BURNING MAN - Part 3

BURNING MAN part 3 was written a few years back when Big Poppah and Maggie hit the playa for this California Whitewater Rafting blog.

The American Dream was the theme of Burning Man the "BMC" held on the Playa of the Black Rock Desert in Northeast Nevada. I went with Maggie and we stayed for four days out of the six (we had to go to work!). As the theme of "the American Dream" was imprinted though the layout of clock-wise (there is no "counter" at BMC) by naming those avenues after Iconic American Cars: Corvair, Falcon, Dart, Corvette, and even Hummer. Additionally, this year's costumes mirrored the theme with scatterings of flags and a plethora of red, white, and blue cloth, skin, and lights.

The American Dream is essentially the realization that you "have everything": cars, clothes, houses, food, entertainment, friends, family, etc. The Playa provided that: no one went hungry, art cars were everywhere, music never stopped, there was plenty of housing, people were surrounded by friends and family (real, constructed, and evolved), and entertainment was always with eyesight and arm's reach. The American Dream came to fruition on the inhospitable soil of the Black Rock Desert. Everyone was from somewhere and the indigenous people provided the venue (through the BLM). The gates of the BMC were our Ellis Island and the Playa succumbed to the Manifest Destiny of those who had conspired to stage this American Dream. The citizen's of the world were present with representatives from most continents (Antarctica didn't have a contingent; however, the others did!). So the World was represented by folks from England, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Ireland, Greece, Russia, The Ukraine, Israel, Iran, Iraq, India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, China, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Fiji, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Canada, and even Oklahoma! Many others were there as well…we just met folks from these Countries.

Our founding "fathers"…yes, the old, dead, white men who allegedly "constructed" our constitution and Declaration of Independence (based upon their readings and interpretations of Locke, Hume, Payne, and others that they plagiarized freely) would have thrived: B. Franklin by creating electrical madness and Art Cars, T. Jefferson would have raged the Deep End and Domes while hooking-up the hotties, and G. Washington would have piloted the largest of land-yachts across the Playa day and night. The rest of their posse would have created a killer theme camp (colonial columns, wheeled ships, exploding muskets made of L-wire, and rivers of rum). All in all, they would have approved.

Not a bad "Dream". No one went hungry, thirsty, un-sheltered, optionally clothed, and un-transported (in the real and imagined senses). The American Dream lives through our excess, excesses, and Burning Man '08 was just that: a celebration of our collective and global excesses rammed at hyper-speed through all of the available senses.
--
Big Poppah Jah


Big Poppah wrote this Burning Man story while on the playa a couple of years ago. He and Maggie hung out with several of the other whitewater friends there for a few days enjoying the art, music and social escapades while squinting through the gusts of wind, dirt and sun. A good time was had by all!

This year's Burning Man art theme is Fertility 2.0.