How I Met David Best (And Took His Keys)

[dana]

Try Me, thanks for that great little story. (didn't make it this year. so that was like a teaser reminder of how it feels - the wacky interactions, the response, the odd mind travel in the actions...)
What you did was perfect, exquisite.
You confronted someone in the middle of his own guru games. There's another thread currently going re. being nasty/confrontational vs. being falsely nice/trying to "get along" as an end in itself. We do well when we challenge each other without trying to bash each other, I think.

David Best forgot for awhile that his real tools are his mind, his imagination, his ability to hear the muse.

You're a muse (and amuse as well I'd say.) It filters in.....

[erri2000]

I agree 100% with Dana.

I would also like to add that try_me is a GOD, and should have fruit put at his/her feet.

(Daydream sequence Burning Man 2008)

In the distance a small murmur can be heard gaining momentum at Death Camp.

"Thunderdome. Thunderdome. Thunderdome!"

It grows to a roar as try_me and best enter the cage. The music starts and then ...

(You Continue Daydream sequence Burning Man 2008)

[Teo del Fuego]

Okay .. so is "Try Me" a sock for "Teo del Fuego" ???

Nope, I don't do socks. And I was unaware of the David Best incident until it was posted. I was with Mile High Club at 4:30 & H and actually slept pretty darn good this year.

Karine, I think you're a bit on the harsh side, but maybe I think that because Im from the South and Im used to a slightly different culture. You're entitled to your opinion.

I didnt come to BM to sleep, nor did I come to Burning Man to take a dump, but I find the need to both of those things in order to participate and enjoy myself.

I was responding to the old "Get some earplugs!" line, I see in every discussion about blatant disregard for BM's sound policies. (Like the discussion of the 2006 Outpost sound camp). For me, ear plugs do absolutely nothing for giant throbbing bass or shrill high pitched airhorns. People who claim ear plugs are a panacea for that extreme sound are living in a fantasy land or are extremely heavy sleepers.

Also, the "Just Move" response always tickles me as so many of us are in theme camps where moving is not an option, just as camp placement is somewhat of a crap shoot.

Finally, I didn't come to BM for peace and quiet, I came to have a great time, which I cannot do if I have no sleep at all. I expect noise, expect sleep-deprivation, and feel lucky to get 3 or 4 hours sleep each night. I just dont see the purpose behind acts taken specifically to fuck with other people trying to sleep.

I totally understand David Best trying to fight back against assholes who had little respect for their neighbors. Using an airhorn that attacked innocent bystanders was the wrong way to do it. Try_Me (no relation) did the right thing.

My approach in fighting back would not involve escalating the sound, but rendering the sound source inoperable, if reason and diplomacy failed.

[Johnny One-Spur]

> And how can you complain about noise ? You came to burning man for peace and quiet ??? MOVE SOMEWHERE ELSE! What about outward on the ring? THINK about where you were camped! It's a big frickin' playa.
...you won't get much "Burning Man is too noisy" pity.

Wait, but have we forgotten, this whole situation started because Mr. Best himself was sooooo upset at the LOUD NOISE that was coming from a certain camp bein' too loud! So who's up for telling him to get a pair of earplugs, move to the outer rim, or just accept it and move on rather than get his revenge (which is just what Try Me did in response to David Best's making too much noise)?

"David! How can you complain about noise?! Did you come to Burning Man for peace and quiet? Move somewhere else if you don't like the blaring techno music, rather than piss off a bunch of innocent people with your own 'revenge'!"

[BAS]

Karine, I think you're a bit on the harsh side, but maybe I think that because Im from the South and Im used to a slightly different culture. You're entitled to your opinion.

I dunno, Teo, I'm from up North (Wisconsin), and I think Karine is being a bit harsh, too. Maybe it is an East and/or West Coast thing?

As has been pointed out, David Best was upset at noise and, rather than get some earplugs or move his camp, he chose to blast an air horn early in the morning. I think swiping David Best's key was a good, non-violent response.

I think that if David Best is going to use a compressor and air horn as a method of revenge against loud noise, he has to expect that someone might take revenge against HIS loud noise. I think I like Try Me's revenge better. (And, if it had been David Best coming on here and complaining about Try Me creating some loud noise, and then being upset that Try Me didn't like David Best shutting down that loud noise, what would the reaction on here be like? The same or different? I honestly am curious.)


B.

[dana]

I think that if David Best is going to use a compressor and air horn as a method of revenge against loud noise, he has to expect that someone might take revenge against HIS loud noise. I think I like Try Me's revenge better.

B.

Not so much revenge, as clever, responsible, sabotage that happened with total serendipity. (which is part of why the story is so great.)

Karine sounds like a cacophonist/anarchist. Being loud and in your face just comes with it.
BM is growing. One of the things that may need to be dealt with eventually is the sheer noise level, craziness. An idea to imagine and see if it grows: quiet zones at the "horns" (the two ends) of the city?? Signs demarcating the zone. (The current "quiet zone - hushville" seems kind of poorly placed and pointless.) It would keep me coming back for a longer time.

