Acclimated yet?

What Happens in Sin City

Tuesday night someone climbed up on top of the Thunderdome and hung a Hot Topic sign over their sign. Brilliant. If you know who Deathguild is, you’ll appreciate the prank. At first we thought the Billion Bunnies may have done it, but “Hot Topic” wasn’t misspelled and none of the letters were backwards, so it probably wasn’t them.

We’re in full swing here in the magnificent potlatch of Black Rock City. The intermittent dust storms seem to have settled and everything is playa tested and approved. Please keep your head and arms inside your vehicle at all times. Evidently, every odd numbered street is one way, so please observe all traffic signs and comply with requests from officials. If you are pulled over for post gate inspection, please co-operate with your friendly inspectors. They’re pulling people over with much flourish to their carport of flashing lights and cones, then giving them tamales.

Also, don’t be surprised if you are the proud recipient of the Black Rock City award. Rumor has it that all over our fair City, the Animal Control are waiting for someone to go into one of the Porta Potties, then while they’re in there, they lay out a red carpet and they’re all dressed fabulous and carrying trophies. When the unsuspecting citizen opens the Porta door, they are greeted with a group of showgirls presenting trophies to them and paparazzi. It is quite the scene.

Jocelyn and Eilliot's Funky Cock Car

A few other things that more than likely are not true, but everyone seems to be talking about them:

The theme next year is 2012. Burning Man is always ahead of the Zeitgeist.

There are Monkey Pox and Unicorn Flu moving through Black Rock City. You obviously get Monkey Pox from kissing monkeys, but Unicorn Flu, contrary to popular belief, does not come from dust, it comes from dust masks.

Be very afraid of Punchy the Clown. Also be on the lookout for random flying hula hoops.

Some newbie was found sleeping on the playa, dehydrated and had to be taken to the med tent. His friends had left him there, but being great friends, at least they wrote, “I’m not Dead, just sleeping” on his belly. Better a dust nap than a dirt nap.

That Washing machine was NOT full of cow eyeballs and Jango just disappeared.

We went out last night to 2:00 and the 3:00 plaza. The City is rocking out and there are so many Art Cars this year, sometimes it’s hard to know where the Esplanade starts when you’re walking in from the open playa. Gnomes are big this year. Not just Gee-Gnome, but the “G” street, Genome. Our friends Tori and Stella adopted a wonderful little gnome named Penelope. There are only 25 Gnome adoptions a day. The adoption process is a big tenuous, but they want to make sure their gnomes are going to good parents. It takes a few interviews, lots of forms and you can expect Social Services to visit you at least once a day for the first week or so. But please, won’t you adopt a Gnome? I hear they are at 4:30 and Genome.

Billion Bunnies Hoptails

The Billion Bunny March is leaving from BMIR / Playa Info on Thursday afternoon. They’re marching out to the great Buddha Bunny. If you want to protest the Humans and the fact this isn’t Burning Bunny, be there around five for Hoptails.

Also, make sure to visit the Tequila Pit Stop. When you walk by, they’re all NASCAR dressed, they’ll lay you on their rolling rack, squeegee your skin and sponge down your face, then give you a shot a of tequila and send you on your way. Also, I ran into the Air Horn Circle folks. Nice people. They explained their philosophy to me as:

Our goal is to create a cacophonous sound event to honor our drum circle brothers and sisters who have inspired us to create our art. When we encircle them and gently insert our Air Horns into their drumming, we believe we are, together, creating the ultimate sound masterpiece.

We were sitting around trying to come up with a list of “When you know you’ve been here long enough to feel acclimated”

1. You leave your theme camp. Yes, there is an entire City out there beyond the edges of your property.

2. You no longer know everyone in your camp.

3. When you realize that in order to not misplace your stuff all the time, you have to put your camera THERE and hang your flashlight THERE and put your water THERE and you keep putting it in that place so you can always find it regardless of what state you’re in.

4. Everything tastes like playa. Your bedding and tent or trailer is dustified and you no longer care.

5. Washing dishes is more to remove any food than to get the dirt off. See #4

6. You no longer even try to clean off your makeup, but just start putting new makeup on top of what is there.

7. Your hair starts to look like Albert Einstein’s

8. .. and when you’ve finally seen all your most beloved friends. (Thanks Affinity)

I’m certain you all have many many more of these.

The stories write themselves out here. They’re all around you. All you really need to do is sit down and capture them. Our vibrant City is off the hook this year. So much Fire Art, so many great folks, and it is only Wednesday.

photo by Audrey Penven, Anti-sleeper and encourager of bad ideas
photo by Audrey Penven, Anti-sleeper and encourager of bad ideas

When we made our way back from LusterVillage, then Hookadome, we stopped by Hot Topic aka the Thunderdome. They’d left the prank sign up and we watched some of the best fights we’d seen in a while. Deathguild are pretty baddass. I have to give them props.

About the author: Moze

Moze

John Mosbaugh aka Moze is a SF Bay Area heretic and writer who's been hauling himself out to Black Rock City since the Nebulous Entity first beckoned him to check out this phenomenon known as Burning Man. Moze is a "Life Collector" who scribbles down encounters with you to share on the blog. He enjoys the hyper reality of that week in the desert enough to keep coming back. He's been on the Burning Man web team since aught two and has written for Piss Clear and the YEP (Yahoo Education Project). He doesn't speak for the org and he finds you fascinating. He celebrates you and loves it when you take away ideas from Burning Man and share them with the rest of the world. He likes to make grilled cheese on Burn Night afternoon and gift it to you because you're probably hungry. Moze is a big fan of fire, art, freedom and community.

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