OK...so now with Tribe down for so long, I'm giving you two episodes in one post.
Today on BURNcast.tv we seek out advice to the jaded veteran burner from Camp HomeSlice:
tinyurl.com/5zjvyw
Next, we receive advice from a veteran (but NOT jaded) burner who's been going to BM since 1989:
tinyurl.com/68p5hd
So I know most of you posting here ain't no virgin, so what's your advice to burners like yourself who may be jaded?
Today on BURNcast.tv we seek out advice to the jaded veteran burner from Camp HomeSlice:
tinyurl.com/5zjvyw
Next, we receive advice from a veteran (but NOT jaded) burner who's been going to BM since 1989:
tinyurl.com/68p5hd
So I know most of you posting here ain't no virgin, so what's your advice to burners like yourself who may be jaded?
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Bring a virgin with your every year. Make sure it's someone you really like, who's joy and wonder will rub off on you and help you have a good time.
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So far, Burning Man has retained its character as being very different from any other event in the world. And remarkably, each year is also different from any other year. "It was better next year" is not just a joke, it's a challenge.
Fuck you, I love you,
---Jason Olshefsky -
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Jason:
> So far, Burning Man has retained its character as being very different from any other event in the world.
And you're basing that on, uhhhh.... what? Have you been to other festivals around the world?
How is the Burningman, of today, really any different from Boom in Portugal, or RoboDock in Holland?
www.youtube.com/watch
www.youtube.com/watch
Can you please remind us, the jaded burners, what _exactly_ makes Burningman special and unique? -
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I can think of a few things that are very different.
1. Boom has its music talent booked by the promoters not by the participants (theme camps)
2. Boom seems to have water on site.
3. Boom only has Goa/Psy -Trance rather than an array of different music.
4. At Boom Money is used for a lot more things than ice and coffee(which I think is unnecessary at the burn)
5. Boom doesn't seem to have a effigy that is ritually burned (obvious)
I'm sure there's a lot of other things I'm not thinking of at the moment.
And Robodock hardly compares to Burning Man. If anything you might be able to compare it to the Fire Arts Festival in Oakland.
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>> How is the Burningman, of today, really any different from Boom in Portugal, or RoboDock in Holland?
They look very similar, but Boom is more hippy-dippy and rave. I don't see any of the mad-max, post punk, or goth influence there. It is also smaller.
>> Can you please remind us, the jaded burners, what _exactly_ makes Burningman special and unique?
Does it need to be? Wasn't the point of regionals to spread the phenomenon?
You can be sure Boom was influenced by Burning Man. It started in 1997 as an expansion of rave culture, Burning Man started as art and cacophony, then got invaded by hippies and ravers. The basic elements congeal here and there. Maybe the only thing that makes Burning Man special is that it is here in the Western US. Maybe Larry got the idea of Green Man from Boom. They started going green in 2004.
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when does one get jaded? the more years i spend at burningman the LESS jaded i become... when is the point of no return?
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Dabomb:
> what's your advice to burners like yourself who may be jaded?
Realize that the visionaries were Hakim Bey, John Law, and the Cacophonists.
Everything unique and special about the event is due to them. The Cacophonists took Hakim Bey's ideas, made them into a reality, bringing anarchy, creativity, and art to the playa.
What has Larry contributed? He's brought the same piece of "art" to the event every year for the past 23 years, and turned Burningman into a business.
Larry might be a good person, but he's not a visionary. He sees commerce and the default world, and he likes it. It's just his nature. Step-by-step, he's going to continue to rid Burningman of the influence of the Cacophonists until it's truly just a for-profit festival like Ren-Faire, or a Bill Graham Presents concert, with a handful of volunteer performers, and a shitload of tourists.
The visionaries are gone. Their influence is fading. Almost everything that made Burningman special and unique is now just a vague shadow of what it once was.
So, my advice would be - if you're going to burningman - don't try to care about it. You'll just be disappointed. You've paid good money for your ticket, just go and enjoy the show. If nothing else, it is a good show.
I think treetop gives better advice. Burningman as something truly unique and special, is done. Go somewhere different. Start something new.
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Stop making Burning man so god damned important and stop obsessing over what everyone else in the Borg, the next camp over, in the city, near the LEO's ecterca are doing or not doing.. Seriously, they are going to fuck your Burn up somehow, its the way it is, it's their job and there ya go.. Roll with it and be ready to be flexible.
Stop harshing the newbie's burns with how they missed out on the fun last year ( thought they did) and use the yahoos to your advantage as camouflage and amusement.
And bring cool ranch doritos. -
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I'm a non-jaded burner about to go for my 10th burn. I don't care very much about the idyllic days before 1999 when there was chaos, drive-by shooting ranges, and almost no BLM presence. It's interesting history, but it's not applicable to an event that has nearly 50,000 people.
