back in the default world
Trilo On Tickets: "The fundamental problem is not the lottery - it's scarcity."
February/24/2012
First, a bit of background information
about me. I am the admin and lead moderator of Burning Man ePlaya, and work directly with the staff at
Burning Man headquarters in both the ticketing and communications
departments. I've been participating in Burning Man since 2004, and
am the leader of a theme camp. Outside of Burning Man, I've got
relevant experience in event production, system design, and
logistics that dates back to the 1980's. The ideas and opinions
expressed here are my own. I am not speaking for the organization,
and I'm not toeing some company line - once I wrapped my head
around the changes to the ticketing system I agreed with the need
for change and think it's a pretty good system.
Setting The Stage
Prior to the 2011 event, Burning Man tickets was a fairly uncomplicated process. Just get a ticket at any point in the process of preparing yourself, your camp, or your art project. There were no scalpers, and face value was the most you'd ever have to pay. Then, on the 24th of July 2011, it got complicated for the very first time when tickets sold out. It seems a simple enough thing, but it's not. It put hundreds of camps and art projects at risk as they discovered that essential members of their group had not yet bought their ticket. Anecdotally, I think most who were determined to go were able to find a ticket. Some weren't, and others just made the decision to take the year off and not get caught up in the ticket madness.
It created a situation where it would be necessary to make big changes to the way tickets were sold in 2012. For starters, everyone who had gotten burned or had a close call vowed to buy tickets earlier next year. So did anyone who knew someone who'd gotten burned or had a close call. And a significant number of people decided that they should try and stock up on tickets for their art project or camp. And a sellout event put Burning Man on the radar of professional (as well as amateur) scalpers.
click here for more...
Setting The Stage
Prior to the 2011 event, Burning Man tickets was a fairly uncomplicated process. Just get a ticket at any point in the process of preparing yourself, your camp, or your art project. There were no scalpers, and face value was the most you'd ever have to pay. Then, on the 24th of July 2011, it got complicated for the very first time when tickets sold out. It seems a simple enough thing, but it's not. It put hundreds of camps and art projects at risk as they discovered that essential members of their group had not yet bought their ticket. Anecdotally, I think most who were determined to go were able to find a ticket. Some weren't, and others just made the decision to take the year off and not get caught up in the ticket madness.
It created a situation where it would be necessary to make big changes to the way tickets were sold in 2012. For starters, everyone who had gotten burned or had a close call vowed to buy tickets earlier next year. So did anyone who knew someone who'd gotten burned or had a close call. And a significant number of people decided that they should try and stock up on tickets for their art project or camp. And a sellout event put Burning Man on the radar of professional (as well as amateur) scalpers.
click here for more...
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ACT AS IF (or, Kant's Categorical Imperative and How Your Ticket Will Find You)
February/20/2012
"Act as if the maxim of your action was
to become through your will a universal law of nature." -- Immanuel
Kant
You didn't get a ticket. You didn't get a ticket for your partner, friend, spouse or parent. After all these years of going to The Event In The Desert, you got that email. You know, the one that, more than possibly any and maybe all of your life's cumulative college application rejection letters, grad school rejection letters, breakups-via-email, post-interview-we're-gonna-pass letters, pink slips and denial of parole notifications came across as a rejection of you as a person.
How can this thing that has welcomed you when you were needing it most, transformed you into who you are now, been fertile field where your creativity has grown beyond measure...or been your hope and dream or best chance give you the middle finger....so callously, with such disregard to who you are and what it means to you?
I am not going to comment on the workings of the ticketing system, or if it is good or bad or evil, or what we should all do *instead* of burning man, now that "most of us" "didn't get" our ticket.
I will tell you, in four simple little words, how you will get your ticket. You ready?
BELIEVE. ACT AS IF.
You are going. You've got the time off work. You've submitted your art app, your theme camp is going full steam ahead. You've got $400 in cash or whatever in an envelope for your ticket. You tell everyone that you're going, you get the blinky stuff for your bike, you get a roof rack for the truck.
WORK YOUR SOCIAL NETWORK. You tell everyone that your ticket hasn't found you. But it will. You know it. No specific notion of how it will get to you, but it will find you. It wants you to find it.
DON'T PANIC This is Panic's high season, this is the time when it is the least likely that tickets will change hands. But between the STEP program and the open ticket sales coming up, a lot more people who sincerely believe that they're going to Burning Man will get tickets.
BE PATIENT. A week before the event, ticket prices will plunge. Most folks who need tickets will get them then. And damn near all of them will be people who believed that they were going, and acted as if they already had a ticket in hand.
So. Come to potluck. Act as if. Believe.
See you tonight.
Luckily yours,
Michael
Caveat: I might be full of shit. You might believe. You might not get a ticket. Your milage may vary. Items may not be as pictured. Measured by weight and not by volume. The camera adds ten pounds. Get your ass to potluck anyway.
You didn't get a ticket. You didn't get a ticket for your partner, friend, spouse or parent. After all these years of going to The Event In The Desert, you got that email. You know, the one that, more than possibly any and maybe all of your life's cumulative college application rejection letters, grad school rejection letters, breakups-via-email, post-interview-we're-gonna-pass letters, pink slips and denial of parole notifications came across as a rejection of you as a person.
