Through the Eyes of Burners

Homeward bound?

2010-08-31T10:57:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't know how we did it this year, but at the last minute it looks like, in the style of an epic on-again off-again love affair, we are preparing to head for the Playa today. Originally we thought we'd be on the road by noon, but anyone who knows us knows that is just cute. It will probably be more like 4:30 or, god forbid, 6:30. Anyway, we got a ticket last night and picked up a friend's RV so that's how we know we're on our way. The bikes aren't properly decorated, we haven't packed or thought about packing and the house looks like there was a fur explosion! I made 85 Muppet Feet Playa gifts for camp which required a great deal of cutting of small fur samples. It gets into EVERYTHING. The TTEOB cards will be making a reappearance. I hope I can get some out there and enjoy some feedback!

One thing I did manage to finish was the dedication to my mom. I'm happy with how it turned out even though it made me really sad to be making something like that. I've been tormented by my mom's passing. I'm looking forward to putting the dedication on the Temple and having a little memorial for her.

Anyway, despite allergies from hell and about a week's worth of housework to do, plus a delivery, pick ups of random things and still needing to pack, it feels good to be heading out. We hope we've missed the Playa rain and have smooth sailing for our much-needed break!

Playa-bound 2010

2010-08-03T17:36:00.000-07:00

Well folks, it's that time of year again! Planning, scrambling, willing things to happen with no real idea of how we're going to pull it off. We're expecting to make it to the Playa this year with will and endurance more than anything else. It's been a real bitch of a year, so we need the break, and also this Burn has special meaning for me because I'll be saying goodbye to my mom who passed away this month. It's also our 5th Burn and our 2nd year with the fabulous Random & Unnecessary Camp. Check out what we're doing and toss a little donation to camp this way --> http://randomandunnecessary.org/

We, Random & Unnecessary that is, have some big plans for the Burn this year. We hope you'll come to visit us and enjoy some of our fabulous randomness! Here's a brief description of what we're doing as it appears on the official Burning Man site.

Random and Unnecessary Camp
Offering Random and Unnecessary adventures on the playa for the 2nd year. Including Tourist Day, croquet, eTARDIS Mini Dance Club, photo cutouts, pie shots, movies, art, superhero water battles, glow cocks, a chill lounge, fire and beyond, you're sure to satisfy your most random cravings here!
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

Address: As of now, our general address is 2:45/3:00 and Edinburgh backing up onto Florence so we can be seen from both streets. This year, we'll have signs! No really, we will!

To give you a little extra insight into some of the things, here's some background and details.

TOURIST DAY: This was a random idea I had last year, I don't remember what sparked it, but it's the first "planned" thing I've ever contributed and it was a GREAT time. We had our Virgin Burner, Jim, as our tour guide which seemed most appropriate given the nature of the event. Everyone got garbed out in the most obnoxious Hawaiian shirts possible, loaded up on cameras, idiocy, and huge sunglasses, then headed out to take a look at the "natives". Jim led the way dressed in a suit and Fez (what else?!) and provided us all with maps of China to get a good lay of the land. He has even bigger more random and unnecessary plans this year. Notice how everyone is doing their own thing and confused by the maps to begin with...

We started at our own camp, and walked a large part of the Playa visiting various camps of locals, learning about their traditions and explaining the meaning of sin to many. Some people were highly annoyed, and others got the joke and joined in.We enjoyed engaging the "natives" and participating in their strange customs, like this merry-go-round in the middle of nothing.

So it is with much joy that we plan to do Tourist Day again this year, but this time it will be an all-inclusive, all-tourists welcome event. Check the Playa event guide for times - we're thinking somewhere around 1pm on Thursday.

Photo cutouts - You've seen them and know what they are - those random cheesy cut-outs at tourist areas where you can stick your head through the photo hole, make a goofy face, and forever remember the lovely place you just visited. We have some ideas for photo opportunities in camp this year and hope you'll take advantage of them! What inspired us to create such a wonderful attraction? This visit I took with my family to Brighton in 1987. I have an old photo somewhere of me, my mom, my grandmother and my kid brother in one of those cut-outs showing the "excitement" of Brighton Beach. Here's a sneak peek of my photo idea for this year. - Random Acts of Bad Circus

Pie Shots - don't be a sissy (unless you're under 21); come and indulge in some pie shots! They're just what you think. Well, maybe not... So in case you're wondering, they are alcoholic shots that taste like pies! No cups necessary, cuz they go straight into your mouth. Sure to feel like a meal and make you happy, come by for our pie shots event 2 to 5pm on Friday. You can see what this oral extravaganza looks like here. Thank Xinc for the great pictures from our Ice Cream Social fundraiser.

Glow Cock Lamplighters - Yes, we said it, Glow Cocks! This is the last hurrah of this bizarre creation made by my other half. We gave away armloads of these things over the years, including a bunch at Exodus last Burn, and our intrepid Camp Leader has asked for the last lots we have. We are gladly giving up these delightfully kitsch light-up dildos for Camp Decor and other fun. Who doesn't like a raver-fabulous cock?

Chill Lounge - We have to have some class in camp, so thanks to Sharon and PyrateGyrl for arranging a chill lounge! Visit us here to hang out, have a good time and relax.

TTEOB Reprisal - Somewhere in camp there will be a large black mailbox in which you are highly encouraged to place stories and artsy stuff to share your interpretation of Burning Man, as well as messages to anyone in camp if you so choose. I will have the TTEOB cards with markers and colored pencils nearby for you to participate. Feel free to take some of the markers etc with you, they're useful for writing at the Temple!

