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Weekend Butler: 420Lovers.com (“where smokers meet smokers”), Moroccan Chicken (yum), Basquiat (must see), a song 4 of you may like
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Published: Apr 20, 2022
Category:
Weekend
THIS WEEK IN BUTLER
Kevin Costner
L.A. Burning
Local Hero
420LOVERS.COM (“WHERE SMOKERS MEET SMOKERS”)
“420” started as a secret code among high school kids in the early 1970s. A group of friends at San Rafael High School in Marin County, California would meet at 4:20 PM near a statue of Louis Pasteur to get high. “420” gradually spread from there across California and beyond. Now April 20 is widely celebrated as “National Weed Day.”
On April 20 a few years ago, K. and I were joking about the nearly universal recognition of “420” in our culture — which is to say, the culture of American marijuana smokers. We looked up the numbers. Recent figures are hard to come by, but 45% of American adults are said to have used marijuana once, and one in eight adults is an avid marijuana user. The size of the domestic market is about $80 billion.
We’re not growers. We’re not dealers. So how could a couple of clever adults get in on this boom?
A dating site. Yes, that. We came up with a name: 420Lovers.com. And a slogan: “Where smokers meet smokers.”
You know ideas flow fast when you’re having fun. We quickly devised a model: Bumble, a dating site that has woman make the first move, because you can bet that if it’s the other way around, guys would be drooling as they clicked.
Then we learned something exciting about weed and online sites: Facebook, the largest site on the planet, can’t accept cannabis-related ads. From Facebook’s prohibited ad policy: “Ads must not constitute, facilitate or promote illegal products, services or activities. Ads targeted to minors must not promote products, services or content that are inappropriate, illegal or unsafe, or that exploit, mislead or exert undue pressure on the age groups targeted…. Ads can’t promote the sale or use of illegal, prescription or recreational drugs.”
That means: no images of bongs, joints or marijuana itself on Facebook.
That means: if 420Lovers had any kind of audience — and the other 420 dating sites are so lame that wouldn’t be hard — it could clean up on ad revenue alone.
What would you do? That’s what we did — we protected the name and hurried off to raise money. Which didn’t happen. Many liked the idea. Many hoped to invest in the site when we built it. But no one — even for majority ownership — wanted to invest in the build.
Timing is everything. Now marijuana is legal in so many states, and we’ve returned to our core talents. Is this a cautionary tale of good ideas going up in smoke? Or do you, Head Butler reader, know someone who’d put up launch money for a weed-centric dating site? If so, operators are standing by at HeadButlerNYC@AOL.com.
MOROCCAN CHICKEN
An easy-to-prepare, crowd-pleasing, mildly exotic recipe. (Courtesy of Claudia Roden)
Serves 4
3 TBS butter or vegetable oil
1 grated onion
1 crushed garlic clove
2 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. ginger
3 lbs skinned, cut-up tomatoes
2 TBS honey
3 lb. chicken, cut-up
2 oz. blanched almonds
Salt. Pepper.
In a large pot, gently cook chicken, tomatoes, butter or oil, garlic, spices, salt and pepper for an hour, stirring frequently, until chicken is tender. Remove chicken. Reduce sauce until it begins to thicken. Add honey and chicken, stir. Heat chicken through.
Serve with golden raisins.
FACEBOOK BADLY WANTS TO HURT TIKTOK
In February, Facebook suffered its biggest one-day loss in its 18-year history,
In March, it hired one of the biggest Republican consulting firms in the country to orchestrate a nationwide campaign seeking to turn the public against TikTok.
From the Washington Post:
The campaign includes placing op-eds and letters to the editor in major regional news outlets, promoting dubious stories about alleged TikTok trends that actually originated on Facebook, and pushing to draw political reporters and local politicians into helping take down its biggest competitor. These bare-knuckle tactics, long commonplace in the world of politics, have become increasingly noticeable within a tech industry where companies vie for cultural relevance and come at a time when Facebook is under pressure to win back young users.
Why?
Facebook researchers said teens were spending “2-3X more time” on TikTok than Instagram, and that Facebook’s popularity among young people had plummeted.
The Arlington, Va.-based firm advertises on its website that it brings “a right-of-center perspective to solve marketing challenges” and can deploy field teams “anywhere in the country within 48 hours.”
The firm is one of the biggest recipients of Republican campaign spending, earning more than $237 million in 2020, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets. Its biggest payments came from national GOP congressional committees and America First Action, a pro-Trump super PAC.
So much for creating a human-friendly environment where friends connect with friends.
“MUST SEE” JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT IN NEW YORK
200 artworks and artifacts from the artist’s estate — 177 of which have never been exhibited before — in a 15,000-square-foot space at the Starrett-Lehigh Building in Chelsea.
From the Times:
In addition to presenting raw sketches, doodles and scribbled notes by an artist finding his voice, the show feels like a family scrapbook come to life, crammed full of intimate artifacts — Basquiat’s birth announcement (6 lbs., 10 oz.); a school report card from when he lived in Puerto Rico; his blue-green dining china; his signature Comme Des Garçons trench coat.
The show requires a timed entrance fee — $45 for adults on weekends, $65 to skip the line (less for students, seniors and on weekdays). To buy tickets, click here.
MAYBE FOUR OF YOU WILL LIKE THIS SONG
Dehd – Bad Love
