Burning Man

burning man : leisure activity :: dotcom : sound business model

(ps no it doesn't)

since everything dries immediately in the desert (it's like 110 degrees out during the day) nothing smells at all

so many different crowds of ppl go that you can avoid whatever people you dont like (hippies, ravers, whatever) -- not to mention there's always about 1000 things going on simultaneously so you can go to what you like and not go to what you don't like

i'm pretty anti-hippie myself

i'm going in two weeks -- i am psyched (douglas will be there again also!)

i'm not sure about the CA contingent, so i can't comment on that

Actually, that comment is from a friend of mine who goes to Burning Man every year (translation: he' s serious)

a) like with anything else some of it is crap and some of it is really cool
b) everything gets set on fire so if you didn't like some of the art that's ok, it'll all be up in flames at the end

DUN NUH-NUH-NUH NUH-NUH-NUH NUH NUH NUH-NUH!

Granted, I think part of me dies any time someone says they "feel like an artist." That's me. But the rest is actually supposed to make it sound good?

Is it called "Bill Graham Presents©: Mountain Dew eXtreme™'s Burning Man 2003" yet?

i should become a professor or something

The people I know who go aren't hippies, they are artists/designers/musicians/etc.

http://www.thespoon.com/costco/

If you're looking for scary scraggly creepy people on lots of drugs there, you will find them. If you're looking for amazing unusual fascinating people, you will also find them. There is a lot of really bad art, and more than a bit of incredibly good art. And the idea of spending 2% or so of my year in a culture that's pretty much entirely based on creativity and kindness really appeals to me.

Also, Gygax, it's a little hard for something to go all commecial when you're not allowed to use money there...

I mean, if the haters stay home, so much the better (it's not like "no no, you just have to GO there, then you'll SEE"--if you're predisposed to hate it, you will anyway), but it's kind of disconcerting to see the knives coming out.

Not that I'd ever go, but if I did I'd have to make myself a Christopher Lee costume.

Last year, Tom Schild (current PPLO President)
ventured to the Wrong Side of the Trax at the
invitation of Yuta Lee (PPLO Ambassador to the
Dave Train).

This year, our fearless leader Tom is unable to
face the playa but vows to return next year. In
his place, a crew of 11 DC emissaries will be
representing the PPLO on the playa. I believe we
are the largest DC contingent in any camp.

Ambassador Lee arrives in Black Rock City today
for preliminary infrastructure development. Phil
Psilos (General Mayhem) will be in charge of
military operations for recreational terrorism.
In the absence of our President, I will assume
duties as Field Commander-in-Chief. (I'm
currently on TDY in the Bay Area).

We are the PPLO – The Party People Liberation
Organization. We are recreational terrorists
dedicated to decriminalizing the underground and
preserving our constitutional right to express
our individuality, dance, create house music,
celebrate life, groove to whatever makes us
groove, be freaks and, above all, assemble in
the name of love and peace!!!!

PPLO PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
I Pledge Allegiance to the cause of preserving
our music and culture, and to the PPLO that
protects it, at Nation or underground, all night
long, with partying and dancing for all...

Namaste,
Ky ("Key")

Field Commander-in-Chief
PPLO (Party People Liberation Organization)
Wrong Side of the Trax (Dave Train)
3:30 Serious Authority, Black Rock City

Hahahahahaha... yeah, generalizations about people from entire regions or countries are great. Nothing else does as good a job of bringing the ignorant flotsam of society to the surface. But I'm sure you didn't REALLY mean anything by that, did you Tep? ;)

GERLACH, NV—The Burning Man festival, a prominent artistic and countercultural event that draws tens of thousands of people to the Nevada desert annually, is in danger of cancellation this week because "no one had their shit together enough to even make it," organizers said Tuesday.

http://www.theonion.com/current_top_story.html

"The event likes to bill itself as radical self-sustainability, but really it's an orgy of consumption," said Jack Haye, a computer modeler at Industrial Light and Magic in San Rafael. Haye was exhibiting one of his sculptures at Burning Man.

"There is way too much utilization of new materials that are wasted. How many hundreds of thousands of dollars -- or millions -- are spent in Costco in August getting ready for this?"

http://blog.hisnameistimmy.com/?p=12

-- sexyDancer (jjjjjjjjjjjjj...), September 9th, 2004 12:42 AM. (link)

http://shopbilder.comonline.net/pics/pa/015/picx/603218.jpg

Much in the same way that Burning Man is.

i don't know much about it, but it seems mostly uninteresting and mostly harmless. i think my sister's been at least once.

That blog post that revived this thread - that guy's a fucking moron who should've read up on where he was going before complaining so vociferously about alkali dust, heat, etc. He has no one to blame for his discomfort but himself.

What makes you think we haven't been? Granted it was well over ten years ago, but the one most OTM thing in that blog post is this:

Whatever Burning Man supporters claim, know this, the event is a 24/7 bacchanal of booze, drugs, nudity, S&M, public sex, and bad art

Complaining about the heat at Burning Man is ridiculous though... Er, it's the FUCKING DESERT. I've done a lot of desert camping/hiking so it didn't bother me at all, but it seems like > 50% of the people didn't adequately prepare for it.

Don't disagree that yes it is largely a 24/7 bacchanal of booze, drugs, nudity, S&M, public sex, and bad art. Altho I'd add the caveat that in a good year there is also a fair amount of good art, and the public sex isn't really all that public in most cases.

(uh you are aware that LEAVE NO TRACE is one of the central catchphrases of Burning Man...? You can find moments of contemplation and serenity out there for sure, you just have to walk a ways away from the rave camps)

I'm with you on this - I don't go anymore. The first year I went there was no layout, no map to get there, you could still get away with firearms and explosives, there was WAY better music, and all the raves were restricted to a rave camp 2 miles away from everything else.

Maybe I'll go back when I'm 75 if its still happening, just out of curiosity.

i'm sure it is, and i'm guessing that there are many people who show up who have no interest in adhering to this, and that the people in charge can't entirely clean up after them. i'm also sure that however-many-thousand bodies and automobiles collecting in a place has an impact that doesn't disappear overnight even in a desert.

You can find moments of contemplation and serenity out there for sure, you just have to walk a ways away from the rave camps)

not anywhere i can see or hear rave camps

"If there is anything worse than a pervert, it’s a self-righteous druggie pervert, dressed as a chipmunk, offering unsolicited fashion tips. If you want catty advice on how to dress from a crowd of Rocky Horror Picture Show rejects, Burning Man is for you."

"Any random collection of Toto and Yes album covers would contain better trippy art than all of Burning Man."

Funny!

But one of the coolest things about it that I enjoyed is that the environment is SO extreme - there is literally nothing there but hard-packed dry-as-bone dirt that stretches for miles, its like being on an alien landscape in a lot of ways. Although I've been to Black Rock at non-Burning Man times so this impression was perhaps made more profoundly on me then... and yes this impression can be mediated and diluted by throngs of naked idiot ravers with their shitty music.

Only if they were also FIFTY FEET TALL! Burning Man art is all about scale.

I didn't get all the way through that blog entry, when the dude started complaining about being tired from the heat and the dust I gave up (that's why everybody sleeps during the day there - get one clue)

Prior to him going, he'd come up to our place, constantly remind us that he was older than us and we'd learn how to make wise decisions when we were his age (28 I think), make sure that we weren't going to be amking any noise after 10pm on a weeknight, wander in and out of my roomate's studios making negative comments on thier works-in-progress, and complain about the string of visitors coming and going from our place.

