what is your favorite burning man possession?

skypilot · Post by **skypilot** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 3:15 pm

:D I have in my possession a COMPLETE set of gigsville/sindicate trading cards. for all the talk of this camp being unfriendly, they are not. I have 2 cards of III, decked out in a red corset with his bushmaster rifle and clown makeup--priceless. these mean a lot to me, as they were GIVEN to me by III, which makes them all the more special. What is YOUR favorite BM possession, why is it your favorite, and does it mean more to you because it was given, or bartered for??

geekster · Post by **geekster** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 3:26 pm

I mistook someone sitting in center camp for an old friend. We laughed about the mistaken identity and chatted a bit. She gave me a beaded necklace that I am still wearing. My daughter noticed the necklace and so she "won" one with tokens at a local kids place with a multicolored neon string and a rubber flip-flop. So that is indirectly a BM gift and am wearing both. My absolute fav is the lip balm in a plain white tube on a red lanyard that someone riding by on a bike tossed to me just when I was noticing that the condition of my lips was going to dowse my burn. The balm is gone now, but I have kept the container on a string as a reminder. It hangs from the corner of my mirror on the dresser.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 3:31 pm

Call me a sweet-talker or a simpering fool or a sentimental idiot or whatever, but I really have a soft spot for the gifts I gathered from e-playans. I have Silver's polymer clay medalion, Ring's tie dye neckerchief (and I can be such a snooty girl about tie dye, growing up in post-hippie-Berkeley and all), AntiM's wire-wrapped leopardskin jasper, FATSam and Rachel's hemp bracelet. . .It just means more when it's from someone I have a connection with.

You guys are great.

Especially you samtzu!

[aside]that's the ticket, butter him up, distract him, flatter him[/aside]

skypilot · Post by **skypilot** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 3:45 pm

:D neither of you are "sentimental fools"..on the contrary, it shows appreciation of a gift. i forgot to mention that a charred barbie head, given to me by "the doc", hangs from the rear view mirror of my jeep. causes some raised eyebrows amoungst my co workers. As for the extra III trading card, it's pasted up on my locker at work...on the inside, of course.

Observer · Post by **Observer** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 5:44 pm

A little chiched, maybe - but I have a piece of the Man. Little sliver, collected after the fires died down, surprisingly clean considering how much soot was surrounding it.

Got it taped to my bookcase.

thinkcooper · Post by **thinkcooper** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 8:51 pm

sappy answer- my photos and my stories of burn gone by.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 8:58 pm

Nothing.

Nothing you could call a possession, anyway. The kitten I found on the ranch in '98 is still pining for the fnords.

Tiahaar · Post by **Tiahaar** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 10:44 pm

In 2003 on burn night someone on a double-decker bus tossed me my first glow-toy...a ball made of glow-sticks!! So beautifully cool, it is sitting now over under my floor lamp. Later a fireman handed me his 15" (HUGE!) red chem-light. Its laying beside my microwave. I gave a trike ride to a cute girl and her boyfriend gave me an icecube tap-light with "art for life" on it, it sits on the shelf over my desk. Someone else handed me a light on a string I wore as a necklace the rest of the night, giving it to a newly met Russian friend as he parted from my camp. Wonder if he remembers me? Thank you all for all your gifts, I treasure every one.

mars · Post by **mars** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 10:45 pm

Okay...really sappy...but I mean it.....I cherish EVERY gift I have received on the playa. My first year, no one gave me anything because I didn't interact with anyone I didn't already know.

This year, I pushed my limits, I visited camps, met people, reached out, welcomed people, and lots of gifts came my way. I appreciate every single one.

Mars

cowboyangel · Post by **cowboyangel** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 11:12 pm

Simply Joel · Post by **Simply Joel** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 5:03 am

my favorite burning man possession... friends and memories

Mister Jellyfish Mister · Post by **Mister Jellyfish Mister** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 6:28 am

My kilt that my new Scottish friend gave me after I told him how I proposed to my wife. I could not take it off for the rest of the burn. He is very lean so I've got a rediculous goal weight for next year if I want to wear it without a zip tie extending the waist.

I was parked near the temple feeling like the lame duck party next to the double decker party bus that drew all the attention. It got worse when I realized I ran down my battery and had to pull out the jumper cables. Just when I thought I would have a lonely ride of shame back to camp, a military officer and his girlfriend jumped aboard. I could tell they felt very special having a royal ride just for them and he thanked me with a lead glob necklace stamped with a cool robot. It reminds me of the nobility of making someone feel special even when I don't.

