­Burning Man is an annual festival that began in 1986. Tens of thousands of people gather at the 'Playa' in Nevada's Black Rock Desert to create a temporary wooden city dedicated to community, art, self-expression and self-reliance.

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[–]hennojisan 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (7 children)

So, Burning Man 2020 or not?

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 3 fun3 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 3 fun -  (5 children)

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/499873-burning-man-virtual-covid-fail/

[–]hennojisan 2 insightful - 3 fun2 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 3 fun -  (1 child)

Jason?

[–]JasonCarswell 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Fun.

2013, none of those were me.

[–]JasonCarswell 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

The title says it all:

‘Virtual Burning Man’ is an insult to anyone who’s ever been there, swapping ‘radical self reliance’ for radical rule-following

Didn't know about it. Prolly wouldn't have participated if I had.

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Did you see that some people got busted in SF trying to Burn on the beach? I think at the original spot.They closed the beach the next night to prevent them from coming back.

[–]JasonCarswell 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Thanks. I didn't. Interesting to know. Baker Beach is not the best place to hang out, even in the summer. It's cold.

I don't recall if it was on Baker Beach too, but the Christmas Tree burn is a lot of fun too. Everyone brings as many as they can (easily found curbside) for a giant pile, and holy shit, when they light it up, man does it ever spread fast - like wild fire. Makes you wonder why more people don't have accidents. There were plenty of police around, but they didn't let folks stick around to hang and party. I'd guess that was the first week of January or so 2006 because I'd moved to Ottawa the next year with Janet for a few months before driving down to Oakland. I wouldn't be surprised if the canceled that since.

[–]JasonCarswell 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

BM2020 was cancelled for the COVID.

[–]yishengqingwa666 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

And now it's super expensive for tickets and full of rich bugmen.

[–]JasonCarswell 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Bugmen?

[–]JasonCarswell 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (4 children)

Burning Man was an annual summer solstice beach burn on San Francisco's Baker Beach from 1986 to 1991, exponentially getting bigger, until the police said they couldn't light it up. They postponed the burn and moved it out Nevada's Black Rock Desert later in 1991 where they've had most of the growing festivals since, during the week up to Labor Day.

Black rocks are found all over the Black Rock Desert - so Black Rock City has nothing to do with the EVIL Black Rock corporation.

The temporary autonomous zone (TAZ) is not a wooden city. Not everything burns.

It's an extreme community in an extreme environment and only the people who extremely want to be there make and they make it extremely worth while. Yes, it's focused on creative expression, radical self-reliance, and a DIY maker ethos. You have to bring and take EVERYTHING you'll need for your stay and leave nothing but footprints (and whatever comes out of your body in the port-a-potties - the only service they provide). The event is profoundly NON-commercial and a gifting economy is promoted.

I went ten times from 1999-2008, and was very active around North America in the regional festivals and communities where the community and lifestyle persist year round beyond just the week in the desert.

[–]ReeferMadness 5 insightful - 3 fun5 insightful - 2 fun6 insightful - 3 fun -  (3 children)

The event is profoundly NON-commercial and a gifting economy is promoted.

And the tickets are expensive as fuck.

[–]JasonCarswell 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

MUCH of the ticket expense is to pay off the "authorities" who won't grant the permits (that they keep raising the prices of) unless they get their cut and tax the citizens a second time. The police are not even wanted there. The Black Rock Desert is at the corner of 3 sheriff counties, on federal BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land, and also attended by Nevada State police, the DEA, fire departments, ambulance, etc. Plus port-a-potties and the turd burglars who maintain them raise their rates (something I'm actually sympathetic to).

For years they've been considering buying a permanent large region of land to host their private event on, rather than pay off these "authorities". Now I suspect that they've got this cash cow I doubt they would let them find an alternative venue.

[–]jet199 1 insightful - 3 fun1 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 3 fun -  (1 child)

The upper classes don't want to have to see all that ugly blatant capitalism on their weekend break, that's for the trash to put up with.

[–]JasonCarswell 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

I can assure you that Burning Man is NOT for the upper classes. There are poor people there (stinky hippies), but not nearly as many poor folks as are in "normal" society. Of course there are those who range from poor to millionaires and even celebrities - but they are FAAAR from the norm. On average I'd say attendees are middle class and upper middle class.