After BM, he was still constantly dropping by unnanounced, but instead it was just to make sure we all "felt good vibes" and to just check in to make sure we knew that "everything is cool now." Dude got seriously evangelical about how BM changed his life.

So, while I've never been, (and I used to spend hours looking at people's pitcures of BM on-line while I was a College Freshman in 1998, hoping and praying for the day I too could go) I'd say it's a draw.

-- Tep (te...) (webmail), August 11th, 2003 11:15 AM.

otm, btw

Every year I went there were at least 3-4 art pieces that were truly mind-blowing. Sure, this isn't a great ratio, but who cares?

And as far as the "I hate raving partygoers/weirdos/hippies" crap, when did you all turn into reactionaries (this is where one of the assholes pipes in with '2001! No! 1997!")?

And really, the trick to avoiding the more beer-guzzling obnoxious side of Burning Man is to leave on Friday. The weekend DOES turn into something a little ugly and scary. If I hadn't gone with a theme camp (and had to clean it up on Sunday), I would have left early, for sure.

And the blogger linked on the revive eventually said this:

UPDATE #2: It’s rather apparent from the comments that many readers did not understand the satircal nature of this review. This review contains a large component of satire.

For what that's worth. Apparently he was writing from a "character's" perspective rather than his own, and exagerated much of what he experienced.

In terms of how they treat the land, I'd venture that its true a lot of BMers seem to be rather careless about their commitment to "leaving no trace". The BM organization themselves, however, are uber-hardcore about it and tend to do a pretty phenomenal job of going over every inch of the playa and picking up cigarette butts, ashes, etc.

Premature combustion

What kind of hippies call in The Man?

This is his mug shot -

http://img464.imageshack.us/img464/4362/baburningmanburner104zh2.jpg

HERO

They could just rename it this year and call it Burnt Man

burning man is really the lamest thing i can think of

Our grants manager is out this week because she's at burning man for the 5th year straight. She's a hoola hooper. Blech.

why?

xpost

naked self righteous hippies, aweful art, radical self expression, dust, etc

http://www.damer.com/pictures/events/burningman99/people/Image34.jpg
NIGHTMARE VACATION

I can think of a few lamer things.

U R HATAH

. "Everyone is looking at it this morning, this big black figure in the sky and that wasn't supposed to burn, saying 'Now what do we do?'"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

no really it sounds so terrible to me

the desperate search for meaning in some indulgent desert bullshit is really sort of icky

at least thats the impression ive gotten from every attendee ive ever spoken with

Where does a hyper-jaded cynical person like you ever come into contact with all these wide-eyed naifs? I gave my real take on Burning Man WAAAY upthread, so I won't repeat myself, but I think that you are (probably deliberately) getting a weirdly skewed take on the whole deal.

it was good drunk fun in the desert the one time i went. i can't understand the vitriol of someone who has never been.

Searching for meaning is like, so desperate.

Where does a hyper-jaded cynical person like you ever come into contact with all these wide-eyed naifs?

ha perfect! funny how closely radical inclusion, immediacy, civic responsibility, whatever; resembles bitter accusatory escapism.

zing!...?

to answer yr question i can think of 5 people i know who are repeat attendees. and im sure ive talked to some others at parties or something.

the search for meaning isnt necessarily desperate, it's actually pretty much universally human. but in this case it does look pretty pitiful. sort of a christian rock concert vibe in it's aggressive abandonment of critical intelligence and intense devotion to concept.

as for the it's just a big party argument. im sure you could just go for the fun. but it seems most burning people do attach way more importance to the thing. most parties dont have manifestos.

also i just have a really hard time w/hot dusty environments and loud freeeaaky people

fair

Speaking of The Man

Wall Street executives at Burning Man? You bet. Though there’s nothing farther from the cutthroat, moneymaking world of Wall Street than the anticapitalist, anticorporate festival of radical self-expression known as Burning Man, we found several New York business executives and Wall Street types who are heading out West this week and staying through Labor Day. In the dusty, storm-ridden desert flatlands north of Reno, Nevada, is a place dubbed Black Rock City, home of the biggest little countercultural festival in the world.

“I first went out there in 2003 because a classmate from the Stanford Business School had an art project on the playa,” says a senior executive for a major Wall Street company, who asked not to be named. One of the main draws for him and most of the other 50,000 participants expected this year are the massive collaborative art projects, like last year’s giant Belgian Waffle or the 50-foot stick figure that gets torched at the end of the week—the burning man that gives the festival its name.

“That’s the attraction. You create something from nothing, it’s remarkable for a short period of time, and then it’s gone,” says the executive, whose own participation includes cooking gourmet meals and distributing them for free to the masses. Other attendees contribute three-dimensional creative works, all of which result in a temporary psychedelic city of art and theme camps on “the playa,” the ancient lakebed where the event is held.

The Stanford classmate in 2003 created a multimedia installation that paid tribute to the sun, with trapeze artists performing at sunset, music synchronized with the sunrise, and, thanks to the creative tinkering of a couple of Silicon Valley engineers, a sound system with light projections. “You could actually watch the sound emanating through the light across the playa.”

But this is hardly the first time business people have attended the festival. Past attendees from the business world include Amazon C.E.O. Jeff Bezos, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and Google C.E.O. Eric Schmidt, among others.

Of course, because the nature of Burning Man is to leave all commercial trappings behind, the organizers of the event are loath to tally the number and type of professionals in attendance, although a spokeswoman noted that “we do have a large group coming for their corporate retreat this year. They are building an art project.”

And the business folks who go (albeit anonymously, in the spirit of the event) say they get something out of this nonhierarchical, open-society environment. “When I return, I think I’m a far better executive, in terms of innovation and creativity,” says the senior executive. “And each year that I come back, I’m better for it. I think my team and my company are better for it. I stay creative and expose myself to new ideas.”

Leslie Bucksor, a partner in a New York financial-consulting firm, and his wife, Cory, will be camping out with his business partner this year; this will be his 10th year on the playa. And he may do business, if the necessity arises. In 2002, Bucksor left the camp three times to work on patent applications at Bruno’s Casino and Country Club, a nearby desert dive. “If it’s the only way I can be there, I will do it,” Bucksor says. “It’s such an important experience for me.”

Leaving the playa is the only way to conduct business in this commercial-free zone. Cell-phone coverage and internet access are very limited, and there’s no commerce whatsoever. The mini-countercultural civilization survives on gift giving; even bartering is not allowed.

But if no cash changes hands on the playa, it certainly does ahead of time. Going to Burning Man is not cheap, with presale tickets starting at $195 and going up to $350 at the gate. Plus, attendees have a massive preparation list: food, water, tents, sleeping bags, glow-in-the-dark anything, bikes, and goggles and dust masks for surviving the dust storms. And more and more participants are stepping up the experience with decked-out R.V.’s and luxury camps equipped with extensive high-tech elements and semipermanent buildings.

James Okura, who runs his own art-production company, sets up an air-conditioned fake-fur-lined tent and tunnel system he calls the Geisha House. “We provide chilled sake in an office watercooler and Japanese snacks. Our motto is ‘You are your own geisha.’ ”

“People have definitely stepped it up for luxury,” says a hedge fund trader in his thirties, who’s going this year with some heavy hitters in media and finance. “This will be my first year going in an R.V.: The Four Seasons version of Burning Man.”

Newbies are in for an exercise in surviving in a very noncompetitive, open atmosphere—attributes that are exactly the opposite of the Wall Street and hedge fund worlds. It’s not for everyone.

“The Wall Street crowd at Burning Man is very small,” says the hedge fund trader. “I would not encourage anyone I work with to go. I see how people are in this business, and I would not trust them to engage the experience as it should be engaged.” He went for the first time in 2001 with friends from San Francisco.

The trader is afraid the playa will be polluted with what he refers to as the “aggressive indulgence that is part and parcel of New York City, particularly of those in high-powered, high-paying jobs.”

Such people may have the wrong idea about the festival. “People think it’s a big drug-sex thing out there when it’s really, really not,” the trader says. “It couldn’t be farther from the truth.”

Celebrities such as Sting, Courtney Cox, and Robin Williams have been known to go in previous years, but there are no V.I.P.’s at Burning Man, and that’s part of its appeal. “The Burning Man spirit,” says the trader. “I’ve seen it overwhelm people out there. If everybody went once, the world would be a cooler place.”

it isn't nearly as dogmatic, in person, as you might imagine.

i should probably qualify all i say with "I went 10 years ago." i wonder how much it's changed.

Finally something that the hippie and the hedge fund trader can agree upon - the hopes that "aggressive indulgence" won't spoil the playa

more like Earning Man these days amirite

the hopes that "aggressive indulgence" won't spoil the playa

Don't hate the playa, hate the sunburn.

i should probably qualify all i say with "I went 10 years ago." i wonder how much it's changed.

Well apparently, the burning of the Burning Man takes place on Tuesdays now.

i like how he's being charged w/arson for burning the burning man

http://www.kqed.org/topics/local/gallery/images/sadstare345x549.jpg
whaaa the radical self-expression decommodification and immediacy was supposed to be on saturdaaay ;_;

call the police

burner dude i crown thee King 'That Guy'

jhøshea u sound like a dik

fu lol

chaki likes it when people express themselves in a controlled, disciplined, tightly anarchic manner.

Sleepy Hippie: So how was the eclipse?
Wacky Hippie: THEY BURNED THE BURNING MAN LAST NIGHT!
Sleepy Hippie: Wow, that was some nap I took. I thought today was Tuesday!

sleepy hippie otm

The only other time I've seen the words 'the playa' used so much was in a Cormac McCarthy book.

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m312/KarenAK/BurningMonkVietnam1963.jpg

http://www.clusterflock.org/52107956_496c943a3a.jpg

http://www.monkfish-abbey.org/wp-content/images/monkfish_burning_man.jpg

http://boingboing.net/images/naked-people-and-ship-xj.jpg

I still love Shakey's "one of the central catchphrases"

and only incidentally because it sounds like quoting from Chairman Mao

Playa Suicide

A Burning Man participant was found dead this morning, hanging from the inside of a two-story high tent, according to Mark Pirtle, special agent in charge for the Bureau of Land Management.

The apparent suicide would be the festival's first in its 21 year history, Pirtle said.

Pershing County coroners are investigating the scene and preparing to remove the body. Pirtle said the man was hanging for two hours before anyone in the large tent thought to bring him down. "His friends thought he was doing an art piece," Pirtle said.

How You Will Get Hurt at Burning Man

http://awesome.good.is.s3.amazonaws.com/transparency/web/1008/burning-man/transparency.jpg

do they light people on fire at this, or

roll call. my first year. who else went?

did it make you more or less misanthropic?

more like suggesting ban

this is a pretty interesting thread. living in san francisco, my reactions were similar to the bile expressed at first: even though I liked the idea, the impression given by the most vocal supporters was always alienating, and it seemed that each year the window was closing at it skewed further towards one big rave

and basically -- it's all true, every single negative thing you hear and see about it, you will absolutely encounter there, and the ugly parts tend to be the loudest and therefore provide the first impressions. but at the periphery there are still those things that can only happen in that environment, and you can only really understand what they are by going.

the first three days were profoundly demoralizing. the cost of realizing a temporary autonomous zone that lets you do whatever the fuck you want is the horror of learning what the majority of other people get up to when they get to do whatever the fuck they want. but there was much more to the festival, quietly going on everywhere. and it is impossible to sum up for you, other than when a survivalist camping environment reaches the size of a small city, there is a very different social order at work. and you can compare it to the social order of the city you live in.

and as it went on the initial wave of depravity faded a bit. the people who'd shown up for the wrong reasons were dropping away as casualties. the partying had a different feel by friday -- once the dust storms started kicking in, with visibility often going down to about 30 feet, the only people still dancing were the ones who were prepared. there are 20 stories I could tell, but in that climate, even the hedonism gained a conscious, survivalist aspect.

it's as depressing as it is inspiring, and the frightening aspects are only going to keep getting louder. but there are still things that can only happen there, even now that this festival has reached 60,000 people.

maybe a major difference between your experience and my experience, is that you actually enjoyed raves in the early 90s, and i didn't.

it was mixed, for every moment I felt somehow reassured by the fact the music has essentially remained in place since 1991-5, there were 20 moments when I felt really sad about it. the lack of diversity in what hits the loudest systems is one of the most depressing things about the festival.

we parked at the periphery for walk-out camping and pointed our tents outward, and I'll cop to it: the sound of 200-300 sound systems all merging into one kaledoscopic polyrhythmic soup bouncing off miles of flat desert & the mountains, combined with screaming and random extraneous art car / installation noises, it definitely helped that I found that sound to be truly beautiful. I wouldn't have wanted to be in the middle of it -- being too near to any one of the systems I lost interest, but as a wash it was my kind of thing

both times i went, we were near the border with the walk-out camping - being in the middle had absolutely no appeal

glad I went when I did. can't really fathom enjoying it nowadays

Burning Man becomes a hot academic topic
A growing number of sociologists, business professors and theologians view the event's mix of hipsters, artisans, zany theme camps and outdoor art gallery as more than a party. They see fertile ground for research

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-burning-man-20101020,0,3074357.story

Milton, sarahel, the music is my least favorite part of Burning Man. Other than dancing to Lee Burridge during a dust storm, nothing did it for me.

But getting lost at night on a bike with 1,200 meters of LED-lit balloons attached to the handlebars, that was pretty cool.

when I figured out that stream of lights trailing through the sky was physically attached to a single bike, that one person could actually pilot... that was a good moment

cool you got to ride the bike

xp - the music didn't do anything for me either, except remind me of some mutant version of Las Vegas. I went 10 years ago, mind you, but i had recently read Learning from Las Vegas - so I wandered around Burning Man looking for examples of "ducks" and "decorated sheds" - that was when i wasn't helping fabricate explosives.

the awful awful music is one of the things that drove me away tbh

what kind of music is there? hippie jams ?

I wish. there is practically no live music. everything is just terrible terrible techno techno techno - and often at night, at any given moment in any given place you're caught between like 4 competing soundsystems, all blaring some combo of trance or house or whatever. drove me nuts.

part of the problem is that the environment is so harsh anyone who brings anything like guitars/amps/synths/drums is totally just asking to have their equipment destroyed. so practically no one does it.

ugh, my second worst nightmare behind hippie jams.

http://www.vimeo.com/11831845

http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/nv/field_offices/winnemucca_field_office/nepa/recreation/0/slide_show.Par.18987.Image.500.x.jpg

http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/wfo/blm_information/nepa0/recreation/burning_man.html

Wasn't Gordon Levitt's brother a part of this? He died some months ago.

i am kind of starting to "get" burning man

should i be worried

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Thursday, July 28, 2011 3:19 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark

http://www.fastcompany.com/1772223/burning-mans-big-plan-to-spread-its-values-throughout-the-urban-environment

Burning Man--that once-a-year sojourn to the Nevada desert--is much more than a hedonistic experiment in self-reliance, art, the sharing economy, and psychotropic drugs. It's also an event that has spawned a tight-knit worldwide community whose members have created a number of Burning Man-related organizations, including Burners Without Borders, Black Rock Solar, and the Black Rock Arts Foundation (a group that brings public art installations to cities). It's only fitting that the Burning Man community's latest do-gooder venture--the Burning Man Project--will work on revitalizing a down-and-out area of San Francisco, Burning Man's home city.