My "secret" is to take responsibility for my own enjoyment out there. I try to keep learning, keep doing new things, and keep contributing. I'm not an artist, but I do like to do service work. I don't do it for the LLC, I do it for the people there on the playa. I agree with Elaine -- don't let the jerks and LEOs fuck up your burn, deal with it and love the ones you can love.
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If you are truly jaded, then don't go. Take a break, and find something else (go somewhere else) that has more meaning for you now. And don't loudly stomp your feet as you head towards the exit like a drama queen; just do it.
You'll return when it is time for you to return. And if that time is never, that's OK too. Accept that. (You'll never be 17 again, either.)
My advice would be to NOT obsessively whine (esp. online) about how it was better then. That negativity, that inability to live in the present, speaks much more to your character than it does to any perceived faults that you might be able nitpick or armchair quarterback. (Because if you were really that interested in effecting change, you'd do more than just nay-say from your high-tech ivory tower.)
Whatever originally drew you to burningman, go attempt to recreate that. Just don't say (esp. on this forum) over and over that's what you are going to do; turn off the computer and go do it. -
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From a virgin burner, it really gets me when I read all the negativity. If you don't like what it has become, don't go or change something.
What has drawn me to the playa, and has for the last 10 years, is that who ever comes brings whatever happens that year. This is finally the year that is right for me to go.
No matter what it is, that is what it is supposed to be. It is ephemeral, only in a more obvious way than the rest of life.
Just because people are either born at a different time or place than a veteran burner or were off seeing other parts of the world doesn't mean they can't bring any inch less of them self and their spirit to the playa.
let go of your attachment to the past and enjoy what might be tomorrow. now that will free you from the default world.
xo
Jenn -
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IMHO, Burning Man is NOT about who started it, who's running it, any of that shizz.
It's about the PEOPLE that come to the desert and bring it, whatever IT is, it is always different and always mind-blowing and ALWAYS recharges my batteries and cements my faith in the ingenuity, humor, creativity, community, compassion, resilence and spirit of humanity.
I was also sober all ten days last year (my fourth year), and for the first time I was able to prove to myself (as I had suspected) that it was never about what I was "on" that made my experience, it was about my expectations. I expect each year to surpass the last and it has - tenfold!!
The playa is TOTALLY unique as an event-site and it takes something to survive out there - that's just the beginning. If they ever start having mega-events in the Sahara, Siberia or Antarctica (a lil exaggeration here), please let me know so we can compare notes on the similarities of BM to other events around the globe, k?
Besides that, I'm not sure that I'll keep going until it's done, but I DO know for sure that I will ALWAYS have a great time out there because I say I will and I do. I don't get involved in the problems of politics, I get involved in the solution by contributing to the art and to the people through being in service. Sure, I can always go somewhere else and start something new but I would definitely be left wondering what I was missing if I weren't there and that's why I continue to go every year.
Damn, I love my fellow freeeks!!!
PS ↁªɮºɱɮ u rock and please reply to my email I sent ASAP ;o)
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Wow. I'm really digging this discussion. I'm on a lunch break and checking in just now. I like the one that said "bring a virgin".
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Bringing a virgin is a good advice. Let me add bring a virgin you don't have to babysit constantly. Prepare your virgin early, throughly and help them know what they will need and then set them free. Most of the time, they come back when they get hungry.
Also, sometimes your virgin will catch on fire. Never mind how, they just seem to attract fire and therefore be ready to pull them out of the flames, pat them down and ask them what they learned.
So bring a good first aid kit too.
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Last year was my first year...hated it.
I'm coming back with no expectations and I'm brining 2 virgins...haha...Win! -
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you will have a much better time Gweana....yay!
and yes, i totally second SUPERDAVE'S advo--every year, make sure you bring a virgin with you, and let their infectiousness rub off on you.... -
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I'm so not superdave.
Elaine's advice about training your virgin is a very good point. Don't just bring a random virgin unprepared, make sure you find someone who belongs out there. Then school them good about what to expect in terms of environment and the steps you will need to make to maintain yourself, and the values of of the event.
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You are responsible for retaining your own sense of wonder. Not Burning Man, the BMORG or anyone else.
Find that sense of wonder (again), and that magic of the first time there will return.
On the other hand, decide ahead of time that it all sucks, and, amazingly, it will.
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HOW CAN YOU BE JADED!?
TURN THAT FROWN UPSIDE DOWN WITH HUGS AND RAINBOW ENEMA'S! -
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I do not understand how anybody can be jaded by a natural process of...well...everything in existence. Is change really so hard for people to accept?.....If so..that would be my advise. Figure out why change makes you uncomfortable and fuckin fix it. Otherwise your gonna be jaded by life in general and not just BM.
To the virgins I say this....Don't listen to the vets, especially the jaded ones...
