Heads up for BM – Page 7 – Queerburners Blog Site

How to choose where to camp?

02/22/2012 by scott.kay

Before you go one step further… before reading a single paragraph beyond this ONE… ask yourself if you understand what you are getting yourself into? It is not a matter how many cool things you saw in videos, saw pictures on flckr, or scanned through web sites. As much as Burning Man may be on your Bucket List… do everyone a favor and go through the check list immediately below this… then proceed.

Survival Guide | First Timers Guide | JRS | Recommended Reads

So, now you are ready to gain the title Burner
(without the *irgin)

Before you go head first into the Burner culture educate yourself about what it means. You may not buy into the 10 principles 100% or see the value in them, but better believe a majority of the people around you do. These 10 principles are about community – period.

Without getting into the sacredityness of these concepts and your need to protect what they embody, focus on your survival in the desert. “Piss clear” is a guide and not just a funny annotation. These are things that are covered in the survival guide which – of course – by now you have read.

Solo / With Friends / Theme Camp

What is your choice? Whether a long ranger or not this will give you one hell of an experience. It is very wise to educate yourself before going to Burning Man and the first thing you should do is find out what community there is in your local area. Burning Man has a pretty comprehensive network and a chance to experience a taste of being in the desert through participation in Regional events and Pre-Compressions that go on through the months leading up to the big burn.

Solo

Going at it alone is definitely a rite of passage that can be very rewarding. Not only as just having done it … but it also provides you the opportunity of an unwritten script and a chance to be free of any commitments beyond your own LNT and basic survival. Just don’t be a Sparkle Pony, take care of your own shit, and experience all those things that bring joy to your own heart whatever that might be. Leave expectations behind and run with scissors.

With Friends

This can be rewarding and challenging at the same time, too. We love our friends, but can you live with them for X number of days? Will you leave as friends still? Can you count on each other to work as a family on those days out there?

The playa will throw those challenges in front of you and be aware of this before going on and be strong enough to let go.

Bottom line leave those expectation behind in the default world and be prepared to see people do or act in ways they would not when constrained by the rules of the norm. This is a place of expression and shedding of the strains of everyday life.

Theme Camps

Having a community around you can provide a sense of safety and togetherness that has it’s own rewards when on the playa. Often this can stem out of remaining part of the geographic community you are on playa with. This stems out of the relationships you are building locally, but you may want to take part with someone with a really cool concept.

Looking through our Queer Theme Camps section on this site will provide you some great opportunities to be a part of some great concepts and help make these awesome projects come to life. They are like works of art and entertainment unto themselves.

Act now… because you (who are shopping) have a unique chance to join camps that probably would not be welcoming new Burgins. The ticket fiasco wrought by Burning Man HQ this year changed the landscape and a lot of people who might not have normally received tickets have them now.

Expectations

Leave those at home or outside the fence. Come with a blank slate and do not try to fit in by stressing out over costumes or having a tu-tu for Tu-Tu Tuesday – for example. In your first year, keep it simple.

Conclusion

This and our facebook are great places to post your questions and connect with Queer identified camps. Whether it is with boys, girl or in transition… there is a group of friends waiting to welcome you.

Post Ticket Drama

01/25/201602/13/2012 by scott.kay

Inspired by a recent post by DanNation.Org it was time to do some hindsight into the Burning Man Ticket fiasco and start looking ahead instead of looking backward. @queer_burners on Twitter call this horse-hamburger and that might have been premature. Since then there has been statements by 2 key voices of BMorg (Burning Man Organization) that have come out in recent days.

There was a lot of frustration and anxiety thrown at Burning Man with the announcement of the Lottery and the snarky, bitchy responses to any criticism noted in a previous post on this site a moot now. No, many are busy making excuses for the debacle. They say scarcity was the problem but really, the registration was just too easy and the true believers* would have waited through a queue to get those tickets while the tourists might have fled for an easier choice.

