This year, pods dominate the Golden Rebar Awards – which may need their name changed to Golden Screw, after everyone’s favorite Playa McGyver FIGJAM (Fuck I’m Good, Just Ask Me) won the Structural Upgrade award:
“Structural Upgrade” Golden Rebar goes to Figjam
Popularized thanks to the research and feedbacks of FIGJAM, a knowledgeable burner on numerous ePlaya threads, a 1/2″X18 or 3/8″X14 lag screw with 2 round links of chain drilled vertically in the playa with an impact driver, anchors a one-level shelter faster and safer than the time tested rebars.
Anyone interested in this technique must read this thread. Apparently a lot of participants did it, this year it was the anchor of choice in many places.
Should I rename my award The Golden Screw?
This is my closest neighbor’s windward anchor for his classic EMT metal frame shade. It endured a week of unrelenting winds without moving a centimeter. As for my shade anchored with 22 angled rebars that took 90 min to pound in, some were loose with 2 ready to pop out something that never happened before, thanks to these years of French Riviera weather. My neighbor anchored his camp in 5 min.
The ShiftPod, designed by Burners as a camp solution, made their debut at this year’s Burning Man. Reports were excellent, problems were few; a great result for a first attempt. They won Pop-Up Tent of the Year.
“Pop-up Tent of the Year”Golden Rebar for The Shiftpod
The most talked about tent went viral from 1 last year to nearly 400 of them this year on the playa.
This space-age looking adult size tent 6.5ft/2m high was designed by BRC veteran Christian W, leader of Shift camp, with burners needs in mind and adapted to the peculiar weather pattern of the city.
Fast to set up and take down the strong pop-up frame associated with reinforced corners resisted the fierce 2015 storms, floor and doors have large zippers, the three-layer UV-reflective nylon fabric helped sleep in and without mesh minimized dust invasion.
Most of the campers interviewed were satisfied but some advised for an overhead shade or the easy addition of A/C with the provided vents to achieve Hexayurt cool.
This well though out Shiftpod is a great addition to the small family of desert proof shelters.
With Christian W willingness to improve this product through owners feedback, soon it could be as popular as the ubiquitous canvas Springbar and Kodiak tents in the same price range.
Large enough to really accommodate two campers, a queen-size bed can fit in.
The portal windows have removable covers and the air vents can be closed to prevent dust in.
We are very excited about the “Golden Rebar Award” and really the support we have received from our community. After putting so much in over the last 20+ years it is very rewarding to “feel the love” and support from everyone. The SHIFTPODS we conceived, designed, built and delivered all within 8 months. We got them out to the playa just in time and had a problem rate of less than 6%. I think we did pretty good for the first run in one of the harshest environments in the world! Now we have taken the feedback and made several improvements including fixing zipper issues, making the stakes longer, and making clear instructions so the 2 (overtired) people who tried to set the SHIFTPODS up inside out won’t do that again. The new version of the SHIFTPOD can be ordered now for February delivery.
.
Things are really taking off. We have transitioned from camp fundraising project to real company and we have a team of burners all contributing to make things go fast forward. Its great to be able to work with friends that actually get things done and say “lets make it happen” rather than that can’t be done. We are now prepped for hyper growth and are very excited for 2016!
.
We have just released our new video and are working on several others, we have launched a new web site, developed a new super cool roller travel bag, several new accessories and are working on a new playa ready AC / Heater unit specifically for the SHIFTPOD ( it looks like they re-purposed a bunch of the best patio heaters, it actually looks good). We have also set up a B2B rental company, and have several large events we will be providing SHIFTPODS for. We have set up a distribution partnership that will help us manage delivering 500 SHIFTPODS in 2015 to tens of thousands next year.
.
