Hello and Welcome... What's your name? Tell me about You...

[LeChatNoir]

nicdicdawg... welcome.

try checking this link out. Check back often and as the burn grows closer.

http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewforum.php?f=99

[clrhze]

Hey everyone,

my name is Davide from Toronto. I'm thinking of heading down this year, have been for quite sometime just now wanting to really make it happen. This will be the year though. I'm overwhelmed with everything right now... any Toronto folks out there?

Davide

[Lenstar]

Hello fellow burners. My name is Lenny. I'm from Ireland and i'm making my second visit in a row to the burning man as last year was just to good. I'm a Dj from Ireland and i'm making it my mission to find some friendly people who have a dance themed camp and could use a helping hand. I've been Djing for 6 years and cover a wide variety of styles ranging fron Breaks and hous to electro and techno.

[zensweetheart]

another virgin here, I heard about BM from a friend who is a 3x Burner. I wanted to go last year but couldn't, and am so excited for this year! I plan to make BRC one of my last stops in the US before I backpack Latin America. Can't wait to get to know some of you fellow burners from the tacoma/seattle area, and everywhere else!

[BelieveMeWhenISay]

im new, i found out about the burning man in a tattoo magazine, it looks awsome!
i was wondering if you guys can just give me little idea of what to exspect if i get to go this year.
thanks
annemarie

[BelieveMeWhenISay]

im new, i found out about the burning man in a tattoo magazine, it looks awsome!
i was wondering if you guys can just give me little idea of what to exspect if i get to go this year.
thanks
annemarie

[clatonium]

all right I'm here. nobody panic.

[spectabillis]

wow, so many new people.

welcome, and dont let anything scare you off too quick. this place grows on you like a foot fungus, or a smack addiction.

[Major Johnson]

Yo.

[theCryptofishist]

Apokalyptikan?

[Demon]

This will be my first burn, but I'll be attending with several experienced people. My name is Chad I spin Drum and Bass and would love to be able to throw down a few choons on the playa

[Silverwheel]

Thanks for the opportunity to introduce myself!

2006 will be my first visit to Burning Man, and I'm looking forward to help from my new friends. Of course I don't have a Playa name yet, my login name might be too pretentious to stick but you have log in as somebody.

The login refers to the Silver Wheel, the Castle of Arianrhod Silverwheel, the Corona Borealis, the Spiral Castle...it's where the sprit goes between lives - the locker room where you tell your stories while you decide about coming back.

I'm a bard of the harp. I play Celtic harp and I do storytelling, singing, poetry...actually those are just tools. What I do is magic, as required by the needs of the moment and whomever may be within earshot. I'm a member of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids and have been doing this for a while. As I know nothing of what to expect when I get there, I can't tell you where I'll be. Maybe you can suggest somewhere.

But if you find a bearded man in ancient Celtic rig, blue eyes, lecherous grin, the silver wheel hanging 'round his neck, blue pictish spiral tattoos on his arms, a Celtic harp in front of him and (hopefully) adoring lovelies scattered around hanging on every vibrant sweep of the strings...that should be me. Please say hello.

[ibdave]

Silverwheel, If I may, your new Playa name is now....Silverwheel

Why mess with perfection..

[Silverwheel]

Thanks! :D

Come by in person sometime...I'll drag a tune out of the harp for you!

[Tony Andretti]

Where to begin?

My name is Tony and I am glad to be here!
I live in the city of Dortmund, Germany, let´s say roughly 5500 something miles distant to BM. My first language is German – I only speak a little English. I´ll do my best to express
myself sufficiently…
I am one of six 2007 wannabe´s and currently reading your website everyday.
Please be so kind as to answer me only 3 simple questions:

To participate to BM is like having sex with Nicole Kidman, isn´t it?
(Can I go on using words like “sex” in a US chat room?!)

How to bring me in to fulfil the motto of being a non-spectator?
(It´s a small plane and quite a far way to carry superstructure work parts with me.)

Do you still know the theme for 2007 ?

Thank you very much,

Kind regards
Tony Andretti

[LeChatNoir]

Demon, silverwheel... Howdy!

And Tony!!

