Experiences in Center Camp

[PJ]

Oh, I dunno. I found the explaining funnier than the joke. Shoot me.

I was going for the save.

Remember how Johnny Carson was never funnier than when he was recovering from an intentional joke gone bad? I'm thinking that technique isn't perfected until you're not funny at all unless you don't even show up. Still working on that though.

[drowned_saved]

I realize that serving coffee in Center Camp is probably not the most rewarding thing one can do at Burning Man and I'm appreciative that someone is there to do it.

au contraire, mon frere...

i volunteered at the cafe on a whim sunday morning (apparently many of those who signed-up refused to show and the barristas (sp?) were desperate for help), and it was one of the most pleasant and rewarding experiences i've had on the playa.

the people behind the counter seemed, for the most part, pleasant and compassionate, and the feeling of providing something people desperately want was remarkable (like handing out food rations in some war torn hell-hole, i felt).

granted, i am pretty naive about the politics of center camp--and i recognize that there is quite a bit of animosity regarding the capitalist economy which functions there--but c'mon. if you're unhappy with the jerk behind the counter, why not put in a shift yourself? perhaps your wife would like to join you?

i intend to serve coffee and other drinks at the cafe next year. i'll do it happily and proudly. would love to slop around with you and anyone else who had an unfortunate experience there in the past.

it could be cathartic...

[drowned_saved]

On a related note, one of my worst experiences 2 years ago was when Camp Artica was out of ICE on Saturday afternoon. Instead of telling people, they used bullhorns to line people up and take them in one by one to whisper it in their ears.

why do i find that absolutely hilarious? how utterly disappointing, and yet deeply intimate!

It was cruel and unusual folks, make no doubt.

yes, pure torture. it's a wonder you survived at all. equally as bad as what the prisoners of conscience are subjected to in dank, darkened prison cells the world over. you're a real hero.

One of these years I'll come early and help build it!

twenty bucks says you never do...just a gut feeling of mine.

[electrolux]

I guess it's hardcore burner cool to rag on centre camp, but I'll have to disagree. I too volunteered at the cafe and had a lot of fun doing it. On tuesday night all the people were all costumed up on their way out for a night on the playa. Since there weren't too many customers we could slack off and we had a dance party back there. And yes i took tip money, which i mostly spent buying coffee for friends. Hey, I'm a canadian, I can't give up my probably 1 chance in life to make under the table money and screw the IRS.

[Kinetic]

I've never had any problems with Center Camp or Camp Artica. Not one. The Chai Tea is fantastic and I've never had a problem with bad service or even an attitude. Always a smile and while there were lines the service was prompt. And the same for CA....the only negative is sometimes the line is long but the service is great. I know 2 teenagers from Kidsville volunteered in CA this year and loved it.

Regarding Center Camp, Dragontear had a blast there...and CC was a springboard for her to meet great people and to also see things she hadn't seen before. For a newbie it was a wonderful place. So for Center Camp and Camp Artica I have nothing but the highest praise. Good people, great services, and lines not withstanding I feel they enhance the BM experience. Also Center Camp had a great discussion on sexuality...why it's ok for a girl to kiss another girl but yet their boyfriends wouldn't let them be with another guy at BM. The discussion was frank and very informative thanks to some great audience participation.

[Guest]

> they need the bloody looky-loos. same goes for the public muff divers
> or the critical tatas.

Perhaps. That doesn't mean I have to be one of them, or enjoy being
among them. I haven't done Critical Tits for years now because I find the
guys with the cameras pointed at all the tits to be immensely depressing.

I'm with ya' on that precipitate. When they ride by my camp, I'll cheer them on, but I just find the whole camera thing sad.

[Kinetic]

This was my first year to actually see Critical Tits and it left me shocked....I had never seen anything like that in my life. And then I saw the cameras....this was a time I wish cameras were banned in BRC, all of them. It just struck me as wrong. I turned around and left after that....and if I miss it again next year it won't bother me. At least I won't see guys burning up the drive motors in their cameras taking pictures of tits....there is so much more to a woman than her breasts and all the cameras just makes me sick.

[ramen]

I've always like Center Camp. Where else can you sit literally for 24 hours for free with no one hassling you and see an unending parade of entertainment? Hula hoop people, Hamsa Lila, yoga masters, the strange, the discontented, stock brokers hangiing out, weird folks of every type and color, Reverend Billy. and so on and so forth.

