Jrs V07 I30

JRS VOLUME #7; ISSUE #30

JRS:7.30/05.16.03

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ONE HUNDRED DAYS TO BRC!

…and if you think that a political setback is going to stop Black Rock City in 2003, you’ve got another think coming! A follow-up piece in the Reno Gazette-Journal yesterday will further illustrate what we hope you’ve probably guessed about this whole Black Rock Station permit issue – the Man WILL burn, dang it:

rgj.com…42065.php?sp1

We’re in full swing here at the Burning Man office, and with 100 days (ulp!) left to the event, now’s the time that things get truly crazy. Among other things, the THEME CAMP FUNDRAISER announcements start to pour in to the JRS. This week, we’ve finally realized it’s time for a policy to evolve on these little tidbits. After all, a large majority of these parties are in the SF Bay area; while there are a LOT of subscribers who fit that geographic bill, the fact is that thousands of OTHER subscribers from around the world AREN’T in the Bay. We get complaints, you see, when the JRS veers too far off-topic, and we aim to keep it a useful tool for all readers.

What to do? Well, we evolve the policy. So work with us, here: if you send us a theme camp fundraiser to be listed, there are several criteria, and no guarantees we can post it (some weeks are heavier than others, news-wise.) First, make SURE you enter it into the Year Round Calendar on our website at burningman.com…month.php. Look at all those little dancing flames! Each flame represents an event, happening all over the country and around the world within our community. We’d like to see more of these events using this calendar, and will encourage you toward it in the coming months. Meanwhile, the JRS will reserve the right to publish occasional theme camp listings, ESPECIALLY those who provide a SHORT listing with a name, date, and URL for more information. We seek, after all, to provide burn-related information to participants around the world. Some events are of relevance to the entire community, and some may not be. While some events might be of interest to a burner in Budapest or New Zealand, not all will be, so we can’t post every event that comes our way — some, not all. We aim to please, but we encourage fundraiser-throwing camps (and those who love them) to look to the year round calendar for theme camp fundraisers and other events!

And so goes the planning at the HUNDRED DAY MARK. You can’t put out a fire this big once it’s already started. Read on and burn.

And remember: ignore all rumors of cancellation. BRC will rise in 2003.

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BLACK ROCK CITY NEWS:
– FLAMBÉ LOUNGE: SAVE THE DATE! SAT JUNE 28
– TAG, YOU’RE IDENTIFIED
– WEDDING BELLS ON THE PLAYA
– AUGUST: A BAD TIME TO BE A BERKELEY GRANDMOTHER
– CLICK AND CLACK ARE BURNING
– DOGMA AVENUE LOCK OUT

PARTICIPATE:
– PLAYING WITH POI
– SPACE NEEDED TO PAINT THE TEMPLE RED (AND MORE)

NEW! REGIONAL CORNER:
– THANK YOU, ATLANTA
– REPORT FROM ARIZONA’S TOAST
– UTAH: SYNORGY EVENT

EVENTS AND HAPPENINGS:
– CLAN DESTINO CAMP FUNDRAISER IN SF
– SOL SYSTEM’ “FLOW” IN SF

ON AND OFF THIS CRAZY LIST

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FLAMBÉ LOUNGE: BEYOND BELIEF!
Saturday June 28th
8pm-2am
The Crucible
1260 7th Street
Oakland, CA

This year we will have one major and magnificent Flambé Lounge dedicated to the Beyond Belief theme! It will feature previews of Beyond Belief art, unusual processions, interactive rituals, and perhaps a few rather unconventional sermons–and your interpretation of Beyond Belief! Theme info at:
burningman.com…bm03_theme.html

THE LOCATION: Flambé Lounge will take place at the exciting new location of The Crucible ( thecrucible.org ). The Crucible is an AMAZING artist-run non-profit arts education and workspace facility with vast inside and outside areas. Many of the artists involved have created work at Burning Man and we decided to have this next Flambé Lounge there to support them in their efforts to build out the space as a multi-use, artist-run facility. The Crucible offers classes in metal, woodworking, glass, jewelry, stone carving, ceramics, sound art, etc. and it’s an artist-friendly place to work on projects for the playa and the Bay Area. They have a tremendous amount of expertise and equipment under one roof! This is kind of a second grand opening for them and… in addition to all the (un)usual Flambé Lounge art and performance, …they will be doing demonstrations of various art-making capabilities and a Burning Man metal pour during the event. We can’t imagine a better place to hold this Flambé Lounge or a better venue to support! This is an especially perfect venue for large scale art and interactive theme camps.

