Video captures whimsical fun of Burning Man 2011

After much delay, I've finished and uploaded my Burning Man video. With so much to see and do everyone's experience is undoubtedly different. This is a small slice of the sights and sounds of Burning Man 2011 Rites of Passage. With enough distance, I can hardly remember my listless dehydration at the tail end of the week. Burning Man is not for everyone, but clearly its for plenty. Enjoy.

And while you're here, I've also embedded my 2010 slide show.

Two music idiots ask: "What the hell is dubstep anyway?"

"Dubtep is robot dinosaurs fighting with lasers," random guy at Burning Man.

Music is a big part of Burning Man. For reasons unknown to me, the vast majority of the offerings are various sorts of electronica. The meager live music offerings are dwarfed by large theme camps offering dj music. It's important to note that the Burning Man organization does not bring, host or promote any of the artists. It's all done by theme camps interesting in hosting a huge free dance party in the dessert.
For the first time, I was camped with a electronic music expert who alerted us electronic idiots on when the world famous artists will be spinning the latest dubstep.

Dubstep expert

As we came to learn, dubstep is all the rage. (If you aren't already, you should be playing the clip above). Following our music expert's instructions I listened to several artists people pay good money to hear including bassnector and Opiuo. That often meant lasting until 3 a.m. But while I knew they were spinning dubstep, I didn't have the foggiest idea what defined dubstep.
As we sat in the queue to leave Black Rock City after a week of excess, (exodus the bane of Burning Man) Princess Fussy Pants asked me, "What is dubstep anyway?"
"A series of beep and twerps," I replied, to a laugh. But what is dubstep really?
Given the fact that we had hours of mind sapping traffic to clear, we decided to ask our fellow automotiveinmates. Below is a list of responses from other waiting to leave the incredibility enjoyable and exhausting festival. Some went for humor, some aficionados gave us a clear thoughtful response.

• "Dubstep is robot dinosaurs fighting with lasers." 
• "You know when your in the jacuzzi and you put your head under water by the jet? That is dubstep."
• "Pitch driven base line -- kind of a wobble. Beeps and twerps are more electro house."
• "It's all about the whoop. Baseline of whoop, more dynamic that house or techno. Wah, wah, wah, wah."
• "drug music."
• "Don't know -- I'm not a fan."
• This one super knowledgeable, not so articulate fan said it has something to do with a "double oscillating base" related to reggae and two step -- hence the name. 
• "It's doing a hit of nitrous by the speakers."
• "70 beats per minute sounds like doom ... do dat -- doom doom do dat."

If that doesn't want to make you run out to shill out $100 to see bassnector spin I don't know what will. Please share your impressions of Dubstep or call me a idiot below.

Burning Man is for Doers

Burning Man participants bike near "The Man"

Amateurs try their hand at basic trapeze maneuvers 

A shot ski goes down in the middle of the desert.

Why I go to Burning Man

It's cliché to say Burning Man has to be experienced to be understood, but in many ways its true. (If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words is experiencing it firsthand worth?)  That said, I will attempt to explain why I attend Burning Man.
People fit into one of two groups: watchers and doers.
Watchers will critique a flash mob, but won't organize one, show up to the costume party, but don't take risks and are the last ones to go skinny dipping.
I choose to be a doer.
I guess I've been a doer most of my life. I was more or less involved in student government since grade school, was a union official at work and have served on various boards throughout my adult life. I love that Burning Man celebrates doing. 
Burning Man is not a city. City's can sustain themselves for more than a week. But Burning Man is a community. A community of people that say yes, that take risks, that participate.
For those who know little of the annual week-long experiment in the Nevada desert, Burning Man invites attendee to shed their normal governors on what to wear and how to act. It turns the show or the festival inside out and asks the guests to be the show. Some invite world class disk jockeys to perform, some create a (free) full-functional bar (minus the bathroom), some teach acrobatics, others offer massages classes, other erect beautiful works of art.
Just about the only thing the event offers beyond structure, gatekeepers, port-a-potties, ice and a few classes is a large wood "Man" that of course burns.
One could run themselves ragged, trying to do a quarter of the pre-planned event. Conversely, one could stumble on the perfect day by setting out on your bike and exploring the a dozen or so of the unmapped, unscheduled events planned and executed by people just like me -- doers.   

