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http://www.40watt.com/schedule.php
If you're not familiar with his music, check out the website and be amazed!
http://www.bassnectar.net/
In some ways, it was pretty bad and stressful. I ended up signing up as the Leave No Trace team lead, wherein I had no idea of what I was doing, nor did I feel like I had the backup/background to do a good job. Had my camp mates not been willing to pitch in, I'm not sure how much I would have been doing on my own. Some of the issue comes down to the fact that, particularly when in a situation where I don't know the 'rules', I'm very introverted and shy. Some of the issue probably comes from most folks involved spending a lot of time together, doing friend stuff and planning stuff, thus all tribal information seemingly disseminated. And, I know one person in particular would remind me that it's a burn, thus I make of it what I will.
Bleh. So, I walked away from that experience feeling kind of inept, weak, left out, shut out.
So what will I do in response to this less than stellar feeling? Try for LNT team lead next year, of course.
I think there are some factors, such as many of the team leads being close friends and socializing a lot. There's some 'good ol' boy' interactions going on - not maliciously, just because of proximity. I think that I need to get *more* involved, not less involved. I think that this can become a valuable learning experience and a chance to break out of my shell a bit. I just have to be a little patient with myself - that kind of change doesn't happen instantaneously for me.
I really want to find a way to make LNT meaningful at Alchemy. To me, this doesn't just mean picking up garbage, but really gets into how make burns more sustainable. I really want to see more recycling, more composting, fewer plastic bottles, fewer damn glow sticks and on and on. If I want to see this happen, I need to find a way to make this happen - even if just a bit more.
On the other hand, this was the best burn, thus far/overall. It started while driving into the event, seeing the signs, and knowing I had painted them. Then we went on to have a camp of 8 folks, which was a good size. I think if we had the kitchen area a bit more organized, it would have been almost perfect. Folks seemed to love the idea of Camp Fairy Vomit - all things obnoxiously cute. I'm pretty well bent on finding a way to dovetail LNT with Fairy Vomit. I want to see us create large banners and all kinds of sparkly things that glitter and glow, but DO NOT create MOOP and use renewable resources. This year, I think we did well. The camp sign and tiki statue both were covered with glitter, yet we left none behind - the trick is to seal the glitter, etc. Next year, I want to offer up sweets and treats with edible glitter along with more glittery bottle cap pendents. I think Camp Fairy Vomit can offer some valuable education about LNT.
The best part was burn night, despite a rocky start. Unknown to me, team leads were expected to arrive at the effigy at 8 for a meeting, then stay until the actual burn. For safety sake, more volunteers were needed to keep people outside the perimeter and folks at my camp were too inebriated to help with that. So, there I was standing on a red rope light, wearing a stop, drop and roll t-shirt with a beret, supposedly looking bad ass, but definitely making sure that no one crossed that rope light. Much like last year, as it got closer and closer to burn time, it just simply stopped mattering. It didn't matter that everyone I'd be spending the evening with was messed up, while I was stone cold sober. It didn't matter that my feet and knees hurt like a mofo, because I wasn't dressed for standing stock still for a couple of hours. It didn't matter that I was cold. I just didn't matter. Things were good.
Then we had the huge explosions that were so hot I was worried the glue holding my bindis on would melt (heh, always worrying about the MOOP), but loving every second of it. Then the real burning got down to business and, yeah, everything was perfect. I'd been contemplating watching a burn sober and I'm so glad I did. It was far more beautiful for being able to see every single detail and all the different colors. I didn't directly build on the effigy, but I really was a part of the burn and helped make happen. I cried through the burn and even some after. That was similar to what happened last year (Alchemy only), but not to the same degree. This year, I felt so happy, so proud, so happy and a bunch of other feelings that I don't really understand. I don't get what it is about watching the Alchemy effigy burn that feels so joyous and cathartic.
* My allergies (?) are still out of control. I don't know. Or it may be a cold. I realize that I actually can no longer tell when it's allergies or a cold. *sigh* What this tells me is that, while I no longer need an allergist nor am sick all the time, I just don't have my allergies under control. I used to. I think it's been a slow sneaky decline. What this means is that I have to actually get off my butt and find a new GP that has competent office staff and who is willing to work with me to come up with a reasonable solution. Feh.
