The Girl Who Doesn't Age

The future is a wonderful place to live. We get to see things happening which were limited to science fiction when I was young.

Yes. The "baby" you see above is actually 16 years old, and actually DOES age but in an inconsistent way. So far, there are more questions than answers. But can you imagine? She may end being the Rosetta Stone medical science and aging. Or she may live to be a thousand years old.

Strange days...

Details from ABC...

Details from the New Scientist...

Stone Soup at Permabog

Cindy's art project grew nicely in the rain...




OK. PermaBog is a bit overstated, but at the very least Stone Soup was watered down. And before you say it, yes, I'm guilty of being an optimist. I didn't think the rain we'd had all week would continue, let alone get worse. As we drove up, the closer we got to PermanBurn, the harder it rained. But then it almost stopped when we arrived. Was that a good sign? Who knows.

As we pulled up to the gate, cowboys were herding about a hundred head of cattle up the gravel road. We stopped and talked. A guy named Shane (I'm serious - he looked like someone out of a Marlboro commercial). Anyway, he said, "You'll need four wheel drive to get up that road", so we parked at the gate to assess the situation. Shane said we could camp down at the gate as long as we cleaned up before we left. Tim thought that was a good idea. But I wasn't ready to give up just yet. I had most of Club Verboten and Center Camp in my RV's hall-way. I wanted to deliver it.

An, Kathy and I hiked up the road to take a look at the conditions. It started to rain again. Going up that first grade, it didn't look that bad. After a couple of miles, I went back for my RV while An and Kathy continued on up to PermaBurn - a five mile walk in total. My walk that day was a bit longer.

My plan was to take my RV up to the second cattle guard then hike back and get Tim's RV up too. Rita decided to go with me. I had my foot to the floor and going about 20 MPH all the way up the hill. Rita was laughing and shrieking, as I looked for gravel patches to give me traction. My 30 foot motor-home was bouncing from one side of the road to the other. It's a good thing I didn't slow down. We were spinning and grinding just as we topped out on the flats. It was a "barely made it" kind of arrival.

I parked in a nice flat spot at the second cattle guard to check for damage. My tail pipe bracket had broken lose, but that was about it. Well there was a LOT of mud everywhere. But mud washes off. Next, I needed to do some more scouting.



Rita and I hiked two miles up the next grade to check it out before I tried to drive it. It didn't take me long to figure out the weekend wouldn't turn out the way we had planned. There was no way I could get up this next section, let alone the convoy of two-wheeled drive vehicles I knew were coming behind me.

We were soaked to the bone by the time we got to PermaBurn. Rick in his Greyhound were there. He had come up Wednesday when it was dry. Greg (the founder of PermaBurn) had set up camp but was taking a nap. Mark and Marge had set up the Stone Soup Saloon and were wrapped up in blankets to stay warm. Blue and Bro were greeting at Camp Lazy Fucks with something called "Apple Pie", made from ever-clear and other good stuff. Even served cold, it warmed us up.

But Rick's bus with it's heater running helped a lot more. Everyone collected there for a meeting. After reviewing conditions, Rick sent out the 4 WD email alert to the Reno list (Sprint has good signal at PermaBurn). Maybe the rain would stop. If it did, the sun this time of year would dry it out in a few hours. But I knew the sun had to break before 2:00 PM at the latest, or most would have to stop back at the highway. Some were coming from Portland, LA and SF. It was best to let as many as possible know about the road conditions before they drove all the way out here. We hoped the email alert would get to them in time.

After an hour's break, we got a ride back to my RV and had lunch. I was tired. We nodded off, then awoke to the sound of talking. Marshal had come up and built us a camp fire. Others stopped to warm up at the fire as we stood in the rain. We had maybe a dozen at this mid-camp for a while. Some turned around and headed back to base camp. Other with 4 WD went on up to PermaBurn. We waited for the fire to die out, which didn't take long in the increasing rain. Then we went back down to base camp ourselves. The ride down was even more slippery than the ride up. At the bottom I noticed a rock had torn off my outside water valve and the tank was emptying on the ground. Oh well, there was no shortage of water.

By the time we got back, Tim (Club Verboten) had gone home, but many others had arrived. At one point we probably had 30 people at base camp and as many as 20 up at PermaBurn. Thomas had tried to follow me up the hill in his 40 foot motor-home but got stuck only 100 yards in. Blue helped pull him out with his 4 WD. Thomas and Adela then camped at the gate base camp too.



The rain continued. Everything dripped. My feet were freezing. It was about 40 degrees, but you could already see your breath. More people arrived. Marshal started building another big fire for base camp. After comparing notes with everyone and guessing at the odds the rain would stop, I started relaxing and realized we'd just have to wait and see. I was tired. I got my wet clothes off and had some dinner then fell asleep before 10 PM.

During the night, lots of others arrived. Troy put up a shelter which helped a lot. Unfortunately, he had to leave most of his gear on a trailer about a half a mile back where he had tuned off at the wrong turn and gotten stuck in a bog.

Also in the night, one of the other PermaBurn owners tried the hill in an excellent 4 WD rig but got stuck the same place as Thomas's RV. He had to cut lose his 10,000 pound loaded trailer in order to go on up.

At sunrise the cowboys (and cowgirls) were back to move the herd on up the dirt road. Shane said it was the most rain they had seen in a long time - maybe ever for June. It had rained all night. And the rain continued for breakfast as well. Thanks to Sharon for the bacon and eggs, and a dry place to eat them.

My cousin Dave had a 4WD but only with road tires. He was with us at base camp, but we figured it was good enough to pull Troy's stuck trailer out. When we got there a BLM Ranger had stopped to check on it, and was now chewing up the road trying to get out of the same mud hole himself. Even with knarly tires and bad-assed 4 WD it took several tries.

Dave couldn't drive back into that mess, so instead we used 200 feet of rope to pull the trailer to better ground. I hung on the back of the trailer to get the tongue off the ground while Troy tried to steer and Dave drove the truck. Troy and I were soaked in mud, and we broke the rope twice, but we finally got the trailer to drier ground.



Back at base camp, the kids were playing in the mud, and the rain continued. There was no way things would dry out before Monday or Tuesday. After lunch, I wired up my tail pipe with a clothes hanger, and we packed up the RV and headed home about noon. That was the end of Stone Soup for us.



This is the worst Burner experience I've ever had, but even so, nobody freaked out. Nobody had a bad attitude. Marshal did and amazing job with the fire and campfire cheese sandwiches for lunch. The kids of course enjoyed the mud more than we did. Burners are wonderful people. And that fact becomes more apparent as the conditions get worse.

Sorry about the weather guys. I guess that's how it is with adventure.

Just before we left, Greg and others came off the hill to say hi and suggested we do a Stone Soup Reheat at some point. PermaBurn really IS a beautiful piece of ground. And with a dry road like last year, it's an easy drive.

Maybe when my feet get warm.










The Man ready to be burned...




Dave, expressing himself...



And Paula taking a dare...



Cindy and her art...

This Is Not Another Great Depression

Many of you have heard me make this same statement many times in our economics summits and otherwise during the last few months. That's because I'd heard some of this from my grandparents, and also read about the causes and depth of the economic contraction in the 1930s.

This guy does a far better job than my casual rhetoric and occasional statistic. It's very much worth a read considering our current situation...

This Is Not Another Great Depression Part 1

Stone Soup 2009 Camp-out at PermaBurn

What : Stone Soup 2009 Camp-out at PermaBurn
When : June 5th, 6th & 7th (early and late camping is fine)
Where : Madeline, California - 60 miles north of Susanville
Entrance Fee : 0.00, nada, FREE!

RSVP your camp, art plans and head count to... - don't bother to RSVP now - just join us!

sudden.net@gmail.com

Soup's On!

Great news in a down year - the second UNofficial Reno Regional Burn and camp-out is now official! (We're not officially part of Burning Man, but Stone Soup 2009 is now officially in production!)

Considering our Burned out economy, some may not even make it to the playa this year. Others have asked for a spring camp-out for Burners. So we're headed back to PermaBurn! And to keep it totally FREE, we're using the Stone Soup approach.

Come on, you remember the Grimm Brother tale about three Napoleonic soldiers returning to a war-torn and starving village in hopes of a free meal. As the villagers are at first unwilling to share any of their meager food stores with these strangers, they decide to get creative. The soldiers set up a pot and begin to boil a large stone announcing a dinner of "stone soup" will be ready soon.

Then someone offers to add some salt - just to give it a little flavor. Next pepper is offered up. Soon other villagers begin bring forth their modest vegitables and other contributions to create a wonderful soup. In no time, they all eat very well in spite of first intentions. The point is, you won't need to bring much to PermaBurn, just what you need to survive and what you wish to add to the experience.

For those who didn't join us last year, PermaBurn is 640 acres of northern California being organized as permanent art installations by a Burner named Greg Glover from the east coast. In the spirit of Burning Man, Greg has gifted this volcanic caldera for the weekend with virtually no restrictions on how we wish to express ourselves.

We'll use the PermaBurn site as our soup pot. Greg's also thrown in port-a-potties as the stone for the soup. Am I pushing this metaphor too far? In any case, because of his wonderful gift, we don't need to charge an entrance fee. So come on out and join us. Express yourself! Be free! For free!

Just like on the playa, and as in the story Stone Soup, WE get to add all the rest. Here's what we have so far. The soup is gaining some excellent flavor...

Breaking News!

"Help Me" BSDM Camp will be doing late evening demonstrations.

Camp Playa Magic will be part of Stone Soup this year! Direct from Harrah's Lake Tahoe and the Carson Valley Inn, the renown, "Thomas", will be performing his close up magic show at Center Camp Saturday evening after the pot-luck - now we're GUARANTEED to have a magical weekend. Camp Play Magic is also organizing a sunset drum circle. Bring your bongo!

