Jrs V08 I03

JRS VOLUME #8; ISSUE #03

JRS:V8:#3:09.20.03

Maybe I’ve been co-opted by that fancy new calendar, but now that BM 2003 has wound down, I can’t stop saying “happy new year” to burners I encounter here in New York and on email from around the world. I know there are still dozens of volunteers out on the playa, making sure we live up to our Leave No Trace standard for BRC 2003. But if you’re like my campmates, you started planning for BM 2004 just about the time you pulled up onto the asphalt. Bigger shade structure next year! More sunscreen! Less cereal. More pillows.

Of course, we’re doing the same thing at BM HQ. If you have any ideas about what you want to see change for 2004, reply to this JRS and let us know what they are. We’re looking forward to them. The best way for us to keep up with you creative people is to hear your ideas when they’re fresh – please don’t hesitate!

By now you’re probably adjusted to life back in “default world,” but hopefully still retaining some of that playa magic. There are a raft of decompression parties coming up, but don’t forget that, just like in BRC, there are plenty of ways to Participate in addition to continuing the celebration. Pull together some of your burner friends to go pick up MOOP in a park. Walk over to your (gasp, non-burner) neighbor and ask if he/she needs a hand with that bag. Register to vote!

Keep reading for more ways to start your year off right, including finding your LOST STUFF (or soulmate), viewing some of the excellent personal PHOTO ALBUMS of this year’s events, and of course saving the date for all those get-togethers in SAN FRANCISCO, CHICAGO, ARIZONA, and the city so nice they named it twice, BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON.

Two weeks ago, I woke up my first night back in a house and thought, half-awake, “wow, that’s so cool that someone made a tent to look like a bedroom. I wonder how they got the walls so straight. I’ve got to find him and say thanks for doing that.” Here’s hoping you too have just a bit of the surreal still seeping into your thoughts, and that you’ve had a laugh or a new idea because of it.

And, of course – Happy New Year!

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=========TABLE OF CONTENTS=========
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BLACK ROCK CITY NEWS
BLACK ROCK FAQ
YOUR PLAYA BIKE: WE CAN REBUILD IT
ART THEFT DOWN IN 2003
THERE’S TRASH ON THEM THAR ROADS

PARTICIPATE!
APERTURE ENVY
ADD TO THE BURNING MAN AUDIO GALLERY
NAUTILUS X (THAT BIG BLUE BUS THAT PINGS) NEEDS A HOME
MEET THE BEETS

EVENTS AND HAPPENINGS
PLAYA DEL FUEGO, EAST COAST, OCTOBER 10-13
CHICAGO DECOMPRESSION SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 27
ARIZONA DECOM OCT 3-5
CONFESSIONS OF A BURNING MAN – SAN FRANCISCO PREMIERE WEEK SEPT 24-27

ON AND OFF THIS CRAZY LIST

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========BLACK ROCK CITY NEWS=======
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BLACK ROCK FAQ

Q. Did anyone find my notebook, hat, sunglasses, consciousness, etc?
A. Check out burningman.com…03_lostandfound.html for all the various ways you might be reunited with your stuff. We take good care of obviously important and identifiable things like wallets, but at some point it gets futile. Your best chance of success is to post to and read the e-Playa early and often. The e-Playa lives at eplaya.burningman.com.

Q. I lost my car keys, my video camera and my still camera!
A. Wow, rough days out there huh. Well, the Burning Man office in San Francisco has a few such items. lostfound for high-end valuable items only.

Q. Did anyone find my bike?
A. Much as we would like to, we can no longer transport and store the hundreds of bikes that are lost, carelessly left behind, or tossed aside after a quick joyride. This is why we strongly recommend everyone use a bike lock at the event. However, if your bike wandered off from you during the event, or vice versa, please don’t give up. If you have lost (or found!) a bike, take the time to make a post to the e-Playa. You may well find the owner of that missing bike, or be surprised to see your bike posted looking for you.

