fyi: the letters at the top are the newest ones...

Meltdown 3
11/10/01
Dallas, TX

Da Lineup: Dave Ralph, Supa DJ Dimitry, Vicious Vic, Simply Jeff, Dave Aude, Reid Speed, Ani, Tech itch + MC Jakes, Dom & Roland, Shut up and Dance, Terry Mullan, Paul Johnson, Ron Carrol, Skip, Aaron Ochoa, and everyone else (there were like 20 more but I simply don’t want to type it all out)

Meltdown 3 has to be the pinnacle of raving in Dallas. It had all of the elements there to represent what has gone on in Dallas for as long as I can remember. The cops were there to fuck with us, promised talent was curtailed (I missed Dave Ralph because they shut down early), and everyone bitched about it for a week. I’m sick of everyone bitching. I had a badass time at Meltdown and no one can tell me otherwise. I’m almost glad I missed Meltdown last year because I didn’t have anything to compare it to. The first Meltdown, I was in the depths of addiction too deep to even bother noticing it happened. There will never be another party quite like it ever again. I don’t want to go into why this is true but rather jump in head first as what made it badass.

We had two virgins with us when we set out to Fair Park. I had drank two and a half forties of O.E. and smoked quite a bit of chron. I was feeling fantastic and it was the first time I really got to hang out with my girl in two weeks. All I had to make it through the night was an excellent eighth of shroomies and a ticket to get inside. We arrived right as the doors opened and the line wasn’t bad at all. I got Kid Icarus’ (he is who threw the party) new c.d. “Tune in Technology”. I even got a guide to the timeslots and map of the venue. Jungle rushed out of the local room so we shot inside and gave it a listen. It was Squirt, and you have to love him, no seriously you do. Personally I love an M C but everyone else I know hates them. Why is that? Anyway, Squirt uses no M C so my friends ate it up.

Like I said earlier, we had two virgins with us, and I forgot how long it takes for people to learn how to dance. They still weren’t ready yet but I’m glad their first taste of a party was with jungle. We walked around and saw the rest of the stages and things looked great. Prototype really kept their promise and pulled out all of the stops for there last party. I was as happy as a kid in a candy store because one of my favorite friends Mr. Andrew Motherfucking Wheatherford was in attendance. This kid brought it back because the last time I saw him at a rave was Ultra Raver Republic and he swore to me up and down he would never go to another party again. I was already in flip mode by the time I saw him but nonetheless it added to my much-needed satisfaction.

So after about 11:00 Simply Jeff and the Phonoheadz were on the decks. I remembered what it takes to get newbies to dance but they had started eating pills hours ago. My break dancing nigga Blura was feeling sick that night but I pulled up a little floor in his honor. I also spent quite a bit of time chilling with my boy Rube. Two days after this party he moved to Bellingham WA to snowboard all winter, the lucky bastard. But by far the most fun was watching this 15 year old we had brought with us. She was my girl’s neighbor but she managed to get inside and showed off some skills and she can’t wait for her next party. Around now is when my girl’s friend Deena showed up and she needed a ticket of her own to party so I volunteered to find it for her. I told everyone in my group to chill and wait and we would be right back. We leave for ten minutes, no more, and not a damn person is there. Deena and I sit on the floor and wait for like half an hour and no one shows up. I get up to look about the main room but to no avail and when I return for Deena, she’s gone too!

Ok. Now Supa DJ Dimitry is stepping up but I’m all alone. I couldn’t really look at anything and expect to be able to really see whatever it may be, so I walked around and talked to people. It was strange because there was an obvious lack of veterans where I chose to be. Given, most people were watching Reid Speed or Skip (Reid is sooo little, but she is downright cute) but still. The coolest person I talked to was a preschool teacher from Plano, which is northeast of Dallas. Our conversation was normal, name, age, rank… you know. Then she says, “Hey want to hear my pick up line?”

