General updates (mostly Burning Man)

[amberica]

Holy smokes - Burning Man is 2 weeks away!! Ack! This whole past year I have been having dreams and worries about not being ready with all necessary plans and supplies when we finally get there, and now it's kind of looking like that might (partially) be the case! Well, not really... I mean, we will have food, water, shelter, all the necessities... But Jon is hellbent on building this "tower" in our camp this year, and I really don't see any way that the lumber for all our shade structures AND a tower is going to fit on top of the car... Plus, tonight we took his newly-finished motorized skateboard over to his parents' house to show it off and see how it ran, and the thing is a BEHEMOTH! It took up soooo much space in the (newly enlarged) trunk... ugh. And this is AFTER the initial phases of converting it to a two-seater with more trunk space! Well, I know that outside of building materials, our biggest space-taker-upper is probably going to be food. And there are plenty of ways to make sure it's nice and compact... and we always end up eating less than expected, so maybe I don't have to bring quite as much as last year - there was SO much left over, even with a camp of 6 of us!! (Well, Steve ended up spending most of his time at Spike's Vampire Bar... I guess he's actually officially camping with them this year! I guess it seems fitting. I'm suprised he is going at all. He had been claiming before that he wouldn't be going this year. I guess things change...

I went with Jon today because I wanted to see how the skateboard worked, and, as I told him, his mom would want to see the ring. (They were on vacation when we made the engagement "official".) He said that she'd seen the picture, but I know that it's not the same for women, and sure enough, one of the first things she did when we got there was ask to see the ring! lol - So sweet... She also asked what we wanted for an engagement gift! I've never heard of such a thing! I wasn't really sure... I don't really find myself wanting "things" very much. I guess Jon and I will have to talk about that. I know moms like to give presents, so we better think of something!

The skateboard is pretty neat. I'm really proud of what he's done with it. He found 10 inch wheels and a 3.5 horsepower 4-stroke engine (for just $106!!!) at that crazy store he likes to go to (I think it's called Northern Tool and Supply?) and rigged them up to an old "longboard" he had. It's pretty slick. The throttle is a handheld squeeze-lever to control the gas/speed, and there is a kill switch button that he attached tonight but it doesn't work. It's from some old ATM or something, and it's a big square button that says "REMOVE DEBIT CARD" on it! He mounted it on the board at the back, just in front of where the engine sits. The way it's wired, it's supposed to kill the engine completely, but it just doesn't work at all. Not sure why. I guess there's some bad wiring in there or something. But that's ok. He can still ride on it, and you can still kill the engine (he had to put his foot on some piece that I don't know what it's called but it looked like it was attached to the part that has a chain that attaches the motor to the rear wheel. Yeah, like THAT explains it!) But at any rate, it's ready for Burning Man! He can dink around with perfecting it later if he wants, but it's essentially "ready" so we can focus on other things now.

Oh, and the other goofy thing about the skateboard is that it can only take really big wide turns. This is because he had to alter the rear trucks severely... The way a skateboard usually turns is by leaning, which makes the trucks (which are attached to the wheels) turn. Well leaning would make the chain from the motor to the wheel either come loose or get too tight because of the leaning, so he had to switch some mounting stuff around on the back. I guess he and his stepdad talked about some ways to alter this in the future so that he can have a tighter turning radius.

Comments

[kiki-chrissy.livejournal.com]

I am envious that you're going! How many times have you gone before? Is it getting bigger and crazier every year?

~Kiki

[amberica.livejournal.com]

This will only be my second burn. It will be Jon's 5th I believe. It is getting WAY bigger every year (you can find detailed info on the growth rate here) and it is not really getting "crazier"... more like stupider, though.

One of the things I've heard is that Burning Man is like Disneyland, only with more rules. Apparently things have been going downhill since the late 1990's... it's not anarchy anymore, that's for sure. I spent some time with "old-timers" last year lamenting about that. Stuff like, NO TIKI TORCHES allowed, because some moron in 1999 (or was it '96?) thought it would be fun to have one in his tent and started his whole camp on fire!

Or like, no more real firearms. And the more sexually explicit stuff is being hidden and/or forcefully removed!... There was a HUGE controversy over the "Jiffy Lube" a few years ago... I think there should be some info about that on the website.

