JRS Volume #5; Issue #26

JRS/5:26/8.20.01

What’s this – the Jackrabbits are multiplying!!

Warm greetings and love *FROM THE PLAYA*, coming at you from the dusty fingers of Actiongrl. There’s so much information at this time of year that it takes a bunny AND a superhero to keep up with it all, so the Maiden and I are in a dead heat to see who can fastest finish the next edition of the JRS.

What words will do? When opening just one eye at the mountains I’m struck entirely speechless, as it is; when I think about what’s about to happen out here for everyone, all heck breaks loose inside my head. SEVEN days until Burning Man!?! Gardens of flames, winged creatures, mazes and monoliths, giant mobile heads, friends reuniting, crews sweating together, fire spitting, dancing and laughter and dust…

Maybe it’s best to let it all speak for itself, and get straight to the information, of which there is much.

This issue:

…away we go!

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ON Mutant Vehicles, from the DMV:

Lounging on the living room as it putt-putts across the playa, fetching a ride in a flame-throwing, fanged fish, groovin’ on that glorious, triple-decked golf cart… art vehicles are an integral piece of the Burning Man experience. If you’ve been wondering what it takes to get your art car-cart-vehicle registered at Burning Man, listen ye here to what the Department of Mutant Vehicles has to say. What constitutes an art vehicle? In brief, ’tis this:

A permanently altered vehicle that operates for the benefit of the community, not the driver.

A longer snippet from the Burning Man DMV site:

Art Car Definition: An Art Car, for the purposes of BRC 2001, is defined as any conveyance powered by any type motor, spring or pedal action or wind which has been created or modified from its standard configuration. Undecorated golf carts, vehicles stripped to their frame and engine or street vehicles with minimal changes or temporary decorations will not be considered Art Cars.

So, if you’re thinking about gluing 400 glowsticks to your car to get to drive it around the playa, think again! ALSO, if you want a nighttime driving permit your vehicle will need to be lit in a decorative manner, as well as the usual running lights. There are so many distractions at the event that every extra bit of attention-grabbing lighting will help folks notice you instead of walking into you or into your path. 🙂 PREREGISTER AND SAVE EVERYONE TIME! You can pre-register your art vehicle for Burning Man 2001. This does not mean your vehicle will be accepted as an art vehicle; it does, however, mean that you can spend your time flirting with the DMV hotties instead of filling out forms. We’ll have a printed copy of all the preregistration forms received.

To preregister: http://www2.burningman.com/dmv/

DMV web site: http://www.burningman.com/on_the_playa/playa_vehicles/dmv.html#top

questions? dmv(at)burningman(dot)com

THANKS!

miz jewelz

Lead Catherder & Whipmistress, Department of Mutant Vehicles

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BRC Hardware

Have something in your camp break, need another hammer or staple gun so everybody in your camp can work, run out of nails or duct tape, or have extra building supplies left over after your camp is finished? Come by the Black Rock City Hardware Shoppe at 5:59 Center Camp. We should be set up by Monday morning and ready for business. We’ll have power and hand tools to make or fix whatever you need. Some we’ll use for you, some we’ll let you use in our shop, and some we’ll even let you borrow. We’ll have nails, screws, stakes, rope, fasteners, nuts, bolts, and, of course, duct tape. We’ll have a board so that people with extra building supplies such as wood, conduit, or PVC or people looking for some can write down their camps information to get in touch with each other.

We do run on a barter/gift economy. We’re not going to stonewall anybody for anything like nails or a shot of WD40 and elbow grease, but don’t expect us to spend an afternoon cutting and bending rebar to make the stakes you forgot if you’re not willing to reciprocate. Good people like good beer. *hint* *hint*

We will also have passport stamps. Come by and sign our Book of Souls. See our desert attack high scooter.

Visit our webiste: http://www.invisiblecollege.net/volis/

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–marc17—

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ERRATA: Directions to Fernley Dump

A friendly participant was kind enough to set us straight on this one:

As I live in Fernley, I would like to share with my fellow Burners the correct and easiest way to get to the dump. The current directions tell people to head west on I-80 and take exit #48. Not only is the exit number incorrect (it should be 46), but it is EAST of Wadsworth. Heading west on I-80 will not take you towards Fernley but to Reno.

Here are the correct directions.

When you come into Wadsworth at the stop sign, instead of turning right towards I-80, turn left. Go through Wadsworth, under the interstate, past the Pilot Station (great place to get fuel and ice cream), and head into downtown Fernley. When you come to the stop light, turn right onto Hwy. 95A. Go about 2 miles. It will be on your left. If you pass the Fernley High School on your left, you have gone too far.

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6th ANNUAL CRITICAL TITS BICYCLE RIDE

All Women and Girls are invited to join us for the hottest event on the playa! The Critical Tits Bicycle Ride. We’ll meet at the man at 4 pm on Friday with bikes and painted chests. We’ll celebrate the feminine power and the beauty within each of us by riding through Black Rock City and finish with a cocktail party.

