So I want to bring things to gift at burningman, but the best thing I can come up with is bottles of alcohol. Is this a good gift at burningman to the different bars? also is it customary to put it in a different bottle or decorate the bottle so it's unrecognizable as being from the default?
Atlas
Gifting
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teardropper
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oneeyeddick
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Fire_Moose
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professorzed
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Mad Dogs and Englishmen
Have you ever heard of the expression:
"Only Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noon-day sun?"
This came from colonial Africa. While the sparsely clad natives in South Africa had to take shelter from the oppressive heat of the noon-day African sun, the British soldiers were able to function right through the day covered from toe to neck completely covered in their heavy red army uniforms.
http://www.thediehards.co.uk/zulu%20war ... 0one/8.jpg
How were the British able to do this?
GIN AND TONIC.
[u]GIN[/u] (like many hard spirits) causes the arterioles in the skin to open up, creating a flush of blood to the skin, and RELEASING HEAT. This is why so many people living on the streets freeze to death drinking outside in winter. Drinking hard spirits makes your skin feel warmer...but you are actually cooling your body down.
The [u]TONIC [/u]was a mixer that had Quinine in it. This is a necessary medicine for the prevention of malaria. Quinine is pretty nasty tasting on it's own, so by adding it to flavored carbonated water so the British Army could ensure that none of their soldiers would be getting sick.
Without the invention of Gin and Tonic, the European colonization of Africa would not have been possible.
As far as using TONIC as a mixer goes, here's something to keep in mind.
TONIC WATER has about the same amount of acidity (pH 2.9), as lemon juice, (pH 2.3) or vinegar (pH 2.4-3.4). This balances out the alkalinity of the playa dust, but without that vinegary smell. Helpful to know if anyone develops playa foot. Useful for washing off the playa dust, too.
http://www.jackeden.com/tips/phmat.html
"Only Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noon-day sun?"
This came from colonial Africa. While the sparsely clad natives in South Africa had to take shelter from the oppressive heat of the noon-day African sun, the British soldiers were able to function right through the day covered from toe to neck completely covered in their heavy red army uniforms.
http://www.thediehards.co.uk/zulu%20war ... 0one/8.jpg
How were the British able to do this?
GIN AND TONIC.
[u]GIN[/u] (like many hard spirits) causes the arterioles in the skin to open up, creating a flush of blood to the skin, and RELEASING HEAT. This is why so many people living on the streets freeze to death drinking outside in winter. Drinking hard spirits makes your skin feel warmer...but you are actually cooling your body down.
The [u]TONIC [/u]was a mixer that had Quinine in it. This is a necessary medicine for the prevention of malaria. Quinine is pretty nasty tasting on it's own, so by adding it to flavored carbonated water so the British Army could ensure that none of their soldiers would be getting sick.
Without the invention of Gin and Tonic, the European colonization of Africa would not have been possible.
As far as using TONIC as a mixer goes, here's something to keep in mind.
TONIC WATER has about the same amount of acidity (pH 2.9), as lemon juice, (pH 2.3) or vinegar (pH 2.4-3.4). This balances out the alkalinity of the playa dust, but without that vinegary smell. Helpful to know if anyone develops playa foot. Useful for washing off the playa dust, too.
http://www.jackeden.com/tips/phmat.html
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dragonpilot
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- Location: Seattle, WA
Here's one of several threads about favorite gifts people have given and received.
http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic.php?t=25128
(Common answers: alcohol, jewelry, snacks or meals, assistance/repair or volunteering.)
Like dragonpilot, I bring the small (plastic) airline bottles of alcohol to gift to individuals, and/or would make someone a drink. I would have to have a special tie to a playa bar to want to give a full bottle of alcohol (I would particularly enjoy seeing it get used, you see), but if I did gift a bar, it would probably give decent but not top shelf stuff in a plastic bottle. Or mixers, which tend to run out. And yeah, originally sealed & completely identifiable is good. Save the especially good stuff for new friends. And if they are extremely new friends and look young, card them . . . although the young undercover agents would probably target bars slightly more than individuals.
http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic.php?t=25128
(Common answers: alcohol, jewelry, snacks or meals, assistance/repair or volunteering.)
Like dragonpilot, I bring the small (plastic) airline bottles of alcohol to gift to individuals, and/or would make someone a drink. I would have to have a special tie to a playa bar to want to give a full bottle of alcohol (I would particularly enjoy seeing it get used, you see), but if I did gift a bar, it would probably give decent but not top shelf stuff in a plastic bottle. Or mixers, which tend to run out. And yeah, originally sealed & completely identifiable is good. Save the especially good stuff for new friends. And if they are extremely new friends and look young, card them . . . although the young undercover agents would probably target bars slightly more than individuals.