RV Living The Nomad Life

[spectabillis]

yeah, your famous now.

thank god its friday...

[actiongrl]

Hey Kinetic. I did NOT call you a name.

I said, "Can we at least not email him and be assholes." What I pointed at you for was something else, where you indicated that he shouldn't have been posting in this thread.

Furthermore, I'll have you know that I read the ePlaya every day. I just don't find myself very compelled to participate in many of the discussions, but I am still doing my job.

(eta: No, I can't say every day, though lately I'm back on every day. But I see it at least 4 times a week.)

[actiongrl]

: It sure would be nice to have Senior Staff see firsthand some of the problems that Emily, SB and others keep asking for help with....help that is slow to arrive or never comes. :

I'm on the senior staff, and keeping up with Emily and SB as volunteers are partly under my job's purview. Just so you know. Sometimes help is slow because other priorities hit higher, you know?

BACK TO RV's! I almost moved into my RV full time once. I spent exactly three nights in it before I blew the engine because I stupidly thought I had enough oil in it but it was leaking.

[HughMungus]

a PERFECTLY FREAKING HARMLESS request for someone who wanted to talk to burners who RV

I agree. I think people are confusing the "I'm doing my term paper on Burning Man [so please tell me all about it so I don't have to bother to go/think]"-type post with "I'd like to talk to Burners about Burning Man for my article." I'd rather he interview us than write a bunch of stuff he just thinks is true.

[Lassen Forge]

....
Furthermore, I'll have you know that I read the ePlaya every day. I just don't find myself very compelled to participate in many of the discussions, but I am still doing my job.

And some of us who look at such things (and from a non-mod position nonetheless) see you here, AG, and appreciate it more than most people know.

bb

[can't sit still]

OOps, wrong thread

[LeChatNoir]

Hmmm...

So a reporter posts a question in a forum and some knee jerk reactions ensue from many fronts both pro and con. And really, the first thing that I thought was “Great... here’s yet another person who wishes to invest as little time as possible in becoming a part of the community and still get what he or she wants from it.” I figured it was another case of “what’s in it for me?”, because quite frankly, this person does want to profit (i.e. continue to make a living) off stories that people have spent lots of money and even greater amounts of effort creating.

But after stopping to think about it...

I think it’s just as important for actiongrl to try understand why there was a knee-jerk reaction in the first place as it is for us to understand what she’s saying in response. Firstly, the most straight forward argument against the reporter’s post is the in the TOS.

5) Non Commercial Use by Members. The Eplaya is for the personal use of individual Members only and may not be used in connection with any commercial endeavors. Organizations, companies, and/or businesses may not become Members and may not use the Eplaya for any purpose.

Advertising property for sale in Nevada and now the promoting of a “for-profit” magazine would seem to fall under the “any commercial endeavors” part. That, and the fact that it’s promoted by a representative of the very group that set up the TOS does seem somehow wrong to me and even a bit hypocritical.

That seems pretty straight forward and clear to me, however... I have felt for a while that some sort of Burner-related business networking ability might be a good thing. But that’s a whole other topic. The problem presented in this particular thread, I think points to a deeper issue. It is my opinion that many folks on and off the board (including myself) feel that the event and subsequent community they’ve invested their heart into is being encroached upon by some of the very things they attend the event to escape. First time I started to take note of this was when I saw advertisements for Pepsi One, XM Radio, Tazo, and Milk in the Piss Clear. So when I see similar currents on the eplaya it makes me take notice too. And when a representative of the Organization promotes these things, it seems to confirm suspicions about inclinations towards money and desires to capitalize on a situation.

But you know... legally it ain’t my party and the people who started it can do what ever they damn well please. And if it ever reaches a point where I don’t wish to attend, then legally I no longer have to make the expensive 5000 mile round trip to be a part of it. But legal terms and the terms of a heartfelt community that make the event what it is probably don’t share much of the same space. Hence the knee-jerk reaction.

That being said... I have believed for quite some time that the enigma called Burning Man is an enormous catalyst for social change. After going to Biloxi and sweating with Thumper and the rest of those fine folks, that belief is only made more solid. What we have as a group... acceptance, perseverance, and excellence in the face of adversity to name but a few qualities, is something I think should be shared with the whole world. The fact that Burning Man lets you put forth the effort to be whomever you want to be is what attracted me to it in the first place. It was like discovering an amplifier for the life I wish to live and letting Discovery Channel film it and letting a RV magazine write about it are just a couple of the many ways to “spread the word”. And people are talking, regardless of whether the populace wants them to or not. So you can resist it and loose any control, or perhaps embrace it and at least have a hand in the way it is presented to those in the “Mundane World”. My jury is still out about that one, but regardless it would seem that doing it would be a matter of delicate balance to insure the context of what is presented. This is something I hope those “in the position” understand and hold dear. And if not, it will eventually change enough that those who put their hearts into it leave and form their own party. And the cycle can start all over again.

But until then I’ll keep making the journey and putting in my heart into it. RV Reporter, I think your request could be a fair one if placed in the correct context. And frankly, but kindly, I don’t think it was. Instead of just popping in and blasting off with what you want, why not hang around here and get to know the people who interact here? Then you can buy a ticket, attend the event, and really get a feel for what’s happening out there with the RV scene. Maybe I'd even sit down with you, drink some beer, and tell you about my homemade truck camper that I’ll be bringing out this year. But until you sit down and show me that you really are interested in what The Thing In The Desert is to me, I ain’t talkin’. And if all else fails, refer to the Terms Of Service.

[Chai Guy]

First time I started to take note of this was when I saw advertisements for Pepsi One, XM Radio, Tazo, and Milk in the Piss Clear.

LeChat, You know those ads are fake right??

http://www.blue-period.com/pissclear/Im ... s/fakeads/
[[http://www.lennyjones.net/pissclearchive2005/index.htm]]

[Eric]

First time I started to take note of this was when I saw advertisements for Pepsi One, XM Radio, Tazo, and Milk in the Piss Clear.

LeChat, You know those ads are fake right??

http://www.blue-period.com/pissclear/Im ... s/fakeads/
http://www.lennyjones.net/pissclearchive2005/index.htm

I scurried down before even finishing LeChats well-written post and found that ChaiGuy had saved me or Adrian the trouble of pointing this out.
Every year on playa at least one of us has to put up with someone incredibly irate that we "sold out" (this is not directed at LeChat!). When we get bored of it we tell people that they're real ads- how do you think we pay for the RV? Then we ignore them and go back to having fun. Note the subtle mention of the RV to keep this post on topic to save SB some more headaches! *g*

[LeChatNoir]

DOH!!!

My apologies... and at least I can be relieved at that part. For whatever reason, I’d only taken note of them in ‘05. The thought crossed my mind both when I first saw the ads and when I dug a copy back out to confirm what I remembered. I looked carefully for some clue as to it being a parody, but couldn’t find any. So I presumed they were real and that if they were fakes, then they were still convincing enough to promote the product by accident.

Shew... ok., thanks guys. I can at least not worry about that one. And how did I miss this for so long anyways? Hanging out in the Bar thread too much?

(Marks Piss Clear adds off of list of “Evil Corporate Infiltration”)

[karine]

I never paid much attention either (about the ads)- thanks for the link, I'm gonna go check it out-

I liked what LaChat said about the "introduction being everything"... but how is someone ( a newbie but someone quite interesting ) to know???

I keep thinking of that poor reporter as being a little 70 year ol' lady with her first job in years. She's just rying to finish an assignment ... and everyone is just rude... well.. she'd have HER first impression, wouldn't she?

Or better yet- He's some redneck in a frat boy shirt- excited to be writing about these weird "hippies in the desert", but still determined to find just ONE THING interesting about them...(maybe it'll get him a raisde!) just something that he can understand... like a lead story... and what will we give him??? Rudeness? That's a pretty bad lead story.

I think radical acceptance might include some patience....

[can't sit still]

Here's your opportunity to jump right into the RV life;
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/ant/rv ... 64702.html