Help in honor of a friend who passed away

[JoshMega]

Hello fellow Burners. My name is Josh and I'm excited to be Welcomed Home soon for yet another year. I must admit, this is my first time posting on the forums. I usually just read them, but I'm posting for a special reason.

One of my two best friends died in a car accident a month from yesterday. His name was Jeff, we called him Babo (pronounced Bob-O), and he was 26. He had never been to Burning Man, but had wanted to go to Burning Man since I first told him about it. This year, though I don't have much for money, but I'm taking him with me. A fellow Burner and I are building a memorial art project for him called Babo's Bar out on the playa. It's the perfect tribute. I'm fundraising my friends and the rest of our small home town for the materials to build his tribute monument.

On the other side of things is my other best friend Donnie. The three of us were like brothers. He like myself and the rest of my friends back home (I live in San Francisco now , while they all still live in 29 Palms and Joshua Tree in SoCal) doesn't have much money. But I want him to be at Burning Man this year for the tribute to Babo that we are building.

I'm the only one of my friends to ever go to college or anything of that sort. Most of my friends at home get into trouble a lot, we grew up wild, and now they often go to jail and live hard lives. I got out. But continue to head home as often as I can to try and spread positivity to the scene and show them a different (but still partying) way of life. Most of us never had much to call our own but friendship, and Donnie is the same way. I haven't told him I'm trying this, because I don't want to get his hopes up if we can't raise enough money to get him to make it to The Burn for Babo's tribute memorial, and burning of it, but I WANT TO REACH OUT TO THE BURNING MAN COMMUNITY AND ASK FOR HELP in getting my friend to Burning Man this year (for his first time). It only seems right that he be there for Babo's memorial on the playa, since nobody else with my group really even knew Babo (it's all my friends from up here).

I know Donnie can probably save up enough money to fly to me in San Francisco from Southern California, before we drive to BRC but that is about it. i don't have a ticket for him (I myself had to apply to low income 4 months ago to get mine), and with me spending my extra money for the memorial project, I can't afford to pay for him.

If you can spare some monetary help, every little bit counts. I only have to raise enough for him to afford to buy a ticket, make it out there, and survive. Nothing extravagant. Prob $750 or $800 will get him there (counting the ticket) and back. I was be so amazingly grateful for any help that can be provided by the community.

If you'd like to see Babo's memorial video, feel free to watch it on YouTube at the following address:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AjCoe9wsqk

F[u]OR DONATIONS:[/u]

-I have a Paypal address for my business at Josh@renaissancerampages.com

or a check or money order would work as well:

Josh Hayes
1618 19th avenue
San Francisco, Ca
94122

Thanks for taking the time to read this tome.


P.S? Is this the best place to post on the ePlaya? spot? It seemed to me so, but just double checking that here is appropriate.

[Simon of the Playa]

joshua, i too have financial needs that are pressing and so to help me achieve my goal, in the past i actually sold my flesh, in a commemorative way, sorta like the march of dimes, but for idiots like me.

a penny a mile is what i get each and every death run.


2,880 miles.


it has always made, or assisted me in all of my trips that i sold space, and often at the last minute.

ok, they are tattoos of the people whom i love, and who i guess, by investing in my past, present and future selves, love me too.

i will remember them, they are a part of me.

try to think of some way, some way to profit without profiting.


how's this, if i make more than or equal to what i need to make my annual schmuck-run, to get my ass home and back to rattenbur, damn, rochester, ny, i will share the rest with you until you reach that point of zero with me, and then we'll pass on the rest to all the other worthy dumb schmucks, what do you think?

in the meantime, come up with something creative that doesn't hurt anyone, but gets you some toilet, sorry, money paper for your ideas and passion....

i bet you'll make more than me, with a name like babo, it's got to be good.


oh by the way, i joke alot, but the whole excess money thing i wasn't.

i will let you know, you let me know how you are doing on your end.

i'm sure we will both make it, Joshua.

[AntiM]

Simon, Simon, Simon, what shall we do with you?

[Simon of the Playa]

i really think that the question should be reversed....



after the story plays out, i'm only going to have to start building another, better, evolved never-ending story, and i KNOW you don't want that...


nobody can spell atreyu anyways...


next time i use post it notes instead of keeping it all in my head....the cross references are getting into the thousands, and even i am beginning to have trouble accessing it linear like you monk.....eh, nevermind, ook ook and all of that ....mmmmm, bananas are so yummy....not much else to do but eat them and shove them into holes....move along, nothing to see here.

thats ok, it really was meant to be savored and slowly digested, and the order of the meal is unimportant....i usually like to eat my dessert after the soup, i dont know why.


just ask Lou from lou ville (nice nice very nice) if the who's in whoville even have a clue that there is this big ass elephant holding their little speck of dust attached to a fragile puff flower from being blown away, or worse, trampled by other elephants without such a good sense of Hearing.


the least they could do is take a few minutes to read my words.





or not....

[JoshMega]

Realized I never replied to say Thank You for your response Simon, I appreciated it.

[JoshMega]

I just wanted to say a big thank you to Kelly for donating to the project. Someone I've never met doing a good deed. I got your letter yesterday and it touched me.

[Ugly Dougly]

A lot of us are memorializing friends at Burning Man.

[JoshMega]

That's a good point Dougly. In this case I'm trying to create something for my dead best friend, by building an art project, and hope that for most people your statement isn't true, because I don't wish that kind of sadness on anybody....

[Ugly Dougly]

No, me, too.

I am bringing a bottle of some liqueur that she made, keeping it simple.

[JoshMega]

A special thank you to those that contributed, and or contacted me about the project and gave me some encouragement. In honor of our friend we have built our own little temple. A rundown 12 foot tall X 5 foot wide shanty bar/shack named after him "Babo's Bar" with free alchohol! Room for 1. You + Babo.

You'll see it on on the playa until we burn it Friday in honor of our lost friend

"And now we dance on the grave of the misbehaved, raise your glass and sing the praise of a fallen soul"

Link to the video blog of the project:

http://www.ripbabo.com/The_Project/The_Project.html