Tag Archives: reno

Feb 23 2014

NADAgras at the Burner

Reno’s Morris Hotel is being turned into a Burner hotel – quite literally. They now answer the phone as “Morris Burner Hotel”, and the web site is morrisburnerhotel.com. From the Reno Gazette-Journal:

morris burnerThe neon purple sign glows “Burner” over the front entrance to the 85-year-old four-story, red-brick historic Morris Burner Hotel on Fourth Street.

The building, purchased last July by brothers Don and Jim “Jungle Jim” Gibson, has since undergone renovations removing its aged, yellow layers and turning it into the beginnings of a creative hub for Burning Man participants, artists and the community.

Next week, it will open its door in a soft-grand opening with artist group NadaDada for its second annual, three-day spring Dada art and music event, “NADAgras.” The event will include artwork, tours of the Morris, food, live music and performance art displays.

We’ve told you tales before of NadaDada and their motel shows.

nada dada motel“’NADAgras’ is a match made in heaven for us,” Gibson said. “NadaDada is one of my favorite events — I have wandered around for one or two days every year, visited with the artists; it’s so fun to see all the crazy art. Doing it here is an honor.”

During “NADAgras” the hotel’s third floor rooms will be filled with Nada artists and their work. He said hosting a grand opening during the event also offers exposure to both the hotel and Nada that the community may not have experienced before.

“The art part (at the Morris) has turned into such an important piece of the puzzle,” Gibson said. ”It’s not only how we’re decorating the place, but we have an art proposal and program that we put together that defines how we deal with the art in the hotel and in the community, and relationships with other art galleries and groups.”

On nearly a half an acre of land and with more than 30 rooms, the Morris is home to over a dozen residents, a series of themed art rooms, such as the Goddess of Creation room and the Sparkle Pony room, and the alternative media source, LoadedTV, featuring “Studio M” streaming interviews and segments about the Burning Man and art community.

“I didn’t go out intentionally looking to buy something like this — it kind of happened and the rest, as they say, is history,” Gibson said. “What has happened here is nothing short of amazing and it’s turning into what could be an incredibly-nice boutique hotel.”

morris signGibson said as the first phase of renovations comes together, there are future plans to create a coffee shop, an organic food restaurant and an aquaponics greenhouse and outdoor seating area in the backyard “playa” space.

He said he would also like to use the 18-foot high “M” from the 2009 Burning Man art installation piece, “MOM” created by California artist Laura Kimpton, as an entrance gate on Valley Road behind neighboring businesses Abby’s HWY 40 and Studio on 4th.

“We’re on the books as a hotel, but the reality is that we’re an art and a community space,” Gibson said. “It’s something for people who want to understand Burning Man and it’s for the greater Burning Man community around the world. When they come to Reno, they can stay here and they immediately get to know the burner community. That’s always been a real driver for doing this.”

In room 223, “NADAgras” coordinator and performing artist James Dilworth will present a silent, interactive performing art piece, “Room of Silence.”

He said holding the event at the Morris is ideal because there is the overlap between Nada and burners where anything can happen and people can come out of their normal world and experience something they’ve never experienced before.

morris burner sideThe Nada movement began in Reno four years ago with its “Dada Motel” exhibit featuring artists residing and exhibiting in the El Cortez Hotel on West Second Street for a weekend. The Nada artists’ work challenges conventional art politics and portrays a variety of more eccentric themes.

“There’s an artistic revival going on in Reno, and there’s a lot of artistic things happening here,” Dillworth said. “I think the community at large should be aware of this. It’s something to experience, appreciate and be a part of it. It’s not just for artists; it’s for everyone and they need to participate.”

Last year’s first off-shoot of the main Nada event started in midtown with “NADAgras” in the Best Bet Motel. Dilworth said this year’s event is more extensive and features a wide-variety of activities to participate in.

“I think there is going to be a lot more buzz about NadaDada,” Dilworth said. “With this event, we’re testing the waters to expand the Nada movement. It isn’t just gallery shows; if you have an idea with Nada, try it out — get a room, put it up and see how it works.”

Displaying in the Oxbow Press group show, “Naughty, Taboo and Just Plain Wrong,” British artist Carole Anne Ricketts joined Nada in the summer of 2010. She said the magic of Nada is allowing the artist the opportunity to speak directly to the public in their own words.