SO MANY EXCUSES

There were a lot of blogs and no shortage of people ready to either complain or swallow the unqualified responses of anxiety riddled believers*. This blog is not going to judge which was which except to say that the opinion of this writer is “scarcity” is a diversion. WITHOUT A DOUBT hindsight is 20/20 and if the Lottery did work the way it was intended there would be something people would be bitching about.

VOICES OF REASON

It took a while but it was not an unreasonable amount of time, but 2 people we needed to hear from gave us the voice we needed. There was an acceptance of the situation and ownership of the failure… yet with a solution/answer still pending we as a community have some reasonable expectation that a band-aide is coming.

Marion Goodell (aka MaidMarion) posted a letter out through the JRS and followed up with an interview on NPR. The letter, on first review, reeked of spin and asking the community to be patient (while some translated that as ‘get over it’). Certainly her voice in the interview was a clear acknowledgement of the crisis and the perfect follow up to the letter because she sounded sincere and concerned. [LISTEN]
Andie Grace (aka ActionGrl) sent out an announcement that was authentic and true to the character of this caring, compassionate fixture at Burning Man. Her voice and presence in the organization has benefit Queer Burners in the past as an avid supporter of the community as a whole; which we are a part of. See the Andie Grace comments embedded in a blog post by DanNation.Org
JRS – Jack Rabbit Speaks news letter is the vein of communication from Burning Man… even more than their Facebook, web site and twitter (@burningman). It is merely a channel and where Marion’s letter appeared days after it was publicly published inviting people to comment on the BurningMan.Com blog pages.

The mystery of this upcoming 2012 Burning Man event called Fertility 2.0 is slowly coming into focus. The viral decomposition of the event with many upon many of it’s participants now without tickets (including this author) and a foreseeable solution that brings it all around. I cannot imagine it not happening.

BELIEVERS

*Believers are not swayed with this issue and those of us with a full glass of the Burning Man Kool-Aide will be the positive force to an ultimate solution. Yes, this ticket issue shook the faith… but there are signs all over the web where new energy and positive voices are working to make it better. Those who are making excuses… those who are deluding themselves as believers who cannot accept mommy & daddy can be flawed… those who want to turn their back on something they have LONG benefit from … chill out. We hold the powers to be to the fire and the fire is bright, but we know how to play with fire and make it fun.

Ethnicity at Burning Man

01/25/201602/13/2012 by scott.kay

It can be said that Burning Man is a very white washed event. For some the overwhelming presence is the sexually charged atmosphere that is also prevalent, but not dominant.

Burning Man is what a person brings to it and the experience taken from it is individual. However, the participants around you in this experimental city (it’s citizens) are more Caucasian/Heterosexual than anything else. Many seem to be affluent but that data is less scientific than personal experience; really about 50/50.

Ethnicity at Burning Man, was recently discussed and a blog writer who posted on blog.burningman.com noted the distince lack of African American, Asian and Hispanic people out there.

“…according to the 2010 Black Rock Census only 13% of event attendees consider themselves to be a person of color – noticeably lower than the national population of 28% (according to 2010 census data – although it’s not entirely comparing apples to apples).” -quote from post

“White people in America have a working assumption that they can go anywhere and be reasonably safe. Historically, that has not been a realistic assumption for minorities. For too many of them, for too many generations, it has been essential that they avoid dangerous environments and heed warning signs.

“White people expect that they’re going to be okay,” I was told. “Black people think that they need to be prepared for something extremely bad to happen. That means differences in behavior.” – another quote from post

On the other hand, in the same reasons given by the writer, the quickly growing queer population, seems to be much more diverse in color and economic reality. Camp Dickstracted for example is an almost all Hispanic population.

