Anybody>?

Is anybody going to Burning Man this year? Everyday I look at the gas prices dropping lower and lower and lower and I know Burningman is a long way away still. we may be paying 2.50/gal or something terrible like that again by then; or the sentinels installed along the highway to control the mutant uprisings could be to much of a hassle to pass by. But the possibility of these conditions not being true and thus being able to drive out to BurningMan on the cheap has me really really wanting to go. I know my wife wants to take another trip, but I think we could do that and hit up burningman this year if the gas stays in the 1.50 or less range (and if she does minimal constuming).

Anyway I know Michael isn't going this year (god it will be weird to be out there without him if I do manage to be 'allowed' to go) but is anyone else still down with the circus?

- On a change of topic who all is going to Interfuse this year? YOu gonna drive down for that Bicho? Its totally fun, I promise! I was curious if we still had plans to 'do it up' this year? I know the Mike tank getting impounded kind of put an end to the wartruck for this year; but maybe we could still throw together the 'hookah-dome' burningman fat style? Or anything like that, I just think we should bother to contribute a little more then we did this last year.

Holla!

Hellow fellow carnivors

I am getting some of my moms glorious sauer kraut!! I turn 40 tomorrow but 40 is the new 20 so you 20ies are in for it!

Jessica,
I have my camp kitchen ready to go but for the sake of light travel do we want to make sure we dont double up on un-necessary things? My hubby is happy to send me off with the stove again we can bring 2 if needed. (he really wants a new one!). I will have to go trough the rest of the stuff and see what I have but itss stupid rediculous on te stuff we have! will bring the devil forks for marshmellow toasting...I hate marshmellows BTW!

Also sorry for thinking I have a table saw. We did have one but apparently Mr. Hough sold it to his work place. I have a vivid memory of using it lately.....?

So working on the Burka. Going to some stores for some maybe outragious clothes...don't want to look stupid at my elderly age.

By the way remind Michael to tell me what he is putting off about my Mom...unless it's mean!! My Mom is so cute for 63! He met her today and said I have to be drunk before he would tell me something about something he thought..hey! She is 63!!!

OK all, see you in a week and a half? Hope Sylvia is not too much for you!

2008 survival guide, distance to the man, intra-net

2008 survival guide is up!
They are expanding the distance between the man and the Esplanade, to increase the size of the city. It used to be 2200 ft from the man to the Esplanade, now it's 2700 ft. There are 5280 ft in a mile, so one trip to the man and back (or from 3:00 to 9:00) is over a mile!

They are creating an intra-net to list camp locations. "Use the Playa Info computers to register yourself and your camp location as well as to find your friends. Via the online Directory network you can exchange messages (no Internet access). Also, find and post event schedules, ride shares, and other services. The Dynamic Board maps campsite coordinates. Bulletin Boards are always available for artful posting of events, messages, and general information."

A Happier Subject than the price of gas

This is more for Jessica,

Have you made your Burka and if so can we meet so I can see how you did it and try making one for myself?

Getting There Redux

So my dad is moving to Durango Colorado... and it would be really sweet if we could head down that direction for a brief visit on our way out. We can also use this as a H20 fill up stop. It only adds 81 miles onto the trip total. I've gone this southern way in the past and don't recall many terrible mountains, so maybe we'd even avoid flipping the trailer over on the way out.
Here's my plan (provided you guys are cool with it). Pack up Friday evening Aug 22nd. Most especially finish packing the trailer.
Early Saturday Morning at 6 am sharp! Leave for the first leg. Notice I have us heading south so you can pick us up (and the trailer) on our way out.

That'll take us to approx. 9pm our time, 10pm Durango time. We get a good nights sleep at dads and spend the morning tooling about Durango. We'll also fill up our H20 here, thus eliminating some of the ridiculous gas wasted on hauling all that water.

Having learned in the past that arriving at midnight and trying to set up camp in a vicious dust storm makes for some unhappy times (especially considering we are going to have to FIND the boys this year) I think it makes much more sense to arrive in the daylight, with plenty of time to tool about and find people.

