THE DARK SIDE OF OZ / SOMEWHERE OVER THE WALL - The Wall Reveal Assignment

From different points around the planet, from Argentina to Europe and back to the US,
we will all start the "The Dark Side of Oz - The Wall Reveal" dropbox link at the same
time and participate in what will be the worlds largest synchronistic experiment!

SUNDAY, JUNE 7th

8:00pm Pacific Standard West Coast Cali USA

 A discovery has been made that changes everything
we've known about the 2nd repeat of "The Dark Side of Oz"!
Your class assignment is to download and join us as we watch
together this 11 minute segment from the Live screening that
will occur this August 12th @ Aubergines in Sebastopol

 

"THE DARK SIDE OF OZ - The Wall Reveal Assignment"

 Get Ready Guinness World Book!

On the day of the on-line seminar (Sunday 6/7/15) I will make the dropbox link available on the EVENT PAGE. Those of you who have joined our class experiment by selecting "GOING" on the EVENT PAGE will receive the dropbox link to view the on-line screening that evening. Just adjust your time zone to our Pacific Standard Time and we will all start/synchronize to our computers time of day! 8pm sharp Sunday June 7th. and we're off... all from the comfort of your own class room... invites some friends...  Sunday June 7th @ 8pm sync sharp!

 You will be allowed to download the DSOOZ link (on 6/7/15 only) and watch at anytime,
however what I envision is everyone watching the clock on their computer/device
and starting as soon the time turns 8pm Pacific Standard time... 

If you are watching the event from another time zone your participation
with the class LIVE will depend on having to adjust your timing to

that of our Pacific Standard / West Coast USA.

If that's not possible... please enjoy!

If you are planning on participating from another

time zone you may adjust your sync timing by using

THE WORLD CLOCK

FOR INFO ON HOW TO PARTICIPATE GO TO:
http://www.viralmediaart.com/the-dark-side-of-oz.html

A real-time synchronistic on-line public
event screening of "The DSOOZ Wall Reveal"

"The Dark Side of Oz" - Somewhere Over The Wall."

Sunday evening June 7th - 8pm sharp sync cue start!

Please join the DSOOZ Event Page and it's GROUP @
 https://www.facebook.com/groups/171406969587714/
 

CLASS DISMISSED!

THE MYSTIC THEATRE - I'll Bet You Did'nt Know

As the Chief Sound Engineer and Production Manager for the Mystic Theatre in Petaluma Ca. I had the opportunity imprint my personality on the venue in the 15 years that I worked there. It's not just about the quality of the sound of the shows there, but it's about the vibe of the room. It's the biggest reason some clubs make it and some don't. A lot of thought and preparation goes into building a concert facilities sound and lighting systems and even more goes into creating and maintaining the venues vibe through the years.

At some point in this article I'll actually get to the various components of the house and stage systems and how they came to be for all the tech geeks out there, but for the moment I want to concentrate on the intangible aspects of the grand old room and it's history since I became involved.

MY HISTORY IN THE ROOM

2000-2015

I inherited the room and the Chief Engineer job from Greg Rehberg who had spent a number of years installing the basics of an Apogee sound system with a small Mackie mixing board and trying to get a handle the room. I had been bringing in full concert sound systems for live shows through Phil Salisbury of Sound Expressions in Santa Rosa long before Greg's arrival. I knew what the room was capable of and I also had some system changes in mind that I new would bring it up to the standard that I wanted to maintain local, national and international artists.

We were all sitting around a big table upstairs in McNear's Restaurant and I was in the middle of meeting with Ken, Jeff and a few other Managers at the time in regards to my input and position. I remember listening carefully to everyone to better understand their plan and passion for the room and after everyone had their chance to clarify their business position I took my opportunity to do the same... "You know, there's really only 1 person that I am interested in pleasing when it comes to staging and producing shows"... I said with a very straight sure of myself face. Everyone at the table thought that it was going to be them, the owners, the managers... "The only personal that I'm really interested in pleasing is the bands Tour Engineer."

