Reggae on the River @ Eel River

[Drunk Monk]

When meeting Darth Maul, ED asked me why I still do these festivals as I bring back such chaotic tales. Good question. I suppose it's because I'm good at doing what I do there. I am also inspired by chaos. Here's a taste. RotR has grown into such a leviathan that this sort of shit happens, and this tale encapsulates the experience for me this year, at least on my initial impression (I will review notes for more). So I arrived on Thurs in good order and had a nice JAH med parking pass on my dashboard. I dutifully follow the directions of a dozen parking vols who led me to a parking spot in the middle of an empty field. They had just finished arranging the previous line and my little red Fit was to be the start of a new line. As I left it all alone, as there was no one coming in behind me yet, they assured me that it was exactly where it should be. Later, as the lot filled in, an RV parked across the lane, and the second line wasn't filled in flush with my fit, so it appeared that my car's ass was hanging out in the lane. Now, RotR is dusty, hella dusty, so everything was covered with a fine layer of riverbed dust. When I stopped by my car on Sat, it was covered with dust graffiti accusing me of parking in the fire lane. It said 'tow me' 'kindness counts' 'get out of the fire lane!' 'slut' (?) and was covered with hieroglyphics of dicks. Aw man. No damage done fortunately and I moved it when I had the chance. Typical RotR.

More adventures to come.

[Drunk Monk]

Part of the issue is that I usually only pass along the negative trips, as that's what I specialize in. The positive stuff is hard for me to write about because it's ecstatic, and if I could truly describe ecstasy, I'd be a much better writer. Ecstasy is the ultimate high, and very addictive, so I keep coming back for more. Live music doesn't deliver it like it used to (perhaps because Jerry's dead and I don't do as many psychedelics as I used to) but sometimes, it still gives me a taste of what lies beyond heaven's gate. It's like Marley sang 'One good thing about music, when it hits you feel okay.' It hit twice at RotR2013.

My favorite thing at RotR is to dance with a crowd of strangers, front of stage, in the blazing heat at mid day. It's like vultures - vultures are black because it helps them sun themselves. They spread their wings and raise their body temperature to a disinfecting heat. Heat is purifying. That's what it feels like, like a carrion-stuffed vulture, sunning itself and burning away all the toxins. The band playing must be strong enough to keep a crowd up under that searing sun. Two managed to do it for me. On Friday, it was Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars, and old fav which I've mentioned here before. On Saturday, it was the Meditations, a power trio that sang backup for Marley.

Ok, I'll add more about the bad trips later. The beach is calling me now.

[Drunk Monk]

....in my defense, it's been a trying month.

The two big situations were a dude that fell off a cliff in the middle of the night (we surmise he went up there to get high as his pipe was broken beside him - I wasn't on that call) and a stolen golf cart that ran over two people (I was on that one, but I didn't do very much beyond crowd control). Below is extracted from my official report. I edited out the business/technical stuff that was more boring:

The new location of the Dub Lounge dome was much better for interaction with the rest of JAH med. It was also much cooler with the shade. The natural slope of the land allowed for a high ground and low level. The low level was deployed for messier patients. There was a lot of unwanted urination, so much so that psych began to think that the patients were trying to mark and claim the new Dub Lounge. For next year, psych requests its own supply of Chucks pads, as well as more mats that can be easily wiped down. The dog beds are comfy, but not good for anyone wet. The sound was excessively loud at the Dub Lounge, so many of the talk-downs were actually yell-downs.

The biggest restraint was a long skinny female who practiced yoga. Her initial attempt to flee began with a headstand and if she had been able to stick it, we might have left her on her own accord. This eventually escalated to a six-person physical restraint, and then to a chemical restraint. Her yoga practice gave her additional degrees of freedom with which to wriggle free. This just goes to show that it’s not always the super buff patients that are hard to physically restrain. After recovery, several post-IPR discussions felt that it was likely that she was dosed.

