Monthly Archives: August 2016

Aug 31 2016

Burning Man Punked Itself

Screenshot 2016-08-31 14.38.57

It seems the upside down, headless Man – first spotted by yours truly on our Facebook page in the wee hours of Monday morning…

Screenshot 2016-08-29 02.57.09

… was not intentional. But it was news-worthy, for USA Today at least.

Image: Andy Barron, Reno Gazette-Journal

Image: Andy Barron, Reno Gazette-Journal

 

Jenny Kane reports that Burning Man wasn’t quite ready for opening, people were still working on the workshop and not in the workshop:

The main attraction at Burning Man is stuck — upside-down…

Crews raised the man above the Renaissance-style piazza Sunday but discovered that the gear designed to rotate the man like a Ferris wheel was broken. He still is without a wooden head as well.

The “man” site, including the piazza, is planned to open Tuesday morning since crews are expected to work through the night on a project.

Usually the man is hoisted upright by Sunday, the opening day of the event, but various large-scale projects on the playa have been delayed and are behind after sporadic dust storms and rainfall before the event. The Catacomb of Veils and the Temple also have yet to open.

The “man” is expected to burn Sept. 3, and the temple is set to burn Sept. 4. Other art installations will burn throughout the week beginning as early as Thursday night.

Check out their whole story which has 6 dozen photos from the Playa. Or, check out my screenshots from the video feed, below.

Is this a message from DPW, that Burning Man is now turned upside down with its head up its ass in the sand? Or is it the same message..but from the Rulers, showing us what the event will be like once they all leave for the retirement village hot springs?

Anyway, I thought the whole point was that people would push something and rotate The Man. Another Burning Man dream that fizzled? Or just “coming soon”?

The hilarious Burning Man hate week is back:

When do you think we should tell ‘em this isn’t the hot springs but rather the security guard’s latrine? #nolifeguardondoodie #burningmanhateweek #burningman #blackrockcity #burningman2016 #brc #blackrockhotsprings

When do you think we should tell ‘em this isn’t the hot springs but rather the security guard’s latrine? #nolifeguardondoodie #burningmanhateweek #burningman #blackrockcity #burningman2016 #brc #blackrockhotsprings

burning man mad libs

They’re now on Instagram too: @burningmanhateweek

 

In other good news, Paris Hilton has lost her Burginity:

 

https://twitter.com/OnlineHilton/status/770621359353364480/photo/1

View this post on Instagram

I believe I can fly…✨🌠✨ #BurningMan

A post shared by Paris Hilton (@parishilton) on

 

America’s Next Top Model winner Adrianne Curry is staying well away from the smelly and salty event:

adrianne curry burning man

I’ve had the live stream on in the background most of the day. The Man was fine from this morning. It looks like The Temple is open now. Not sure yet about The Piazza, the Workshops of “Da Vinci’s workshop”.

Realism seems to be the order of the day. Whale, gorilla, bear, boar, bull, pyramids, 747, @, #  – all look a lot like larger-than-life imitations of their real-world inspiration.

Australia has a lot of this sort of stuff, Big Banana, Big Sheep, etc. The tourists love it, it’s great for Instagram.

5590932-Big_Banana-0BigMerinoGoulburnbig koalaBig_Prawn_Ballina

[For those who’ve been to Byron Bay, the Big Prawn in a Ballina gas station was saved by a Big Box hardware store, who bought the site and built around the prawn]big prawn bunnings

Perhaps we will see all these “Big Things of Burning Man” trotted out each year now, providing a comforting familiarity like Disneyland and Las Vegas. They can mix it up a bit; maybe one year the 747 has a wing, maybe one year they bring part of the tail section. With enough fundraising from the community, we may even get to see a wheel or an inflatable slide…or a coat of paint.

aboriginal747

Plug-n-Play looks amazing, the Space Whale looks amazing at night. I’m sure it’s incredible up close too. I like the Converse art car, and Icarus.

For every mutant vehicle you see driving around, you see 3-4 non-mutant ones. Vans, trucks, driving all over the Playa. I would say 70-80% of the non-mutant vehicles are speeding.

The Magical Realism certainly applies to the HD video feed as well.

Kudos to @motorbikematt for a major upgrade on what we’ve previously had. GoPro exceeding the capabilities of NASA and JPL?  The resolution, stability, panning speed, and zoom have all greatly improved from last year. I am watching via YouTube and a 4 year old iMac, and I can clearly identify people and read signs. I bet they could read license plates if they want. If this is what us in the public get to see on YouTube, I can only imagine what Google, DARPA and the Sheriffs are looking at, combining drones, low and high orbit satellites, radar, infrared, geospatial and electromagnetic intelligence…I bet they know where all the Pokemons are

Screenshot 2016-08-31 14.34.43Screenshot 2016-08-31 14.34.10Screenshot 2016-08-31 11.41.27 Screenshot 2016-08-31 10.18.04 Screenshot 2016-08-31 10.25.37 Screenshot 2016-08-31 10.25.09 Screenshot 2016-08-31 10.18.52 Screenshot 2016-08-31 11.46.29Screenshot 2016-08-31 11.58.26Screenshot 2016-08-31 14.40.19 Screenshot 2016-08-31 14.39.48 Screenshot 2016-08-31 14.38.27 Screenshot 2016-08-31 14.38.04 Screenshot 2016-08-31 14.37.32 Screenshot 2016-08-31 14.37.11 Screenshot 2016-08-31 14.36.52 Screenshot 2016-08-31 14.36.07 Screenshot 2016-08-31 14.35.49 Screenshot 2016-08-31 14.33.48 Screenshot 2016-08-31 14.32.15

Here’s some Playa video from Mark Day:

We’ll let artist Otto von Danger have the last word:

otto von danger

Aug 29 2016

Sheriff: Burning Man Could Be Terror Target

law enforcement camp

Police Compound at Burning Man. What’s that in the middle? Image: Trevor Hughes, USA Today

2016 ranger airport

No Chocotacos? Then we demand Art!

