A Dwelling-place for Dragons

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2012-02-29T21:57:00.002-05:00

Rock Camp Productions Resume

2012-02-28T00:59:00.001-05:00

Rock Camp Productions

Jessica Mola & Seth Abramson

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Rock Camp Productions is a comprehensive production company, drawing from a large community of artists. The co-owners and operators are Seth Abramson (Creator) and Jessica Mola.

RCP has been a staple in the arts scene, specifically the counter culture art scene for over a decade, bringing glowing, interactive fun and mind blowing performances to music festivals and concerts across the country.

Rock Camp Productions has produced the following shows:

Glodeo! - A complete performance piece including our cast of classic glowing characters: Puff T. Magic-Dragon (our 35” long glowing festival dragon), and Dr. Molly and Siddhartha Glo (our 20” tall glowing stick figure puppets, affectionately called Molly and Sid). The characters interact throughout the performance, chasing each other, dancing, and occasionally Sid actually rides Puff...the rodeo aspect of the Glodeo!

Secluded Forest Fest 2004 – Alien Crash Landing Piece: performers dressed as an extraterrestrial band, that toured around the festival ground playing to the crowd.

Crobar Club Residency 2004-2007 (NYC) – weekly costume ensemble art projects, puppet shows

Play Party VIP – Collaborating with Jaysumma Old and Promoter

Serve Party - Collaborating with Jaysumma Old and Promoter

Zoo Party – Party Organizer and Promoter

Puppet shows and costume ensembles with DJ Oakenfold (Molly's Debut) , DJ Tiesto, Sasha & Dig Weed, Puff Daddy

House of Mercado collaborations & Chichi Valente & Rafi Mercado

Club Exit NYE Party 2005 (NYC) – Puppet Performance (Sid's Debut)

Happy Valley Night Club (NYC)

Heidi Klum's Halloween Party 2006 - Interactive Performance Artist

Bloomberg Media Summer Party 2006-2009 (Randalls Island) -Kite Installations, circus variety, 10 kite installation self designed and executed

Gathering of the Vibes 2005-2011 – We are officially the “Freaky People department” and provide our Glodeo! Plus a cast of costumed characters including caveman mimes, Dancing Bear Mascots, skeletons, body painting and more.

All Good Music Festival 2006, 2008, 2010-2011 – Glodeo! Plus a cast of costumed characters including caveman mimes, Dancing Bear Mascots, skeletons, body painting and more.

Bonaroo 2005-2008 – Glodeo! As well as official Bonaroo staff participating in costumed ensembles, performance art, circus variety shows, parades, blowing up acrobats in weather balloons, and more.

Mexicali Blues Zen Tricksters NYE Party 2005 – Puppet performances and costumed characters.

Floydfest 2006 – kites, puppets, costume ensemble 2010 – dragon puppet costumes

10K Lakes 2007 – Puppet Performances (Sid & Molly), On stage performance with Wookiefoot

Club Sol 2007 (NYC) - Ensemble Performance Director, Promotions

Club Spirit (NYC)

Halloween 2007 w/ Jeff Hernandez- Performer,Dancer, Drumming

Sullivan Hall (NYC)

Rehab Party 2008-2009 - Director, Promoter, Booking Agent, Designer, Performer

Disorient Times Square 2010 – Dragon Show

Phish 8 – Dragon Show (Puff's Debut, Dragon commissioned by Phish)

Puff T. Magic-Dragon spots in Phish's 3D movie

Kites Over Washington 2009 http://discovercreditunions.com/kites

Promoter, event coordinator at Cleo of Alpha Chi, Hartford CT 2000-present

Elysian Fields 2010-2011 – Dragon shows and costume ensembles

Camp Barefoot 2-5 – Glodeo! and costume ensembles

Culturefest 2010 – Dragon show, kites and costume ensembles

Reed Speed @ Awful Arthur's, Blacksburg VA - Dragon show

Papadosio @ The Sun Music Hall, Floyd VA – Dragon show
The Shangri-La Party w/ DJ Rahbee @ The Sun, Floyd Va – Dragon show
EOTO @ The Pearl Street Nightclub, Northhampton MA - Dragon
EOTO @ The Royale, Boston MA - Dragon
EOTO @ 123 Pleasant St, Morgantown, WV – Dragon

Rock Camp Productions Festivals

Pink Moon I 2009 (Rock Camp, WV)

Pink Moon II 2010 “

Pink Moon III 2011 “

http://www.pinkmoonfestival.com

Other Experience:

Guild Works Kite Flight Studio

Building kites, performance group organizer

The Smithsonian Air & Space Museum

The Today Show

Dances for Wave Hill with Heather Hensen

Phish

Oswego 1999 - Kite Performer

NYE 2000 - Kite Performer

IT – Kite Performer, Bunny Troupe, Production Assistant

Coventry - Kite Performer, Bunny Troupe, Visual Design Team

http://rock-camp.com

http://www.pinkmoonfestival.com

http://www.facebook.com/rockcampproductions

http://www.facebook.com/pufftmagicdragon

http://www.facebook.com/SidGlo

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dr-Molly-Glo/138083346262436

http://www.facebook.com/festieart

http://rockcampproduction.blogspot.com

What a strange life

2012-02-27T23:04:00.001-05:00

Let me preface this post by saying, I am a New England Girl. Though i was really raised on a secluded mountain top in the Finger Lakes Region of upstate New York...I spent most of my life in suburban CT. Then I decided I was a city girl...so I moved to the mother of all cities, The Big Apple....and HATED it. So back to CT...Hartford for me and I began my career in theater production.

How the hell did I end up in West By God Virginia? Don't misunderstand, I love it here...I just find my path interesting and obscure.

After being swept off my feet by Sethro to rural (and I mean rural) Rock Camp, and a little bit of convincing, I fell in love with this place and this lifestyle.

Our lives are perfect. Oh we have our day to day troubles, bills, bickering, dirty dishes, the works....but we also have acres upon acres of beautiful fields and forests. Our farmhouse is humble (and yes there are cluster flies, not this time of the year though). It needs a lot of work....we have holes in our floors and walls,and a back door that really needs repair. But we're fixing it up in leaps and bounds. And it's comfortable. Maybe it's primitive, but It is definitely
home. (I'll write a full post about the farmhouse and landscape later).
Our jobs are incredible. What could be more fun, fulfilling and perfect for Seth and I, than touring a spectacle art show with our favorite musicians at our favorite events and venues?!?! And although throwing the festivals is A LOT of work, it's also a kind of rewarding I've never gotten from anything else.
We're living the dream. And the perfect people, who share that dream, are popping out of the wood work all of the time.
We're building a real community here, and I'm loving it.

- All roads lead to Rock Camp

Location:Rock Camp, WV

2012-02-27T14:04:00.002-05:00

Country living

Winter time in Rock Camp West Virginiawhere the Blue Jays bully their way around the feeders, and the deergraze in the fields. Not to mention our “Dragon Family” tacklingthe day to day task of survival. A typical winter morning on the farmconsists of starting your fires if they have burned out throughnight. As for me starting the fires is an enjoyable task, preparingyour kindling and arranging your smaller pieces of wood so there isoptimal air flow. Once that is accomplished it is always good to havea glass of tea and a heart warming breakfast before setting out inthe morning cold for the days activities.

Seth and I usually set out for a load ofwood racing to the door to beat the dogs. Jess shuts them in as theygloomily stare out the window beseeching with their eyes to come withus. Checking our equipment and loading the truck we begin our journeyup the mountain looking for any standing dead wood. After a shortdistance we always find a good cluster of hardwood from locust, whiteoak, and hickory to maple and birch. Seth mans the chainsaw as Iwrestle the wood into the truck, meanwhile back home Jess ispreparing for her day organizing our festivals and “Dragon Tour”.

Some of the difficulties of winter arepreventing the water lines from freezing and finding the good warmdays to get ahead of your summer chores. We have been lucky thiswinter and haven't had to worry about the snow blocking the drivewayor the bitter nights nipping at us. As always you have the beauty ofwinter from breath taking views to the abundance of wildlife. RedTail Hawks flying above searching for the next meal and the squirrelshiding their treasure. Sitting on the porch we can see the sun set inthe evening as the rays of light warm our faces and souls.

All in all winter isn't that bad whenyou have good friends and family to spend them with. Snuggle up in ablanket, grab a good book, or watch some “Lost”. Best wishes andhappy playing from the dragon family and all other Rock Campcritters.

I got a feeling

2012-02-27T05:40:00.001-05:00

Seth and I want to do an elaborate, bluegrass/jam/electronica performance piece cover of "I Got A Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas.

Listen to it:

Start off acoustic guitar, Seth and I on vocals maybe violin and drum sticks.
Then blow it up with the addition of a dj. Washboards. Crowd involvement. The works. Who's down?
Oh so many plans.

I love it.

Location:Rock Camp, WV

From idea to reality in one night: Festival Artists Collective

2012-02-27T05:25:00.001-05:00

So today I was searching Facebook for hours looking for cool, talented and interesting artists. It was a pain in my fucking neck and I ended up getting pretty pissed off. I wondered why there wasn't a database for music festival artists, live painters, performers, vendors, giant glowing dragon troupes, etc.
Then through the magic of some strongly worded Facebook status posts, I found like-minded artists willing to help me build this database.
And lo and behold, not a day later we're up and running!
Check out the Festival Artists Collective
We've also set up an assortment of Facebook sites for Festival Artists Collective which you can access here:
www.facebook.com/festieart
http://www.facebook.com/groups/186597074777062/

I think this site will be an incredible resource for artists, promoters, festival organizers, vendors and anyone in the "scene". Anyone who's interested in helping develop it should email me at jessofrockcamp@yahoo.com!

Couldn't have made so much progress on this project without Brian McGregor and Tom Howard! Thanks guys!

Location:Rock Camp, WV

Exciting Dragon News - A EOTO Tour!!

2012-02-27T04:46:00.001-05:00

The dragon family is officially announcing our EOTO tour! Puff T. will be traveling across the mid-east (?) from:
4/1 in Millvalle, PA
4/9 in Charlottesville, VA
4/18 in DC
AND
4/28 in Richmond, VA

Check out EOTO's full tour here: http://eotomusic.org/upcoming-shows/

We are so excited, and you should be too!!

Location:Millvale, PA - Charlottesville, VA - DC -Richmond, VA

Sleepy Sundays

2011-12-11T21:44:00.001-05:00

It's been mellow on the farm today. We slept in until Ginny's tail thumped loudly and continuously on the cookstove. We futzed around, picking up after the Christmas party and cuddling. We left briefly to pick up the essentials (coca-cola, toilet paper and camel blues) and got lunch at the Hometown Restaurant in Peterstown.
On the way home we stopped in on Mark and James. Mark left behind the pink snuggie we gave him last night so we dropped that off and played with his animals. Mark has cats, old English sheep dogs, turkeys, chickens, emus, sheep, cows, horses and donkeys!
Back on the farm we pulled in the evenings firewood, and are now comfortably curled up on the couch. Just an easy, happy Sunday in Rock Camp!