Addedum: Favorite IPR exchange – A discussion while assisting a male patient with a long period of urination in the porta-potty.
Gene (holding the flashlight at the door): “You still aiming, bro?”
IPR: “Yes! You’re making me anxious.”
Gene: “Sorry, just checking.”
IPR: “I have a penis in my hand! I have a penis in my hand!”
Gene: “Okaaaay. Finish up.”
IPR (upon finishing, zipping up and exiting, comes up to Edgar who was patiently waiting for the porta potty) “I have a penis in my hand. SHOW ME YOUR PENIS!”
Edgar is stunned for a moment, and then collapses with laughter.

***end of excerpt***

I got ill on Sunday. I threw up spontaneously on Sat nite, but then felt better. Then later that night I had the spurts. That really sucks at a campout festival. It went on through most of Sunday, so I spent a lot of it in the Dub Lounge, near the medical only portapotty, which was significantly cleaner. It was hot and staying hydrated was a major issue as anything I drank came shooting out.

[Drunk Monk]

I & I survive. RotR was hot, REAL HOT, in the shade. LIke 108 degrees on day one. It got cooler each day so by Sunday, the hottest part of the day just barely made it to three digits. I have many tales to tell, but I gotta put my head back together first.

[Drunk Monk]

personal account to follow

Mateel
Volunteer Registration was one of the worst I have ever seen in a quarter century of doing festivals. Some vols waited over 2 hours in line in the blazing sun. For such a simple task as Volunteer Registration, that’s just absurd.
The situation with gas and Rik’s vehicle is so irresponsible. Mateel must be held accountable for such oversights. Such mistreatment of their volunteer staff is clear evidence that they aren’t in it for the long run.
Three JNK got sick on the food provided by Mateel. Ernesto and I became ill right after the pizza. ‘Nesto was down until Sunday. I evacuated the pizza immediately and had to cope with diarrhea for the following day but given that I had similar issues the previous year, was well prepared for it and fully recovered within 24 hours. Jason fell ill after eating the food on Saturday. Sanitation was a big issue. Several JNK witnessed Mateel food providers wiping sweat from their bodies with their gloved hands and continuing to serve food. Most of the JNK abandoned Mateel food services in the first few days, relying on their own supplies, the great food provided by JAH Med, as well as having to purchase vendor food out-of-pocket. Like Volunteer Registration, Mateel food service was slow and inefficient, but that was a moot point after most stopped eating there for fear of getting sick.

JAH Med
The JAH Med camp situation was overly cramped and given the high traffic zone of our location, there were issues. Three were significant enough to warrant mention here. First was Beau, the cop, trying to ‘not be a dick’ and get to the girl who was recovering in our camp and consequently left her pants behind. This took several JAH Medics to continually block his attempts. Second was the fight in the neighboring Security camp at 5:00 AM. This was a domestic squabble between a female who found another female in her boyfriend’s tent. Raven, a last-minute replacement on the JNK, was critical in helping to resolve this – a perfect role for him. JAH Med’s radio request to Security was of little avail (Raven commented that he could hear that on the Security channel while he was in their camp helping to settle matters). The third was the girl with the blow-up sex doll with the bong in the anal orifice. She camp through JAH Med camp and vomited in the middle of it. That wasn’t as serious as the previous two situations, but worthy of mention just to include the girl with the blow-up sex doll with the bong in the anal orifice in this report. Given these situations, I suggest that the role of JAH Med Camp Host be expanded to a small crew that not only oversees load-in and breakdown, but also guards the camp against intrusion during the show.
Mossman’s comment that psych ‘looks like recycling but are actually medical’ will be avenged. The JNK endeavor to look like the artists. Recycling? Srsly?

