get
some of our money back.
W But that is not all. For our
involvement with the world
wide web has given us the
opportunity to become a part
of what is clearly going be the
world's next big evolutionary
leap. Joining hands is one
thing but joining minds .... that
is big. In the late sixties/early
seventies there was much talk
about the 'Global Village'. Like
most people we didn't really
understand. But now we do.
W TOP OF PAGE
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