Jrs V10 I12

JRS VOLUME #10; ISSUE #12

Burning Man Update: The Jack Rabbit Speaks
Volume 10, Issue12
January 26, 2006

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220 days. Why is that number so lovely? Because it’s smaller than it was yesterday.

Since the volunteers with the Temple to Temple crew are on my mind today(they’ve finished the temple in Biloxi and have moved camp to go help residents of a bayou area called Pearlington that doesn’t appear on any maps, by the way), I want to share the best stuff first. I’m still kinda just staring at my screen in awe after being taken back to my favorite playa moment ever – Reverend Billy’s sermon and Joan Baez singing Amazing Grace at the sermon for New Orleans at the temple in ’05.

http://www.lennyjones.net/burn2005/burn2005video/b5VIDEOweb/b5view10.html

Lenny Jones, you have done it again – what a beautiful piece….this JRS comes to you complete with goosebumps.

Also, we’d like to thank everyone who took a moment to write a supportive email this week to the very human human beings who are working hard to right things that went askew during the ticket launch last week. It’s truly lovely that people would take the time to write to the beleaguered Bex and Frog and the ticket crew to give them a little support. (Bex, by the way, was the author of the ticket post on Thursday, working with Urb from InTicketing to fill you in on what happened. Many of you complemented the writing, so, there’s credit where due.)

So now that the big day has come and gone, it’s about time to open our minds to the possibilities that lie ahead…the season of maquettes, mockups and maps is upon us, and the proposals will soon begin to trickle in. Playa art is on our minds, and it’s not just on the playa: while Michael Christian’s Flock still stands proud outside San Francisco’s City Hall, and conversations continue about the installation of even more Burning Man art around town, other regional groups are following suit and approaching their own city governments about public interactive works at home.

The Black Rock Art Foundation (http://www.blackrockarts.org) is only too happy to be knee-deep in this dialogue, and without you, its mission would be impossible. Our deepest kind of gratitude goes out to those of you who saw fit to include a BRAF donation with your ticket purchase this year – the response has been tremendous, and we’re all very eager to see those dollars turn into public art in all kinds of glorious places.

So what, then, to prepare for the playa? Well, you could gear up with a taste of home by checking out the new Current TV piece on Burning Man 2005 (check it out below under “BLACK ROCK CITY NEWS”) or take in “Beyond Black Rock” at a film festival near you, should you live in Boulder, Santa Fe, Del Ray Beach, or, um, Istanbul…that’s in News, too. Or you could check out 2004’s “Dreamtiles” project, or plan to wow the folks at the Transformus Southeast Regional Burn with an art project in July. Lemuria gets into the fundraising act with their event in February, and plan now for your visit to Arizona’s Toast! this May (not to be missed, really) or NowHere, the European burn in July. PLUS, my boss just got back from Utah (one of the most beautiful places on the planet, I must say) and she’s got a full regional report for your enjoyment!

Alla dat, plus more, and what’s new at Burningman.com in this week’s JRS.

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BLACK ROCK CITY NEWS:
Maid Marian Visits Utah
Beyond Black Rock at BIFF Film Fest, Colorado, 2/16 – plus others
Current TV Welcomes You to Burning Man
What’s New at Burningman.com

PARTICIPATE:
Dreamtiles Comes To Life
Art Wanted for Southeast Regional Burn, July 21-23
Burning Band 2006!

EVENTS AND HAPPENINGS:
Camp Fundraiser in Vancouver Feb 4
5th Annual Toast! in Arizona, May 4-7
3rd Annual European Regional Burn, July 6-9

ON AND OFF THIS CRAZY LIST

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MAID MARIAN GOES TO THE ‘DANCE
Jack Rabbit Marian Visits Utah, Finds Burner Community Alive and Thriving!

I’ll let the lady tell you for herself: “The Jack Rabbit loves to keep Burners up to date on what’s happening around the world. Every now and then we’ll give you insight on a regional group. This past weekend, on her way to Sundance the Big Meow (aka: Maid Marian) headed to Sundance in Park City, Utah. On her way she stopped for a few hours in Salt Lake City to say hello to the regional contact and a small group of Burners. She was picked up at the airport by co-regional Adrian’s (aka Queen Mab) husband Brett. He’s a 20-year photographer still able to make his living in photography. He also shoots beautiful portraits of the Utah burners at play in the desert and in SLC. <http://tribes.tribe.net/tribalportraits/tribephotos>. The Rabbit was whisked to Del’s home where about 30 Burners were waiting with cocktails in hand. A chair was provided, and after introductions all around (one couple came from Idaho) an impromptu Q&A about art grants was launched.

Questions centered around how to apply for an art grant and the difference between grants available from the Black Rock Arts Foundation <http://www.blackrockarts.org/grantapp.html> and Burning Man <http://www.burningman.com/installations/art_guidelines.html>. There are quite a few differences so if you’re interested please read the links provided here. For one, Burning Man art grant cycles CLOSES on February 15th, but the Black Rock Arts Foundation cycle opens on February 14th. However, there are more differences than that, so please read all the information before engaging yourself in either process. Big thanks to all the ticket buyers who’ve recently donated to BRAF.

Through the short meeting it was clear to the Jack Rabbit that the Utah community is absolutely thriving! There’s a group that’s formed a non-profit which goes by the name of “AMO Tribe”. They have regular meetings, have created a “club house” to work on crafts, teach skills, and gather to celebrate. If you’re passing through SLC you can find more info about them here: <http://www.amotribe.com/> and conversations and up-to-date information here: <http://tribes.tribe.net/amotribe>. AMO seems to mean different things to different people, but most often it seems to be: Alchemists, Magicians and Outlaws.

Not all of the SLC or Utah Burners are active in the AMO Tribe. Most of the rest, though, can be found on the yahoo group with about 1000 members: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/utahburn/>. There also seems to be a small Utah Burners Tribe @ 801burn.tribe.net. The Utah Burners have been doing a “regional burn” since June of 1999; the event named Synorgy is traced to about 2001. We’ve been told by the regional contacts that the event is going through a likely name change for 2006, but whatever it’s called you can celebrate with them in the Utah desert over a long weekend starting on Thursday, June 8th until Sunday, June 11th. Check out their web site at <http://www.utahburn.org/>, info about 2006 is not yet up. So if you’re interested join the yahoo group above, or email <utah (at) burningman (dot) com> and asked to be placed on their announcement list.

So, just as the Rabbit was reaching saturation on the Q & A half the room stood up and announced they are about to take “the bus” to Park City to see Michael Franti and Spearhead who were playing at a Park City venue. (Seems this bus has done quite a few adventures including a visit to the Las Vegas burn “Dark Skies” this past fall.) There were still Burners to talk to, like Jordan Tenney who showed images of his “Order and Chaos” project from 2005, <http://images.burningman.com/index.cgi?image=24061>, which was up for less than 48-hours, and then drawings of his project for 2006. And, the Rabbit needed to meet up with her friends at the airport and drive to Park City. However, under a little bit of friendly pressure the Rabbit took the offer from co-regional Dave23 and was shuttled to the airport to beg her friends to take her bags, and raced to the waiting bus and then with 40+ friendly, boisterous, singing, drum-playing burners headed up the mountain to hear live music.

As the adventurers pulled away from the “club house” Del received a call from Jennifer a woman he’d just met as he headed out of the house to get on the bus. She had just moved into the area, and was hoping to meet the local Burning Man group. After a quick exchange of information she meet the group in Park City. Jennifer had just moved to SLC from Minneapolis. She remarked that it’s pretty amazing to be a Burner and just arrive at a new city and immediately have a whole tribe of new friends. That’s what it’s like to be a Burner!!!

Thank you thank you thank you from the Jack Rabbit for an absolute blast with the Utah Burners.

The Maid Marian Rabbit’s Burning Man connectivity didn’t end that night after the post-party. She stayed with Burners at a place in Park City. The group was there for various personal reasons, but the majority of members in the household were awaiting the Sundance Film Festival premier of a documentary about the EV-1 called: “Who Killed the Electric Car?” by Chris Paine (also a Burner). <http://www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com/> <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489037/>. It’s a fantastic film, and I don’t say that lightly. A standing ovation on opening night gave some indication of this. While waiting through the weekend for the Monday night premier the group caught a Short Subjects Program and got to see Burner and Webbie Awards Founder, Tiffany Schlain’s “Tribe” <http://www.tribethefilm.com/>, also a really excellent, informative piece.

Two members of this adventure also caught Rob Van Alemade’s short film about Reverend Billy, which was his first project on the Reverend. Check it out at http://festival.sundance.org/2006/watch/film.aspx?which=433 . (Rob was the DP on “Beyond Black Rock”, by the way.) His second project on Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping was launched in December as a road trip from NYC ending in Anaheim, at Disneyland. The group weathered all kinds of adventures including being rear-ended by a semi-truck on I-80 in Ohio. Our wonderful staff-member Actiongrl (aka: Andie Grace) took a 5-week leave of absence to help produce this film with the 35-member choir and crew. Read about their adventures here: http://www.revbilly.com/blog/.

