Hi Dave,
Sorry it's taken me so long to write. I misplaced my credit card and was unable to sign up for the Earthlink Broadband connection that's available here until now.

Last night was the burn. It was really quite a spectacle! It took us about fifty-five minutes to get from the end of the line near center camp to inside the chainlink fence. There was some dirty hippy complaining about the metal detectors... guess he should have brought a clay pipe instead of the metal one the sheriffs found!

We had to wander around until we located the artcar® upon which our boxseats could be found. Stella managed to get some prime box seat tickets on Ticketmasters so we had a great view. They were only 45 Amero a seat too! The vendors mostly stay to the bleacher seats, so we weren't able to buy too many of the trinkets offered this year ( I was told they change every year, isnt that cool?) I did get you a little special something... but I wont ruin the surprise! (Okay, it's a little globe with the man inside and when you shake it there's a sandstorm, and around its base it says "Six Flags Burningman." Cool huh?)

The Man, Paul Addis as he is called for some reason, was lit up in neon, his left arm mechanically waving at the crowd and his right arm giving us the finger, how counterculture! He stood on a large stage which was fastooned with banners of the various sponsors: Walmart, Clearchannel, MSNBCNN... Stella told me about the burn she had been to the year before while the crowd settled in... Then the lights were lowered and the MC, FlavaFlav, came out... he was really funny for an old guy. Aerosmith and RunDMC were amazing! They played an incredible set, and before the audience even had a chance to demand an encore the fireworks show began. I found out later that the fireworks show was timed to coincide with an identical show at Disneyland to mark the anniversary of the Mainstream Electrical Parade. Really cool!

The fireworks went on forever and just when I thought it might be too long Paul the Man blew up and was suddenly on fire! He actually spoke, saying little quips over the loudspeaker like, "Is it hot in here or is it just me?" Really funny. The audience started chanting "Addis, Addis, Addis!" and I joined in and I felt like I was really involved, participating in this amazing event that Blockbuster/Halliburton had created for us. Oh! Incidentally, it almost didnt happen at all... the people who build it, the Department of Public Works, almost didn't this year, as their branch of the AFL/CIO was on strike. But in the end they brought in some guys from Guatemala to do it, so it worked out well in the end.

After the man burned we were ushered out on the street and headed to the Deep End® where Stella busted several moves. She had bought the most amazing garter belt and spats on Esplanade that day and she was determined to show them off.

Well, that's about it for now, I'm just waking up and need to get focused. Tonight is the Templeburn® and I dont want to miss it. We get to participate in the Templewave®, I hear it's wild!

I promise to write again before I leave.

Oh, I guess I'll sign off with my official new playa name, which I bought at center camp...

Yours truly,
Spectatatron!