nel z bub wrote:@ moogle- are you still in town? Come by and say hello.
In fact, that goes for any one who is in town, I'm having a quiet evening this evening and could use the company.
Playing on the stereo, a two hour set from On-U sound, on 6music.
-nice things for nice people-
nel z bub wrote:@ moogle- are you still in town? Come by and say hello.
I'm afraid not......Wish I was though.... I flew home last night... But I managed to bring home some souvenirs! Just having some of your Nepalese now... I'll be back for sure, but possibly not until April unfortunately..
@nel z bub I think it's great that you've joined the forum and are sharing your plans. Never been to this shop before but based on your comments and the reviews posted since the upgrades it sounds very promising indeed. I'll definitely be in to check it out when I'm there in late February.
Lamont wrote:@nel z bub I think it's great that you've joined the forum and are sharing your plans. Never been to this shop before but based on your comments and the reviews posted since the upgrades it sounds very promising indeed. I'll definitely be in to check it out when I'm there in late February.
cheers folks,
it's nice to make a connection with people who may appreciate what we are trying to do.
Let me be clear now, although I am taking responsibility for representing the place on this forum, the changes that are being made are more of a result of the hard work of my friend Ingi, who is the manager of the place.
We have known each other many years since we both spent time as volunteers at the Cannabis College, and I was very happy to take a job with her last year, when she needed someone.
At the time we had expected the coffeeshop to close at the end of the year, as the license was running out and the owner had little interest in extending it. By way of explanation; the owner is in the hotel business and when buying the place, the coffeeshop was of secondary interest.
As a result it has taken Ingi quite some time to persuade him of the merit of continuing but with a different approach.
Thankfully he has now agreed to give us the chance to prove that our way will be successful and we now have the challenge to prove that we have the skills and knowledge to make a real success of what is potentially a little gem in the heart of the city.
As for my own experience I have been involved to some extent or another in the cannabis business all of my adult life- from shit soap bar in Glasgow, to fine charas in the parvatti valley and the early days of home growing in the UK.
I arrived in Amsterdam six years ago- having just driven old Scottish punk band Oi Polloi, on a thirty gigs in thirty days tour around Europe- and decided it was time to really make a go of staying in what has always been my favorite city.
I was lucky enough to very quickly get a job at Homegrown Fantasy, where I worked for three years, eventually becoming floor manager there and during my time overseeing the transition from pre-weighed bags to the new system you see there today.
It was a great place to work and is still one of my favorite places to chill on the terrace in the summer.
I was quietly smug to read here some of the happy reports from customers during my time there.
After that I worked for a while at Abraxas and Abraxas too, the latter of which I really enjoyed, the former less so.
For the past few years I have been more involved in the back door side of things and I have been very proud looking on here to see that many crops I have sent to the coffeeshops have received a positive review on here.
Sadly that all came to an end with a visit from the police early last year, forcing me back to square one again and so I was very happy when Ingi was kind enough to give me the opportunity to join the crew at Utopia.
With the boss's decision to continue with the license and to allow us to change the way things are done, we realise that we have been given an almost unique chance to run things with what we believe is the right philosophy- nice things for nice people.
We are both very excited to see if we can fulfill our ambitions for the place and hoping that as the year goes on we can look forward to a shop full of happy stoners.
Anyway, enough of me going on, I hope I'll get the chance to bore you with my patter when you come and visit the shop.
Last edited by nel z bub on Tue 31st Jan 2012 01:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
Excellent , thanks very much for your story I will certainly pop in next time I'm in town good to see a fellow Scot doing well and would be good to chat concerning your hashish adventures
@ cisco- not to mislead, I was actually born near Sunderland, though my father is from Dundee and I'm proud to get my kilt on at any opportunity!
I spent a good chunk of the nineties living in Glasgow having used my student loan to invest in scales and a nine bar before dropping out of university the same week.
I still go back to Glasgow whenever I get the chance, to see my friends and to get tattooed at Custom Inc tattoo studio, whose owner is a very old friend of mine. It will always be my second favorite city!
-n t n p-
nel z bub,
Really like the sound of what you are doing, will def check Utopia out on my next visit, 3 - 5 April. Still seems a long way off. It is!!
The determination to make things a success really shines through on your posts.
Nice one.
To Honour Tolerance Wherever It Is Found
Oh.... & Metallica rule OK!
It sounds like it is all coming together for you guys nel z bub. Can't wait to see all the improvements. We will be in for a visit in early April.
Good luck.
If I don't see you no more in this world, I'll meet you on the next one.
JMH
nel z bub, congrats on everything...never been to Utopia but I shall defo be hitting you up every morning for breakfast as we are staying near by, probably be every night too. Last year our home was Voyagers, love that place, but your gaff sounds way too good to miss. Got a feeling this will be our new Voyagers. Keep up the top work fella and see you April 19th...
I'll be back for sure, but possibly not until April unfortunately..