So we leave the next evening at 6 pm. We drive another 15 hours which will land us approx at the gate at 10:00 am Durango time, 11 am BRC time. 2 hours(+) at the gate, another hour or so frantically trolling the city streets for signs of our camp and we'll be setting up around 2... giving us plenty of time to enjoy that evening without passing out into a coma and missing another preemptive man burning.

I think we should prob take ol' reliable back homewards... which will be an unhappy, dusty 24 hour drive.


Melodie, from speaking with John yesterday it sounds like we 4 are good to go riding together in your truck. The boys say they will help a bit with the dome costs (provided we can fit the domes in!) so hopefully this should be a relatively reasonably priced year, all things considering.

There and Back Again, Update

I made this spreadsheet to figure out what was the most logical trip option for this year.

If John goes it makes the most sense for the 4 of us to ride together, pack light, and bring the small trailer. It would cost us *around* 260-360 (per person) depending on the actual gas mpg.

Melodie- I took the 25th- 1st off. I have to be back at work on Tuesday the 2nd. Which blows, but I've no choice. So we should prob plan on leaving Sat morning the 23rd.

$$$

In Brief: This year is going to be expensive. $900 a person average with 3 vehicles. Hope you're saving your pennies.

In exposit: We're looking like we will take 3 vehicles. Jeep for bicho and I. Tundra for Jys and Bob. F150 for Melodie. None have very good mpg.

Bicho and I will take a jeep/explorer into the unknown territory of Jungo road. This will shave 200 miles off of the trip but likely add unseen costs like tire replacement, lost gas/time, and other damage to the car. Estimated fuel cost of $1,000 from Denva and back again.

Last year the tundra cost approximately 1,000$ to get out there dragging a trailer. I'm estimating the tundra to cost 1,500$ round trip. (gas is 'rumored to hit $5 a gallon' so I assume it will.) Melodies truck will likely cost her 1,700$ with the added size. Add 300$ for the trailer drag. If we were to split the costs evenly (not suggesting this, it's not really fair) $4500/5 = $900 a person. If we shave one car off and travel light (the tundra) $3000/5 = $600 a person.

I think that we should try our hardest to skip using the trailer and pack the PVC in the backs of both trucks. If we can, we should skip using three vehicles and find some way to only take one of the trucks. Having one body fly then figure out some sort of ghetto-ride-from-reno would save money. Otherwise, having one person drive to the playa alone is alot to ask. I'm not going to worry about the logistics here as I'm going early and staying late - I will throw in money to get the PVC out there but I'm not going to throw in more money than buying the PVC in reno would cost. (re: 100$ a person sounds fair)

Personally I will be traveling very light. The only thing I will not be able to transport myself is the camp stereo. (I'm working out how to make it small and manageable.) Everything else will fit in/on the jeep with a luggage rack. If we can't fit the camp stereo without the trailer, I say to hell with it. It'll work at interfuse. Same thing with the pluton/barr.

Option 2: Renting a box truck. Cost of $2,800 for use & mileage: with an estimated mpg of 8: total cost of $4,675. $935 per person + $350 airline ticket + $50 biobus pass = 1335$/person Not gonna happen.

-capt'n surly

Apparently lots of other people have had issues with "Trailer Sway"

This interesting article discusses the frequency of u-hauls trailers starting to violently sway back and forth (called "trailer sway") which often causes horrible wrecks. The majority of the causes are incorrect weight distribution, speeding (you are supposed to go 55) and faulty equipment.
Having this happen to us several times on the way out there last year and managing not to crash (somehow!) is still fresh in my mind. We are going to enjoy driving out without a trailer this year!

On that note: Melodie, your trailer looks fine, I think. As a camp, we need the PVC brought out and a playa pluton (which folds up flat). I think we are going to wind up driving and be able to take everything else.

Sneaky Route

To those of us who are bored with the regular route! Bicho and I will try this a day or so ahead of everyone else.