“Nada is where the truth can be told or the outrageous can be put on display,” Ricketts said. “It’s not the words of a hanging committee or a curator looking for commercially viable items, then the show going up after the subject has lost its current cultural relevance.”

For this year’s “NADAgras” event, Ricketts along with the help of artist and musician Jill Marlene, created the Goddess room she hopes will inspire creativity in those that stay in it.

“It (”NADAgras”) is a perfect fit for the Morris Burner Hotel, where the show takes on a mini ephemeral art community, much like that of Burning Man on a way different scale,” Ricketts said. “Although Nada is non-exclusive, so tickets for entry have no place here. Within the rooms of the Morris, the exhibitions take on a level of intimacy, while the corridors, indoor spaces and outdoor area, provide an almost carnival banality with the possibilities of spontaneous entertainments of burner style revelry.”

 

Sounds great, I wanna go! If anyone in Reno could take a picture of the neon purple Burner sign for us, we’d be much obliged.

NADAgras starts March 7

‘NADAGRAS’ AT THE MORRIS BURNER HOTEL

WHEN: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, March 7; 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday, March 8; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 9
WHERE: 400 E. Fourth St.
COST: Free
DETAILS: www.nadadadamotel.weebly.com

 

Nov 29 2013

“Absurd, Illegal, Mealy-Mouthed”: More on Judge’s Ruling on Burning Man/Pershing Dispute

My earlier post was hastily sent out from my iPhone, please forgive an initial spelling mistake, I hope you somehow managed to survive your day anyway.

Sounds like sparks were flying in the Sparks courtroom! The Judge seems like he’s part of the crew who thinks either the naked people or the children have to go from Burning Man. Here’s a bit more detail on what happened, from the Associated Press:

robertjonesRENO — Organizers of the annual weeklong celebration of self-expression and eclectic art known as Burning Man and a Nevada county where it is held thought they had resolved their legal dispute over the festival.

And they hoped to get the blessing of a federal judge overseeing the case, asking him to dismiss the lawsuit earlier this week.

Instead, they got an earful from U.S. District Senior Chief Judge Robert C. Jones, and threats that the lawyers in the case should either go back to law school or be disbarred.

Exactly what in the agreement between festival organizers and Pershing County lawyers prompted Jones’ criticism was unclear, though he said the agreement amounted to malpractice.

“You committed virtually a fraud on the federal court and the county commission,” Jones said. He said he’ll file complaints with the state bar association against all lawyers involved.

The two sides, however, believe they still have an agreement in their year-old legal battle over regulation of the annual event leading up to Labor Day in the Black Rock Desert, about 100 miles north of Reno.

scarvesDrawing 60,000 free spirits, it features costumed characters performing guerrilla theater and dancers in nothing but sheer scarves or less. The festival culminates with the burning of a 100-foot-tall wooden effigy. Over the years, so-called Burners claimed authorities were increasingly going [hard] on drug busts.

The county has long sought more money to provide security. When organizers balked, the county proposed an ordinance to enable sheriff’s deputies to regulate activities it considered “obscene.” One version of the ordinance also would have banned children from attending.

Festival organizers said such a law would violate their First Amendment rights, and sued in federal court. As the case sat before Jones, both sides began negotiating.

The agreement calls for the Burners to pay an estimated $240,000 annually for law enforcement and for meetings between festival organizers and officials to discuss police priorities before and after the event. The county agreed not to pursue the ordinance, or regulate anything that was covered by the festival’s permit from the Bureau of Land Management.

“It’s absurd and it’s illegal,” said Jones, though it wasn’t clear what would be illegal about the agreement. Jones said under the agreement the county was waiving its right to enforce state laws, including its ability to keep children from being exposed to people “running around nude on the desert.”

monkey wheel“You give them virtually a veto authority over what the sheriff is doing,” he said.

Both sides said Jones misunderstood.

“We didn’t give up any right to enforce any law,” insisted Brent Kolvet, a lawyer for the county.

“We concur,” said Annette Hurst, a lawyer for Burning Man’s owner, Black Rock City LLC.

Jones shot back, “I’m sure you do.”

Later, the judge said Kolvet was insulting his intelligence and described one of Hurst’s arguments as “mealy-mouthed.” Twice while mocking their positions, he said, “The record will reflect I’m laughing.”

He refused Hurst’s first request to speak.

“No. Just take careful notes,” Jones said.

Later, she asked again.