How can this thing that has welcomed you when you were needing it most, transformed you into who you are now, been fertile field where your creativity has grown beyond measure...or been your hope and dream or best chance give you the middle finger....so callously, with such disregard to who you are and what it means to you?
I am not going to comment on the workings of the ticketing system, or if it is good or bad or evil, or what we should all do *instead* of burning man, now that "most of us" "didn't get" our ticket.
I will tell you, in four simple little words, how you will get your ticket. You ready?
BELIEVE. ACT AS IF.
You are going. You've got the time off work. You've submitted your art app, your theme camp is going full steam ahead. You've got $400 in cash or whatever in an envelope for your ticket. You tell everyone that you're going, you get the blinky stuff for your bike, you get a roof rack for the truck.
WORK YOUR SOCIAL NETWORK. You tell everyone that your ticket hasn't found you. But it will. You know it. No specific notion of how it will get to you, but it will find you. It wants you to find it.
DON'T PANIC This is Panic's high season, this is the time when it is the least likely that tickets will change hands. But between the STEP program and the open ticket sales coming up, a lot more people who sincerely believe that they're going to Burning Man will get tickets.
BE PATIENT. A week before the event, ticket prices will plunge. Most folks who need tickets will get them then. And damn near all of them will be people who believed that they were going, and acted as if they already had a ticket in hand.
So. Come to potluck. Act as if. Believe.
See you tonight.
Luckily yours,
Michael
Caveat: I might be full of shit. You might believe. You might not get a ticket. Your milage may vary. Items may not be as pictured. Measured by weight and not by volume. The camera adds ten pounds. Get your ass to potluck anyway.
Burning Man 2012 Tickets Part 3 frm Halcyon (aka "Crap or Cone?")
February/16/2012
Ticket Update: Rebuilding Black Rock City 2012
February/15/2012
Posted by Maid Marian on the Burning Blog
Marian Goodell is a Founding Board Member of Black Rock City LLC, and Burning Man’s Director of Business and Communications.
THE CHALLENGE WE FACE: DEMAND OUTSTRIPS SUPPLY
We promised we would get back to you by February 15th with our plans to resolve the ticket situation for Burning Man 2012. We all know there aren’t enough tickets for everyone who wants to participate in Black Rock City. However, it’s clear that the current situation has created holes in our social fabric. Many of the core volunteers, major interactive camps, art car projects, performance groups, and funded and unfunded art projects do not have enough tickets to bring their works to the playa. Here’s how we will remedy these challenges as fairly as we believe possible:
1.) Burning Man organizers and staff will issue tickets to major theme camps and art projects using a process outlined below.
2.) We will launch the STEP program on February 29th. Only those who registered and did not receive confirmation of tickets will be given access to STEP.
3.) Low Income ticket applications will be accepted beginning February 29th.
There’s no way to sugarcoat this: the hard truth is that there are a lot of you who want to come to Black Rock City to celebrate your participation in the Burning Man culture this year, but not everyone will be able to attend. That sentence is about as painful to write as it is for you to read. We dearly wish we could just welcome everyone who feels drawn to Black Rock City. But, as we have explained in Andie Grace’s blog post: “Radical Inclusion, Meet the Other Nine,” it’s not possible to simply increase the number of tickets available for Burning Man 2012.
And unfortunately, the random draw of the Main Sale left inordinately large numbers of our core contributors — art teams, theme camp creators, mutant vehicle builders, performers, and Burning Man volunteers — without tickets. In fact, the ratio was so unexpectedly large it has punched significant holes in Black Rock City’s artistic, civic and functional infrastructure, putting the integrity of the event itself at risk. If we let market forces play out as they could with the remaining available tickets, it’s likely that Black Rock City would be functionally untenable for many of the collaborations that comprise our desert event.
click here for more...
YOUR THEME CAMP ISN'T THAT IMPORTANT .. and other thoughts.
February/10/2012
by clerkkent » posted on ePlaya on Fri Feb 10, 2012 1:12 pm
Many people are posting about how their theme camp only got less than 25% of the 'needed' tickets for their entire camp to go, and now the camp might not go at all (insert dramatic music) with the tone of 'you'll miss us'. I have been 7 times, and I have yet to visit a theme camp where I said to myself “Man, if this theme camp isn't here next year, this entire city is going to hell!!”. There were scores of camps that were awesome and I enjoyed my time with them. I coordinate a small theme camp and we didn't attend in 2009.. that was the year there was a severe population decrease. You don't see me running around claiming that everyone stayed home because my theme camp didn't go.
Our small camp generally has no more than 15 members, and I would estimate we've had no more than 400 quality interactive guests (people who stopped by, conversated, played around) per year (and even that is on the high side). As a participant, I would guesstimate that I've actually interacted with maybe 40 theme camps each year (interacted = walked into their camp, introduced myself, talked with people, had a drink or snack, did whatever interactive activity their camp is known for,etc). I would guesstimate that on yearly average, I've had a quality conversation with around 500 BRC citizens per year. There's 50,000 people out there, and chances are you'll barely meet 1% !!
My point? YOUR THEME CAMP ISN'T THAT IMPORTANT.
It is nice to have, but not a must have. Yes, you put a lot effort into it.. so did the 200 other theme camps, as well as the other 40,000 burners who dragged their arse to the Playa.