Revival

2009-08-08T19:47:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

Well, it's been almost a year since I posted last and many thing have changed. I suppose that's just the nature of life. For those of you looking for The Chops at the Burn this year we're camping with The Random & Unnecessary people. We have some fun plans for the camp. Unfortunately, we were placed at 10:00 and H, so we'll see if that holds or we end up somewhere else.

So the revival: Because Matt and I are super excited about the Burn this year, I have revived the TTEOB book idea. For those who don't know, this is the premise:
I want to create a coffee table book of insights about Burning Man and the various regional Burn communities worldwide. I want to know what people think of their community, how they got involved, how they are involved (or not) year round, what the Burn means to them, some of their anecdotal experiences etc etc etc. In 2007 I created some post cards which I distributed in very small quantities in the hopes of getting some back completed. As it happened, I didn't get any back. This year, I have created bigger cards and they will be part of our theme camp's art project. I hope that people think this sounds fun and opt to participate. The objective of the book is to tell the general public about the Burn from the many and varied perspectives of people who go. There are so many misconceptions out there so it would be nice to create a sort of art piece/conversation piece to clear some of those misconceptions or at least get people thinking. This also means having some insights that are not stories of wonder and awe or entirely positive. Sometimes bad stuff happens at the Burn or in our communities too!

People who participate can send in as much or as little as they like. The cards are intended to be a starting point but emails and other types of regular mail are also welcome, as are photos and doodles, sketches, paintings etc. Please bear in mind that anything you send can be put in the book, so don't reveal your real name if you don't want it published or send pictures if you dont have the rights to distribute them.

I did 3 new cards for this year (the one above was the card for 2007, which will also be distributed again even though it's only 4x6). Feel free to comment on which of the three new designs you like the best.

I also created a Facebook group today so feel free to join there if you feel like it. See you on the Playa or somewhere inbetween!

~ Bronwen

The Abarat Islands

2008-09-12T19:19:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned Abarat as a source of inspiration several times so here is the low-down on what I mean. I hope you enjoy the crazy, creative personalities of each island. In fact, I am bidding on a map of the Abarat right now. I hope I win it!

On this page you scan zoom over the various islands to see them a little closer:
http://www.thebooksofabarat.com/content4/abarat48.swf?charPicked=99 If you click on each island it will zoom in to a much larger image and a description of the island. Babilonium is one of my favorites!

From TheBooksOfAbarat.com comes the “glossary” of terms from the books. There are detailed descriptions of characters and the islands here:
http://www.thebooksofabarat.com/content4/abappendix.html

Below are descriptions of the islands of the Abarat, only very slightly edited by me. I have “highlighted” my favorites in pink.

Islands of the Abarat (from Wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abarat

In the Abarat series, there are "Islands of Abarat" which are each based around a time of day (except for the island based on the 25th hour). Below are descriptions based on what the character Samuel Hastrim Klepp, author of the wildly popular Klepp's Almenak, has to say about each of these islands:

1:00 a.m. The Pyramids of Xuxux: There is no quieter place in the Abarat than at One o'Clock in the morning, where the six Pyramids of Xuxux rise out of the dark and uncannily placid waters of the Izabella. Some have suggested that these pyramids and the Ziggurat of Soma Plume at 5:00 p.m. were designed by the same hand and built by the same masons. The writer of Klepp's Almenak, the omnipresent traveller's guide to the Abarat, disagrees. The tombs at Soma Plume are "calm and curiously reassuring places" whereas the six pyramids at Xuxux (perhaps owing to their proximity to Midnight) are "sites of mystery and tragedy". The character Christopher Carrion uses them as a breeding-ground for the ravenous, chaotically diverse, monstrous insects known as the Sacbrood.

2:00 a.m. Idjit: Klepp described Idjit as an island of "immense charm", never visited when he was sober. Idjit is an island that "encourages excesses, a kind of happy foolishness". It shares with neighbouring Gorgossium a "spiky, barren topography", while storms rage perpetually about the landscape. It has been calculated that a visitor to Idjit is more likely to be struck by lightning than a man on the roosts of Efreet is to be hit by bird excrement. The result is either (as in the human world) instant death or euphoria.

3:00 a.m. Pyon is described as having been "once a quiet island, but no longer. The work of an entrepreneur by the name of Rojo Pixler has transformed the island utterly. It was Pixler's dream (some have said folly) to build the biggest city in the archipelago on Pyon, its light so bright that the darkness of the Hour would be a grand irrelevance". Hence, Commexo City; a Las Vegas-like tourists' paradise whose image Pixler seeks to impose on the entire archipelago.

4:00 a.m. Isle of the Black Egg: Here lie the Pius Mountains, a range of needle-sharp crags that are the tallest natural phenomenon on the islands. These are the home of peaceful, mountain-dwelling villagers, as well as of passionate revolutionaries. Klepp claims to have "discovered to date two hundred and seventeen explanations for the name [of the island], each contradicting the next. As I cannot distinguish the value of any one explanation over any other, and it seems arbitrary to simply pick one for retelling here, I'd prefer to simply state that nobody knows how the island got its name and leave it at that".

5:00 a.m. Speckle Frew is geographically an uneventful island; the earth is sandy and covered with fine, sharp-edged grass, while the wind is always howling. Though the terrain is scarcely varied, the island is home to a wide variety of species, most of them dangerous. Three are named: the Naught, the Scab-Faced Snouter, and the Rife. Being the habitat of such animals, Speckle Frew is called "a bestiary" and "not to be trespassed lightly".

