Aussielicious

After the sellout crowds at Burning Man 2011: Rites of Passage, the organisers have held a ticket lottery system. I didn’t look into it because I couldn’t afford to go this year anyway. Friends in the U.S. have been posting on facebook all day that they have missed out using the lottery and I’ve also heard stories of long-time large camps where lots of members have missed out this year as well. Could this spell disaster for Burning Man?

I know a lot of people will be very pissed off at the organisers. Some people are mentioning a boycott. I don’t know what the answer is when you have a demand that so greatly outstrips supply, but I would have thought the regular first-in first-served selling style would be more fair? If you really want to go, get organised.

It makes me wonder if Burning Man has become too big in it’s current state and this could fracture it into smaller groups that perhaps go back to a more original style of Burning Man? I’m far from an expert and I don’t know the reasons behind the lottery system or decisions being made, but I imagine it’s very hard to sustain something the size of Burning Man without it becoming commercial, like some of the music festivals like Coachella or Glastonbury. It would be very sad to see Burning Man fall apart or leave a bad taste in people’s mouths when for so long it’s been such a wonderful experience. One that I will definitely do my best to get back to.

I treated myself to a new iMac on the weekend and now that I have a computer that isn’t in a coma and has a little power, I finally got around to editing my footage from Burning Man. It was such an amazing time but so hard to communicate in words the feelings I have about it. The craziness of the night time with flashing lights and music everywhere, contrasting with the days which were still crazy but a bit more subdued and the colour was washed out by the blazing sun and the beige of the desert dust.

Most kids growing up read Dr Seuss books at some point in their childhood and I was certainly one of them. I loved the crazy illustrations and the rhyming poetic storytelling. Someone has combined the whimsical writing of Dr Seuss with the whimsical people that inhabit the playa at Burning Man and recorded this very cool video.

Sure they’ve chosen the pretty playa people, but they’ve captured the mood and the fun of Burning Man very perfectly as well as serving up the eye candy. The twins in particular are a favourite.

A while ago I posted a video of last year’s Burning Man by Jason Mongue. Jason has just released his beautiful video of this year’s burn. It’s amazing that despite being there for 6 full days, there are so many pieces of art, art cars and all sorts of wonderment and beauty that I never saw.

Burning Man, despite having just been, is still on my bucket list. I think for me, I need to go back to get the most out of it. As I’ve said, it took me a few days to “get it” this year and I think if I went back I’d settle in really quickly. I’d take some good friends that would appreciate it, I’d take my boyfriend and I’d have even more of a great time.

It’s also on my list still because I still didn’t lose all my uptight inhibitions and give in to the freedom and I also never got to run along behind the water truck and have a shower. That has to happen.

To be honest, I can’t really tell you what Burning Man is. Officially it’s an alternative arts festival and an experiment in gift giving and radical self expression. I would say it’s part hippy festival, part rave, part giant school camp with no teachers, and a whole lot of fun, but even that doesn’t go close to describing it.

Yes there was lots of bullshit psychology flying around, and some people felt the need to do their yoga in the middle of centre camp with an audience, but that’s part of it too. If you like being watched, then go for it.

There wasn’t as much nudity as expected, and I felt self conscious and unfit with all the 20-somethings with six packs in my camp, but I still did the nude pub crawl bike ride (4th pic from the left, I’m on the right) and happily showered outside.

The shots above are courtesy of the back country boys and scenic boys.

Well, after 3 weeks, 10 flights, 3 cities, countless miles and millions of stories, I’m home. It’s been an amazing trip and I’ve met some amazing people. I’ve laughed. I’ve cried. I’ve laid drunk and vomiting in the desert in the middle of the night and while not all of it was flawless, I wouldn’t change a bit of it.

I will no doubt take a few days to start going through photos and video footage but to start the blogging back up again I’m sharing with you a video from the very talented Vincent from Wallaby Way who is a friend here in Sydney who went to Burning Man.

Welcome Home – A Burning Man Adventure 2011 from Wallaby Way on Vimeo.

Can I describe Burning Man? Probably not. It’s like a giant school camp without teachers, a heap more originality and TONNES of dust. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before but I intend to see it again. Did I find it life changing? Not in a big impact straight away kinda way, but the vibe, the generosity and the spirit are things that definitely should be carried on through  regular life.

Thanks to Dannation for giving me a ride to BM. Thanks to the Back Country Boys for their hospitality and generosity. Thanks to the Scenic Boys for being as lovely and gorgeous as I’d hoped. Thanks to all the gang in our camp with their youthful bodies and six packs for providing the eye candy and inspiration for the gym! A huge thank you to everyone that I met along the way and bonded with in the desert. I will post more I promise but enjoy the video!