Dustdevil · Post by **Dustdevil** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 11:01 am

It was in 2000. After the Burn I stayed at a low budget motel for the night to rest before I drove home. When I left my room on Monday morning there were two suitcases in the parking lot next to my truck. The ajoining rooms were vacant so I went to turn them in to the office. The person behind the desk spoke little English and I gave up trying to explain that these needed to be returned to the rightful owner. I took them home with me expecting to find an address I could send them to. All I found was a name and an address in Riverside, CA. I was reluctent to send them without contacting someone first. Using the reverse lookup feature I was not able to get a phone number for the address. Reverse lookup often has a feature to find the numbers of homes close by. Using that I got the number of the house across the street. They gave me the phone number of the person I needed to contact. It turned out it was his son. His son lived in Canada and had been to the Festival. He was delighted to get his belongings back. He had a bunch of film and nice cameras. He insisted on sending me a reward but I really didn't want one. In his belongings was a gold colored pendant about the size of a 1/2 dollar with the logo on it. I really wanted a pendant like that one and told him so. He was vague about where it came from or whether he could get another. It was obviously quite special to him. A few days later a nice thank you card and a pendant showed up in my mail. I love the pendant and it will always remind me that the axiom "no good deed goes unpunished" is not always true.

skillyrabbit · Post by **skillyrabbit** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 12:06 pm

[quote="tyRabbit "] my best burning man possession, I'm so very proud
to say is "my husband". And yes he is my possession every year we come home . In 1998 he got down on his knee just as the man had fallen to his knees in flames, and proposed to me. Altho we were not wed at Burning Man, we possess "the obsession to make it to the burn year after year". This year what could have been a 7 year itch was much more like Lucky #7.
My Burning Man home town possession is "Skilly".

Sincerely, tyRabbit

bonkmaster · Post by **bonkmaster** » Mon Oct 18, 2004 8:51 am

I have been going to the burn since '97. I could not make it in 2002 since I was closing and moving into my home. A good friend I had turned onto Burning Man in 2001 was able to go and partake with the Opera Camp. He brought back a canvas painting of the man that he made for me out of playa dust. It means so much that he put so much thought and time into it. Very cool.

sputnik · Post by **sputnik** » Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:11 pm

My memories are number 1, and I review them often.

The various necklaces I was gifted with are number two, and I wear one every day to remind me to live the playa every day. theCryptofishist gave me one when we met at BDC&WB, very nice red female torso (what would you call that fishie?). My favorite of these is a beautiful polished steel piece that has the emblem of the man on the front, and the words "Live the Playa Year Round" stamped into the back. I found that one hanging on the fish out at the north trash fence.

Captain Goddammit · Post by **Captain Goddammit** » Mon Oct 18, 2004 8:21 pm

I think my favorite thing from BM is the black pirate flag that Sensei gave me for my boat this year.
It sure isn't this nasty itchy rash that chick from some camp on the outer ring gave me...

Tancorix · Post by **Tancorix** » Mon Oct 18, 2004 10:56 pm

My favorite BM possession? A necklace that Das Bus in Kidsville gave me that has 2 bottles on it. 1 has playa dust, the other has ashes from the man in 2003.

I have lots of BM possessions and the question asked us to pick one. But there's so much I bring back from BM that's priceless...you can't put a material value on and pick one thing over the other. Friends and memories come to mind...they are irreplaceable.

digitalstruggle · Post by **digitalstruggle** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 11:34 am

That's easy: The Party Spatula

Saturday night after the Burn, we're dancing our asses off in El Circo ... the big white dome at 2 o'clock. The place is packed, it's beautiful. The best crowded dance environment you could possibly imagine ... it's wonderful. It's the kind of scene that advertising executives always aim for when trying to show a ROCKING TRIBAL ALTERNATIVE PEOPLE party ... but are never able to get right.

My friend and I are just dancing away, periodically asking each other how the party could possibly rock so much. A few moments later, he disappears. He had crouched to pick something up. He taps my shoulder to turn me around and in a very stunned way goes "dude ... um ... wtf?" and holds up ... a spatula. A black metal spatula ... the working end of it is covered in a non-stick coating. The handle is black and plastic, it has a loop of cord at the end.

What a sight to behold. As far as I know, El Circo was not a pancake kitchen during the day or a restaurant at night. Plus, even if it had been, someone would have cleaned stuff like this up. No, obviously, this spatula wasn't there by accident.

It was a Party Spatula.

We held it up for a little while to try and find its owner, but we gave up. WE were the new owners. I put a glowstick on the loop of cord at the end and began to figure out its magic powers. Kinda like Harry Potter when he gets his wand. Kinda like a new owner of The One Ring. Imagine if you were to find a magical item ... all of its powers slowly reveal themselves to you through trial and error.

We found that you could hold the thing up and shake it around and it would make the music sound better. Over the past few weeks, we've determined that it improves the music by exactly 32% once it has warmed up. You can flip sounds, shove them around, cut, and mix stuff with great ease. It also has inspirational powers, because when someone sees you holding up a spatula with a glowstick swinging off of it at a party, they usually stop, put on a very strange face and go "W ... T ... F?!" If you stand around with it talking about it, you will find that random hot girls come up to you and ask to be spanked by it (really).

The best part is its ease of use. It fits very easily and neatly into your back pocket. The angle of the business end helps it rest securely and in a very comfortable manner. The non-stick coating eases deployment ... it's amazing how quickly you can whip it out of your pocket, add a little emphasis to a song, then spin it around and put it back in.

