TNS#67: BurningMan09 Travelogue

TheNextStep show #67 was taped on 10/14/09, the FIFTH annual Burning Man Travelogue show, this year featuring guests and longtime burners Anne Gelhaus and Lisa Doyle. The show was done MST3K-style as per tradition... (and, just saw the notice that MST3K Vol.XVI (4-dvd set) was released today.) This year I had lots of slides but no video so I included a retrospective look at my photos from BurningMan '96 and '97, in the good old days before the perimeter fence, when there was still a shooting range!
Then we looked thru Lisa's extensive set of slides and short clips, which can be found here: picasaweb.google.com/lisaanndoyle/BM2009# -- many featuring the HotD Hair of the Dog band and camp. Lisa and Anne both are or have been members of HotD as well as various other mutating musical entities! dmomusic.com/hotd
Since Lisa's media was already all on Picasa I decided to play them live during the taping of the show -- risky in case it should hang up. That aspect went well altho I ran into difficulty getting to the full-screen control on Picasa once the video adapter was installed (which cuts off part of the screen)... annoying!
Many fine photos of this year's Temple were viewed, as well as the very creative base of the MAN, which for the first time this year was set up to allow people to write their poems, epigrams, memorials etc on the myriad laser-cut plywood pieces that made up the structure. I think the tradition of having a Temple where everyone can offer up their sorrows or challenges from the past year, and then have them released thru fire, is one of the most valuable parts of Burning Man now. Thank you again David Best! (David was architect of the Temple that first year (2002?) and for many years after... taking a break the past two years...) The other high point of Burning Man 09 for me was coming across the NeverWas Haul steampunk Victorian house on wheels out on the playa, when it was stranded waiting for some repair -- so we got to spend some Quality Time onboard, listening to Kimrick Smythe the principal creator of it telling stories about how it came to be. What a treat! Another epic year on the playa...