O.C.F. Caretaker's Journal O.C.F. Caretaker's Journal"What each must seek
in his life never was on land or
sea. It is something out of his own unique potentiality
for experience, something that never has been and
never could have been experienced by anyone else."
--- Joseph Campbell
Wednesday 28 February I didn't even feel today's earthquake out here today, and so suffice it to say that the Fair is still here. My folks live in Tacoma, however, and I have the following first hand report via email from my Dad. We just had a real roller and shaker of an earthquake. I was visiting with our friends Stan and Thelma Willis and Beverly was at home when it hit. It was the most intense quake that I have ever felt, and I have felt a number of them living in California. Since I couldn't call Beverly, I went home immediately. All of the neighbors ran into the street which may not be all that safe a place to be, but everyone is safe and sound. The house is a mess with pictures off the wall, the computers fell on the floor but apparently are working, furniture shifted, but apparently there was no major damage. The earthquake was centered ten miles south of here and had a magnitude of 6.8. Apparently the reason why there was so little damage was that it took place thirty miles beneath the surface. If it had been nearer the surface, we would have been in big trouble for sure. Because of this, no after shocks are expected, though I wouldn't bet on it. Hey, all of this added a little spice to our lives.
Tuesday 27 February The last few days have been the most glorious February days I can remember since I came to Oregon. In fact the rainfall is about a third of what is average for the this month, and it is the eleventh below average month in a row. While most people seem to be either hopeful or in denial, I will have to say that maybe just maybe we are beginning to experience a real trend here. Yesterday I hopped on my motorbike to go to Jerry's and add my share of hydrocarbons into the atmosphere. (Va-RROOM, blah-dah, blah-dah, blah-dah.) Today I went skiing up at Willaimette Pass with Craig Huber, driving in another gas burner. The sky azure blue, the trees dark green, and pure white artificial snow made through the use of freeze-aid chemicals. (Shuush, shuush, shuush.) Admittedly I'm as much a part of the problem as anyone else, and while our human system seems to be set into opposition with Nature, and while no one can say if global warming is even actually bad for the planet in the long run, and although it will almost certainly be ultimately very bad for us humans, I certainly have been enjoying the effects to the utmost lately. And that might say it all, as like everyone else, I don't really have much of a clue about what to do about it.
Sunday 25 February Whew! What a busy last several days for me. My sister brought my two nieces, aged 7 and 8 to Oregon and the Fair for the first time and it was great fun to show them where I live. Needless to say they were super impressed with the myriad of "play structures" found around my house. My parents were also along for the visit. The Land Use Management Planning Committee came out over the weekend for the purpose of surveying the Far Side. One unfortunate incident was that Bob Clark almost immediately ripped his hand open to the tune of eight stitches on a piece of barbed wire, but was right back at it the next day. David Hoffman is not his usual self as he has had retinal surgery and is waiting for a bubble of surgical gas to dissolve from his eye. Nevertheless he called to explain that he would not be able to make it out this weekend. After touring with the LUMP Committee I went to work with Karl Taylor and several others remodeling the QM Shed. Last night I drove in for a coordinator's potluck at the town office. Today was a beautiful cloudless day as Karl and I continued working down in Main Camp. I have in fact worked in far colder conditions in June and we are really going to have to start worrying about how the water and perhaps even electricity shortages may affect the Fair (and for that matter everything else) this Summer. Living at the Fair certainly has to be one of life's grand adventures for me, but then again I have been vicariously following along with the adventures Ann Bancroft and Norwegian Liv Arnesen who were attempting to cross the Antarctica by sled and wind sail. Now that is what I call an Adventure. Unfortunately they have just fallen short of their goal, and had to be flown out the last several hundred miles, but by any account it must have been an incredible trip by these two courageous women. Check out their official website if you would like to read interesting journals about real life and death struggles and not the incessant blah, blah, blah usually found at this one.
Tuesday 20 February Tree Crew has been out here a few times lately and as always there are things to do, but fortunately it has been a very light year as far as tree damage is concerned. I therefore asked them to remove the rotted old tree-fort that was along the river in the old Security Camp. Over my years here I have been removing these unsafe and unsightly structures little by little, but this particular one was precarious enough to leave to the experts. As far as I know we are now down to a single structure in Bower Camp---which of course is now slated for certain destruction in the very near future. Steve and I took a foray to the Far Side with an eye towards the various possibilities now that we own the land. The City of Veneta has been busy on the adjoining property too, putting in their new irrigation system, improving and expanding the road there, and building a fence along our mutual property line. On our side of the fence the issue, as always it seems, is new camping area as we try to met the needs of our ever expanding Fair Family. We think we may have found just the spot too, a beautiful and large open area under mature canopy, just opposite the proposed second bridge site. Certainly we are going to need to use the Far Side more and more for camping during the event, but we are definitely advocating centralized areas using our new Leave No Trace ethic, while at the same time leaving the largest areas undisturbed.