The project, which is largely funded by Burning Man parent organization Black Rock City, LLC, aims to use the 10 principles of Burning Man to change urban environments for the better. "The 10 principles of Burning Man are an observation of what happens when this culture gathers," explains Andie Grace, a PR representative for Burning Man. These principles include radical self-reliance, decommidification, civic responsibility, immediacy, participation, and gifting. How do these principles translate to the urban environment?
The first Burning Man Project effort will tackle the "civic participation" principle in the Central Market Street corridor of San Francisco, an area that borders the troubled Tenderloin district. Black Rock City, LLC just moved to the neighborhood this past May. "It's an area that's been pretty much boarded up for 20 years. We thought it was a place that could use some help and skills that the Burning Man community can bring to bear," says James Hanusa, an advisor for new initiatives at Burning Man.

The Burning Man Projec't's first grand plan is to turn Central Market into an arts and innovation district, complete with art walks and festivals, as well as pop-up retail stores and galleries (though there are no plans for a giant, flaming effigy). The organization is already in talks with the Mayor's Office of Economic Development about how to turn these ideas into reality. "The immediate idea is of cutting through systems haven't worked before for how to change an area," says Grace.

The Burning Man Project plans to spend the rest of the year on the Central Market project. But that's just the beginning. The project also envisions working on everything from a social enterprise program that teaches businesses how to employ the 10 principles (a la Toyota's Production System Support Center) to an educational program that offers certificates in dispute resolution and leadership training.

Burning Man certainly can't single-handedly transform a depressed neighborhood into a flourishing one. But the organization's influence will make the area more lively (if not more crazy), and probably revitalize local businesses in the process. And if it works in San Francisco, there's no reason why Burning Man's values can't be used to spruce up suffering neighborhoods in other cities that believe a yearly party in the desert may have something to teach them, though those cities may be few and far between.

Central Market is where out-of-town dealers get off BART and sell crack/smack/meth to homeless/near-homeless people, so good luck guys

to an educational program that offers certificates in dispute resolution and leadership training.

the drug dealers and their customers could really use this imo

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6084/6123115607_04d4556c63.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6209/6123674395_a1875484f8_z.jpg

Not sure when kickoff is. Can't get any reception here.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6198/6124127188_672e6f615f_z.jpg

Aaaaannnnnd…

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6072/6123108825_f14eac7183_z.jpg

It's the "I Wish These Were Brains" lady, 15 years later!

wait are you at burning man? if you aren't, can i just imagine it for a minute?

that kid has amazing hair

My girlfriend has expressed interest in attending in the future. I have resolved to check with Douglas Wolk in detail first.

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/7/2009/09/500x_3893979928_cb06feeb92.jpg

holy shit, is that a stuffed crab

And you too can have crabs after you get stuffed...at Burning Man!

well yes. i was going to make a stuffed crab joke. then i looked more closely at that picture of VD lagoon and THERE IS ACTUALLY A STUFFED CRAB IN THERE.

"VD Lagoon" XD

next to dude with ravepants and cowboy hat

oh that guy.

I don't get the "bi-racial" one. They're both supposed to be rabbits, right?

Oh wait, they're wearing each other's parts from two separate bunny costumes.

I get it.

That one was pretty close to being i don't care if you're black, white, purple

http://assets.hookit.com/rfs/headshots/0d683264-d379-4011-8e6c-031e039ff9c6.jpg?size=200http://assets.hookit.com/rfs/headshots/0d683264-d379-4011-8e6c-031e039ff9c6.jpg?size=200http://assets.hookit.com/rfs/headshots/0d683264-d379-4011-8e6c-031e039ff9c6.jpg?size=200http://assets.hookit.com/rfs/headshots/0d683264-d379-4011-8e6c-031e039ff9c6.jpg?size=200

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_QtZZLPRSChs/Ru6YvGR2RXI/AAAAAAAAAXo/T2pyuYviU3k/DSC07263.JPG

http://assets.hookit.com/rfs/headshots/0d683264-d379-4011-8e6c-031e039ff9c6.jpg?size=200http://assets.hookit.com/rfs/headshots/0d683264-d379-4011-8e6c-031e039ff9c6.jpg?size=200http://assets.hookit.com/rfs/headshots/0d683264-d379-4011-8e6c-031e039ff9c6.jpg?size=200http://assets.hookit.com/rfs/headshots/0d683264-d379-4011-8e6c-031e039ff9c6.jpg?size=200

man really does not look like fun anymore

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-vQFg_hTsoWI/TUytMMxvnrI/AAAAAAAAMPM/nHWptvVGOq4/174759_194728550540080_7018467_n.jpg

Danielle White isn't sure what she's going to do with her fire-spitting unicorn now

And the obligatory...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhsePT97aIs

lol

is that a lol about something specific or did u just look out the window while daydreaming and think 'lol burning man'

like has someone accidentally self-immolated at burning man whilst attempting to firebreathe in syncopation with a skrillex track

No, it's just going on now and it's just lol in my opinion. I can think of very few places I'd less want to be at less.

I'm not sure that sentence made sense but you know what I mean.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/08/libertarian-burning-man/

http://www.ustream.tv/burningman

really looking forward to the inevitable drowning-in-a-sea-of-shit deaths of all those seasteading assholes, I must say

You know, every couple of years I think back to this thread and how someone like Geeta recommends it and I think, hmm maybe... And then:
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/09/burning-man-2012/100363/

I dunno, some of those photos are really beautiful and almost make me want to go. Almost but not quite.

Mountain Spirit (left) and Shooting Star, their Playa names, dance in the desert during Burning Man 2012, on September 1, 2012.

The Samurais dance at sunrise in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, on August 31, 2012.

Eric Yttri plays a flaming tuba in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, on August 30, 2012.

Hallie McConlogue stays cool, partially submerged in a fishbowl helmet, during Burning Man 2012, on August 31, 2012.

Art car "The Sperminator" cruises the Playa, on August 31, 2012.

Two men bare-knuckle fight in the Thunder Dome during Burning Man 2012, on August 31, 2012.

A man with the Playa name "Shaft" rides his bicycle in the Unicorn Stampede, on August 29, 2012.

I am just not that into watching thousands of people exhibit their fantasies to one another.

Mountain Spirit (left) and Shooting Star, their Playa names

http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/sick/throw-up.gif

I am being mean. If this is what floats their boats then more power to them. I will, however, reserve the right to rme a little because c'mon now.

haha I just realized that they meant the actual word "playa" and not the in-vogue mispronunciation of "player"

or... DID THEY?????????

Ask Kitten, she would know.

I am terrified to look at these pictures because I may know ppl in them

lol iirc playa is what they call the area on which the event is held so it means their names while in that space. It's a lot funnier when read the other way though.

They all appear to be vagrants or else trustfund babies.

one of my roommates is into this but this year she just went to a "burning log" which i guess is a local splinter for people who don't have $400 or whatever to spend on going to a party

playa is a geological/geographic term guys

which is why i said it was the area on which the event is held

xp to Shakey Mo

As DJP so aptly pointed out, it's a double bonus word. Except it is not known whether the playa-on-words was intentional.

Shakey, what part of "oh right, they meant the real actual word" made you think I didn't know what a playa is?

lol

geography, guys.