International dateline produces double day.

Editor's note: This concludes that material I wrote overseas or on my iphone in route.(Apple has offered no compensation). Now the hard work begins.

Wednesday, March 11 was the longest day of my life -- and I don't mean a 'whew I was so busy' kind of long day, I'm talking about a literal 48-hour day.
It started in Osaka, Japan and ended with me in Honolulu, Hawaii sleeping through two scheduled phone interviews with a local television news station.
8 am Tokyo time -- The first order of business is to pack my bags in preparation for the beginning of my journey home, with a two day stopover in Hawaii. I did a poor job packing to leave the states and I didn't want to repeat the mistake. We had our first free morning in out 10 days but by that point I was too tired to utilize it.
11 am -- I decide i need a hair cut. After looking in the mirror and deciding I look as the brothers on the yard would say "a little raggedy." I haven't had someone cut my hair in six years or more, but without my clippers and numerous upcoming photo opportunities I decide now is the time -- in japan no less.
I found a spot acted out what I wanted done and settled into a chair. As my hair samurai, began his work he'd as questions in Japanese with a word of recognizable English here and there. I said yes to everything. At worst I'd end up with a shaved head and the dirt on my chin would be gone.
Granted I don't have an American cut, shave, head wash, massage to compare it to but I felt like this is what Kobe must get done weekly. By necessity the Japanese develop a much higher level of manual dexterity and discipline -- have you seen kanji -- and as expected my guy was a master with a strait knife.
I left feeling like a million bucks. I grabbed my stuff from the room, checked out and meet the rest of the East West Center visiting American journalists in the lobby.
2:30 pm -- We board a plane to Tokyo's Narita airport. For the first time in 10 days or Japanese guilds from the publishers association are not at our side. (Sleep time 1 hr.)
3:45 pm -- We arrive at Narita.
7:45 pm -- We wave goodbye to Japan in route to Honolulu where we'll finally meet the Japanese journalists that have been traveling the US. (Flight time 7 h.r. sleep time 2.5 hrs.)
** Now here is the magic -- crossing the international date line the day rests **
7:45 am (Wednesday, March 16) Honolulu time -- We gather our bags, board a bus and head strait to Pearl Harbor to tour the Arizona Memorial.
12:45 pm -- We check into our rooms at the East West Center's dorm on the Uni of HI campus.
1:30 pm -- Thankfully the US Pacific Command cancels on us. Curiously it was the first and only appointment that canceled, even after the monster earthquake.
2 pm -- A group of us head out for shaved ice, a drink and the beach.
5:30 pm -- Welcome gather at the East-West Center.
7:30 pm -- meet up with reporter friend also visiting Hawaii for drinks
11 pm -- Meet up with the television ghost hunter Amy Bruni
12:30 am -- Witness bar fight. Get blood on my hands stopping a guy from hurling a chair.
1 am -- Return to dorm
2 am -- Sleep though alarm and first of two phone interviews.
3 am -- call in but told I missed my window.
3:06 am zzz

Hiroshima drains, fills

Sunday offered as mixed bag as there ever was.
It started with an emotionally draining trip through the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and ended with a stroll through beautiful Shinto and Buddhist shrines.
The seeing the effects the US bombing of Hiroshima was something I was looking forward to and something I was dreading. I was not sure how the Japanese would react to Americans. I know how I feel after visiting a slavery exhibit. My fear proved to be for not. The museum was a powerful experience and I hope to offer more pictures soon, but the kicker was walking to the nearby Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for Atomic Bomb Victims and hearing (and reading poems) written by people who lived though the nightmare. Tomorrow, we`ll actually hear first hand from some victims.
I don`t quite know how to express it but it was a serious kick in the gut.
After lunch we went by ferry to a nearby island that is home to three very impressive temples from the 800s.
With our excellent host leading the way, we learned the ways and I felt like we walked away with an appreciation of the culture. Although my camera battery is running low. I could not resist taking some 100 photos.