Jrs V13 I01

JRS VOLUME #13; ISSUE #01

Burning Man Update: The Jack Rabbit Speaks
Volume 13, Issue #1
September 13, 2008

Is it just us, or did the event week blow by in the blink of an eye? Suddenly we find ourselves back in the default world, with a vague, Manchurian candidate-like notion that *something* happened to us … something nascent has been planted in the deep recesses of our brain, encased in intractable dust. Now and again the memories surface, scratching away a bit of the coating from our everyday lives, exposing the briefest glimpse of the playa’s vast expanse, and we involuntarily strain to keep hold of it … and just. stay. there.

We’d like to thank everybody who came out to the Black Rock Desert, and joined with 49,000+ other kindred souls to create the most incredible city on the planet, and made it disappear. We had a fabulous time, and we hope you did too. Thanks to the artists who toiled for so many months to create incredible installations and breathtaking mutant vehicles. Humble thanks to all.

Currently, the DPW and Playa Restoration crew are hard at work returning the playa to its pristine, pre-event condition. And may we say? All hail the DPW who work so very hard that we may play. They are truly a breed apart, as well as being instrumental to our city’s existence. Thank you, DPW.

In this issue, we welcome your feedback, help you find your lost stuff, encourage you to offer up your stories and photographs, and let you know how to get involved year round…and, we have a word or two about next year’s art theme.

The Man burns in 357 days (if that seems weird to you, you can thank Aloisius Lilius, creator of the Gregorian calendar).

-PQ (Associate Rabbit)

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LATEST NEWS:
+ WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK ABOUT THE EVENT
+ WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK ABOUT LAW ENFORCEMENT
+ DID YOU GET A CITATION ON PLAYA? WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT.
+ HAPPY REUNIONS (AKA: GET YOUR STUFF BACK VIA BURNING MAN LOST AND FOUND)
+ 2009 ART THEME: EVOLUTION
+ 2008/9 BURNING MAN WALL CALENDAR NOW AVAILABLE
+ WHY DIDN’T THE FIRE CONCLAVE PERFORM AT THE BURN?
+ TV FREE BURNING MAN PODCASTS

PARTICIPATE:
+ GOT A TALE TO TELL? TELL IT.
+ GOT A GREAT PHOTOGRAPH FROM THE PLAYA? SHARE IT.
+ GOT SOMETHING YOU CREATED TO GIFT ON THE PLAYA? ARCHIVE IT.
+ KEEP THE BURNING MAN SPIRIT ALIVE YEAR ROUND!
+ DETROIT DREAM PROJECT ARSON — HELP REPAIR THEIR TEMPLE

PHOTOS & IMAGES:
+ DPW MUG SHOTS BY SERRA

ADMINISTERRATA:
+ Want to unsubscribe from the JRS? Srsly? OK, here’s how: http://tinyurl.com/2rwqzx

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WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK ABOUT THE EVENT

Did you have a great experience this year? Did you have a crappy one? Have you got some idea burning in your brain about how to do something better? Something you thought was outstanding that you’d like to heap loads of praise on us for? Let us know! We want both the positive and the negative … but either way, being polite is always very much appreciated.

The Burning Man staff reads every feedback email that comes in, and we factor all types of feedback into our planning process for the next event.

Email your feedback to feedback (at) burningman (dot) com before October 1st … we look forward to hearing from you! Thanks!

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WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK ABOUT LAW ENFORCEMENT

If you had an interaction with law enforcement on playa this year, we want to hear your story! Whether your experience was positive or negative, we want to know about it, so that we can know what kind of interations there were, and work with law enforcement to improve their understanding of the event and our populace, and to foster better training of the officers working in Black Rock City.

We’ve put our Law Enforcement Feedback Form on the Burning Man website so that you can download it, print it, fill it out, and send it in to us. Please do this as soon as possible, while the details of your particular incident is still fresh in your mind. You can learn more and download the form on the Burning Man website:

http://tinyurl.com/564tmv

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DID YOU GET A CITATION ON PLAYA? WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT.

If you were issued a citation by BLM this year then contact Lawyers for Burners to learn what your legal rights are and whether it would be better to pay the ticket or fight it in court. Lawyers for Burners’ goal is to provide free legal advice for all Burners who were issued BLM citations for Closure Order violations or simple possession of drugs. For more serious violations like drug trafficking, Lawyers for Burners cannot provide free legal service. However, they can refer you to Burner criminal defense attorneys in Nevada who can help. Go to http://lawyersforburners.com/site/ and fill in the online form with your information and you will be contacted by one of the lawyers.

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HAPPY REUNIONS (AKA: GET YOUR STUFF BACK VIA BURNING MAN LOST AND FOUND)

Did you LOSE something at this year’s burn?

Did you FIND something?

