Amanda and I both greatly needed this break and it delivered all we hoped for and more... Even with the large number of people and warmer weather this was our best year of the 4... The music, the dancing, the camping, the crowds... I heard the same echoed from others as well... 'this was the first time in a long while we've had fun at a party' and 'this makes me want to listen to psytrance again'

I've been waiting for 6 years to see Jaia. Thanks for helping make that happen.

Sorry we had to scoot without saying goodbye.. Manders had to get back in time to leave for a concert Sunday night. Your son is delightful.

-g

- - -

06/27/05 - Gaian Mind Photos from light-o-matic

My photos of the festival...

http://lightomatic.com/images/gmsf2005

-Ben <light-o-matic>

- - -

06/27/05 – For What It’s Worth

Hey Guys,

Just wanted to say what an awesome job you did with the festival. It certainly appeared to be the best one yet from my perspective. I had a great time and I'm sure that 99% of those who attended did as well. It's an extremely difficult thing to do, but each year it seems that more of the kinks get worked out. You should all be proud of what you have accomplished. Now stop being grumpy and get some rest for like the next two weeks.

Retired in Glenside,

Randy

- - -

06/27/05 – The demigods of Four Quarters

Hey Guys.

Great party!
Everything about it!

Regards, and thanks again for a great event!
Nick

- - -

06/27/05 – fuzzikitten

- - -

06/28/05 – pix

thought I took more....
got some good ones though!

http://whereissteve-o.com/GM2K5

- - -

06/28/05 – Thank YOU!

Hi Allen
Just a quick mail to tell u a big THANK YOU for the party, was such a
beautiful experience... long time i didn't enjoy a party as I enjoyed the
Gaian Mind...
Please send me your actual address so i can send u some cds, I'm sorry i
didn't have anything there at the party, but i will send u some music this
week...
Thanx again, I send u a big hug and I hope to have the chance to play again
one time in your beautiful party...
Ciao!

Regards,

Edoardo

- - -

06/28/05 – Sounds Good

thanks, I had a great (but pretty exausting) time.

all and all I think it was the best one yet, untill next year that is.

someone is always going to complain about something. I was supprised by
the number of positive comments as my goal was to make the sound loud
enough to be passable, and I think it went a little beyond that in voulme.

well off to VT.

cheers,

- nick

- - -

06/28/05 – Many Thanks

Hey Allen and Sharon!

I was just about to email you guys... My deepest thanks for an event that
surpassed my expectations... really.

I felt such a welcoming feeling to the east coast family, my experience at
Gaian Mind was just amazing and encouraging. Its those experiences that make
artists keep going. So, thank you.

I totally realize how much time and effort it takes to put on a production,
so congratulations on this year's success. You guys did a real professional
job. I have already gotten a few emails of people expressing their thanks
and appreciation for my set. At the festival, the positive response to both
my sets was continuous the whole time I was there. Many people said they
cried during the Worldspirit showing... A lot of people saying they had
never seen or heard anything like my dance set.

So, thanks for giving me this opportunity... you guys feel like family, and
I would love to work together in the future.

all the best,
-Kenji

- - -

06/28/05 – US-based mail-order?

i'm sure it's been several months since this question was last asked, so
here goes: anyone know if there is a US-based service for ordering
psytrance CDs? i know about psyshop, psychosounds, chaishop, etc, just
wondering if there is any way of saving on shipping (although import prices
will probably eat up the difference)

need to get the new jaia. still on a high from this past weekend's gaian
mind festie. t'was unbelievable. best one yet. no other festival
compares, in my (little) mind... details/review/musings forthcoming, at
some point.

'drei

- - -

06/28/05 – more gaian mind pics

http://touchsamadhi.com/gallery/GaianMind2005

~~<{~: 3ö :~}>~~

Kri

- - -

06/28/05 - Thank you, Gaian Mind!