My theory was pretty straight forward and an equation that was hard to argue with. As a band Tour Engineer for many years already, I understood the value of the House Engineer position. In my opinion the House Sound Engineer should be a friendly and competent Engineer with at least 1 gray hair capable of tearing apart and rebuilding the house and monitor system at any given point of his day or night. He or she is the 1st one to greet you and typically the last one to wave goodbye. The House Engineer should make all of the incoming Tour Engineers comfortable interfacing their acts with the house system and have a good time doing it. In turn, The Tour Engineers will see that their event is going to be not only technically fine but they are going to have some fun as well. A happy Tour Engineer on stage and in the house means a happy band on stage, the happier the band the better the performance, the better performance the more people return to share in that good time!

P.S. To keep your House Engineer happy give him the best tools affordable
 and give them dinner and a drink for gods sake!

 THE PROJECTION ROOM HAND PRINT:

The room says welcome.

It was very late after a show one evening, somewhere around the time that I began working full time at The Mystic. I was walking around the theater in the dark turning off the systems and the last of the lights when I noticed that the projection room's door was unlocked and slightly open. I need to say that in all of my time at The Mystic I have never felt any presence of being or spirit in the theater and I have had those kind of experiences before. One of the long time staff member, Ryan recalls his sightings of a rather old Italian Man in a suit sitting in the seats well after the doors were locked and we were closed, but I've never personally met a spirit there.

This is however the closest that I have come to shaking hands with the rooms spirit. 

As I pushed open the door into the darkness, I placed my left hand on the wall looking for the light switch. A really cool chill came over me as I rested my left hand on the wall and turned on the lights with my right hand. My left hand felt like it sunk into the wall and once I turned on the light I saw that my hand was sitting in an imprint of someone else's hand print! I was startled at first, but when I realized what had actually happened, I began to feel that it was more of a welcoming handshake... the magic had been passed on!



SKINNY & SLIM

The story of Skinny & Slim

Shortly after my arrival at the Mystic Theatre I stumbled across my house muse or guardians. 

The 1st on the seen was Skinny, a wood skeleton stick figure that I propped up on a guitar stand (above on the left.) One of his hands is appropriately at his ear listening and the other on his crotch... we're not to sure why! One of Skinny's first appearances on stage was standing next to Dr. John's (Mack -----) piano during a show. Mack was so impressed by Skinny that he signed him on that hand that covers the crotch and sealed his fate as our stage mascot. Skinny lived at the top of the stage stairs and never moved unless a performer moved him themselves. It was his presence and invitation to participate that was the key to unlocking some truly great shows in that room.

Skinny has stood on stage in place of missing band members... He's filled in for sax front-man Martine Fiero from the band Zero after he passed away just before an upcoming show and he has stood next to countless drummers and keyboard players. The image of Skinny standing by Johnny Winter side while he was seated playing a show was fearless! It seemed after every show I would find him on one side of the stage or the other and frequently on top of some gear behind stage if he was hiding! Once after a show, one of our security guys even found him in the men's room upstairs, he had been mugged and left for toothpicks. I patched him back up and reinstated him in his honorary position side stage, but clearly Skinny was in need of some help and not just from me but someone from his own tribe.

Unlike Skinny it took Slim years to find his way to the stage... his resurrection happened like this.

After a show one night we thought that we would all go over to McNears and have a last call drink, we had worked hard and just wanted to unwind. As we were all sitting there in a booth enjoying our drinks and talking my eyes wander up the wall and there hanging on a hook 10' above us I spotted him, he had both of his wood hands help up to his ears... it was Skinny's long lost brother. Maybe it was the drinks or the time of day but the only thought that came to mind was lets get him down from there! We looked at each other and quickly realized that if we were to succeed and not piss off the boss, we needed to send a member of the O'Donnell clan up there to rescue Skinny's brother. Travis O'Donnell, one of my best young Monitor Engineers and the nephew of owner Ken O'Donnell quickly volunteered and In a blink of an eye leapt up on the back of the booth where we were seated and released our new friend from his bondage. Within 10 minutes Slim had a new home on a guitar stand of his own and in the only one logical room position left for him to take. We placed Skinny house right and Slim on house left on each of the speaker stacks boldly looking down over the audience from above the stage.

Skinny & Slims costumes changed as the years and shows went by, they became a place to put lost articles of jewelry and accessories. All of the jam bands loved the Skeleton vibe reminiscent of the Grateful Dead era and I would  occasionally point our front PAR can lights onto the boys with a dark blue gel just to be able to pull their presence up in the room or sometimes green for our reggae shows. On one of our Halloween shows I modified Skinny & Slim's persona by drilling holes
where their eyes were and installing 2 pin spot lasers that I could turn on during the show, unfortunately they weren't very cost effective to use on a regular basis.

The boys are no longer at their post at The Mystic and may have even retired much like myself, but they were a very special presence for me and a lot of people who have attended the shows over the years... two friendly benevolent spirits that always had the best interest of me and the theater at heart.

The Petaluma Gazette article: ----

http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2009/03/captain-beefhearts-10-commandments-of-guitar-playing.html

THE LIFT TRADITION

 

The Carolina Chocolate Drops

Zeparella

Dick Dale

Petty Theft

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KARL TUNE - PART 2 - SYNCHRONISTIC BONGWASH

There is one possible reason this synching hobby will never appeal to the main stream society. 

People perceive this as the hobby of psychedelic druggists and lunatics. That's why the “Synchronicity Arkive Primer” listed one of the early experimenters of music with movie montage as William S. Burroughs. The movie “Naked Lunch” is based on part of the book Mr. Burroughs wrote about what he actually thought happened to him while he was under the influence of drugs. Doctors routinely read another book in which Mr. Burroughs details the subjective effects of every drug he takes. Back in the 1960’s, drugs were counter culture hip. Drugs were believed to be an aid to mental exploration and enlightenment. Your voluntary thoughts would give way to the hidden subjective power of your inner mind.

In hindsight, we saw a number of music and movie stars die of drug abuse and addiction (and many other people too). Now we are informed of drug addiction and the toll it takes on the human body. I have never tried any illegal drugs. As a youth, I saw drugs rip apart the fabric of society. This polarized me strongly against illegal drugs. I have had drug addicts witness to me that they wanted to quit but it was very hard. They told me that using marijuana opened up the door to hard core drugs for them.  They said that it may only take one use to get your mind dependant on a drug. I expect to live a long time because I take care of myself. Take care of yourself too.

 I have had people on the street curse at me when I told them about this hobby of synchronicity. Most other people say, “I have heard of the ‘Dark Side of Oz’, so what?” My wife recently gave me the “wake up and see reality” speech about synching. She told me that none of the stuff I try matches. I told her that I still enjoy doing it. I reminded her that instead of synching, I could go out to drink and get in bar fights. Some people watch the television to relax. I just play music I like, while watching muted movies. Playing a movie muted is the hard part for some people to accept.

When I was a kid, I first saw Disney’s “Fantasia” at a Birthday Party outing. I found it amazing that the animation was cut to pre-existing music.  I wanted to animate to music too and would often dream of various action with music.  In elementary school, one of my teachers had a music interpretation activity.  We would listen to music and lyrics to think about what the message was. We would draw pictures of what the music meant to us. We were surprised how nobody had the same interpretation.

One subject that frequently surfaces for synchronicity is brain wiring.  I have read that when the brain is tired, the dominant side loses control. The dominant side tries to regain control by noticing coincidences to get the dominant side stimulated and used again.