“This might be coming form a different mindset in another discussion similar or close to this one as the demographic I see that is more diverse is the queer population. It is growing out there… more diverse… and often plays in their own burner reality out there. “ – quote from comment made

Please feel free to check out this great post: [click here]

– Authors note: I looked for relative images through google image search for this piece and not a single person of ethnicity of than Caucasian showed up.

black people at burning man

asian burning man

people at burning man

weird

Ticket Oblivion

02/13/2012 by scott.kay

Where o’ where will your tickets appear…. or where or where will it be? So the mystery deepens and thought ticket say went relatively smoothly the aftermath is something we may or may not need to suffer with.

Someone on the list said: “Stop bitchin’, it works for Flipside…“* Newsflash flower girl, this ticket feeding frenzy is not the same thing. If there were a million or so hits on the ticket site and hundreds of thousands registered because Burning Man was on their bucket list… or gee it sounds so neato… where does it leave the returning members of the community?

Admittedly, changing to the lottery system was scary and the answers missing… many within the community are still staring wide-eyed into their email boxes waiting.

“Unfortunately your chances have been greatly reduced. Due to so much attention brought to our fair city via the timely release on the day of ticket lottery opening of “oh the places we’ll go” (over 1 million hits during the ticket registration) the release of a televised Burning Man story in Europe, countless sites & people touting “GET YOUR TICKETS NOW” all over the interweb. This facebook page alone gained over 8,000 new people during the two week registration period. No one but BMorg will ever know the exact number of registrants, but with all the buzz put out there at the exact time the ticket lottery was open, yours and my chances of getting our cherrished ticket went down significantly. Still keeping my fingers crossed I WIN the opportunity to BUY a ticket!”

– Posting on the Burning Man Facebook page

There was an interesting survey leading into the registration that one might hope will give weight to whomever gets the golden ticket. While eagerly waiting for “Fertility 2.0” some have already resigned themselves from going because of this ticket nightmare.

Some have resigned themselves to seeing what they could get in the final 10,000 tickets at $420 each.

The best thing is a wait and see attitude and not take this as a smack in the face by BMorg. Be positive and hope for the best. Burners don’t do conflict or drama.

When the Lottery was announced there was fear and loathing… we have yet to see if it was all worth it.

Sparkle Pony’s from Hell

01/25/201611/08/2011 by scott.kay

According to research, the term Sparkle Pony goes back to 2008. It is like glitter in the eyes or cotton candy farts of not preparing for an event where you could literally and unceremoniously DIE at. You have to be prepared, do the research, and make sure you bring what you need to survive for any Burner Event.

SPARKLE PONY, –NOUN, One of the Burner Principles is Radical Self-Reliance. Everyone at a Burn event is expected to bring everything they need to survive for the duration of the event — food, clothes, water and shelter. Yet this principle overlaps with another — the gift economy, where Burners share what they have with those that need. Of course there are those who take advantage of this by coming to the event poorly prepared.

A sparkle pony is a Burner who is under-prepared for basic survival but still managed to pack 2 suitcases full of fabulous outfits. He or she expects the community to take up the slack because they’re just so wonderful and drama inevitably follows when expectations are not met. – [source on ePlaya]

Radical Self Reliance

Burning Man provides a detailed survival guide on the main web site and a few cute phrases that really have import meaning:

Piss Clear!

That means stay hydrated. That means don’t be a douche and party your balls off without remembering to get plenty of fluids. All too often people do not come with enough water. Although many camps generously bring extra you should not expect others to cover your needs on any level.

The same goes with food, sleeping space and anything else needed for survival for the week.

According to the Urban Dictionary a Sparkle Pony is: A high maintenance person at the Burning Man Festival who is unprepared for the harsh camping environment and becomes a burden to their camp-mates.

What not to Bring?

It’s a good question, but the answer really is what should you bring? All those are covered in the above and the survival guide. You need to have all the essentials that will allow you to survive in the middle of no where for however many days you plan on attending. It’s just that simple.

There are things Burning Man does ask people not to bring that is always in the guide. Anything that creates MOOP (Matter Out Of Place) like feathers or paper or anything else that can break loose and blow across the playa.

