Last Year My Virgin Year

So, @Craig inspired me to write a quick post. I am also managing to avoid doing some work I reallllllly need to be doing.

I drove to Burning Man with @ButchPirate (another member of this site) and it was a great trip. We arrived in Gerlach by mid day on Sunday, bound for the front gate. To our shock (2 newbs) we were unable to get in even though we were part of a planned Village. No problem, we planned for plan b, because I had a 5 gallon Home Depot jug filled with crappy orange drink and crappy vodka ready to share.

Before I go another step further, let me tell you I did a lot of reading and prep before my trip. I may have done too much, but one of the best resources was Tales of the Playa by OhTony which I have posted on this site below. There are 4 parts you must see.

Burner: Tales from the Playa – Part One from Tony Edwards on Vimeo.

Basically he said, go with no expectations. When @Craig (new member on GB) wrote “I made a decision before driving up that I would spend a week not judging anyone, about anything. Everyone I met was the same, be it man or woman” I thought to myself, yes. Yes, that takes it even a step further.

I did not expect sex. I eliminated expectations of partying and how people would embrace or deny me. I eliminated almost every expectation except one!!!! The one that bit me in the ass!

So, I digress. We arrived at the gate too early, so we drove back to Gerlach and spotted a lonely cowboy kicking back at a van and he told us his story. He voice was rough like broken glass and his style was cowboy rockstar who just finished his first joint. We parked close by and pulled out the 5 gallon Home Depot jug filled with crappy orange drink and crappy vodka. Gradually people started gathering more and more and we were dishing out every drop of rot gut we had. My co-host Butch Pirate was awesome.

5 minutes to midnight we jumped in and drove 9 miles to the front gate, arriving in line at 12:02 am Monday morning. I saw purple l.e.d.s arching through the sky. We made dirt angels when they discovered we were virgins. We were warned about narcs and being good citizens. We were thrilled….

On the way in, 100 meters to the left was a shuttle craft from the Starship Enterprise* ghosting us on the way in. Camp was easy to find. We were part of Sin City Village at 7:00 and Esplanade. 1:05 am we arrived and Butch went to set up her camp while I wandered into our dark village to see what was going on.

Part of our camp was Party Naked Tiki Bar. It was also dark, but a Las Vegas community member was sitting there clothed and in a cape talking to a tall, lean, and albeit sexy hippie boy who was called Faun. Faun was naked and drunk and the first person I saw upon arrival. I was drawn to Faun and their was an unmistakable reaction to my interest in this sexy hippie. Ten minutes later we were getting to know each other very well in the back of my car.

Thank you Burning Man.

I spent so much time on Bam Bam’s art car; a mobile strip club with neon carpets and padding with black light. I rolled my balls off at Opulent Temple and found wonderful things at Comfort and Joy. Every day was a social and visual thrill, both arousing and stimulating, at Center Camp with my daily coffee. Every night was a new adventure, dancing, staying with my community and meeting so many more people.

What was funny was running into people by chance I knew even in that whirlwind. Seeing my Utah homies at Basecamp, meeting DaBomb at center camp from L.A. Burners, running into other Vegas burners in the middle of the dirt by chance who I had no idea were there at all. There is magic out there.

My only expectation that went unfulfilled and left me a little wounded was… the dream of finding that someone special out there; an emotional connection of a different kind of magic. I thought I found it in the eyes of at least 3 guys here and there. Alas, no. But I would not change a single passing moment. It was perfect for my first time being out there.

*The shuttle craft turned out to be driven by people who are now friends and who had moved to Vegas in the last year. LadyMurv and Leslie (I don’t know his playa name) are now friends here in Vegas and I got a huge laugh when we realized that they were the first art car I saw upon my arrival.

Footnote: it turned out not to be a quick post… I encourage anyone who wants to to let me know they want to write something too like this!

