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Questions for Lestat: Lestat's Lab

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Lestat:
P.camemberti. Sometimes also P.commune.

Not P.chrysogenum, but that species, wolfy, just for references sake, its a synonym for P.notatum.)


And its not full of penicillin group antibiotics that much is obvious to me. For I have eaten camembert. I DON'T eat it, because I despise the stuff, find the taste nasty, the texture repulsive and the stench
is like something so foul it could have emanated from the rectal leavings of a decaying fish carcass foulhooked on a fishing trip to the river Styx, after being dragged out of the water and left to putrefy in hades for a few centuries. Good god, I HATE the smell, and indeed everything else about camembert, I leave the room if my old man starts eating it)

But if it produced penicillin/s, or other beta-lactam antibiotics then just trying it would have killed or at best, temporarily incapacitated me, as I am severely allergic (varies, but last time, after accidentally ingesting a capsule of, I think it was amoxicillin; the result was my falling to the deck, unconscious, and being given CPR. So if they did contain penicillin group antibiotics

They do not produce beta-lactams, but they DO produce the mycotoxin cyclopiazonic acid. Small quantities and the amounts ingested through consuming that festering rancid abomination known as camembert. The strains used in cheese-making do produce cyclopiazonic acid, but you'd only ingest a few micrograms per cheese-eating, a subtoxic quantity.

Also produces, depending on the strain, roquefortines, chrysogenic acid possibly, rugolovasine and others. Probably the nastiest of which potentially present mycotoxins is penitrem-A, a tremorogenic mycotoxin, causes a staggers-type toxicosis in exposed animals (most frequent biological source is not cheese but  grasses hosting intracellular fungal symbiotes known as endophytic fungi, that are obligate dwellers of the internal cell environment of the host or hosts, many grass species, ryegrasses especially, such as Bromus, Fescues [Festuca], and Lolium, which usually also contains the indolic loline alkaloids although the lolines are or relatively little toxicity to humans and other mammals being primarily insect poisons. These are often produced by endophytes of the genus Neotyphodium [Epichloe is another namy for this genus, Epichloe being the anamorphic stages of Neotyphodium] The genus is large, and produces a whole host of mycotoxins, including, interestingly, often ergot alkaloids. Seemingly they often have a particular fetish for ergovaline amongst the ergopeptides. Looked into them as a possible source of ergot alkaloids, but decided that I'd have to grow infected grasses and process those rather than culture the fungus, as I'm working on with ergot (Claviceps, the parasites of rye, other cereal grain grasses and other grass hosts depending on the species within the genus, the stuff they theorize might well be responsible for the outbreaks of witch-mania in Salem, etc. From the hallucinosis caused by similarity of those ergopeptides, although far, far more toxic than, the drug LSD, being also powerful vasoconstrictors gangrene came along with it, and the ergopeptides like ergotamine are of less psychedelic type activity. But are perfect precursors for lysergic acid itself when subjected to hydrolysis.

Looked into those endophytes, as well as the ones within many morning glory (Ipomoea) species, ololiuqui, Badoh-Negroh, another member of the convolvulaceae, ritually used by the the family so rich in ergoline-producing endophytes, which is unique amongst higher plants. But like most endophytes it seems, it is strictly and absolutely an obligate intracellular organism. The fungi produce the ergoloids, but also the things produced and quantities are influenced and partially determined by the plant species, as well as the specific strain/s of the fungal species. And they cannot be cultured with currently existing
biological technology, it just has never, ever been done, and it may not even be possible TO do so, because of the specific requirement of the endophyte for its living host cells, like Rickettsiae.


Don't worry about the traces of mycotoxins in the camembert cheese strains, your not going to ingest enough of the cheese to be able to poison yourself. Listeria would be more worrysome (there was a very largescale claw-back of camembert cheese recently, that affected french exports too, lots had to be shitcanned because it was infected with listeria. And potentially,  my old man might even have been affected. Something around that time, and he had been buying and eating camembert stored in the same fridge as we store our food, and I store a few bottles of solvents, ergot fungus sclerotia samples of different strains, sickened him something nasty, and ripped through the guts of the entire family that live in this house like a .44 round cutting through a fart.