Conclusion

Avoid being a Sparkle Pony if you can. Do your research and do your due-diligence and you will have a hell of a lot more out of the experience. A prepared Burner is a Happy Burner.

Safer Sex Camp

07/19/202108/22/2011 by scott.kay

This is a repost from an email received. The excep worksheet refered to is not present:

Greetings from Safer Sex Camp with Locator (5:30 and Birthday)

Attached is a Theme Camp Locator for 2011. It is a MS Excel workbook tool used to find theme camps near your or any camp. Each row has the name of a theme camp, its playa address, and contact information. The three spreadsheets are identical, but sorted differently: by theme camp name, by front street, and by cross street.

Get in touch with your playa neighbors before you meet them in person. Set up cooperative activities.

My thanks to WhereAreYouCamping.org and BurnerMap.com (redirects to Facebook); two very nice, place-yourself, web sites and to those of you who posted your location for the theme camp address repackaged into the attached Locator.
If your theme camp location is not already on both of these sites, consider posting your on-playa location with them. See the comment in cell A1 in the “By Theme Camp” worksheet for instructions on how to use this Locator. I hope you find it useful and encourage you to forward is as widely as you choose. Printed versions of one or two of the worksheets are useful on the playa.

Burning Man has nothing to do with this Locator. Your e-mail addresses come from the list of registered theme camps on the Burning Man web site.

If you are one of those to whom the following does not apply, enjoy the Theme Camp Locator, blow away what is below, and accept my apologies for including it. This is a mass e-mailing.

Safer Sex Camp distributes Safer Sex Kits, a bag containing condoms, lube, latex gloves, latex barriers (dental dams), a trash bag, and a thanks to note. One way we distribute these kits is to put a number of them in a larger cloth bag (the Outpost Bag) and hand the larger bag where people passing through your camp’s event can pick up a Safer Sex Kit, since sex is something we all enjoy, and that’s why services like escorts in London are really popular for men looking for this type of company. We place the larger bag where you tell us to (out of the sun, where it can be seen), we restock it, and we remove is Saturday or Sunday (your call).

We are looking for theme camps interested in having such a Safer Sex Kits bag placed in their theme camp.

We are not suggesting that the kit be used at your camp, but, if you camp’s activities might, shall we say, encourage such elsewhere, Safer Sex Camp would be glad to provide a stock of Safer Sex Kits, including the use of sex toys from AdultShopSextoys.com. The kits are given away for free, without trade or barter. If interested, could you reply with your theme camp’s location and a contact person, or forward this note to your theme camp’s appropriate person?

The address used to send this e-mail may be a temporary one, in any event all replies should go to me, Robert Wilson at WalkingOak@hotmail.com.

If your camp IS planning activities calling for safer sex supplies at your event, supplying your event is probably beyond our means. But, get in touch if you need an inexpensive source for such supplies.
Thanks for your time and attention – have a good burn.

Robert Wilson

Events at Safer Sex Camp 2011 ( 5:30 and Birthday)

Belly dance basics Tuesday 30 August 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm Thursday 1 September 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm
Getting the Sex You Want Tuesday 30 August 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm
So, you want to be a SLUT ? Wednesday 31 August 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Erotic Fetish Wear from Rubber Inner Tubes Tuesday 30 August 9:30 am to 11:30 am Wednesday 31 August 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm Saturday 3 September 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm
Women’s Only Liquid Latex Body Adornment – for Critical Tits Bike Ride Friday 2 September 11:00 pm to 3:30 pm

That’s All – Enjoy the Burn

Important 411

08/20/2011 by scott.kay

Hey all,

I thought I would use this vehicle to give you some information that you may or may not know – some of it is new some of it is old but all of it is useful…

*** BMIR (94.5 FM)
Do you all know about Burning Man Information Radio? Do you know that this is the official radio station of Burning Man? OK did you know that in case of an emergency (including inclement weather) that important information will be broadcast on this channel? Did you also know that when you are leaving the city that BMIR will give you information about how long the current line is? And how long it will most likely take you to get to the highway? PLEASE NOTE: This is NOT the place to go if you lose something on playa – Lost and Found is located at Playa Info.

