The "Information Artifact" Game - Bios 2007

• mind
• stories
• writing

This year's Bios party wasn't (at least from the viewpoint of our psychedelic decorations crew Vytvarny Krouzek Ctverecek) as hectic and full of work as previous years, and so I used the time to prepare a slightly different kind of project.

The party was in the middle of beautiful woods, but most people tend to spend the whole day around the camp, drinking beer and socializing. Not that there's something bad about it, I just thought they could like a change. So I prepared a game, a "treasure hunt", like those played in summer camps for kids. The goal was to introduce a story, which would engage people a bit and give them a challenge, and take them for a walk. I also wanted the story to help with a proper set & setting for the night, so it's in my favorite "psy-fi" (psychedelic fiction :) style.

Only a fragment of people went for the walk - I knew about 6 groups, but perhaps a few more went too. But this was expected, and I was curious whether someone would like the idea at all. The reactions were "OK" to "very good", just one team complained that the "walk" was actually quite long (about 2 hours) and not trivial - however, that was the point, and it seems that I managed to strike the balance quite well - it wasn't too easy, but it wasn't hard either. Most of the game was about following colored-paper marks, and I was pleased when I was told that it was quite possible to use intuition to find the next mark.

The story itself was composed of two parts. First, there were messages and comments left by someone, who went ahead of the players. The second part was information, leaking from the "Information Artifact", which advanced the story itself.

First comment was available in the camp, together with the key to first cypher, which was placed on a rock above the camp valley and contained first part of the actual story.

Those are the messages as you would meet them on the way. By the way, if anyone has photos from the game, please let me know.

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Training with Aliacte

• corporate
• mind
• education

I took part in a two day training of my Dad's company, just for fun. I only knew it's going to be about positive approach, and I was quite curious what it will look like - I could always leave, right?
However, Masha, a very energic lady who did the training, is very, very good in what she's doing. Not only I felt (and still feel) motivated, but I also learned what I hoped to learn - new ways of how to bring people's attention to the really important things in life and how to explain these topics without resorting to anything that may sound somehow "spiritual" in any way.
I always find it interesting to watch people's reaction to matters like general approach to life, taking responsibility for one's actions or self-exploration. A surprising number of Dad's employees already knew much of what Masha was telling us, and they enjoyed how well she could present thoughts which people usually find difficult to express. But it was also nice to watch reactions of older people, who most probably never got a chance to hear these matters explained so clearly. In a one on one talk, some of them would even object. However, seeing how their colleagues all agree that what Masha is saying is true made them stop their protests and actually listen. And at the end, it was possible to see that they were deeply moved and that the training made them reconsider how they think and how they live their lives. Damn, I'd like to be as good as Masha in this :)
I would definitely recommend this training to practically everyone - I don't know about Aliacte in general, but Masha is really good.

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Sweat lodge at Skridla

• mind

It was a refreshing weekend in the Skridla estate. Indian sauna (sweat lodge) in icy mud and puddles of water was a one-of-a-kind experience, as well as following night with a drumming ritual.

As I went together with my friends, we have been able to enjoy the change of perspective which with taking part on a different kind of "psychedelic" session then the everlasting parties. Such thing as meeting other groups of people with already established relations is generally remarkable, but now try getting naked with all those people on the first evening, go outside into the snow, step around a fire in freezing mixture of mud and water for a while, and then sit around the stone pit for a few hours, chant mantras and shout and so on... yeah, isn't it romantic? Bad luck I only was able to spend first two rounds in there, but I was at least able to help with the last portion of stones.

Drumming also was a "flow experience", as was our following music session with Dosta.

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Alan Watts

• reading
• mind
• education

I've known and listened to the lectures by Alan Watts for some time now, spreading them among people who know English enough to understand them. However, since mp3 it's a very practical format to use as an argument in online discussion, I started looking for some transcriptions or fulltext books, and I want to share what I found.

So, who is Alan Watts and why should you care?Alan Watts is said to have brought the ideas of (zen) buddhism, taoism and eastern philosophies in general closer to our "western" way of thinking. His lectures however are far away from what one would consider as "religious". He doesn't operate with hazy concepts and construct philosophical structures - he keeps it really simple, providing at the same time deep insights of mostly psychological nature. Strongly recommended for everyone who consider themself, or would like to become, open-minded. And for everyone else too.

http://deoxy.org/watts.htm - lots of materials
The Relevance of Oriental Philosophy - lecture
UPDATE: Alan Watts Podcast - lectures

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