DEVO tional 2001

Michael Pilmer, GOD of DEVO collectors.

OK, geeks...I returned from Ohio yesterday. The 10 hour drive home nearly killed me - literally! I was about 8 hours into the 10 hour drive when I nearly killed myself by running off the highway doing about 80 mph. Driving alone, I reached for a bottle of water, taking my eyes off the road for a second or two. When I looked up, my car was flying off the road towards the highway railing! I whipped the car back onto the highway, fish-tailing and screeching all over the place, and finally straightened it out on the road. I was SO lucky there wasn't anything like a pole or a car in my way when I ran off the road. That was a close one. Now I'm appreciating life a lot more than I was early yesterday.

Anyway...I've got a ton of work to catch up on here...but I wanted to give everyone my brief report from the DEVOtional event:

Highlights for me:

-More geeks this year than last year! Most folks brought great stuff to trade/sell. Geek out!

-The geekin' session that Nick, Jade, Dominic, Fred, Mike Watters, and other folks had on the night before the DEVOtional in my hotel room. It was the geekiest geekin' I've ever been a part of. A no-holes-barred question and answer session about the most geekin' aspects of DEVO and obsessiveness in general. Wonderful!! Sorry to anyone who may have been put-off by my extreme highness and ridiculousness. I had a great time, though.

-Scott Orsi's WONDERFUL license plate frames. Fucking great!! I was extremely impressed.

-All the great video stuff, audio stuff, artifacts that folks brought to display.

-All the great guests. It was so cool to hear G. Boy again, and to get Jim's take on DEVO's history. Roger Casale was a hoot, too. He brought a great family photo of the Casale siblings to the event.

-Meeting everyone (for the first time, or since last year). Sssick Scott rules! Thanks for the smoke-a-thon!! Great to meet Fred and the other first-time geeks...and it was so cool to see Mike Watters after so many years. Rick was a treat to hang with, too - Too bad your band duties kept you from sociallizing more, but we'll make up for that later.

-The bands were great. Rick kicked so much ass on those drums!! A treat to watch. I thought Orsi's band did great, especially considering the nightmare of planning/practicing for the show. I can't say much positive about my lackluster peformance of "Freedom Of Choice" (I was SO exhausted and talked-out by the time that song was played. My voice sounded like I was gargling rocks).

Anyway...it was fabulous. Three cheers for Mr. Orsi's dedication.

I'll keep everyone posted on whether I'll be able to dub any of the exclusive footage on video (the Wipeouters video and the Techno Devo Show).

Anthe: We're sad that you couldn't attend.

SCOTT: Please let me know if/when you make a video compilation of the event footage.

Gotta go catch up on my life...Talk to you folks later...

-Michael

P.S. So who's going to take the reigns for the next DEVOtional? LOL.