Camp Lazy Fucks - Returning from last year, Blue and Brother as Camp Lazy Fucks will host the greeter camp at the very west end of the valley. I've heard Kathy is also returning to help them out this year. Welcome to the greeters!





Club Verboten Comes to PermaBurn!

Yep. The very same tent you saw at the 4:30 plaza last year; the club known for stopping traffic and plugging up the streets of Black Rock City will be erected in the center camp area at PermaBurn Friday afternoon, June 5th.





Omar and Action Jack

Tim Hunter himself (aka Omar Suarez) will be spinning the music as well as providing a venue for other DJs. So far we have offers from DJ Reality of Camp Ellipsis, BabebyBay(Betsy) from the bay area and D6 from Reno. You guys need to check in with Tim (thunter885@aol.com) unless you plan to set up your own venues. Whatever your taste, we'll have some excellent music coming out of this volcano, and at least one fully enclosed club in which to enjoy it.

From Omar...

We look forward to setting up,for the first time ever outside BRC,at this years Stone Soup.Thanks to Comrade Sudden for the leadership in getting it together,Our club is known for retro techno based dance parties.Can't change formula here but hopefully we can incorporate all the dj talent we have coming.What we have in mind is a weekend program...."Evolution of Techno Beats".

Friday 1966-1984........ Garage/Psych to UK glam to Disco to CBGBS

Saturday-1984- 2009....... 80's syntho pop,90's dance, late 90's House classics,present day electronica and current techno pop. all times to be determined We hope all djs will find something they like and let me know as soon as they can. peace Omar

Center Camp - If you've been to local Reno events, you know you've found the party once you spot Rick Brown's Greyhound conversion bus on the property. Yep. He's determine to arrive with the biggest piece of equipment ever driven to PermaBurn and then turn it into part of Center Camp.

We plan to arrange Rick's Greyhound conversion, along with Cutter's school bus and my motor-home into a "C" shaped wind break and then cover it with one of my large shade structures. Rose Palace Paula and Dave will be adding some Astro-truf for ground cover. There will also be tables and chairs for Saturday's Lick-your-plate pot-luck.

Stone Soup Saloon - Along side will be the new Stone Soup Saloon and Chill Dome, hosted by Marj and Mark. In some bars you get what you order. Here they'll serve up whatever shows up. It's the place to mix your left-over playa drinks with everyone else's left-over playa drinks to see what happens. Bring it on!

Beaverton Queer Ladies - Kinnari Kreme from Nevada City will be hosting a camp to represent Beaverton Queer Ladies at our event. Email her at kinnarikreme@gmail.com if you'd like to join, or just compare plans.

Randy's Ribs - Want ribs with that soup? Some of you may remember Randy Miller (Sprocket) from last year. He was camped by the big swing and his boys were riding their ATVs. After last year's camp-out he joined PermaBurn permanently and this year wants to welcome us back with BBQed ribs. So follow your nose to his PermaCamp.

Reno Poly Camp - Actually, it's the Northern Nevada Polyamory Support group, and they will hold their June meeting at Stone Soup's Center Camp as well as hosting a Saturday evening pack-it-in, pack-it-out, lick-your-plate pot-luck at 6:00 PM. This will be preceded by, "An Introduction to Polyamory", at 4:00 PM. They will also lead discussions on alternate lifestyles during the weekend. Contact Teresa Werner with any question or contribution at... terwer42@yahoo.com

Kid's Camp - Marie Gilbert will host a place for, "interactive family fun... kite's, kid's with hammers, rock stacking etc." Contact her at... amariegilbert@gmail.com if you wish to join the other three families also hosting this camp.

Fire Camp - Mac (Debbie McMullin and husband Dave) from Controlled Burn has volunteered to coordinate the fire arts in an attempt to cut down on duplication of safety equipment, supplies etc. Let her know about your fire spinning plans and how you can help at... ruby_holly@yahoo.com


Timeless Sculptures - Matt Welter of Timeless Sculptures will try to bring one of his pieces out as well as have information on the Tea Party. Check out his site if you're interested in Libertarian politics...

http://www.timelesssculptures.com/cover/cover.htm


Stone Soup Prep Meeting - We've had requests for an actual prep meeting before the event, so now that is in the plans as well. We'll do it at my place in south Reno on May 27th at 7:00 PM. This meeting is not a requirement for the camp-out. If you just plan to attend Soup Soup and participate in you own way, this meeting is not critical. But if you can help with any of the other projects or you need some face time on any of the other organizers, please join us...

Link back here for on-going updates as the details come in. More importantly, email me with YOUR plans so I can help you hook up with others and coordinate similar activities. Let me know if I can post your name, email and or phone number here along with your camp plans. Plus I'll need a head count for the potties, so...

RSVP plans and head count to...

sudden.net@gmail.com





If you're not familiar with PermaBurn, here is a link to last year's camp-out posts...

First Ashes at PermaBurn 2008


Thanks to CyberBiker for providing this Google Map link..

Stone Soup 2009 - PermaBurn Location on Google Map


If you haven't been out, there is 5 miles of gravel road, some of it has dips that would challenge anything with a flat exit angle, such as a long over-hang RV. Last year there were trailers as long as 24 feet and one fully loaded Geo Metro, so any normal car will make it if you dodge a few rocks. High clearance or trucks, no problem at all. (05-1-20-09 much of the road has been graded since last year and virtually ANY vehicle can make it out by dodging a few rocks.



(click to expand)

How to get to PermaBurn...

Take 395 60 miles north of Susanville to Madeline, California
(the 395 junction is just east of Susanville).

Go 6 miles north of Madeline on 395 to the 134.92 mile marker at 41 7'43" 120 30'0".



Watch for the orange tape from this point on. If you go to Google map you won't find any names on any of these roads, but the mile marker is past Sage Hen and before South Fork Mountain Road. On the ground, the key is the mile marker and orange tape at each junction.

You have five miles to go.

Take a left onto the shortcut to a gravel road.

Take another left to go south on this gravel road.

Go 0.1 miles till you reach the green gate. Open the gate if you have to and go through. Please remember to close it back.

Go 0.4 miles until you see a second green Gate on the right with orange tape.

Open the green gate and take a right. AND close it back.

Cross the yellow cattle guard about 30 feet beyond the gate.

Go 2.4 miles. (05-20-09 this section has been graded since last year).

You will see another yellow cattle guard and orange tape.

To the right, will be a sign for the reservoir.

You are at 41 6'45" 120 32' 6".




Go just BEYOND the cattle guard, and then take an immediate LEFT turn on the dirt road on the other side of the fence. Turn left just AFTER the cattle guard, not before!

Go 2.2 miles south on the dirt road.

At some points the road tilts pretty bad, and there are a few rocks protruding but a normal car can make it with care.



You will reach a small hill and then come down into the PermaBurn site. The last hundred yards which was so bad last year has been newly worked and is in much better condition.

The best camping is in this first valley.

Welcome to Permaburn!

Welcome to Stone Soup!




Where to Camp

There are two ponds on the hill with some trees around them. Unfortunately, this is also where some free range cattle come to drink and find shade, AND leave their droppings. There were only a few mosquitoes last year - not really a problem. But to minimize all of these factors, we will be setting up Center Camp along main street a quarter mile back in the lower valley. You can of course camp where ever you choose but we'd like the significant performance camps along main street if possible.

That's all I can think of right now. Email me your questions, camp, art plans and head count to...

sudden.net@gmail.com

Or just click on "Comments" below. Either will work. I will post the updates here from time to time.

What : Stone Soup 2009 Camp-out at PermaBurn

When : June 5th, 6th & 7th (early and late camping is fine)

Where : Madeline, California - 60 miles north of Susanville

Entrance Fee : 0.00, nada, FREE!

See ya at Stone Soup 2009.

See ya at PermaBurn!

Obama's Hypocrisy on School Vouchers

Many of you have heard me rant about public education and how vouchers are the solution. Until now I have not posted on the topic. Nor will I start.

It's only a narrow example, but Shikha Dalmia has done a far better job than I ever could. This is an impressive piece and worth a read even if you don't have kids in school. Here are a couple of excerpts...

"First: This administration has proudly boasted that it would make a decisive break with its predecessor's habit of ignoring science when it clashed with policy objectives. And concerning the D.C. program in particular, President Obama had assured that he would let evidence settle its fate. "Let's see if it [the voucher program] works," he said during the campaign. "And if it does, whatever my preconceptions, you do what's best for the kids." Yet far from being led by the scientific evidence, he concealed it."

"In fact, the program, with per-pupil costs that are a third of what D.C. public schools spend, is producing solid gains for the 1,700 predominantly poor and minority children it serves. Indeed, the first batch of children who received vouchers from the program for private schools is now 19 months ahead of its public school peers in reading--which is why there are four applicants for every available slot."

Here's the whole story...

Obama's Hypocrisy

This is "CHANGE"?  This is "HOPE"?

Education's too important to be left to the government.  Empower the parents.

Burning Man 2008 Photo-map

Some of you have seen my signed poster photo-map of Burning Man 2008 on my desk at home. Here is the GigaPan version you can zoom and pan any time you like - fun stuff.

Burning Man 2008 From the Air

"The Medium is the Message"

This new art form certainly drives home Marshall McLuhan's message about the medium being the message... ah... being the medium.

Nice work, iri5.



For more...

Amazing cassette tape art

"Simplify and Add Lightness"

I've written here before how lowering weight is the single greatest factor to improve acceleration, braking, handling, price and economy of operation in an automobile.

Here is a great example of what can be done if you follow Colin Chapman's advice and, "Simplify and add lightness". This British movie and review is impressive. Check it out.

Tata Nano Review Film

There is hope for rational design.

Where do you eat?

This is some of the best dieting advice I've seen in a long time.

The point is, eat on purpose at a normal place. That way you have a chance to quantify HOW MUCH you eat. If you graze all day everywhere you go, there's no way of knowing how much.

This appears to be a valid reason for the increase in obesity.

Check it out...

Where do you eat?

Defend Phelps - Zen Boycott Kellogg's

This Phelps / Kellogg's affair is a bit bizarre. Here we have who is arguably the greatest Olympic athlete of all time being marginalized for imbibing a product which obviously does him little or no harm. EXCEPT for Kellogg's dumping his contract.

The only way this absurdity make any sense at all, is when you realize marijuana is a bit like masturbation - lots of people do it, few stand up in public to defend it. And I won't either. I'm only an observer.

It's the same reason NORML has had such a PR problem since it's inception. Only those with true conviction and courage will come out in favor of marijuana. Let me make it clear, I'm not one of them. In the mean time, the vast majority who DO approve, do so silently.

...

But I have a suggestion.

Yep.

Boycott Kellogg's cereal.

But not the usual boycott.

Only a Zen boycott will have the desired effect.

It's well known, conventional boycott's rarely work. For the few who actually stop using products, others will buy their share just to vote the other side. The awareness dies off equally on both sides over time. The trick is to avoid the press and campaigns and make this long term and about more than just Kellogg's.

That's what would make a Zen Boycott different - there should be no PR at all. In other words, no major press stories. No campaigns. Don't even let the opposition know what's happening. Only the product managers at Kellogg's will discover the truth - and wonder why.

Think about it. If only a small fraction of those who smoke marijuana actually stopped eating Kellogg's cereal, it will have a significant impact. Even a few points of market share will make a BIG difference to the cereal companies.

And if the tokers out there see Kellogg's at a friend's house and refuse to eat it, word will spread. Over time it could even take the form of an inside joke like 4:20, where only the few insiders would "get it".

Yes. It will take a while for word to get around. But it would be a campaign that would NEVER be reversed. Kellogg's in time would have to change their name and hide their brand - or lose their lead in the market.

In this subtle way, those who smoke won't HAVE to stand up and be counted. They just need to find something ELSE to eat for breakfast. And there are plenty of other brands.

This doesn't even need to be about Kellogg's per se. Over time this little incident may be forgotten, but the boycott wouldn't. Kellogg's could be just a handy medium for those who wish to express themselves about the upside-down world of alcohol / marijuana law enforcement and the politics of our times.

So if you think our laws are wrong, and that politically correct - isn't correct...

Next time you see a box of Kellogg's...

Quietly reach for another brand...

Let the Wheaties rot on the shelf.

Siftables from the Media Lab

I think this is the second post I've done on a TED presentation. This one is an impressive new form machine / human interaction. If you do ANYthing with UI, you need to watch this...

Siftables Video

Climate Change Recalculated

This was an email to me of Stewart Brand's notes from Saul Griffith's Long Now presentation - on, "Climate Change Recalculated".

Man-made global warming or not, the numbers are amazing. Will we find the conviction to change before we are forced? Or not? And what happens when we discover it was wasted effort as nature self-corrects?

I'm not yet convinced about man-made global warming, but I AM very much in favor of using less energy as well as finding effective alternatives. If we don't start now, cost will force us to in the near future in any case. I have doubts about accomplishing what he projects and suspect reality will be some kind of moving mix of new energy sources, yet short of this goal over the next 25 years.

In any case, this is an interesting read...



Engineer Griffith said he was going to make the connection between personal actions and global climate change. To do that he's been analyzing his own life in extreme detail to figure out exactly how much energy he uses and what changes might reduce the load. In 2007, when he started, he was consuming about 18,000 watts, like most Americans.

The energy budget of the average person in the world is about 2,200 watts. Some 90 percent of the carbon dioxide overload in the atmosphere was put there by the US, USSR (of old), China, Germany, Japan, and Britain. The rich countries have the most work to do.

What would it take to level off the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at 450 parts per million (ppm)? That level supposedly would keep global warming just barely manageable at an increase of 2 degrees Celsius. There still would be massive loss of species, 100 million climate refugees, and other major stresses. The carbon dioxide level right now is 385 ppm, rising fast. Before industrialization it was 296 ppm. America's leading climatologist, James Hanson, says we must lower the carbon dioxide level to 350 ppm if we want to keep the world we evolved in.

The world currently runs on about 16 terawatts (trillion watts) of energy, most of it burning fossil fuels. To level off at 450 ppm of carbon dioxide, we will have to reduce the fossil fuel burning to 3 terawatts and produce all the rest with renewable energy, and we have to do it in 25 years or it's too late. Currently about half a terrawatt comes from clean hydropower and one terrawatt from clean nuclear. That leaves 11.5 terawatts to generate from new clean sources.

That would mean the following. (Here I'm drawing on notes and extrapolations I've written up previously from discussion with Griffith):

"Two terawatts of photovoltaic would require installing 100 square meters of 15-percent-efficient solar cells every second, second after second, for the next 25 years. (That's about 1,200 square miles of solar cells a year, times 25 equals 30,000 square miles of photovoltaic cells.) Two terawatts of solar thermal? If it's 30 percent efficient all told, we'll need 50 square meters of highly reflective mirrors every second. (Some 600 square miles a year, times 25.) Half a terawatt of biofuels? Something like one Olympic swimming pools of genetically engineered algae, installed every second. (About 15,250 square miles a year, times 25.) Two terawatts of wind? That's a 300-foot-diameter wind turbine every 5 minutes. (Install 105,000 turbines a year in good wind locations, times 25.) Two terawatts of geothermal? Build 3 100-megawatt steam turbines every day-1,095 a year, times 25. Three terawatts of new nuclear? That's a 3-reactor, 3-gigawatt plant every week-52 a year, times 25."

In other words, the land area dedicated to renewable energy ("Renewistan") would occupy a space about the size of Australia to keep the carbon dioxide level at 450 ppm. To get to Hanson's goal of 350 ppm of carbon dioxide, fossil fuel burning would have to be cut to ZERO, which means another 3 terawatts would have to come from renewables, expanding the size of Renewistan further by 26 percent.

Meanwhile for individuals, to stay at the world's energy budget at 16 terawatts, while many of the poorest in the world might raise their standard of living to 2,200 watts, everyone now above that level would have to drop down to it. Griffith determined that most of his energy use was coming from air travel, car travel, and the embodied energy of his stuff, along with his diet. Now he drives the speed limit (no one has passed him in six months), seldom flies, eats meat only once a week, bikes a lot, and buys almost nothing. He's healthier, eats better, has more time with his family, and the stuff he has he cherishes.

Can the world actually build Renewistan? Griffeth said it's not like the Manhattan Project, it's like the whole of World War II, only with all the antagonists on the same side this time. It's damn near impossible, but it is necessary. And the world has to decide to do it.

Griffith's audience was strangely exhilerated by the prospect.

--Stewart Brand

04-25-12   'Gaia' scientist James Lovelock: I was 'alarmist' about climate change

Rich Man's Recession

Christmas is done. The party is over. The numbers are in. The recession is "official", though I still don't understand how they declared it retroactive by one year. Were they asleep at the switch or just like to revise history?

In any case, Americans bought 5% less this Christmas than we did last year. That certainly qualifies as a down-turn, but what's even MORE interesting is that luxury goods were down 37%! That indicates that at least initially, this recession is highly disproportionate as to who will take the greatest hit. It's a rich man's recession.

This selective slam makes sense, considering the majority of bad paper on Wall street was in the form of credit default swaps or other bundled debt managed by so-call "hedge funds". These hedge funds seem to have accomplished just the opposite of a "hedge" in their trading of this bubble paper.

The point is, this bubble was more of a credit bubble. The houses were the rationalization. They were just the part we could see and touch. Why else would Ohio lead the nation in forclosures when their house prices hardly rose at all? It was about more borrowing even if the house DIDN'T increase in value. And all this bad credit ended up, not only at local banks, but on Wall street in hedge funds. So first impact will be felt by those who used hedge funds, directly or indirectly. And this tends to be the wealthy in this country.

What does it mean for MAIN street? It's true, over-leveraged first-time home buyers and junior speculators who bought too many houses will obviously be hit, but most of the rest of the damage will be limited to trickle-down and side effect from Wall street to main street. That doesn't mean it will be pain-free for most, but it will certainly be far worse for the super-wealthy.

And like the internet bubble, much of this bubble's loss will be from bubble gain. And much of what's missing when all those CDSs are sorted out will be assets which were largely illusion to begin with.

It's like that gain you thought you'd made on that house you never sold - it came out of nowhere in only a few years, and now has even more quickly disappeared into the same place - nowhere. For the internet bubble, this loss was about $4 trillion. This time it will be about $10 trillion in contracted value, most of which didn't exist five years ago. And that's the point. These ARE real dollars, but they mostly exist on the balance sheets of large Wall street firms, not in printed form.

No one can predict the future, and this down-turn will certainly not be like ones we've seen in the past, but it will probably affect Wall street far more dramatically than it will Main street.

Time will tell.

Hitler and the Real Estate Downfall

I can't help it. I HAVE to post this link!

For those of you who got tired of my railing about the housing bubble, here's a nice summary...

Hitler and the Real Estate Downfall

This spoof is worth a watch.

Time for Gold?

A friend asked this morning if gold wasn't a good place to be for the next few weeks. Since my response is a conversation I've had a lot lately, it might be of general interest...


Zoe,

You didn't know me then, but I talked the housing bubble to death from 2003 to 2006. I tried to get at least seven different friends to sell their houses and rent - without success. THEY know who I'm talking about.

So you don't think I'm rewriting history, here are the blog posts...

http://suddendisruption.blogspot.com/search/label/Housing%20Bubble

I even went to cash with my IRA just before the 2005 Burn so I wouldn't get caught in the market while out on the playa. But I called it too early. Market timing is not easy.

