BOYCOTT BURNINGMAN! 1 YEAR SHUT DOWN!

[Ugly Dougly]

And NO, that ISN'T what it's SUPPOSED to be about.

Spoze to be "about" whatever the participants decide.

[scotto]

I'd just like to see BMORG put more effort into educating people about the event.

Please help me understand what you want BMORG to do...Is it their job to continue to invent new ways of 'educating' those that attend or is it up to the veteran burners to take the lead...

I am a 9yr Burner and have run a 100 person Theme Camp for the past 7yrs. As a leader and a veteran I do understand that not everyone gets it, or even if they do, they do not do so all at the same time.

I challenge all BM veterans to return again in '08, regardless of the announced theme, regardless of your race, creed, color or country of origin, and try and educate (1) One Playa newbie on just (1) One area you mentioned - Vehicle Maintenance or whatever your Pet Peeve may be.

This leader accepts the challenge...How about YOU?

Scotto

[Samsa Bee]

Im going to go next year and make sure I take the time to educate someone if I see them disobeying the principles.

But the best thing I can do is educate virgins BEFORE the event. I am on many message boards where others have sparked interest in going. Good for them, but one thing Bman has helped me with is to have GUTS to say brash things to others if I find it important. A lot of these folks thatwant to go, they are fun and artistic, but they get very loaded. Im a little skeptical about how they will react to it all. Thats the problem...I dont want to come off as an asshole, but I dont care anymore. Its not that I need to prove to them that Im some cool ass burner that knows her shit, cuz I dont feel that way.....but if I dont push the survival guide on them, I will feel like more of a douchebag. Iinstead of being a super nice peaceful dowhutyawant hippy, I now feel like I have the responsibility to just state the facts and maybe drill in to them a bit. I dont want to come off as somefucking annoying know it all, but with the right finesse and intention, it will be fine.

[bigbluedoggy]

How about having some rubber stamps made and distributed to experienced burners that say "Subject observed being Live Moop" and stamping it on the foreheads of the losers we run across... (apologies to honeyfire for borrowing her sig) When the idiot asks what that was for, we can then explain the correct method for dealing with whatever it was. Might get their attention at least... people seem to like having rubber stamps pressed into their flesh anyway. They just may be a bit surprised at the message... heh.

Woof!

[scruffyboy]

Hey Antim,
I like the idea of handing out the thumpers...I WANT one!

I know this thread has gotten a little off track, I'm glad to see ALL the responses. It helps me to keep it all in perspective and not take myself too seriously. I'll be back to BM.

[AntiM]

Hey Antim,
I like the idea of handing out the thumpers...I WANT one!
.

Check your local truckstop. $15~$20. The cedar ones are nice, but the little baseball bat ones are cool too.

[junglesmacks]

I'm seeing a pattern here..

[Simon of the Playa]

Shame.

Community Shame Works.


for example, one of my favorite moments was way back...

I admit to a slight "Burnier Than Thou" attitude having gone since 96

yeah, me too.......WAY BACK......

some yahoo was yelling show us your tits in a less than humorous manner when all of a sudden he was surrounded by a small group of Leather Clad Bears (i.e Big gay Men) who demanded that the young man show them his dick.

he quickly learned his lesson.

we all make mistakes, and it;s up to us, as bitter jaded veterans to realize that we did too..Help them out, teach them to wear the Ribbon, Show them a better way without telling them they're doing it wrong.

you'd be surprised how great a change can happen to someone who you might have previously disregarded due to social or economic factors.

There is nothing like seeing a newb "Get it"...it is transcendent, and rich.

And as a teacher, you will share their Joy, and be remembered for your kindness.

so, scruffy "boy"...(your syntax is too female, nice try at anonymity though) i have to disagree, and put forth this notion instead, dont boycott Burning Man, Bring a Newb, and spend the Time and energy to mold a "Burner" even if you have to work with clay from the frat house.

