Even though he’s recently received a serious diagnosis, Jonny Flanagan still loves to pound away on his drum kit in the basement of his Moncton home. The well-known and well-loved musician recently found out that he has Stage 4 colorectal cancer, and just finished his second round of chemotherapy treatment. His musician friends are holding a big benefit concert for him on June 1 at Casino New Brunswick, and a recent GoFundMe campaign raised $49,500 in just a few weeks. “It’s unbelievable. The community and friends helping like that, it just blew us away,” said Flanagan. His partner, Gillian Jackson, said all the love and support has been amazing. “It’s overwhelming and it means that we don’t have to worry and he can focus on getting better and I can focus on taking care of him,” said Jackson. A life-long metal head and punk rocker, Flanagan has been playing drums since he was a kid, and the 47-year-old has been a fixture on the Moncton music scene for decades. Jonny Flanagan sits at his drum set. (CTV/Derek Haggett)Longtime friend and fellow drummer Ken Kelley said Jonny is an optimistic and uplifting person. “No matter what you could be going through, he’s always had this incredibly sunny outlook on life,” said Kelley. Kelley’s band The Monoxides will be performing at the benefit show in June and lead singer Steve Hickox organized the GoFundMe along with Jackson. Hickox said when he knew exactly what Flanagan was facing he wanted to get the online fundraiser up and running. “Initially we asked for $10,000. We had almost that in the first few hours,” said Hickox. “Honestly, I had no idea it would take off like it did.” Hickox said his friend is the kind of person who just makes everyone feel better. “It starts with that permanent smile of his and continues with his infectious laugh and warm personality,” said Hickox. “He is absolutely one of the most lovable people I’ve ever met.” His treatments have kept him from his day job, teaching drums at Long and McQuade, for about a year. “We’re doing this to support Jonny,” said Kelley. “As many people know, the arts and music specifically is a tough, tough go. A lot of musicians and artists aren’t lucky enough to have the safety net of health benefits.” Jonny Flanagan sits and smiles for a photo. (Courtesy: Gillian Jackson)Flanagan loves to teach and said he’ll miss his students while he’s away. “It’s so much fun and the kids are so great. It’s very rewarding work to see them progress,” said Flanagan. Flanagan and Jackson moved into a new home last year, so the cancer diagnosis was a big blow to the couple. The support they are receiving from the music community is crucial to them right now. “It’s humbling to have to ask for help. so, for everyone just to step up and do it without us asking was amazing,” said Jackson. “Jonny is special to me. I knew that he was special to everybody, but this has exceeded any expectation I ever could have had for help, support and love.” He’s looking at three months of treatment with chemotherapy and then doctors will re-assess to see if he needs more. Radiation and surgery are definite possibilities. “It’s been scary. It’s not something that we ever anticipated. Nobody really anticipates getting this diagnosis,” said Jackson. No matter what, Flanagan said he’ll stay optimistic and keep smiling. “There’s really no other way. You have to have a positive mind and honestly and truthfully I have zero doubts that we’re going to beat this and move forward,” said Flanagan. The drummer will be performing with his band “Iron Giant” at the June 1 concert. More information on the one-night show is available on the Smile for Jonny Facebook page. For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.

