svanarts wrote:........ If you've never been, whatever you think it is, it's not that. It helps if you're open-minded in that you accept people in all their various incantations. ....If you want any other "been there done that" intel let me know.

I've heard about Burning Man for years and I'm curious as to why all the hoopla. "Whatever you think it is, it's not". Please tell me what it is. I was surprised to hear "I couldn't afford tickets" and "sold out", given what I THINK Burning Man is about.

It is supposed to be an arts and music festival. Everyone thinks it's one big drug fueled orgy. You can find that there sure. But heck it's a city of almost 80 thousand. You're going to find a lot there. It's about everyone feeling free to be who they are and express who they are. The art and the engineering behind it all is nothing short of phenomenal. The people are all warm and welcoming. Everyone shares freely. Especially alcohol. The LEOs that are there love it and they have a waiting list for that duty.

It's not for everybody. But if you like meeting different kinds of people and like odd quirky stuff, you might like it. Otherwise just stick to the High Sierra flyin.

I read up on their webpage for all the fly in requirements. Not a lot of "be free and express yourself" there. It reads like instructions on flying into A WWII Nazi fortress. I flew a wide circle around it the other day, and listened to all the secret code shit needed to get in. No thank you...

Gump

GumpAir wrote:I read up on their webpage for all the fly in requirements. Not a lot of "be free and express yourself" there. It reads like instructions on flying into A WWII Nazi fortress. I flew a wide circle around it the other day, and listened to all the secret code shit needed to get in. No thank you...

Gump

If you had to wager a guess as to why all the secret-decoder-shit goes on for a relative low number of planes, what would it be?

(I am not being sarcastic; I am actually curious what sorta problems they seem to have out there that warrant Delta class regulation in an uncontrolled BLM strip....)

GumpAir wrote:I read up on their webpage for all the fly in requirements. Not a lot of "be free and express yourself" there. It reads like instructions on flying into A WWII Nazi fortress. I flew a wide circle around it the other day, and listened to all the secret code shit needed to get in. No thank you...

Gump

Hahahahaha! I was thinking the same thing Gump. $400.00 tickets, no pets, "Customs", no firearms, Feds on the field, police everywhere... I'm very skeptical about said freedom in this event...

Still looking forward to the first hand experience.

svanarts wrote:The people are all warm and welcoming. Everyone shares freely. Especially alcohol.

...if you like meeting different kinds of people and like odd quirky stuff, you might like it. Otherwise just stick to the High Sierra flyin.

Now wait just a minute...I thought the whole point of High Sierra was to be odd and quirky out in the desert and share alcohol with my fellow backcountry weirdos!!!

RanchPilot wrote:

svanarts wrote:The people are all warm and welcoming. Everyone shares freely. Especially alcohol.

...if you like meeting different kinds of people and like odd quirky stuff, you might like it. Otherwise just stick to the High Sierra flyin.

Now wait just a minute...I thought the whole point of High Sierra was to be odd and quirky out in the desert and share alcohol with my fellow backcountry weirdos!!!

Amen...we also blow things up!

As for Burning Man...its not what it used to be...however, not much is these days. Burning Man has become a multi million dollar event making and endless fortune for its founders.

Boy this looks like fun... Just imagine a set of balls rolling over the back of your neck....


AKT

aktahoe1 wrote:

RanchPilot wrote:

svanarts wrote:The people are all warm and welcoming. Everyone shares freely. Especially alcohol.

...if you like meeting different kinds of people and like odd quirky stuff, you might like it. Otherwise just stick to the High Sierra flyin.

Now wait just a minute...I thought the whole point of High Sierra was to be odd and quirky out in the desert and share alcohol with my fellow backcountry weirdos!!!

Amen...we also blow things up!

As for Burning Man...its not what it used to be...however, not much is these days. Burning Man has become a multi million dollar event making and endless fortune for its founders.

Boy this looks like fun... Just imagine a set of balls rolling over the back of your neck....


AKT

I think I will keep walking right by that event without making eye contact

hotrod150 wrote:

svanarts wrote:........ If you've never been, whatever you think it is, it's not that. It helps if you're open-minded in that you accept people in all their various incantations. ....If you want any other "been there done that" intel let me know.

I've heard about Burning Man for years and I'm curious as to why all the hoopla. "Whatever you think it is, it's not". Please tell me what it is. I was surprised to hear "I couldn't afford tickets" and "sold out", given what I THINK Burning Man is about.

So let me get this straight: it costs $400 for the opportunity to freely express yourself in a quasi anarchistical way with a heavy police presence? I'm not sure what the origional intent of the gathering was but it seems to contradict itself a little?

I'm not trying to judge any one group or individual, but what is it about? I have lots of friends with "various incantations", but, hey, that kind of entertainment is free!

Maybe curiosity will get the best of me and I'll save up to experience it for myself one day! Until then the burning man-ites will retain my curiosity along with the rainbow people, the Rajneesh and Gypsies.