Plus good coffee too served up by volunteer weirdos. Nothing beats it. My wife and I hung out with the aforementioned stock broker and chatted for hours.

Late at night after wheeling through the playa looking at weirdness, center camp is like home base.

[ramen]

[quote="Kinetic"]This was my first year to actually see Critical Tits and it left me shocked....

Kinetic: I don't get what you were shocked about. You knew it was a herd of women riding topless, nyet, with big grins on most of their faces. What's the beef?

As for the camerati, it seems to me that a great proportion of the females out there are getting quite a charge out of being on display, perhaps for the first time in their lives they can shake it and mean it. What's the harm really? Would it be more politically correct if the guys stand there camera-less with their tongues hanging on the ground.

I ddin't go this year. I have to admit that the large proportion of CT shots in my pics from last year got me feeling kind of embarrassed about my role there.

[Zane5100]

This was my first year to actually see Critical Tits and it left me shocked....I had never seen anything like that in my life. And then I saw the cameras....this was a time I wish cameras were banned in BRC, all of them. It just struck me as wrong. I turned around and left after that....and if I miss it again next year it won't bother me. At least I won't see guys burning up the drive motors in their cameras taking pictures of tits....there is so much more to a woman than her breasts and all the cameras just makes me sick.

As a photog, I never understood why people are trying to focus on the boobs (other than the obvious reasons). The emotionally moving part of the parade, to me, are seeing so many women out expressing themselves. Guess that's part of why I've never tried to shoot the parade.

That, and I'd feel icky about it...

Plus, I'm totally knackered from painting women that by the time I finish, the parade is mostly over.

[zeno]

Burning Man is not a need. It is a luxury.

Best thing I've heard yet.

Perhaps I'm naive, but why don't:

1. the people who organize the event decide whether to have a center camp and what to put there,

2. those who don't like it not go there, and

3. those who like it go there.

Personally, I found the info center useful, enjoyed Zane's camp and occasionally gained something else useful despite all the dust and crowds. I was going to try a cup of coffee, but didn't want to stand in the lines.

There - problem solved - wasn't that easy?

All this whining is worse than anything I saw there...

[Jp]

I've never been very interested in hanging out in center camp or buying anything. However, this year I found myself relaxing there with a cup of coffee fairly often. The reason: I was rangering and it was conveniently located next to Ranger HQ. Java from the cafe helped keep me going. Based upon this new perspective, I think the cafe is a nice resource for all the people in center camp who are working really hard and legitimately don't really have the time to run back to camp and make coffee. Is it a necessity, no, but I really appreciated its being there.

my two cents
Jp

[madmatt]

I just had a bad vibe experience in 2002, when me and my girlie, late at night, and rollin hard, ran out of water like a mile away from camp, and on foot. We had a liter each when we set out, but it goes quick, esp if you're responsible and hydrate a lot (saving others the trouble of providing you emergency care). We asked the lady behind the coffee bar for some, explained our situ, and she went off on us, and then gave us some. From then on, we just found ourselves the nearest camp with a light on and begged, which A. always worked, B. always resulted in gifts and new friends and cocktails.

That doesn't detract from CC's services to others though. Matt.

[precipitate]

> Where else can you sit literally for 24 hours for free with no one
> hassling you and see an unending parade of entertainment?

Um. At Burning Man? In many theme camps. Pretty much anywhere on
Esplanade. Take a chair out onto the playa, plop it down, and be a proud
spectator. I've never been hassled for sitting around at Burning Man. Or
were you contrasting it to the real world?

In re photographing Critical Tits: I understand it's like nothing many people
have seen before. But I, personally, think you should take the time to fully
experience new stuff instead of sticking some apparatus in between you
and it. I understand the urge to document stuff for future review, but I
don't give in to it often because I find it removes me from the immediate
experience. And if you don't know me, I don't want you sticking a camera
in my face period.

See, the title of the Experiences forum is "Discuss your experiences with
others who somehow may have perceived things differently than you." I
don't like Center Camp. I think coffee sales are extremely hypocritical in a
no-commerce environment. I think ice sales are an unhappy compromise,
but one I understand. You may like strolling for your morning cuppa, and
you may think ice is important enough to transcend the no commerce
edict. Okeydoke.

