Happy new year!
When these words hit the Internet, there was one minute left in 2011 on the East Coast of the U.S. By now, we’re past that, even if only by seconds. We’re in that new chapter of the future, and people don’t call the years “two thousand” anymore. It’s “twenty” from here on out. Quicker. Fewer characters. Faster downloads.
Yeah, it’s the future, baby.
Everything I needed to learn about Holiday Gifting, I learned at Burning Man…
**NOTE: I AM NOT AN OFFICIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF BURNING MAN. I am merely a Participant with a passion for the event, people, and principles of Burning Man. Half-baked ideas & views expressed aren’t necessarily those of the Burning Man organization.” **
Frog is not only part of our BMHQ ticket team, she also heads up the Playa Animal Welfare (PAW, get it?) team, assisting non-human animals on playa. She writes:
Ifaw and Kovu (rawr)
“It isn’t all that publicized but the Burning Man Organization donates proceeds from ice sales to many local Nevada charities each year. The posted list from 2010 is an example. I’m fond of one organization in particular, the Safe Haven Rescue Zoo. Located in Imlay, Nevada about two hours north of Reno, they take in big cats and other wild animals and give them a safe, healthy environment, free of the stress from their previous lives. A lot of the animals were kept as illegal pets and others were found orphaned. They always make room for those most in need, especially geriatrics and those compromised by previous substandard housing. The most common story is that of people who thought it was a great idea to have a wild animal as a pet and then realized the huge responsibility and danger involved and decided to find them a better home. Read more »
Whether you can twiddle it, tweak it or twirl it, Burning Man art oftentimes requires the viewer to somehow complete the piece through their engagement with it. With interactive art, the viewer becomes an active part of the experience, rather than a passive observer. They become a participant.
Fish car, entrapped
And an awesome corollary to this is the unexpected combinatorial whimsy that spontaneously happens in what is essentially a community of 50,000+ performance artists spending a week in a giant dusty idea factory. Here’s a place where you’ve got fish, and you’ve got fishermen. You’ve got maids, and you’ve got dirty people. You’ve got folks running around in animal costumes, and you’ve got Animal Control officers. You’ve got platforms, and you’ve got performers. And you’ve got an appreciative audience that might just get involved, given the opportunity.
This, of course, makes for a fabulous melting pot to brew up those magic playa moments … those serendipitous vignettes you stumble across and find yourself uttering “Oh my God … only at Burning Man” before chuckling, shaking your head, and smiling as you head off to the next adventure. Yes, if Burning Man offers us one thing, it’s the permission to rediscover our inner child … to be spontaneous, and PLAY.
So here you go … here’s a quick collection of some great ones that were caught on film. If you know of others, pop a link to them in the comments, and tell us the story! Read more »
Photo by Javichu el jefe (creative commons license)
This isn’t about Burning Man.
I tend to get depressed around the holidays. Last year, I sent the following message to the Media Mecca email list, in the hope that if someone else was getting depressed around the holidays, it would help. It was well received.
So now I’m putting it here, to strike back at a season that demands we smile when our hearts might be breaking. I hope it’s helpful.
– Caveat
***
“Happy holidays,” you say? “Merry Christmas?” “Have a great New Year?”
Wrong!
You couldn’t be more wrong.
You couldn’t be more wrong if you used creationism as an excuse to deny global warming. You couldn’t be more wrong if you said the Bush tax cuts would help acai berries cure cancer. You couldn’t be more wrong if you said the War in Iraq is filled with hot single girls just waiting for your call.
Lies. All of them. Lies.
This month’s holidays are not festive, whatever the propaganda machine at the Mall of America tells you. Don’t listen to CBS! Do not believe the internet.
Believe your eyes. Believe your soul. This is the darkest time of the year.
Literally and figuratively, the darkest time of the year.
I am going to speak up, now, on behalf of those of for whom “holiday” is synonymous with “blues.” Read more »