Ask Sadat X About Burning Man

[suzzer99]

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Sadat,

"She's def. not the BM-type..."

Brandi is apparently a longtime Burner and was active in the Tribe community. Not sure what camp(s) she was in.

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Generally people are cool while they're at BM, no matter what they might be like in normal social situations.

[Sadat X]

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Do the cops just completely ignore drug use?

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No. If you're doing drugs in public view and they see it, they will bust you. Whatever you do in the privacy of your own tent is cool.

Cops are few and far in between though. Mostly 'Black Rock Rangers' (who are volunteers) keep the order and they'll never bust you for drug use or freaking out or anything like that. They actually have a tent with psychiatrists specifically for people having bad trips.

[Sadat X]

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Sadat,

"She's def. not the BM-type..."

Brandi is apparently a longtime Burner and was active in the Tribe community. Not sure what camp(s) she was in.

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Yeah, a little misunderstanding there.

[cbloom]

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I went from 1998-2002. I was going to ask how it's changed but I guess you probably haven't been going that long. I know towards the end of my run theft was becoming an actual problem, which was unheard of before. And chicks were starting to get leary of getting hit on. Which really changed the dynamic and seemed like it cut down on the female nudity and public sexual displays. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]
.

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As a note in any festival type community (Phish, Grateful Dead etc for examples) The "older" Generation of fans/festival goers always complain about how it "used to be"

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I went in 2001, 2004 and am going again this year. I could see a big difference just in those two years, the number of people that go is just way up, and of course in the early days it was just a few hundred, now it's 30,000. Obviously if you have 30k people you get some bad people, like guys who just get drunk and stare at the naked chicks and make fun of the hippies, but by and large the vast majority are still super cool. In 2001 it felt more like an intimate community where everyone was friends, and in 2004 it felt more just like a giant party. Of course that could just be my first-timer's glow affecting my perception. There's definite concrete changes too, like public sex is becoming discouraged and the "love tents" are hidden.

One of the most appealing things to me is just that I've never been anywhere in my life where human beings are actually nice to each other. They share, they're considerate, they take care of the environment, etc. when you see a neighbor doing something bad to the Playa you can go over and talk to him and it's usually friendly unlike the real world where everyone is trying to [censored] each other all the time.

Obviously the whole "mystical experience" aspect can be overdone and cheesy, but it really is a beautiful event, if you're an open person then you will have a blast. If it sounds lame to you then you probably won't enjoy it and we're glad you're not going.

I think the massive physical discomfort of the desert keeps out a lot of the bad seeds. I'd love to see RV's be banned. Personally for me the whole heat/cold/dryness/dust aspect is a big part of the experience, it sort of physically strips you bare and puts you all on a gritty level playing field.

[Sadat X]

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I went from 1998-2002. I was going to ask how it's changed but I guess you probably haven't been going that long. I know towards the end of my run theft was becoming an actual problem, which was unheard of before. And chicks were starting to get leary of getting hit on. Which really changed the dynamic and seemed like it cut down on the female nudity and public sexual displays. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

But then again I remember when I first went in 1998 hearing old timers bitch about how it wasn't as good as it had been in the past. So I always just figure a lot of that is perception.

How's the weather been? 98 was brutally hot during the day and still warm at night, which is always awesome for all the nudity. Also the worst duststorm I saw happened that year. Freaky mad max looking creatures coming out of the brown haze with visibility of just a few feet. That was pretty cool. 99/00 was not super hot during the day and ridiculously cold at night. So people were highly clothed and generally just shuffling from fire source to fire source. 01/02 were gorgeous except for a couple days of duststormy. Not super hot during the day and fairly nice at night.

It's a little hard for me to wax poetic about BM now, since it's 5 years in my past. But it definitely had a huge positive influence on my life. All my life up to that point I kind of felt like the villiage weirdo. Then I finally found an entire tribe of villiage weirdos. I think BM was the first time in my life I really felt comfortable in my own skin. Also there are now 20 or 30 people scattered around the country who are all now friends and go to each other's weddings, etc. because in the second year I went, my next door neighbor traded me some shrooms for E. Love [censored] like that. I know a dozen other mindboggling coincidence and life-changing stories surrounding BM. I wouldn't trade my experiences there for the world.

I would say, at least in the years I went, that it's almost impossible to have a bad time. No matter how much it was built up, and I've heard a lot of others who went say this - while they were there and after they came back, BM still exceeded expectations. I can't really think of any other experience in life that I could say that about.


