Final Thoughts and Analysis?

[uncle sticky]

I'm getting word that the peak population was 52,000, pulled from the Burning Blog. Conditions, ticket situation, weather, etc, all combined to make the population a bit lower than last year. What are your thoughts? What does this suggest for next year and for the future?

[unjonharley]

it could be like myself some stayed home behind the ticket crap shoot.

just told my kid " i'm going ti burning man 2013" after all it's the year of the snake.

some early reports say a bunch left way early cuz of the dust.

there appeared to be a lot of large art, looking at the ustream live cam

i have a few other fest for next year.. burning man will be my summers grand finally.

[parracky parrot]

Well, the dust didn't look *that* bad this year (no ticket, so I've been on ustream continuously since last sun) compared to 2008. They say only 40 thousand were left for the Man burn, so chalk it up to the 30% new blood who can't handle it.
Exodus on Monday - what the FUCK? I spent nine hours in that line last year, this year Nothing. At 3:00PM there was a half hour wait, but by 5:00 it was a clean drive through. By 9:00 they sent the gate crew home. From the video feed a lot of people are waiting 'till tuesday.
Freaky.

[ZaphodBurner]

The population has contracted slightly before. This was a tough year for burners, but, hey, guess who had it worse. Scalpers. Aaahahahaaahahaaaa... Between the canceled tickets and the fact that people were selling them for $70 in Portland, a lot of scalpers got fucking burned by Black Rock City.

As long as everybody shuts up about Exodus and the fact that there was no major crime and that much of the playa surface was fine (some of it truly sucked), it should be much easier to get tickets next year.

Did you see the plug n play camps? There were some rodeo women from Reno. Some people paid $5500 to have the camp set up and catered. We met the guy who sets it up. He says he doesn't make money off it. That doesn't mean he gets it. Their placement on the playa seemed pretty remote...a long way from just about everything, and the street around it was a sandbox.

The city was awesome this year. It didn't feel crowded except for one night midweek when it seemed like everybody had arrived and everybody was out partying in their best dark-tard attire and wild-eyed virgin faces. It settled out after that except for the ubiquitous 1-800-RVFUCKTARD creeping up 9 o'clock right onto the Esplanade at all hours. It's like Cousin Darryl said he would meet them at Burning Man so they just decided to start at the Man and drive around until they find him. I hit one of them with our Triplane. It was an accident, as was knocking over a couple of sorority bikes parked in the middle of 7:30. (mostly we just followed them around blasting machine gun sounds at them. Mostly.)

I am very positive that, barring political intervention, 2013 is going to rock. 2012 sure did. All of the jaded, cynical assholes stayed home.

[shroom]

I'll be there in 2013. I hope 2012 thinned out the newbie fucktards from coming back.

[BBadger]

Oh if the doom and gloom, end-of-days, whining people of March could see how it ended up. I was laughing my ass off in memory of the panic.

[unjonharley]

I'll be there in 2013. I hope 2012 thinned out the newbie fucktards from coming back.

I'll be seeing you in all the old places 2013.. Hope the new tards return with new and better to make Black Rock City the place it is....

[shroom]

I'll be there in 2013. I hope 2012 thinned out the newbie fucktards from coming back.

I'll be seeing you in all the old places 2013.. Hope the new tards return with new and better to make Black Rock City the place it is....

yes, new tards are willing to make it better would make me smile!

[vargaso]

Dust and playa conditions were pretty average, which was nice considering the dire predictions of Dustocalypse. The general vibe was amazing as ever and yes, there was a lot of large art on the playa, although almost all of it pretty far in. Hardly anything in deep playa save for the Black Rock Bijou. I didn't notice a sense that there were more or less newbies than any other year. The newbies in our camp were awesome and awestruck, so that was fun.

I think 2013 might get slammed as I know more than a few people who sit this year out to let the ticket thing settle and are already planning for 2013. I predict another very fast ticket sell-out, however the BMORG decides to do it. Mostly I'm hoping the lawsuit doesn't fuck things up. Oh, the LEO presence on 447 and on the playa road getting in was RIDICULOUS. I saw someone get pulled over on the playa road, and way more traffic stops on 447 than usual. LEO presence on the playa seemed pretty average. There was a raid on Opulent Temple on Monday, which sucked.

In summary: Burning Man sucks, don't go.

[gyre]

There is only one burning man ticket on baybay now, under $200, but there were a lot all week.


However, i couldn't get anyone to sell me a voided ticket.

Still looking.

[AntiM]

Dust and playa conditions were pretty average, which was nice considering the dire predictions of Dustocalypse.