TO PARTICIPATE: Interested in bringing Beyond Belief theme-oriented art, theme camps, performance, imagery? Want to create a procession or otherworldly experience?

Performers, theme camps, visual artists, and procession groups, e-mail flambelounge
Fire sculpture e-mail davex ASAP, so we can file for the fire permit!!!
To share Beyond Belief imagery and new Burning Man videos/electronic imagery, e-mail: spoon
To volunteer: flambelounge

Flambé’ Lounge is one way Burning Man creates community on a year-round basis; a venue to showcase new ideas for Burning Man 2003, to learn what others are working on, and to share information in a social setting. It is an opportunity to find collaborators and to volunteer in areas that interest you! It is time you set aside to meet friends and begin planning your own means of personal expression–whether your plans are for the playa or your own backyard!

See you there!!!

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TAG, YOU’RE IDENTIFIED

I have a suggestion for bike identification, daylight hours that is… putting a luggage tag on your bike is a great way to identify the owner of a bike. Putting two on is even better: one with a playa address and one with a non playa address or phone for better contacting ability.

Bobalicious Astral Headwash

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**WEDDING BELLS ON THE PLAYA!**

In the spirit of promoting radical self expression and love on the Playa BRC has a volunteer Cupid, Affinity, who helps provide the Playa’s betrothed with information and access to legal officials to perform their ceremonies. Today, Affinity writes:

HAVE YOU BEEN THINKING YOU WANT TO GET MARRIED ON THE PLAYA AT BURNING MAN 2003?? Well, here is your chance. We have volunteers waiting to perform legal or non-legal wedding on the Playa this year. Let us help you have the Burning Man wedding you have always wanted. Contact weddings and we will tell you how. May wedding bells ring on the Playa!

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AUGUST: A BAD TIME TO BE A BERKELEY GRANDMOTHER

[ED.: Mr. Frisky may have just thought we were going to include his letter to the UC Berkeley paper, but we liked his intro, too.]

As I’m sure you probably know, Burning Man overlaps the first week of classes at UC Berkeley (and other schools), making it de rigueur for burner students to have to make up some lame-ass excuse so our professors won’t kick us out of their class for not showing up during that all-important first week.

Usually, they’re pretty accommodating, but why should the sham continue?

It’s time for the shame, fear, and lying to end. Now. I’m outing all of us burner students simultaneously, and shining the truth on the Great Grandmother Lie. I’m planning to mail this letter to The Daily Californian (Cal’s student-run newspaper) sometime around, I don’t know, the day before class starts in August. Feel free to put this up on JRS if you think other burners (students, faculty, or otherwise) might enjoy it.

Cheers, -Mr. Frisky

My Grandmother is Planning to Die During the First Week of Classes
By Matthew Taylor

Dearest Professors to whom it may concern,

For the third time in three years, my grandmother is planning to die during the week leading into and including Labor Day. In fact, her funeral pyre will be lit at approximately 9 p.m. on Saturday, August 30th, at which time 30,000 of my closest friends will join me in mourning as her remains are charred into a 40 foot tall column of flame illuminating a moonless sky over the Nevada desert.

This, of course, means that I will miss the entirety of the first week of classes. As I have done in years past, I am writing this letter to ask that you hold my place in your class. I hope you, as many instructors have before, will show compassion and understanding for my week of grief and grant this highly unusual request.

I realize it inconveniences you that grandmothers of thousands of UC Berkeley students all simultaneously die at this time every year, depriving you of the opportunity to orient students, confirm enrollees, and churn through the waiting list during the first week of fall classes. I understand how frustrated you must feel with the administration’s continued apathy, indifference, and insensitivity to the grief and sorrow felt by this significant percentage of the campus population, who are forced to miss out on higher educational opportunities, every year, without fail, because of how very, very much they love their grandmothers. I know that every year, you probably band together to lobby Sproul to push back the start of school to the first Tuesday after Labor Day, and fail in the face of the Orwellian indifference of administrators who continue to believe that the first loyalty of students is to their institution, not their family.