One issue with the current 'theme camps should get the remaining tickets' philosophy: If you're going to make theme camps deserving of special treatment, then theme camps are going to be under the microscope to ensure they justify the investment of tickets to those groups. There are some lame 'theme camps' out there.: The 'chill dome' camps. The annual 'I'm going to have a super kinky mega sexually charged sex camp' that talks a big game online, but delivers a few RVs and a few horny old guys on the playa. The “I'm going to have one painting on a post but request 5000 square feet for all the camp supporters” camps. The the 'Fortress of RVs' theme camp. There's been some camps where I walked by wondering “What the heck do they do, and why do they have so much prime real estate?”.. Some are just long in the tooth, and might benefit from a year off or merging with other camps.
If tickets are assigned to theme camps, you're gonna have a lot more griping than the current annual 'why did they get placed but we didn't?' mope-a-thon.click here for more...
Many people are posting about how their theme camp only got less than 25% of the 'needed' tickets for their entire camp to go, and now the camp might not go at all (insert dramatic music) with the tone of 'you'll miss us'. I have been 7 times, and I have yet to visit a theme camp where I said to myself “Man, if this theme camp isn't here next year, this entire city is going to hell!!”. There were scores of camps that were awesome and I enjoyed my time with them. I coordinate a small theme camp and we didn't attend in 2009.. that was the year there was a severe population decrease. You don't see me running around claiming that everyone stayed home because my theme camp didn't go.
Our small camp generally has no more than 15 members, and I would estimate we've had no more than 400 quality interactive guests (people who stopped by, conversated, played around) per year (and even that is on the high side). As a participant, I would guesstimate that I've actually interacted with maybe 40 theme camps each year (interacted = walked into their camp, introduced myself, talked with people, had a drink or snack, did whatever interactive activity their camp is known for,etc). I would guesstimate that on yearly average, I've had a quality conversation with around 500 BRC citizens per year. There's 50,000 people out there, and chances are you'll barely meet 1% !!
My point? YOUR THEME CAMP ISN'T THAT IMPORTANT.
It is nice to have, but not a must have. Yes, you put a lot effort into it.. so did the 200 other theme camps, as well as the other 40,000 burners who dragged their arse to the Playa.
One issue with the current 'theme camps should get the remaining tickets' philosophy: If you're going to make theme camps deserving of special treatment, then theme camps are going to be under the microscope to ensure they justify the investment of tickets to those groups. There are some lame 'theme camps' out there.: The 'chill dome' camps. The annual 'I'm going to have a super kinky mega sexually charged sex camp' that talks a big game online, but delivers a few RVs and a few horny old guys on the playa. The “I'm going to have one painting on a post but request 5000 square feet for all the camp supporters” camps. The the 'Fortress of RVs' theme camp. There's been some camps where I walked by wondering “What the heck do they do, and why do they have so much prime real estate?”.. Some are just long in the tooth, and might benefit from a year off or merging with other camps.
If tickets are assigned to theme camps, you're gonna have a lot more griping than the current annual 'why did they get placed but we didn't?' mope-a-thon.click here for more...
Ticket Update: Radical Inclusion, Meet the Other Nine
February/09/2012
Posted by Andie Grace on the Burning Blog
First things first:
For all the frustration, anxiety, stress, and heartache this year’s ticket lottery has caused, please accept another humble apology.
This is no time for issuing statements or putting a spin on anything. The system may have worked, but the cultural outcome sure didn’t, and even though some of you saw that coming and said so, we didn’t, and for that we are sorry.
The current trajectory is not acceptable. Even people who did get tickets aren’t cheering right now, since so many of their camps and friends are standing out in the cold. Entire groups are worried they’ll have to scrap all their plans. Burning Man is a participatory and collaborative event, and many collaborations are perilously close to falling apart.
Clearly we must reevaluate, but first we want to say more about what we’ve heard, how we got here, and what our next steps will be.
What we’re hearing:
Our office in San Francisco is awash in feedback. We have been meeting every day about tickets, and have burned the midnight oil poring over every available list and forum, logging and absorbing every email, complaint, and plea for information. We’re absolutely listening very carefully, and we are 100% clear that there’s a very big problem playing out.
What’s happening isn’t fun for anyone, and there’s no sugar coating to be put on it. Clearly, despite projections, the majority of the people who have previously built, created, contributed and participated – not just those who’ve been before, but who have created the foundations of Burning Man — don’t have a ticket to the event this year. And whether it was our naiveté or just underestimation, we didn’t see that coming at this scale, and we know it’s hurting us all now.
We understand and recognize the impact this is having – on individuals, on projects and collaborations, on your ability to plan vacation time, book plane tickets, submit applications for your camps, your art projects—everything about participating in Burning Man. We see the emotional response it’s causing – only too well, as we’re Burners at HQ too, and so are our friends, our campmates, our teammates, and our families. Watching this unfold has been painful. Each of us is responding differently – worrying, losing sleep, meeting through the evenings and weekends, throwing things, searching for answers…this is one of the most painful moments in our history.
What happens next will be pivotal – whatever is to blame, now that we’ve reached this point, we absolutely know we have to get this next moment right. We are all about to write the future of Burning Man.
Through our process of discovery and data analysis, we’ve heard from our whole community — including some experts we’ve never talked to before. In a lot of cases, we have asked for their consult; some of those helpful blogs and comments you’ve been forwarding to us have turned into meetings and phone calls, and we’re figuring out how else we can engage with a wider range of Burner minds to help guide our community through this.
How Did This Happen?click here for more...
Burning Man ticket fiasco creates an uncertain future
February/04/2012
http://www.sfbg.com/print/pixel_vision/2012/02/02/burning-man-ticket-fiasco-creates-uncertain-future
Is it the end of Burning Man as we know it? That's certainly the way things are looking to thousands of longtime burners who didn't get tickets when the results of a controversial new ticket lottery system were announced on Tuesday evening, particularly as big picture information emerged in online discussions yesterday.
Personally, I was awarded the maximum two tickets I requested at the $320 level (my sister already claimed the other, so don't even ask), but I'm feeling a little survivor's guilt as I hear from the vast majority of my burner friends who didn't get tickets. And if it wasn't already clear that scalpers have effectively gamed the new system, that became apparent yesterday when batches of up to eight tickets were listed for as much as $1,500 each on eBay and other online outlets.
As I've attended Burning Man since 2001 and covered it for the Guardian and my book, The Tribes of Burning Man, I've become involved with many camps and collectives over the years. So over the last couple days, I've been privy to lots of online discussions and surveys, and it appears that only about a third of burners who registered for tickets actually received them (organizers have refused to say how many people registered for the 40,000 tickets sold this week, so it's tough to assess whether scalpers were more effective than burners at buying them).
The huge number of burners without tickets is a big problem for theme camps and art collectives that rely heavily on their members to pay dues and work long hours to prepare often elaborate camps, art cars, or installations, some of which are now in doubt. Many people are so frustrated that they've pledged not to attend this year, and even those of us that did get tickets are questioning whether we want to go if some of our favorite people aren't – particularly if they're replaced by rich newbies willing to spend a grand on a ticket.click here for more...
Is it the end of Burning Man as we know it? That's certainly the way things are looking to thousands of longtime burners who didn't get tickets when the results of a controversial new ticket lottery system were announced on Tuesday evening, particularly as big picture information emerged in online discussions yesterday.
Personally, I was awarded the maximum two tickets I requested at the $320 level (my sister already claimed the other, so don't even ask), but I'm feeling a little survivor's guilt as I hear from the vast majority of my burner friends who didn't get tickets. And if it wasn't already clear that scalpers have effectively gamed the new system, that became apparent yesterday when batches of up to eight tickets were listed for as much as $1,500 each on eBay and other online outlets.
As I've attended Burning Man since 2001 and covered it for the Guardian and my book, The Tribes of Burning Man, I've become involved with many camps and collectives over the years. So over the last couple days, I've been privy to lots of online discussions and surveys, and it appears that only about a third of burners who registered for tickets actually received them (organizers have refused to say how many people registered for the 40,000 tickets sold this week, so it's tough to assess whether scalpers were more effective than burners at buying them).
The huge number of burners without tickets is a big problem for theme camps and art collectives that rely heavily on their members to pay dues and work long hours to prepare often elaborate camps, art cars, or installations, some of which are now in doubt. Many people are so frustrated that they've pledged not to attend this year, and even those of us that did get tickets are questioning whether we want to go if some of our favorite people aren't – particularly if they're replaced by rich newbies willing to spend a grand on a ticket.click here for more...
To Burn or Not to Burn
February/02/2012
We've gotten several queries about dBM and Get Found's plans for Burning Man 2012: Fertility 2.0, as well as how our crew is negotiating the Great Ticket Meltdown. In short, the process of Getting Found is in flux. Most of our crew are making plans to return to the playa and hoping to get the portal passes all lined up. With that said, myself and my cohort Maketa/DJ Edubious have made a conscious effort not to go this year, to instead funnel the time, energy, money towards something different. The decision not to pursue the Burn the year feels good, especially with the ticket clusterfuck rippling thru the community and inspiring so much ire and stress.
After 3 consecutive life-changing Burns -- 5 Burns in 8 years -- that have fully charged my soul-batteries and helped set me on the new path I am currently following, I feel like taking a deep breath and seeing what other ways I can conjure up magic, adventure and community this year. I'm jonesin' bigtime for some international travel and Cascadian backpacking trips, and prepping for the Burn/maestro'ing Get Found tends to monopolize all my resources, physical, mental and spiritual, so….time to take a time-out.
With that said, I wouldn't rule out jumping in the rig with Tangerine, Maketa, Jessie Rey and our bikes & blinkies at the last minute and heading to the playa, but that isn't the plan. Every time we hear of another beloved friend that WILL be there, it makes it a harder decision....but it is the right call in the big picture.
Many other Get Foundlings are hoping to Burn this year and we'll share details as they emerge this summer.
I've started planting the seed with Foundlings and friends that aren't going to Black Rock this year the possibility for holding our own backwoods Pacific Northwest burn!
PEacE oUT! moontroll/DJ Playadusterclick here for more...
Dealing with Post Playa Depression (Burning Man I Love You)
October/12/2011
BY ANTRANIK
Post playa depression is a very real thing, especially after your first burn. A lot of people experience it, I know I did! It’s a natural problem after returning from the best week of your entire LIFE!!! Transitioning back into the real-world and processing all the amazing things you experienced can be an overwhelming process. There are SO many incredible things we experienced in our little city for that full week that it is impossible that you are not wired differently now!
You may be questioning your job, your coworkers, maybe your friends, the fact that you have to drive your car now instead of your bicycle and are stuck in traffic. The lack of wide open, endless, liberating spaces… Even your appetite might have changed, you may not be craving sugar as much, or the television, or Facebook, etc!
Direct that newfound energy to make life more awesome
Don’t worry my friend! You can use this energy to make powerful changes that will make your default world more like Black Rock City. This is not the time to just go back to the way things were but to integrate the lessons you learned and make progressive changes in your life!
This is why, for example, I ride my bicycle as much as I can, all the time. It connects my spirit to the carefree and timeless way of life at burning man combined with healthy exercise. So one thing you can do is… ride your bicycle a lot more often! Integrate it with errands or work or ride around the park or anything you like.
Say hello / good morning / good evening to strangers even if they don’t want to look at you or respond like most people in the city. Even if they stare depressingly at the sidewalk as they pass you… it’s okay, say hello to them anyway, it will make you feel good inside and maybe remind them to look up once in a while.
Smile and wave at the driver stuck at the red light next to you! Who cares if they get confused and wonder why you would do such a crazy thing. Smiling is awesome and that will lift their spirits and raise the vibration of the situation. Who knows, they might just smile and wave back. :le gasp:
Take that “risk” of interacting with people like you did at the burn. Maybe it’s time you finally start that conversation with your neighbor of 10 years.
If you realize you hate being an office drone then maybe it’s time to look for a new job! What is it your really want to do? Brain-storm. Look for openings in the different departments that you could transfer to within your current company. Maybe there are some new opportunities there you may enjoy more and learn new things.
Hate hearing the TV? Then leave it off! Or better yet, save some money and cancel your cable service. :-p
Do you realize now you have too many useless material possessions and can’t stand the clutter? Start that cleansing process by selling your stuff on craigslist and get some money for it while freeing up your space!
Having problems with your non-burner friends?click here for more...
thoughts on decompression
October/09/2011
This was posted
on the Seattle BMan listserv -- had to share it!
"You can always spot the folks who are on the road home from Burning Man: Filthy, reeking, bug-eyed, sporting dusty tails, broken top hats and crusty corsets, reveling in simple things like ice cream sandwiches, porcelain toilets....rambling about room service...and that was just that one guy. And when you get home, you can immediately spot a driveway where folks have unloaded a car that's been to Burning Man. A week later, walking down the street, you'll notice a backpack with a tell-tale washed-out look to it. A month later, at a party or on the bus or at the bank, it really doesn't matter, you'll notice that the creases of that woman's boots over there still have playa in them. And you smile. You've almost got the playa out of everything, too, but bits of it stick around forever, resisting q-tips and toothbrushes and expensive bills from the auto detailer who said he never wanted to see you again.
Anything that goes to the playa is never the same again. Including you. It's persistent. It sticks with you. That's not a bad thing, really. It helps us remember. And it helps to be around folks who remember, during the decompression season 'n' all."
"You can always spot the folks who are on the road home from Burning Man: Filthy, reeking, bug-eyed, sporting dusty tails, broken top hats and crusty corsets, reveling in simple things like ice cream sandwiches, porcelain toilets....rambling about room service...and that was just that one guy. And when you get home, you can immediately spot a driveway where folks have unloaded a car that's been to Burning Man. A week later, walking down the street, you'll notice a backpack with a tell-tale washed-out look to it. A month later, at a party or on the bus or at the bank, it really doesn't matter, you'll notice that the creases of that woman's boots over there still have playa in them. And you smile. You've almost got the playa out of everything, too, but bits of it stick around forever, resisting q-tips and toothbrushes and expensive bills from the auto detailer who said he never wanted to see you again.
Anything that goes to the playa is never the same again. Including you. It's persistent. It sticks with you. That's not a bad thing, really. It helps us remember. And it helps to be around folks who remember, during the decompression season 'n' all."
Get Found Got Found
September/21/2011
Well, yes, we’re all back from Burning
Man, safe, mostly sound, cleaning up the last of our dusty
sundries. Get Found ended up getting found -- waaaaaayyyyyy found
-- on the corner of 8:30 & Initiation. Fittingly. We erected
our SynchroniciTEA House & Juju Parlor and served tea to the
masses all week long. Did you find us? Did you enjoy some oolong or
kumbacha or dreamtime tea with us? Sure hope so! All in all, our
camp and our teahouse were so much more than even our grandest
dreams. And so now, we clean, and we collect ourselves, and we
communicate so as to help each other with the processing and
reintegration.
We’ll have more to say about Rites of Passage soon, I’m sure, so stay tuned (or share with us your own stories via email or in the comments.) I’ll leave you with a few of our best group shots from the playa...
First pulse of Foundlings on-playa, Sunday 6:30 pm
Inside the SynchroniciTEA House
White Wednesday
Burn night 2011
Burn night, lit by the 11:11 activation fires
We’ll have more to say about Rites of Passage soon, I’m sure, so stay tuned (or share with us your own stories via email or in the comments.) I’ll leave you with a few of our best group shots from the playa...
