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

[LeChatNoir]

Greetings!!

Welcome to eplaya.

I'm not sure WHAT I'm doing, and wonder how this works

If you are asking about the eplaya, its a place to get questions answered, make new friends and connect with old friends too. You will notice at the top and bottom of each page is a long line of text detailing out where you are on the message board. If you click on the start of this line of text where it says "Eplaya Forum Index" you will go to the main page of the board. From there you can go to different areas where different topics are being discussed.

As to the event of Burning Man itself, these pages are a good place to start:

"First Timer's Guide"

"What is Burning Man?"

Hang out and get the feel for things and read, read, read.

[gyre]

You made it on.
These boards are a little baffling the first time.
I hope you make it out.
Burning man feels like amsterdam to me.
Just more so.

[fromMA]

Im a newbie taking in all the info I can . How often does the Jack Rabbit Speaks get sent out? Ive signed up for it but have only gotten it very sporadically.....maybe 2 times in the past 3 months. Does that make sense or are my emails getting screwed up? When I re submitted my email addy I get a message saying im already on the list. Thanks and my biggest problem by far is having to wait till August......im so looking forward to comming home.

[gyre]

Email does get lost routinely.
Jackrabbit comes out sporadically.
What the schedule is only the jackrabbit knows.

[Gaiantwilight]

Greetings Zuss sisters.

All the way from Netherlands! very cool

[critterkid]

Hello, Hello, Hello....and Much Love! I'm Cristal...a TX transplant living in Seattle. I'm a virgin burner for 2007 and apparently camping with 60 or so people. (I only know approx 8 of them) I'm stoked to be going to bman this year. I've wanted to go for years and now it's finally happening. Cheers!

[gyre]

Welcome Cristal.

[smoldering guy]

What is This Place?

What is this place? Where did it come from? I forget how I came across the picture while surfing cyberspace today. A guy, painted in the most unusual manner I’ve ever seen and it looks like he’s standing in the middle of the desert. The sun is beating ferociously down on him and yet he is smiling. He’s not just smiling for the camera. He is standing almost nude in the middle of the scorched sand painted with bright fluorescent colors and smiling as happily as I have ever seen anyone smile. The caption under the picture says Burning Man - 2005.

What is this place? I Google “Burning Manâ€

[MikeVDS]

What is this place? What is this place? I think the only appropriate answer I've found to this question is, "Welcome home." Nothing else is adequate.

[Dr. Pyro]

Sorry to disappoint you, but Burning Man was better last year. So was the ePlaya.

[LeChatNoir]

Sure enough...

Welcome Home, smoldering guy.

I've been going for several years now, and I still don't know what it is you've found here. But I know its pretty special and I still get all smiles when I remember prepping fro my first trip to the playa.

Welcome Home...

[Jamm'in]

Very well put, Pat. I loved it. I share the same feelings and hope you have a wonderful time...,

May I ask, Dr Pyro / Black Cat, How has it become worse>? Or decreased, as you say? just a lil curious?
Havent you found something there by now.? Or do you go, just cause its there?

[LeChatNoir]

Very well put, Pat. I loved it. I share the same feelings and hope you have a wonderful time...,

May I ask, Dr Pyro / Black Cat, How has it become worse>? Or decreased, as you say? just a lil curious?

Oddly enough my post fell just after the good Doctor’s by chance, and it sort of fit so I left it without explanation. Now I’m glad you asked for clarification, actually.

I suspect Doc is poking in the ribs, but he may well correct me on that one. For myself, I find that each burn so far has been very different, but not really better or worse. Simply each its own. Like each one is a new experience or something. I’ve been going since ‘04 so this will be my 4th burn. There are many here on the board that have been much longer than that and they may feel it was better in years past, but I can’t speak for them. I’ve only read about it in Brian Doherty’s book, “This is Burning Manâ€

[MikeVDS]

May I ask, Dr Pyro / Black Cat, How has it become worse>? Or decreased, as you say? just a lil curious?

