31 August 2008

Another bunch of lovely wackos

The Sunday Morning show on CBS had a piece on Burning Man.

If you're ever in that part of the world (the Black Rock Desert, 120 miles outside of Reno, Nevada) at the right time (typically the Labor Day weekend, thus right now), you owe it to yourself to go, even at $295 per ticket (it was way cheaper either time that Rico went):
If you can get past the crowds and the dust and even the occasional sandstorm, the experience can be illuminating.
The playa is what folks call the flat, dusty landscape. It was once a lakebed.
The people who find their way here from all over the world are called Burners.
Black Rock City has its own post office, its own radio station. There's even a census bureau, complete with a countess.
"They call me that because I’ve been in charge of the Black Rock Census for the last few years, so I count burners. One burner. Two burner. Three burner. Five burner." The Countess says you'd be surprised just who attends Burning Man. But the Countess went on to add a brief note of caution: "As long as you can survive in the desert, that’s really the kicker. If you can't handle the dust storms, if you can't handle camping out here for a long time in the heat and the cold night and preparing yourself for that? It's probably not the best place."
Larry Harvey has been the guiding spirit behind the festival since 1986, when it started as a small gathering on a beach in San Francisco. Then, as now, it ended with the ceremonial burning of the guest of honor.
Twenty-one years later and a 1,000 times larger, the spirit of Burning Man still burns brightly.
Rico says you can buy videos of Burning Man here. (No commission to Rico, just fifteen bucks to the videographer.)
Rico says he misses attending, but if you want to know where it all came from, go here.

No comments:

 

Casino Deposit Bonus