EDC 2014 - Day 3 - Sunday

EDC 2014 - Day 3 - Sunday

After some difficulty going under, I got another glorious ~5 hours of ambrosiac sleep, and woke around noon or so. I had time to encapsulate most of Day 2, then we rushed out of the wonderful, welcoming warehouse that served as our primary base camp. For me it was extra-tough, 'cause they were all coming back there but my night would end at an airport at 6:00 am to fly home to Portland.
No silly bother with breakfast this morning, no! We wanted to get in, eat, get packed & loaded, and have plenty of time for makeup (whiteface!) and costumes.
We unloaded, we ate, I quickly assembled my bags, and I had hours to kill until go-time. I put on my Assless Chaps outfit. I think I had wavy black hair with it. It's a good way to be entertaining. I think Jenny-Penny, at least, is entertained by my costumes. :) RAD and Wanderlust just roll their eyes, other than Leah, who simply giggles uncontrollably when she sees me looking ridiculous. I read my Robert Jordan book a lot... over the course of the bus ride plus EDC, I've read nearly a quarter of Book 7. I also finished my Day 2 update.
As I was finishing it, I found myself sitting beside Sarah, whom I believe worked in sound & lighting. She mentioned cigars, and I recited The Betrothed, by Rudyard Kipling. She was delighted! It's rare to find a good audience for that poem, but people who own cigar stores are definitely the target audience.
And then it was off to the gates. Our first few Line Parties went well, but on the final one things went wonky and Amanda came down on her knee and ankle. :( It was miserable, though several people said it didn't look too bad. *shudder* It was bad for us. And she had scraped-up knee and swollen ankle all the rest of the night.

But man... did that girl bounce right up, smile firmly, and radiate "all is well". She walked (not limped) to the back and returned attention to the ongoing show. As she said later, while we sympathized over her ankle, "It's the not the first time I've sprained my ankle onstage." Kudos to experienced performers... the show must go on.
After resting and retouching our sweat-washed makeup, we headed out to do a photo set with a stop-motion videographer. We spent about an hour setting up the action shot, drilling, charging cameras, and all of the other things that inevitably turn a "quick shoot" into hours of timesuck. Then the videographer announced that he and his crew were going to supper. We rushed off and did the same. We got our shoots, afterward. I really hope we get to see that. We did some pretty cool stuff that they can put into Bullet Time Slo-Mo, like the Matrix.

Then Mr. Creature lit up with "Rides!" on his mind, and a handful of us scampered off to get crazy with the carnival. It was Creature & Dominic & our handler & I, plus 3 of the Toxic Bunnies.

Let me explain the Toxic Bunnies.  

Toxic Bunnies (not EDC 2014)

These aren't exactly the same costumes - ours were more neon-colored. But you get the gist. Superhot body, bikini, and freaky bunny-head with gas mask. The poor girls have horrible tunnel vision in the masks, and they can hardly hear. We guided them about, warning them of stairs or other obstructions. Two of them went up in a spinny-whirly ride with us. The guy to Dominic's immediate right just barely survived the ride. I think I had more fun watching him go through major terrified trauma, than I did on the ride. Poor dude nearly exploded.

Next we took the Toxic Bunnies up onto an Art Car / Mutant Vehicle. We danced a bit, and Creature shot off the vehicle's flame cannons, and the Bunnies posed eerily or danced sexily as the music demanded. It was a good place to chill and relax for a bit. I put Dominic up in a 2-high to see things from an elevated viewpoint.
The Bunnies headed back to home base, and we did too after a few more rides. Then Leah snagged me and Dominic and we danced merrily off to circle the Bassnectar stage en route to the Parade staging area. There, we lounged about for the requisite useless hour, and finally we set off. Only Jenna was there, and me & Dom & Joesai were pretty beat, so we didn't do a ton of stunts. I did do lots of my newly-discovered tumbling pass (see next paragraph), and backflips. It was an excellent parade. I had a couch-full of clowns nearby to provide exquisite distraction. I had waves of delighted party-goers, anxious to see they knew not what... but we knew! They wanted to see tricks! And we had them. :)

I discovered, on this magical final night, that I have a tumbling pass! :) I don't know why I didn't do this before now. If I do a Cartwheel Step-Together into a Back Handspring Stepout, it looks like a real tumbling pass. I guess, technically, it is. It's just... sorta cheesy. I dunno. *shrug* But I like it. And, I can do it over raved-out kids sitting crosslegged together. As I step up from the BHS Stepout I get to look at their faces and see them process what just happened. It's super-fun.
Then we wandered off, to more popups, and more rides, and more delightful EDC fun. At one point a bunch of us converged at Cosmic Meadow, just past the stage from our Greenroom windows. We went deep into the crowd, and then Dominic and I started chucking Jenna and Amanda up into the air on drops.
Oh, what sweet bliss. To coil up like a practiced machine, integrating with another machine(s), to perform a Big Trick. Seeing the faces of those watching is indescribable. I don't know how the flyers do it. I kept getting too much attention. I'd finish a trick, watching thousands of faces looking at me, and I'd drop down in a crouch, into the dark, hot, wet air that's already been breathed too many times. I wasn't tired or overheated (much)... I was just recharging circuits blown out by attention overload. Then I'd hear a drop coming, and I'd motion frantically for the required acrobatic components, and *whomp* we'd be back up in the limelight on a drop.
I gotta say, acrobats: work your flicks. A flick that peaks on a drop is an amazing thing. And if you get strong flicks, a spectacular Toe-Touch is easy to add. Hit that on a drop, and you'll blow minds.
I was resting after a big drop stunt, and an athletic girl came up to me and said, "I'm on an Allstar cheer squad. Will you do a stunt with me?" I thought I was going to die. *sigh* You see, a few years back I would have had the joyful abandon to happily cast the Karmic Stunt Flyer up into a trick, making her night wonderful and amplifying my own experience. But, alas, my long years have finally brought a modicum of wisdom. It's often (perhaps even usually) a bad idea to stunt with non-performers. They're not covered by insurance. They might mess up. A random act of God might occur. If anything goes wrong, insurance doesn't cover it, and an injured flyer or audience member can say, "Your performer hurt me at your event." It just ain't worth the risk. *pained sigh*
We all eventually moseyed dreamily back, and I went back to the weight room. There was an amazing variety of very modern equipment there. I haven't been in a weight room since college, 20+ years ago. The new stuff is incredible. I was working isolated muscle groups in direct opposition to many of my acrobatic typical movements. Meaning, I was getting super-efficient counter-strengthening. Plus, all the stuff that I do need for what I do. I worked out really hard, for the first time in over 20 years. I spurn weight gyms - me & my bases lift ladyweights(c) Jon Dutch, but golly, was that nice!