*** In & Outs at Black Rock City?
Do you have all your stuff in storage in Empire? Did you not bring that special “whatever” that you can’t build your theme camp without? EEP! There is a solution if you are leaving the city before Sunday August 28th at 6 pm it will not cost you anything. After 6 pm on Sunday it will cost each person in the vehicle $20.00 to leave and return. The Gate has requested that if you do need to make multiple trips you try to do so before Sunday as the Gate (and the line/wait) is ridiculously busy then.

How does it work? Before you leave camp make sure that every person in the vehicle has their ticket stub. On your way out of the city there will be an exit lane on the far right. Stop at the kiosks and wait for the Gate staff to come up to help you. They will ask to see everyone’s tickets (just to make sure you’ll be able to get back in) and then will give a wristband to each of the folks leaving who plan to return. If it is after Sunday at 6 pm they will also need to collect $20 from each person in the vehicle. When you come back through the gate on the way back into the city you will be asked to show your ticket stub and they will cut off the wristband. They will still need to search the vehicle.

*** Coffee
Are you one of those Center Camp Coffee fiends? If so did you know that a few years ago they began allowing participants to bring your own cup? They even have a special line for folks with a cup in hand – I’m not sure if it’s shorter but it’s definitely more earth friendly – so bring your own CLEAN cup to fill with coffee and make your burn a little cleaner. Coffee prices have increased this year – it will be $3 a cup.

*** Ice
I know the question floating around your camps at the moment how much is it again? Everyone wants to know so they can bring the correct amount of cash onto the playa. Ice will be sold at 3:00, 6:00 & 9:00 again this year. It will be open Monday – Saturday from 9 am – 6 pm and Sunday after the burn from Noon – 6 pm. If you are looking to buy ice on Labor Day the only ice sales that will open will be Arctica in center camp. Ice is still $3 for a 7# bag of crushed ice or a 10# block of ice — or — $15 for 6 bags (buy 5 get your 6th for free)

*** Ice before the event Opens? Sure!***
Did you hear the latest? Ice sales will begin on Thursday August 25th (yes that is the Thursday BEFORE the event opens!) Pre event only the Artica station in Center Camp will be open. Hours will be 12:00 – 3:00, however they said to please be patient if they aren’t open on time, it’s likely because they are working on some important infrastructure as they will be building Artica while they are open for business.

*** Porta Potties
There will be more banks than ever this year – YAY! And they are generally located between Coming Out and Divorce & Hajj and Initiation on every radial street – so they should be fairly easy to find if/ when you are in need. And remember – If it wasn’t made in your body it doesn’t go into the potty. I know we all know this phrase by heart – but did you know the folks who throw things in there that don’t belong actually threaten the event? Because the only way to clear that stuff is more or less to reach in there and would you want to do that?

*** DMV
If you need to pick up your tags for you mutant vehicle – they are located on the outer ring of Center Camp, at 12:30 and Rod’s Road (where 12:00 points to the man) They will be open starting Saturday August 27rd from 11 am – 10:30 pm daily – except on Burn Day where they will only be open from 11 am – 2 pm.