I’m like, “ok”

Then she said the funniest thing I have heard in a long time, “Nice shoes want to fuck?” I laughed for so long. I’ll never forget her because we are just chilling and talking and she comes out with, “You know I’ve only been with one guy before, other than that I’ve only been with girls. Does that bother you?” I had to gather all of my strength to keep from smiling because she was as serious as a heart attack.

“No, I’m cool.” That was all I could come up with. I had forgot how much fun it was to talk to people at parties. I had more fun in that hour than I had till we were driving home. I had a fresh pill and a half in me and then the lights came on and we had to bail. I was the only one awake in the full Tahoe for the entire ride home except our driver and devirginized Derrick. So that about sums up Meltdown 3, the last rave in Dallas. Some unknown crew is throwing an X-mas party called “Diesel Flavored Candy Canes and Radioactive Elves” but someone please, stop letting DJ Irene headline. She’s here like once a month. C’mon, get Jesse Saunders or something. I know we all love house, but please. That’s all from D-town till 12-5 for Planet of the Drums.

Peace, John

And I will be at 2gether as One.

Airport
The Meadowlands Austin, TX
10/6/01
Lineup: Richie Hawtin, Pete Tong, Ferry Corsten, George Acosta, Lil’ Louie Vega, Josh Wink, Mark Farina, Bad Boy Bill, Charles Feelgood, DJ Lafleche, Blackalicious, Grooverider, MC Paul Barman, Roc Raida, Bailey, Ray Keith, Dara, Rob Gee, H3

I have good news people! The scene is still alive! I’m not sure exactly how healthy it is, but I’ve got to admit it’s getting better. Things went pretty much exactly to plan. I was picked up by two badasses and was rushed straight up inside Austin. Last time I was here was ok at best but I’m not even worrying because Airport is tomorrow and I’m going…if it goes off. The last Ark Entertainment show was supposed to be in San Antonio, but the courts blocked it from happening. I don’t even want to discuss Cyberfest anymore, the only reason I had a good time was because I was with the most special girl in the world. So this being the next massive, it was going to be interesting to see what happened.

Arrive about eleven to my friends apartment, and start to drink some Shiner Bock, up there with the best beers around but Modella Negra is the best. Take some bong hits and don’t wake up until three the next day. Damn, we have to get tickets, which by the way were forty fucking dollars. Next time I would rather have you go ahead and rape me instead of paying forty fucking dollars. Oh well, at our last stop at the apartment we drink some more beer and take some shots of tequila. I figure I’ll accent later with a clonipin and some vicodin. Hey, at least it’s not crack and I will be functional tomorrow. If you have never been drunk to a rave, I highly recommend it. Not sloppy drunk or anything too bad, but it sure makes the line a lot of fun, and was there a line.

The first line was for the bus to take you to the venue. There was no other way, and you had to pay another two dollars. We waited in line for about an hour as state police walked up and down the line. It looked like they were searching people to get on the bus but they were not. Add another twenty minutes to get to the venue, which was actually right next to the airport and we were there. You know what I really hate, is when they won’t let you take in lighters. And they only did this on the boys’ side of the line. It looked like the bus thing wasn’t working as well as it should have because it was past ten and most of the stages were relatively empty.

First I soak in a little of Mars on the main stage. I used to live in California but I never saw Mars. Technically I should have seen him at How Sweet It Is 00’ but you guys remember how they kept shutting down the first warehouse? So here he is. I have to do a little stretching and the people look happy. I see some of my friends that came up for Mankind and briefly exchange hellos. George Acosta comes on next but I decide to take a break (I know already, right) to watch the break-dancers. I just can’t get enough of those kids. I’m learning a little bit, I can six-step and do some swipes, but I will get better. My nigga Blura and I practice at least like twice a week. I spend quite a bit of time in the hip-hop tent, if that’s what it was. Well it was when I was there. I remember seeing this white kid with a fro rapping out “Cock Monster”, that was the chorus. Made me laugh, and I saw H3, which was exactly as billed “3 MC’s 2DJ’s and a live band”. They were pretty fucking tight.

