Why are we here guys? Is it to have a career? Is it to have a relationship? Is it to be healthy, or rich, or good?Is it to throw a good party, or dance your ass off? What is our path and why do we walk it? Why exist?
Hanging out with Rif always gives me an interesting perspective on life. It is good to be reminded sometimes of who you can be and who you are. Rif’s worldview sees the world as an epic battlefield where angels are constantly doing battle with the dark forces of the universe. I relate. I often see myself as channeling some higher, perfected power. It’s always fun to run with others who can see themselves in a similar light. I like being an angel. It works.
We humans are uniquely equipped to create our reality. We tell ourselves about how the world is constantly. We blog, creating the universe as we go. The way the world “is” is directly related to how we keep saying it is. If god is some vengeful landlord, we will find proof for that. If our landlord is a big jerk who never does any repairs, surprise! it’s true! if people all lie, it seems to us that no one tells the truth. If I can do no wrong, then… It just goes on an on. Of course it is my belief that the stories we tell ourselves create our reality, so there you go. True for me.
So what if we ourselves that it is divinely inspired, that some higher power guides us, elevating us. What if those moments when we are most alive are those moments when the veil is thinnest between that angelic self and our Malkuthian earth bodies. I hung out with people who fly last night. I met angels who fed me chocolate and tea. I connected with old friends in a different time. The barriers between the worlds get thinner when there are more of us gathering together. I always have fun when I get to adventure with Rif.
This is why we gather. All that energy and self expression, it feeds that spiritual well. We gather together and we can draw from it so easily. Don’t you feel more alive when surrounded by the friends who you love and admire. Focus that.
This weekend, you will see your people. Decom, Homecoming, Space Island (although, I for obvious reasons prefer you come to Homecoming, so I can see you), or wherever you are, and it is up to you to elevate it. Find your highest self. Find the highest self in others. Connect with that. Play together. Find those young angels inside these adults with jobs and lovers and worries. Join together and find yourselves in dance and laughter and magic. It’s up to you. Lets show this city what happens when gods, goddesses, angels, demons, monsters and faeries gather together in the heart and elevate it. This weekend, lets burn our own man away, and leave only the highest within.
See you there. It’s up to you.
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AHS Homecoming! Oct 4th!
I’m not going to lie, I was a geek in high school. I spent a lot of time in animation class. I played DnD and video games. I was in the band (I was a terrible drummer). I lusted after girls who liked me as just a friend. I was angry and frustrated. I was scared, and uncomfortable around people. I was in a fog back then. I sometimes look back and wonder if was even conscious. And I missed every dance somehow. I know, I know, when I paint the picture like that, how?
Do Over.
Obviously, I have grown into my geekiness. My heart has opened. my perspective has lifted. The people I hang out with are much cooler and inclusive. I couldn’t be happier. I have slightly better luck at dating. I still play video games and DnD at any opportunity.
And now, I love to Dance. And damn, check out the lineup!
I’m really excited about this one. It will have all the best things about high school, combined with a post apocalyptic flair. Hopefully, the drama will be left back in the nineties. Perhaps this time, one of the geeks will be crowned Homecoming King or Queen.
Tickets are on sail now, sweet $16 presale or $25 at the door. Details below:
————–
ON OCTOBER 4TH, 2008
NINJA SKILLZ MUSIC AND HIPGENESIS PRESENT:
HOMECOMING
LIMITED PRESALE TICKETS ARE $16:
https://beticketing.com/_U2_add.php?eid=20081004NS
( tickets at the door are 25$)
Imagine if you will, a Homecoming Dance done only how the LA Underground can do it.
Come in all your Playa Finery from earlier in the day or HOWEVER YOU WANT!
* 3 AREAS OF SOUND FEATURING L.A.’S BEST IN HOUSE – BREAKS – PROGRESSIVE – DOWNTEMPO
* YEARBOOK PHOTO BOOTH BY KATIE LEE AT EYENEXUS.COM
* 8 SMALLER ROOMS SPONSORED BY A.H.S. SCHOOL CLUBS ( CHECK OUT DETENTION…)
* LOCATED ON OUR BRAND NEW DOWNTOWN L.A. CAMPUS!
