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If you don’t recognize or remember the above quote, it’s from the end of Mad Max: Fury Road. Also, like Immortan Joe’s predecessor The Lord Humungus, I am gravely disappointed. Did I not make myself clear that you should see the film, and watch over and over?
All right, fine, I learned long ago not to expect everyone to be as nerdy as me in remembering the fine details of movies I love. I am a reasonable man.
No, actually, maybe that’s not true. This year my obsession with Fury Road drove me batshit crazy. I paid money to go camping out in the middle of the California desert in blazing heat and choking dust.
Let me tell you a little something about me, in case you don’t know: I Do Not Camp. I cannot remember the last time I slept in a tent before this past weekend. It’s happened sometime in my youth, but I’ve blocked it out since then and fully embraced the joys of civilization. Hell I don’t even like going to Renaissance Faires for more than a few hours, and I sure don’t want to dress up for one. This is one of the compromises Dawn has had to accept in our marriage; she likes roughing it, I do not.
And yet there I was earlier this year, purchasing two tickets for Wasteland Weekend, “The world’s largest post-apocalyptic festival”. It started out as a small group of Mad Max/Road Warrior enthusiasts who liked modifying their cars and motorbikes to resemble the guzzoline guzzling hot rods of the movies, eventually in 2010 becoming… well, how to describe it? The Ren Faire of the Post-Apocalypse? Burning Man for LARP nerds? Neither of those is really a fair comparison. The bare facts are that you drive out to the middle of the Mojave, where civilization cannot be seen on any horizon… you set up camp, put on something appropriately themed, and then hang out for three or four days with like-minded folks as an attempt is made to create an immersive (but fun) post-apocalyptic environment.
So, that happened this past weekend, and believe it or not I not only didn’t die or need to be medevac’d, I actually had fun. Enough fun I’m considering a return trip next year, and that despite this year’s festival occurring in record heat that had Dawn and I hiding away during the afternoon in an embrace of tradition of the siesta. Not in our tent, mind you… that’s a great way to cook yourself. Tarps and lawn chairs, scavenging what shade you can as the sun burns through its paces, and lots of water. Plenty of time to check out the sights in the morning and after the sun goes down.
And oh, what sights! The gate to Wasteland City (the fully themed area, as opposed to the main camping area which is thankfully a more lenient mix):
The costumes (even more impressive when you consider desert dust and 100 degree heat!):
The vehicles — each and every one fully operational for harsh conditions!
Yes, even this one (the legs moved as it rolled!)
All of course with the blessing of Immortan Joe!
What a weekend. What a lovely weekend! I won’t say I want to do it again right away, but despite all my usual proclivities I’m willing to do it again –“…in search of our better selves…”
