Letters from the Reservation: The Non-Stop Adventures of Captain Epic and His Trusty Rainbow Warrior Side-kick, Mark

Posted: 12:00 AM, Thu, Jun 26 2008

and if ya know, now you don't know anymo.

What's going on, everybody?

Tons of new shit going down as always with BTS. Yeah. It's been busy lately.

Here's the table of contents for this update:

1) Captain Epic and the Epicmobile.
2) Rothbury Coverage.
3) 4 Days in Bed
4) Bus Calendar
5) Yarmony
6) New membership policy
7) Erik: First Captain in charge of Not Rushing the Stroke.

1) The word, "epic." I am somewhat disappointed to concede that yet another great word is being dragged down by the slang machine. That is OUR word, and it's getting polluted by excessive and inaccurate usage to describe events and actions that are impressive, but definitely not worthy to be called epic. For example, doing physics homework, then playing racquetball, and then going to a barbecue on your skateboard does not constitute an epic day. Epic would be more along the lines of what Charlie went through a couple weeks ago, when he stayed out all night at Clandon's Cafe Babu after party, then caught the RTD to DIA, flew to Boston to visit friends before continuing his journey to Tallahassee Florida where he picked up old 233, aka, the Epicmobile, aka our new 1989 Orion, 8v71 Detroit Diesel 2-Stroke Transit bus with round headlights, a wheel chair lift, an intercom that actually works, sick spaceship doors in the front and rear, perimeter seating, and one of those electric signs with which we can display an array of messages, and proceeded to drive that bus 40 some-odd hours without sleeping through day and night and day and night with an old Cherokee Indian/Vietnam Vet/ Rainbow Warrior named Mark as a traveling companion who was just diagnosed with cancer, and whom he met in a gas station about an hour into his journey and decided to give him a lift on the nonstop, knock-off Aderol Greasy Hair, Stink-ass expressway all the way to CO. THAT... is epic, okay, so please, everyone, if you're going to use the word epic, make sure that you are using it to describe something that is actually epic. Come on, we need a word that is pure of heart and potent enough to describe the kind of shit that goes down at BTS on a regular basis. So please, don't let your friends or loved ones dilute the meaning of our word by using it carelessly. Thank you.

By the way, big ups to North Star Solar in Cali&CO for fronting the money to buy that thing, too. If anybody needs solar in their lives, please get in touch with bradley@northstarsolar.net. Tell ya moms.

2) Rothbury. Well, since pretty much everyone in Boulder is going to be there, the Colorado Daily is going to let me cover the festival. I am beyond excited to write this adventure. It seems like everything for the last year has been gearing me toward this weekend, and now I have the opportunity to tell the story of one of our bus trips for real. Completely raw and uncensored. Only the names will be changed to protect the not-so-innocent. Stay tuned.

3) If you haven't checked it out yet, Jonson Y. Kuhn, one of our sponsored artists, has a play out at crossroads theater in Denver. It is called 4 Days in Bed, and it's a hilarious account of an ex-girlfriend visiting for a long weekend. It is a beautiful, insightful, and tastelessly funny work. One reviewer said that Jonson is the best playwright in Denver. I knew this already, obviously, but it's still good to hear it from other people.

Crossroads theater is on 27th and Welton right across the street from Cervantes. Also, Charlie's band Cosimo is opening up. Definitely hit it up. It's 10 bucks, unless you wear your pjs, and then it's 5. The play is at 7 this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

4) Upcoming Bus Events (call 303.579.6555 to reserve): There are still spots on the Friday and Sunday WSP buses. Also, 311 and Snoop. Let's make this go off! I know it's a Tuesday, but damn.

6/27 (Fri) - Bus Party: Boulder & Denver to Widespread Panic @ Red Rocks Amphitheater (Morrison)

6/28 (Sat) - Bus Party: Boulder & Denver to Widespread Panic @ Red Rocks Amphitheater (Morrison)

6/29 (Sun) - Bus Party: Boulder & Denver to Widespread Panic @ Red Rocks Amphitheater (Morrison)

7/01 (Tue) - Bus Party: Boulder & Denver to Snoop Dogg & 311 @ Red Rocks Amphitheater (Morrison)

7/02-7/08 Bus Party: Colorado to ROTHBURY! Festival @ Double JJ Ranch, (Rothbury, MI) (] ! [) Leaving at about noon on the 2nd. We are now taking reservations for this epic journey. with 18 people, it will work out to 250/head. This includes RV parking. Call 303.579.6555 to reserve. We will get back at some point in the morning on 7/08.

