Posted: 6/28/2006 4:15:19 AM EDT
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Have you ever been, or do you know anyone who has ever been to the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert? Seems kind of weird to me. |
| Years ago it was kind of an uber arts festival. It's main idea was it was open to free expression. There's always that percentage of people that cannot handle complete freedom and ruin Utopia. I predict that Burning Man will soon see some type of regulations and then the whole concept will be dead. |
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I know people who have been there a bunch of times. 10 years ago it was a free for all party with flame throwers mixed in. You could do most anything you wanted. It was free to camp and get it. Now you have to pay to camp and get in. There are regs on what you can do. Also heard under cover police are doing drug busts while rangers patrol. The people I know don't go anymore. Best time was 10 years ago. |
bwahahaha that's exactly what i thought of |
Yeah. Sounds like fun! I hate hippies. |
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The BURNING MAN fest is actually pretty cool if you go with an open mind. there are more weirdos in one spot than most people see in a lifetime... (However I'm from Austin where the moto is 'Keep Austin Weird' so after many Eorie Birthday parties and an other assorted Total Freak Fests, I'm pretty comfortable in the weird end of the scale. (I'm as conservative as they come these days, but having enjoyed a wild youth, I don't mind the strange!) My favorite Quote is from Dr. Gonzo, Thompson S. Hunter - "It still isn't weird enough for me" In the main Burning Man is a self contained temporary city that forms out of the Nevada Desert and then folds it's tents and disappears until next year. Actually you need to bring in and out EVERYTHING you need to survive (one of the BM motos is "Survival is Optional" so this could be a good test of your Bug Out Gear. A lot of interesting Art, Lots of interesting poeple in interesting costumes, lots of interesting tents, campers and other lodging. Lots of nudes, few prudes, few to no rules, just don't piss off your neighbors and be cool are the rule. All in All, it is like being on an acid trip  , except you don't have to injest any illegal chemicals and you can step out anytime you like  If your up for seeing "otherworldly" sights, then would recommend it just to see the sights and sounds. If you can't handle freaks, then you would not want to be within a 100 mile radius for sure! BIGGER_HAMMER 
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I just spent 4 days at the Black Rock Desert - where Burning Man is currently held. The last thing I would want to do is have sex after being on a dry lake bed - where the speed of sound was broken by a wheeled vehicle - for 3-4 days. Sand & silt gets in areas you didn't know you had...... Brian |
Did ya hit the hot springs? |
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A few years back, the burning man was on display in a plaza at San Francisco, before thet were going to take it out to the desert. On a dare a friend was going to drive me by, and I was going to try to ignite it with a flare gun. Damn hippy co-worker heard about it and called the cops on me, so I never did it. I really wish I did it anyway. |
How about Burning Forestock, kind of like Knob Creek out west. The culmination is people running as many mags as they can through their AKs as fast as they can. |
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Black Rock Desert, where it's held, is an amazing place. it's absolutely flat, sun baked mud for two or three miles across by five or six miles long. I took my 1911 out there and it was a hoot. You could see the bullet hit for the first time a couple hundred yards out, and then it would skip several times. I want to get back there with something long range and heavy caliber. When I was there the people who ran burning man had actually cleaned it up quite well. |
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My absolute favorite place to "desert" camp. Natural hot springs, shooting, 4wd... In the winter when there is snow on the ground, the place is absolutely dead silent. No birds, insects or people for miles. It is actually kinda creepy. |
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All my friends are going this year. I heard that in years passed they used to have a "drive by" range set up. But with each year, they impose more and more rules and regulations, so that went bye bye real fast I was told. Drugs, booze, crazy people, cars and guns proably aren't that great of an idea anyway. |
| I have also heard that the original Burning Man (when i moved to the desert) didn't really have any rules, they set up a shooting range and you could burn/blow up anything. The rules are much more strict now that there are so many people there. Lots of naked people, people on drugs, naked people on drugs, artists, mad max style cars, and generally a bunch of other weird shit. I want to go to it at least once in my lifetime. |