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BURNING MAN

MinervaMinervaRaconteur
...who's going?

-For whom is it the first time?
-If it's not your first time, how many years have you been?
-are you part of a posse, or a small camp?
-are you looking for a ride/rider/troupe/joiners?
-are you holding any special playaside events that you'd like to blab about here?
-knowing that this is really the last Wigstock, how do you feel about missing it in favor of BM?
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Chi ChiChi ChiAbsolute Empress
As a lover of festivals and spectacles, I would love to go to Burning Man - it's just always fallen at the same time as Wigstock, so we never have. I guess next year all kinds of new Labor Day options are available (sob!) so I'd be all for it - as long as the camping was a bit deluxe, which is up to us, right?
goblin73goblin73Sage
burning man is fabulous. it can renew my faith in humanity. and as a "ritual junkie" i'm so into the neo-pagan/cyber-shamanic aspect of the whole effigy burning in the desert thang. (not to mention the mind-expanding psychedelics!!)

i love looking out over "the playa" and fantasizing about a colony on the moon that would be just like Black Rock City. THOUSANDS of people all co-existing, all giving one another the freedom to create and live in their own realities, and LOTS OF ART!! it blows my mind to see what people schlep out to the middle of the desert only to burn it down at the end of a week.

past favorites - the giant bone tree on wheels - made from real cow bones, with lights underneath and an ominous soundtrack playing as it rolled around the playa... the running horses - electro-luminescent wire horses on bicycles programmed to look like they were galloping across the desert at night... the cathedral hearse - totally goth art car... the indoor real grass floor environment... the human sized gerbil ball... the glitter bath... i could go on.

empress - for luxe camping needs i reccomend a rented rv. you got a.c., a kitchen, a bed, and four solid walls for the vicious sandstorms that can erupt.

minerva - i'll be there. i'm approaching from san fran, camping in a 20 foot dome just off the playa with "WuWu Fields" from portland. we'll have a bigger dome as the center of our camp with a stage and a retractable cover - nice weather = open air shows. cum play!!

if anyone else has any questions about getting there check out their website...
burning man
or write me.

burn, baby, burn....
MinervaMinervaRaconteur
Well, it has taken weeks of thought on the issue to reach this decision, and it was tough, tough, tough...but after all the plans and arrangements, I've come to decide that I've simply got to attend Wigstock over Burning Man for the single and obvious reason: Burning Man will continue, Wigstock will not, and I've never been to Wigstock. I want/need that experience, end of story.

However, Michael Alig at his height couldn't produce an event that could rival the boundless energy and creativity and beauty and decadence of Black Rock City. If you haven't been, all the pictures, verbage, personal testimonies and footage cannot do it justice; you won't understand what it feels like four days into it, after all trappings of the dominant paradigm have fallen away and this new utopia finally sinks in...It's the Seelie Court, I tell you. Fucking land of the fae, magic abounds unavoidably. Yee fucking haw.

Thus, even though it is a full year and some change away, it isn't too early to start thinking about Burning Man 2002, socking away the dough, assembling the theme, the players, the pieces.

I'm glad to find that, unsurprisingly, there is so much interest in this crowd towards attending the big burn, and it's clear that if someone steps up to the plate and organizes a Jackie Further trip to the Playa, it'll doubtlessly be super sensational, unforgettable, and well populated by our maddening crowd.

...already plotting and bouncing numbers in my head like sugarplums,
Minerva

[This message was edited by Minerva on 07-20-01 at 05:20 PM.]
hatcheshatchesSage
Well, Minerva, you definitely have my attention about planning a trip to Burning Man next year. I have been wanting to go for years, but commitments here always prevented me. This year, of course, I am compelled to attend the last Wigstock in order to complete THAT circle...
I am thinking that since so much of the New York we have known and loved is disappearing, we might erect a bit of it there in the desert. Or is that too tall an order?
Chi ChiChi ChiAbsolute Empress
Almost forgot to mention it in the excitement of recent days, but I spoke to Showy Arias on the way out to Coney and he is completely down for the Burning Man Jackie in 2002.

He is completely on doing a Klingon segment in some version of the Brian Damage cardboard armour amidst the buried buildings. I promised to learn Kling before then (at least enough to do some spoken word to accompany him.)