[BAS]

Yeah, with 20/20 hindsight, "revenge" was a poor word choice on my part.

Quiet zones isn't a bad idea. Hushville, Kidsville, and the AEZ/Hoodville could be in them. (The AEZ due to its "no generators" policy, and Hoodville is pretty much an extension of the AEZ, if I am informed correctly. Kidsville because young 'uns need decompression time during the week. I doubt I have to explain why Hushville.... )

I didn't really have any more trouble sleeping at BM than I do anywhere else. (I suspect I get poor quality of sleep, and always have. And people complain about my snoring quite often.) I doubt I could have slept through an air horn, though. I think Try Me's response was very much within the BM spirit, esp since he eventually gave back the keys.


B.

[LeChatNoir]

I agree 100% with Dana.

I would also like to add that try_me is a GOD, and should have fruit put at his/her feet.

(Daydream sequence Burning Man 2008)

In the distance a small murmur can be heard gaining momentum at Death Camp.

"Thunderdome. Thunderdome. Thunderdome!"

It grows to a roar as try_me and best enter the cage. The music starts and then ...

(You Continue Daydream sequence Burning Man 2008)

Oh Oh!!! try_me!! You could whack him with a foam bat and say, "It's not your fault, It's not your fault!!"

[karine]

All apologies, boys.

What I was trying to say, is what TryMe did about the Best thing wasn't all so exactly awful... but trying to go on-line now and get sympathy and attention over that situation seems pretty pointless.

If you feel like someone (who will be moving on in a matter of minutes) is blaring an airhorn in the daylight AT BURNING MAN & that is worthy of some pity.... umh.. I just don't see it.

& that doesn't necessarily mean I am an anarchist.

The bottom line is, we are talking about someone who was making some noise for a few minutes.

I am reminded of John Henry & him fighting the "machine" -

Poor David Best.. trying to make some noise against those rowdy late-night party makers, with their new-fangled speakers & glory ...
David didn't have a chance, because somebody stole his key.

[LeChatNoir]

“But before I let yo’ lectric music beat me down,
Gone die with my air horn in my hands.

I’m going to die with my air horn... Hey wait a minute... why isn't it working?"

[Tiahaar]

... Hey wait a minute... why isn't it working?"

OK you rowdies now that's funny!
Just as extra info, that darn horn was a full-on locomotive unit and it did sound great...for two weeks before the event...over and over...and though I was duly impressed with its timbre and resonance I finally thought to myself "someone is eventually going to get tired of that thing and stifle it..." Heh. Or swipe the compressor keys

[karine]

okay now, that's funny.

And ((hopefully)) it IS all about having ~some~ fun.
There are much quieter sides to the city.

[dana]

but trying to go on-line now and get sympathy and attention over that situation seems pretty pointless.

If you feel like someone (who will be moving on in a matter of minutes) is blaring an airhorn in the daylight AT BURNING MAN & that is worthy of some pity.... umh.. I just don't see it.

strange....
How did you come up with attempting to get attention, sympathy and pity out of that story?
It didn't read that way at all to me. Quite the opposite. Try me wrote it so well, so that it showed their second guessing of their own actions. Sympathy and pity seeking would not be doing that.

[barnz]

Just as extra info, that darn horn was a full-on locomotive unit ...

Oh it was THAT one?

Man, that thing scared the buhjeebbus outta me when I was wide awake. The sensation was (over and over again):

"I'm minding my own business, dum dee dum dee dum (the international public-domain song of minding one's own business)...SHIT! I'M ABOUT TO BE RUN DOWN BY A FUCKING TRAIN!

If I was sleeping when that happened, my guard would certainly be down, and it would freak me out every time(as it was clearly intended). Yeah yeah, it's Burning Man, sleep is for wussies, whatever. But that sound instilled some deep-sense panic.

[Tiahaar]

Oh it was THAT one?

Oh yeah! Ha, your reaction mirrored mine

Now contrast the well used honk to the one-time amazing Crude Awakening SIREN

THAT thing MUST come back to the playa, I got goose bumbs as it wailed...eeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeee...

(hell run it every night at midnight, have it be the American Dream Air Raid Drill, everybody run for the nearest designated Air Raid Shelter)

[BAS]

Air raid shelter?!! I thought I was supposed to hide under my SCHOOL DESK?!! Damn! Did a new guide come out?


B.

[Barbie]

The designated Air Raid Stations could have school desks in them...hhmmmmmm...

[Dustdevil]

BAS is showing his/her age. We called that duck and cover. Takes one to know one. We considered using the siren to open the Event at 12:01 on Monday morning, to announce the burning of the Man and for Crude Awakening. In the end we did not ask the powers that be for permission. Knowing the unique tone of the siren and the fact that many on the Playa would instantly remember that sound, Das Mann and I decided to save it for Crude Awakening. It would have have been "interesting" to wake David Bests' camp and neighbors each morning with the siren. As well as the rest of Black Rock City. For those that don't know, it is called a Victory Siren. Cold War era. We are now in the process of restoring it to its' former glory.
http://www.victorysiren.com/x/index.htm

[BAS]

Actually, I am from just a bit after that, being a 1963 vintage. (Still Cold War Era, I think we might have had one or two "everybody hid in the hall" type drills when I was just starting out, then everyone decided we were all likely to die, anyway [maybe they finally tested the desk idea?], and gave up on the drills.)


