Search and consent...

I just watched a really interesting video somebody posted about police searching cars and houses. Actually it's an extremely boring and long video, but there were several things I really didn't know. For instance, did you know that if you are speeding and get pulled over you should not admit that you knew you were speeding? Anyway- the information about searching your home applies to tents and living space at burning man. Very interesting. Also, the info about the police stopping you as you are walking around could also come in handy.

Things to bring...

I heard Jimmy mention that he'd like to read a concise list of things to bring for yourself. Here goes... feel free to add on.

• Shelter- tent (It's nice to have a place to go and be alone.. BM can be a bit overwhelming at times)
  
• something to sleep on- air mattress/cot, pillow
  
• sleeping bag/blankets (The temp at night drops very low and it gets COLD! likewise during the day it gets really hot, making it almost impossible to sleep in your tent. A sheet helps. As does a portable fan. We've got the pluton (which will serve as Michaels bed, I believe) and two hammocks. Ear plugs. Eye mask. Sleeping medicine (if your like me and can't sleep in the sweltering heat without a little help)
  
• A bike. Extra bike tire tubes. A bike basket. A bike lock. Believe me, having your bike stolen when you are 2 miles away from your camp and really tired sucks. (This happened to me). Decorate your bike to make it recognizable. (Around center camps there are thousands of bikes... making it difficult to find even when you know where you parked it.) you might even stick a label on it with our camp name and address in case somebody finds it. Burning man is huge and some of the art is miles away from where you camp. I think everyone in our group has a bike, but if you don't put it as your top priority.
  
• Dust masks/goggles/gas mask. I've personally never used a gas mask... those regular dust masks work fine. However, gas masks look cool- but seem like they'd be really hot during the day.
• Light, loose clothing for the day. If you burn easily make sure you have something to cover your arms. Undies. A hat helps too. Plenty of sunscreen. Aloe. Lip gloss. Lotion or bag balm for playa foot. Lots of clean socks. Comfy shoes. Boots are best because they protect your feet from the alkali desert. I generally put a whole bunch of bag balm on my feet then put on new socks and then boots. I read this in some book about trench warfare. It works well. My feet have gotten so torn apart and blistered there it was extremely painful to walk.
  
• Warm clothing for the night. Long underwear, lots of layers, a heavy coat. It gets really really cold at night.
  
• Wet wipes- for daily washing. Biodegradable, earth friendly soap. Dr. Bronners is quite nice and utilitarian. Your hair will feel like straw and form into hitertoo unimaginable shapes.
• Flashlight/tent light. We all have glowy items now, I believe.
• A camping chair, hammock and stand. Folding chairs if anyone's got em. We have two 6ft tables, one for the eating area and one for the hanging out area. Really we need to be sure that we have plenty of seating.
• Something to do during the hottest times of the day-- books, games, cards etc.
• Camera-- store this in a plastic bag when not in use. EVERYTHING, your most intimate crevices that you didn't even know you had, everything in the cars, everything electronic will come out coated in dust. It has a very distinct smell, and you will smell of it for weeks.
• First Aid stuff- bandaids, antibiotic ointment, aloe. Or duct tape and windex if you are particular brawny.
  
• Food things- a plate, knife and fork/metal utilitarian spork. A pot and a skillet for cooking. Bring a cup with a handle and maybe a lid that can be attached to your camelbak. Lots of people set up bars but nobody provides cups, so having one you just carry around is quite fun.
• Enough food for the week. The first year we went we all took MRE's. Michael seemed to love this option. I felt like I was starving. Last year I overcompensated by having an elaborate meal plan for each day, which resulted in a lot of time devoted to cooking and clean-up. This year I aim for somewhere in the middle. A couple tasty dinner meals, but mostly snack food and light, pre-packaged (we have a vacuum packer at our house) easily prepared things. While we will have a community kitchen set up this year, everyone is responsible for their own meals. We are not doing community meals. It is virtually impossible for us anyway- considering Bobby's gluten allergy. Generally plan on a breakfast meal and a dinner meal, and snack through the middle of the day. Along with the extreme temperatures you will be exercising quite a bit with all the biking a walking. Also, with all the H20 consumption you need to make sure to eat lots of salt for electrolytes. Plus salty food tastes good on the playa.
  
• A cooler or two. Generally one for drinks and one for your food stuffs.
  