While I foresaw the housing bubble, I didn't foresee the credit bubble (over-spending), nor the other Wall street hedges used to hid the sin, nor the world-wide scale of the problem.

Plus I obviously missed the timing of the housing market's turn, even though I KNEW it HAD to turn. It got FAR worse for FAR longer before it turned than I ever suspected it would. I underestimated the stupidity of the American public. Didn't someone warn about that? Barnum?

And a few weeks ago, things looked so ugly, I totally went to cash in my IRA again and missed virtually all of the Wall street crash. But then I popped back into the market last week. Is the bear at the bottom yet? Who knows?

My point is, have a care when you try to predict ANY market movement. If there's ANYthing I have confidence in at this point, it's the short term UNpredictability of any of the markets. VOLATILITY is the current state of affairs.

Yes. There are certainly bargains out there in everything from autos to toothpaste - but gold?

Gold is simply the hedge of the dollar's movements. Three hundred years ago an ounce of gold would buy you a good suit. Today it still will. (I think).

This means gold is a good place to be if you think the dollar will lose all it's value - inflation. It WAS a great place to be BEFORE it dropped against all the other currencies over the last few months. But some now think DEflation is now more likely. Or will it be just more volatility?

But INflation? Only if you are VERY pessimistic. When the US gets a cough, the rest of the world catches pneumonia as you can see by looking at all the other exchanges. So if the dollar heads south NOW, you'd better invest in another metal - one that strong enough to hold some riffling.

JMHO.

Rod
--
aka Yum!
aka Bonobo
aka Zen Heretic
aka Sudden Disruption and Burning
Man Regional Contact Explore the Sudden-Centric Cyberverse...
http://www.sudden.net

"Art is that which everything else isn't" - Theodore Roethke

Jill Bolte Taylor - Stroke Emulates Acid

I don't spend much time on You-Tube. It generally takes too long for each film to reach the point which supports the point, "The only problem with instant gratification is that it takes too long".

If a picture is worth a thousand words, it follows that a movie should be worth 24,000 words per second. But something gets lost in the math. While visually and emotionally rich, films are linear. You can't drill down or skim as you can with a blog post.

Here's an exception to THAT rule. It's a lecture by a Harvard neuro-scientists. It's science which borders on the mystic. She catches your attention from the very beginning. I believe also she supports the point (intended or not), that drugs actually impair the brain in some way. Her description of a stoke is so similar to what others attribute to and LSD experience. In any case, fascinating stuff. Video or not...

(Jill Taylor's work also nicely supports Iain McGilchrist's work on the brain - 12-13-13)

How it Feels to Have a Stroke

And her book...

Sierra Computers - Making Your Net Work

You may have noticed, I haven't been blogging much lately. And you might assume I'm working on my post from this year's Burn - which I am. But there's another demand on my time lately - Sierra Computers.

Back in 2001, not long before my divorce, Sheri and I sold MicroAge to Darren McBride at Sierra Computers. Along with eight other employees who were hired full-time, I took a six month part-time consulting position to smooth the transition. Seven years later, I'm still "consulting".

At least until now.

Over the years, I've become Darren's default CFO. While my focus has been the numbers, I've also spent a bit of time in sales and product management, as well as being a critic of web marketing and inventory control - typical tech and business stuff.

About four years ago, Darren put together a clever alternative for computer back-up. The product is called High Rely. It's a low-cost solution using hot-swappable hard drives as back-up
medium, instead of less reliable tape. It's a more reliable and effective alternative to tape back-up. I'll blog the details in another post.

When Darren started selling these devices locally, I noticed the effect on gross profit. I suggested he take the product into wider distribution, but he was already working on a marketing
plan. He presented the product at a trade show where it was acclaimed by CRN and Tom'S Hardware. As they say, the rest is history.

Over the last couple of years, High Rely has grown to eclipse the rest of Sierra Computers. So last January we split Highly Reliable Systems off into it's own company.

Naturally, this new company began taking more and more of Darren's time. Sierra Computers was getting less attention, so Darren has asked me to help out. Beginning August 1st, I became the General Manager of Sierra Computers.

As you can imagine, taking on a new full-time job just before Burning Man has been hectic. Learning a new job as I did playa prep, the Burn, then clean up, has been challenging. Thus, not
much time for blogging.

Now, Sierra has become my primary focus. In many ways it's like old times at MicroAge. I'm having fun. But I WILL get my playa post done. I promise. Plus I have lots of other topics to discuss. So you'll see more from this blog.

In the mean time, if you need tech services or computer products, give me a call. We'll help you find the right solution. We'll solve your technical problems.

We'll make your net work.

Sierra Computers

The Zealot Witch Project - Child Sex Hysteria

Below is a link to a post written by a very close friend. If you value your liberty, it's worth a read...

The Zealot Witch Project - Child Sex Hysteria

As you can see, it is amazingly well written, and what's more, I share his view on this topic. During more than two years on the Washoe County Grand Jury, I've saw the abuses he describes. And these same laws have also affected others I know personally. So I share his conviction.

This may surprise some of you considering my blog post about my friends rape, but there is no contradiction. Life is not black and white.

Lines need to be drawn at reasonable points.

Moderation discovered.

Liberty defended.

Burning Man 2005 - Going Hard Core

00 Satellite's View

Theme : Psyche
Favorite : Passage
Second : Rubber Horses


For my my other Burning Man stories...
SUDDEN.NET

(This was written back in 2005. A few of you read it in email. For all the rest, this post is a promised of retro freshness just in time to get you in the mood for another mating with the dust. See you on the playa.)

Expect the Unexpected

After three years at Burning Man, I've gained some confidence in what to expect on the playa. After living through wind storms, 100 degree heat and stolen art, I realize there CAN be a down-side. The trick is to mitigate the problems so you can enjoy the event. Think of it as getting the tools to not only survive, but thrive in this strange serendipitous environment.


Going Hard Core

This is the year I went hard core. You didn't think the problems of 2004 would put me off, did you? As a matter of fact I set out to address them in 2005. Well, at least the ones I could do something about. As for stolen art, as I've said, I found acceptance. Shit happens, I move on.

The weather and my leg injury were my biggest challenges last year. These were both problems I could do something about this year.

As for injury, the key is simply being careful. OK, THAT injury was from dumping my dirt bike a few days before the event. It had nothing to do with Burning Man. But it DID make me realize how important it is to be in good shape when you get to the playa. You need all your resources for the survival part. A simple accident before hand, or during, will really slow you down. This year I wanted to be in good shape so I took extra care during the weeks leading up, and also out on the playa.

By definition, Burning Man is one unfamiliar activity after another. From sawing PVC, to loading poles on top of a motor-home, to setting up a shade structure, you are involved in motions and processes which are new and dangerous. Safety starts the month BEFORE. Focus on planning. Measure twice, cut once - carefully. Take your time. Now on to the weather. Here was something else I could control, at least to some degree.


Weather Prep

If you read 2004's story (not yet posted), you'll know the weather on the playa started with hundred degree temperatures followed by two days of 40 MPH winds. After that it was beautiful. But during those three days I mostly stayed in my car.

During the hottest times there was light wind with almost no dust. I spent the afternoon in my SUV with the motor and air conditioning running. To be honest, I was still recovering from my injured leg and didn't feel very well. Later in the week I pulled the stitches out, but at first I was trying to keep my stress down.

When the wind started, I tightened all the ropes on my shade structure and again cocooned in my car for another 48 hours. Yes I got out to go to the bathroom now and then but the wind and dust were so bad there was little else to do except sit in the car and read.

I even had to do food prep in the car because opening the ice chest would coat anything wet in a thin layer of instant mud. I got fast at grabbing stuff from my food boxes and throwing it in the car as needed.

In 2003 I had stayed with Dave in his motor-home which provided a nice break from the minor weather problems. I really missed that motor-home in 2004. I needed my own for 2005. Even with last year's problems I was still having a great time and so was fully committed to future Burns. I might as well invest in some primo playa survival gear - a motor-home.

So last spring I started watching the papers. I eventually found a 30 foot 1987 Suncrest with only 25,000 miles and everything functional. At a cost of $8200 I'd only need to use it for three Burns to break even compared to renting. I got it early in the summer and took my boys to Zion and Grand Canyon as a shake down cruise. We had a great trip. Everything went well. This should improve my whole experience. And it did.




01 Motor-home


Gimme Shelter

No matter what you camp in, a tent, a car, a trailer or other type of RV, it will get hot in the direct sun. Even with a motor-home, it would help to have some kind of shade structure. RV air conditioners in the direct sun are not as effective.

Besides, with the Zen Hammock gone, I needed a new project or some way to contribute on the playa. To be honest, I'd also become intrigued with building a temporary structure on the playa.

And finally, I'd been camping with the International Burn Hostel for the last two years. They could always use more shade. Maybe I could combine these two needs and produce a totally new kind of shade structure - a really BIG one.

For me the challenge, the thing I wanted to express was how much shade I could create with as little material as possible, and as light as possible. But like I said, I wanted it to be BIG! I was thinking 50 feet high and 100 by a 100 foot base. Yes, I know. But lots of Burning Man ideas start out extreme.

I enjoyed working with PVC on the hammock project. Perhaps I could scale up. I even thought about another free-flying fabric for this shade but couldn't think of a good way to manage it among all the other near-by vehicles. No, this would have to be a fairly rigid fabric.

Once I started calculating, I backed the size down to a 50 foot base requiring a series of 80' PVC arches covered with some kind of fabric forming a large Quonset hut like structure.

I started tests with 2 inch diameter PVC, but at 80 feet long, it was like spaghetti flopping around. I backed off again to a 60' arch and upgraded the PVC to 2.5 inches. It still wasn't rigid enough. I doubled the thickness of the PVC to "Schedule 40" grade and it finally started getting rigid. I also used four foot internal "link" PVC sections to brace the connection between the three 20 foot arch pieces. I'd learned this trick from the Hammock design. It seem to take the stress well.I used internal duct tape to form a stop so the link wouldn't shift around.