As I walked back to the main stage Ferry Corsten was just going on. I hate trance but this guy was supposed to be some sort of genius or something. I listened for about twenty minutes, but it was very dark and unforgiving. It was almost difficult to dance to for me. Everyone can scrutinize that interpretation for all it’s worth but that is how I feel. So then I decided to go to the tent I had been neglecting thus far. The best thing happened next. The reason of going to Austin was about to happen. I walk in this tent to a voice saying, “Presenting, from Chicago, IL !BAD BOY BILL!” The next hour and a half is John dancing like he has never danced before. I’m not modest so I can say I tore that shit up. No one could keep up with the Bump Bump Bump and me. There is no music like house music. I still firmly believe this. So now I’m a bit sweaty and it becomes down right cold.

I had to think about it very hard while Mistress Barbara spun in the background. It’s like 3:30. Leave now and ride that damned bus or stay and be cold while you wait for everyone else in front of you to ride the bus back. Needless to say I hightailed it out of there like it was the last helicopter out of Saigon. I smoked a lot when we got to the apartment. The beer was gone but I really didn’t need one. I slept like a baby till four Sunday afternoon and once again it was time to depart Austin. Thank you Jessica and Ben for taking me you crazy fools. I have to shout out to my boy E even though he didn’t go (E is a person by the way). I hope to go back to Austin but I heard that it was Ark’s last party. Bad things, Meltdown 3 is Prototypes last party. What will we have left? It’s time to start digging through all the flyers to find an up and coming.

    <end transmission>

Cyberfest: The Follow Up AIRPORT

Time: 3:00 pm
Date: 10/5/01
Place: My house
The Plan: Get picked up by friends from Austin at 6:00 pm. Go to Austin. Go to record store. Get tickets. Drink beer and smoke weed, and look at the flyer about a dozen times. Sleep. Get up and prepare for Airport.

Ok. Everything somehow fell into place. Missed Nocturnal, Cyberfest, well I told you about it. Didn’t think I was going to Airport when I woke up this morning, but the karma was good. Like a perfectly air-conditioned day in Cali; a perfect amount of wind was blowing to make pushing a lawnmower not quite so mundane. Got an e-mail from very excited friends. Couldn’t go. Now they are on their way to get me. Funny how things happen. I am totally stoked about the party. I am going to dance my ass off and this time I am taking two cameras just in case. I have to load up on confetti, better add that to the plan.

The Plan: Go to Wal-Mart and buy lots of confetti, the glittery kind.

That about spells it out for you. The next entry should be pretty interesting. I have to take a nap. Sleep looks scarce and valuable.

   <end transmission>

Cyberbust Houston 2001

The event known as Cyberfest Houston was last Saturday night (9-22). It was my “birthday party” even though my birthday is actually the 29th. It had an incredible lineup and kept me from sleeping well at night for about a solid month. It was also a perfect example that crack does not smoke itself. Most would also say it was a complete disaster, and I agree, but I did have an amazing time with loads of stimulating moments. Many of my friends spent their time trying really hard to have a great time but I didn’t have to try; nothing was going to come between this party and I.

It’s difficult to decide where to start to capture the full essence of what led up to this party. I’m much to scared of boring the shit out of you by going into the full details and I’m much too lazy to actually describe the futile and mundane, which means your in luck and I go right to the actual point of arrival. Our crew (my kande girl Jennifer (I’m waiting for you to sprout those wings any day now), her best friend Mandy, and my break dancing straight g Blura) all think, “Hmmm, it’s like 5:30 and there is no line off the highway?” We have all been to massives before and with this lineup we should be backed up for miles. The party was set to go down at two pm and thump until six am. As soon as we round the u-turn to go under the highway and in to ranch that the party was on, we see nothing but a line of cars and a huge barricade of police cars with matching sheriffs and the rest of the gang.