Welcome Home... There are Burners in Deutschland... Berlin and Munich for certain. You should check out these links:

http://www.euroburners.org/
http://lists.euroburners.org/mailman/listinfo/playadust

To participate to BM is like having sex with Nicole Kidman, isńt it?

Well... I’ve never had sex with Nicole Kidman, but I get what your asking. And I’d be willing to bet Burning Man is better.

How to bring me in to fulfil the motto of being a non-spectator?

You do not have to bring big things to be a big part of it. Start by asking someone who is building something, “Do you need help with that?”. It really is that simple and will go great places from there.

Do you still know the theme for 2007 ?

The theme for 2006 is Hope and Fear - The Future. ‘07 won’t be announced until around February of that year.

[burnermom]

My name is Lisa, and I have been a burner for three years. I heard about Burning Man through my boyfriend, now hubby. I was with child the first year (3 months) and got married after the burn. The second year we brought our 6 month old baby girl Audria. In 2005 we brought her again (18 months old) and I was with child again (6 months) plus our exchange student from Denmark, Nina. This year we look forward to "coming home" with our new baby girl Suzanne (suzy). I love spending time with my fabo family, writing, tarot reading, and astrology. I am a gemini with my moon and rising sign in leo. My husband is a sagittarius with his moon in pisces and a leo rising. Our daughter Audria is a pisces with a cancer moon and a pisces rising. Our youngest daughter Suzanne is a sagittarius with a taurus moon and a libra rising. We have a cat (Barbarella), cockatiel (Gigi), and two ducks (Homer and Marge).

[LeChatNoir]

Well... you’ve got a cat so that’s a good start. Though I question your motives when you surround said cat with such tempting playmates.

welcome to the eplaya, burnermom!!!

[the_receptive]

the name's asher, i'm 22m, from southern British Columbia, Canada, and just tonight decided i'm going to make every effort to attend burning man this year, and am starting my research. i presently live in a town of 60 000 fundamentalist protestants (don't ask why its temporary) so i could REALLY stand to vibe with a bunch of openminded people.

if all goes well i'll be roaming the desert in a cotton skirt helping people construct their brainchildren.

namaste y'all

[Zulegoona]

Welcome to e-playa,... there is a lot to research, and a lot of pictures to look at, enjoy

[sputnik]

Hello and welcome.

Please feel free to stop by my project and help out.

[Tony Andretti]

Dear LeChatNoir,

many thanks for your friendly reply and the warm welcome. (Regarding “Nicole”, please don´t think I´m far too primitive…anyhow, I´m male, but I hope you get it right and that didn´t ask you to compare it to sex with Angelina Jolie or something like that.)

I get into real trouble with some friends of my friends… they excoriate (I guess that´s the correct term for what they are doing) the BM Project as “a walk into the dessert only to f..k and shoot drugs. That goes without saying, I´m not gonna leaving for BRC to do this. I´m looking forward to meet nice people from all around the world, dancing, drinking, talking and really for the adventure to live a week in a dessert. (You have to know, we don´t have desserts here in Germany…) And there are many reasons more why I (and some friends of mine) would very much like to go into a dessert. I know some guys like to consume drugs and I don´t have a problem with that as long as it´s grass or something harmless like that.
That´s very common here as well if I think of the Loveparade in Berlin or Munich beer festival, if you ever heard about that. So, again, I don´t have problems with that, but I would have problems to join to a party who everyone is stoned or to be worse off.

As I´ve never been to BM before, please be so kind as to tell me some more about drugs&BM and I deeply hope to hear that it´s not a festival for that in the main.

By the way, I cannot find any info about another topic so far, so is there official police presence inside the city?

Thanks, cheers Tony

[Chai Guy]

Hey Tony,

Let me try to answer some of your questions. First off, there are drugs at Burning Man, I've seen just about every variety there. That said, MANY people do not drink or do drugs at all. The thing is, when you see someone who is naked, and covered in silver glitter paint, there is a tendency to think, "Wow, that person must be on drugs!" when in fact they probably aren't.

I've been to the Munich Beer Festival, and in my opinion, Burning Man has a far fewer percentage of people who are "under the influence".

Last year I had some friends camping in a "sober" camp, I was really surprised by how much fun I had there without alcohol or other chemicals.