* My sleep hasn't been going great. It's the second month in a row that my meds aren't really keeping me down. I'm still getting enough sleep to function, but the early and frequent waking is not great. Last month, we thought it might be stress from Spodgumene's seizures, but she's gone a month and I'm not feeling as freaked out. So, experiment #1 is to switch to extended release Seroquel. This should be weird. You actually take it around 5 PM to get to sleep hours later. We'll see how that goes. If it doesn't, then we'll up the dose. I feel so frustrated because in the past few months I've been being so careful about eating right and exercising. Oh, yeah, and doing that cognitive therapy thing. Theoretically, my sleep should be getting *better*, not worse.
The good-bad:
* Accidental experiment with my bottle cap jewelry illustrates that if the base coat or decorative glue is not fully dry, it will boil while the embossing powder is melting. While definitely not a technique that I'm planning on using again, it did yield one sugar skull that looks like some jacked up snow skull monster. I'm keeping that one!
The good:
* I just got my custom artwork from a super talented artist friend of mine. It's a Marian figure that is BEAUTIFUL! At some point, when I don't feel like death, I'll snap a pic to show the finished product. She's got music notes above her head and music notes and stars coming out of her hands. On her robes, she's got band logos that I love. It's just fabulous! This is the foundation that I'll be using for a big ass tattoo on my abdomen. Woo!!
According to several sources (on the interwebs, so it must be true!), basically wonky techno is a combo of glitch, electronica, and breakbeat. Ok. That's cool. I've now managed to condense several of their influences into one genre.
That still doesn't explain or address the circus or Middle Eastern portions, but I think I'm on the right track.
So for now Drunken Clockwork = Middle Eastern Wonky Circus Techno or thereabouts.
I think I still prefer Drunken Clockwork, but imagine it'll be a tough sell ...
http://www.atlantabellydance.com/Worksh
Pre-registration cost is $28. However, if we get a group of 5 or more together, we can get a group discount. I'm already aware of 3 people who are definitely going, so if I can scrape together a couple more people, we can go cheaper. All levels of experience are welcome, one just needs to know some basics (like if you've made it out to a drills session, you can survive this).
There is a choreography class in the afternoon and an evening performance, but I'm not going to do those.
I think that Beats Antique is most illustrative. I have had people describe their genre as Asian Massive and Urban Middle Eastern Dance. I don't think either of these are accurate. Beats Antique self-describes as "BEATS ANTIQUE forges a curious alliance between middle eastern traditions and potent west coast circus, underground hip hop, breakbeat brass band, downtempo, glitch and dubstep." And it's true. They are all of that.
Other bands that are similar (and definitely used in a similar manner by Tribal Fusion dancers) include Pentaphobe, Maduro and Solace (the newer cds, not the older more traditional sounding ones).
For lack of a better name, I'm calling it Drunken Clockwork, because it's the breakbeats, odd key changes and syncopation that are most appealing to me. This, unfortunately, gets me no closer to finding more bands with such a satisfying sound. I've started checking out any compilation that has Beats Antique on it, but it seems that many of the other tracks are a little too heavy on the circus/vaudeville or the more traditional Middle Eastern dance stuff.
So, anyone have any guesses?
Ooooohhhhhhh!!! Excitement!
I've also totally caught the bottle cap jewelry bug, so I'll be making necklaces, bracelets, and key chains for gifts. They actually sell sprockets at craft stores, so I think I'll do some steam punk items in addition to sugar skulls and fire. Muah ha ha!!!
Yesterday, I spent the day in Norwalk, CT. I hadn't been there since 1993, when I was working for IBM. It hasn't improved any, as far as I can see, in the intervening years.
Yesterday wasn't a great day. So, what is a reasonable response to a crappy day? For me, of course, it means that it's time to change my hair!!! Last night when I got home, I dyed my hair jet black. I don't think it's been black for about 5 years. Today, I pulled out some of the black in streaks and am applying a combo of blood red and cherry bomb red. I think it'll be fun. The results will be in this afternoon. Stay tuned!
However, I'm determined to see them a second time on this tour. The big question will be where. I definitely would love to catch them in Cali, but am unsure of whether I'd like to see them in LA or Sacramento. Granted, taking a quick check at Delta, I could fly out to Sacramento, catch the show, fly the next day to LA, catch the show, then fly back to Atlanta on the following day for a whopping $10. Muah ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!
1. The food does seem pretty salty here, all around. I mean, I really love salt, but am finding a lot of food almost too salty. It's weird.
