Flipside Highlights

I’m a wordy individual behind a keyboard, but I shalln’t try to describe what it’s like being at Flipside. I know it was more than I’d expected, better than I’d hoped. Here are some of my personal highlights. If you were there, you’d know what I’d mean. You had to be there, is what I’m trying to say.

Seeing B&!B having family holiday tenseness about their packing and giggling about that with my ride.
Being greetered by cheerleaders and bubbles.
Having the Shaven Ape Gator come up to me and shout, “Are you Garreth?” and then fetch me a t-shirt. And some tasks. Which included driving the Gator. Power at last and six wheels.
Going greetering and covering people and cars in bubbles.
Getting a ride to KOS in a long-bed king-cab F150 with the woman who originally told me that I should try Austin as a place to hang out.
Explaining the intimacy I find with snogging.
Camping next to the KOS bar and hearing Dave My Hero peddling his wares all night with phrases such as “Shots of the worst drink *ever*… …for kisses.”
Lying on the Mushroom Tower perch between the monkey and the music.
Climbing the four legged tower and watching the reaction of the person who followed me up upon discovering that there were no real safety measures.
Seeing Hyde Park Dave flicking Brady’s rain chime late at night with a look of wonder on his face.
Finding bog roll in the loos most of the time
Having people who I greetered coming up to me during the event
Parking rustling with Paxton, Brady, Lynnel, Casey and D-fly. Bullhorns and golf carts and monkey juice.
Hanging with B&!B, Shannon in a tent listening to Paxton play guitar and talk about Germans, fathers, Bon Jovi and anything else
Aesop discovering that my stick critter had practical value and naming it ‘Miss Rhubarb’.
Finding happy and confused people and bringing them back to the Slacklounge and giving them shiny things.
Getting married, going through the Tunnel of Transformation and honeymooning with wifey for a couple of days.
Cheering Justin to snog a girl in the karaoke puppet bar.
Attacking the mushroom tower with glowsticks and getting deep into that drunken running invincible feeling
Singing ‘The Gambler’ with Emerald and Val in Casineaux.
The post monkey ear-hanging creek party with my creek tutor and part time fish impersonator, Casey.
Having gifts on hand to dispense at random in my magic pocketless trousers.
Finding Brady and Casey having been abandonned on parking duty and getting some more golf-cart action, with Brady bullhorning that he couldn’t see anything in the dark to potential pedestrian victims.
Adam teaching me southern idioms like, “sweating like a virgin at a prison rodeo.”, and taking me out to deliver the Daily Tale
Sweating like a prison rodeo virgin at the Bill Hicks Bloody Mary revival, and learning to shout, “Oook, oook, oook, I wanna banana.”]
Carving an egg out of stone with Nod, D-Fly and some bloke called Philip who looked like an extra from Conan the Barbarian crossed with the black haired dude from Spinal Tap.
Unexpectedly hearing the theme music from the TV show Monkey.
Ryan yelling at Chupacabra Policia to wake up and start shouting at us all.
Val storming Chupacabra Policia Camp and getting them to turn off the song about god being alive one morning.
Bringing a whole lot of B52 to KOS
Dan making guacamole in his green outfit.
Having a conversation with Epiphany and Casey about year-round Flipside in the creek.
Watching sock monkies get destroyed
Starr being righteous under the mushroom tower on burn night.
Deb asking if I was capable of moving, sleeping standing up or speech as I stood swaying in front of the porta-potties, and me replying that it was ok because Casey was escorting me to and from the loo.
A diet of KOS meals + cashew nuts + granola + fruit + booze.
Mary giving me a unitard (she didn’t know I am a Leo I guess) when I greetered her.
Getting caught between the heat of the burn and a flaming art car.
Not overdoing anything in particular so that I was able to enjoy pretty much everything.
Jiggling around in excitement during the burn and procession and a bunch of people with megaphones shouting “Cha, cha.” before the monkey went up like a Russian nuclear power station being visited by the four horsemen of the flaming apocalypse. Being herded out of the way for a procession including bouncing monkey man
Helping with Hanuman and the arm breaking but people carrying on unphased.
Watching incredulous faces as people approached the monkey mouth entrance and welcoming them in to the KOS
Using the monkey message board.
Getting over my public nudity issues the second time I went to the creek.
Having the penitent monk worry for my sins on my behalf. Then realising that I couldn’t think of any.
Experiments with liquid nitrogen cuisine.
Tesla coils.
Chanting yoga with G-Fire being interupted at the end of a chorus by Nobody shouting, “Word.”