There was also a very important trick to my design. If this PVC could flex sideways, the arch held almost no weight at all. It would simply fold into an "S" under stress. But if I rigged the arch with ropes at 90 degrees to hold the PVC in a plane, it became dramatically stronger.

Properly rigged, a single arch would almost hold my weight and I planned for the fabric to be MUCH lighter than me per rib section. This would do the trick - just barely. But that was the idea. I had my rib design.



02 Rib Tests



Tyvekian Radiation Shield

In walking the isles at Lowe's Building Supply, I also discovered an interesting material. I'd seen it used for shipping envelopes which WOULD NOT TEAR. That's the kind of thing needed in playa storms. It's called Tyvek and is used to wrap houses before the siding goes on. It was VERY light and VERY strong even if more expensive than tarps. Maybe it would last multiple years. I decided to eat the extra cost and give it a try.

The trick would be attaching it to the PVC. I decided if I tapped it to the PVC and then rolled the pipe a couple of turns, the force would be nicely distributed and probably hold against the nasty winds on the playa. I would do the same with some smaller PVC pipes along the sides.

This approach would require that I stage the whole structure flat on the ground then raise each arch in turn and set it in place. Since we would only have to lift one arch at a time, I didn't think this would be a problem. Well, at least as long as it wasn't too windy.

To improve the odds of success, it's best to do as much prep as possible before getting out to the playa. A full scale test would have been best but I didn't have anywhere to stage the entire structure. My drive-way was WAY too small and I couldn't drive posts into a parking lot. As it was, I barely had room to test the ribs at my house. The final test would have to wait for the playa - big mistake. If there's any way at all, TEST your projects as much as possible before you go out.

Short of a full scale test, there was other prep I could get done early. I swept a parking lot and laid out six 10 foot by 50 sections of Tyvek then taped them together with Tyvek tape. This gave me a piece of fabric 60 feet long by 50 feet wide covering 3000 square feet. It was bigger than I had imagined. But again, that was the idea.

Next I got 14 each of five foot steel fence post and attached a short length of steel chain to each flange at the bottom. Once these posts were driven into the playa, these chains would provide an "anchor" for attaching ropes. I also bought re-bar to anchor the end ropes.

By the time I got done, I'd spent over $1400 but I was hoping to use it for more than one year. Dave reimburse some of my cost and helped me with the project.

The finished structure would have a footprint of 38 by 60 feet and be nineteen feet high at the top of the arch. I'd planned room for three motor-homes plus lots of tents. At least that was the theory.



03 Tyvek Prep (notice Dave at the far end)


Thursday August 25,2005

Burning Man prep is a stressful experience. There's a lot of cross-checking and last minute additions to the supply boxes.

It was time to load up. The process went well. The PVC went on the roof of the motor-home, the Tyvek I put inside. Then we loaded up all the rest of the gear, food and supplies. I'd been stacking stuff out for weeks. When you can go through the house but you can't find anything else to load, you're done. Everything was in. It was time to go.

After a final gas-up in Fernly, we headed north into the desert. I could almost relax. I either had it packed or I didn't. It was too late to worry about it now.

Late at night the desert gets peaceful - no more headlights anywhere - just blackness. Then maybe a single car that took minutes to zoom past. More cars were going out than coming back. That was to be expected.

We were passed several times. Then the taillights would dim and disappear and it was dark again. I didn't realize how tired I was until I got on the road. Falling asleep on this highway causes a lot of accidents, but mostly for those leaving. An fell asleep right away. I was relaxed but but still very awake. It takes a while to burn off the tension.



04 Virgin Playa

Friday August 26,2005

We got there after midnight hoping to get right in. We even brought two boxes of fresh doughnuts to put the gate crew in a good mood. But the guy who was supposed to direct us to our camp-site had passed out from partying too much. We would have to wait till morning. We just moved the stuff off the bed and quickly fell asleep.

At dawn I awoke to find just a little wind. This was not a good sign. If there's calm on the playa it's usually at dawn and dusk. I'd come out early to get the structure up before the wind and everyone else arrived.

We finally found our guide and got to our spot in what was about to become a city. There were a surprising number of people here already, but far more to come.



05 Bad Santa

By the time we got unloaded, it was already windy. We would have to wait. We could always work on our tan as Bad Santa was doing. He got his name because of his paddle. This was a Santa who didn't care if you were bad or not. He paddled everyone. IF he got the chance.

Here was the deal. Bad Santa would walk around with his paddle and a smile. He would usually ask if you deserved a swat or not. If you said yes - wrong answer. And if you said you'd been good, he'd ask if you wanted a swat to stay that way.

Remember when you were a kid and you got a swat from your parents? The disapproval was the worst part. Not with Santa. The swat was what hurt. A LOT! And he enjoyed it far too much. Now when I see a jolly man in a white beard, I avoid discussing my behavior.



06 Construction

Because of the wind delay, we got the bikes out and went for a ride. Lots of things were under construction. Later in the week we would figure out their purpose.






07 Temple Construction




08 Tape and Spackle




09 Ready for Head




10 Ass Detail



12 Pre-Burn Center Camp



13 Shield Prep

It was late morning before I got a chance to lay out the structure. I used the potties as a wind break. My plan was to rig it laying on it's back on the ground, then fold it and flip it over. This took more time than I'd planned and wasn't done until late afternoon. By then it was even windier. We would have to wait until dawn to put it up. Or so we hoped.

The problem was really one of scale. Even the PVC frame laying on it's back was huge - 60' x 60' feet. It would take LOTS of volunteers to move it around and get it in the air. The frame would have been bad enough, but we first attached 3000 square feet of "sail". This was our biggest mistake. ANY wind at all made ground handling impossible.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday...

After the Friday fiasco, we tried at dawn on Saturday, but there was even too much wind for prep. Finally in late afternoon the wind began to die down. We got about 20 people together and gave it a try.

There was another problem. It was too big and floppy to flip over. I had hoped to squeeze it into a long diamond shape to make it easier to turn over, but it was too ridged to flip, and too floppy to stand on it's own, yet also too heavy and awkward to strong arm in any way. Finally we cut the side rigging so it would fold up. This allowed us to get it into position.

Next, my plan was to put one arch at a time on top of the motor-home then get it placed on the fence posts. The problem at this point was too many hands and not enough communications. It was like herding cats. Various groups were going in different directions. Once it was in the air, you couldn't see (or talk to) those holding the other side. I was running back and forth yelling out instructions but the size was working against me. Half the people were under Tyvek at any given time.

All of a sudden, the Tyvek caught on one of the fence posts and tore a six foot hole in one side. I would worry about that later. I kept trying to yell the first arch into position from the top of the motor-home. My effort was futile.

At the same time, a small group got some red duct-tape and began repairing the rip. Somebody yelled back and we had to hold for them to finish. It was quicker to just let them fix it. I sat and waited. By the time the repairs were done, the wind was coming back up and we had to get the rib off the motor-home to keep it from being blown away. Oh well. Another day gone.




14 Tyvek Monster

On Sunday morning we cut the Tyvek off the frame and put the ribs up on their own. This worked well. It gave me hope. Then the wind picked up. We waited until evening.



15 A New Plan

The wind started to die off, but quickly came up again. It was another abort. At least for the night. We also had problems with all the ropes not in the proper locations. We laid the Tyvek back on the ground and took another break. To be honest, we hadn't even gotten close. This was a very frustrating process. Some things are easier to imagine than to actually do.

We weren't the only ones having problems. In the next camp over, a 35 foot metal "man" had blown over while they were trying to put it up. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the process and they got it up later.

Monday morning as also windy. I won't bore you with all the details. We'd made multiple attempts and multiple failures over the next several days. There were various versions of re-rigging between windstorms and white-outs.

Tuesday morning the Tyvek was still laying on the ground. It had been four days. Most of our volunteers now went the other way when they thought a "try" was eminent. To be honest that helped some. The ones who stayed had a better idea of how it was supposed to work. We no longer had too many hands.

Finally we decided to cut the Tyvek in half to make it more manageable. This did the trick. The calm held for almost an hour. We pulled the Tyvek into place with ropes from the top of the motor-home.



16 Partial Success

FINALLY!... half of it was up and functional. We spent the rest of the day rigging ropes and making it stable. The Tyvek made a strange metallic sound in the wind but other than that, it was fine. At last we had a shield against the solar radiation. We left the other bare ribs up just in case we got a chance to rig the rest. But we never did.



17 Good Enough

Unfortunately, by this time most of the campers had arrived and already set up tents in other areas. I guess that was fine. We only had half the room I'd planned anyway. We moved the motor-homes into position and set up camp. I decided to leave the structure the way it was. It was working - well, half-assed at least. I had expressed my idea. It had taken a LOT more work than I intended. I could think about the problems later. It was well past time to focus on the rest of Burning Man.




18 Teeter Totter

Monday August 29,2005

Not all of my time during those four days was spent working on the structure. Usually winds made it impossible to work. I used this time to sleep and recover from the effort. I also had time to wander around and watch the rest of the city go up. Lots of other things were happening. I got to witness a few.

After the ribs were up, other camps filled in around the sides. One of these campers was SoyBoy from last year. He had picked a particularly bad place to put his tent - right in the middle of the walk-way. I overheard one of the camp construction guys say say, P-C-R-K. I ask him to clarify - so he did, "Parasitic Clueless Rich Kids".

My conclusion from the year before had been given a name. Even though I had to agree with the label, SoyBoy DID have his good points. Does demanding count? Stuff DID happen around him. Some of it MUST have been good. But I never did get to taste any his art so I can't actually vouch for his artistic expression.