First pulse of Foundlings on-playa, Sunday 6:30 pm
Inside the SynchroniciTEA House
White Wednesday
Burn night 2011
Burn night, lit by the 11:11 activation fires
Media coverage of the 2011 Burn
September/20/2011
Most corporate media outlets attempting to write about BM fail miserably. Slate has done all right this week in their 5-part series by Seth Stevenson: http://slate.me/rlIsdY. "The plan was for us to meet up with a large camp of people who'd be providing us shelter and food for the week. But as we pulled into the encampment...we couldn't find our group. And the sun was setting. We gave up, parked the car, and began to wander around. And this is when my brain melted a little...."
Part 2 of Slate's report on BM: http://slate.me/r52fK2: “I’ve never personally had the urge to just hang out with my wang out, and that hadn't changed since I'd gotten to Burning Man. But late one night I biked deep into the desert, turned off my headlamp, and removed some clothes...let it be said: Reader, I shirtcocked. And I sort of liked it."
Part 4 in the Slate series on BM: http://slate.me/n9Arn9: “On Saturday night, the man burns. This moment means different things to different people. The transit of the human spirit. The exultation of pagan ritual. The simple, ancient joy of fire. The culmination of a 150-hour party. Whatever its meaning, it is spectacular—a colossal, billowing inferno, with explosions and face-searing heat blasts, and people cheering and dancing and stripping all their clothes off. At this point, stuff gets crazy."
Final installment in Slate series on BM: http://slate.me/n2be8K: “Whenever strangers at Burning Man briefly chat and then part ways, they bid each other farewell by brightly saying, "Enjoy your burn!" It occurred to me—as I thought about the desert dust that was the only thing here before this week started, and will be the only thing here when we've left—life is really just a burn writ large. We emerge from nothingness. We join together to create beautiful, temporary relationships, full of kindness and joy and love. And then we disappear again. Dust to dust."
”Silicon Valley has a long history with Burning Man that became most notable in the late 1990s when the founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, began going. The first Google Doodle...was an “out of office” message they left on the homepage when they went to the festival in 1998. It showed the Google name with a drawing of a stick figure “burning man...Legend has it that Eric Schmidt won the job as CEO after showing up at Page and Brin’s camp at Burning Man." http://on.ft.com/quIvkm
"As the anti-establishment arts festival and survival project disappears piece by piece from the white sands of the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, participants and organizers say Burning Man -- which just had its largest week in its 25-year history -- is going through some growing pains as plans to expand its size and scope moving forward over the next year." http://reut.rs/pX8iB2
"A circular temporary city plan built around the spectacle of art, music and dance: I wish all cities had such a spirit of utopia by being built around human interaction, community and participation.” : RIP, Rod Garrett, designer of our beloved Black Rock City: http://nyti.ms/n8cxWP.
Get Found in the Default World : Keeping the Flame Lit
January/06/2010
From Seattle to San Francisco to Samish
Island to Bellingham to the Oregon Coast, Camp Get Found has found
a way to keep the love flowing post-Black Rock City. Keeping the
flame lit indeed! So many good times, unforgettable, big lovins.
Here are some highlights of our months since Burning Man
2009...many more when you click below (photos by Moontroll &
Maketa). Viva la Team Love!
click here for
more...
click here for
more...
Adam Lambert : Bringing the Burn to mainstream America
June/17/2009
On Jun 10, 2009, at 9:38 AM, moontroll wrote:
Subject: "I realized that we all have our own power, and that whatever I wanted to do, I had to make happen."
I don't know this guy, never even seen "American Idol" once, but can appreciate his awakening at the Burn: NY Daily News.
* * * * * * * * *
On Jun 10, 2009, at 10:09 AM, Edub wrote:
Subject: Re: "I realized that we all have our own power, and that whatever I wanted to do, I had to make happen."
"Drug fueled" Yeah, that's there, but we all know there is more to the Burn than that! Through portal we come face to face with the Pure Power of Potential. How we choose to harness it - on the playa and in the default world, is up to us. In the immortal words of Master Yoda, "Choose, but choose wisely."
Onward toward the Burn. May the Force (i.e. the Pure Power of Potential) be with us.
~ Master Doobsauce
* * * * * * * * * click here for more...
Hekter McElliott in Hawaii
March/09/2009
Hekter done and gone
headed off for the islands of Hawaii this winter, and he came
across a bunch of Burners. Fancy that! Here's the latest from
Hektervision...
The Source Festival, Maui 2009 from Hekter McElliot on Vimeo.
Mystic Garden Festival, Maui 2009 from Hekter McElliot on Vimeo.click here for more...
The Source Festival, Maui 2009 from Hekter McElliot on Vimeo.
Mystic Garden Festival, Maui 2009 from Hekter McElliot on Vimeo.click here for more...
dBM worldwide
February/15/2009
International visitors in the month of
February, so far. Spreadin' the flames.......
click here for
more...
click here for
more...
major archival discovery!
February/13/2009
Settling down to try to finish my 5
month Dubcast revival project, I reached up and grabbed the basket
on the corner of my desk, seeking a flame to Light It Up. In this
moment, I'm pondering where I will find (what I think will be) the
last track of this epic attempt at an Edubious Compilations
revival. But what do I see nestled beneath this basket but a paper
CD envelope covered with sparkly dinosaur and sea animal
stickers... Inside said envelope is a data CD prepared by one Mr.