As I am sure you know, attending a funeral is a somber affair, devoid of any fun or creative expression. Nothing is more serious than a funeral. Most of the attendees are dressed head-to-toe in black, muted garb; none are ever clad in multi-colored peacock suits, body paint, mud, or nothing in all. They never run behind water trucks screaming with laughter, practice Yoga with 80 other people under a shade structure, explore massive hedge mazes, ride their bicycles in random directions around a playa, or bump into a friendly “love ranger” who can attend to all their love emergencies.

At my grandmother’s annual funeral, there is little in the way of conversation, much less community building – no chance of meeting about 200 new friends in a dance camp, participating in a community grey-water recycling project, building a theme camp of like-minded mourners or even a village of similarly bereaved theme camps, or getting spanked on the ass by a “Greeter.”

To add insult to injury, at my grandmother’s tragic annual funeral, there is no artwork. No giant, 30-foot-tall statues of naked women moaning in ecstasy, no art installations that are testament to the fallacy of consumer culture, no glowing, flashing lilly pads, no massive temple so intricately crafted you’d think it was the eighth wonder of the world.

And if all that wasn’t bad enough, the worst part of grandmother’s funeral is: no gifts. NONE! Can you believe it? I mean, gramma DIED for chrissakes, you’d think someone would have the forethought to introduce some sort of “gift economy” which would inspire attendees to give gifts from their heart to strangers with no expectation of return. Yup, that means no one handing out banana bread to strangers, no free drinks on roving “art cars” with bars straight out of the Mos Eisley cantina, no giving pedicures to anyone whose feet are chapped, and, horror of horrors, no free grilled cheese sandwiches at smut shacks.

Yes, my grandmother’s funeral is such a morbid affair it’s beyond belief, and worst of all it interferes with my college education. Have pity on me, and the world. Hopefully, this year, she won’t be standing erect on a massive platform, naked and barren in all her wooden glory, with brilliant neon lights wrapped around her carcass and her arms raised as if calling to the gods for deliverance, before we burn, baby, burn.

– Berkeley Undergrad’s Remorse Never Is Neglecting Grandmother’s Merry Abundant Neofestival

Notes of condolence for the author’s upcoming loss may be mailed to frisky

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CLICK AND CLACK ARE BURNING

surferbetty sent this recent column from “Click and Clack,” the brothers behind NPR’s Car Talk, after her mom saw the column in the Omaha World Herald.

“Dear Tom and Ray: I, along with about 20 friends, am determined to go to the Burning Man festival in Nevada this summer. We would like to purchase or rent a school bus capable of making the round trip from Seattle. Is this feasible? Where should we go to find an affordable school bus? If the bus is not used for commercial purposes, do we still need a special license to drive it? Are we running a HUGE risk of breaking down, with no mechanic for miles, in the middle of the desert? How can we resell the thing after we buy it? Thanks. – Raz”

See their answer at
cartalk.cars.com…May/02.html

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DOGMA AVENUE LOCK OUT

Do you know proper key care on the playa?
What do you do if you lock your keys in your car?
What do I do if I loose my rental car keys?

These questions and more are answered at brclot.com.

LOTS OF GOOD INFORMATION to be seen.
Thank you
Car Thief
Field Team Leader
BRCLOT (Black Rock City Lock Out Team)

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PLAYING WITH POI

The Temple Of Poi is a community of individuals creating a mutually nurturing environment wherein we can explore balance and harmony of mind, body and spirit through dance, meditation and performance. As we embark on our journey through the study of poi, we will mutually inspire each other to evolve toward realizing Self in expression as poi artists.

We are creating a Burning Man camp where we will have classes/games daily – including sensual poi spanking, and Poi-Tag – and we’ll perform nightly at various camp locations.

If you are:
-looking for poi spinners to play with on the playa
-want to be part of our procession
-want to learn more about how to spin poi/fire
-want to connect with other poi artists pre-burning man in the bay area or via email
-want to help create a fabulous experience with us on (and off) the playa or
-if you have a desire to have a group of fire dancers perform at your LSSS at sunset one night on the playa,

contact us at burning, check us out at templeofpoi.com, or subscribe to our mailing list at templeofpoi-subscribe. We’ll be having a planning meeting on May 22, at 8:30 PM in San Francisco if you’re interested in attending.