Burning Man is ONLY for those who make the effort to go waaaaay out of their way to an extreme environment for some extreme fun.

Many people can't handle nature nor the dust, hot, and cold of the desert and never return. They're the ones with a bad attitude.

The anti-corporate policy was NOT started by some upper classes. The event originated as a anarcho-hippie beach burn.

[–]Chipit 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

LOL. The only reason for Burning Man is so elitist assholes can be away from minorities for a week.

Not to mention all the air pollution released by the burning materials! What the F, I thought they cared about the environment. The environmental rules are for us to follow, not them, but we knew that already.

[–]JasonCarswell 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

LOL. Your are a shitty pooper-on-parades and lousy critic. You don't know the first fucking thing about Burning Man. But we all knew that already.

Whatever is large and burned at Burning Man has to be approved and is trivial in the grand scheme of things. Drive by ANY oil refinery to find year round fires doing MUCH worse.

FYI, Many folks who attend Burning Man are tree planters, environmentalists, etc. What do you do for the environment keyboard warrior?

While I don't buy into the carbon tax bullshit, the organizers of Burning Man have been paying carbon credits or whatever and have been "carbon neutral" since 2007, the "Green" year, and retroactively - including all the fuel used for people travelling from around the world to attend it, though I don't know how they calculate that. That's what I've been told, though even then I was skeptical.

[–]Chipit 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Whatever is large and burned at Burning Man has to be approved

By the same corrupt government that approved the year round oil refinery fires?

the organizers of Burning Man have been paying carbon credits or whatever

These are nothing but medieval indulgences that the Catholic Church sold to forgive sins. It was corrupt bullshit then and it's corrupt bullshit now. Al Gore took the lead in getting rich off them though, so I'm sure he thanks you. Nah actually elites despise people like you and me.

How many inner-city youth attend Burning Man? Oh, they don't, the high ticket price keeps them out? Oh, dear.

[–]JasonCarswell 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

" By the same corrupt government that approved the year round oil refinery fires? "

Good question. No. Burning Man has their own pyro experts, some of whom work for the government, and some of whom work for pyrotechnical teams that do everything from professional fireworks displays (one is a friend of mine) and others who do pyrotechnics for mass media (another friend does pyro for countless TV shows in Vancouver). Ignorantly playing with fire can be dangerous (as these riots have proven), but playing with fire can be a lot of fun too. I spin fire poi, breathe fire, and have participated in making fire sculptures, among other things (not all at the same time).

" These are nothing but medieval indulgences that the Catholic Church sold to forgive sins. It was corrupt bullshit then and it's corrupt bullshit now. "

I suppose other art festivals, a beach campfire, and/or the 4th of July fireworks are all Satan's work?

Fire has been around a lot longer than humanity and its mythologies and dogmas. The beauty of Burning Man is that you can read into it what ever you want to - including nothing at all. It's an art festival. Deal with it.

" Al Gore took the lead in getting rich off them though, so I'm sure he thanks you. Nah actually elites despise people like you and me. "

I thought Al Gore was scum in 2000. He fooled me in 2005 when I saw him at Fort Mason give his lecture that became "An Inconvenient Truth". Ten years later I realized he was scum again and the Carbon Tax Scam was bullshit.

" How many inner-city youth attend Burning Man? Oh, they don't, the high ticket price keeps them out? Oh, dear. "

As many as can make it happen. It's not something you do on a whim. We spend all year planning for it, including our budgets. There's no shortage of young poor hippies of all races there, though admittedly White is obviously dominant. If people have no interest in it then I can't make them go. I'm quite sure there are rap, R&B, Mexican, Latin, etc. events that are not primarily White and cost money. Does that make them sinful? Gimme a break. Get the police to stop double-taxing the citizens of Burning Man and I guarantee the price will be halved or more. The cops take the money to watch some titties. Some of them attend to bust some hippies. All of them like being there and the ca$h.

[–]JasonCarswell 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

"Burning Man: The Documentary" Pretentious title. There are MANY Burning Man documentaries. I directed half of one, "Drama In The Desert". I should "pirate" my own movie and release it (with the DVD audio glitch fixed).

Nice documentary posted 2013-01-20, apparently with footage only from August/September 2012.

@ 0:36 My former housemate of 2001-2002, Nicole, aka Technopatra hugging a couple.

@ 5:58 I miss my home. Sounds like cult mentality, but Burning Man is whatever you want it to be, so it's an un-cult cult if you must call it one.

@ 7:02 He's wearing a Skinny Puppy T-shirt.

Some of the art and fashions are not good and they're featuring that, which is sad, because there's usually sooooo much great art and fashions to showcase.

@ 11:08 I have one of those maps from 2005 or 2006. I got to know many of the folks at the airport and got many of my friends flights around. A couple even joined the mile-high club and he flew his plane up and down for a gravitational assist.

@ 14:59 Frequent temple builder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Best_(sculptor)

@ 19:21 I wonder if he drove over some rebar (used to stake down everything from blowing away).

I had a similar problem. In 2007 I rebuilt a 1963 golf cart for my girlfriend's disabled brother, but in the desert I discovered some problems recharging the deep-cycle batteries. Come prepared and be prepared to have anything fail.

Many of the same mutant art vehicles have been attending for yeeeeaaaars. Not everything is burned or temporary/disposable/ephemeral.

@ 25:14 I have 2 or 3 file folder boxes of Burning Man memorabilia, including most of the Black Rock Beacon, Black Rock Gazette, etc with editions up to 2008 plus whatever friends gave me thereafter. Some of it is like The Onion, and some is serious. Usually well worth reading, some are written and prepared pre-playa and some are written and printed on the playa (aka desert) or printed in Reno and brought in, often with several editions during the week.

@ 29:00 The metal/gothic's ThunderDome (inspired by Mad Max) always had a sign, "Days Since Last Injury: 0".

@ 30:45 Opulent Temple: one of the consistently best venues for dancing your ass off.

@ 33:22 Everything that is burned must have the proper metal foundation under the structures to catch all the hot debris and prevent the playa from being scarred. After it's burned out all the ashes, a thin layer of dirt, and of course the metal are removed from the Black Rock Desert, public land on 3 counties. In short, you aren't allowed to just burn something on the desert floor.

The best thing about Burning Man is that it's all PARTICIPATORY and INTERACTIVE. You don't pay for a ticket and expect to be entertained and whine about it if it's not up to your expectations. Everyone has a back-stage pass to Burning Man and is responsible for their own fun experience. You don't have to and can't do everything nor need to do anything you don't want to. Everyone participates in their own ways. Some dress up. Some build. Some DJ. Some perform. Some do a bit of all of them, not necessarily at the same time. Express yourself as you see fit.

@ 46:30 Burning Man was owned by BMOrg as an LLC. Larry Harvey, one of the founders was primary lead for most of the festival's span, though he died very recently. There was a feud among the BMOrg a while back when the power structure changed, the details of which I'm ignorant. Burning Man will never be sold to Disney nor any other corporation unless it gets infiltrated and corrupted. Larry Harvey was not avaricious.

@ 48:32 The people in the white togas are the Lamplighters. They're very cult-like with their daily ritual of hanging oil lamps every night that burn out by morning to be collected, filled again, and redistributed again the next evening.

The man always burns on Saturday (except 2007 partially set afire Tuesday by my former employee Paul (I have conflicted feelings about that) who went a little nuts and eventually killed himself), and the Temple always burns on Sunday. Friday and Saturday nights are the worst night because all the yahoos and drunk idiots show up to be weekend warriors (and get violent, rapey, and steal shit). The exodus begins right after the burn for those with lives to get back to but Sunday is usually the best night. I prefer to stay at least half a week after to decompress and return to "normal" while helping with the massive clean up efforts.

A photo of me at BM is on this page:
https://InfoGalactic.com/info/User:JasonCarswell/gallery

Official site:
https://BurningMan.org

The Burning Man Regional Network is likely near you!
https://regionals.BurningMan.org

Not a bad article for Wikipedia all things considered, largely because much of LA and SF attend.
https://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_Man

[–]jet199 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Place your bets now.

How many years before the rape cover up stories hit the MSM?

[–]JasonCarswell 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

I don't understand.

There are 50,000 people who attend Burning Man. Most of the people are good. Most of the people from Reno and the surrounding counties are good. However there are yahoos who come to the "party", get drunk, and do bad things - not just from the Reno area. Every year there are acknowledged rapes - a problem since early days before I attended 10 years from 1999-2008. No cover-ups that I'm aware of.