JRS VOLUME #12; ISSUE #09
Burning Man Update: The Jack Rabbit Speaks
Volume 12, Issue #9
January 10, 2008
Happy New Year everybody! Well, the other new year, anyway. My new year flips over when the Man succumbs to the flames, of course. Funny how so many “default world” holidays and happenings take on a shifted meaning in the wake of one’s playa experience. Annnnyway … onward!
Tickets tickets tickets! Yep, it’s that time of year … time for Burning Man 2008 tickets to go on sale. If you want to stick this in your own personal calendar, tickets always go on sale the third Wednesday in January. This year, that’s January 16th. We relate some important ticket information below. (Now, if you read nothing else, read this: there will be no tickets sold at the gate this year … yes, really. Plan ahead!)
We’re happy to report that Larry Harvey has been working hard on an expanded “official” art theme description for American Dream, together with an incredible model of the Man platform for 2008, which just has to be seen to be believed. Both are now on the Burning Man website at http://tinyurl.com/yqgjrl so check it out! Now, people’s emotions are noticeably stirred by this theme … but may I humbly suggest you read this expanded theme carefully, and seek the diamond in the rough? If you give it a serious perusal, I suspect you will find just that. For reals.
Moving on to more important matters … the Burners Without Borders crew is hard at work helping earthquake victims in Pisco Peru, as well as in our own proverbial back yard, assisting our neighbors in Fernley, NV who got nailed by flooding in the recent storm that pounded the west coast. In two days, generous Burners have donated over $4,000 to the Fernley Relief Fund. And, we are raising money and frequent flyer miles to get one person down to Peru to head up a veggie oil micro-business that could potentially fund an orphanage or battered women’s shelter. Visit http://www.burnerswithoutborders.org to learn how you can help, wherever you live.
The Black Rock Arts Foundation, funding community-based interactive artwork off-playa, is revving up its 2008 grant application cycle … if you’d like to learn more, visit http://tinyurl.com/2oj697 for the full run-down, including guidelines and a downloadable application form.
If you’re creating art for the playa this year, and need some financial assistance to make it happen, Burning Man is now accepting applications for art grants! While it’s true that we award very few grants, and nearly all the art you see at Burning Man is entirely paid for by the artists who create it, we do offer financial support to many of those projects through our grant program. Our art grants page http://tinyurl.com/ytptfb has all the information you need. The application deadline is end of day February 1, 2008 … no exceptions, folks. But don’t be a slacker and wait ’til the last minute to submit it, wouldja?
Speaking of art, a little good news … the Flaming Lotus Girls calendar is available, with proceeds helping these mistresses of fire art to keep it burning. Aaaand a little bad news … David Best will not be building a temple on playa this year. See our interview with David, who talks about what it takes to make a temple happen.
Have you got some spare time in front of a warm fire and a computer? Well, the Burning Man census team is looking for assistance with data entry, and you can help. More info below.
We’re happy to report that Tiki Bob, our Western Massachusetts (wow, I spelled that right the first time without cheating) regional contact, is gifting out beautiful Burning Man 2006 Screen Savers, featuring 1434 photographs from 63 photographers! Plus, he’s seeking images from 2007 to pack the forthcoming Green Man screen saver. Big props to Scorch who had spearheaded this volunteer project for years.
Let’s make some good things happen in the world, folks. Burn on.
-PQ (Associate Rabbit)
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LATEST NEWS:
+ BURNING MAN 2008 TICKET INFORMATION
+ CENSUS TEAM SEEKS ASSISTANCE WITH DATA ENTRY
+ BURNING MAN SCREEN SAVERS AHOY!
+ GABE KIRCHHEIMER PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT IN PARIS
PARTICIPATE:
+ MAKING A TEMPLE: AN INTERVIEW WITH TEMPLE BUILDER DAVID BEST
+ FLG CALENDAR: SUPPORT THE FLAMING LOTUS GIRLS
MISCELLANY:
+ PHOTOGRAPHER SEEKING BLACK CAT PARASOL GIRL
UNSBUBSCRIBE?
+ Want to unsubscribe from the JRS? Seriously? OK, here’s how: http://tinyurl.com/2rwqzx
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BURNING MAN 2008 TICKET INFORMATION
Are you ready?! Tickets to Burning Man 2008 go on sale Wednesday, January 16 at 10:00am PST at http://tickets.burningman.com. Familiarize yourself with the process before the start date! Oh, and mail order tickets postmarked before January 16th will not be accepted.
A note to online ticket buyers: to use our online ticket buying system you will need to have your browser’s cookies turned on and have javascript enabled. This is standard for most browsers these days, but if you want to double check yours prior to the big day, use the “check your cookies and javascript here” button at the bottom of http://tickets.burningman.com. Also, we recommend using browsers other than Internet Explorer 7, which has known issues with how it handles cookies – we wouldn’t want anything to hinder your experience!