Thanks!
-glittergirl
glitter

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SPACE NEEDED TO PAINT THE TEMPLE RED (AND MORE)

We, of the (Bay Area’s) Phoenix Temple, need your help! We have some large plastic dome coverings that need to get spray painted. We are looking for a large covered space with decent ventilation that we can use for a few days while the paint layers dry and get worked on. A space of least 20 square feet would work. An even larger space that multiple panels could be worked on simultaneously would be awesome! Does anyone have an empty garage, warehouse space or barn in the Berkeley area that we could use?

We are also in need of many old, stray sofa-type cushions that we will be covering for seating inside the Phoenix Temple.

Visit our art installation plan at
bobbie.holowww.com/PhoenixTemple/

Contact LadyPhoenix at bobbie@holonet.net or call 510.540.5440 and talk to Kurt or Bobbie. Thank you!

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This new section of the JRS is devoted to happenings, events and announcements from our Regional Contacts and their communities around the world!

Remember, you can plug into your local community (updates all the time!) at
burningman.com…regional_contacts.html.

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A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO ATLANTA:

Dear RIPE Atlanta artists, performers, volunteers, the Metropolitan Public Art Coalition (MPAC), Art Papers, Holli Hines, and all the participants in Atlanta,

Larry Harvey and Jess Bobier’s visit to Atlanta was a week to remember. It was a fantastic introduction to the Atlanta arts community and a wonderful opportunity to meet many of you for the first time.

The BRAF fundraiser Holli Hines hosted at the Patio was a great chance to meet people one-on-one and discuss ways to further the objectives of the Black Rock Arts Foundation. Larry’s talk for Art Papers at the Woodruff Art Center’s Rich Auditorium was well attended by an audience composed of both Burning Man participants and many people who had only heard of Burning Man and came with many questions. Larry’s dialogue with Art Papers Editor, Charles Reeve, at Emory University’s Center for Myth and Ritual in American Life was informative and entertaining (thank you, Charles, for keeping the questions coming and things flowing so smoothly!). The subsequent round table was particularly provocative and provided an opportunity to discuss Burning Man within an academic framework. Larry especially enjoyed discussing art and ritual in a broader context with Professor Bradd and several Burning Man enthusiasts at the round table.

RIPE Atlanta at City View Sculpture Park was an amazing end to the week. What a wonderful testament to art and community in Atlanta! The range of art was truly impressive: from the gallery space to the large scale outdoor interactive sculpture and performances, the drum processional, the fire artists and performers, projection art and imagery, and on and on–all contributed to making the evening incredibly affirming. It was heartening to see a crowd of people–many who have never met one another before–so fully engaged and participating off the playa: climbing on Zach Coffin’s Rock Spinner, interacting with the giant wind chime, rocking on Charlie Smith’s Playground sculpture and dressed to express in fanciful costumes. Besides seeing many friends from the playa, it was also wonderful to meet so many who had not been to Burning Man, but embodied the spirit of what we love about being on the playa.

We would be remiss if we didn’t mention Paul Jorgensen’s iron pour bar-b-que and celebration Saturday night. It was an especially participatory event and felt like a family picnic.

Thank you ALL for your contributions. And thank you for making art and community so inspirational–and fun!

Special thanks to Zach Coffin, Grady Cousins, Charles Smith, Paul Jorgensen, Bill Gignilliat, Keith Helfrich, Jeffry Loy, Charles Reeve, Holly Hines, Professor Bradd and the members of MPAC and the RipeAtlanta organizers.

With Many Thanks,

Larry Harvey, Jess Bobier and Steven Raspa

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REPORT FROM ARIZONA’S TOAST

Ranger Report from Toastown 2003:

“Toast 2003 was a total success. Rangers Crow, Jynx, and Silent Wolf were present, and at last count there were 172 participants. Participants attended from all over Arizona, including a 12 person contingent from Arco Santi (arcosanti.org),. LA, San Diego, Santa Cruz, and Oakland CA, Portland OR, New Mexico, Houston TX, Boston, and London, UK. Rangers were welcomed warmly at the event and put into service in Toastown, which worked out beautifully for all involved. As one might imagine, many strangely beautiful and wondrous things transpired in the meantime.