Saturday marks marijuana culture’s high holiday, 4/20, when college students gather — at 4:20 p.m. — in clouds of smoke on campus quads and pot shops in legal-weed states thank their customers with discounts. This year’s edition provides an occasion for activists to reflect on how far their movement has come, with recreational pot now allowed in nearly half the states and the nation’s capital. Many states have instituted “social equity” measures to help communities of color, harmed the most by the drug war, reap financial benefits from legalization. And the White House has shown an openness to marijuana reform. Here’s a look at 4/20’s history: Why 4/20? The origins of the date, and the term “420” generally, were long murky. Some claimed it referred to a police code for marijuana possession or that it derived from Bob Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women No. 12 & 35,” with its refrain of “Everybody must get stoned” — 420 being the product of 12 times 35. But the prevailing explanation is that it started in the 1970s with a group of bell-bottomed buddies from San Rafael High School, in California’s Marin County north of San Francisco, who called themselves “the Waldos.” A friend’s brother was afraid of getting busted for a patch of cannabis he was growing in the woods at nearby Point Reyes, so he drew a map and gave the teens permission to harvest the crop, the story goes. During fall 1971, at 4:20 p.m., just after classes and football practice, the group would meet up at the school’s statue of chemist Louis Pasteur, smoke a joint and head out to search for the weed patch. They never did find it, but their private lexicon — “420 Louie” and later just “420” — would take on a life of its own. The Waldos saved postmarked letters and other artifacts from the 1970s referencing “420,” which they now keep in a bank vault, and when the Oxford English Dictionary added the term in 2017, it cited some of those documents as the earliest recorded uses. How did ‘420’ spread?  A brother of one of the Waldos was a close friend of Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh, as Lesh once confirmed in an interview with the Huffington Post, now HuffPost. The Waldos began hanging out in the band’s circle and the slang spread. Fast-forward to the early 1990s: Steve Bloom, a reporter for the cannabis magazine High Times, was at a Dead show when he was handed a flyer urging people to “meet at 4:20 on 4/20 for 420-ing in Marin County at the Bolinas Ridge sunset spot on Mt. Tamalpais.” High Times published it. “It’s a phenomenon,” one of the Waldos, Steve Capper, now 69, once told The Associated Press. “Most things die within a couple years, but this just goes on and on. It’s not like someday somebody’s going to say, ‘OK, Cannabis New Year’s is on June 23rd now.’” While the Waldos came up with the term, the people who made the flier distributed at the Dead show — and effectively turned 4/20 into a holiday — remain unknown. How is it celebrated?  With weed, naturally. Some celebrations are bigger than others: The Mile High 420 Festival in Denver, for example, typically draws thousands and describes itself as the largest free 4/20 event in the world. Hippie Hill in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park has also attracted massive crowds, but the gathering was canceled this year, with organizers citing a lack of financial sponsorship and city budget cuts. College quads and statehouse lawns are also known for drawing 4/20 celebrations, with the University of Colorado Boulder historically among the largest, though not so much since administrators banned the annual smokeout over a decade ago. Some breweries make beers that are 420-themed, but not laced, including SweetWater Brewing in Atlanta, which is throwing a 420 music festival this weekend and whose founders went to the University of Colorado. Lagunitas Brewing in Petaluma, California, releases its “Waldos’ Special Ale” every year on 4/20 in partnership with the term’s coiners. That’s where the Waldos will be this Saturday to sample the beer, for which they picked out “hops that smell and taste like the dankest marijuana,” one Waldo, Dave Reddix, said via email. 4/20 has also become a big industry event, with vendors gathering to try each other’s wares. Joseph DuPuis, co-founder of Doc & Yeti Urban Farms, a licensed cannabis producer, looks out into a growing area in Tumwater, Wash., March 15, 2023. (Eugene Johnson /AP Photo, File) The politics The number of states allowing recreational marijuana has grown to 24 after recent legalization campaigns succeeded in Ohio, Minnesota and Delaware. Fourteen more states allow it for medical purposes, including Kentucky, where medical marijuana legislation that passed last year will take effect in 2025. Additional states permit only products with low THC, marijuana’s main psychoactive ingredient, for certain medical conditions. But marijuana is still illegal under federal law. It is listed with drugs such as heroin under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, meaning it has no federally accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. The Biden administration, however, has taken some steps toward marijuana reform. The president has pardoned thousands of people who were convicted of “simple possession” on federal land and in the District of Columbia. The Department of Health and Human Services last year recommended to the Drug Enforcement Administration that marijuana be reclassified as Schedule III, which would affirm its medical use under federal law. According to a Gallup poll last fall, 70 per cent of adults support legalization, the highest level yet recorded by the polling firm and more than double the roughly 30per cent who backed it in 2000. Vivian McPeak, who helped found Seattle’s Hempfest more than three decades ago, reflected on the extent to which the marijuana industry has evolved during his lifetime. “It’s surreal to drive by stores that are selling cannabis,” he said. “A lot of people laughed at us, saying, ‘This will never happen.’” Police handcuff a suspect during a drug raid in Miami, May 18, 1979. (Al Diaz, / AP Photo, File) What does it mean?  McPeak described 4/20 these days as a “mixed bag.” Despite the legalization movement’s progress, many smaller growers are struggling to compete against large producers, he said, and many Americans are still behind bars for weed convictions. “We can celebrate the victories that we’ve had, and we can also strategize and organize to further the cause,” he said. “Despite the kind of complacency that some people might feel, we still got work to do. We’ve got to keep earning that shoe leather until we get everybody out of jails and prisons.” For the Waldos, 4/20 signifies above all else a good time. “We’re not political. We’re jokesters,” Capper has said. “But there was a time that we can’t forget, when it was secret, furtive. … The energy of the time was more charged, more exciting in a certain way. “I’m not saying that’s all good — it’s not good they were putting people in jail,” he continued. “You wouldn’t want to go back there.” ___ Associated Press writer Claire Rush contributed from Portland, Oregon.