06/28/05

Vlad Moskovski wrote:
Hey Alan, its Vlad. Remmember I asked about getting a copy of your awsome 5 hour dj
set at the festival, do you think you could send me a copy? Please!!!

I could pay for shipping and the cost of the cd.

Send me an e-mail, and we can talk some more, I'd love to hear more about Costa Rica
and permaculture.

-Vlad

- - -

06/29/05 - Giand mind 2005

Hello everybody..
I hope that everything in great with you.
I am sending you the link with Pict's from festival.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/95994248@N00

if anybody want some of them bigger - just email me.

All "art photos" I will be submitting later, when they will be done.

piece to everybody
D.Bambuk.

By the way< I hope that you are going to look at it using slide
show...in which you have to keep the mouse button on the pict.

enjoy

- - -

06/29/05 - Re: Thank you, Gaian Mind!

06/29/05 - Re: Thank you, Everyone!

What a way to spend a birthday! This was my first and definatley not my last. I haven't really experienced random people saying hello and smiling just for the hell of it. It was a very warm and inviting feeling for me and the people I was with. I was a little upset when I saw that the trance music played for sessions but it acually made the experience that much more enjoyable. It gave me a chance to participate in different events and again, meet more people and all of the lovely children that were there. Many blessings to those I've meet, haven't met and to 4Q for opening thier sanctuary to us. Keep the spirit alive until next year.
Cosmik hugz
Luna

06/29/05 - REVIEW: GAIAN MIND SUMMER FESTIVAL '05 (6/25/05)

OK, so you're behind the stone circle - enjoying the gluttonous trance festival for all the wonder it has to offer. You're carrying an open can of Bud in one hand, a Marlboro Light in the other, and you see a member of the Four Quarters Staff approaching. Thinking fast, you dump the remainder of the beer on the ground and give the empty can a quick fling into the woods without the staff member seeing. The two of you cross paths, exchange an awkward smile, and you feel good because you just avoided being scolded by the keepers of the Sacred Land. You head out onto the dancefloor, find an attractive member of the opposite gender, and start "getting your groove on" - thinking nothing of the last two minutes of your life.
Meanwhile, the beer can you flung into the woods, is still sitting there - resting in its aluminum grace with a delicious malty residue coating its sides and bottom. Smelling those wonderful hops and barley, a small crew of flies goes into action from their local nest. They had been peacefully resting in the woods, but the smell of barley sends them to action and, within seconds, they've surrounded the can. Closer to the dancefloor than they've been all weekend, the flies get wind of even more sumptuous odoriforous eminations wafting in from the crowd. Alerted, they deploy - seeking out the orange peels, peach pits, candy-wrappers, and fruit drink bottles that had been unceremoniously tossed beneath the altar.
While the flies buzz about the altar, enjoying the "fat of the land" (no 90's techno reference intended) - Hayden Strom, who had flown across the world to play a live set, is busy displaying the months of work he's put into his new album. People have come from all over the country to hear the newest material from one of the world's best producers. A bassline drops out, a wispy violin plays, followed by an eerie female vocal. Finally, at long last, "Hiding Place" - one of Hayden's best new tracks - is coming on. The build is long and smooth - intensifying with each measure. Violins, voices, synth lines, and a break-beat drum kick go for a mere 1:37 - though it feels like hours! As the bassline and 4/4 kick are ready to blast in, the audience is ready to erupt in dance. Progressive lovers from across the world - eyes closed - focused on the music - are lost and ready for ecstacy!
At that exact moment, one of the flies from the altar - a fly which would NOT have been there had that beer can not been tossed into the woods a few moments ago, goes buzzing off into the crowd and flies dangerously close to Jeff Whitmore's ear. Feeling a little agitated and angry that there's a fly in his ear, Jeff attempts to re-focus his center and not allow the buzzing to annoy him. To aid in his re-centering, Jeff picks up the music of the moment and immediately starts banging his drum along with the rhythm. Though perfectly in time with the music, the unfiltered analog intensity of the drum doesn't quite match with the finely tuned and mastered music coming from an expertly tuned and equalized sound system. The sound, in other words, *doesn't quite fit.* :-) It does, however, works wonders for Jeff; as it helps him ignore the fly and get his mind back to where he likes it.
However, the five progressive-trance loving bafoons who had packed themselves into the middle of the dancefloor - filling up the Nick Binary "sweet spot" - could not think of a worse moment for that fly to buzz in Jeff's ear and drive him to bang on his drum. The bassline and kick of "Hiding Place" enters not with an ecstatic moment but with a jarring and confusing intrusion into the sound. Shaken from the trance, Sasha (one of the proggies) looks up with a confused and annoyed look on his face. His eyes open and catch the eyes across the dancefloor of another dancer. Being so far away, all that dancer sees is an angry looking and confused man. A little scared by the look in his eye, she looks away with a level of fear and anxiety in her own eyes. That fear is quickly picked up by another adjacent dancer, who screams (and I mean SCREAMS) with all his might and hence interupts Hayden's set yet again!!
With the sweet spot full of confused people, the sides full of people trying to help a man distraught with screaming, and the Coffee Dragon Tent getting fuller and fuller by the minute - Hayden looks out into the audience NOT at a bunch of smiling faces, but instead into a crowd full of confusion, fear, and concern. Not 100% sure where these faces come from, he assumes his music is not going over well. He gets nervous and finishes his set not sure how people liked the tracks - or if they even did.
Now granted, Hayden's music was AMAZING - some of the best of the weekend, but I think you know where all this is going. You've got about 50 disrupted and confused people, a screaming man, a drumming man, and a nervous musical genius - all packed within the stone circle. Such is a recipe for disaster!! BUT - if you look back, it's easy to say that NONE of this would have ever happened had you respected the rules and NOT been drinking out of an open beer can. OR had you NOT thrown that beer can into the woods to avoid being scolded. Sure, you got by unharmed, but your negligence lessened the experience for well over 50 other people - in a matter of minutes!! I guess the point is this: THROW YOUR TRASH IN THE PROPER PLACE AND HAVE *SOME SEMBLANCE* OF CLASS WHEN YOU'RE A GUEST ON OTHER PEOPLE"S LAND!!!