I hope at the end of a burning log gathering they actually all watch a single log burn

haha that's exactly what I was thinking! I mean because it just sounds a little sad. They should just call it a campfire party or something new altogether.

don't really get why you'd do this when you could, i dunno, just go off camping in the desert with your friends

yeah rilly the same thing basically

http://i.imgur.com/fcUAa.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/OkHGn.jpg

ha, otm.

being a west coaster I have many friends who are there right now but I totally understand the eye rolling. I have never been, and am not really into the whole culture of "transgression" via recycled Re/Search motifs. but there sure is some cool shit to see out there on the playa.

when people roll back into town after this the cars are covered in this telltale superfine alkaline dust, it never quite goes away.

God yeah that stuff is like, idk, talcum powder. we had friends who would come camping with us a few weeks after Burning Man every year, and their tents looked like ancient relics, lol.

I've never been but def is kind of a West Coast 'shrug, lol art hippies' thing. I love all the creativity though! Like, some of the cars people rig up are amazing.

ok full disclosure, i haven't been in over a decade (too late to be all cooler-than-thou about it, there were already 20000+ people a year by the time i made it, certainly not too early to have people going "well it *used* to be good" etc etc) but in my era, and from what i've heard from san fran types who still go, or still have friends who go - it's still a good time. a pretty crazy party. hell, the party of the year! mardi gras for the city of artists hippies fags and hackers that is san francisco, and anyone else around the world who thinks that sounds like a party worth traveling 3000 miles to.

i mean, sure, there's a certain amount of TAZtalk and blathering about organic societies and what not, in part because it's actually, to an extent, true. but most people are just getting naked, taking all the drugs they've been saving up all year for this one holiday weekend at once, and unleashing their various art projects on the world. many of which are flammable. it is difficult fun. you're in the desert. nothing is on sale, even water. ok, coffe, coffee is on sale. but that's it. it's mainly byod. and there are more geeks, goths, ravers, & industrial types than hippies, and there are more hard-to-pigeonhole eccentrics than there are all of the above combined. all this "dirty hippies, bleh!" is blah blah blah from the mouths of people too uptight to go.

one of the biggest DUDs of all time. I should note that I haven't been, but every thing I've ever heard about it makes me cringe.

People I know and like really love this and swear by it and always try to tell me how amazing an event it is, but they're all new-age hippies retards, so I'm gonna say dud, even though I personally know absolutely nothing about it and am too lazy/too hip to bother learning.

This is one of the few times where I can't stop myself from judging something by the people who like it; the people I know and have known who go to Burning Man are among the most loathsome, flaky, obnoxious, insulated, sheltered, spoiled, and flat-out stupid people I've met (I'm talking almost exclusively about northeasterners, if there's a significant difference). It isn't possible for me to separate out my utter contempt for them from my impression of Burning Man, even if it should be. If I miss out on a big zoomy zeitgeist-a-go-go as a result, I'll live with that.

"dude, we can buy some really great soap and maybe some bracelets" <-doesn't have to say he's never been

i can honestly say i'm totally glad these people didn't go. this is exactly the kind of lame excuses my friend made to talk us out of going one year. then me and my bud moved to s.f., we went cause everyone said it was awesome, and they were right.

http://galleries.burningman.com/photos/Portaplaya/Portaplaya.44929?mediatype=photo#pastheader

when you're there, and in the mood to have fun, this is the kind of stuff you notice, wandering around the desert high as a kite. also, *everyone* is totally in the mood to get laid.

so, classic. i'll accept "dud" from someone who's actually been, and agree to disagree; certainly it's a far from perfect event. but the rest of you? pssht. you deserve to never go.

also, :

http://www.ifc.com/malcolm-in-the-middle/videos/malcolm-in-the-middle-burning-man

one of my roommates is into this but this year she just went to a "burning log" which i guess is a local splinter for people who don't have $400 or whatever to spend on going to a party

― a hauntingly unemployed american (difficult listening hour), Tuesday, September 4, 2012 6:58 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I went to what I think was described as "Burning Man East" back in 1999. It boiled down to an overnight beach bonfire here. There were probably about 40 people in attendance. The next campsite over was a group of boy scouts. It was a decent bonfire with some good people. There weren't any cool art projects or anything though and it was too cold that night for any awesome nudity.

I wouldn't go to anything the size of what Burning Man is today, but just based on the people I know who have gone, I'd feel at ease with at least some of the crowd. I wish I had headed out there a couple times in the 1990s instead of doing Phish tour.

i think this thing's less interesting to tucsonans because we already have +100 degree summers and hippies and entire blocks devoted to warehouses filled with weird sculptures.

messiahwannabe mostly OTM I think even if I have no interest in ever going again. too many people/too much raving.

BURNING MAN ALASKA 2012 - or is that just wicker man

An ex-gf of mine went this year. Over the past few years, these have turned into her people. Which is fine, I guess. More power to them all. But you wouldn't catch me within a hundred miles of this shit.

a friend of mine has worked for BM for over a decade now and it's been interesting to hear her behind-the-scenes take on the organization and the event itself and how things have grown and changed. long story short - when the men were in charge things were wild, dangerous, unplanned, etc. as the event grew in size and the women in the organization took over, things have become much more regulated, restricted, well-organized, etc. which was probably required by the event's scaling-up. even so I basically have no interest in an event that involves this many people, no matter what it is.

Burning Man, LLC?

Black Rock City LLC

also, *everyone* is totally in the mood to get laid.

This sounds amazing until you realize there's a possibility you'd be the odd one out. Then it sounds like the most treacherous thing ever.

xp It's the LLC that really matters.

http://www.burningman.com/whatisburningman/organization/index.html

also, *everyone* is totally in the mood to get laid.

Burning Sensation Man

lol

it does have a gross MTV-spring-break-for-nerds sorta vibe to it

I never got laid there fwiw (well, apart from the couple years I went with my gf)

spring break on bad acid

SF is never better than it is the week all the burners are gone.

"Burning Person"

SF is never better than it is the week all the burners are gone.

so true. plentiful parking! parks and museums and movie theaters and shows! bars/restaurants free of jerks!

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/09/the-best-craigslist-missed-connections-from-burning-man/262004/

You may of been my true-love-prince! - w4m - 24

I, was wearing purple polka-dotted crotchless panties, yellow fuzzy tap dancing shoes and rainbow knee-high socks with swirly peace signs. On my tits, I had disco pasties. I have sicc multi-colored dreads.

You, had a green goatee, and no pants. A cow patterned blazer, No shirt. Sicc tatts.

I saw you hula'n on the multi-colored flying dragon art-car as I was riding my TIGHT cruzer thru da sicc playa dust.

We made eye-contact and never saw each again! Hope the universe brings us together. Namaste.

P.s. my name is Raven.

da sicc playa dust

"We made eye-contact and never saw each again! Hope the universe brings us together. Namaste."

Hope I can remain in a marajuana haz efor life yo

when you're there, and in the mood to have fun, this is the kind of stuff you notice, wandering around the desert high as a kite. also, *everyone* is totally in the mood to get laid.

No fooling, this, in a bare wide powdery desert in 289752895 degree heat, sounds liek the worst fucking hell I could imagine. I cannot fathom this being an enjoyable idea. It sounds like some hunter s thompsonesque nightmare to me.

maybe because his coverage of the mint motorcycle race was in the nevada desert and burning man is in the nevada desert?

Well, obviously.

when you're there, and in the mood to have fun, this is the kind of stuff you notice, wandering around the desert high as a kite. also, *everyone* is totally in the mood to get laid.