WolFish:
Well, that's enough to make me think twice about eating camembert. it's not as pungent as brie which is one of the reasons i like it better. i did try the rind and it wasn't bad, but i sure as heck will keep it covered in the fridge because we have some weird stuff walking around in there sometimes. we had one that put a bloom on some strawberries within a couple of hours.

i am used to eating abominations; in high school it was a way of earning pocket money. classmates would create them and offer me money to eat them. the best money comes from catsup and bananas with something green like green beans or spinach mixed in.

i am gluten intolerant (celiac, actually) and can attest to the mind altering effects of a gluten ingestion. at worst, i stood on the sidewalk in Northampton, MA at a busy intersection ready to step out because the cars were moving in slow motion. now i stay away but i can tell when i've been exposed to small amounts because my dyslexia gets much worse.

Lestat:
Eaten the odd abomination myself, although overall, drank far worse than I've eaten. None of them for other people. Usually things considered food by others, or delicacies even. Like durian fruit. I tried it. Once. And I won't again. Just opening the pack was terrible


I don't blame you. Never did like brie though. I'm a blue stilton guy through and through when it comes to cheese that stinks.
I wouldn't even think once but thats just me, i hate it. But that whatever it was, if it was from the cheese or not laid us all low, took two of my mom's carers out too. Nothing *I* had in there that isn't or was not food, would have done that. The ergot would simply poison someone, fatally quite possibly, if they ate it. My dad knows not to, he knows what ergot is, I taught him, along the years, much of what I know in terms of fungi. He took me out when I was too young to go on my own, so I could go searching for them and theres plenty he can now ID on sight, although he doesn't possess the depth and breadth if knowledge I myself do, because I am the one who taught him, he would recognize Claviceps  to genus as teleomorphic species, but wouldn't an anamorphic sphacaelia. Like C.sorghi for instance although you won't find it in britain, its endemic to india. Most Claviceps spp. are specific to genus or to host species. And he wouldn't know C.paspali, it looks quite different to most ergots, pale and brain like cream sclerotia, rounded and short not like the long spurs of C.purpurea, rye ergot, C.sulcata which is similar to rye ergot but has a lateral groove running from pole end to pole end, C.fuiiformis which can be noted for its having a deficient ergoline biosynthetic gene cluster that causes it to stop at one of the clavines, it is incapable of lysergic acid production or its peptidic congeners or C.viridis, rare, orient mainly, uniquely dark green colored. And I am sure he would mistake C.microcephala for tiny little runty purpurea. I did at first.

And I wouldn't be surprised if he'd be able to ID Cordyceps but only to genus, neither of us has seen any of them wild, although I'd know C.ophioglossoides and some others, recognizing the animal host is ers, important for Cordyceps although there are some which are parasitic on other fungi, especially false truffles in the genus Elaphomyces. Others infect caterpillars mostly, sometimes ants and iircmaybe spiders. neat fuckers as long as your not a host.

It should  be noted that not all 'staggers'  from that genus of endophyte are the same btw not all are mind altering. Some are psychoactive in various ways, some are direct neurotoxins (cyanide-containing or cyanogenic glycoside containing plants can cause a paralysis of the hindlegs (or legs in humans) with chronic sublethal ingestion via damage to the spinal motor nerves too and these can be created by some grasses iirc, as protection, young growth being safer or the other way round to use for grazing animals on, not all DEPEND on ergovaline, many produce both it, and a load of other shit too. Its just that Epichloe/Neotyphodium as a fungal genus, when they produce ergopeptide alkaloids ergovaline seems to be the favourite. Bit Clavicipitaceous fungi are known for being maddenly complex. Transpose a strain from a grass species to another, especially outside the genus if possible and you can get some weird shit. Like festuclavine, penniclavine [Pennisetum host] molliclavine [Elymus mollis] and the odd terrible poison

WolFish:
I had forgotten the fungus mushroom connection.

when you mentioned cordyceps i thought of this stuff i'd bought from shining mountain herbs that had things like cordyceps and ginseng. worked pretty well when i didn't have access to other stimulants. i still use the cordyceps as its supposed to be good for energy. i'm guessing this is the kind that grows in good places.

they also had really nice flasks that came free with the gunk and they were having a half price sale so i got things that were supposed to help with energy, focus and one called warm up that did have a bunch of herbs in it, but the primary ingredients were alcohol and water. taste terrible all of them, but some did work. not sure about the immune booster. i did get sick that winter, but i wasn't using it at the time. so now i have a lot of nice flasks and make my own gunk. i have some immune stuff that i make and some adhd stuff, and of course spiced port which is a medicinal requirement for winter. recently found a 2 oz flask but unknown what's in it. likely adhd stuff, but i haven't worked up the courage to try it.

