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What a strange and in the end as it turns out, what a wonderful year. If ever there was a practical demonstration of our dualistic existence it lies in our shared experiences of the last 6 months or so with its floods and storms – calamity and benefaction, challenge and blessing, darkness and light. Speaking of which...
Even if you have never been to South Country Fair you are likely to have seen or at least heard of the 'BFL'. It's a 2000 watt, revolving, oscillating, dimmable spotlight used for special stage effects. It's real name is the Sky Rose MK2, and it looks like this in the daylight,
and this in the dark.
You can see the beam for about 40km when the conditions are right and it has been a hallmark of SCF Friday and Saturday nights for almost 20 years. For the record the Big ** Light, as it is affectionately known, doesn't belong to us -- it is (was) the property of Wave Tech S&L, the sound and light company we hire every year.
In case you haven't heard, during the final Friday night performance this last Fair the spotlight was stolen. The BFL was actually operating at the time and when the technician went to see what was wrong five minutes after the light went out it was missing along with the power cable feeding it!
Who would dare do such a thing? We have a lot of people including the police keeping an eye skinned for it with help from our media friends (thanks everybody!) but it is gone for good it seems, without a single trace or clue.
Is the BFL hidden under cardboard and old tarps in someone's garage after an impetuous, spur of the moment gag? Is it at the bottom of the river? Was it a vindictive grudge thing, someone trying to get back at us for some unknown reason? Was our beloved Sky Rose targeted by professional thieves who had a buyer, and is now a guilt-soaked part of the lighting equipment in an underground club somewhere a thousand kilometers from here? If anybody knows anything so far they aren't talking.
Unfortunately the BFL was not insured for theft and the cost of replacement is prohibitive, so Wavetech is not planning to restock the iconic light. Which means no more BFL at SCF.
Unless there is a small miracle...
That's the dark part of this saga. The positive side started last August when Kostas Kollias, owner of the celebrated Fiery Greek (who had a bird's eye view of the BFL where his food booth was located and saw it go out), decided to do something to help defray the cost of getting a new light by starting up a $5,000 crowd fundraiser at Indigogo. He had a little trouble getting things set up and then got busy so he recently passed the torch to us.
Kostas has kicked in $500 of his own (thanks Kostas!), and we plan to donate $1,000 to the cause of getting a replacement Skyrose. We're hoping to make up the $3,500 difference with donations from the community at large.
If things go as we hope, Wavetech's brand new, partly crowd-funded BFL will be switched on for the first time on Friday night at SCF #28. We expect there will be much fanfare and anticipation. In a word, that moment is going to be mythic.
Help us make it happen and be a special part of this memorable and auspicious occasion by pitching in if you can!
Kick in for $100 or more and get a very exclusive, artsey and tastefully designed, limited edition 'I Love the BFL' tee-shirt. Donate $500 or more and get two weekend passes, two of the aforementioned tee shirts, a car camping pass and backstage access to boot!
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