Music:
My favourite music last week was all the music at Wayhome! I implore you to read my post Wayhome Top 5 if you haven't already. But of course, as all good things come to an end, and I don't want to be a cop out so I'll share another piece of music I found. I'm on a nu disco kick again and I really like this song:
Especially near the end, it sounds like an electronic-funky version of Justice. So catchy.
Relatedly to WayHome, my first YouTube video ever (Glass Animals - Gooey) is doing well in the eyes of the masses! Hey, why not watch it right here? The power of the interwebs...
Accomplishment:
I saw 36 out of the total 73 bands. That includes seeing the Darcys on Thursday night at the ArtWalk which was a really cool addition to the three-day weekend I had last year.
Last Monday, since I had the day off, I actually somehow willed myself to book a driving lesson for an hour and a half. My instructor took me on the highway for the first time, which was really cool! (and I've since booked my G test for the end of August).
Goal:
I'd like to organize all of my pictures and videos (since they're 4K quality, Google Photos ain't gonna cut it for this one). I'd like to remove them all from my phone except some of the more excellent ones - and add a bunch of music to my phone since I have 64 beautiful GB of space now.
I'm also going to make a goal calendar for August. It won't be as heavy as the last one I made for March since I want some free time to chill out and drink beer in the sun. But I am hoping that by setting specific time to work and specific time to play, I won't feel as guilty when I shirk off work. That's the plan, anyway!
Random Thought: WayHome Attire
I love the people watching at festivals. Some people dress solely for comfort/utility (like me), while others dress to the nines. I spent a good amount of time leading up to the festival trying to find an outfit that mixes the best aspects of both, but couldn't really work something out. And so I relied on the basics. But I think I probably asked about ten people where they got their "blank". Festivals are a really good place to shop around if you're looking for a particular piece of clothing but don't know exactly what you want.
On a related note, I feel like I finally have the utility of festivals down pat. Inside a tiny fanny pack, I was able to fit all of this stuff!
There's no feeling like being prepared to keep your spot at the front of the crowd for a set that starts in 45 minutes. Which actually only happened once!
Inspiration: Art Installations
I was not let down by the art installations at WayHome this year. Here are a few:
On our way from Mac DeMarco (I'm pretty sure) to Unknown Mortal Orchestra, we walked past these weird glowey things hanging down like vines. There were people sitting under them, and we noticed that they had totally broken through a metal gate to sit there. So we did, too.
There was this weird wooden structure that looked like a cloud dragon from a Studio Ghibli movie. Watch this weird 11 second video of me walking under it.
Some of the sponsored areas had interesting stuff, like a garden of glass bottle trees and this weird terrarium that looks like it has straight up garbage in the middle. Weird job, Perrier.
Reebok scaled back a little this year from GIVING EVERYONE FREE LEATHER SHOES last year (still can't believe it) to giving everyone free rides on a ferris wheel. Not bad.
There were cool palm tree-looking fibre-optic light things around the main stage and of course, everyone favourite flags from last year (which were also at Bestival but looked much more beautiful at WayHome since they didn't have to compete with a rainbow vomiting skittles everywhere).
At the objectively worst stage – WayBright (no cloud cover, terrible sound, and uphill toward the stage), there was a pair of arresting portraits. I don't know if they were painted or photographed, but honestly seeing them at that scale and the intense detail being larger than life, it would have been amazing even if they were photographs. Seriously, arresting. They made the stage almost bearable to be near. (I only took a picture of this one - it was the better one).
At that very stage, I was watching Bahamas and feeling a bit too hot. For some reason, I felt a strong pull to go backwards, all the way from sevenish spots from the stage to behind the sound booth and beyond. I don't know why I went that way, but I did. And then I came across something amazing. Everyone was lying under a parachute! I did too, and listened to Bahamas under some delicious shade. Amazing, amazing idea.
While I was waiting for...I want to say Bahamas, I ran into a couple who were squirting each other with water from ketchup and mustard bottles. So cute! The girl had a really cool tattoo. I asked her if I could take a picture of it, and she posed while her boyfriend did...well, watch the video to see what he did.
Finally, finally, I got to witness a DJ playing outside an RV. On the Sunday night, as we were leaving, this guy was spinning some crazy shit. I had heard about it last year and was honestly so satisfied to say that I have now also experienced it. That's all I have to say about that.
As we were walking to the exit after the last set, Dean was looking around at all the trash left on the grounds. Then, he started singing an upbeat song about trash, just like saying trash over and over again. It was simple and sounds really dumb but it was just really funny at the time. Anyway this photographer started laughing with us and asked Dean if he could take his photo. This was the photo.
Photo credit: Jesse Milns
Amazing. After that, I finally found my favourite totem that I had been describing to my friends all weekend and no one had seen. Yes, it was the BIC lighter. First of all, I had that colour lighter and it was my favourite until it ran out like a month before. Second of all, I'm going to steal that idea and make it glow red and orange with fiber-optics for next year. And I'm going to have the name of the bands I want to see most each day on the sides, and interchange it every day. GENIUS. God, I don't care if anyone steals that idea, let's all do it. Think about how cool that would look in a crowd at night.
Lastly, the most inspiring thing happened at the very very end of the festival, just as we were leaving after the trash fiasco. I had noticed that the wonderful floating sky balloons on a string had returned from last year, and they were inside the festival this year instead of being in the campgrounds. I had noticed earlier also that they were actually being blown up during the festival, to create more interest in process and dynamism throughout the day than simply appearing on Saturday morning from out of a van.
I decided at the last minute that I wanted to see where these things were tied down. Again, no idea why, I just wanted to for some reason. What I found at the end of the balloons was AMAZING. First of all, the balloon were NOT tied down. They were being held at this end that I could see, and the other end across the field that I couldn't see, by people. Like flying a giant balloon kite. Flipping amazing. And I held that thing and I did not let go.
Second of all, the man behind this amazingness happened to be standing behind me, and he told me about how he has made these beautiful and simple installations into a day job. He's been to Coachella and festivals in Europe too.
It's already on the collage wall :) Please do check out his website here.
And lastly, TOTEMS! Here is a photo dump of all the totems I saw fit to photograph (in addition to the BIC lighter one which won the contest and my heart).
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