Burning Man 2019

Entries from September 2019

Monday, September 16. 2019

And The Rest

And here is the rest of some random pic from this year's Burning Man.....
Latte at Center Camp. Best day to start the day if you ask me.



Daily playa look.



Center Camp painting.



Selfie.



Be awesome in an awesome place. See you next year Black Rock City! ❤️





Playa Barbie 2019

This year I didn't see the usual Playa Barbie Black Rock City Edition box that I take my yearly Barbie picture in. By the time I looked at the map and biked over to where it supposedly was placed I couldn't find it. PANIC! Not really more like, "where is my box"? I think I got there too late, this is what happens when you have a lot on your plate while in Black Rock City. Fortunately I found two other Barbie boxes, Barbie Death Camp and another one that played "Barbie Girl" by Aqua when you stepped inside of it.
So.....YES, there is a Playa Barbie 2019 after all. And here she is.....!









Saturday, September 14. 2019

10 Principles

For some years now there has been widespread criticism of people going to Burning Man for the wrong reasons.....mainly the Instagram "models'/"influencers" and the presence of "plug and play" aka "turnkey" camps. To me those are not real models, anyone can squeeze into a one piece bathing suit, (important to hike it up in between the butt cheeks) and some platform boots, glue rhinestones on a captains or steampunk hat and apply stickers to the face. Throw in something with a unicorn as well and voilà you are Instagram photo ready! As far as influencers go, there is not a single "influencer" that has influenced me to purchase a laxative diet tea, some vape product or whatever else they might be promoting. Yeah....the Instagram "culture" and those "models" striking the same poses at Burning Man is in my eyes (I roll my eyes when I see them) lame. I got a couple of platform boots back in 2002 in London that I still have, although comfortable and super nice I would never wear those at Burning Man.....biking around all day in platform boots? No thanks but to these "models" image is everything and being at Burning Man is giving them photos for their Instagram and that it all that matters.....not Burning Man and what it stands for, which by the way is governed by the 10 Principles of Burning Man.



I think these "influencers" should just stick with Coachella. As far as the turnkey camps, one camp banned by Burning Man was a camp called Humano the Tribe, they charged people outrageous prices to camp with them and yes some people are willing to pay those amounts. Which is OK I guess but me personally I would never do that even IF I had that kind of money to throw around. I would much rather purchase a general entry ticket, share an RV and do something good with the rest of the thousands of dollars left over. Humano the Tribe charged between $25,000 - $100,000 for a luxurious tipi and organic meals and whatever else they provided. WTF???
But it is what that camp did or did not do at Burning Man that got them banned and rightfully so.
All of this resulted in a letter from Marian Goodell back in February.

https://journal.burningman.org/2019/02/philosophical-center/tenprinciples/cultural-course-correcting/

But as this year's art theme Metamorphoses.....everything changes and that applies to Burning Man as well. I think that once the cool factor of Burning Man settles and/or the models inhale too much dust and decide that Burning Man is a bit too harsh for them and their carefully applied fake image then things will level out.
Burning Man is still saturated with people that are there for the event and what it stands for.
I especially like the Earth Guardians. I attended a couple of presentations there this year about the environment and also about the search for Kraken the giant squid (I am fascinated with deep sea creatures).



And I also love the Dr.Bronner's camp, this year they called themselves Fomogenesis. It is the foam camp but their message is deep, educational and important. They too offer presentations, there is a lot to learn and soak in there besides the foam.







Now do I take pics of all kinds of things including myself at Burning Man? Absolutely. And I will continue to do that. But I do not go to Burning Man with the sole purpose of getting "sexy" pics of myself posing on the playa in the "right" outfit so I can feed my Instagram flow. That was never my purpose. At this point in my Burning Man journey I feel that I have to PARTICIPATE more and more.
Only attending felt like not enough halfway into my second Burn.



Friday, September 13. 2019

Barista & DJ

I did some volunteering this year again as a barista in Center Camp. Like always - FUN! I ❤️ Center Camp, such a great place!



And I also had three DJ slots at Planet Earth. Tuesday night I did an hour of Depeche Mode tribute to a mostly empty outdoors dance floor. But I had the playa to look at the whole time and that is not a bad view.





Then I had one slot Friday night and another one Sunday night inside.







I ❤️ Planet Earth.

Thursday, September 12. 2019

Metamorphoses

The art theme for Burning Man 2019 was Metamorphoses. The amount of work, creativity and dedication that it takes to make and bring the art to the playa is so impressive.
I will quote what Burning Man has to say about this year's art theme. Because I can't say it better than they do.
"Burning Man is routinely described as transformative. At the personal level, a transformative experience. At the group level, a transformative event or culture. What does that really mean?

From “It changed my life” to “it’s changing the world,” Burning Man is a million stories, and the through-line across them all is change. Mutability. A tempering or annealing, like metal in a forge or glass in a kiln. Shedding the dross, revealing the true nature within. A crucible of souls.

We look at ourselves and think: I want to change. My surroundings, my community, my company, my city, my country. Innovation, modification, diversification. Evolution and revolution. But how much of this is will, and how much destiny? Do our true selves lie within, like the form inside the sculptor’s marble, waiting to emerge? Or must we find some north star, set a course, and lash ourselves to the wheel? In a world of manufactured desire and alluring spectacle, can we trust our own instincts?

As much as the personal journey of change may consume us, it takes place in a broader context, a tapestry of interrelated transformations of which ours is but one thread. Looking beyond the horizon of the self, we are surrounded by and inseparable from a world in constant transition. The political landscape and the physical landscape, our planet, in a cascade of tipping points. Do we have the power to influence these changes rather than just lament them, to bend the arc of history? And if we don’t have that power, does anyone?

This year’s theme is a celebration of change, and an exploration of uncertainty. As such it invites a consideration of time; not its circular nature, or its attendant ritual, but in this case the relentless flight of time’s arrow, and an embrace of the elusive now. Memory is fickle, and the future is uncertain. None of us knows what he or she will become, but we can seek to understand where we are at this point in our transformative trajectory, this fleeting chord on the strings of existence.

Transformation happens whether we believe in it or not; but if we have learned anything in our Burning Man experience it is that we do have a say in our own futures, that agency is ours if we choose to pursue it. While we may never know the ultimate outcome, there is a shared belief that our dreams matter, and that together and as individuals we have the power to shape our own stories and transform ourselves in positive ways."
Source burningman.org/event/brc/2019-art-theme-metamorphoses/

How do you not just love this? ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ THAT is Burning Man to me, when people ask.....what is it like and why do you go, describe Burning Man..... THAT is one reason why I go and just the FEELING I get when being there. I am SO grateful that I went that first time (I should had gone years sooner when I first heard about Burning Man back in 2004 or so while camping at a hot spring in Nevada) and I am grateful that Burning Man and who I am fit well together.
As usual I saw far from all the art. I made a promise to myself to put away some hours the first two or three days next time (hopefully next year) to ride around and see as much as I can of the art.
But here is some of it.

Mariposita





Wings of Glory



The Folly



Temple of Direction





The Man







A mushroom art car that I liked a lot.



Wednesday, September 11. 2019

My Home For A Week

The playa.....my home for a week. Biking around feeling the wind taking hold of me and feeling free, soft playa dust, the sun setting and everything turning golden. This place is amazing.