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The incomparable Burning Man Festival kicks off today in Black Rock City – the city that exists purely and solely for the purposes of this unusual and often hedonistic desert festival. --Backpackers
Though the festival starts today, people have been hard at work in the Nevada desert for a while now, creating the space that's presented in Lisa Hoffman's "beauteous" rendition of the site. Check out the Black Rock City blog for the backstory. Just a tiny bite:
Today was so dusty and windy that it took me about 20 minutes to get from the Depot at 5:30 and the outskirts to 3:30 and the Esplanade. I had to stop completely and wait about ten times because I couldn’t see at all. Most people turned on their headlights so they could be seen by oncoming vehicles. One radio call in particular went out late in the morning that said: “All com, all com, this is Make Believe. I’m in a white truck. If you see me sitting here, could you please come back with my twenty?” That’s how dusty it was.
With carbon neutrality on the agenda, Burning Man is meeting with some harsh criticisms as all those people climb into their motor homes to reach their destinations. Is it Live Earth all over again? Valleywag gives Burning Man no quarter.
Ladies and gentlemen, rev up your RVs, pack your SUVs full, gas up your private jets, and start making your way to Black Rock City, the site in Nevada for Burning Man, the annual art festival and orgy of self-indulgence. The most hardcore of "burners," as attendees call themselves, will start making their way there a week from now. And while you're on the road, guzzling gasoline, make sure to feel really, really guilty about all the carbon you're spewing into the atmosphere. By organizers' own estimates, Burning Man puts 27,000 tons of carbon dioxide into the air. This year, of course, they hope to minimize the impact with a "Green Man." Nonsense.
Not surprisingly, there's a Burning Life.
I’ve always wanted to go to Burning Man, the annual countercultural arts festival, but with both Windows Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 screaming towards RTM I can’t possibly take time for a jaunt to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. Luckily, I can easily visit the virtual Burning Life in my Second Life. This will be the fifth year that Second Life publisher Linden Lab is donating some virtual land in their virtual world for a virtual Burning Man festival. --Ascend Slowly, Breathing Normally.
You can count on McSweeney's for a different take on Burning Man - here's Summer Vacation at Burning Man.
Instead of our normal trip to Grandma's in Oregon, our parents drove to the Nevada desert for Burning Man. Mom and Dad explained that their relationship was in a rut, and they wanted to try something new. Mom said that Dad isn't spontaneous anymore. Dad complained that Burning Man tickets are more expensive than a week at Disneyland, but Mom said that the drugs are better here.
Have you been to Burning Man? Didja blog it? Links in the comments, please.
Pam blogs about travel and other adventures at Nerd's Eye View. She's never been to Burning Man.