19 Threatening Ride

Later that day we had a pretty good wind storm and a couple of tents blew away. I moved the motor-home to protect the tents. It was the least I could do for our camp considering the failure of my structure.



20 Storm

When the wind died down we did a playa ride. One of the things we discovered was this 108 foot ladder standing straight up in the air with guy wires holding it in place. It looked and felt edgy. You could climb up as far as you were comfortable. Over 400 made it to the top. A couple were on it now. I planned to come back later when they got down. But when I returned someone had bumped it with an art car and bent the base. It was now just a symbol, no more to be climbed.

Another impressive piece called Passages, was what looked to be a forty foot high mother and shorter child walking across the playa. It was made of metal gears, slices of pipe, I-beams and chain welded into place. The pieces were small enough to give a rounded appearance - VERY nice work. Later in the week, the "footprints" behind these Goddesses were lit on fire for a beautiful effect.

At sunset, a couple who met in our camp decided to get "married". These instant weddings are common and only last for the week. It was a nice presentation - very serious. You would have thought they had known each other for years.




21 Just Married

Another cute detail I remember this evening was at a pot-luck. There was this big bowl of salad with a small sign in front saying, "This salad is NOT organic". Only at Burning Man would there be an ASSUMPTION of organic. Well, maybe not, but it still struck me as funny - sort of like a warning about toxic salad. It tasted fine to me, organic or not.


Tuesday August 30,2005

After spending most of the day rigging the structure, I was tired but also glad to have it functional. It was time to take it easy.

We sat around camp relaxing and talking to the others. At an International Burner's Hostel, almost everyone is from far away. It's very interesting to compare notes. Australia, New Zealand, Israel, England, Germany and so many other places I can't remember.

Later, An and I walked out to the Esplanade and into Club Verboten where we'd been the year before. They were having Beatles night and it was just what I needed. The perfect chill spot on a beautiful evening.

While we were there the Mini-Man came by and shook hands. Mini-Man is a man puppet which is a twelve foot high replica of the "Man" strapped to the back of the puppet master who has leg, knee arm and head controls. The master is in black and Mini-Man was lit up like the real man. It was an amazing piece of art and one created in Reno by a guy I'd met named Damian (Jellyfish). (As it turned out, I would get to know Damian better in a few months. Same for the owners of Club Verboten.)

Another wonderful art form I made a note about that night was one of the simplest yet most effective I've EVER seen on the playa - before or since. It was another "man" puppet with the master also in a black suit. But this "man" was simply made of long thin plastic light sticks. The master broke them and clipped them on to his arms and legs in such a way that when he walked in the dark these light sticks would bend in the most comical ways. This Micro-Man produced a very strange animated effect. It was like a living cartoon - quite vivid. When I realized how simple it was to make, I was even more impressed. Very Zen. Wish I'd gotten a picture, but like many things at Burning Man it would take a movie to capture the feel - maybe. Sometimes you just have to be there.

After some cookies at another camp and a walk out to the man, we headed back. I was more than ready for rest. My structure was done. Tomorrow would be all about art.




22 The Man

Wednesday August 31,2005

Wednesday morning felt very liberating. I didn't have to struggle with the structure. OK, later in the morning I DID tune the rigging a bit to make it stronger against the wind but the hard part was done. I went for a bike ride at sunrise as has become my custom.

Later in the morning Fred (Hagy), our camp leader showed up and took his place under the Tyvekian Radiation Shield. We now had three motor-homes in a "C" shape with a common area in the middle. I finally felt settled.

Next I spent time getting some of my costumes out and prepping them. Up until then I mostly wore my work clothes just to be ready work in case the wind died down. Now I could switch into party mode.

That afternoon An and I went to the Human Carcass Wash. She was a bit skitterish about getting touched, but decided to try anyway. As a guy, I'm up for almost anything, but this did violate some primal social boundaries.

Here's how it works : You take off your clothes and get in line. When your turn comes you step into a plastic tray and people on both sides spray you from water bottles. As you step into the next tray, you explain your limits of touching as two more people begin rubbing you down with this soapy water. As you step into the next tray, you get sprayed with fresh water as a rinse and more rubbing. Then you join the crew and wash a few others.

This whole process is definitely an interesting experience. It's hard to relax and let a stranger wash you. But it was easier once you were doing the rubbing. Things like this make you question where our customs come from. Are they absolute? Such boundaries often feel like it at the time. But if you start challenging them, thing get easier. It makes you wonder how these ideas get started. Here's an example...





Lick Your Plate
Drink Your Dishwater
Leave No Trace

The lines above grew out of a discussion that spans several months and conversations with different people. It started back at my house one afternoon when my boys were over watching a movie. Pepsi, pizza and wings were part of the process.

When my youngest son finished the last wing, he tossed the bones in the trash and began licking the plate. My first reaction was to feel a bit embarrassed for him. I told him to put down the plate and I'd make him some more. He explained he didn't want any more, but licking the plate was the best part. I let him continue in the spirit of Radical Self Expression.

Then I wondered about my visceral reaction - like the one from getting washed. Was it simply an emotional reflex to a (in this case) visual stimulus? Did the way we finished dinner really matter? This was definitely Burning Man material. It required more investigation. I started thinking of other similar situations.

I grew up mostly with my grandparents. My grandfather was a rather rough and direct kind of guy. He had worked the coal mines of Kentucky and much of his life ran a saw mill cutting ties for the mines. He was a man of few words, sometimes none at all.

If you asked him a question he would take his time responding. I soon understood this was to give me a chance to figure out the answer for myself. He'd watch me to see when I figured it out. If I didn't, he'd usually answer. But sometimes he wouldn't. Then I'd have to probe. With fewer words, his deeds took on more significance. Just his nature.

I remember he often asked my grandmother for a glass of "sweet" milk and cornbread in the evening. It was just regular milk as far as I could tell. As opposed to sour? Or maybe "sweet" reflected fat content. He never explained.

He would break up the cornbread, dropping it in the milk and then proceed to eat it with a spoon. This was something any grandfather might do, especially a coal miner - it was no big deal.

But after he was done, he'd run a small amount of water in the glass and swish it around. Then he'd drink the mess. As a kid, this grossed me out. So I asked him why? He just looked at me. He always rinsed and drank the decreasing mess twice. When he was done the glass was apparently clean. I just figured it was his way of doing the dishes. But let's move on.

At the next Burning Man pot-luck I finished dinner by licking my plate as my son had taught me. I was looking for a reaction. Dave and An were there as well as others.

At first I got laughs, then An asked if I wanted more to eat. That was it - the same thing I said to my son. Licking our plate culturally indicates we're still hungry. Or does this go deeper?

My guess is, it may even cross cultures and go into our common history. But was it still a valid response in this age of plenty? What were the pros and cons of this behavior?

An said I was just trying to get attention, which IS typical. But I explained about my son and also my grandfather. Dave said my grandfather had been through the depression and was just being efficient. He said his mother back in Prague did the same thing with other foods - nothing was wasted by this generation - according to Dave.

An said most people did just the opposite now. They left food on the plate just to show they DID have enough to eat. She thought it was a horrible waste of food. She was right. THAT IS the common practice. At least in our current culture. Is THIS the new custom of in our age of waste?

I countered with another story from back in the seventies. My then wife and I were having dinner with this Hippie friend who lived way up in the mountains. When he was done eating he put his plate on the floor and let his dog lick it clean. He said it made it easy to do dishes. My wife almost puked, but I laughed. It was an early lessons in challenging the status quo. No I didn't start letting my dog lick my plate, but I DID consider it. And that's half the battle.




23 Dave, Licking His Plate

During this discussion with Dave, I recalled being on the playa the year before and seeing such waste. The International Burner's Hostel had a special sink with a tank under it to catch scraps before the plates were washed. By the end of the week they would fill this fifty gallon tank with rotting food. OK, there were a few bones, but MOST of it was simply extra bites left over because of this VERY custom. Anyway, this mess had to be hauled back to Reno and discarded - more wasted resource and trouble.

As it turns out, astronauts have a similar problem. They don't just toss the garbage overboard. The mandate is clean your plate and drink all the coffee in your drink bag because all the trash created in orbit HAS get sent back to earth.

This idea got my attention. Licking my plate and drinking my dishwater might make people think about how much they put on their plate in the first place. And how much work it is to clean up.

So I made a sign and put it over the table in my motor-home for Burning Man :



66 Lick Your Plate

That and my examples have started several conversations. It's my contribution to Leave No Trace. This is just an example of where some of the strange behaviors you may encounter on the playa come from. Sometimes you just have to be there. Other times you can learn by example.

Back in the real world (off playa) I still lick my plate now and then. No, I don't do it in public restaurants. Well, unless I REALLY want to embarrass those I'm with. You'd be surprised at the reactions. Or maybe you wouldn't.

Also, when I find someone has left the last slice of pizza, chicken wing or burger on the plate, I often eat it just to make a point. There IS no longer need to discard food just to prove we have plenty. As a culture, we should be past such petty social cues.

I like to think my grandfather would appreciate my sign.



Thursday, September 1, 2005

I got to bed early Wednesday night and got up at sunrise on Thursday. It was the first day I didn't have to worry about the structure at all. It was still standing, and still making metallic sound like tin foil in the wind. As the week went on, the Tyvek soften up and the noise decreased. The important thing was, it worked. Well, half of it did.




24 Rubber Horses (make sure and click this one to enlarge)

On the dawn ride I discovered the Rubber Horses made of re-bar and old tires, which immediately became my second favorite art for the year.



11 Colosus Construction

I also got my first good look at the completed Colosus. It was the new piece by the guy who did Temple of Gravity, my favorite from the year before. This one was a tower with three arms each holding a huge stone with a rope below. If you pulled on the rope, you could turn the whole thing. It was a merry-go-round! But VERY hard to get going.




