Burning Man 2010 - Metropolis

[Elliot Naess]

Happy New Year!
The Man burns in 246 days!

This year's Main Theme of the Burning Man Art Festival is "Metropolis -- The Life Of Cities." Interpretation is up to you. Clues I'm picking up so far include a bit of Art Deco architecture and George Jetson vehicles. You can expect some "dark" interpretations also -- google the Fritz Lang movie "Metropolis". Some of my camp mates are playing with a pun on the theme sub-title and saying "Decline Of Cities." All in good fun, of course. I think.

Last year I darn near didn't make it -- then scraped together the needed funds at the last minute. Odds are, the same will happen this year! Again, I'm scheduled to be part of Terminal City -- along with Captain Smashy and his red bus. Targeting A Street around 3:15, as before.

If I understand it right, we lost a "burning bus" last year -- lost it to a roadside fire, of all ironic things. Xtevan, are you out there?

Millicent if finally going to get painted -- at Burning Man! Yeah, there will be some dust in the paint, but I have a couple of muralists chomping at the bit.

Otherwise, my main gig will be bicycles. I'm fabricating some weird ones, and my Millicent-converting-buddy Peter is bringing his whymcycles. So if you are into bicycles that go backwards and other bike-weirdness, come on by!




Here I am, in straw hat, on one of my "bicycles" at Burning Man last year.

[Elliot Naess]

Presumably, your girlfriend has informed you that it is not possible to see and do everything at Burning Man in just one week. But do try anyway! My bicycle activites is a daytime thing. In the evening, the big draw in Terminal City is the Booby Bar.

[Elliot Naess]

...what it offers

Please understand... What Burning Man "has to offer" is first and foremost YOU! ...and 48.999 other creative people like you (more or less). There are no spectators. Start assembling your costumes now.

What do you have or do that is fun or useful for other people? Do you build kites? Bring all your kites and give kite flying lessons. Etc.

[Elliot Naess]

Yes, I fully expect to get lots of dust in the paint. That's OK. Might even add to the charm. "Bragging rights."

Least wind in the mornings.

[Elliot Naess]

The Man burns in 82 days.

Update:
I will be in the Kinetic Cab Company camp, probably on Esplanade near 8:00.

We'll be giving rides in our pedal-powered vehicles. YOU help pedal, yes.

[elkoskoolie]

Once again Elliot, final Placement is not done!! The final mapping meeting, in fact will be at my home in Fremont Ca next weekend (6-19). I won't be there, 'cuz I'll be working in a gold mine, in NV (goin down down).

Shame on all who post a requested location before even knowing if they are placed!
However, My Gillig will be on Ring road, outside, near 6:30.
Somebody freakin better stop by!!!! 1980 White and Black Gillig, the Prison Bus.
Ask for Sweetthang or WD
Burningman DPW Survey, Flaggers and Placement team.

The guy in the Cushman who stopped Millicent last year!

[Elliot Naess]

Yes, yes, I remember you chasing me down last year! It was good to meet you in person!

I just printed out your location for this year. I shall make a serious effort to visit.

Thank you for correcting me regarding placement! The camp leader says he has been in that vicinity since 2001, but I do know that these things can change. I did say "probably at...", but....

"Oh, Lord I'm so tired."
(Wonder if I could earn a pile of $$$ in a few months up there?)

[Seeria]

Would love to attend Burning Man but with teenage kids, that just isn't going to happen for a few more years since kids aren't allowed. That leaves .... um... don't think there is anything else like Burning Man in the USA, eh?

[Elliot Naess]

...
Uh....? Kids not allowed?????

I'm delighted to inform you that you are mis-informed. Not only are kids welcome at the Burning Man Art Festival, but there is a camping "village" called Kidsville, where families with children can expect a bit less noise than average. (Noise = nuclear dance music at 3 AM.)

My camp-mates Peter & Jerri have a two-year-old son, and he has already been to Burning Man twice. Other friends of mine have been bringing their daughter every year since she was born -- she is 11 or 12 now. And so on and so forth.

Granted, Burning Man is not a children's festival. But it is a festival for "kids of all ages", with no-one excluded. Kids under the age of 12 get in free. From there on up they must have a regular ticket.

Let's see.... the average participant age is around 40. Average education level -- sky-high.

All this said... I must repeat my "mantra": Burning Man is not for everyone. But that has nothing to do with age.

Feel free to ask questions.

[Elliot Naess]

All right.... Although I'm not in the management loop for this camp, word is that Kinetic Cab Company -- and Millicent The Bus -- will be on Esplanade near 9:00 Street.

[elkoskoolie]

We'll be in approximately the same place as last year, Baghdad and Ring road (outer ring of Center Camp) on the 6:30 side.
My '80 White and Black (the Prison Bus) Gillig will be in camp somewhere. Ask for WD and Sweetthang. There will likely be a bunch of Cushman meter maid type 3 wheelers around, and If I'm not working in it my 1952 Dodge M-37 should be easy to spot, assuming it didn't break down!! I'll be leaving for the Playa in just over 3 weeks!!!

[Elliot Naess]

I just had Millicent's engine "turned up", so this year I'll outrun that Lovely Rita Meter Maid buggy of yours!

[Chadluc]

I have my bus already to go to burning man. I hear people talking about camps and things..this is my first time going. It seems everyone already know what spot they are camping. Anything I should know about going? it's getting close another 2 weeks

[Elliot Naess]

This is a common misunderstanding, so don't feel bad. You can simply pick a place to camp when you get there, no problem.