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Bring your skates to Burning Man!

Camp Roller Disco is back again and this time the nighttime skating rink is in Center Camp. Put on your cheesiest 70’s disco clothes, your gold chains and your roller or inline skates and come join the fun! You’ll be rolling to the sound of 70’s disco, and other favorites while a mirror ball and roving disco lights complete the scene. More details at http://www.rollerdisco.com.

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Lady Bee’s hot playa tip!

Here it is:

LATEX GLOVES

Really. I discovered this quite by accident last year while dressed as a nurse for the Artery…When you’re decorating your camp, doing things like tying, knotting, wiring, painting, hammering, whatever, the gloves keep your hands clean and MOIST!!!! you can do almost anything you can without them as they’re so minimal but at the end of the day when you take them off your hands will be very happy. They now come in colors as well as that surgical flesh tone.

LadyBee

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Earth Guardian Events Schedule

Daily events at this year’s Earth Guardian pavilion will be both educational and entertaining, ranging from juggling to didgeridoo, from music to theater. Performances between 11AM and 2PM most days. Also, nature walks on lands bordering the playa; walks are planned for Thursday and Saturday commencing at 6:30 AM.

Activities will center on bird watching, plant identification and desert ecology. Come experience the cycles of life that happen here all year. Group size limited, pre-registration requested. Public meetings relating Earth Guardian principles commence at 2PM daily; stop by for this one, folks, it’s fun and informative.

Location: Earth Guardian Pavilion in Center Camp

Contact: earthguardians(at)burningman(dot)com

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THE BURNING SCOUTS OF AMERICA website has been updated to include last year’s infamous Burning Scout Handbook!

http://www.burningscouts.org

We’ll get the mostly-new 2001 version up there just as soon as we shake these nasty hangovers.

Meanwhile, we urge BRC citizens to steal our ideas and start their own Burning Scout troops this year on the playa. Such troops are invited to convene at Burning Scout HQ in Gigsville, 6:30pm Friday nite, for a Prado-and-Puente fueled “Mambo-ree.” Everyone else is welcome, too. BYO Cigar.

In other news, nationally syndicated superstar astrologer ROB BREZNY has immortalized the Scouts in his August 9th column:

http://www.freewillastrology.com/pages/gemini.shtml

He basically says if you’re a Gemini you practically HAVE to become a Burning Scout. Which is great, ’cause I bet that means you Geminis will pay a pretty penny for the privilege.

Direct further inquiries to hotteenagegirl(at)burningscouts(dot)org

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Hi Burners-

THE WHEEL OF FIRE

On the night of the Burn, multiple torchlight processions will head to the Man all at the same time, from points all around Black Rock City. Together they will form the fiery spokes of a wheel over a mile across. Get in on the fun, the excitement! Ten Parade Torches have been designed, several are still available to interested Villages or Camps.

See http://www.clevian.com/processions to find out more and to sign up for the project.

BURN! BURN! BURN!

Lord NIACIN of SNOWFLAKE,

Coordinator, The Wheel of Fire Project

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Save your Altoids tins and save the playa

Maid Marian we need your help! As avid smokers we at the Cult of Distraction have noticed to our horror over the years that cigarette butts contribute to a significant garbage and cleanup problem at Burning Man. We have always used our own portable ashtrays but we wish to spread the practice. To that end we are going to be engaged in a grand portable ashtray giveaway. Basically they are just Altoid tins, but we need a lot of them. We have limited resources and only have about one hundred or so. WE NEED ALTOID BOX DONATIONS, THE MORE THE BETTER.

We need the community to come together and search those dark places for EMPTY Altoid boxes (AKA mint tins). They can be dropped off at our camp at Burning Man, and in return we will give you a little Distraction and maybe a surprise from the COD bar. We can’t let our fellow smokers desecrate the playa so we implore all of you out there to GIVE US YOUR ALTOIDS BOXES. We will use our special powers commonly known as “smoker’s radar” to hone in on other nicotine addicts to freely distribute the portable ashtrays. The more we have the more we can give away and the less butts will litter the playa which means less work for the cleanup crews.

Additionally can you point me to or provide for me some statistics about how big the butt problem has been in recent years. We are planning to provide some educational information about littered butts on the ashtrays. If you can post this on the JRS it would help us out immensely. We are spreading the word far and wide that we need Altoid boxes for this project.

Thank you very much for all of your help.

