$5 in playa costume, $10 in street clothes

[precipitate]

> Anyone familiar enough with the site of decomp to pick a meeting spot?

I vote for baby duck butt plugs.

[Lucifer]

Am I the person to take this on?

If you need help making it happen, I'll back you up.

And I'll commit our dome, shade cubes, bar, tables, chairs, and giant checker and backgammon boards if it suits the event.

[Ivy]

I vote for baby duck butt plugs.

I'm definately gonna have to invest in Astroglide now.

[PJ]

I vote for baby duck butt plugs.

I'm definately gonna have to invest in Astroglide now.

She said baby duck. Shop for them in the toy department (not sporting goods) and you'll be OK.

[alice]

my vote is for the baby jesus butt plug.

[PJ]

my vote is for the baby jesus butt plug.

Go with the version that has a magnet in the base. Makes it easier to ride around drunk on art cars' hoods.

[alice]

my vote is for the baby jesus butt plug.

Go with the version that has a magnet in the base. Makes it easier to ride around drunk on art cars' hoods.

what he said.

[aforceforgood]

my vote is for the baby jesus butt plug.

Yeah, but it doesn't make that cool "SQUEE-aaawk" noise when you introduce yourself to the person in front of you by reaching out and squeezing it.

I'm sorry, but I just HAD to share my vision of people with rubber duckies in their asses running around squeezing others'.

I smell a theme camp.

[stuart]

Well, if there is gonna be a meet up at decom, I would prefer it not be before 4 P.M..

Ari, somehow my brother gave me the impression you were up in S.F.. Odd. What's yer take on the whole LABORG issue?

[III]

just found out today jones is bringin up the spoon return center. how bout meeting there, or at least using that as a message point?

i'm good with after 4:00 as well, though i'm not showering until after the party.

[Ivy]

Sppon return center and 4pm are both cool with me.

I just now got an email; I'll be dancing on the World Stage ("The World Stage will be located in the back of the festival,") at 7:15, i f anyone wants to see me shake my butt on stage.

[biggkat]

I am planning on going with my sister. It'd be great to meet everyone/anyone, since I'm actually a burner wannabe and have never been to the playa.

Let me know when and where, and I'll do my best to be there.

[girlie]

>> i'm good with after 4:00 as well, though i'm not showering until after the party.

I'm on the same timeline as Trey -- after 4pm works for me. I also
expect to be unshowered and dusty when i arrive.

[girlie]

ivy wrote:
>> I didn't mean to sound all bitchy and "talk the talk but not walk the walk"

I realize that. I have a horrible habit of pointing things out to folks who
don't necessarily need the advice. I think it's a result of participating in
so many public forums -- i like to reminder the lurkers out there that
actions speak louder then words, and that pretty much anything is doable
if you just do one step at a time. Sometimes i have no idea how that is
perceived by others though -- sorry if i sounded like a nag.

[girlie]

Ivy wrote
>>I am curious to your opinion about other discounted entrance fees, like girls get in free, stuff like that.

Good question. I do go to the occasional strip club, and they often let women in free but charge men cover.
This kind of thing bugs me, but i'll admit that it's not enough to stop me from going. I view it as marketing, and
the business owner's choice. I probably wouldn't become a regular at a place that had this kind of pricing though.

I think it becomes more of an emotional issue for me when related to burning man events -- because it comes
back to the whole core values issue. For me, one of the core values of burning man is the community's support
of the individual. And part of that means supporting people regardless of what kind of clothes they wear, what
music they listen to, what their sexual preference is, etc. So charging people different admission costs based
on what they are wearing feels like a punch in the gut and feels very discriminatory and judgemental. I think the
burning man atmosphere they are looking to create should be natural, not forced by people's budgets.

I mean, i'm a costume ho -- i love wearing them, making them, whatever -- but i do not want to be considered
more of a burner just 'cuz i've got fancy duds. I recognize that this may have more to do with my personal values
then actual burning man values though.