New Members

I am so grateful and excited to see so many people joining this site. I know it will get more active as we get closer to BM, but go quiet as it passes. Seems to be the normal heart beat of Burner sites.

Thank you all so much. I hope we can keep this rolling… hugs. Peace. Love.

Being Prepared for Burning Man

What does it take to be ready for your journey to Burning Man? Ask yourself ‘are you ready?’ Will you ever be ready? So many people blindly wander into this journey thinking it is some hippy, feel-good, love fest where people will share and give endlessly.

Burner: Tales from the Playa – Part One from Tony Edwards on Vimeo.

The gifting economy of Burning Man is a generous thing, but the mundanes gliding into this world on glitter shitting unicorns might be surprised. Gifting is not asked for or expected. Gifting is not necessarily for the exchange of goods. That’s called bartering, which works too, but go to Burning Man prepared.

10 Principles of Burning Man say it all! However, the most important is Redical Self-Reliance. Toaster says “Take care of your own shit”. Do not rely on the generous nature of others to fill your void. So even if it is painful resist burdening others for your lack of planning.

Are you Playa Primed?

Packing List
Tales of the Playa Vid
The Tales video series that can be found on burncast.tv was one of the best resources for preparing yourself for the playa that I found. -Toaster



The absolutely best resources are all located on the Burning Man home page, without a doubt. However, use all the resources at your disposal. The best advice is to get to know people in your community or join another and become part of the do-acracy. Burning Man is a participatory entity.

Gay Male Identity@ Burning Man

Having spent my virgin year at Burning Man in 2009, I went as a blank slate. Although I had almost a year in the Burner culture in Vegas, experiencing the people there was almost culture shock. In my personal burner blog, I wrote a trip report detailing a lot of observations. I noted there was a lot of differences in the area of how women were treated and sexual identity.

Burning Man is a sexually charged place. It is as if for every ten camps there is one related specific for sex. Orgy camps abound, there is a wide use of drugs, and people dress in outlandish costumes bordering on silly. Or… is this the 70’s sexual revolution when gays were finally telling the world they were busting out of those closet.

While attending, I observed and watched as many people as possible. In spite of the “radical inclusion” principle in Burning Man and “radical self-expression” I found many straight men deeply insecure in their own sexuality. Incidentally, there was a lot of objectifying of women by men or by themselves in order to get attention.

The costumes and the unleashed behavior of the heterosexuals and repressed majority of the default world represented in the sex, drugs, and the party-hearty were the things WE queers already went through in the 70’s in mass; what many gay youth do to rebel already. We have lived this.

Frankly, I found the queers of Burning Man living closer to a default comfortable existence while the heteros acted out under the guise of being “creative” while being simply ridiculous.

Am I being too hard in my assertion? Is it fair? What matters is that the arch-type has shifted. I see gay people comfortable with their identities, selves, image while the heterosexuals are scrambling in insecurities with identity and sexuality.

This was a blanket analysis while not defining all heterosexual men. There were some major differences in the men I met out there and the expression of who they were. Preconceived notions were turned upside-down.

  • There were a lot of men with long, beautiful dreads and skinny, malnourished bodies that I find particularly sexy in my own sick world. They represented the conceptual hippie man. (Side Note: Fucking Hot!) Yet, ironically these men I expected to find liberal attitudes, but what I discovered was almost consistent inner conflicts with their own sexuality; or mine as it were if I was the one flirting with them.
  • There were strong male personalities, often easily defined as the narcissist, or egocentric male who were so indomitable in their pursuit of anything there was no concept of failure. They were handsome men strong in their sexual identity and confident without the time or need to entertain my flirtations. If they did, it was  out of kindness but were quickly excusing themselves for their pursuits of the female.
  • The average man anchored in the world was a grounded and humbled soul, yet few and far in between. He took flirtations with a smile as if entertained and charmed with them. His sexuality was not in question, but nor was it a driving force in his life.

