Burning Man 2008

Burning Man: Part IV

Juggernaut: n.

1. Something, such as a belief or institution, that elicits blind and destructive devotion or to which people are ruthlessly sacrificed.
2. An overwhelming, advancing force that crushes or seems to crush everything in its path: “It doesn't assume that people need necessarily remain passive when confronted by what appears to be the juggernaut of history” (Christopher Lehmann-Haupt).

It may sound counter intuitive, but not coming across as redundant after four separate Burning Man experiences is hard to do. There's a certain consistency to the chaos out there on the playa; a familiarity that only reveals itself when you are standing there immersed in it. The last thing most people want to do--me included--whilst standing in the middle of the BM experience is to pause and reflect on the moment in order to create a memory catalog for reference when it comes time to write about it later. Pictures are helpful, but they generally do not provide the proper context in which events unfold. Plus people that take too many pictures miss out on a lot. It is hard to participate (Burning Man is all about participation) with a camera glued to your eyeball, which is why all I have to show for all my picture taking efforts is this pathetic collection of grainy photos from a disposable camera. Personally, I find that kind of charming. For anybody that wants to get into a full on Burning Man pictography, google will provide countless links to professional portfolios.

The "Lido" deck was my favorite place to spend the mornings.
Our camp this year was the best ever. Thanks to all who made it possible!

The playa surface was pretty loose this year. That made biking a bit more difficult.

The Tower of Babel: quite possibly the grandest piece of artwork that has ever been erected on the playa.

The Lido Deck: Cazadores and Coors Light served daily.

Neither was able to knock any sense into the other...

From the inside of the 12 story Tower of Babel.

Back in college we would sometimes get an assignment that required "stream of consciousness" writing. This involved putting the pen to the paper and simply writing whatever came to mind, non-stop, for a specified period of time. It is an exercise I've always enjoyed. Sometimes I'll still do it because I think it helps to quiet the mind and get the ideas flowing. I did a short exercise before starting this post, and one word that really resonated this time around was juggernaut.
Burning Man is a juggernaut, but not so much in the Old Testament style of blind devotion and destrictive sacrafice as defined in the first definition. Rather, it is more like the second definition, the one that defines a juggernaut as an overwhelming, advancing force that crushes or seems to crush everything in its path.

That's Burning Man!