Next I saw one of the coolest things of the evening. Some of the party kids had broke the fence and taken the planks and were driving over the mud of the ditch and into a parking lot. There were only about 100 or so cars inside the fence so it had to have just happened. So we pull up to the hole in the fence and they say, ”Don’t get stuck cause this is the only way in.” “Don’t ruin it for everyone else and drive really fast.” I don’t really know what legal issues were involved but we did it anyway without really thinking about it. We paid some guy five bucks to park (who knows if we really were supposed to or not) and smoked a little pinner of some excellent greens. Very slowly people filed toward the dirt road we all assumed we were supposed to walk while the police watched with blank stares and unassuming eyes.

I waited for a while in the “roll call” line with a sick feeling I was not on the guest list.
“Hello I’m from Raver’s Digest”
“Who?”
“Raver’s Digest”
“River’s Digest?”
“Raver’s Digest”
“Reader’s Digest?”
An obviously annunciated “RAVERS”
“Oh. What are the names?”
As expected I was not on the guest list. I don’t blame Mark at all; he actually got me in the party. There was no telling what was going to happen at this party now. I showed the guy my e-mail with Mark’s instructions and he scanned it and saw the two names he dropped me and said, “So how many do you need?”

We entered the party without any search proceeded to the front to wait for our friends. At first I saw only one stage, quite obviously the main, but everything was covered in plastic and this thing was supposed to start at two. Here I was at 5:30 and I was literally there with only about 3 or 400 people. Upon examination there looked like maybe three other stages set up but alas no music from them either. Everyone I saw at this point looked pretty much in disbelief. It could have been the unmarked helicopters that were circling or the fact that there was something very weird going on. I said what’s up to more of my goofy ass friends (you know who you are, and Robin too even though she wasn’t there) and then set out to do something.

The first couple of hours of music came exclusively from the main stage and it was pretty bad disco house stuff. A little later the trance and breaks began on the tiniest stage. And finally about 10:30 or so the first sounds of jungle filled the air. Most of the main stage was scattered with huge mud puddles, which I unwittingly dipped into a couple of times. The look on most peoples’ faces was that of solomn disbelief. Many danced but many more sat or stood and just watched. I remained in a level of constant movement in an attempt to gain some sort of justifiable perspective that would translate well onto paper. It seems I failed as well. I really don’t know what to tell you about this party. I went with great people, saw some great acts, had fun, yet the proper words elude me as to exactly what happened while we were there.

The party carried on nicely until about 4 am. I had gone out to the car (I could do that, I was VIP. Thanks Mark) for an undisclosed reason, ok, I ate my third green tiny tart. I was walking the half-mile back to the party and noticed kids leaving in droves. I mean literally, hundreds of kids all walking the complete opposite way as me. I would stop every other group and ask, “What’s going on? Why is everyone leaving?” A few party goers were obviously irate and gave me a few profane answers but for the most part no one said a word. I guess this is the best picture of the party I can give. No one knew exactly what was going on. A sickening feeling grew over me as I realized that the music had stopped, and I had just eaten some candy, and now I had to drive five hours home.

I would like to commend the dj’s that did perform with my utmost appreciation. You saved an event at which only about 20% of the posted talent showed up. Deiselboy, AK1200, all of the MC’s on the Jungle stage for preaching it how it is, Squirt, the Crystal Method, Planet B and everyone else who tried to assist in the disaster cleanup in Houston. Donations were accepted for the Red Cross for the tragedy in NY. What happened to our moment of silence people? I remember seeing one very true saying etched onto one of the vendors vans. “Ravers Vote Too” I bring it up because scenes across America are degenerating.

Recently, San Antonio shut down any rave in the city on the day of a pretty massive event. Parties in CA have been shutting down at like 12 or 2 at night. Cyberfest was shut down at four and riot police had been dispatched earlier in the night. What the hell is that? Because the entrance was blocked off people had to park up to five miles away (yes, an hours walk). I wish I knew who the fuck died out there. Incidents like these only further the cause of law enforcement. We need some sort of action and we need it now. If you plan on going to a party any time soon then do us all a favor and do something proactive and positive in an attempt to save everyone’s good time. Instead of sitting there thinking, “But I’m only one person, what can I do?” Go do something. We need unity people. We need a lot of it. Let’s go do it.

