Yearly Archives: 2008

Monday night – Co-Mar island

Home again home again… jiggedy-jig. Burning Man was great.., but It’s so nice to be back here with Diane and Gabe in cool lush Vermont. Today is labor day.. and I did nothing of the sort.. we spent the day chilling out. More on that in a bit. I wanted to share a few pics from our last day (sat) at Burning Man.

The big news on Sat was the sandstorm. It started around noon and lasted unitl just after 8. It was unbelivablly cool to walk around as the milky dust swirled around us. At time you couldn’t see 15 feet in front of you. At one point I walked about 20 yards out into the playa and found thta I couldn’t see anything.. not a person. not a camp… nothing but milky whiteness and howling wind.. I even managed to get lost trying to retrace my steps back to esplanade..

The wind wsa so firece thta it trashed many folks campsites…

It tried to take us down.. but we survied.. Here’s Max and my tent at one point in the storm..

We did loose our tarp at two points ..

Sara and Jeff dind’t seem to mind

Max and I cruised around in the storm just checking it out.

He looks good with a touch of grey !

Yeah… right..

At one point feerless leader Ben dragged us out in the storm to serve blender drinks at 4:30 and Esplenade. It was cool working there.. people just appeared out of the grey.. Our drinks were nuch appreciated !

The drink stand was fully personed.. so Max and I wandered out to explore soem more. We stopped in on my friends Jeff and Michelle.. they were doing a bizzarre craft experiment that I can’t really go into here.. But.. it was great hanging out with them and their friends Shelby, underwear-dude and Ben..

We finally braved the storm and went back home for dinner. We passed this parade on the way

Ben was on for dinner.. and really outdid himself.. cous-cous salad with capers.. tuna stuff and gralic bread.. and fresh waffles for dessert. It was really good.. We left a plate on Duane’s belly so he could eat it when he woke up.

Neighbor Woody dropped by with a shirt he’d made,, cool and spooky. He sort of adopted us after I picked the lock on his cars bike rack for him.

Then we took off for the Burn.. It had been put on hold because of the dust storm.. but the wind died.. and we we’re back on ! We were right up on the perimiter at about 3:00.. The art cars were all out behind us. We all sat down.. nearly 50 thaousand folks sitting out in the desert waiting for an 80 foot wooden man to be burned to the ground..

The brrn started at about 10..

First on came the lights.

Then fireworks.. lots of them…

Then a few massive explosions ..

Then more fireworks !

the Man was really burning at that point.

The air was thick with sparks.. We were showered with burning embers.

And then…… he stared to go down.. first an arm.. then the other. then the pedestal just toppled..

The crowd roared.. and surged forward…

Unfortunately.. in th e rush.. Max lost his camer and all of his pictures… We spent about 30 minutes looking for it.. then decided it must have been picked up. It was a hard blow.. and took th wind out of us for a while.. We walked in and put a lost and found request on the camp computer. Max was amazing and managed to shake it off .. The two of us walked back out to the man then walked over to the temple.. Once again that was an emotianl experience.. I was glad to be sharing it there with Max. I wish we’d been able to hang out on Sunday and watch them burn the temple.. they do that silently..

We walked aroudn the playa and saw soem of the art that’s in the far north..

Including theis buildig sized Tetris game..

Then we clibed the 10 story tower of babble . I took this 240 degree snapshot from the top using several pictures. This is what the lights of camp look like from 12 oclock .. As you can see, the playa is pretty big.

Then we walked home… It was about 2:30 at that point.. max went out again to find freinds and dance.. .I took a shower under the stas then managed to get 2 hours of sleep. I woke at 5 ,, and finished the packing. max came hoem at sun-up and helped me strike the tent and pack the car.. We left Duane’s World and Burning Man at 6AM .. it took us 30 min just to reach the gate of Black Rock City.. then about 2 hours back to Reno..