*** Playa Info
You all know about playa info and how useful it is – you can look for lost friends, items and camps here. There are computers that you can look up information here as well as super hard working helpful volunteers who are there to try to help you. Play info is located at the center camp portal, onthe inner ring, at 12:30 (where 12:00 points to the man) – just look for the big blue “i”. They are open from 9 am – 6 pm Monday August 29 – Monday September 5th. Lost and Found is located here but please be aware that if it is after hours someone may be ‘playing the part’ – be sure to look for this year’s Playa Info Laminate and if you don’t see it take the information they give you at your own ‘risk’. 🙂

*** Volunteer on Playa!
Yes I know you’ve got a lot to do for your camp – but if you finish faster than you expected or would like to give a little bit more back to the city we all love there are many opportunities. Just head over to Playa Info and check out the “V Spot”. Any one that needs more hands to complete there tasks will post here, so it’s your opportunity to help out an artist who’s a bit overwhelmed or perhaps to help the temple crew get things done. There are plenty of ways to volunteer and trust me it’s more fun than work! 😀

*** Rangers
We all know and love them – but how to find them in an emergency? They are located in Center Camp on the outer ring (Rod’s Road) at 1:00, and have outposts at both 3:00 and 9:00 at Coming Out. You can also flag down anyone with a radio and ask them to call a ranger for you.

*** Medical
Located at Esplanade and 5:15 and on Coming Out at 9:00 and 3:00. Again if it’s a medical emergency anyone with a radio can get in touch with ESD for you.

*** Recycle Camp
Recycle camp is located in the Center Camp inner circle at 5:55. They only accept aluminum cans and are open from Monday – Sunday from 9 am – 5 pm

I think that is most of the most relevant information that you need besides the standard, drive slow into the city to prevent dusting anyone, when you get to your camp park your car and leave it, be respectful of your neighbors and don’t blast your music, etc, etc… – BUT you guys KNOW and live by these already, right? 😀

ALERT: Bringing Alcohol?

06/02/201408/16/2011 by scott.kay

Hey all,If you are bringing alcohol to the playa (and I think about 3/4 of the registered theme camps in the 7:30 sector have bars so this means you) please please please make sure that every one of your camp mates is aware of the state and federal laws about serving alcohol.

Toaster and Queer DJ Shifta at BRC in 2010 wasted! Hot Messes!

If someone looks under 21 – ASK THEIR AGE – better yet as for their ID. They were sending decoys into theme camp areas asking for alcohol last year. 5 camps along our avenue got $1,500.00 tickets for serving alcohol to an underage participant. You can also get a ticket for allowing a person under 21 to hang out in your bar area.

They have even sent a decoy into a camp that was having a private camp dinner and the decoy ‘pestered’ folks until someone gave him a beer so that he/she would leave them alone. PLEASE NOTE – this camp did NOT even have a bar that was serving to participants. It was a private camp dinner.

Yes – it sucks to have to ask for id. But I’ll tell you something – I’ve looked younger than my age my whole life, hell I occasionally still get carded in the real world for buying beer at a grocery store and I just turned 40 (in fact I got carded for buying beer FOR my 40th birthday). And I’ll tell you what, I would have no issue carrying my id with me at burning man if it meant the difference between being served and not being served. It’s not as big a deal as you might think – I mean you’ve got to carry your camelback with your water/tp/hand sanitizer etc with you any way, right?

And post a few signs in your bar area (or around your alcohol if you don’t have an official bar) that says “no one under 21 will be served”. You (and your bartenders) still have to ask the question – “are you 21 or older?” but posting a sign is not only a reminder to your folks to ask that question but also hopefully will discourage under age drinkers from trying.

I’m not sure if it counts to john Q law – but I would say it’s a reasonable way to prove that your camp has no intentions of serving alcohol to minors. I’d also suggest that you post something behind the bar that only your bartenders can see that gives you the month days and year that would make a person of legal drinking age. So you can ask them what their birthday is and you can gauge their reaction (ie thinking too long) as a way to judge. Note: that still isn’t a substitute for an ID – if they don’t look 21 and have no ID don’t serve them.

Cause I don’t know about you all, but I don’t have the spare $$ these days to not ‘trouble’ someone who looks under 21 about asking for their id.

It would be REALLY nice if Reverend Bloodshot or myself didn’t have to spend a day going around to all the 160+ camps in the 7:30 area and ‘reminding’ them of this policy (which has happened for the past two years because the cops like doing stings in our neck of the woods). PLEASE do forward this to EVERYONE in your camp and make sure the policy is well known.