OK, so you've just drove 600 miles through the night in order to arrive on-time for the Gaian Mind Summer Festival. Though spending almost 100 dollars on gas to get there, you had good directions, a nice car stereo, and you arrive feeling ready for a great party. You had read earlier that parking is not allowed on the grounds because the land in the valley is "sacred." Respecting and appreciating this, you pack minimally, only taking stuff you can carry on your back from the main parking area into the camp. You arrive at the check-in gate only to see a sign posted on the window that reads "parking passes: 25 dollars." Spotting the obvious hypocrisy in this, you're put-off and confused. However, being two wonderful and genuine people from Northampton MASS, you still decide to respect the "sacredness" of the land and park in the proper place. The two people who check-in behind you though had NOT read anything about the land's sacredness and hence simply see the "25-dollar offer" as another cost and hence pay it. After all, they had come from New York in a Subaru Legacy, packed to the gills with food, camping chairs, stoves, hammocks, tents, blankets, pots, pans, and a host of other luxurious items that would make a 1/2 mile hike seem like hell-on-earth.
So they pay their money, get the parking pass, and drive down the hill to the camps.
As they turn the corner after the chill-area, they approach a large drainage ditch, freshly dug by the Four Quarters Staff. The ditch, though very useful in getting water OFF the road and into the river, is cut WAY too steep, and cars have a tough time going over it. Slowly and cautiously, the Subaru approaches until it finally hits the ditch going about 2 mph. **CLUNK** The muffler bottoms out on the ditch, and breaks free from the under-carraige. After dragging it (and the whole exhaust pipe) to his campsite, waking up all he passes on the way, the driver gets out of his car *LIVID* that he's just done damage to his car and will have to get it repaired. He unpacks in haste, irritated, and heads to the Stone Circle.
Before going into the circle to check out the deco, he stops at the port-o-john to relieve himself. At this point, he's aggravated and upset. His mind is NOT on any of the rules of the grounds, but instead how he's going to fix his car and where he's going to get the money to do it. (He spent his last 25 bucks on that dam parking pass!) Thoughtlessly, he tosses his empty Gatorade Bottle into the port-o-john, zips his pants up, and heads for the main area.
Later on that weekend, the clean-up crew comes out to pump out the port-o-johns. The guy doing the pumping is a great guy from outside Allentown, PA. He's been doing this for years and nothing really bugs him - except when his pump clogs and he has to clean it out by hand. Needless to say, he's pumping out the portos when the hose jams. He stops the pump, unhitches the hose, and, with rubber gloves and a mask, begins the scoop out the clogged lines. (visual imagery encouraged, yet avoided, here.) Sure enough, as he pulls the gatorade bottle out and fires it into the trash can, his blood runs cold.
In the process of cleaning out his hose, our friend from outside Allentown spills a little of the human waste onto the ground by the side of the other port-o-johns. On any given day, he would have cleaned it up in a highly professional manner. But today, because he's upset with the gatorade bottle, he says "fuck it! I ain't cleaning nothin' for these folks!" He drives off, leaving a small puddle of human fecal matter on the ground.
Later that morning, as Gavin completes one of the best DJ sets of the weekend, people are invited down to the chill-out area to hear a set from Jaia. The masses flock at the chance. Before going down, a young couple from Boston stops by the coffee dragons and has a quick cup.. By the time they're done, the crowd has all settled in at the North-Crook stage and is enjoying a great set. The young couple wash out their mugs and go running down to meet them. On the way, however, one of them steps in the puddle of waste left behind by our friend from Allentown. As he (and his soiled shoes) approach the chill area, heads turn, nostrils flare and many people actually get up and leave the area because the smell is just THAT BAD! Realizing what's happened, the young couple quickly return to their camp, get a spare t-shirt and begin cleaning the shoe. By the time the shoe is clean, they return to the chill-area and are treated to the last fifteen minutes of Jaia's set. After the set, they're approached by many and are told tales of people's reactions to the smell. Though all are humorous, it is no doubt that the smell had interupted one of the more anticipated sets of the weekend. Some people are even angry - as they walk by with mean looks in their eyes - ready to spread their anger to the next person they pass.
What was supposed to be a great set for this young couple turned into nothing but a cup of coffee and forty minutes of shoe-cleaning. Moreover, the interuption and disgust they caused with the smell of their shoes clearly created ripple effects and negativity whose reaches cannot be concluded here. Now just think, had that guy with the Subaru either NOT over-packed and hence need to drive his car down to the camps *OR* had he NOT tossed his bottle into the port-o-john; *NONE* of this would have ever happened!! I guess the point is this: PACK MINIMALLY!!! TAKE ONLY ENOUGH STUFF THAT YOU CAN CARRY FROM YOUR CAR TO THE CAMP! OR MAKE TWO TRIPS. BOTTOM LINE: As hypocritical it may be to ask 12.50/axel for "sacredness," (thanks Dave Dittmer) there is still a REASON why it is discouraged to park or drive down below the main parking lot!!! Poorly constructed drainage ditches or not - the fact remains that people shouldn't be driving down there in the first place!

