Burning Man 1997 Night & Day

AUG 29 1997 · 22:00

Burning Man 1997.... an excerpt of some footage that my old golf buddy, Joe Smith... yes that's his real name, shot and I edited a little. Its the first version of the Motorized Living Room. You may have read about it. Not too swanky, and some quirks to work out yet, but we didnt let that keep us from having some good times. I think the BRC body count was 12,000 that year. Friday night we took some friends called Yonder Camp for a ride and ended up at Pepe Ozan's epic opera. There was a long wait, if you can imagine, during which we were joined by the Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence... a kind of drag-queen-meets-Mexican-wrestler-clerics-in-Kiss-makeup look to them. The sisters were quite spirited and vocal and proceeded to heckle Pepe throughout the performance..... Has it started yet?, How will we know?, Send Pepe back to Greece and get another one! All in good fun of course and hilarious to the point of sore stomach muscles. The next day is a typical morning cruise. Note the people rehearsing for their performance the next night at the burn, which you may see tomorrow night with some other years burns. Also note the number of other vehicles on the playa?.... not so much. Other than street legal Art Cars.... they were still allowed back then, now banned.... and two different motorized couches, there was only one other of what would now be called a mutant vehicle. It was a motorized bed, on a car base with a contemporary looking four poster frame with white gauzy hangings all around. I dont think it ended the week still running. I talked to them at the beginning of the week, nice folks, but didn't see them at the end and always wanted to ask, if what took place in their bed and with whom, that week, was what they imagined would take place in their bed and with whom, that week. Me thinks not (avert eyes and grimace). For a couple of years, the Motorized Living Room was the highest mobile vantage point from which to peruse the art and view the events. Within a few short years, it was dwarfed by the enormity and shear numbers of vehicles. But HEY.... dont blame me. Im just a yahoo from Texas.