Monday 19 February Positively Spring-like conditions are starting to prevail here in western Oregon, many many tiny plants emerging and the trees beginning to bud. I was out taking advantage of this crystal-clear night to check out the Stars, something I haven't done in a while. Orion is prominent high up in the heavens and the faint stars of my star sign Aries are still visible---until the Sun overtakes them in another month. But there in the West --outshining everything else by far-- is a dazzling Venus, which is in fact at her maximum luminescence and not to be this bright again for another eight more years. While its dense sulfuric clouded atmosphere reflects fully 76% of the sunlight that strikes the planet (making it the second most luminous object in the Solar System) Venus' present great brilliancy as viewed from Earth stems from a combination of factors, including its relative nearness and the percentage of its lighted half that is turned in our direction. Paradoxically we can see less than half of the sunlit side, which appears now as a crescent--even to the naked eye. It is just a totally awesome sight, one well worth braving a crisp moonless February night for. Highly recommended to do so before Saturday though, for after that jealous Luna will begin competing with the Goddess of Love---to see who is the fairest one of all.
Saturday 17 February Yesterday's military muscle flexing by our spanking new Commander in Chief might be viewed by some as an attempt to make his Poppy proud by proving that he too can play Army. The Caretaker's Journal however--in its unrelenting quest for Absolute Truth--has uncovered these startling revelations. According one source, the missile attack was not actually intended for Iraqi RADARs but in fact for the Ballot Recount Headquarters located somewhere in Tallahassee, Florida. Apparently Gore is ahead by over 20,000 votes there now. At any rate, President Dubya gives his order via his super-secret decoder ring to begin the attack. Cleverly he does this from neutral Mexico so he cannot be implicated. Unfortunately the launch codes are always changed on a daily basis (to keep them Top Secret obviously) and it turns out that at the time that the launch order was given all 22 warplanes are being flown by Republican donors. Well, it is really nobody's fault that the Big-Wigs were not informed of the change as nobody was expecting a bombing run so soon. Dutifully they attacked the previous day's target before the SNAFU was realized. Later the whole thing is written off as a "routine mission". Inspired by our illustrious government, Palmer and I launch a Sidewinder Missile today into a perfectly innocent trailer, all in the name of practice.
Thursday 15 February There certainly is something malodorous about Bill Clinton's last minute pardon of billionaire Marc Rich. In view of some of his previous denials I too am forced to conclude that there has indeed been quid pro quo in this case. But presidential pardons are an executive privilege and are as much a part of the United States Constitution as, say, the unappeal-abilty of a recent famous Supreme Court decision. Like it or not, that is that, end of story, hasta la vista baby. And while I have yet to agree with a single policy decision that George Bush Jr has made during his short time in office, I will have to say that to his credit he is at least asking his fellow Republicans to bury the Clinton bashing diatribe and get on with the business at hand. Once and a while, for some unknown reason, I check in and sample our own Elders Crew Listbot to briefly observe the unabated flame war that rages there. Reading through it is an absolutely positively depressing experience. A decision made by the Board of Directors is the final level of arbitration in our organization. The decision cannot be grieved through the Grievance Process since the Board, as the arbiters, would have to hear a case against themselves---which of course makes no sense. The analogy that I am drawing here is that there are some things that need to have finality and although no one will force you to like it, you are basically forced by the reality of the situation to accept the fact that it is what it is. If, for example, the Board voted 10-0 to fire me, then fine, I would quickly conclude that it was high time to start packing my bags---and that's no matter whatever else other people might have to say about the situation. That's not likely to happen because I tend to stay focused on practical matters like my work, rather than on picking fights. A lot of people's time and energy could be a lot more creatively spent than to be continually rehashing the same old dead issues, over and over and over again, until they practically forget what we are even supposed to be about around here.