Location:Rock Camp, WV

A Rock Camp Christmas Party

2011-12-10T22:36:00.001-05:00

We just had an absolutely lovely Rock Camp Christmas Party! Sabrina, Jeremy, Tori, Justin and Jamie came up, as well as Mark. I made spaghetti and crescent rolls for dinner, with sugar cookies, cheese cake and Mark's apple cobbler for dessert. Then we opened some Christmas presents. Sabrina gave us towels, candles, snacks and marigold seeds. I gave Sethro some Angry Birds stuffed animals. We gave Jeremy a new camera and Mark a pink snuggie! We proceeded to chill out in our cozy little living room, sipping some apple pie moonshine and munching Christmas cookies. I love our adorable little Rock Camp family...Mark is a character, but an insanely good guy. He was Pinky's best friend, and really looks out for us. Sabrina is the toughest cookie I know, our Rock Camp mama. Sabrina is on a short list of people I just never get tired of! Jeremy is living with us up on the mountain. He's been a huge help, getting wood and looking out for us. We're going to set him up in the apartments above the Rock Camp Store soon, but for now he's staying in the farmhouse with us.Rusty is on the farm, up at his cabin, but didn't come to the party. I was hoping he'd bring Isaac and Cici (his kids) up as we have some great gifts for the kiddos, but oh well. Rusty did however stop by last night at 1:30AM. I had just fallen asleep, and Jeremy and Seth were watching "Lost", when Rusty showed up and came in the house. He gave us a used candle and some apples. I don't pretend to understand.Anyway, I'm almost done with my Christmas preparations. The lights are up, the tree is decorated, my Santa Clause collection is up, mistletoe and wreaths are hanging, and the stockings are over the fire. Every year, Seth and I get a live tree, with the root ball, and plant it after Christmas. Last year we got a fraiser fur, this year we've got a Norwegian spruce.Our Holiday Epic (10 days, through 9 states, visiting 4 families, 2 dogs, 2 holidays [Hannukah and Xmas], 1 wedding gown fitting, and 1 optometrist appointment) starts December 18th. It is sure to be chaotic, but it will also be fun.Now we're watching The Santa Clause. It was a lovely day, and now we're cozy and cuddling by the fire. Merry Christmas !

Get ready for a Rock Camp Wedding!

2011-10-15T16:20:00.000-04:00

Sethro proposed and I said yes! We're engaged to be married, here on the farm, September 15, 2012!

Keep posted at www.sethroandjessica.com

Location:Rock Camp, WV

DJ Williams Projekt at Pink Moon III

2011-09-23T17:20:00.000-04:00

Pink Moon Rises Over Rock Camp - WVNS-TV - WVNSTV.com

2011-09-14T02:50:00.000-04:00

Pink Moon Rises Over Rock Camp - WVNS-TV - WVNSTV.com

There's a Pink Moon over Rock Camp

2011-09-14T02:25:00.001-04:00

Today was a c-r-a-z-y day! I woke up at 9am (Seth was already at school) to the dogs barking at the porta-john delivery man. He spent the day placing our 15 johns around the venue!
Some wonderful folks from WVNS 59 News showed up today and interviewed me about Pink Moon. I showed Anne and Patrick around the farm, they took some great shots...and I was on the 6pm news!
Check out the article and video here!
That was nerve racking (as you can probably tell from my clip). I spent the rest of the day answering calls and emails about the fest. Got everything taken care of though! A ton of people are coming tomorrow to help decorate and get ready!
When Sethro got home we headed out to Christiansburg to get supplies from Lowes and Walmart (I know, I know...but sometimes convenience is king...) We bought the Lowes out of black light bulbs and we bought the Walmart out of walkie talkies! It was a very productive shopping spree.
I'm exhausted...but honestly, I don't know if I'll be able to sleep! I have to, I know...but I feel like I used to when I was young on the night before we went to Disney World!
Our article in the Roanoke Times came out today as well! Check it out here!
We received our really fantastic, vinyl custom printed weekend wristbands in the mail as well! They look great (and I'm already wearing one...even though I probably don't have too...). I also rush ordered Pink Moon stickers today!
Now it's time to enjoy Jeopardy (and maybe watch our tv spot one more time...that's definitely staying on the dvr!) and go to bed! More updates tomorrow...and then the fun begins!!!!

Saturday Night Live

2011-09-10T23:14:00.002-04:00

It's turned into an even better evening. Katie and Bird showed up just after Sabrina left! We had a wonderful dinner, a few glasses of wine and relaxed.
Then Tom and Brenda showed up. The house got wild for a bit, and finally, after creating a small mess, went on their way.
Anyway, it's turned into a truly lovely evening. We're lounging in front of the fire, enjoying a relaxing evening before working out butts off tomorrow. I'm glad for the good company and a quite evening now.

It's the final countdown!

2011-09-10T19:59:00.000-04:00

Sabrina came over today! She's the most incredible woman, and she really soothed my soul. When I woke up this morning, my eyes popped open and all that ran through my head was so much to do, so much to do, so much to do. By the time I was dressed and downstairs I was in full fledged stressed out panic mode. And then Sabrina came by, and we figured out literally all of the Pink Moon logistics, relaxed, and painted a ton of absolutely beautiful signs that Sabrina's Uncle Tony made for us. Sabrina also brought us a bunch of great little birdhouses for the kids to paint in the "kid's corner" and then hang up in Bird City.
Now, Seth's lit a fire and I'm cooking dinner. We're watching old episodes of Two and a Half Men and wrapping up some last minute busy work.
5 days...I can't wait! A bunch of my friends from NYC, Boston and CT are coming...my dad and his girlfriend are coming! So many cool people from this region and the surroundin ones are coming! This is going to be epic...and I do not use that word lightly!

Happy Birthday Krista!

2011-09-10T11:59:00.002-04:00

Last night, after Seth got home from school and took a nap, we headed down to Rich Creek, VA for Sabrina's daughter Krista's 17th birthday party. Our good friend DJ Rahbee was playing, and it turned out to be a ton of fun! I danced my butt off, Seth played basketball (and raced, and got pelted with ballons) with the little kids at the party. It was adorable! Robbie raged it, and everyone had a great time.
This morning I woke up and immediately started working! 5 DAYS TILL PINK MOON! No time to slack! No time to lounge! Plenty to do! But this year is going to be incredible! I can feel it!

Congradulations to our Jambase Contest Winner!!!

2011-09-09T16:16:00.000-04:00

Can't wait to see you at Pink Moon III Mark Korman!!

So much thanks to Marcus Schmidt and everyone at Jambase!!

7 Walkers offer their protection...

2011-09-09T14:29:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a great day. After Sethro got home from school we showered and got dressed and headed to Floyd, VA. We ate a wonderful seafood dinner at the Oddfella's Cantina...a great bluegrass jam was going down on their little stage, and dinner was wonderful! We had two appetizers of oyster and chicken of the woods mushrooms sauteed in a butter garlic sauce, and muscles and clams in a tomato basil sauce. We shared their swordfish special for our entree, which included scallops, shrimp, and a shitake mushroom sweet and sour sauce.

After dinner, we headed over to The Sun Music Hall/Dogtown Roadhouse to see Billy Kreutzmann's band The 7 Walkers. Man...it was an incredible show. A great troupe of fire spinners did a performance before the show started. 7 Walkers RAGED....stole my face right off my head! We saw a bunch of our friends there, including Will and Mandy. I danced my butt off, and enjoyed the quality tunes with Sethro. Honestly...in my opinion, 7 Walkers, even with their fantastic, authentic, New Orleans flair, was the truest "incarnation" or off-shoot of the Dead, that I've seen. They were all phenomenal musicians, and clearly into what they were doing. They encored with an awesome Eyes of the World>Lovelight. It was a great time.

We handed out fliers for Pink Moon as people left. We skedaddled out of Floyd around 12:30am, (I drove) and we got home around 2am.
Seth had to get up for school this morning. I told him it was good practice for Pink Moon. He's really been doing an amazing job teaching Algebra at the local high school. I think he really likes it too! It's good to see him clearly having such an important and positive impact on the community around here...in a more main stream sense.
6 DAYS TILL PINK MOON!!! It's down to the wire here...but this thing is going down, and it's going to be incredible!!! I can't wait...I'm so excited, but I still have so much to do!

Labor Day Work Weekend

2011-09-06T20:32:00.001-04:00

I woke up at noon on Saturday and realized that...duh...it was Labor Day weekend. I talked to Sabrina on the phone and had just settled into the idea of no one showing up for the work weekend, when people began arriving. First Broman and Aaron from outside of Roanoke. Then Katie and Melrod and Ben. Then David and Elijah. Then Sabrina and Boo. Then Evan and Victoria!
Despite the good turn out, the weather jinxed us and the afternoon was...soggy. Evan and Katie cooked dinner in the rain, while I cleaned the house and other cleaned up the farm.
It was a good time, with a ton of sweet dogs. Bird showed up that evening and we all chilled in the newly finished living room - which is finally clean and roomy and comfortable.
It was a really great evening with friends, and slowly, bellies full and hearts warm, we all petered off to bed.
When we woke up Sunday morning Bird was already weed whacking, and everyone else was cleanin3g up and working. Breakfast had been cooked! It was fantastic! I set Katie and Victoria on painting signs while I cleaned the sitting room upstairs.
It was a productive day of clean up and conversation. Everyone went their separate ways, and Broman, Aaron, Boo, Sabrina, Seth and I sat down in the newly cleansed sitting room to watch "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs!"
After everyone left, Billy and our neighbor across the way and his girlfriend stopped by. They're going to help us out with some electrical work for Pink Moon.
Finally Seth and I got to sit down and relax. It wasn't long after that we shuffled off to bed.
Labor Day itself was rainy and lazy. Not much business work could be done and I spent most of the day playing Portal 2 and smoking cigarettes. In the evening we answered some questions about Pink Moon for 16 Blocks magazine...the story should come out Sept. 9th! We headed to bed early, because Seth began his job teaching Algebra I at James Monroe High School this morning.
In fact he woke up before five to get ready, showered, shaved, fed and out the door for school this morning. I woke up around 7am, right before he left, to help him pack up his lunch and wish him good luck. I spent the day tying up various Pink Moon loose ends, and promoting on the Facebook! We lost power (helluva rainstorm) for about four hours at 12:30pm.
It was still out when Seth got home at 3:30pm. We took a nap...then Sethro made BLTs for dinner while I banged out some business stuff.
Now, Seth's nursing the fire, the kittens are playing, and were watching the Jeopardy: Teacher's Tournament. It's chilly, but Seth just got the fire going. The house is clean, Seth has a respectable day job (he will have to work from 7am-4pm the Thursday and Friday of Pink Moon), we're well rested and well fed. Only 9 days until Pink Moon....
"Pink Moon is on it's way" - Nick Drake

Monroe County Church Sign of the Week

2011-08-31T00:42:00.000-04:00

I liked this side: Stop drop and roll will not work in hell...

