Ways To Make Odd Ones Camp 2009 Even MORE Perfect!

(List started at camp. No particular order...)

Camp walkie talkies

"Swamp cooler"

GIGANTIC shade structure

LESS FOOD ("remind folks about the heat")

Taut line hitch (for tower guy ropes)

150 watt box (with current 40w box as backup)

MORE ELECTROLYTES

"Air condition" studio/station

Big Ass fans

Pre-prep camp area for ants with cinammon and/or d. earth

Solar/PV powered batt charger

Battery recharging station for community

Car pooling ("Everybody into the pool!")

Generator gas tank extender

MOOP recepticles

Better tent/tower stakes

Windsock, with logo of course, for top of tower

Taller, even more lit up tower

Baby wipes, lotsa' lotsa' baby wipes, baby...

T-shirts?

More and better signage

"Call ins" to station via talkie-walkies

Official K-FLiP news vehicle

Kitchen clean up/washing etc. sign up

"Cool box" for storage of all food-filled ice chests

Grease trap/bucket for kitchen

More folks for set up

"Happy Trails" added to play list

Feel free to add-to or disagree-with...

Things We Did Well and Want To Do Again

• Honda EU-series Generators are AWESOME.
• Comfy Cozy Radio Lounge drew people in, it worked just like Matt hoped. I'll overhaul the couches for better ergonomics and easier assembly next year. And they'll look nicer. -Matt
• Labels on Coolers to Reduce Hunting (once we {er, Sof?} did that)
• Shelf for Food.. .tiny though it was.
• Three Pan Dish washing station
• Floors. OMG I loved having floors in the radio lounge, carpets in the shade area, etc etc.
• I love the way we creatively and cooperatively rolled through all of our rough spots. The logo-concept-workups-to-stickers sequence was inspiring.
• STICKERS!   (I heard a little grumbling about inappropriate placing of stickers on port-a-johns, etc...  jim)  -- I saw one there and checked by peeling off -- they came off fairly easily.  If we ditch most of them tagging our stuff, the next batch I order will be removeable.
• SHOWER RADIOS!   (Big Hit!)
• Radios and flyer/stickers at the Greeters (maybe with a note on them saying, "Please don't stick this on the port-o-johns...) 
• Wattmeter.  That thing was awesome (yeah, I'm a geek)
• Meal Sign-Ups, and Required Meal Providing (one per).  I wouldn't have signed up to provide a meal otherwise, but doing it with Marla was no chore at all.
• Rubber bungie thingies, the black ones I used, I love those!  And, spare white bungie thingies, like the ball/cord things that hold the shelters together, those are good too. 
• We need more for random binding (hmmm, this fits both categories).
• Having more water than we needed, so we could help the Rangers (jim humbly apologies to any/all for being less than perfect regarding discussing this issue...)
• Having more gas than we needed, so we could help the Rangers
• Being Rangers (yay Matt and Zeitgeist and, umm, folks!) (Me and WMDB too!)
• Big Sturdy Tables
• Hot Showers
• Big Sticky Pads
• Sharpies (and/or paint pens)
• That camping spot -- the size was perfect (we all fit!  with extra room!), near the Rangers, on the Hill, surrounded by bushes, view of the Effigy...
• Mic Stands and Spare Mics!  We used the two outside mikes twice (at least) for live performances, plus the inside mic.  In theory, we might have even needed three or four outside mics, but So-Han's partner was ill.
• Water with FLAVOR.  That lemonade was nice.  I hate water, even more so now after being forced to drink it non-stop for the better part of a week. (IMPORTANT CAVEAT: This is great but in ADDITION TO, not IN PLACE OF, unflavored clear water.  Reason: if you put flavored beverages in a plastic water bottle or camelbak in the heat, water in it will basically never taste plain again in the future. And after the first usage, flavors turn vaguely nasty.  Flavored drinks are great for cups that you can wash the taste out of, not great for bottles/camelbaks intended for reuse.  –Sean) (Of course, you gotta have "normal" water too...  handy to know about the flavor transfer; I'll be curious to see how the lemonade jug fares -- Edwin!) Once Dave and I found the second water cooler, we had one of water and one of lemonade, and that was great. The lemonade jug is fine, we've used it for punch and such in the past - it's large mouthed and easy to clean. I would not dare put flavored stuff in a camelbak. - Sofia

   