Dub Lounge
Our first Dub Lounge tenant was a wolf spider mom with dozens of babies. We quickly escorted her and her brood out.
This year’s set up of Main Med and Dub Lounge omitted the rear pathway that connected both facilities. This was very useful in the past and should be restored in the future. Main Med and the Dub Lounge must be kept well connected. On Friday, the Dub Lounge accepted several syncopal patients from Main Med as overflow. At night, Main Med took some of the sleeping Dub Lounge patients so staff wasn’t required to monitor them back in the Dub Lounge. This cross traffic is important, especially at night when staff is minimal or during rushes when resources are overtaxed. That rear pathway provides an important and discreet connection between the two facilities.
The Dub Lounge can readily serve as Main Med overflow with low maintenance patients, offering them additional space and time to re-compose themselves. Such patients should be signed out from Main Med. All it takes is one active patient and those resting patients will be on their way. Such was the case on Friday when the first restraint, a belligerent ETOH, roused all of the other patients to leave. One of the contributing factors causing the collapse of the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic was that the different divisions separated into silos and stopped interacting. In many instances, the distinction between medical and psych is not black-and-white. Such was the case with the mescaline patient, the IV-ed female and several others. They clearly had psych issues, but were medical patients as their medical issues outweighed their psych issues.
The Dub Lounge was overrun with female patients. Females accounted for 80%+ of the patients and female JNK staff was low. Main Med noticed that there was a proliferation of 29-year old females. There was a fear that many of the females were being drugged against their will, and while this might have happened in some cases, there wasn’t enough consistency between patients to indicate a pattern. Many accolades to Donna, Sarah and Wendy for their exemplary service. Also, many thanks to Lu, Erin and C.J. for their assistance in this too. This sort of cross-over is critical to the longevity of JAH Med, and beneficial to the volunteers to share more skills and get more exposure.
The chaos of entry was evident with the river girl patient, who was oriented but lost. She parked, set up camp, took mushrooms, and then night fell so she became disoriented. Wendy connected with her. She was clearly depleted, demanding and refusing food and drink. Upon rejecting some pizza because she wanted ‘NY pizza’ she was deemed good to go.
The biggest rush was just following the owl attack on Saturday. The owl was the harbinger of chaos and both Main Med and the Dub Lounge saw a multiple calls in a over the next few hours. It was that crazy action zone where we shine the brightest. Of course, I don’t wish for such scenarios, but it is during such moments when I am most proud to be part of JAH Med. When emergencies call and JAH Med comes together, it is exhilarating to be a part of such a heroic organization.
Borderline patients were a continual problem. On Sunday, two borderline females came in a row. One borderline was identified immediately and efforts were made to send her on her way, but that’s always tricky as borderlines recognize the safety of the Dub Lounge and are tuned to working the margins in the system, which is exactly what the Dub Lounge is. Note that it was one of the borderline patients that attacked two JNK, a slap to the face for one of our volunteers, and a scratch to the wrist for another. Both were minor incidents, but worthy of mention as they could have been much worse, so it serves as a reminder that precautions must always be taken in such cases.
We had four major restraints. The first was a belligerent male ETOH who caused a ruckus. At least, he helped clear the Dub Lounge from the syncopal overflow patients from Main Med who were getting way too comfortable in the Dub Lounge. The second was a borderline woman after slapping one of our volunteers. The last two were males on Sunday. One of the IPR males on cocaine and LSD was initially reported to be at Production. This was in error as he was really at the Mixer, which happened to have a sign that said “production” on it. RotR must really brief its security staff as to the proper standard terms used in the music industry, as that is a major error and could have caused a huge delay in response. Fortunately, it was corrected in time. The other male professed some martial arts background, much to the delight of the JNK who were inspired by the challenge. But he didn’t really have any significant martial skills and was foolish to boast so.
The Dub Lounge saw several JAH Med volunteers for exhaustion. This was handled discreetly as always.
Hoel again gets the award for best ‘friend of a friend’ patient. If this persists, the JNK is considering making a special place in the Dub Lounge, just for Hoel’s friends. Not.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

The owl was the harbinger of chaos . . . .