As a camp support project the SHIFTPODS were able to raise money to support camp SHIFT (9:45 & Esplanade) with the Ferris wheel, they provided the ability to send SHIFTPODS to Nepal, Napa and now to Greece. They also helped support our efforts to send Burning Man bikes to kids in Cuba. Moving forward, the SHIFTPODS will continue to support camp SHIFT and our efforts. In addition to this, for every 20 SHIFTPODS sold we will contribute one to a family in need right here in the USA! Fires, earthquakes, floods and tornadoes happen all the time. We want to be ready to help in times of need. We hope to expand this program by challenging big (Burner Run) companies like Yahoo, Google, Tesla, Zappos and others to brand SHIFTPODS and then store them at the ready, to be deployed to the next disaster. The hope is they will spend some of their marketing or social responsibility budgets on SHIFTPODS to help people in need. We are setting up a 501(c)3 specifically for this project and reaching out to family offices and large companies for support.
.
I know it sounds a bit “hippie dippy” but we really want to maintain the vibe and grow organically. We want to have close connections to our “customers/users”, we want to work with our capable friends, and really keep this as a “For Us – By Us” company.
.
Join Us! Lets have some fun, lets make a difference, lets create a SHIFT. Please send us SHIFTPOD photos, watch the video, find us on Facebook and Instagram and spread the word!
.
Christian
SHIFTPODS
.
Burner innovation, helping other Burners and helping the world too. Love it. Here’s the video he mentioned:
Shift Camp are not the only Burners coming up with their own high-tech housing solutions based on years of personal Playa experience.
If there is a pod spectrum with the open source hexayurt design, Shiftpods and disaster relief at one end; then the dhomain dhomes are more at the other end, where relief is something Billionaire Burners seek from their Mistresses of Merriment after a hard day’s jaunting on their VIP art cars.
“The Future has landed” Golden Rebar goes to Dhomain by Michael Beneville
Designer Michael Beneville created dhomain, a rapidly deployable multi-purpose space with all the amenities of modern living. This blow-up temporary house uses constant positive air pressure to shape the living space in a 9 ft high dome while permanently inflated beams keep the structural integrity of the shelter should its skin be punctured.
Inside, a core made of modular panels, contains a functional kitchen, a toilet, a shower stall and a closet. The structural and technical hub with A/C and a pipes network partitions the entire area of 300 sq ft/28 m2 in a bedroom with a queen size bed and a living room with couch and coffee table.
When the skin and beams are deflated and packed around the core, 8 of them fit on a flatbed truck to be dispatched for emergency shelters under any climate.
Of course, this fantastic forward-looking temporary habitat with such accommodations is not for the average burner but Black Rock City is an all-embracing community where everyone as long as they participate are welcomed.
Michael Beneville with dhomain responded to an understandable quest of well-being in a creative and innovative way that broadens the field of ephemeral architecture.
7 dhomains were part of the very friendly and open Camp Psyclone.
The living room of Michael Beneville’s dhomain.
The core/hub with the kitchen with oven, micro wave, hot plate and fridge.
The other side of the core/hub with shelves and closet, behind the left panel there is the shower stall.
The bedroom in the Michael Beneville dhomain.
RVs are SOOOOO 20th Century, dude. Pop-up bat caves are where its at.
As well as “just like a bought one” production-ready pods, highly customized pods were popular too, mixing Art and Architecture – artchitecture?
“New Shape”Golden Rebar for the Rhombi by Gregg Fleishman
To house their 20″ telescope at the Black Rock Observatory, the Desert Wizards of Mars conducted by “Major Tom”Varden asked architect/artist/visionary Gregg Fleishman to build an open sky planetarium.
Gregg, the 2013 Temple and Otic Oasis designer, came up with a brand new structure shaped as a
Made of 14 ply Latvian Birch CNC milled interlocking wood pieces, this octahedral dome flat packs and sets up without screws or fasteners using only slots and notches to connect all the parts.
“Jules Verne”Golden Rebar goes to Scott Parenteau
Not only busy participating in the construction of the Black Rock Observatory, Scott Parenteau
already a Golden Rebar recipient in 2013 with his metal pods, brought to the playa his latest creation, the smallest 2-person shelter in the world.
During the day in its vertical position it is a kitchen with a shower head and storage, at night using the gears fashioned by Scott, the pod goes in horizontal position where with added plywood panels the unit transforms in a 2 person bedroom with a skylight looking at the milky way.
A view of the kitchen/bathroom with stainless steel sink
The pod in nighttime position, the flexible conduit carries utility cables for water and electricity.
