The Burning Man Project ???

[otohara]

My 21st century hippie son left yesterday to go to this 7 day annual festival in the Nevada dessert along with 25,000 other people.

What Is Burning Man?
Every year, tens of thousands of participants gather to create Black Rock City in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, dedicated to self-expression, self-reliance, and art as the center of community. They leave one week later, having left no trace. Read Burning Man's mission statement, 10 Principles, and learn more about this incredible experience.

Check out some of the photos here:
:wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: http://images.burningman.com/index.cgi?q_keyword=&q_year=2006&q_category=&q_photog=&go.x=13&go.y=16

[medeak]

1. it's harmless

have many artist friends who attend and also some of their 60 yr old parents. If nudity bothers you don't attend.

[otohara]

6. Thanks

My kid has spent the last 3 summers going to one music festival after another all over the country. Just when I thought it was over....Burning Man

[Robbien]

2. He will probably have a great time

Don't worry too much about it.

[Stuckinthebush]

3. I'm envious

I've always wanted to go to Burning Man.

Think about it - would you rather him go to an enlightened festival like Burning Man or a Young Republicans convention? :)

[ieoeja]

7. How about we combine both?

The Burning Young Republican Man festival!

[Stuckinthebush]

32. LMAO!

:spray:

Now that is funny!

[MissB]

4. Lucky him!

Next year, go with.

[yardwork]

5. It's inspired by the pagan holiday Lammas

It's kind of like burning the old year and looking forward to the new year. We "burn" the old to make room for the new. Think about burning the fields to return nutrients to the soil and nurture the new crop.

[otohara]

13. Okay

Next year ought to be big...lots to celebrate come November.

[bobbolink]

19. And in Santa Fe, there's Zozobra, aka "Old Man Gloom"

A 50ft tall marionnette, it symbolizes burning your cares and worries of the previous year.

?v=1&c=ViewImages&k=2&d=17A4AD9FDB9CF19396908EAF14430D3560AC43A2950771DF4950856EBCF8BD48

http://www.zozobra.com/gallery.html

[bobbolink]

20. zap the dupe

[Az]

8. This years burning man is going to be green

The festival is building a solar generator for the event and for the nearby town so that the carbon footprint of the event will be covered.

[otherlander]

37. That's cool.

Burning the Green Man... Kind of like the festival where they kill the Jack in the Green. Burning the old to make way for the new...

[conscious evolution]

9. Tell him to go to monkey camp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiYhLb5Syqo&mode=related&search=



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T880ah7clnA

[otohara]

14. Whoa

quite a toe tapper

[aikoaiko]

10. it always reminded me of a grateful dead show but with that particular band.

Fun times.

[icymist]

11. Burning Man is really cool!

Picture a man-like structure made from easily flammable material, that inside, you could place all your worries, shortcomings, and problems that hinder you. Then, this monstrosity is set on fire. As you watch this burn, you see everything you placed inside burn up with it! This is a great way to wipe your 'slate' clean from last year and begin next year with a new, clean look.

This is a Pagan holiday correlating with the Second Harvest Moon, Mabon, having all new beginnings start with the Third Harvest Moon, Halloween, or The Witches New Year. Therefore, these are nothing more that New-Year resolutions, only with a more magical slant. Hope it works for your 'hippie son'!

[otohara]

17. Cloud Nine

no doubt he'll be all a twitter from the experience. Plus there's the Lunar Eclipse tomorrow @ 3:42AM Meet me on the dark side of the moon....

[BarbaRosa]

18. Sounds like the combination of a rock festival,

and the burning of Zozobra

[icymist]

27. That's close.

Burning man is more like what's portrayed in the movie 'Wicker Man', only not the latest version (apologies to Nicolas Cage), but the older 70's version. That version has much more Pagan ritual, and besides, the music is better.

Anyway, remove the human sacrifice from The Wicker Man and you got Burning Man. The origins are from the Celtic peoples that used to practice this, with their religious orders of Druids, annually. This is how this ritual started.

[Betsy Ross]

12. Finished a 4-foot mosaic for my niece

who left for Burning Man yesterday. The kids were too busy to get this project done so hubby, sister-in-law, and I made the camp sign. Three 60-year olds, some who went to similar events in the 60's and 70's, doing our part for the event. Maybe next year we'll show up for a day or two.

