Thanks to Alex Mak for penning this guest post.

Burning Man Becomes Battleground for Tech Elites; The Real Story

by Alex Mak

Monday Morning: 11am: Black Rock Desert, Nevada

A hot breeze blew over the city.  The massive wooden man creaked, and thousands of unused, baby blue porta potties stood lonesome in the midday sun.
“Where is everyone? asked Sergey.  The only people playing music are the djs we hired.”  With that Sergey tossed the last bit of lobster tail down to Skrillex and Diplo who fought over it hungrily, grunting and clawing on the deck bellow.
“Ya.” Said Larry.  “You don’t think all those articles about billionaires ruining Burning Man stopped people from coming do you?”
Just then Larry peered down at the fortune cookie that Alice Waters had packed in his lunchbox marked ‘Monday Lobster Lunch’.  The note inside said, “Nobody goes there anymore…it’s too crowded”.  Larry…

Jack U got jacked. It seems the Burner ear is slightly more discerning than “Turn down for what”

PulseRadio breaks it down:

...One [story] that has just come our way involves Seth Troxler,Skrillex and Diplo at the infamous Robot Heart Bus.

Seth Troxler was scheduled for a set on the Robot Heart decks on Wednesday night, though as a source in attendance informs us, the Detroit DJ refused to play after his entourage was denied access to join him behind the decks. Looking to fill Troxler’s slot, organisers quickly replaced him with dance music’s hottest duo Jack U, aka Skrillex and Diplo, who just happened to be present at the time (the pair were at the festival to play at Camp Question Mark the following evening).

Crisis averted it would seem, with Skrillex reported to have played “a pretty cool set”. However things took a turn for…

Wondering what to bring to #ezny without a camelbak? No camelbak, no problem! Use a small drawstring bag or large fannypack and only pack the essentials.

My essentials are:

• 1 set of earplugs by EarPeace – they come on a keychain so you’ll never forget them!
• SEALED Chapstick – you can buy these in 3 packs so you have a sealed one for each day of the festival.
• 1 travel pack of baby wipes – great for if you get dirty or the toilets run out if toilet paper!
• A few sealed band aids for if you get a blister! You can slip them easily in your wallet.
• SEALED and/or under 3oz sunscreen. I prefer the stick for fests and to keep in a fanny pack. Less mess, more coverage!
• Travel hand sanitizer – you can get these on a keychain to hook onto your fanny pack belt
• 1 disposable…

Didn’t get a ticket this year? Scared off by the $1000+ price on Stubhub – or the ire of the Burnier-Than-Thous if you pay more than $380 for a ticket? Don’t worry, because now you can enjoy Burning Man from the comfort of your own home.

From Tedd St Rain-bow:

How to enjoy the Burning Man Experience from the Comfort of your Own Home (just in case you felt bad about not going):

1. Tear down your house. Put it in a truck. Drive 10 hours in any direction. Put the house back together. Invite everyone you meet to come over and party. When they leave, follow them back to their homes, drink all their booze, and break things.
2. Stack all your fans in one corner of the living room. Put on your most fabulous outfit. Turn the fans on full blast. Dump a vacuum cleaner bag in front of…

On a recent trip to the Crawford Art Gallery in Cork, Ireland, reddit user Jazsus_ur_lookin_well came up with a fun photo series by setting up his camera to make it look like statues were taking selfies.

Aside from the staff giving you weird looks, it’s a funny way to bridge the past with the present.

[via reddit]

Burning Man is a boon for banks, oil companies, airlines, media, rental firms, Wal-Mart and Costco. To this group, though, Burner dollars are not even a blip in their corporate earnings. For local businesses trying to compete against big box stores, our money could be significant. Shop locally people, and help the little guy. It will spread goodwill in local communities towards our event.

A sustainability-oriented theme camp, Clutch Village, have compiled this useful list. If you like their thinking, help them out with their fundraiser, they only need a few hundred bucks to meet their goal.

____________________________

Please Join Clutch Village in buying our Playa supplies from local stores enroute from Reno to Gerlach! In order to help support the local community surrounding Black Rock City.

—-A list of local shopping alternatives is listed below—-
In particular, we would like you to join us in Boycotting Walmart.

Besides supporting…