I do most of my synching late at night. There has also been frequent discussion on synesthesia and whether it aids in synchronicity art. Synesthesia is the mental crossing of the boundaries for senses. For example; a certain music note makes you see a certain color, or a certain texture makes you taste a certain flavor. When I first hear new types of music, I see colors and lines. It is as if my mind is desperately trying to make sense of the new stimuli. Once I become familiar with the music, I no longer have this sensation. So I do not consider myself to have true synesthesia. Others in synching report that they have synesthesia but not that it aids them in synching. I wonder if somebody with synesthesia is predisposed to matching different aspects of sensory media. This sensory crossing may be an evolutionary adaptation in abstract reasoning. Now a part of the body (region of the brain in this case) is used for an entirely different purpose than it was originally for. Like jaw bones in fish for chewing food evolving into ear bones for hearing for land animals.

We have brains to remember what happened in the past.  This gives us the power to predict the future. With every cause, there is an effect. Our brains are wired to notice patterns. This gives us an advantage over utilizing our environment. Lois Pasteur proposed, “In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind.”

 I believe that the Gestalt Principles apply to synchronicity of music and movies. You draw on personal experiences, expectations, and cultural cues to gather the information in your mind. Our brains want a straight forward cause and effect. Because of subjectivity and cultural relativism, it is possible that few others will enjoy or “get” your synch.  Also, your brain searches for coincidence and harmony. When two independent actions happen in harmony, it strongly catches our attention. Lastly, your senses can never take in all the myriad of information presented.  So, your mind has learned to connect the dots and add a few dots to make the mental imagery of your synch “complete”. I believe this personal journey in synching is why music movie madness will never appeal to the general public.

2013 - THE DARK SIDE OF OZ RECLAIMED - PART 6

As the story goes from the previous year in... 2012

The Professor was last seen on the out skirts of Bwangtown in search of rare reclusive syncs!

As it turns out, Oz Osborn who was disguised in the audience the night that we all heard The Professor say himself that this may be his last "Dark Side of Oz," began his plan for Dark Side domination that very moment and carried on his mission of Occupy Oz in the
"2012 DSoOZ - Oz Fest" while The Professor was well out of the country.

Once again, that was not The Professor... 
he was not me... and I am not him! 

 

When The Professor returned from his synchronistic travels he immediately noticed that there was something wrong, something had changed. Someone had trifled with his belongings and although he had just about considered to take his own DSoOZ words of departure as fact he found, just like in years past... a new focus, a focus of reclamation and retribution. He would find this man, lure him out in public and bring him to justice in front of the same audience that he had hi-jacked the very year before. Occupy Oz... preposterous!

"2013 - THE DARK SIDE OF OZ - RECLAIMED"

Indeed the Professor could of walked away from this urban legend a number of times in his past, but to have it ridiculed, made a mockery of was more than he could bare. 

A well laid trap was devised for our Mr. Oz Osborn and his enormous ego, it was easily his weakest point of attack and It was also a given that Oz would be in the audience that night much in the same way a criminal returns to the scene of the crime. It wasn't until the 30 minute "Introduction to Oz" segment at the beginning of the show that Oz choose to make his presence known by jamming my theater broadcast and replacing it with his own image and some rambling incoherent demands and threats to get his point across. This is exactly what I wanted however, I knew that the Oz ego was far to large to just sit back in a chair and take it, evidential he'd have to come forward and when he did, The Professor would be ready!

THE TRIAL
PINK FLOYD - THE WALL - "THE TRIAL - YOUTUBE LINK"

 Things must be settled and made right. It was decided that there would be a trial, a trial of grand proportions, if fact there was only really one trial that would do, and that would be the last segment from Pink Floyd's "The Wall" appropriately entitled "The Trial." I projected the animation  on to the theater screen while below I lip-synced the dialog and we supplied the action on stage.