Tuesday 13 February This week the History Channel is doing a series about secret societies. Last night, after watching the one about the Skull and Bones Society, I literally had bad dreams. Geedubya's meteoric ascension to the Presidency has begun raising those same old conspiracy theories about the political insidiousness that extends from this elite brotherhood. Tonight's episode made the Hell's Angels look like pious saints by comparison. The Oscar nominations are in. I promise I won't gloat about the fact that GLADIATOR is the early favorite with twelve. Oh well I guess I just did that, didn't I? I am planning to have an Oscar Party here at the Yurt so let me know if you'd like to attend, it should be fun. So without further ado, the nominees are...
Monday 12 February Over the weekend Karl was out to work on the Quatermaster Shed. No perhaps about it, we were jumping the gun a wee tiny bit because it rained all weekend, and we did manage to churn up quite a fair old bit of good old Fair mud. We have passed the Point of No Return though, and because it is one of the hubs during the pre-Fair we want to get the new QM box done before then. It is a project with no budget implications, using recycled materials. Thanks goes to August West and Mike for slogging it out with us on Sunday. Today, of course, was a beautiful sunny day. We are already past the halfway point between the Equinox and the Solstice and Spring is on the way!
Saturday 10 February Dubya seems to getting a honeymoon from the Democrats in Congress, who at this point already seem to be ready to concede to at least some version of his proposed tax plan. Here at the Caretaker's Journal, you may have noticed, there has never been a honeymoon period---period. According to the Austin American-Statesman the great state of Texas is already feeling the squeeze from tax cuts that Governor Bush presided over in 1997 and 1999, and they are apparently now facing the choice of either raising them back again or tapping the rainy day fund. Here's how I see the current situation in a nutshell. Our economy is probably starting to sag because all the average people can't afford to buy all the average stuff anymore. Layoffs are on the rise as a direct result of this. All the money is rapidly getting locked up in stocks owned by the ever richer. Currency is ceasing to circulate. Will lowering taxes really start the trickle down process, as Bush suggests, or will this only enable the amassing of huge fortunes to continue? Hummm . . . I would have to make the observation that the money actually seems to trickle in an upward direction and therefore to stimulate the economy tax relief should actually be applied to the lower income tiers only and the minimum wage substantially raised.
Friday 9 February Ahh, the Internet. Such a perfect way to transfer information quickly, cleanly, and efficently---just those little tiny pixels on a computer screen with no wasted paper or anything. What could be more PC than a PC? If it all just sounds too good to be true in fact it is. The amount of information avalible on the Internet doubles in size every three months. Where then, you have to ask, does all this data get stored? The answer is server farms, entire buildings filling up with vast power guzzling arrays of networked computers. A near monopoly by Evil Microsoft has assured that their glutted operating system is usually employed at the expense of huge amounts of wasted energy. One server farm can consume an incredible 50 megawatts of power per month. By comparision the entire city of Seattle only uses about 1200 megawatts per month. With plans to create twenty-four new server farms in Seattle area alone in the near future, demand for energy may very well quickly double for that city. On the consumer side of things it is equally grim. There are over three hundred chip manufacturers in the country drawing about 15 mega watts each. Every year 40 million new computers are sold with over 20 million of them eventually connecting to the Internet. Each Pentium4 chip draws about 90 watts, requiring a massive heatsink to keep it cool. Computers get more powerful each year too, and by 2010 it is estimated that that figure will probaby double to 175 watts. And you can run your computer for an entire year on the electricity it took just to build it. All and all it appears to me as if the Computer Revolution, which has fueled the greatest economic upswing in our nation's history, is now resting squarely upon a House of Cards that is the same power grid that we have come to depend on for practically every other aspect of our daily lives. Remember when nuclear power was the end all answer to the world's problems? The Devil, as they say, is always in the Details.
Thursday 8 February After three days in lock hell I'm finally done completely overhauling our system of chains, gates, and locks---making them easier to use and more secure both during the Fair and the off season. Ancient Rome has got nothing over the way this county is going these days, I can tell you that. Fresh from his bloodless coup, young Emperor Bush is setting out to placate the masses by promising a couple hundred bucks back at tax time. Meanwhile him and all his other rich Republican buds, including all the talking head types over on CNN, are going to be pocketing a few extra hundred thousand or so. Even the Democrats that will be voting on this issue fall squarely into that second category---it doesn't look too awfully good for paying off that national debt that Pappy and the Gipster ran up. The only ray of hope I can see in this whole mess is knowing that there will be plethora of overstressed tax accountants running around in the next couple of months and for that the Shrub oughta keep a mighty low profile if he knows what's good for him. XFL Football also hit the airwaves at NBC this week, furthering my theory that we have become the latest thing in decadent empires. Basically they have done away with the rules that protects receivers, the in the grasp rule that protects the quarterbacks, endzone celebrations, and the like. Throw a couple hungry lions out there and it will become just like the old glory days of the Colosseum. Tonight I met with Craig Huber and we are going to do another Capital Project together if only we can get the funding. We saw HIDDEN DRAGON, CROUCHING TIGER **** at the Bijou. There is a major buzz about this film and this is definitely not your average Kung-Fu flick. An epic saga strangely lyrical and poetic while at the same time packed with action, the movie successfully sweeps along from start to finish through virtue of its unusual style, beautiful cinematography, and unfamiliar storyline.