And the kicker: Being a good person will NOT get you into heaven

Street Teaming

2011-08-31T00:31:00.000-04:00

Sethro and I spent the day with our 9-month old pup, Ginny, in Blacksburg, Virginia today. We left Rock Camp around 2pm, and began handing out flyers and posting posters up and down Main St. It was Ginny's first time ever on a leash (who needs leashes when we have ~500 acres of gorgeous mountain-top farm land?) and she did such a great job. She's so smart, and sweet. She was a big hit in B-burg.
We printed some posters at the Kopy Corner and sent out TWENTY SEVEN promo packages from our new official shipping-shop: the Easy Way Packaging & Shipping Center. They were fantastic, and super helpful. We took up the entire shop, sorting flyers, filling out forms, packaging flyers and organizing addresses. Ginny was even allowed to come in, and was treated like the princess she is (they gave her the most wonderful organic dog treats)!!
We had hummus and fried calamari at the Greek restaurant next door (very good) and continued our street teaming mission. It seems a number of businesses in Blacksburg have gone under...but we made sure to drop flyers and posters at every head shop, and cute boho boutique on the strip.
By the end of our long loop down Main St. and through the center of VA Tech's campus, all of us (Seth, Ginny and I) were all hot, sweaty (or panting) and exhausted. We stopped to see Jenny on our way back to Rock Camp...dropped her off some flyers and talked about Pink Moon logistics.
Overall, I think we were incredibly well received! Met a bunch of cool people and sent/handed out a ton of promo material. Not to mention it was a pretty fun day.!

Another great work weekend!

2011-08-29T23:33:00.000-04:00

Paul, Jillian, Jamie, and Isaac showed up from Richmond on Friday night! I was still painting the living room, finishing the brown trim. We chilled and they set up camp, and finally after hours of cleaning up, puttering around, and good conversation, we all went to bed.
Saturday morning started around 11am. We all got to work: brush-hogging the fields, mowing the yard, painting, cleaning and weed whacking. A mother and son team arrived from Princeton. We probably had 20 people here!

A group of us cleaned out the grainery, and found an old "Thrift-T" oil can and a jar with some sort of cool crystal growing inside. Sabrina and a team tore all the creepy charlie and poison ivy off the side.
Another group of guys pulled all of the tires off of the pole in the park. We found two (possibly three?) black snakes nested in the tires. They were huge!
Paul cemented all of the cracks in the mini golf course and brought us glue and the tools necessary to astro-turf it. The pink turf didn't arrive for the weekend...it was supposed to be here last Thursday...and is now supposed to arrive this Thursday...but we'll see. Let's just say I am NOT impressed with Express Global Shipping.

One group of guys dug a ton of post holes (to move the teeter-totter, merry (jane) go round, and balance beam. They were troupers...incredibly hard workers.

Liz came by and brought us some awesome artwork and a blank canvass for festival goers to paint at Pink Moon.

We grilled a kick ass dinner...Sabrina manned the grill while a group of us made burgers. Broman cooked saurkraut for the hot dogs and we had ourselves a Rock Camp feast.
Unfortunately we didn't have a band Saturday night...but that did not prevent the rager. We all chilled around the mountain, playing music, talking and listening to The Grateful Dead. Rusty,
Seth's uncle, came by with his five year old Isaac. They grilled fish, but everyone had already eaten. Little Isaac goofed around with big Isaac and some glowsticks. Luckily, Rusty found his puppy, Gingerbread, who he'd lost on the mountain the previous week.
Sabrina and I got some glass art for Broman. I got a beautiful blue pendant and a tiny glass jar and Sabrina got a pendant. His stuff was gorgeous.

It was a great party! A bunch of us chilled in the newly painted/cleaned and now roomier living room. Paul cuddled with puppies, we made s'mores over the fire in the fire place, Seth played guitar and good conversation was plentiful.
When my head finally hit the pillow, I was out.
Sunday was incredibly productive as well. The morning began with Paul & friends cooking the dankest breakfast I've seen in a long while. Scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits...and I didn't have to cook any of it! It was delicious, and with the sweet sounds of JGB in the background it was the perfect way to start the morning.
Then the work began. An amazing group of people cleared out the briars between the park and bird city. A ton of mowing and brush-hogging got done. The gallery got a second coat of paint. We all carved our initials in cement by the mini golf course. The trash pile grew, and the farm really got cleaned up.

We decided to paint the trampoline pink, and hang it up as installation art. That was a fun process. We all painted our hands pink and made hand prints on the trampoline before it got painted pink! I made a "dream catcher" out of an old wagon wheel and some black light reactive rope. We've got black light reactive drip candles to burn on the rock piles and create awesome glowing drips on the golf course.

Everyone had a great time; it was an incredible group of people and really felt like a family event. People who didn't know each other at all before, became great friends. Not to mention everyone worked incredibly hard!!!
After everybody left Seth and I drove off the mountain for a minute to visit grab a Subway sandwhich (the only restaurant relatively close and open). Then back home to veg out and recover from the weekend.

Ronnie came up today, helped us with some repairs to the seat of the riding lawn mower and brush-hogged a few fields. Roarke, a friend of ours from Cleo is visiting as well. He's from Jacksonville, Florida, and is headed back to Trinity. Cause of "Irene" he's taking I-81, which goes right by us, so he's spending the night. I always love Cleo visits to the farm. He helped us bring a desk up from The Rock Camp Store and helped us fix the tractor. I made dinner and now we're making s'mores in the fire place and watching Waterworld.

The Green Room

2011-08-24T23:58:00.000-04:00

Sethro and I just spent the last four hours painting the living room green! I've actually probably been painting for 7 hours. It looks fantastic! The green matches the green of the leaves of the flowers on the old wallpaper (which I saved a swatch of...'cause I'm a hoarder). I have to put a second coat on the whole room tomorrow, paint the shelving unit, and paint all of the trim brown. But all in all, the room looks awesome.
We finally hung up our gorgeous art from Larry Carlson too. It really compliments the room, the farm house, and the mountain. The sword from my grandparents house is up above the fireplace. This place is really coming together.
I talked to DJGB's road manager today while Seth was napping. Got a list of the equipment we'll need. He was very cool, and easy to work with. This is so exciting!!

Work day with Jenny!

2011-08-23T17:20:00.001-04:00

Jenny came up to the farm today to start the ball rolling on some Pink Moon stuff. She and Seth wandered around the park going through the schematics of stage placement, vending, etc. I cracked open some cans of paint and got to work painting the "telephone" booth and some rock work on the wishing well. I'm covered in paint! Got some good work in though!
Our cat, Ophelia is still missing. I'm very sad about it...I fear she won't be coming back ever. The kittens, who have been weened, are being cared for by their daddy, Oedipus. It's actually quite cute, except that they often try to nurse him, and his nipples are red and chaffed. I miss Ophelia dearly.
On another note...there was a 5.8 earthquake in VA today! It's coming: the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.
Seth's on the phone with the road manager for Donna Jean. This is so exciting....Less than a month away and things are really coming together.

Day of Rest

2011-08-21T23:41:00.001-04:00

So today started out awfully. I woke up dripping with sweat, suffocated by the heat. When I came downstairs I noticed Seth had lit a fire, despite the ninety degree weather. I think sometimes his ms messes with his temperature recognition. Anyway he was particularly grumpy, and I ended up going back upstairs to avoid him and the heat. I tried to open the window, but they're old and oddly designed and I ended up whacking myself in the eye with the window. I started bawling my eyes out immediately, damn it hurt. I busted my eyebrow open, and it's decently swollen and black and blue...and hurts. Finally I composed myself a little and went back downstairs for a cigarette and some pity. Seth did very well...fetched me some ice, put the fire out and held me till I stopped crying.
Partially to cheer me up, and partially because we'd both been craving Chinese food since last night, Seth took me to lunch at a Chinese restaurant on 219 in Lewisburg. We had a wonderful buffet lunch, then headed home. After watching the end of Goodfellas and an episode of Jeopardy, Seth went upstairs to take a nap. He's been asleep since around 5pm! I guess I'll go join him soon as it's past 11:30pm. I'm watching recorded episodes of Jeopardy and Law & Order and futzing around the internet. I kind of wish Seth would wake up and hang out with me, but then he won't be able to fall asleep again, and he'll be up all night. Oh well. Lots to do tomorrow...I want to paint the living room green in the next couple of days. We're having a work weekend this weekend, and I'm going to NYC for two days to see DMB and hang out with my Dad and his girlfriend Lynn. Busy busy with Pink Moon less than a month away!

Spot in front of the fire

Camp Barefoot Five

2011-08-21T22:12:00.002-04:00

We left around 2pm on Thursday...we stopped at The Rock Camp Store and packed up our gear, which only took ten minutes. We stopped in Lewisburg to pick up some Pink Moon posters we'd had printed at The Greenbrier Printing Company and had dinner at The Irish Pub. I had stew and Sethro had a corned beef and cabbage sandwich (and a bloody maria: a bloody mary with tequila instead of vodka). Dinner was wonderful! We stopped to stock up for the weekend before leaving Lewisburg and heading down 92 N towards Bartow.

