Happy New Year fellow Barbiebarians, wannabees, hanger-oners, friends, acquaintances, playamates, and “burners with benefits”! Welcome to the first official Barbie Death Village newsletter for TTITD 2012. This should be another memorable year (aren’t they all?) and since we are getting so large and our villagemates come from no fewer than four continents, organization is a must. So this is one way we stay organized as well as get psyched for Burning Man. But first, as is our wont, we like to start these newsletters out with something Barbie Death Camp related, and this year is no different. This article is actually a pretty good description of TTITD, and if you scroll down less than 1/4 of the way, they talk about theme camps. And whose camp do they highlight? The question answers itself.
http://www.themodernnomad.com/2011/the-burning-man-guide/
Now on to the business at hand. Obviously the very first question we ask every year around this time is: Who’s coming back in 2012? Every year we add and subtract people. Some people stupidly change camps, others take a year’s hiatus, and some even out grow TTITD. So in order to make a budget, plan logistics, request space and early arrival passes, we would like to get a handle on how many people will be gracing our modest Village. The number is always larger than first anticipated because so many people invite friends as the summer progresses, which is fine and understandable. So if you’re sure you will be making it, and furthermore if you need special assistance in the form of early arrival passes, we need to know well ahead of time. We have a new procedure for handing out EA passes. With the exception of those hauling out the Village infrastructure, everyone who is awarded early entry will be required to do a specific function: either set up the Village if you arrive before sundown on Saturday or, if you arrive after that, stay until Monday or Tuesday and help tear down and clean up BDV. There also will be various other tasks which will need to be handled as well. We have people heading up these committees which I will touch on later in this newsletter.
One thing I do want to get to early on is something very positive. Many of you have seen Barb Traub’s (she is a Barbiebarian for those of you who have never met her) book Desert to Dream: A Decade of Burning Man Photography. She has updated the book to A Dozen Years of Burning Man Photography. Not only is it an excellent visual history of TTITD, but on pages 86, 88, and 89 are pictures of our camp and campmates, and on page 131 is a nice shot of Crash’s Back To The Future BM DeLorean. The book is for sale on the Burning Man website, but might I suggest you buy it through Amazon instead. It will save you over $18 in both purchase cost and postage. I know Barb would appreciate it and should you meet her, she would be happy to autograph it as well.
Next on the agenda is dues. There will not be a dues increase this year! They will remain the same as in 2011: $60 if paid prior to June 1st, $85 after that. Anybody traveling in from overseas can simply pay $60 on the playa. Every year we are asked: “Where does the money go?” The biggest single bill we have is Barbie storage. This includes storage of the decorations for the art vehicle, water barrels, piano, generators, paints, burn barrel, and everything else we can cram in. Keep in mind most camps that have a dues structure begin around $120 and many are as high as $400. That is a shameful rip-off. Here is a list of many of the things that your dues provide for you:
- Storage for 1400 Barbies and camp-related items
- Access to our 5500-watt generator
- No less than 1200 square feet of shade
- Four sofas to lounge around on in comfort
- Body paint for Black Rock City Body & Paint
- 300 gallons of water
- Access to our electric shower so you can actually get clean
- Art truck insurance, registration, and decoration
- Gasoline to power the generators to light up the camp
- Lumpia every night
- Glowstix for every night on the playa
- Pizza for the pre-event feed for those who set up the camp
- Use of our six-yard trash bin
- Wine
- Guaranteed location on a corner so you can find your way home after partying all night on the playa
- Specified space, as much as you reasonably need, for your personal campsite
- Access to the Early Entry passes
- Piano repair and maintenance
- Use of all tables, chairs, burn barrels, and trash receptacles
- Automatic invite and participation in the Annual Naked Bike Ride and Pub Crawl
- Ringside seat for the ePlaya/3playa Meet & Greet
- Access to the art truck so you can tour around the playa in comfort
- Constant (at least monthly) updates throughout the year up until TTITD
- And finally, membership in one of the most revered and well-established camps/villages on the playa
We have already racked up several bills, not least of which was truck insurance, so you can feel free to pay your dues beginning now.