A group of dusty large plastic bins has arrived at the San Francisco Burning Man offices, and staff and volunteers are picking through and carefully inventorying the found items turned into Playa Info at Black Rock City in an attempt to discover their rightful owners.

In the days ahead, we will post light descriptions of the found items on The Burning Man Project’s community bulletin board, the ePlaya:

http://eplaya.burningman.com/index.php

If you believe a posted item is yours, and you can “fill in the blanks”, write lostandfound (at) burningman (dot) com and reference the ePlaya post, including the ITEM NUMBER the Project uses to inventory found items.

In the ePlaya Year-Round Connections section you will find categories to look for, or list items you lost at Burning Man 2008. Many items are taken home by other well-meaning Burners. Your best way to connect to them and your missing items is to search the ePlaya.

Or maybe you FOUND something? List it on the ePlaya to find its rightful owner!

Other options:

Write lostandfound (at) burningman (dot) com if you are missing something.

Write lostbikes (at) burningman (dot) com for bikes.

Maybe we have it? They key is to provide as detailed a description as humanly possible. Color(s)? Brand name? As much of the contents you can remember? Help us, help you!

Here’s to many happy reunions … however, our efforts to return lost and found items conclude when tickets for our next Burn go on sale mid-January.

– Sincerely Yours, “Lawston Found”

p.s. Now, don’t lose this email, OK? Heh. We kid.

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2009 ART THEME: EVOLUTION

As soon as the Man fell in 2008, the art theme for 2009 was published on the Burning Man website.

We are happy to report that the art theme for 2009 is: “Evolution: A Tangled Bank”. To read the full theme text, please visit:

http://tinyurl.com/58ozhm

As we announce this art theme, please let us offer at the same time an apology of sorts: we’re sorry to have left scant room for complaint with this one. 😉

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2008/9 BURNING MAN WALL CALENDAR NOW AVAILABLE

This is the coolest and most beautiful wall calendar we’ve done yet. How this team continues to outdo themselves is way beyond us. Really well done, kids. This year’s calendar brings you “The Illustrated History: Twelve Years of Art Themes”.

Get yours here: http://tinyurl.com/59gg35

Note: it’s 2008/9 because *our* year ends and starts on the night of the Burn. Yes, it does.

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WHY DIDN’T THE FIRE CONCLAVE PERFORM AT THE BURN?

For those accustomed to the stylings of those hundreds of fire spinners from all over the world that usually perform before the Man burns, this year was an anomaly: although dozens of conclaves and hundreds of performers worked hard all year to prepare for this performance, and were staged at the ready, waiting for the winds to die down, Mother Nature had other plans — and ultimately the Man burned unaccompanied.

So what happened – why couldn’t the conclaves perform? We’ll let Crimson Rose, Managing Art Director and goddess-mama of the flame, explain:

“As one of the members of the board of directors for Burning Man, safety above all things is paramount to me. It is higher than any kind of selfish desire on my part. The weather in the Black Rock Basin is the highest authority of all and must be heeded.

Saturday night, the Man stood packed with serious pyrotechnics and loaded with fuel for many hours. In normal conditions this is serious … in a dust storm, we had the potential of an emergency on our hands. The weather forecast for that evening predicted winds of up to 40 mph for the next 24 hours. That meant that the potential of canceling the burn was a very real issue.

WHEN and IF a window of acceptable weather opened up, we needed to work fast and get that Man burned; dissassembly was just not an option. We had no idea how long the window would stay open before the window closed again, but the Man would not burn until it was safe.

For these reasons I had to make a very sad decision, one that was not made lightly and was full of pain. To not see these wonderful performers all light up surrounding the Man is a vision that is lost for this year.

But in spite of everything it was the most incredible burn ever in the 18 years I have stood at the foot of the Man.”

Our thanks do go out to the the Fire Conclaves and other performers whose hard work was lost to the winds that night. Please know that you were missed!

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TV FREE BURNING MAN PODCASTS!

Check out the podcasts from TV Free Burning Man and first person multimedia digital messages direct from participants on the playa. You can even upload and share your own photos and videos.

http://current.com/topics/32967339_burning_man

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GOT A TALE TO TELL? TELL IT.

If you’ve got a great playa story to tell, we would love to have it in our collection of Tales from the Playa on the Burning Man website. Heck, you’ll be immortalized and whatnot! We really do appreciate the participants’ perspective of the event, as there are as many unique experiences on the playa as there are people, and these stories are part of our collective culture. Please avoid references to illegal activities (not that you would *ever* do something illegal) or violations of privacy without permission. Email your story to tales (at) burningman (dot) com.

Read previously published tales on Burningman.com here:

http://tinyurl.com/ckxe3

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GOT A GREAT PHOTOGRAPH FROM THE PLAYA? SHARE IT.