Darn. I think I had something more to write, but my Internet access seems all screwed up today. Long, LONG, L-O-N-G delays trying to get anything to come up. <bleep>


B.

Oh, and about that he/she thing-- let me check... hmmm..., looks like male!

[Dork]

I actually heard one of those air raid sirens go off in Bozeman in the mid-90's. Something malfunctioned or someone hit the wrong button and it went off at like 3am. It took several hours before they could get ahold of someone old enough to know where the thing was and how to turn it off.

I was about a mile away, inside a house and it was still quite loud.

If your goal is to wake people up without pissing them off too much, my neighbors at BRC Animal Control found the secret. Playing "Morning Train" by Sheena Easton at high volume. No earplugs can block that out completely.

[Barbie]

Hey- I remenber getting under the desks and I'm 1964 vintage...

[Bob]

You had desks?

We had to jump off our stools & hold pieces of slate over our heads.

[bigbluedoggy]

Hey DustDevil! Did I hear you guys do a brief test fire of that siren on Tuesday or so? For just a moment? I was out near Crude Awakening and this noise started but it didn't last long. I just remember it was reallllly loud!

[Kinetik V]

If your goal is to wake people up without pissing them off too much, my neighbors at BRC Animal Control found the secret. Playing "Morning Train" by Sheena Easton at high volume. No earplugs can block that out completely.

That would be considered cruel and unusual punishment in some quarters, pure torture in others.

[Dustdevil]

Hey Bigblue,

Someone was alert. We were hoping that no one would notice. The person who was in charge of the siren had this fear that the time would come, he would turn the key and nothing would happen. We ran a test just to make certain it did not have any issues from the trip to the desert. We were having problems with the compressor disengagement system, so we fired it up with the compressor coupled up. It really does have a distinct sound. We wanted to run it a little longer before the show, but Das Mann was calling the shots. Actually I would have ran it for the entire show, but that is just me. It has such a sweet sound when the engine hits 4800 rpm's. The blast cycle was designed for 8 seconds of full throttle and alternating with 4 seconds of idle. The compressor produces 5 psi and 3800 cfm.

[LeChatNoir]

Dustdevil,

I just wanted to say thanks for bringing that siren. That was a beautiful thing.

[Dustdevil]

I really didn't wish to hijack this thread, but there is an interesting story behind the siren. I learned of the Victory Sirens about three years ago from a friend of mine who did the Man fireworks many years ago. I started researching the sirens and found one in Oakland, not far from my shop. It took two years with the City Council to convince them to give it to me. We got it this Spring. It had a cracked block and two cracked heads but the compressor was OK. It had been sitting, unused for forty years. We were already deep into Crude Awakening. The idea of the siren was a natural for that project. BM was not willing to give us permission to use the siren at first. There were concerns that it could be mistaken for an emergency or police siren. We got it running on July 2. We did a demo to illustrate that the tone was much deeper than a normal police siren. The lower frequency will travel a greater distance. Think firetruck OR fog horn. After we got it running the fluid drive failed. The fluid drive was only used on Chrysler industrial applications. We found one only two days before we left for the desert. I have to thank my shop foreman and Fedex for meeting the schedule and getting to the desert on time. I plan a full restoration this winter. I would love to bring it back to the desert next year if BM wants it.

[karine]

I want it!

It was fabulous.
Sooo eeerie, and BEAUTIFUL !

The timing was good (I took it as it was an alert - something WAS coming.. the burning of the rig) and the moment of peaceful rest after it was amazing. Like taking a deep breath.

But I guess I didn't realize it wasn't planned for the whole burning of the rig, hmmm... I hadn't thought about WHO's it was at the time.


((oh - and I WOULD do it AGAIN next year if I were you! )) Beautiful!

[BAS]

Hey- I remenber getting under the desks and I'm 1964 vintage...

I don't recall any drills after second grade or so. Before that we were living in rural, southern Illinois-- and there we were sent to crouch in the halls of the school. (Maybe the budget wasn't capable of supporting the nuke proof desk tops...?)

Weirdly, the Baraboo area, where we moved to, is larger and close to the (now former) Badger Army Ammunition Plant, which would, I think, make it more of a target, but I don't recall any nuke drills up here. <shrug>


Anyway, I am sorry I had to miss this year-- Crude Awakenings sounded like a great time!



B.

[LeChatNoir]

I would love to bring it back to the desert next year if BM wants it.

Speaking for the part of Burning Man that I create, "I want it, I want it!!"

ETA: Thanks for sharing the backstory too. I do love stories, and it seems like the most fun projects I've been involved with were those "11th hour" kind of things.