We got to Barefoot, checked in, found our camping spot in "band camping", and set up...all before dark! We took a walk around the venue, hung up some Pink Moon posters (which came out perfect), got some food and visited the vendors. We`decided to dragon after it got good and dark, but it was just the two of us, so Sethro took Puff's head and I strapped on the 50+ pound battery back pack with the tail boom tucked in it and shouldered all three of Puff's ribs. Luckily, we found two volunteer-dragoneers halfway through the set, so I only had to hold the battery and two ribs! We dropped the dragon at a friends vending booth and headed back to camp to cool off, warm up and relax. After hearing a couple bands from our cozy campsite we decided to dragon one more time for the night. I double knotted my sneakers and we headed to the vendor strip to pick up Puff. We found two dragoneers to help, so I was on the double-rib-battery routine (which is pretty difficult, but not that bad) while we did a short second set. We were escorted by Mr. Tambourine Man, jingling away throughout our whole set. Back at camp, Sethro and I happily curled up in the truck for a good nights sleep.
I woke up SUPER early on Friday morning...maybe around 6 or 7am. It was very cloudy all morning...looked like rain, felt like rain. I puttered around picking up camp till Seth woke up. When he finally got up around 8:30am, it REALLY looked like rain, so we threw a tarp over the truck and ez up and battened down the hatches. It was sprinkling lightly as we worked, and as soon as we were done it came down. We enjoyed the dryness and warmth in the truck, until Seth got the end of the mattress all wet, and still we remained relatively comfortable. Eventually the rain stopped, and the sun peaked out. I don't particularly mind morning showers at fests, as the sun throughout the day usually dries everything out. It's evening rain that really sucks...cause soggy nights are no fun. cMind you, through all of this, we had no clue what time it was. I geared up with bunny ears, big pink glasses, and an orange faux-fur shall. On our way to breakfast I asked a vendor for the time...when she told me it was only quarter to 11am, I freaked out! I couldn't believe it was so early! I must've looked like a crazy spunyun but I was merely surprised!
We got [delicious] breakfast burritos and smoothies from the bicycle-blended-smoothie place and bumped into a couple of friends. I got a pair of [awesome] tie dye pants from our friend James of Beandawg Artworks (they vended at Pink Moon II). We headed back to camp and picked up some fliers to pass out. We wandered all across the venue, meeting cool people and promoting Pink Moon. It's amazing how much more receptive people are to me compared to Seth when we're "street teaming". People who refuse fliers from him have turned around and doubled back to take fliers from me. It's amazing what boobs will do! Seth and I split up at one point and met up back at camp after a couple of hours. We promptly curled up in the back of the truck. It was an epic nap! So epic, it felt like a night's sleep and threw off my internal clock for the rest of the weekend.
It was dusk when we woke up. We rubbed the sleep out of our eyes, chugged some red bull and got some dinner. We both were feeling incredibly groggy...each festival we go to on tour gets harder and harder. Especially when you're carrying an entire dragon on your back. Despite the fatigue, we felt good....we were super prepared for this fest...with plenty to drink and munch on, plenty of clean clothes, sheets and blankets and pillows, and some spending money. It felt nice to be so together. It was also kind of nice sans crew...Seth and I really got a chance to spend some time together at this fest, which almost never happens.
We bumped into a friend of ours, Kenny, running a kick-ass gem booth on the vending strip: East Coast Rocks. He helped us with our first dragon set of the evening. I took the back pack and three ribs and he grabbed the tail (Seth is always on Puff's head). I was red faced and sweaty by the time we got back to camp. Zick and Jennie and their friend Whitney stopped by to say hello, and after a good conversation, some festie-tag creation and a couple beers they helped us with our second dragon set for the beginning of Kyle Hollingsworth's set. It was such a relief to have a proper compliment of 5 dragoneers to run around with. It makes it so much easier to give Puff some life and animation.

When we were done for the evening we headed back into the venue to catch H-worth's Talking Heads set. The crowd really filled in and Kyle killed it. His Psycho Killer encore was butt-shaking, spine-tingling great.
On our way back to camp we came across a spun-yun laying in the middle of the unlit path screaming. There were two guys there attempting to control him. We stopped to help, cause this dude was out of control. Slowly we got the whole story, this super-spun dude had torn apart these staffers cabin, and when they returned to find the place in tatters discovered him hiding in the bathroom. He decked on of them, twice...and they were still trying to get him under control. They had no clue who he was. Captain Spunyun got himself tangled in an orange plastic fence and while Seth and staffers 1 & 2 kept an eye on him, I went to get the medics. They were two, rather small, rather young girls, so even once I'd brought them to the tangled spunyun the rest of us stayed to make sure everything went ok. Dude had gotten violent once and it didn't seem like the gals would be ok on their own. The six of us (me, Seth, EMT 1, EMT 2, Staffer 1 and Staffer 2) half guided half dragged this guy back to the first aid tent, where we proceeded to give him water, and try to calm him down. As we delt with him, EMT #1's (a.k.a. Amanda) boyfriend showed up with a few friends. The boyfriend, Mark has been an acquaintance/facebook friend of mine for a while now, and also happens to be an incredibly cool guy. Finding and truly befriending him was the karmic award for our good sumaritan-ness. There was now a solid group of between 6 and 8 people giving this off-the-wall spunyun defensive-circle-dance-party-therapy...keeping him chill and under control and with us by dancing around in a sort-of circle, and cutting him off at the pass any time he got too out of control or too far away. It was hysterical really, and an awesome experience. The people involved were mostly concerned, responsible, caring festie goers...with the exception of the two emt girls, who had to deal with this. Turns out this was their first ever festival, and both of them (nurses) were extremely straight edge. Mark (Amanda/EMT's boyfriend) kept tossing them hints on how to deal with the spun kid, and they did extremely well, still I felt bad for them. Eventually we decided to turn him lose on the crowd, hopefully to find his friends again. We danced him out to the middle of the crowd, and danced away. We all chilled by the first aide tent to be sure he didn't come back to harass the EMT/festie-first-timers. Good thing too, because not five minutes after we left him he'd spit in some dude's face, and was about to get a serious knuckle sandwich. We dragged him back, and kept an eye on him for a little longer till all of a sudden, his friend stumbled upon us. I grabbed this friend, Colin, who was almost as spun as spunyun, and told him to take his friend back to camp. They wandered off together and the rest of us convened to relax and unwind. We gathered in a close circle, immediately in front of the Headstash booth, funnily enough, and performed our unwinding rituals. We were all happy, light hearted, and glad to have been brought together (not to mention glad to be rid of dude). I was, I'll admit, very surprised there had not been some sort of "Official Barefoot Plan" to deal with something like this. It didn't seem practical for the only two, inexperienced-in-festival-land, tiny EMT girls to babysit this out of control spunyun all night. In fact, there seemed to be absolutely ZERO security at Barefoot, at all. Although that might seem cool...you need security at a festival, not to mess with people, but to keep everyone safe. A lot of crazy shit can go down during a fest, and the mere presence of some security can keep people in check.
Seth and I stumbled back to camp, unwound from the crazy spunyun experience, and went to bed.

Saturday morning was bright and sunny. We got breakfast from the best food vendor on lot: Shady Grove Wraps and hung up some posters. Most of the day was spent at camp cause it was too darn hot. Bunches of friends stopped by...Zick & friends, Mark from the trip sitters last night, and a some cool glow guys...including another Mark (who'd helped the dragon by guiding him through the crowd at All Good XV) who glow-painted Puff. They used this cool spray paint which glows when activated by lasers. At one point Sethro helped a small boy fly his kite (he is a kite expert after all). It was incredibly cute, and the kite got left behind, so Sethro gave me a quick lesson too!

Around dusk, once it began to cool off, Sethro donned the red dancing bear mascot and I the skeleton suit and we went on our last round of promotion. It went over pretty well!
Seth needed some time to recover after the nasty bear set, while I began packing up camp. After dark the glow guys came back, we grabbed Kenny, and we dragoned one last time. I took the tail this time (a dragon part I'd never done before) and we raged it. We chilled, rambling with the glow guys for awhile, threw the dragon in the back of the truck, and left. I was so glad to be going home...Barefoot was fun, but I was exhausted and looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and getting the house an Pink Moon together. It took us about two hours to get home. We watched some tv before passing out around 4am.
Barefoot was our last stop on tour before Pink Moon! We raged the dragon every night, and gave them an extra bear set. We got the word out on Pink Moon and met a ton of super cool people. It was a fun and rewarding weekend...but now it's time to put our noses to the grindstone and get Pink Moon up and running. It's going to be a great time, we've got a ton of good ideas, and we've met a bunch of great people willing to help. This party's gonna be crazy!

Hump Day

2011-08-17T19:30:00.003-04:00

Front O' Flier!

Today was one of the few days that I actually got up before Seth...since the beginning of our relationship! I futzed around online and watched an episode of Law & Order till Seth got up. I spent awhile chatting with Rautio about flier design, banner ads etc.

Back O' Flier!

Seth and I ran out to Lindside to mail some checks and get an oil change. We ate lunch at the Shalebank Diner which was actually delicious. I couldn't finish my delicious chocolate milk shake. We drove through the newly renovated park once we got home. Just as we plopped ourselves on the teeter-totter, Joel rolled up! He and Sethro went to work siting out and designing the Shangri La stage, and I headed back to the house to deal with the mess of social media I've been using to promote Pink Moon online. Rautio banged out the fliers...they look awesome:

We'll be sending them to print any minute now, and should have them after Camp Barefoot (it's a bummer we're not going to be able to unleash these in Bartow, but it'll be fine!)
Anyway, I think Eric did a fantastic job on these, I just love them!

Also, our JamBase ads are up! The large banner is geo-targeted to VA and WV...but we also have an ad under the "Featured Festival" section: here! I was working with Marcus Schmidt, and he was just wonderful!! We also have an ad up on Leeway's Homegrown Music Network, on the home page! We are so getting there!

A screen shot of our JamBase ad

I'm learning so much as I do this as well! Charlotte, Seth's step mother, once asked me (at a Channukah party) if Seth stifled me as an artist...well the answer to that (which at the time I stumbled over due to utter shock at the question) is: no. Not at all. He's helping me grow as an artist and giving me new and exciting opportunities to express myself in genres that are important to me.
Pink Moon also has a TWITTER page now!! Check it out and follow us (PinkMoonFest)! I'm quickly becoming overwhelmed by all of this social media! I'm only 20 years old...shouldn't this be my "thing"? And I suppose, at one point, I did this all for myself (rather than a company or festival or giant glowing dragon, you know); but I shunned it for almost a year, and jumping back in is pretty difficult. I also feel like a couch potatoe....might have to get a desk from down at the Rock Camp Store, cause my back is killing me!
Looks like we're leaving for Camp Barefoot tomorrow! We're going to have to pack Puff into the truck (geeze, I hope our mattress is dry from Elysian Fields!) Last year we only went up for one night, to hit up EOTO (because they were playing Pink Moon II). We got there late, super late, and then it started to POUR! Jesse, who had been living with us at the time, wandered off with his friends, and Seth and I sat in the truck, waiting out the rain. When it finally did stop...we dragoned like I've never dragoned before! I was wearing flip flops (stupid! stupid! STUPID!) and lost first one, in the thick of the crowd in front of the stage, then the other, on our way back to the truck walking through the woods. It was the WORST! Rocks and twigs and wet rain, probably poo, glass and unknown-biohazardous sharp things threatened my poor tootsies all the way back to the truck. I dragoned Camp Barefoot 2010 barefoot!
Anyway, I'm looking forward to doing Barefoot right this year! They gave us great billing on their site and we're rested and ready! Maybe not packed yet, but ready!

P.S. PRESALE TICKETS GO UP TO $85 IN ONE WEEK!! Get them now to save $15 on the door price! Get them here.

