Participant MOOPing, 1998 (photo by Chad Slattery)

MOOP, in Burning Man speak, is Matter Out Of Place.  Trash such as paper plates, beer cans, bottles, cigarette butts, grocery bags, etc. often hit the ground and become MOOP.  Basically anything at ALL that isn’t native to the playa is MOOP, doesn’t belong there, and needs to be picked up off the ground by you and me.

All are welcome at Burning Man, and in Black Rock City (our playa home), we LEAVE NO TRACE.  Each and every one of us is responsible for the impact that we leave on the Black Rock Desert. At Burning Man, there are no public trash receptacles. You take your trash with you, and you take it off the playa with you. Radical self-reliance.  This has always been at the very core of our culture.

Of the tens of thousands of citizens in Black Rock City, perhaps the folks hardest hit by MOOP fallout are the Theme Camps, those hardworking people who create those special places for you to rest, heal, eat, imbibe, dance, and party.  As you can imagine, their already-difficult job is made much harder when you, citizens of Black Rock, visit their camps and leave behind your MOOP for someone else to clean up.  So, don’t do that.

“But,” you may ask, “how do I do that (especially while I’m busy having a good time)?”  Well, I’ll tell you. Read more »

Camera Van by Harrod Blank, 2001 (photo by Steve Schwartz)

Every year, plenty of lost cameras are handed into PlayaInfo, looking for their rightful owners.  And every year, we do our best to reunite them, through the efforts of our Lost and Found team, and by putting identifying pictures up on our website.  Ender writes in from Arizona, offering this brilliant idea to make sure that if your camera is lost, you’re sure to get it back.  Check it out:

“Write down your serial number, make and model for all important items (cameras, bicycles, etc) and have it in your manila folder (that would contain your health insurance information, health conditions/allergies, emergency contacts, serial numbers, etc.) in your vehicle.  Have pictures of your items too (for the thoroughly prepared).

Write your name, playa information (playa address & playa name with which you can be found in PlayaInfo) and default world mailing address/contact info (ie: email address or phone number) on a sheet of paper, in large font/marker. Kick down your camera’s megapixels to the smallest setting, and take the first picture on every clean memory card that you’re going to take to BM. This will become the first picture (depending on your camera setup) seen when someone checks out your found camera, to see who it belongs to – or when someone checks out that memory card they found laying on the playa.  Even better, snap a picture of yourself, with that information legibly visible next to your grinning face.

If your camera has internal memory, turn it on and do the same. Internal memory stays with your camera, even if your card is out playing somewhere.  You can also make a (usually much smaller) image and upload it to your card or camera if you’re technically sophisticated enough – in almost all cameras it will display the same size as a full-sized picture on the camera’s LCD screen.”

And to this, we’d like to add:

For cameras that take video, filling out your Personal Use Agreement for permission to shoot video in BRC has two advantages – not only will you get a tag for your camera and permission to shoot imagery and use it for sharing with friends and family, but if your camera is lost and turned in to Burning Man, we will do everything in our power to find your contact info by using the tag number to search for your PUA and reunite you with your camera. Yet another good reason to register! PUAs are available at the Greeters, Playa Info, and the Ranger Stations.  Or you can download a PDF of it.

Greetings from your friendly Burning Man Web Team …

We wanted to let you know that we’ve recently updated our First Timer’s Guide on the website, which is an ideal resource for getting newbies oriented as they undertake the thrilling process of heading to their first Burn. Remember your first time? Whether you’re a Burning Man first-timer yourself, or know one who could use a primer, head over there … it’s a great place to start.

When driving to Black Rock City, it’s important to remember a few things:

• Take Your Time – We know you’re excited to get to BRC. It is exciting, after all. But don’t try to rush things. You’ll get there. This means don’t try to pass slower vehicles on Hwy 447. This is a very dangerous single lane road to attempt to pass. This stretch of road is long, windy and hilly. You’ll be at the gate before you know it. Slow up.
• Construction – If you’re coming from the west on I-80, be aware that there is some construction zones not too far from the Nevada border and traffic is winnowed down to one lane for several miles.
• Slow It Down Through Small Towns – Once you get off I-80, you’ll be traveling through a number of small towns like Wadsworth, Nixon and Empire. Be very aware of your speed as you enter the city limits. We’re talking 25 mph. Seriously. Local police are sitting there just waiting for someone to zip through at 40 mph and will pull you over lickity split. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Read more »

BLACK ROCK CITY___Saturday

One word: dust.

Lots and lots and lots of playa dust, with frequent and numerous whiteouts.

While I can’t corroborate if these are the worst dust storms we’ve experienced in several years (though that’s what I’m hearing from veterans), believe it when you hear the rumors that this year is a dusty one.

Admittedly, I’ve only been OTP (On The Playa) since Thursday morning and both Thursday and Friday were relatively whiteout-free but I’m told it was pretty dusty earlier this week. And today, Saturday before the event, has been a doozy, with high winds, near-relentless dust and frequent whiteouts.

I can attest that despite my best intentions, my tent was saturated with playa dust earlier this afternoon when i left it. I shudder to think what i’ll be returning to.

So, my advice is to prepare yourself for the worst — get yourself plenty of bandanas, respirators or face masks to protect your mouth and nose, wraparound sunglasses and/or goggles to protect your eyes, and shore up your protective barriers around your campsite, especially if you’re camping in a tent — and hope for the best.

I know I can speak for most people already OTP that I really hope all your dust prep would be for naught and today is the last day of the whiteout conditions. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m wrong.

Playa dust – you can’t stop it, you can only hope and pray to contain it.