Vamp Camp

A Goat with a Pink Tutu— Walkabout at Black Rock City: Burning Man 2014

/ Curt Mekemson / 14 Comments
Goat at Burning Man 2014 wearing a pink tutu. Photo by Curtis Mekemson.

Where else, other than Black Rock City, would you find a goat with purple hair wearing a rosy pink tutu.

Going on walkabout was a rite of passage for Australian Aboriginals. Young men would journey through the Australian Bush for up to six months while contemplating their navels and pondering the wonders of the universe. At least I assume that is what they did. Native Americans had a similar practice where young people would go out on vision quests to discover their totem animals and earn such names as Bear Who Throws Bone in Air.

Brown Bear throwing bone in air. Photo by Curtis Mekemson.

So, if you were on a vision quest and came across a huge brown bear throwing a moose bone in an air, would you name yourself after the event? Or would you just run?  (I took this photo last year in Alaska.)

My parents used to send me outside as well, although I expect their motives were different. I was more than happy to wander off into the woods during such exiles. I even found my own totems: Robin Hood, Tarzan and the Lone Ranger. The woods were full of outlaws, man-eating tigers and one illusive 20-foot boa. I was, of course, able to defeat them all. The names of my heroes were already taken, however. I had to settle for Boy Who Peed on the Poison Oak. Like how much more daring could I get?

Peggy and I love to go on walk-abouts and bike-abouts at Burning Man. I’ve already introduced you to some of the creatures we met this year including a rhinoceros and a giant octopus. You’ve journeyed with us to Center Camp, watched the Man and Embrace burn, and checked out the art on the Playa.

This is what the rhino looked like up close and personal.

This is what the rhino looked like up close and personal.

I was charged by a rhino once when I was in Ngorongoro Crater, Africa. I took this photo with my Kodak Instamatic just before he charged. I didn't get any closeups.

I was charged by a rhino once when I was in Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania, Africa. It was a while ago. I took this photo with my Kodak Instamatic just before he charged. I didn’t get any close-ups.

Today you are invited to join us as we explore the back roads of Black Rock City. The thing about this one week, temporary home for 65,000 people is it doesn’t matter which way you go, there are bound to be interesting sights. We found a goat with purple hair wearing a pink tutu, Elvis, a home for little people, and a woman falling off a tight rope… not to mention a 20-foot tall sculpture known as, umm, the Divine Masculine. I’ll let your imagination tackle that one for a bit.

Crazy Horse at Burning Man 2014. Photo by Curtis Mekemson.

We came across this crazy hose with buck teeth. “Is that supposed to be a joint in its mouth?” I asked Peg. “That would explain a lot,” she replied.

The Elvis wedding Chapel at Burning Man 2014. Photo by Curtis Mekemson.

I’ve never really believed the tales of Elvis sightings around the world. But if he is alive, I am convinced he goes to Burning Man.

A small house at Burning Man 2014. Photo by Curtis Mekemson.

Peggy came across a series of little houses and crawled into this one. It was set up for a chess game.

While Peggy was checking out the little house, my hose was checking out a port-a-pot.

While Peggy was checking out the little house, my horse was checking out a port-a-pot and found a surprise.

Flowers in a port-a-pot at Burning Man 2014. Photo by Curtis Mekemson.

Flowers.

And made a graceful exit.

We watched a woman fall off a tight rope, or maybe she was being launched. Fortunately the rope was only a foot off the ground. I thought her exit was rather graceful.

Vamp Camp at Burning Man 2014. Photo by Curtis Mekemson.

One of the fun things to do on a walkabout is to check out the various camps. Many are quite elaborate.

Camps can be quite elegant at Burning Man. (Photo by Peggy Mekemson.)

And they can be elegant. (Photo by Peggy Mekemson.)

In small print, under the skull and crossbones, this camp declared "I am quite famous at Burning Man." (Photo by Peggy Mekemson.)

Most large camps are unique, once again reflecting the creativity at Burning Man. In small print, under the skull and crossbones, this camp declared “I am quite famous at Burning Man.” (Photo by Peggy Mekemson.)

Pastel dome at Burning Man 2014. Photo by Curtis Mekemson.

This pastel dome flew the US flag under a zebra and a wart hog. Flags are common in Black Rock City, but you don’t see many zebras and wart hogs.

Flags at Burning Man 2014. Photo by Curtis Mekemson.

Judging by the flags, there are lots of pirates at Burning Man.

Flags of Burning Man 2014. Photo by Curtis Mekemson.

The flags at this camp represented the growing international presence in Black Rock City.

It's time to wrap up this blog and I've put this off long enough. The Divine Masculine is set off by flags as a truck provides perspective. A pair of Burners enjoy the view from the top.

It seems appropriate to wrap up this blog with a photo of the Divine Masculine. A pair of Burners enjoy the view from the top. This may be irrelevant and possibly irreverent, but I am reminded of the 1950’s hit, “He was a one-eyed, one horned flying purple people eater.” 