It's something most people say semi-sarcastically. It's human nature it seems to resist change, even for burners. Most people have a great time their first time and expect it to be the same, but it changes so much each year and it's drastically evolved from what it once was. So when people say that they are usually both making a joke of the people who whine and complain that things used to be better "back in the day" and are semi-serious that they had special situations in the past that can never be duplicated because it's a different event now. Was it really better? Maybe it was for them. Now it's something different, better for some, worse for others. So when you go back in 09, you just might get that feeling that it was better the way you experienced it back in 08. Who knows.

[Dr. Pyro]

Yeah, the old "Burning Man was better last year" schtick has been around since forever. It's just one of the ways we say "Welcome Home!" Now, in all fairness, 2006 may have been my best year, though 2003 was pretty special as well. I have been attending since 1999 and you will find your first year will be something magical. Enjoy!

[Zerebro]

Hola!

I've been following BM online for a couple of years only and... this year seems like it's going to be my first time there, in the flesh!!

I will be travelling from London and so far it will be just me as a couple of friends are still indecisive. I'm so excited about it that i find myself reading constantly about BM, it has become almost an obsession!

Anyway, since i'll be probably alone, how can i find out about joining a camp?

Thanks and... i'll see you there!!

[nogganoodle]

Hey Zerebro, as a fellow UKer I understand your obsession. Last year was my first and I am making the (long!) return journey this year. And I can't wait!

Welcome Home.

[gyre]

Burning man will have been better next year.

[smoldering guy]

Thanks to everyone for the reception and a special thanks to Dr. Pyro for your opinion on the quality of past Burning Mans and the eplaya. Although . . . if I respected your opinion I might be disappointed, but I’m not. Just kidding. Nothing, and I mean nothing could stop me from attending the Burning Man. Well maybe dying could or my girl friend or an auto accident, or falling in a well or . . .

Ok some more prose

The Burning Man and the smoldering guy

We‘re burning inside to break out from within,
and go to a place I’ve never been.
Many will travel across the land,
and live for a while out on the sand.

Yes we’ll go there, you and I,
to the playa below the blazing sky.
Life isn’t living just to survive,
and it’s been too long since we’ve been alive.

It’ll be good for a spell to really live
and give to many what we can give.

Hit the road, say goodbye to gloom,
and to the desert to help it bloom.
Get the stuff and pack the van
‘cause we’re go’in to meet the Burning Man.



We’ll go to the desert and prove it rains,
to free us from our locks and chains.

The desert will kill us, we’ll wither away
and surely die in just one day!

No! Earth to earth and dust from dust,
to the Burning Man bestow your trust.

When we arrive what we will find?
Your eyes will be opened from being blind!

A city will rise and wine will flow,
the Man will burn so I’ve been told.
He’ll give us that, for which we yearn
and we’ll rejoice to watch him burn.

From one to many they form a clan,
becoming a part of that fiery Man.
Burning desire constrained no more!
Free the spirit and let it soar.
Go to the desert where he will stand
and be as one with the Burning Man.

[pinemom]

....and above all wear sunscreen!


Oh and do not I REPEAT do not bring EXPECTATIONS to the playa, they're not allowed in.
I've heard they make you throw them away at the door!

[AntiM]

Just another fucking dusty, hot, scorching, fiery, searing, flaming, burning, roasting, broiling, hot fucking camping trip.

See, with only that as an expectation, you can't be disappointed. Makes everything gravy.

[jacy]

Just heard about this event from John Halycon Styne...HugNation. He is trying to buy an RV and I asked why. Now I am hooked on trying to go!

My screen name is Jacy (JC) for my initials may name is Jackie C

[SkeletonMan]

The last greeting is from 2003

Anyway I am from Denmark and going to the man for the 1st time this year. I have HUGE expectations and SOME anxiety about it ... It seems completely overwhelming and includes a lot of planning. Especially when coming alone from across the atlantic.
I am going first to Chicago in the middle of August and then from there to the man.
So if anyone is going from Chicago around August 25/26th LET ME KNOW! I am not quite sure how to get there but I guess I will need to fly. To Reno, Nevada I reckon is the closest (yeah, anyone ?!?).
Ah .... better post these questions under the right subject.
Anyway, I am into psychedelic trance music, turned lawyer a year ago, and have been to four psychedelic trance festivals in Europe.