I've organized numerous events and have never used different price scales for costumes. And, you know what...
folks have *always* dressed up. Like, maybe 80-90% in costume most times. Heck, folks even dress up when
no theme is given -- they love to do it (and, yes, social pressure and competition amongst peers sometimes
drives this a bit too). And they seem to enjoy their costumes more, because they are creating them for the
sheer enjoyment of it, not to save a few bucks. It seems more fun that way, and not so judgemental.

[Ivy]

view it as marketing,

This phrase you used clearly expresses to me how you see the two concepts in a different like. Theoretically, BM is against marketing; you see these types of discounted entrances as a marketing plan; therefore, they are against BM. It makes perfect sense.

I can't decide how I feel about this issue; I feel like it just depends on each event. I'm with RebA! and a few others in that I am dirt broke right now, so every little bit helps, especially if I'm going to get dresed up anyway, whihc is likely. But the "ethics" does unnerve me bit, too, depending on whether it's an "ofical" event or a fundraiser or a show. I'm one of those people who have to take every situation individually; if I ran the world, nothing would ever get done!

sorry if i sounded like a nag.

No need to aplogixe--what i wrote was pretty bitchy. I don;t regret writing it, but it probably could have been written better. you do have a good point about actions speaking louder than words, though--especially with the nature of the beast of the internet medium--it's all words.

I plan on shower before the decmp but I'll proably be all sweaty from guerilla dancing, so i ain't worried. Hey, amybe we can be like the "Showerless group" or something. You'll know us by the smell...

[PJ]

...Theoretically, BM is against marketing...

I disagree. An organization can be all about marketing without doing any advertising.

It can be amazingly effective and extremely cost-effective for the right sorts of products and services.

[Ivy]

I prolly should have said commerical marketing.

Whatever. Even that is not "exactly" the right phrase.

I put the "theorectially" in front if for that purpose, becuase, like so may other nit-picking conversations on the e-playa, I didn't feel like writing 4 parapgraphs about that when i figured (perhaps incorrectly) that most people would understand the gist of what i meant. You got my point, right?

An organization can be all about marketing without doing any advertising.

I agree with this. I still don't think ("theoretically") it applies to BM, though.

[stuart]

SRC after 4 P.M.. That I think I can do. I will be so happy to hang out with my spoon pals. I will be showered. No one deserves to be around me unshowered after my Sunday morning soccer game. I will drag out my leathers that I believe have some playa still on them.

Does anyone know if there will be re-entry or a spot to stow yer crap? I might bring some extra shit that I won't want to lug around all day: drums, fuzzy coat, blinky hat, etc..

[stuart]

this just in from Jones, the Spoon Return Daddy.

Well, we may or may not be setting anything up. I was
possibly going to set up a display of past spoon art,
but right now it is on display in a gallery down here
in University Heights. The opening night for this
exhbition is Friday and I have no idea if they will
want me to keep my display on past that. If I can take
it down, I'm going to bring it up to Decom to set out.
Either way, it'll be a very simple thing and I won't
need help.

alternate plan in case of no SRC?

[blyslv]

I might bring some extra shit that I won't want to lug around all day: drums, fuzzy coat, blinky hat, etc..

The fetishes of hipsterdom....

<> sorry couldn't resist </> "fetishes" used in a purely anthropological sense, doncha know....

The spoon return center, one of the enduring mysteries for me. Some really nice guy and I had a great conversation and at the end he handed me a spoon and said to take it to the spoon return center. It was actually a great size for eating canned fruit, so I started getting attached to it, as I had brought a lot of canned fruit. Then I started putting my spoon in my pack, but would never ride close to the SRC. Or when I was close to the SRC, my spoon was at camp, covered with fruit juice and playa dust. After such a nice gift, I was loathe to show up at the Center sans spoon, so if they are back next year, I'll have to drop by. But the question stands -- Just what the hell happened back there?

[stuart]

you are supposed to alter your spoon or make some sort of art out of it, not just return it.

and, regarding trappings of hipsterism, my refusal to use emoticons clearly left you a bit fuzzy on my humor there. Umm, are you flame-stalking me? Do I need an attitude adjustment in your opinion?

[Lucifer]

Ari, somehow my brother gave me the impression you were up in S.F. Odd.

Yeah - having been born an Angeleno, I tend to think of SB, SLO, and SF as progressively distant suburbs of LA - not too far to travel for a decent party or a really long lunch.

