Person Finder: Haiti Earthquake

As many of you may know, I spent the last two weeks in the Caribbean working a gig in the Bahamas, which is 887 kilometers/551 miles/479 nautical miles South/East of Haiti. I was in the casino when the hotel management advised that everybody on the premises stay inside due to a tsunami alert. I had no idea what would cause such an announcement so at my earliest convenience I Facebooked and asked my network what happened. Seconds later I was apprised of the horrible catastrophe that had struck the people of Haiti.

It was a rather surreal juxtaposition to be amidst a world of gambling, family vacation and relaxation when others were suffering but at the time there was not much more I could do but complete my assignment. Now the gig is over and at this time I am free to assist and volunteer in any capacity to the people of Haiti although I realize that the situation there is chaotic and somebody with my skills would be more of a hindrance than help. When I return home I am going to roll up my sleeves once again and volunteer at the American Red Cross. I know everybody is donating money to the Haitian cause but may I gently urge you all to put your money where your mouth is and volunteer in some capacity to a charity of your choice. A fine one to participate in is Burners Without Borders, a community led, grassroots group that arose out of the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina back in 2005.

Ak espwa pou tout moun nan Ayiti ♥ (With hope for everyone in Haiti).

Urban Dictionary's Definition of "burning man"

There are currently eight entries under the definition of "burning man" on UrbanDictionary.com. Below is the first one (which IMHO is amusing and entertaining -- if you can't laugh at yourself as a burner then who can you laugh at?). The seven remaining definitions can be found here.

1. burning man                                                   

As of 2009, Burning Man is society's officially sanctioned counter-cultural movement. And as this movement, it has no forward momentum.

It is a party in the desert. That's basically it.

It is fun and it is harsh. The environment in itself is beautiful and amazing. The culture of Burning Man is divided into two categories - 1) them 2) us. 'Us' consists of about 20% of the population of the City who mostly volunteer to work for the primary benefit of counting themselves part of the 'us' clique (they even get T-shirts to prove it). Needless to say, 'us' is a really annoying group (mostly). 'Them' is everyone else - mostly clueless spectators who have little or no interest in participating in activities or creating events or making art. When 'they' finally poke their heads out of their massive RVs, it's with the general purpose of taking pictures of freaks & geeks so they can prove to their friends back home that they 'did' Burning Man.

Freaks & geeks are another class separate from 'them' and separate from 'us' (but more them than us - thankfully). They consist of long-time participants called 'burners' who have attended the festival roughly more than 4 or 5 years. The also consist of newbies who are trying desperately to fit-in to appear as burners. They wear Utilikilts and repeat sayings like, 'safety 3rd' as if that signals to others they're 'in' on something cool. When they're not dropping names like telling you how they just had sex with LadyBee or had a beer with Larry Harvey, they're 'joking' about bacon or other sanctioned Burning Man topics with the design of impressing you. And who are you? You're just trying to get to the portapotties in hopes of escaping this moron who won't stop talking to you. No one cares that you 'know' Danger Ranger!!

If you say 'F yer day!' one more time in hopes of impressing me - I'm going to kill you. Which is why I no longer attend Burning Man.

tags: burning man. burningman, counter culture, party, larry harvey, black rock city
by broncotheman Jul 20, 2009

 

R.I.P. David T. Warren

I know this information is late and I apologize for that but I am traveling abroad and will not return state-side until mid-month.

Yesterday, January 2, 2010, marked the memorial for David T. Warren (aka. Flamo LaGrande, R.J. Mololopozy) at Playland Not At The Beach. Warren was a founding member of the San Francisco Suicide Club (a secret society that preceded the Cacophony Society which in turn began Burning Man). Warren was also the first to ignite the Burning Man effigy at Black Rock in 1990. For many years Warren owned and operated the Camera Obscura at Ocean Beach in San Francisco.

A remarkable obituary posted on Laughing Squid as written by John Law can be found here. The original video clip as featured above can be seen on YouTube in its entirety here.