I've been attending BME events for the last several years. I've attended events in Canada, Ohio, and Michigan. This past weekend, was the Great Lakes BBQ held in Michigan. Although the BBQ started a little earlier for me. I drove to Indianapolis to pick up my friend Monica Friday night after work, since everyone who had told her they would give her a ride backed out. I didn't mind though, I always like to meet new people, and I like to see that as many people as possible get to go to BME events as possible. It's part of the family atmosphere to me, to help my fellow IAM members get to events.
At A Glance Author MoDvAyNe Contact MoDvAyNe@bme.anon IAM MoDvAyNe When It just happened Location Michigan So I picked her up on Friday night, and she spent the night on the futon we have. I got a few hours sleep before I got up and got finished packing for the BBQ. I waited for Ed to get to my house, and when he wasn't here by around 10:30 am, I started to get concerned about him, since Dawn was supposed to be here around 11 am to drive to the BBQ. I called him, and he was still getting ready. While I'm talking to him on my home phone, Dawn calls my cell phone. I'd forgotten to give her the house number. So I tell Ed that she's basically here, and he hurries up to get here.
Since Monica and I neither one had gotten much sleep, I let her sleep until Dawn got here. Dawn rushed in to wake her up though. With Monica now up and ready, we're still waiting on Ed. We didn't have to wait long though. Once he got here, we packed up Dawn's trunk and back seat, and we were off to the BBQ. It was definitely one of the most interesting car rides I've been on. Especially with conversations about shoving things into holes, and getting things up.
We made it to Michigan a couple of hours later, and started running into people we knew. We were also expecting tent city to be set up, but there weren't too many people there yet. So Ed and I decide to pitch our tents in a different area than last year. It didn't take long before it seemed like there were tents covering the back yard.
It seemed as if everyone was walking up to the corner store for beer, myself included. I hadn't decided if I would partake in alcohol before we left, so i walked up to the store, and picked up a 6 pack of Budweiser, a pint of Jack Daniels, and a few cokes. A coke for me to mix my Jack with, a nd a coke each for Dawn and Monica. I drank the 6 pack over the course of the rest of the day, and had one mixed drink. It wasn't long before a pool was set up for mud wrestling, although it seemed as if only a few people chose to enjoy the mud wrestling pit. It wouldn't have been a BME BBQ without and Badur and his video camera. He got some awesome footage of Ed dancing and playing "Jingle Balls" while wearing a label that said, "More than a mouthful" pinned to his shorts over his genitalia. He also came close to getting footage that could have turned real interesting. Ed was sitting in an inflatable chair, when he almost got "teabagged". If he had turned around while getting "teabagged", it would have looked like something else was going on, or he may have gotten an eye poked out.
Later in the evening, Lukas Zpira arrived. His presence seemed to inspire not only awe, but excitement in all in attendance. Many seemed to gather around him, and everyone wanted to at least say hi to him. Many wanted to see him work his magic, but that would have to wait until much later. There was someone else at the BBQ working a bit of magic as well. Someone had set up a backdrop and video camera. The idea was to get as many in attendance to stand in front of the backdrop, and recite the same line, "I am an individual." Throughout the day's events, it seems as if most participated in helping with the project. Some even made various rants regarding being modified and being an individual.
As darkness approached, the campfire was started, and everyone congregated around it since the temperature was dropping rapidly. The darkness also brought Lukas Zpira working his magic. To watch him work is an amazing event. He began working on a young ladies back, by first drawing the design to be scarred. Unhappy with the size, he wiped the area off, and redrew the design with lightning speed. His hands were moving so quickly that they were almost a blur. Within minutes, the design was drawn, and the scarrification had begun. Minutes later, the scarrification was completed. Lukas is an amazing artist, and quite talented at his trade. Night also brought people walking around with glowsticks, and some with them in their hair. One such person sat on the ground, while another person used two of them to perform sounding on the lawn. It was an interesting sight to see.
Soon after witnessing the talents of Lukas Zpira, I slipped off to get some sleep. I was awoken to someone playing with an airhorn around 7 am. Needless to say, very few people were amused. Most of us hadn't gotten to sleep until late into the night. We also had another surprise awaiting us. During the night, someone had tipped the port-a-potty that had been rented for the event. This meant that everyone either had to find somewhere secluded to take of morning issues, or drive somewhere to find a restroom. It wasn't a cool thing for someone to have done. It also upset many of us in attendance, since most of us try to be respectful of others and their property.
The morning was spent going to the corner store yet again for breakfast foods. For most of us, it meant Mountain Dew and donuts, since we couldn't get coffee. We then started saying our goodbyes, and packing up. Most of us did our best to pick up the trash around our campsites, and other areas. I wasn't able to do much, as my foot and ankle were telling me that a weather change was coming, but I tried to make certain that anything others had left around where my tent was got picked up and thrown away. It was then time to tear down the tents, and begin the journey home. The drive home was fairly uneventful, since most of us hadn't gotten much sleep. We got to my house, and Ed and I removed our things from Dawn's car. We said our goodbye's to Dawn and Monica, and parted ways for the weekend.
All in all, the BBQ was quite enjoyable, although there is always at least one bad apple in the bunch. I look forwar dto seeing everyone again as soon as possible. I would also like to take the opportunity to say thank you to a few people, without whom the weekend wouldn't have been possible, Gene and Aaron for organizing the BBQ, Lukas Zpira for coming and sharing his talent with us, and most importantly, and Lana and her family for allowing us to use the space again for the BBQ.