[Isotopia]

A one year hiatus really isn't that bad of an idea.

When I was a Ranger I went to the Glastonbury Festival in England for a week. Two of us had been invited to see how they set the event up and put the infrastructure into place for an event that regularly sees 150,000 people plus a small army of 30,000 volunteers.

Glastonbury has been going on since the early 70's and is the largest music festival in Europe next to Germany's Love Parade.

Every fourth year Glasto takes a break to regroup and keep everyone from burning out. The main reason though is that the event is held on the largest dairy farm in Britain and the idea of letting the fields grow fallow is one etched in the farming culture. Everyone I talked to who was involved in the event agrees that taking the fourth year off allows for new ideas and a fresh perspective on how to do things better the next year.

[Simon of the Playa]

sounds reasonable Iso, except, and this is just me personally speaking, if i could'nt go back to the desert to see my friends and family for 712 days i would go fucking postal in some random starbucks and then proceed to eat pure processed sugar until i went into a diabetic coma.


not even a trip to vegas with a half pound of Killer Mushrooms can quench my thirst for a long cool drink of playa.

[brcmysharona]

Some of us need that annual reminder of Who We Really Are in order to spend the rest of the year in Default. My first year was 2003, and really led me to myself.


[Quote:
I admit to a slight "Burnier Than Thou" attitude having gone since 96


yeah, me too.......WAY BACK......

some yahoo was yelling show us your tits in a less than humorous manner when all of a sudden he was surrounded by a small group of Leather Clad Bears (i.e Big gay Men) who demanded that the young man show them his dick.

he quickly learned his lesson. ]

I would have loved to see that!!

[Elderberry]

Thanks for responding guys....I needed to vent a little.
I still think it's a good idea. At LEAST kick BMORG in da butt and get a little more serious with the message.

Ya, maybe you kick 'em hard enough they'll get the porta-potty guys to also bring dumpsters to the event next year! Ya, now that's what I call packing it ALL out.

JK

[theCryptofishist]

Still, it would be interesting to see what people do with that extra year.

[Isotopia]

Well, for starters it might give them time to reflect on the idea that they can do without it more than they like to pretend.

Sorry, I just can't buy into the idea that the event is so much a necessity that people's lives would somehow be less than complete.

When I read such things I usually catch the subtle but distant smell of pig shit.

[Kinetik V]

A year off is an interesting thought. Going into free thought mode for a second or three....

1: I wonder how the playa surface would respond to another year to heal without having dang near 60000 people traipsing across it.

2: Right now it seems like Burning Man has become just another event like Sturgis where the years roll buy, you go and have your party / fuck fest / mini American Love Parade event. Taking a year off would make it a bit more "exclusive" and not so much a commodity to be consumed every year.

3: Quality of art. With two years to prepare it gives artists more time to plan, prep, and build. With 2 years to prepare the DMV Hotties could truly raise the bar on the larger mutant vehicles as there would be more time for fund raising, design, construction, etc.

In 8 years of going I went 6 years back to back...and it became routine. Labor Day rolls around and my friends, family, and the people I work with are like we know where you'll be. When I took the year off I found there was a lot more to the world. I went to a regional event, I rediscoved bike trails and did other things...and it was kinda nice. But it also recharged me to come back the next year more prepared and I ended up enjoying the experience a lot more.

The event itself could use some time off to rethink itself. To rediscover itself. If the bureaucrats quit relying on it as an annual cash cow, they might be a bit more responsive too....right now a few agencies see this as just another event on their schedule and a chance for overtime...in short, boring, predictable, blah, blah, blah.

Change is good. Maybe this idea needs to grow some legs, wings, or something and get off the ground.