Standard Route = 208 Miles + winnebego laden traffic
Sneaky Route = 110 Miles + winding, twisty desert mining roads, one lane highways and pseudo impassable routes.

"The Bureau of Land Management has declared an off-road closure throughout a two-mile area around our city. It will be patrolled by law enforcement agencies. Anyone attempting to enter the playa off-road will be subject to substantial fines. Furthermore, the margins of the lakebed are saturated with water flow. You will get stuck. Mired vehicles may remain stranded for days or weeks."

"The other route, Jungo Road, visible on a map, is a very rough dirt road with easy-to-miss turns, mining vehicles, a couple of treacherous dips and is guaranteed to cause one flat if not more. Please do not attempt this route." - 2007 survival guide. Pussies.

Fourm contends: "Jungo is downplayed officially as it is maintained mostly by the Mining companies that use it 95% of the time. It is a public road, I have used it more than a hundred times and never had a flat."

The actual sneaky part is this here.

Pirate Happy Hour

And finally: "Get yer scurvy arse's in gear and come share some grog with the crew at Camp 54. From the late afternoon to dark o'clock, the playa's finest rums will flow, to the sounds of a flintlock. Hook your wench along and bring a lass, iffn' your feeling saucy, you'll get some Capitan h ass.

Free booze for all landlubbers!

Ninjas discouraged.
Real swashbucklers skip any line!"

I'm feeling too lazy for the terrorist happy hour. If we really want to do two, anyone want to volunteer to organize it?

Evaporation

"Michael,

Going over your application and was wondering if you have seen some of the compact water evaporation systems posted on the ePlaya. Evaporation ponds are space hogs and tend to leak. There are some evaporator plans that are quite compact and greatly more efficient than ponds. I just mention it as perhaps a help.

Baulknaub
Placement Team"

Anyone able to find anything on ePlaya about this? I've found nothing but good ways to clean midgets. Their search SUCKS.

Nasty Midget

Removing nasty tastes from your midget.

"How wonderful Eplaya can be for genuine wisdom.

vinegar, you can use any type, fill it half vinegar/half water , let it sit 24hrs, and then rinse a few times, I guarantee there won't be any taste left.... vinegar, rubber, or flavored condom."

Bwahahaha

My trailer

Hi all,

The deminsions of the bed of my trailer is roughly 7ft 5 in by 4 ft. It has rails about 18 inches high. We can use it to haul stuff. Plus my truck is a Ford F150 that can haul more stuff in my bed. The picture on the post is the actual trailer. The black box will not go with the trailer but bikes can be hauled in it's place. Jess and Michael let me know if you think it's too small.

Shade Netting

I've a few ideas for potentially sleeping in fast 10AM this year on the playa. Mainly Aluminet.

I have mentioned this stuff before, but never actually done any pricing or dimensioning to figure out what I actually would do.

How do you think this shit will handle the playa? I picture it being similar in characteristic to burlap - just ethereal enough to let the heaviest winds pass through and prevent tearing. I would assuredly get the "taped" variety with good steel rivets for production. The cost, for a 14'x14' square of the 50% shade is approximately 60$. To get what I would require, 14'x7' (to cover just my tent) is approximately 30$. I picture building essentially a small box frame structure, securing it lengthwise to the playa providing my wee tent (maybe bicho's as well) with adequate morning shade.

Diagram is what I think would work. I project 60$ total cost if I just do my tent & some various other room for costume boxes/non potable water. The potential of sleeping past 10AM in the playa heat strikes me as worth 60$.

Opinions?

new comments

I took the liberty to integrate disqus commenting here. continue your rabble.

Spartaaaaaaaa

Slord - there is a "Roman Camp" at the junior prom this year. They're going to have gladiator games and a toga-only partaay.

Some of the events out there sound fucking hilarious. Just thought you should know that I'm excited.

Capitan H's Grand Plan

Set up plan for this year...

Getting ready

Hello all!