Q. How many people were there this year?
A. Peak population of Black Rock City 2003 was 30,786; our highest ever.

Q. How can I meet other burners in my city?
A. Most major US cities have regional Burning Man groups, and many of them will be having a “decompression-type” party in the next few weeks or months. (San Francisco’s is October 12th.) To make sure you know when yours is, or to help organize one, find out how to get in touch with your local by visiting regionals.burningman.com. Information on decoms in Chicago and Arizona are below, in this week’s “Events and Happenings” section.

Q. How can I find that cat I met out at that granite thing at like 5 in the morning on burn night? He/she was rad.
A. You can try the e-Playa, which basically works for everything because people use it for everything. Check the “I met you, then we…” forum at eplaya.burningman.com/viewforum.php?f=24. Or try Craigslist’s Missed Connections, if they have one for your city. Both are worth a look, even if you went to sleep early on Saturday night. You can’t win if you don’t play.

Q. How can I make my bike work like it used to?
A. Keep reading.

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YOUR PLAYA BIKE: WE CAN REBUILD IT

Thanks to the crack team of Da Rat and Shanan Carney for these “Post-Playa Rehab for Bikes” tips!

So you’re back from the playa, bike in tow, and thanks to an excellent Esplanade adventure or two as well as a few memorable dust storms, your wheels may not be turning the way nature intended (we speak of the ones on your bike). Well, good news: If you’re willing to admit your bike has a problem (after all, it was powerless over the playa), your favorite bicycle cronies are back with a few tips on After-Burn Bike Care, a.k.a. Post-Playa Bike Rehab.

Heed this advice sooner rather than later, however, as the alkaline-intense playa dust is NOT kind on metal parts, and is particularly BRUTAL when it comes to the very lifeblood of your bike – the CHAIN. Fortunately, for us, playa dust is water-soluble, so here are the simple steps to ensure your loved one is on the road to full recovery-and in plenty of time to return next year!

—> Bare Minimum Care: Hose your bike off, both upside down and upright (a bit of acid helps dissolve playa dust quickly; vinegar is an excellent choice because it’s mild and evaporates quickly/easily). Use a wire brush to clean the chain and gear teeth. Lightly oil chain (WD-40 will do) and wipe off excess.
—> More Extensive Care: See “Bare Minimum Care”; then remove both wheels, clean axles with small wire brush, clean fork with soft rag, including wheel mount area (you’ll notice a lot of grit is hidden by axles), clean brake mechanism with small wire brush then soft rag.
—> Total Lovin’ Care: See “Bare Minimum Care”; then check wheel axles, front fork and crank for lube, clean and relube. Deflate tires, remove from rims, wipe inside of rims (LOTS of playa comes home in there!) with oily rag, wipe down spokes to remove rust-forming playa dust. Spray WD-40 or similar lubrication into brake and gear housing cables, work controls to spread the lube through-out the housing. reassemble, wipe with soft rag, inflate to proper psi; test ride.

Hope to hear you toot your favorite bike horn at Decompression!

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ART THEFT DOWN IN 2003

LadyBee forwards a note from an artist, with some words of her own:

(LB:) It looks like we had a more successful year in terms of respect for the art. Hopefully community education and increased vigilance on site were the cause. Thanks to everyone who helped – all 30,000 of you!

Below is a message from Peter McKinny, who created a small installation called Thirst on the walkway from Center Camp to the man. It involved a faucet seemingly suspended above a table, with water running from it. Peter writes:

As you know my piece “Thirst” was vandalized and I was not able to round up another faucet to get it working again. My bad. I’m sorry to say that I should have expected it to be vandalized and come better prepared. I’ll be waiting to hear next years theme so that I can create something idiot proof.

