oo-tee-dee! Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Dear all You may seem this is a little too early to be asking, but trust me this may take some saving and planning! I am returning to Burning Man in 2010, and when I posted on here some months back with my photos, some of you expressed interest in attenting "at some point". What I am asking is: Who is up for a 2010 MEPD theme camp? A theme camp can be anything, It can consist of just one banner announcing who we are, or it can consist of art, sculptures, huge marquees, decorated tents - anything your imagination can dream up. But for those of you asking "WTF is Burning Man?" Here is an extract from Wikipedia: Burning Man is an annual event held in the Black Rock Desert, in Northern Nevada. It takes its name from the ritual burning of a large wooden effigy on Saturday evening. The event is described by many participants as an experiment in community, radical self-expression, and radical self-reliance. Organizers have noted, "Trying to explain what Burning Man is to someone who has never been to the event is a bit like trying to explain what a particular color looks like to someone who is blind." Similarly, Thomas Nagel has commented that "its like trying to explain sounds to a deaf person, taste to someone who can not taste. There is just a myriad of pointless analogies concerning the Burning Man Festival." The event is open to public for 8 days. It ends on the day of the American Labor Day holiday (the first Monday in September). It opens on the Monday before, at 12 AM (00:00). Some organized volunteers, however, arrive a few weeks in advance to prepare the infrastructure of Black Rock City (BRC), the temporary city created by Burning Man participants in what is flat high elevation desert before and after the event. Easiest way to get across what Burning Man is, is to look at the pictures. Go here and have a browse: http://images.burningman.com/ or check out my images and movies at http://www.rache.co.uk/burningman. This guy also takes BEAUTIFUL photos http://www.scottlondon.com/photo/burningman/index.html If you like to party, if you like being free of all the constraints of modern society, if you would like to live in a city that has no monetary system and uses "gifting" and "bartering" as a means of exchange, then this is for you. If you like to see imagination brought to life, massive art structures, night time displays of propane, EL wire and fire, then this is for you. If you think you can hack living for a week in a 40oC alkaline desert with potential dust storms at any moment, then this is for you. If you can deal with living on very basic food rations, supplying all your own food and water, and having the most basic washing facilities, then this is for you. If you DO NOT THINK you can hack high temperatures, potential dust storms, and very little sleep due to the 24/7 party noise of Black Rock City, then this event is NOT for you. There is nudity at Burning Man, so if you are the type to be shocked or disgusted, then this isn't for you. It varies from topless women to buck naked people walking around. This is all part of the concept of "radical self-expression" that is one of the main points of Burning Man. It is entirely up to you what you wear or do not wear when you live in BRC, however there are strict rules about RESPECTING people's right to express themselves and to draw boundaries on sexual behaviour at BRC. More detail is in the Survival Guide and on the website. In short, "no means no" and if you want to "have a good time" at Burning Man, then respect other people and above all BE SAFE. TBH after about the 3rd day, I was not noticing the naked people walking around, even when a very buff guy with a pink mohican and not a scrap of clothing on, offered me some loo roll at the Portaloos!!! The 2008 Survival guide will give you a good idea also of what you will be expected to handle for the week: http://www.burningman.com/media/doc/prepar...vival_guide.pdf I was hoping to rent a motorhome for 2010 although I would need a minimum of 6 other people and a financial commitment in order to do this, which is a lot to ask over a year in advance. However, rentable motorhomes have to be booked a year in advance or they are instantly snapped up by other Burners. If any MEPD guys have a motorhome they are willing to bring, then great. If not, then we all pitch tents, a geodome, or any large structure we can use to live in for a week. It HAS to be very tough and VERY windproof, to withstand dust storms. Ideally, any camp whould have tents for it's members, and one central shade structure for chilling and socialising/partying. Geo domes are the thing, as they are a very good shape to resist the winds. It would be awesome if we could build some sort of mini Tattooine-type theme camp. Make some condensers out of junk, build some sort of Tattoine outpost for Sandtroopers Depending on the skills and imagination of whoever wants to get involved, we can build an awesome theme camp OR just a basic one, I'm not fussed either way No cars and driving are allowed at Burning Man. Once you drive in and set your camp, then your car must not move all week. You must provide a bicycle to get around the Playa on, OR you provide your own art car - whether this be a plain golf cart, a Segway, a motorised scooter, or a fully fledged custom vehicle. Either way, you cannot survive in BRC without a bike, at the least! This will be great fun if enough people are up for it, but you HAVE to be able to tough it! We would be living in extreme conditions for 7 days and we must all be able to get on with eachother. So don't bring your other half if your relationship isn't so great, as this event will most likely be the death bell for you. Don't come if you think you may not be able to hack any of the conditions mentioned above. Dont come if you think living in a desert will be "boring", although even though I lived there for 7 days and spent all day every day cycling round the Playa, I STILL didn't manage to see everything!! Burning Man is what you make it, you get out of it what YOU put into it. It truly is a "must-do" event, at least ONCE in your life!!! The tickets are sold on a sliding scale to suit people from all incomes, and you are trusted to buy the ticket at the price you can afford. Prices start at mid $100 up to over $200. I can't say what the prices will be in 2010 though. You have to supply ALL your own food and water for the FULL SEVEN DAYS. That's drinking water and bathing water. Burning Man provide portaloos and I can safely say they were kept IMMACULATE for the whole week, not smelly, always clean, always stocked with loo roll. With the amount of supplies needed for a group of people in their own camp, we would need trailers and/or large vans to carry everything. I am severely restricted as to what I bring as i fly in from the UK, which is a real bummer I would contribute $$$ towards the supplies needed for me for the week. So, any interested parties, sign up here and let's make plans. Keep the thread to serious interest only, no OT waffle, OK? Thankeee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TK-9135 Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 I have been a US citizen for 31 years. Never heard of this. Good luck, sounds... well... Wild. Armor, desert heat, naked people...hey why not. Pulling for you. Post pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oo-tee-dee! Posted February 4, 2009 Author Share Posted February 4, 2009 Well, a resounding thundering rush to sign up for this one. Chickens the lot of ya. Scared of a bit of desert and dust? You're meant to be Sandtroopers Pics from 2008 are at http://community.webshots.com/album/569336392gNXnaj, sorry no naked people..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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