WHY I’M NOT GOING BACK TO BURNING MAN

raven74 · Post by **raven74** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 9:41 am

well I don't always understand what I write,,,,,its free form and free mind, yes, playa dust is on everything, and even this morning pulling out liter bottles out of our fridge, I was holding the bottle between my legs and realized I was covered in clay.....sometimes it's too much...

because I was getting ready for the real world.....playa dust, I wish it would leave no trace yet my home is a playa mound of dust, I can smell it every time I come home

that is why I use the same bags/blankets from years before...hmmmm playa dust.

PJ · Post by PJ » Thu Sep 18, 2003 11:57 am

Angry Butterfly wrote:...I almost didn't come because I was really worried about the desert, I knew that burningman is one of the cleanest events on earth, but I still couldnt shake that I had heard it takes at least 100 years for a desert to heal after you break the crust...

My understanding is that, because the Playa is the bottom of a prehistoric lakebed, the winter rains and snows soak it and the spring and summer winds blow back and forth, completely renewing the normal surface annually. (Which wouldn't be the case in a more typical western states vegitated desert.)

Lo5150 · Post by **Lo5150** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 12:38 pm

Same catagory as my boss "Burning man is just a bunch of loaded hippies-two people DIED there!". Stay home you closed minded retards. A guy died at the Giants game last night, too. Ugh, I don't want my ugly city anger to come out on the beautiful playa boards.

Angry Butterfly · Post by **Angry Butterfly** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 12:59 pm

Thanks, PJ, I feel better about it now, I was going on what I had heard about typical western deserts and not Black Rock specificly.

Angry Butterfly · Post by **Angry Butterfly** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 1:16 pm

PetsUntilEaten wrote: It's almost like it doesn't really
matter WHAT I bring and somehow the less I bring (outside of a project) the more fun I have.

Ha! Is that ever true! I brought 2 regular sized school backpacks, one for clothes & gear, one for food, my camelback, my sleeping bag, my tent and a throw pillow, My camelback had essentials like sunscreen and such, that I always carry climbing or on distance bike rides, plus 3 essental peices of rave gear. Everything else I brought was related to my project or fire safety. AND I STILL BROUGHT TOO MUCH! Next year I am skipping the fire safety, which will leave me more room for clothing I actulay like (black cotton, BLEAH!), the bike, unless I ride it out there, and most of the food. Everybody told me how essential a bike was! To me it was just a distraction.

chickenfish · Post by **chickenfish** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 1:47 pm

completely renewing the normal surface annually.

not quite...The Playa is affected by the 30.000 inhabitants it has for a week, and the set up tear down for months before and after. It does not magically heal itself during the year. This year was more of a sandpit then I have ever seen it. We went to the Burning Bush this year, which was held on another playa that doesn't get nearly as much activity, the ground was hard and flat, not nearly as dusty. Tracks from automobiles are visible through the year.

Flon · Post by **Flon** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 3:52 pm

PJ wrote:
Angry Butterfly wrote:...I almost didn't come because I was really worried about the desert, I knew that burningman is one of the cleanest events on earth, but I still couldnt shake that I had heard it takes at least 100 years for a desert to heal after you break the crust...

My understanding is that, because the Playa is the bottom of a prehistoric lakebed, the winter rains and snows soak it and the spring and summer winds blow back and forth, completely renewing the normal surface annually. (Which wouldn't be the case in a more typical western states vegitated desert.)

To add just a bit, the "crust" you heard about is cryptogamic or cryptobiotic soil (different words - same thing). It indeed can takes a century or more to reform if severely disturbed, but does not exist on the playa due to harsh soil conditions and periodic flooding.

Thats not to say we have no impact on the playa - everything anyone does anywhere has an ecological impact. The trick is to minimize that impact and decide if the environment can handle it and if the activity justifies it.

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 5:59 pm

To add just a bit, the "crust" you heard about is cryptogamic or cryptobiotic soil (different words - same thing).

Don't mean to be a hammer here but the above is way the fuck off as descriptive terminology for the soil you're trying to describe. They're barely applicable in any descriptive sense.

Closest description that applies is what's known as a montmorillonite clay.

Composed primarily of magnesium and silicate hydroxides commonly referred to as phyllosilicates. The term is used in a VERY general way to describe the nature of most soil groups that lie west of the Rockies and east of the Sierras here in the lower 48.

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 6:01 pm

Oh, and a better term to use for 'crust' is 'cruft.'

Sounds cooler too.

Rob the Wop · Post by **Rob the Wop** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 7:57 pm

Badger wrote:Oh, and a better term to use for 'crust' is 'cruft.'

Sounds cooler too.

So my underwear is crufty instead of crusty?

TestesInSac · Post by **TestesInSac** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 9:02 pm

The way I read it, it sounds as if Badger and Flon are talking 'cross one another. Flon was specifically saying that the type of crust that needs so long to heal is named X, and that the playa is not X. Badger is specifying what the playa is. Both appear to be correct.

J · Post by J » Thu Sep 18, 2003 9:05 pm

yeah!!!

Angry Butterfly · Post by **Angry Butterfly** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 9:11 pm

wow, it is really cool to read about all this stuff. You can only be an"expert" at so many things, you know, it is really great to see how informed people are.

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Fri Sep 19, 2003 2:41 am

So my underwear is crufty instead of crusty?

Yep. A kinder, gentler way of telling someone they smell like shit.

chickenfish · Post by **chickenfish** » Fri Sep 19, 2003 10:59 am

crufty potato snacks
in my slacks
worth a hundred green backs

Kinetic · Post by **Kinetic** » Fri Sep 19, 2003 11:14 am

Badger wrote:
So my underwear is crufty instead of crusty?
Yep. A kinder, gentler way of telling someone they smell like shit.