Some people love to wash their car, and for others, it’s their most hated chore. It’s a necessity for car owners, so no matter where you fall on the love-hate spectrum, you want a car wash that’s going to give your car a deep clean that lasts. Automatic car washes are at almost any gas…

  When you take your car to the car wash, there are multiple add-ons available, and one common choice is spray-on wax. It may seem like it doesn’t make a difference, but there are some important benefits. And these benefits go beyond how shiny your will car looks. What Are the Benefits of Waxing Your…

Even when you are lucky enough to start with an empty room, it can be overwhelming to design an interior that you can enjoy for years to come. Following some basic interior design principles, you can transform your space into a relaxing room you will be comfortable and happy with. Decide what your focal point will be and build out from there.  For best results, keep proportion and scale in mind as you decorate as well as these tips!

 Deciding on Your Focal Point
Do you have a magnificent bay window with an incredible view?  Is there an ornate mantle that is the reason you fell in love with your home? Or is there something you absolutely MUST HAVE in the room? Situate your furniture around your chosen focal point to create balance and equilibrium. If your room does not already have an existing focal point, create one with oversized art or add an accent point like a free-standing fireplace, they come in a variety of sizes and styles. Symmetrically balance the room evenly so that both sides mirror one another.  This will help your chosen focal point stand out all the more! Use matching accent tables to flank your sofa or use different pieces of furniture to create a copacetic visual impact, like two similar armchairs to balance a sofa.
Repetition for Rhythm
Rhythm creates a flow and helps direct the eye to the differing visual elements in your room. Just as the notes of a favorite song repeat to create the rhythm, repetition in decor will create a rhythm throughout a home. Establish visual interests with a rhythm throughout your space by placing similar colours or patterns at intervals and repeat in artwork, cushions or area rugs.

Perfect Proportion and Suitable Scaling
Who doesn’t love a large, overstuffed chair? But if your room is on the smaller size it may look out of place and make your room seem even smaller than it is. Keep proportion in perspective. Proportion is the ratio between a piece of furniture and the size of a room. Scale is the size of a piece of furniture in relation to the other pieces of furniture in the room. A super large chair will overpower an apartment of loft size sofa or loveseat and create a sense of unbalance in the room.

Have your room humming harmoniously
Creating harmony will enhance how much you will continue to love your finished. Pull the room with a subdued colour palette for a pleasing, harmonious vibe.   together for a pleasing, harmonious look with a subdued color palette. You can also use a single colour for elements that vary in size and shape. Check out our blog on Doing White on White Right! for more tips!

What is the focal point in your room?  What is your best tip to find harmony and balance through your home?