“I’m going to suggest, ma’am, you go back to law school,” he said. “Sit down.”

When Hurst said she was trying to complete a sentence, Jones told his clerk: “Call security.”

“For the last time, sit down,” he said.

Hurst sat and a U.S. marshal arrived seconds later but the hearing continued.

Jones refused to approve the deal and said a formal written ruling would follow.

With the county and Burning Man organizers saying they considered their dispute resolved, it wasn’t clear what impact his ruling would have on the agreement.

The Judge’s views have triggered a few choice comments on the Interwebz:

  • I practiced law, although not in Nevada, for 25 years. Frankly, I’d never seen court judges say crazy, nasty stuff to lawyers until I sat through a morning calendar at the Clark County Family Court’s Department P..

    And now this Federal judge appears to be very angry about something which he apparently did not articulate well enough for the reporter, let alone both sides’ attorneys to understand.

    Is someone putting crazy juice in Nevada judges’ water dispensers?

  • The judge is bluffing. He did not delineate the specifics of the alleged fraud. It’s contract law and if both parties agree to a contract, how could fraud be implied here? He is simply grandstanding for his base – bravo!
  • This is an evil, evil dude. A real nutcracker, right out of the 1850s:  “In November 2012, Judge Jones upheld Nevada’s ban on same sex marriage. The civil rights organization which brought the case, Lambda Legal, appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in December 2012. Jones wrote in the decision: 

‘Human beings are created through the conjugation of one man and one woman. The percentage of human beings conceived through non-traditional methods is minuscule and adoption, the form of child-rearing in which same-sex couples may typically participate together, is not an alternative means of creating children, but rather a social backstop for when traditional biological families fail. The perpetuation of the human race depends upon traditional procreation between men and women. The institution developed in our society, its predecessor societies, and by nearly all societies on Earth throughout history to solidify, standardize, and legalize the relationship between a man, a woman, and their offspring, is civil marriage between one man and one woman.'” 
http://judgepedia.org/Robert_C._Jones

  • This clown is a Mormon wacko. Judge Jones should have been impeached long ago, and this latest outburst of idiocy might be the straw that finally breaks the camel’s back. 

Read all about him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Clive_Jones

Sep 23 2013

Post-Playa Depression: How to Come Down From Burning Man

by Whatsblem the Pro

Do you feel lucky, burner? Well, do you? Photo: Rory Wales

Do you feel lucky, burner? Well, do you? Photo: Rory Wales

Coming back from Burning Man was hard for me this year. Home seemed drab and too quiet; it was depressing and I missed the total sensory overload of Black Rock City. I was suffering from the dreaded Booty Drop Syndrome, aka Bop Loss.

I think a lot of burners – maybe even most burners – feel that way to some degree when they get home from the playa, and I wondered how they cope. . . so I conducted a poll in the Burning Man group on Facebook. I didn’t define any answers, just allowed people to write their own and/or vote for the answers other people had written:

  • I start planning for next year.
  • I don’t decompress. . . I leave the volume set at eleven.
  • I go to a regional Decompression.
  • Lay tarps all over my house, and have a party with a five-gallon bucket of Wesson oil.
  • I take two weeks off afterwards.
  • I just writhe and cry at my house with my cats.
  • I keep partying and continue to go to burner events, plus look for ways to stay involved with the community throughout the year. Oh, and I drink and cry.
  • Start a journal and relive it.
  • Get kicked out of a bar. Paint something. Clean your fucking stuff with vinegar. Inhale the dust. Listen to your music really really fucking loud. Go to bed with ear plugs in even if you don’t need them.
  • Get rid of everything that doesn’t have a need in your house. If its not useful, donate, purge. Get the clutter out.
  • All of the above.

My method, since I live in Reno: go drink at a casino. The local casinos have become accustomed to hordes of dusty burners descending on them post-playa; most of them welcome us with open arms, and go out of their way to accommodate us and our collective frenzy. Room parties abound in the two weeks after Exodus, and the flashing lights and noise provide a happy medium between BRC and a quiet home. Even better: the air’s typically got oxygen added, and if you do it right, the drinks are free.