[Drunk Monk]

We never did see that Owl patient. We only heard it over the radio. Some one had hit an owl on the freeway and it got caught in their grill. It was still alive when the driver tried to remove it and it attacked, tearing up the driver's hand. We were alerted, but then all the chaos hit, and we never found out the rest of that story. We assumed it was a driver passing by, or perhaps a patron, who went drove directly to the hospital after getting injured. It was a weird radio call for sure.

[Drunk Monk]

The highest temperature I heard was 108 degrees. It got progressively cooler each day, but Sunday still crossed into triple digits. Web weather reports couldn’t handle the micro-climates of the region. Yahoo said it was cloudy and 54 degrees when we were sitting in 100+ degree heat. Also there was a huge fire just south of the venue, so the air quality got progressively smokier as the show went on.

On the first night, I realized that I stayed up too late listening to a lot of conversations that needed serious editing

Day one brought reports of a rattlesnake. There was a car fire too. I want to say that was night three, but I can’t really remember. In both cases, it was an interesting enough call that I started heading that direction, but didn’t make and wound up on another journey entirely.

The Strain of distinction was Skywalker OG. Medicine is so varied now, so many strains and flavors. It’s like tasting wine or single malt. Skywalker OG stood out, but DM must confess that the name might have been influential, as he’s a sucker for Star Wars named strains.

Too many people were talking to me who I didn’t remember. They seemed to know me. Maybe they were just stoned. I played along because they may well have known me and I didn’t want to make them feel bad that I couldn’t remember who they were.

There were a lot of people that were sick. One of my vols almost dropped out due ot a cold, but showed up anyway, and after he gave me a hug, I got all paranoid that I was going to get sick. Another old friend from SNWMF dropped by JAH Med because she had a cold and was just about to start her night shift as security at the KOA. I felt bad because I didn’t get a chance to connect with her because she showed up when it was busy, plus I really didn’t want to catch her cold.

The best episode happened on Sunday afternoon. I had promised my Kung Fu brothers that I’d shoot an article for the mag with them. We had shot an article on Kung Fu Fighting Pipe many years ago and I’ve had this simple idea I’ve been wanting to write up for months – I just needed models – so it was a good perk for my KF bros. Of course, over the course of the weekend, we put it off to the last moment. Sunday, from about noon onwards, there was a series of appointments I had to keep, people I had promised to connect with over the weekend and such, things that I meant to do, it all added up. The first was to have some of the fresh smoked salmon, brought fresh from Alaska by JAH Med’s director (she has a cabin up there) and smoked the day prior by our marvelous camp cooks. But I got involved in a call and missed it. Then our director, bless her heart, knowing I was totally into the salmon, brought me a huge slab in a ziplock, just as I was prepping the bros to go for the shoot. Then a call came, the hardest IPR we had to takedown, a huge guy on coke and acid (stupid combo) who was by the mixer. It was one of those sweaty, messy, roll in the dirt calls. Once he was restrained on a backboard, medicated, and secure in the Dub Lounge, the sun was setting and I turned to my KF bros and said, ‘so, you guys warmed up now?’ We went up the back road to Richardson Grove and found a nice place to shoot. My camera battery was low, but I managed to get what I needed. It was really fun, especially because I was munching on that yummy salmon throughout the whole incident, from takedown to shoot.

REGGAE
Michael Rose & Gaudi: Rose was once on of my fav old skool dancehall rulers. He’s slowed down with age, but I still have great respect. Gaudi gave the jam a Hip hop/dub step feel, w/Theremin. That was very amusing as I love the theremin. Rose’s tune “warrior, warrior, warrior, put your guns down” really stuck with me.

Fishbone: The bass player went to high school with one of our friends, so we had the opportunity to meet the band backstage just before they went on and share some warm-up libations. I watched the whole set from stage. It was fun as we were next to their agent and the performers kept sending stuff our way. Plus there was another theremin. Two Theremins in two days. I was hoping that was going to go on all weekend.

Indubious: They have a solid sound. Enjoyable, but not outstanding to make much more note of them beyond that.

