Tag Archives: 2013

Nov 19 2013

Golden Rebar Awards

Philippe Glade is the author of old-fashioned paper book “Black Rock City, NV – the Ephemeral Architecture of Burning Man“.

On his site, thisisblackrockcity.blogspot.com , he hands out “Golden Rebar” awards to the best structures at Burning Man. 2013 features some real doozies, incuding an igloo literally made of bread.

We’ve picked our favorite three. See the complete list of 2013 winners here at Philippe’s site. 

Golden Rebar Grand Prize: Metal Pods Village by Scott Parenteau
When last year Scott “Tin Man” Parenteau came for the first time to Burning Man, he became an instant celebrity on the playa with his walking pod that since brought him several awards at Maker Faire, and with his two patented metal pods used for shelter was a big draw for his neighbors.
 
For his second time at Black Rock City, Scott upped the ante and decided to build a village for his friends. He was able to finish his own shelter by adding the third pod, the bedroom on top of a fully operational stainless steel custom made shower and a complete kitchen. 
 

A bedroom with a view and bamboo flooring.

Golden Rebar for Only In Black Rock City and We Want to Keep it this Way: The Dome of Dough
This Shelter was entirely made of 850 Loaves of Bread with an insulation value of  R-5 and lasted the week.
Do we witness the start of a new building trend at Black Rock?
On the blackboard were some possible names: Rye Not? Flour Power, Dill Dough, Make loaves not War… 

 

Golden Rebar for BRC Landmark: The Chiton by D’Milo Hallerberg.
Shelter and community space made of steel tubing and nylon cloth, the Chiton blurs the lines between
architectural concept and art installation, a feat few architects in the default world are capable of. It measures 21 feet high, 22 feet wide and 45 feet long.
 

 

It’s great to see the experimental architecture of Burning Man being celebrated and highlighted like this, and we appreciate Phillipe’s efforts. He must be favored by the BMOrg, since he is allowed to use their trademarked term “Black Rock City” to promote his book.

 

 

Nov 18 2013

Michelle’s Mane Man is a Bang Busting Burner

johhny wright hairbrushIt’s a slow day for news in the Burning Man world. Or maybe it’s just that I’m on island time over here in the tropical paradise of Kauai. The Daily Mail steps once more into the breach to entertain us, bringing us news that Michelle Obama’s personal hairstylist splits his time between Air Force One and Burning Man. Yes, the guy who came up with the “Bangs heard around the world” is  a Burner.

johnnywrightfeathers johnny wright temple johnny wright af1Yes, we know that Burning Man is in Nevada, not Texas. But we won’t hold it against the Daily Mail and their staff of thousands and profit of billions.

I chat to my hairdresser about Burning Man – a lot, when you add it up over the years – and so do many of her other clients. So, let’s hope Michelle got all the dirt on the desert debacles dished from Johnny, and she’ll be gracing us with a visit once Bazza’s final term is up in 2016. Maybe Supreme Allied Commander General Wesley Clark was scoping it out for the security detail.

Wright started cutting hair when he was 12. He’s come a long way from Wicker Park to the Wicker Man :

Johnny Wright first hit it off with Michelle Obama in 2007, and the Chicago-native has been her exclusive stylist ever since.

Traveling with the First Lady to state dinners and on trips abroad, the 34-year-old has unprecedented access to the First Lady, the White House and even Air Force One.

And for the extroverted Mr Wright, his Instagram account seems to be the perfect place to document his First Hairdresser shenanigans. 

Sharing everything from snaps at the White House (including behind-the-scenes of a Vogue cover shoot), to his adventures outside the First Family (partying at Burning Man in Texas), it seems Mr Wright is having the time of his life.

In 2007, the hairstylist, then popular in Chicago’s Wicker Park area, was called in for an Essence magazine photo shoot with Michelle and Barack Obama. Mr Wright and Mrs Obama quickly hit it off.

…Mr Wright…has other celebrity clientele…Actresses Lauren London and Vivica A. Fox, Victoria’s Secret model Selita Ebanks, WNBA star Candace Parker and Sex and the City writer Candace Bushnell 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2509610/Johnny-Wright-Michelle-Obamas-personal-hairstylist-shares-adventures-Instagram.html#ixzz2l459D8W6 

Nov 15 2013

Killing In The Name Of [Warning: Super-Gnarly photos]

cartoon lionThis breaks my heart. If we are going to use Burner culture for good in the world, it should be to combat people like this. Yes, Second Amendment. And all the other Amendments. Yes, Constitution of the United States of America. Yes, Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yes, Declaration of Independence of Cyberspace (thanks Burner Barlow!)

But, seriously? She shot a frikkin lion? Come on Burning Man Project, take your tens of millions, take your biggest Regional being Afrika Burn, take your social engineering and PR blitzes, and do something useful and meaningful. Take the Playa to the Planet. Stop this. Not just this one fool, but everyone everywhere who would even entertain the thought of doing this.

From the Daily Telegraph:

TV presenter causes outrage after posing with lion she killed

An American television presenter has prompted outrage by boasting online that she had killed a lion in South Africa

An American television presenter has prompted outrage by boasting online that she had killed a lion in South Africa

Melissa Bachman after her “Incredible day in South Africa” Photo: TWITTER
 

Melissa Bachman, a keen hunter who makes programmes on the American outdoors, posted a photograph on Facebook and Twitter of her holding a rifle and smiling beside the corpse of a male lion.

“Incredible day in South Africa,” the self-styled “hardcore huntress” said of her pursuits at the Maroi Conservancy, adding: “Stalked inside 60-yards on this beautiful male lion … what a hunt!”

A furious online reaction led Bachman to deactivate her Facebook and Twitter pages within hours. It also prompted an online petition asking the South African government to bar her from returning.

“She is an absolute contradiction to the culture of conservation this country prides itself on,” said Elan Burman of Cape Town, the author of the petition, which quickly gathered 3,000 signatures.

“You, lady, are what is wrong with the world,” said Richard Robinson of Maryland, who was among the signatories. “Take with no consequences. Shoot, kill, consume, destroy.

“You didn’t kill a lion, you stood behind a machine and pulled a little trigger, you pathetic, sad excuse of a human.”

While the African lion is rated “vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List, it is not officially an endangered species. “The main threats to lions are indiscriminate killing,” said the organisation.

The photograph was in keeping with Ms Bachman’s past activities. Her official website displays pictures of her posing beside dead alligators, turkeys and bears among other quarry.

She was axed as a contestant on the National Geographic programme Ultimate Survival Alaska last year after 13,000 people signed a petition protesting against the inclusion of a “heartless trophy hunter”. Ms Bachman could not be contacted for comment on Friday.

Ricky Gervais, the British comedian, shared Ms Bachman’s comment “what a hunt!” on his own Twitter feed, adding: “Spot the typo”.

I don’t even need to spot the fucken typo. A cunt’s a cunt, and this is one of the worst possible cunts I’ve ever come across in my life. I hope for her sake that our paths never cross, I don’t care how many guns she has.

If there’s anything Burners can do against this, let’s do it. Forget Leave No Trace, a better principle is THE EARTH AND ALL HER CHILDREN ARE SACRED.

Call me a Pagan tree hugging Gaia worshipper if thou wilt.

I’ll leave you with a photo my brother took today in Australia. Happy Steve Irwin Day. This planet needs our love and our support and our help.

steve irwin 2013

Crocodile cloud on Crocodile Hunter day. Photo by Muzza/the Universe