Lestat:
Mushrooms are usually connected to fungi ;)

At least until I get a hankering for a trip to the forests and a nice long hike. then they tend to get disconnected, plonked in a basket and get an alltogether new connection. To my stomach. If they are good for eating of course, or if they are full of psiloc(yb)in (or on occasion, if they aren't good eating. Not poisonous ones, I don't mean that. But I've tried a few that really were horrid. 

I can often as not, tell on sight a good many of them, those that have become good 'friends' over the years so to speak, always though, check what you have, some can look fiendishly close to something awful, like for instance, Psilocybe cyanescens, one of our british psilocybin (more psilocin in them actually, in the british strain, afaik US P.cyanescens is a little different but I don't know how), got a real horror story there. Found one deadly (probably, there are species not packed full of the same amatoxins as found in the deadly Amanitas like the death cap and its nasty friends but a lot of the genus are ugly lil bastards) Galerina, species not determined further, genus was quite enough to earn it a trip down the shitter, and it looked JUST like the rest of the pounds of psilocybes I'd picked, growing right in amongst them, same patch of woodchips, hell might even have shared a wood chip I don't know. But knowing the resemblance, or possible resemblance at least, I spore print them all, slicing each little stem off with a scalpel, razorblade etc and laying it on foil alongside the cap it came off. One of them came out rust brown, rather than the violet-black of a Psilocybe species, which is enough to make people that hear that little ghoulish tale do likewise when hunting in future if they didn't already=D

 (there are a few though that don't need more than a glance, that simply cannot possibly be mistaken, such as giant puffballs which very quickly outstrip almost any other fungus in sheer size, I've heard tell of them reaching upwards of a meter and a half in diameter, which quite negates the need to do anything other than get somebody to help carry it and help eat it; although the largest I've ever found was a few feet, but still, quite enough to leave an entire family stuffed to bursting, Cauliflower fungus, Sparassis, a parasite of conifers too, is quite unmistakable, being both a mass of convoluted pale yellow ribbonlike folds, looks like a disembodied brain, although nothing like the poisonous and if raw, deadly, false morels of the genus Gyromitra and WAY beyond their maximum size, a meter, for a big one is quite possible for the Sparassis species and they are told to be some of the best eating of all fungi, but I have never been so fortunate as to find one. If you do, go back next year too because the primary resting structure is underground on the trees roots, and the fruitbody can be found again in many cases, at least if some other bugger hasn't had the same idea and got there first I've always wanted to find a cauliflower fungus, its been on my table wishlist since I was little but no luck so far :( And at that size there just aren't other fungi that even closely resemble either structure, habitat and size, giant puffball is about the only thing that grows so large, for a single fruitbody but these never grow as parasites, and they never grow on wood either, buried or otherwise, smooth outside and white rather than brain-esque. So theres a handful of species that make for good eating and that anybody can trust their judgement even if they don't know their fungi well, beginners finding that sort of thing can quite safely bung them in the pot. Apparently big cauliflowers can weigh 80 pounds or more and feed a big family for a whole week, or even several families. Those two the trouble is eating them up before they go off!

Heh herbal medicines never taste good. Well most of them don't Most of them taste absolutely foul in my experience. Fly agaric is one of the few palatable ones I've come upon, although it must be prepared first, not simply picked and brewed up into tea, heat drying first is required. Lets you keep them for the year to come and until you can hunt for another supply too. The tea tastes really meaty and it SMELLS meaty. Umami that is. Brewing the tea, you better open the windows in the kitchen if you don't want the room to hum like a gigantic, weapons-grade pot noodle! or sort of. ...speaking of pot noodles...theres an idea. Just the thing. I'm famished. Couldn't eat yesterday, wasn't feeling up to it the day before either. Had a burger today and thats about it in three days, today included. Wanted weed, mostly so I could give myself the munchies and not want to spew at the smell of food. No luck though I did manage to get a number for future use, he had no stock left though when I rang him.

