Burn Baby, Burn!
If you're at all interested in Burning Man, have a child, and enjoy creative adventures you might like to read this blog entry. Otherwise, come back in a few days for an update on Poloppo news (we're planning an "official" press launch in two weeks and the shopping cart will be up and running by the end of next week ... we promise!).
Let the Burn Begin!
I took Annabelle (my three-year-old daughter) to Burning Man last Wednesday. Oscar (my husband and Annabelle's dad) had just started a new job, and couldn't take the time off work until Friday.
This was to be our first "Mommy and Annabelle Adventure" and the little cherub was determined to enjoy it. After the previous few weeks of intense preparation for the Poloppo launch party (which went off with a bang on August 25th) I felt we needed some quality together-time. Angelic throughout the journey she only twice uttered (as gently as possible), "It's a really long way mommy!" as we meandered past Pyramid Lake, Nevada.
At three-and-a-half years old, Annabelle is at that perfect age when the imagination kicks in ... butterflies, superheroes, and unicorns take flight and opportunities to dress up and pretend to be something or someone else are captured instantly. Burning Man was not only a chance for Annabelle to roll in the dust without retribution, but also a place she could let her imagination take flight - in spectacular surroundings with the people she loved most.
We set off from San Francisco not long after midday and arrived at Black Rock City at around 9pm. Except for the lights from the hundreds of cars, buses and RVs pouring into the desert at one mile per hour, it was dark when we arrived at the entrance. Annabelle was sitting in the front seat playing excitedly with some random piece of garbage. The ticket collector took one look at us and immediately convened a jury to decide whether or not we should be allowed in - I guess the 8-hour drive had left me a little worse for wear and my competency at motherhood was obviously in question.
Fortunately, I recognized one of the jury - a guy with a bowler hat and handle-bar moustache - from Ritual Roasters on Valencia Street. We had crossed paths often enough that although neither of us knew the other's name, we'd become friendly acquaintances. He said, "I know her; she's a good mom. You can let her through." And with a bong of the Burning Man Virgin Gong by Annabelle, we were in Black Rock City, our station wagon loaded with gear; water, food, tent, costumes, and of course, bikes and a bike trailer.
After making radio contact with our friend Don from Camp Token American we soon found our destined campsite, at 3.30 and Landfill, right on the edge of Walk-in Camping. Five friends banded together quickly to put up our tent, complete with rebar fortification against the inevitable 50-mile-per-hour dust storms. It was crucial to make friends with the dust, as it found its way into every corner of our tent - over sleeping bags, costumes and clothes - during the two powerful storms we encountered. Without an RV we were certainly at the mercy of the stuff and I was frequently reminded of a neighbor's mantra, "In Dust We Trust!"
Annabelle awoke at 7am the next morning, well before the stifling heat had infiltrated our tent and it wasn't long before she'd found her three-year-old friend, Miren, camping nearby. They set off to do battle with 5ft neon-colored noodles and lay pretend eggs in the dust, while I made breakfast, chatted with friends and began the preparations for our adventure out onto the Playa (the expanse of desert at the top of the city filled with interactive sculpture creations).
The streets radiate out from the Playa in clock-like fashion with the main theme camps lined up around the edge of the Playa. From our campsite on the periphery of the city we cycled up 3.30 past the Portaloos, past the Chinchilla Fly camp with their trees of dangling ping-pong balls (which lit up at night), past the Barbie Death-camp (a German artist's comment on Aushwitz), and past the just-yawning dance clubs to the edge of the Playa.
There were people everywhere going in all directions, mostly on bicycles, and dressed in costumes that collectively defy description. Aside from the ubiquitous fake fur, we saw a vast array of textiles decorating all bodily shapes and sizes; stuffed animals, spandex, sequins, feathers, and silicon - to name a few. People spend months preparing their costumes and the results are bold, innovative and hugely entertaining. Dressing for the Playa is every fashion designer's dream (or nightmare!) and Playa fashion really has its own genre now. I was a little busy with Poloppo to spend too many hours on costumes but did manage to get a few quarter-yards of super-soft and colorful fake fur to use as scarves (one for each member of the family and extras to lend), and the Poloppo clothing we'd brought along, including the Cage Ranger Mary and Dyno T's, and the Venus Flytrap dress fitted in purrfectly.
Out on the playa, fresh-faced in the mid-morning heat, the first sculpture/installation we came upon was a circle of metal dogs, lining up to pee against a fire hydrant. Annabelle was completely taken with it; she got on her hands and knees and lined up between the boxer and the terrier. We then made our way to the Pyronaut platform, empty except for passing cyclists, and used it as a stage for some morning yoga, dance and random performance.
Keeping hydrated with our matching purple Camelbaks, we also used the water to mix mud pies in a baking session that lasted almost two hours. Our last stop on the Playa that day was at the installation called "The Faithful" where nine 6-ton sculptures of people posed in worship facing a huge wooden oil derrick (although we missed it, the burning of the oil derrick was apparently more spectacular than the burn of the Man himself).