[phusion]

15. I've been wanting to go for a few years now...

But school has always been in the way. Here are some more photos:

http://www.scottlondon.com/photo/burningman2006/097.html

[L. Coyote]

16. Check it out in Google Earth.

As one of my R in-laws would kindly describe it, it is a tribal gathering of the "granolies."

Several of these people will likely be there:

[otohara]

21. Will Do

This being his first year, he will look like an ordinary compared to some of the costumes I've seen.

I'm beginning to think he isn't prepared in the food and drink area. I don't think he has much money left either. Not a lot of planning went into this trip and sticking it out in the dessert for 7 days takes planning.

[blogslut]

35. I'm pretty sure there is a barter economy @ Burning Man

As long as participates in some way, he will be fine.

[Madspirit]

22. I LOVE Burning Man

I've only gone once but I have friends who go every year. It's a hoot and half and lots of pot and nakeness...all good. ...and a big giant fire and every age and type. It's lovely.

Lee

[otherlander]

39. It does sound pretty awesome.

The whole thing is a gift economy, right, so what would be some good things to bring as gifts or to barter with?

Also, is there enough water? And when you get there are you supposed to build a cool-looking camp thing or is it ok just to set up tents?

[Canuckistanian]

23. This is the first you've heard about it?

It's been going on for decades, although it's only in the past few years it's gained any large recognition.

Here's something I didn't know about it from the Wiki. Here's the satellite image from the 2005 event:


Seems that all the events are laid out in this "C"-type configuration. As explained thusly:

The developed part of the city is currently arranged as series of concentric streets in an arc composing, since 1999, two-thirds of a 1.5 mile (2.4 km) diameter circle (resembling the layout of Poverty Point or Seaside, Florida) with the Man Sculpture and his supporting complex at the very center. Radial streets, sometimes called Avenues, extend from the Man to the outermost circle. The outlines of these streets are visible on aerial photographs.

I'd love to go one of these years.

[otohara]

24. Yep, But Then I'm

an out of touch old Hippie gal.

One of his professors gave him an assignment and suggest he go.

[Canuckistanian]

25. Well, this is more or less a continuation of the counterculture movement

Just modernized to deal with some realities of life, like municipal fire codes and angry rednecks.

:rofl:

[otohara]

26. LOL

Yes...One of the pictures on the site included a slew of firemen.

[Xithras]

28. I was there in 1996 and 1999

It's cool, but I hear from those who have gone more recently that it's a bit touristy. As one friend described it, "It's 10,000 half naked and fully naked people having fun, and 25,000 stiffs staring at them like they're nuts".

By the way, the whole "leaving no trace after one week" thing is BS. I was one of the last people to leave in 1996 and I was absolutely disgusted by the amount of trash blowing across the desert. When I went back in 1999 they had added a big trash fence and created a cleanup program, but I still witnessed trash blowing over the fence into the desert, and there were still blackened scars on the playa from fires the year before. It's probably cleaner than an offroader party, but you cannot drop tens of thousands of people in the middle of a desert for a week without permanently altering the environment. That's part of why I haven't been back.

Still, hiking out to the eastern barrier completely naked in the predawn twilight to watch the sun make its entry into the world for the day was one of the more memorable experiences of my life. The playa there is stunningly pristine, and the solitude of the desert when you get away from the encampment, especially early in the morning before most people wake up, is something to be experienced. I hope your son enjoys himself.

[Kingshakabobo]

36. It's a little bit of tough living in the desert. No?

I have friends that have been a couple times. Last year, one of them got sick from being dehydrated. It caused him to be miserable for a couple days.

I did my time at Dead shows living in the dirt so I took a pass.

[lisby]

29. HMO, but Starwood is more fun.

Although Burning Man gets mucho bigger points for choosing a much rougher place to build a temporary Utopia.

Still, Starwood is my personal fav.

:hippie:

[TheCentepedeShoes]

30. One of my co-workers

left last Friday to meet up with some people in Las Vegas and head out in an RV. Sounds like alot of fun.

[NashVegas]

31. Jumped the Shark

..

[orleans]

33. sounds really interesting, doesn't it? i heard about it several years

ago but haven't been there. don't you wish you could go? i kinda do.

[Liberal In Texas]

34. A Renaissance Fair on Acid.

I've wanted to go since I first heard about it.

[RandomKoolzip]

38. Buncha faux-Hippie bullshit.

Burning Man is a meat market for trustafarians and other assorted patchouli aficianados. :thumbsdown: