Your personal most bizarre/WTF moment of 2011

[junglesmacks]

So.. what was your most bizarre.. most WTF.. most WHAT? Did I just SEE THAT?? ..moment.. of 2011?


For me: The girl and I were walking deep-ish playa.. about middle of the way between the man and temple on the high side.. around 2am-ish. We look over, and about 150 ft from us is box man.. white LEDs around his head.. doing this slow, weird trudge across the playa. All by himself, no one around.. slow as can be.. in the dark. Head looking down.. one foot dragging in the playa after the other.

We both look at each other and just go.. whoa. Uh.


Still talking about it to this day.

[RedHeaven]

Did you ask if he was OK or was he somehow unapproachable?

[junglesmacks]

Did you ask if he was OK or was he somehow unapproachable?

Nah.. it was def performance art. He had a perfect draaaaag to the foot.. one after the other. Head perfectly down.

Awesome, really.

[maryanimal]

I was at the Hokey Pokey camp with a friend while he was givien a 6-year sobriety award. While listening to some of the stories people talk about while in an AA meeting, I looked out into the 3 oclock roundabout and saw this young couple kissing and kissing and swallowing each others faces.

They were masturbating each other! *LOL* And some of the other members of the AA meeting must have saw it too, because when it came time for the last guy to talk, he said,"there must be something going on behind me that you all find interesting!". Well. when they were finished, the girl kissed him, took her umbrella and rode off on her bike. He was talking to his friends and the poor guy still had a woody. He looked around, looked in the tent where the meeting was being held, only to find everyone looking at him! He acted nonchalant and rode off! LOL

We all had a good laugh!

[polyresin]

I was at the Hokey Pokey camp with a friend while he was givien a 6-year sobriety award.

Good for your friend!

A friend of our camp found a child's sleeping bag that was printed like a green monster (the sleeping bag opening was a big mouth with teeth) at some thrift store, she cut leg holes in it and wore it around. The mouth draped over her head so it really just looked like a monster with little human legs. While we were holding our big event for the week, she entered our dome and proceeded to "eat" a handful of people who played along, and everyone else scattered about like they were actually kind of scared. I cried laughing.

[wedeliver]

I was at the Hokey Pokey camp with a friend while he was givien a 6-year sobriety award. While listening to some of the stories people talk about while in an AA meeting, I looked out into the 3 oclock roundabout and saw this young couple kissing and kissing and swallowing each others faces.

They were masturbating each other! *LOL* And some of the other members of the AA meeting must have saw it too, because when it came time for the last guy to talk, he said,"there must be something going on behind me that you all find interesting!". Well. when they were finished, the girl kissed him, took her umbrella and rode off on her bike. He was talking to his friends and the poor guy still had a woody. He looked around, looked in the tent where the meeting was being held, only to find everyone looking at him! He acted nonchalant and rode off! LOL

We all had a good laugh!

Actually, as you must have realized as the week wore on that what you saw was really performance art. Just to inject all that passion truly speaks to the dedication to those who are not spectators but really particpants. Burning Man is all about the art!

I will freely admit that my favorite two words to hear at BRC is "wanna fuck?"

[C.f.M.]

I don't even know how to properly explain how bizarre my story is, but let's just say a woman I hadn't seen in 3 years or so was at the same bar as me, having just arrived on playa an hour ago, and being camped on the other side. She was with her boyfriend, that I'd introduced her to, back when she visited my town in that three years prior; hadn't seen or spoken to either of them since. Until she walked up to me and used my real name - recognizing me under a sparklepony wig and tiara. It was amazing. I truly thought stuff like that only happened on TV.

[googbox2]

Ok I have 2-- One is just funny and the other one I categorize under "playa magic"

1) Friday night, I was traipsing around in my wedding dress w/ a guy. I kept following shiny, he kept following me, we must've gone back and forth across the playa at least 5 times. During one of our treks, this guy pops up out of nowhere, no lights, wearing jeans and a flannel, no water, carrying a box of wine. He comes up to us and asks "what street is this?" I was like, um, we're not on a street, but if you keep going in this direction, you'll probably wind up on 7 or 8. He then asked if we wanted wine, we said no thanks, he asked if we were sure, we said yeah. Thinking back, I should've given him a glo stick or something but it was just like dude popped out of nowhere. So guy and I keep walking, wandering, exploring, a while later we stumble upon a tee pee so we go inside, we're sitting there, talking, hanging out, resting, and all of a sudden same guy pops into the tee pee and says "hey, anybody in this tee pee want some wine?" We say no thanks, he says, are you sure? We say yeah, he leaves. Sunday night while we were waiting for the temple to burn i leaned into the guy and said "I will laugh so hard if that hippy with the wine shows up." He didn't, but if he had, well that would've been awesome.

2) I don't know if this was a WTF moment or just playa magic. Sat night/Sun mornign about 3am, guy and I are walking around the other side of the playa from where we were camped... we hadn't done much exploring there. I had to use the bathroom so we went back to C and walked down C. At 7:30 I found a heart I remembered from 2009 (my virgin year) and we climbed up into it. We had just sat down when another couple asked if there was room in it for them. We scooched over and made room and they climbed in. We sat there chatting for a few moments and when they told me where they were from, I recognized her. She was a friend of mine in high school, hadn't seen each other since 1992, but we're facebook friends. We had chatted briefly on fb about finding each other on the playa but you know how that goes. Well she and her husband just happened to climb into this random plastic heart around 7:30 and C at 3am at the same time as me.

[peacesista]

On Burn Night a group of friends and I went to Want It to see a DJ from our camp play. After walking past some people getting to second base in front of the camp(meh) I walk right past a guy who laying down on a couch and wearing jean chaps with his little friend exposed (I know, meh again) but his little friend was bouncing to the beat of the music. I have never seen a penis so good at keeping the beat. I found that to be pretty impressive and a little WTF inducing.

[Savannah]

Googbox, those are great stories. I hope you submit the random plastic heart story here:

http://blog.burningman.com/2011/01/tale ... hronicity/

I love that link.

[mudpuppy000]

1) Walking towards one of the doors of the temple when some guy on the top balcony drops his large backpack off the edge, landing about 2 feet in front of me. I look up at him with an incredulous look and all he can manage is "oooops, soorrreeeee!!"

2) I wandered into some bar on the esplanade with a big dance platform above the bar. Was making my way towards the bar to get a drink when I hear this enormous cracking/splintering noise above me and people screaming. I looked up and one of the beams on the platform is snapped in half and people started scrambling off it.

3) Nexus bartender asked me what I would like, I said vodka tonic. He said, ok, I'll give you vodka and I'll give you tonic and told me to hold out my hands. I did and he poured some into each cupped hand which I tried to "shoot" and ended up splashing it all over my face and the bar, lol.

[Drawingablank]

Coming around a turn just north of Wadsworth around midnight opening day and seeing a zillion lights. I was like WTF - BM is visible from 70 miles away? (while jumping for joy).

Then I realized that that was just the line of cars on 447 which we were about to catch up to in a few minutes.

[googbox2]

Peacesistah-- damnit girl, why didn't you show the rest of us the dancing penis? I would've liked to see that!

[junglesmacks]

Wow.. how could I forget..

Maybe not a WTF moment but for sure a whoaaaaaaa moment that stuck with me.


I'm standing in the line at Fandango on Tuesday afternoon.. my first visit. It dawns on me that this is the BRC Weekly camp.. to which the girl grabs a copy and starts reading. She comes flying up to me a few seconds later and is like.. "Honey.. check it out! Eric quoted you!" Sure as shit, there it is. My little "Those who plan, burn" quote properly attributed and all. <Insert the "awwwwww"s here..>

That was WTF/cool as it is, but right after.. the girl wanders off while I'm in line. I hear this booming.. "JUNGLESMACKS?!?! WHERE'S MY BUDDY JUNGLESMACKS?!?!" WTF? I look over.. and there is Eric coming through the crowd with the girl in tow.

BAM! Big ol' bear hug from Eric who I was intent on meeting for the first time this year.


Great, great, great, couldn't have been better first meeting of many more in this lifetime.

[Sic Pup]

I camped on K and considering L was essential the access road at 5:40 it was pretty desolate. I did so not out of any overwhelming need to be alone or antisocial tendencies but rather because I had a catapult in tow and thought it more considerate in terms of land usage (the far end of it's range required a full block length). I honestly thought I'd be dismantling the firing range by Thurs/Fri to make room for campers.

Sometime Tues afternoon as I was preoccupied with getting to know a new acquaintance an older bearded gentleman rolls by stops on the other side of the catapult and yells out "do we just park anywhere?". I warned him he was next to a catapult but that he was more than welcome to camp there as long as he knew the potential of errant incoming projectiles existed.

He did.

I shrugged (seeing that there was so much open space.)

That didn't seem so weird but rather that it didn't appear the fellow had much by way of gear/provisions with him. He was in an SUV and nothing by way or supplies was in view. I'm thinking he may be the advanced guard and is holding a spot for others who will follow but his original question had me questioning that theory.

I tried to engage him through his car window the next time I passed and got little out of him but a couple of grunts. I respect privacy and people's space so I introduced myself and told him he was welcome to pop on over anytime he wishes and left the ball in his court.

He never did.

I shrugged (and did a quick underarm sniff test.)

Now I wasn't keeping an eye on him but it was pretty obvious that something was odd about the situation when by Fri he hadn't left the vehicle except for the two or three times I saw him walking to/fro the JOTS.

On Saturday afternoon I felt a little better when I biked by and I saw him sitting on a webbed beach chair drinking a beer. A wave went unanswered..... whatever.

I chilled a bit, made dinner and when darkness fell jumped on the bike and left to enjoy my burn night. To my surprise he was gone.

So he didn't come to stake out a spot, he didn't stay for the burn, but rather rented a parking spot for 5 days @ c. $300? WTF

[skibear]

At a bank of portapotties the guy next to me opens a one of the doors and inside we look at the ceiling
and see a rotating disco ball with sparkling lights radiating all over the room and speakers playing great beats.

People kept using this pottie like this was normal. HaHaHa

[Savannah]

At a bank of portapotties the guy next to me opens a one of the doors and inside we look at the ceiling
and see a rotating disco ball with sparkling lights radiating all over the room and speakers playing great beats.

People kept using this pottie like this was normal. HaHaHa

'Cause we wish it was!

Good one.


And Sic Pup . . . wondering about yours would probably keep me up nights, long after the burn . . .

[Irreverent Moniker]

There was a couple who parked right next to the jots on B near 9:00, they had a little pup tent they slept in next to the car but for the most part they spent the entire burn (as far as any of us could tell) inside their vehicle. Every time any of our campmates went past, they were in there napping, reading, listening to the radio, etc

[Sail Man]

Wow.. how could I forget..

Maybe not a WTF moment but for sure a whoaaaaaaa moment that stuck with me.


I'm standing in the line at Fandango on Tuesday afternoon.. my first visit. It dawns on me that this is the BRC Weekly camp.. to which the girl grabs a copy and starts reading. She comes flying up to me a few seconds later and is like.. "Honey.. check it out! Eric quoted you!" Sure as shit, there it is. My little "Those who plan, burn" quote properly attributed and all. <Insert the "awwwwww"s here..>

That was WTF/cool as it is, but right after.. the girl wanders off while I'm in line. I hear this booming.. "JUNGLESMACKS?!?! WHERE'S MY BUDDY JUNGLESMACKS?!?!" WTF? I look over.. and there is Eric coming through the crowd with the girl in tow.

BAM! Big ol' bear hug from Eric who I was intent on meeting for the first time this year.


Great, great, great, couldn't have been better first meeting of many more in this lifetime.

Only at Burning Man Awesome!

[yellowpants]

On the last Sunday I got stung by a wasp on my left ass cheek WTF. It was hiding in my underwear and stung me 3 times.

[junglesmacks]

On the last Sunday I got stung by a wasp on my left ass cheek WTF. It was hiding in my underwear and stung me 3 times.

Gah! Reminds me of getting stung directly on the nut sack by a yellow jacket as a kid. I was playing outside after swimming in the pool and wasn't wearing my tighty whities. Sucker flew directly up there and took perch right on ma' balls. I tried to foolishly flush him out and he let me have it. I still have a vision to this day of both my parents laughing so hard they were crying with tears running down their faces as I was jumping up and down in the air screaming about how a yellow jacket just stung me on my balls. FML.

[mgb327]

Well, after reading these and thinking a bit, my WTF was the JOTS near 3:30 and I. For about the first 4 days, someone had put those tiny music things from greeting cards in them. They played Happy Birthday...for days...in everyone I went to. My campmate said she heard the same shit, so we would always sing Happy Birthday when in a JOTS not in our neighborhood.

[Savannah]

Well, after reading these and thinking a bit, my WTF was the JOTS near 3:30 and I. For about the first 4 days, someone had put those tiny music things from greeting cards in them. They played Happy Birthday...for days...in everyone I went to. My campmate said she heard the same shit, so we would always sing Happy Birthday when in a JOTS not in our neighborhood.

That's beautiful. People have been hiding the greeting card chips for years, so I would have known exactly what you were doing, and would've burst out laughing.