2. The people are surprisingly attractive in Shanghai. I think Atlanta does have a good percentage of attractive people - many, not my type of attractive, but I can still appreciate their general attractiveness. Many cities that I visit don't seem to have as high a percentage. On top of that, I tend to be in business meetings with folks who are very unattractive and don't bother to try to help at all with grooming habits. I've spent many a times in the middle of a meeting wondering if there was some way to politely gift a group of people with moisturizer. Anyway, none of the people in our meetings need any help. Though, it's the people on the street that surprise me. There are so many girlies with these amazing cheekbones, gorgeous hair, and perfect skin. There are so many boys with the coolest damn hair, beautiful eyes, wearing skinny jeans and working it.
3. Folks are amazingly creative! It was raining today and all the people on bikes were wearing ponchos. The ponchos are actually longer in front, so that they can cover the handlebars and front basket of the bike. That's just cool!
4. Apparently, it's considered no big deal that there is a good chance the meeting rooms are bugged and that there probably party plants in each office. I mean, on a pragmatic level, it doesn't really matter - I won't be doing anything of note. It's just weird that this is considered 'business as usual'. Wow. It's also been interesting reading the local newspaper. Some of the articles crack me up - there was one talking about Rupert Murdoch being unfairly reviled by liberal elitists who don't understand that he's a stand up guy for having a perfect symbol of the modern Chinese woman.
5. This afternoon, there was a woman talking with a thick Indian accent and I felt at home. I think it's hilarious that I always feel more comfortable on a project, once I stumble upon the Indian contingent. Thanks H1Bs and IT!!
That's it for now. I'll have much more interesting stuff to report after the weekend, I'm sure.
Getting to Shanghai seemed to go smoothly. We arrived a bit early. Then we found out that our luggage had not arrived. We waited in line for two hours because about 1/2 the baggage for our flight didn't make it on the plane. Feh. They promised I'd get mine that night. I did not. They then promised that I would get it on Monday. I did not. I called and got info and complained and was reassured that it would arrive Tuesday day. It did not. Tuesday night, I was getting really frustrated because I didn't have any of my stuff, was unhappy feeling lied to, and was really tired of washing the same outfit in the sink and wearing it the next day. Unfun. After another call and no good information, I gave up and washed my clothes to get ready for today. Then, about 9:30, I got a call from the front desk that they had my bag.
Chee chee!! I have never been so happy to unpack a suitcase in my life. I have never been so happy to see my Simpsons boxer shorts. Now, I have my stuff! Today, I flossed with *my* dental floss, used *my* minty toothpaste, had product for my hair, had underwear that hadn't been washed in a hotel sink. Amazing how that has brightened my general outlook.
I have not yet seen much of the city, because we're in meetings that make for very long work days. Here's what I have seen, though:
The malls of Shanghai are not cheap. In fact, they're pretty expensive. When we were shopping for emergency clothes, I ended up paying almost $100 for a pair of pants that would have cost about $40 in the same store in the US. Wow. There are markets where things are still super-duper-Chinese cheap, but will not make it there for a while.
Unlike reported by my coworkers, the food has been tasty to me here. The cafeteria at the client site is surprisingly good. Lots of greens and spicy, which makes me happy. We've also eaten at a burger joint and a Chinese fast food place. That was fine. My coworkers are generally upset about the 'weirdness' of the food. Me, I'm looking at about 3 weeks of meals with lots of rice and flavors I don't taste every day. I'm happy.
One of the guys who lives in Shanghai was telling me that Shanghai has it's own style, which he reported as generally sweet, salty, and oily. I am intrigued. Not sure that it'll be my fav cooking style, but is worth a try.
The people in the city seem relentless. They have no personal space and everyone vies for right of way. If you aren't wily or quick, you will get run over by a pedestrian, bike, scooter, car, or bus. It's a little scary. I don't deal well with the no personal space. I don't like strangers touching me, so get a little stressy. I'll deal, though.
The city, itself, seems a weird mix of ultra-modern and lush, but also broken down and miserly. Most buildings don't get maintained externally, so look really old and worn, but may be a super high rise with each apartment worth a million dollars (not RMB). Some of the shabbier areas of town have some amazingly intricate bits of architecture or lighting, so look fantastical, but are considered slums.
So, yeah, that's about what I've seen. That and some really, really bad local music videos! Hee hee!
I will probably do some touristy stuff this weekend. It looks like I'll be going on a motorcycle (sidecar) tour on one afternoon. I may also take a river tour, we'll see. I was hoping to manage to get a weekend in Beijing or Honk Kong, but even through cut rate Chinese travel sites, the plane tickets are a little too much for me. Oh, well. I'm sure I'll find things to occupy my time here and have some fun. All while wearing fresh underwear! Yes!