That largely depended on what side of the city you were on. We got slammed a few times over on 4. Not as bad as 2008, but nothing like last year. I talked to folks who "evacuated" their friends from the eastside whiteouts to the relatively dustfree west side of the city. And the dust drifts on the exit road on Tuesday, I've never seen anything quite like that. So yeah, average, but less average depending on location.

[gibson_]

3:00 was a shit-show for dust. Almost unrideable on a bike.

[Ano]

I was camped at 8:00 and I, and we had three bad episodes of dust/wind all week. My buddies over at 3:00 and H had a whiteout every two days, alongside unrideable bike conditions and massive dust.

[steve.t.sullivan]

I was camped at 3 and F. The roads were difficult. There were occasional whiteouts. But anyone who considers this year to have been a "dustpocalypse" is a total wuss. =p

[steve.t.sullivan]

Well, the dust didn't look *that* bad this year (no ticket, so I've been on ustream continuously since last sun) compared to 2008. They say only 40 thousand were left for the Man burn, so chalk it up to the 30% new blood who can't handle it.
Exodus on Monday - what the FUCK? I spent nine hours in that line last year, this year Nothing. At 3:00PM there was a half hour wait, but by 5:00 it was a clean drive through. By 9:00 they sent the gate crew home. From the video feed a lot of people are waiting 'till tuesday.
Freaky.

We made it from the dust to the pavement late Monday morning in one continuous shot, broken only by a sixty second stop at one point.

[mgb327]

Well, I think it was a very fine burn. I camp at 3:30 and J, so we had the WORST roads. The softness wasn't so bad, but the little "potholes" made it real uncomfy. I brought a trike this year, that was a good decision. The whiteouts just made the week more special, even the Opulent massive party Friday night was incredible in the apocolyptic MadMax weather. The raods were tough, but the playa was pretty good. I thought the fireworks were much "smaller" than last year, in all the big burns. Tons of darktards, just tons. Saw a few frat-boys harassing some topless women, I probably should have explained shit to the children-boys, but didn't. This year was much more emotional for me, as I lost my best friend of 40 years 2 weeks before the Sat man burn. The Temple was my main focal point, in hindsight. (R.I.P John B., you are sadly missed). Next year I need to figure out a different way to return to my home here in Va., as I spent 3 days driving alone, went from laughing to crying....for 3 days. Overall, the music was stellar, I heard the best of my life, Root and Opulent were really stepping up to the plate on the awesomness scale. I went, I loved it, I will return.

[RedHeaven]

Well, I think it was a very fine burn. I camp at 3:30 and J, so we had the WORST roads. The softness wasn't so bad, but the little "potholes" made it real uncomfy. I brought a trike this year, that was a good decision. The whiteouts just made the week more special, even the Opulent massive party Friday night was incredible in the apocolyptic MadMax weather. The raods were tough, but the playa was pretty good. I thought the fireworks were much "smaller" than last year, in all the big burns. Tons of darktards, just tons. Saw a few frat-boys harassing some topless women, I probably should have explained shit to the children-boys, but didn't. This year was much more emotional for me, as I lost my best friend of 40 years 2 weeks before the Sat man burn. The Temple was my main focal point, in hindsight. (R.I.P John B., you are sadly missed). Next year I need to figure out a different way to return to my home here in Va., as I spent 3 days driving alone, went from laughing to crying....for 3 days. Overall, the music was stellar, I heard the best of my life, Root and Opulent were really stepping up to the plate on the awesomness scale. I went, I loved it, I will return.

Oh my goodness you are burly.....and I thought my 8 hour cry fest to the Sierras was difficult. Shit, do it while yer young So sorry for your loss. I lost my buddy too this year. Temple was just beautiful for them this year.

Next year you should ride with someone for goodness sake!

[trilobyte]

Moving this over to Experiences At Burning Man, since I think that's a better fit for the conversation.

[Candybox]

I was camped at 3 and F. The roads were difficult. There were occasional whiteouts. But anyone who considers this year to have been a "dustpocalypse" is a total wuss. =p

The dust wasn't too bad during the burn because it rained just before BM started. We were building art on the playa the week before, and it was EXTREMELY dusty. A couple days especially was just whiteout after whiteout, over and over. One particular day had more dust storms than I'd experienced in the past two years combined. Some strong windstorms too. It stopped being amusing after awhile, and really delayed our construction, the high winds especially.

[steve.t.sullivan]

I was camped at 3 and F. The roads were difficult. There were occasional whiteouts. But anyone who considers this year to have been a "dustpocalypse" is a total wuss. =p

The dust wasn't too bad during the burn because it rained just before BM started. We were building art on the playa the week before, and it was EXTREMELY dusty. A couple days especially was just whiteout after whiteout, over and over. One particular day had more dust storms than I'd experienced in the past two years combined. Some strong windstorms too. It stopped being amusing after awhile, and really delayed our construction, the high winds especially.