[Timber]

I didn't spend much time In Center Camp this year, nor did I spend a dime. Mostly because I never wore anything with pockets, and carrying money just felt weird. I've been a bartender before and as a result, I'm a notorious over-tipper now. However, it does feel weird for me to tip money at BurningMna. It's jsut odd. I much prefer the gifting of something special to me or that I put some creative energy into. Like the Dalmatian Jasper necklace that I gave to the gate person who had to search and burrow in our 5 ton truck looking for stowaways. Jasper is supposed to aid in visionquests

I had a couple of very cool experiences in Center Camp. One was teh guy with the Fortune cookies. He just sat there with his robes almost completely covering his face with a fortune cookie in his extended hand. It took me a while to actually be willing to take it. "Beware the old priest and the young priest. They've got your number". I adresay that's the first warning I've gotten out of a fortune cookie.

The next was hanging out in the center labyrinth with some friends on a particularly altered night. The only downside was that SOMEONE kept hitting the strobes. Now who in the hell thought strobe bursts were a good idea. I mean hoenstly.

I also have a campmate who swears that he doesn't sleep better anywhere on the planet than at Center Camp. Many things to many people, I suppose.

Timber

[Tawnee Lynne]

Jeezus fucking christ people! The proceeds for center camp go to the local communities. Those local communities allow us to have the event near them. What is the fucking harm? If you don't want to spend money at center camp, don't. But by all means don't sit on your asses and complain and try to demolish a system that is keeping everyone except the selfish, in a position to be more generous. Get over your pocketbooks already. And for those that came and said it is a vacation, I feel sorry for you, burning man is an experience.Whether I attend one time or ten times, it will always be a climatic life experience. Maybe burning man doesn't need the stingy, lackadaisical patrons such as the ones bitching about center camp.
I am spent
Tawnee Lynne
PS was it good for you?

[Ivy]

There she goes again...do you need a step stool to get on that horse or what?

[precipitate]

> The proceeds for center camp go to the local communities.

Where does it say that anywhere? The proceeds for <i>ice</i> go to the
local communities. I've never read or heard where cafe proceeds went,
although I have heard that it's not profitable (dunno if that's true or not).

[girlie]

>>The proceeds for center camp go to the local communities.

Are you sure? I think the cafe loses money each year. Proceeds from ice sales go towards the local Gerlach school, but i don't think any money from the cafe goes beyond the burning man llc.

>>What is the fucking harm?

The harm is that one of the greatest things about Black Rock City is the lack of commerce. Introducing coffee sales to the event seems to undermine one of the core "values" of burning man.

>>Maybe burning man doesn't need the stingy, lackadaisical patrons such as the ones bitching about center camp.

Communication about things we like and dislike is important, especially in a community such as ours. And especially for an event like Burning Man. It is our social responsibility to try to talk things through and change them when they don't meet our needs and the needs of our community, both on and off the playa. Where you see bitching, i see frustrated people trying to figure out how to make a difference.

[Tawnee Lynne]

Ivy, just because I don't like your bitching, you think I am on a higher scale than you? Wow, and here I was just trying to be equal. My opinion may differ than yours, however I don't need to resort to faceteousness to get my point across. Were you in a trance camp or what?

[precipitate]

> My opinion may differ than yours, however I don't need to resort to
> faceteousness to get my point across.

Yeah, direct attacks are so much better.

[Tawnee Lynne]

Girly, I agree about the need for such discussions, however if you read the previous posts, it seems to be more of a whine than a plea for change. Black Rock City is home for me, I feel the need to defend the working center of my home. To have a legitimate complaint about part of center camp is one thing, to continue to beat a dead horse about whether center camp is a valid part of burning man because you don't want to spend a few dollars for coffee, when there are masses of people who don't mind, is leaving yourself open for opposition. I am the other voice. The one that can't stand the senseless whining. This board may or may not get results on the issue of center camp, however if there are valid reasons for the way all of you feel, start a poll. Others, such as I, don't see anything productive happening here, except maybe a few of you nursing each others wounds about why your experience at burning man wasn't perfect. If you don't want to buy coffee, don't. Don't take away the possibility that 30,000 others sharing your morning on the desert might want a cup of joe, or an iced matte on a hot playa day.
Tawnee Lynne

[Ivy]

Wow, and here I was just trying to be equal.