Thanks

HepKitten & Reverend Bloodshot

*******************************

Here’s the official language:

** Bars on the Playa

Local law enforcement would like to see us continue to address the potential issue of underage drinking at our event. Though we, the project, are not offering alcohol to anyone and are not responsible for bars at Burning Man, there are possible consequences for camps with bars and us if we do not address this concern. Please read the following to make sure you are fully informed.

We do not believe that there are any rampant problems with underage drinking at our event that would merit investigation. However, you should be aware of Nevada laws on underage drinking. Here are some useful facts:

– It is a misdemeanor to serve alcoholic beverages to anyone under 21 years old in Nevada. The law still applies if the alcohol is gifted as opposed to sold. Theme camps are considered public space and subject to enforcement of this law. (NRS 202.055) In 2001 the Nevada State Supreme Court limited the application of NRS 202.055 to only servers who had actual or constructive knowledge that the person seeking the alcohol was under 21. This means that you must card someone who looks underage. Conversely, if someone looks of age you are not required to card him or her.

– It is a misdemeanor for a minor to consume or possess an alcoholic beverage in a public space (e.g., theme camps, open playa, center
camp, etc). (NRS 202.020)

– It is a misdemeanor for a minor to pass him or herself off as being of age. (NRS 202.040)

– Misdemeanors carry the following penalties: Up to 6 months in county jail, and/or a fine up to $1,000. Alternatively, community service may be sentenced in lieu of, or in conjunction with jail time and fines. (NRS 176.087)

– If a minor loiters in a place where alcoholic beverages are consumed (besides a food establishment) then the minor could receive a fine up
to $500. (NRS 202.030) Also, if the person in charge of the “tavern” allows the minor to loiter then he or she could be fined up to $500 also. (NRS 202.060)

Enforcement of the laws is either done by carding the person outright, or through undercover sting operations. None of this is new and not terribly different from most other state laws.

But what can you do to #1 Avoid illegally serving minors?, #2 Avoid being cited, or #3 If cited, demonstrate the due diligence against serving minors you used when operating a bar on the playa?

1) Don’t serve anyone without ID, who appears underage.
2) Ask for ID for anyone who appears underage. Learn to read it properly and determine by the date of birth if the person is old enough to drink.
3) Post “No Minors Allowed – No Minors Served” signs to discourage minors from committing a misdemeanor by loitering, requesting, or consuming alcohol at your bar.
4) Do not allow minors to loiter at your bar: ask them to leave.
5) Confer with a co-server — get a second opinion — when a patron appears “youthfully” over 21.
6) Work together – if you have refused to serve a patron because they do not appear to be of legal age, notify all your bar servers of your decision. There may be undercover operatives working with local law enforcement that attempt to be served more than once.

(NOTE: Federal and local law enforcement priorities differ on one or more of these issue. If you find yourself in an unfortunate encounter please get a badge number and/or name and note what agency you are dealing with. It might come in handy.)

Bottom line: NEVER, NEVER knowingly serve alcohol to a minor! It’s illegal and it’s not cool.

Playa Names

08/11/2011 by scott.kay

I came across this posting and thought it needed to be shared. You can find it here…

[–]turnerjer 18 points 4 days ago

i won’t try to give them clever names, but a few archetypes spring to mind:

the jaded old-school burner: never shuts up about how much BM sucks now… but still comes! you won’t see much of these guys, though, because they never leave their camp.

the first-timer whose mind is completely blown the whole fucking time : depending on your point of view, these people can be deeply inspiring, or even more annoying than the jaded old-schoolers. usually they take too many drugs and will have at least one nervous breakdown.