Just another manic Tuesday

2011-08-16T19:23:00.000-04:00

We've been busy busy bunnies today! We ran around town working out some financial stuff (band depostis, designer costs, etc.) got lunch at K.C.'s and mailed some things off. Since we've been home Seth's been working on banner adds for Jambase and Leeway's Homegrown Music Network. I've been ordering pink astro turf, black-light-reactive candles, and organizing/ordering the advertising on the aforementioned sites. I've also been working with our friend and fellow Cleo, Eric Rautio, on a new batch of fliers that are turning out just stellar.
Let me just say, I adore the Cleo contingency we're forming in Rock Camp Productions! Just this season we've worked with Brendan Paul Clarke, Jessi Beaton-Hellman, David Slatkin and Eric! (On a related side note, a Cleo is running for Mayor of NYC...check out Christine Quinn!!)
Anyway...we got some pretty great ads up. We're really making progress on Pink Moon III! I'm so excited I can barely contain myself! But there's still so much to do, so much to spend money on!

Work Weekend - Part Two

2011-08-14T20:41:00.001-04:00

So, the work weekend is over. Jesse, Sampson, Sethro and I just ate dinner; I made chicken and rice with onions, garlic and green peppers, Now we're vegging out watching Family Guy.
Today was SUPER productive! Even more so than yesterday!! We made a ton of progress in the park and mini golf course! It looks AWESOME! We painted everything, the gallery, the teeter totter, the merry (jane) go 'round, the mini golf course, the "phone booth", the swing, etc. We mowed and weed whacked till our fingers bled and we even got our tractor (after waiting on it for a year...) Tom and Brenda let us borrow their brush hog and post hole digger, so we'll be tractoring in no time. Everyone worked incredibly hard, and we're truly making headway.

It was nice to throw a good party this weekend, and to really clean up the farm. It was a lot of fun...but I'm exhausted. There's a kitten liking my toes and it really tickles.

Work Weekend - Part One

2011-08-14T00:51:00.001-04:00

Today was a wonderfully productive day...I had the hardest time getting out of bed this morning, and when I finally did I realized there were a BUNCH of people here. Jesse (and his friend Sampson) had arrived in the night, as well as a few other additions to our little party. Seth ran down to Riffe's to get gas for lawn mowers and weed eaters. Sabrina rolled up with Boo, Seth came back, and Jesse and I left for Princeton. We went to Lowe's (I prefer Home Depot, but you work with what you've got...) and got four sheets of plywood (which they graciously cut for us!!!), seven or so gallons of variously colored paint, some brushes, some stakes, a redbull and a gatorade! The paint-mixing folks were either morons or scammers, and that's all I have to say about that.
On our way out of Lowe's I was chatting up Pink Moon with the guys who helped us load the truck. They asked if it was like FloyFest...to which I replied "It's cooler than FloydFest". I think that's true....smaller, definitely...but still, way cooler.
Jesse and I stopped at the peek-a-boo shop in Princeton (by the Mercer county Animal Shelter) to look for nipple ring ball bearings. I dropped off a bunch of fliers there for the fest.
As soon as we returned to the farm I started painting Pink Moon signage. A bunch of the girls helped me and, shit came out great!

Sabrina and Boo took off, but not before mowing the whole backyard. I set some folks out to painting the mini golf course and finished my signs.

Even more people showed up. AND THEN...the band showed up! Atoadaso, some cool cats out of Roanoke, VA - Griff, Billy, Max, and Cuba. They had some trouble on the way over with the tire on their van. But they got here, and even though I think they're just starting out, they fucking rage!!! They've already played a couple good Phish covers tonight (nobody covers Phish! cause nobody can cover Phish!) some good moe. stuff, and in general. I'm sitting on the front porch, enjoying the jam in my front yard. This is crazy...and so awesome.

We moved the old couch off of the stage to make way for the band, and dropped it ~25' away. It's great! It's got the perfect view of the music, and it's super comfortable. We threw a tarp over it when showers hit briefly. Paired with the rug and the bonfire it's an outdoor living room.

I'd guess there are solidly 25 people chillin, and Atoadaso's been on stage for two and a half hours already. They've gone into a very cool space-y jam. We've had kid's glowstick and fire poi-ing. Some led hula hoops would look awesome from this vantage point.
Going to go sit on the couch and watch the band.

Twas the night 'fore the Work Weekend...

2011-08-12T23:33:00.000-04:00

Today was a weird day. Seth woke me up around noon (teehee) - then he left to go to the bank, send off some band deposits and run some errands. I puttered around the house cleaning up and doing some online promo. I got the kitchen clean and picked up the living room a bit. Around 2pm Kitty arrived with her two kids in tow. The helped pick up some trash and pick up around the house and yard a bit while I finished cleaning, ate lunch and jumped back online. I've been spending countless hours in front of this carcinogenic screen lately. It's tedious, but necessary, and our Pink Moon numbers have been slowly but consistently ticking up.
Seth came home with groceries, a garbage can, and a few other goodies around 4pm. Kitty left, to return tonight or tomorrow. And Seth and I worked out some Pink Moon literature including a sponsorship write-up, facebook and jambase adds.
Seth made BLT's for dinner and we chilled out - enjoying the calm before the storm. SO MANY PEOPLE are coming tomorrow (according to le facebook). That's good though, we have tons to do.
Seth's gone off to spend some time with Joel...he's been gone for like two hours. Since he skidaddled four cool folks (from Richmond I believe) rolled up. They've set up their tent in the front yard and are lighting bottle rockets. It's freaking the dogs out, but I'm enjoying it. They seem like super cool guys.
We'll start working at 11am tomorrow. I'm going to go out to Princeton, WV early to get some supplies and materials. Paint, brushes, wood, etc. With enough man power we can really whip this place into shape.
I'm still spending a lot of time trolling the internet for cool visual/performance artists, vendors and non-profits to present at Pink Moon. I'm really looking forward to blowing this festival up and burning this mountain down in September.

The Meaning of Life is Martin's

2011-08-12T02:17:00.002-04:00

Seth and I got back from Roanoke, Va maybe two hours ago. We went out because we thought that Sol was playing at Martin's (because of a Facebook miscommunication, he's actually playing Saturday). Anyway, we got some important errands done! For example, I am posting this from a new computer! It was really really necessary: the "b" on my keyboard no longer worked (so every time I needed a "b" I had to copy-paste it), my "r" key was completely missing (though the button nubbin worked most of the time, so I didn't have to copy-paste "r"), the screen only worked when it was tilted all the way back, and it was s-l-o-w-a-s-s-h-i-t! This new thingy-majigger has been such an enormous improvement...I'm nearly crying!!
Our one other splurge was a fax machine. Ours hasn't worked since Sethro dropped it in the mud in a rainstorm on the mountain. And with all the festival booking and such we truly need a fax machine. I mean there just isn't a Kinko's down the road in Rock Camp!
We stopped for dinner at Martin's (like I said, we thought Sol was playing...we were wrong). Tony was there working sound for the band that was playing. I LOVE TONY. He's my favorite. One of my favorite memories from Pink Moon II is standing with Tony and Sethro in "Bird City" after the music stopped, watching the sun come up and smoking cigarettes. If we lived closer to Roanoke I'd volunteer/apprentice for Tony, just to learn.
We dropped off a bunch of fliers at Martin's, with Tony, with Melrod and around town. It was nice to spend an evening "on the town" even if we didn't get to see Sol & Funk Root. Dinner at Martin's was FABULOUS. The spinach dip is our favorite appetizer there, and when Seth couldn't figure out what to get I ordered fetuccini alfredo with grilled chicken for him. He loved it. Consider this my five star review for Martin's: the best music, the best food, the best people, period.
So I'm sitting on the couch, watching Monty Python's The Meaning of Life and setting up this new laptop. Sethro's eating our leftovers and has a wonderful little fire going in our fireplace. Everything's really looking up. Pink Moon stuff is barreling along. Work weekend this weekend - gonna get this farm in shape!! Atoadaso's playing Saturday night! It's gonna be GREAT!

hurt body home bodies

2011-08-10T15:16:00.001-04:00

Well, hello out there. Jess and I are just sitting on the couch, Jess' watching Phantom of the Opera and working away online doing mostly Pink Moon stuff. We’ve been running really hard this summer, and having a great tour with landmark accomplishments. That being said we’re super-pooped. It seems to get harder every festival we do, even though all of the remaining shows are in the region. We’re also mysteriously missing a cat. Ophelia, the all white mother of the kittens, has been MIA for a couple of days now. We think she might be running away from her babies for a while to ween them before they suck her dry. Other than that everything’s kind of a mess. We’ve a lot to do on the farm just to get it back to normal, but that should happen in the next day or two as we collect ourselves a little bit more. We have one last show at Camp Barefoot then on to Pink Moon. Jess looked up Chinese Moon Festivals and the parallels are deep. I guess we might have been Chinese in a past life or something... this is just what we do. I don’t really believe in this, but it’s fun to think that our little team is made up of reincarnated artists spread throughout history taking our opportunity this round to play with new media and technology in art and entertainment. I guess that’s not so far from how we do it, but it’s a fun daydream. So I’m on to kitty litter damage control and the removal of the broke down fridge (including the now defrosted squirrel Jeremy gifted us in the freezer… but that’s gonna have to wait for another blog entry).

Chinese Moon Festival

2011-08-10T00:43:00.000-04:00

Check out this cool information I just discovered:

"The Chinese Moon Festival is on the 15th of the 8th lunar month. It's also known as the Mid-autumn Festival. Chinese culture is deeply imbedded in traditional festivals. Just like Christmas and Thanksgiving in the West, the Moon Festival is one of the most important traditional events for the Chinese.
The Moon Festival is full of legendary stories. Legend says that Chang Er flew to the moon, where she has lived ever since. You might see her dancing on the moon during the Moon Festival. The Moon Festival is also an occasion for family reunions. When the full moon rises, families get together to watch the full moon, eat moon cakes, and sing moon poems. With the full moon, the legend, the family and the poems, you can't help thinking that this is really a perfect world. That is why the Chinese are so fond of the Moon Festival.
The Moon Festival is also a romantic one. A perfect night for the festival is if it is a quiet night without a silk of cloud and with a little mild breeze from the sea. Lovers spend such a romatic night together tasting the delicious moon cake with some wine while watching the full moon. Even for a couple who can't be together, they can still enjoy the night by watching the moon at the same time so it seems that they are together at that hour. A great number of poetry has been devoted to this romantic festival. Hope the Moon Festival will bring you happiness."

