Burning Man meets Dr Seuss: "Oh the Places You'll Go at Burning Man!"

Papabear2010 sez, "Based on Dr. Seuss's final book before his death, this is a story about life's ups and downs, told by the people of Burning Man 2011. Combining the stunning visuals of Burning Man and its population with the haunting, silly, thought provoking words of Dr. Seuss." Dawww, this is just lovely.

Oh, the Places You'll Go at Burning Man!

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: burning man • Copyfight • happy mutants • submitterator • video • youtube

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Jamie Austin

Somethings about that says to me… this was the way it was suppose to be read. :)
steveboyett

I LOVE THIS. I LOVE THIS. I LOVE THIS. Thank you for putting a grin on my face in the middle of a tough coupla days.

==Addendum== The more I think about it, the more I realize that this video captures Burning Man better than anything else I’ve seen. And the production values are top-notch. This video took a lot of work. Kudos and great appreciation to the production team.
chellberty

brought to you by the makers of green eggs and acid.
ToMajorTom

Cory, “just lovely”? Indeed it is. Thank you.
Frank W

This was the best thing in my day.
querent

very nice, very honest, very sexy.
Bob N Johnson

Wonderful!
EvilSpirit

It is with dawning horror that I realize that “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” is part of most of those beautiful people’s *childhoods*. No previous generation could have read it with quite the depth of affection that comes with that.
$16228947

A dear and tender tribute to a hero for the child in all of us.
jes5199

Yes! This, from now on, is how I’m going to explain Burning Man to people.
sockdoll

This tells me what I knew all along; I’ll never be beautiful enough for Burning Man.
- LisaPolyester
  
  In that case you may not understand what Burning Man IS….
  
  Create your world as you go along. Accept everything – especially yourself.
- franko
  
  nonsense. you clearly are. come to the playa and see! : )
- Cowicide
  
  @boingboing-1955e8e4b921fee964169846cf97d4bb:disqus
  
  Your humility is beautiful. Now get your beautiful, humble ass out there and have fun!
- hypnosifl
  
  It’s not so much the physical beauty I’d worry about, but more all the positivity among the beautiful souls there–as a bitter curmudgeon I don’t think I’d be into that aspect of the scene (like R. Crumb among the hippies), even though I could see going just for the cool art projects, and maybe the potential for an interesting psychedelic experience or two. Maybe I’m just stereotyping though, there’d probably be at least a few other cynical creeps in a crowd that big!
  - Palomino
    
    As you poo-poo the real you, the Grinch was a curmudgeon, and beautiful too, so stop smudgeon your you.
    - hypnosifl
      
      Well, the Grinch was more entertaining before his heart grew three sizes…but anyway I’m not out to destroy anyone else’s fun, so I’m more Oscar the Grouch or Statler & Waldorf than Grinch. Does “real you” mean you think negativity is only skin-deep while a positive attitude is more authentic to a person’s true self? If so, let me link to another comic I read recently…
  - JimEJim
    
    http://blog.burningman.com/2011/11/culture-art-music/too-much-positive-energy/
    
    This might help. Remember that many of the original burners were pranksters.
    - hypnosifl
      
      Thanks. Suddenly this made me wonder if any subgenii can ever be found doing stuff at Burning Man (apparently yes)
  - steveboyett
    
    Look, I make Mark Twain look like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and *I* like it there.
  - wrybread
    
    I’d say don’t let this portrait fool you, there’s plenty of grumps out there. And that’s a good thing. All the “welcome home, I love you” crap is better off at a Rainbow Gathering in my opinion.
    