Let me explain: There is indeed a lot of talk about Theme Camps and other (more-or-less) pre-determined locations. You will see this talk specially on the Burning Man forum (similar to this forum, but bigger). But the reserved spaces are for Registered Theme Camps only, and these make up only something like maybe 20 percent (rough guess) of Black Rock City.

So the official Theme Camps know by now where they are going to be. Maybe not the exact spots, but an address on the street grid close enough to find them when you go looking for them. (Final precise placement for Theme Camps happens on the spot by "ushers" called Placers. I believe our own Elkoskoolie is one.)

The second group who already have a pretty good idea of where they are going to be, are those -- in addition to Theme Camps -- who have received Early Entry Permits in order to work on installation of large art projects and whatnot. Since these folks arrive up to several days before most people, they can reasonably expect to find a vacant spot to camp in an area they have in mind.

So all the "We'll be at 9 and D" folks, are Registered Theme Camps and other Permitted Early Entry folks.

Everyone else arrives starting at one minute into Monday August 30, and trickling in over the next few days. What you do, is simply drive very slowly (5 M.P.H. Max; NO DUST) around the outer streets until you find a spot you like. Stop, get out, and walk around and visit the surrounding camps -- that is, meet your prospective neighbors. Ask about music loudness and such. Once you have found a suitable spot with compatible neighbors, set up camp.

I recommend NOT arriving at night, since you cannot see anything. I like to climb from Sacramento to Reno in the evening, sleep in Reno, then climb the last 100 miles to BRC in the morning.

[Chadluc]

That is the most help and understanding I have recieved ever. It seems much less stressful now. I find your vehicles facinating and will be by your camp. I put an ad on craigslist offerin a ride for some burners who need to get thoer gear up and such. I have thE 72' motorhome bus tc2000. I'm leavin Los Angeles at 3:00pm on aug 29th . See how timing goes but defenitly will stay over if it looms like we are going to get there @ 1am. Can't wait to see all the neat art and maybe meet some people like yourself who share the same interest in bus conversions

[Chadluc]

I will have the 72' motorhome at D and 6:30

[swhite832]

E.N. and all others who attended....

Anxiously awaiting a report w pics

S

[Elliot Naess]

Well, I don't have any pictures. I generally don't carry a camera to Burning Man. But there are lots of pictures on Flicker -- just search Burning Man 2010. There are also pictures in the Image Gallery of the Burning Man web site.

You will find the most pictures of a sculpture called Bliss Dance -- this year's biggest hit. Bliss Dance is a 40 foot tall steel sculpture of a dancing woman with stainless steel mesh skin. At night, colored lights shine thru the skin. Absolutely lovely.

Over 51.000 people participated this year -- a new record.

I brought two pianos -- real 500-pound pianos that I put wheels on so they could be moved easily -- and lots of people played them and listened to them. I may have a picture of that.

We were four adults and one toddler in Millicent. With supplies and toys for ten days, it was cramped. But the biggest issue was gray water. I still have only one 64 gallon gray water tank. So I cut a window in the bus skin and marked the tank in 1" increments, and wrote up a schedule. That is, we used only so much fresh water as we had gray water capacity for, day by day. This worked out fine -- we reached full on the last day. The "black" tank was no problem -- it holds 70 gallons and is nowhere near full.

Again, shade is the key to camping under the hot sun. We stretched our 40x40 tarp across the roof bows and off to the south, where we tied it to a big rental truck (plus two poles and lots of rope). So after mid-morning, practically no sun hit Millicent at all. Very comfy.

We brought a full size refrigerator this year. We powered it -- and the microwave, and the metal chop saw, and the air compressor etc -- with a Honda EU3000. Ten days running non-stop, mostly at idle, burned only something like 27 gallons of gasoline. And those EU generator are almost silent. Highly recommended.

I did catch up with Elkoskoolie and saw his black-and-white Gillig. Fabulously friendly and helpful guy.

Don't know what else to say about the event itself.... I must, as always, point out that Burning Man is not for everyone. And for those who "belong there", it must be experienced in person. And it is different for each individual.

I think my favorite camp to visit was Duck Pond. Duck Pond is primarily a bar, but they have a huge slip-n-slide out front. You strip down, take a good run at it, and throw yourself onto the wet plastic. Some people managed to slide the whole way -- must have been 50 feet or more. Good clean fun! (Except you will get quite muddy, of course!) I don't know how many barrels of water they brought for that slip-n-slide, but it was a lot.

Excessively loud "techno" music continues to be a problem. Among 50.000 people there are always a few thousand "ravers", and that would be fine -- if their disc jockeys didn't all compete for "Loudest And Most Repetitive Thumping" all week long. I'm moving to the (supposedly) quiet side of the city next year.

But all forms of music are out there. I stumbled across a Square Dancing Camp with live fiddle, mandolin etc.

Oops, hit "send" too soon.

Almost forgot about Captain Smashy with the red Blue Bird! I see him every year because I know several folks in his Village. Great bunch, all of them.

Millicent pulled the mountains just fine. Great to have a tach. One of these days I'll get back to that on the Millicent thread.

I'll see if I can find that picture now.

Here we are:



This guy is a concert pianist, and he played some mighty fancy classical works. Pretty cool stuff out in the bleeping desert!

[Elliot Naess]

The loudest dance clubs get placed at the "north end" of the city. And the inner streets are noisier. So for some hope of sleep, you camp towards the south, and "out in the suburbs".

Here is how we avoided overflowing the gray water tank:



It took a flashlight, and some degree of ambient darkness, to see the water, but for a daily reading of the level it worked fine.

[M1031]

I like that idea! Maybe with a mesh screen or a sheet metal door........... Hmmmm....... Just thinking.