One other thing to be aware of: if you work for a big company that has robust firewalls in place, you may have trouble getting into the queue (probably because your employer wants you to spend your time in the office doing things other than buying Burning Man tickets…) Make sure you have port 8080 open for the queue to work with your firewall, or if that’s not an option, or beyond your technical reach, have a friend at the ready to get your ticket for you.
End of Technical Stuff>
Should you find yourself with questions or in need of support while getting your tickets online, please visit http://tickets.burningman.com/contact and browse through the pull-down menu of topics to see if your question is answered there.
For your edification, here’s the breakdown of ticket price levels:
10,000 tickets at $210 each (limit 2, available online only)
10,000 tickets at $225 each (limit 2)
10,000 tickets at $250 each
$295 tickets available while supplies last
Note: all ticket levels are only available while supplies last! Our event is entirely participant supported, so please buy the highest priced ticket you can afford. For reals … gifting starts now.
NEW FOR 2008: no tickets will be sold at our event site gate. Online sales end Friday, August 22nd, 2008. Tickets sold after July 31st will be held at Will Call. Will Call closes at noon on Saturday, August 30th, 2008.
MAIL ORDER: Ends June 30th, 2008. All orders must be postmarked by June 30th, 2008. Burning Man does NOT accept personal or business checks. Send cashier’s check or money order, with your name clearly written on the front. You must include your name, full address, email address, telephone number (print clearly!), the number of tickets you are purchasing, and if you want your tickets sent with 1st Class Signature Confirmation include an additional $12 per order. Canadian orders may opt for Global Priority mail for an additional $12. International orders must make payment in the form of a money order made out in US Dollars. We cannot accept foreign currency. Countries outside of Canada and USA are Will Call only, to be picked up at the Box Office of the event. You will be sent a receipt, and will need to bring it and a photo ID to collect your tickets.
NEW FOR 2008: 1000 scholarship tickets and 2500 low income tickets will be available at discounted rates (an increase over last year’s 500 scholarship and 1500 low income allotments!). For details about our Low Income and Scholarship ticket programs and our Walk-in Ticket Outlets, please visit http://tickets.burningman.com and read the information carefully.
hotline: 415-to-flame
www.burningman.com
For questions about mail order tickets, email:
partiserv (at) burningman (dot) com Send orders with payment & address changes to:
BURNING MAN
P.O. Box 884688
San Francisco, CA 94188-4688
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CENSUS TEAM SEEKS ASSISTANCE WITH DATA ENTRY
Another winter-time wave of volunteers is needed to help enter data for the BRC Census!!
Dozens of enthusiastic volunteers have already entered thousands of 2007 census forms — help relieve their tired fingers!
Get to know hundreds of burners (anonymously, of course) as you enter data from their slightly dusty forms. The Census Team is looking for enthusiastic and careful volunteers to be keypunchers — that is, help enter data from the 2007 Black Rock Census. Experience with data entry, or worksheet-based software (Excel/Open Office) is a plus, but detailed instructions can also be provided. We’re asking for those who can commit to volunteering from home (or anywhere with a computer) in January. If you’re interested in helping with the 2007 Keypunch, please email Kateri McRae (Variance) at katerimcrae (at) gmail (dot) com.
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BURNING MAN SCREEN SAVERS AHOY!
Screen Savers!! Get your Screen Savers!! &emdash The Burning Man screen Saver project is ramping up to put together another screen saver for this year, “Green Man 2007”. If you took photos this last year and would love to share them with lots of people please send us your discs and be a part of this years screen saver project. For more info on the project, to download screen savers from past years, or to find out where to send your CD’s and DVD’s go to:
http://www.bmscreensavers.com/id12.html
Screen Savers for 2006 “Hope and Fear: The Future” event (and past years) are ready and available for you to download. 1434 incredible photos from 63 even more incredible photographers are waiting for you. Both Mac and Windows operating systems are supported. Whether you dial up or have a high speed line, there’s a screen saver for you! They’re absolutely free!!! That makes ’em a gift!
From each of the photographers who want to share their photographic talents and efforts, and from all of us on the screen saver project team &emdash Enjoy your own personal trip back to “The Future”.
If you have any questions about submitting for this year or the past years screen savers please email me at: bmscreensavers (at) mac (dot) com (please do not send any photos via email. Submissions will only be excepted via snail mail on CD or DVD).
Tiki Bob
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GABE KIRCHHEIMER PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT IN PARIS
LadyBee bends the Jack Rabbit’s ear to let us know …
Photographer Gabe Kirchheimer will have an exhibit of his Burning Man photos in Paris this month, opening on January 12:
http://www.ville-creteil.fr/vac/vac-cl-art.htm
Gabe has been photographing the event for years; you can view his work in our Image Gallery: http://tinyurl.com/3dewar, and on Gabe’s photography website: http://www.gabekphoto.com/
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MAKING A TEMPLE: AN INTERVIEW WITH TEMPLE BUILDER DAVID BEST (or … David Best Takes a Break)
This year David Best will not be building a temple for Burning Man. In the following interview, David talks about what the Temple means to him.
