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 The second Stone Rave was memorable for the naked dancers, sheathed only slightly in saran wrap, climbing along giant ropes hanging overhead. And it's been immortalized by This American Life's episode #74 Conventions with John Perry Barlow. It was the night of the day he fell in love at first sight with Dr. Cynthia Horner - I think this photo pretty much reveals it all.
It was not without personal consequence however - a friend of my sister's who was a high-level DEA agent told her I was under investigation - and indeed, no phone call could be made without that reassuring click that we were being listened to. Of course, I've never dealt drugs so they were wasting your taxpayer money. But that's not the point of the panopticon, is it? The point is simply, if you know you are being watched, you'll self-censor. Right?
You can buy advertising all you want, but can you create legend? That takes more ingenuity and edginess. People met their future spouses at these raves, people experienced new dimensions and created new connections. And all the participants, to this day, will tell their own tale of their experiences at the Stone Raves!
The Stone Tower is more of that mythos generating substance. NEXTWORLD did a piece about my indie style in '91 - Brick By Brick. I took to heart what Guy Kawasaki said about spending 30 minutes a day courting the media in his still-valuable and now-online "The Macintosh Way". Let the media create your legend for you! The finished tower is a neighborhood icon, and the first person to really get it was Richard Stallman when Barlow and John Gilmore brought him buy one day. He looks up at it, and then at me, and says:
"Oh, I get it. Tower, Wizard"
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