Sunday January 1, 2017

Can you believe another year in BRC has come & gone - PolyParadise 2016 was absolutely incredible and our best effort yet at creating this amazing On-Playa home we call PolyParadise, Each year there are many challenges and together we find a way to make things right, together we build an amazing space within the gates of BRC, a place to really call home in the desert.

Of course there is an amazing personal journey for me, but it is the journey I watch in others, their self-discovery, their triumphs as well as low points, watching people grow and blossom.

This section of the Year in Review; The Wrap-up is my way of thanking all of the amazing people that assist us in creating PolyParadise, not only On-Playa but all year-round here in Phoenix. I am taken aback by those that give even when they are not PolyParadise campers or give to the community even if the Playa is not in their travel plans.

BIG BIG Kudos - To our fellow AZBurners who are always available to assist during the year; for Truck Loading & Unpacking; carrying, cleaning, sorting and building PolyParadise year-round here in Phoenix. Special Thanks to (UncleBob, Poje, Big Phreeky, Alien, Sarge, Kilted James, The Doctor, Corvus, Sandman, CactusMan, Raymond, Atira, Cliff, Captain Jack, Cobalt, Rich, Painterboy, Ethan, Justin, Knotch, Shadow, Fancy Nancy, Neefer, Drew, JimyMac, Dr. Dirt, Daniel) Back in the day circa 2006 it was only WildChild & I that represented Arizona in PolyParadise. It is amazing to have had 35 AZBurners in our camp this year. You are all ACES in my book!!! Thank you all so very much!!!

Thanks to the Truck Packing & Unpacking Crew: (Neefer, UncleBob, Rich, Drew, Fancy Nancy, JimyMac, Dr. Dirt, Stephanie, Daniel, Cactus Man, Alien, Sarge, Kilted James, The Doctor, Corvus, Sandman, Cuny, Sarah, TattleTale, Gina). It is so much fun to share the excitement of PolyParadise hitting the road with all of you!!! YEAH!!! You guys are GREAT!

We again stayed until Tuesday morning; this allowed for a more cohesive teardown & truck packing and my. We had a great time with the folks that stayed and many thanks to everyone that did the last of the MOOP WALK. throughout our camp space.

MAJOR KUDOS to Merlin for assisting with Truck Packing as we broke down camp. YOU are a ROCK STAR!!!

We had 29 International campers from (Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, Ethiopia, Germany, Holland, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland).

Special thanks to all the Playa Virgins that decided to make PolyParadise their First Home on the Playa. I hope your experience was awesome and that Burning Man, The Playa, BRC and the rest of us instilled in you a LOVE for the week leading up to Labor Day that your excitement will have you camping again with us next year. Each of you gave & gave & gave of your time & effort and we all Thank You...

Here-in are my THANK YOU's for Burning Man 2016...This list in not an all-inclusive list and if I left someone or something out it is not because I was unaware of your contribution it is just a minor oversight. EACH ONE OF YOU HAD A PART AND A HAND IN MAKING US THE SUCCESS WE WERE!!

The first Thank You has always been reserved for my Life Partner, Wife, Friend & companion, WildChild!!! She continues to be an awesome inspiration for all things Burning Man, stands by me in my ever increasing need to volunteer…Thank you my love!!!

Special thanks to PainterBoy, Daniel & Kristi for coming over Monday morning to assist with packing the 14 coolers and getting them on the truck - I cannot thank you enough for taking time out of work day to come by and help me; cause a one-person job that is not.

Thanks to everyone who assisted in each and every event. The events are as much for us as a camp as well as sharing with the Playa Citizenry.

MAJOR MAJOR KUDOS & THANKS TO TwoCrispy, Plan B & Crew for the Mona Lisa Bar. What an awesome place to hang out right outside the community space and fill up your cup with the days drink concoction! Thanks to all of you for seeing the value of community!! Look forward to seeing what you come up with for next year!!

Thanks to Rich for taking on the several projects I asked of you, and many that I did not even have to say. There were several other things during the week that you both just went over and above the call of service, you did so because you saw it needed to be done and for that I am forever in your gratitude.

MAJOR Thanks to all our BRC Rangers in our camp - we appreciate your service to the Playa Citizens and Congratulations to our newest BRC Ranger; Sunny Bunny.

Many Thanks to El Nuevo - Just wanted to let you know that I appreciate your community minded heart - thanks for assisting with lots & lots of work in camp - your are a Rock Star!! Thanks to for bringing back Thunder Jesus (George) You both are amazing!!!