Despite these "hypothetical" :-) situations; let me be blunt. Marria and I had a good time at this year's GM festival. Nick Binary and the Sonic Beating Sound Pump were in FULL EFFECT! The lineup was incredible - like it is every year! The weather was pristine, the swimming holes were clean, and the Coffee Dragons were on their game - keeping everyone fully amped! And the campsite - complete with Eric Spaceship's specials finds and a tent that came to be called "the hospital" - was Bostonians in existenz. But, unlike the case has been the last few years, this year's festival was colored (or should I say "discolored.") By the BLATANT and disgusting disrespect and disregard showed towards the Gaian Mind Crew, the Four Quarters Staff, and the Four Quarters land itself. Major time and money was just invested to install new "drinking water spouts" which spring from the ground in the camp area. I can remember at least five times seeing someone use one of those fountains - and then simply leave it running and walk away. I can't count the number of cigarette butts I picked up off the ground - both in the stone circle and even in places as far away as the swimming holes. I drove out on Sunday night around 8 and literally FILLED my truck with bags of trash, empty beer cases, and miscellaneous WASTE that had simply been left in the car-camping area. I found mugs from the Cofee Dragons thrown in the woods along the trail, used hypodermic needles chilling out behind tents. Cars (even those with yellow ribbons all over them) remained parked in the camping areas. Trash - unseperated and in huge black trash bags - just tossed behind the second stage. There is something to be said about a party's "vibe." - I hate that word - always have - but to me it means the "overall state of mind that the majority of the party-goers are in." This year, for the first time, the "vibe" of the Gaian Mind Summer Festival was one of gluttony, excess, irresponsibility, disrespect, and disregard for the rules set forth by the people who have worked so hard to organize and throw this event.

