Note : The full name of "J D" was left out on request.

[F] Burning Man e-playa / Regional Burning Man Groups / US - Midwest /

Some Playa Myths - Instant Flamebait

Truthteller - 02:13am Oct 31, 2001 PST

People will tell the most outrageous lies to the newbies, and get so testy when contradicted. Such is life. Flames or no (and yes, I expect a few) here are a few choice bits of nonsense I've heard:

1. Buy some cheap shoes before you go. Whatever you wear out there will be tossed at the end of the week, because the harsh, alkaline playa soil will have eaten through it.

Comment : this is pure nonsense. First of all, DON'T get cheap shoes, get sensible shoes - and "sensible" means good quality. Sliding around in poorly fitting shoes will promote blister formation. Then there are the cheapies that are hard on top, resulting in your feet taking a pounding on their upper surface - that really hurts, in a short while. One way or another, cheap shoes are hard on the feet and foot problems are one of your worst enemies out there. Not as bad as dehydration, but good for ruining your stay, no doubt about it.

Here's a reality check, if you really believed that story. Suppose the Playa soil was as harsh as alleged. People will also point out that it is incredibly fine and blows easily. (That it does). The stuff has gotten into food and water, and been consumed, often. Think about it - cups of water, right? If the stuff was that nasty, what do you think that consuming even a little of it would do to a person? I mean, come on. If it eats through leather and plastic, what is it going to do to the membranes in your mouth? Common sense : the Playa is not a natural toxic waste zone. If it was, one couldn't hold an event there.

How did this myth get started? Going barefoot on the Playa really is a bad idea. The "soil" there is basically powdered dry wall with a hard layer underneath. Compacted, cemented together, whatever. The dust itself gets as hot as h**l during the day and is dry as, well, desert dust. It hurts, it takes moisture out of your skin, and if you hit a patch where the dust is thin, you have a great opportunity to do some mechanical damage to your skin. Loosen it up a bit and really get those blisters going. Depending on how sensitive your skin is, after a while, it can start getting cracked and bleeding. THEN you have problems. Even a mildly corrosive material is hard on the sensitive tissues inside your body. Those tissues have evolved in a non-acidic, non-alkaline environment. (The fluids in the human circulatory system). They are poorly adapted to harsh chemical conditions, a fact one picks up on pretty quickly the moment a drop of (very mildly acidic) lemon juice hits a cut.


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Truthteller - Wednesday, 10/31/01, 2:38:13am
(#1 of 16)

Bathing

Myth 2 : Bathing isn't necessary on the Playa.

Reality : that depends on your skin type and your DNA in general, to say nothing of your personal hygeine habits. Let's face it, the online community has more than its share of people who don't wash, even at home. Some of these people have tried to make a great truth out of their own (disgusting) personal quirks. Ignore them.

The reality is that while the Playa is dry, it's not AS dry as many other places, like, say, the Sahara. In large part, this is why nudity is such a popular "fashion statement" out there. Anybody who tells you that you won't sweat out there is very likely selling you a smelly bill of goods. It's not that dry and in 100 degrees, sweat can definitely build up under your clothes. Many will find that they feel dirtier in the morning than they're used to, not cleaner.

It's all very individual, especially in the US, where there is so much genetic diversity. One person goes out in the desert and starts bleeding out his nose, and finds that his skin is getting dry and scratchy. Another finds that he's never breathed more easily, but still needs his daily bath to get by.

Make d**n sure that you have shower facilities available until you know how the desert affects you, personally. Especially if you plan on wearing clothes. Make no mistake, if you have oily, Mediterranean-type skin like some of us, baby wipes just won't do the job. Odds are very good that you'll feel nasty.


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Truthteller - Wednesday, 10/31/01, 2:48:14am
(#2 of 16)

peace and love

Myth 3 : It's all peace and love out there.