• Cold Cloths on pulse points, oh yeah (Now I'm stealing shamelessly from Michelle's e-mail)
• Ice Cream
• Tiki Bush Cover (yeah, sound baffle, but turned out to be awesome safety device)
• BIG TRUCK! Will never go without big truck again!
• I think we brought enough tools without totally emptying our garages. Good balance.
• Miracle fruit – yay or nay?  Yay!   How hard is that stuff to grow?  I shoulda kept my seed... -- Edwin!
  • Miracle Fruit in the NYT today: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/dining/28flavor.html?_r=1&oref=login
• Even more coordination with Ranger Radio.  (Who helped crack the Blueberry Muffin Case?  K-FLiP did!)
• Next to Lick & Sucks' endless bar-b-que, but not next to their burn barrel!

New Things We (may) Want To Do That Will (could) (might) Be Awesomely Groovy

• Beer & Cider in a cooler IN THE LOUNGE.  Where we can offer it to guests and drink it ourselves.
• A second 2000i Honda ganged to the first for an effective 4kW power.  Yes, I intend to use that much if not more next year.  A single 2kW would run the compressor, but nothing else, and my air drained too fast.  But that was because of ... technical issues... that I have since solved (in my mind). But then I expect a 10x sized Tesla by then too.
• More bigger shelves, so we can use tables for serving and cooking, and shelves for all storage:
  • Loaded inside truck, to give better use of vertical space in transport (that was tough to do this year going out)
  • Rolled on/off truck with its load
  • Shrink wrap and/or bungie to hold stuff into place
  • Used in Kitchen for All Food Products, with Labels on the shelves
  • Stored in Edwin's Garage off-season (heh heh heh)
• POD-style packing containers that disassemble into floors... like crawl-tunnel sections, but different.  --teh awesome
• MORE FANS
• Ant suppression via the early infrastructure crew Orange oil? -Matt   Yup, and I hear Cinamon works as well -- Edwin!
• Keep an eye out all year for cheap, but not worthless, radios?  (We did indeed throw away about 10% of the radios as worthless...)
• Infinite petrol tank for the generators. We can buy a kit for $100, or figure out how to do it ourselves... -Matt
• Better floor plan for ... all public spaces... to integrate them better
• More Blinky Bling to light up our space. More LEDs less incandescent lights. Better yet, steady glow or slow-fade LEDs rather than blinkies... Excessive blinkies convert a chill space into an aggro space. – Sean  Stoopid LEDs are pretty spendy still; Might be cheaper to do a massive custom PCB build week? --Edwin!  What about solar rechargeable path lighting? --Randy
  • LED Rope Light
  • LED ambient color/mood wash light and in UV
  • LED Boundary Light / Effect (stage; entry; shelter ribs; etc)
  • LED color-change rope light

   

• More Fireballs (e.g. Creamora Fireballs) (don't tell Marla)
• A chillout space with a better view of the front road / effigy / passing friends and freaks.
• Central illumination at the group rest area (which could happen by default by better integrating the spaces) --Eh, maybe a little more, esp in kitchen, but it was nice to have a nice calm, feeling place in the dark to look at the stars and chitchat. I would like the radio lounge less isolated from the main camp hang out. Perhaps we could have do that, having a larger and slightly more public illuminated place, and have a darker more private spot next to that. I think we should give thought to camp arrangment in the preplanning.
  • Another vote for a hangout space that's dark.. because that can have a good view of the public road in front of the camp, passers-by,  effivgy etc, plus a nice view of the stars.  That's a great thing to have while relaxing and chatting with campmates; bright lights in that area eliminate that.  But perhaps a more private, bright, second hangout space separate from that makes sense?  That way, those who prefer high visibility/illumination can be accomodated, and those who prefer a view and a more relaxed atmosphere can too.  -Sean
  • The radio station must be at least somewhat lit, with an inviting and intriguing exterior so people know we are open for business and visitors, and to draw people in.  A different part of camp could then be darker and more laid-back, though there will be leakage if we make them shared space. The radio station, btw, had a great view of passing people and the effigy. --Edwin!
• !@#$% permanent wind break panels (I have a plan... - Edwin)
• Two-way handheld radios (errrrr, walkie-talkies) with good quality sound and range, with headphone jacks, for live broadcasts and news reporting. Zoom H2! See below. -Matt
• RAving reporters / event information gatherers
• PSA contest: Using portable digital audio recorder, roving reporter encourages freaks all around Pyropolis to record spontaneous on-the-spot funny fake PSAs or station id messages.
• Wind-proof event board IN FRONT of the camp
• Wind-proof DJ signup board the same... though the side wasn't bad either.
• Battery-charging station out front WITH SIGN with many types of plugs & adapters, so people can fill up their DeWalts, USB devices, etc etc...
• Another wattmeter or two, that thing was awesome. Hehe. Glad my Watts Up gizmo was such a hit. -Matt
• Formal camp-wide meeting once 90%+ are there, to outline cooler policy, etc etc, since we have people coming in from outside who might be new to our culture; give 'em a quick-start and us old-timers a refresher for what we forgot.  Or didn't know we didn't know.  -- White board with kitchen recommendations?  Label the coolers?
• More non-refrigerated food that needs cooling?
• Higher transverse polls on all shade structures !@#$% Amen, brotha. -Matt