* BURNING MAN PHOTO SLIDE SHOW BY CURIOUS JOSH (www.curiousjosh.com)
* MASSAGE
* A GAGGLE OF CRAZIES AND YOU!
Featuring the not-so-high-school-cafeteria-sounding:
JOHN KELLEY ( Moontribe, Ball of Wax )
DJ BLUE ( Blue Insomnia )
DJ WOLFIE ( DJWolfie.com )
SAYNT ( Ninja Skillz, L.A.L.A. )
JESSE WRIGHT ( Pocket Underground, L.A.L.A. )
JUPITER ( The Do Lab, LeftHouse Recordings )
JOPLIN ( Pork ‘N Beats )
MARK ZABALA ( Ninja Skillz, MarkZabala.com )
DARKMATTER ( Hipgenesis )
NICK THE NECK ( Pocket Underground )
20 MEAT ( Fluid Sound )
HYJYNX ( Ninja Skillz )
YONA ( download.yousendit.com/5875393766A113F8 )
COREY SAGE ( RLD )
ZAK BROWN ( Hipgenesis )
FAITH ( L.A.L.A. )
KUMAR ( L.A.L.A. )
LIMITED PRESALE TICKETS ARE $16:
https://beticketing.com/_U2_add.php?eid=20081004NS
GET EM FAST! TICKETS AT THE DOOR ARE $25
WE WILL be running shuttles from the Decomp Location to the event!
WE WILL ALSO be running shuttles from the parking lot at First and Central in Downtown LA.
ALL SHUTTLES will be identified as R.L.U.S.D ( Red Light Unified School District )
IMPORTANT: the Decomp parking lot will be closed from 12am-7am.
If you are coming to our party, either park on the street or move your car to the 1st and Central Parking Lot before then.
SPIKE THE PUNCH!!!!!!!
WWW.HIPGENESIS.COM
WWW.NINJASKILLZ.NET
WWW.EYENEX.US
WWW.DJWOLFIE.COM
WWW.CURIOUSJOSH.COM
——————————-
WWW.HIPGENESIS.COM For photos, directions, and more information.
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Somehow it happens every year, people get back from Burning Man and they get sick. Some years it’s been nightmare bad. Some friends have gotten so sick they don’t ever go back. I wasn’t sick until we finished that Denver Job, then as I was heading home, I started to feel those familiar sniffles and sore throat tickles that reminded me of years past. Last night, i woke myself up with coughing. Today I went to the Pharmacy and hooked up some Robitussin DM and Nightime (every time I taste it there are dissociative memories) and Tylenol PM. Nothing short of explosions or orgies will wake me when that stuff kicks in (which could be any minute now, I just took it!
The thing about being sick really is that I just don’t have time for it. I have so much to do. I have too many plans, to waste some of my precious free time sleeping! I think that may be at the heart of the problem. When I am sick, it is this great excuse to slow down and lay down. But just like when I was a kid, the only time I want to be sick is when I am not having fun. Now, I have so much fun, being sick is a major bummer!
It’s on the way out. It’s like we come from this really toxic environment, and then we get back to this whole other kind of toxic environment and our bodies just have to cleanse.
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I’m back in LA. I really missed it, but by rushing off to work in Denver, I staved off the inevitable. Almost as soon as I got home, I started to feel the pull of decompression.
Man, getting home after the playa can be tough.
All my stuff is covered in dust. I am cycling through my too few pictures. I have yet to upload all my videos. I have done laundry, but not touched the rest. I have seen a few friends, but only a tiny few. I have that playa cold that I often get when I return to the mundane.
But this too shall pass.