25 Banana Car




26 Mystery Wrap





27 Cadilet




28 Junkasaurs


One of the guys staying at our camp was called Michigan. He had converted a school bus to a party RV with a full-size jacuzzi in the back with his own tanks of water to keep it supplied. He had driven this bus all the way from Michigan (naturally), and was working hard to add enough lights to qualify as an art car at night. Unfortunately, he didn't make it and had to leave it parked at camp. Just another example of failed art. You do what you can. But he still had some pretty good parties. He said he took this bus out to other events near his home about 20 times a year. Interesting hobby.

Later that afternoon I went to a presentation on mystical drugs. I find this an interesting topic as it ties in with human perception and illusion. Unfortunately, the entire presentation was illusion. It was all mystical, with no useful drug or perception information.

But I DID discover something interesting afterwards. One other person there had worked on a study about about cross control in the human nervous system. He pointed out that those who use scissors often move their jaws in synchronization with the cutting. This is similar to other studies I had read about, but a more vivid example. This was one more clue about how the human mind multiplexes control - fascinating. It's not always the presentation that gets your attention. Sometimes it's those who attend and participate. Serendipity runs wild at Burning Man.

When I returned to camp, An was there with her cousin who she hadn't seen in years. An heard she was on the playa so went looking. I was amazed she found her. Her cousin stayed for dinner and we discussed what we had discovered. Later we walked her back to her camp and then went on to the playa.

Soon we encountered this huge articulated bus with a top deck. We climbed on to watched the playa go by below. It was a nice view.

On the way back down the steps we noticed these TV screens playing porn in the brightly lit bus. Several people were watching, but no one said a word. I think this art was about shock value and being out of context. So I guess it worked.

Speaking of porn...






29 Beaver



Lost Penguin's Great Canadian Beaver Eating Contest

An had a dance class and headed off alone. I went looking for the Lost Penguin. One of my friends had told me about their Great Canadian Beaver Eating Contest. Yep. It's just what it sounds like. This I had to see.

Even though I was a single guy and they only allowed couples inside, my friend told me he would get me a place to stand before it started.

I went over early and found him. The whole camp was busy getting prepared. We sat out front near the side where the line of couples were forming up. My friend left to get things ready. I sat there with a drink and listened to the chat from the line.

This was fun - my kind of voyeurism. Sure, I enjoy watching a couple having sex as much as the next guy, but what I find REALLY interesting is watching human behavior - what people do and say when they don't realize anyone is watching... or listening. Candid behavior is the most valid.

The first thing I remembering hearing was from this lady in line, "What kind of contest is this?". Her partner wouldn't respond. Maybe he was planning on surprising her.

Another couple were challenging each other as to what was going to happen, and how far they would go with the process. She won with, "Well if you chicken out, I'll just find someone to take over". Quite a challenge - he stayed in line.

Soon, one of the other Lost Penguins came through with a flashlight. He was asking each couple if they knew what was happening and if they were sure they wanted to go in. He specifically said, "Are you ready to get naked and really perform?", followed by, "We don't have room for slackers". The line was way too long. He needed to cut it down.

Next he challenged a couple of gay ladies and said, "Sorry, hetro only". They pleaded and promised to deliver, but he insisted they weren't qualified. They walk off to find another event. So much for Radical Inclusion. Burning Man too, has it's limits.

This guy got several couples to "chicken out" by the time he got to the end of the line. Then he started at the door again. Apparently they WERE limited for space. The second time through fewer dropped out.

Next they used the delay tactic in hopes that some would get distracted and leave. I heard, "I wish they'd hurry up. My buzz is wearing off". Apparently this lady didn't want to lose her place in line, or her frame of mind. But she stayed.

After a long wait, my friend came and took me in the back. We entered the area from inside the tent. I found myself in an enclosed room about 20 by 20 with another 10 by 10 foot "L" alcove. The outside entrance was at the far corner. I got to stand along the wall about half way down. A few other couples and singles were standing along the same wall. My friend left.

There was music playing and about four couples were already making out on the floor. Getting naked at Burning Man is a relative term, but still, no one was taking off any clothes yet.

Then the line started moving in and finding empty spaces on the carpeted floor. Soon it was very crowded and you could only walk through by carefully placing your feet as you moved. The guy who had been culling the line was now doing that dance to get to the center of the room.

This "MC" had a mic and read off the rules for the contest. There would be NO fellatio, coitus or other forms of sex allowed. Anyone caught doing anything other than cunnilingus would be disqualified. He ended his speech with a loud declaration of, "GO!", and rang a bell.

At first everyone just looked around at each other and whispered. But the four couples in the middle got started as if it were a race. Soon others were following suit. Some started slow, some started fast, but in only a few minutes about half the couples in the tent had removed most of their clothing, or at least enough to begin eating.

During these first minutes there was lots of laughing and smart remarks. To be honest, the situation wasn't very erotic. Then some couples started getting serious. These were the hard core performers (pun intended). They didn't seem shy at all.

For others it was more like gymnastics. These "performers" were all about position. They changed it every few seconds so it came off as a bit of a comic dance. In some cases, the ladies being held in the air or were hanging from the poles of the tent. It seemed a bit silly to me.

With other couples, the woman did most of the "performing". But some weren't acting at all. Or maybe they were, just doing a great job. It's hard to tell.

I've noticed that public sex often uses comedy to deflect other emotion. It seems that if they are laughing, they don't have to deal with that line between erotic and obscene. That's how it was in this tent.

I looked around at the others watching. Most were laughing or pointing and talking, but some were just quietly watching. Some of those along the wall began to join the performers but remain standing and kneeling. Others only watched using their laughter as a defense. Was it comedy or drama? The envelope was definitely being pushed.

There was one couple near my feet. My guess is they were doing some kind of drug - grass, "E" or something else mellow. They seemed fairly oblivious. But every now and then the lady would open her eyes and look around to check on who was watching. It was as if she couldn't decide if she wanted to be seen or not.

Then she'd closed her eyes again. Apparently she went past caring and into a full body spasm. In only seconds she pushed his head away and rolled onto her side. Comedy or drama, the contest was over for this couple. She stayed in the fetal position with him hugging her back watching the others.

One couple who had started out as watchers were getting naked and involved. They managed to find a spot on the floor. I don't think she was faking it either. She was very attractive with long blond hair and seemed to ignore the rest of the room. As a matter of fact they BOTH seemed to be in their own world. He got VERY sexually aggressive, VERY quickly. More pot? Or had they just been caught up by the erotic vibe?

All of a sudden he rolled her on to her hands and knees and began an intense session of coitus. It was as if this were part of their normal routine. She seemed to know just what to do. They were both well practiced but definitely NOT performing for anyone but themselves.

The MC noticed and tried to step over. When he couldn't get through the crowd, he started blowing a whistle and between breaths yelling, "DISQUALIFIED, DISQUALIFIED, DISQUALIFIED". I don't think the couple even noticed. They didn't even slow down. Soon the MC gave up and went on to comment on some other couple.

The contest came down to two wildly performing couples who were next to each other in the center. Was it the quality or just endurance? Most of the others were watchers now. It seemed like these couples had planned for the event and were trying to outdo each other with their dance and tongue work. The girls were over the top with their wild appreciation. This was definitely comedy - not very erotic. But maybe that's what the MC wanted. He picked the wildest couple and proclaimed them the winners, giving them an actual prize of some sort. I couldn't see what it was.

My friend came by and I thanked him for the access and made my way out of the tent. As I left, I noticed about a third of the couples stayed and the room seemed to be digressing into a general orgy with those that remained. I guess this was the more serious of the crowd.

Part of Burning Man is finding and challenging limits. And it doesn't disappoint. I wondered about all the less formal but maybe even stranger events going on all over the playa in other tents. Buttons being pushed. Limits being tested. Lines being crossed. Adults consenting. Be careful what tent you walk into. Be ready for ANYthing.




30 Temple of Dreams



31 Temple of Dreams


Friday, September 2, 2005

During the ride on Friday morning I noticed a guy packing his car. This was the very opposite of what many were now doing as they arrived for the weekend. I stopped and asked him why, thinking he was a burn-out. I was wrong. He just needed to get back to work in Reno. I asked him if it was worth coming out for such a short time (he'd been there three days). Without reservation, he said, "Oh, yeah". He explained that even though he missed the big burns, the people, vibe and much of the art were all present. He had no regrets. Burning Man often produces such conviction.



32 never Completed

As I got out to the playa, I noticed "The Machine" that had been under construction all week. It was still not done and never would be. It was a VERY large and elaborate collection of wooden gears, pullys and belts that moved around on a hub by human power. I'd heard it was "collaborative" art with different groups from around the country producing various parts which were then brought together for the first time on the playa. Some of the parts moved but over-all it didn't work well. Still, it was impressive in scale and objective. And I knew all about projects that don't quite get completed. It's part of the adventure.

An is one of those organized people who likes to "do everything", which of course is impossible on the playa. Still, she tries. Friday evening we left to find the tent where a Zen Tantra lecture was to be held. When we got there, not only was there no tent, there was not even a camp.

As we stood around trying to figure it out, another couple arrived, then another, and also some singles. Soon we had twenty-some people standing around waiting for this event. This must have been the Zen part. In any case, we started an impromptu discussion on Tantra at this totally empty cross road on the playa. Sometimes all you need is an idea to bring people together - Zen meet-up.




Drugs

Here's another interesting story that's fairly common. It was about ten in the morning and I was riding my bike back to camp. Just then a guy ran into me from behind and both of our bikes crashed to the ground. I picked myself up but he simply laid in the dust - not moving at all.

Before I could check him out three ladies from a near-by camp beat me to it. It was no wonder we had a bike wreck. This guy was SO wasted on alcohol, you could smell it several feet away. He couldn't stand for more than a few seconds. These ladies took him into their camp and got him some water as they tried to clean the dirt off of him. At least he was a happy drunk. He had a huge smile on his face. Maybe this was his art. It was certainly interactive.

