JRS Volume #6; Issue #30

JRS/6.30/07.27.02

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30 days!

Lying in bed on a Friday night reviewing footage from 2001, while preparing this WEEKEND EDITION JRS! Too much news for just one Rabbit.

Fret no more as you wonder what your address shall be…the STREET NAMES ANNOUNCEMENT is here! We’ve got more info on DRIVING IN BLACK ROCK CITY, and WIND POWERED VEHICLE INFORMATION, as well. Ladybee reminds you to bring a copy of your creative playa gift for the MATERIAL CULTURE ARCHIVE. The PLAYA INFO DIGITAL DIRECTORY wants to help you in BRC, but first, perhaps you can help the Digital Directory? And more on PLAYA FOOT, from folks who have seen a case or two in their time. And finally, as the EUROBURNERS MESSAGE BOARD takes off with planning from across the pond, here in the Bay Area, Michael’s Light Toys holds an EL WIRE OPEN HOUSE.

It’s funny how succinct I can be at 1 AM. 😛

TABLE OF CONTENTS

BLACK ROCK CITY NEWS

STREET NAMES ANNOUNCED!

Black Rock City’s streets within a Floating World

In 2002 the streets of Black Rock City will be numbered according to degrees of latitude and longitude. This means that the radial (longitudinal) avenues dividing the arc of our city will be indicated by compass degrees corresponding to a giant compass rose forming the pedestal of the lighthouse that supports Burning Man. Our former system employed the hours of a clock face, ranging from 2 o’clock to 10 o’clock. Converted into units of 15 degrees, these streets will now range form 60 degrees at the former position of 2 0’clock, to 300 degrees at the position of 10 o’clock. 6 o’clock, formerly the central axis of Black Rock City, will now be 180 degrees.

The circumferential (or latitudinal) streets that form the curving length of our metropolis will also be assigned numbers. These will measure distance from the Man in units of 200 feet, beginning at 2100 feet at our city’s Esplanade and ranging backward to 3900 feet on our city’s back most street, Abyss. Together, these two units of measure will form the basis of sea chart that will locate every object in the mile-wide bay that Black Rock City will encompass in 2002. By pacing one of our city’s blocks, enterprising voyagers will be able measure these units of latitude as they navigate this bay.

Additionally, all of these latitudinal streets will be named. These names describe prominent components of a sailing ship as they occur in sequence fore to aft. Bracketed between the Esplanade (a waterfront promenade) at the front of our city, and Abyss (a bottomless gulf, relating to the deepest waters of the sea), they are meant to suggest that that our home upon the sea — and all that we possess in aid of our survival — is a ship’s order. Mariners are forever poised between the security (and hazards) of the shore and the deep and unfathomable gulf of the open ocean beyond. Here is their order:

  1. Esplanade
  2. Bowsprit (a spar projecting forward from the bow of a ship from which the sails are set)
  3. Forecastle (that part of the upper deck forward from the first sail)
  4. Mainmast (a ship’s principal mast, second from the bow)
  5. Midships (the middle of a ship)
  6. Mizzen (referring to the mizzenmast, the mast aft of the mainmast)
  7. Wheelhouse (structure housing the ship’s wheel and compass, aft of the mizzenmast)
  8. Fantail (the after overhang of a ship’s deck)
  9. Abyss

These seven ship-based names are similar to ordering of last year’s streets according to our theme, The Seven Ages. Their sequence represents a central axis that in some way is essential to identity. Port and starboard, and fore and aft, are the first things one must learn in order to negotiate the circumscribed world of a seafaring vessel. If one cannot understand these parts of a ship, one cannot hope to survive amid the chaos of an ocean. Bon Voyage!

{AG Note: Being a total dork for languages, I just had to seek out pronunciations and etymologies for some of these unfamiliar terms when first I heard them. Turns out bowsprit is pronounced (bo’ sprit). And a sailing friend tells me that the forecastle is actually pronounced (foc’ sel). Funny, huh?}

DRIVING IN BLACK ROCK CITY

So, what’s with all this new information about driving in Black Rock City this year?