If you do it really right, the drinks, the food, the rooms, and all the other amenities are free as well; along with the comforting hub-bub and surreal blinkenlights soothing my nerves during this last week I’ve spent in casinos, I’ve enjoyed a whole raft of deluxe style-outs to help ease my transition back to daily life. On Tuesday, I dined on a half-dozen Blue Point oysters, followed by a perfectly-cooked lobster tail the size of a human brain, then went upstairs to enjoy the jacuzzi in my room and have some party time with friends. The next morning when I didn’t feel like getting out of bed, I didn’t; I ordered room service instead, then went for a relaxing swim and had a massage. The casino paid for it all.

Naturally, you have to gamble. Hopefully you’ll break even at the very least. . . but for god’s sake, don’t count on it.

There are different approaches to gambling that are more or less oriented toward making money, scoring ‘comps’ (the free perks that casinos give to gamblers to keep them coming back), or both.

If all you want is free drinks, your best bet might be to slip a twenty into one of the video poker machines built into the bar in front of you when you sit down. You can play as slowly as you like; the bartender will keep serving you free drinks as long as you’ve got money in the machine. This may not be a good strategy if you don’t intend to consume at least twenty dollars worth of drinks, however.

If you want comps, play for hours on end. Slot machines are a good way to do this, and many casinos actually give more comps to slot players than to table game players. If you prefer to be sociable, though, the table games are where it’s at. Regardless, the first thing you should do when you walk into a casino for the first time is get a comp card. Just ask any pit boss, or look for a sign that says something like “Guest Services.”

The card game Pai Gow is one decent way to play cards for a good long while; the game moves a bit slowly when the table’s full of people, and there are a lot of ‘pushes’ in the game, which are hands in which neither you nor the dealer win. Making the minimum bet in Pai Gow can easily kill an hour or two and find you with still about the same amount of money as when you started (but with a card full of comps).

Blackjack is a game that everyone is familiar with and that offers the second-best odds in the house, if you’re looking to make money and willing to work for it. Entire books have been written about the best ways to play blackjack; if you use a sound strategy and count cards, you stand a decent chance of leaving with some of the casino’s money. . . but only if you have the good sense to get up and walk away while you’re ahead.

In a nutshell, counting cards means to keep track of how many cards worth ten points have been dealt, and how many cards worth less than ten points have been dealt. When there’s a disproportionately large number of tens left in the deck, your odds are better and you might want to make a larger bet than usual. There’s nothing illegal about it, but casinos hate card counters and will ask you to leave if they are convinced that you’re doing it. . . but if they just suspect you, they’ll try to make you screw up your count by throwing distractions at you. The dealer will get very chatty with you; the waitress will start bringing you drinks more frequently, and might get a bit chatty as well. If you’re a man, you might find yourself approached by an attractive woman with an inordinate interest in you. Playing blackjack properly and counting cards is a lot of work, and not very relaxing.

For the best odds in the house, the craps table is the place to be (and it’s where I’ve been all week, instead of at home writing articles for you to read). Playing craps correctly gives you the same odds as the house enjoys on some of your bets; the house retains a slight advantage over you on other bets.

I play what’s known as “the dark side” when I roll the bones. This involves doing something that is horribly counter-intuitive for most people: betting against yourself. We’re taught our entire lives to believe in ourselves and never give up hope. . . but that’s just foolishness in the face of statistics, and anyway, there’s no reason to consider rolling your point before you roll a seven some kind of personal achievement. It’s really no different from rolling the dice the other way ’round, which is what you want to do when you’re playing the dark side. Once you get used to the workflow of playing craps on the dark side, you can happily, mindlessly while away a lot of hours, assuming your bankroll holds up.

In any case, you should never gamble more money than you can afford to throw away; no system is perfect and nothing is ever guaranteed. If casinos are evil dens of sin, it’s only because the odds are always with the house. . . so be careful, don’t take undue risks, and pay attention to what’s going on around you. With the right approach and the tiniest bit of luck, you can decompress in style. I know it works for me; tonight I’ll be very happy to sleep at home in my own bed, having weaned myself off the sensory overload and made an easy landing of it instead of a horrendous, depressing crash. I even came home with a fat wad of cash in my pocket.

As a bonus, the casino will now be sending me coupons in the mail from time to time, good for a free hotel stay. . . which is a really nice thing when you live in Reno and don’t have to travel to use the freebies. They want me back because they know the more time I spend gambling, the more likely I am to lose. I don’t have to gamble to use the free room stays, though, and with winter approaching it’s going to be really nice to take them up on their offers and spend some more time in the indoor pool and the hot tub.

Good luck!