I was out walking the city on Thursday night and stopped at my installation on my walk home from the Man. I saw something in the cup and I thought that people were putting trash in the cup since the installation was not working. It was too dark to make out what it was by the light of a dimming glowstick. I flagged down a passing art car so that I could use their headlights. A painting. With something written on the back. Without my glasses I couldn’t read a thing so I asked the passenger in car to read it for me. I was touched. The sentiment shared by the artist, in giving this gift to me, made all of the difference in my burn this year. Thank you, whoever you are.

bellatlantic.net…dragonfly.html

Peter ~ aka Camp Killer

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THERE’S TRASH ON THEM THAR ROADS

Hey folks. We got a lot of email this year about people disheartened by the amount of trash that blew from burners’ cars onto the road and roadside on the way out of Black Rock City. We’ll make the point more snappily as we get closer to 2004 (352 days!) but for now, just tuck in the back of your mind:

“Pack It Out” means “Pack It All The Way Out And Put It In A Trash Can You’re Allowed To Put It In.”

We saw too many trash bags, barely affixed to vehicles going 10 MPH in the BRC, tear or fall off once the vehicles broke 50 MPH. Spending all week being good to the land and then trashing it on the way home is kinda dumb, pointless, insensitive, counterproductive, future-of-the-event-threatening.

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APERTURE ENVY

Hey, did anyone happen to have a camera out there?

Looks like it. Here are some highlights from the many photo collections we’ve seen:

-Slideshow (big Flash file, no good over dialup) from Jin Woo Joo: jindustry.com/playa2003
-Panoramics, by Charles Evans, under “New Images” digitalpanos.com/index/index.html
-Patrick Roddie’s album, piece by piece: webbery.com/galleries/burningman/bm03
-Margot Duane: planetmargot.com/BM2003
-Philip Chudy: philipchudy.com/BM

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ADD TO THE BURNING MAN AUDIO GALLERY

“Who was that great dj that was spinning at (your camp) on (some night, some time)?” I’ve asked questions like this way too often, and I’ve seen them on the ePlaya too! Here’s your chance to give us all an answer…

I am putting together a web site to let us re-live the music of Burning Man. (Don’t worry, the licensing issues have already been dealt with, and there is no commercialism of any kind taking place here). If you or anyone else in your camp was recording dj sets or live performances during Burning Man please contact Karen so your music can be added to the gallery. Even if you weren’t able to record, if you’d like to provide the time and place you performed and an email address or website link, I’d be happy to include that on the site.

Once the gallery is up and running I will publish the URL for all to enjoy!

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NAUTILUS X (THAT BIG BLUE BUS THAT PINGS) NEEDS A HOME

Ahoy fellow burners and art car enthusiasts, The Nautilus X (a retired 60′ SF MUNI Articulated City transit bus) is in need of a new home port to store and to maintain her between burns. My crew and I live in the Monterey Bay area of California and would prefer the Nauty to be local as we will upgrade and maintain her between burns and special events like SF decompressions and each of the Burns. When I originally created the Nautilus X project I decided it would serve as a tour vehicle for burners who could not, or where not able to make it out to the deep playa to see the wonderful art that is created there. This year we gave about 300 rides to those burners who had been unable to see wonderful pieces like the Chandelier, the Temple of Gravity, and Yantra (the optical cable religious symbol installation) to mention a few. We really loved giving those rides, a kind of vicarious pleasure for me and my crew to see the look in other Burners eyes when they saw the many awesome projects out on the playa for the first time. We also transformed into a jazz or small band mobile lounge and sailed along the Esplanade during much of the event giving free rides to the weary.
Now we are in need of some real support. We need to find a new space to keep her, either temporary or permanent. The farm we kept her for the past year and half, near Moss Landing, Monterey Bay has been sold, and I have exhausted just about every single contact regarding this. So if anyone knows someone that knows someone or whatever, we need to find a space soon. She is currently out on the street in front of my place and is attracting way too much attention as she has been vandalized twice in the 4 days she has been parked. If anyone has a lead on a new space, or maybe knows someone please pass the word. Many thanks,
Mobilis In Mobili
Nemo
DSVNautilusX

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MEET THE BEETS

Did you encounter the BEET PEOPLE on the playa? If so, they would love to hear from you!

Who are the beet people? To the untrained eye they are the red people, the red menace, or the red madness, but if you ever got close enough you learned the difference…

If you have any stories (or PHOTOS!) of your beet people encounters, please send them to the BEET PERSON emissary: Viola, at viola. Thanks!