The fact is, with the number of people on foot at the event, and the increasing number of people in BRC overall, concern is greater that an accident will occur between a car and a pedestrian. With all the people who have driven during our event, sometimes under unsafe conditions, we are lucky to have not had MORE accidents! Rather than wait until something really bad happens to someone, our goal is to inform and remind the community about *safe* driving on the playa, so that we can all relax and have a good time.

Please do not drive in these situations:

  1. If you are not permitted to drive (with a license sticker from the DMV)
  2. On Sunday or Monday after the Man has burned, unless you are leaving. The event doesn’t end when the man falls, and all regulations are still enforced.
  3. During storms, whiteouts, rain, or any other unsafe conditions

Please do not get in or on any vehicle that is driving in these situations:

  1. Without a permit (check for the DMV sticker)
  2. At an unsafe time or in an unsafe manner
  3. Vehicle does not have a seat or safe standing room available

Please be responsible as you drive into our city and find your camp, as you get on or off vehicles, and as you leave to head home.

ART CARS

LARGE AND IN CHARGE: Large vehicles such as busses or big trucks should have a “walker” assigned to walk out front and alert the driver to any obstacle or person that the driver might not be able to see.

FLASHING LIGHTS: Our emergency service crews need to be able to clearly identify the scene of an accident. Standard emergency service lights are their signal in the event of an emergency. Please do not complicate their jobs by using lights that resemble those on a police car, fire engine, or ambulance. These lights will not be permitted this year.

REGISTRATION: The time to pre-register your art car is almost up; the DMV will close and move operations to the playa after August 15th. A word of caution: cars that may have been permitted in the past aren’t necessarily guaranteed to be permitted this year — the regulations have been updated. Find out NOW if you’ll be permitted to roam in BRC 2002. The DMV wants everyone on the playa to be prepared and happy, so give them a chance to do their job.

Register at: http://www.burningman.com/on_the_playa/playa_vehicles/dmv.html

If have any questions about these points, please review the regulations at the URL above and/ or email dmv(at)burningman(dot)com.

We feel fortunate that thanks to the community’s responsible behavior, we are able to continue to have art vehicles at Burning Man. Thank you for working together to keep BRC safe for everyone.

ANNOUNCEMENT FOR WIND-POWERED VEHICLES ON THE PLAYA

For those of you who like to sail on the playa at Burning Man, there are some new regulations in 2002. The Black Rock City Department of Mutant Vehicles (BRC-DMV) has created a set of “Specifications & Regulations” which will allow limited use of wind-powered vehicles to sail on the playa.

As some of you may be aware, wind-powered vehicles were banned in 1999 after someone crashed a very large & heavy wind-powered vehicle into the Opera sculpture during the 1998 event.

In 2002, certain small and light-weight wind-powered vehicles will be allowed to sail inside the perimeter fence provided they meet the official specifications and obtain a license from the BRC-DMV. See the Specifications and Regulations from the Burning Man website at: http://www.burningman.com/on_the_playa/playa_vehicles/dmv.html#wind And also check out a more detailed description at: http://home.pacbell.net/manthajo/BurningManWindsurfing/

All wind-powered vehicles that comply with the specifications and are planned for operation within the BRC perimeter fence must receive a BRC-DMV license. Wind-powered vehicles that do not comply with the specifications or do not receive a BRC-DMV license must operate outside the BRC perimeter fence.

SPECIFICATIONS: A manual brake for the vehicle is required. Vehicles with a fixed mast or powered by a kite will not be licensed or allowed to operate within the BRC perimeter fence. Night sailing will not be permitted. You will need to register at the event with the BRC-DMV as a form of “Art Car” to obtain your license. You are required to be proficient at sailing your rig (Burning Man is not the place to learn how to windsurf). As with any Art Car, any vehicle which is operated in a manner deemed unsafe or in violation of the Art Car rules will be cited and may lose operating privileges.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: However, since this is outside of the typical scope of the BRC-DMV, we need some of the windsurfing crew to be at the DMV to help register some of these craft and answer questions. Please let us know if you are willing and able to offer some of your time to assist with this important first year registration process.