This sounds amazing until you realize there's a possibility you'd be the odd one out. Then it sounds like the most treacherous thing ever.

i was the odd one out more than once, didn't keep me from having fun there! it was just kinda in the air (cue obvious smelly genitals joke). it's a good party. it's intense. it's unlike anything else i've ever done. there were plenty of intensely crappy parts ("bare wide powdery desert in 289752895 degree heat" is a real thing you have to deal with) that were outweighed by the intensely fun parts. maybe a bit like an acid trip?

once again: i feel like so far on here, pretty much everyone who's had something bad to say about it has never actually been.

You may of been my true-love-prince! - w4m - 24

I, was wearing purple polka-dotted crotchless panties, yellow fuzzy tap dancing shoes and rainbow knee-high socks with swirly peace signs. On my tits, I had disco pasties. I have sicc multi-colored dreads.

You, had a green goatee, and no pants. A cow patterned blazer, No shirt. Sicc tatts.

I saw you hula'n on the multi-colored flying dragon art-car as I was riding my TIGHT cruzer thru da sicc playa dust.

We made eye-contact and never saw each again! Hope the universe brings us together. Namaste.

P.s. my name is Raven.

i could be wrong but this strikes me as possibly a joke? possibly by an actual burning man participant - i'll give you some of the details are pretty spot on, people do kinda dress like that there, but the "TIGHT cruzer thru da sicc playa dust, namaste" just sounds like parody.

whether it's real or not, I enjoyed it

i grudgingly admit it was funny

have they really increased their ticket prices $100 over two years? in a recession?

okay technically not 'in a recession' i need coffee

considering it sells out every year and the local authorities raise their rates/fees every year why would that be unsurprising

er surprising

"You were there reeking of patchouili and human stink. I rubbed mud on my belly and did an interpretive ritualdance. Hopeing we can try to eat plants we find in the forest one day"

that should be one

"We were both tripping balls and you were filled with white light. Call me"

"You had James Brown tattooed on your anus>"

My current place of employment allowed some of my more favored co-workers to go to Burning Man for the week, paid...and then also gave them this week off to recover.

I really need a new job.

left out the funniest part of that missed connection which is the last line:

p.p.s we saw each other at burning man.

were do you woerk

Hmmmmm. If someone else was footing the bill and giving me an additional week off during which to recover I might very well be singing a different tune and already thinking about where to order my purple crotchless panties from for next year's event.

My current place of employment allowed some of my more favored co-workers to go to Burning Man for the week, paid...and then also gave them this week off to recover.

I really need a new job.

― /\ /\ Delete post (admrl), Friday, September 7, 2012 2:04 PM (2 hours ago)

this sounds fucked up

you should petition them for recognition of your own chosen festival of holistic meaningfulness + setting fire to things

going to burning man with my co workers seems likea circel of hell

One of my coworkers went a couple years ago with his brother. Their other brother had died the prior year from a freak accident, and it was kind of a bonding thing. The brother had a mutant vehicle repair shop with welding tools.

Hearing a pretty straightlaced 50-something guy talk about Burning Man was cool

that's p cool

they must all literally be burned by the desert sun on their saggy flesh

I dunno, if one of my siblings had died in a freak accident, I might be inclined to stay away from freaks.

boom

http://www.turboderek.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/runningman1js.jpg

http://laughingsquid.com/wp-content/uploads/muppetwickerman1dfsd.jpg

i went to this...it was really fun

don't understand why it seems to generate so much hate from ppl who haven't been. it was one of the most civilized events i've ever been to. i'll take a few naked hippies who act respectfully towards each other & the environment over yr standard uk festival crowd who seem to take pleasure shitting everywhere except the fucking toilet any day.

went to so many fun camps & saw a lot of great djs & sunrise at the disco knights camp was probably the best party i've ever been to.

probably my weirdest moment was when ruby wax knocked on the door of our rv

I don't think critics are necessarily fans of huge music festivals, either.

Assuming you are limiting to large scale activities with camping when you say "most civilized events."

i was gonna say "most civilized music festival" but it's not technically a music festival so idk.

almost everyone i've talked to who hasn't been is a critic whether they are a fan of music festivals or not.

no nude hippies for me please

most civilized temporary autonomous zone

Burning Man would have appealed to me a lot more when I was 19 and single

after a burning man experience many have "burning crotch"

Burning Man would have appealed to me a lot more when I was 19 and single

I was really grandma-esque even at 19 so any event where I would have to spend time camping out in a field would not be appealing to me.

no toilet is a deal killer anywhere

there are toilets at burning man and they are pretty decent

I don't believe you - show evidence - i want an iSniff

ew

"
TOILETS
IF IT WASN'T MADE BY YOUR BODY, DON'T PUT IT IN THE POTTY!

Portable toilets will be provided, and will be emptied regularly. Use these facilities only for their intended purpose - not for dumping garbage or your personal potty bags. Putting anything but human waste and one-ply toilet paper (2-ply is a BIG no-no) into the portable toilets makes pumping nearly impossible and threatens the survival of the Burning Man event. This includes tampons, trash, and handy wipes. Read it again: NO TAMPONS, TRASH OR HANDY WIPES in the portable toilets. THIS MEANS YOU!! Put the lid down when you're done - it helps keep odors under control. Do not dump grey water or bags from your personal "potty" in the portables rented for participant use: doing so will fill them up much faster than normal and result in nasty toilets for all. For tips on dealing conscientiously with your grey water, see grey water disposal in the Preparation section.

Our toilet vendor works very hard to keep us all happy. Clean toilets are mandatory from a public health standpoint. Follow the guidelines above and you'll find the toilets cleaned frequently and efficiently.

Please do not defecate on the playa; it is an illegal act and unpleasant mess for everyone, especially for those who restore the playa after the event.
"

"Please do not defecate on the playa;" is this short for "player" like a person or do they mean the general grounds?

http://www.seduction-chronicles.net/images/badboy_pua.jpg

"Please do not defecate on the playa;"

best festival toilets ime

lol DJP

they should have a festival of toilets - Best Tiolets - like Bestival - Toiletestival

fun camps

"grey water"

"Old grey water keep on flowing - Mississispi moon wont you keep on shitting on me"

'grey water' is a thing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greywater

Greywater is wastewater generated from domestic activities such as laundry, dishwashing, and bathing, which can be recycled on-site for uses such as landscape irrigation and constructed wetlands. Greywater differs from water from the toilets which is designated sewage or blackwater to indicate it contains human waste.

DEAL QWITH IT

ilxor d. wolk goes every year and i really wish i could post the picture he put on his facebook of him there cuz he looks awesome and sci-fi but i don't want to be rude.

you should petition them for recognition of your own chosen festival of holistic meaningfulness + setting fire to things

― ask morbs if he is better off than he was 4 days ago (Nilmar Honorato da Silva), Friday, September 7, 2012 11:53 AM (4 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Asking my work for an all expenses paid month off for Gathering of the Juggalos.

i think it seems kinda cool if you are into it. i am not into extreme heat and dust, so its not for me. i watched that documentary on netflix and you could definitely see the appeal for people.

"Burn the huge Toilet" - a tidy bowl cake you can actually eat

yr standard uk festival crowd who seem to take pleasure shitting everywhere except the fucking toilet any day.

How I earnt my display name iirc. Glastonbury '98 - that was me.

lotta ridiculous confusion over totally legit terminology itt

sicc playa dust is the best band name though. you gotta admit.

Sicc Playa Dust sounds like a completely legitimite ICP side-project, actually.

product you buy on the drug bridge at their festival, iirc

lotta ridiculous confusion over totally legit terminology itt

play on, playa

wait so no one here is talking about this atrocity yet?

