Mel and I went to Return of Zod last Saturday, and I must say, it was hella fun. Event photos of course can be found online at ubersonic; I'd have my own to post, but alas I forgot the memory card for my "digi-cam". On a brighter note, Mel and I did score a Zod themed apron, perfect for grilling and other cookery. Musical highlights included Photovore09 who rolled in from Minneapolis to spin a bangin' ghetto-tech set, and forcedperfect assaulting the stage with breakcore live PA. Of course, I must mention my good friend D3F1L3 who will be crossing the ocean to the land down under. I wish him him well as he embarks on amazing Australian adventures.

The venue was a privately owned chunk 'o' riverside property near Iowa City. The owners gave us the evil eye as we pulled in, but that aside, the vibe was generally quite positive- it's hard to go wrong with a few dozen party kids camping next to a river. The geodesic dome I helped Hoeken build was in full effect; I'm actually rather impressed with that homebrew project. Since camping was involved this meant fire, and being the pyro I am, the first order of business was inspecting fire pits for hot coals. I managed to resurrect one fire and used that to build a new one at our campsite.

Musically, personally, spatially; the party was quite good. My only real complaint was one shared by Mel- the music was incessant. We were simply unable to sleep through the unrelenting and life-suckingly mediocre house music blaring through the dawn hours. It was so bad that we almost left the party without saying goodbye to our friends- even Jake who is leaving for Australia. This particular problem gave me serious doubts about attending similar outdoor events; I need sleep too much- I just can't function without it. In contrast, I did attend Blueshift last summer, and at that event there were blissful breaks in the music for sleep.

Unforunately I won't be able to make Blueshift 2 this year, but that's perfectly acceptable- I need to complete my transition to Des Moines. At any rate, I'm lending a hand with party decorations. In this case it is plywood robot silhouettes in fitting with the ubersonic tent robot theme.

Yup, those are plywood robots.

Comments

heavy pie
Wed, 08/03/2005 - 22:29
Plywood robots... rad.
Plywood robots... rad. I will in fact be attending Blueshift 2. I'm bringing the old VHS camcorder, so we'll see how that goes. I believe there is going to be a big pile of paintings courtesy of photovore09 as well... should be a hell of a time! Weather's gonna be fanta-astic as well.
Other time... other space.

bruce42
Thu, 08/11/2005 - 13:13
Shenanigans and Goings On
How was your Blueshift adventure? I chatted with sister Holly last night, and she rated it as "weird" and "bizarre" with "shady" people. It sounds like this year more emphasis was placed on getting shitfaced with strangers than hanging out with friends in a "rave-camp-esque" atmosphere. From what I hear I am rather glad I didn't go. The younger uber crew really turns me off, and it sounds like they were in full effect.
"Your mission is to obey the commands of whoever is able to strike the Master Key of Electricity... I once read in a book that all things are regulated by exact laws of nature" - SPAM

heavy pie
Thu, 08/11/2005 - 19:53
Meh...
Trash, trash, and more trash. Garbage everywhere. Especially the fire pits, which people then lit on fire. Many places smelled of burning plastics the entire weekend. Speaking of fires, seems people couldn't keep their hands off our firewood. Oh well, I didn't want to cook food anyway. Really. As far as the people, not nearly as friendly as the last time. Shady is a proper word. Bizarre as well. Quite a few.... oddities. Odditeers? Whatever. Bob got quite a few winners on the ol' camcorder, I need to get a hold of him about that. All in all I had an okay time, but nothing spectacular. Now that I think about it. Well, Doormouse was awesome. That and due to the odd and shady characters, people watching was splendid. The rest of the music was pretty damn good too. From our tent, anyway. Y'all other folks can keep yer House. Still, thievery and trash. Just had an all around negative atmosphere. Maybe close to neutral, though still on the negative side.
Other time... other space.