Edit: A part of me does hate the idea...if I can go every year then by all means go. But I'm thinking back to a message on one of the signs posted from Gate to Greeters one year that warned us that we can love something to death. Sometimes we have to let go just a bit of the thing we love most in order for it to survive. Let me ask this...where does everyone see this event in 5 years? 100K population, double the footprint, where is it going? If something happened to Larry (heaven forbid) would the current leadership be able to sustain the event? Can anyone else create a theme and maybe inject some new ideas into the mix? These and many other questions are what we need to ask ourselves...and each other. It's time! </soapbox>

[Simon of the Playa]

Sorry, I just can't buy into the idea that the event is so much a necessity that people's lives would somehow be less than complete.

necessity, no.


but i would miss it, and would pine for it, as i think most of us would in an "off" year.

i remember 2003 vividly...i made a popcicle stick man, doused him good with gasoline and burnt his tiny ass.

the ritual didn't replace the longing for the community.

i'll say it again, it aint the heat, it's the humanity.


sure, it's not gonna kill me not to go.

but will i be better for it? i dont think so.

it's my recharge, it's my electro-shock therapy via mega-volt.
it's my vitamin P, it's my salve to heal the wounds of the past year.
Call me sentimental Iso, because i am, but i dont like to think of a year without a santa claus, it's just too sad.

[Bob]

Haters.

[Kinetik V]

Haters.

Jaded, eh?

[theCryptofishist]

FWIW, Simon, some of what I was thinking was that some people would find other arenas in which to join together and do something.
(What> I don't know, that's the point. It would be what people do when they realize that they have a year off.)

Iso, I think I remember hearing a rumor that you took a year off in the past few. Is that right?

[theCryptofishist]

Haters.

Jaded, eh?

Um. This is Bob. Are you surprised?

[ygmir]

Haters.

Jaded, eh?

upholstered

[theCryptofishist]

Haters.

Jaded, eh?

upholstered

And once again I'm been out-clevered. Damn you...uh, nicely done, Ygmir.

[Elorrum]

Talked to a friend of mine last week. She said some friends of her son had gone this year and came back to report, "All you need to take is water and a place to sleep... everything else is free."

the message is not getting through.

[ygmir]

Jaded, eh?

upholstered

And once again I'm been out-clevered. Damn you...uh, nicely done, Ygmir.

never out clevered, friend.
"even a blind cat steps on a mouse once in a while" is more how I'd put it.

[theCryptofishist]

upholstered

And once again I'm been out-clevered. Damn you...uh, nicely done, Ygmir.

never out clevered, friend.
"even a blind cat steps on a mouse once in a while" is more how I'd put it.

Now you're too big to take praise from me? Well, if I say you've been clever, you've been clever, dammit! Humph!

[ygmir]

And once again I'm been out-clevered. Damn you...uh, nicely done, Ygmir.

never out clevered, friend.
"even a blind cat steps on a mouse once in a while" is more how I'd put it.

Now you're too big to take praise from me? Well, if I say you've been clever, you've been clever, dammit! Humph!

[Roberto Dobbisano]

all right, thats it....we're shutting down e-playa for a year....

[curiousgnate]

Want a year off, take one, want two years to make your art even cooler bigger and better, take two years. but don't take away my burn!

[Lord Of Ruin]

The event doesn't need to shut down for a year.

All the food/bar camps need to stop outright gifting to strangers after Wednesday of event week.

This is when about 20-25% of the population arrives. These are largely the "takers" of our community. There is a noticeable vibe change around that time.

Packs of drunk frattards in their store bought ravewear catcalling at 'the chicks" and storming into every camp demanding "whatcha servin' today?"

Remove the attraction for them and they would stop coming.

It's easily identifiable...it's the time when the girls in your camp start asking for escorts to walk them to the portas....

LoR

[Antoinette]

I understand, I'm still going. . . but this year the portos were bad!!! You know, it's great that we get more and more baby burners, but it's up to us, the experienced burners to show and teach them to be good burners! Without us, it's just them. but don't let it ruin your experience. Any city growing as fast as ours is going to experience unpleasant growing pains. . . BE THE CHANGE YOU WANNA SEE!