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More pages: January 2020 November 2020 April 2024



2024/04/04 Texas Eclipse Festival in Burnet
π 2024-04-04 01:01 in Clubbing, Festivals, Texas
I had planned for the so called Great American Eclipse of 2024, and thanks to my friend Marc Antoine who lives in Austin, I did indeed pick Austin as a destination, and at the same time, he told me about a big festival. I was invited to join NAPF, North America Psytrance Family, and we had a great group camping spot just next to the psytrance stages, woot!

I was able to bring my outfit and find a way to charge it nightly without external power (more on solar below):


As a one off festival, I found it was reasonably well organized, at least from what I got to experience: - ok, tickets were weird, you had print at home tickets that told you they were good enough to get in, but that was not true, they had to be swapped for actual car stickers at will call. Thankfully there was a convenient will call at the airport baggage terminal with virtually no wait when I arrived a day early (thursday) - early entry on thursday wasn't bad, by then they worked out the kinks of stupid pointless searches trying to take people's vitamins and other personal items that are more than reasonable to have in your vehicle and campsite (like tools to fix things), but I was specifically very annoyed with them feeling they had the right to go through people's personal drugs, over the counter, or prescription and take everything away that wasn't prescription in original bottle (if you have pill boxes, you're screwed). Thankfully by thursday they had less time to search people's stuff, but still, not acceptable - My wait in line for search was less than 15mn and the search of my car was 5mn, at most. - The drive in to the NAPF camp was long and slow on a very dusty road, took over 20mn. All in all from the outside road to camp was a bit less than 1h, not too bad - I've been told that of course the next day (first official opening day), it took longer to get in, and for people with RV who had paid for and reserved a spot with power/hookups, didn't get them, either because they were partly oversold, and/or because some people who hadn't paid for the spots, took them :(

Setup

I was able to bring a reasonable tent in my check in luggage to austin, as well as enough of a solar system to use the rental car battery as a power station that would get recharged by the panels I bought. It was a bit last minute, experimental, and rough looking, but it worked well enough. The couple of times when I didn't get enough sun, the car came with a free generator ;) (external generators were not allowed in camping):




please don't judge, it worked :)
please don't judge, it worked :)

charging the LED outfit batteries from the car batteries, in turn recharged by solar panels
charging the LED outfit batteries from the car batteries, in turn recharged by solar panels


North American Psytrance Family's (NAPF) camp

We had a nice little setup:




Venue/Grounds

Pictures from arrival:



car search line
car search line

many camps, reasonable signage
many camps, reasonable signage

pretty dry and dusty overall, but a few places with water
pretty dry and dusty overall, but a few places with water

the nature looked pretty nice in places
the nature looked pretty nice in places

The venue

After getting to camp with early arrival on thursday just before sunset, setup camp and went to check out the venue. All the stages were not open yet, but enough things were running:

festival grounds had several entrances with a pretty quick somewhat pointless looking search
festival grounds had several entrances with a pretty quick somewhat pointless looking search




it wasn't burning man, but there was a descent selection of lit art
it wasn't burning man, but there was a descent selection of lit art

Lots of vendors of hippie gear :)









And other misc things:


A reasonable number of food options for all tastes:


They had multiple water refill stations and lockers, although the water refill stations ran out at times, which was not ideal, and I'm told they were turned off (no more water) on monday afternoon after they asked people to evacuate, not great...


multiple first aid stations, but apparently they were underequipped (more on that below)
multiple first aid stations, but apparently they were underequipped (more on that below)

the general store I went to was reasonably equipped, but the prices were hidden and very high
the general store I went to was reasonably equipped, but the prices were hidden and very high





the better VIP area had an IV station where you could pay a lot for some fluids
the better VIP area had an IV station where you could pay a lot for some fluids

A few "art cars"


The grounds were quite big and had multiple areas:






There was even a nice river and a makeshift beach:




To pass the day, they also had 2 stages with talks, some were pretty interesting:



great to see Rick Doblin again to talk about his work
great to see Rick Doblin again to talk about his work




The multimedia dome also played David Jones' Samskara, which was a pleasure to see again




Music and Festival Stages

The festival had close to 10 stages, 6 of them were pretty big. Honestly they were impressive given that they were indeed in the middle of nothing. The only downside was that the map was pretty poor and it was not too obvious which stage was which from the symbols. But yes, the stages were pretty:















NAPF was adjunct to the Ether stage, so we had our own party:






A highlight was to see Oakenfold's day set:




People

Like each festival I go to, I always enjoy the party that other people bring, with lights, costumes, and more:



glad to see the same friends across different festivals
glad to see the same friends across different festivals
















TFSF represent
TFSF represent






Videos

  • Drone show:
  • Samskara show:
  • Small summary of the event:
  • Nice Lit Display:
  • A minute of my outfit:
  • Eclipse and Evacuation Day

    Early Departure

    Monday morning, with barely a shred of a bar on one of my 2 cellphones, I got an urgent message that said bad weather was on the way, that everything left was cancelled (including the main party monday night and the DJs I really wanted to see), and to evacuate as soon as practical. I was weary that the traffic to exit would be terrible, especially from the southernmost camp, about as far from the main road as you can be, so I packed everything in 15mn and got on the exit road. Thankfully I beat most people to it, and was only delayed an extra 25mn or so by the people closer to the exit who had had more time to pack up and get in line too. All in all, I was out to the main road in 45mn, which wasn't bad. While I expected burning man level exodus lines and many hour long waits, I heard most people got out in fewer than 2h, which wasn't bad.
    By then, the weather forecast was such that we wouldn't be able to see anything, so I figured I might as well leave early, but most others chose to stay until after the eclipse and some had renegade parties and stayed until tuesday anyway. The very bad weather that was forecast and caused the organizers to cancel the rest of the event, ended up not happening, but after a statement made by the organizers later, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and that they acted reasonably given the forecast they had at the time. It's true that if hail had come, or even just a lot of rain, the whole event would have become a muddy mess with potentially many cars stuck, getting everyone else, stuck there.

    my early departure plan worked out pretty well
    my early departure plan worked out pretty well

    obviously not the only car in line, but we got out pretty well
    obviously not the only car in line, but we got out pretty well

    Eclipse

    I had looked at the weather forecast enough to have 0 hope to see the eclipse, as the forecast was for a solid overcast and then some rain, but with the evacuation I got out about 1.5H before totality and figured I'd go drive to my friend Marc's ranch about 1h away to spend the rest of the time with him.

    Sure enough, the weather did not look good:


    from time to time, the sun poked out for a minute or so
    from time to time, the sun poked out for a minute or so

    made it in time to Marc's ranch
    made it in time to Marc's ranch

    and as we got closer to totality, the sun became visible more often
    and as we got closer to totality, the sun became visible more often

    yes!
    yes!

    and yes!
    and yes!

    not bad for a handheld camera
    not bad for a handheld camera

    and before long, it was over
    and before long, it was over

    and the sun went hiding again, that was close!
    and the sun went hiding again, that was close!

    Thoughts/Conclusion

    Medical Facilities

    There were concerns with the medical staff, they had plenty of it (good), when I got bitten by a big spider, I was able to see someone quickly enough to make sure it wasn't poisonous (also good), but for at least one person who needed more serious help, apparently they didn't have a defibrillator at most stations (causing one person not to get medical care for over 45mn), or even a more simple blood pressure monitor, which was suboptimal.
    Apparently at least one person died, most likely due to lack of timely medical care, but it's also fair to say that when you have so many people in one place, by the sheer law of numbers, someone is likely to die anyway.
    I'll also add that prompt first rate medical care was not included in the ticket, when you're in the middle of nowhere in the middle of a field, more than 45-60mn away from a hospital, expectations should be set accordingly.

    Other things

  • The map in the app was not very useful as it didn't show you where you were on it. An attendee nicely made a pretty good web based map with location dot, but unfortunately it mostly didn't work for me and wouldn't show me where I was. Getting around was somewhat harder than it needed to be.
  • Water locations were not well indicated on that map either and were not easy to find at night
  • The festival did have a wristband money scheme, but thankfully it was not required and all vendors also took contactless credit cards, so that was the best of both worlds. I happily ignored the wristband money scheme and used my phone to pay without issues
  • The security started wrong (taking people's vitamins on their campsite location, totally not ok), but they loosened up over time. Honestly the perimeter to the inside festival was mostly to keep honest people honest as they say. It was trivial to get past the fence in many places, but at the same time, who would travel all the way there just to try to sneak in? I think it was just enough for good measure
  • I'm not entirely sure what was meant to be disallowed between the campgrounds and festival ground. Once a security person was trying to take a can of mixed drink I had (which did contain alcohol), but that's about it. You could take food in as far as I know
  • The water points were not 100% reliable, which was a potential problem, but I brought enough of my own water that it didn't matter
  • There were no official showers included with the price, not even for VIP, but there was a spa built not too far from my camp that offered showers for $16, a reasonable enough price considering.
  • VIP was a bit of a ripoff in my opinion. The "expedited" VIP entry was totally pointless, there was no wait ever between my camp and the festival grounds. One VIP area had a couple of interesting things and better toilets (although still no place to wash yourself), the other VIP area was just a few toilets and shade, nothing much. I definitely regret paying extra for VIP.
  • Conclusion