What the fuck are you waiting for? Did you think I was kidding or what? GO!!!

 <end transmission>

Subj: I'm back from Cyberbust Houston
Date: 9/23/01 2:26:35 PM Pacific Daylight Time
From: GiantJELLO
To: Zillion111

Mark i would love to be mailing you with some badass information but there are not very many good things to tell. The party was not supposed to happen. There was a court order blocking it from going off. So at 5:30 when we showed up, people begin driving through the fence to park. The music didn't start until 8:00 and then only on the mainstage. Two other stages went on at ten. Planet B, the Crystal Method, Charles Feelgood performed along with Aphrodite and Deiselboy, and then at 4:00 the police arrested the promoters and shut the motherfucker down. There were only like maybe 3-4 thousand people there so someone lost a couple of million dollars. Well I'm going to sleep now but I'll send you my best to capture what really happened in a night shourded with chaotic overtones. Who knows, it might turn out good.

Peace,
John

  <end transmission>

You may not realize it, but my Labor Day weekend has just lost a good chunk of what it was supposed to be. Hopes were high as I figured I would finally get to see Donald Glaude, as he was headlining Water here in Dallas on Labor Day. Now he has cancelled, sort of. As you are well aware, Nocturnal is also Labor Day, and Donald is scheduled to appear there as well. He was going to do both still, spin at 8 pm in Dallas and then hop on a plane and go to CA to spin at 4:30 am, but the promoters for Water figured that it was simply not worth the cash that they would be shelling out. I can understand completely as I’m sure most any sensible person could. I’m not writing this to simply bitch, I just want someone out there to remember me while they are on the dance floor.

So kids, while you’re fighting the traffic of 10,000 cars all going to the same place, throw on your favorite track and listen to it for me. While you’re waiting in line, tell someone that there is some kid in Dallas that wishes everyone a good evening. While you first witness the explosive energy that is present at any massive, give someone a big friendly smile for me. Make a kande bracelet that says JELLO, and give it to someone, and tell this person it’s from me. They will have no fucking idea what you are talking about, but that is not the point. Of course, save me a dance. If I was there, I would save you one, so do it for me.

I promise, I will do you the same courtesy that night. All of us will be under the same sky, the same stars. The implications are huge. Who is to say that those bubbles in the air didn’t get there all the way from Dallas? How do you know that I didn’t see that same falling star? This is the kind of unity all scenes across the US need in order to survive. I used to think it was impossible to build a culture on an event that only happens once a week. I now know that I was wrong, cause we keep on trying. As sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, I will be dancing by your side. As sure as the moon will eclipse again, I will join you in this celebration. Sometimes, while I’m dancing, mingling, or what have you, I think about who you are and what you must be like. It almost makes me smile when I think about how alike we are.

I’ll meet you someday, who ever you are. If you look really hard, and I mean really, really hard, you will find me at Nocturnal. I’ll be dancing with a huge grin on my face. I’ll be doing light shows and then disappearing into the night. I’ll be handing out flyers or covering your car with them. I’ll be passing my water and giving out candy. The one thing I ask is that you have fun. When the sun is rising, we know we made it together. Now is the perfect time to drop me an e-mail and tell me how it was. I’ll return the courtesy and tell you all about my night, with or without Donald Glaude.

GiantJELLO a.k.a. JELLO a.k.a. John

  <end transmission>

In order to understand why Mankind was so much fun, you have to understand the week I had before Mankind. I spent this week in Austin, where I was supposed to be chilling with my best friend E. His real name is Evan, but I call him E. He had told me to come down but he failed to tell me that he had to work everyday 2-11 and write two papers (he’s a chemistry major at UT). The night I get to Austin I went to a party called Ravisance. The DJ’s were good even though I had already seen each of them at least once (Dave Aude, Danny tha Wildchild, DJ Mea). The venue was oversold, hot, small, and at the end of the night I found out I had been left at the party. No worries though, for I had met a very cool girl who gave me a ride to my friends apartment. Later in the week she took me out to dinner as well, which was cool because I never got to see E that much. Saturday comes I’m fully hyped on getting back to Funkytown (Fort Worth) and we make excellent time getting in at about 4pm. As an extra treat about 6 of E’s friends from Austin come up too for their first Dallas experience.