No Chocotacos? Then we demand Art! Thanks to our fan who sent this in

 

The Reno Gazette Journal tells us 12 Drop-Off Sites for Your Post-Burning Man Stuff

They also interviewed Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen, who is concerned about drugs, understaffing, communication, and a mass casualty event:

Allen suggested that Burning Man could be a target of terrorism.

“What better event to have a worldwide impact in Northern Nevada than Burning Man, especially with the ‘loose morals’ that some Burners live by,” Allen wrote in an email to the Reno Gazette-Journal, alluding to the nudity and alcohol and drug use at the event. “Just because it hasn’t happened, doesn’t mean it is not possible. Remember, there was never a bomb at the Boston Marathon until there was. Nobody ever flew into a skyscraper until 9/11.

“If an event of that magnitude happened at this event, the soonest we could get resources to assist us in quelling the issue would be two hours. A lot can happen in that amount of time.”

Burning Man organizers have previously stated that they have a detailed mass casualty incident response plan, one that annually requires input from the organization and nearly all of the agencies that oversee emergency response at the event. The sheriff’s office, BLM, medical provider and other county and state agencies attend annual meetings to review the plan each year…

70 cops isn’t enough, he needs 100. And Chocotacos.

The Sheriff has made a few improvements since last year, and is hoping for BMOrg to do the same:

The sheriff’s office is also making some improvements on its own operations. A Burner tried to escape the on-site jail last year by jumping out of the trailer window. He was transported to a hospital by helicopter for treatment of serious cuts. Allen said the jail this year will have no windows as a result.

Additionally, the sheriff’s office is working on communications internally and with other agencies. Last year, a woman at Burning Man nearly died after a special reserve deputy injected her with a sedative as she resisted arrest, according to reports. The woman, who had been drinking, went into respiratory failure and had to be revived. As a result, Allen said, the sheriff’s office realized that contracts needed to better specify the responsibilities of his staff at the event.

As for communication between the playa and the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office in Lovelock, the county seat, Allen hopes that the Internet access will be more consistent this year…

The BLM, which was criticized for overzealous tactics at last year’s Burn, said that it would discontinue the inspection of incoming postal packages at the event but it has not declared whether it will continue K-9 units and traffic stops at the event entry

[Source]

Anyone see any dogs? I have received a couple of reports so far.

Aug 29 2016

Radical Copter Reliance

brh sikorsky

black rock helicopters playa chicken

Images: Facebook

Thanks to Tex Allen from Why The Nose for sending this. Nice touch with the headdresses on the Playa Chickens – just to really stick it in, a MOOP and cultural appropriation double whammy. Are they Russian?

Here’s Tex’s take:

.

I can confirm this is really happening, and not an elaborate troll. I was offered a ride to the Playa from Reno in this very sexy chopper. It is part of Burning Man’s new Burner Express airline.

From the sky to the playa and beyond – the journey is the adventure!
Room for 8 people and 600lbs of cargo
Service from Reno to the event
Service From the event to Reno
Official Charter with Burner Express

Is this why they made Da Vinci the theme? So they could introduce helicopters? Talk about turning Radical Inclusion and Radical Self Reliance on their heads.

black rock helicopter da vinci

Screenshot 2016-08-29 02.57.09

black rock helicopters girl and guyblack rock helicopters interior

black rock helicopters luggageImages: Black Rock Helicopters | Facebook

Personally I would be stoked just to go in the Jetranger. A Sikorsky S-76 costs a cool $9.9 million. That sure is a sweet ride. They can pick you up from Tahoe too, possibly the world’s most beautiful airport. There’s plenty of room for the sparkle ponies to stretch out, they need their rest.brh girl sleeping

Jalopnik has a story on it:

If you thought Burning Man was just a steampunk renaissance fair for filthy hippies, like I did, you too may be surprised to learn that this $10 million helicopter is doing taxi service for (rich) people who want to go to the party…

That S76 truly is a thing of beauty. Active in various forms since the 1980’s, some can cruise at over 150 MPH and top out at a blistering 175+. And you can see from the interior shots in that clip, Black Rock really spread some magic throughout the substantial passenger cabin. No tent is going to be as nice as one of those seats.

Burning man is actually going on right now through September 5th, by the way. And this year’s theme is da Vinci’s Workshop. So actually, riding in with a helicopter might be appropriate after all.

This is what it looks like to fly over Black Rock City in a helicopter:

Before you enter the port-a-potties, scan the sky for Sikorskys…