6:00 a.m. Efreet: Unlike its neighbour Speckle Frew, Efreet was once an island of great sophistication. The city of Koy, considered to have been the most cultured city in the Abarat, was built on the lower steppes of the island. Opinions vary as to how long it stood and why it fell, but what remains of the city - rows of pillars, archways, and frescoes - testifies to a site of elegance and learning.

7:00 a.m. Autland is joined to Efreet by the Gilholly Bridge. There is a palace on Autland, built for Queen Muzzel McCray, to a design that appeared to her in a dream, or so local legend dictates. The Queen's husband was a creature called Nimbus, Lord of the Tarrie-cats. Nimbus still lives in McCray's palace, inside the dream - so to speak - of the woman he loved.

8:00 a.m. Obadiah: This is an island of extraordinary flora. Here a visitor will find strange and sometimes aggressive plants growing in virtually inexhaustible profusion. Some have called Obadiah the Elegiac's Garden, and suggested it may have been a kind of laboratory in which the mythic Creators of Abarat, A'zo and Cha, experimented with life-forms.

9:00 a.m. Qualm Hah: This is a puzzling place to explore, because it has two distinct faces. At the western edge of the island stands the busy seaport of Tazmagor, where the food is good, the people happy, and the air filled with the din of extemporized songs. Outside the bounds of Tazmagor, toward the eastern end of the island, the land is empty. Nobody builds there, and no one gives a reason for not doing so; this is peculiar, given how crowded Tazmagor has become of late.

10:00 a.m. Spake: This is a splendid, green place, with many cypress trees on its lower slopes. On its heights, above the trees, stands a simple stage, which has been used for performances of every kind - circuses, slapsticks, and High Tragedy - since the beginning of known time. By a consequence of the island's location, Geese and Godkin's Theatre is every three days shrouded in a mist that blows from the southeast, surrounding the hill in a dark blanket. Tiny flames litter this dark fog, and magically illuminate the dramas that are performed on the heights of the hill.

11:00 a.m. Nully: Topographically speaking, the island merits little study, but it is the location of one of the Abarat's most extraordinary buildings: the Repository of Remembrance, which is the Abarat's most famous museum. The toys of emperors, the rag dolls of queens, and other practically useless but historically and sentimentally valuable objects are kept here.

12:00 p.m. (noon) Yzil: The island of Yzil is a lush and temperate forest. Here lives the Princess Breath, a figure of Abaratian legend who by her exhalations creates live things, which are then wafted through the air until they arrive at some suitable habitat.

1:00 p.m. Hobarookus is a small, rocky and swampy island that swarms with pirates and buccaneers. The food produced there is prepared by the best cooks in the Abarat, because of the hour's use as a lunch time stop over. Kalukwa birds, a curious species of bird whose eggs hatch downy human babies every ninth year, are common throughout the swampy areas, called the Sinks. These babies are commonly taken and raised by the pirates.

2:00 p.m. Orlando's Cap is a small, ill-favored island. It is here that an insane asylum is located, because the founder believed that the 2:00 hour promotes healing in the soul. Patients are apparently allowed the run of the island, and have been given permission to follow artistic disciplines, which means that there are many weird and wonderful sculptures and objects created by the patients.

3:00 p.m. The Nonce is a beautiful, drowsy island. Most people who visit fall asleep quickly, and dream about the beginning of the world. This implies that the Nonce is the site of that event. It is also notable for its torrential rainstorms, which wreak havoc on the native plants before becoming the water supply of new growth. This new growth takes the form of a rain forest so biologically diverse that there is often little separation between plants and animals. The name "nonce" means "the immediate", or "the moment at hand".

4:00 p.m. Gnomon: This island is riddled with the ruins of temples and Oracles. On many parts of the island, the air is filled with thousands of whispering voices, all sounding at once. It is believed that these are the voices of the ghosts of the inhabitants of Gnomon. There are many roads on the island that lead to nowhere, thus leading to the speculation that Gnomon was once part of the island of Soma Plume. Whether this would violate the accepted correspondence of hours to islands is not revealed.

5:00 p.m. Soma Plume is a large island, twice the size of Gnomon. It houses the Great Noahic Ziggurat (pyramids), a place that has been used for burial for many generations. The Prince of Midnight has used the pyramids to grow giant and hideous bugs to use in his battles.

6:00 p.m. Babilonium: This island is not the largest in the archipelago; but given the amount of entertainment found on it, it could be many times its size. It consists of a single, immense carnival, encompassing rides, comedic plays, freak shows, and all other manners of entertainment.

7:00 p.m. Scoriae is the meeting place of night and day, also know as the 'Island of Lengthening Shadows'. It has on it a live volcano known as Galigali, as well as the Twilight Palace, once belonging to King Claus of Day. Galigali has destroyed 3 great cities in its time: Gosh, Divinium, and Mycassius. Not one person survived the eruptions. However, stark ruins of the cities, as well as the Twilight Palace, still remain.

8:00 p.m. Yebba Dim Day: This island, also known as the Great Head, is a sort of informal capital of the islands. It is, in fact, fashioned in the shape of a giant humanoid head, in the likeness of its late owner Gorki Doodat. It is a labyrinth of tunnels on the inside, and the outside is mostly covered by shabby dwellings, save for the half-dozen high towers atop the cranium. Some of these towers are said to contain individuals of immeasurable age. Yebba Dim Day mostly consists of the Abaratian equivalent of government offices.

9:00 p.m. Huffaker is a large island, peppered with huge rock formations resembling natural caverns and cathedrals, the largest of which being Hap's Vault. Lydia Hap- after whom this cavern was named- claims that the vault (which she refers to as the Chamber of the Skein) is in fact the origin of the so-called Abaratic Skein, a thread of light which connects literally everything in every world to everything else.