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========EVENTS AND HAPPENINGS======
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All these happenings and more are on our YEAR-ROUND CALENDAR. Check it out to find or post upcoming events in your city. burningman.com/calendar/yearround

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PLAYA DEL FUEGO, EAST COAST, OCTOBER 10-13

Tickets are now on sale for the October 10-13th Playa del Fuego burn!!! Ticket prices are $20 each by mail or $21 each by paypal. ***Advance ticket sales end TODAY, Sept 20th***. All children 12 and under are free. All tickets will be mailed out; there will be no will call at the gate. To reserve your ticket, login into your account at: playadelfuego.org/tickets. If you don’t have an account, you can sign up now. And while you’re at it, check out all the great volunteer opportunities that await you. Come out, come out where ever you are – and participate!!!! If you have any problems or questions, let us know.

Love, Suz and Amy
tickets

MORE ON THIS REGIONAL: regionals.burningman.com/us_mddc.html

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CHICAGO DECOMPRESSION, SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 27

It’s our 3rd annual Burning Man Decompression, when you get to get back together with all the wonderful people you ran with in the desert, and meet new people who you’ll run with next year and share photos, videos, stories, drinks, until your toes curl from sheer pleasure! We’re doing it at the always wonderful Wildlife Refuge again so feel free to bring a tent, sleeping bag and make a full night of camping and revelry of it. Music & Fire outside the bar, electronic music and decks inside the bar! Hand drummers needed during burn! Calling all firespinners. Bring anything you’d like to burn to add to the effigy! Wear COSTUMES! Free camping and beer to all Synchronicity members who show their cards. All non members will be asked to chip in $5 to cover camping fee and free beer for the night. Everyone is to help with clean up during and after the event. Those who don’t comply will be burned along with the effigy.

DIRECTIONS and more at synchroni-city.org.
QUESTIONS? email gregnkymmarshall or chicago.

MORE ON THIS REGIONAL:
regionals.burningman.com/us_il_chi.html

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ARIZONA DECOM, OCTOBER 3-5

Arizona Decompression 2003: Once again the Azburners gather at Gateway ranch near Flagstaff Arizona for the official Arizona Decompression. The dates are October 3rd 4th and 5th. Friday the third is the early arrival day with full festivities and interactive art, performance and music on Saturday. We have a nice amphitheater with a fire sculpture as a center piece. We also have some large art from Burning man 2003 that will be on display and we will be burning a 20 foot man on Saturday night. There is no charge for this event but the property owners are very appreciative of any help you can give them around the ranch. All Black Rock City Customs and Courtesies apply, you must bring everything you need to survive including water, there is no water or power on this property. Pack it In pack it Out, Leave no Trace! For directions e-mail and info about other Arizona based regional events: arizona

Gary Taylor
Burning Man’s Arizona Regional

MORE ON THIS REGIONAL: regionals.burningman.com/us_az.html

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CONFESSIONS OF A BURNING MAN – SAN FRANCISCO PREMIERE WEEK SEPT 24-27

The filmmakers would like to thank everyone who took part in our film premiere last Friday, especially those who showed up in costume, performed, or contributed art. We would like to invite everyone back for a second week of celebration. We will be holding a reception in our expanding art gallery from Wednesday thru Saturday, 6 – 9 pm. This is a great opportunity to get together with fellow Burners and share highlights from this year’s Burning Man. The film and gallery are located at the Metreon, 2nd floor, 4th and Mission. For showtimes and general info, go to www.burningmanconfessions.com, or call (415) 369-6086. For details on how to get involved with performances and art work, send an email to confessions. Come celebrate ART + FILM, Burner style.

Thanks,
Unsu

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[Soundtrack to the JRS: “Ordinary People,” Sly and the Family Stone, The Grey Dog’s Coffee, W. Village, Manhattan, NYC, Earth]

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======ON & OFF THIS CRAZY LIST======
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