Be that as it may, there are people in this thread saying the post-rain conditions were brutal. I've no doubt they were in fact brutal before the gates opened.

[CornMan]

My final thoughts and analysis is that it seems everybody was pretty much wrong about everything regarding Burning Man 2012 except for those who said to relax, that those who really want to go will get to go. We had more non-transferable tickets than ever, but the gate-pocalypse never materialized - the opposite actually. We weren't as "Doomed!" as some seemed to hope regarding the weather. There were still more than a few non-plug & play camps out there. I don't think I even saw a single plug & player out there - or at least I didn't recognize any. Some unprepared newbies went home early, but the good camps took good care of their newbies. The newbies really shined in our camp. The LEO arrest/ticket stats is pretty average. Overall, good burn this year.

[Dis)'(rack]

I thought the playa had a lot less interactive art and nightime gahering areas this year and the sound camps seemed to be more of a focal point for communal gatherings. Basically, it felt really ravey this year.

It's always hard to recall, but it seems like I used to meet a lot more people before the mega corner camps were out there. Could just be a fault of memory, or I could just put out less of the vibe to meet people now. Tough to tell.

[tommyzed]

My thoughts:

It was a solid Burn - no catastrophes. Exodus (and entrance) were amazingly good (first time in years). This year had an beautiful Full Moon that I'll never forget; a dust storm to remind us all who's in charge; and some pretty warm and mild nights, which lends to the best nocturnal adventures.

People (some large camps) did leave early - while some may say they were virgins who couldn't "handle" it, I think it's more that there are some long-time burners who are eschewing the weekend rave scene and focusing on the beginning of the week. At least that fits the straw-poll of the people camped nearby who left Fri or Sat morning.

BurningMan is definitely evolving - as a long-time burner (since 97), it's definitely more of a party now with less artistic interaction. There appeared to be way more virgins this year (percentage-wise), which noticeably reduced the amount of random performance art/projects on the Playa. I believe (and this again fits many of my BayArea friends) that many of the artists who religiously went throughout the 2000's are now staying home.

I think it's slowly turning into a dusty Ibiza. There are definitely way more high-end, catered camps where people just pay to have everything done for them - and then go out in (admittedly beautiful) couture garb before having an elegant meal at sunset (anyone see the 100-seat table at the trash fence last year? Catered from NY, red carpet at all).

BurningMan is simply a victim of its own success. As it becomes more popular, this kind of... gentrification?... is bound to happen.

But through it all, it is still my Home. There are still many, many pockets of awesome - and there's simply nothing like it anywhere else in the world. I think it's up to us to be vigilant in guarding the Playa's core values and teaching the new generation what it means to be a Burner. The simpler, glory days may be over, but the Playa still has so much to give. I'll be back in 2013.

dusty hugs,
tommy

[sandfly]

I had a good time, and expect to return next year.

It seems clear that BMORG has decided to embrace tourism -- pure spectators. Kinda sad, but not surprising.

BMORG's press release, saying they have decided that they did a great job on the tickets and there were really no problems, was also kinda depressing. The message I get is "Prior Burners, we don't care about your coming back, because obviously we can sell plenty of tickets to people who've never been before."

I enjoyed the newbies I met but the whole event seemed, overall, just more bland -- which is to be expected when 60% of the participants had never been there before. The heart of the event was there, but harder to find. I tell people "Burning Man is not an event -- it is a smorgasboard. Your experience will be unique, and will largely depend on you." This year, that seemed even more true. I'm neither optimistic nor pessimistic about the future of Burning Man -- because I can see it could get better, or it might slide downhill, so I'll just wait and see.

[unjonharley]

It was 38% new people this year.. Outer playa was a little thin on art over the web cam.. Great MVs, (lots of new) hope to see them next year.

The 1990s and early 2000 burners are getting a little aged and taking a year off here and there..

The ticket sale went fine.. Knee jerk reaction screwed it up..

Some scalper got a good screwing.. As did over buyers..

I wanted to go.. Didn't get a ticket in first or second.. Backed off.. Found out I needed this year off..

Got new teeth, Hearing aids, New special shoes and Eye lids lifted. Had BM project started and now refined and on the way to finish.. The yard and garden are looking great and can stand my vacations of next year..

[tommyzed]

@sandfly/@unjonharley - I agree with both of you. This is definitely a turning point in the history of Bman - not only because of the changes due to the BORG itself, but also because a new generation is taking over (yeah, most of my friends who burned with me a decade ago are now taking years off). It could either get better or worse... time will tell.