10:00 p.m. Ninnyhammer: This island has almost no noteworthy characteristics, save for a small town known as High Sladder, which has been taken over by the tribe of Jimothi Tarrie and his feral tarrie-cats. On the northeast side of the island is the wizard Kasper Wolfswinkel's house, which some have mistaken for a giant eye or temple because of the glass observatory in the roof.

11:00 p.m. Jibarish: Though most of this Island is bare rock, if one looks away from the rock for but a moment, the rock will have changed and flowed to resemble some other shape. Here the rock is fluid, fire is cold, water is like iron, and the air changes any spoken word into complete gibberish, hence the name. Jibarish is a place of paradoxes and confusion. The island is occupied by a tribe of women, who cause the changes. Men are not welcome here.

12:00 a.m. (Midnight) Gorgossium: The island of Midnight is a dark mountain cloaked in red mists. On top is the fortress Iniquisit, a palace of thirteen towers (of which only one is still standing by the end of the second book). The Carrion clan has occupied this Hour long before the emergence of any written record. Rumored features on the island include a forest of gallows and a garden of flesh-eating plants. This island is, until the second book, home to the Prince of Midnight, Christopher Carrion and his grandmother. He is generally known as the cruelest and most evil person in all of the islands of the Abarat, though in reality his cruelty is easily surpassed by that of his grandmother, Mater Motley.

The 25th Hour/Odom's Spire: The Twenty-Fifth Hour, commonly referred to as the Time Out of Time, also goes by the name of Odom's Spire. Odom's Spire is the home the Fantomaya - three powerful, wise enchantresses, who immerse themselves in the constant stream of memories that permeate the Spire. They are the guardians of this stream of memories, which encompass all histories of the universe. The island is also home to Abraham Hollow, a territorial warden, as well as his assistants Tempus and Julius, referred to as the Fugit Brothers.

The Garden of Earthly Delights:

2008-09-12T17:34:00.000-07:00

The Garden of Earthly Delights: the section of camp for people who want to be naughty or who need to be punished because they’ve already been naughty.

While working in the garage yesterday, we (Matt, Joel & I) were talking about love dolls and how the high end dolls have the quality of art to them. Joel had the brilliant idea of having a large piece of classical art with glory holes in it! Like, oh… say.. a Monet! (Shown, the magnificently psychedelic Waterlilies 1904.)

With some brainstorming and laughs he moved on to something more fitting like Hieronymous Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights.

Later, when I talked to Matt about this more, we both agreed something of that sort as our Den of Iniquity would be awesome at BM. A space for the kinkies and the dirties to play without being in the open and where those easily offended can turn a blind eye (and deaf ear). If we could set up two 10’x 20’ shade structures with sides, it would be SO much fun to set the inside up with whipping stakes, a wrestling pit (oil wrestling anyone?!), a cuddle pile or maybe a bed like the RLD beds and whatever other fun sexy paraphernalia is brought along. Covering the outside walls in suitably themed décor would be excellent. Inside? All black or red… or black and red… I know this has got some of your brains going on overtime. Feel free to discuss in comments here or, better yet, in the yahoo group. :o)

From BurningMan.com - Creating A Village

2008-09-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

The text below is information about what Burning Man requires to allocate space for a Village. The original text is here: http://www.burningman.com/themecamps/create_village.html

CREATING A VILLAGE

Are You a Village?
If you are more than 150 people you may be considered a Village. Please read the following information if it applies to you.

The Mission of a Village
It is the mission of a village to provide a public home for other citizens of Black Rock City. The purpose of a village is not simply to be with friends or share domestic arrangements. It is to work with your fellow villagers on a project that will connect you with hundreds of other participants. Like a theme camp or an artwork, a village is a gift that you contribute to our city. A village is self-expressive, a village helps others, and a village should be fun. In taking responsibility for a village you enter the ranks of the founders and organizers of Burning Man and Black Rock City. You should expect to work very hard, play very hard and experience an immense satisfaction. Please read the following description of what a village is, and if you are interested follow the link to the theme camp/village questionnaire.

What is a Village?
The concept of a village spontaneously emerged from the experiences of participants that have come to the event in the past. Friends camped together, perhaps working on a theme camp, and in the process they met other camps and decided to form a group the following year. They embraced each other's ideas and, as other participants passed through, they too were brought into the fold. Strong friendships were formed, future plans and commitments were made, and as a result, these communal groupings over the years have prospered. We can now expect each village to contain a great number of theme camps, venues for entertainment, individual living quarters, a central meeting area, public art, communal eating arrangements, and above all, a willingness to welcome and embrace everyone that ventures into their domain. A village is, in fact, a micro-model of "community" within the larger macrocosm of Burning Man. A village citizen's duty has grown from a communal commitment to a civic commitment: Offering gathering areas, help, entertainment and information to those who enter the space.

How do you build a village?
By forming a village, you develop a close-knit relationship with the Burning Man community at large. And don't be fooled by the name "village." A village is not a remote suburb. A village has its own identity but also incorporates the identity of the city. For those groups that are looking to create a village for the first time, or those that would like to improve upon past efforts a "How to Do a Village" pamphlet has been compiled by seasoned veterans as a guide and resource. You will find help in defining the basic necessities that you will need to make your village work, suggestions on how best to make it happen, and information about facilities that you will need to provide in order to create a safe and prosperous area.