See-I: The reggae portion of Thievery Corporation. They were ok, but not mind blowing. Somewhat disappointing actually. I was expecting more.

Third World: I remember hearing them play 96 degrees in the shade at a previous scorcher RotR. It was an anthem of the weekend. With the passing of Bunny Rugs, Third World’s harmonies were greatly depleted. They did some dub step, plus a delightful version of Redemption Song on cello.

Jimmy Cliff: He played a lot of classics, which is all we really want. He updated one of my fav tunes, Vietnam, to Afghanistan, which totally worked. He’s still got it – that inspiring castrati voice, and righteous lyrics.

Iration: It was really busy at JAH Med when they were playing. I was moved enough by their music to jot down the note “Iration” but now I can’t remember why.

Mutabaruka: His dub poetry was the same as always, but amusing as it promoted some discussion, which is his intention. His song Monkey was misinterpreted by some as a diss on evolution theory, when it is actually a diss on the evil of man compared to the innocence of nature. Not scientifically accurate, but his message is good. The Roger Steffens intro was the best part.

Alpha Blondy: He was another fav of mine for many years until he came out with his tune Abortion is a Crime. But he did some great covers – Floyd’s Wish You Were Here and a Zep tune, which I missed. It was busy in JAH Med so I only caught pieces of his set. When I finally got clear and situated to listen, it was the end of the last song and the end of the show.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Is that poor S in the picture? And what have you done to her?

[Drunk Monk]

She's just some passed out patient. Can't see her face so I figured it wasn't a HIPPA violation. Besides, I didn't take that pic obviously.

[Legbone]

Wow DM,

That sounds like quite an adventure. Sorry I missed it. My poor unstable freshly transplanted cornea most certainly would have been dislodged. But with the food poisoning, owl attacks and bad drug combos I am sure everything would have worked out ok.

BTW, that was an excellent run down on the event.

The bone

[Drunk Monk]

I leave tomorrow morning, carpooling with a friend and fellow Tiger Claw employee. I will leave early Sunday as Tara comes home on Saturday.

One of my JediNiteKrew IMed me to tell me that some of his close friends just lost their 10-year-old in a freak ATV accident. How utterly tragic.

Another JAH Medhead reports that at 2 today, it was 103 degrees on site. He says he has some special cooling cherry-beer (he's a microbrewer) and there is much talk of mojitos.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

That's probably the cool day.

Good luck. Sei Brav. Live to tell the tales.

[Drunk Monk]

I was going to start on my official report but I lost steam. Didn't sleep much; par for the course I suppose. It was a journey like always but now I'm glad it's done.

Report soon come

[Drunk Monk]

I left early so the latter part of the report was done by my padawan. I'll add more personal tales for DOOM eyes only later perhaps...

OVERALL COMMENTS:

The Dub Lounge logged 27 Special Friends. This does not account for several more that were treated in the field. It has been our policy not to record those interactions unless they are actually brought in, as they are too numerous.

The JediNiteKrew had to work all night, every night. This was extremely taxing for the JNK, but this is where they excel. I am very proud of how the JNK came together under this duress. While we had some hard moments and some harsh words were exchanged in the heat of battle (par for the course with our sleep deprived krew), I was very encouraged by how everyone performed.

Several JM vols have expressed the desire to join the JNK, but none of them stayed up all night in the Dub Lounge with us. The JNK eagerly welcomes new members, but the basic requirement is to be able to respond all night long, and few meet that basic qualification. After all, we aren’t called the ‘nite krew’ for nothing.

There had been rumors that large quantities of LSD are available due to the Grateful Dead’s Fare the Well tour. This seemed to be the case as the majority of our IPRs were LSD, not the typical Molly of recent years. As an old deadhead, this makes me strangely proud.

As always, a large number of patients were staff. This was most evident in the early part of the weekend, and is also apparent at the end. In future, this must be taken in account when negotiating coverage with RotR. The staff causes the highest number of incidents of any community at RotR. If RotR really heeds the ‘community spirit’ it preaches, it must seriously consider how it treats its staff.