We spent just as much time at home base, replenishing body and soul with food, liquid and laughs with friends as we did out and about. It was almost impossible to convene a group of friends together on the Playa, and have them stay together, so home base was ideal for reconnecting. Our location was perfect for the kids too; being right on the edge of Walk-in Camping (the zone marked off as vehicle-free) enabled the kids to run around freely and play in the dust while still being visible. There was a wonderful sense of openness there too; you could see the light play on the surrounding mountains, escape the ambient light of the city at night to enjoy the moonlight, and of course escape the worst of the booming sound systems (we had noise-canceling ear-muffs for worse-case-scenario noise but generally slept well).
Oscar arrived on Friday afternoon, a tad belated, on the tail of a double rainbow over the city. We were elated to see him and spent a day and a half doing more of the same aforementioned adventuring and chilling and even managed to go shake our booties for a couple of hours one night (at PlayaPlex) thanks to a convenient babysitting swap with friends.
On Sunday morning at 8.30am we left Black Rock City along with thousands of other "Burners" and began the long journey back to San Francisco via a swimming hole in the South Yuba River. Our 2007 "Burn" was over, and although it seemed so short, and such an effort to prepare for and get to, it was invariably worthwhile. I love the way Burning Man opens one's mind to new creative possibilities in art, fashion and technology, and even more so how it connects families, friends and communities.
Of course, Burning Man (like life on Earth), is far from perfect. It's true: it's not what it used to be. You have to lock your bikes these days (that generally wasn't necessary the last time we went five years ago) and there is evidence of occasional "frat-boy" behavior. However, I don't believe that's reason enough to stay away. In our experience, the pros far outweigh the cons.
What's more important perhaps than stolen bikes and frat boys is the "green" issue. Despite the Green theme this year, the evidence of pollution that Burning Man brings - not so much to the Playa as to the atmosphere (with the amount of of fossil fuel burning that goes on in the name of art and the number of RVs that go) - is obvious. For a community of creative environmentally-aware people that's not really ethically sustainable. We came up with a number of initiatives that we'd like to see incorporated at Burning Man, and hopefully they'll make their way to the people who count:
1) all future art-cars be hybrid, solar or wind-powered (pre-2008 combustion art-cars could still be allowed)
2) all sound-systems be solar-powered
3) gradually phase out all generators in favor of solar and wind power
4) all fire-related art installations be carbon foot-printed
5) purchasing a ticket could require a Certification of Environmental Effort - ie each attendee must prove how their camp is making an effort to become more environmentally conscious - eventually this could become more and more stringent and would also be effective at eliminating lazy deadbeat bike-thieves who would be less likely to make such efforts!
Hope to see you there next year! Here are some pics of our Burn ...
http://web.mac.com/cherieaartscoley/iWeb/Site%202/Burning%20Man%202007.html
Let the Burn Begin!
I took Annabelle (my three-year-old daughter) to Burning Man last Wednesday. Oscar (my husband and Annabelle's dad) had just started a new job, and couldn't take the time off work until Friday.
This was to be our first "Mommy and Annabelle Adventure" and the little cherub was determined to enjoy it. After the previous few weeks of intense preparation for the Poloppo launch party (which went off with a bang on August 25th) I felt we needed some quality together-time. Angelic throughout the journey she only twice uttered (as gently as possible), "It's a really long way mommy!" as we meandered past Pyramid Lake, Nevada.
At three-and-a-half years old, Annabelle is at that perfect age when the imagination kicks in ... butterflies, superheroes, and unicorns take flight and opportunities to dress up and pretend to be something or someone else are captured instantly. Burning Man was not only a chance for Annabelle to roll in the dust without retribution, but also a place she could let her imagination take flight - in spectacular surroundings with the people she loved most.
We set off from San Francisco not long after midday and arrived at Black Rock City at around 9pm. Except for the lights from the hundreds of cars, buses and RVs pouring into the desert at one mile per hour, it was dark when we arrived at the entrance. Annabelle was sitting in the front seat playing excitedly with some random piece of garbage. The ticket collector took one look at us and immediately convened a jury to decide whether or not we should be allowed in - I guess the 8-hour drive had left me a little worse for wear and my competency at motherhood was obviously in question.
Fortunately, I recognized one of the jury - a guy with a bowler hat and handle-bar moustache - from Ritual Roasters on Valencia Street. We had crossed paths often enough that although neither of us knew the other's name, we'd become friendly acquaintances. He said, "I know her; she's a good mom. You can let her through." And with a bong of the Burning Man Virgin Gong by Annabelle, we were in Black Rock City, our station wagon loaded with gear; water, food, tent, costumes, and of course, bikes and a bike trailer.
After making radio contact with our friend Don from Camp Token American we soon found our destined campsite, at 3.30 and Landfill, right on the edge of Walk-in Camping. Five friends banded together quickly to put up our tent, complete with rebar fortification against the inevitable 50-mile-per-hour dust storms. It was crucial to make friends with the dust, as it found its way into every corner of our tent - over sleeping bags, costumes and clothes - during the two powerful storms we encountered. Without an RV we were certainly at the mercy of the stuff and I was frequently reminded of a neighbor's mantra, "In Dust We Trust!"