Remember, we are all actively creating our Burning Man experience with our pre-event efforts. By building a village, you are setting the tone of our city. What we create this year will be something everyone will remember. Shared ideas, resources and an ever-present concern for every individual make community. To create a village is to take on the responsibility for creating an environment in which people live together with the intention of creating something to give back to the community. To these ends, it is a place to maximize the potential that everyone brings to Burning Man.

The following information is how to plan the Village. Registration begins in March so we should have all our cats herded by then. The original text is here: http://www.burningman.com/themecamps/plan_village.html

PLANNING A VILLAGE

Organization
The village starts in the minds of those involved, grows in the group effort of making it happen, lives in the glorious unpredictable chaos of life on the playa, and ends with the aftermath of cleaning up and packing away everything you have brought with you. But bringing together all of the personalities, ideas and needs of a village is no easy task.

What will it take to make it happen?

Here are some suggestions:

What do you want to do?
First of all, you will need a clear idea. Call it a "Mission Statement", "Master Plan," or whatever you want. What is crucially important is that you have a distinct plan of what you intend to do and that everyone else in your group understands it and agrees to implement it. The "Mission Statement" is helpful in defining the identity of the village so that potential residents can find out where they fit in. Embracing those involved with "social planning events" is your foundation. These strategy meetings will help to relieve the stress in organizing your community. Strive to have as much fun planning your village as you will have living in it! Everyone should help in the creation from the start. Here you will find the personalities you can count on "out there." You will need far more than a handful of "doers" to pull this off. An organizer/organizers must acknowledge the true potential of those around him/her and weigh them against their ability to follow through.

Building a village differs from building a theme camp because you will have to build and run the village infrastructure as well as build and run your own camp. Village residents must be willing to not only create their own dream but contribute to the community as well.
Get in touch with the Burning Man Project and stay in touch!
The organizers of Burning Man are here to help you make it the village of your dreams. The more you stay in touch with them, the better job they can do of finding you a place and the support you need. On the flip side, a blow-by-blow of your development will tie up organizers time. After initial contact, alert them when important changes in dimension, structural, or critical needs arise.
Identify your core members.
You may have several hundred people as part of your village, but you must have a core group of village organizers you can depend upon, come hell or high water. These are the persons who will be responsible 24 hours a day to deal with problems as they happen. These organizers should know each other well and should know how to work together. A general rule of thumb is: 1 organizer for every 20 people who are part of your group. If you have 100 people, then you should have at least 5 people who are alert and ready to deal with the inevitable challenges that occur. Likewise, if you have 300, you should have 15.
Appoint a person to be your contact with the Burning Man Project.
Your contact person should be the person who completes the questionnaire. They should be vested with the authority to represent your group to the Burning Man organization both pre-playa and on the playa. This person should be available for conversations about placement of your camp throughout the summer starting July 1st.
Plan your space to embrace the Burning Man Community at-large.
Here are things that have proven to be crucial in the previous years. Note that this is just a list of hints, not a list of requirements.

Plan to have entrance portals to your community. People will need to know that they are leaving "there" and entering your "here." Artists in your group should be put to work. You will also need a public gathering area: a civic center where the village community meets and interacts with the outer community. Create a central artistic structure that will encourage people to gravitate to that communal ground. Civic structures in the form of public art and stages are a natural outgrowth of people gathering together and are a true necessity to social cohesion and communal identity. They are something that will be shared with everyone.

Every community needs a voice. It is yours to schedule and your responsibility to facilitate the creativity of your village. Some questions to keep in mind are,"When are things going to happen? How long and how loud? " Planning events ahead of time will promote a high level of visibility to non-residents.

Every village must have a location for people to have their private campsites. Take into account how many people you may have in your villages and be aware of their size requirements. It is wise to give yourself a degree of separation between civic, communal and private space.

Villages benefit greatly by having a bulletin board. They are helpful for information dissemination within your community and the community at-large. We encourage out-reach efforts aimed at directly communicating with the districts that border your village. The written and spoken word at Burning Man is our friend.

A Major Safety Point
All structures should be properly secured to prevent injuries during and after construction due to the possibility of extreme weather. Villages are not required to have resident rangers, but since villages are bigger, they are more likely to attract people in need of assistance. Therefore, villages are encouraged to have resident rangers. Please contact our Placement team ( placement (at) burningman (dot) com) for more information on that topic.

An experienced first aid provider and a fully equipped aid kit are strongly recommended. Center Camp or a Plaza may be a long walk away. Every part of your real estate should be examined in regard to the personal safety of others. If you create a central meeting place it is also essential that a clear space of at least 30 feet with an entrance and an exit be maintained as a fire lane for emergency vehicles. Fire extinguishers are also a very good safety item to have on hand and available to all villagers.
Visualize everything that can possibly go wrong and plan for it.
Everyone has been up for 48 hours with no food and your supply truck is stuck in the mud 50 miles west of camp. You have a show planned for your main stage, which hasn't been built yet since your main carpenter has disappeared onto the playa. The sound man had an allergic reaction to buffet food from Reno and his girlfriend is driving him back to Fresno. What are you going to do? Again, anticipate worst case scenarios. Remind yourself that it is Burning Man and things never happen the way you expect anyway. Villlages must be flexible enough to allow for these changes.
Bring what you need.
This is obvious, but also anticipate that others may have forgotten or may have run into unavoidable snags which leave you without important provisions. Anticipate having to pick up the slack.
Pack your shit out.
Again obvious, but ignored by many and very frustrating. Plan ahead of time for at least a quarter of your people to stick around after the Burn to help with clean up. Know that half of those expected to help may bail. Keep the other quarter in the back of your mind as "undecided." Plan again for a core group of people to stay several days afterwards to make sure that your village is as clean and blank as when you came. These people are the real gems of our community at-large. Appoint a person or group of persons who will be responsible for this.