   

• More and more formalized Hot Showers? (you mean privacy...?)  --I'm on it.
• Clipboards & Paper, "normal" non-sharpie pens
• Actual whiteboards of whiteboardiness (Silona, it's time to put that poor thing to rest...)
• Consolidate all music on one external drive (Matt, I'll go fifty-fifty witcha and we can buy a big drive) Deal! And a dedicated low- to mid-range laptop as well, maybe. -Matt
  • raid-1 mirror please.  --Randy
• External CD player that does not give ONE WHIT about the interwebs --Or just a non-mac music station The problem wasn't it being a Mac, it was iTunes being braindead. We'll have better-configured and different software next year. But I still think a component CD player is worthwhile. We can probably find one for practically nothing. -Matt   Here, here! If someone brings a windoze box please make it in addition to, not in place of, the macs... -Sean  Bah! Linux!!!  Anyway.  How about this?  It can hold CD/DVD drive, a harddrive and plug-ins for all sorts of memory cards.  Friendly!  And Geeky! I'd much rather get a laptop of some kind so we don't have to screw with an external monitor, keyboard,and mouse next time. Makes everything easier. -Matt

   

• Bring my DJ mixing surface this time, with DJ software, for better control
• • Firewire/USB sound thingie, for previewing tracks while playing
• VIDEO PROJECTION (to side of the lounge?)
  • Customize some live Gephex VJ software  for live FX on people outside (I've done this before, it's not so hard) for neat interactives
  • Video camera (good webcam, doesn't have to be awesome)
• More Propane (I want to double or triple my stash) (need to make a propane shed now)
• Some kind of organizing structure or principle for loose cables and connectors... my BOX 'O' CRAP was... marginal.
• Better labeling/tagging of loose equipment.  RFID anyone?  Didn't we want to RFID Scare, too?
  • Stencil cutting machine?  For stencils?
  • Label printer?  For labels?
    • Thing strip like electrical wire labels
    • Sticky paper labels
• More preliminary/loadup crew. Matt, Jim and I, (and Randy), are gettin' on in years, y'all. (NOT ME!  oof, groan...jim) I wonder if we could solicit help from other camps, maybe at church night... I suspect we'll be allowed a larger advance crew next year, what with our good showing this time... -Matt  I may have fewer years left in me than 20 years ago, but I'm in better shape now than I was then...  I'm not going quietly. --Randy

   

