I’ll be out of contact for the next couple of weeks. I’m going to investigate the climatic conditions on the Black Rock dry lake bed in Nevada…
… if anyone is going to be there, you can find me at the Skinny Kitty Teahouse.
(shown below in 2011)
C’mon by for a cup of tea.
Back in September …
Best to everyone,
w.
[I hope Willis won’t mind if I ask him to ask his fellow “tea fanciers” what their prevailing opinion about climate change is. That might make a great essay in itself. – Anthony]
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If it is of any consolation, they have made a lot of changes that address your concerns. The city is now very close to the road, it is not out deep in the playa as it used to be. The hot springs are off limits and patrolled by BLM Rangers, Pershing County, and Washoe County police. The event is surrounded by a fence and there is no longer any driving out across the open playa. One can leave during the event but there is a $20 in and out charge to discourage people going out and coming back in.
After the event, the area is cleaned continuously until about November and then starts again in the spring. The notion is to make sure the area is returned to its plain blank state for the following year’s event. One thing that amazes first time participants is the lack of trash. There isn’t any. 50,000 people leave and there isn’t hardly a speck of anything on the ground that you can see. And there isn’t a trashcan anywhere in the event. There are no trash barrels, no dumpsters, etc. People pack out their own trash.
Oh, and about Empire. If you haven’t heard, that town is now gone. US Gypsum closed up the mill there and they owned the land on which the town sits. All the employees were let go and evicted from the property. The Empire Store was there last time I was through, but just barely making a go of it. Burning Man was the only thing keeping them alive. But the town of Empire is now a ghost town.
Actually, last year we discovered a gaggle of “squatters” living at “frog pond” (Robert Wykoff would know where that is) and they had killed all the fish and amphibians living in the pond using commercial soaps for their bathing and clothes washing in the ponds there. They weren’t associated with Burning Man (didn’t even know what it was) but were just desert gypsies who took up camp in the trees around the ponds for the summer.
One of my favorite BM stories: I was working there before the event helping get things set up and was doing a shift for the “gate” department. I was working one of the access gates and an older couple in a Lincoln Continental pulled down off the highway at “12 mile” and drove up to the logistics gate where I was. They pulled up and rolled down their window and asked what was going on (orange fencing, lots of trailers, construction cranes, etc.). I said “You’ve heard of Guantanamo Bay prison?”, they said “yeah”, I said “It’s full”. They turned around and left. Good times.
Do they really know how to make tea? Loose leaves in a warmed pot, then add boiling water? Or is it a tea bag with a jug of tepid water at the side to make some insipid infusion?
Great picture! In the background, to the right of the tents (houses?), just to the right of a tree is what looks to be a hangman construction of some sort. Is that where they hang the climate fails?
Can we suggest effigies?
Have a great time in your sojourn! Don’t think about bad science!
Will this be similar to your Alaska bear experience: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKH2oLjQIAA
Willis, will you be hitchhiking there?
@crosspatch
Aye, I know of the plant closure (I still work for US Gypsum). It was a sad day.
I know BM has done a lot to keep people from wandering around during the event. But the damage is done. People who never would have come to the area now come in the 10’s of thousands during the rest of the year I too have seen a continuous encampment of BM people for years at frog ponds, even though it is privately owned (I know the owner). He isn’t a fan of hippies, but is tolerant as long as they don’t wreck the place or mess with his cattle.
Is this a red light I see before me?
Don’t forget your swim trunks and sun tan lotion.
If Burners were really concerned about their carbon footprint they would put him through the chipper and call him Compost Man.
Burning Man is not a hippie environmental event, though there are a lot of hippie environmentalists there. There is one village there where several camps operate without any generators for the week (Alternative Energy Zone or AEZ) but many of the people there are hobbyists and experimenters, many of them with home built equipment. “Don’t forget your swim trunks and sun tan lotion.” swim fins, mask and snorkel are a common performance art gag.
Ten year burner here…have not been in about 5 years though.
I did not know about Empire… that saddens me, it was such a great little place. Back in the day we would be on the playa for 2 weeks building, before the gates closed we would head back into Empire every couple of days to run through sprinklers and roll on the wet grass!! What a relief!
I am sure Willis is having fun out there….
WUWT @ur momisugly Burning Man. Heck yeah! Burners one and all! LOLOL!
Hey, Willis, how was your burn?