Of course the idea of Joey set loose on a whole spectacle like BM is soooo enticing. The imagination soars!
MinervaMinervaRaconteur
...the dust is going to be an issue.
Last year it was hard and gritty in the wind, but this year there's a 2" thick layer of playa powder that's going to make breathing a concern.
-especially for asthmatics and those with bronchial difficulties.

Thus, bring appropriate dust masks, etc.

for those _not_ going until next year, the word I heard is that this wierd dust phoenomenon is a kind of cycle, meaning that next year is expected to be peak conditions. I like to support that meme...

MS
dresscodedresscodeRaconteur
i saw a program on Burning Man (discovery civilization) tuesday night. they followed three young women from texas to the desert.
the women didn't understand the burning of the man (not sure i do either) but it looked gorgeous. i love the people and the freedom of a spiritual hippy love fest.
i'm not saying that i'm fancy but i don't think i could sleep in a tent for more that one night.
the RV looked so inviting. we need luxury or as much as we can bring with us.
the program got me very excited about going. i wish everyone could have seen it.

[This message was edited by dresscode on 08-16-01 at 03:37 PM.]
goblin73goblin73Sage
in my opinion... the man is an effigy into which we project all of the attachments we have to the things we arrived there with - our art, our posessions, our egos - and then watch go up in flames.

all the time, energy, money, and strife that goes into the event just burns so spectacularly. it's really powerful. (if you choose for it to be.)

RVs are nice but expensive. domes are better and much, much hipper. but the US BUS is the swankienda to beat all. wishing you were cumming with me. i think we'd TEAR IT UP!!
MinervaMinervaRaconteur
Dressy:
I've got a huge book, two vids and scads of pictures on the subject if you're interested. Seems like a great excuse to spend time with your lovely acerbic self again anyway...

Yeah, RV's are expensive, the Goblin's right about that, but they're so very worth it. Domes are dead essential too. My crew always has three or four of each and lots of supporting smaller structures.
BTW - Gob, we used to be the notorious Fleshlab, but this it's the "Black Rock City Tours" camp, check them out when you get out there; they're going full-on cheese, should be fun.

At some point there will be a gathering of primaries to hash out ideas and budgets, travel details and so forth. I think that means I'm hosting a tea party soon...

MS

[This message was edited by Minerva on 08-17-01 at 11:35 PM.]
goblin73goblin73Sage
found an excuse to reactivate this topic...

my camp crew has created a FAB website with message boards for discussing all of our logistic/artistic issues.
woo woo fields

funny to me that as i keep moving around the families and communities i hold close keep me tied thru virtual apron strings.
hallelujah for the internet!!

it's not too early to start thinking about this year's burn. anyone? anyone?? cool
goblin73goblin73Sage
so far...
goblin73
glamnerd

anyone else?? lurkers??

the glamour goblins ghetto has been slightly renamed the glamour goblins GROTTO (or G3) in keeping with this year's theme - the floating world. i expect to see LOTS of mermaids and pirates and other aquatic creatures.

also, the G3 is now part of woonami village. which includes the forementioned woowoo field. confusing, yes. but the change in nomenclature is just a growing pain of our recurring temporary community. what started out as 30 friends from portland 5 years ago has grown to 300 or so people from all over the place.

much like these boards, it's all chronicled on our website: woowoofield.org
goblin73goblin73Sage
i'm in portland now, but this seemed like the more appropo board to post in.

my people are up to some SHIT!!
huge art projects, domes, vehicles... oh my damn!!

the hottest by far is kelly and his bus - he's adding two flame throwers to the back and putting an underlit stripper stage (complete with a pole!) on the hood. he's major! but straight. frown
he asked us if we wanted to kick in for these projects. i laughed as i thought about the few dollars i have left and said, "well, if you want a blowjob i'd be glad to contribute!"

he declined.
GlamnerdGlamnerdSage
I'm still spinning from the 10,000 miles I must have traveled in the last 24 hours. So I thought I would try to express some of the strange visions in my head. After driving a van for 10 hours straight, through the desert, buzzing on double shots of espresso and listening to bad radio so as not to drive off the road and into the abyss of darkness, I finally arrived in LA at 3 am. Took a plane at 3 pm and now I'm back in NYC.

I'm sure Goblin will have many posts soon, but I thought I would start to refresh my memory with some highlight that may fade with time and sleep.

