highland games and pipers

i love bagpipes and bagpipe-related activities, so i went to the highland games to hear my favorite pipe band- the wicked tinkers, and was introduced to a new band, swagger.

the tinkers threw a didgeridoo into their mix, which sounds fantastic with pipes and drums

swagger- their fiddle player, dennis, rocks the house. i heard he was a music teacher in slc, so after we had a bit of chit-chat and scotch, i gave him my violin to share with his students. thanks for the music old girl, i will miss you & your beat-up green velvet case with the broken latch.

snippets from the desert

burningman- i took my airstream, pistol, to nevada for my 5th annual trek into the desert. we had 30 people in camp 'make good choices'. it was hot, cold, dusty, perfect... there is no money exchanged, nothing to purchase, everyone has to bring their own food, water, and supplies. it is a 'leave no trace' envirornment, which creates many challenges. the place is an empty dust flat when we arrive, and an empty dust flat when we leave, one week of transformation.

my friend larry's view as he flies in, usually there are several hundred planes that tether down

setting up the man at the center of our temporary 'black rock city'

setting up camp 'make good choices'. theme camps are organized camps who provide a (free) service, and as such, fill out an application with details of their service and space requirements. burningman then gives you a designated camping spot, so you can be sure to fit your entire crew. our camp service was happy hours, booty short bonzai (with hot wings), walk the spank plank (and grilled salmon), and furkini martinis, which is somewhat self-explanatory.

our neighbor 'midnight poutine' camp, french canadians who's service was to provide poutine, a traditional canook junkfood. they had fresh cheese curds flown in daily to serve atop french fries a gravy, from midnight till 4am. huge lines, HUGE. and well worth it. those who provided entertainment got to jump to the front of the line

art getting installed, early in the week

brad with the felt eyeball he made at felt camp. there are hundreds of camps and services they provide are totally random, such as: arts and crafts, yoga, lectures, yoga, bike repair, soft tacos, wind sailing, roller skating, yoga, golf, hugs, advice, fluffer-nutters, yoga, meditation, chanting, lock-picking, pee-funnels (for girls of course), mail delivery, shave ice, and yoga.

art- anyone can create art and put in on the playa, it quickly becomes obvious that they are labors of love (and must withstand severe winds)

professional aerialists perform at 'cirque du so gay'

it best if things burn or shoot fire, night is the most comfortable time to view art

large scale metropolis- the larger burn events are cordoned off for safety

aaron needed cooling down, good thing we had a sprayer for just such an occasion

ian called god at the 'talk to god' phonebooth. he was chastised for calling her 'dude'

a friend in seattle told me their best childhood pal who lives in boston was going to be at a camp called 'nosefish', so i hunted him down, and heard a lot of good stories. his camp served coffee and animal cookies every morning

art cars are a necessary staple of bman, and they must be willing to transfer passengers, thus they act as taxis as well as entertainment. normal cars are not allowed to move once you get to your camp spot

doctor megavolt, interfacing with an actual tesla coil. he's a seasoned pro

our little art cart, the little igloo with snowflake mobile and flame thrower on the top (previous life: datsun B10)

cindy, our camp leader, makes a good barbie. in real life she is a lab tech

the temple is built by a different architect/artist every year. it acts as a memorial or rememberance place where people write messages and attach pics and prayers, to eventually be burned along with the temple as a spiritual cleansing.

writing inside the temple, by the end of the week, it is covered in messages

the temple burns

everyone comes out at night because it's not too hot, & everything is either on fire or lit up

oasis in deep playa (far away from the 'city')

sweet little art car with tractor pulling ladies

my personal favorite, it was out last year as well, it pulls it's own outhouse

see...

late night at the 'root society' sound stage- these are outdoor clubs created by people who spend their own time and money to bring in gigantic sound systems and structures for the simple pleasure of entertaining. they bring in the best talent in the world, so it's quite a treat

metal sculpture unveiling party

some of our girls striking the sculpture pose

day view

the Mant farm- interactive art piece

randy chillin during a visit to bacon camp

serving drinks off of our art car- pour from the top of a ski, drink from the bottom

i took a doll to represent my friend judi, who was unable to join us this year, and documented her adventures. here she is swinging inside our dome

chilly art car

grilled cheese camp, where your sammich is cut by guillotine

fellow boisean treats judi to a bull ride at their camp, farmopolis. there were several boise camps which was really fun.

a bus stops by another boise camp, the 'altitude lounge'

jessica djs on top of the altitude lounge. she also performed a wedding up there

dancing at the 'opulent temple', this club is created by friends from san fran, boise, and denver. it takes the crew all year to organize and raise funds, and it takes a week to set up using cranes and scaffolding, not to mention the poofers (fire shooters) must be pre-approved by inspectors

dj booth- my boise neighbor greg spinning at the opulent temple

campmate kel spins on the queen beast art car (which used to be a fire truck)

view from the top

some of the boise/denver/san francisco crowd strike a pose during the cruise

jess cleans in front of the movie theater, this was far out in deep playa. they had theater candy, elevated velvet seating, and played old silent films. it was awesome. except for the sugar babies i'm still finding in my costume

brad and janith during the billion bunny march, a weird tradition resulting in thousands of bunnies and a few angry carrots. part way through the march we were attacked by animal control, who put some unlucky bunnies into cages and inoculated them with jello shots

animal control and their darned carrot

angry bunny

bunny protestors on the tower 'the only good bunny is a keychain'

billion bunny marching band, with flaming tuba

gary moved away from boise and wasn't going to join us this year, he surprised us and stayed in camp for 2 nights. yay!

martin and bertrand in the back of our art car during a storm, this one was a doozy and by far my favorite night, i met some really fun australians and we climbed art structures till the wee hours of the morning.

kel holds a 6-inch piece of chain that gary found in his tire, gee, wonder why he got a flat

the man burns, enjoyed with 51,000 fellow burners. it is difficult to explain the power and energy of that many happy people.