-Moon Festival - About.com

Some Chinese Moon Festival Traditions (Wikipedia)

Carrying brightly lit lanterns, lighting lanterns on towers, floating sky lanterns
Burning incense in reverence to deities including Chang'e
Erect the Mid-Autumn Festival: It is not about planting trees but hanging lanterns on the bamboo pole and putting them on a high point, such as roofs, trees, terraces, etc.
Collecting dandelion leaves and distributing them evenly among family members
Fire Dragon Dances
In Taiwan, since the 1980s, barbecuing meat outdoors has become a widespread way to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.

More info on the Chinese Moon Festival

Preparing for the Work Weekend

2011-08-09T19:25:00.000-04:00

We finally unpacked the truck today. It had to be done as everything was damp from the showers at Elysian Fields. Now Seth's upstairs napping and I'm puttering around watching Law & Order and promoting Pink Moon on the interwebbernets. I need to clean up the house before this weekend; it looks like we're going to have a good turn out for the work weekend for Pink Moon. We have a TON to do around the farm.

Mow everywhere
Paint putt-putt course
Haul off trash
Clean-up, touch-up, design park/Shangri-La Village
build second stage platform in Shangri-La Village
Create installation art around farm
Paint signs

Parking arrows and directional
Rules/Reminders
Camping areas
Porta-johns
Off-Limits/Artist & Family Only
Poison ivy warnings
Etc.

Re-fence graveyard
Driveway work
Gardening
Collect wood for bonfires and grilling (at work weekend)

If anyone wants to bring any of the following to use for the weekend it would be greatly appreciated:

Gardening tools including rakes, weed whackers, lawn mowers, shovels, etc.
Paint brushes, paint trays, rollers, and miscellaneous old paint, etc
Scrap wood pieces for construction projects and signs
Pallets
buckets, trash cans, bins etc
Food/Drinks

Check out the even page on Facebook...Work Weekend for Pink Moon III

Pink Moon III Ticketing Info

2011-08-09T14:22:00.000-04:00

Get your tickets for Pink Moon III here!!

Elysian Fields IV - Heavenly

2011-08-08T17:37:00.001-04:00

Seth and I had a little trouble getting motivated on Friday...the task of packing the truck and driving ~4 hours to Boyce VA was daunting. We finally got on the road around 4:20pm and stopped for lunch at our favorite place in Peterstown: KC's Dawg and Burger Haus. We dropped by Sabrina's house to pick up Justin and say goodbye to Jeremy, who left for California this weekend. (Good luck Jeremy, we miss you, we love you and there's always a place for you with RCP!). And so, Justin, Seth and I began our journey to Elysian Fields.
As we drove up route 81 to the sweet sounds of a great JGB show on Sirius Satelite's Grateful Dead Channel, I noticed the car ahead of us: a little gold sedan with the license plate "MIS JERY". I pointed this out to the boys and we pulled up closer and noticed his Jerry window sticker. As we passed I flashed him a peace sign, and he nodded back. I wondered if he too was headed to Elysian Fields and made a mental note to search the lot for his car. (I never did...womp womp)
The sun went down as we approached our exit. I always think of Dugald when we pass the Rt. 66 exit on 81N. Last year, around this time, we met Dug just off that exit and exchanged tickets and fliers in a random gas station parking lot. We looked so sketchy shuffling around that day, but it was just some goofy Pink Moon business. God I miss that kid. We actually first met Dugald at Elysian Fields last year...it's odd to think how close we became in less than a year. He was such a wonderful person.
As we got off the highway I got super excited. We passed the ice cream shop with the pink picnic tables that Jesse, Andrew, Brandon, Cree, Seth and I stopped at after the fest last year. It was about 10:30pm when we finally pulled into Elysian Fields.
We checked in and headed all the way to the back of the camping area, next to the huge stack of round hay bails. I HATE setting up camp in the dark, but it didn't take us very long. We could hear PBR and then The DJ Williams Projekt from our site as we laid Puff out and popped our EZ-up and introduced ourselves to Kristy, our neighbor who excitedly agreed to help us dragon for The Bridge. And dragon we did! I threw on the 50+ pound battery back pack, grabbed the front two ribs while Kristy grabbed the back rib, Justin the tail, and Seth the head and out walked Puff. We slinked around the venue and picked up a few more dragoneers, including Dylan who graciously took the front rib from me and was an absolute natural. The fluidity with which he moved the dragon, beer in hand even, was incredible. At one point I tapped him on the shoulder and told him that if he got tired he could give it back, and he smiled and said "I've found what I want to do with the rest of my life". Note to self: find Dylan, invite him on a gig.
After a killer set we brought Puff back to camp and chilled with our new found dragoneers. We did another set for The Bridge's encore (feat. DJ Williams)...and then another silent late night set after the music ended (around 12:30). Back at camp we met Katie, an incredible woman with a wonderful head on her shoulders. We discussed her journey from Oregon to the Native American Reservation she now lives on. We talked about Pink Moon and Puff and our lives in WV. We talked about politics and festie rituals. It was wonderful.
Tom & Beck's son, Christian found us and chilled at camp for a bit, as well as the PBR guys (they'd helped us dragon as well earlier!)
The best reunion of the evening though was seeing Jesse again. We met Jesse at Elysian Fields last year. We has a great time and he ended up coming to the farm, living with us and helping a ton with Pink Moon II. He found us during our first set with The Bridge and camped with us all weekend this year. It was so fantastic seeing him again.
I think we finally drifted off to sleep, to an unusually quiet festival scene, at around 4:30am.
I woke up at 9:30am to the sounds of dogs barking, babies cooing and a strong breeze. Jesse had not slept at all that night and was sitting in camp bleary eyed. Justin was asleep in the backseat of the truck and Seth was asleep on the mattress in the back of the truck. I started the morning off by hanging some tapestries on the EZ up and painting some signs...one for Dugald and one for our Pink Moon website. I placed the "We miss you Dugald" sign right in front of our camp and the www.pinkmoonfestival.com sign up in the venue.

When Seth and Justin finally woke up we headed down to see PBR play. They killed it! No one was dancing though, so in my pink dress, sparkly sunglasses, and pink party hat I raged my butt off. I handed out a few Pink Moon fliers and we headed back to camp.
At some point, it started to rain. It started off light...enjoyable. Just a sprinkle, fun to dance in even. Then, all of a sudden...it came DOWN! I had just been commenting about how remarkably dry I was...when suddenly all of our stuff was getting soaked. Quickly we yanked the tarp out from under our mattress in the back of the truck and threw it over both truck and EZ up. This stopped most everything from getting soaked, but most of the damage was done. The end of our mattress was oozing brown water, Puff was kind of puddly, and I was finally very wet. Not to mention, our Pink Moon fliers do not hold up well in wetness. So all the fliers I'd handed out so far were ruined for sure.
We were all huddled together under our tarp/EZ up construction when I realized we'd have a lot more room if we weren't hanging out on top of a pile of trash. I spent a few minutes spinning in circles, standing in place, picking up trash in the 3-foot radius of me...and everyone laughed at my display. I did, however, create a lot more room and order.
Once the rain ceased, and the sun peaked out again, we emerged from our soggy campsite to hit the lot with a new round of fliers. I donned a pair of bunny ears and my big pink glasses and Seth his pink party hat, and we hit the town. We fliered and talked to tons of people. I think it meant a lot that we weren't just street teamers, but the people who throw the fest, the dragon people. I choked up every time I met one of Dug's friends.
Once we finished our street teaming we finally went to hang out with our super cool neighbors in their awesome hay bail/tarp tent. We were kicking ourselves for not going over there sooner....these folks were the bomb and their huge shelter was super dry. And when we finally heard the sounds of Keller and The Keels, we picked up our dragon and danced out to the venue for "Mr. Keller! Mr. Keller!"...we kept it to a short dragon set cause we have this hunch that Mr. Keller doesn't like Puff. Last year at Elysian Fields we came out during "Focus on the Bass" which, admittedly wasn't very good timing. After our dragon set, I wanted to see the rest of the show, making it back to the stage in time for "Bird Song". Keller's "3 minute" encore was a cover of Cee-lo Green's "Fuck You"....and it seemed like an odd way to end the fest. When he warned the parents in the crowd "earmuffs" I got all excited that it'd be his gatecrasher song, but oh well. We headed back to chill with Kendall and Lynn (our hay bail neighbors) till we finally passed out before dawn.
I want to give a shout out to the security guy for Elysian Fields. Dude was awesome, and effective at his job.
I woke up on Sunday at 8:30...(ugh so early!) and the fest was already clearing out. I couldn't fall back asleep, so I started packing up camp and picking up trash. When everyone else woke up we finished packing the truck, said our goodbyes to Kendall, Lynn and crew, then went for a walk to do one more round of fliering. We met a few cool cats who'd been to Pink Moon II, and said it was the best fest they went to all season!! I also met one of the members of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, who was wearing a great pink fuzzy party hat, and gave him a hug and a bunch of fliers.
Finally, sweaty and tired, we said goodbye to Jesse and piled into the wonderfully air conditioned truck and headed home. The drive back took a lot less time (we didn't make any stops and didn't take the back roads). We stopped at home before taking Justin to Sabrina's, to grab a bite to eat and chill for a minute. It was incredibly difficult after spending a wonderful half an hour on the couch to get back in the truck and bring Justin home though. Seth and I were beat, and got the best night sleep ever.
I really miss Dugald, and I'm really glad we went to Elysian Fields. It was a great cathartic experience. Every one of his friends that I talked to could feel his love and his presence there. We raged our dragon for you Dug...we love you.

Website Work

2011-08-04T18:56:00.000-04:00

TJ and I have been working relentlessly on the Pink Moon website. It's still a work in progress but it's getting there! I've been typing away all kinds of literature for the site..."About Pink Moon" and "Home Page" sections and more...god knows how many words. Eh, it needs to be done and it's a good excuse not to have to help Seth pick up the trash our dogs have spread around the yard.
Right now Seth and I are sitting on the couch talking through Pink Moon stuffs and watching the interactions between out many animals. We both agree that there's pretty much nothing cuter than kittens in boxes....except maybe kittens on top of boxes that are pestering kittens inside of boxes. And now they're asleep. Awwww.
Anyway...PINK MOON PINK MOON PINK MOON! Only 42 days left!! We're supposed to get our first shipment of flyers today, although they haven't come yet. They need to be revamped (they're not quite the correct resolution and we need to add a couple new bands).
We're leaving for Elysian Fields tomorrow. I think we're bringing Justin and Jeremy (wonderful, reliable, sensible kids from Rich Creek, VA...they were on our crew at All Good). Our old roommate Jesse is going as well, so that will be a nice reunion. I'm also going to make a sign tonight, a sign for Dug. Something to the effect of "We miss you".

Check out the site: www.pinkmoonfestival.com

Also I have a new Rock Camp Productions specific email address: jessofrockcamp@yahoo.com

Some "Official" Pink Moon Information

2011-08-03T00:43:00.002-04:00

PARTICLE -- DONNA JEAN GODCHAUX
Josh Phillips Folk Festival, Sol & Funk Root, The DJ Williams Projekt
Dj Rahbee, Funk Punch, Galaxy Dynamite, Marionette, The Kind, Materia Project, Triscale, Groova Scape, Levi's Gene Pool, Soul Stone Overdrive, Schak, Vern's Pot O' Chilli..., Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Dischordian Society, Silo Effect,The boatmen, RTFM, Catatonic and more coming!!!

Check out our new Shangri-La Village - Located under the giant Oaks at the base of Graveyard Hill! There you'll find a mystical village of life, love and
community. Visit for vending, our improved BLACK LIGHT MINI GOLF
COURSE, our brand new Shangri-La Stage and activity tent, First Aide,
Pink Moon Merchandise, and much much more.v

Keep an eye out for Puff T. Magic-Dragon and his friends Dr. Molly and Siddhartha Glo...they'll be chasing each other around and Glodeo-ing all weekend!

Body Painting For Charity! - We will have a Body Painting Booth set
up in the "Shangri-La Village"...come bare it all (or just show just a
little skin) for our artists and become a [completely washable] human
canvas. Suggested donation: $5 to be donated to the Music and Arts
Departments of Monroe County Middle Schools.

Ticketing Info:
Early bird special - $65/weekend before August 3rd
Presale (August 4-24) - $75/weekend
Presale (August 25-Sept 8) - $85/weekend
Door: $90/weekend

Children 12 yrs old and younger are free, but must be accompanied by a ticket bearing guardian (over the age of 18) at all times.

Day ticket pricing: tba

There are 2 more scheduled PINK MOON WORK WEEKENDS: August 13-14 and August 27-28. We'll be working from 11am till 5pm each day. Feel free to camp for the weekend. 10 hours of work earns you one ticket! More work weekends tba

Vending passes are still available! Message Jessica Mola or email jessicajmola@gmail.com for more information.

Make checks payable to: Rock Camp Productions LLC
Checks may be sent to:
Pink Moon Festival - Ticketing
c/o Jessica Mola
Rt. 1 box 137
Lindside, WV 24951

Rules:
-NO ATVS. NO EXCEPTIONS!!
-Absolutely NO pets. NO exceptions.
-NO GLASS
-NO GAS
-Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a guardian.
-No open flames. No fireworks. No exceptions.
-No Violence/Weapons

Late Night Flier Design

2011-08-01T02:12:00.000-04:00

Seth and I are sitting on the couch, Ginny and Lucy and kittens galore asleep at our feet. We're watching a DVR'd "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" from Friday and designing the fliers for Pink Moon III. They look fantastic. We're both getting tired and grumpy though! Seth 's been working for four hours straight on the flier project. And he's got it! I'm a sleepy bunny...I think it's bed time!

Thanks to: Zach Korn, Brian Zickafoose, David Ashcom, and Eric Rautio for all of their help!

P.S. Happy birthday Jerry!

Recovery

2011-07-31T21:56:00.000-04:00

The last week is a blurr of crazy travel and excessive couch potato-ness. Seth and I have been recovering from our two-week-crazy-tour from All Good to Gathering of the Vibes. There's been a lot of puttering around and house cleaning, and a few errands for food and such, but mostly, since we got home on Wednesday we've been vegging out watching DVR'd movies, Law & Order, Jeopardy and Robot Chicken. At least Seth and I are in "dragon-shape"...we've each lost ten pounds and tightened up. Thanks Puff.

We're gearing up for Elysian Fields in Boyce, VA this weekend. We met the late, great, Dugald Day at Elysian Fields last year. We miss you so much Dugald, we think of you every day...and hope you're in Elysium now.

Our strength is returning to us day by day; hopefully, by the time this next fest rolls around we'll feel close to our old selves again. Though, a piece will always be missing.

Dugald Day at Elysian Fields III 2010

Gathering of the Vibes 2011 - It's too darn HOT!!

2011-07-31T20:23:00.000-04:00

Together for a year!

Both Seth and I are veteran VibeTribe members, and we LOVE this festival. We love the unique Seaside setting, but this fest truly holds a special place in our hearts. I've been attending this festival, what I consider my "hometown" congregation, with my dad Robert FOREVER! Vibes is where Seth really got his start, on his own, professionally. Vibes (in'06) was the last time Seth saw his mom, Pinky, alive...the last time they partied together. And Vibes ('10) is where Seth and I began dating (and consummated our relationship). This Vibes was our one year anniversary.
Maybe that's why, after only having been home a day and a half from All Good, we left Wednesday morning for Vibes. We made good time to CT...though we were kicking ourselves the whole way...All Good is about halfway between Rock Camp and CT, and my dad lives in Bristol. Had we been thinking clearly we'd have left All Good straight for my dad's chilled out THERE for a day and a half then made the 45 minute trek to Vibes. Instead we drove 12 hours straight from Rock Camp, WV to Norwalk, CT to stay with a friend of ours.
Thursday morning, after a load of laundry, some showers, and an hour spent looking for our friends lost keys, we jumped in the truck and made our way to Seaside Park. We stopped at WalMart (evil, but unquestionably a one-stop-shop for all of your festie needs) and picked up the essentials (water, gatorade, redbull, ice, etc) then headed into Vibes.
We checked in at the artist/vip gate...and ran into our first hang-up. Despite the fact that we were billed in the playbill/schedule booklet, they didn't have us in their computers. Luckily, they recognized us as legitimate (we have our own department: The Freaky People Department), called our contact, and got us registered and in. Vibes gave us plain old "camping" bracelets...which would end up causing a number of hassles throughout the weekend. They did provide us with an AWESOME contact person though, Tony....who graciously helped us at every turn. If you ever read this, WE LOVE YOU TONY!
Alright, so now we're checked in...it's hotter-than-hell already, WELL up over 95...and though we enjoyed the air conditioning the truck offered we were anxious to get in to our campsite. However, at every gate we were redirected (incorrectly) because the poorly informed parking staff didn't recognize our Friends & Family parking pass. We drove around the venue and waited in line for 4 HOURS until we nearly reached a security check point at which they demanded $20 for day-early admission. At that we said "uh-uh" and finally called wonderful Tony, who escorted us out of line and through the venue to our proper campsite.
Funny enough, we ended up camping 50 feet and one fence away from where we were camped last year. In fact Seth had argued with a parking attendant (in '10) to camp exactly where we camped this year.
Check out this shot from the CT Post of our campsite: Picture #205

So we set up camp, met our wonderful neighbor, Smilin' Christopher, discovered the friend who's house in Norwalk we'd stayed at Wednesday was camped right behind us, headed into the venue to check out Dumpstaphunk and geared up for some DSO.
Seth jumped into the orange bear costume for his first bear set of the season. I donned my skeleton body suit, and we made our way to Dark Star. We wiggled our way into the front row, we wanted Donna Jean (who was singing with DSO for a special beginning of Vibes treat) to see us, as she'll be our Friday night headliner at Pink Moon III. We raged in the DSO crowd until someone smacked Sethro in the face and the chicken wire innards of the bear head sliced his nose open. It was so hot, even at night, that when we got back to camp Seth was DRENCHED in sweat from head to toe.

We were exhausted from All Good, from the drive to CT, from not enough sleep, from the heat, from waiting for hours in line, from our bear set...and even though one of our crew members was on their way an yet to check in...we crashed out in the back of the truck. We knew Alex (the crew member on his way) would have no problems getting in or finding us.

Alex

We were right! When we woke up Friday morning, there he was sitting in camp smoking a cigarette. It was HOT HOT HOT again. I showered off at the misting tent Vibes provided this year. My all-natural bug repellent soap was a real chick magnet under there, let me tell you. By the time I returned to camp two more of our crew members had arrived. Jessi and Slatkin are Cleo siblings of ours...(Cleo is a co-ed literary society on the Trinity College Campus in Hartford...kind of like a fraternity...Seth and I are both siblings there). They set up their tents and coolers while we all struggled to keep out of the sun. I'm telling you, Bridgeport CT (and the whole Eastern USA) had a record breaking heat wave! It got up past 103 degrees!

Cleos at Vibes, (L2R: Seth, Me, Jessi, Slatkin, Tom)

As evening, and some relief from the heat rolled in, another Cleo, an old friend and RCP veteran, Tom found us. We were still waiting on two of our official crew members who were trying to check in (they were ultimately unsuccessful, because of their own shortcomings, and stayed the night in a hotel to come join us on Saturday)...but with Tom we had enough people to dragon! So we headed out for our first set with Furthur. We knocked it out of the park, and returned to camp briefly to collect our heads. We hurried back our for a second set with Furthur, bringing along the heart I'd made at All Good for Phil. Vibes, which began sixteen years ago as "Deadhead Heaven" is truly a Grateful Dead Family party....and you could feel it in Furthur's set. I'm not saying they didn't put on a good show at All Good, but you could tell that they really were "bringing it" for the VibeTribe. My point was proven when Phil not only gave his organ donor speech, but ALSO gave Puff T. a shout-out! While this crazy, life-changing, long anticipated event was going on, I handed the heart to a wonderful gentleman standing at the very front of the stage (within the security barrier). He held it up in front of Phil throughout Furthur's entire encore (Ripple) and laid it on the stage for them. I saw a stage hand pick it up and bring it backstage. I know somewhere in my heart that Phil has RCP's heart. (If anyone has a video of Phil's shout-out, please email it to me at jessicajmola@gmail.com)
We made sure to hit Big Gigantic on the Green Stage with the dragon, to make sure they noticed us, as we hit them after Furthur at All Good.
We got back to camp and I gave Tom a back rub...he'd been wearing the 50lb, makeshift, battery back pack for three sets, and was hurting. Alex dressed up in the red bear suit and went out and did a set. Jessi and Seth and I went for a long walk on the beach, and sooner than we expected, watched the sun rise over the Sound.

It was at our sweet spot on the beach that Jessi and I met two other Jess' and a melodica player. After a fantastic sunrise jam sesh, complete with three guitars, a fiddle, a makeshift drum set and a melodica Seth, Jessi and I headed back to camp for a nap.

We woke up Saturday afternoon in the sweltering heat. As soon as we were alive, awake, alert, enthusiastic(!) we sent out a cast of crazy costumed characters. We were still waiting on two more cast members. When they FINALLY arrived at 6:30pm on Saturday evening; they'd already missed the majority of the festival. They didn't seem to understand that they were expected to work (despite the fact that one was a RCP veteran AND the deal had been explained to them) or why everyone was annoyed and frustrated with them after busting ass all weekend. Needless to say they will not be invited onto the team again.