We are all responsible for one another - in every way shape and form. From Hayen Strom to those 16-year-old pre-adolescent fools walking around saying "who needs coke or E? Coke and E here!" Everyone on those grounds is just as important in making the weekend enjoyable for everyone. You may think nothing of throwing your beer can in the woods, but think about the ripple effects before you do it. You may say "I paid my money, the crews are getting paid to clean up my mess!" If so, then you're wrong! YOU are as responsible as ANY of the crew members and ANY of the performing artists in ensuring the best time for everyone! Most of us have grown up to rebel against rules. But let me tell you something: so too did the GM and 4Q crews... So just know that the rules they make are made for a REASON - and a very important reason!! It's just a question of common courtesy and respect. If someone does you a huge favor - like, for instance, drives your camping gear a few hundered miles to the festival - you should AT LEAST say "thank you." Such simple courtesy I found was seriously lacking this year! And if you're hungry and just realized your yogurt spoiled in your cooler because your friend left it open during Antix's live-set - and you ask a neigbor for some food; the LEAST you can do is say "please" and "thank you." Don't cut people off in line at the Fractal Feast. Don't run over someone on your way into Hemlock Hole just so "you can be first." Don't mock and make gaudy jokes about people who live alternative lifestyles (don't you do the same?) and try to show at least a *LITTLE* bit of class and awareness when using showers and water facilities that are located in the middle of the woods. I know you may be used to New York (home of the world's most sophisticated and well-kept water and sewerage treatment system) or Chicago, or Boston - but the system at 4Q was built with human hands and with natural elements. A freshly installed septic system shouldn't have beer, hard liquor, and soaps with 100-year half-lives dumped into it! Too many people worked too hard to have their time and festival wrecked by such commonality and classlessness!

Like I said - I can list out the good "moments" of this festival just as easy as I can list out the "bad" ones. (Hayden's Sunday DJ set, Jaia's live-set on Sunday morning, waking up on Sunday to a PERFECT conversational question posed by Eric Spaceship, walking up the hill for an AMAZING sunrise over the mountains....chilling with SO MANY people I haven't seen in so long!! Meeting people I've only e-mailed with... meeting altogether NEW people... the list goes on and on...) But the coloration of those good moments was so dark on my way back to Boston that I could barely see their light at all. We may live in the most wasteful, gluttonous, excessive, and consumeristic nation in the world - but that's why a festival like GM is condisidered part of the "counter-culture." Let's try and keep it like that. And if you do come to the festival and you do happen to love Cadilac Escalades and high-end DVD players - feel free to leave them at home perhaps and try - at the very least *TRY* - to live differently for that weekend. GM is the best festival this country has to offer - and if we (as WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE) go ahead and drag it down to the levels of any other "common scene" - then we're all going to lose BIG TIME!