E-playans have such a way with words!

This thread is making me want to do some research on the playa itself, and find out what the BLM and other groups have to say about playa surfaces and how well they heal up. I mean 30,000 people, art cars, etc will definitely make an impact.....We practice LNT, but are we doing it well enough? I mean there are people out there who would love to see BM stopped. The minimal damage we do to the playa is another weapon int heir arsenal. Maybe with some research we could do one more thing to enhance LNT and defuse the "weapon" they would use against us.....

See what a simple thread causes when you do free association?

atari-x · Post by **atari-x** » Fri Sep 19, 2003 3:55 pm

raven74 wrote:it's the whole springer car crash on the highway thing...people can't help it...but they should try eh? dinner next week? Thai or Italian? hmmmm.....numers

It's not possible for me to pick one or the other. So the question is: Between Thai or Italian, which one goes well with Natural Ice?

Did you shudder?

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Fri Sep 19, 2003 4:36 pm

I think I'll skip dinner.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 11:41 pm

badger [stop] crow is out of his mind [stop] all we have is lukewarm PBR [stop] pls send beer

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Sun Sep 21, 2003 7:55 am

Bob, so noted [STOP]

chickenfish · Post by **chickenfish** » Mon Sep 22, 2003 10:20 am

Heineken? FUCK HEINEKEN!

PABST BLUE RIBBON!!!!

stuart · Post by **stuart** » Tue Sep 23, 2003 12:26 pm

for all that currrently think PBR is the beer to drink, the next hipster trend is beginning to rise: miller tallboys. Shop accordingly.

DogBoy · Post by **DogBoy** » Tue Sep 23, 2003 12:47 pm

StuartScanlon sez:

the next hipster trend is beginning to rise: miller tallboys.

To hell with the hipsters; If I'm going to drink a cheap pilsner in a can, it will only be PBR. It is the only yellow beer that is consumable without being ice cold.

Kinetic · Post by **Kinetic** » Tue Sep 23, 2003 4:18 pm

Bob was complaining to Badger the other night that all the DPW had on-playa was PBR and to send something different. I haven't had PBR in years so is it good, bad?

As for Miller, they want you to buy more so they can fix all the roof leaks at Miller Field in Milwaukee.....I remember flipping channels and the cameras were showing all the water leaks. It looked like someone had drank a 12 pack of Miller and was pissing on the roof. For all that money it shouldn't have leaks.

JezebelinHell · Post by **JezebelinHell** » Wed Sep 24, 2003 5:16 am

I'm too fucking lazy to read all 14 pages of this topic, but to the original poster, I don't necessarily agree with everything you said, but I'll be damned if that didn't make me laugh so hard that tears formed in my eyes. So long as it's entertaining, I say rant away.

TheJudge · Post by **TheJudge** » Wed Sep 24, 2003 9:35 am

Kinetic wrote:This thread is making me want to do some research on the playa itself, and find out what the BLM and other groups have to say about playa surfaces and how well they heal up. I mean 30,000 people, art cars, etc will definitely make an impact.....We practice LNT, but are we doing it well enough?

It can ALWAYS be done better. Maybe you should visit the playa and see if you can help with the LNT process.

JezebelinHell · Post by **JezebelinHell** » Wed Sep 24, 2003 9:40 am

Some of my campmates, while not entirely sober, got into a discussion about whether all the dust we were taking away would eventually turn BRC into a rather large crater. Their theory was that we were each taking at least half a pound of dust back to town with us, most likely quite a bit more. Multiply that by 30,000 people, and we're taking 15,000 pounds of playa back to our respective homes each year. Not that I think it has a whole lot of scientific basis in reality, but it was rather interesting and amusing to listen to.

robbidobbs · Post by **robbidobbs** » Thu Sep 25, 2003 7:32 am

Re: 30,000 people taking about a half pound of dirt with them.
Hell! Consider that everytime some fucko decides it's ok to allow their burning art project bake a patch of playa, someone has to go to that spot and shovel the baked dirt, load it into buckets and take it to the landfill. and I'm talking about digging it up with a flat tip shovel, then picking up the baked rocks remaining with their hands. One spot can take hours and a lot of dirt is hauled away. Try it sometime, you'll get a keen understanding about the total impact we really do have on this dry lakebed.
BTW: the final inspection on the playa is Oct 10th. If you can make it to the work ranch at all, please show up. It's a good decompression experience.

BurningShadow · Post by **BurningShadow** » Sat Sep 27, 2003 3:13 pm

Their theory was that we were each taking at least half a pound of dust back to town with us, most likely quite a bit more. Multiply that by 30,000 people, and we're taking 15,000 pounds of playa back to our respective homes each year. Not that I think it has a whole lot of scientific basis in reality, but it was rather interesting and amusing to listen to.

That is interesting!

Some of my campmates, while not entirely sober, got into a discussion

Not entirely sober...ahh I miss those days

Angry Butterfly · Post by **Angry Butterfly** » Sun Sep 28, 2003 11:36 pm

atari-x wrote:
raven74 wrote:it's the whole springer car crash on the highway thing...people can't help it...but they should try eh? dinner next week? Thai or Italian? hmmmm.....numers
It's not possible for me to pick one or the other. So the question is: Between Thai or Italian, which one goes well with Natural Ice?

Did you shudder?

Thai, unless it is pizza, pizza sluts pizza that is.

WHY I’M NOT GOING BACK TO BURNING MAN

Whatever

all those people make dust

crufty th clown

Re: I know girl

Heineken?

PBR: Official beer of the Willamette valley

Playa displacement

Re: I know girl