Mutie
Enlightened
One of the last things you would expect given the popular media reprensentation of what Burning Man is. Yes there are elements of truth and those things do occur but they are not necessarily what the event and people are about unless that is what you want it to be about. And really unless you go and experience for yourself anything said or portrayed misses the reality.
Anyway this was in the last newsletter and I felt worthy of sharing.
[ QUOTE ]
Beware of becoming lost in the sea of familiarity.
There are times when one can become so immersed in a project and its
swirling surrounding world, that its essence is squelched. It's a
"can't see the forest for the trees" kind of thing. I, for one, try
to keep paying attention, but if one eats chocolate all day, their
taste buds do eventually become "chocolatized". I suppose that for
some who have been citizens of Black Rock City for many years, even a
place like that could become somewhat "Chocolatized".
Well, last Thursday, DPW Chief of Staff, Will Roger, and I were
treated with a fresh perspective of Burning Man through the eyes of
the members of the Air Force Association when we were invited to give
a lecture on the military tactical aspects of setting up and tearing
down a temporary city in a harsh desert. Our playa town does
resemble, say, the current military encampments in Kuwait, for
example.
So it was through the eyes of these hearty and well seasoned retired
War Birds that Will and I were to view our beloved event for what
seemed like the first time. Needless to say, they knew very little
of the event and Will and I were greeted with quite the "captive"
audience.
One can imagine the popping eyebrows and jaws agape as we carefully
guided them through an eighty picture slide show (thank you, Lady
Bee) of what we called "Burning Man Lite" (it's hard to find eighty
photos of Black Rock City with minimal nudity) and we were, as they
say in the entertainment industry, commanding the whole room! They
were fully fascinated.
The evening had started out a bit nervous, and Will and I were
feeling a little out of place. (I could feel the stolen glances at
my earrings - just two medium gauge in one ear!) For one thing, we
started the dinner off with the pledge of allegiance and sang "My
Country 'Tis Of Thee", and I, for one, had not sang that song for
many a moon. I was a boy scout, I think. We were thankful that the
lyrics for both verses were printed on the place mats in front of us,
along with the schedule of the dinner-meeting in military times.
But by the end of the presentation, it had become a warm and friendly
gathering with a curious respect between us as they absorbed the
things we had accomplished without training while literally making
things up as we developed our community. It was interesting that
they were most impressed and had the most questions about the center
camp cafe. And, again, seeing things through fresh eyes, I can
understand their curiosity. After all, it's almost an acre of shade
that can, and has withstood winds of up to sixty knots or so. - Rod
Garret designs -
And the Photograph of "La Contessa" - the notorious school bus
transformed into a sixteenth century Spanish galleon - received the
largest ovation of "Ahhs" as they started to grasp the depth of the
amount of work and vision that goes into a single piece of Burning
Man.
I suppose you could say that they were asking all the right questions.
At the closing of the presentation, the host of the show, a salty
sort who had seen his share of ravaged war, had some interesting
questions and closing remarks. After Will had described the harsh
and strife-full nature of our city, this man's question was something
to the nature of why anyone would go out there in the first place.
My answer to him was a matter-of-fact, "It's a great place to burn
stuff." He gave me an "I suppose you're right" nod.
It does kind of sum it up.
He then went on to say that it was very interesting to see what a
group of people that were a little "off center" would develop into
given the chance that they created for themselves. He realized it
makes everyone want to keep it going to make it grow bigger still.
So Will and I left out of there with many hand shakes, a couple of
very cool war plane calendars, and a true sense of genuine pride in
the things that we do seen through the eyes of a very different
circle. It's refreshing to find out that you had so many things in
common with a group that you might have thought completely different.
I did like the "off center" remark. After all, it's what puts the
fun into carnival rides!
The Coyote Nose
[/ QUOTE ]
Anyway this was in the last newsletter and I felt worthy of sharing.
[ QUOTE ]
Beware of becoming lost in the sea of familiarity.
There are times when one can become so immersed in a project and its
swirling surrounding world, that its essence is squelched. It's a
"can't see the forest for the trees" kind of thing. I, for one, try
to keep paying attention, but if one eats chocolate all day, their
taste buds do eventually become "chocolatized". I suppose that for
some who have been citizens of Black Rock City for many years, even a
place like that could become somewhat "Chocolatized".
Well, last Thursday, DPW Chief of Staff, Will Roger, and I were
treated with a fresh perspective of Burning Man through the eyes of
the members of the Air Force Association when we were invited to give
a lecture on the military tactical aspects of setting up and tearing
down a temporary city in a harsh desert. Our playa town does
resemble, say, the current military encampments in Kuwait, for
example.
So it was through the eyes of these hearty and well seasoned retired
War Birds that Will and I were to view our beloved event for what
seemed like the first time. Needless to say, they knew very little
of the event and Will and I were greeted with quite the "captive"
audience.
One can imagine the popping eyebrows and jaws agape as we carefully
guided them through an eighty picture slide show (thank you, Lady
Bee) of what we called "Burning Man Lite" (it's hard to find eighty
photos of Black Rock City with minimal nudity) and we were, as they
say in the entertainment industry, commanding the whole room! They
were fully fascinated.
The evening had started out a bit nervous, and Will and I were
feeling a little out of place. (I could feel the stolen glances at
my earrings - just two medium gauge in one ear!) For one thing, we
started the dinner off with the pledge of allegiance and sang "My
Country 'Tis Of Thee", and I, for one, had not sang that song for
many a moon. I was a boy scout, I think. We were thankful that the
lyrics for both verses were printed on the place mats in front of us,
along with the schedule of the dinner-meeting in military times.
But by the end of the presentation, it had become a warm and friendly
gathering with a curious respect between us as they absorbed the
things we had accomplished without training while literally making
things up as we developed our community. It was interesting that
they were most impressed and had the most questions about the center
camp cafe. And, again, seeing things through fresh eyes, I can
understand their curiosity. After all, it's almost an acre of shade
that can, and has withstood winds of up to sixty knots or so. - Rod
Garret designs -
And the Photograph of "La Contessa" - the notorious school bus
transformed into a sixteenth century Spanish galleon - received the
largest ovation of "Ahhs" as they started to grasp the depth of the
amount of work and vision that goes into a single piece of Burning
Man.
I suppose you could say that they were asking all the right questions.
At the closing of the presentation, the host of the show, a salty
sort who had seen his share of ravaged war, had some interesting
questions and closing remarks. After Will had described the harsh
and strife-full nature of our city, this man's question was something
to the nature of why anyone would go out there in the first place.
My answer to him was a matter-of-fact, "It's a great place to burn
stuff." He gave me an "I suppose you're right" nod.
It does kind of sum it up.
He then went on to say that it was very interesting to see what a
group of people that were a little "off center" would develop into
given the chance that they created for themselves. He realized it
makes everyone want to keep it going to make it grow bigger still.
So Will and I left out of there with many hand shakes, a couple of
very cool war plane calendars, and a true sense of genuine pride in
the things that we do seen through the eyes of a very different
circle. It's refreshing to find out that you had so many things in
common with a group that you might have thought completely different.
I did like the "off center" remark. After all, it's what puts the
fun into carnival rides!
The Coyote Nose
[/ QUOTE ]