• Easy meal ideas-- Snacks- Cheese, hard sausage, crackers, tuna, canned chicken, hummus, salsa, chips, hard boiled eggs, beef jerky, cookies, granola bars, ramen noodles, jelly beans and other candy. Breakfast- Pancakes and bacon, scrambled eggs with potatoes and onion, omelettes, frozen fruit smoothies (provided we can acquire a battery operated blender), cereal. Soy milk or rice milk lasts longer in the desert, I think. You can also get powered milk or canned milk I believe. I personally abhor cereal. It's absolutely disgusting. Dinner- think protein and starch. Meat and potatoes. Baked potatoes, sour cream, bacon and cheese. Noodles are actually a bit of a pain in the ass, as are things with sauces. Kabobs. Tacos. Hot dogs. (The buns won't last very long). Hamburgers. Fried rice. Kielbasa sausage.
  
• Drinks- besides the ubiquitous water consider bringing soda, Crystal Lite, and whatever alcoholic beverages suit your fancy. Cans are better than glass because you can recycle cans at the Recycle camp. However we will be bringing Boulevard and Mikes which only appears to come in glass.
  

Try to avoid bringing- bread, fresh fruits and veggies that wilt quickly (grapes, non-frozen berries, lettuce etc.) Anything that is too messy (cleaning up dusty spaghetti sauce with paper towels and a micro-inch of H20 is a pain)

Things we have as a group- Two big domes, a half dome bar area, a trailer (somebody could probably sleep in there), a pimp shower, an evaporation pond, a camp kitchen complete with sink, a camping gas grill, a pluton, two hammocks with stands, solar power and night time neon lights.

Things we absolutely still need- enough camping chairs for everyone to sit and room for new friends. If you don't bring a chair expect to sit on the ground. Radical self reliance! Trashcan. Squirt bottle for kitchen. Rugs (2 or 3 20.00 rugs from Wally World)

Things that would be handy- A bike rack. Another pluton or larger camp chair. Another portable hammock (those things are NICE!). A charcoal grill (Bobby's parents have one we brought with us last time which we may consider bringing again). A burn barrel (we have a small barrel we found in our yard that might work... It'd be so damned handy to burn our burnable trash instead of hauling it back home). I just read on some other camps blog that they are bringing a fire pit like we have. Perhaps if we just stick a cement block in it, it'll be fine. A trash separator would come in handy here-- with compartments for trash, glass, cans and burnable material.

Burn some CDs to listen to during the event. I enjoy people's themed CD's. Our first year somebody played Johnny Cash for all of burn day, which was very appropriate. I know Michael is making a CD of both pirate tunes and music that has something to do with burning. A personal MP3 player is also very handy. I enjoy biking around listening to music and looking at stuff. Also, I'm sure personal music will be essential in the van on the way there.

Game stuff- poker chips, Magic cards, Cranium etc. Around 3 it gets so hot that everyone seems to wind up at the camp.

random tuesday...

The yip yips were possibly my most feared, and favorite Sesame Street Characters. Assuming they are costumes. Clever!

Here's a good link to a tip from the environmental blog about storing ice in a cooler. She says to get one of those plastic 2.5 liter jugs with the spout at the bottom and pour your ice directly into that, and place that inside your cooler so the food never touches the melted H20. That way you can use the melted and cooled H20 in your camelback or cooking rather than having to put it on your H20 drying thing.

Circus Freaks

I like these peoples samuri banners and funny circus mustache. Nothing new to report.

Also, this site has a pretty thorough guide and list and makes for interesting reading.

Just watched the Malcom in the Middle goes to Burning Man episode, which can be found here. One thing that really bothered me was that Malcom steps on a cactus (there is no plant life on the playa) and the little kid gathers rocks (there are no rocks on the playa). Also there was no dust, and the man was weeny. It's sorta cute though.

Been reading the BM websites enviornment blog and they had this clever tip for managing stinky trash...
Place kitchen scraps in an old onion bag, one that lets air flow through, and hang it in the sun. Your actual trash, the stuff that can’t be recycled, will be cleaner and dryer. Your food scraps will dehydrate instead of rot. No smell. Now you can carry them home to be composted.

Also note... I am considering putting a rideshare out to see if somebody in our area needs a ride. Obviously they would be contributing to our gas and would save everyone a spot of money. We've got 7 people going and can probably fit one more person in the van. Thoughts about this? Yeah or nays?

Another thing we need-- a cheap boombox/stereo system. Everybody look in your basements to check if there are any lying around. Remember: anything you bring out there will be playa-fied. So don't bring anything too nice.