Dal Ra’az (Andi)

Co-Founder, The Cult of Distraction

www.cultofdistraction.org

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Satellite images of the playa

From Jim Caddell

The last JRS mentions a satellite map of NV, which I found to be pretty high up. Here are some more BRC maps for map lovers:

If you want a more detailed satellite photo of the Reno area, see:

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/ satblast/satBlast?lat=39.526405&lon=-119.812195 &zoom=5&height=225&width=450

For a color weather radar weather map, with animated NEXRAD, see:

http://www.wunderground.com/radar/station.asp?ID=RGX19&type=loop

Here’s a topographic map of the Black Rock Desert:

http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=11&n=4502546&e=300955&size=l

or try

http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com/image.asp?S=14&T=2&X=95&Y=1408&Z=11&W=2

Here’s a detailed satellite map of the Black Rock Desert. You can see the town of Gerlach at bottom/center, and follow the roads around both sides of the salt flat where BRC will be.

http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com/image.asp?S=13&T=1&X=188&Y=2815&Z=11&W=2

Jim

Here’s another one:

Want a BEAUTIFUL color view? Go to www.mapquest.com, punch in Gerlach, NV, hit the “Big Map” button then hit the “aerial photo” tab. Pretty amazing photos!

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BUYER BEWARE

The organizers of Burning Man have received reports of phony tickets being sold. If you buy from an outside source that is not one of our outlets, you may be subject to a counterfeiting scam. Fellow Black Rock Citizens, we forewarn you. If a gate person finds your ticket illegitimate, you will have to buy a gate ticket at the $250 price. Make sure that ticket is real.

Valid tickets are easily discernable from counterfeits by the following:

  1. If you have a friend with a ticket purchased through Burning Man, compare the colors and paper quality. There are two colors of valid tickets this year: Purple border – same as last year, and bright green.
  2. Valid tickets are multiple layer paper with a bit of color in the middle. Make a small tear in a corner of the little stub part of the ticket to peel back the layer and look for some color – it is kinda pinkish / salmon / rose/ orange.
  3. Valid tickets are heat sensitive, which is why you should not leave them on the dash of your car …… Expose a corner to heat and it will turn black – this is not the best test though because if you blacken the whole ticket, it’s worthless.

CAUTION, do not tear the stubs off the ticket! It must be whole when you enter Black Rock City. (But a little tear in the corner is OK.)

Counterfeit tickets are often slightly blurry, paper feels different, ink may smear when wet, etc. We caught a person selling some like this at the entrance to our city last year. The participants who were duped would have avoided the problem by closely inspecting the tickets.

One simple way to avoid phony tickets is to buy from an authorized outlet: TicketWeb or our friends handling walk-in sales at Distractions in San Francisco, The Melting Pot in Reno, and Red Cat Records in Winnemucca.

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Here’s a fake ticket tale from a wary participant:

“Warning to anyone buying tickets for Burning Man via Craigslist: Some stoopid tweakers are trying to sell color photocopies of tix as you read this.

I just met some foolio (via C-list posting) at a public place to purchase two tix and the first clue was his use of a fake name. I called out the name he gave me but he forgot which fake name he was using so he walked right by and then came back 10 seconds later saying he’s used to people calling him “X”. Second, he looked like an EndUp reject. And third he said a bunch of unconvincing and stupid things when I produced a real ticket to compare to his fake ones.

There are fake (color photo-copied) tickets so beware. If you are buying tix this year from a private party and you have a chance to borrow a friend’s real ticket…I’d advise bringing that with you to the exchange so you can easily compare b4 you turn over the Benjamin’s! I almost just lost $300 to a tweaker….so that’s why I’m posting this warning.

If you don’t know what real ticket looks like, there is a purple outline on the front as a border. (AG says: Some tickets at the $175 level and higher have a green border instead of purple.) If you look closely at this purple part, it’ s easy to see the glossy finish that TicketWeb has used. The fake ones I looked at did not have this “gloss” on the front of the ticket.

Also, on the front is the big warning that you assume risk by going etc, etc. Behind this black text is a very, very light green “ticketweb” logo that a color photocopier won’t be able to reproduce. The fakes I saw didn’t have this anti-fraud logo behind the text on the front of the ticket.

Also check the perforations. if you’re a tweaker making fakes at Kinko’s you will use a pizza cutter to try and reproduce the preforations. whereas, the real tix have a tighter and less noticable perforation. again, helpful to compare a real ticket to the ones you might be buying.

The last obvious thing I saw was the back of the ticket. it’s just black text of a big Ticketweb logo. my fakes had those stray black marks that photocopies often leave. ie; it had faint black marks behind the text that really stand out on a white background.”

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Soundtrack to me on the playa, T minus 7 days:

Built to Spill, Louvin Brothers, Jimmie Rodgers, Supergrass, DJ z-Trip and DJ P, Desmond Dekker, Pokey’s mix tape …and, always playing inside my head, Sigur Ros Ágætis byrjun (which I quite regrettably forgot to pack.)

See you when you get here. We’ll be waiting!

xoxo,

*AG*

P.S. One more thing: All hail the DPW!!!!!!

Andie Kopp

Actiongrl

Burning Man Communications

415/550 3080 x108

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Live from Gerlach, NV