i'd met the girl who was going to be my passenger before, at the doof, but at the last minute she decided to hit the other party instead and so i ended up riding alone. that wasn't so bad - although coming over the hills to the megiddo junction was one of the most beautiful sights i can recall - the sunrise lit everything up in soft oranges and the mist in the valleys on both sides hadn't cleared up yet. it was simply breathtaking, i spent the entire section of the ride oohing and aahing to myself and i was sorry that i didn't have a navigator to try and take photographs...
the whole ride was beautiful once i'd hit the jezre'el valley, actually, and only improved when i began climbing the gilboa. *that* was mind-blowing.
i found the place without much difficulty, stopping to help a couple of girls... oops! a girl and her boyfriend, sorry, from the side with the hair and everything... because for once *i* knew what was potting :)
seeing a buddy from the doof festival working the entrance lifted my spirits even more, and the smooth, friendly entrance's only flaw was that he let me put the bracelet on myself and i caught quite a few hairs :P
as it wasn't my car, i was absolutely convinced that i was going to run someone over so i stopped to ask them to move... only to be laughed at by everyone around the car, and myself, because i had more than enough space. i'd arrived, the day was beginning beautifully and everything was as it should be ^_^
boris brejcha is incredible - just as everyone said he is. the dude kicked our asses in style, with solid, grinding beats overlayed with jovial funky bits and a lot of attitude - sweet!
atmos played a bit simplistically, but the music wasn't what bothered me - what bothered me was that within seconds of him taking over, the atmosphere on the dancefloor got weird... those strange house creatures i was poking fun at last week? there were rather a lot of them that danced out of the woodwork when the set changed.
i found myself second-guessing my own steps, and then observing the differences between dancing and digging intensely... i can tell the difference quite easily:
dancing is very similar to digging, but misses the bit where the energy is returned from the earth... digging / stomping doesn't require a net output of force; that is to say, it doesn't look like it requires a net output of force and it doesn't feel like it requires a net output of force, whereas "dancing" looks like hard work.
while the dust wasn't visible, it did get into my nose and i put on my mask too late for it to be of any use. also, ski mask + beard = heat sink.
ace ventura brought us back, slowly, to solid, stable, and deep. i had my second energy drink to keep myself going, and that in addition to my third and last (i was being responsible) arak & grapefruit kept me going through the last set as well.
the last set (i haven't a clue who played) was fantastic, in spite of a number of technical glitches and some mismatched beats. a cool breeze came up that was absolute magic, and someone brought an ice-cream truck. i'm not impressed with the prices he was charging, but i wasn't about to refuse an ice-cream on principle.
i had no problem with lending a hand to the cleanup efforts during the last couple of tracks, although it would've been nice if more people had participated.
i think i know what my problem with stomping empty-handed is: if the music is properly driving me, i don't get fidgety.
awkward girl, a guy i met years ago who didn't recognize me at last year's return to the dirt (conical hat man - chm) and a really cute bartender who'd been particularly friendly the whole day were all stuck without a lift back to tel aviv, and i was only too happy to oblige.
the ride back down the mountain was stunning! we stopped to stand and stare for a while, and were attacked by the vehicle's anti-theft device when we were ready to move... that alarm drove me nuts on all three occasions that i needed to stop the car. the second stop was at the first petrol station, where we filled up (in stages; petrol isn't cheap!) and stopped for a bite to eat (well, everyone else did - i wasn't hungry).
a couple of cops had enthusiastically searched the car before us, and found the filter from a joint. that wasn't enough to detain the guys, but in addition to that they discovered army sleeping bags - this seems to be a new trend (they caught another friend at the festival).
i remind the unfamiliar reader that it's traditional to leave the army with as much gear as one can...
it makes me feel ill to see the police walking away with such smug self-satisfaction. to make matters worse on a personal scale, i somehow managed to develop chafing between the stop on the way down the mountain and the petrol station - welcoming me to the ministry of funny walks :(
the ride back was uneventful, with only one incident of me losing focus (catching myself, but still not good) and about half an hour of struggling to get the music back on when something weird happened to the car-phone.
just before dropping off chm and awkward girl, i found out that he's just discovered tool, and we spent the last bit of the journey together excitedly discussing their music. just then, i spoke to dp and was given a surprise instruction - to pick up a friend of hers in holon, as we were so close to the border already.
this was a decisive turn of events, because the cute bartender was in a bit of a rush and this threw her plans out quite a bit. we managed a compromise, though - i dropped her off at home in ramat gan instead of in tel aviv, and instead of visiting a friend she was stuck talking to me. i was given her phone number and an instruction to come to her work for a drink sometime... that's positive, right?
i guess i'll have to, she reminds me of juliette lewis in natural born killers. i'm kinda surprised that this happened while wearing my beard.