What was my favorite moment? Hard choice. Was it the dust storm that took over the village and created a frenzy of drumming, dancing, fire eating, and chaos that when over, eventually led to the most beautiful sunset. Gold and orange rust colored in the west and a rainbow in the east while small raindrops fell on the dust covered members of the Woonami village who were now rhythmically dancing around a metal totem pole with fire coming out the top. It looked like a dream, everyone was covered in white playa dust and wore goggles , dust masks or gas masks. The fire made shadows dance and illuminated the scene while Miss Jupiter was channeling some sick verbiage through a megaphone over the beating drums.

or....was it the night I took a small white pill, dressed in full "glamour goblin goth' (playa dust gives the best white face ever!) and ended up running across the playa to the greatest night of dancing I've had in ages. Meeting up with all my old and new friends, all fully done sweetie! Moving , shaking ,screaming all night long in a dome structure covered with white fabric. After dancing for what felt like 100 hours I ran out of the dome and tried hitching a ride on a fish, whale, rocket and some other indescribable structure, finally landing a ride across the playa on a magic carpet with 3 Santa characters. I lied back and watch the stars all the way back to camp.

or .....was it the burn itself? The Woonoami bus, the most authentic Mad Max vehicle on the playa! It WAS a perfect post apocalyptic pirate ship from its huge orange mast, flame throwers on the back, stripper pole on the hood, all the way down to the live rock band on the roof! Using a switchblade knife to create a hot little number from an old purple "Mother of the bride" dress I boarded the bus for the ride of a lifetime. From the roof of the bus we watched the man burn and fall with an orgy of insane freaks (yours truly included).Tex, Dax, Keven and I were hanging off the bus and screaming like banshees while the band rocked hard. Tex was in his element. The entire scene was pure theater in every way. What I live for!

Or.... was it the bike ride I took the next day with the most beautiful creation of a man ever seen named Dax. We biked out to the Temple of Joy (by far the most amazing structure of Burning Man) and after reading all the moving words written on hundreds of blocks of wood we wrote down our own messages and placed them in a nest. That night we watched it burn from the top of the bus. It was like nothing I have ever witnessed before. As the wooden temple went up in flames , huge dust devils were created and started literally dancing around it while tears were coming out of our eyes. MAGIC. We ended that night in Tex's dome laughing at everything and nothing for hours until our stomachs ached.

A perfect end to a perfect trip. What a summer! Tex, anything to add......?

[This message was edited by glamnerd on 09-04-02 at 09:06 PM.]

[This message was edited by glamnerd on 09-04-02 at 09:19 PM.]
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goblin73goblin73Sage
is this multiple name thing confusing anyone else??
texxx, goblin, rapist, hanson, rock'n'roll...
i'm now taking suggestions in the simplification department.

glammie sweetie, you described it oh so well.

the only epic moment i think you left out was friday night's show at the el circo dome.
sweeties... this dome is at least 60 feet across with a six-pointed star shaped stage that has fire going all around it. hel-LO! and if that isn't kabbalistic/alchemical enough for you... their final tableau from the show involved placing a flaming tree of life in a hole in the center of the stage. these kids are up to some SERIOUS shiz-nit!
i watched the whole show (not all of it was genius, mind you, but it had its moments) from atop a stack of speakers. i was serving white trash trucker glam effects (the red bandana stevie number) while standing next to the tribal goddessness of monica and cholla. niko in all his regality sat there, too, digi video camera in hand. i felt like we were part of the show ourselves - the ideal spectators. those feelings were confirmed the next day when people kept thanking me and congratulating me for the show even after i would tell them (more than once!) that i had absolutely nothing to do with it. finally i just gave up on that and started saying thank you.

but fiercing that dancefloor that night with glammie and ameh in glamour goblins get-ups, the stevelady serving it as only he can, the rest of the kids representing... did i mention the live sex in our corner of the dancefloor? genius!

i had my doubts that this year was gonna go off. i kept thinking to myself... shit! here i built this thing up to my friend rob and he came all the way out here and it's gonna suck. i think that was in part due to my early arrival and the role of queen bitch that i got thrust into so often in those first few days. (hard to imagine, i know, but someone has to tell these fools where they can and can't park their RV's.) it all turned around for me once i took a spin on the stripper pole as the bus cruised the playa one beautiful afternoon and then i got an incredible contact yoga lesson from my friend takia. flying and hanging upside down from nothing but his toes. wow!