This will probably be the last post on Aussielicious for the next few weeks because in the morning, early, I head to the airport to begin a marathon journey to deliver me into the clutches of Burning Man, or home as people call it.

It’s quite strange to feel like I’m finally going to tick off a few things on my bucket list all in the one trip, that have been on it for some time. Burning Man, who knows what it holds in store for me, but I’m really looking forward to it.

Vegas is a city that a lot of people go to party, but most of it for me will be relaxing and recovering after Burning Man. I’ll also be ticking off a couple of Cirque Du Soleil shows that I’ve wanted to see for years.

Then on to NYC. I’ve been so focused on Burning Man and the logistics of getting there that NYC wasn’t really a priority, now I’m VERY excited to see it all, wander it’s streets, see the sights and everything it has to offer.

It’s quite sad that my boyfriend can’t come with me. I’m going to miss him a lot, but it is only 3 weeks and we can see each other again. It would be fantastic to share it with him though.

Take care readers and I’ll update you as soon as I can!

Yesterday a report went rampaging across the internet saying that Burning Man 2011 was going to be the last because it was becoming over run with scalpers and commercial ventures running tours. It wasn’t long before the folks who run Burning Man debunked that story as a fake.

It does beg the question “How long can Burning Man survive?” What started as a couple of hundred people coming together on a beach in San Francisco has grown to a sell out crowd of 50,000 people in the desert with art cars, dj’s, sculptures and partying aplenty. I’m sure some people are using it as a commercial venture by organising tour groups to the festival which fundamentally goes against the ideology.

The phrase “all good things come to an end” surely has to ring true for Burning Man as well. It would be a shame for everyone wanting to see it and those devoted to it.

Being a keen nudie and a first time Burner at Burning Man this year, I’m just wondering how many people actually wander around nude there? I’m kind of assuming that the media and a lot of photographers focus on the nude people because it makes the story more sensational and figured that the proportion of nude people isn’t as high as we are led to believe.

I have some cool costumes/outfits organised to wear but I do want to experience that freedom of walking around nude as well while I’m there. I’ll report back for you all.

Recently I started writing my bucket list. I’m not in any imminent danger of dying but thought I’d get started on the list and possibly see what can be crossed off easily. I saved the list as a draft here in wordpress but it’s disappeared so I’m going to have to write it again.

Needless to say, looking at the images above it’s pretty easy to guess that skydiving is on the list (possibly nude) and going to burning man has been a definite on that (so far imaginary) list for some time. I’ll get back to you when it’s all written!

Today I booked accommodation in Las Vegas for a few nights after Burning Man. I’m going to have to extend it by one night because the Cirque Shows I want to see aren’t playing on two of the three nights I’ve booked but that’s easy fixed.

I’m in the process of organising a ride to and from Burning Man and it’s also been brought to my attention that I’ll be in NYC for the 10th anniversary of 9/11 which is an eerie but moving prospect. It’s starting to feel very real now. I’ve bought my ticket to the festival itself so it’s all happening!

I’ve just been looking at the dates I’ve taken off work for my trip to Burning Man and it was looking like a long time in Vegas. I want to go there basically to see a couple of the permanent Cirque Du Soleil shows, “Ka” (below) and “O” and possibly “Zumanity”. But the dates I have, it was going to be 9-10 days in Vegas which is a little much in one place when I was originally hoping to get to New York City. So I’m thinking I might see if I can hit NYC as well for 4-5 nights after a few in Vegas.

Fingers crossed I’ll be able to find affordable accommodation in both cities and plan to get there and back. So exciting.

Every now and then I go through a phase where I have trouble sleeping at night. Apparently I’m in one of those phases now. I either can’t switch off when I go to bed, or I wake up for a couple of hours in the middle of the night. The preoccupation at the moment seems to be the logistical task of getting myself to Burning Man. Some of the guys I’m going with have offered to lend me a tent and help with other bits and pieces but the actual task of physically transporting myself there and back is stressing me out.

We have a company here in Australia that you can hire second hand minivan’s kitted out for very basic campervan use for one or two people, or five desperate back packers. I can’t seem to find anything like that in the U.S. There is a company in San Fran and L.A. that does small vans fairly reasonably which could work for me. Once I start getting things organised, I’m sure I’ll sleep better. I hope so.

I’ve posted in the past about being keen to try a mud bath thing at some stage. The place I’ve gone nude camping has photos up of a bunch of people being covered in mud from the river but when I’ve been there I haven’t found the muddy spot in the river.

Over the years that I’ve been keeping an eye on Burning Man I’ve seen several photos from a mud pit created there but don’t know if it’s something that happens regularly or not. The practicalities of getting cleaned up afterwards in the desert are a bit hard to fathom but I really hope to experience it there.

It would also make for some amazing photo opportunities.