Speaking of drugs, when people do psychedelics, they seem to like to discuss the effects. Several times during the week, people would stop by camp and tell me all about what was happening in their head. It was a form of sharing, another way to express yourself. I'm a very curious person, so I always stopped to listen and ask questions.

The drugs ran the gambit from mescaline, E, acid and schrooms as well as something called 2CE, GBH and other letters I can't remember. Grass was almost as common as alcohol, but alcohol was far more disabling as in the example above. Interestingly, I never encountered the classic addictive drugs such as speed, crack, coke or heroin. At least no one talked about it. Different demographics I guess. Those with actual addiction probably didn't have the resources or conviction to make it out here.



Sluts and Studs

Another interesting observation was pointed out to me as the week progressed. There was this voluptuous lady in her twenties who's tent was right next to our motor-home. You tend to notice what's going on with your neighbors and this lady was quite systematic. All week she was bringing guys back to her tent, but never the same guy twice in a row.

Now a typical reaction might be - Slut!, with all of it's negative connotations. And certainly the case could be made. But hold that thought.

By the end of the week she finally brought the guy to her tent who had gotten married when we first got there. I guess their "marriage" didn't last the full week. Maybe not even the first night. I really have no idea, but he appeared to have a fun week. Many might think of him as a stud. Or at least cute, and just having a good time.

The point is, this lady was doing exactly what this guys was doing - being promiscuous. It's what we used to call free love. But our first reaction is, the lady is somehow more negative than the guy. At least that's a typical first reaction, and certainly how it would be interpreted back in the default world. On the playa there's an attempt at equality. Or is it these people are simply not very judgmental?

I just thought I'd make an observation about the inequity of our social assumptions. And how those at Burning Man work to change them by their own example.

Or maybe she was just having a good time, and felt more comfortable on the playa.



33 Critical Tits




34 Critical Tits



35 Critical Tits




36 Critical Tits

This year I did manage to get out to the Critical Tits parade on time. Well, mostly. I got close enough that I could see them heading out from the Man that formed a huge snake making it's way across the playa. I picked a point then rode hard to intercept it's head. I found a good spot in the shade of a truck where a guy was setting up his art. He offered a Popsicle and I accepted.

We watched the long body of semi-naked women ride by. They were going surprisingly fast but it still took a few minutes for all of them to pass. Toward the end there were more guys riding along side. By the end it was all guys. They seemed to be herding the parade.

With the speed of it's execution, this "parade" seemed more like "Fox and the Hound" than women standing up for their rights to show their tits. Strange how these things evolve. When I'd seen this parade a couple of years ago, it was a much more relaxed affair. I was wondering if it had gotten out of hand and became this dynamic chase.





37 Dicky

Another social experiment that was fun to watch was Dicky. He was this nerdy guy living in a plexi-glass room out on the playa. The point was to have the experience come to him instead of the other way around.

This room had a bed and air conditioner but little else. I'm not sure how he handled the bathroom thing since the room had no door. It appeared Dicky was locked in for the week. There was a small sliding drawer that allowed you to pass him notes, food and toys. When we were there someone had pushed through a remote control for a toy car which he was busy driving around the playa from inside his room. I guess this gave him a sense of freedom. Strange way to spend a week. But he probably got a lot of attention when he broke out on Saturday.

The wind came up Friday evening and it was soon white-out conditions. We stopped by Dreamscape and Lost Penguin but quickly moved on looking for better shelter. We found it in a tent that was showing slides of a guys bicycle ride through India. His photos were his art. And he did a nice narration as well.

Mostly because of the storm we went to bed early and were asleep by midnight. I think the stress of the first part of the week had caught up with me. I was getting the symptoms of a cold. Early to bed was a good idea. I wanted to be in good shape for Saturday night.

Saturday, September 3, 2005

Dave joined us for our bike ride Saturday morning. The partially completed "Machine" from the day before was already taken down. No flames for it this year. Here are some of the other things we saw...




38 Spinning Jugs in the Wind




39 Waiting for a Train




40 Temple Enbraced




41 Mega Drum




42 Two-faced




43 Against the Wind




44 Westward Ho



45 Articulated Flower




46 An Liked This Cat




47 Threw the Heart




48 Karen Doing Head Art

Before lunch I stopped by to see Karen, a friend from Reno who I'd talked into coming to Burning Man a couple of years before. She's now a regular. Consistent with the theme, she was doing head art for one of her camp-mates.

Later I did an ice run then decided to take a nap. My cold was getting worse so I laid in the motor-home, slept and read most of the afternoon. Preserving your strength is critical and the hot afternoon is a good time to do it.




49 Hagy's Wedding

Later that afternoon Hagy married a French girl and a blond at the same time. It too was well attended and lead to an immediate honeymoon back under the Tyvekian Radiation Shield.

Later I happened by the Jiffy Lube Camp. I heard a lot of strange noises but didn't go in. One day I'll have to check it out. Speaking of the Jiffy Lube, there was a strange event at the porta-potties.

The last couple of years the porta-pottie guys have added this extra-large porta-pottie. It was for guys and had six urinal positions. The door is usually propped open with guys going in and out constantly. Guys aren't shy about keeping the door closed. I started using it because there was generally no waiting.

Later that night I stopped by like usual but the door was locked. Strange. On the outside someone had written in big black letters, "Jiffy Lube Annex". Then I heard noises. You and I both will have to imagine what was going on in there.

Then I wondered WHY? Wouldn't a tent be more private? But maybe public was the point. Was this an extension of the "tea house" in the default world? Were bathrooms an expected meeting place for gay males? It sure looked like it. More lines challenged. Glad it was an off-peak time for the bathrooms. I found another one.

Back at camp, Dave, An and I all left to watch the Man burn. Instead of fighting the crowds we stayed back and found an empty golf cart someone had left. No one was around so we took up residence and watched the show from there. This was a fresh perspective.

About an hour later after all the fireworks and fire, three guys in street clothes were heading straight for the cart. They were very serious. From their clothes and the way they were talking on radios, we guessed they were narcs. We left the cart before they got there. It was the first time I'd noticed plain-clothes police on the playa. But they ARE there.

From the Man we went here and there for hours. Dave got separated somewhere along the line so An and I stopped by Club Verboten as we had the year before. This time it was totally full and there was a line outside. We waited a while but never did get in. That's how it is with adventure.

Instead we walked up the street to the Bad Idea Theater and watched Harry Potter with Science Theater 3000 style dubbed comments. It was hilarious and a nice cool-down from the night's exploration. I'm not sure when we got to sleep Saturday night, but it was late. Or early.



Sunday, September 4, 2005

The peak of Burning Man is when the man burns. By Sunday morning as we did our bike ride people were packing up and some already leaving. Maybe they had a long way to drive and Monday being a holiday just wasn't enough time.




50 Nice Shade Structure




51 Yellow Submarine



52 Hands Reaching



53 Angel of the Apocalypse




54 Containment



55 Passage



56 Passage up Close



57 Witch



58 Clock



59 Actually Worked




60 Post Burn

There's something else that happens Sunday morning but it's hard to put a finger on. There is less expectation and more resignation. It's sad to see it all end, and it was definitely ending. As I now recall, I had felt this vibe each year but this morning it seemed more vivid.

Here's another down-side of Burning Man. The morning after the Burn, the playa is littered with abandon bikes. I'm not sure who cleans them up. So much for leave no trace.




61 Abandon Bikes (click to enlarge)

After our ride about we stopped in for a yoga class. There was plenty of room and yoga fit the mood - serene stress and relaxation.

By the end of the class the wind came up. As we rode back I saw a sign that said, "Sometimes a banana is just a banana". It struck me as funny. I had to stop and write down the quote. And so it ends up here.

As more people left, the city began to change. It was easier to pick out my Tyvekian Radiation Shield from farther away. Taking short-cuts between streets also got easier.

That night the Temple Burn was different than prior years. Or again, maybe it was just me. It's always the last big event making it hard to deny the week is over. Plus it's very nature produces it's own sadness.

Amazing Grace this year sounded like someone was trying to imitate Joan Baez. And who-ever they were, they did a damn good job. The haunting voice set the mood. It was a modest temple. It was a gentle end to a wonderful week. (That paragraph was written three year ago. Just last month I learned it WAS Joan Baez 07-15-08).




62 Portable Keyboard



Monday, September 5, 2005

Tear-down was now in full swing and the line to get out was already forming as we did our ride on Monday morning.




63 Michigan Packing Up

That evening we rode along the almost empty streets. There was one lonely camp near ours that had a dome structure still up but no cover. They had put out a sign that said pot-luck at 5:00 so we came back over with some stuff to eat. We had a nice dinner with just a few people.

From there we did a cruise by center camp but it was almost empty too. There were a few camps still playing loud music but they felt like echoes of the days just past. There were a few structures but most of the people were gone.


Tuesday, September 6, 2005


Then next morning we got up and banged the ribs apart before loading them back on top of the motor-home. I decided it was a bit tedious the way we wove the rope between pipes. I needed a better solution for shade.

After a final Moop patrol of our site, we headed back to Reno. There was no problem with exits lines or traffic on the highway. Tuesday is the time to leave.

Looking back on my structure I noted several problems. The main one was trying to put it up all at once. Big was fine. I just needed an incremental order of construction.

And the cross ropes wore holes in the Tyvek as the wind beat the material constantly. Delamination of the Tyvek also occurred at the points where the rope lines crossed.




64 Storm Damage

I liked working with the Tyvek, but was it the right material for this application? Sometimes the ideas you like most are not the best.

As every year, I had a great time, but this year's Burn was too much of a work-out and stress-out. I needed better materials, design and methods. Or find a totally different way to contribute.

All of these issues would be addressed in next year's plan.



65 Good Bye


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