  • Honestly, given that this is not a yearly festival in the middle of nowhere in a place that wasn't used for that before, a lot of things went right
  • The stages themselves were actually pretty good considering it was the middle of nowhere, I was pretty impressed.
  • I'm told the organizers spent several months getting the site ready, including adding the dirt roads to get around and making all of this possible, just once, for only a few days. My impressions were actually "not bad at all".
  • Price may have felt a bit high, especially VIP that offered very little for its added price. The add ons like group car camping (around $250 extra), early entry (another almost $100 extra), did add up.
  • The cancellation on monday was very unfortunate, I think it was the right call, but it really damaged the event. The organizers promised a partial refund, still waiting for it at the time of this writing.
  • All in all I still had a good time, the eclipse itself was fantastic, especially since we were some of the few people in Texas that actually had enough clear sky to see the eclipse when it happened.
  • See more images for Texas Eclipse Festival in Burnet
    2024/04/08 Texas Eclipse
    π 2024-04-08 01:01 in Outings, Public, Texas
    The Texas Eclipse Festival did not end as planned, organizers cancelled the event for weather risk reasons, although in the end the weather was so much better than forecast (forecast said we'd never see the sun at all and it would rain).
    When I heard about the cancellation on a thread fo bar one of my 2 cell phones,while barely awake, I managed to tear up camp and start driving out in just 15mn and got out of the festival in just over 45mn, before traffic got really bad. I then realized I had just enough time to drive my friend Marc Antoine's ranch 50mn away, and the fact that 2 lane roads in TX have 70mph speed limits, sure helped. I got to his place 30mn before totality.

    It did not rain, and the sun came out just at the right time for the eclipse and went hiding in the clouds soon after. Timing was perfect. And I happened to capture some solar flares and mercury with my not so great handheld camera, so I'm happy :)

    When I got out of the festival, partial eclipse hadn't started yet, but the sun was barely visible
    When I got out of the festival, partial eclipse hadn't started yet, but the sun was barely visible

    Marc sent me the GPS location of his ranch, and GPS said I could barely make it and thankfully the roads were near empty
    Marc sent me the GPS location of his ranch, and GPS said I could barely make it and thankfully the roads were near empty

    I pulled over a few times when the sun was visible for barely a minute
    I pulled over a few times when the sun was visible for barely a minute

    Most of the time, it was fully overcast, as per the forecast
    Most of the time, it was fully overcast, as per the forecast

    but the sun came back out a few times
    but the sun came back out a few times





    And in barely 50mn I made it to Marc's ranch and got to meet his family. We had just seen one another 2 weeks prior at beyond wonderland


    all ready
    all ready

    fun thing is you can see a partial eclipse without glasses
    fun thing is you can see a partial eclipse without glasses

    getting there, so close
    getting there, so close

    and yes!
    and yes!

    even a decent shot frmo my cell
    even a decent shot frmo my cell

    it got dark :)
    it got dark :)

    I caught some sun flares on this one
    I caught some sun flares on this one

    on lower right, I think I you can see mercury. Einstein used it the lensing effect of gravity in his theory of general relativity
    on lower right, I think I you can see mercury. Einstein used it the lensing effect of gravity in his theory of general relativity

    my best lucky shot!
    my best lucky shot!

    and way too soon, it was over already :)
    and way too soon, it was over already :)

    and the sun soon went to hide under clouds again, perfect timing!
    and the sun soon went to hide under clouds again, perfect timing!

    The eclipse festival didn't end well, but the eclipse itself went way beyond expectations!