The stage is set and the line is long as we get to the venue. It’s like 9 o’clock and the line is already wrapped halfway around the side of the building. I’ve been here a million times but for some reason tonight they are taking forever to get everyone inside. Approaching the front door I begin to here bitching. Apparently, no cigarettes, no lighters, no binkies, and a whole shitload of other useless things, the latter of which I could handle, but the cigarette thing was going to be hard, or so I thought. We finally go in at about ten. We make it just in time to hear the end of Q-Bert doing a little teaser set. Now enter the break beats. I love this sound but the good crews had not made it inside yet to tear the floor up to shreds. MC Pibb begins to get the crowd hyped, and about this time I notice something unusual, no trance. Friends don’t let friends spin trance. We mingle and talk to the crowd and I go up on stage to see the set up.

I swear Spacegirl had five synths on the stage and I don’t doubt that she used them all. I soak up the final notes of Kai’s extremely hard house set in quick anticipation of Spacegirl. Baby Anne is next but I spend my time in the local room grooving to some tech-house, but the time is well spent. I feel I am now ready. I am not disappointed. I danced for almost an hour straight on the stage as she taught everyone a quick lesson on how to get the fuck down and party. I’ve always had a special interest in live p.a. There is something about the fact that this person is coming up with all these things themselves. They sequence it all by themselves and I can’t say I have ever seen a bad live p.a. set in entire life.

Around this time I notice I keep bumping into a very cute girl named Jennifer. I spoke to her earlier in the night but since all of my male confidence is shot, I’m usually left looking like a dumb ass (or at least in my eyes). I guess I should explain: I just recently went through a torrent of a break up with my ex of four years. I have only been to four parties single, this being the fourth. I know how meeting girls at parties has worked out (or really not) for my friends in the past. You know what I mean. So I’m very wary of most everybody I meet now, and especially with girls. I find myself stuttering my sentences or completely losing my entire train of thought and becoming speechless. Thus looking like a dumb ass.

I go to cool off in the local room and Jennifer and I talk for a little while. Then all sound stops in the arena. I know who’s next and jump up and take off to the dance floor. The MC’s begin to introduce our next body abuser but are interrupted mid sentence with a loud scratch of a record. Throw in a fat ass bass line and I give you Q-Bert with D-Styles. The man is magical. He can create a beat with his scratches and transform it into something that makes your jaw drop and ass shake. There is a little breaking with two distinct circles forming on the floor, but I have no time to watch. I remain in step and dance for most of the set until it is simply too hot to remain. Back to the local room, now referred to as the a/c room. Most everyone I know at the party is in there. I hear of some the exciting things that happened to them, and watch a few light shows. I find E in a semi understandable state as he has macked three and a half and is still going full speed. “We are not leaving till it’s over John,” he says to me. I really don’t care cause now that means I get to hear Squirt and Phooka battle it out in true jungle fashion. Save the best for last I guess.

Now low and behold, whom do I find now, but Jennifer. We chill out and exchange numbers, and I find out the best part. She was sober so it all really wasn’t some game. She actually liked me, ME, not some kid on drugs. I had not been too sure as of yet because there is nothing more annoying than someone going, “Are you rolling, are you rolling????????” twenty times. So, anyways, we talk for about an hour or so. I really don’t know exactly how long but the more I talk the more interested I get. Then she says she must depart as her friends are leaving and I get a kiss good night.

Five a.m. at party is a strange time. The jungle is deep and only the elite are still dancing. It’s a weird thing, the lights come on at 5:30 but that doesn’t seem to stop the dance floor. Many stand up and begin to file out, but not me. I’ve made it this long and the night just seems to be getting better and better. Outside the air is cool and I begin to give goodbyes to all of my new Austin friends. I know I will for sure see them at Cyberfest in Houston on the 22nd, and that gives me a good feeling. I try to talk them into crashing at my place for the night but they insist on driving home. In the car on the way back to Funkytown, E tells me about a girl he spent most of his time with. All I can think about is how I probably won’t see him till X-mas, or at least until Zenfest.