Hekter McElliot Chapman for a the lovely 4th Broke Dude, Miss
Ramona Mayhem.
Now I recall the Labcabin Convergence on Lummi Island when Hekter bestowed upon me this gift for Miss Mayhem. Through the haze of smoke and the glow of our fellow gnome companion (who has no name as far as I know....BTW - Have you seen Hyper Primbly?) it was agreed that I would most likely be seeing Ramona before he would, so I should pass on this gift of carefully selected bits and bytes. Unfortunately/fortunately, I have not connect with Ramona in the months since so said disk is still in my possession. The awesomeness of my inability to connect with Ramona and my lame turnaround for passing of a specially prepared gift is that upon finding that disk this evening, I discovered the lost audio files of the Prophet (aka Hekter McElliot, aka Johnny Buckskin)!!!! These mythical audio recordings date back to Black Rock City, circa 2008 and are in pristine condition! Well archived, titled and organized in a folder titled, 'Yovanda McHekerton 2.0 bm 2008.'
This, my friends, is a momentous find that will most certainly clarify the as yet unverified first hand reports that have so far emerged from BRC.
Stay tuned to dBM Evolutionary Radio as we unveil these lost recordings to the world.
~ Professor. E. Dubious, B. UaC, dBM Radio Archivist
click here for more...
Now I recall the Labcabin Convergence on Lummi Island when Hekter bestowed upon me this gift for Miss Mayhem. Through the haze of smoke and the glow of our fellow gnome companion (who has no name as far as I know....BTW - Have you seen Hyper Primbly?) it was agreed that I would most likely be seeing Ramona before he would, so I should pass on this gift of carefully selected bits and bytes. Unfortunately/fortunately, I have not connect with Ramona in the months since so said disk is still in my possession. The awesomeness of my inability to connect with Ramona and my lame turnaround for passing of a specially prepared gift is that upon finding that disk this evening, I discovered the lost audio files of the Prophet (aka Hekter McElliot, aka Johnny Buckskin)!!!! These mythical audio recordings date back to Black Rock City, circa 2008 and are in pristine condition! Well archived, titled and organized in a folder titled, 'Yovanda McHekerton 2.0 bm 2008.'
This, my friends, is a momentous find that will most certainly clarify the as yet unverified first hand reports that have so far emerged from BRC.
Stay tuned to dBM Evolutionary Radio as we unveil these lost recordings to the world.
~ Professor. E. Dubious, B. UaC, dBM Radio Archivist
click here for more...
Hekter back in the Default World
September/30/2008
Hhhmmnnnaah-
Instead of processing my playa time through sleep deprived saucy slang and freshly roasted thought pockets, I have found myself entangled in pure cordtitude - obsessed with alternative media and battling to just get the lil' digital tidbits tamed into their perspective corners. My digital realm has really become incredibly complicated, especially since dropping my computer on it's hard drive... now it's a special needs tablet and I'm fresh out of meds. Layers of cords for all types of electronic madness become vague in their functionality and mock me in my oneness. Perseverance will prevail and Hekter Vision will be born... even if I have to get cesarean section on it's ass.
Re-integration has been but a speed bump upon return this year, mainly just traffically confused. My habitat is clearly the side streets and back alleys. Spose' that I've been burning up for over a month now and the next chapter is the culmination of it all - Earth Dance! Possibly the final summer festival for Hekter as he prepares himself with fresh mitten-wear for the upcoming blizzards of joy.click here for more...
Instead of processing my playa time through sleep deprived saucy slang and freshly roasted thought pockets, I have found myself entangled in pure cordtitude - obsessed with alternative media and battling to just get the lil' digital tidbits tamed into their perspective corners. My digital realm has really become incredibly complicated, especially since dropping my computer on it's hard drive... now it's a special needs tablet and I'm fresh out of meds. Layers of cords for all types of electronic madness become vague in their functionality and mock me in my oneness. Perseverance will prevail and Hekter Vision will be born... even if I have to get cesarean section on it's ass.
Re-integration has been but a speed bump upon return this year, mainly just traffically confused. My habitat is clearly the side streets and back alleys. Spose' that I've been burning up for over a month now and the next chapter is the culmination of it all - Earth Dance! Possibly the final summer festival for Hekter as he prepares himself with fresh mitten-wear for the upcoming blizzards of joy.click here for more...
not just knee deep...
September/05/2008
Edubious and I are back from a week of
wandering Oregon backroads in search of hot springs, starry night
skies, riverside campsites and peace of mind -- we had our
alternative burn on Burn Night on the banks of the Metolious River.
Ramona Mayhem is back in Seattle from Black Rock City. Hekter
McElliott is back in Humboldt from Black Rock City. All is well.
Destination Burning Man awaits the stories, photos and videos of
Burning Man 2008 from Ms. Mayhem and Mr. McElliott and will post
them as they start floating in, so stay in touch.
In the meantime, we really like these photos from The Blight.
click here for
more...
In the meantime, we really like these photos from The Blight.
click here for
more...
over & out
August/27/2008
Edubious and I are getting ready to hit
the road for 5 days -- we were planning on a long backpack trip out
Copper Ridge in the North Cascades, but it is seriously rainy here,
so we've decided to head towards Central Oregon sunshine. We have
hot springs in mind, and getting in to the backcountry, but no
clear plans. We're gonna be looking for the wave of inspiration
emanating from Burning Man with our soul surfboards, ready to ride.