Made by Scott Parenteau
One of my favorite architects, the Austrian Hundertwasser who lived much of his life in New Zealand, got a look in:
“Burner in Wonderland” Golden Rebar for the Hundertwasserhaus of John deJong
Long time burner John deJong wanted to participate with an abode of his own that would be easy to setup and take down.
An admirer of the iconoclastic architecture of Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000) John built a free standing Black Rock City landmark with three stories made of interlocking plywood panels that albeit quirky looking sustained without problem the fierce winds sweeping relentlessly the playa.
John’s wife at the window
This theme camp came up with a simple idea that is easy to run and a great gift for everyone.
“High” Golden Rebar for Camp Panorama
With a structure made of modular aluminum trusses camp Panorama offered after an exhausting ascent a comfortable platform to enjoy the city up in the air.A good example of interactive camp by nature.
Best overall theme camp was…
“Theme Camp”Golden Rebar goes to
Camp Suburbia
The usual purpose of coming to Black Rock City is to escape the day-to-day grind of the city, eschew homogenization and look at a brand new landscape. Some burners from Seattle, Portland and Bend thinking out of the box brought to the vast expanse of the desert a colorful touch of normality.
Complete with the lawnmowers, garages, mailboxes, satellite dishes and the open trench waiting for DPW to come fix the sewer leak, this village of 8 houses built with frames and plywood panels was inhabited by an entertaining group of anything but bored suburbanites.
See the rest of the award winners here. Thanks to all Burners who are innovating in architecture and temporary housing at Burning Man and beyond – the world really needs it.
Philippe Glade’s 2011 book The Ephemeral Architecture of Burning Man sold out at 1100 copies, and no more will be produced. But next year he will release a new book, Black Rock City, NV The New Ephemeral Architecture of Burning Man – covering the years 2011-2015. If you want to participate in this project, please contact Philippe.
This past weekend Australia hosted the country’s oldest and best bush doof (outdoor dance party): Earthcore. Despite being nearly 10,000 miles away from the Playa, revellers at “Australia’s answer to Burning Man” experienced their very own dust devil. Forget Sharknado: meet Doofnado…
The appearance of this familiar Burning Man elemental spirit, so far from the dust, suggests to me that there is something a bit more magical going on – a higher consciousness manifesting before us, perhaps. A wondrous willy-willy.
Earthcore 2015, Pyalong, VIC. Images: Ari Adar via Facebook
I first attended Earthcore in 1997, and Burning man in 1998. It’s interesting to compare and contrast the progression of the two events. Earthcore took a break from big outdoor parties for many years, allowing rival festival Rainbow Serpent to spring up. Now both events happily co-exist on the Australian outdoor party calendar. When Earthcore returned to business, they offered the same thing as in the past: great music, great people, attention to detail in the setup. If I went to Earthcore last weekend, I probably would have seen many of the same people from the 90’s – older, and some now able to rent camper vans – mixed in with a new, younger crowd. People would be doing the same things, in pretty much the same way.
Burning Man, on the other hand, has changed dramatically since 1998. Sure, many of the elements are the same: the dust, the outdoor camping, the porta-potties. Musically, rather than developing and diversifying, Burning Man seemed to become obsessed with dubstep in the Noughties, and more mainstream “progressive” EDM sounds in the current decade. You may hear some of the best music in the world at Burning Man, then again you may not. It’s pot luck. Wanna know who’s playing? BMOrg are fighting tooth and nail to prevent you. Managed to find out from the Burner underground where and when your favorite musician is playing a set? Good luck catching them; welcome to “Playa time”.
At Earthcore, you are guaranteed to hear some of the best music in the world. Got a favorite? Go see them at a specific place and time.
Some would say that this reduces spontaneity; but you can still choose to ignore the lineup if you want. You can still drop acid and give shit to people and have a transformative experience; but you won’t come home with cracked feet coughing for a month, and 10% of attendees don’t need to visit the medical tent.
Despite an official musical lineup, curated by the promoters, the point of the 5-day Earthcore event is still Community. You are in a remote location, camping with others who have also made a pilgrimage to nowhere just to party. A concert is something you attend, then go home at the end of. A festival is something you live in for several days, with thousands of others.