I have a hunch that The Party Spatula may be capable of creating others (that grow in power over the course of several parties). It's very likely, though that they can only be forged at Burning Man. For now, it resides in Los Angeles.

bonkmaster · Post by **bonkmaster** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 1:11 pm

That is awesome, the next time I go to the Burn I am looking for my own magical spatula...

I am wondering if you needed to go through some rite of passage before the Gods looked down and blessed you with this gift?

Do you remember if you donated your soul or you were given as a treat to Alien beings and this was your gift for atonement?

I am keeping my Eye open for my gift. I thinkI was probed by aliens a few years back...

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 5:56 pm

i have a couple

first and foremost is a hemp and bead necklace given to me by the coolest nicest gal on the playa whom i adopted as my big sister, attached to the necklace is a small glass vial filled with playa dust from the '99 burn given to me by a vetran burner...i havent taken it off since i got back from the desert, and it hangs right infront of my heart so i feel like im following the playa wherever i go

i also have a small plastic leaf that i picked up from xara...i planted it under my pot plant...hoping it'll give me some slammin buds

also i have a little red blinky light given to me by a narc about 20 minutes before he busted me (someone had also given me a hand blown glass pipe...but the rangers confiscated it from me)

but above all else i have my memories...thanks guys...you gave me one hell of a first burn...

-Duke \<>/

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 8:28 am

sputnik wrote:The various necklaces I was gifted with are number two, and I wear one every day to remind me to live the playa every day. theCryptofishist gave me one when we met at BDC&WB, very nice red female torso (what would you call that fishie?).

*blushing and wiggling* Well thank you. I call them Crocs although they can be Aligators as well, and no lesser luminary than Carol Queen said "I can think of about a half dozen body parts this reminds me of" when I gave her one a few years back.

So call it what you will, I embrase the fascinating variety.

Q_ · Post by Q_ » Fri Oct 22, 2004 3:05 pm

This year was my first year at the man and I was lucky enough to camp with some friends that had a theme camp on the esplande.

I was working our bar at our camp for the first time, and also on happy medicine for the first time, so I spent most of the time just staring at people and chatting, completly negelecting my brooze mixing responsibilities. I had never seen so many happy friendly interesting people before. I spent some quality time talking to this one guy from Reno and feeding him drinks. After awhile he takes off this cool leather wrist band and hands it to me. He said "I want you to have this, my brother gave it to me two years ago and I wear it everyday". I didn't know what to do, I was shocked! Everytime that I wear it I smile and think of him and my first gift experience at the man.

HEADBANDMAN · Post by **HEADBANDMAN** » Fri Oct 22, 2004 4:03 pm

MY WIFE SHE IS COOL

spectabillis · Post by **spectabillis** » Sat Oct 23, 2004 8:14 pm

Like, hey dude, thats not funny. Me still gots 3 months left for my possession.

shitmouse · Post by **shitmouse** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 10:51 am

the "party spatula"! you don't find it, it finds you. hahaha....

WIYFBMP? the foghorn on my bike, what do i want for xmas? quite possibly, a party spatula.
-b

samtzu · Post by **samtzu** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 12:48 pm

I discovered that my favorite possesion was the playa dust all over my camping gear. I had a yellow puddle around my camp at the Portland Decom from dust washing off in the rain. Made me feel like I was on the playa....

Well, that, as well as the people screaming around on the golf cart with the flat tire (which fell of the rim, but didn't slow them down) that kept running past my camp all night until about 8:00 in the AM. Major drunk driving violation.

HughMungus · Post by **HughMungus** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 11:28 pm

thinkcooper wrote:sappy answer- my photos and my stories of burn gone by.

<sappy>Ditto. The memories are the best thing. I'm not much of a "collector" myself, though. </sappy>

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 2:01 am

Other than friends and memories?

I'd have to say it's a three-way tie.
1 ) My EL wire-embellished black brocade frock coat.
2) My bike, NiceRidE,
and 3) the oakwood sword I made for my character this year.

My bike is my trusty steed, my frock coat is my coat of arms, and what good is a trusty steed and a coat of arms without a fine piece of weaponry? I get to live out my swashbuckler fantasy in the land of high adventure

dougaldutch · Post by **dougaldutch** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 3:16 am

Oh it just so damn hard to choose...wait a minute I dont have to. Well first off has to be the Pith helmet I was gifted by one of the best souls I met on the playa, but then also the tutorial in large marge his carvan on how to kit it out with el-wire. Saved many a bike crashing into me that did, fun and practical now thats what I call a gift.

I treasure my first gift which was is a bottle opening pendant in the shape of the mans head, also the lesson it taught me about not wearing black objects that heat up during the day and swing perilously near your exposed nipples.

Finally the skill I now possess to piss into a bottle despite what state I am in, spilling not one drop and the curious applications I am now finding for this skill.

DougalD

what is your favorite burning man possession?

what is your favorite burning man possession?

first lights

Kilt

Re: what is your favorite burning man possession?

Favorite BM possession?

I FOUND