Then I jumped in the shower and got cleeeeeean! So nice after hours of sweat (much of it not mine) and dance belt.

For those who aren't in the know on dance belts... they're like jock straps for athletes, but they're for dancers. Think of it as a bra for your junk. But they're tight, and they dig into your hips, and they crush your jewels into diamonds, and taking off a dance belt after hours of punishment is like drawing a breath of fresh air after nearly drowning.

I tranformed into my still-favorite costume to bid EDC farewell. Zebracorn is the best. His poor horn is wilted, his tail bedraggled, and rips & tears adorn his very flesh. He's disbursed top-shelf rum to visitors at the ship wreck, BRC 2012. He swam at Horning's Hideout for the String Cheese Incident, 2010. He's been all around, and people react better to Zebracorn than to any of my other outfits. He's my BFF, my Zebracorn. Some day he'll grow decrepit and old, and potentially pathetic, crowing, "I used to to BACKFLIPS! C'mere, you're small, do an Angel with me, let me park my walker..."I was all packed and ready, and not much use in helping others organize & pack their own stuff. So, Zebracorn ventured out for a farewell skip through EDC.
I was immediately sidetracked by J-Money, who I enticed to join me on the top floor, overlooking the entire festival. It's a pretty gnifty view, for sure. Then we moseyed down a floor, where, to my delight, two raver girls wanted their pictures taken with a Zebracorn. I propped them up in a Fan, one on each hip, and as we waited for their boy to figure out how to make the camera-phone work, they asked if I was too tired to hold them up that long. I chuckled (it's an easy trick to hold for long minutes) and told them that they were the ones who would have a hard time holding the pose. Then, I tickled them. They started to convulse but I told them to stay tight, and they did, long enough for the picture to take. It was awesome. I randomly tickled two strangers in a stunt. That was me, winning EDC.

Then I headed out by my lonesome. It's kind of an eerie, ostracized feeling. Virtually everyone at EDC is either with a group, or headed toward a group. Wandering alone is isolating and surreal. For me, at least. I dunno. Hopefully that adds to the Zebracorn mystery, or something.

I did two circuits, passing through the always-delightful Discovery Stage just beyond the main entrance to the Performer's Headquarters. On my final circuit back, I saw a zebra-girl! She had zebra-striped legs, and a zebra-striped top. I felt all awkward and middle-school-stricken. I was compelled to do a one-handed handstand against a nearby wall. Then I laughed at myself and walked over and confessed that I felt obligated to show off for her. She was delighted.
A few minutes later, we all traipsed back through the same area. Dominic and I had slung a large chunk of the circus' gear across the bar, and were porting it like slaves, on our shoulders. She saw me and jumped up and down and pointed me out to her friends, saying, "That's him!" I gave her a high-five as we walked past, headed back to the Wanderbus and away from the magic of EDC.
At about 6:00 we pulled up to LAX. I stumbled into my Normal Clothes. I felt pretty normal until they pointed out the eyeliner I couldn't get all the way off, and my black, white and blue hair. I pointed out that I was traveling from Las Vegas to Portland, two of the most likely places to find such things. I think they were right - at the airport I felt like I was drawing a lot of stares. I only did one handstand, and that was outside the airport. Hm, okay, I did do another one inside the airport, but that was only because the conveyer-belt-walkway thingy demanded it. It was fun to balance on. I also got to walk briskly backwards on some other conveyer-belt-walkways. It's amazing to watch the world recede from you at that rate, on foot. You can't get that perspective anywhere else.
I read my Robert Jordan book until boarding, then read it on the plane. I watched Vegas recede, and I watched Portland blossom on approach. I hopped a MAX and had a wonderful phone conversation with a friend I've been missing. Then I bussed to Creature's house, got my car, drove home, and stumbled back into normalcy at 10:00 Monday morning.I watered the garden, checked vital emails & messages, checked my phone (which didn't work properly the whole time I was in Vegas) and went to sleep for a few hours until my Monday started at 2:30.
Thank you, EDC. Thank you, Insomniac. Thank you, Wanderlust Circus. Thank you, Rose-city Acro Devils.And, thank you, patient reader, who at least scanned and potentially even read my spammy memorialization of a spectacular weekend as a performer. :)

(Facebook Note from 6/23/2014)