• Get one of these! We could do remote interviews, recording, etc. and take it back to the lounge for broadcast within minutes! Zoom H2 (See also amazon.com)
• A DAT deck or something like that to record our DJ sets and live acts for posterity, maybe? Or a cassette deck if we're feeling cheap.
• We could make cheap, lightweight, adjustable generator sound baffles and give them to our neighbors next year. Some kind of light framework that we could stake to the ground and attach an eco-friendly sound damping material to. Worth every penny, for our own peace of mind. And ears. +++ Now that is a strong idea –Sean
• Get better stakes for the hard ground, and something more suited to extracting said stakes when we're done. I think the simple steel nail type.. Or just 10" steel spikes from home despot would be great for that ground and cheap. The military sand stakes that are so good on the playa suck at flipside, and the worst are those chintsy kind with no flat head to hammer. –Sean  (Agreed Sean! Those ding dang stakes were the single biggest hassle of the camp!)
• Another "box," maybe bigger. (Likely. 150 watt box now being visualized.  Engineers in Austin and Oakland were very pleased to hear of our success.)
• Beer/cider label adhesive that stays on when immersed in water but can be scraped off relatively easily so the bottles can be reused. Either that or a keg/CO2 system. (Update: Wow! I had no idea these things were so cheap! How about a 6-liter Tap-A-Draft system? Most of the parts at Austin Homebrew are under $10 apiece. I can't find pricing on the CO2 regulator, though...) Or coding by bottlecap color? A quick search does not reveal nicely pre-colored caps; so, stencils or sharpies could work.  --Edwin!
• Investigate using a battery bank so we don't have to run the gennies all the time. The Hondas we have are capable of  charging 12V automotive batteries. The question is, would that be a net gain? Would we spend more in batteries than we'd save in gasoline? Is it worth it for the lower carbon footprint? I bow to Edwin's superior knowledge of all things electrical. :-) Let's strike this one. -Matt  -- Of course investing in battery electricy storage would lead to lower cost of entry into solar powered electricty down the line.....
• More, better ways to stay comfortable in 100-degree weather. Better fans?  Yes! Cold foot baths? Yes! Misters? Yes! (Would those take too much water? Maybe, but still Yes?) I'd still rather avoid air conditioners -- power hungry beasts, they produce a lot of waste heat which warms the surroundings, and they generally need sealed rooms which is kind of antisocial. There are already climate-controlled structures at Flipside for people who need them. (kibitz by Edwin!) ("Swamp Cooler"?)   -- Kiddie pool!  I have two, once very sturdy with a tiny slide. Buy lots of ice...  -- Please remember that we had several people on the border of needing serious help and both cold camp and the ranger station had reliability issues.  --Randy    I'd say the odds that c.o.l.d. and the pets have simultaneous failures again are pretty low. And even so, there were still perfectly serviceable alternatives -- a cold shower took care of Susan's heat problem, and if we'd thought to make foot baths from cooler water that might have served just as well.  -Matt  The odds may be pretty low, but it's 100% in my experience... :-)  Besides, I'm a paranoid system administrator.  I plan for the secondaries to fail.  --Randy

   

• Cute drive!  While I've _used_ Linux I've never enjoyed it.  Also, we need to stay Mac for raw simplicity (and to feed my prejudices); and I already have DJ software & control surfaces for Mac, tested and happy with; and it works well with iPods, a popular device; and we already have the music and everything on Mac drives.  Yeah, we could convert, buy new software, learn it, etc, but I only use Mac at home and simply don't want to.  --Edwin!   What is this "BUY" software you speak of?  .  Well, all of the not-bought DJ software I've tried has sucked horribly.

• Truck awesome.  Load more stuff in it in and out and take fewer cars out there.  Also work on way to load truck sensibly and safely and still have the truck loaded by drop off location.  Perhaps have everyone pack camping gear and deliver to keep stops weekend before.  Then all they need to take out there in their car is personal (clothes, toiletries) items.  .  Yup. I intend to have shelves inside the truck to provide vertical efficiency, and planning ahead will help too.

Kitchen Planning

Better sign up beforehand, and perhaps print it out so people can remember what they signed up for. 

W: Loading, unloading, setting up, support crew (making dinner that doesn't need prep, sending snacks)

Th - Sun:

• make breakfast
• clean breakfast
• prep snacks/pull food out for lunch/clean from lunch (wipe tables etc)
• ice duty
• make supper
• clean supper

Mon: Loading, unloading, support crew (keeping crew hydrated and fed)

Food that was well loved:

• All of the suppers and breakfasts
• Chex mix
• M&Ms
• sliced fruit
• Lemonade
• Cheese/meat sandwich makings
• nuts
• jerky

Food that was not well loved:

• cookies (but this was possibly the heat)
• crackers
• cereal (good to have, but we overbought because people cooked breakfast most days) I ate a bowl of cereal and milk every morning, and really enjoyed having that around, but clearly I was the only one eating it.  --Rob   Actually, I liked having it there as well -- when I had an 8AM ranger shift it was good to be able to cram some quick, easy breakfast down my throat. -Matt   I ate it too, and think we should keep it - but we did overbuy, according to the boxes in my dining room. I liked the granola;what were your preferences?

Food that needs to be prepped or pointed out:

• Fruit (apples, oranges)
• Avocados
• Hummus and salsa w/chips
• applesauce
• Lunch food in general
• Everything!  All coolers seemed to have personal names etc... So at least for clueless out-of-town newbies to your camp like myself, it was unclear what was communal/part of what we paid for, and what was personal. So by default I only ate what was pointed out to me and there was a lot more wasted food/drink than necessary. Super easy fix: strip of blue (or other unusual color) tape on all containers of communal food. -Sean

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