Ashley MacIsaac to 10 year olds: Smoke Pot

Subject: RE: Ashley to 10 year olds: Smoke Pot
From: DougR
Date: 17 Jul 01 - 04:10 PM

How about neither? I realize that is not the question, but why is there a question at all? Neither drugs or alcohol should be a part of a ten year old's life.

And the Robert Downey, Jr., episode evidently wasn't an isolated incident. It was a way of life for him in his pre-teens. His father and his film friends didn't think a bit of pot on a regular basis would hurt a kid.

I haven't a clue who Ashley is, but I really don't feel deprived about it all.

DougR

Subject: RE: Ashley to 10 year olds: Smoke Pot
From: Marion
Date: 17 Jul 01 - 04:01 PM

There were a few things I noticed about Ashley when I lived in Cape Breton.

One, that Cape Bretoners are embarrassed by him; while I never heard anyone deny that he knows how to play a fiddle, I never heard anyone bring up his name without alluding to him having disgraced himself.

Two, that non-Cape Bretoners and non-folkies are often big fans, in spite of (because of?) his bad boy image. For example, one of my roommates was a Montreal boy who mostly listened to weird electronic music; he liked Ashley, though he wouldn't dream of going to hear any other Cape Breton fiddler.

Three, that Ashley seemed to be making an effort to redeem himself in the Cape Breton scene: he made a very traditional CD with Dave MacIsaac (MacIsaac and MacIsaac: Fiddle Music 101), he was playing lots of dances in local church halls, and he was watching his mouth.

I heard someone say that she wouldn't take her kids to a family dance if Ashley was playing, because you could never tell what he was going to do or say. I'm not sure if this was a realistic fear. I saw him play three dances and one concert; at the dances he didn't say a single word (although the musicians rarely say much at the dances), and his stage banter at the concert was all innocent. One thing did happen, funny but sad: he was tuning his fiddle during a break, then tested the tuning (or maybe the sound system) by playing a few bars of "Spiderman", and suddenly the atmosphere in the room dropped a few degrees. Several people stopped and turned to glare at him, and I had the feeling people were nervous that something untoward was about to happen. It didn't, though.

I also want to mention that he came to L'Arche Cape Breton (the group home for adults with learning disabilities that I was living and working at) to play a ceilidh for free, and he has maintained a friendship with L'Arche man who loves fiddle music. Also, I know of one time when Ashley went to the hospital to play for the father of an aquaintance.

Having said that, on the L'Arche Cape Breton brochure there used to be a picture of Ashley playing in our lodge, but the picture was removed when it became an embarrassment and not an appealing scene.

I'd like to know what the interviewer asked that prompted Ashley's statement about pot. I mean, if I were told that a hypothetical 10 year old HAD to do pot or alcohol, I'd probably go with the pot too.

Marion

Subject: RE: Ashley to 10 year olds: Smoke Pot
From: Whistle Stop
Date: 17 Jul 01 - 02:04 PM

I don't know Ashley MacIsaac from a hole in the wall, but judging his statement strictly on its merits (without the larger context of his other behavior, with which I am unfamiliar), I have to say I agree with him. Again, the statement basically says that, in an either/or choice between giving alcohol to 10-year-olds, or marijuana to 10-year-old kids, he thinks marijuana is preferable. Given the damage that alcohol does to huge numbers of people worldwide, I'd say his point is well taken.

Robert Downey Jr. is another person I'm not very familiar with, but from what I gather he has a whole host of problems. One of his problems may be that he blames his behavior on an isolated incident from his childhood, rather than accepting personal responsibility for his actions. I would venture a guess that he has consumed his share of alcohol, too, so there may be some question about which is truly the "gateway drug" in his case.

Perhaps we can all agree that substance abuse by little kids is a bad thing, and leave it at that?

