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The Tech of Burning Man
Marc Merlin wrote:"Some of you have probably heard of burning man, but most of those
who haven't gone probably don't know that saying that it's just a
bunch of naked hippies meeting in the desert to smoke pot, is a
very unfair description of the event. I have been writing reports of it for the last 4 years now (akin to
the linux show reports I used to do), and my 2005 report is the biggest one yet (1440 pictures, and a fairly complete overview page, showing the highlights) You can also look at the burning man index page (with pictures from the sky), and look at my first 2002 report for a view as a first timer."
On the contrary, my stereotype of 'Burning Man' was, and is a bunch of Wired-reading Californian rich kids with iPods (*) and the like playing at being Pagans, and pretending to do the hippie thing for a few days.
Not that dissimilar to the more bandwagon-jumping hippies in the 1960s, who went on to found large, corporate companies and sell out (a la "Ben and Jerries", one of the worst examples of corporate hippie culture), whilst living off their supposed hippie credentials. Plus ca change...
(*) Okay, iPods are *way* mainstream now. Replace with whatever that pretentious rag is recommending they buy this month.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
Natural selection? I vote that they go back to "burning man" 1973 style.
That should weed out the suburbanites from the real pagans (^_^)
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
And regarding Ben & Jerry's... The same B&J that dropped a few products because making the product was giving the factory workers RSI? The B&J that started in a garage? The same B&J that donates 7.5% of its pre-tax profits to charities? The same B&J that's still doing this so many years later, even after having gone public and being acquired by a larger corporation? I don't know, maybe they have become corporate scum and should be hated by hippies, but I can't find any evidence of that after googling for a couple minutes. In fact, the only criticism of B&J's that I've found so far is by conservatives attacking their ideals. Forgive me if I'm a little skeptical of criticism of Ben & Jerry's coming from the fucking Cato Institute.
Fucking hell man, I don't even LIKE hippies. They're extremists, and they piss me off. But don't even try to call them out regarding their integrity... 'cause damn, most criticism directed their way is from people who have no goddamn legs to stand on.
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
Agreed.
The thing that has struck me both the times I've been to Burning Man has been how nice everyone was. In today's all too cynical world, it's surprisingly refreshing to spend a week in a community that encourages people to be friendly and helpful to each other. Maybe it's the fact that the place is just so weird and the desert to hostile, people have more need than usual to be social. Or maybe it's a just an ongoing cultivated culture thing. Whatever, it works, and I like it.
Recently a guy (sup blairerickson) on a forum I frequent posted a thread about the burning man. In an attempt to dispel some of the (usual) slashdot misinformation, I'm quoting some of what he said
Burning Man is one of those events that a lot of people have heard of but few have any in-depth knowledge of unless you've actually been. So here's a thread to try and explain as many lingering questions people have about this strange phenomenon.
How big is it?
There were more than 35,000 people there last year.
Here's a shot of the Playa (the place in Black Rock desert where it's held) from outerspace:
And 's a random crowd shot to give you an idea of how many people are around any given street corner.
Is everybody there all peace love and happiness type hippies?
Nope. In fact quite the opposite. There are entire groups built on nothing but raw rage. But there are plenty of hippies too. For some people who go, a lot of Black Rock City is described as a cross between Survivor and Mad Max. Mad Max is the most common answer. Here's some photos to better explain why:
http://www.blairerickson.com/bman/Muytator2.jpg
http://www.blairerickson.com/bman/Thunderdome.jpg
http://www.blairerickson.com/bman/mutantvehicle.jp g
http://www.blairerickson.com/bman/Spinning.jpg
Oh and then there's a group called the UberCarneys who built a giant device called the "Roaster Coaster" where they dropped spinning cages full of riders through a flame thrower while screaming over a megaphone about the sloppiness of its construction.
http://www.blairerickson.com/bman/roastercoaster1. jpg
http://www.blairerickson.com/bman/roastercoaster2. jpg
http://www.blairerickson.com/bman/roasterfire.jpg
Supposedly they're doing something this year called "Unsafety Town"
In addition to the flame throwers and anarchy, you can also expect a heavy dose of insane behaviour, giant displays of sexual debauchery, and liberal drug use. Just plain good fun.
http://www.blairerickson.com/bman/blowtorch-burn-b arrel_f.jpg
http://www.blairerickson.com/bman/IMG_1079.jpg
http://www.blairerickson.com/bman/IMG_1116.jpg
http://www.blairerickson.com/bman/IMG_0617.jpg
http://www.blairerickson.com/bman/BarbieDeathCamp. jpg
http://www.blairerickson.com/bman/amacker-and-frie nd_f.jpg
Is it all easy and fun?
Not at all. Surviving in the middle of the Black Rock desert is pretty goddamn tough. You have to bring plenty of gear, supplies, water, and anything you can think of. And you will probably be injured at some point. Goes with the territory. Almost everyone I was with last year was injured. I ended up with a pretty gruesome stab wound (http://www.blairerickson.com/bman/kneescar.jpg) on my leg and a sprained ankle
Style is everything at one of these burns. Appearances count. Any idiot can pick up a tiki torch at a Home Depot and wave it around like a deranged circus clown; it takes talent and panache in abundance to dig a five-foot-wide hole in the ground, dump in an engine block from a scrapped VW bug and set it on fire, then exhort onlookers -- with bullhorns -- to "Look away from the fire; it is many times brighter than the sun, and it will destroy your eyes." Yes, kids, burning magnesium is fun, but the consequences are dire: magnesium burns at 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit and reacts explosively with certain salt nitrates. Good thing, then, that our fellows at Burning Man protected onlookers from the burning block by partially burying it in an alkali lakebed.
Shamelessly stolen from Pigdog.
Never approach a vast undertaking with a half-vast plan.
1. Party - this really kicks off with the Thursday crowd that hangs till Sunday - so if you're in party mood, don't go earlier. Or stay home. Yeah, I like that ...
...
2. Art - a lot of the art is more accessible and organic early on, so best seen Tuesday to Saturday - by Saturday afternoon it's way too party to bother.
3. Drugs - not really into that, but if this is your style, then sleep during the afternoon heat and stay up till dawn and you'll have lots of fun - the dancing till dawn part is cool tho and my fave experience was finding my flourescent green artists tube (transparent) when twirled at a giant black light music piece off in the desert with windsocks around - well, it vibrated and the dust from the playa really made it glow like mad - must be the desert salts
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Besides Burning Man is full of religion, drunken debauchery, wierd forms of transport but most important FIRE
With respect to the ice, it's not a creature comfort. It's a necessity, especially when the temperature is 120 degrees. Especially when, like me, you run a bar, serving hundreds of people FREE drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) all week long. They began selling ice at the event because the traffic in & out of the event (to the local town, usually to buy ice) was getting out of hand.
Burners bitch about the coffee thing too. Quite frankly, I don't care. The proceeds go to charity. They had collection barrels for the Katrina victims this year, too. The only difference with that was I didn't get a fucking coffee out of that one.