I know this party wasn’t the biggest at the Bronco Bowl. It didn’t have the best line up ever either. You can talk about vibe but that’s an opinion that everyone differs on. I did not notice a good vibe or bad vibe that night. I know I did have more fun than I have had since The House That Jack Built over a year ago. It wasn’t just one thing that separated it into such a special category. Maybe I should just stop trying to have fun and fun will have me.

JELLO a.k.a. giantJELO a.k.a. John

  <end transmission>

“Hey! Hey, man! Teach her how to dance!” A kid wearing a Flaming Lips t-shirt and blue jeans thrusts a girl in a tank top and Kikwear’s towards a tall, glow stick wielding party kid while Keioki train wrecks for the third or fourth time in the background. It is a Sunday in San Diego at Club Elements. I’m there with my girlfriend on spring break to see one of our high school friends, and to party our asses off. I didn’t see much of my girl the rest of the night. After about ten minutes of coaxing Mark is finally able to get her to step to the beats. From there, she was a dervish of twirling lights and kicking. I think it was probably that night that we agreed we would move to So Cal.

We live in a city called Fort Worth, TX. Most of you probably only recognize Dallas, but we are only thirty minutes away. We sort of remained in contact with the guy I forced her to dance with that night and in random e-mails or im’s he tells us of this magazine he’s starting called raveonmagazine.com, better known now as Raver’s Digest. I really didn’t think anything of it at that time. I had gone to D-town parties, and parties in Funky Town, we even went to How Sweet It Is on our spring break excursion. Parties here are not as different as one would expect. The cops are still pricks, everyone’s a dj, and everyone bitches about how parties were “back in the day.” This is all irrelevant though when we set up our big break.

Sitting in Motel 6 two days after my nineteenth birthday with my girl and her best friend, I had nothing to look forward to the next day. I had basically already blown this semester of college and my parents were contemplating making me leave anyway. I’m like, “Fuck all of this, and let’s go to California.” Instantly, Nicki (my girl’s best friend) agrees. I have like four hundred dollars, my girl has twelve hundred in the bank she is saving for school, and Nicki has a 1984 Mercedes station wagon to get us there. In less than twenty-four hours we are on the road. The next few months are a complete blur. We hang out with Mark some, introduce him to some people; he introduces us to many more. Long story short, we run out of money, break our lease and come crawling back. This isn’t as bad as it sounds though. Ok, yes it is as bad as it sounds.

Thinking back though, it couldn’t have just been coincidence. Why did I pick that one guy out of a hundred to teach my girl how to dance? She had been to raves in TX but just never got into the dancing thing. Why had we remained in contact with this guy we had only met like three times? Now looking back, I see many mistakes we made along the way. We always had that feeling though, that whatever we were doing was right. I think that is why we go to parties, for that universal feeling. It doesn’t matter where the party is, as long as people come together for a common cause. I’m not sure the dance community has come up with this common cause either. Some say it’s PLUR, some say we are the new hippies, others claim it’s all about drugs. I don’t see a common theme in there, but I do get the feeling that everything will be all right.

I’m going back to California. I don’t know when, why, how or with whom, but I’ll be back. Till then I’ll be dancing every weekend till dawn, searching for that one moment of tranquility. I hope you will be too.

All right Mark. I know it’s random and unstructured, but it gets my feelings across in the broad sense I was looking to achieve. By far this is not the end either in what could be a series of articles if you will let me. I think it sets up a follow up article quite nicely and I’ll be able to focus in on one of many aspects still left very questionable in the readers’ eye. I did this on purpose. It might be a bit too broad but I think it tells the tale in a simplified, unbiased view. I like the end as it leaves what I wanted to say most still left in the readers’ head. What you think?

John aka giantJELLO