To everybody on the playa, we'll be thinking of you constantly. For
the rest of us, get out and bring the burning energy in to where
you're at (and utilize the links in the previous post to stay in
touch with what's goin' down in BRC). Looks marvelous down there.
Miss it so much....click here for
more...
Transmissions to the Default World
August/25/2008
Well, the gates are open and Burning Man 2008 is officially "ON." Ramona Mayhem and Hekter McElliott, one-half of our glorious '07 posse, are on-playa right now and tens of thousands more are on the road, waiting in line, streaming in to the city. Edub and I are both in our cubicles this morning, logging in the Default World's mainframe. No comment. Where are you? Well, at least we only have 2 work days until we head off for 5 days deep in the mountains.
So I just start feeling really restless and homesick and happysad and nostalgic and excited this time of year. I'm reallyreallyreally excited for everybody who is down there in Nevada -- it is no easy feat to pull it off, just getting you and your shit and your dreams to the playa in one peace. And I'm just so thankful that Burning Man is happening, period. It's good for all of us -- on-playa, off-playa, other side of the planet, dark side of the moon.
I'm trolling around the internet, here in my cubicle, looking for sights and sounds and stories from BRC. Each year the city seems to get more and more wired to the outside world. I wouldn't want to be at the Burn and responsible for transmissions to the Default World, but am mighty grateful for those that do take the time and effort to broadcast. Here are a few outlets I've discovered, though word is slow as the gates have only been open for about 10 hours --
*Burning Man Information Radio: Live streaming radio programming -- interviews, music, commercials for theme camps and BRC news.
*Current TV: Short video reports from BRC and live Burn webcast on Saturday night. They do a great job, and are promising to post
*Burncast: Da'Bomb is branching out from her roots in audio to host short videos from Burners.
*Willamette Weekly's Burning Blog: Supposedly updating daily from BRC. So far, so good.
*Radio Electra: Live radio from BRC.
*Gerlach webcam: Crappy blurry images from downtown Gerlach, last town before the playa.
Also, I found a streaming webcam transmitting from somewhere in the city. In years past, it has been based at Center Camp, but right now it is hard to say what it is showing, or if it is working well -- some grainy images floating across my work computer screen, but the mountain/skyline tells me it is indeed the Black Rock Desert. I expect the view will get better as the week progresses. Instructions for tuning in to John Graham's "Burningman 2008 Live" stream: Launch Quicktime; click "File > Open URL"; plug in "rtsp://qtss.telascience.org/live.sdp." See what happens!
Send an email or leave a comment if you know of other ways to be a distant Burn-voyeur: destinationburningman@gmail.com.
Hearts of Flame Trilogy : Burning Man tributecasts reposted
August/07/2008
23 days.
In a little over three weeks, the Man will burn. Over 50,000 revelers, seekers and freaks will gather around the effigy on a remote, desolate, dry lake bed in a forgotten corner of Nevada to drum, dance with fire and lose their minds to the magic of the moment.
Though I've long decided that I won't be returning to participate in The Event in the Desert in 2008, I have to admit that with the arrival of August, Black Rock City's invisible, inevitable gravitational pull is agitating my soul. I have other projects and efforts I am dedicated to this year, namely establishing a relationship and a new home with an amazing woman and very special 7 year-old boy, but that doesn't negate my natural affinity for ritual, for community gatherings in sacred spaces, for ecstatic release, for psychedelic sojourning, for intense life-reflection and inward reorientation and for creative pranksterism.
My Burn brother Edubious and I have hatched alternative plans for the Burn weekend, and we plan on some deep-delving and freestyle soul-expression in the land above tree line in Washington's North Cascades. We'll be with all y'all, if not geographically, surely in spirit. More on that journey later...
As the days lean in closer to the gathering, I feel all kinds of emotions bubbling up, all kinds of personal needs I recognize as neglected, and an intense desire to create and share with friends. The most I can muster together for now is sharing music with the listeners dialed in to this dBM network. To that end, I'm reposting my Hearts of Flame, a Burning Man tribute-trilology in a podcast formulation.
click here for more...
Boogie Universal's Electric Mayhem
June/06/2008
The Electric Mayhem, staying out way too late the night before the race
A bunch of his playa refugees from the Boogie Universal, along with partners and new friends, participated in the Ski to Sea race on Memorial Weekend. The race starts in the snow at Mount Baker east of Bellingham, Washington and traverses 85 miles over 7 legs before reaching the saltwater of Bellingham Bay 7+ hours later. None of us have run the race before, even though it is an annual ritual in this corner of the country, and we aren't the kinds of peeps that get really in to endurance racing of any kind (unless you count all-night bike riding on the playa at Burning Man!)
Here are some photos & video of the team, Boogie Universal's Electric Mayhem, in action:
(Click below to see action shots of the whole team- who knew Burners could move so fast?!)click here for more...
moontroll & ramona mayhem's 2007 reports now online
January/10/2008
Check out the latest additions to the What is Burning Man page : Field reports from Burning Man 2007 as told by Ramona Mayhem and Moontroll. You can grok them right here...
click here for
more...