the land of love

It's the night before our westward adventure of finding and creating magic when Ben and I are full of a healthy amount of wine and creep our way into my basement in search of Faja's mask collection. Each mask has its own spirit and the chosen ones instantly speak to us. We celebrate with more wine and look forward to the journey ahead.

The next day, the three amigos board a train to Chicago; Jack listening to hip hop in his new fur-lined hoodie, Ben devising a plan to steal the bulletproof vests of the train security and me requesting and receiving a dose of bubbles from Martin the drink cart man.

In Chicago, a white rental Yukon SUV picks us up and I meet Mark, the lyricist and madman behind Everything Under. We put our bags in the trunk along with the top of the line rental camera gear and Mark tells us about a time he was high on ketamine when his mom sent him some boxes with enough packaging puffys to fill the room as he did snow angels amongst them.
Solid first impression of Mark the "wild card" if you ask me. I would soon come to realize most of Mark's stories begin with "This one time when I ate acid.." and so on.
He speaks in pure visuals with a mind flow like I've never quite experienced. Even the music he makes is a visual happening as he will say things like "make this more red" while in the studio. "Make this yellow like the eye of an alligator."

And I dib you permatripping.

With our roadie crew formed, we journey westward, listening to Mark's insanities and attempting to pass out in the back of the Yukon with raging industrial metal playing into the wee hours.
I awake delirious to a gorgeous yellow sky and soon enough we arrive in our first destination, Loveland, CO. The land of love.
We stop by Gramma Becky's for some stuffed peppers and then Boongey and his little bitty pick up Jack and I to take us to his new home up in the mountains.

I am stunned that such beauty even exists, much less that two of my best friends from high school live amongst it.
We sip our beers and sit out back on the porch, reminiscing about the olden golden days and talking about things like the effects of DMT, modern childbirth practices, and suggest the incorporation of yoga in prisons; all while getting burnt by that big, beautiful Colorado Sun and overlooking a lake and only more mountains.

After a quick 'find-my-mind' nap, Boongey and I head to a Walmart parking lot to drink vino and shots of jaeger while waiting for Regs. The long lost Regs.
He pulls up with golden locks in his silver minivan with traveling companion/dog and fedora, full of fantastic energy per usual and we trek it to Denver for the Sound Tribe after show.

The people of Colorado are of a friendly breed like I've never experienced before. On the street there is no vibe of unfamiliarity as everyone openly talks to one another. It's a beautiful thing.
Regs tries to get us in to the show for free by bribing drogas and calling the doormen "Jersey" but this backfires horribly and we almost don't get in at all. We separate and individually persevere.
Big Gigantic plays with Alex B from Pnuma Trio, V joins the party, and I am all smiles in an ocean of ecstasy vibrations and movements, the saxophone leading my way.
We go back to V's apartment in downtown Denver and watch the most beautiful sunrise on her balcony before passing out on the futon.

The next morning, we evacuate Loveland just as the forest fires are spreading and heading towards Benji and Phil's home and make it down the mountain, our hearts heavy for the people who lost their homes and the earth that lost its trees.

On our drive through the majestic mountains, Ben, Jack and I sprawl out in the back seat, feet outstretched and quietly observe our surroundings, smiles spread across our faces in pure bliss. We smoke a spliff and listen to the psychedelic genius of Terrence McKenna as we curve in and out along the mountain side.

We stop in Vail to eat, Jack and I buy a couple jugs of Mississippi Mud black and tans, and Ben and Mark buy a machete for $19.99. Best $20 spent all trip.
It's here that I see the third black person during my 2 days in Colorado and I take a swig from the love jug in accordance to the rules of the drinking game I decided upon at arrival in whitefolkland, CO.