[SkeletonMan]

Oops, there are newer greeting. :oops:

[LeChatNoir]

Oops, there are newer greeting.

Welcome SkeletonMan!!!

I met some fellows from Denmark last year. What a trip they were. They run the Danmarks Smukkeste Festival and wanted to see what Burning Man was all about. After spending some time in Black Rock City, they said they wanted to steer their event to be more like the Burn.

Check around this link here:

http://regionals.burningman.com/eu.html

There might be some helpful connections on that page. Get on the Playadust list. Those Euroburners are some very helpful and quality folks. Especially when it comes to tips on getting to the desert.

[jacy]

I live in Alabama, but I think it will be cheaper to fly to Reno and hook up there. I only found out about this today, so I'm in the pre plan stage. Would like to rent RV with some folks in Reno...I can't drive one:(

[MikeVDS]

Hi Jacy and welcome.

I wish you luck with your RV situation but I have to warn you it may be tough to find that arrangement. I would suggest starting a topic here looking to share the costs of a RV. From what I've heard it may be hard to find a RV in Reno, but it doesn't really need to be from Reno, just make it to the burn. You can get a ride from the airport to BRC from anyone then meet whoever is sharing the RV with you at Black Rock City. Also if you don't get any responses to sharing an RV for the event in a few days you should try craigslist and tribe.net also. Be persistent. I bet there are other people who'll want to share one as well. Also be more specific about what you expect. If you plan on bringing in overnight guests, if they can bring guests, water and food arrangements, etc.

And welcome home. You most likely will not regret coming out regardless of what you must do to get there.

[SkeletonMan]

[quote="LeChatNoir"][quote="SkeletonMan"]Oops, there are newer greeting. [/quote]

Welcome SkeletonMan!!!

I met some fellows from Denmark last year. What a trip they were. They run the [b]Danmarks Smukkeste Festival[/b] and wanted to see what Burning Man was all about. After spending some time in Black Rock City, they said they wanted to steer their event to be more like the Burn.

Check around this link here:

http://regionals.burningman.com/eu.html

There might be some helpful connections on that page. Get on the Playadust list. Those Euroburners are some very helpful and quality folks. Especially when it comes to tips on getting to the desert.[/quote]
Haha, yeah, that's also known as Skanderborg Festivalen. I haven't been there. It's more of a family thing, I reckon, and so I prefer the Roskilde Festival in Denmark which is more a hard on festival. Interesting that the Skanderborg people went to the man ...
Thanks for your help! I already went to the page you recommended and signed up for playdust.
I'm gonna need to hook up with some people one way or another. I guess I'll be posting some threads here & there till my luck is up
Again, many thanks!

[Peaches]

hi, my name is Petra and I'll be attending BM for the first time this year. I first heard about the festival about 7 years ago I guess, when I was a summer intern in an architectural firm in Santa Barbara. One of the architects that I worked with was going and he was so excited! I just remember hearing bits and pieces of what goes on, but nothing to where I thought I would be interested in going to something like that. But as the years went on, I'd meet other people who had gone or were planning on going and I got to talk to them about their experiences. About two years ago (BM 2005) my friend had just come back from BM and had dinner with us and shared his pictures from the week. I started asking him all sorts of questions re: my fears and hopes...that's when I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of.

oh, and if that question was more about where I first heard of eplaya board, well thats from the burning man web site that I've been studying ever since I bought my tickets back at the beginning of the year!!

[MikeVDS]

Hello and welcome Peaches. I had also known of BM and planned to come many years before I actually did. If you're anything like me, you will wish you had made arrangements to come years ago.