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/09/burning-man-attendee-taking-ecstasy.html

'90% of people insulting person in article on internet are less appealing than original apparently unappealing person'

well wow

hi dere
http://i.imgur.com/g7RKg.jpg

whoa! tbh i'm impressed by that

not impressed at the word "monogamish"

sex diarists are the most disgusting savages

I know that sexual freedom is part of the Burning Man package but there's something incredibly hilarious about the "did the dishes, put a penis in my vagina, read a book" pacing

hahaaaa

watching the burning man documentary i kept thinking man that is a LOT of electricity to cart out to a desert. like vegas for vegans.

lot of gas, trash, food, and water too. it is not even remotely "sustainable"

that aerial shot is dope tho

Hey, if they're dropping hippies into the playa from airplanes, I'm all for it.

...like vegas for vegans.

Bacon is the official food of Burning Man. (Tecate the official beer.)

omar otm.

Isn't that sex diary column a running fiction piece? It's like that every time.

..and accordingly, every time a bunch of people feel its realistic fiction style is either creepy or inauthentic. It's a classic troll.

haha yeah they all have the same author. ooooops

the "author" tasks a different "normal new yorker" each week with doing the cataloging iirc

o rly? the author is some relatively well-known "I'm so sex-positive my vagina fly atta you face" columnist, iirc

oh maybe i'm confusing it w/ a different column that had the same vibe? i dunno.

yeah I'm pretty sure it's satirical fiction

Uh, I doubt it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Kramer_Bussel

but I think Gr80 is correct -- this is an "as told to" kind of deal with different people featured every week. It's pretty clear if you look at the archives

I guess. It's always in first person, so hard to tell.

Jealousy triumphs over sexual liberation in the end.

the williamsburg one is nowhere near as bad as the burning man one

then again, I took a creative nonfiction class in college, so by that rubric... maybe I'll go with fictionalized and only partially self-aware

i love being right

do you ever yell "man, I love being a gr80"

no.

i def admire how they just light everything on fire, and most of the art is better off that way, sicc burn

can i just
http://i.imgur.com/RBHnV.jpg

YMCA reimagined as though the "M" was for "Mongol"

livin the dream these people

sicc on la playa

how much money gets spent on this motherfucker my god, and time

the burning of things in the middle of the desert is probably the biggest selling point for me personally #pyro

the burning of things in the middle of the desert is probably the biggest selling point for me personally #pyro

Try to get an invite for Desert Blast... According to their site (http://www.desertblast.net) it's returning in 2013!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ5y3pLos-g

blog post by ralph lawson that could be useful for any uk ppl who have ever considered going:

http://www.ralphlawson.co.uk/blog/2012/9/13/burning-man.html

Look who'll be there next year. Also:

http://dailydish.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451c45669e2017c31d5691d970b-550wi

'money quote: "he's still not the highest one there"'

2:35 and 3:15
http://gawker.com/5947105/this-is-the-worst-thing-in-the-entire-universe

my friend who went to burning man said they pack everything out, not sure if i believe that

those last few pics look like something from a jodorowsky

I don't get why the wedding vid is in this thread but HOLY SHIT that's awful. I just watched it with my mouth hanging open. I'd die if I went to a reception where that was shown. I'm not good at stifling inappropriate laughter. I'd have to excuse myself.

Because the times Spencer noted have burning man pictures!

I couldn't bear to watch any more of it so didn't see those points.

Max and Spencer are the worst things in the entire universe.

beats the shit out of john lewis.

'macchiatos in the hood'

it just kept going and going

she should hook up with this guy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STH0BXSDV5s

WHY on earth is it so LONG!!!!???!!

as awful as the video is, I don't think I could be anything other than totally jazzed if my bride made it for me

I would be like, "jesus christ, I thought I was marrying a totally different person, not a musical theater actor" and leave home

The internet is so hateful. A hall of mirrors just laughing at itself.

kind of amused at people reacting badly to this versus the videos of wedding parties marching down the aisle to pop songs

like, making a heartfelt thing like this that's not a centerpiece of anything is a lot less cringeworthy than getting a few years down the road and realizing you looked like a jackass to the tune of the Black Eyed Peas

Those are bad too.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9f/Everything_is_Terrible!.jpg/256px-Everything_is_Terrible!.jpg

well it was tweeted by her to HuffPost weddings so, I mean...it's nice that she loves her dude so much that she sang a song and the sentiments are fine but sending it public in the delighted hope that it might go viral is just asking for trouble.

it ceases to be charming and becomes pomplemoussian in its quest for publicity

exactly

Yes. Plus she seems like an insufferable person. I hated her within 10 seconds.

pomplemoussian!

I just watched the beginning again to make sure I wasn't just being harsh but COME ON. It's bad.

Yeah, i mean, if you want to open yourself up to the public, then you better be ready for criticism.

"you're my elf Muppet lover!"
"... thanks?"

let's also not forget "everything's okay-o/when I'm with Judeo"

The occasional cameo appearances of her BBFs.

BFFs, I mean.

rofl @ BBF

you never know, they could be BBFs too

big beautiful friends?

Blemish Balm Friends

http://www.internetslang.com/BBF-meaning-definition.asp

oh

Oh, I was thinking something with a racial connotation

I thought it was Big Beautiful Females...

oh

― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, September 28, 2012 2:52 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol

DJP strikes again, lol

Oh, I was thinking something with a racial connotation

Single Butt Female

let's also not forget "everything's okay-o/when I'm with Judeo"

― set me on fire RAAAAH (DJP), Friday, September 28, 2012 6:07 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I totally heard this as "everything's okay-o/when I'm with my dayo"

http://p.twimg.com/A5lKaoACEAA5V46.jpg

Haha, holy shit Texas.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/10/19/4348039/big-tex-on-fire-at-state-fair.html

Someone can get me a framed edition of this one.

http://p.twimg.com/A5lGUF2CEAAQ9xZ.jpg

I'll always remember the good times.

http://www.dallasnews.com/incoming/20110926-bigtex001.jpg.ece/BINARY/w620x413/bigtex001.JPG

the night they burned old texie down

did they take him to Parkland Hospital?

Helluva time to do his Koresh imitation.

Celebrity attendee this year: Andrew Sullivan

Lol

http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/21/4643668/startups-are-invading-burning-man

At last year's Burning Man, a prominent tech investor was attacked by ninjas. "They were just a bunch of people dressed up as ninjas, riding around on bikes," says Garry Tan, Y Combinator partner and co-founder of Posthaven.com. "They yelled out 'ninja! ninja!' and then they tapped me lightly on the arm." As quickly as they'd appeared, the ninjas were gone.

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n14/emily-witt/diary

Disgusting

she biked to the playa a lot

www.nytimes.com/2014/08/21/fashion/at-burning-man-the-tech-elite-one-up-one-another.html?utm_source=digg&utm_medium=email

“We used to have R.V.s and precooked meals,” said a man who attends Burning Man with a group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. (He asked not to be named so as not to jeopardize those relationships.) “Now, we have the craziest chefs in the world and people who build yurts for us that have beds and air-conditioning.” He added with a sense of amazement, “Yes, air-conditioning in the middle of the desert!”

His camp includes about 100 people from the Valley and Hollywood start-ups, as well as several venture capital firms. And while dues for most non-tech camps run about $300 a person, he said his camp’s fees this year were $25,000 a person. A few people, mostly female models flown in from New York, get to go free, but when all is told, the weekend accommodations will collectively cost the partygoers over $2 million.

this has all become pretty gross

my friend who worked there for years quit earlier this year

also relevant: http://www.sfbg.com/2014/08/19/burning-man-jumps-shark

"There's no government that organizes this," Norquist said of Burning Man, an event held on federal land, accessed by public roads, and actively regulated by local, state, and federal agencies. "That's what happens when nobody tells you what to do. You just figure it out. So Burning Man is a refutation of the argument that the state has a place in nature."

lol

burning man

I can't tell if this is satire or not. I really hope it's satire.