It was Pierre driving with Warren, Dal , Max and me as passnegers.. Very interesting conversations in the car . Pierre gave us another lesson in Matte making. I was the servador and served my car mates with mattee. Dal told us about his run for the presidency 4 years ago.. and his efforts to use his film projects as a tool to broker peace deals in Iraq. He also told us some more of his love life.. He’s a fascinating guy..
Pierre dropped us off at the airport and took the car to wash it. We all checked in and had most higly awaited breakfast .. THen.. it was time to say good bye.. It ws actually quite hard for me.. We all shook hands/hugged.. then Warren headed of to Seattlle.. Dal to Denvor .. (for the Republican convention.. as an ultra-leberal guest.. ) … a

Max and I went over to wait and ran into several other burners on their way back.. here are Wanda (chicago) and Heather. (amhurst) .

And soem nameless burners tring to recover on the floor

They had a great display for bruning man in the Reno Airport.. This case had a display of gifts folks had given out in prior years.

It cried out for a SamStone.. Luckily.. I had my lock picks.. max made a diversion while I popped the two locks, put int the samstone.. then locked it back up.. You know, Lock picking may well be the most useful thing I learned as an undergrduate..

I had to run to the Bathroom again.. I got in there and noticed that the urinals were missing.. uh–oh.. wrong bathroom.. I sprinted out just as tow women were coming in..

Then it was time for Max to go back to brooklyn and Pierre to head to the west coast.. and then back to his home in Georgia..

Just as those guys turned the corner, I had one of those uber-small world things happen that occur always in my life. My firends Al and Andrea and there kids walked by.. and they hadne’d been at burning man.. they’d just been out vacationing .. Wierder still, ndrea said that Al was now becoming obsessed with making high technology art.. I see joint projects in our future.. (Bob M. I can only imagine what you’re going to suggest..I’m sure I’ll hear from you tomorrow. . 🙂

the flight back was pretty easy.. there were some nice views as we took off after our short stop in Vegas. Here’s the ‘strip’

I got to albany around 10:30 got my car, grabbed soem food then started the ride back to VT. Igot hoem around 1:30.. pretty beat, but happy. I gave Diane a hug then fell asleep untill nearly 11 the next morning…

The three of of us took a 6 mile canoe trip down
the Winooski from the Bolton Dam back to our house. It was a nice way
to mark the day after our 22nd anniversary which was yesterday. . .. Hey .. I realized today
that it’s also burning man’s 22nd anniversary..

Things like anniversarys.. and the start of school are hard for me.. They’re more mileposts without Sam.. Man,,,,

Gbe helped me load the Canoe.. he’s now so big and strong that he can hoist the canoe up there almost by himself..

We put in by Bolton Dam about 6 miles up river from the house..

Diane got the ‘queen’ seat, while gabe and I paddled. We had a strong headwind.. so we had to work..but still made good time. It was a beautiful day..

One of our gols on the ride was to visit Co-Mar island where Sam and I camped a couple of times. We once left a flag there we used to be able to see from the road. We pulled up on the island and had a great picnic,

We looked for the flag.. but couldn’t find it.. no surprise.. this island floods all the time.. Gabe put a SamStone on soem of the trees that washed up here on some recent flood.

We got home around 3ish.. pulled the canoe up.. then Diane and I drove to fetch the car.. We took the dogs.. and took them for a hike up the Catamount trail Chai and I took a swim in one of the swimming holes up there.. Sorry no picture.. The blog has had enough nudity this week 🙂

It was so nice walkign through the gentle cool woods of our neghborhood after the sun, wind and grit of the desert..

The rest of the day was pretty quiet.. I hosed out my bags, rinsed out the tent and washed all my clothees.. twice to get the nasty dust out.. Quiet dinner.. then Gabe and I just spent a cool hour rigging his door to open when you pull on a gieant spoon hung on his door. I think he’s goign to be an inventor !

