Gary Payton by 93 Boyz

I was on the /ILTrees Reddit a couple of days ago, checking in. Someone posted a question that asked the community, "What strains did you used to like that you wish they brought back?" The poster mentioned Gary Payton by 93 Boyz, among other strains.

I waited too long to try the Gary Payton but I did buy one bag of it, which I sat on for a while. About a year ago, I started working my way through it. The aforementioned Reddit post along with a newfound appreciation for what I'll call "basic cookies" strains has me revisiting my notes. I didn't write much about smoking the Gary Payton but it was clear it got me baked, which a good cookies strain should do. The cross is Y Griega x Snowman. Snowman is a GSC phenotype. The Seedfinder page (click here if interested) includes the history of how the strain came about. And, yes, it is named after NBA Hall of Fame point guard Gary Payton.

3.53 grams of Gary Payton from 93 Boyz

This is what I wrote about a year ago, one night after smoking a joint of the Gary Payton. January 8, 2025:

The Gary Payton is strong. I have been drinking. Feel glassy. Pepped. High. The joint burned well but it wasn't especially tasty. I've got that pressure feeling behind my eyes. If someone looked at me, they'd know I was high. That's how I feel, anyway.

Then I followed up the next day, 1.9.25:

The Gary Payton was strong. By the time 8 o'clock rolled around we had watched a couple episodes of a murder mystery show and I was couch-locked. I coulda stayed in that chair for hours. But it wasn't just the Gary Payton. For three days I had been doing snow and ice removal here and at the house we are trying to sell. I ran four miles at the gym and then drove over to Illinois to see my Dad in the nursing home. I was tired and sore. I still am sore waking up today.

I slept well. I remember some of the dream. I was in a hotel room that was set up outside, along a sidewalk. Passersby were waking me up, heckling me. What a terrible hotel room; choice of room. I was getting ready to go about switching rooms...

I woke up first at 11:15 last night. Felt fine. Peed, had some water, went back to sleep until 4:15. Some tossing and turning along the way, less than usual. It is cold out there this morning. Eight degrees, something like that...


Read the full post here...

Mandarin Cookies by &Shine

Where was I. This is a strain review of Mandarin Cookies V2, a cannabis flower eighth marketed by &Shine, which is one of several labels used in Illinois and other states by Green Thumb Industries, aka GTI. Since I bought this eighth in the spring of 2024, the shine seems to have worn off the &Shine label because I don't see it on the menu much anymore. The "budget" label of choice for GTI now appears to be "Good Green."

This eighth was sold in a plastic jar with a tamper-proof seal but without any additional seal on the jar under the cap. It had a package date of 02.01.2024. I opened it on February 16th of this year, 2025. So it was pretty old. And yet, and yet.

I varied between smoking these Mandarin Cookies out of a glass bowl or in the form of a joint/marijuana cigarette. I wrote many short snippets about my experience across various sessions as I burned through this eighth with relative speed. These Cookies were a great smoke. They provided a gentle up-lift. They were steady fuel. No doubt I would get them again. Especially considering this eighth retails at $25 per, and although I don't specifically recall I am fairly certain I used one of several discounts Beyond/Hello in Sauget, IL offers their customers. Buy two eighths, get 15% off each. Buy on a Friday or a Saturday, get 20% or even 30% of everything you buy...


For the full strain review of Mandarin Cookies, follow this link...