Please read the Protecting the Environment and the Earth Guardians' sections of this website and your Survival Guide very carefully. We have found that the amount of debris deposited on the playa is directly proportional to length of stay. Densely settled areas such a villages can leave a greater trace. Such debris includes many smaller items, such as nut shells, bottle caps, cigarette butts, plastic ties -- the list goes on and on. It is easy to ignore such items on so small a scale, but ALL of these things must be cleaned up. We recommend that all campers, and especially villages, imitate our large-scale clean up effort and employ a systematic grid to police their area for trash. Walk this grid before departing with your fellow villagers and pick up EVERYTHING in your path. A second and more basic rule to follow is don't let things hit the ground in the first place! This will save you time and effort at the end of the event.
Recycle
There is recycling for Aluminum cans and villages are expected to be role models in this endeavor. We encourage everyone to check out Recycle Camp so that you can be "waste savvy." This will ultimately make your job easier, as you will have less to pack out. Nonetheless, it is your responsibility to make sure that whatever you bring out to the playa will also leave. The recycling program is a wonderful program and idea. IT IS NOT A GARBAGE COLLECTION SERVICE.
Be responsible for your crew.
Some members of your village are more than likely camping in the desert for the first time. It is your responsibility to ensure that they understand what that actually means. Make sure that everyone, at the very least, eads and follows the survival guide, and pass down any wisdom you have picked up along the way. The more you can do to prepare people ahead of time the less hassles you will have once isolated in the desert.
Embrace those around you.
The reason you are planning a village is to bring others into your circle. Obviously, certain barriers for privacy are needed, but fortressing is not only unnecessary but counterproductive to the event. Burning Man is by nature radically inclusive and, although certain personal boundaries are necessary, fortifying your the public portion of your camp is debilitating to the overall concept. Being a village means welcoming outsiders; that's what villages do. For old timers, the years of renegade driving are over and the need for compounds is gone.

EVOLUTION

2008-09-02T22:28:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like the 2009 theme is Evolution! That's pretty cool. It works great with Pangea if we revive the village. Also works great with all the domes/structures Matt thought up. I'm excited!!! Yay for evolution (something our social groups have experienced a great deal of lately, and something our current government is terrified of...)

Oh, and good news, I have a new PO Box for the post cards. I hope people choose to write in about the Burn! The new PO Box is 261601. Everything else is the same.

Cultures of Pangea

2008-08-31T20:19:00.000-07:00

Matt and I were talking this morning while we were getting ready to go to the swap meet. He was telling me his dream of making a rainforest dome with misters and jungle features and ruins. I laughed and showed him my last blog. Obviously we share a brain. (The pictures above show the Pangea sign Matt made for the Burning Man Village in 2005. The pictures were taken at Xara Dulzura 2006.)

On the way to the swap meet we talked more and he mentioned wanting to take the Elysium mushrooms out to put them in a very big dome to make a fantasy rain forest where DJs could come to spin and people could dance or lounge around. Maybe it could be something like the Elysian Paradise… I am sure a big dome decorated like a trippy forest would be very well received and would probably help us secure a place on the Esplanade.

We followed on with the possible “cultures” of Pangea. For those who don’t know, Pangea (also spelled Pangeae) was the super continent made up of all today’s continents at the beginning of earth. We thought it may be fun to also have a pyramid similar to the Egyptian pyramids at Giza. Perhaps that could be the hedonistic area with a hookah, belly dancing area, drums etc. Like Cleopatra’s lair maybe! Or we could take it all the way to a kink lair with crosses etc. Maybe that should be its own little “island”.

The final structure we made up in our minds was a smaller dome, maybe a 20 or 25 footer… It would have a white cover on it painted to look like blocks of ice, and be hooked up to a big swamp cooler. Inside would be all white and fluffy to look like an igloo and perhaps have video projected on the inside or outside at various times during the event. Inside it would be awesome to have a snow-cone machine or a blended iced drink mixer like the ones at the bar at Elysium. Talk about a cooling experience and a change of pace from the Playa!

Anyway, those are our ideas for some areas in Pangea. It would be great if different groups would handle building different themed structures and events. Thinking of this sort of reminds me of the books Abarat: Days of Magic Nights of War by Clive Barker. They’re actually children’s books but well worth the read for the creative ideas about the islands of the hours. I highly recommend these books – make sure to get the fully illustrated versions! (If you run a search for Abarat images you’ll get a very brief taste of some of the loony ideas from that book, like a fishbowl hat, complete with fish, and the magician who wears the 6 hats of his contemporaries, and the guy who is sustained by his nightmares drawn directly out of his own head…) The images below are from Abarat, done by Clive Barker.

Feel free to comment and add your spin to all this. As always, you can comment here or if you are in the yahoo group for the 2009 camp, post in there to brainstorm and discuss.

This one time, at Brand Camp?

2008-08-31T12:14:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

This is just a quick blog of ideas Matt and I have brainstormed over the past couple of years. Feel free to comment. If you are in the yahoo group for the 2009 village, please post comments there to share your ideas so we can bounce ideas around.

Brand Camp: a suitably offensive theme where we could make fun of the big brand names. And the best movie line ever "Then this one time at Brand Camp.... ?" This would make for fun accessorizing since I am sure we could get plenty of advertising banners to use as shade structures or dome covers etc. The brands shown should all be distorted somehow. Like Pepsi to Poopsie, Coke to Cock, Budweiser to Buttweiser (not necessarily in that theme, those are just the easier to come up with) etc. I think it would be very funny at the camp entrance to have a mannequin of a girl with her bathing suit being pulled down like the Coppertone girl but rather than a dog have a dwarf. Maybe we could do the much discussed Ass Gnome (a 12" tall black vinyl gnome-shaped butt plug shown in the pictures below. Mitja, our friend from Germany, looked confused about this product at Venus Berlin).

