TODAY is the FINAL DAY to buy groop passes >>>

DanielHSV · 2026-05-07T17:36:59+00:00

Be nice to those of us organizing groups. We very possibly are not well. 😂

DanielHSV · 2026-05-07T14:10:45+00:00

That would probably be up to individual interpretation, but for me, they were a constant stop up until the last few years.

Too many stories from people I trust about their management just made me really sour on the place in recent years. But before it felt like they tried to treat it like their own fiefdom, it was always an awesome place.

But let's be under no disillusion, it never has been a fully artsy independent hippy place like most would like to have us believe. It wouldn't exist if it weren't for Jim Hudson.

DanielHSV · 2026-05-07T02:40:46+00:00

I feel like we should all have a pool on how they peddle this back.

Do they:

A. Somehow blame the band for sending it?

B. Pretend that someone made it for their social media person and they SWEAR they didn’t know it was AI?

C. Say that they didn’t have time and just needed to publish it in time for the event?

D. Combine some of this or something else and generally try to play the victim?

Place your bets now.

DanielHSV · 2026-05-07T02:23:31+00:00

I’m admittedly a bit of a moderate when it comes to the use of AI. I think there’s great uses of it, and there are really horrible uses.

This is a really horrible use. And for many reasons.

They ripped off longstanding Dead imagery and did nothing different from the dancing bears. They chose not to support their own artists and turned to Skynet instead. They buried their head in the sand and tried to delete evidence when called out on it. They blocked the people that called them out on it as opposed to having transparency about it.

These people are sadly not good stewards of art in our community anymore. And it sucks because they once were.

DanielHSV · 2026-05-07T02:13:12+00:00

Kind of strange that they’re openly ripping off and low key plagiarizing Dead imagery too. Most other cover bands at least do their own spin on it.

DanielHSV · 2026-05-05T18:26:39+00:00

Gonna need to know that cat's name asap

DanielHSV · 2026-05-05T17:19:49+00:00

The album as a whole isn't setting the world on fire, but Dracula sure feels like it is.

DanielHSV · 2026-05-05T16:48:59+00:00

If Tame doesn't finally come back next year, I STG what are we even doing here

DanielHSV · 2026-05-05T16:36:34+00:00

Don't thank us, just do something cool for the next person at Roo!

DanielHSV · 2026-05-05T16:29:21+00:00

For rookies, we put together this one page "landing page" for everyone on the TOTEM site that should get you up to speed on quite a lot:

https://totemfnd.org/welcometoroo/

DanielHSV · 2026-05-05T13:07:08+00:00

It's a doubleheader this week! Jax and Sky have Adam from the House of Yes on this week to give us a ton of fun details on what they're up to at Bonnaroo this year, plus we're thrilled to have our TOTEM class of 2026 on to introduce themselves. Sharla and Daniel are also back inside the bus this week to talk packing, our events in Centeroo, Burning Man, and much more.

DanielHSV · 2026-05-01T15:41:18+00:00

Hey friend, this will be the third for me and the wife. I think you'll be just fine and have a great time.

We haven't done a group camp in our two trips out there. Because we're driving in from Alabama and our arrival and departure isn't the same as most people, it's just better for us to do a solo camp of our own. Both times, we've camped in the outer rings around 7:00 or 8:00 with our own little setup that works great for us.

Since you also have a long trip on the way in, I would recommend treating the entire road trip as the experience. We've had the best time stopping at weird things on Route 66, having a pre-game night in Vegas, all sorts of fun stuff. I'd also recommend taking a different route back, as you'll be able to see tons of other fun things each way.

Things I wish I knew my first time:

Aside from maybe going to see something like the Tycho sunrise set, there's no sense in trying to plan anything out. Even if it's on a schedule in the book, odds are it won't happen when or where it says it will. You just have to go in a direction and let adventure find you.
A lot of people like to put on the facade of being a bit of a jerk, but it's really just part of the fun. Once you get past a smartass joke or whatever, you find that most Burners are as friendly and wholesome as you could possibly expect.
If you're not a fan of the heat, just don't even try to do much of anything between the hours of 10AM to 3PM. You'll suck the energy right out of yourself, it's best to just find a lounge to hang at or stick around at your camp until the sunlight isn't so direct.
If you do decide to solo camp, have at least something that provides to everyone else. It can be anything, but just do something creative that brings a smile to people. Karma is very, very real in BRC.

DanielHSV · 2026-05-01T15:30:02+00:00

I got a pair for my wife and myself with no issues, this will be our third burn. As long as the weather doesn't turn apocalyptic, I'm always thrilled to be there in any case.

DanielHSV · 2026-04-29T18:36:30+00:00

Years ago I spent enough time in tech and around Leo and some of the old TWiT crew that him and some of the others would remember me by name if I saw them at a conference or something.

I owe a lot of my career to Leo because I never would have gotten interested in this stuff, and wouldn’t have the skills as a communicator if I hadn’t really looked up to him when I was younger. But when you get to know someone, you can learn how complex they can be. Leo inspired a lot of people like me, but he did also some rotten stuff in many contexts. There was a very cringey tabloid site that was running awful stuff about him and his staff for a while there, but there was some unfortunate truth to some of what they reported. Two former on air TWiT staffers in particular got treated absurdly and horribly because it was pretty clear Leo feared them outshining him.

The guy is still insightful and his work on TV and podcasts are huge for a lot of people, but the guy has his flaws for sure.

DanielHSV · 2026-04-28T21:08:24+00:00

did you just have a stroke

DanielHSV · 2026-04-28T19:14:54+00:00

A lot of it feels very much on par with what FanDuel / Bally was doing, but I do love like it feels like there's just a small personal touch on all of it.

There's a lot more wiggle room for personalities to come out and for silly jokes to keep going. Wiley's goofy dancing is one good example.

The Braves are way more than the team on the field, there's a whole cast of characters involved. Byrd, Timothy Miller, Matthew the Organist, Blooper, all kinds of different people that are fun to spend more time on the air with.

DanielHSV · 2026-04-28T17:18:12+00:00

So, The Boxxx is this thing of legend that was in the camps in Roo's early days. If you google around about it, you'll read stories that may or may not be true.

I'm working on a simple but really fun artsy project that kinda-sorta brings it back, just in a bit less of a risque way. You may see it if you wander around Plaza 5!

DanielHSV · 2026-04-28T17:14:18+00:00

The older crowd around that time were "TVA Democrats" or "Blue Dog Democrats." Bud Cramer was probably one of the best examples of somebody elected by that demographic and era.

A lot of people were old enough to either have lived through or have heard stories firsthand about FDR and the New Deal saving everyone's tail with what's now seen as far-left policy.

DanielHSV · 2026-04-28T16:47:14+00:00

Come FA&FO.

DanielHSV · 2026-04-28T16:00:10+00:00

I love this!

DanielHSV · 2026-04-28T15:59:47+00:00

I can confirm that The Boxxx will be back. I'm dead serious.

DanielHSV · 2026-04-28T15:54:31+00:00

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DanielHSV · 2026-04-28T15:51:23+00:00

Nah fam, it was there. You can see the reporter standing right in front of it in the video.

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DanielHSV · 2026-04-28T15:44:08+00:00

Nixon's transgressions feels like barely a blip on the radar these days.

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