Where Does the Time Go?

It's been almost a month since we were at Lightning in a Bottle. I was able to get a post out about our first hour there, but that just barely touched the surface.

Since then, I've worked more as a set dresser than I have for the last 12 years, granted for ten of those I was a Set Decorator and by our Union's rules I couldn't have been a set dresser even if I wanted to. In fact, I am writing this from a pretty funky hotel in Parker, Arizona where I'm staying while I work on a train unit shooting just the the other side of the border, California's that is.

Then of course was the chicken/rooster Odyssey, which has calmed but by no means is over. Plus there is a ton of gardening and "farming"

But......time to recap Lightning in a Bottle. Or at least get us through the day and to just before it gets dark when LIB takes on an entirely different life.

Lightning in a Bottle--Part 2

After running into our friend Leslie, we realized that we hadn't eaten and headed out in search of food .




Skye and Cindy are camped out under this lovely shade structure while I forage for beer.

Chillin

After refueling we were ready to explore. There were several eco-workshops that I was interested in. They were in the nether regions of the festival and it was quite a hike to get there.

So up we hiked to the Sustainability Stage and the Temple of Consciousness. A lot of the workshops and speakers I had really wanted to see were on Friday and Saturday, but there was a speaker on Permaculture which I was interested in.




It turned out to be a pretty basic, very 101 introduction into the field which I had already researched, so unfortunately it was too basic for me and the speakers, well.....

So we left the Sustainability Stage and headed to the Temple of Consciousness.



Talks of astral travel and such was a little too fringe for me, rather it was not the fringe that I inhabit, so back to the Woogie Stage we went.

The cool human hamster ball had made it's way to a more central field with the addition of helpful instruction by way of a stiltmaster.

I have always love stiltwalkers and these were among the more creative and fun group of them. I am mesmerized.

We spent the next several hours hanging out in this area. Listening to music, people watching, someone had put up a slackline like the one we have, so we jumped on that and tried to play and impress.

As it started heating up and the DJs spun a water truck showered the crowd.



This was our audience as we attempted to cross and master the slackline. As you can imagine it was a supportive and understanding group.

To Be Continued.......

America's Next Top Co...I Mean Rooster

BFF
Oh, the times we had.

Mari-ain't

Well it turns out, that one of the few "keepers" Marianne, is a rooster. The other morning while Cindy and I were getting ready for the Ecology class that I teach/host, we heard a noise. Looking over at our cat, "Cici are you ok?"

Then we heard the noise again, definitely not coming from Cici. We went into the garage where our "little" chicks have become not so little chickens practically overnight and were greeted with the unmistakable sound of a little rooster growing. The sound was coming from a little black cock that I had been having my suspicions about.(Please do not take that last sentence out of context).

Feeling a little "cocky"

Not to be outdone, Marianne, the beautiful Americana(I think) who was going to lay us some beautiful green eggs, craned her neck and HE let out a crow, not a cluck, a throaty albeit immature crow.




Back when he was a she.

So much for my "don't ask, don't tell policy". So now we are in a rush to find homes for these lost boys.



A lot less like a fashion shoot under these new circumstances...more like a mug shoot or for an FBI most wanted poster.

Not Wanted

Dead or Alive

Reward $0

Lightning in a Bottle --Part 1

Lightning in a Bottle

The website read, "The Festival will be open from Friday May 28th at 7am until Monday May 31st at 5pm." Add to that, that the eco-workshops I was most interested in would be conducted on Saturday, and most importantly, (and subconsciously), we were swamped with more things on our To Do List at home, than is humanly possibly on even the best of days. So the obvious answer would be to cut our loses and catch the festival next time around.

So we "obviously" didn't take the easy approach and got day passes for Sunday, arriving around 11 am wide-eyed and bushy tailed, ready to enjoy the festivities.

Very early into it, we realized that the vast majority of the people were there for the entire weekend which under different circumstances in a different phase of my life would certainly be the way to go. What that meant, was that most people were still up from the night before or were just waking up.

When a topless woman calmly strode past us, I knew the lessons Skye would be learning were not the ones I had anticipated.

Let's see...Skye's comment, my response.

1. After the aforementioned female passed, "Um, that was awkward" "Think of it like a sculpture at an art museum, " A twisted look that meant either, "At this stage in my life I am uncomfortable with that as well or Dad, that wasn't a statue" to which I countered, "The human body can be very beautiful and the whole notion of modesty and covering it up is unnatural man-made construct" That didn't go over well either.
2. "I think that guy is gay, cause he just keeps pointing at you not me or mom" in regards to the stilt-walker in purple fuzzy leggings dancing to rave music at 11:30 am. Me, "I don't think it's necessarily a gay thing"

1. The above conversation continues, "OK, I think he's drunk" "At this time in the morning, with that kind of energy, I don't think it's just alcohol." "What do you mean?" A brief and cautionary explanation of recreational drugs. "I am never doing drugs" I think the disco-dancing-sexually ambivalent stilt-walker was a bigger deterrent that 100 "Just Say No" ads

That all happened in the first 30 minutes.