Crow and Jynx arrived on Thursday night. helped place the bar in the center of Toastown, then set-up Range Outpost Toastown in between the sound art, burn area, bar, and Grover & Bliss’s White Palace. Wolf arrived Friday afternoon. A strangely painted playa bus from Phoenix arrived, and the Arco Santi crew drove into Toastown in a large bus painted with fish scales. There was a strange bamboo tower like structure in sections lashed to the top of the bus. Once erected, this monstrosity resembled the Eiffel tower. There was a Sake dome. A mad German scientist from New Mexico brought some primitive UFO technology, (floating paper candle lanterns). Alchemist built Mr. & Mrs. Toast, two eight-foot tall wooden sculptures. Gordy built Toastman, the large wooden effigy for Saturday night’s burn. The Eiffel tower and Mr. Toast burnt on Sunday night.

The community hosted a potluck party at the bar on Sunday night. There were some great fire performances by various folks. The techno-barrage of large-scale sound art was present out on one side of the town, which was shaped like a horseshoe, an elongated version of BRC. In all, there were only a few minor incidents that required ranger attention. We were appreciated, interviewed like grizzled veterans, thanked very graciously, and welcomed back insistently. Clean-up went smoothly, rangers helped out, and the community left no trace.

Toast is ultimately the product of two organizers, who function in an admirably simple and efficient manner. Gary Taylor is the Burning Man regional contact in Arizona, based out of Tucson. A wild, imaginative, amazing individual with a deep commitment to the maintenance of personal freedoms, individual rights, natural law, radical self-expression, and radical self-reliance. Grover Davis is a mischievous genius with a love of chaos and community, and a smile that appears frequently due to his impish sense of humor. He helped form the Solo-Collective camp.

Gary and Grover make a perfect team, and together they are an unstoppable burning machine. They hosted an incredible event for free, in the middle of nowhere, on private land that was freely offered as a gift by an older couple of burn-curious nudists, completely legally. All of the finest traditions and core values of the Burning Man ethos were extremely well-maintained on all levels. There were short trips hosted by individual participants to go 4-wheeling, gather firewood, hike thru canyons, and view ancient petroglyphs

This ranger could go on and on about Toastown, but suffice it to say that more information is available upon request, and pictures are forthcoming. In summary, I have no doubt that this local community and their event will continue to grow and inscribe their evolution on the communities that surround them. In addition, I would imagine that Black Rock City will have many new citizens from Toast this year and in the years to come, as neophytes from the regionals begin to make their ‘pilgrimage’ to the ‘big burn’.”

-From a report by Ranger Crow, May 2003

Wanna plug in to the AZ community?
burningman.com…us_az.html

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UTAH BURN: MAY 31-JUNE 1
UTAH

Hello Everyone,

The time is near for the annual Synorgy – Utah Burn to take place. The Utah Burn is now in it’s fifth year here in our happy little state. For more information on the Synorgy – Utah Burn take a look at our website at: synorgy.org

Here you will find write-ups and photos of our previous events along with information on the location and theme for this year’s Utah Burn. All the information is right there, and just waiting for you.

Tickets to the event are now on sale.

The event will be taking place May 31 – June 1st, so get your tickets right away. For complete information on Ticket sales take a look at: synorgy.org/tickets

Questions? write to utah

The Dave 23

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CLAN DESTINO CAMP FUNDRAISER
SATURDAY MAY 17TH
SAN FRANCISCO 9 PM

The Clan Destino Presents: Space Oddity: a galactic quest of perpetual indulgence.

A Fundraiser For the Clan Destino Camp and art Projects at BLACK ROCK CITY

Star date 05.17.2003
Illuminatrix Art Studio 955 E. Front St.
Doors open at 9 pm, show starts at 10:30 pm. Full Bar 21 and over. $8 with intergalactic space attire; $12 no costume

Visit illuminatrix.net for directions, and theclandestino.com to see what we have planned for the playa this year.

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SOL SYSTEM’S FLOW
SAN FRANCISCO
SATURDAY MAY 17TH
8:30 PM – 5 AM (DOORS CLOSE AT 11 PM)

Please join Sol System in our third and final indoor event of the year: FLOW: Saturday May 17th.

All tickets are pre-sale ONLY. For full performer list and more information visit www.solsystem.org/flow/

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{Soundtrack to this JRS: The Posies, “Frosting on the Beater”. Everyone needs a favorite band, and dammit, this is mine.}

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Office of the Jack Rabbit
http://www.burningman.com