How To Make Burning Man More Dangerous

Zhust · Post by **Zhust** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 12:19 pm

How about the Suicide Guillotine. If you've ever sunk into despair on the playa, now there's a place to go! A guillotine rigged to a trigger button would be at your disposal. Just stick your head in, push a button, and *thwack* your troubles will be over forever!

SED · Post by **SED** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 2:08 pm

Just keeps getting better . . .

geekster · Post by **geekster** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 3:56 pm

moopy

Desert Duck · Post by **Desert Duck** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 4:04 pm

Roast yourself burn platform-you have to strip naked first, then you get to roll in a baby swimming pool of barbecue sauce. The platform itself would have a grate on top, and a ladder-maybe fencing around the grate so participants would have to climb out if they changed their minds.
Roll in sauce, jump down onto grate, spend your last minutes trying to climb out as people hose you with more BBQ. mmmmmm, tasty.

Zhust · Post by **Zhust** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 4:28 pm

What about live human sushi? Brought in fresh daily! You just lay there and an expert chef slices off choice pieces of your body.

(Wasn't there going to be a Soylent Green camp? Maybe they could add this.)

Burndango · Post by **Burndango** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 5:01 pm

Let's keep this reasonable/doable, folks.

Desert Duck · Post by **Desert Duck** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 5:31 pm

Oh, the human grill is TOTALLY doable. I even know someone with a welder.

SED · Post by **SED** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 6:02 pm

Well, I guess it's all doable, but the point of this thread is actually semi-serious.

I'm interested in rattling the cages over at BMORG by imagining behaviors which would be totally ungovernable, though not specifically antisocial.

Regarding the creative suggestions put forth about human barbecue/sushi etc., I don't think they are viable simply on the count that while people will happily put themselves at risk, they won't actually harm themselves.

So not to be a wet blanket, but . . .

. . . what if we stood at the Greeters Station and handed out wet blankets both as a practical gift item and a protest against BMORG overprotecting us from ourselves?

Desert Duck · Post by **Desert Duck** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 7:01 pm

Well, if it's cold and windy, that would be cool-something that would be less than useful in it's current state, but VERY nice to have if it dried out.
"WET BLANKETS...GET YOUR WET BLANKETS HERE..."

I'm DEFINITELY going to set up some tallbike jousting-I don't think they can stop two people from intentionally running at each other.
WHEEEE fun.

Desert Duck · Post by **Desert Duck** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 8:48 pm

Oh, yeah. And there's this, too.

http://images.burningman.com/index.cgi?image=20448

MUCH more dangerous than this older one.

http://images.burningman.com/index.cgi?image=1267

Does that help?

geekster · Post by **geekster** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 10:36 pm

Lets just cut the crapitinni ...

There really isn't a way to bring back the "good old days" unless you have access to a working wayback machine. The best one could hope for is some close approximation. You could make something really spectacular but it would require a lot more inspections, planning, documentation, coordination (i.e. time and money) than in days of yore. Period. That's pretty much just the way it probably is save someone somehow getting something way out on the deep playa where nobody is hanging out late at night and pulling off something totally spectacular completely under the radar and "on the QT". But they would probably "get in trouble" for it.

So what you can do is something totally stupid like a scissors race and get all sarcastic and make fun of the rules. It's the old saying ... if you can't beat 'em, make fun of 'em.

And we can only hope someone puts together some totally awesome eyeball searing something that fires sheets of roiling flames hundreds of feet into the air at a completely unexpected moment just for old time's sake, before they get hauled off the playa for not playing by the rules.

DVD Burner · Post by **DVD Burner** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 11:04 pm

How To Make Burning Man More Dangerous

bring back the shooting gallery.

yeah I know, it was only 5 words.

I could have done it in 3.

P.S. It's great that SED has me on ignore.

Kinetic IV · Post by **Kinetic IV** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 11:10 pm

DVD Burner wrote:
How To Make Burning Man More Dangerous

bring back the shooting gallery.

yeah I know, it was only 5 words.

I could have done it in 3.

:lol:

P.S. It's great that SED has me on ignore.

:P

I happen to like that idea.
And the fact that I like that idea will scare a couple of people.
I kinda enjoy the thought of that.

DVD Burner · Post by **DVD Burner** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 11:12 pm

Careful, people have a hard time with reality.

After all.....it was the original way BM used to be.

spectabillis · Post by **spectabillis** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 3:04 am

you wouldn't want me armed with a gun at the event anymore, everyone looks like Joan Vollmer.