THANKS TO ALLEN, ANDY, SHARON and the whole Gaian Mind Crew
THANKS TO ORRIN, DOUG, and the whole FOUR QUARTERS STAFF
THANKS TO NICK BINARY, DAVE DITTMER, and the whole Sonic Beating/Boston Crew
THANKS TO ANTIX, JAIA, GAVIN, and all the DJ's, producers, and visual artists who rocked the sensory ends to no end!!
THANKS TO THE COFFEE DRAGONS!!!!!! HUGE THANKS!!!!
and thanks to everyone who came out, respected the woods, and showed at least a semblance of humanity. Whether you threw your own cigarette butts in the right place or you picked up a hundered butts that other people had thrown in the wrong ones - you're keeping the party sacred, and that's the ONLY way this party should EVER be!

Let's hope '06 is just as good musically and artistically, but much improved in many other ways!! Remember - WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE FOR THE EXPERIENCE OF EVERYONE!

- - -

06/29/05 – Thank You

Hey Allen.
Thank you man. It was a real pleasure to be there with you all. YOu guys
have it sorted real nice!
Sorry I didnt see you before I left. My Mum and Sis had a blast and really
appreciated all your hospitality.
Thanks so much and greets to all the crew
all best
Hayden
:)

- - -

06/29/05 – Grazi!

You are welcome.
I had an unbelievable time.
One of my favorite parties ever.
Thank you for doing it. I know it's a lot of work, but this one must make it
worth it for you.

Always love being around you and your family.

See you soon.

A

- - -

06/29/05 – thank you !

Hello Allen,

I enyoyed a lot my stay and and I would like to thank you and all the GM crew for your care and welcome...and BTW also for bringing me at the festival!...there was really good vibes..that reminds me the first parties I went in 93-94 in France, people is soooo fresh!...I was dancing a lot too, that I usally don't do so much ;) It's one of the best parties i've made long time ago!

I'm happy you liked my live and you love the CD too :) Your set was great too!
I'm supidest man in the world cause I forgot to take a camera, so I don't have any picture :((((...will you put some in GM website? In anybody asking me about the festival I say that was wicked and one of the best I ever made ;) hope it'll will grow up more and more and keep his marvelous vibes.

I'll start working on a new album soon, and it'll not be finished in 2012 ;)

Hope to see you soon, and playing for you again (if you could take the same artist 2 times ;)

