Saturday, September 13, 2008

Lamp lighters on the move!


The four main avenues and the interconnecting Esplanade are ringed with 15 foot tall wooden lamp posts. Each evening a crew of people carry and hang kerosene lanterns from the lamp posts, lining the entire city by the time their job is done.

Neighborhood burn platform


At the head of every major street there is a large metal receptacle of some sort. Ours happened to be a giant wheel barrow. These are for all burnable garbage... Burning Man is the largest leave no trace event in the world, which means everyone who comes plays with a "pack it in, pack it out" mentality. Used to be folks just burned it all, right there, down to couches, tires etc... Common sense, and the right to breathe, finally won out.... now you can only burn wood, paper, and compost... I bet some people miss the smell of smoldering plastic though...

Ready to ride!


David and I, geared up and ready for a sunset ride around the city. As always, never leave camp without a dust mask and your goggles. Dust storms, literal whiteouts, can overtake you in a matter of a few minutes.

Burning Man 2008... He falls!



... and the crowd rushes in to revel in the burning remains... the fire burns throughout the night, slowly putting itself out. But people stay around it well into the next day, ravaging through the charred remnants for momentos, pieces of The Man, and the elusive, perhaps even mythical, Golden Spike.....

Burning Man 2008... The Man Burns


Burning Man 2008... The Man Burns



... and with a mushroom cloud whoooooooooshhhhh.... the Man begins burning...

Burning Man 2008... The Man Burns



... more fancy fireworks...

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Burning Man 2008...Disco duck


A moving "art car"... actually a rolling platform holding about 75 people ay any given time, PUMPING out classic 80's dance hits.

Monday, September 08, 2008

Burning Man 2008... Biking at night


Dust storms can and do occur at any time...

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Burning Man 2008... Wheel of Karma




... Frank's interactive fun, festooning the front of our camp, Camp Wheel of Karma... named after the game in the third photo. The first photo is a ring toss game called Galaxy Girls. The second photo is me in a fuzzy purple.... rocking chair.

Burning Man 2008... Sunset back at camp


Burning Man 2008... Sunset at the base of the Man


Every year the Man stands atop a different structure. This year he stood on a 4 story tower, bedecked with all the flags of the world. The theme for this years festival was The American Dream. Ponder amongst yourselves.....

Burning Man 2008... Sunset party at the base of the Man




Did you bring your cooler? Sweet.

Burning Man 2008... Art cars at sunset


Burning Man 2008... In the Blue Sapphire


Have you ever heard the Earth hum?

Burning Man 2008... Party on the 10th floor!



A surreal view of the Black Rock Desert as well as part of the temporary community that is Black Rock City... the 3rd largest city in Nevada!

Burning Man 2008... yes....



... that IS a 10 story steel framed high-rise that was erected in the middle of the desert just for our wonderment and astonishment. The American Dream, daddy-o!

Friday, September 05, 2008

Burning Man 2008... The temple of Remembrance



From within and without...

Burning Man 2008... The American Dream



Life's a bummer, when you're a giant 3 story Hummer... (and,yes, it WAS eventually burned to the ground)

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Wat Chompu, Chiang Mai ... gold!!


Wat Chompu, Chiang Mai ... holy jellyfish



This wat was next door to The Pagoda, and I could see the gleaming gold of this temple from many of my rooms there.