    Remember, you’re just watching people read a few lines into a camera. Its not like they’re skipping around the entire event. Thank god.
  - AdrenalineSleep
    
    There is certainly, at least in the eyes of many (including myself) too much positivity at Burning Man. It can get caustic if that’s all you see and experience all the time. The trick is finding the right vibe that works for you. I can assure you that there is a place for nearly anyone to have a good time there. There are some things that harder to find, others easier, but among all the really bright hippy fawning, and swooning you can find circles of the dark, creepy, misanthropic and/or hilarious curmudgeonly assholes that make up some of my best friends at burning man and in life. I put together a video from my experiences at Death Guild at burning man 2011 and if it does nothing else, it shows that it is possible to enjoy a week out there without being CONSUMED by dubstep and tie-dye. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. ;-)
    
    In fact, as much as I enjoy my own circle of misanthropic cohorts out there, you will find that those pockets of positivity can explode with awesomeness. Like that time I ran out of water deep into the desert and found some palm trees and couches in the emptiness. I was thinking about how thirsty I was when someone came up to me with a huge grin and handed the best iced Crappuccino money couldn’t buy from the Starfuckers Oasis. That person was my new best friend.
- http://twitter.com/james4765 Jim Nelson
  
  Hey, I look like Gimli’s cousin, and rocked the fuck out of a Utilikilt all week. There is no such thing as ‘not beautiful enough’.
  - steveboyett
    
    Stop thinking you can only wear a skirt if it has a manly name and a practical function and you’ll be much better off. I personally rock the living shit out of my long and very strappy camouflage ravers’ skirt made by UFO, and last I checked, my XY chromosomes left the Playa with me.
    
    :)
http://wanderoke.blogspot.com/ Isherwood Wildwalker

This is exactly what I needed to hear today
Tess

That was so beautiful! I teared up. Such artistic people, speaking the lines with so much sincerity and affection. Just lovely.
- Jakob Rooney
  
  I’m glad I’m not the only one! Something about burning man videos.. this is another that brought me to tears..
  
  http://vimeo.com/19795642
- Ed Ligget. Tuba.
  
  A dear friend showed me this today, knowing I’ve been going through some tough times, and it made me cry like a baby, but in a good way, and it rejuvenated my spirit.
Finnagain

Now I wanna go! Ticket bullshit or no.
Cowicide

The guy at the end was perfect. Loved this.
- JimEJim
  
  He’s sort of a burning man celebrity. He has a lot of useful tips videos on youtube for how to survive the place. Plus, he’s just awesome.
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMAEITM_YS8
  - Cowicide
    
    Thanks JimEJim!
grumpus

Is there something wrong with me ? I hated this ! I felt like it was a pre-movie ad that would torture me at the cinema. Yay Dr.Seuss ! But Nay semi-nude primped out hippie ravers ! And the soundtrack (cringe). Not for me.
- Tony Huddy
  
  maybe it’s just that your bias against the people telling the story was stronger than your love of the original author. So yes, the problem is probably with you, but that doesn’t make you a bad person.
- steveboyett
  
  It just means you probably shouldn’t ever go to Burning Man. There are plenty of people who wouldn’t enjoy it, and that doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with them. But by the same token, just because it’s not a place you would enjoy doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with it, either.
jayoval

I liked Burn2 in second life – the closest I’ll get to the real thing. Best to go when it’s not too crowded tho – the lag was just too hard. The advantage to Burn2 is the graphics, and it doesn’t matter if you fall off something!
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_764BNTF6KRDA35XRQTI4LE6H6Q abua

Great. Just what Burning Man needs, on the eve of the debut of this year’s experimental, lottery-style ticketing scheme…an infomercial…
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_764BNTF6KRDA35XRQTI4LE6H6Q abua
  
  and a copyright infringing infomercial, at that…
http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/KHUGSYMRDZ635QMFO5P6UA5MTM nunya

Hipsters co-opt yet another of Americas beloved memories for their own want.
Hipsters disguise themselves as non-conformist outsiders, using their external appearance as a means to express their perceived individuality. Hipsters play dress-up, and their costume is ‘unique individual’.