the tribal moments were my favorite. when the duststorm blew into our camp that friday evening, seeing different tribal circles intersect and intertwine... it came clear to me this year that burning man won't last forever. that once he shrinks away to nothing that it's up to us to continue gathering like this, perhaps in smaller groups. i think we're up to the challenge. wouldn't you agree, rob???

i'm sure i have more to say... what am i forgetting?
GlamnerdGlamnerdSage
Gobs , dont worry about the Queen Bitch role. Someone had to do it. Just look at the wonders you did with the Holywoo "temple". Once a gay always a gay! You know what you are....your an F.B.

and thank you again for such an amazing time, you had nothing to worry about with the buildup, it was that and more!

just remember , "It's all just a bananna peel"

xx
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B basil (Guest)
i had just completed a gig in chicago, thought i was headed back to nyc
24 hours later i was peaking on the playa
...and with my mother!

I am so grateful that magic appeared so suddenly
and totally in my life...and sorry i missed the rob and gob monsters in the sea of 30,000

great googamoogas of naked fun had nonetheless

i will be back
and i may even plan ahead this time
goblin73goblin73Sage
hel-LO!



Mods note: As has been noted elsewhere, free graphics sites like photos.yahoo.com will not serve graphics for outside websites, understandably.

Gobs, as a Board Member you can attach the photo directly from your computer. See Mouth of Motherboards and Help Forum for more..

[This message was edited by Chi Chi on 02-23-03 at 02:15 PM.]
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goblin73goblin73Sage
what is this thing??
why do i do it??
and why do i seem to recall asking myself these same questions at this time every year???

i write to you, my dears, from the public library in wendover, nevada. just across the state line from wendover, utah. (think kansas city only not.)
there's just a few casinos, , pawn shops, fast food restaurants, and (thank goddess!) an auto mechanic here. as soon as one of the employees finishes attending a funeral in salt lake city, she'll pick up the water pump for my truck and bring it back here. putting me back on the highway by midnight with 6ish hours to reno where members of my black rock family await. *sigh*

something about this gathering really puts you to the test. and each time i doubt that it's worth all the effort and money that it takes to pull it off. but somehow by the end of next week i'll be laughing at my doubts yet again. i know i will.

my housemate/sister/momma hush predicted a push of thirty faeries coming from the mountain.
yet i travel solo. (i'm not surprised in the slightest.) after all, texxxas is a lone star state. Wink

i release the frustration, the attachment to any sort of timeline, the fears around finances... all of it.
making room for inspiration, celebration, inebriation, fornication, and more.

until after all that...
Jackie BigalowJackie BigalowRaconteur
quote:
Originally posted by goblin73:
fireworks and a flaming man...
glammie and veuve cliquot...
saturday night atop a bus...
perfection.


I'm confused. Is this the "Burning Man" topic or "New York Nightclubs and Events?" That posting could have been placed anywhere!

J.K.! I love you, Goblin, and wish I could have been there for the magic and the flaming men.
GlamnerdGlamnerdSage
I needed a few days back before I could post. It was a little crazy journey back but it was an amazing journey over all. This year I learned about faith and the way the universe works for you when your on the correct path. Not a small lesson to learn. As for the Veuve story.....

As I was sitting on the top of the bus in my best desert punk realness...... I was amazed with the burn even more that last year. Maybe because we were so close that my eyebrows were singed, but it was so beautiful. And as an added bonus I thought to myself , "this moment would be perfect if we had a cold Veuve Cliquot" .....and there is was . This is when you know your with the right people.Ha! Our own Tex was in rare form. I could not keep up with these professional party people. After an amazing night out, I would wake up the next day and ride over to the other side of Black Rock City and find Tex, Monica, Dax and the rest still going strong. Now thats dedication!

***Best Installation - Brothel Lighting Fixture.- the story goes something like...the gods were in a brothel in the heavens having such a good time that they knocked the lighting fixture from the ceiling and it came crashing to earth. Totally major , especially at night. Thought of Empress. I will post photos in the near future.

[This message was edited by glamnerd on 09-06-03 at 07:12 PM.]
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