Police, yes there are police there, many police. In recent years they have taken on a much lower profile. At one time they were very visible, riding ATVs around and cruising the "streets" in patrol cars. Now it seems they tend to favor going "undercover" a little more, or maybe I just don't notice them as much.

They pretty much look the other way when it comes to most things, but they don't tolerate open use of drugs, and will even engage in "sting" operations. Some of the sting operations I've heard of involve people asking to trade one kind of drug for another, or who try to "barter" drugs taking advantage of the "gift econonomy". In other words, an undercover police officer will approach you and offer you something like a cold beverage or a ride in their art car, when you look for something to trade or offer in return as a gift, they will ask you for drugs, and if you supply them they will arrest you or give you a ticket.

In the end, you have a lot more freedom at Burning Man than you would anywhere else in America, but you still have to obey the laws, especially as they pertain to drugs.

Burning Man has it's own volunteers called the Black Rock Rangers, they are NOT police, they can't give you a ticket, and they have no authority, but they are there to help you, and mediate disputes, should you need them. They wear kahki shirts and travel around the city on bike, on foot or in vehicles, feel free to stop them and ask them questions if you need any assistance.

[Tony Andretti]

Hey Chai Guy,

many thanks for the detailed description of what to be expected down at BM. (And moreover, thanks for going through my horrible English, I apologize for that.) Regarding drugs (drug problem) it seems to be very comparable to the Munich Beer Festival or events like that, so I guess we won´t have a serious problem with it. I regret to mention, but it´s quite a normal situation almost around the world. In the end I´m not Horatio Caine to judge or estimate a situation I´ve never been to, but it must be very unpleasant arriving at the airport and the men in blue asking where I intend to go and after saying BM… and all the people around me, when I sit there arrested.

From the way I see BM it seems to be an exceptional “open-minded” event with regard to what I know from the media about the USA. Once in a blue moon you find nudity in a US movie, but at BM on the streets every day. Could hardly await to be there!

Have a nice weekend,

Cheers Tony

[Zoom]

Tony Andretti, Herzlich Wilkommen zum Burning Man. hoplich wir sehen uns im Nevada. ich weiss schon verleicht mein deutsch is nicht gut aber du verstehst doch schon. tschuss und wiedersehen

[Chai Guy]

Hey Tony,

You are welcome, and you're English is much better than my German, believe me!

You shouldn't have any problem going through customs, if you fly into Reno or San Francisco, the authorities there see LOTS of people coming in for the event. They'll probably know where you're going before they even ask you. Of course it goes without saying that you should NOT bring any contraband.

I hope you have a great time on the playa!

- Chai Guy

[theCryptofishist]

(You have to know, we don´t have desserts here in Germany…)

I know that Austria has all the Sachertorte, but didn't they leave you some Strudel?





*fishy crawls into hole so that admin will not punish her for teasing those participants who can in no way shape or form can be expected to have those subtleties of english spelling down.*

[theCryptofishist]

...I´m not Horatio Caine to judge or estimate a situation I´ve never been to...

What I learned today 1. That crappy show is in Germany.
What I learend today 2. The Germans find that character as insufferable as I do.

[elphaba]

Hello all. I'm Amy (sixteen) and I've been into burning man for some time. I'm hoping to go this summer and thought this would be a good place to find out some stuff-- particularly: what should I expect? Besides the basic survival stuff (camp setting up, hydration, sunblock), does it make sense for a teenager (albeit a faintly clever one) to fly to Burning Man alone? Obviously there's the parental hernias, payment for which I should probably factor into my budget, but has anyone else done so and survived? Anything special I should remember or bring? Thanks!

[Zulegoona]

Hi Amy,
Welcome to e-playa, If your thinking about going you really need to read all the first timer guide stuff on the main page. If by parental hernias you meen the ones you’ll get carrying them along with you yeah that will be a big budget item.

from the
“FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS” page from the main site


Q. How much is a ticket for my child?
A. A. Children 12 and under accompanied by a parent will be admitted for free. Children between 13-18 require full-price tickets. Children under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian over 21 years of age. If you plan to bring a child, please read the "/preparation/event_survival/kids_at_bm.html" survival guide.


But it is still doable there are many people your parents age there and it could be a real trip for all of you!