OK.. that’s all for the day.. It’s going to be a busy week.. More on that as it developes.’Nite folks, ‘nite Sam.
-me

Sunday midday – Anniversary

Hi folks… I’m on a flight now back from Reno to Albanay. Today is Diane and my 22nd anniversary. I am so happy to be on my way back to lush green VT.. and my family. I don’t have time to upload my pictures now.. Theire closing the door. Many more pictures later. Love to you all.
Love you Sam
-me

Saturday midday – dust storm

I’m writing you from the internet room here at blacK rock city. We’ve just gone through a dust storm and the room is crammed with folks like me trying to get out of the dust. It’s everywhere.. inside and outside..
The internet isn’t working well.. so I’ll make it brief. Last night was kinda quiet.. we cooked and watched the sun drop.. Then a few of us went out in the middle of the playa to get some peace.. We ended up walking out to a small classroom thing folks had set up in the middle of the playa.. a few school desks, some books and a chalkboard. We had a glass of wine and looked at the lights about a half mile away in all directions.. It was pretty magical. I came back earlyish (midnight) with a thought of getting some sleep.. but then ran into some campmates and went out to the ‘opulent temple’ a rave/video/fire place up the street. I ran into Max there which was great. I hadn’t gotten a chance to hang out with him much during the day.. I stayed there till about 2.. then went home.. and ran into John M and Duane.. who dragged me back out..
I got home pretty late… and slept great.

This morning Max and I were on to cook.. We made crepes that came out great… Now out in the dust storm…

I’m feeling pretty low key today.. maybe thinking about going.. or missing home…
But… still very happy to be here .
They burn the man tonight.. then we leave around 4AM.. for the airport.

I’ll post now.. and maybe add pictures if that works
Hi Diane and Gabe.. I miss you guys.. See you tomorrow
Miss you all.. miss you Sam
-me

(Well.. got some bandwidth.. but not enough time to comment.. I’m going back and adding some captions jc- 9/1/08)

Sarcasm is a major theme in camp names

Hurray.. the parade of the potty suckers. These babies kept the porta potty’s livable.

This camp brought a tramp (sounds like Dr. Suess)

Mmmmm. a fountain of Sake !

Cool steam punk conveyance.. it was a horse pulling a wagon

a buddist meditation camp.. Burning Man had lots of meditation things to counter the general craziness.

I met this robot that pee-ed on me..

I got back to camp…. we all climbed on top of the RV to watch the sunset. nice.

Then out on the town for another night of music and lights.

On our trip out to the playa we found a perfect little office cubicle someone had set up as some sort of statement.

We went into a musical planetarium.. I left a SamStone on one of the instruments. .

The man presided over the playa. wearing some nice neon

In the distance we saw what we thought was an accident.. turns out it was an intentinal burn of one of the pieces.. a pyramid

These guys were all wearing balck with electroluniscent wire figures.. they looked SO cool .

Then on to the Oppulent Temple.. for the evening rave.. I really loved this place.

On the way out we saw soem amazing art cars.. this duck was huge.. the size of a bus.. with 50-70 people on its back,, it shot fire and had searchlights for eyes.

here’s the chisire cat mobile

and an angler fish car.. (just like maxs nagler fish costume)

and a triceratops car

Saw this painted on a bus !

Got about 3 ohours sleep htne it was our turn to make breakfast. Max and I made crepes..

I think they were pretty good.. though.. I did’t eat one.

ABy this point the alkali had started to rot both Max and my feet.. owww

I spent the rest of the mornign just walking around in the camps by myself..

Friday afternoon – more from the playa

Another post from the desert. Today is Friday (I think)..I’m sitting in Camp (Duane’s World) in mid afternoon, waiting for the midday heat to pass. The wind is starting topick up.. I think we may be getting a sandstorm !

This Burning Man festival has been one of the most amazingexperiences of my life.. Like any experience.. it’s not going to be easy todescribe. . I think most of the storiesare going to have to leak out over time. I can say that it’s wonderful being here as a dad with Max..it’s wonderful being here as a geek to see all the cool science/art. It’s coolbeing here as a human with all of these really wonderful folks.. And it’swonderful being here for Sam’s memory. I’ve handed out nearly a 100 pounds ofSamStones.. and met so many people over his story.

I’ll add a bunch of pictures here if bandwidth allows…

Diane and Gabel.. I love you guys. I think you’d like it here too…

Sam.. you’re all over this place..