The main difference I see between these two multi-decade events is the mission. The mission of Earthcore is to give their customers a good time, and they succeed in that. The mission of Burning Man has changed over time, it used to be “we create a city together, there are no spectators” – and that was a lot of fun. These days it is “we’re changing the world” and “transform your personality into something else” – marketed not to the Burners who have made Black Rock City internationally renowned, but instead to the new generation: Oprah and Dr Phil viewers looking to deal with grief at the Temple, #blacklivesmatter protestors and Presidential candidates seeing new political indoctrination opportunities, wealthy Wall Street and Silicon Valley donors lording it over their neighbors with sherpas and wristbands and RV compounds, gold digging sparkle ponies looking to meet socially awkward billionaires, and safari tourists looking to cross the Burning Man spectacle off their bucket list.
They fucked with a winning formula – and if you ask BMOrg, they’ll tell you that they’re still winning. More people want to come, at higher prices: winning. If you don’t like it, start your own! That’s their definition and they’re sticking to it. “People have been telling us we’re doing it wrong for thirty years and we’re still doing it, therefore we are obviously doing it right”. This argument can be used to justify the Wars on Terror and Drugs, too. “We’re still in the war, so we must be doing well at it”. The only losers in this picture are the Burners, who gave so much for so long only to find that sucking up to the Ruling Group is what gets rewarded in the non-profit world, not how the community values your contributions.
Earthcore: keep giving the people what they want. Happy people, consistent product, incremental innovation: winning. Something’s not working? Let’s fix it and make it better.
BMOrg: the more we push the Burners out, the more we can charge for tickets sold to the newbies. Sold out? Winning. People unhappy with gate, Will Call, and Exodus lines? Who cares? Jumped the shark? Who cares? Ten Principles? Don’t worry about them, they were only ever meant to be guidelines, not rules. Bring all the sherpas you want, buy them $1000 tickets.
It’s a big world, and there’s plenty of room for lots of different events. Australia can have Earthcore and Rainbow Serpent, surely it can have Burning Seed and Blazing Swan and Modifyre too. Many will tell you that “Burning Man is not a festival so you can’t compare it”. But most Burners can’t go to Burning Man any more. The tickets are sold out in seconds, and yet BMOrg are still chasing new blood. This seems a doomed strategy – the more BMOrg rejects established Burners, the more irrelevant the Nevada event becomes to Burner culture. Perhaps that is just fine for the Ruling Group, who have their sights set on reshaping mainstream culture. Pesky Burners with their silly Principles just get in the way. Soon only BMOrg and their hand-picked minions will be allowed to burn stuff at an official Burn.
What does the future of this “social movement” look like, beyond the Black Rock Desert? Are the Regionals supposed to be all like Burning Man, but not like festivals? What does that actually mean? Temples? Survival without stores? Themes? Philosopher-kings? Is there a global demand for this?
As Burner culture spreads around the world, it encounters pockets of young people who like sex, drugs, and rock and roll doof. They already do stuff, it’s not like the whole world is sitting around bored waiting for the Burning Man circus to come to town. So what do the Regionals have to offer, compared to well established existing competition? Is it the Ten Principles that are a drawcard, or the music and dancing and fun?
Or…is it the Doofnado? Is there something deeper, more spiritual, more cosmic going on within this movement? If so, then our future is in the hands of the believers – not the church.
[Update 11/30/15 11:45am]
JV in the comments here makes the point that Burning Man is not trying to be Earthcore. I agree, I’m not saying it should be. The question to me is more, if you are going to go to the trouble of putting on a Burner event in your local area, do you want it to be large and successful (like Earthcore and Burning Man) or small and struggling (but pure and true to the Tin Principles). Popular DJs go a long way towards turning the latter into the former. Or maybe the smaller Regionals don’t have enough blowjob workshops yet, or something.
This story has been making news all around the world. It was the BBC‘s “Must See” feature story of the day. It’s in the Daily Mail and the International Business Times. The Doofnado has made a miraculously magically timely appearance, what with the Paris Climate Conference going on and the world looking for some good news stories.
The photographer who took the pictures above, Adi Adar, has some beautiful words on his web site that really gel with the spirit of this story. #PLUR.
