Welcome to March everybody. In like a lion and all that claptrap. We are sort of in the calm before the proverbial storm phase, what with the Burnal Equinox two days away and winter still hanging on. But there is, naturally, plenty to report. However, as always we like to try to find something Barbie Death Camp related to start things off with. This is a pretty nice article about TTITD and a lot about our camp. Seems the author finds us entertaining year after year. One thing, we did not have someone “…(pilfer) the entire ensemble after it had been packed…” Sure, we’re short between five and eight planks, and we’re pretty sure we know where they are. We will be back bigger than ever. So, enjoy!
http://vashonloop.com/article/valley-dolls
Let’s get right to it and start off with what is on everybody’s mind: Tickets. Not being clairvoyant I hesitate to make a prediction on what the BMOrg will be allocating to our camp. There were roughly 500 registered theme camps last year. Of that number it’s unclear how many are vying for tickets, but if we were to say 75% of them need help that would equate to 26 tickets per camp, and that’s before taking into consideration what will be given to mutant vehicles and the actual muscle that puts the city together. I would strongly urge you to try to get tickets through STEP, but if all else fails we have a time-tested back-up plan. Come early summer the Tickets thread will open up on the ePlaya. Last year, after the event sold out in mid-July, hundreds of tickets became available. Many of our camp mates picked up their tickets that way. Say what you will about burners but one nice thing about them not having their collective act together is that they are, in the aggregate, flaky people. So when it comes to pass they can’t go due to lack of funds, being arrested, dying, getting too stoned to negotiate a ride to the playa, finally getting into college, general lethargy, their karma is has become out of sync with their celestial aura, or any combination of the above, trust me, they will become available particularly if you’re rather adroit with the computer. Here is last year’s link so you can see what I mean:
http://eplaya.burningman.com/viewforum.php?f=190
I’m happy to announce that we have a piano tuner for our camp! Freesponge, along with the lovely Fufa, hail from Edmonton, Canada and have stepped up and taken on the responsibility of making our wonderful piano playa-ready. Considering how popular it was last year, and candidly from what I heard from other pianos on the playa ours was great and theirs pretty much sucked, this is indeed a good thing. Thank you Freesponge and Fufa.
It has been suggested that our camp volunteer for a Greeter’s Shift. Having done this once before, it is fun though after about the twelfth beer things began to get rather fuzzy out there. But I digress. A shift lasts four hours. We have lots of choices on which shift we choose to take. Midnight to 4 a.m. isn’t too bad if you like being out late. That might be a fun one to do as the gates open. 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. Getting up that early (unless you never bothered going to bed) can be a real problem but you do get to see the sunrise over the playa. 8 a.m. to noon would be nice: Not too hot and not too early. Noon to 4 p.m. can be very hot and let’s face it, we really don’t want to kill ourselves. 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. is popular because it cools off yet there’s plenty of time left in the evening to party on the playa. And lastly 8 p.m. to midnight. Not hot and doesn’t destroy the day. I will be coordinating with Tracy if we choose to do this. You can ask any questions directly to Tracy at: tracy.scarborough@hp.com. We will need at least 15 to 20 Barbiebarians and the more the merrier. Also we could do this as a camp party and bring the art truck out during the 8 p.m. to midnight shift. So if you have an interest in this, and it’s purely voluntary, please let me or Tracy know.
We have a new project for our Village this year: The Barbie Foosball Project. The idea is to have Barbies be the foosmen on the table. Mel has arranged to have a used foosball table sent to Felony. She will paint it pink, naturally, and we will then transport it to the playa where the real decorating will be done. We can remove the metal rods and supplement them with our extra Barbies and if that doesn’t work, Ygmir said he’d make new metal rods. It has been suggested we use Ken’s head as a foosball. Nothing ventured I suppose.
We have had several complaints about people responding to these newsletters by hitting the Reply To All button. Please try and refrain from doing that. Mailboxes get full and people begin to ignore whatever is being sent. Either ask your questions to me and Felony directly, ask on the website, or if you are a denizen of the ePlaya you can PM us directly. This is just common consideration for your fellow camp mates.