Zhust · Post by **Zhust** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 7:06 am

SED wrote:Well, I guess it's all doable, but the point of this thread is actually semi-serious.

I'm interested in rattling the cages over at BMORG by imagining behaviors which would be totally ungovernable, though not specifically antisocial.

I'm not sure I understand. Danger is the possibility of being injured or killed. There's plenty of pseudo-danger at Burning Man already -- I mean, you can run right into the burning temple if you wanted and die there and there's not a slew of security guards who will stop you. Not like Disney at all, where they strap you down so you can't move.

I think the self-serve guillotine is such a device. Plus it puts the decision up to the participant. Maybe just cut off a finger. What about if the button was controlled by somebody else. Maybe even somebody you don't know, kind of like that 1980's Twilight Zone episode where people had a button where they'd get $10,000 but kill someone they didn't know; when they pushed the button, they got the money, but the guy said he'd give the box to somebody they don't know.

But really, what is it: real danger or nothing really different at all?

SED · Post by **SED** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 10:48 am

I just don't think the murder/suicide, autoabusive crowd is that extensive, even at BM.

But hey it's your trip. Set up a friggin' abatoir if you want. Here's my concept:

BMORG Money Grab-atoir.

Participants run through a shipping container fitted with a course of whirling blades set at odd intervals and heights. Large fans force a cloud of $50 and $100 bills to swirl throughout the container. Participants may keep any amount they can grab and transport to the opposite end before exiting.

Winnnings are automatically doubled for participation while wearing an oversized head mask of any senior BMORG official.

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 1:18 pm

How about an installation: An obstacle course that is inherently and obviously extremely dangerous? So dangerous that only the most suicidal fool would try it.

lurker · Post by **lurker** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 2:08 pm

Broken glass Twister?

geekster · Post by **geekster** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 2:15 pm

I like the money grab thing.

Actually, after hearing about how much some of those projects cost, I thought it would be cheaper to construct a wooden altar, paint it with gold paint, place a bale of $1 bills on it and burn the whole thing. Then once I thought of that, it was a natural jump to the man standing atop a pile of "dollar bales" instead of straw.

CLARKcon · Post by **CLARKcon** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 3:59 pm

ThumbTack Trampoline-

3-4 people bouncing, another person stands on the side and empties a couple boxes of 100 count pokies (PAUSE: Just thinking about this makes my skin crawl...is my sub-concious actually this deviant?!), last person to crawl off for mercy wins!...(and loses)...

Lassen Forge · Post by **Lassen Forge** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 4:29 pm

CLARKcon wrote:ThumbTack Trampoline-

3-4 people bouncing, another person stands on the side and empties a couple boxes of 100 count pokies (PAUSE: Just thinking about this makes my skin crawl...is my sub-concious actually this deviant?!), last person to crawl off for mercy wins!...(and loses)...

Good... Except...

The trampoline "fabric" should be tight-weave chain mail. And substitute razor blades for thumbtacks.

And don't forget the tarps and trough under the trampoline - remember LNT!!!

bb

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 4:33 pm

"Find the Anthrax Powder on the Playa" Camp.

Isotopia · Post by **Isotopia** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 5:28 pm

Temple of Gravity where the hippies get to try out the gravity part.

Desert Duck · Post by **Desert Duck** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 5:45 pm

Ground glass snorting competition.
Each person gets a pound of ground glass, and is given a certain amount of time to snort it all. Person with the least left when time expires, or first to finish wins/loses.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 6:27 pm

How about a game in which you arrange your life around a huge trip where you schlep yourself and all your crap thousands of miles just to see other people do the same thing in some godforsaken place.
If you succeed, then as soon as you're packed to go home, start planning for next year.

Desert Duck · Post by **Desert Duck** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 6:33 pm

nah, nobody'd go for that.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 6:38 pm

You're right.
What was I thinking?

geekster · Post by **geekster** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 7:21 pm

Get a bunch of people, dress up as Robin Hood and ... well, you know. Then seek out people with the best swag and steal it from them and give it to people with crappy swag.

Desert Duck · Post by **Desert Duck** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 7:24 pm

Running over tents competition. Points for number of tents, size, etc. Note-this is a footrace, the danger being when you go climbing over someone's tent causing it's untimely collapse and the occupants give chase.

How To Make Burning Man More Dangerous

Suicidal

Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm ... Toasty

DANGER!

THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME