the ugly
one of the policemen from the post-party incident two weeks ago - i recognized him because he had a self-satisfied gloat going afterwards and it bugged the hell out of me - was causing shit at the entrance to the festival grounds.
he climbed into a friend of mine, and i was horrified to hear what he said to his commander when she came to talk to him about it. even more so when she accepted what he said, and that was when i stepped in. he started giving me shit, so i asked him for his number - suddenly there were four guys around me looking menacing and wanting to search me.
i showed my army id, and asked again for his number - a couple of them slunk away and he got sulky: "you don't need my number, this is my name". i wrote it down, and tomorrow i plan on finding out how to make a complaint.
it really, *really* upsets me that these assholes pick on the best of this country's population (any country, really) for having a good time, and they're righteous pricks about it, treating us all like criminals and generally behaving like it's some sort of game.
they forget that they're civil servants, and that we have laws protecting us from being treated as guilty until proved so; these are good people, more peaceful and loving than any you'll find anywhere else, and they pay their taxes and contribute just like everyone else.
there's no justification for threatening us, and there's no justification for being rude and arrogant.
festival toilets need to be cared for, at least once a day (if not more). the doof toilets were in pretty good shape, the indigo ones not so much - and doof is two days longer. not only that, but the grounds don't afford much place for privacy, *and* some campers took a spot on a hill that would have been the most logical place for ablutions (nobody wants people looking down on them as they relieve themselves).
this led to a situation where by this morning the toilets were unusable (even the hardier dudes didn't need to fully open the door to recognize this) and there was no place for shy people (like myself) to squat with some semblance of dignity... i'm very glad that i didn't really need to go.
as it was, having to tread carefully just to find a spot to pee was uncomfortable and a couple of times the smell was blown in our site's direction...
the bad
we could only hear the music from the alternative stage when at our campsite, and the first night's crap was only surpassed in its awfulness by the following afternoon's reggae... we were all broken and trying to sleep in the killer heat, and the very deep downbeat stuff was painful. the next dj was a giant improvement, but by then we'd all managed to get up.
aside from two of us - one of the guys hit the nights too hard to even pretend sentience during the days, and the one girl (i think she drank too much the first night) eventually had to receive an infusion and she couldn't move for the rest of the party :/
of the group i spent the weekend with, there are two people that things are a bit awkward with; not unfriendly, it just feels like there's a bit of a wall between us and that does actually bother me a bit - especially seeing as i really like them.
i was charged with a number of duties during the two days, and happy for them. the only problem i had was last night, when i had to move a rope for one of our shades and i accidentally took down our neighbours' campsite instead :$
at least i righted it again without too much hassle.
i met a cute girl on the dancefloor last night - yay! we spoke a little, the guys who saw us together got all gushy... she told me that she's israeli, so i need to make an effort to get in touch with her - honest, if a little mindless. after dinner, i arranged to meet up with her on the dancefloor, which is where i discovered (i suspect otherwise, although it's a bit too elaborate to be for show) that she was in the middle of some kind of breakup with her girlfriend.
not that i mind having lesbian friends, but i certainly don't need to run after them (i don't run after anyone*) and i'm definitely not losing fun time at a festival dealing with a stranger's relationship woes.
* usually - i claim february with gn1 as prolonged temporary insanity
i became quite attached to the dogs in our campsite, and one of them went missing last night before dinner (a very serious barbecue)... after dinner, his owner and i went searching and i gave chase when i saw a similar dog running off - i finally caught him, only to discover that it was somebody else's and not quite the same build. we had no luck finding him, but fortunately he did rock up eventually.
i missed extrawelt this morning; i'd never heard of him until chm and awkward girl came past and let me know that i'd missed *the* set of the weekend. i heard that a few times during the day :/
the last set was unbelievably good fun - a total convergence of all the rest into a set of smiles, silliness, and very serious jubilation. the girl i was going home with decided she wanted to leave early... so i left the dancefloor (saying goodbye to everyone) to go pack. as if that wasn't bad enough, my camera (my actual olympus one) disappeared and after much rifling and irritation i came to the conclusion that if it hasn't been stolen, then someone will find it at some stage and return it to me.
as if that wasn't bad enough, only then did i discover that we weren't going early after all. darn it! that was unnecessary.
due to a misunderstanding, i didn't help out chm with the driving... i was under the impression that i was needed in the car i arrived in. that means that i didn't drink anything the entire afternoon, missing out on a very interesting arak and honey combination that i only sipped (because i was being all responsible), for nothing :(
sleeping: the first night dp had us shift around mattresses so that i could be in their tent, but unfortunately my blanket was in use by someone else. luckily i had my poncho, but that only helped until just before whatever time she went to bed. i suddenly realized that my legs were freezing, and it wasn't until she asked if i was alright that i remembered that i could stop wearing my poncho and simply use it as a blanket - it reaches all the way.
a short while later my whole was freezing, and i woke up shivering. after a number of failed attempts to warm myself up, i was forced to go outside and shiver and stamp my feet in the sun until my core temperature wasn't so cold that it would freeze peas.
the second night was better - i slept with my blanket, and slept beautifully for about seven hours! only i woke up with my neck really sore... at least i worked that out on the dancefloor :)
the good
most of the weekend was magnificent, and all the bits came together to make it practically perfect!
the sheer quantity of decor and attention to detail was simply astounding and there were plenty of places to find drinking water (although the actual finding part was a mission) - the swimming pools were ingenious, but the prize for greatest inspiration goes to the strips of astroturf on the dancefloor in addition to the sprinkler system...
i've heard a number of different organizers talking, and it looks like everyone agrees that that's the way it needs to be done. instead of dust, we had mud. AWESOME!
i ran into the girl i clicked with on thursday night - she'd been difficult to talk to because i was going so crazy that she thought i was high :P
at least today she took it in stride :)
it was dp's nephew's first time at a trance party, and i enjoyed showing him around and seeing his eyes light up whenever he registered a new nuance ^_^
speaking of which: dp met a fellow capetonian hippie on the dancefloor this morning and sent me off with an instruction to send her regards - i thought they knew each other from before, which led to a bit of a stange introduction, but aside from that we got along famously and i'm feeling a bit... smitten :) [also: yes! i finally remembered to get a phone number!]
on the spur of the moment, i packed an amusing tie i own. i haven't tied one in years, and i was well proud of myself when it just came naturally. even prouder when it got so many good responses :D
i arrived on the dancefloor too well-organized this morning, and aside from one incident of energy drink theft (it was a bit weird to watch, really) i had a hard time catching people to help me remove the threat of rum & coke from the vicinity... that means that i drank rather a lot of it myself :P
the music:
simon posford's set yesterday: his alternating between shpongle and his crazier stuff was inspired, and had the whole lot of us losing ourselves completely.
shye ben tzur & the rajasthan gypsies were absolutely magical! there were a couple of songs i didn't connect with, but on the whole their music and their performance are fantastic.
savannah pixies, i think they're called. it's like someone picked up a psychedelic / folk hippie band from the sixties and put them on a stage in 2010 - brilliant! someone was trying to sell ice-creams, and got frustrated because everyone was so completely enchanted that he couldn't get a response :)
u.r.i.n.i.m.u. are freaking AMAZING. at first, i was loving the sounds, it think it was only by the end of the first song that it suddenly dawned on me that they were playing live :$
the biting sheep - i'm in awe of the experience that can be produced with inventive use of a xylophone.
i didn't spend any time on the dubstep floor, but the guys (organic and ketamind, with miss-moon) played the alternative stage this morning and i went to sleep with beautiful background noises :)
this morning / early afternoon was insane - haltya started with some sexy, groovy beats, and the guys following up took us into a deep-mud stomp-fest that was perfect :)
the final set was by another artist i'd never heard of before: james monro - *damn* he's good!
i'm now showered, i've snacked and posted... and i have to be up in four and a half hours. another source of the giggles that i had a number of times this weekend. i go to bed with a giant grin on my face ^_^
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