The Jack Rabbit was MOST particularly fond of the screening at Slamdance of the documentary “B.I.K.E” a film about the bike culture in NYC, specifically the “tall bikes” and the “Black Label” Bike club. <http://www.slamdance.com/2006/festival/film_detail.asp?film_id=796>. It’s a story of the failed attempts of the film-makers to become members of the bike club. A number of your favorite Burning Man Department of Public Works (DPW) crew are in the 89-minute film. An all around great story considering it’s very hard to find natural story-line in a documentary, but this one sure has it.

Burning Man is alive and well in Utah. Make it happen in your neighborhood. Connect with your regional contact, or visit one as you’re traveling. Stay connected!

Meow meow.

Rabbit Marian”

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BEYOND BLACK ROCK FILM FESTIVAL FIESTA

Daaag, Mr. Wilson, that Burning Man movie of yours is really making the rounds! Catch “Beyond Black Rock” at a film festival near you…

**Santa Fe Film Festival 2005 (http://www.santafefilmfestival.com)**

The film is still screening at the Santa Fe Film Center: 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1

**Boulder International Film Fest 2006 (http://www.biff1.com)**

BIFF premiere Friday, Feb. 17, (should be around 9:30 – watch the website!) at the Boulder Theater. Come turn it out, and meet members of the cast and crew!

**Istanbul Independent FIlm Fest 2006 (http://www.ifistanbul.com)**

Wow. Turkey? Istanbul Independent Film Fest will be screening Beyond Black Rock, and I’d tell you exactly where, but that particular page of their website crashes my browser. Maybe you’ll have better luck as time goes on… despite my own technical problem, we chose include it here because a.) at least 8 previous years’ tickets have been purchased out of Turkey, so there are at least a few of us there, and b.) Turkey. I mean, that’s pretty darn cool, no? That’s in February, if you’re interested – Tuesday February 21 and Saturday February 25th, both at 15:30 (3:30 PM, of course.)

**Del Ray Beach Film Fest 2006 (http://www.delraybeachfilmfestival.com)**

This brand-new film festival, held in Florida on March 8-12, will be screening “Beyond Black Rock”…they haven’t announced their full schedule yet, but that there website link right above this paragraph will take you to where you can sign up for their newsletter, and/or just check back periodically.

Keep tabs on the film at http://www.burningmanmovie.com

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CURRENT TV WELCOMES YOU TO BURNING MAN

Current TV is a concept we love – “viewer-produced television”. That means user-created content! Justin Gunn (who actually works for Current TV itself) produced a couple of video “pods” (what you or I might call shows or episodes) for viewing on and over their website. The first one’s called “Welcome to Burning Man” which gives a nice little overview of our event. Check it out if you’re aching for a taste of the playa.

http://www.current.tv/video/?id=6184&WT.mc_id=JRS

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WHAT’S NEW AT BURNINGMAN.COM

The Web Team That Never Sleeps…take it, PQ:

“We’ve had lots of stuff going on with the website lately … here, for your enjoyment, are some of the highlights.

1. TICKET INFORMATION. Yes, it was a bumpy ride that first day of ticket sales, and we were hard at work on our side, keeping the Burning Man site itself (which is separate from the ticketing site and servers) up and running under the deluge of hits, and up to date with the latest information about ticket status … which was practically a minute-by-minute affair. We’ve put up full information about what happened that day, and how people who got caught in the tumult can get solutions to their issues. http://tinyurl.com/bopo7

2. BLACK ROCK ARTS FOUNDATION. BRAF is a cornerstone of the future of Burning Man, as they are working hard to facilitate the creation and dissemination of community-based, interactive art off playa. To show our love, and increase their visibility to our participants, we’ve dedicated a section of the homepage to them, over in the right column. http://www.burningman.com

3. REGIONALS INFORMATION UPDATED. We’ve gotten the most recent information for several of our Regional Representatives, and we’ve updated their pages accordingly. There are also some new contacts – Lake Tahoe (tahoe (at) burningman (dot) com) and New Hampshire (newhampshire (at) burningman (dot) com) both have that new-email-address smell and are ready to hear from locals who would like to stay connected. Pages for them soon, too, and more at http://regionals.burningman.com

4. ART THEME. The Art Theme for Burning Man 2006 will be “The Future: Hope and Fear.” We created a beautiful (if we do say so ourselves) art deco styled page for this year’s theme. Check it out: http://tinyurl.com/8nzq2.

5. AFTERBURN COMING! Burning Man’s annual report, The AfterBurn, is currently under development, and will be live in February … earlier than we’ve ever turned it out, thanks to the diligence of our staffers who author the articles, our intrepid coding team. To read previous AfterBurn reports, visit http://afterburn.burningman.com.

