Doomtown



They gave the Ghetto a new face yesterday, and a new name, too.

The Ghetto is where most of the folks in the DPW camp. It’s a private place and lots of things have happened there. Let’s just leave it at that, if you know what I mean and I think you do.

So sprucing up the Ghetto and calling it something else — Doomtown — is a somewhat controversial move, as you can imagine. Because let’s face it: the DPW isn’t exactly shy about its bad-ass reputation.

But does that mean that the work crews should live in (what some would call) squalor?

Ghost Dancer, who runs the Work Ranch, thought it didn’t. So he collected a lot of wood that was going to be burned at the end of last year’s event and stashed it at the Ranch. Then he drew up plans for an appropriately Wild West facade.  And Ghost Dancer knows a thing or two about that, because he spent 12 years in Hollywood doing just that — creating sets.

A work crew put it all together on a work weekend back in March, and on Sunday, they lowered the last pieces into place out on the playa.

Now,  we come from the city, and we’re merely the camera guy, but we thought it looked pretty effing cool. There’s an elevated balcony where you can get a look out at what’s happening across Black Rock City. There’s a container at the far end that Charlie wants to turn into a movie theater, capable of seating 30 people. “That’s what you get when you have somebody from LA around,” Charlie said.

And there will be beer, and plenty of it. That part won’t change. And our guess is that things will still happen in Doomtown, or the Ghetto, or whatever you want to call it.

Because we all know that appearances don’t always count for much. It’s not how tough you look are on the outside, it’s what’s on the inside that counts.