Are you a shutterbug? Did you take that *perfect* shot this year? Perhaps it’s worth inclusion in the Burning Man image gallery? Hmmm? Hmmm? Now, not every picture gets in willy nilly, mind you. In fact, here’s our criteria:

“All submitted images are reviewed by a photo editor to determine inclusion in the gallery. We select high quality photographs of subjects that are of widespread interest to the Burning Man community and that feature unique aspects of the event. Images documenting art, themecamps, nature, costumes, performance, organized events, and compelling portraits with emotional intensity or beautiful composition and mood are preferred over snapshots of friends or groups of camp mates. Accepted images must be well composed, in focus, and contain recognizable and unobstructed subject matter. Please upload your best shots only – we don’t use images that are out of focus, poorly composed, too dark or light, grainy, or indecipherable. We will not accept photos that depict sexual acts, illegal activities or product brands.”

OK, so that said, it’s good to browse the image gallery for a bit to get a sense of what we’re looking for before you start picking out your ideal shots: http://images.burningman.com … then, when you’re ready, learn about how to submit your photos to the gallery here:

http://tinyurl.com/5lrj9g

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GOT SOMETHING YOU CREATED TO GIFT ON THE PLAYA? ARCHIVE IT.

Burning Man maintains a material culture archive (also known as Playa Artifacts) on our website, cataloging as many gifts and objects that participants and the Burning Man Project have created for the event throughout the years. It’s basically our online museum of participant-generated objects. You can find it here: http://pa.burningman.com … and to add your object to the collection, learn how here:

http://tinyurl.com/58rj24

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KEEP THE BURNING MAN SPIRIT ALIVE YEAR ROUND!

OK so you’ve had an amazing Burning Man experience, and you’re seriously lamenting being back home amongst people who likely look at you like you’ve got a horn growing out of your head as you breathlessly tell them story after story which to them may as well be telling them stories about a flea circus on the surface of Mars, and you can betcha they’ll be hard pressed to understand what the hell you’re talking about. Right? Right.

But there’s hope!

It’s highly likely there’s a group of Burners near you who are feeling pretty much the same way … and they’d likely want to connect with you. You can hook up through our Regionals Network. Find your closest regional here:

http://regionals.burningman.com and get connected!

If you’d like to get your volunteer on, Burners Without Borders is a loose collection of like-minded Burners who seek to gift their services to people in need, wherever they may be. You can participate in BWB activites, or start your own, and leverage the BWB network to collect and organize your volunteer crew. Learn more on their website: http://www.burnerswithoutborders.org

Huzzah.

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DETROIT DREAM PROJECT ARSON — HELP REPAIR THEIR TEMPLE

The Black Rock Arts Foundation awarded a grant to the Detroit Dream Project, a David Best temple constructed in the blighted neighborhood of Detroit. Doxie, the project’s manager (of whom we are a big fan), writes to let us know that it was recently the victim of arson. In true Burner spirit, they are undaunted, and will rebuild the damaged parts. If you can help them, please do … read on. Doxie writes:

“Hello and Greetings,

As many of you know by now someone set fire to the Detroit Dream Projects Temple to the American Dream on September 2. The Temple is still standing but has sustained some damage.

We are obviously very disappointed by this unfortunate situation, but like the Phoenix from the Ashes we will regenerate and rebuild. Did you know our logo is the Phoenix rising over the city of Detroit?

And that is what we plan to do this coming Sunday, September 14, 2008 at the Temple site located at 17363 Redford Street, Detroit Michigan, next to the Motor City Blight Busters Headquarters from 12 noon til after dark so we can get some fire performing in hopefully!

We will be hosting an informal workday and potluck fundraiser that day to help assist us in repairing the damage to the back post of the structure. Won’t you come out?!

Your presence and support would be very appreciated! If you can come out to help or just enjoy the day with us at the site we would be very happy to have the company! If you are able to make a financial donation I will be accepting donations at the site that day or you may visit our website at http://www.detroitdreamproject.com/ to make a donation that way! Any help will be put to good use!

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me (313.608.4580) or any member of SPARC through the website.

Thank you on behalf of SPARC and the Detroit Dream Project!

Danielle Kaltz
(~doxie)

to view images of the damage: http://tinyurl.com/6llp2m

Please feel free to forward to this email to any person or organizations you think would be helpful!”

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DPW MUG SHOTS BY SERRA

Our good friend Serra popped these great shots of DPW crewmembers, and stuck ’em on Flickr for us to enjoy … if you see any of these folks around, be sure to thank ’em:

http://tinyurl.com/6ztdeh

More links on the way next issue when we can find our way through the inboxes again…

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{====================================================} ==============ADMIN ON AND OFF THE JRS============== {====================================================}

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Soundtrack for this JRS: Gentleman Auction House, David Byrne & Brian Eno, Stereolab, High Places, Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip, Wilco