I have a truck that can haul a lot of stuff. If I drive out I would be glad to have company! I now have two sets of fairy wings..sorry pirates..I'm a fairy! However I will also bring a pirate costume. Jessica, Michael mentioned you are making burkas. Do you need fabric or money? I can't offer much help as I struggle with sewing my own costumes. I'm much better at riding my Mtn bike in the dirt and rocks and can cook OK too. Well, I'm excited for Interfuse and BM. Talk to you all later
Oh...Am I going to be initiated into anything terrible??!!

:-)

Pur Water

This was floating around the MWB message boards. Apparently Pur Water has produced little packets that can treat grey water in 30 minutes. Watch the short video, it's neat!

To be honest, I'm interested mainly to see what it tastes like. Altho being able to remove sediment from excess grey water is an interesting challenge - it's usefulness for me at BM seems limited, besides a shower my grey water is limited to the occasional cup or tooth rinse.

I am gonna try to acquire a few packs for interfuse.

Terrer-ists!

What does a Terrorist drink? Pic related.

Pirates is easy - Rum and Beer.

Interfuse Effigy Fire

Two Whom it May Concern:
Zay mentioned wanting to build our flame effect into the television remote. It's fairly bulky - consists of a 3.5' tall cylinder on an Alice pack frame and has a 3' "business end." The business end can be modified down significantly to fit in any package, but the 3.5' tall cylinder must remain upright for it to function. When laying on its side it'll throw an impressive mist of flame but it's nothing in comparison to upright with liquid fuel (and has a small chance of getting air + flame + fuel back into the pressure vessel - the check valve isn't made to work well on its side).

The range is realistically between 30 and 15 feet - it dwindles slightly as the pressure runs out. On a full tank it'll have about half a minute of sustained fire or about a minute of burst sprays (these are pretty!) The ambient heat from a sustained blast has melted fireproof gloves, zip ties and warped a brazing mask - it's hot but not too hot to stand near for a few seconds. (Feels like sunburn.)

I picture us setting off the effigy in a massive display of pyrotechnics and fireworks - shortly afterwards (when the explodie bits are "done") a fully firesuited figure wades in and begins "cleansing the effigy with purging flames." This is open to interpretation as it's a pipe dream. Whaddya think?

RE: [MWBEffigy] [Ignition] Ignition via flamethrower!

Several phrases come to mind, most of them consisting of two words. They are as follows:

Fuck yes.

Hell yeah.

Kick ass.

Fuckin A.

There are probably more. But that’s what I’m thinking at this exact moment.

Chase

Needs List- Jys n' Bob

bike- extra tires for me? Different bike for bob? Tricycle for everyone?
2 pluton/plywood furniture things this year
2 COMFORTABLE hammocks.- preferably fold up travel style
really, I think we own just about everything we need. woot,( eeeeeeeeeeeee!)

Wants-
Pirate ship art car- golf cart, fabric sails, some sort of light weight exterior for the body
Decorative flags and stuff
terrorist/burka costumes for everybody- for terrorist happy hour
Other misc. adorable costumes-- perhaps a slutty sailor suit to keep with the theme, and some sort of functional day wear

Other camp misc.-
evap pond. Should we combo this and the shower with God Box?

Shit List - Condensed

BM List of Shit I NEED:
Pup Tent - $100
Shade Netting - 13x13 - $80
Pirate Pants & Vest - $100
Stereo - scavenged - $50
Gloweys - $50
Plane Ticket R/T - $300

Shade Netting. I'm buying a 13x13 foot piece of that Aluminet that I will drape over my tent loosely. I bet money that I could fit an additional tent or two within the area. I have high hopes, only allowing 30% of the sun through while still allowing wind to pass will hopefully extend the allotted-morning-sleep time until 11AM.

Pirate Garb. Jys, could I buy some fabric and have you whip out the pants/vest from that existing pattern? I'll reimburse for time and effort as well.

Gloweys. I will buy my own and not simply steal yours this year!

Plane Ticket. This is from MCI to RNO. There's also the option of driving to Denver then flying to RNO from there one way. There's an additional option of flying from MCI to RNO one way then driving a rented Ryder truck home. All of these I am comfortable doing, but I would like to purchase tickets in May so we should make a decision.