It’s never too early to begin our planning for our major events. There are two that I would like to touch upon. First is the annual ePlaya/3playa Meet & Greet which will be on Thursday beginning at 6 p.m. Most of you are not on either the ePlaya or 3playa, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to enjoy the party. When 200 strangers invade our camp for three or four hours they’re pretty hard to ignore. So what we’re asking is that if you choose to attend the party, please bring along something to share, preferably food. It doesn’t really matter what; my experience is that a bunch of stoned burners will eat almost anything, whether it was intended to be edible or not. Now about the Pancake Porkout. This is a Village-wide event which will be held Saturday morning beginning at 9:30 a.m. We will be feeding between 200 and 300 burners, most of whom are our camp mates and friends. We will need, in no particular order, 30 pounds of pancake batter mix; 3 gallons of syrup; 2 pounds of butter/margarine; 30+ pounds of bacon; two gallons of vodka and Bloody Mary mix; six gallons of OJ; four cases of champagne (cheaper the better for mimosas); coffee enough for 150 people; no fewer than eight propane or gas griddles; 250 paper plates; 250 paper cups for coffee and cocktails; six rolls of paper towels/napkins; and at least four tables to cook on. We also need someone to be the head honcho for this event in order to herd the cats properly and handle logistics. We realize it’s still early but never early enough to get the planning started. Let either Felony or me know what you wish to donate.
Dues are now being collected. We have already collected from many of you and for that we sincerely thank you. Dues are $60 until June 1st when they will increase to $85. Foreign travelers from overseas can simply pay $60 cash on the playa. No early arrival passes will be issued to anybody delinquent on their dues.
Speaking of early arrival passes, we have requested 117 of them. There is no guarantee the BMOrg will give us what we want, so simply because you’ve requested an EA pass does not guarantee by any means you will actually get one. But if you need a pass please let us know as soon as possible. 50 of the passes have already been requested. And remember, everyone who is granted a pass must volunteer for an assignment on the playa. Katie M’Lady will be overseeing that.
Our 2012 BRC oval bumper stickers have arrived! For those of you who have already paid your dues (with the exception of anyone outside of the U.S.) they are being mailed out this morning. As your dues checks arrive they will be sent out to you immediately. If you, or any of your friends, would like one, just ask and we will try to accommodate. They are a little different this year so we hope everyone enjoys them.
We are making an addition to our website www.barbiedeathcamp.com. Hopefully by March 10th we will have up and running our PayPal account. There will be three boxes to check if you wish to buy or donate. One will be for shirts ($20) and hats ($15), and one to donate to the art cars we are buying and mutating. Cap’n Joe’s new creation is now accepting donations and from Eden the CJ/Kara/Sarah axis of decadence will soon be looking for donations for their magical vehicle as well. A third box will be for “other” with a data line so you can tell us what it’s for; i.e. “This donation is for such-and such’s propane cannon”. Wow, look at Barbie Death Village, we’re being dragged kicking and screaming right into 2008. We do not intend to collect dues via PayPal!
What a surprise: those stoned hippies from the Black Rock Yearbook still haven’t gotten the 2011yearbook up and running. Shocker.
Also some of us, for camp decorating purposes I would guess, are in need of some My Size Barbies; you know, the ones that stand about 3 feet tall. We had one ceremoniously trashed last year when Brazildo and Vizoo took her skydiving only to have it plummet 4000 feet to the playa. “As God as my witness, I thought Barbies could fly!” At least we didn’t kill anybody, though Barbie had seen better days. So if you have one or happen across one at a garage sale, grab it. They normally retail for upwards to $200 which is why we have no money in the budget just to run out and buy one.
We are now accepting designs for the 2012 BDC&WB tee-shirt. If any of you are artistic enough this is a fun project. Our shirts have run the gamut from simply the Burning Man logo to the demented (Barbie being hung while drinking wine). All we ask is that you keep the sexual connotations to a minimum because children also buy these shirts and frankly I’m tired of having to drive to Natomas to have my daughter change her shirt yet again. Some people have no sense of humor.
Now on to the introduction of newbies. This is a long list this month and I apologize in advance if I leave anybody off. Let’s start with our newbs from overseas. From Belgium please welcome Kevin and Jonathan. We have several different groups from Australia. Mel has invited Rob, also welcome Pip and Emma. Closer to home, from Canada we have already mentioned Freesponge and Fufa. JR invited a couple from Hawaii, please welcome Candace and David. From Omaha please welcome Sheila and Amos and they are hoping to have another newbie from Australia in our mix as well! Kelsey is bringing her friend whom, as I recall, she met at Burning Man last year, please welcome Paul. The lovely Rellie is bringing a small army, some of whom are ex-pats from Sore Nipple Camp. Please welcome Kelly and Travis, Dana and Jared. Many of you haunt the ePlaya and may recognize Drawingablank and his son Water. From the ashes of the ever imploding Apokiliptika Brian is bringing into our fold mostly from Seattle Josh, Chris and his fiancée, Lena, Dave, Heidi; Vaibhav, Kate, Erin, and Ricardo. Also from Connecticut please welcome Diana and her sister Michelle. And finally Felony is bringing in a second-year burner, please welcome Finn.
The Man burns in 184 days. )’(
Doc Pyro, MOBDV