NEXT BLOG: Who goes to Burning Man? It may be your next door neighbor.

 

A Large Bear with A Huge Tuning Fork… Burning Man

/ Curt Mekemson / 5 Comments

There is always space at Burning Man. Finding a prime location may be a challenge. 2005 found us camping on the edge of the desert. Here, our faithful mounts wait patiently for us.

As I wrote in my last post, Burning Man is less than three weeks away. To provide my readers with a sense of what this event is like, I am reposting some of my earlier blogs. This post reflected my trip to Burning Man in 2005.

I arrived with four friends in tow; an education specialist, an architect, a judge and an interior designer – all of us members of the post-50 crowd and well entrenched in the middle class world.

While I can’t speak for the others, my primary reason for showing up was simple. I love fairs.  I will also confess that I still have a tiny spark of Beatnik/Hippie lurking in the dim recesses of my mind left over from living in the Bay Area during the 60s.

My job was to show up early in my van and find space. It wasn’t easy. While your ticket guarantees a place, you have to be early to obtain prime real estate.

“Look for me on Catharsis Street between 8:00 and 9:00,” I told my friends. Streets are renamed each year depending on the year’s art theme. In 2005 it was Psyche.

This is the official 2012 Burning Man map. Named streets, following the alphabet, are semi-circular. Numbered streets, based on time, cut across the named streets and carry participants down toward the Playa. The Man is at the center. The blue areas of Black Rock City are preassigned. Other spaces are first come, first serve. 60,000 people will attend Burning Man this year. 

I was happily sitting in Reno making my contribution to Nevada’s economy when the Catharsis property was gobbled up. Nor could I find space on Amnesia, Bipolar, Delirium, Ego, Fetish or Gestalt Streets. I ended up in the boonies at Hysteria and 8:00 with nothing beyond but empty desert. “Far out,” I giggled to myself.

Setting up camp and adopting aliases are the first orders of business at Burning Man. Many folks come as large groups or ‘tribes’ and set up elaborate theme camps with names like Zenplicity, Plato’s Cave, Tribal Thunder, Mousetrap, Heebeegeebee Healers and the Mind Shaft Society. Over 450 such camps were listed in the 2005 directory.

“Tribes” come in all shapes and sizes. Some build elaborate theme camps such as the members of Vamp Camp.

The Mind Shaft Society, a tribe made up of scientists, created these colorful monsters that Peggy, AKA Luna, is standing in front of.

Most tribes bring large tents, build massive shade structures and decorate their camps extensively. Ours consisted of a simple shade structure, two small tents and my RV. We also put up a hitching post for our faithful steeds/bicycles.

Since one of our intrepid ‘tribe’ brought kids’ stick horses to affix to our bikes we adopted the name Horse Camp. Our aliases and costumes also reflected the theme, sort of. I was Outlaw and my steed, Horse with No Name. Then there was Scout with his Palomino Trigger, Wilbur and Mr. Ed, “It’s a kilt not a skirt” Scottie with Grand Teton and Nancy, a.k.a. Nancy, with a unicorn she named Horny Princess.

Scottie shows off his fine clothes.

With business taken care of, we were free to meet the neighbors. One set was from Auburn/Nevada City, California and the other from Arizona. Both groups were made up of veteran Burners. I was somewhat amused when our southern neighbors arrived to apologize that they had a generator along but would only operate it early in the morning to make Lattes. In true Burner style, they invited us to show up with our cups.

“Gifting” is an important concept at BM. In addition to free Lattes, our neighbors had soon offered us bracelets and necklaces. They even wanted to silk-screen our T-shirts with the BM symbol. Our most unusual gift, however, arrived when we were drinking beer with the Arizonans. Bear came by and offered us a tune up.

He stood over seven feet tall and must have weighed 300 pounds. His tools of trade were a five-foot long tuning fork and a rubber mallet. Scout the Judge, an adventuresome type of guy, immediately volunteered. His neck had been bothering him. I was more reluctant but the Arizonans insisted I needed help, lots of it. Bear took on Scottie and me together. My arthritic hip was in need of a miracle cure and Scottie was searching for peace of mind.

“Do you believe you can heal yourself,” Bear asked. Bam, bam, bam, bong! He pounded on his fork with his mallet and elicited a bell-like tone.  He drew the fork down over my body. I could feel my prostate vibrate.

“How do you feel now?” Bear asked. “Fine,” I responded quickly. Scout had answered negatively and Bear had immediately started growling and sucking on his neck… sucking out the offending evildoer in true Shamanistic style. I didn’t want Bear near my hip. I made it through the night without pain but my hip started aching again the next day. Maybe I should have taken the full cure. 

Next Blog… My favorite art at Burning Man

While the Horse Bone tribe has remained small. We do know how to have fun.