Take care

Yannis

- - -

06/29/05 - gaian mind, or what i did on my summer vacation

in summary:
thumbs up! thank YOU!
the mission:
i flew in from texas for the festival. i was on a mission to hear kenji, jaia, antix and The Sound on big clean speakers. i was on a mission to hear, see, and meet some of you folks. Mission accomplished on all fronts. The sound was clean, the land was sacred, and the people were solid. Not everything was perfect, but from my perspective, there was certainly more good than bad. Thank you to Gaian Mind and everyone who helped create this event.
arrival:
i arrived friday evening just after 7 pm. the 4QF folks and the greeters were friendly. i could tell the 4QF folks were already a little worn out, but they were still friendly and cheerful. i drove the loop to scope out a spot, talked to potential neighbors, set up camp, had a cold beverage, and then parked the car. luckily, i plopped right next to the Touch Samadhi family, so i had great neighbors and no obnoxious escalades/escapades.
musical overview:
i really appreciated the opening and closing ceremonies: the ringing of the bells cleared the space both in preparation and in conclusion, serving as excellent bookends for a dense weekend. highlights were kenji's sets (both) and the morning sets. if you've seen my infrequent posts, you'll know i'm an easy listener, a proggie, a whatever. i'm here for the morning trance, and the morning trance was Delivered with a capital D. i danced my ass off, and i have the sore calves, back, and laterals to prove it. sunday pacing was eccentric: when Edoardo came on after Jaia, i looked over at Eric Spaceship and said, "He's trying to KILL US." "East Coast plays it hard All Night Long." It was great. I agree with putting Antix back on the decks to wrap up the party on a slightly more spiritual, mellow note. occasionally, it's OK to put down the 12-gauge, though the 12-gauge is certainly the right tool for the job at times. nice finish with shiloh rmx of Focus. yea!
sunday morning contact high:
experiencing someone else during their peak experience is nigh transcendent. it's a contact high that's possible only when their experience is that intense on such a positive level. you are showing me a million years of love in history where i had always claimed proficiency. i can't even imagine what breathtaking landscapes, soundscapes, syllables and sensations are pulsing their way through your body, across your eyelids, and into your heart.
but it's stunning and i'm feeling this gaian heart Beat in my own way, too, and here we are and it really is all love and light: peace, love, unity, respect. i've been doing this a while now. i'm no silly-fresh etard surprised by a few clean 80 Hz thumps. yet not very often have i felt this way, this (oh say it you nascent hippy) _Uplifted and Connected_ on the dancefloor. i had planned to go back to That Space and hear That Sound this weekend, you know, out there in Deep Space 9. A test run on friday taught me there's still time yet. Yet, right now, i'm stone cold sober and high as a son kite soaking up this sound with you, As Us, weaving the frontal with the limbic. it's all about the eyes. "We Loved All That Was Beautiful"
side notes:
THANK YOU to whichever projection group (Reality Engine?) processed samples from Winged Migration. it's a personal favorite. if you haven't seen this documentary about bird migrations, rent it. The directors spent 3-4 years following bird flocks as they migrated throughout every continent, and the cinematography is impressive. the Reality Engine website is great fun. really. i've spent a couple hours just poking around and then checking out the artists' sites. great echo of the rotating menu options as the backgrounds for the subpages.
people:
it was very rewarding to reconnect with an old friend. it was also great to meet many of you (again or for the first time): mark (matsyendra), mark (shiva shakti), blue spectral, zach, melanie (sp), dorothy, katie, lauryn, maria, dave dittmer, dale ghent, andre, siyaka, guillaume, and so many more.
location:
the stones, the rock balancing, the drive out to four quarters - i'm grateful to nature and to people for creating sacred landscapes. while trance thundered through the trees, i felt these cold drop-like sensations on my arms, back, and neck all weekend. am i cutting off circulation? am i hallucinating? no, it's the respiration process of the trees, silly. combine these new sensations with the grounds, the music, the tight deco, the stars, and the background birds, and you have the perfect setting for a great event.
Growing pains:
- i'm not real pleased about the trash issues dave reported, but i suspect (hope) that people on this list are likely not the culprits.
- kids hanging out of sunroofs, screaming, and driving around camp
- LOTS of people driving rapidly between the main parking lot and the camp area in the middle of the night
- Drumming during Kenji's set on the main dance floor. (to the drummer: you _were_ in rhythm, but take it to the meadow, your camp, or the outskirts of the chill area. i flew over a 1000 miles to see Kenji, not you. it's nothing against you; i know you're feeling the music, but it's not your performance)
- as for gluttony and hedonism, well, i was here for the hedonism. i suppose there is a line between gluttony and hedonism. i don't care what you do, as long as you're onobtrusive and not infringing on the land or anyone else's experience.
Like I said, though, the positive aspects of the event far outshadowed any negative experiences for me.
Trainspotting:
- What was the track that Antix played on Sunday with the vocals talking about selling all your stuff - your typewriter, your shoes, etc.?
Thanks again to everyone! Pictures are forthcoming in a separate post.
-katherine

- - -

06/29/05 - The scout report - coming soon