No, there's a lot of peace and love out there. There are also a lot of out and out a**holes on the Playa, who will do you dirty and then expect you to be "positive" about it. There are also a lot of cowards who will back them up on that. People needing and looking for accurate information, get hoaxed. Promises get swept under the rug on the basis that "one shouldn't have expectations on the Playa". You should be more hesitant about giving your trust at BRC than normal, not less.

Forget the "why make an us vs. them distinction?" rhetoric that BMORG encourages. Wherever you go, "us vs. them" is a fact of life. The Playa is just so very good at creating the illusion of being an exception, that people sometimes aren't alert enough to notice that it isn't, really.


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Truthteller - Wednesday, 10/31/01, 2:54:23am
(#3 of 16)

duststorms

Myth Four : You need a dust filter to cope with the storms

I got by just fine with a keffieyeh (Arabic head scarf) and goggles. Both were used exactly twice in the time I was there.

What makes dust irritating back home isn't the dust itself, but the "dust mites". The Playa has been almost devoid of life for 12,000 years. No bugs. The dust isn't as bad as you might expect.

In fact, you may come to enjoy it, for the interesting effect that it has on the scenery. Just turn your head out of the wind, and that may well be enough.


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Truthteller - Wednesday, 10/31/01, 3:05:10am
(#4 of 16)

community

Myth Five : You're completely on your own. "It's about radical self-reliance, man!"

(And yet it's all "peace and love"? A bit of a contradiction).

Yes, there are some real a**holes in Black Rock City. There are people who will feel seriously oppressed because they aren't allowed to fire rockets at their neighbors, or blast their stereos at them at 5 am. Some people at B.M. have a lot of growing up to do.

And yet others, many others (maybe even most), either are reasonable, thoughtful, caring people or are getting there in a hurry. The "positive vibe" is no myth, and anybody open to it is powerfully affected by it. Most people WANT to help. Stay there for a while and you probably will, too. That's the power of Burning Man.

If you're in genuine trouble, ask for help. You will probably get it on your first request. You'll almost certainly get it within two or three, if it's something you really, desperately, literally need.


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Truthteller - Wednesday, 10/31/01, 3:16:08am
(#5 of 16)

cops

Myth Six : "the cops are everywhere"

The cops were no more visible on the Esplanade this year than the CPD is on Michigan, and a good deal less visible than the CPD on Division. Either way, they seemed a lot more mellow than "Chicago's finest". Maybe Californians have different expectations in this area.

I saw more than a few people light up indoors. No, I won't tell you where. Problems resulting from this : none. The people who got in trouble seemed to be the ones who insisted on lighting up outside, in full view of the whole world. If somebody is going to do that, the cop's hands are tied - dumb law or no, if he doesn't enforce it, he can lose his job.


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Truthteller - Wednesday, 10/31/01, 3:23:17am
(#6 of 16)

cold

Myth Seven : "It gets f***ing cold at night".

Not by our standards, it doesn't. The heat of the day lasts well into the night. Even late into the night, it was still in the 60s. The coldest it got was in the morning, but hardly anybody was moving at that hour, anyway. Stay in bed in the morning and stay up until 4 or 5 am like everybody else, and you'll be happy.

Bringing a windbreaker just in case is a good idea, but leave the parka at home. (Yeah, pack a raincoat, too)..


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Jim Graham - Wednesday, 10/31/01, 7:37:11am
(#7 of 16)

And that's the truth

Man, I've been going for six years. This clears up a lot of my questions.


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actiongrl - Wednesday, 10/31/01, 12:54:08pm
(#8 of 16)
Compromising a remote host

It wasn't that cold this year, but there have been some freezing-as-get-out years too. OK, not Chicago winter cold, but there are few places where a chill can get more downright vicious than the Lake shores.


