Burning Man: A Yogi's Perspective

Kurt Johnsen (YogAnonymous.org, Sept. 9, 2011)

First, the most common question: “It’s not a concert, so no one is headlining.”

Second, “No, it’s not a Hippie Fest like a Dead or Phish show.”

So what is it?

This weeklong art event, which creates a temporary city of 50,000 in one of the harshest places on Earth, is an experience. It’s a trip!

For sterile stats on its origins (1996 and on a California beach), see Wikipedia.

The location is one of the most unlikely places to party on the planet, a desert of fine almost wispy white sand. It is three hours outside of Reno, Nevada. Nothing, and I really mean nothing (neither plant nor animal) is there most of the year.

Then the Burning Man crew comes in, weeks before the event. They lay out a clock-like grid for the temporary city, which partially wraps around a playa of art, a wooden man who stands ready to burn, and a temple that makes me cry each time I enter it. More

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Rave Riot: LAPD vs. EDC primiere

Wisdom Quarterly (SPORTS COVERAGE)

(Wisdom Quarterly) Kaskade invited everyone to a private EDC movie primiere and block party, but too many ravers came. When a patrol car was damaged, LAPD overreacted as is common in Los Angeles. Police fired deadly projectiles at the crowd to retaliate for the burning of the LAPD vehicle and to cause panic and mayhem. Riots and more planking are likely to recur tomorrow night when Lady Gaga arrives to film an appearance/performance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," which is filmed very close to Grauman's Chinese Theatre near the same Hollywood intersection. A few miles away in downtown LA, the Summer 2011 X Games began. (Watch X Games launch on ESPN)

"Electric Daisy Carnival Experience" movie leads to crowds and oppressive police reaction. This view from seven floors up looks down on the massive gathering overtaking the venue (Hollywood Reporter)

(The Hollywood Reporter) Police brought out riot gear to calm down the unruly crowd outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Police donned riot gear to calm down an unruly mob in Hollywood at the world premiere of Electric Daisy Carnival Experience on Wednesday night.

According to Los Angeles' KTLA-TV, DJ Kaskade called for a "block party" outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre: "Today@6pm in Hollywood @Mann's Chinese Theatre. ME+BIG SPEAKERS+MUSIC=BLOCK PARTY!!! RT!" he tweeted.

"Literally thousands and thousands of kids showed up for this thing," reported Tim Conway Jr. of Los Angeles radio station [and Coast to Coast affiliate] KFI. Riot police shut down Hollywood Blvd. and ordered the crowd to leave. But many refused -- because they did not know why they were being turned away. The event was not cancelled; it had reached capacity. They started fighting, throwing bottles, and allegedly set fire to a cop car, KTLA reported. More

The annual corporate event has gotten so big that it was moved to Las Vegas this year.

Madame President: Bachmann vs. Palin

Ashley Wells (Wisdom Quarterly)

Hopeful Michele Bachmann vs. has-been Sarah Palin, it's no comparison (latimes.com)

Whether it's narcissism, megalomania, or delusion, somewhere Donald Trump is combing his hair, and elsewhere Sarah Palin is telling Newsweek she can win the presidency. However the Tea Party, which is not a grassroots movement but an AstroTurfed one, is backing Michele Bachmann. After all of Palin's emails were released, embarrassing a misled and heavily manipulated mainstream media, who would be willing to back Caribou Barbie? And good ol' Hillary, who is probably not running, says she'll quit if Obama is re-[s]elected. Most people would sooner vote for the more honest, more endearing Bristol Palin, even if she drank during pregnancy while looking after her Downs Syndrome sibling. Oh that Sarah Palin, fighting Bristol on who she dates. If she's [s]elected to the White House, Washington will be business-as-usual, but reality TV will never be the same! I guess that leaves the US with a simple choice: more debt and war with Barack Obama...or even more debt and war with Herman Cain. In that case, maybe Palin wouldn't be so bad? It might seem that way, but according to the Los Angeles Times:

• "The [Newsweek] article, which revisits Palin’s political career in Alaska in some detail, appears to be part of a strategy in Palin’s close-knit camp to frame the potential contender within her more populist, independent political roots, as opposed to her more recent fire-breathing, Mama Grizzly, Christian conservative persona."
  
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