Stereo. Bob, I'll come steal those Subwoofers & Amp this weekend. I'll be cannibalizing the hearses stereo as well to keep costs down. I want to have this done by Interfuse.

Newbie

Hi Everyone,

I work with Michael and was excited to find out he goes to Burning Man. I have wanted to go for a long time and was not sure how I was exactly going to do it. I bought my ticket recently and am excited to be going this year. Looking forward to meeting everyone!

interFuse

Buy your interfuse tix.

http://www.midwestburners.com/interfuse/

Bar...

Biiiiicho! My memory is being as lame as ever, did you destroy all the bar setup schtuff after BM last year? aka do we even have a bar setup for this year? Or are we just sorta assuming that is going to magically happen? Was looking at pictures of the oil rig thing earlier, made me sad once more that I managed to forget it was blowing up until it did. Godamn Jerky. God I am gonna have soooo much jerky again this year, gonna be so great! When do we have to figure out our camping sheet by?

General Loofah

"Posted by: "General Loofah" tomcgabel@yahoo.com tomcgabel
Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:38 am (PST)
The BOOK BURNING(tm) is not supposed to be a positive experience. Its sponsored by the HATE DOME(tm) for Christs sakes! We're burning books because we're assholes.

If you want to have a happy hippy, burning soiled books burn, go right ahead. I don't care. hell, I might go out and buy some perfectly good hard covers to burn. Spend about $100 on four books to burn just to be a dick."

^-- awesome

Note to self: pirate songs

I still think of good pirate/fire related songs on the way to/from work and promptly forget them upon my arrival. However, I've been relistening to all the Bowie on Bob's ipod lately (and there's alot) only to rediscover his "I'm Afraid of America" song(s). There are 5 versions at least on Bob's ipod. This would be theme appropriate terrorist happy hour/pirate golf cart music.

Pirate Ship, Driving Out there...

Oh how I would love an art car. The above is a very abbreviated version of what I think would be a hilarious golf cart art car. We could go take attack other, larger pirate ships and shoot at them with the flame thrower.

I don't know if Shana or Bicho ever read my comments many blogs ago about traveling out there. But I'm going to repeat them incase you use an RSS reader or something.
"I agree, we obviously will need somebody to drive something out and back in order to have domes and stuff... but if we split the driving b/t 4 people that would be good for every bodies tired level. I for one would want to drive there, and would want to stop off at the house of Bicho/Shana on the way there. Provided they are there of course... it'd make a good break.
However, another thought just occured to me, what if we brought out everything long term to Colorado (Domes, plywood furniture) prior to the trip... if Shana and Bicho want to drive anyway. I want to go skiing and visiting before then anyway and taking it out in trips would be far less stressful. this would mean we could fly out and back... which would be so absolutely awesome.
This depends on the Blythe's storage space at their new home (do you have a garage that can store the domes etc?) and their willingness to drag the domes out there. Obviously we all benefit from our glorious dome structures, but I wouldn't want to impose on their time off either.
So, how do you feel about that Bicho/Shana? And everyone else?

Oh, also, I'm volunteering to make everyone terrorist costumes... b/c i think it would be fabulous fun and well suited to the theme. It'd be hilarious to have a terrorist bar day. For the ladies I was going to pone Blythe's excellent idea of a full burka. I think it's appropriate desert ware. And for the boys something similar to Bob's Halloween costume. And a little Fremen."

"Obviously, if the bicho/shana drive out with trailer were to happen, we'd all put in the the cost of the gas and trailer. Just wanted to clarify. And this time we should collect the $ before we go out there, so we don't end up with all those unnecessary computations at the end, and so nobody has to carry the balance."

Kart

From Marianne (she is not attending this year due to a bad case of a "groin goblin ontogenesis"):
Ask the guys (ie, YOU) if there's any interest in working up a cart for this year. If you guys want to, come and pick it up. (Fly out, drive back?) If you guys want, I'd be willing to sell it to you for $750.