One of my absolute joys as a doof photographer is meeting you all along my travels and hearing your stories. From the inspiring, to the magical, to the outright hilarious, the one common theme that comes up in your stories, time and time again, is how doofing has had a *profoundly positive* influence on your life for the better. ❤
As doofing continues to grow, the question however, that inevitably needs to be addressed is: how do we keep the essence… the heart… the soul… the spirit of what doofing is all about, intact, so we can sustainably grow our community and our movement, so we can foster more positive energy, and attract more beautiful souls to join us in our collective journey?
To address this challenge, I am super excited to announce: The Spirit Of Doof! ❤🌈🔊🎶😍👌
Similar to the ‘Humans of New York’ photography project, The Spirit Of Doof aims to use social media to encapsulate both the magic and spirit of doofing, through your stories and photos. ❤ In turn, I hope that you and your stories, will resonate with those new to doofing, and in effect these will become an educational resource to promote the core values, the spirit, of what doofing is all about.
I would be absolutely honoured for you to be part of this grassroots project of social change in some way no matter how large or small. This project isn’t about me… this is about all of us! ❤
So whether you are a doofer, a performer, an artist, a photographer, a DJ or a doof promoter… you all can make a difference. If you are a doofer, and would like to share you story, and promote your values and energy that you bring into the doof movement, please get in touch… If you are a photographer and would love to shoot photography for us, please get in touch…. If you are a doof promoter, and would like The Spirit of Doof to interview people at your doof to promote the core values of what your doof represents, please also get in touch…. The possibilities here are endless, and it all begins with your contribution. ❤
My vision is: I hope The Spirit Of Doof not only makes a difference to attract a beautiful quality of person and energy to the doofs we all love to attend, but to more broadly promote doofing as a social vehicle for elevating human consciousness to society at large, and in turn promote our core values of ‘one love’ and ‘one planet’, beyond our traditional social circles.
I admit this is a huge vision, but it begins by the small individual contributions we all can make…Thanks for taking the time to read this. I can’t wait to read your story. smile emoticon Thanks for embracing The Spirit Of Doof! Love and light ❤ – Ari Adar
Happy Thanksgiving, Burners. Here’s a guest post from AleXander Hirka to amuse you
Chanting “You will be transformed!” from his perch on the right arm of The Man Float, its founder and marketing philosopher Larry Harvey brought The Burning Man Global Transformation Movement ®™ to New York City’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Photo:
The Burning Man Global Transformation Movement ®™ float at the Thanksgiving Day parade, 26 November 2015. Riding on The Right Arm Of The Man, in a typical Burning Man uniform, is founder and zen marketer Larry Harvey.
Photo by AleXander Hirka, 10x ex-Burner.
Harvey, along with other members of the BMorg, spent the previous evening inflating their massive float balloon with inspirational and transformational hot air.
Holding the balloon strings during the procession along Central Park West were a who’s who of celebrities including Katy Perry, Susan Sarandon, Dennis Kucinich, Karlie Kloss, Suki Waterhouse, Grover Norquist, P. Diddy, Elon Musk, Larry Page, Jeff Bezos, Sergey Brin, and Mark Zuckerberg.
The Weez Burners Marching Band kept a groove going by playing “Get Lucky” a hit made famous by Daft Punk, who regularly play at Burning Man, usually near the “trash fence” perimiter art.
____________________________________________
Comments from Burners:
“We are all completely transformed by this amazing experience in the desert. All the things we did before we see in a completely new way. The old patterns are broken, The Default World is altered. I mean, like before Burning Man I was just a tech geek who wanted to make a lot of money by controlling FaceBook algorithms so more people would get hooked on the experience and buy more product a-and . . .well, after Burning Man I’m a completely transformed person.”
~ Mark Zuckerberg (as he was heading into Macy’s for a bit of Black Friday Xmas shopping after the merchandising parade)
.
.
“Once a guy wears a tutu he’s changed forever. There’s no commerce there at all. You just shop for months in advance and lug it in and lug it out. Radical. huh? That guy goes back to what we Burners call The Default World and where once was a suburban consumer of mass produced capitalist media product there is now an enlightened Burner. So different. You can just like see it in his eyes. He knows. We know. We are Burners. Yeah, everyone who goes understands because are transformed inside; even if they look the same standing in line for the latest Star Wars franchise hit at the Cinemaplex.” ~ Hopsing Bonanza (playa name)
.