What's yer take on the whole LABORG issue?

I won't be sure until I see LA Decom and can do an apples to apples comparison with SF Decom.

Thus far, I get the impression that SF has fostered a broad community composed of dozens of groups with different interests, while LA has yielded a compact core of supertalented folks (Mutaytor, Wolfie, Pinky, Xara, etc) who are all about producing a club environment. As a result, even some of the larger SF events feel more open to contribution and more organic, whereas LA events feel very closed to contribution and very professional.

The odd thing is that LA has a huge amount of pent up creative talent, most notably all those folks involved in the production of movies, television, and theme parks - I live amid throngs of them here in Studio City. And these folks tend to be more about contributing to a big social gathering than about paying to get into a professionally produced club - I'd guess its just a matter of finding a venue and organizing an event to bring all of these guys and gals out of the woodwork.

[blyslv]

a bit fuzzy on my humor there.

Maybe I should start using them also. Or maybe I'm just not that funny. I was just trying to combine thoughts from the Violent Sex thread with a little bit of meagre wordplay.

[Ivy]

Does anyone know if there will be re-entry or a spot to stow yer crap? I might bring some extra shit that I won't want to lug around all day: drums, fuzzy coat, blinky hat, etc..

Stuart--

I've got an email out to Tood Spero right now with that exact same question, amongst others. Will keep you posted.


So, do we have a time, or is it just "anytime after 4?" 'Cause that's a lot of time...

[III]

>LA has yielded a compact core of supertalented folks

you're seeing one prong of a bifurcated community.

some people see burning man as a marketing opportunity, and promote the heck out of themselves. they are also the most likely to jump on the burning man promotional bandwagon.

the other prong, as one might suspect, has developed a completely different mindset, eschewing not only the local marketing efforts, but those from s.f. as well. the upside is that they manage to develop a unique and personal culture, rather than the pre-fab ill fitting one delivered by the llc, but the downside is that they are just a little bit less visible to those outside the whole thing.

establish relationships with individuals. eventually, you'll either discover a group of people that give you what you need, or you'll find that you've vreated your own such group, from scratch.

[Lucifer]

you're seeing one prong of a bifurcated community.

That may in fact be true, but I'm not aware of any big events or gatherings involving this other prong, unless you're thinking of Gigsville of course. They actually DO appear to have a pretty diverse group with more of a community vibe, but they're far too close knit to draw many new groups around them.

establish relationships with individuals. eventually, you'll either discover a group of people that give you what you need, or you'll find that you've created your own such group, from scratch.

I agree wholeheartedly, and I'm pretty sure we all do this and we all have our own groups. I think Stuart was asking about the LABORG though, which implies the broader community that spans these little groups of a half dozen people each.

So maybe my original statement should have been that LABORG seems to have yielded a very professional club movement with Mutaytor and friends at the core, the very casual but close knit community (which might feel cliquey to outsiders) that is Gigsville, and hundreds of isolated little groups of burners that never come together unless they want to dance with Mutaytor and Pinky or go camping with Gigsville.

It makes me wonder if I shouldn't have announced our little Golden Cafe Decom on Twan's list, just to see how many Angelenos would crawl out of the woodwork to drink, socialize, and chill around the burn barrel.

[Ivy]

a very professional club movement

Heh.

It makes me wonder if I shouldn't have announced our little Golden Cafe Decom on Twan's list, just to see how many Angelenos would crawl out of the woodwork to drink, socialize, and chill around the burn barrel.

You definately should have, and should do so if you do anything again. I'm almost always game if it's not too overly far and I don't already have commitments. I can only speak for myself, but I especially like informal gatherings. I'm not much for social pressure.

[Spokes]

I worked over a spoon but when I went back to drop it off I couldn't figure out were to leave it or find anybody to leave it with and I didn't have a way to hang it ln the wall. I think it came back with me and is still packed. Great project though.

[rpw]

Find someplace and do what you want. Go to the desert with your whatever it is and just do it. Go to the beach and take your clothes off and do it. BUT DO IT! YOU DON'T NEED LABM'S PERMISSION!!!! JUST DO IT!!!