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When working out of town, I get these habits. I get up early. I head to a spot with coffee and internet (here it is a starbucks and the wf is free in downtown denver). And I write for a bit. It is actually pretty similar to my playa habit (at least on non-partying days). It’s so much easier to get into good habits when you aren’t really confronting your survival in a windstorm or even with your own acclimation. It’s so easy here. Get up, take a shower, get dressed, brush teeth, head down to coffee, get on internet, blog, walk to work, etc. When I get back Camp Hotel Room is remade and I can easily redo the pattern.
I am back to the regular world and acting all regular. I’m being productive. I’m being healthy. I’m getting enough rest. It’s almost as if a few days ago I wasn’t dancing my ass off in a converted city bus across the desert. I am really missing it to be honest. I miss my town.
But, I’ll tell you, I am so lucky to be working wih the crew I am working with: Jesse, Josh, David Ede, Jedi, Brian Foley. These guys live the Playa. So I guess the real trick is to keep those playa habits alive. What the hell… lets do a a top ten!
Top Ten Playa Habits:
1. Say hello and make new friends. Wherever you go, you will meet new people. Say hi to them. You never know who you will meet.
2. Wear comfortable shoes and walk far daily. There is much to do and see. If the biking is good, you may bike.
3. Appreciate art. It really is everywhere. Acknowledge it and love it. Find it and seek it out.
4. Drink Water. Really. I think people may be seriously dehydrated. This could explain some of the grumpiness I am encountering in the default. Is it appropriate to respond to people’s complaints with “have you been drinking enough water?”
5. Party like a rockstar. The first week or so of BM, I was dead sober and had a great time. Then I walked the streets until dawn and danced my silly ass off. When you party, give it everything. There is no room for half-assing the the good times.
6. Give freely. What if we brought the gift economy to the default world. “take it, it’s a gift.” I’d say we have a pretty serious gift deficit in this world. I miss that most of all. All I got to say is thank god for per diem. It’s been almost like I haven’t really been spending money while I have been here.
7. Some days, stay in. Work on your camp. You don’t have to do something all the time.
8. Make things and make things work. One thing burning man teaches you is that you can get by with what you have and make things work. That bit of rope, that will hold down your shade. That piece of wood, that will work as a cutting board. You cant do that one thing, do this thing instead. Working with The Do Lab helps reinforce this one for sure.
9. Appreciate theme camps everywhere. In teh default, I got to experience Airport Security Camp, Camp Sheraton (I prefer Ashram Galactica), Camp Convention Center (I prefer Center Camp) and camp downtown denver. They are just more permanent things with different sets of rules.
10. Start planning for next year this year. I love ow goal oriented burning man can be. We already started talking about the tavern we want to run next year, and our zeppelin art car. It’s best to dream big early, rather than when it’s too late.
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“Dust Disrupts Burning Man”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/01/arts/01arts-DUSTDISRUPTS_BRF.html?_r=1&ref=arts&oref=slogin
Published: August 31, 2008
A dust storm disrupted the Burning Man festival in Nevada on Saturday, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Land Management,Roger Farschon, told The Associated Press. The festival was in a “total whiteout,” Mr. Farschon said in an e-mail message. “A similar cold front caused a major dust event on Monday. The rest of the event has been relatively dust-free.” The festival, a celebration of music, art and self-expression held in the Black Rock Desert, attracts nearly 50,000 participants each year.
Um, have these people even been to Burning Man? It IS a dust storm. That is the whole thing. We go there, cause a dust storm and have a silly fun time.
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So I am missing my Playa. I am really missing it. This is only my second burn night in the last ten years that I have been anywhere but Black Rock City. It’s hard. But, I am here, an here is really a kind of paradise, no matter how you slice it. Because really, I am the burn.
So, in no particular order, the top ten adventures I had on the playa.
1. Getting my mustache shaped twice in the Barber Shop of DOOM! My friend Santi (Barber of Doom) brought out a barber chair and hot towels and straight razors and shaved my face. I have never had another person shave my face. It is a profound intimacy. It is especially intimate that Santi must at every second suppress the urge to slit my throat with his platinum razor. I even manifested Santi in center camp to give me a a touch up shave shortly before dawn on Wednesday for my flight home. He gave me a Hulk Hogan Mustache, also known as the Enforcer.