Annabelle awoke at 7am the next morning, well before the stifling heat had infiltrated our tent and it wasn't long before she'd found her three-year-old friend, Miren, camping nearby. They set off to do battle with 5ft neon-colored noodles and lay pretend eggs in the dust, while I made breakfast, chatted with friends and began the preparations for our adventure out onto the Playa (the expanse of desert at the top of the city filled with interactive sculpture creations).
The streets radiate out from the Playa in clock-like fashion with the main theme camps lined up around the edge of the Playa. From our campsite on the periphery of the city we cycled up 3.30 past the Portaloos, past the Chinchilla Fly camp with their trees of dangling ping-pong balls (which lit up at night), past the Barbie Death-camp (a German artist's comment on Aushwitz), and past the just-yawning dance clubs to the edge of the Playa.
There were people everywhere going in all directions, mostly on bicycles, and dressed in costumes that collectively defy description. Aside from the ubiquitous fake fur, we saw a vast array of textiles decorating all bodily shapes and sizes; stuffed animals, spandex, sequins, feathers, and silicon - to name a few. People spend months preparing their costumes and the results are bold, innovative and hugely entertaining. Dressing for the Playa is every fashion designer's dream (or nightmare!) and Playa fashion really has its own genre now. I was a little busy with Poloppo to spend too many hours on costumes but did manage to get a few quarter-yards of super-soft and colorful fake fur to use as scarves (one for each member of the family and extras to lend), and the Poloppo clothing we'd brought along, including the Cage Ranger Mary and Dyno T's, and the Venus Flytrap dress fitted in purrfectly.
Out on the playa, fresh-faced in the mid-morning heat, the first sculpture/installation we came upon was a circle of metal dogs, lining up to pee against a fire hydrant. Annabelle was completely taken with it; she got on her hands and knees and lined up between the boxer and the terrier. We then made our way to the Pyronaut platform, empty except for passing cyclists, and used it as a stage for some morning yoga, dance and random performance.
Keeping hydrated with our matching purple Camelbaks, we also used the water to mix mud pies in a baking session that lasted almost two hours. Our last stop on the Playa that day was at the installation called "The Faithful" where nine 6-ton sculptures of people posed in worship facing a huge wooden oil derrick (although we missed it, the burning of the oil derrick was apparently more spectacular than the burn of the Man himself).
We spent just as much time at home base, replenishing body and soul with food, liquid and laughs with friends as we did out and about. It was almost impossible to convene a group of friends together on the Playa, and have them stay together, so home base was ideal for reconnecting. Our location was perfect for the kids too; being right on the edge of Walk-in Camping (the zone marked off as vehicle-free) enabled the kids to run around freely and play in the dust while still being visible. There was a wonderful sense of openness there too; you could see the light play on the surrounding mountains, escape the ambient light of the city at night to enjoy the moonlight, and of course escape the worst of the booming sound systems (we had noise-canceling ear-muffs for worse-case-scenario noise but generally slept well).
Oscar arrived on Friday afternoon, a tad belated, on the tail of a double rainbow over the city. We were elated to see him and spent a day and a half doing more of the same aforementioned adventuring and chilling and even managed to go shake our booties for a couple of hours one night (at PlayaPlex) thanks to a convenient babysitting swap with friends.
On Sunday morning at 8.30am we left Black Rock City along with thousands of other "Burners" and began the long journey back to San Francisco via a swimming hole in the South Yuba River. Our 2007 "Burn" was over, and although it seemed so short, and such an effort to prepare for and get to, it was invariably worthwhile. I love the way Burning Man opens one's mind to new creative possibilities in art, fashion and technology, and even more so how it connects families, friends and communities.
Of course, Burning Man (like life on Earth), is far from perfect. It's true: it's not what it used to be. You have to lock your bikes these days (that generally wasn't necessary the last time we went five years ago) and there is evidence of occasional "frat-boy" behavior. However, I don't believe that's reason enough to stay away. In our experience, the pros far outweigh the cons.
What's more important perhaps than stolen bikes and frat boys is the "green" issue. Despite the Green theme this year, the evidence of pollution that Burning Man brings - not so much to the Playa as to the atmosphere (with the amount of of fossil fuel burning that goes on in the name of art and the number of RVs that go) - is obvious. For a community of creative environmentally-aware people that's not really ethically sustainable. We came up with a number of initiatives that we'd like to see incorporated at Burning Man, and hopefully they'll make their way to the people who count:
1) all future art-cars be hybrid, solar or wind-powered (pre-2008 combustion art-cars could still be allowed)
2) all sound-systems be solar-powered
3) gradually phase out all generators in favor of solar and wind power
4) all fire-related art installations be carbon foot-printed
5) purchasing a ticket could require a Certification of Environmental Effort - ie each attendee must prove how their camp is making an effort to become more environmentally conscious - eventually this could become more and more stringent and would also be effective at eliminating lazy deadbeat bike-thieves who would be less likely to make such efforts!
Hope to see you there next year! Here are some pics of our Burn ...
http://web.mac.com/cherieaartscoley/iWeb/Site%202/Burning%20Man%202007.html
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