More tomorrow

-me

Here’s my seat mate on the plane to Reno..Menachim .. a rabbi for the def.. goign to the Burn for the 8th year.

The continental divide !

First thing you see off the plane.. Here’s Ben spending our first dollar

And our winnings !

The drive up was amazing.. it’s such an alien landscape

Solid burnign man traffic the whole 2 hour drive…

We hit a sandstorm when we got to burning man !

Here’s our crew ready to enter

Pierre hitting the ‘burning man virgin’ bell.. .

Here;s the wonderfu camp that Duane, John and mark had set up for us

The clan getting ready to go out on the ‘town’

The view from the desert.. and keep in mind.. there’s no electricity here.. everything comes from peoples generators.

There is ton of high tech fire sports.. I’ve got some GREAT ideas of stuff to build.

This is my favorite.. a metal dragon made out of bakery tins that shot fire.

Lots of amazing art cars..

And light up clothing.

and EVERYTHING caked with alkali dust.

Max came in soemtime.. and slept through the morning.. as did most of us.

Our neighbors brught a Tramp.. gabe..

Here’s our road

And our camp from the top of the RV

Ben and sara taping on our mylar with me on the roof of the RV.. we wanted somethign to reflect the freaks walkign by

Peter cookng breakfast from above

Breakfast was yummy.

And here’s our mirror

Building the bikes

This guy wondered through our camp.. nice guy. but probably tripping. he grabbed a bag of samstoens and ran off throughg them into the desert. We caught him and collected them back.. Then got him soem water… It was wierd..

Our neighbor Two bear and his phots (this was a time exposure taken with moonlight !)

Two bear has the characters for Reiki tattoed on his arm.

The margarida girls down the street.

I ran into my buddy jeff J. in the internet bar.. he has a bus here.. We wnet buy and saw him and Micheelle on their party bus last night..

People searching for friends leave notes like this.

Weird stuff abounds

Snowcone anyone ?

I made the goggles out sf some plastic max had.

Irony abounds too

Duane in a loin cloth..

Dinner last night

There was a huge machine lanching smoke rings

I put soem lights on the bus.. snazzed it up massivly.. We also named it ‘Duanes’ world’

Then we cruzed the playa taking in the sites

I just LOVE the fire.. such cool sceince.. such great public art.

Breakfast this morning.. one of the best conversations I’v eever had on ‘kids today’ These guys are all amazing in that they’ve all been very suvccesssful in business.. and now devote all of their time and energy to helping others.. It’s really inspiring

Some of our clan came back with tem tattoos.

These two brother are about to send their dads ashes up in a huge rocket.. I told them about Sam ‘s ashes going up in 2 rockets and many fireworks.> The world is a strang and funny place.. no ?

Then I went to the ‘Temple’ a huge bulding covered with peoles memories of loved ones.. It was really moving. I spent a long time there.. I put out a bunch of sam stones.. and sat there talkign to Sam.. and cried.. I wasn’t alone. the spirit of the place was indescribable.. It was one of the most moving things I ever remember doing.> . I know that my purpose for comign here had been going to this place.. I can’t capture it in writing

Then I walked across the playa and saw the ‘man’ he burns tomorrow..

and he’ll burn with a samstone

I walked around all day.. there were lots of folks out walking, riding, singing.. it was amazing.

people run behind the water trucks washing off.

I came across Bobby bacons fish in the playa.. I knew it from the picture his mom had sent my mom..

And then I went and found Bbby, Annie and Tom.. It was so cool meeting them in person. Bob went to the same high shool I did.. 4 years earlier. Annie had a stroke a while back and has been gettng better since. I have been reading her blog. I feel a great kinship in healing through blogging. It was great meeting her in person..

Bob’s brother Tom showed up just as i was leaving.. (I got this picture with them for you Mary B !)

I then walked compleyly across the playa to get back to camp.. a mile or so of open dessert.. I came across this classroom somewhere in the middle

THat’s it for now.. Hope I can post this.. More tomorrow

Love you family.. U2 Sam
-me