Thursday evening - We ride a mutant

The mutant vehicle singled out by Carmen was one of several that ferry burners on no particular schedule and with no published destination.

Our mutant vehicle was built on an old school bus with the insides gutted and replaced with a couple short bench seats and a fake fireplace, all this taking somewhat more than half the length. The front portion was for the Captain and the music DJ, although perhaps the Captain and DJ were one and the same, I couldn’t really see. The side windows were painted black but it wouldn’t have made much difference because the outside of the bus was draped with sheet-like material to bulk-out the shape. Entrance was via a step stool at the emergency exit.

On the top of the bus was a platform and railing, seemingly held on by 2x4s attached to the bus sides. Entrance was via a short step ladder to a flight of metal mesh steps outboard from the side, and only one person was permitted on the steps at a time, for good reasons. After an incredible number of people disembarked we climbed aboard, choosing the topside.

The view topside was very good, particularly if you stood, but it was very cold. This was a moonless night and as we roamed the Playa we were guided only by the lights of distant art structures. Taking pictures at night is difficult. The camera can't be held still enough for a good non-flash shot. If you try flash you find objects are either too far away, or the auto-focus thinks you want a really good picture of airborne Playa dust.

Topside we were hosted by a woman and a man, the latter wearing a heavy coat looking like something out of Star Trek. It turns out he and two others built the art car and it is supposed to represent a plane or perhaps a ship, but they ran out of time. He said it would have been better if they had gotten the propeller done. And things are not as slipshod as they appeared – they contacted the bus manufacturer and gathered information on the bus structure that allowed them to build the top deck without compromising safety. At least they think so. At his point I noticed the deck was held on not by wooden 2x4s, but by steel rails.