Bicho? Anyone? Bueler? we could build a pimpin sound system onto THIS and add a flame thrower!

SnowFlake

Huh, tell me what you think of this?

"Hi, all!
Actually, Snowflake is looking to recruit a couple more interesting midwest
camps for 2008. We can actually go up another 120 or so in population before
it starts to affect our placement.
No Village fees, it's more a confederation. Though we might ask you to bring
a few strands of LED lights for our common frontage.
Mellow place, low drama, good Midwestern peeps. This will be our ninth year.
We can put you next to whoever you want to be next to.

We can give you the amount of frontage space you need for your
interactivity, and the amount of camping space you need behind it for your
population. We can jiggle and tweak the camping spaces almost up to the last
minute, so everyone in the Village gets a fair shake--about 250-300 square
feet camping space per person historically. We can absorb a last-minute
population change or a new exhibit and sort of "even it out" across the
whole Village, whereas if you had your own assigned spot those twenty extra
people and cars and display might not fit.

Tentative lineup for Snowflake 2008--
Videogasm
Spray Dogs
Bedlam
Clevian Circularity
Burning MENsa
Bear Liberation Front
Plus the several more we still want to recruit.

We have had camps stay with us a few years then move on to bigger things,
like Ubercarney (Detroit) or Entheon Village (Chicago). Others have been
with us from the first. Fine either way. We are an incubator. The main point
is, we typically get far better placement on the Esplanade by banding
together than any of us could get on our own, and BM already knows our name
from days of yore as a trouble-free Village. Possibly the second-oldest
Village now. Not that we have huge, iconic displays 100 feet tall, but our
many smaller, interactive environments together make up a cool place where
you could spend all night in Snowflake village. Get a drink--go to Playa
speed dating--take your date to a movie at Videogasm--Have your t-shirt
artified--have a massage at Bedlam--wander through the sensory maze.... etc.
Plus the amazing things the new camps will doubtless bring to the
experience.

We'd be very happy to have new Midwest camps join our confederation this
year. Just now setting up our formal signup page, but the first step is
always to contact the coordinator with the basic idea : eric@clevian.com or
wisconsin@burningman.com to make sure we can fit you in. We generally do not
do large-scale sound or get placement near large-scale sound, since most of
our camps are more interactive, one-on-one kind of places where you actually
talk and interact with people. (Imagine that!) Plus, we like to sleep at
night. :)

If this suits you, give us a holler.

& thanks for the good word Zay!

Eric Griswold
Coordinator, Snowflake Village"

CAPTIAN

I'm electing myself CAPTAIN for the purpose of coordinating a Village with others. The amount of involvement will be reported back here for opinions. If anyone bitches they'll walk a metaphorical plank in my mind and shoulder responsibility next year.

I have swords. You will receive alcohol for your cooperation.
End Transmission.

InterFuse

Theme Camp at Interfuse that I can happily get behind:

"A lot of art was planned, as well as events like the LAN Party Bus (fill a short bus with computers, hang JBL speakers on the back, drop a screen from the roof, and hold outdoor gaming LAN parties)."

Getting There

Ok, I definitely want to fly this year. I'm going to have difficulty getting as much time off as I really wanted I feel. (due to my premonition that I'll take a day or two off for a concert in mid june)

However, I'm more than happy to help with my share of gasoline. I'll have the same crap as last year, just lighter and no mattress. I'm thinking that if we do bring the flame thrower it'll be modified to run off of C02/propane or just something more portable than the air compressor.

So, flying into Reno and taking in the "Bio Bus" sounds like my cup of tea. I wouldn't be objected to driving HOME if we want to do some "rent a giant Ryder and have everyone else fly - bio bus in" strategy. I feel this way because the cost of flying no longer really means as much to me and my time off feels much more valuable. I don't really want to spend two of my full day's off driving only to arrive on the playa exhausted and exhilarated. I'd rather blow 500$ in Reno then go to Burning Man refreshed, showered and ready to get dusty.

I know Bicho mentioned a similar plan. Is this a common theme or is there talk of driving again?