CW

for the record, *I* never made it to the section that Kevin posted above. I mostly hung out at the airport and Camp Brew-ha-ha, a coffee gifting camp. Helped them serve coffee and then I drove an art car that looked like a trolley for half a day. Just drove around giving people rides from here to there. Met a lot of interesting people.

Again, it's not for everyone. In fact, I recommend most people do not go. There is one whole section of the city that's pretty much devoted to raunchy sex. Never went there because that's not my thing. There is also some camps that are dedicated to kids, arts and crafts, brewing, dancing, drinking, sculpting, engineering, you name it. But again, I recommend most people do NOT go!

As far as the aiport procedures getting really complex, yeah. Everyone is complaining about that. But you have a lot of yahoos flying in, you have a lot of air charters flying in, they may have to actually go to a control tower one of these years. They have a lot of air ops all day long between giving rides and the charters and the jump planes.

svanarts wrote:for the record, *I* never made it to the section that Kevin posted above. I mostly hung out at the airport and Camp Brew-ha-ha, a coffee gifting camp. Helped them serve coffee and then I drove an art car that looked like a trolley for half a day. Just drove around giving people rides from here to there. Met a lot of interesting people.

Again, it's not for everyone. In fact, I recommend most people do not go. There is one whole section of the city that's pretty much devoted to raunchy sex. Never went there because that's not my thing. There is also some camps that are dedicated to kids, arts and crafts, brewing, dancing, drinking, sculpting, engineering, you name it. But again, I recommend most people do NOT go!

As far as the aiport procedures getting really complex, yeah. Everyone is complaining about that. But you have a lot of yahoos flying in, you have a lot of air charters flying in, they may have to actually go to a control tower one of these years. They have a lot of air ops all day long between giving rides and the charters and the jump planes.

What you describe happens every night in The Waikiki Beach area.

Just as an aside, we have "Frozen Man" back here, also on a lake... (aka: Eel Pout Festival) Here's last time up there (try to avoid)

For those of you who might think Burning Man is a bit too much for the system, you can join me next year at the Cotati Accordion Festival. It's just a bunch of very talented and fun loving artistic types hanging out and being themselves while getting drunk. No pets, no bringing food or guns in and LEO's are abundant but it's like burning man without the fire and sex......

http://www.cotatifest.com

Resisting...urge...to make...blue balls joke...about quaint Minnesota Frozen Man Festival.

8GCBC wrote:

svanarts wrote:for the record, *I* never made it to the section that Kevin posted above. I mostly hung out at the airport and Camp Brew-ha-ha, a coffee gifting camp. Helped them serve coffee and then I drove an art car that looked like a trolley for half a day. Just drove around giving people rides from here to there. Met a lot of interesting people.

Again, it's not for everyone. In fact, I recommend most people do not go. There is one whole section of the city that's pretty much devoted to raunchy sex. Never went there because that's not my thing. There is also some camps that are dedicated to kids, arts and crafts, brewing, dancing, drinking, sculpting, engineering, you name it. But again, I recommend most people do NOT go!

As far as the aiport procedures getting really complex, yeah. Everyone is complaining about that. But you have a lot of yahoos flying in, you have a lot of air charters flying in, they may have to actually go to a control tower one of these years. They have a lot of air ops all day long between giving rides and the charters and the jump planes.

What you describe happens every night in The Waikiki Beach area.

Yeah and no entrance fee either I bet!

RanchPilot wrote:Resisting...urge...to make...blue balls joke...about quaint Minnesota Frozen Man Festival.

Now that's funny right there!

svanarts wrote:

8GCBC wrote:

svanarts wrote:
What you describe happens every night in The Waikiki Beach area.

Yeah and no entrance fee either I bet!

No entrance fee . But, a tiny Sushi dinner may cost a ton of money.

yeah...im with gump on ;this one for sure...
80000 people in the desert camping out, hell u would have to drink to put up with all that b.s.....
i find that people that need that event for entertainment have never really done much...maybe rode their couch and computers/tv forever, and that would bore the hell out of u for sure....!
BUT...the cool thing about the USA is that its a free country...! so let em do what the hell they want, and ill go west and hang out in the middlefork country and challis/mccall with all that lousy peace and quiet and clean air/water...damn that sucks.....!!!

jomac wrote:i find that people that need that event for entertainment have never really done much...maybe rode their couch and computers/tv forever, and that would bore the hell out of u for sure....!

Wow, that couldn't be further off the mark for the burners I know!

rw2 wrote:

jomac wrote:i find that people that need that event for entertainment have never really done much...maybe rode their couch and computers/tv forever, and that would bore the hell out of u for sure....!

Wow, that couldn't be further off the mark for the burners I know!

I agree, most of them that I know are very outdoor and adventurous.. and have some pretty damn interesting lives.