Black Rock

[MClark]

Black Rock is a bit wet and Burns going nowhere.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...lace-mud-closes-roads-exit-gates/70749712007/

 

[cls]

Good to know, thanks. ARLISS, XPRS, and BALLS coming soon.

Ha ha. After they struggled to get past the climate protesters on opening day

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/aug/28/burning-man-protest-climate-change-environment

 

[jderimig]

Good to know, thanks. ARLISS, XPRS, and BALLS coming soon.

Ha ha. After they struggled to get past the climate protesters on opening day

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/aug/28/burning-man-protest-climate-change-environment

Missed an opportunity to use solar powered rechargeable tasers on them, a pro excessive force person would say.

 

[cls]

The patrol officers are all Paiutes.

 

[kuririn]

The eco-nazis are not doing themselves or their cause any favors.
One could even say that they are muddying up the issue.
Ha!. You see what I did there?
Never mind.

 

[cerving]

Yeah, that's what happens to a dry lake when you add water... had that happen a ROC a few years ago, it stranded about 200 Boy Scouts.

 

[Steve Shannon]

Good thing this is in the Watering Hole.

 

[SDramstad]

Someone needs to show up with a hovercraft

 

[stealth6]

Not Burning Man, but "related"......

This i actually real, at a protest in Germany (I think). Somehow the "wizard" doesn't seem to have any trouble at all with the mud, while the police are....ummmmm......struggling a bit. Basically hilarious.



s6

 

[cls]

Yeah, that's what happens to a dry lake when you add water... had that happen a ROC a few years ago, it stranded about 200 Boy Scouts.

Lemme guess, the scouts were unprepared?

Ba dum shish!

 

[cls]

Ok, not funny any more

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/03/us/burning-man-storms-shelter-sunday/index.html

One death reported?

Look at the pix of that mud. It's incredibly alkaline. My skin hurts. Terrible stuff. Yeah, been there when it is like that. But it usually dries up quickly. Now, more rain coming.

 

[DAllen]

Did they forget to look at the forecast???

 

[mitchboese]

Not Burning Man, but "related"......

This i actually real, at a protest in Germany (I think). Somehow the "wizard" doesn't seem to have any trouble at all with the mud, while the police are....ummmmm......struggling a bit. Basically hilarious.



s6

I don't think it's funny to push any helpless person down in the mud-police or otherwise.

 

[Reinhard]

Aerial view from today. Seems like there is a driving lesson to be found there or two. I hope I don't need it soon.



Reinhard

 

[MClark]

Opened the gate
10 wide.
Will be dusty in a couple days

 

[cls]

Glad they got a reprieve on the rain.

That mud, that fine silty alkaline dust... those RVs will never ever get clean

 

[MClark]

Burn has started

https://burningman.org/live-webcast/

 

[StreuB1]

Good thing this is in the Watering Hole.

You should be both ashamed of yourself, and proud of yourself for such a horribly amazing dad joke.

 

[MClark]

I’m happy for them
We are the last people to criticize doing strange things in the desert

 

[Grog6]

So, any locals with a bulldozer? You could make some serious money towing people out. You could pull 100 cars at a time, if you did it right.

 

[DAllen]

So, any locals with a bulldozer? You could make some serious money towing people out. You could pull 100 cars at a time, if you did it right.

Ehhh I donno. I've worked in road construction for 25 years and dozers can easily get stuck in crap like that. Maybe something with a wider footprint with a lower lbs/sft tread pressure?

Every crew I've ever worked with always shuts down in conditions like that unless they are working on well drained sand or road gravel.

 

[Donnager]

From the article:

“The individualization of systemic problems under late-stage capitalism is crazy,” Diacono later said. “There’s this mentality that I just need to change myself, and the world will change. But this current economic system has driven us to record inequality and record carbon in the air–and they are correlated.”

Hmmm. Kind of didn't know where to start after "late-stage capitalism".

Seems there may be more agenda.

 

[dhbarr]

So, any locals with a bulldozer? You could make some serious money towing people out. You could pull 100 cars at a time, if you did it right.

A fleet of bobcats, maybe. That's what the use to get the telehandlers unstuck.

 

[cls]

Here's a clue: the locals have plenty of heavy equipment, but they know better than to get out there in that slippery nasty stuff. If there were easy $$$$, they'd be on it already.

Usual procedure for sunk vehicles is abandon in place, for months, until the playa is thoroughly dry, then dig it out. Usually the vehicle is quite weather damaged by then.

 

[jsdemar]

The dormant shrimp are hatching.
https://www.iflscience.com/three-eyed-dinosaur-shrimp-are-waking-up-at-burning-man-70529

 

[Blast it Tom!]

So I've had 3" of rain in 24.hrs and nowhere close to that kind of effect. Must be that it all drains from the surrounding hills and stuff into the lake bed? Wow!

 

[jderimig]

The dormant shrimp are hatching.
https://www.iflscience.com/three-eyed-dinosaur-shrimp-are-waking-up-at-burning-man-70529

At least no mud demons yet.

 

[cls]

Haven't seen the crypto biotic shrimp for many years, maybe 15 or 17, can't remember.

Wait until the word gets out among the seagulls, and they fly in, what a racket

 

[stealth6]

So, it looks like there are going to be LOTS of cars, trash, infrastructure, and "stuff" left out there. LOTS.

On the one hand, can't say I really blame anyone, as just getting out of there looked like trouble enough.
On the other hand, wow what an unholy freaking mess to leave.....and I'm very much not happy about it.
On the other hand (yep, three hands) I'm not really sure what I myself would do (would have done) if I was in that situation.
On the other hand, seems to me that it would be an awful nice gesture if a few of the ultra-rich folk who attended put up whatever money it takes to go back and clean up the freaking mess they all made. (and yes, that's four hands). I can guarantee you that the vast majority of attendees have no plans whatsoever to return when it all dries out and get their crap.
On the (fifth) hand, wanna take bets on how long (like in years) a lot of crap will remain out there?

Next time any of y'all head out there (to fly rockets!), perhaps it would be a good idea to plan on having some space to haul out some discarded junk when you leave. And I VERY much hope the weather don't do to you what it did to these folk.

peace, love, & rockets,
s6

 

[prfesser]

Presumably the organizers of BM will be charged for the cleanup. One helluva lot more than they expected to pay, I'll warrant.

I've only been to BALLS a few times but there seemed to be a BM cleanup crew there each time, still working after the festival.