Skye, still getting the lay of the land and not so sure of the whole thing.




High energy music blaring away before noon, I would hate to be that DJ

As we tramped on through the dust and heat, wondering if this was such a good idea after all, I spied a very cool-looking metal human hamster ball type contraption.



"Whoa, check that out that looks so cool" and I hurried us along toward the object of my fascination.

As we got closer, it looked like our friend/aerial arts instructor Leslie. I knew she might be at the festival (Facebook update) but what were the chances of actually running into her, given the length of the event, the hundreds of people and the physical acreage.(When we did try to reconnect with her later and knew where and when she was going to be there, couldn't find her)



Leslie getting a quick tutorial. I had meant to talk to the guy and give the thing a spin, but timing and various distractions wouldn't have it.

That begins to give you an idea of the event;

Hour 1...
We were there until just before midnight..
More to come

Working Again--FUNctional Fitness at the workplace

I worked as Cindy's lead for the first time in around 13 years. I was a little nervous, but it was a lot like riding a bike and once I shook off the rust, it was pretty easy. I really shouldn't have been nervous at all. We were actually finishing the job for a team who had to go onto another project. They had done almost all the prep work and so we were really just facilitating, connecting the dots and wrapping things up.

Now we have taken over jobs in the past with varying results, but in this case it really was all but complete and was left quite tidy and organized. Add to that, the fact that we used most of their set dressing crew who were all lovely and qualified, a couple of guys who had worked with Cindy and me in the past and a production staff that wasn't insane or unreasonable and it made for a wonderful return.

I did however gain several pounds, from eating and then sitting and driving all day.

On our wrap day, I took advantage of the location, which was downtown on the 6th floor. I must have run up and down the stairs 20 times, a few times actually carrying down some set dressing.
Also the set took place in a dry cleaners so we ended up moving around a dozen commercial cleaner. They were big and heavy but we had the right equipment so it was relatively painless. I was able to drop a couple of lbs from all the stairs but in the end I fell far short of my planned exercise routine and/or goals. Add to that that it set me back on all the projects at the house and well, there's a lot of catching up to do.

Leif Erickson's New Abode

Since acquiring this amazing ghost mantis that we have since named Lief Erickson, his dwelling has been Spartan to say the least. Weeks ago, I purchased some plants that to me fit is visuality. It's a little Dr. Seuss but Lief's coloring goes so well with it that....



Sparse is being generous.



The new mantis habitat while not botanically accurate is much more beautiful.





Lief in profile





What did you say?







More pics of Lief

A Whirling Swirling Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day Weekend

Three days to chill and relax, maybe get some last bits of spring cleaning done, barbecue with friends and family, or it can be like the rest of my days, a mad attempt to cram three weekends full in one.

Guess which one materialized seemingly out of thin air.

Saturday

Two future events colliding with results of the past would dramatically shape our weekend.

One was that Cindy was hired to work on additional photography and I would be leading for her. That was a very familiar and regular work relationship, 13-plus years ago.

Two was that in just over a week I would start teaching the Ecology 101 class. We decided to keep it simpler by keeping it to one class a week as opposed to the two that I was doing before. Now the class looks to be twice as large, with a goodly mix of new people and ages.

The past events were series of things ranging from flooding, to too many projects, to Cindy returning after being gone for practically a year and her life abroad arriving in multiple boxes and of course the on-going chicken saga. This basically meant that the two rooms that I conduct class in, the living room and dining room were jammed pack of stuff.

Lots of Stuff.

This doesn't look like a classroom. Where do the children go?

And we didn't want to just cram it back into the garage and various closets, nooks and crannies, etc. That's how we ended up with have tons of "stuff" and never being able to find it when we need it.

So with that in mind, we both acknowledged that the weekend would be primarily dedicated to that major projects.

Balance

That concept ended up dovetailing with the other concept of wanting to not become beholden to our stuff and the banality of chores. Which meant that we were going to not just work over the weekend. For us that doesn't mean doing less work or lowering our goals and expectations, rather we try to just shove more into a twenty-four hour day.

The Lakers were positioned to beat the Phoenix Suns and secure their spot in the NBA Finals. There was also a big MMA UFC fight. And one of are favorite couples are huge Laker fans and MMA fans, so of course we invited them over for a multi-hour sports indulgence.

Sunday

There was also a weekend long festival I had heard about, Lightning in a Bottle. After some discussion and some debate we decided that we would work extra hard on Saturday and get a day pass for Sunday. We made these plans and purchased the not so cheap tickets prior to
realizing we would be having a sports viewing marathon with guests, something we rarely do.

Monday

By Monday, we were exhausted and far behind in our quest to get the house in classroom condition. Add to that, we had done none of the "homework" we needed to do for the job we were starting the following day. There was gear to wrangle and many phone calls to be made. So Monday, even though we were fried from the festival, still tired from the day before, we were resolved to but our collective noses to the grindstone and get some shit done.

At around 6 that morning as I am beginning to tend to the gardening end of things, our cat Daisy stumbles toward me foaming at the mouth. Mad "Googling" and calls to find a vet open on Memorial Day ensue.

Details to follow....