“What is that feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? - it's the too-huge world vaulting us, and it's good-bye.
But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.”
- Jack Kerouac, On the Road
How much further? Almost there.
We have just under three months until The First Zerohedge Symposium and Live Fight Club in Marfa, Texas, June 16-18.
First, a brief update. Yes, it is definitely happening! Your donations have paid for the Marfa Activities Center rental in full. Thank you! We do need more money to pay for the PA system, live streaming of the talks, and live music Friday and/or Saturday night. Please donate if you are able...
https://www.gofundme.com/2017-hall-rental-in-marfa-for-zh
When we announced the event back in January, the lodging in Marfa was essentially vacant, which is one of the reasons we selected these dates and location. Now, I understand that our attendees may have booked all of the hotel rooms, except a few at the St. George. El Cosmico asked me to let you know that although we have booked all of the trailers, tee-pees, and yurts, there are a few safari tents still available, and they still have plenty of camping spaces left. I just looked, and there are now some more rental home vacancies on AirBnB, and others may become available, so keep checking.
I hear tell that some of us are using this summer road trip as a shake-down cruise for the ol' Bug Out Vehicle...
Others I have spoken to are taking advantage of cheap oil to rent, drive, and sleep in an RV.
Check out http://www.cruiseamerica.com/ to rent a land yacht...
As a last resort, there is also lodging in Alpine and Ft. Davis, both about 25 minutes away.
Next, a huge thank you to our fantastic volunteer speakers. They are all paying their own way, too!
- Markets: Andrew Rosca, Writing and deploying your own trading algorithm
- Agriculture: Susanne Friend, Make backyard and commercial aquaponics easy and inexpensive
- Personal security: Brian Hoffner, When seconds count, the police are only minutes away
- Media: Robert Gore, Breaking alternative media's dependency on the MSM
- Distilling and brewing: Ned Rutland, One man's experience with more than 50 years at the still
- Crypto currencies: Ian Grigg and Ken Griffith, The Death of Banking and the Rise of New Financial Ecosystems - How to Make it Work For You
- Education: Russell Fish, Disintermediated education in your home and community
- Gold: TRUGold - Legal Tender Backed Digital Currency Changing the Paradigm of Commerce to Empower Humanity and the Planet
- Real estate: Forrest Noble, The truth and consequences of being a landlord
- Healthcare: hedgeless_horseman, Negotiating directly with physicians and hospitals
We are considering an additional aspect of the symposium. It is a work shop to discuss and develop a year-long Project Mayhem homework assignment. We are looking for hip tax lawyers and edgy tax accountants that want to come to Marfa and hang out with us and all of the beautiful, single, and very lonely cowgirls looking for tax advice. If you are an expert in IRS withholding, grass-roots campaigning, or floating bills to legislatures, then we need your help! To paraphrase Dave Ramsey:
If Americans could only feel the pain of paying taxes, counting out the cash to the tax collector each and every paycheck, instead of the invisible hand withholding electronic funds, then there would soon be a revolution.
Please contact me if you are interested in disintermediating the taxman, and helping with this aspect of the symposium: hedgeless@protonmail.ch
Many of you have asked, why Marfa? The town logo is one of the best answers...
Please, allow me to promote the idea of taking a long road trip, which, given the remote location, is definitely going to be an important part of this adventure. That is unless you are flying in a private plane (which, believe me, can also be an adventure).
Simply put, life is a journey, not a destination. If you need more eloquent and powerful versions of this message, then please consider reading these great road trip books...
- On the Road, Jack Kerouac
- The Stand, Stephen King
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream, Hunter S. Thompson
- The Motorcycle Diaries, Ernesto Guevara
- Lonesome Dove: A Novel, Larry McMurtry [one of my most favorite books]
Then, of course, there are these favorite road trip movies...
- Midnight Run
- Borat
- Vacation
- Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
- Rainman
To spark some debate in the comments section, here are five of my favorite road trip albums...
- Eagles, Live
- Depeche Mode, Violator
- The Doors, L.A. Woman
- Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Welcome to the Pleasuredome
- Stevie Ray Vaughan, Live Alive
Finally, five road trip activities you may want to check off the bucket list...
- Tour a cave.
- Mail post cards from the middle of nowhere to people you haven't talked to in years, and, if warranted, tell them you are sorry.
- Drive all night and take a shower at a truck stop.
- Help a stranger change a flat tire on the side of the road.
- Have sex in a motel room, then go skinny dipping in the swimming pool.
Fair field, clear course!
h_h
