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. 

music festivals in the outdoors

What a summer of music festivals! From Coachella to SMMRBMMR to the recent and well-attended Burning Man in Nevada, this summer was filled with awesome music and artists. Tragedy over-shadowed the German Love Family Park where hordes of young adults were trampled in a tunnel and several died. And, of course, Teknival's free raves peppered abandoned military installations and other locations in the outdoors in the UK, France, Bulgaria and other countries. We are now entering the Fall music festival season.

Burning Man has influenced so many music festivals, raves and happenings around the world, and we thought we would share some of our favorites. Big Poppa was a bit disappointed in this year's Burning Man as he felt that the participants weren't true Burners, but he is a purist. Here are his photos and thoughts...

"I'm NOT a burner.

Yes, I've just come back from Burning Man event (I skipped 2009) and I'm NOT a burner. My first (as they @ BRC say..."Virgin") visit was approached like a wilderness river trip. I packed up the Dodge with waterproof metal boxes with food, sun shower, cooking gear, LED lights, solar batteries, toys and water. I also packed marine coolers with plenty of ice, beverages, and fresh food for a full crew. Adding to the pile were two bikes for myself and my crew of one: Mizz Maggie. The Dodge bed became a shelter, and I brought a shade structure and another tent for stowing gear out of the sun and wind...no dust. We went out for 4-days and had an amazing time; but, we left before the actual "Burn".

This year, I rolled out ultra-light; yet, still self-contained on my Kawasaki KLR 650. I still had everything I needed: food (freeze dried), water, tent, pad, bag, and solar-powered LED garden globes (that changed colors!).

In 2010, the winds whipped up the dust constantly on a record (reportedly) 65,000 "burners" and the party raged. I saw the "Burn". I also saw fewer happy, healthy people and fewer themed camps and out-of-date Art cars. Maybe I had a different perspective... after the burn... no shower, no bike, and no crew left me in that boat (maybe it was also the folks across the street (yes, it was called "That Camp") that had a club-sized sound system that blasted from 9am to 5am... with 4 people mulling around and stomping in the dust (oh well, they were from Philadelphia!). So, I packed up and rode the KLR home the long way over Monitor pass where I saw the signs of fall in changing colors and a nip in the air.

Next time (yes, I might skip next year)... I'm rolling hard and deep! Motorhome? Airstream? Dome?... who knows?

I'm not a Burner."

~~ Big Poppa 2010

Upcoming this weekend: American River Music Festival is ideal for families and music lovers and includes whitewater rafting, camping, music and food!

Music Festivals Around the World:

Burning Man : early September; theme camps, Black Rock Desert; art, raves, performance (began in San Francisco, California and influenced many festivals below)

Edinburgh's Hogmanay : Dec 30, 2010 - Jan 2, 2011; Concert in the Gardens (KT Tunstall, The Proclaimers, Madness, etc)

Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival : mid-April Indio, CA; cutting-edge indie, alternative, official opening for summer festivals in US (The Black Keys and more)

Bonnaroo : Manchester, TN 2011 tba (Weezer, Tori Amos, Norah Jones & more this year)

Rocking the Rivers : mid-Aug, Three Forks, Montana (Collective Soul, Commander Cody, etc)

Love Family Park : early July, German Techno Rave (dj Sven Vath, Ricardo Villalobos, etc)

Paris Techno Parade : late Sept; 1/2 million people dancing in street (djs David Guetta, Mark Knight, Django, etc)

Teknival : free parties held all over the world; France, UK, Bulgaria, Czech, Italy (summer raves; grassroots, Burning Man influenced)

Vans Warped Tour : several sites in US from West Coast to East Coast (Dickies, Fear, Green Jelly, etc)

SMMRBMMR : alternate, indie music in northwestern US (G.Green, Mayyors, White Fang, etc)

Live Oak Music Festival : blue grass, jazz, world music held over Father's Day Weekend

American River Music Festival : whitewater rafting and music; folk, country, alternative (last year Jackie Green; this year Jesse Winchester and more)

Rio Carnival : mid-February Rio de Janeiro; world famous, colorful parades (Brazilian, world, jazz, etc)

New Orleans Mardi Gras : mid-February French Quarter; jazz, food, parades

No matter what music festival you attend, remember you are there for friends, fun, music, food and goodwill. Rave on and see you on the river!

Thanks to Big Poppa for his Burn pics and sharing his personal view.

WET River Trips photostream