 

 THE VERDICT

 

The verdict was reached and the perpetrator revealed... Paul Riley once again, this explains his boisterous stick pony ride through the 2011 "Dub Side of the Moonshine" and his renown  theatrical sense for costumes and characters! What you don't see in the photo evidence here is the great escape by Oz/Paul after the verdict was delivered... while leading Oz/Paul off of  the stage in a disgrace of conviction, he bolted from my control and fled back across the stage where I had no choice but to try to chase and recapture him.

 

The video that I had playing during this crazy final scene of the opening act of this 2013 "Introduction To Oz' was the "Punk Rock Snack Bar", This was an wild animation piece that we used to create a pit on stage. After a frantic 3 minute conclusion, Oz/Paul and myself were dizzy enough that he evidentially allowed me to grab on to him and hold him down. However (as planned) he in turn grabbed me in a wrestlers "Spin Lock," wielded me around in circles until he dropped me

on the floor where we both collapsed in the results that you now see before you.

 

THE RESULTS

THE END



 

I have now reclaimed the event and it is well under control as we head further down that Red Brick Road of discovery. As I proved the following year, sometimes the class just needs a good field trip!

 

These stories consist of rough drafts that will be proof read and finalized

before being included in "Another Day Another Decibel"

www.ViralMediaArt.com

THE SYNCHRONICITY ARKIVE - Founder Michael Johnston

The Synchronicity Arkive was created by Mike Johnston, and first went online in 1995. 
This is the story of how the site came to be, and what led to the present incarnation.

The Synchronicity Arkive

Early History

When I was in college, several friends and I had experimented with watching films while playing different music. A common choice for the music played were the albums of Pink Floyd. The very first match-up that I ever saw was the end of the movie 2001 with Pink Floyd's song "Echoes" (from the album Meddle). Actually films and music were both a big part of my college experience, along with philosophy, psychology, and communications theory. My adviser, Derek Bousé, was a big believer in getting involved in technology and connecting to the world.

When I first graduated college, one of the very first things I did was get an Internet account. Back in 1995, the Internet was still new to most people. In college, we'd had Bit Net (an early computer network) and by my senior year (1994-1995) got the full Internet. But I was still new to these technologies. With my first Internet account, I had access to a bit of space to create a web site, So the question became, what to use that space for?

One of the first things I did on the Internet actually was to check out User Net (the old newsgroup functionality). I joined a group, alt.music.pink-floyd and proceeded to jump into the conversations there. One of the topics that caught my eye was the discussion of the match between The Wizard Of Oz and Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon (or as it was also known DARK SIDE OF THE RAINBOW). So, the pieces were in place. I had run across an idea that I was actually interested in doing a web site on. And the Arkive was born. The first version was incredibly primitive. I actually wrote it on an Apple IIGS and was only able to see it in TEXT via browser lynx. But I kept revising it and after getting a "real" job and buying a PC, I was able to put out a version 2.0.

 

Discovery!

RB Savage - 1st printed story on DSOTR
Originally published August 1, 1995
Copyright 1995, The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

By 1997, I'd heard from a couple folks out on the internet about other matches. And there had been some other ideas put forward in alt.music.pink-floyd as well. So I expanded the Synchronicity Arkive to include those in a version 3.0.

About that same time, a Boston DJ named George Taylor Morris of WZLX-FM began talking about this strange match between The Wizard Of Oz and The Dark Side Of The Moon. That kicked off a firestorm of media attention to the phenomenon. I remember being at work and checking the Synchronicity Arkive during lunch. The hit counter I'd set up jumped by about 5000 during a page reload. At the time I seriously thought it was broken. And then I got an email from USA Today, wanting to me about Dark Side Of The Rainbow. They were the first but they weren't the last... I also heard from MTV. Since they had a crew that was going to be in Chicago for a concert (I think it was Lollapalooza), they wanted to swing by and shoot an interview.

On May 30, 1997, that interview ran on MTV News. "The Dark Side Of The Rainbow" was also featured in Entertainment Weekly, but although they ran the web address for the Synchronicity Arkive, they never did contact me.