Another huge expense we have incurred is the purchase of a double-axel 16-foot trailer to haul out all of our water, the piano, carpeting, and anything else that will fit. Several of you have helped defray the cost of the trailer and for that we deeply thank you. Several others have made pledges as well. We are coming up short however. What we are asking is that if anyone would like to make a separate contribution, say $100, to the cost of the trailer it would be most appreciated. You might recall that’s how we were able to buy the art truck four years ago. I guess what I’m saying is that for those who would like to give back something to the Village, especially if you are unable due to geographical constraints to help during the spring and summer, this would be a terrific way to show your love for Burning Man and BDV.
One thing our camp could use, though this is a long-shot at best, is a piano tuner. If you happen to know of somebody who tunes pianos, and if he or she has ever had a desire to go to Burning Man, might we suggest inviting them to join our camp! Otherwise we’ll just have to make do with whatever the playa provides.
You might remember that we had our camp’s picture taken for the Black Rock Yearbook. Hopefully this year they actually print it, but I digress. The yearbook was due to be out by now, but since it’s put together by a bunch of stoned burners, naturally it’s woefully behind schedule. Should it become available by the next newsletter I promise to link it to the newsletter.
Now something about tickets. I don’t have an “in” with anybody on the BMOrg, but from what I can ascertain is if you get into the lottery sometime this month, you can be more than just reasonably assured of getting tickets. Do not procrastinate starting or planning an art project in the unlikely event that your number won’t be called in the lottery. No matter what happens, there will be tickets available. Just don’t wait until March to try and buy them. We warned you last year that they might sell out, and they did. You can read about the procedures of buying tickets on the main Burning Man website.
We are welcoming three new camps to our Village. One is a playa institution that had been part of Hushville for years: AntiM’s Home For Wayward Art. We are fortunate to have them become part of us. Tamara and Ken, who were burgins last year with us, are forming a camp: Dye With Dignity. You can check out their plans under Theme Camps on the BM website. And finally, Ninzy from London who also was a burgin last year, hopes to have an Indian-themed camp (and not the woo-woo Indians either) called BollyVille. I can almost taste the curry already.
Now about committee assignments. We have several filled already. Julia and Graidawg will be both arriving early and leaving late to coordinate shade structure set-up and break down, as well as staking out the Village after Tracy maps it. This is one of those tasks that is thankless but extremely necessary. We take so much for granted, and Julia, I cannot thank you enough for doing this for us. Wildman is in charge of garbage clean up. We are using our dues to rent a large trash bin that he will haul out on a flatbed trailer. The Washoe County trash disposal people will then pick it up off playa. Thank you Wildman for stepping up for us. And finally, Katie M’Lady will be the assignment Nazi for our camp. Everyone who is awarded an early-entry pass will have an assignment for a job to do. If there is something that is right in your wheelhouse, you can make your request directly to Katie.
We plan on getting a head start on the decoration and planning for the art truck early this year. Waiting until July sucks. Laura will be heading up that detail and will be hosting a planning party on Saturday, January 21 at 4 p.m. to discuss what needs to be done. Laura did move to the Pocket area of Sacramento, so that might be more convenient for many of you. If you would like to help Laura, or just sit in on the meeting, contact her.
On a sad note, Texas Crash informed me that one of her friends, as well as Texas Joe’s, died over Thanksgiving in an automobile accident back east. Calvin “Kay” Wilson was a Barbiebarian who helped Texas Joe run Barbie’s Day Spa at Flipside in Austin. It is a shame he never made it to the playa. I am sure he would have loved us. RIP Kay.
Now to the introduction of newbies for 2012. Julia is bringing her four boys out. Please welcome Archimedes, Copernicus, Alex and Patrick. Tamara has extended an invitation to Katt (Danuslight on the ePlaya). I would like to introduce Erin and her fiancée Jamie. Katie from Roseville has invited Greg. I mentioned AntiM, with her will be her husband Larry, Ranger Genius, Lady D and Paul the Ancient Burner.
That should pretty much wrap it up for the initial 2011 edition of our fabulous Village newsletter. You can also follow us on Facebook or check us out on our website www.barbiedeathcamp.com for previous updates and lots of pictures and articles about The Best Damn Theme Camp On The Playa.
The Man burns in 242 days. )’(
Doc Pyro, MOBDV