To the vets I say this...no one owns the shape of BM, not even the BORG when all is said and done. Let the old past stay the past and let the new, ever shifting present be our future. And please....don't tell someone not to go just because you have a bone to jerk. Its not your call whether or not they should experience this in their own way or not.
oh....and fuck yer day.... -
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well thats rather insane, sure change is inevitable but it doesnt imply its always good or cant be done in a way to mitigate disaster. nothing is black and white, so criticizing people because they may or not agree with what changed and why, thats rather short-sighted, and only adds to others jaded attitude with additional resentments of dismissing relevant and important things people have a right and responsiblity to voice. especially true at burningman, no? or is that whole participation and community thing complete bullshit?
or did you not intend to directly reply to me? -
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My point was to eliminate those that are simply angry that " Its not the way it used to be, and damn it, I'm gonna bitch about it" from the "Things are changing, and from my point of view, not in a good way. We need to act on this." There is a big difference in the two. The first being the one I am sick of hearinf and the one that my post was referring to. The second is a group I would like to think of myself as a part of. My rant was for the old farts that "miss the good old days" and wish all us "Hippies" and "Ravers" would go home and leave the burn to the real burners...what ever that may be. If you perceive the process as "bad" then action is the only thing that may ( or may not ) shift the balance. Talk gets very little done besides creating more talk, and that in turn takes up time when action could be accomplished. When it comes to the ever changing world around us, we have to react instantly to the change, and that requires acceptance of it. To use a hippy term.."Go with the flow"
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strange, it seems you think action is an available option if something changed for the worse and people want to improve it. how so?
because almost all recent personal attempts failed, and most others i know run into similar barriers. in those situations i dont think people complaning about something without action is bad, thats just healthy venting and a somewhat natural occurance as that situation persists. but i guess its easier to over-generalize about people complaining and dismiss them, especially when its much easier for them to walk away feeling socially disparaged rather than add to thier frustrations by running head-first into brick walls.
besides, no one matters when they get associated with all the people complaining... because you know... its not like thousands of people complaining about the same thing have valid points... because you know... they are just jaded whiners looking for something to bitch about. nevermind that all those people helped build an event the way they wanted it to be with the understanding it was under thier influence and belonged to a community, they dont matter, even when they built and established an event that everyone else still enjoys.
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personally, i enjoy listening to jaded veteran burner's rant. i think it's funny and entertaining. i wish i was around back then.
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Explore the inner world of one's Soul. The real excitement is in one's own becoming! It could mean doing something else that sparks the flame of the Heart, or doing the same thing boldly differently. Observe others, but mind them not too much lest one gets distracted from one's purpose. What is one's purpose? Now that's a dive into some deep waters! Engaging in the journey, by itself, can open up sleepy eyes unto a wonderous world new and colorful!
Gabriel, V.V.
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May I reccommend a book? THE POWER OF NOW, by Eckhart Tolle -
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i'm not sure if it's irony or what the precise word for it is, but my jadedness for this year's burn started *last year* on the playa when someone had told me that larry had announced that the theme for this year's burn would be "the american dream."
"really?" i was slackjawed! after eight years of the worst president in us history, the worst transgressions on foriegn soil, blatant and open wiretapping, and the worst exports of what author naomi klein has termed "disaster capitalism" i can't in any way shape or form imagine wanting to go to the playa to contemplate "the american dream."
yes, america, which is to say the continent called turtle island and the political experiment that grew up around the declaration of independence and the united states' constitution gave birth to emma goldman, miles davis, ani difranco, billie holiday, ella fitzgerald, louis armstrong, professor longhair, woody guthrie, jerry garcia, ken kesey, patti smith, steve jobs, rosa parks, martin luther king jr, malcolm x, ru sirius, and so many other brilliant, creative minds who created from either adversity, opportunity or both...
and yet... the self-involved 'american dream" is the last thing i want to contemplate while out on the playa... the united states is already some pain-in-the-ass self-absorbed narcissistic monoculture that is exporting its "consumerism down the barrel of a gun" version of free-market capitalism at the expense of the biosphere...
the bm community does not (for the most part) make me jaded... ok, sometimes some of the hipper-than-thou fashionistas who are only aware of the dj schedules and don't see too much else on the playa can get me feeling a bit cynical, but for the most part i get enough smiles-per-hour on the playa to fuel me for the rest of the year... and yet... why oh why oh why are we being handed this gilded turd of a theme and asked to contemplate it for a week?
oh waaah! i know, i know, since a friend offered me her extra ticket at an early price tier and i have made up my mind to go, i could beat this dead horse right up 'til the moment i hear the next awful theme announcement or i could just go out there and enjoy myself... if you see me being jaded on the playa, do me a solid and remind that it is only by my choice that i've focused on the theme rather than the rest of the amazing things going on at the event. and, who knows, if i find myself having enough fun in spite of the theme, i'll probably shell out the sheckles to overcome my cynicism and come to bm again. and again. and again. it is, after all, the most amazing community i've encountered in my life (with many of the core people i met on grateful dead tour being an often close second place contender...)
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