But having myself a nice long smoke HAS given me the munchies, and my appetite back normally speaking too. Fuck...thats been a while since I did that. Don't think I've chased the dragon in about ten years, although I can't say I found the way the guy who showed me how to do it on foil the first time was all that appetizing. fish oil or some sort of oil capsule to make it run back and forth more fluidly. Never seen that before or since. And damned if I fancy sucking burning fish fumes with my skag. Yuck!



Not to say I'm familiar with all or even most fungi, not by any stretch, not by a million miles, but I have been doing it a pretty long time, since age three, so its given me time to become familiarized with SOME of them at least so closely that I can usually spot them growing from within my visual range for their size, and have a pretty solid idea of what I'm imminently going to see when I get there, from color/profile/habitat/texture/season and also, and this does take some experience, of what other fungi, and what plants are growing nearby. Was quite tickled to look up online about a favourite of mine, peppery bolete (Chalciporus piperatus), because I'd for a long time used fly agaric as an indicator species, to tell me which birch trees to look under, in season. And I had gotten a hunch that they were either symbiotic partners (the two fungi that is) or parasitic. And I was right, peppery bolete IS a parasite, of Amanita muscaria. Was rather pleasing to have my theory confirmed:) the boletes are quite small, a cap a few inches in diameter at most, dull buff slightly orangey brown, and a stem perhaps 2 inch tall to slightly taller at most, not a large mushroom, while you can see fly agaric for a long way off, bright red with white warted cap, white everything else, and the caps can be as wide as a dinnerplate, 25 to 30cm is the upper size boundary and thats a bloody big bugger of one, but its not at all unheard of or even that uncommon to see some honking great big bastards, that stand out like a S&M paedophile convention in an orphanage, and (quite unlike one), serve as a big neon sign to me saying 'come pick these over here ---->>>>>>>  \/ <---------.

Spiced port? ew ew ew ew ew ew eEWEW thats just NASTY! *shudders*
Wine of any kind, nasty but that spiced mulled wine type crap, oh god no. Fuck that. All the more for you wolfy because I don't think you could pay me enough to drink that filth.

Just took a look at the place, that you got those. Look nice. Although I question the wisdom of a health supply anything promoting the use of nickel heavy vessels. Surprises me a bit really considering what that kind of place is like and the guff they often spout, because of how prevalent allergy to nickel is. And as for their claim about being made in china. Well I take ANYTHING made in china with a pinch of salt, so to speak. Have had good deals and bad though. two hotplates went bust from there. But I did get a good digital PH meter and a digital IR thermometer. Although the PH meter needs replacing, the electrode broke. But thats my fault for trying to check the PH of something that dissolved the glass and left the plastic handle towards that end a blob of goo. Probably not something I should have dipped it in, although I can't remember what it was now. Still, both the meter and the thermometer cost me six dollars and some US cents a piece. About £3. Paid more for
the burger I bought on my way home from the city center tonight, which lasted me all of a minute or two worth of munching, so nothing much lost although I really need another PH tester, going to get a couple of spares for the next time I stupidly dip it in something that melts it, eats the glass away or fucks the ion gradient in the electrode.



Make your own ADHD stuff? dare I ask whats in it?

If you can't find stimulants though, can help you out there. Depends what your after to a degree (can't synth coke, well, it has been done, just never by me and is a long and bloody difficult process to do it via total synthesis. Says it all really that they bother to fuck about doing business with the cartels and they having their enslaved peasantry grow a plant that needs high altitudes and tropical climate and have to risk each shipment being stolen by customs swine whilst en route.

What kind of stimulants had you in mind? can do you that sort of thing, if you want. Not free, I must fund the precursors, and put a few bites of food on my table but  I'm happy to negotiate a much reduced rate for you wolfy. Got the shit to ..ahem...well couldbe probably knows, from breaking bad ;) PM me if you want me to sort you out. Should be able to find a source for 3-fluorophenmetrazine too, or rather another source, since the england based ones got fucked recently. I know a guy who knows a place for 3-fluorophenmetrazine. Cleanest stimulant (dopamine reuptake inhibitor possible releaser type) I've ever tried.  Other than some oddball research compounds that were really really selective DAT blockers.

Ice?

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