Not to get lost in what this article is about… it is focusing on the male sexuality of Burning Man reflecting the Gay Male. While the feminine spirit is strong and a force in Burning Man that is formidable, my perception is that it was lost in the glare of the overwhelming amount of women objectifying themselves.

Through all this interaction, the gay people blurred into the background almost as the heterosexual couples blur into the background of the default world. They were not trying to make a statement with regards to their orientation or sexuality while the counterparts were screaming it from the trees (not literally).

When two young men walked through center camp holding hands I just watched them for a little while and was touched by their comfort in their world, with each other, as a unit. Meanwhile, a naked man walked by with four or five fake penises next to his own; all of them looking real and really confusing onlookers. An older man strolled through with brightly colored latex chaps and a g-string barley concealed under a thin layer of tutu.

Gays in the Burner World… well this whole thing came from San Francisco 25 or so years ago. Though I only met one of the founders of that age, I see in this a distinctly heterosexual white male celebration of self exploration. The gays did that, doing that on another vibration, but left feeling like the ones looking back waiting for them to catch up. Them.

Burnal Equinox

April 26/2010

Burning Man is Fastly Approaching!!!!!

In the above video, Gay Icon “Halcyon” appears in the interview. He as a whole series of often Burner related video on YouTube; Hug Nation. There are so many amazing videos on YouTube exploring the Burner experience.

Burning Man is coming!

The Burnal Equinox happened at the beginning of March, which for all accounts was hump day for us all. As we go into May, people are divinding up for their camps and busily making preparations. Where are you camping this year? Read more…

Gay Camps Everywhere!!!

I am looking for more camping information. Need more camp 411, please share. Soon Burning Man will be releasing the names and themes of the approved camps and we will be there to list all the queer ones.

Larry Harvey goes to First Friday

May 12/2009

Toaster notes: This was a sculpture in front of Comfort and Joy last year. It was awesome because I arrived late into the night (early moring) and came across a young cross-dresser trippin on something laying under it. It was just fun.


May 2010

Larry Harvey in Vegas
Larry Harvey is the founder and voice of Burning Man.

Larry Harvey made an appearance in Las Vegas at the monthly First Friday art festival. It was a distinct pleasure having met him. Every month on the fist Friday of that month Las Vegas comes alive in their huge Arts District. It’s so huge many people have no idea it exists. AND it is permeated with Burners! -shocking!!!

Your admin is a member of the Las Vegas Burner community and has been for a year and a half. I assume it is as warm and special as your own community. Feel free to post an article and share!

Member Priveledges

I have increased access for all current members and it will be done on a case by case basis for the future. This means you can create posts and blogs and what-not; as some might say.

If thee is something you want to add or contribute and are having problems let me know via the online form. Or reach me anyway you know how.

PLEASE STAY ON-TOPIC OR RELATED

Burning Man, Arts, Performance (related to BM -ish) etc.

Thanks – Toaster

New Members – Features

Welcome all new members and members transferring from the mother site. Yes, this version has a lot more abilities. I will continue to add features because this software is a lot more expandable. Awesome…

I know there were tons of Burner resources out there. There are few for gays(Queers). I am linking some to their Camps; liked Comfort & Joy. Shannon added Camp Beaverton … love them. Moonbow is out there… I heard about something caller Stellar(?) but have never seen it.

On tribe.net is another gay burner tribe. All worht chaecking out. Hopefully this is going to be the most interactive source available.

ePlaya is also a good source, on BurningMan.Com. But there are so many pontificators on there any reasonable and honest communications can get lost. If not for a few reasonable moderators on there you might just lose your mind.

Open to suggestions too. Use the contact form in the Help page to shoot me a note. Or post on my profile. XO!

Adam Lambert

Is Adam the new Madonna? Well, after Lady GA GA of course. I found this shot of Adam at Burning Man and wanted to share it with you all.

adam-lambert-burning-man-01