.
“You’ve seen how Scientology and est have transformed the world for the better. Well this is even bigger than that. Yeah sure it’s a wild party in the desert, but it began in California so you know they’re going to add that special New Age level; what those snobs in New York call woo. So now it’s really all about spreading the Burning Man ethos, the ten principles, which are like the commandments, but different. It includes things like: rich and poor people are the same, share your water, and pick up your trash or you’ll get poor placement next year. And don’t get hung up on commodities and do stuff, participate. I participated in airport arrival and departure. Gifting is great – which is why the float in the parade this year, because it ends with Santa, who is the biggest gift giver ever, right?! Truly original and groundbreaking view of reality – things that will transform the world once the Burners reenter the Default World and Burner Consciousness transforms it from within.” – Denis Kucinich
. “Being a Burner is adding the ultimate Imprimatur Of Cool to the resume of your life. A whole new network of extra evolved humans. Beyond Deadheads and PhisHeads. And it’s a place that hipsters can wear colors. I’ll never be the same. I can promise you – you’ll never be the same. Can’t define how, but you’ll be transformed. There are websites and videos to tell you all about it and what you need to get to radically survive, even where to buy the uniforms. It’s all part of this MSTFest300 thing where people going to festivals will change the world.” ~ Madame Psychosis (playa name)
Cheers to Broke-Ass Stuart for this bonus image. Someone’s giving a lot of thanks in this parade!
We are very excited about the “Golden Rebar Award” and really the support we have received from our community. After putting so much in over the last 20+ years it is very rewarding to “feel the love” and support from everyone. The SHIFTPODS we conceived, designed, built and delivered all within 8 months. We got them out to the playa just in time and had a problem rate of less than 6%. I think we did pretty good for the first run in one of the harshest environments in the world! Now we have taken the feedback and made several improvements including fixing zipper issues, making the stakes longer, and making clear instructions so the 2 (overtired) people who tried to set the SHIFTPODS up inside out won’t do that again. The new version of the SHIFTPOD can be ordered now for February delivery.
We have just released our new video and are working on several others, we have launched a new web site, developed a new super cool roller travel bag, several new accessories and are working on a new playa ready AC / Heater unit specifically for the SHIFTPOD ( it looks like they re-purposed a bunch of the best patio heaters, it actually looks good). We have also set up a B2B rental company, and have several large events we will be providing SHIFTPODS for. We have set up a distribution partnership that will help us manage delivering 500 SHIFTPODS in 2015 to tens of thousands next year.
Temple, #blacklivesmatter 
They fucked with a winning formula – and if you ask BMOrg, they’ll tell you that they’re still winning. More people want to come, at higher prices: winning. If you don’t like it, start your own! That’s their definition and they’re sticking to it. “People have been telling us we’re doing it wrong for thirty years and we’re still doing it, therefore we are obviously doing it right”. This argument can be used to justify the Wars on Terror and Drugs, too. “We’re still in the war, so we must be doing well at it”. The only losers in this picture are the Burners, who gave so much for so long only to find that 
It’s a big world, and there’s plenty of room for lots of different events. Australia can have Earthcore and Rainbow Serpent, surely it can have 
!["@[1656649511219514:274:The Spirit Of Doof]"](https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-0/p160x160/12246951_429350913939457_5737639597969529576_n.png?oh=d0c4b0e746dbfdc067022ac7869ab487&oe=56D57439)
!["@[1656649511219514:274:The Spirit Of Doof]"](https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-0/p320x320/12246951_429350913939457_5737639597969529576_n.png?oh=1a02f89edb6ffb12bd80d810f8d11d88&oe=56ED28A6)
!["@[1656649511219514:274:The Spirit Of Doof]"](https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtf1/v/t1.0-0/q91/p320x320/12241707_429352117272670_2077244371528665703_n.jpg?oh=e7308df0c55d09e5268ed24b91872b75&oe=56D97B67)