They organize and co-opt by feeding on subcultures like ‘white trash’ rednecks (belt buckles, The Great Trucker Hat Debacle of Aught-Three), the geeks and dorks (awkward eyeglasses, bad haircuts), and the ever popular class-slumming trend of pretending you’re poor (ripped clothing, Salvation Army scavenging). A studded bracelet for the headbangers, sneakers from the skaters, fixed gear bicycles and shoulder bags from the bike messangers….A Hipsters trendlust knows no bounds. These vampires feed until the ironic novelty is drained away, until they have devalued the things which were once important signifiers to the original subcultures. They seek, consume, and destroy.

Hipsters need to manufacture their rebellion, because underneath all that cheap signaling, they are indescribably NORMAL. Isn’t that sad? Doesn’t that explain your savage desire to drive wooden stakes through their impossibly thin t-shirts?
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Bitter much?
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefan_e_jones/ Stefan Jones
  
  Yeah, about the only thing sadder than hipsters are gray, over-analyzing comment thread dweebs.
- hypnosifl
  
  You sound kind of like a conservative raving about smug liberal elites–it seems like you have some fixed mental image of hipsters wearing these clothes because they want to prove how superior they are to all the plebes around them and look down their nose at them, but have you ever actually been socially acquainted with any hipsters? A lot of ‘em are nice people who don’t have any particular attitude of superiority, just like in any other subculture that has a distinctive clothing style (hippies, goths, punks etc.)
- http://twitter.com/james4765 Jim Nelson
  
  Hey, didn’t you hear? Hating hipsters is the new in thing! You’re trendy now, with you hatred of hipsters! SO DARING…
  
  Seriously, do your own thing, and stop giving a shit about other people’s lack of creativity. I don’t like what hip-hop has become, but you don’t see me firing off screeds about the Thugg Lyfe and all that.
  
  I mean, did somebody steal your girlfriend while riding a fixie or something?
- steveboyett
  
  This might have some weight if your comments indicated you had any experience of the event at all.
- Ian Anthony
  
  …
- AdrenalineSleep
  
  Burning man sucks. Don’t go.
  - http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/KHUGSYMRDZ635QMFO5P6UA5MTM nunya
    
    Unfortunately went. Many supporters of Burning Man defend the event as fervently as Tom Cruise defends Scientology. Anyone that is critical simply does not “get it.” My friend Tim responded in kind to a BM supporter when he replied “Is it possible I got it, but ‘it’ actually sucks ass?”
boon_jackson

wow burning man sucks so much.
zombienietzsche

It’s like I never even left Reddit
Culturedropout

That’s the cutest, sweetest thing I’ve seen in quite some time. And they all obviously had so much fun doing it. How could anyone (with the possible exception of the Grinch and others with hearts too small) watch that and not end up with a big goofy grin on their face? Bwwwaaaa…. :-)
- J P
  
  Ooh, I know, I know– it’s because watching a self-congratulatory group of wealthy white hipsters getting even more attention for what amounts to masturbatory navel-gazing is about as appealing as watching my dog lick its own ass. He’s just as self-satisfied, and probably smells about just as good….
  I guess my heart is tiny, but if that means being really, really, really, really, really irritated by Burning Man, that’s OK by me…..
  - Antinous / Moderator
    
    Well, Burning Man may not be as exciting as sitting at home on Saturday night watching your dog lick its ass and commenting about it, but not everyone can have sophisticated tastes.
    
    Personally, you couldn’t pay me to go to BM, but I can’t understand why anyone would get themselves into such a froth about it. As to wealthy, everyone that I’ve known who’s gone has been a student or in a one-step-up-from-crap job.
    - http://twitter.com/eagletusk Paul Sobczak
      
      hope you don’t spend your whole life judging people’s worth by the “job” that they perform.
      - Antinous / Moderator
        
        I have no idea why your comment is in response to mine.
  - s s
    
    If it all has the same appeal, may I suggest watching your dog lick its balls and sparing the rest of us your commentary?
    
