It was very last minute, but I was able to join my local SF trance friends on a trip to Washington's Gorge to attend the Above and Beyond weekender:
We met in Seattle Airport and went to get an RV (a few of us rode in it but slept in tents) and go to our camp site:
Alvin and Afik DJ'ed in the RV for us with portable equipment they took in the plane
We had premium camping, which was quite nice:
home sweet home
some people had better 'tents' :)
nice views of the gorge even from our location
Afik worked on putting his sign back together after the flight
On saturday, after spending some time at the camp, we went to the gorge side where the event was going to happen. I ducked out in a supposedly forbidden area to get some better shots. The gorge is definitely beautiful and a very nice area for a stage:
My friends made a dash for the merch booth, while I went up to get some pictures of the nice area and enjoy the music:
The maedow had a tent with talks with DJs:
Random people pictures:
tinlicker, cute
And here is a summary video of Day #1:
Things got nice around sunset:
And then it was time to enjoy darkness and the more popular DJs. Time for me to shine and looking for other people with shiny things :)
I made some custom gifs for the occasion
listening to this is like an endless fall to your death? :)
and finally above and beyond, 2 out of 3 as usual
love you too, Afik :)
then things got big :)
Ilan Bluestone finished the night starting with an interesting retake on Enigma, which many people didn't even recognize :) and after that it was time to head back to camp. I had heard a bit late that Seven Lions was playing nearby, so I went there and arrived late, but got to enjoy the end of his set (01:00 to 02:00):
The area also had a nice set of vendors:
Day #2 started with a nice yoga set with Paavo:
this was a fantastic idea, thanks to Paavo for the nice music
In the tent, Tony interviewed Seven Lions, and it was interesting to hear how he got into music and his special style of mixing dubstep and trance (both of which, when mixed together, I quite enjoy):
I then spent most of the day watching the show from a shaded spot. Sadly, I can't say I enjoyed any of the music during the day, it was definitely not trance, nor anything else that did much for me. The views were still nice and it got better as the sun set:
they nicely let a few people of the crowd in a viewing area behind the DJ
Here's a bit of music from Day #2 in the little that I found interesting:
I went to look for more night pictures:
the exiting thing was that I ran into Rory who made a totem pole using some of my arduino code
And by 22:30, it was over:
Now, the best part was still to come, I went directly to the DJ Van in the campground, and we got a huge treat of a great 3H set by many of the DJs who were there that weekend:
That got me in bed by 03:30 or so, and after not enough hours of sleep, it was time to drive back to the airport:
It had been a while since I last went to Laguna Seca. I signed up for what was originally a 4 day event, but once I got the schedule (just a few days before the event), I realized I'd get very little track time (1h30 or less) and cancelled the last 2 days.
Thankfully with Robb and the organizer's help, I was able to sign up for 2 rungroups the first day, and a slower rungroup the 2nd day where I drove my 650S.
I got the F458 down to 1:32, and my instructor got it down to 1:30 on non fresh tires. With fresh tires when it's cool, it seems that it could do 1:26 or so. Interestingly I did feel the change in car power depending on the outside temperature.
The 650S had very used tires, one had a tire patch for a nail hole, so I didn't expect a whole lot, but I got it down to 1:40 on one lap. Interestingly, while it had less grip for sure, the extra amount of power is very noticeable. I think with proper tires, I could easily get a 1:37 or better. Maybe one day :)
While in Amsterdam, I found a very nice restaurant Yves Van Der Hoff, a young 24 year old chef with much talent.
We got their 7 course tasting menu (skipping the cheese in the 8 course option), and the dishes were quite nice. The price was quite reasonable considering that this easily rivaled michelin star restaurants we've eaten at.
The only thing they could easily improve is having a fancier wine pairing option. The one they had was well priced but also pretty basic wines. They could offer a more expensive pairing option with older and better wines.
