Message #1051, a followup to #1045

Name:	Eli Milchman
Date:	Sunday September 9, 2007 4:15:40 pm MDT
Subject:	Re: Paul Addis — Hero or Pariah?
Message:	Paul Addis — Hero or Pariah? By Eli Milchman September 01, 2007 | 9:08:33 AMCategories: Burning Man BLACK ROCK CITY, Nevada -- Out here on the playa, burners seem split on whether to love or hate Paul Addis, the man accused of setting the big Man (you know, that giant wooden thing in the middle of the Black Rock Desert that's going to get torched Saturday night) on fire five days early. Here's what a few of them have said: "I admire his gumption to make that kind of a statement," said seven-time burner Sobey Williams of British Columbia about some of the ideas Addis unleashed in Wired's Q&A with the alleged arsonist. (Addis was arrested Tuesday and faces charges of arson and possession of fireworks; his arraignment is scheduled for Sept. 25.) "I think it worked," said second-year burner Judith (last name not given), "and I give him a great big smile," because no one could visit the corporate tent underneath what remained of the Man for a few days while workers resurrected the festival's namesake effigy. (Many have decried the increasing commercialization of Burning Man.) "I think it was crazy.... I don't think it was his installation to burn," said Peat Ibarra of Los Angeles. He also made an eerie observation about one of the signs on the way into the Burning Man camp: "It says on the way in that the man would burn on a weekday -- and it happened." Virgin burner Rebecca Mancuso of Prescott, Arizona, agreed: "I don't think it's cool to burn other people's property, that's for sure. There are other ways to protest." The debate rages. Incidentally, Black Rock City population hit 44,671 at noon Friday, according to Burning Man officials, who refused to comment on Addis' role in the premature burn.

First   |   Previous   |   Next   message in this thread

Previous thread   |   Next thread

Previous   |   Next   message by date

Help   |   Message index   |   Search