    Video:

    See more images for Texas Eclipse
    2024/04/09 Austin Bob Bullock State History Museum
    π 2024-04-09 01:01 in Museums, Texas
    Austin Bob Bullock State History Museum was a decent museum in Austin, where I learned about how the state became a state, starting from when it was taken over by the Mexicans, there was even a French expedition that tried, but didn't get very far (they all died in the end):



    remnants of the french boat expedition
    remnants of the french boat expedition

    maps were still in flux
    maps were still in flux




    Frst the mexicans living in Texas kind of wanted independence from Mexico, and then the americans who came to help take care of the land, decided to get independence from the Mexicans:


    Plenty of other displays on interesting things that happened in Texas:








    2024/04/09 Texas Toy Museum and Arcade in Austin
    π 2024-04-09 01:01 in Computers, Sciencemuseums, Texas
    I finished my day visit of Austin in the Texas Toy Museum and Arcade, which had a pretty cool collection of old video games, flippers, role playing games, cartoons, and other geek memorabilia:











    2024/04/09 A Day in Austin
    π 2024-04-09 01:01 in Ntrips, Texas


    I originally flew to Austin for:

  • The Texas Eclipse Festival
  • The Great American Eclipse of 2024




  • After those 2 were done, I had a day to spend in Austin, which turned out to be just enough for the main sights. I started with the state capitol:





    From there, I went to the Blanton Museum of Art:






    And the Bullock State History Museum was next (click for page):



    I tried to visit the famous Franklin BBQ, but it was mostly sold out by the time I arrived (14:20). I was able to get some leftover "mixed meats", which was better than nothing:



    The LBJ Library and Museum was a nice museum in the University, to finish the day. I learned a lot about the man, and he was one of the better presidents that the country did get:






    When I was done with the LBJ libray and museum, I went to check out the 6th av district, including murals:





    many businesses had these signs, saying anyone with any gun, was unwelcome
    many businesses had these signs, saying anyone with any gun, was unwelcome

    I went to check out the museum of the weird, but it was a lesser Ripley's Believe It Or Not, nothing to write home about.

    The Texas Toy Museum and Arcade (click me) was a lot more fun, though. Good way to burn time until sunset, when the bats were supposed to come out under some bridge, but by then it started pouring rain, and they didn't come out anytime





    everyone waiting and hoping, but no luck
    everyone waiting and hoping, but no luck

    nice views, though
    nice views, though

    After that, it was time to meet my friend Marc Antoine for a great evening together over some local BBQ:



    And that was it for visiting Austin, outside of one museum that was closed that day, got to see all things on my worthwhile list ;)

    See more images for A Day in Austin
    2024/04/10 Hopscotch San Antonio
    π 2024-04-10 01:01 in Museums, Texas
    Hopscotch in San Antonio was a fun place to visit, although you could only pay on your phone through some website, even if you were right there, plus they had a ridiculous waiver that was more pages than anyone could read, and that you were forced to read on your phone, and sign on your phone, before you were allowed in. That really dampened the place for me, which is a bummer as it was otherwise fun:














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    2024/04/10 San Antonio's Tower of the Americas
    π 2024-04-10 01:01 in Monuments, Texas
    I typically always go for elevated viewpoints, and did the same, this time around, although after a longish wait for the elevator, we actually got stuck at the top without being able to get around for about 15mn until someone reset whatever safety got triggered and blocked us (high winds, maybe?). The view was ok-ish:





    They also had a quick history lesson:





    I'd say it's probably somewhat skippable, and somewhat out of town, but it was open when other things had already closed, so I went.

    2024/04/10 San Antonio, the Saga, 3D Projection Mapping on San Antonio's Cathedral
    π 2024-04-10 01:01 in Outings, Texas
    That was a cool show, totally free and somewhat unexpected:










    Video:

    2024/04/10 2.5 Days in San Antonio
    π 2024-04-10 01:01 in Ntrips, Texas
    After Austin (for the 2024 Eclipse), I drove down to San Antonio to visit a few days before flying home.

    The texas roads were quite good everywhere I went, and they keep building more:



    I had a late night in Austin the previous night (lovely dinner and chat with Marc Antoine), so by the time I arrived at the Alamo and managed to park, it was already 11:00 and a total clusterf. Impossible to get any tour or audioguide or anything. I decided to abort and try Alamo again the next morning.
    Instead, I started with the river cruise, which was lovely:









    After the river cruise, went to check out a nice local market:






    even found a friendly cat :)
    even found a friendly cat :)

    While walking around some more, went to check out another poor bridge covered with locks. Silly custom that started in Paris :-




    the cathedral is a bit basic, but has a nice projection light show at night
    the cathedral is a bit basic, but has a nice projection light show at night




    Next, I went to Historic Market Square, lots of nice colorful stores with a clear mexican touch







    The last 3 activities of that day are on their own pages:

  • From the market, took an uber to Hopscotch (clickme for blog page)


  • Then went to the Tower of the Americas and got stuck up there in a broken elevator :) (clickme for blog page)


  • and after checking in my SA hotel, went back to the Cathedral to see the 3D mapping show (clickme for blog page)


  • The next day, I went to Alamo bright and early and did both the audioguide and guided tour (clickme for blog page)

  • I then drove to the San Antonio Missions National Park, 3 different old Mexican Missions (clickme for blog page)

  • old, still working, aqueduc
    old, still working, aqueduc


  • I then had enough time to visit the museum of art (clickme for blog page)


  • From then, I finished the day by going to the Pearl District, nice to walk around and found a really great FRench Restaurant:




    yummy beef, with seared foie gras
    yummy beef, with seared foie gras

    As an unusual sighting, I found a drive through Wells Fargo ATM. never had been through one before ;)



  • For the 3rd and last day, I started with the Japanese Garden and Botanical Garden (clickme for blog page)



  • And then had just enough time for the Witte Museum (clickme for blog page)


  • After that, time to head back home:

    enjoyed some last BBQ before going to the airport
    enjoyed some last BBQ before going to the airport

    So long San Antonio...
    So long San Antonio...

    (in real life, because SFO sucks, they cancelled my flight from SA to SFO, so I had to get an emergency uber back to Austin to catch a very delayed flight to SFO and made it home very late that night.

    See more images for 2.5 Days in San Antonio
    2024/04/11 San Antonio Missions National Park: San Juan, San José, and Mission Conception
    π 2024-04-11 01:01 in Monuments, Museums, Texas
    The national park is a set of 3 old Spanish Missions, and was interesting enough, to visit:



    Seeing a small still working aqueduc was cool:











    And here is the 3rd mission:




    2024/04/11 The Alamo
    π 2024-04-11 01:01 in Monuments, Texas
    When I showed up at the Alamo, I knew nothing about it, and the first day I arrived around 11:00 it was a mess of people and completely sold out for the day (both tours and even audioguides), quite disappointing. So I booked a tour the next morning at 09:00 as well as an audioguide as they complement one another (although you have to pay twice), and learned the biased history about the place, which is supposed to show that poor Americans got attacked by blood thirsty Mexicans, unprovoked (that part is not really true), and how they did indeed fight to the death defending the position, which helped other American troops later defeat the Mexicans.
    The place has kind of a cult status for courage and bravery, somewhat deserved indeed, but both the tour and audoguide focus mostly on the battle and bravery, while skipping the context of this battle (Americans agreeing to Mexican rule to get land, and then later deciding to secede). Basically why weren't quite martyrs, but they did fight bravely

    I'll add that getting tickets online is confusing, google gets you tickets to the church, which are free, but you need an extra ticket for the museum and ideally you want the guided tour or the audioguide, and those do sell out.



    the church where the battle ended
    the church where the battle ended

    some original frescos were found under the plaster
    some original frescos were found under the plaster







    The museum had lots of artifacts, most of which were acquired by Phil Collins and donated to the museum:



    cannonballs to musquet balls
    cannonballs to musquet balls

    When doing both the guided tour and audioguide, plus the museum, it took close to 3H. I still had to watch the movie after the fact to get the fuller story.

    See more images for The Alamo
    2024/04/11 San Antonio Museum of Art
    π 2024-04-11 01:01 in Museums, Texas
    The San Antonio Museum of Art had a nice little collection, worth visiting for a couple of hours or so:





    this is the way :)
    this is the way :)










    See more images for San Antonio Museum of Art
    2024/04/12 San Antonio Japanese Tea Garden and Botanical Garden
    π 2024-04-12 01:01 in Ntrips, Public, Texas
    The Japanese Garden was nice to visit in the morning


    Err, Chinese and Japanese are different!
    Err, Chinese and Japanese are different!





    Next door, the botanical garden was quite enjoyable and had some bird houses and bird watching:



    first time I see a cardinal!
    first time I see a cardinal!












    I found another very cool bird with an unusual song:

    2024/04/12 San Antonio Witte Museum
    π 2024-04-12 01:01 in Museums, Texas
    I finished my San Antonio Tour with the Witte Museum, a mix of natural history museum, and local history museum. While it was a bit of a mix, it was an interesting visit:








    I did actually see a roadrunner while driving around, cool birds :)
    I did actually see a roadrunner while driving around, cool birds :)

    There was a space exhibit due to the Johnston Space Center
    There was a space exhibit due to the Johnston Space Center




    See more images for San Antonio Witte Museum

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