As the traffic to the site grew, and it seemed that more people wanted to talk about this crazy synchronicity, I added a basic message board to the Arkive. And that was really the start of the larger synching community, beyond those of us who had sites devoted to this stuff.

SKY DANIAL O'BANION - His name was Mr. Humble

I got kicked out of every school I ever went to. I got kicked out of so many schools that my mom had to use friends addresses so I could go to schools in other districts. I finally had to have a tutor come to my house because I was out of schools to go to.

The man in this picture was my school principal. He was the new principal and I was kicked out of this school for the second time after they let me come back after attending other schools. He knew I was troubled but he also knew I had a love and obsession for a newly found instrument, the harmonica. He wanted to boost my self esteem and help me.

  

SKY DANIAL O'BANION

 His name was Mr. Humble

Even though I was getting kicked out again, he wanted me to play the school talent show with him. I was finally excited to go to the principals office. He wanted me to develop some structure and discipline in my playing. He had a black Les Paul and a black face Fender Twin. I think he had kind of hung it up as a musician in trade for a career in education but I think I inspired him to dust off the Les Paul and Fender Twin. 

I felt like I could fly when we performed together at that talent show. He really helped me. I never felt like I fit in or was good enough. I hated school with every inch of my soul. His name was Mr. Humble and I am forever grateful to him. He gave me one of the very few positive memories of school. I think I was 11 or 12.
 

P.s. I played through the original school auditorium tube p.a. System. The ceiling was lined with old 8" speakers.

 SKY WITH CHRIS MARVIN

THE TRADE WINDS - COTATI CA.

These stories consist of rough drafts that will be proof read and finalized

before being included in "Another Day Another Decibel"

www.ViralMediaArt.com

2012 - THE DARK SIDE OF OZ - OZ FEST PART 5

It was a really politically tense year. "OCCUPY" was the word and people were doing just that, sitting and taking a stand against the political machine that leaves them very little else to do to change things other than just sit down and pitch a tent! Although their message was blurred and twisted in the media they spoke to me and I saw what I saw during the Vietnam era... a non violent peaceful protest for change, for a while it was encouraging. But, after a while camping isn't protesting and without a clear spokesman and the opportunity to hear one... might as well back up your sleeping bag and go home. I'm not one to sit with a crowd in protest these days, not my style... but If I have a stage a projector and a screen I can damn well make my own statement!

That is what the "2012 DSoOz Fest" was all about, railing against the media

I told myself If I was going to do another DSoOz I had to do something spectacular. I decided to totally re-invent DSoOz again, this time twist it to incorporate 2 complete Ozzy Osbourne songs "No More Tears" and "Thunder Under Ground" into the movie itself. It seemed crazy to me at first and then I thought, well actually "Crazy" is perfect! But I can't be crazy, I'm The Professor, I'm the one who is suppose to be in control here. What I need is a good nemesis like Batman had in the Joker, one that can take the blame away from me for any opinions that might challenge the audiences perception of my real point. At least be the bad guy if need be but, he was pretending to be me! The story goes:

As I said at my previous DSoOz, this may be the last and after saying that I decided to take that suggestion and relinquish the authority to someone else. Since The Professor had now left the country in search of curious synchronistic events and left no forwarding address... It seemed the perfect opportunity to take the stage myself as Oz Ozborn and pitch a tent in the name of a creative political statement. The character looked quite a lot like Ozzy... the darker it got the better I looked! I had a great straight black wig, round glasses, black jacket, jewelry and all I really had to do was mumble. I even went to the extent to create another facebook identity under his name just so he could pop up and torment everyone with his critical thought!

 My Intro to Oz, which is the 1st 30 min of my show before the actual DSoOz screening, was more of a comical satire on the state of the state. It included a short bit by George Carlin that emphasized my point quite well and of course it had lots of Ozzy Osbourn jokes just to kick his character around and prepare you for his entrances in the DSoOz sync itself!

