LA Weekly

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How did Burning Man founder and self-described "messianic personality" Larry Harvey take the "premature immolation" of the Man during the lunar eclipse early Tuesday morning? Even better the rest of us.

"First of all," he said this morning at a Playa press conference, "it teaches us a lesson. There's a process called 'reification' when you forget the meaning comes from you and not from an object. And lest peop;e thought there was ju ju inherent in the Man," this provided them with an opportunity to learn that there isn't.

It also gave them an opportunity "to see what they haven’t seen in years. People haven’t got to see the building process. It will remind tham that it’s our dedication that makes the city what it is.

"They’ll see us crane it up. They'll be reminded of the dedication that goes into this event. And it reminds us that -- this is a story about redemption, isn't it? When he gets put back on you’re going to hear a howl. It’s a good story."

Harvey also believes that Burning Man will help resolve the old rift between the political activists and the hippie partiers. "If the 60’s had been as structured as Burning Man it might have worked out," he says. "A good party builds community."

(Please forgive technical errors in this post. I'm not high [yet] but the signal is spotty and I'm sitting behind a desk on the Esplanade and it's beautiful and people think I'm an authority figure and ask me all kinds of questions. But the weather rocks. Hot, sunny and STILL.)

(Photo of the fire fighters hosing the man by Dan Garcia.)

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