Man Watch!

[Just_Joe]

I decided to become a full fledged Man Watcher for 2016. I've usually had opportunities to volunteer for a shift or two during the event, but this year Man Watch has become it's own department and I dove right in. It's a pretty interesting gig and if you want any info on what it entails, check out the JRS from late June: Jack Rabbit Speaks

Anyway, I got so excited about it, I drove up to the playa last weekend and camped out at the coordinates of the Man, which were conveniently marked out with a few nice doughnuts. It was pretty surreal-sleeping on top of my trailer with not a person or vehicle in sight, stars up above with the only music coming from the wind.
Here's some "Before" video. Fingers cross I get permitted to shoot some "During" video over the course of the event.

[lucky420]

I've been a full fledged man watcher for years...


Cool video

[EGAZ]

What do you fly Joe?

[Just_Joe]

What do you fly Joe?

Plain old DJI Phantom. I started with a 1 then 2 and now a 3. I use a third party app for fpv.
Flying is easy. Editing, as I'm learning, is a whole 'nother science.

[Savannah]

Gorgeous, without everything there! . . . . (Gorgeous, WITH everything there).

I guess it's always gorgeous. A lovely change, seeing it so empty.

Thank you, Joe!

[EGAZ]

Plain old DJI Phantom. I started with a 1 then 2 and now a 3. I use a third party app for fpv.
Flying is easy. Editing, as I'm learning, is a whole 'nother science.

You fly FPV with goggles or flat screen? What app? I thought DJI had those pretty locked down. (short of jailbreak) Haven't got into FPV yet. Still scratch building and flying LOS. Fell for the Pocket Drone Kickstarter fail. (another example of poorly planned execution) Ended up moving all the gear to another Hobby King 'tri' frame. I have it and another about an hour from flying.

I have a couple of Hubsan X4s I learned on, a 350mm 3s, Open-X quad and a 600mm 4s Hex. I throw them around the sky pretty good, all orientations. Started playing with Flight Controllers to do more 3D flying. Then BM happened and I haven't done anything with them since March...... To bad they don't have an area opposite the airport, outside of the camping area we could fly for fun. But too many idios with $1000 to burn and no skills to fly.

[ZigZag]

That video is just so awesome. The idea of "Before" and that a city of 70K people will soon be there is just mind blowing. What a beautiful experience that must have been to be out there all alone.

Kind of makes the dust pulse in my veins.

Thank you.

[Roundabout]

I am curious about how it is that the man site is already staked out. I have not seen anything about the "golden stake" ceremony taking place yet. The golden stake places the point from which all other points are determined. Did I miss it?

[Just_Joe]

I am curious about how it is that the man site is already staked out. I have not seen anything about the "golden stake" ceremony taking place yet. The golden stake places the point from which all other points are determined. Did I miss it?

Nope. I saw a photo of several people milling around it on an official channel but can't find it now on either "Voices" of FB. In any event, after a little Googling, I found it at : http://innovate.burningman.org/dataset/ ... -map-data/
It's the same spot as last year.

[trilobyte]

Being marked out with donuts is vastly different than the whole golden stake and official survey point. The closure order goes into effect in a couple weeks, and from that point building Black Rock City will begin on site.

I think the geo-coordinates of the man are popular amongst people who go out there with a GPS.

Great video, Just_Joe! Good luck in getting one of the coveted drone permits for this year - you've got a good eye for aerial photography, I'd love to see you get to take some footage of this year's amazing art.

[winterdream28]

I really loved the video:) It added a spark to my day. Thank you:)

[Corvus]

I think the geo-coordinates of the man are popular amongst people who go out there with a GPS.

Yup. I've been putting the Golden Spike co-ordinates into my navigator for a few years now. When I made it for the first time to Fourth of Juplaya this year, I made a point of driving out to the 2015 location and looking around. There was nothing to see (duh).

It's odd this year's spike is exactly the same as last year's. The BLM likes to move things around to keep the streets from making perma-grooves in the playa surface like has happened with the east and west roads. I suspect they just haven't updated anything yet.

[trilobyte]

Moving the location of the city is something that Burning Man instigates (though I'm sure the BLM likes it too), and it's generally done every 2-3 years. Stay tuned to the innovate site, should they decide to make a location change for this year the updated coordinates will be posted there.

[Just_Joe]

I'm doing it again! Watching the Man.
This year there will be no spinning and no handstands---Just a Man in a Temple.

If you want any info about this fun volunteer "job", shoot me a pm.

I probably posted it somewhere in here, but if not, here's the "after" video from my OP.