[On.The.Road]

Hearing a boat siren in the middle of the desert, turning my head to it, seeing a boat in the middle of the desert. On wheels. The Christina is magnificent

[TinkerMom]

My bizaar moment was after The Temple burn. Somewhere out on the playa I was sitting cross legged and my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands, bowed down in tears. I was trying to collect myself. I then heard this strange small engine noise. I opened my eyes only to see a green neon E L wire remote control shark bump into my nose, repeatedly! I reached out and petted it, it tried to bite me and took off into the dark. Then I was almost run over by a sea snail, only to be saved by a bunch of jelly fish....wtf!
Now I know, if I told this story to any body back home, they would tell me to cut the drugs or take some!!

[skibear]

Watching the burner girl in front of me in the Reno Keystone Save-mart using her credit card to purchase

120 gallon jugs of water!

[junglesmacks]

My bizaar moment was after The Temple burn. Somewhere out on the playa I was sitting cross legged and my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands, bowed down in tears. I was trying to collect myself. I then heard this strange small engine noise. I opened my eyes only to see a green neon E L wire remote control shark bump into my nose, repeatedly! I reached out and petted it, it tried to bite me and took off into the dark. Then I was almost run over by a sea snail, only to be saved by a bunch of jelly fish....wtf!
Now I know, if I told this story to any body back home, they would tell me to cut the drugs or take some!!

I saw that shark! That was so cool. We were sitting on the back of the art car and starting to roll away from the temple burn.. kinda somber.. dark night on the playa. All of a sudden.. that little RC shark comes chasing after us and followed us for quite some time.. it's tail wagging and bouncing over the playa. We sat on the back watching the temple smolder while the shark chased us away.. and like you, gave us a much needed laugh/reality check from the moment. Props.

[Savannah]

My bizaar moment was after The Temple burn. Somewhere out on the playa I was sitting cross legged and my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands, bowed down in tears. I was trying to collect myself. I then heard this strange small engine noise. I opened my eyes only to see a green neon E L wire remote control shark bump into my nose, repeatedly! I reached out and petted it, it tried to bite me and took off into the dark. Then I was almost run over by a sea snail, only to be saved by a bunch of jelly fish....wtf!
Now I know, if I told this story to any body back home, they would tell me to cut the drugs or take some!!

I saw that shark! That was so cool. We were sitting on the back of the art car and starting to roll away from the temple burn.. kinda somber.. dark night on the playa. All of a sudden.. that little RC shark comes chasing after us and followed us for quite some time.. it's tail wagging and bouncing over the playa. We sat on the back watching the temple smolder while the shark chased us away.. and like you, gave us a much needed laugh/reality check from the moment. Props.

I love these stories of (what I have decided is called) the Comfort Shark.

[junglesmacks]

My bizaar moment was after The Temple burn. Somewhere out on the playa I was sitting cross legged and my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands, bowed down in tears. I was trying to collect myself. I then heard this strange small engine noise. I opened my eyes only to see a green neon E L wire remote control shark bump into my nose, repeatedly! I reached out and petted it, it tried to bite me and took off into the dark. Then I was almost run over by a sea snail, only to be saved by a bunch of jelly fish....wtf!
Now I know, if I told this story to any body back home, they would tell me to cut the drugs or take some!!

I saw that shark! That was so cool. We were sitting on the back of the art car and starting to roll away from the temple burn.. kinda somber.. dark night on the playa. All of a sudden.. that little RC shark comes chasing after us and followed us for quite some time.. it's tail wagging and bouncing over the playa. We sat on the back watching the temple smolder while the shark chased us away.. and like you, gave us a much needed laugh/reality check from the moment. Props.

I love these stories of (what I have decided is called) the Comfort Shark.

Awww... will YOU be my Comfort Shark, Savannah?

[Dr Helix]

Well getting married out there certainly qualifies, but more in the AWWWWW!!!! frame of reference. The bizarre, serendipity moment was Friday night. We were walking down Esplanade and we stopped in a deserted open air bar to retrieve some extra clothes from our backpacks. We were standing behind the counter when these folks showed up and asked if we had water. We had to say no, but my friend reaches into the bar and pulls out a bottle of vodka that was there. So we poured them a drink. And then some others stopped. And then some more. In 10 minutes we had about 20 people hanging out in an impromptu bar opening. And then as quickly as it started, everyone left. We cleaned up and left the place just as we found it minus a quart of vodka. I made a vow to find these guys in 2012 and replace it so I can balance the books. But whoever you were, thanks for the venue and the chance for that to happen. It was just what you expect out there.