    It’s better for your blood pressure, and for those of us who enjoy watching people have fun and do interesting things.
  - steveboyett
    
    My considered judgement is that you should definitely stay home and watch your dog lick its ass.
gedsudski

A treat to the eye and a kick to the brain,
inspirational reading from a dry dusty plain.
But alas in the end, like so many things these days…
Not PG enough for my little ones at play.
- chgoliz
  
  Can I ask why? Is it the near-nakedness of a few of the people? There’s no violence, no bad language, no cruelty, no sexual activity….what’s offensive in the video?
  - twency
    
    I’m gonna guess the bare butt and the pastied boobs. Butt I could be wrong.
    - chgoliz
      
      That’s all I can think of, too. It’s funny, because my immediate reaction to the video was “my kids are going to love this”.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_PJDY6HFLLBU7R3JQLCXV3FIXY4 microcandella

I must add this video near it.. you know.. to make a nice video shrubbery path. ”Home” 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQPQn9TLpPY Thanks for the excellent post.
Andy Tibbetts

For years when people that haven’t been before asked me: “What is Burning man like?”

I would say: “Imagine if Dr. Seuss had directed Mad Max”.

I can’t tell you how happy I am to see this : )
Xephyrous

This is one of the best things I’ve ever seen! I am so in love with this video!!
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_A3XRNHNAD3ZB6HY7T43BQVP2NQ Crunt

I’ve gone to Burning Man a bunch of times. The people who mock it are always people who haven’t gone. Quit trying to stereotype the kind of people you think you attend. Everyone is welcome and appreciated, so long as they aren’t assholes, such as the people who mock it. Seriously, why be turned off about an environment of radical self-expression and tolerance, two things severely lacking in the default world, and which you won’t realize how much you value until you get to experience them?

P.S. No, it is not a money making machine. No sponsors, no advertisements or vendors, and the finances are very public.
- JimEJim
  
  Hey now, some of my favorite burners are assholes! They’re welcome too.
  
  Though I do always wonder about the ones that bitch and moan about Burning Man online. If you don’t want to go, we’re not going to lose sleep over it, so please stay home.
wrybread

Good lord this is good. Beautifully conceived, gorgeously executed.

I’m amazed they pulled it off. From my experience, at least 90% of all projects that someone intends to do on the playa, as opposed to beforehand, don’t get done. And this was done so amazingly well.
Bloo

This sounds awfully Internet-meta but did Boing-Boing Slashdot Youtube? When I try to follow the link it doesn’t come up. The embedded video works, but not the link.
- Felton / Moderator
  
  It’s working for me.
Tunacorn

To attend burning man you need time and money. I’ve had time… and I’ve had money… but I’ve never had time and money. Burners kind of remind me of the college students I knew who had traveled the world (not including those who had grants or scholarships), and didn’t understand why everyone hadn’t.
trackofalljades

Let me get this straight, because I just woke up and maybe I’m missing something…

…but there are people out there who read, daily, a blog all about the adventures and interests of west coast thirty-somethings who are obsessed with nerd culture, weird music, old Disney crap and banana hangers and some of these people think they’re not, themselves, hipsters?

(and then they pen long angry rants about others not hipster-ing properly)

Oh the places these comments go.
- http://twitter.com/james4765 Jim Nelson
  
  Hey, man, can I get you a broader brush? You might have missed a few people to paint with your scorn.
  - wrybread
    
    I took it as a compliment. He is, after all, one of the commenters…
- wysinwyg
  
  But don’t you see? They were hipsters before it was cool!
Nadreck

Don’t see what the fuss is all about: this looks like any average high population density area of my home planet Palain VII. I even see some emmfozing going on at the 5:00 mark. What planet is this by the way? It’s hard to tell from this 2D rendering, which can only really be extrapolated into 3D, if all of these beings are of the same species since it’s even harder to go from that extrapolation to their actual 4D forms. There only seem to be two sexes though: very odd.
http://profiles.google.com/bentobjects Terry Border

I was planning to find fault here, to be snarky about Burning Man and the appropriation of the Doctor. But then I watched the video, so I have nothing critical to say.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_GPQLCQ36SDAGLZIZ7CBRZWIHVQ Melisse

Love it on all levels!
What camera did you shoot with?