Subject: RE: Ashley to 10 year olds: Smoke Pot
From: M.Ted
Date: 17 Jul 01 - 02:04 PM

I think, as pointed out above, Ashley is interested only in publicizing his new, major label, CD, which is either just released, or just about to be released in the US, and saying everything he can think of to get name recognition--Just a little while ago, he claimed that he nearly traded his fiddle for $25 worth of crack only six months before(since he was in the process of producing an big budget CD I think it is likely that there was no shortage of either money or crack, but maybe I am just cynical about the recording industry), and before that he was critical of the gov't for not giving enough to charity--

Before long, he'll be seen dating some Hollywood celebrity, or a famous SuperModel, and they'll be articles in the National Enquirer about his heartbreaking battle with alcohol/drugs/eating disorder--shorty after that, he'll do a guest TV appearance with Ricky Martin, and they'll be romantically linked-If his CD doen't sell after all that, we only have to wait a year or so for the VH1 "Where Are They Now?" special--

Subject: RE: Ashley to 10 year olds: Smoke Pot
From: DougR
Date: 17 Jul 01 - 01:10 PM

And actor, Robert Downey credits his problem with drugs today with his father giving him joints to smoke when he was a wee tad. If that's an example of what it does to kids, I'd say it's not very good advice.

DougR

Subject: RE: Ashley to 10 year olds: Smoke Pot
From: LR Mole
Date: 17 Jul 01 - 01:08 PM

Well and gently put, Dale.

Subject: RE: Ashley to 10 year olds: Smoke Pot
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 17 Jul 01 - 12:40 PM

Ashley is the "Bad Boy" of Cape Breton fiddling. I'm surprised his career survived the pedophilia stories. Weed is very bad for kids. Saps the ambition and willpower. Booze isn't any better but at least it tends to punish it's abuse with hangovers.

Ashley is a very messed up man. Pray for him.

Subject: RE: Ashley to 10 year olds: Smoke Pot
From: mousethief
Date: 17 Jul 01 - 12:21 PM

Ashley who?

BTW it's spelt "paparazzi."

Alex

Subject: RE: Ashley to 10 year olds: Smoke Pot
From: English Jon
Date: 17 Jul 01 - 12:09 PM

I was so hoping this was an Ashley Hutchings thread.

Damn.

EJ

Subject: RE: Ashley to 10 year olds: Smoke Pot
From: Fortunato
Date: 17 Jul 01 - 12:02 PM

I don't know or care who ashley Macwhoever is. But IMHOP it is the media who air and print this garbage who are at fault. Where would he be withouth them? My answer is to not buy the rag that prints it or watch the television that airs it. Don't support the ignorance. Chance

Subject: RE: Ashley to 10 year olds: Smoke Pot
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Jul 01 - 10:42 AM

And, it figures, we're doomed to put up with having to hear about his entire meteroic career.

By next week he'll bigger than Lennon/McCartney.

Or, at least more omnipresent.

Poporotzi will follow his every move.

Tabloids will discover that he sells rags better than that godawful congressman crap.

What? Larry King? Tuesday? Whatasurprise!

Subject: RE: Ashley to 10 year olds: Smoke Pot
From: Whistle Stop
Date: 17 Jul 01 - 10:30 AM

Well, I'm not into racist rants, and I don't advocate intoxicants for kids. But if his point is that marijuana is a more benign substance than alcohol, it's not entirely without merit (in my most humble opinion).

Subject: Ashley to 10 year olds: Smoke Pot
From: GUEST,Miss Enid
Date: 17 Jul 01 - 09:38 AM

Is there no end to the wisdom of fiddler Ashley MacIsaac. In 1999 he was hauled off stage here in Halifax in the middle of a racist rant. I was there, it was not a pretty sight. He later said he had been smoking crack that night.

Today, CP is reporting his latest pearl of wisdom...

RED DEER, Alta. (CP) - When it comes to the drug of choice, bad-boy fiddler Ashley MacIsaac says pot is way better than booze, even for kids.

"I would tell anyone out there if they ever had the opportunity to have the choice of trying an intoxicant and it was alcohol or it was marijuana, I would tell a 10-year-old kid to smoke a joint right then and there," MacIsaac said in an interview to promote his upcoming show at Westerner Days in Red Deer, Alta.