the camp bitch : would really have been happier staying at a nice hotel in reno… but then they wouldn’t have lazy filthy campmates to complain about! they can’t believe what giant slobs everyone else is. will moan incessantly about how no one else wants to wash the dishes. if you’re burning with more than two other people, you have at least one of these in your crew. if you don’t know who it is, maybe it’s you!

the overly spiritual burner : can be easily identified as the person who never laughs at your jokes. thinks burning man should be like easter mass: solemn and incomprehensible. just drop them off at the temple while you hop a totally undignified art-car to the upside-down-on-a-pole-in-a-wet-t-shirt drinking contest at Pinky’s.

the acquisitor : measures how much fun they’re having by how much stupid crap they can stuff their pockets with. warning: they’ll try to steal some key piece of decor from your bar. also, they’ll try to trade you a handful of painted bottle caps for a dose of E.

the font of swag : exact opposite of the acquisitor. each morning they’ll fill their bag with homemade junk, and won’t return to camp until they’ve “gifted” away all their garbage.

the center-camp-hanger-outer : hangs out at center camp the whole time. by the end of the week, they’ll have spent more money on iced-coffee drinks than you spent on gas. PRO TIP: center camp is lame.

the creepy date-rapist : always has plenty of drugs.

the raver : sleeps during the day. measures fun in decibels. does too many drugs.

the yahoo : should have gone to miami beach. picks fights.

the weekender : arrives on friday in an RV that’s more luxurious than your apartment. doesn’t want to meet their neighbors. doesn’t pack out their trash.

your dream-girl/guy/both/other : your perfect soul-mate. you’ll spend the most wonderful night of your life with this person. then you’ll find out they’re married.

[–]ranalicious 10 points 4 days ago

[–]TardGenius 6 points 4 days ago

Why Burning Man 2011?

01/25/201608/02/2011 by scott.kay

As mentioned in a previous post, there is a lot of reasons that make this year’s “Rites of Passage” very inspiring for people to attend. Beside the usually amazing pieces of art, performances and regalia of costumes and production there is much more.

Features

This year features something never seen at Burning Man which is the C.O.R.E. Project that will include 24 additional effigies from various regions around the world; mostly in the U.S.. They will be placed in a circle around the MAN and burned on a night on it’s own.

“The Circle of Regional Effigies (CORE) consists of 23 effigies created by Burning Man Regional groups around the world. They will be placed in a ring 600 feet around the base of the Man. These effigies are a celebration of the Burning Man Regionals and their efforts to support the Burning Man ethos as a global cultural movement. Please read about the pieces, so you can understand them better, and enjoy them that much more on playa.

All of the CORE projects will burn simultaneously at 9:00 pm on Thursday of the event.” [source]

This new feature this year promises to bring a whole new dimension to the Burning Man Event for 2011 unlike any other.

The Temple

The Temple has always been quite an expression and a very special marker for the event since it is burned as a conclusion to the week’s event. The Temple of Transition with it’s six spires takes over a huge chunk of real estate out there and is expected to be a true beauty! It is physically being brought to the playa as I type this out.

Motivations

How many people have posted on Twitter and Facebook that it was a checkbox on their ‘bucket list’ to attend Burning Man in their lives. I guess “Rites of Passage” screams to those people as if it was a calling to them specifically. If this is on your Bucket List, please buy a sports car and hire a hooker instead. Maybe go to Amsterdam! Wait – those are my bucket list items.

Maybe you keep swallowing the rumors that this is Burning Man’s last year and you need to get on the crazy train before the train closes. The rumors about 2011 being the end were being cooked up fast and dirty, but the future of Burning Man is not projected to end anytime soon with the immediate re-origination of BMHq; they are going from an LLC to a non-profit.

Conclusion

All in fun and good humor, whatever your twisted reason for being drawn to the desert be sure to do it smart! Water: Piss Clear! Food: eat smart and take care of your own ass! Dust mask: check. Non-vented goggles: check. Completely open mind: __________.

Hit for your week: Pick one day and no matter what is asked of you the answer is Yes.