No, it appears to me that you were telling people what to do or think.

Somewhat annoyingly and rudely, IMO.

[Ivy]

>>The proceeds for center camp go to the local communities.

Are you sure? I think the cafe loses money each year. Proceeds from ice sales go towards the local Gerlach school, but i don't think any money from the cafe goes beyond the burning man llc.

The latest I've read ("Tipping", BRG, Gate edition) states that the cafe operates at a loss. If someone has cites otherwise, I'd be itnerested to see them.

[Zane5100]

What is the fucking harm?

By providing a venue of commerce, they erode the ethos of "no vending." Also, those of us that surrounded CC became trash cans for fuckwits.

I can understand wanting to generate income, but having an operation that is antithical to the ethos of no commerce, is a trash production machine, and loses money to boot? Raise the fucking ticket prices and abolish the café.

Maybe burning man doesn't need the stingy, lackadaisical patrons such as the ones bitching about center camp.

How elitist of you...

[Tawnee Lynne]

Ivy, I in no way commanded someone on what to think. Please, for the sake of embarassment, leave your insecurities at the door.

[playa_buddha]

I'm so glad that the confrontation and the seemingly angry replies (I may be missing someone's irony - it's hard to determine in print) are pretty much left to the e-playa, and not the playa itself. I'm not saying that there are no confrontations or arguments at the festival - certainly there are a few (although in six year's attendance, I've only seen a few confrontations - mostly between bickering lovers and always at the burn itself between the "SIT DOWNS" and the standers).
But in reading the e-playa, a newbie considering going to the event might get the idea that Burning Man is nothing but bickering, in-fighting, and confrontation.
I'm making this ratio up off the top of my head, but it doesn't seem too far off to me: for every confrontation I see on the playa, I see a thousand wonderful examples of people being neighborly, kind, and generous - often to complete strangers. That is what I carry in my heart with me for months afterward.

[precipitate]

> Don't take away the possibility that 30,000 others sharing your morning
> on the desert might want a cup of joe, or an iced matte on a hot playa
> day.

Howzabout you maybe consider being self-reliant and making your own
cup of joe or iced whateverthefuck on a hot playa day? Nothing is
stopping you. Nothing. And you rely on the cafe for your fix because
someone else is doing the work with <i>my</i> ticket money. Do I
get a choice about whether $10 of my $225 goes to the cafe? Nope.
But I'd sure as hell rather provide $100 of good coffee myself than
subsidize your lounge around Center Camp with your iced soy chai.
You're welcome to come by for some.

Just in case you wanted another perspective on that. Which I suspect you
don't.

For what it's worth, I doubt discussions on the eplaya will ever make an
impression on the organizers. I doubt seriously that Larry will ever get
rid of the cafe. But again, it's my right not to like it. And I'm trying to
explain the many reasons why I don't like it. You should feel free to
ignore me.

[precipitate]

> But in reading the e-playa, a newbie considering going to the event
> might get the idea that Burning Man is nothing but bickering, in-fighting,
> and confrontation

Funny. The old eplaya had its share of zingers, but very little of this
outright antagonism. I attribute it to two things: the vast influx of new
people, and the dramatic change in interface which seems somehow to
be more conducive to talking at each other rather than with each other.

As for people who confuse online communities with real communities,
well, that's a lesson people just sometimes have to learn for themselves.

[girlie]

>.to continue to beat a dead horse about whether center camp is a valid part of burning man because you don't want to spend a few dollars for coffee

I doesn't seem to me that anyone is complaining 'cuz they didn't want to spend money on coffee. I saw some complaints on service, but the main complaints seem to be that coffee is for sale at all.

>>senseless whining

I agree that whining about things almost never gets results, unless you are 4 years old. Perhaps this is the year that the burning man participants start getting a little more politically active and start trying to make some changes to our city. Let me ponder this more and consider whether this is something i'll have time to pursue more formally.

Other then the town hall meetings and email communications does anyone know of a more formal setting for dialog between the burning man llc and the citizens of Black Rock City to discuss issues like this? Doesn't it seem like we should be talking about this stuff with them, instead of just amongst ourselves?

(sorry if i'm asking things that have already been covered a million times before -- i'm new to this forum)