Some people know me “oh so well!” Big shout out to Holly for sending me an email that had my name all over it (well.. only in the To line… but it was clearly targeted at me):  Rare Magazine Presents Dos Equis Rare Academy” -

Get Your Masters in Interesting

The world’s premiere institution for the education and dissemination
of the study of being interesting, the Most Interesting Academy, will
for the first time in its long and storied history, open its doors to
you. This is your chance to acquire awe-inspiring skills and eclectic
knowledge.
The Most Interesting Academy Satellite Campus is located at a Bavarian
Castle nestled in the hill country and is where worthy students are
instructed and witness live demonstrations of interesting skills by
talented instructors.  Distinguished professors range from expert
mariner Chris Fischer to heroic survivalist Bear Grylls.
List of Activities: Parachutes, Edible Bugs, Vertical Wind Tunnel,
Birds of Prey, Barber Shop, Martial Arts Instruction and Demonstration,
Bungee, and Water Slides along with live music, DJ's, and celebrity
guests.
Musical Guests Scheduled to Perform:
DJ Z-Trip and a live Rock and Roll set from Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights
Be Rare's guest as we host the Most Interesting Experience:
The Rare Exclusive Events Events Most Interesting Experience Includes:
Start the evening with us at Malverde, where we will host a Happy Hour at at 5pm.
Charter Busses to and from the event and cold beer provided by Dos XX
for the road trip to the Falkenstein Castle...  Be ready for a good
time!
Busses will begin leaving as full starting at 6pm. Busses will begin
returning to Malverde at 11pm and will leave as full through the end of
the party.

Watch the video, and I’ll tell you the rest after-

I passed the invite on to many of my friends – old and new – which showed up! It was great not only to see everyone, but to introduce them to each other, and (since there were so many long lines) to have people who can bring me beer or cricket cookies while I’m waiting in line.

For some dumb reason I wore jeans, not shorts that day… it was 105 degrees out, and I was one of the 1st people at the park… so I walked a few miles to go find some food.  I was drenched.  I got my Pizza, walked back, and waited by where the busses are.  Since it was the same area that had Blues On The Green – an Austin free Blues concert – there was a tub of free chocolate milk / iced-coffee mix… I drank one or two of those, while waiting for Dakota to show up.  She called me slightly after 4pm.   She found parking, and then was waiting in line.  Huh?  If she’s waiting in line, then where was I?  Apparently, the wrong place!  I joined her in the right place, where we waited in the heat for over an hour.  Lyn Graft joined us artfully!  Really! He got there right after we got our names checked off the list, and as we were getting our ID’s checked… so, he didn’t have to wait in line at all.  He joined us at the very last point before boarding the bus.  It didn’t bother us, of course, as he brought us some Sweet Leaf Iced Tea. We were parched!

Dakota & I on the Dos Equis Bus

The bus ride had a movie (Taken) playing… but it was really loud, and who wants to watch a movie when you can be talking to your friends and fellow bus mates?  It was over an hour ride, and Dakota and I got to know each other a little bit- learned about each others’ siblings, etc…  The movie way too loud, and I kept being distracted by fight scenes, shootings, or explosions.  The scenery was kind of neat as it was hill country.   Rolling hills, and by the time we got there, the sun was dimming into the golden hour.

To be honest, we thought our bus driver was lost. We had to make a few U-turns.  I forget to mention… there was an “Update” email, which changed the pickup location to Waterloo Park, and that there would not be any refreshments served on the bus, and that you can bring your own drinks… just not coolers.  This was not true, as they made Dakota leave her two bottles of beer.

The Greeting Squad of babes

We were greeted by a bunch of chicks in their scholarly uniforms, and then a marching band…. which I recognized from SXSW — Minor Mishap Marching Band (How often do you go somewhere and recognize the marching band?). I gotta admit, I’m a big fan… they are so unique, and fun!  Check them out, they have lots of videos on the link I just gave. I immediately ran into my friend Craig Allen (whom it turns out was following me for a while on Twitter, because of Caleb Jennings, but didn’t realize until recently that I was *THAT* Ori… and now, through coincidence..er.. serendipity, I am camping out at their camp at Burning Man), and videotaped him doing the skydiving simulator.

Of course, no time was wasted, and we went to the castle to explore.  There was bug eating, and I quickly got in on that action. Mealworms, grasshoppers, cheese, apples… I think that Mealworms are Beatle Larvae… mmmm.. it was kind of tasty actually, but the texture grosses you out. But hey… there’s all the free Dos Equis beer you could want to wash it down with.

Right about this point, you’re probably thinking: Hmmm… Ori sure is mentioning a lot more people’s names than usual.. wonder why that is?

I’m so glad you thought that, as I’ll mention why now-

Ingrid Vanderveldt (IV) – whom you’ve seen me rave about so much, made a quick appearance (then got ill, and had to be ambulanced out. But she’s ok now… no worries!), and I met her through Caleb Jennings (more like I saw her tweet, while looking at his screen, and “Who’s that??”). Lyn Graft is her producer, and has been an absolute blast to hang out with in Austin… so I met him through IV.   Dakota found me because she saw IV interview me.  I met Craig Allen through Dave Gonzalez, but it turns out that he (Craig) was with Caleb Jennings on the Whistler Snowboarding trip that Caleb keeps talking about. I’m just saying… small world.

I gotta get going- so… let me summarize:  lines/lines/lines…. it was hot as hell, and there were long lines. I didn’t get to see the Falconry, or Bear Grylls.. I think both were in the VIP area, which I didn’t know existed, despite that I was texted by the Tito’s Vodka crew asking if I can represent.  I didn’t see any Tito’s Vodka, as it turns out that it was in the VIP area that I didn’t know existed.  The line for skydiving simulation was over two hours long, and I got bored of waiting. The same thing happened with the line to barbershop.  I didn’t see the martial arts demos ’cause… yup… you guessed it… I was too busy waiting in lines.  So, while the concept of the event was neat, and it looks cool on video, the overall experience left me a bit grumpy…. too many lines, too many people, too frigging hot.  The good part was seeing my friends.  That was an absolute joy.  Oh yeah… I forgot to mention, on bungee jumping, they wouldn’t let me get on, ’cause they have a 165 pound weight limit.

I didn’t get to see Will / Kevin / Amber  because it was too loud, and I couldn’t hear my phone, and they wouldn’t text back… I know seeing them would’ve made the evening even more fun.  I didn’t get to see Holly, ’cause her shuttle was denied due to the castle having reached capacity.  Oh yeah… more than 500 people got turned away despite having RSVP’ed, and driven over an hour.

If there’s a lesson to impart here, I suppose it’s “Drive on your own, get there early.  You’ll have less lines, get to do everything, although, you may not get to meet up with your friends, as they’ll still be at work.”

Bottom line- I’d rate the event so-so.  It didn’t make me want to go out and buy Dos Equis.  I got a new experience (bug eating), and got to party at a castle.  I got to tell jokes, and got to get home pretty damn late/tired. I had many people that were bummed that they couldn’t make it… to them I’d say “eh… you didn’t miss much.”