I also thought it would be very helpful to people who are lost on the Playa to have a "mallmanac" (mall directory) with a big sign that says "You Are Here". That's it, no pointer on the map or anything, just You Are Here.

I also have a dream of a warped carnival midway with stupid games like whack-a-mole, or water guns to shoot whatever is appropriate to the 2009 Burn theme, miniature golf etc. Oh, and of course a ball pit - a portable swimming pool filled with blinky LED koosh balls.

On a more serious note, I would absolutely love to do a resting dome or structure where we could go to keep cool. It would have a dark interior with LED "stars" and inside would be like a jungle over ruins complete with misters. Think RainForest Cafe meets Elysium style.

Matt and I spent much of the day talking about the camp and possibilities so I'll post more on that later. Happy Temple Burn Day.

P O Box is no good

2008-08-30T23:38:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

If you're viewing this blog and considering sending in one of the postcards, please feel free to write as much as you like but hold onto the card for a while. The P.O.Box is no good anymore. I'll post the new address when we get one!

Happy Burn Night everyone.

Burning Man asked for our opinions...

2007-09-27T20:41:00.000-07:00

Here's what they got:

Hello everyone in the BM organization!

This year was my 3rd year and my boyfriend's 3rd year at Burning Man. It was also our least favorite. Oddly, however, the fact that this Burn was bad has made us reconsider our previous position that we would not be back in 2008. Let me explain:

We come with a theme camp so we don't use the public johns too much although the one time I did on Wednesday night I was mortified. My boyfriend had pretty nasty experiences the few times he used the public loos too because they were always filthy. Yuck. But we understand there were SO many people and the cleaning guys are punctual and efficient but the toilets were probably overwhelmed a bit. So overall, the infrastructure of the city as a whole we find to be good.

These are the things we found to be unsettling this year:

1) The whole vibe of the event felt very different - negative, unsocial, unfriendly, a lack of community, chronic over-abundance of spectators and "frat boys"

2) Litter and piss ALL over the Playa!!! I spent half of Friday night picking up other people's mud-caked beer cans. Especially offensive for a person who doesn't drink alcohol...

3) The Esplanade didn't seem to end this year. The previous years we've been (mine were 2004 and 2006, his were 2005 and 2006) there was a sort of horseshoe shape to the Esplanade when you were out at the Man or the Temple. This year, it seemed like the Esplanade, camps and structures went in a complete circle. It obliterated the night skies and made finding your way virtually impossible because the ends of the Esplanade weren't obvious. If it was that way for sober people I have no idea how anyone else found their way anywhere.

4) Overall, the event just felt too full of people. As much as I never thought I'd say this, it feels too big. I know you guys hear this every year but the vibe was so different and so damaged this year that it feels like it's time to put a cap on the number of entrants.

Many of these points I've made have been echoed by the 180 or so people in our theme camp and also many of the 400 + or - in our local Burn community. There is a large group so offended by the poor feel of the event this year that they've planned to do something else as a group next year, like heading to Costa Rica. Personally, I think that's a mistake. So here's where I explain why my partner and I would come back in '08 instead of going to Europe as planned. We feel responsible for the community we're a part of. The reason we became part of our regional community and continued to go back to Burning Man was because of the social and spiritual renewal we experienced there. It's sort of like our annual pilgrimage to reset ourselves. This year, we left feeling empty, drawn and generally miserable. Fortunately, we ran into some other burners in Reno on the way home where the warm-fuzzies were somewhat restored. Because of our feelings for the community, we believe it's our responsibility to recover what was lost in 2007. We feel that to risk it being lost forever is unacceptable and as a result we are considering hosting a theme camp in 2008 that makes a point of engaging passers by and welcoming people in. Maybe sharing the sense of togetherness and welcome will help bring back what was missing this year.

We also feel that the Burning Man foundation should try to recover what was so special about this event. We aren't naive and we get that this is a for-profit business which is fine. But limiting the number of participants to something like 42,000 wouldn't exactly be killing your budget. Also going back to the design of the camps which allows that gorgeous expanse of open blackness to the Playa between 9:00 and 2:00 with just the Man and the Temple to break it. Not seeing the stars at Burning Man because there was light in every direction was horribly disappointing. Some of the over-bright mess could also have been the ridiculous number of art cars flying around. Since they all have to be registered anyway, it might not be a bad idea to limit the number of those (in various size categories?). If the numbers are limited the cars that make it to the Playa will be the ones that have hopefully been carefully thought about and built.

I don't have any suggestions for better educating the newbies other than the involvement of veteran burners to guide them. I don't know what happened between 2006 and 2007 that we had so many onlookers this year who disrespected the city, the inhabitants, the environment... I tried on 3 occasions to engage people out by the Temple and help them be a part of things instead of just looking and dropping their beer cans. I failed on all 3 occasions and all I got was the boneheads making inappropriate sexual advances. I should mention that I was fully clothed and physically touching my boyfriend when these guys started acting like the same old jerks from night clubs. I'm no longer used to that sort of behavior having immersed myself in burner culture for 3 years.