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Medius (John Paul) - Wednesday, 10/31/01, 1:35:18pm
(#9 of 16)

Sarcasm not called for, Mr. Graham

Jim, as has already been noted elsewhere, you seem to have trouble understanding that there is a difference between telling the truth and lying. "Reality, what a concept!", to quote an 80s sitcom. I don't know how it is on the planet you came from, "Mork", but on this one, being honest is something that is highly valued in most places. Unfortunately, more and more, the Internet is not one of them.

One of the more dishonorable traditions in these forums is that of giving bad information to the newbies, because people think that it's funny to do so, or because they think that they're proving how "cool" they are, by misleading people who have no experience base to work with. There is even a group that calls itself "rumor camp" and does nothing other than deliberately spread as much misinformation online as possible. But then, what does one expect from the subculture that brought us "hacking", the charming practice of sabotaging computer systems and throwing other people's lives into turmoil, just to prove that one can. This is dumb, nowhere, high school c**p, and we all should have outgrown it years ago. What a shame you and your little friends haven't. "Truthteller" lived up to his handle and you lived up to something else, Graham.


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Medius (John Paul) - Wednesday, 10/31/01, 1:48:13pm
(#10 of 16)

I think this was the point, Actiongrl

"Cold" is a relative term. Californians, who dominate these forums for obvious reasons, come from a place with a "Mediterranean" climate. Midwesterners come from a place with a climate more akin to that of European Russia : long, bitterly cold winters, and short, intensely hot summers. The word "cold" doesn't mean the same thing to us that it will to most of those on ePlaya. To us, anything above 40 degrees feels like a gift from the gods.

It was really easy to spot some of the Midwesterners, this year. They were the ones who didn't bother to get dressed at night and were comfortable nude, while other people were shivering in their coats. The human body does adapt.


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Jim Graham - Wednesday, 10/31/01, 3:08:34pm
(#11 of 16)

Medius -- chill!

Medius,

Damn impressive post. You manage to equate my snotty, one line comment with computer hackers, cheesy 80s sitcoms and the general decline of Western Civilization. I give you additional points for using a calm reasonable tone, implying that I'm a liar without indicating what I might have lied about, and taking the moral high ground in defense of ingenuous newbies.

Unfortunately, I have to dock you points because you failed to SHOUT, there's no unflattering mention of body parts, your scatalogical reference ("high school c**p") could easily be overlooked by inexperienced flamers, and you made no direct claims of superiority or vast knowledge.

In conclusion, although you followed the first rule for flames and devasted your opponent, nevertheless you have ignored all the other rules of proper flamage therefore I can only give you a C-.

Maybe some day you'll ascend to the ranks of Techboy, Demipagan or Reality Check.

Until then, I'll refer all first timers to the comprehensive and well-documented Survival Guide.

PLUR,

Jim/ronjon


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Jim Graham - Thursday, 11/01/01, 1:38:59pm
(#12 of 16)

In case anyone cares

Truthteller and Medius (John Paul) are aliases for the same individual, J** D**.


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J** D** II - Friday, 11/09/01, 2:00:01pm
(#13 of 16)

In case anybody cares

Jim has been smoking the "wacky tabaccy" and accusing everybody who disagrees with him of "secretly" being me. Ignore him, and maybe he'll get into rehab.


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Judge Julius Hoffman - Friday, 11/09/01, 4:46:41pm
(#14 of 16)

The objection is irrelevent. We advise against further testing the patience of the Court, Mr. D*.


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J* D* V - Saturday, 01/05/02, 11:06:55am
(#15 of 16)

Yeah, that's nice, Taylor

Here is how I became the bogeyman of choice, here. Yes, it's just that silly. (The page is down, right now, but will probably be back up in a few days). The Playa dust argument gets referred to. Please take due note of Mr. Graham's ballistic response to a simple disagreement, and remember it.


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Note : Link ommitted from above post. (Goes to an lengthy account of a series of bizarre arguments on some of the Burningman-related lists, which seems to have been deleted).

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Bob - Saturday, 01/05/02, 1:47:31pm
(#16 of 16)
Omit needless words.

your brain on playa dust

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