We hope you’re getting valuable information from the website, and are enjoying yourself while you dig in there. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, I always love to hear from our participants. Hit me up at webmaster(at)burningman(dot)com. Burn on!

-Playaquest (aka PQ) Burning Man Webmaster”

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DREAMTILES COME TO LIFE

eDave writes: “Dreamtiles were created by the participants of Burning Man 2005

Attached to a mutant vehicle, the 6-inch plastic tiles started out blank, but rapidly became art.

As the event began, all the tiles were blank. Magic markers were immediately at hand. It was obviously an invitation to each participant. Each person chose a tile and drew their dream on it. They drew a symbol, a picture, a word, or anything. Their dream thus recorded, the tile become a part of them. Replacing the tile in the mosaic, their dream become a part of it. Slowly over the days, all the tiles filled with dreams. Now, in the dark winter months, we need dreams more than ever. The dream tiles are now here, on the internet at http://dreamtiles.paqq.com Feel free to return for a short time to the dream place. Thanks to all who contributed! Love, eDave”

Be sure to click one of the tiles to get in and see more about the project!

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ART WANTED FOR SOUTHEAST REGIONAL EVENT, JULY 21-23

From our friends at Transformus: “Transformus is the Southeast Regional Burn currently held on 900 acres of private property nestled deep in the cathartic Blue Ridge Mountains near Asheville North Carolina. This year’s event will be July 21-23, 2006

Ticket sales are tentatively slated to begin on March 1st and we’ve decided to cap our event at 1200 this year. We’d love to have you and your art attend so please reserve those tickets early! Email art(at)Transformus(dot)com or check our website for more information.

Transformus wants your art, and we’ll do all kinds of naughty things to get it!”

http://www.transformus.com/

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BURNING BAND 2006

2006 will be BURNING BAND’S 10th Consecutive Year entertaining at Burning Man in Black Rock City!! If you are a Musician, a Twirler, a Stilt Walker, a Drum Major, or Kazoo player….. BURNING BAND wants YOU!!! (FAQ – How good do I need to be to join? Answer: As long as you know which end to blow in, you’ve passed the instrumental audition… all others will be relegated to the percussion section!)

Through the years, BURNING BAND has performed in BRC at parties, weddings, faux funerals, circus shows, art work productions, in Central Camp, as well as spontaneous parading through the streets of BRC. We proudly wear our BURNING BAND uniforms as we meander through BRC.

For a picture of BURNING BAND 2005:
http://flickr.com/photos/22076454@N00/47494046/

It is never too early to sign up to be a part of this eccentric, eclectic group! Nor is it too early to ‘book’ the BURNING BAND to play for your BRC event.

For more information, to join, or to book BURNING BAND, contact CARBON BUILDUP: <pmeasele (at) oda (dot) state (dot) or (dot) us> or CARMEN: <carmengarters (at) aol (dot) com>

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LEMURIA CAMP FUNDRAISER 2/4 IN VANCOUVER

Lemuria gets the jump on fundraiser season:

Club 23, 23 W, Cordova, Vancouver, BC 9pm – 3am.

Door $10. All proceeds to fund Art project.

For more info on the camp, art and events visit their website
http://www.lemuria.parallels.ca

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EUROPEAN REGIONAL EVENT – NOWHERE 2006 DATE ANNOUNCEMENT
Thursday 6th – Sunday 9th JULY 2006

Spain, anyone? “The Third Adventure in the Middle of Nowhere. You are invited to participate in the 2006 Nowhere European Burn, a celebration of self-expression through art, costumes, music, performances and tomfoolery. Tickets will go on sale next month, and location details will be announced shortly.”

In the meantime, check the Euroburners site for more details:
http://www.euroburners.org/wikka/NoWhere

To join the discussion and keep up-to-date with announcements, sign up to the Nowhere email list: http://www.euroburners.org/wikka/MailingList

For more info on Burning Man community in Europe:
http://regionals.burningman.com/eu.html

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TOAST IN ARIZONA MAY 4-7TH

Gary and Grover, Toast! Coordinators invite you: “Toast! the Arizona Regional Burn is five years old this year! Come out to Witch Well Arizona to Burn Toast! and help us celebrate out 5th anniversary May 4th – 7th 2006; Tickets are on sale now! See http://www.toast-town.org for details! Be there or be square!”

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{Soundtrack to the JRS: “Thunder” by Nuttin but Stringz. I’m impressed by the classical and hip hop hybrid, but, errr…”Stringz”? I’m almost embarassed to type that. Still, lovely. Check it out.}

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Andie Grace, Actiongrl
Office of the Jack Rabbit
http://www.burningman.com