29/09/03

*** 27th ***

i was going to spend the rest of the day relaxing, but my sister was moving into her new apartment downstairs, and i got roped into helping, which lasted the rest of the day and involved quite a bit of physical exercise.

supper was at our place, and was quite pleasant. all my friends who were supposed to be going to the party decided against it on account of the weather, but a couple of them were still going to go early in the morning.

*** yesterday ***

it seems like a long time ago, but anyway. i woke up at 05.00, and my mother woke up shortly after me. i got dressed (with my indian pants that my grandmother made for me, they're still good, and are only too happy to get covered in mud. plus, they're warm), packed my bag, had some coffee, and was picked up around 06.00.
i had a couple of hits off a joint as i got into the vehicle, and off we went! there were two other people in the back of the bakkie (pick-up truck, retard), and i was already a bit stoned, so i couldn't remember there names, nor think of anything to say. so i stared out the window, which was a good idea - cape town around sunrise is absolutely fantastic (note: i'll probably use that word a lot for this log).

we got there around 07.30 - 08.00, and we were all annoyed to discover that they were charging R120 entrance. we sighed, we grumbled, we paid, and then found a parking spot.

the last time i was at a party with loud sound and lots of people, it was the ravolution. the ravolution was good. this was $#@%ing AMAZING.

the people are better here. much friendlier, and completely and utterly screwed-up, depraved, crazy, silly, and have other questionable qualities too. i had a slight problem from the start, because i recognized a lot of people, and couldn't (and still can't) be sure if i'd actually met them at some point in time, or had merely seen them before, at trance parties throughout the years.
some of them answered that question for me, by coming up to me and saying hi, or giving me a hug.

for R70, we managed to organise 2g of mushrooms, which came with a warning that 1g was enough.
DAMN STRAIGHT.

i had mine, and within what must have been around ten minutes was completely buggered. i almost immediately lost control of my limbs and mind, and had to concentrate to not stumble around like you see in the movies. which was quite embarrassing (although, in retrospect, i'm sure nobody noticed a thing), and it took me forever to get out of a downward spiral. i was going through these cycles of nightmare - euphoria - sobriety, and i was having long, deep debates against myself.

what i've been forgetting in this description is the music. which was brilliant when we got there, and continued to be brilliant (minus about five minutes of "i'm sure he didn't mean to do that!", with amused and frustrated looks from everyone in the crowd) until i left, which was roughly 13.30.

until around 12.00, it was pouring with rain. didn't stop us from bouncing around outside (i was planning on doing this with or without narcotics), and was quite refreshing.
and damp.

when the sun came out, it was as if you could hear angels singing - everyone went completely nuts, and we all missioned to our cars / tents to change gear and put on sunscreen.
we were using some weird $#%@ing sunscreen - reminded me of a slightly more viscous orange jelly. aaaaanyway.

i was supposed to be at lunch at my cousins' around 13.00, but seeing as i only found a ride at 13.30 (or thereabouts), i only got there around 14.30. i was still a bit monged, but had more or less come down. i was feeling much better, as i had almost full control of my body, and my senses weren't playing games with me.
and i wasn't yet feeling the strain of stomping all morning - i discovered later on that i'd managed to damage my left leg, and it's been most uncomfortable.

i got to my cousins' still wearing my indian pants, and full of mud and grime (especially in my nose. i've never understood where all that black stuff comes from, and it always happens). fortunately, i hadn't taken off my shoes while there, so my feet were clean enough to enter the house, and i had a quick shower.
which felt FANTASTICALLY (notice, please, that i've barely used it) good. i then joined the lunch. there were a lot of guests, and everyone was dressed quite smart (as opposed to me, in my baggy black cargo pants and a white t-shirt). let the discomfort begin!
talking to my one cousin, i forgot the golden rule of being (even slightly) high. keep your mouth shut. don't be clever. i told him (and this was true) that we'd been playing "where's waldo" on the dancefloor. we'd search for someone in particular, in a crowd of really strange looking (and sometimes quite scary) people, and we were having a good laugh doing it. my explanation didn't come out quite right, though, and he was onto me. i was really upset when he pulled out a serviette, waved it at me, and said "look! blue! shiny!".

the rest of lunch went fairly well, and i managed to remember the golden rule after the serviette.

my mother drove me and my second mom back to sea point, where i got changed, picked up my ticket and drove to dockside, where i was meeting firstfallen and panda for the fight club. dockside is an awesome venue for fighting - three levels of people surrounding the ring feels very similar to pit-fighting, and the lighting and acoustics are good.

the proceedings were not very professional, and it was hosted by mavericks, which we later discovered is the name of a strip club. so there were lots of skanky (and really stupid) ho's all over the place. also, the MC was as stupid as he is ugly, and what really sucked is that there were a few people in the crowd who actually laughed at his totally sucky jokes. the man was just - not - funny.

most of the fighting was fairly boring, but there were a few fights that were really impressive. because i do taekwondo, i expect there to be real kicking in kick-boxing and muay-thai, and all i saw was punching, elbows, and weak knees.
what annoyed me somewhat was the match-ups: there were a few matches of kick-boxing vs. muay-thai, but not muay-thai vs. muay thai. i would have loved to see that.
a couple of the no-rules fights were pretty good. normally it just seems like two sweaty men making out. in one fight, one of them got put in a neck-brace after being picked up (from the make-out position) and slammed back-first into the mat. another guy got picked up WWE style and spun-'n-dropped onto the mat, which is much more impressive when you know he's not helping his opponent out. and the last guy got punch so hard he got his cheek crushed.

all in all, it was quite enjoyable, but it lent me a new appreciation for taekwondo, and the more traditional martial-arts.

i got home fairly late, made another attempt at watching the horse-whisperer, couldn't keep my eyes open, and managed to get to bed just in time to pass out.

*** today ***

i slept in, so i didn't get the car. i missed the bus by seconds, and ran almost all the way to tkd. fortunately, just past halfway there, i managed to hitch a ride from some guy leaving gym, and i got there just in time.
and warmed up.
and alone. nobody else rocked up this morning, so the instructor told me to do whatever i wanted. so i stretched, and almost did front-back splits on both sides! i'm very proud. i did push-ups and sit-ups, which i'd been intending to do the whole weekend, and then went on to forms.
i was buggered when i got there, and i was buggered when i left, but i felt really good afterwards, as i walked back home - i think it might be from watching the fights last night.