The Blue Moon had a significant impact on the Dub Lounge. There was a minimum of three patients there all night long. Regardless of the astrological implications, the bright light of the full moon, coupled with the increase in menstrual cycles, cannot be disregarded.

Heat was also a major factor. That drives trips to go sour. When tripping, it’s hard to distinguish dehydration.

Previously, there was a special accessway to the Dub Lounge at the rear of the Med tent. Several of the returning medics commented that they missed this. Main Med and the Dub Lounge must stay in good contact, especially at night.

(Wednesday-Sunday morning):

• Wednesday patients. Immediately upon arrival (in 108 degree heat) I was informed that we already had a patient in the Dub Lounge dome. After taking a moment to set up camp, I checked in and found that there were actually 2.5 IPRs. Three food booth vendors were at their very first RotR; for the two female IPRs, it was their first LSD dose. The smaller female had been chemically restrained, a 4x2, which seemed excessive given her diminutive frame, but as I was too busy setting up my tent to respond, I can’t pass judgment fairly. This was a classic dysfunctional IPR trio: all three were competing for attention and harshing each other’s trips. My favorite moment here was when the smaller female attempted to take a selfie – we thwarted that attempt, much to her chagrin. When they were separated, they all stabilized. The chemically-restrained was not able to walk out of the dome on her own accord, so I spent Wednesday night sleeping in the dome to watch over her (a female observer would have been optimal but was unavailable). That was the best night of sleep I got all weekend.

• Thursday morning: the bulimic woman. She was more of a borderline/histrionic psych issue, but given the circumstances, medical took care of it, with psych in full agreement. She requested a roll, sealing JAH Med’s course of action as she was oriented. Her reappearance and subsequent identical behavior made me wish we had cut her wristband the first time.

• Thursday: the friend of JM. An IPR was a friend of a JM volunteer. Said volunteer helped oversee the talk-through and all was solved discreetly.

• Thursday: Toilet fairy and dog. A staff member was singled out by backstage security for his erratic behavior. Dave Lane had asked him for assistance earlier in hanging some tapestries (another job of Dave’s outside of JM) but he had refused, claiming he couldn’t help due to his dog (which begs the questions: why did he bring his dog if it inhibited his ability to work? Didn’t it expressly say ‘no dogs’ throughout the venue and repeatedly in the 88-page Operations Manuel?) The IPR insisted his name was ‘Guess’ and was very gamey. The dog was very friendly and took a mat next to Guess in the Dub Lounge. In the end, he was identified as a member of Poobah’s toilet fairy crew and returned to them.

• Friday: Mohawk man. Mohawk man was dancing too enthusiastically at the front of stage and scaring bystanders. He was a large, tattooed, mohawked man, all adding to his intimidation factor. Although clearly tripping, he was oriented and compliant. If he was a smaller person, he would not have been an issue. Although he claimed to be Native American, he could not identify his nation, despite an amused talk-through by Hoel during a set of Native American-ish music. He was released to the crowd several times, only to attract Stage Security’s attention again. To the mutual satisfaction of Stage Security and the JNK, this was resolved by establishing a JNK monitoring crew for him on the observation deck on stage right.

• Friday 4:20: Happy female IPR from Kitchen Crew. Only mentioned here because she had perfect timing.

• Friday evening: Two female IPRs and one male IPR arrived from different directions at approximately the same time. One female began snogging on the male, and they were separated. After much confusion, it was determined that they were indeed boyfriend and girlfriend, despite coming from completely different incidents (but clearly from the same dose).

• Friday: I have a note on a patient that says ‘twist and barf’. Unfortunately I cannot remember what this means. I do remember there was a lot of barfing, but this memory might be distorted by the bulimic women episode.

• Saturday night: Saturday night was dominated by three heavy restraints – the Naked IPR and Tom & Gavin – all of whom are detailed in Sarah’s report.