We, my boyfriend and I and many members of the San Diego & LA communities, feel that a combined effort from the Burning Man foundation and the community of veteran burners as a whole can bring this back around. Unfortunately, if 2008 goes the way of 2007, it seems like this will turn into just another "downtown party night" for the "shiny shirts" and all the diverse, rich, artistic, radically self-reliant, expressive, inviting and revitalizing aspects of this incredible event will be lost.

So as much as we were dissatisfied with the 2007 experience it may well be the thing that brings us back in 2008. Maybe we'll go to NoWhere in Spain in July to see what that sparks. We hope that somehow all the newbies this year either realized the way to be a part of things and will come back next year prepared and ready to be involved, or they hated this year so much they'll tell all their friends it was hell and we wont see any of them again. We don't have any major inspiration on how to get the love back but maybe if enough people express similar sentiments from this year the tide can by changed by publications from Burning Man and through those of us in regional communities who care...

Thanks for the opportunity to give our feedback.

Bronwen & Matt

San Diego, CA

I strongly encourage any of you who read this to contribute your thoughts to Burning Man as well. Whether your experience was good or bad, your input can help shape future events. See more about their Feedback Loop here.

First post to TTEOB; thanks to Socks

2007-09-27T20:40:00.001-07:00

Hi there!
I read your post about the whole take on Post-Secret and stuff, and I wanted to share with you my poem I wrote on the ride home from the playa (I live in TX so it was about 33 hours of driving.. yuck)
thank you, friend
Socks

I am a burner. I arrive in Black Rock on Monday, in total awe and wonder.

I am a virgin burner no more. I rang the bell and screamed it to the heavens.

I am a burner. I wear nothing but a bra and underwear and butterfly wings, and that’s okay and very much acceptable.

I am a burner. I drink lots of water (or rather don’t drink enough) and I piss clear.

I am a burner. I am not afraid of the porta-potties anymore. When you gotta go you gotta go.
I am a burner. I love my neighbors, and share my extra food with them.

I am a burner. I get excited with shiny things.

I am a burner. I get turned on by soft furry clothing, especially at night.

I am a burner. I get excited when I can’t see five feet in front of me due to a major white out. It feels like I am on a different planet, more-so than normal.

I am a burner. El Wire, Glowsticks, and Blinkies are a staple and a neccecity, not a novelty.

I am a burner. 2007 was my first year, and it sure as hell won’t be my last.

I am a burner. I watched performers from all around the world do what makes their heart beat fast.

I am a burner. I think of the Man as a symbol of hope, love and spirituality. A father figure who watches over us all.

I am a burner. I cried when the man burned when he wasn’t supposed to on Monday.

I am a burner. I cried when the man burned when he was actually supposed to on Saturday.

I am a burner. I pick up more after myself in the real world, as to not create MOOP around the house, around the school and around me.

I am a burner. I connected with people I have never met before, as well as reconnected with people I realized I cannot live without

I am a burner. I practice the peace, the community, and the love off the playa.

I am a burner. I am Burning (Wo)man.

The postcards are in!

2007-08-19T09:48:00.000-07:00

Well, this project feels like it's already taking on a life of its own. I got the postcards in on Thursday which was really exciting. The projected delivery date through www.PrintsMadeEasy.com was this coming Monday so getting the cards early was excellent. It certainly was an easy process to get the cards and it felt great to have them in my hands. I ended up ordering 1,000 of them to hand out. The images are unfortunately a little grainy but they'll do what they were intended for just fine.

Matt and I had a trunk show in San Diego yesterday with some FANTASTIC vendors of Burning man gear, costuming, jewelry and art. It was very successful and so exciting to be with the other Burners. Everyone is ridiculously excited about the Burn. We cant believe most of us will be leaving within the week. I gave out some of the postcards while we were working the trunk show and the project was very warmly received. Matt and I are very excited about the potential of this project and the reaction its received so far. We hope to be innundated with short stories, explanations of what Burning Man means to you etc. We're looking forward to reading about your thoughts and experiences, and - in the case of those who send pictures - to seeing what you see when you're on the Playa. (Maybe Book 2 would have to be Living the Burn; a year-round look at regional Burning Man events...)

See you all out there! Stop by the RLD at 4:30 and Coral Reef to say "hello" if you're in the neighbourhood.

♥ Bronwen

The postcard

2007-08-13T15:11:00.001-07:00

Beginning the Project

2007-08-09T14:51:00.001-07:00

2007 will mark the 3rd Burning Man attendance for HandChop & Bronwen, otherwise known as BronChop. It will be our second Burn together. This year is all about being active with other members of our community as far as we're concerned. Our first years were selfish years - 2004 was Bronwen's first year and 2005 was Chop's first year. We each went our first year with the intention of having singular experiences (we didnt know each other then). In 2006 we went together with the intention of having a year all about us as a couple. We succeeded in that and came home with the couple's Playa name BronChop. Thanks to our beloved Nads for that one! So this year is all about group participation.

In dreaming about the Burn and buying various coffee table books & DVDs, Bronwen began to feel that a new type of book should be available to people interested in the social experiment that is Burning Man. This book would consist of personal photographs taken by Burning Man attendees (not the media) as well as some individual anecdotes. At a gathering in July 2007, while discussing camp plans for BM 2007, someone mentioned a book she had read of dirty little secrets. The author had handed out postcards and asked people to decorate them and return them with a story of their biggest secret. He then compiled the decorated postcards & secrets into a book. Bronwen would like to use this idea to add to the Through the Eyes of Burners photography book. She & Chop will be bringing 500 - 750 postcards to Burning Man this year to give to likely suspects. Keep checking back here to see what kind of stories, postcards and photographs are returned and for progress on the book. You can submit your own experiences in the comments here as well.