i feel weird with a beard, and it's beginning to take on a certain... grizzly quality. i feel kinda like russell tovey in being human.
i'd totally forgotten that it was lag ba'omer. even after being reminded twice. after parking the car and returning the keys, i waddled home to shower and forgot to bring a sweater on my way back. we drove to a beach north of herzeliya, one that required a pretty serious night hike to get down to...
the night was stunning, although freezing cold and i had to keep myself wrapped in a blanket at all times. this wasn't too complicated, though, as i passed out fairly soon in front of the fire and woke up about three times - once to grab some food and drink about half of the bloody mary that had been thrust into my hands, and twice more to raise my head, appreciate what a wonderful fire, night and group we had, and put it back down again.
i was finally woken by a wet sensation on the back of my head, and a shout going up of rain. i was very disorganized, trying to help with one hand while the other was occupied by keeping the blanket wrapped around me. i watched in awe as the entire site, including tents, was dismantled within a span of two minutes and i managed to pick up the giant mat for the trek back. i managed to hold my own against the weight until just before we hit the cars - the hike back was performed much faster in spite of our having to contend with a steep, fairly slippery path :P
we were at the cars and saying goodbye just as the rain stopped and the skies cleared.
my nose was a bit stuffy, i was worried that i'd been snoring and then that i was getting sick. neither, apparently :)
...
it took me half an hour to get out of bed this morning. i missed a bus, but caught one that was quicker, and got off into a light drizzle that turned it into a wonderful, gentle morning. i was bothered by the fact that the SC's car doesn't have headrests for the back seat, until i realized that the coverings of the two holes where a headrest is supposed to come out of make for a great neck massage :)
on thursday i was asked if i was interested in going to a "future battlefield" conference; indeed i was. today i was told that i'd received the appropriate authorization, and that i had to register for it online. the website informed me that there were no longer places available. when i phoned up to verify, i was informed that there hadn't been places available for more than a week.
i love being in the military. we're always the first to know.
i keep promising myself to stay away from the pastries on base, and i keep forgetting. i felt sick until lunchtime, and coupled with that fact i didn't have anywhere to lie down comfortably, so i unsuccessfully lazed in a chair in nystire's cubicle. this led to an unpleasant incident when our old SC walked in, and i realized (i'd had my eyes closed, even if i couldn't sleep) that nystire had upped and left, leaving me unattended in a place i have no security clearance for.
our old SC's first question: "have you been reinstated?"
i owed him money from the farewell, but was a little suspicious of the amount he claimed.
"180"
"how did you get to 180? it was 170 when we spoke on the phone"
"everyone else paid me 200, but you didn't participate in the gift so it's only 180 for you"
"so the gift only cost 20 per person?"
"okay, fine. give me 150."
"done"
none of the other participants is happy about what happened, because everyone knows that the asshole is perfectly capable of trying to scam us. the prick.
a bit later, our current SC called me into his office.
"don't sleep here - it doesn't look good". i apologized, and after lunch obtained the keys to the dorms and crashed on a bed for two hours. i woke up dazed and confused - leading me to wonder if i really was getting sick - but soon got sorted out and even did a bit of work.
i got my paycheck today. yep, same paycheck. i still find this whole setup freakishly strange.
speaking of disbelief, i quoted nystire to one of the other section commanders - "it's about the triumph of hope over experience". that got me thinking, because hoping in the face of all that's rational is something we all do a lot of the time.
the base commander has been replaced, and we no longer have to have someone with a gun on the shuttles. that means we can go back to normal - although one of the idiot nco's has already tried something stupid and i'm going to have to report him when i get in tomorrow :/
speaking of morons, another nco passed me in the corridor today while i was drinking coke. we don't have any relationship whatsoever, but he loudly (and with a number of witnesses) shouted at me (in jest) that i have to stop drinking so much coke. that might've been funnier had he ever seen me drinking coke before. i could do nothing but scratch my head at him in confusion.
speaking of no relationship whatsoever, i received a personal invitation to the wedding of a guy in our unit i don't ever speak to. i think i might give that one a miss.
...
i sat with my old neighbour and family for a cup of coffee on my way home; i think one of the waitresses was coming on to me and i'm not afraid to blame the beard. he invited me to say a few words at a festival that's coming up soon - i think i might take him up on that. we talked about kafka and he took hundreds of photos, and then i came back home to put all this down.
opening facebook after a long weekend was a mistake. i was busy with that (and chatting) until urchin arrived - i'd completely forgotten that i'd promised to help her out when i went to the bonfire. we drank a couple of beers and she took photos, and when she left i got back to this post.
it's now a lot later than i'd hoped for getting into bed.
i just heard the dub-step mix of enter the ninja, which i'd heard at the doof festival. i didn't make the connection, didn't even pick up the accent at the time :P
liquid tension experiment? i'd never heard of them until now, and acid rain is just... i mean... holy crap.
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