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We did have a bike stolen last year, which caught us all a little off-guard. The weather last year was incredible: one major whiteout just as we got there, nothing else until the day we left. Those dust storms can be intense. That being said, I absolutely LOVE the venue and BM wouldn't be the same without it.

You're absolutely right about BM exceeding expectations. After my first year, I was ridiculously hyped (much like I am right now) and still wasn't disappointed.

My question for you Suzzer, is does that trend ever stop? Why did you stop going?

[mrkilla]

Like I said I am a big Jam band freak and go to many Festivals Similar with Phish that in that the first festivals were good fun times small and tight nit. To the last "Big" one (Cypress or Camp Oswego) where the crowd was there for the party more then the music.

As for drug Q's cops generally don't bother you unless you are blatant about it in front of them. They are generally the most tolerable of the pot smoking and will out right beat your ass for NO2 tanks [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Sadat X]

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One of the most appealing things to me is just that I've never been anywhere in my life where human beings are actually nice to each other.

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Truer words have never been spoken. I think the feeling of community, that still exists although probably not to the extent it used to, has an effect on the way people treat one another. Modern society def. has a way of alienating us from other humans and it's cool to see that when everything else is stripped away, people are actually pretty altruistic.

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I think the massive physical discomfort of the desert keeps out a lot of the bad seeds. I'd love to see RV's be banned. Personally for me the whole heat/cold/dryness/dust aspect is a big part of the experience, it sort of physically strips you bare and puts you all on a gritty level playing field.

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I love the whole post-apocalyptic feel of BM and agree with you that the environment is a big part of the event. We opted for an RV this year primarily because the heat makes it impossible to sleep during the day and we're usually out into the wee hours of the morning. The days can be looooong out there.

[suzzer99]

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My question for you Suzzer, is does that trend ever stop? Why did you stop going?

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1st and 2nd year were both mind-blowing, because of the event more the first year and the company the 2nd year. 3rd year was kind of a let down ONLY in the sense that it didn't blow my mind like the first two years. By the 4th-5th year I was still having some good times and making a connection here and there. But in large part I think I was kind of [some word I can't think of goes here] to the experience. I don't want to say jaded because I was never down on it. Numb is close but not quite right. Some word that means you aren't down on something but it doesn't quite jazz you up like it used to.

Anyway I found the only way I could have a lot of fun and go crazy was to do massive quantities of E, which I would end up doing several nights in a row. The last few years, when I got back, the E-depression-hangover from that just about killed me. Instead of a Burning Man glow, I basically had the worst depression of my life for a week. No good.

To me I just didn't see having enough fun w/o drugs to justify all the expense and hassle of getting up there (although I will say the preparation, drive up, and final approach to BRC is one of the best parts). Also you end up spending enough money and taking enough time off that you could go on a really cool vacation. There are just too many places left in the world I want to see. A lot of my friends went for another year or two then petered out. Some are still going. Supposedly next year is going to be the big reunion year where everyone goes again. We'll see. Only way I could see going is if I had some cool chick to share the experience with.

[wmonfor]

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My question for you Suzzer, is does that trend ever stop? Why did you stop going?

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1st and 2nd year were both mind-blowing, because of the event more the first year and the company the 2nd year. 3rd year was kind of a let down ONLY in the sense that it didn't blow my mind like the first two years. By the 4th-5th year I was still having some good times and making a connection here and there. But in large part I think I was kind of [some word I can't think of goes here] to the experience. I don't want to say jaded because I was never down on it. Numb is close but not quite right. Some word that means you aren't down on something but it doesn't quite jazz you up like it used to.

Anyway I found the only way I could have a lot of fun and go crazy was to do massive quantities of E, which I would end up doing several nights in a row. The last few years, when I got back, the E-depression-hangover from that just about killed me. Instead of a Burning Man glow, I basically had the worst depression of my life for a week. No good.

To me I just didn't see having enough fun w/o drugs to justify all the expense and hassle of getting up there (although I will say the preparation, drive up, and final approach to BRC is one of the best parts). Also you end up spending enough money and taking enough time off that you could go on a really cool vacation. There are just too many places left in the world I want to see. A lot of my friends went for another year or two then petered out. Some are still going. Supposedly next year is going to be the big reunion year where everyone goes again. We'll see. Only way I could see going is if I had some cool chick to share the experience with.

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maybe "meh"? sounds right to me.

[KJS]

LOL at yuppies going to the desert to get in touch with their pre-bourgeois roots. $400/person entry fee, right?

Is Burning Man like outpatient re-hab for capitalists?

KJS