Saturna

(this is a multi-part, in-depth recap of my trip to the National Mr. X meeting in Denver, March 5-8. Team X is a cultural program of Red Bull, of which i have recently, and very gratefully, become a part.)

i had about two whole hours of sleep the night before my flight out because it left at 7:15. i had not flown since long before 911, so this whole security thing was new to me. slip-on shoes, no belt, and ziploc properly packed, i got through with no hassles and then dozed at the gate. the plane was little, probably the smallest i have ever flown, with exception of the prop planes my dad used to fly me in when i was young. maybe eighty seats on it. i thought i would be able to get some sleep, but it was not that comfy, and i was excited. so i listened to a bunch of new music and chilled out.

i arrived and went to baggage claim, where i was told that someone would be holding a red bull sign. someone was there, but they had a Saturn sign. while that was cool with me, they were not my ride. i decided to get outside so i could smoke. still no one around, so i asked an airport employee if she knew anything... she made a call and told me they were on their way. about five minutes later, a stretch limo rolls up. this totally surprised me - i would have been fine with a cab. needless to say i had to call my mom and tell her. it was strange and wonderful to be the only one in that huge luxury vehicle, and very awe-inspiring to see the beautiful mountains in the distance.

it took me a while to check in at the hotel because there was some confusion and they could not find me anywhere in the system. they ended up being very apologetic about giving me a suite, which was pretty humorous. i took my stuff upstairs and then went exploring. there was a huge mall one block off from the hotel, but it was just normal stores for the most part, so i took a cab to Twist and Shout, where my friend Matt Bandy works.

i tell you, it was super nice to actually dig for vinyl. here there is not a store for my kinds of music, with exception of my friend Mary's house... and the bins are vertical on the wall and not amenable to digging. plus, Matt was there and he knows my style and grabbed me up a stack or two. i bought a big stack of new and used records, including some awesome Strictly Rhythm pieces.

while i was there i met another friend of Matt's named Dwight. he is from Louisville and was also in town for the meeting. we tried to split a cab back to the hotel, but not one appeared. so we walked nearly 30 blocks, but i totally enjoyed it. i used to hang back in Louisville in the early nineties, so it was nice to reconnect with someone there, and who is also into deep house.

we changed and then met back in the lobby with the other sixty or so people. we all went to the Mynt Mojito Lounge for a meet and greet type of thing. in Red Bull world this means food, drink tickets, and awesome local deejays. so it was basically a lounge thing. all of these people i was meeting are so amazing. i found myself wondering how i ended up in a group of them, and then thinking "hrm, i must be amazing, too." very empowering and humbling at the same time.

a guy from Illinois who does benefits to build orphanages in Africa for the children of AIDS victims. a guy from Chicago who lectures at Colombia, writes books, and runs a label. a fun girl from Atlanta who works with inner city children. a cool girl from Calgary who runs her own entertainment company. an amazing broken beat producer (and, it turns out, online acquaintance of mine, who is now a friend.) from Vancouver the list goes on. each and every person was renaissance, alive, creative, and wonderful.

trying to learn sixty something names, cities, and even, in some cases, deejay and production names, is a feat. i am still not done with that, but we will all still be communicating.

after Mynt, a few of us went across the street and got a pizza, then back to the hotel to sleep. i slept very well, something like eight hours, which i never get in one run at home. more on the second day soon. i hope you all enjoy these very long posts, because i have three more coming...

This entry was posted on Friday, March 9th, 2007 at 7:44 pm and is filed under Journal, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.