2. My walk out to the peak of the trash fence. Monday Night, I wandered out to the deepest playa, along the way stopping and visiting some of the incredible art I encountered like the Tower of Babel (the hilton tower) and the indian encampment. At the peak encountered Wolf, a perimeter interceptor. We watched the moonrise together and had a great conversation.
3. Going to the Hot Springs. For the first time ever, I went to the Hot Springs before the event opened. Although, the springs themselves were just okay, the wild offroad ride with the other Box Office staff was a blast. I’ll have to do that again. Although I am more interested in high speed rolling through the open playa next year.
4. The day long dust storm on Monday. i worked the box that day. It was one of the most intense shifts I have ever worked. White out conditions. Computers going down. Internet failing. People crying. Closing the gate and greeters. Me with a bullhorn working the box. It was a wild day and I took on a lot of energy. It took me until my walk to the trash fence to clear my head.
5. Watching the moonrise every night. I came with the intention of seeing every sunrise. I saw three. But at moonrise every night, I was there. I became acutely aware of the cycle of the moon. It’s so beautiful. When I arrived the moon was full and popped up just after the sun wet down. On my last night, the moon was a tiny sliver and came up shortly before dawn. I felt very close to the moon out there. Mainly because I was becoming a were-tarantula. Beware the next full moon. I’m just saying.
6. Flying out of Burning Man. Yeah, definitely the way to go.
7. Waiting in line to go up to the man, and kind of bumming that there was already a line on Monday night. Then the DPW guard says “is anyone in line Norwegian?” And I, automatically say, “I am Norwegian.” to which he replies “Front of the line, sir.” It’s good to be big and blond I always say.
8. Camp Voodoo Bistro. My camp was the best. Again. Our Voodoo Altar was incredibly effective. We gave food to the gods. we made offerings. We asked favors. I totally summoned Kalla using the altar. I loved being in that energy all week. And then there was my Voodoo Man Doll. That thing turned out so amazing. I was really proud of it. I hope they are burning it right now! And then there was our Campmate Zaragun. He is a 6′ across furry were tarantula. So fucking cool! He really became part of the camp. And the human members of our camp were incredible as well. KT, Brian, Wolfie, Jennie, Scott and Kymber, Steve and Julian, Anastasia (my new pal!), Art (my oldest pal), Rand, Rif, Janneke, Denise, Radhika and all the people who came later… I love you all!
9. Having Dinner with Rob, the guy who designs Black Rock City Every Year. What an honor. The lasson of this year really was that you never know who you are sitting next to. What an incredible guy. I was able to acknowledge hm for all he has done for my life through his city, to which he turned it on me. He thanked me, for without us, there is nothing.
10. Camp Veal. When I went to the Virgin Mobile Festival a few weeks ago, I had this idea that I tossed around with Scotty. About Richard Branson (Virgin) went to burning man every year. We created this whole story. Then I started telling it at Burning Man this year, about this camp that Branson had set up. That he arrived in a silver hot air balloon (there was a takeoff and landing of a hot air ballon). That he was arranging a low altitude fly-over of the Virgin Galactic Spaceplane (this sparked lot of anti-corporate sentiment) and that he camped in a huge silo of RVs far afield with his massive entourage (a comment on the number of massive RVs I saw this year.) I had so much fun dropping this little meme into the consciousness of Black Rock City and I wonder how far it spread. I really wonder. If you heard it independently of me, let me know.
I know there were more. But I gotta go party with my do lab people! Getting present to the great adventures I had sure makes me feel less sad about missing the puppet show tonight.
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I went to Sparks yesterday and got a amazing light sweater. It’s all voodoo and pipes and top hats. It’s so ugly, I love it. I also got a unicorn sweater, which is awesome. It’s weird going to ”civilization” everything is so bright and saley. I really didn’t spend that much though, so that’s nice. Ross in sparks. It’s awesome.