And you have to get licenses and permission for everything... cameras, grills, art cars.... and the cars can't just be "art cars" anymore! Now they have to be "Radically Altered"!!! Whatever the hell that means. Hmph.

So yeah, it's getting bigger by the year, and a LOT stupider, and attracting more frat boys and yahoos and it's pulling away from its roots in art and anarchy. I suspect it's not going to be much longer before it's totally commercialized, and then I'm NEVER returning. :(

Nevertheless, I am still going this year. Last year was pretty bad... there were many bad storms, and that was probably the primary reason a lot of the art that was supposed to be there got cancelled... I still believe you make your own experience, but it really did feel just... blah. I am only more motivated to try harder this year to make it something REAL again. I hope that the BORG2 people are successful in their revitalization movement, but I don't think they are organized enough.

Ugh. I feel like I've been ranting. Sorry. I'm just thinking about how many MORE Yahoos there are going to be. People who leave peanut shells on the playa, who go scouting for tits & ass, who take but don't give... It's depressing. And I'm thinking about all these rules that have been created, making it more and more like any other damn city I could live in for a week.

I better go cheer up now. Ugh. Back to work.

[kiki-chrissy.livejournal.com]

Isn't it ironic that the Burning Man, which originally was a symbol of anarchy and lack of rules and forum has become so structured?

Sad, truly sad.

Kiki

[amberica.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, I think you oughtta read this post! There are definitely plenty of other jaded people out there... of course, there are going to be people with counter-arguments, but it really is getting kind of disgusting and ridiculous.

[kiki-chrissy.livejournal.com]

wow, what bitter anger someone has because it has lost its meaning for him. He needs to get over it. What the Burning Man represented for him in the beginning doesn't fulfill that desire anymore. But for those people still going, they get a lot out of it.

It's kinda like Ren Fest. I don't have my inner circle there anymore, nor am I an unemployed single young gal anymore who can party all night and not worry about children or hang-overs. Now when I go, I feel like I'm there as a consumer, taking in the shops that I want to hit with an occasional show. Does that mean that RenFest is dead? Hell no! It just has become a different experience for me, and yet others who are newer and younger may experience what I originally did. I'm sure the Burning Man is a similar thing.

Too bad about the rules about it though. It does sound like it's changed to accomodate the increase in popularity.

~Kiki

[amberica.livejournal.com]

I've been to Ren Fest. My old roommate was one of those costume people who lives and works there. Believe me when I say this is definitely NOT Ren Fest! :)

Change is not "bad" all the time, but when it means that something is losing its spirit, its identity, then that is discouraging to the people who still seek those original ideas. Ren Fest has not stopped being based on Renaissance Costumes and sales of things and shows. Burning Man is based on Participation (NO SPECTATORS), Radical Self-Expression, Radical Self-Reliance, Leave-No-Trace... People are going to spectate and not participate. They are not "participating." Hell, even Self-Reliance is going out the window - there is going to be a pre-paid restaurant on the playa this year (since money is still not allowed - we'll see how long that lasts). And as far as this being a Leave No Trace event - hah! More MOOP than ever (Matter Out Of Place) last year. I can only expect this year will be worse.

And yet, I am going. I'm going to see if BORG2 is at all successful, and maybe help with their efforts... And because I know that if I want to see things a certain way, I have a responsibility to do my part to MAKE them that way. What if it gets worse because I wasn't there? That's what it is to participate. I wouldn't have any right to gripe if I wasn't going, that's for dang sure!

Sorry for getting all wordy... this is something I have strong feelings about, and I feel like it is (in some ways) being taken away from me before I really even got a chance to get tired of it!

But believe me for REAL, this is nothing like Ren Fest. ;) (At the risk of sounding sadly cliche, "You just can't explain it to someone who's never been there...") Even with all its faults and growing pains, it's like nothing else in the world.

Ugh. Damn love-hate relationships ;)

[kiki-chrissy.livejournal.com]

I didn't mean that Burning Man is similar to Ren Fest, I meant that his experience with feeling that Burning Man died may be like how I see going to Ren Fest compared to when I first was participating in it. It's a different experience when you go from an active participant living it to just a spectator or consumer. It may still be that living expereience for someone else, and he was explaining because it's not fun for him anymore than it's not fun for anyone.

I personally don't know about Burning Man because I've never been. I would like to, so I am envious of ya. I hope that it hasn't died for you too.

Always,
Kiki