Yes I pitched a tent...

Dead center stage for 2 days and nights! I cut a hole out of the back of the tent, secured the rear curtain so no one could see you come and go and made the steadfast rule that at show time, no one comes and goes on or off of the stage except through the tent door! The tent had some unusual features itself, I had shrunk The Professors Wayback Machine down to something more tent size this time and loaded it up with the same old school effects. I had to make sure that I left room in the tent for not only me to wait for my 1st appearance to exit as Oz Ozborn in the very beginning of the show but also have people pass through the tent themselves at the end of the evening to collect their diploma's. 

To dramatize Oz's exit out of the tent I needed a special effect and once that I realized that the zip up bug screen triangle made the perfect projection screen I was on the right track. I used a 2nd projector to project a triangle cut visual that hit only on the triangle bug screen. With the house projector hitting the main 30'x40' screen and the effect opening of the tent made quite a statement! At show time I started the DVD intro and secretly made my way through the back stage and into the rear of the tent to wait for my exit cue (stumble out was the plan) . Inside the tent was a crazy environment of spinning wheels, colored lights and lots of fog... leaving me little choice in that tent but to light-up a special celebratory joint and play with some hand palm lights that I was wearing for the personal effect. I wish I had photos of this exit, it seems out of 3 or 4 photographers that were there they were all caught off guard... I've been told it was quite a sight to see! I'm not surprised either, I spent a lot of time editing 2 separate videos that I actually hand synced together live to create the effect. In a cloud of fog, through lightning bolts of color, fire and sound what a fine tribute to the man himself... As I opened the tent flaps and stepped out to begin the show, it was truly one of the most surreal moments of my life. I stumbled out of the tent and mumbled appropriately what little lines I had given myself and guided the audience towards that red brick road which is always best place to start.

The Highway Poets - We Represent

THE HIGHWAY POETS facebook

I brought some friends along with on this journey once again. "The Highway Poets" joined me on stage as "The Lollipop Poets" during the intermission and brought down the house with a rousing acoustic rendition of "The Lollipop Guild" delivered in a very unusual way!  As I mentioned, any one coming or going from the stage had to enter and exit through the tent so when it came time to introduce my special little friends I just began by stumbling around the stage lining up 5 pairs of shoes in a straight line (which was difficult for Oz Ozborn) directly in front of the tent door. As I introduced them they began to file out single file on their knees and placed each of their knees in the appropriate pair of shoes. But, the fun didn't stop there. I had prepared 5 helium balloons side stage and wielding a sharp pair of scissors I sniped the end off of each balloon as I handed it to the respective Munchkin. On the count of 5 they were off... each member inhaled the helium and began to sing. I can't tell you what a funny trick it is to play on already exceptional vocalists, than to pitch shift their vocals up 2-3 octaves and then ask them to sing in tune and play a song. It was truly hilarious and quite impossible!

THE HIGHWAY POETS aka THE LOLLIPOP POETS

Members: Sebastian - Vocals, Guitars, Organ, Piano

Travis James - Guitars, Mandolin, Banjo and Vocals

Taylor James - Electric & Upright Bass and Vocals

Shane Schlick - Drums, Mandolin, Percussion and Vocals

All in all I felt like I had blown up the mother of all syncs for good, no other music was used in Oz Fest other than Pink Floyd and Ozzy Osbourn. "Thunder Underground" was used just as Dorothy is leaving Professor Marval's trailer just before the twister hits and "No More Tears" represents Dorothy's struggle and the fact that the Witches Castle is the Dark Side of the Moon! There's no going back from here and very little elsewhere to go I thought to myself... I might be done... but as twisted as it may sound it was really quite spectacular feat and carried a strong personal statement that I could never of made by just pitching my tent in Down Town Santa Rosa.