PARADE/EXHIBITION: We would like to organize a windsurfing parade/exhibition of some sort at the event. The final parade details will be posted at the BRC-DMV registration site at the event so please check in there for details [the parade is tentatively scheduled for Friday at 2pm at the inner playa between Center Camp and The Man]. The person with the most creative craft will win a special Burning Man prize.

For additional information write Dave or Jonno at windsurfing(at)pacbell(dot)net and see the following web site on the topic: http://home.pacbell.net/manthajo/BurningManWindsurfing/

Hope we’ll see you sailing on the Playa.
Cheers,
Dave & Jonno
windsurfing(at)pacbell(dot)net

MATERIAL CULTURE

“LadyBee here, reminding you all that we are once again collecting those wonderful playa gift items and memorabilia of all kinds for our Material Culture Archives. We will have a drop-off box on site at the Artery in center camp, and we will provide you with forms and zip-lock bags. You can also download our form here: http://www.burningman.com/media/doc/pdf/print_forms/materialculture.pdf and bring it with you if you like. Please bring two of each item if you can. These objects will go into the Archives at our offices and will also appear in our new online archives, soon to appear on our website. When the online archive debuts we will announce it here. It contains over 300 objects, each of which has its own page with an image, description, and contact info.”

Help preserve the collective memory of our community for years to come!

PLAYA INFO DIGITAL DIRECTORY WISH LIST!

You can help bring the Digital Directory to life at Playa Info! We are in need of 10 15″ VGA color monitors and 10 sets of keyboards and mice. They will be used in our Digital Directory at Playa Info. Come register your camp, find your friends, look up current events, and more on our Digital Directory. Playa Info is located in Center Camp under the big blue “i”.

If you are interested in donating items for our Digital Directory, please contact SacredFlame(at)burningman(dot)com or PlayaInfo(at)burningman(dot)com. Thanks.

DID SOMEONE SAY PLAYA FOOT??

“I work at Totem Camp every year, where we do lots of massage work and have a side specialty in caring for playa foot. We cured many happy people last year. The ultimate solution for playa foot, hands down, is to (a) wash the feet, (b) rub Bag Balm on them (used to cure chapped udders on cows) and (c) wear socks on top of the Balm overnight while sleeping.

http://www.bagbalm.com/

Don’t ask me why we had cow udder cream lying around. That’s a trade secret.

hope you’re fabulous,

-Totem Camp”

{AG note: We at the JRS would never deign to ask anyone why they have anything unusual or strange hanging around…you’re talking to a girl with a fingernail collection spanning 15 years, a dried bull scrotum, and a jar of hair in her bedroom.}

EUROBURNERS: BAND TOGETHER AND PLAN TOGETHER!

The Euroburners website now boasts a new bulletin board – EuBoard?. It’s to help co-ordinate the European contingent’s plans and arrangements for Burning Man.

Board:

http://www.ukdance.net/euroburners/ub2k//UltraBoard.cgi

Euroburners Website:

http://www.ukdn.tv/euroburners

GOT YOUR BLINKY THINGS? EL WIRE? OPEN HOUS

You are Invited to the 3rd Annual

MichaelsLightToys.com
Open House

Saturday and Sunday
August 3, 4, AND 10 & 11, 2002
11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

310 N. Civic Drive, #302
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
925/952-4662

dial 62 on the phone by the door and we will let you in.

We have an even BIGGER, Super COLOSSAL collection of EL Wire, LED Lights, and many other battery operated lights, toys and jewelry not seen in stores.

Before you go to the Burn, Stop by and get the Lights that turn you on.

Free munchies and drinks for our guests

Have a great weekend!

xoxox
*AG*

{Soundtrack to this JRS: Deathray…The Dead Milkmen…and the neat geeky whirr of my harddrive when the music stopped.}

ADMIN ON & OFF

THE STUFF AT THE BOTTOM:

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