MAJOR CALLOUT to )'(HAJI)'( your honeymoon year on-playa was filled with daily chores around camp - Playing with Charcoal for both Trash Can Dinners and making sure that Camp Daddy always had a drink - I LOVE BURNING WITH YOU MY FRIEND!

The most SPECIAL of SPECIAL THANKS is reserved for my Partner & Wife WildChild!!Your love of everything Burning Man, Community, Hard Work, artistic talent and love of people is inspiring. Never let that light dim.

Each year as Benevolent Dictator, I learn more and more about why I love all things Burning Man, why I love all things PolyParadise.

Unfortunately in 2016 we were informed that Sani-Hut would no longer be able to provide gray water services so we contracted with United Site Services. We rented (3) 250G tanks (The largest USS rents) - two were for PolyParadise & one was for the Twisted Swan. To say that I was unimpressed with the level of service we received was an understatement; but United Site Services is the only approved contractor for Gray Water services within the gates of BRC. Our contract was for Servicing the tanks Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday.

To those that camped elsewhere or who were unable to make BM this year, your spirit was always part of PolyParadise, and know that you were deeply missed & loved in this group.

We all must collectively THANK Tailfeather and everyone that helped erect the Poly Play Space. Each year the space has evolved and creates an awesome addition to our Community. The new and improved viewing tower atop the dome was amazing. Thank you all for creating such an awesome space to let loose, a space to explore sexually. Thank you Tailfeather and his orchestra - to everyone that assisted in the assembling & teardown of the dome. Please volunteer with Tailfeather as many hands makes light work & then Johnny can play!!!

Major Kudos to the organizers _Touch & Crew (HCW), Facilitators & participants of Poly High Tea, BrotherLuv (Mind Melt), WildChild for the Poly Mixer, JanTed for the Untangling Breakups, Am I a Unicorn, Dr. Shelly for Sexual Illumination, JustJack for Card Magic making connections Just Jack & Donald for Yoga Postures for 2, Donald for Mindful Hugging, Leanna for the Poly Story Share events. You all are aces in my book!!! Thanks to everyone who assisted in each and every event. The events are as much for us as a camp as well as sharing with the Playa Citizenry.

The Carcass Wash...Many thanks go to Touch - Trouble and others for heading up the Human Carcass Wash. A HUGE THANKS to everyone else who helped with Setup & Cleanup and to those that ran the event each day.

Thanks to Stephanie - Knotch & Shadow - Miss Sio & Crew for arranging all things Early Arrival Crew Meal Plan. It was awesome to have food available to us after a hard days work ERECTING PolyParadise. Thanks as well to Stephanie & Crew for coordinating, setting up and facilitating an incredible kitchen area. You so rock!!!! The Community Kitchen was an awesome success! Thanks so much to all of their helpers that maintained the kitchen all week long.

Thanks & KUDOS to Stephanie for all things Kitchen; in 2017 she has decided to hang up her Kitchen BIATCH Badge and hand that over to Knotch & Shadow - we thank you for YEARS of service and thanks to the incoming BIATCH members!!!!

Thanks to the Boyz from Illionoiz with the help of Honest John & Mistress Barney the most AMAZING & INCREDIBLE Community meal ala Chicago Style!!!

Major KUDOS to Sara Vaughn for taking on a huge cooking responsibility. Every time I said I could use the Salmon or Tri-Tip or BACON cooked you were right there and did it with a smile. I also appreciate that you made sure that WildChild & I got some of the first batch off the grill - Its good to be the king!

Thanks to everyone who provided & prepared food for Community Meals, Washing Dishes, all who helped out when it was needed, for taking garbage home with you, for knowing what building community & sharing community is all about.

Callout to Wayne; as a VIRGIN Burner you jumped right in and assisted in the Kitchen every chance you could - I appreciate your community heart!!

MAJOR KUDOS to Mistress Barney - I saw you everyday in the kitchen doing dishes - doing what needed to be done in the kitchen to make it presentable for the next meal - Your Community Salutes YOU!!!

Special callout to everyone that assisted in the creation of Trash Can Pizza on Tuesday, Of course to UncleBob for coming up with this crazy idea. Thanks to for everyone that assisted with Trash Can Turkey and a HUGE Thanks to Trevor & Crew for jumping right in and carving up all that turkeys (86lbs of BIRD) while an anxious crowd awaited food…Amazing!!

Thanks to Mark for the Ice Run and for being The Ice CZAR; heading up daily runs for ice. Thanks as well for coming up with the idea and making it happen. MAJOR KUDOS to Max Flynn for making available each day his Ice Taxi which was an AMAZING way for us to be able to transport 40-50 bags of ice at a time. Thank YOU SO MUCH for coming by each day and helping our Village; we are so very grateful.

As far as MOOP goes - The 2016 MOOP Map shows ALL GREEN FOR POLYPARADISE & THE TWISTED SWAN!!!! Way to go!!! Thanks to all that MOOPED all week and to Knotch - Shadow & Uncle Bob for being the last off the Playa and for making sure that our LNT efforts would in fact be GREEN!! Thanks to Kilted Freedom for making sure that the Twisted Swan space was GREEN TOO!! GREEN is our 2017 GOAL!!!

For 2017 our MOOP MAP Footprint goal is ALL GREEN - we can ALWAYS be more MOOP vigilant. Remember it is MOOP if it is not Playa - that is the definition of Leave No Trace. Overall we did an amazing job - thanks to all that assisted in Never Letting It Hit the Ground!!! Thank you to everybody that stayed for teardown and beyond...You guys ROCK for making those last sweeps through our space and making sure we would be MOOP FREE!

Many Many thanks to STAGGER for again heading up all things Garbage Czar for stepping up and taking on the role of TRASH!

Our Gray Water disposal was again assisted by Twist with the drain system for the sink and the shower that emptied into the holding tank provided by United Site Services. This system is supposed to provide us as a camp a no-worry way to deal with the Gray Water issue.

Due to my NOT KNOWING how to play the game with them and their trucks we did not receive the Tuesday Service and had to close the shower & sink drains for a time on Wednesday as we had reached the 500G capacity. After realizing that in addition to getting the VOUCHERS from their offices @ 6:30 BEYOND L - I also had to be present and flag down a driver as they passed our area to get service; we were able to get pumped on Thursday & Saturday. For 2017 we may consider getting a 3rd tank (an additional $1000) for PolyParadise so ensure iff a servicing is missed for whatever reason we have extra capacity to ensure that the shower & sink are never shut down. Over course of the week I estimate we generated just about 1,500 Gallons of Gray Water.

Many Many thanks & Kudos to Twist for his ingenuity several years ago in creating the pumps/basins for collecting the drain water from the sink & shower and sending it to the Gray Water Tank, you rock Twist!!! The portable 2,500W Battery System created by TWIST! worked AMAZING!! Over the summer Twist worked with Rich (THANKS RICH) on the system and made some adjustments which would facilitate larger voltage loads for the multiple kitchen aids (Rice Cookers, Coffee Pot, Deep Fryers & Microwave) we employ. This system in conjunction with the Honda EU 6500 we rented we were able to provide a way for us to have continual power to the Shower & Sink pumps and critical lights within the Kitchen & Community space when the Generator was off or had run out of gas. All Hail Master-Twist & Rich!!!!! Your Master Skills as a Rocket Scientist have no gone unnoticed.

Thanks to Mark for the multiple Foot Pump/Hand Washing Stations - they are awesome!! You Community Thanks YOU!!

Early Arrival - Many, Many thanks to all of our Early Arrival crew. Kudos go out to all of you for your tireless efforts to get the camp erected and all system connected. You guys ROCK!!!

The crew was awesome!!! We rocked the house and had the entire infrastructure up & functional by Sunday morning. I thank you all so much for doing what needed to be done, being out in the Sun & Dust; making PolyParadise happen On-Playa!!!

We set the camp up over several days, but we take it down in just a few hours, it is a massive undertaking that requires lots & lots of hands. You cannot be 'Required' to stay and assist with breakdown, but know that each and every one of you that did help is so very much appreciated. This year’s crew was incredible. Thank you all so much for doing the dirty work and being there to pack away our community for another year.

MANY, MANY thanks go to the most amazing takedown crew we have ever had. There were so many people that stayed and assisted with the huge job of getting things in some order before it heads to the truck. THANK YOU ALL!!! Both WildChild & I appreciate your efforts.

As each year passes; the journey of BRC & PolyParadise just gets better & better; this only happens because there is so much love and effort from all of you; a love of PolyParadise; a Love of Burning Man and of Community. There are so many people that give of themselves, give without thinking about how long it will take or how heavy something is, so many people that give of themselves!!

Burning Man is a year-round event at our house; we take the contents of our garage out to the desert and create together an amazing, loving space on the hallowed ground of the Black Rock Desert. Thank you ALL for assisting me in creating PolyParadise.

I LOVE THIS STUFF!!!!

Only 211 days until we Burn again. Each of those days will have thoughts of all you and how good I feel having each of you as my friends and part of my family - Playa Love.

Scotto
- Camp Daddy
- Benevolent Dictator PolyParadise
- Burning Man Lifer/Geek/Zealot