7/02 (Wed) - Bus Party: Boulder & Denver to Stone Temple Pilots @ Red Rocks Amphitheater (Morrison)

7/04 - Bus Party: Boulder to FIRST FRIED DAY ArtWalk @ Santa Fe ArtDistrict (Denver) (w/ 2nd ever Diesel Powered Poetry Reading-"Best poetry venue in Colorado" -- Ryan Versaw after last month's inaugural reading). (] ! [) 10 bones/head. Tip well, though people, cuz that's too cheap.

7/04 - Diesel Powered Poetry Reading (on the First Fried Day bus, son). We keepin this shit grimey and real. Forget what you thought you thought about poetry. Now imagine the Worland Warriors bus with a mic at the front and Colorado's finest minds shining insight from all sides with or without the use of rhymes as you sip on your beer or chug on your wines.

Times: Open Mic List Drops at 10:30. Reading from 10:30-11:30. This month's feature: Jonson Y. Kuhn. Free, but donate as much as you possibly can.

Where: Text "Diesel" to 303.579.6555 any time between First Fridays, as long as it is by 10 PM on The First Friday in question, and you will receive a text message with the exact location of the bus.

7/11 (Fri) - Bus Party: Denver to Girl Talk @ Fox Theatre (Boulder)

7/16 - (Wed) Bus Party: Boulder to Ween @ Fillmore Auditorium (Denver)

7/17 - (Thurs) Bus Party: Boulder to Ween @ Fillmore Auditorium (Denver)

7/18 - (Fri) Bus Party & Camping: Boulder to BoomBox @ Mishawaka Amphitheatre (Poudre Valley Canyon). Bring your tents & something to grill! We'll head back on the 19th @ ~noon. Does not include camping or concert ticket.

7/19 (Sat) - Bus Party: Boulder & Denver to Global Dance Festival @ Red Rocks Amphitheater (Morrison)


5) Yarmony. Long-time homey, Pineapple, is hooking it up for Yarmony. We will be taking 2 buses, and parking in his campground. 35 bucks to camp for the whole weekend, and that includes shuttle too and from the venue. Whitewater Ramble, Yamn, and other bands will be headlining the late night seshes at the grounds. Firedancing. Private camground without getting hassled by the man. Presale camping tix are available through The Basics Fund. Call me at 303.579.6555. Bus from Boulder is separate...but MORE than equal. I will post more info when I have it.

6) So, yeah. I need to get everybody's info if you want to be a member.  All you have to do is send an email to dustin@thebasicsfund.org with your name, phone number, email address, and date of birth. Put BTS MEMBERSHIP in the subject line so I can sort them all out in my inbox. Also, though, this is going to be a really good way to help us and you guys raise money. We're going to work it out so that for every person you recruit, you can either make a little bit of cash, or earn towards free bus trips. The money will be used to help us add artists, as well as to make our bus trips that much safer, reliable, and ultimately, way, way, sicker. Don't worry, nothing else will change. We are still keeping it as real as ever.

7) Erik.

We have a new driver. Another one. His name is Erik. He is chill. He is perhaps the chillest person I've ever met. He plays hacky sack and says things like, "are you guys pretty ready to go to this show?" He is captain of not rushing the stroke. He is also the 2nd best Mario Kart player I know. And he looks cool. One time we were driving back from a show, and we were picking up random people to come party, and these girls seemed interested, but they must have had some kind of instinct that was telling them that it might not be smart to get on a strange bus when they were drunk, but then they saw Erik, and they got on, saying, "we weren't going to get on, but then we thought that the bus driver looked really cool, so we did." And they were right. He did look really cool, and he was really cool. They got on and wrote poetry all over our bus and we had a dance party and everyone enjoyed themselves quite thoroughly until the cops came and wrote me a ticket for unreasonable noise from a vehicle, but fortunately we moved the party to Erik's house and everything was good. Erik's just chill like that, you gotta meet him to truly understand. And you will, because he's gonna be driving you around. He will be taking care of everything while me and Charlie are at Rothbury. His number is 303.949.2078. Please call him for all your bus-related needs between 7/01 and 7/08.

Alright kidz. Hit us up.

Love with every chamber of my 4-chambered heart,

Dustin
303.579.6555