As soon as the lollygaggers arrived we began body painting. We cranked out seven skeletons, but due to the lateness of our stragglers, we didn't get out before the sun set. It detracted from our skeleton set so hugely that we ran back to camp (gosh, security check points are easy when you're naked!) and busted out Puff T. in our birthday/skeleton suits. Elvis Costello seemed to love the dragon...I could see him staring it down and just smiiiiiiiling! He played a beautiful "Must've been the roses" that melted my heart.

When we got to camp, the latecomers decided they were going to leave (after only one set??). Seth begged them to stay for one more dragon show. Seth, Slatkin, Jessi and I went to sit by the beach to cool off before our Jane's Addiction set. After about fifteen minutes we headed back to camp, only to discover that the latecomers had left...Seth and I were so disappointed.
But we raged it for Jane's Addiction anyway. The crowd was rougher and tougher than even the Primus crowd at All Good...and a few of them didn't seem to appreciate Puff at all. Jane's Addiction didn't quite give us a shout-out, but they skirted around it quite a bit....I don't think they quite knew what to think of us.

We were exhausted, so we brought Puff home. On the way back to our campsite, we passed hundreds (maybe thousands?) of hippies sitting by the beach, all pissed off at the choice of Jane's Addiction as a Saturday night headliner (and vocal about it)...and they DID appreciate Puff!

Puff T. and Kate

Again, once we got back to camp Alex donned the red bear suit and raged the Green Vibes stage for P-Groove. We washed off our skeleton paint and promptly passed out for the evening.
Sunday is always an odd day at festivals, always a very uncomfortable transition back to reality. Slatkin, Jessi and I went on a hunt for an anniversary present for Sethro. I found a beautiful psychedelic print from one of our favorite Vibes artists, Larry Carlson. His wonderful wife Kate runs their booth and always charges our dragon battery for us. The print looks just like [a very psychedelic version of] our mountain here in Rock Camp. It was the perfect anniversary present.
Slowly but surely we packed up camp. We said goodbye to our remaining crew members and finally left Vibes.

All Good XV - beyond this point, there be dragons

2011-07-31T17:04:00.001-04:00

All Good was all good! We busted ASS, and raged that mountain! Seth and I left Rock Camp Wednesday morning, picked up Jeremy and Justin in Rich Creek Va and headed to Morgantown. Jeremy fell asleep in the backseat while Seth drove and we listened to 'Jamtronica' on Jam-On. We stayed at the Morgantown Motel. We saw this amazing "rasta-bus" in the parking lot outside our building, so immediately ran down to chill with those people! It was a great 'lot scene' in the Morgantown Motel pre-All Good.
We woke up early the next morning and headed to check in at the Ramada. We were thrilled to not have to stand in the incredibly long line, since we were checking in as artists/performers. Seth and I got "grassroots" artist laminates and Jeremy and Justin got vendor bracelets. We really need the laminates at these big festies...they make our passage through gates, check-points, and the crowds so much simpler. They tell people "we were hired to do this"...

We met up with some of our caravan, Christian Critzer and his wife Jenn as we were leaving the Ramada. They followed us to Masontown, but we lost them on the way into the festie. We had a "vending" parking sticker on the truck, they didn't.
At the first security check point, we got All Good's playbill/schedule booklet...and there on page 15, was our billing. It still wigs me out that an, albeit brief, piece of literature I wrote was published by All Good! Check it out here!
We got all the way through the check points and back roads, only to end up in the wrong place, unable to get to the RIGHT place. We back tracked to 'gate one', and headed through the main entrance of the festival, escorting Christian and Jenn down Production Ave straight to our camp site behind the yet-to-be-graffittied water bus. We set up camp and relaxed in the heat of the day. Then Seth and Jeremy and Justin and I donned some goofy hats, wigs and sunglasses and went for our first stroll through the festival.
We met some cool cats from NJ over by the ferris wheel, then got our pictures taken as dancing bears (teehee)!

We headed back to camp to do our first real bear set of the fest. Jeremy jumped into our orange bear suit, Justin into the red one, and Christian into the blue rasta bear...I donned my skeleton body suit and roses and out we went!
It was a long bear set, we covered a lot of ground, kept our poor hotter-than-hell bears as hydrated as wee could, and stopped for LOTS of impromptu photo shoots. Everybody loves da bears!
After our crazy bear stint we headed back to camp to chill out for a long while. It was hot, and for 5pm on Thursday at All Good, we were doing really well.

As the sun set we did another bear set, this time heading into the venue rather than canvasing the crazy camping areas. We were a hit, stopping for pictures with babies and babes, old hippies and young ravers. We danced our bear buts off to the sounds of Hot Buttered Rum, then headed back to camp.
While we'd been our bearing it up, two more of our crew arrived. Brendan (and his brand new dragon who we fondly named 'Tronic) and Raph were setting up camp in the dark.

When the John Butler Trio came on we did a set with Puff T. Magic-Dragon...and got a shout out!! To us, under the dragon, it sounded like someone right next to us made the "I hope that psychedelic snail-slug thing is helping the night" comment...but lo and behold it was John Butler!!!
After that knock out Puff set, we went for a round with 'Tronic, the newest member of our glowing family. Brendan was thrilled, he'd been looking forward to blowing it up for STS9. I was on 'Tronic's head, Brendan on the battery-pack-backpack right behind me, various other crew members filling the rest of the dragon out. We raged the second half of STS9 so hard we blew a fuse! Brendan RAN back to camp to get another, and we finished out the crazy set, and the crazy night.

Friday was a whole new day. First thing in the am we body painted up Brendan and Jeremy as metal bunnies. This requires some explanation. All Good bases it's theme every year on the Chinese Zodiac. Last year was the year of the tiger, the year before was the rat, etc. This year, 15, was the year of the bunny. More specifically, according to the Chinese Zodiac, it's the year of the metal bunny (as opposed to a wood bunny or a water bunny etc). So we sent our two male metal bunnies for a jog. They headed straight up the crazy All Good hill into the camping areas. Bradley, another RCP crew member showed up to camp right after they left.

They came back sweaty and smiling and surprisingly body paint intact. They only met a few intolerant festie goers on their jog (receive a few slurs, "faggot" among them). However, we didn't let that phase us. We painted up most of the rest of our crew (as metal bunnies of course) and two of our neighbors as skeletons and "All Good Man". We went and staked out a spot under the red lanterns, organized our body paints and brushes, then I in all my naked, body painted glory started advertising FREE body painting.

Justin decided to opt out of the body painting, for fear of roasting alive in the sun (he has very fair skin) but held the umbrella for us so the rest of the bunnies could have some shade.
After hours of body painting mischief we headed back to camp. Jeremy, Raph and I went to wash our body paint off at the water bus fifty yards from our camp site. That was cute until I'd washed of most of my paint....then I was just that naked chick washing at the water bus cause she didn't want to pay five dollars for a shower.

FINALLY it was time for Furthur. Though they started their four hour slot super late, we were ready with a puppet and a dragon. We got Puff T. Magic-Dragon and Sid Glo out there with the brand new glowing beating heart I made for Phil. We RAGED it...gave Gertrude the Jellyfish a hug from Sid and made our way down to the front during "We bid you goodnight"...expecting a "donate your organs" speech from Phil (and an encore)...but sadly, nothing. The plan had been to hand Phil Lesh the afformentioned heart when he called for the audience to donate their organs. We were bummed out about the lack of speech, but Big Gigantic raged SO HARD immediately, we didn't have time to pout. Sid chase Puff out of the venue and home to camp.

Saturday morning started off hot and slow. We went out for a bear set with Rex Jam, and canvassed the crowd to help raise funds for the local school music and arts programs. We were out in the hot sun for TWO HOURS...and returned to camp completely dead. I passed out immediately until right before our night shows.
We got Sid out for the end of moe. and the begining of Primus. Then we really busted out Puff for Primus...fighting our way through the tough and rough crowd. At one point I turned around at a tugging from behind my vantage point of the first rib, only to see Puff's tail wrapped around a random audience-member's fist. This bro was playing tug-of-war with our dragon! We got a shout out from Les Claypool...although leave it to him to give us a quote we can't REALLY use....something about his manager smoking crack and chasing dragons.
Then...FINALLY...it was time for Pretty Lights....we pushed to get ALL of our glowing cast of characters out there for this crazy bumpin' late night! Sent Sid out for a loop, chased him with Puff T! then sent Brendan and a crew out with 'Tronic. My camera battery gave out before this, and I'm bummed, because there were some great photo ops with our crazy cast of glowing characters! We were all back at camp when he remixed Country Roads, and our crew collectively groaned, knowing we shouldn've been out there for that climax....but we were ALL beat from a crazy weekend (and a CRAZY bear set for Rex Jam).
Sunday was a light day. We did a single bear set, then packed up camp and said our goodbyes (for now). We were all sad to hear about poor Nicole, the young girl who died in a tragic accident Sunday morning. What an awful way to end such a wonderful weekend.
Still, we put our hearts and souls into this All Good show. We blew minds and held hearts. Next year is the year of the "water dragon"....Seth and I are already planning our show for All Good XVI!

An Introduction

2011-07-31T13:22:00.000-04:00

This is the OFFICIAL blog for Rock Camp Productions! RCP is a unique production company I help run with my wonderful boyfriend, the founder, Seth Abramson. We tour a Giant Glowing Puppet Dragon Rodeo (Glodeo! for short...) to most of the major music festivals across the country and some smaller local festivals as well. Our tour this summer has included All Good XV and The Gathering of the Vibes XVI so far. Next weekend we're taking our giant glowing family (Puff T. Magic-Dragon, Siddhartha (Sid) Glo, and Dr. Molly Glo) to Elysian Fields Festival in Northern Va and then we're headed to Camp Barefoot!
We live on a ~500 acre family farm on top of a mountain in Rock Camp WV. Seth is a partial owner of part of the farm, but he and I (and our many pets) are the only ones who live here. We're slowly but surely renovating our little farmhouse. From our front porch we have the best view of our main stage.
Oh yeah, we also throw a great grassroots music and arts festival on this beautiful mountain: the Pink Moon Festival (check out our facebook event page here) in honor and remembrance of Seth's late mother, Pinky. Pink Moon is held on Pinky's birthday, September 16. Last year, for Pinky's 60th birthday party we had EOTO, boombox, Telepath, Archnemesis, Sol, DJ Williams Projekt, the lee boys, yo mama's big fat booty band, the rogan brothers, DJ Rahbee and about thirty other bands. We got a great article in the arts section of the Roanoke Times right before last year's fest.
This year we'll be hosting Donna Jean Godchaux (formerly of The Grateful Dead), Particle, and a whole slew of national and local talents.

Check this out, from GOTV last weekend: Picture #22