It reminds me a little of a decade or so ago when Chicken John started his BORG2 organization as a way to force the BORG to spend more funds on art. It was a pivotal year, and the BORG responded as the art, on a whole, got much much better. Hopefully, all the virgins this year will come back next year with fresh ideas and be more participatory. Although it's nice to see familiar "faces", it would be good to have new and fresh camps. I think the high costs of creating a camp has caused there to be way more repetition in camps over the years, especially on the 2/10 o'clock areas.

I do think the art was thin on the Outer but packed on the Inner. I think this is due to the BORG's new emphasis on regional projects. The regional burn night featured some 30 art pieces that were ultimately burned. I think this created the effect of there being more art concentrated around the man and less in the Outer regions. The extra burn night is cool though - especially since it's distributed and not concentrated at a single spot on the Playa.

best,
tommy

[ZaphodBurner]

I don't know what you guys saw but my first burn was in 2004, and although MORE PEOPLE SHOWED ON MONDAY 2012 THAN ATTENDED 2004, I didn't see any more or less tardism this year than any. The "Welcome Home" BMIR gave our dozen virgins on arrival in 2005 was a necessary rant about some fucktard who had thrown an actual rack of ribs in a toilet.

Half the people I drove by when I arrived on Sunday morning waved at me as I passed. Hundreds of people, all of them happy. When the giant Dune Worm entered the city Sunday at 6 p.m., all headlights and dust, we sat in our lawn chairs and waved at them as well. Even the ones who drove right through our camp.

What bugged me enough to so something about it this year was the ubiquitous stream of 800-rental RVs (esp. the one with those fucked up kids trapped in the paint job) driving straight up 9 o'clock, through the plaza and straight out toward the Man until somebody banged on their vehicles and made them stop. It's like they heard Uncle Bernie or their Camp Host would meet them at Burning Man so why not drive straight out to the Actual Man and drive around until they find the guy that knows what's going on? Why dont ya honk, there, Bubba? Maybe he'll hear you.

The solution was to pursue them in the Red Baron, blasting at them with machine gun sounds until they stop, whereupon a hottie wingwalker runs up to their window, hugs them and tells them where the hell to go. First you scare them, then you make them love you. (To this end, we also had Lord Humongous and a megaphone, blaring at them to give us your propane and your booze if you want to survive the wasteland. Your propane and your booze and your women, and we will let you live. Lord Humongous reads some awesome interracial cuckold erotica, by the way.)

At Slutgarden's Slut Court, a fratboy douche in his best Vegas mall-wear was arrested and put on trial for being a hot guy at Burning Man who couldn't get laid. IIRC, having been found guilty by a jury of sluts, his punishment was that he had to be chased around the Esplanade by a gay dude and/or pull his pants down, sit on the playa and suck dust up his butt. Then, they likely gave him a glass of ice cold slut juice. First you scare them...

Lots and lots of darktards and un-decorated rental RVs with white kids screaming to get out on the sides, but, did you happen to notice the reduction in camera-toting shirt-cockers this year? And if you didn't see as much playa art this year, well... where's yours?

Above all Exodus--the one thing everybody universally hates the most about Burning Man--absolutely failed to suck as expected. It Was Fucking Way Better This Year. It speaks for my entire Playa Apocalypse.

[Savannah]

Exodus went well because people who remembered the 2011 insanity were hugely motivated not to repeat it.

A friend of mine who normally considers the Temple Burn a religious experience found considerably greater Transcendence in leaving on Sunday at 3:00pm with little waiting.

And so did a lot of people . . . especially seasoned Burners. I think there was a verrry spread out Exodus this year, and much use of Burning Man Radio to determine a good time to leave.

I was driving around on-shift all of Temple Day 3:30-11:30pm and I have NEVER seen the city so emptied out on a Sunday. I was seeing more geographic area than I normally would, but still, I thought "Damn . . . this is crazy."

[thirt33n]

My thoughts:


But through it all, it is still my Home. There are still many, many pockets of awesome - and there's simply nothing like it anywhere else in the world. I think it's up to us to be vigilant in guarding the Playa's core values and teaching the new generation what it means to be a Burner. The simpler, glory days may be over, but the Playa still has so much to give. I'll be back in 2013.

dusty hugs,
tommy

+1

[grenadine]

Vis a vis Exodus. I think a lot of credit should be given to the ustream live coverage. I left early to avoid exocalypse and felt great about it knowing that if I timed it right I would be able to watch the man burn online surrounded by friends and loved ones at home.