Leaving for Black Rock City

So last year I got talked into joining some colleagues at Burning Man 2008. You can read about the camp I was a part of if you want. Basically, 50,000 people show up, camp for a week, and build an impromptu city out of a dried up alkali lake bed in Nevada. There's a ton of art, from body painting and costumes, to enormous sculptures and eight-story steel-girder buildings placed out on the playa, to fire dancing, spinning fire, and generally lots of stuff that emits flame. Yeah, not the kind of thing anyone who knows me would expect me to go to, but despite my self-conscious feelings of being far too normal in crazytown, it was a ton of fun.

This year, I have talked Jennifer into going along. We are participating in the Krewe of Papa Legba Camp with many of the same people as last year, and will be trying to build a free cellphone text messaging service using free software and equipment like the USRP commonly used with GNU radio.

So what do I bring to this party? Lots and lots of camping gear, and a willingness to help. This year, we're building a shower and evaporation pool, a solar electrical system, a 70 foot radio tower, and lots of fun goodies. Pics on all this to follow if we get an Internet connection. Here's what it all looks like packed on my Jeep (last year I did this with a Miata!).