So the box is getting busier, the city is getting even more fun and my friends are arriving. So blog posts are going to come less frequently.
The weather is awesome. Bring a light jacket, as well as your fur. Just saying. Just get here.
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I love sleeping out here when you can. It is peaceful camping. Early is when it’s at. Soon there will be no rest for the wicked. Last night I passed out right after my shift. I slept like a baby with plausable dreams of utopian anarchist futures.
Still no shade built, but the aor is cool and the sun shines but really… today is the most beautiful day I’ve seen on the playa in some years. Cool and breezy and clear. I can see the man base from my camp, a three story skyscraper beneath where he will be. wow. But the carport will have to wait untl I have a friend to help me set it up.
I decided to finally do some work around my camp. I tried to set up my shower tent. Well it is an awesome tent. But there is nothing more emasculating than a man fighting with a 3 foot across tent in the wind that will not let up. I gave up. but when it calms down, it’s on. Needless to say, I am pretty ripe and dusty. My hair does interesting things.
So I decided to construct the Voodoo Man Doll. The wind proved excellent testing for it.I went with a simpler and more efective stand, using the nautural angles to keep it solid. I tested it in wind and I think I can get away with just one or two anchor wires. This is good news! Now all I need to do is attach some canvas, drill some holes for the 8″ “pins” and attach the hammer, the nails and the sharpies for the curses and blessings. I am really happy with how it’s coming out.
I finished this all before noon. I’m now at my shift in the box. I gotta say, my work is a pretty sweet deal. I get to be that first face people see when they come in. I get to meet artists. I get to work with great people. I get to interact with the gate crew who are AWESOME! I get to experience the dust storms from an air conditioned box.
They have locked down the internets now, so while it is calm in the box, I will still be hitting the blog. But it probably won’t stay calm for long. People will start arriving very soon. My last shift is Monday.
I love this town.
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It looked like rain this morning, so I drew out a few of my tarps and covered my stuff outside my tent. I also packed all of my rain gear for work today. By the by, the surest way to prevent rain? Pack rain gear, bring rain boots, be rain proof. If it’s raining, you can be sure some jackass on your crew forgot their raingear. I’m just saying.
I am camped in the middle of nothing. I have a one block radius in all directions and a bank of portapotties to choose from. They are clean, mainly because I am the only one using them. But they fill with dust and the blue chemical is steadily drying up. Soon, these will be surrounded by people. The plus side is that I will be leaving before they get really bad. Hopefully.
We opened the box office a day early. Our shifts start today, and I was given a field promotion to shift lead. My last shift is Monday night. I’ll have a few days to party at least! The box office is right adjacent to the gate. It’s interesting. The cultures of the two groups are totally different. Box is all about being nice and making peope feel welcome. The gate is about getting your ass in, making sure you have your tickets and early arrival passes, and looking for stowaways and other shenanigans. I’m looking at a 12 hour shift today. Sweet.
The wind still hasn’t let up. So I still haven’t set up my shade structure or shower tent. My hair is doing interesting things. But early on there is this odd aversion to being clean. Everyone is just expected to be a certain level of filthy. I’ve been accused of being clean at least four times. So by the time most of you get here, I should be a shriveled monster. No matter what, I can’t seem to keep my lips unchapped.
Now, here’s the thing. Every year, for the last four or five I have come out early. Every year, I have been given reports of off weather or terrible dusty conditions. And then, every year things have been fine when people get out here. It is a very unpredictable and challenging environment. It changes constantly. It is beautiful or horrible depending on your perspective. Come prepared. Come ready for anything. Be adaptable.
The playa is beautiful.
And dusty… And windy.
and now, the videos I wanted to share (I got some fast speed). Just go to the link. it’s still processing now. Man there’s gotta be an easier way.
http://www.youtube.com/user/spacemaneric
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