Old musical instruments make a great conversation starter. Not only that, but instruments with a low register such as the tuba and bassoon can be heard for miles on the playa, even through dust storms. Draw in a crowd with “When The Saints Go Marching In” then deliver your company pitch.

http://blog.leadgenius.com/prospecting-leads-at-burning-man/

#burningman, #playa, #blackrockcity, #rainbowserpent, #heavymachinery, #festivalseason, #decor, #tututuesday, #festival, #puppyeyes, #handmade, #danceparty, #headdress, #gypsykitties, #carniva, #tophat, #cardboard, #diy, #art, #musicfestival, #love, #friendship, #experience, #family, #desertbody, #grateful, #rockstar, #paperweights, #circus, #cirque, #chainbra, #carnivalofmirrors, #funkytown, #wanderlust, #freespirits, #nocturnalwonderland

it's not exactly satire. more like "topical humor"

Hard to know what brand I'm consuming these days.

Remember, anyone wearing a top hat is likely on the job. Be sure to exchange business cards with anyone donning a stovepipe. Even if they’re not in your industry they can potentially connect you with decision makers at businesses that fit your ideal customer profile.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_Rh3PbnAdw

http://i.imgur.com/5L7KKYL.jpg

Well for some crazy reason, I'm getting a Page Not Found when I try to read that article.

http://i.imgur.com/pHwTr3I.png

http://i.imgur.com/fXgDJol.jpg

TIL 'Hey Soul Sister' is about Burning Man.

http://www.avclub.com/article/drunk-historys-derek-waters-why-hey-soul-sister-so-224476

http://i.imgur.com/zuM0Hh9.jpg

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/may/02/further-future-festival-burning-man-tech-elite-eric-schmidt

^$400 for entry

Starts at $350, which is less than the actual Burning Man.

https://www.instagram.com/burningmanhateweek/

I thought those were going to be carefully chosen visual zings but no ... those are pretty standard.

Standard idiocy.

LOOOOL

https://thepointsguy.com/news/burning-man-747-abandoned-in-desert-video/

Burning Man, a utopia for guests, was hell for many workers
https://www.salon.com/2018/08/24/exclusive-burning-man-a-utopia-for-guests-can-be-a-hell-for-many-workers/

I bet there's some overlap between the people who brought the 747 and the employers described in that article

https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/40858874_10155692590431299_4915974925111525376_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=5c934411fbe2cd826197713077ed4fad&oe=5C170E57

Cancelled again for 2021.

so my boyfriend is going with burner / fire performer friends as part of their troupe. he has always wanted to go, and i'm happy for him and supportive. but watching the whole process of rehearsals and just the entire alignment and aesthetic of the fire performers really confirms that this is not for me and i have absolutely no fomo. also, i just don't think fire performing is for me and i'd rather not watch any more of it - i find it boring and embarrassing lol.

i like his friends and think they're sweet and charming but i don't think i can be close to them or hang out with them for extended periods of time, which makes me a little sad but what are you gonna do.

the city that gets built is pretty amazing imo, but you can live a good life never going to burning man. no fomo.

This is my surprised face...

If the r/BurningMan subreddit is any indication, a lot of burners caught COVID at Burning Man this year. pic.twitter.com/HkUPoWUols

— Brett Forrest (@brettforrest89) September 4, 2022

thought this bump was about the dust storm

Heheheheh

Freaking climate and anti-capitalism activists creating insane traffic in both directions for people heading to Burning Man on Nevada State Route 447, because this is how you save the planet friends. 🙄 pic.twitter.com/vubsSp2XI9

— conservativestoners (@mentalflossimg) August 28, 2023

seems to be going well this year

More than 73,000 Burning Man attendees remain confined to their camps Saturday and are blocked from leaving the event after a slow-moving rainstorm turned their desert playground into a soupy, muddy morass.

Organizers banned vehicle traffic from the roads Friday afternoon and kept the exit gates closed as of 8 a.m. local time Saturday. Even walking was treacherous as thick, slimy mud clung to shoes and anything else it touched.

Organizers warned attendees to conserve their food and water, indicating the closures could be lengthy.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/09/02/burning-man-shelter-in-place-mud-closes-roads-exit-gates/70749712007/

are there self-driving cars there? Honestly, that would be hilarious.

Basically, a friend of mine had a handful of free tickets and a free vehicle pass ... he gave away/sold the tickets but still had the vehicle pass ... someone joked that he could give it to one of those self-driving cars and it could have a fun vacation!

I have a couple friends who have been trying to have their wedding in this amazing outdoor location, and rain washed the road out so they had to cancel .... for the third time.

So they decided last minute to go to Burning Man instead

i guess compared to weddings, Burning Man is fairly inexpensive

lol

rumours are that there’s an Ebola outbreak but what we do know is that a fan helped Diplo and Chris Rock leave quarantine

When you go to Burning Man for fun in the desert but it rains six inches and floods and you think you're just going to drive out of the mud because you have a Jeep Wrangler.#BurningMan #BurningMan2023 pic.twitter.com/8MJ12wUYjF

— 🌈 Tess T. Eccles-Brown, PhD (@TTEcclesBrown) September 3, 2023

Incredible way to find out my therapist is at Burning Man pic.twitter.com/69ann50Ni9

— Catie Stewart (@catrionastew) September 3, 2023

cool pic.twitter.com/1sXpKmvVXJ

— andrew (@intellegint) September 2, 2023

All vehicle traffic within the encampment has been halted, including servicing for the thousands of portable toilets that make the event possible.

I feel like this gives them all the opportunity for some real Mad Max action, like the hardcore burners fantasize about.

They can set up an alternative society and never leave (until the food runs out anyway)

If things go far enough they won't run out of food until they run out of people, if you see what I mean.

I feel like this gives them all the opportunity for some real Mad Max action, like the hardcore burners fantasize about.

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Sunday, September 3, 2023 7:08 AM (two hours ago)

you know that's how it used to be back in the 90s right?

like they have an actual Thunderdome

But this time it's for real — water scarcity, dwindling supplies. Time for Immortan Joe!

twitter joke re an ebola breakout has broken out into the conspiracy sphere and theyre lovin it

IT HAS BEEN REPORTED THAT FEMA HAS BEEN SENT IN TO SHUT DOWN BURNING MAN FESTIVAL! 🚨🚨🚨

There are rumors that people are getting SUPER SICK from some mysterious virus that is spreading “boils, vomiting, coughing up coagulated blood” 😳

FEMA has supposedly now locked down the… pic.twitter.com/WP6nR2Ouyf

— The Patriot Voice (@TPV_John) September 3, 2023

that wrangler upthread is cooked lol rip

rip electric sun 20

Wrangler upthread is not actually a recent pic unfortunately

it’s all fun and games until your conspiracy theorist mother calls you to make sure you’re not at Burning Man because of the ebola lockdown 😭 😂

— 621 (@meat) September 3, 2023

i think that it's still all fun and games tbh

pretty wild to witness conspiracists taking a lil joke amongst a handful of people and run with it

all the replies like "figured something like this would happen" lol

rebranding it as eBola and looking for some VC sweetness

lol

Isn't Ebola a kind of fever? You're not supposed to take the event name this literally.

oh people have taken it literally to try and self-immolate so ...