Tuesday 6 February Today I've started working on re-comboing and reconditioning all the Fair locks around the Site, of which there are about forty, although of course they are not all in use at the present time. It can be a slightly tedious job which I tend to procrastinate on but looking over my past records I see that I am actually ahead of the game this year, thanks for the most part due to Steve's constant reminders it is true, but I count it as progress nevertheless. This job does have me ranging all over the Site which certainly ain't a bad thing either. It is unusually dry this year and I was able to ride my bike everywhere but in the corner of Trotter's Field where the beavers are up to their usual activities. Surfing the Web tonight I did a search and come to find out that there are a quite a few other OCFs out there including the Ontario Cheerleading Federation and the Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation, as well as a whole slew of Christian Federations and whatevernots. I did turn up this website though, which is a very interesting documentation from an average Fair-goer's point of view, called Trip to the Oregon Country Fair 07 / 07 / 2000 . It has lots and lots of great pictures and links. Recommended.
Monday 5 February Tonight's Board Meeting had a different tone from the last half dozen or so. Charlie Z had to prepare a court case and so Bear Wilner facilitated and he really did quite an amazing job of cracking the whip and keeping the meeting focused, I thought. The Fair is coming and the Board is suddenly all business. I need to chose my words carefully but it was great to see them get up off their collective kiester and take charge as I have been willing them on to do for quite some time. Of course by having to stand for re-election and being personally responsible for the liability of the corporation is a form of accountability that makes their kind of decisions slow and calculated---which is in the end is really a very good thing. Patience is something I could definitely learn from them. Speaking of elected officials types and accountability, here is the list of the eight turncoat Democratic Senators who voted for John Ashcroft---Sen. John Breaux, Louisiana / Robert Byrd, West Virginia / Kent Conrad, North Dakota / Christopher Dodd, Connecticut / Byron Dorgan, North Dakota / Russell Feingold, Wisconsin / Zell Miller, Georgia / Ben Nelson, Nebraska. Our man Senator Ron Wyden from Oregon did the right thing however. Please send him a message and let him know how much you appreciate it. Check out the Electronic Activist for links to all your favorite and least favorite politicians.
Sunday 4 February FINDING FORRESTER *** was a good solid movie, if not somewhat predictable---especially if you'd seen the extensive trailer for it. Many otherwise good movies have a hard time finding the satisfactory ending, but the ending to this story was, I thought, particularly fine. The film of course gave me the burning desire to write something deeply profound, but naturally not the wherewith all to do so. Bucket was out helping me with a major Ware House revisions during the past several days. Yesterday the construction fun also started down in Main Camp as Karl, Bucket, and I tore down Quartermaster clear down to Shed Fred in preparation for a total rebuild, as several Strawberry Lane booth people helped Steve get Willow cuttings from Indian Creek. Today the VegManECs were out screening trees from the beaver on this beautiful Spring-like day. David Hoffman, despite recovering from recent eye surgery for a detached retina, was his usual self out here. On my hands is an ever growing constellation of minor cuts, nicks, splinters, burns, and bruises. It's the most activity I have seen all year and only a matter of time before we'll be going to busting out radios and such.
Wednesday 1 February Another month gone by and so another month closer to when we will all be together here once again. Bucket is out here helping me for a couple days and already we are starting to put together a few new surprises. It seems like I've been getting into high gear a little sooner each new season but no matter what there is never nearly enough time to do everything that's been dreamed up in the preceding year. This year promises to be quite a banner year in that respect. Tonight we saw CHOCOLAT ***1/2, a sweet little movie that is set in a more innocent time and place, a small rural village in France. My own take on this film was that it was a kind of a personal metaphor for the creativeness and uniqueness of our own Fair, which of course is set against the backdrop of the latest incarnation of Republican narrow-mindedness. In less than two weeks in office Dubya has already begun to set the clock back on any number of important issues, but just as at the end of this movie, I am assuming or at least hoping that simple rational thought will eventually prevail.