Q. How long have you been doing the temple at Burning Man? A. The temple’s been going for 8 years, since 2000. I took off two years in 2005 and 2006 when Temple crew member Mark Grieve built it… so the crew and I have done 6 temples.
Q. How long does it take to complete it?
A. It takes the crew approximately one year. As soon as temple is down we start on the next design – basically it starts as the temple is burning; I’m already thinking of next year’s temple. Between January and the spring, I work with several key people designing the temple, gathering materials and working out structural details with an engineer. We develop prototypes for the modular parts of the temple that will be built during the summer. Early construction takes about three months of working with the crew pre-event, staging, and developing camaraderie and team organization. We build, for example, 100 lamps, and other modular parts for the structure. From January until the time I’m on the playa, I’m collecting materials. We work on site for several weeks; at this point all the pre-built parts are transported to the site, and, abiding by the ethos of Burning Man, we are as self-sufficient as we can be. We bring our own kitchen, our own tools and we handle all of our own transportation.
Q. What does the Temple mean to you? To the community?
A. Over the years, the temple has manifested the incredible relationship I have with the crew members and with Burning Man; we work very closely with the organization, and that would not be possible without the friendship and cooperation of the staff. It represents collaboration between many people. It has changed my life; it’s given me the opportunity to do something with my art that very few artists get to do &emdash it’s a very loving piece of work. All of the conflicts within the project mean nothing compared to the gesture of giving it to someone else &emdash a mother whose son has committed suicide, or a DPW member who has died …. The loving gesture that the piece becomes is the pay-off for all the inherent difficulties involved in making something like this, including putting up with me! What it means to me is being able to make a piece of art that offers a channel or a way of forgiving and closing a very sad, difficult thing in one’s life.
Over the years we’ve watched our community grow, and we’ve watched the temple grow with it; the community has allotted that space to be a sacred space. They’ve reserved it as their own place to drop off their sadness, their losses and their dreams. It’s a part of our civic culture.
Q. What’s going on for you this year?
A. Myself and the temple crew are taking some time off to rest this year. The temple is a joy to do and I’ve loved it dearly, but I need to take a little time off from it.
Q. What would you say to whoever builds the temple this year?
A. I would say, “Pride goes before a fall.” The Temple is not built to gratify any individual. It’s a fine line to walk. To build a temple for a lot of people without involving one’s ego is difficult &emdash it’s not about self-gratification.
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FLG CALENDAR: SUPPORT THE FLAMING LOTUS GIRLS!
[Editors note: the Flaming Lotus Girls rock beyond comprehension.]
Help support those mavens of lipstick and accelerants, The Flaming Lotus Girls, by purchasing their brand spanking new 2008 and 2009 calendar!!!
Go Here—————-> http://www.flaminglotus.com/calendar
The calendar contains pictures of 52 Lovely Lotus Girls and 7 years of fire art. New photos every month until December 2009!
Calendars are $19.95 plus $5 shipping no matter how many you buy. Get one as a gift and save. Buy 5 and get 1 free!!!! You’ll understand if International Shipping costs a bit more and takes a bit longer.
100% of the proceeds will be used to improve the Serpent Mother to her fullest glory and continue our world tour, highlighting that special kind of fire art we do.
Calendars are professionally produced on high quality heavy-weight glossy paper. 12″ x 12″, 28 pages in all. A new page each month for 2 years!
FLG is a female-driven collaborative arts group. Help us to keep making big flaming fire art!!!
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PHOTOGRAPHER SEEKS BLACK CAT PARASOL GIRL
[sent to the Jack Rabbit by one Nicholas King …]
2007 was my virgin year and what an incredible, outstanding experience it was and I’m looking forward to returning in 2008. I made quite a number of photographs which I will eventually figure out a way to put up on a website I’ll create in the near future.
My only problem is that the notebook in which I kept names and email addresses for people I had photographed was lost when my jeep was stolen. Some of the photographs were pretty good and a few excellent, but one in particular became exceptional when I combined the person with the playa and one sunset. I was wondering if you might post it (or a link to it) in your next update asking if anyone knows the woman so she can contact me and I can send her a print. [Editor’s note: well … she’s lacking a top … so we can’t provide a link or attach the photo, but perhaps you know this woman? She’s got big black boots, white underwear, long black dreadlocks, and she’s striding across the playa towards the photographer.] Or perhaps you could ask if the girl with the “black cat parasol” could contact me for the photo. I’d really like to give her this photograph.
Thanks,
Nicholas King
[if you have a lead here, email us at jackrabbitspeaks (at) burningman (dot) com and we’ll hook you up with Nicholas.]
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