THE LODGE
The Ancient and Benevolent Order of the Raccoon (Madison, WI)
2024 Annual Meeting - Saturday May 11th 02024 7pm-11:15pmish
Garver Canvas / The Idea Factory / May 02024 Location of The Lodge / Madison, WI / USA / Planet Earth
Meeting Invite and Information LINK
7:00 - 8:40ish Pizza, drinks, conversation
8:40ish - 9:00ish Annual Meeting
9:15 - 11:15 Viewing Episode(s) of Lodge 49
Lodge Members In Attendance: 2, 3, 4, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 26, 29, 32, 49, 68, 89, 90, 98, 114
The Sovereign Protector (AKA The Founder, AKA #49) dons the ceremonial maroon hoodie and begins the first ever Lodge meeting.
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Lodge members are instructed of protocal around saying in unison “All Circles Vanish” when #49 states “Start of Meeting” and “End of Meeting”. The Official Meeting then started “All Circles Vanish”. (Official Meeting Minutes Start Here)
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#49 Talks about the fact that it doesn’t matter how you got here, the important thing is that you all are here! Some members just wandered through the vanishing circles on The Idea Factory website and others had more help to find their way here. Several Members were then commended for their Valiant Deeds and Glittering Scholarship:
#15 was commended for sending an audio clip of them playing Nature Boy on piano (shared here with permission..thanks #15)
#14 was commended for hand stamping numbers 20-100 on The Idea Factory/ Lodge cards.
#12 was commended for discussion about Esalen Institute, the song Nature Boy, and eden ahbez…among other things.
#13 was commended for a hand-made gift photo book about The Idea Factory.
#11 and #68 were commended for traveling The Idea Factory cards to London (among other places) possibly in search of Lodge 1, even though they did not know about Lodge 1 at that point. Also for a piece of the sky.
#98 was commended for continuing to message and show up, and for bringing cookies to #49’s birthday.
It was noted that other unnamed Lodge Members, both in attendance and absent, had commited Valiant Deeds and Glittering Scholarship through helping out, continuing to show up, etc. Many thanks were offered to those named and unnamed…as above so below.
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#49 noted how #6 (not in attendance) had commended The Lodge for being a club who’s membership was based on curiosity.
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#49 told a story about his friend Thomas Kong who was an inspiration for starting The Idea Factory and The Lodge. After #49 met Thomas this was the first thing Thomas texted to #49. #49 has been attempting to live The Real Life, Wonderful Life ever since this.
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#49 gave two examples of amazing occurrences and strange doors opening over the past months that illustrate the fact that It’s All Connected:
1) From the first day of The Idea Factory #49 had saved membership #1 for Jim Gavin the creator of Lodge 49. About a month into The Idea Factory exhibition #49 decided to look at what the English/Latin card seen when joining The Idea Factory would be for #1 and here is an image of the card:
#49 has not contacted Jim Gavin as of yet but is sure that Gavin will join The Idea Factory and hopefully find The Lodge someday.
2) Thanks to #2’s idea #49 used Rich’s Boardsports in Madison, WI as a backdrop for a photoshoot for The Idea Factory exhibition as it feels connected to Lodge 49. Here is a photo from said photoshoot.
Rich’s Boardsports is closed but on the way to The Idea Factory on Friday May 3rd #49 noticed the door open and a man outside the building so stopped. #49 talked to Rich outside the building for 20 minutes and learned that Rich’s dad used to own the shop, Rich is a surfer, and that Rich had been injured in (Central or South) America and had to come back to Madison at some point. These facts eerily connect to Lodge 49. After the outside conversation #49 went inside Boardsports and talked with Rich for another 1.5 hours in conversations that felt very connected to The True Lodge. Also of note here is that Tape #4 The Heart is connected to Rich’s Boardsports.
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A special piece of art was given out to all Lodge members in attendance. These monoprints were made by #49 and are a congratulatory gift to all Lodge Members who discovered The Lodge sometime during the run of The Idea Factory exhibition at Garver Canvas. Lodge members not in attendance will get the print at some point coming up when #49 can get around to it. The print has a few little surprises that will not be mentioned here, as it’s more fun to see them in person, for those who do not have the print yet.
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There was a live demonstration of one thing to do with your Official Idea Factory Token! You can see a video HERE. This should be of interest to anyone searching for The True Lodge. #49 failed to wear the requisite raccoon mask during talk of The True Lodge…possibly because one of the children was enjoying wearing it and also possibly because he forgot.
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#49 mentioned sadness about those who were no longer with us and how it’s important to enjoy moments like this. It was noted that Lisa Shoshany-Anderson was especially missed at this time.
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Finally #49 wrapped up the meeting by quoting from a speech in Lodge 49 that seemed appropriate for The Lodge. “Outside these walls the world can be a cold, cold place, but in here, when we’re all together…it’s different, it’s different in here.”
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The Official Meeting then ended “All Circles Vanish.” (Official Meeting Minutes End Here)
Post-Meeting Notes:
-#49’s forgot to thank #2, 3, & 4 for allowing #49 to be gone so much over the past two months while building The Lodge and running The Idea Factory. This all would not be possible without their help.
-#32, who was handing out business cards, is/was also an ORBIS Deep Space Lead Engineer and can be reached at matt_space99@gmail.com for anyone who finds some opportunities for future projects.
-#98 noted for #49 to point people towards a call for art submissions at Hatch Art House, which #49 forgot to mention…so it’s mentioned here.
-#26 noted to #49 a recent discovery around the similarities to this Dennis Wilson album cover and Dud in Lodge 49. #49 later noted via text to #26 that the song The Greatest on The Idea Factory/The Lodge Soundtrack has the line “Dennis’s last stop before Kokomo”. It’s All Connected!
-#49 realized in retrospect that there were some overlapping themes between his speech and Dud’s end-of-episode speech in Episode 1 of Lodge 49.
-While not present at the Official Lodge Meeting it should be noted that #167, 168, 169, 170, 7, 31, 119 & 5 all got to experience The Lodge while it was active inside of The Idea Factory inside of Garver Canvas.
-There was some kind of party going on at the same time as The Lodge Meeting in another part of Garver Feed Mill which made for an interesting juxtaposition of events in addition to some strange music overlap while watching Lodge 49.
-#49 acknowledges that things were missed in both official minutes and post-meeting notes. #49 also notes that everyones experience of an event is different and this is just one perspective. If lodge members have additional notes or would like to add additional perspectives they can email or text them to #49. They can also text or email any photos which will be added to The Lodge archive. There are photos with people in them from the meeting, but those photos are reserved for the archive at this time.