August 27th: Community Services
I spent today with Harley Dubois, Director of Community Services and Playa Safety. As such, she’s in charge of one or two little things like: * Theme camps & villages * Placement * Ingress &...
View ArticleAugust 28th: Man Down
Last night at about 3:00 am, as the moon was fully eclipsed and thousands of people were celebrating out on the playa, someone set the Man on fire. He’s still standing, but he’s burned to a crisp. We...
View ArticleAugust 29th: Man II
As of this afternoon the new man, Replacement Man, is nearly finished, awaiting some neon. The Man Krew built him on site, working round the clock, and he’ll be ready to raise tomorrow. Access to the...
View ArticleAugust 30th: Towers
View of BRC from the oil derrick Sky High, Part I A big wind storm blew in this afternoon and covered the city in a swirling fog of fine dust. Lots of people ducked for cover, but plenty of us pushed...
View ArticleAugust 31st: Art Appreciation
Crude Awakening figure Art This afternoon I finally rode my bike out to the open playa and looked at some of the art installations. I feel like I’ve missed a lot of the art this year since I haven’t...
View ArticleBonnaroo, Baby!
Burning Man is headed to the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee next week to participate in the 7-year old event as Bring It! an amalgamation of Burners Without Borders, Burning...
View ArticleBringin’ It to Bonnaroo: Gittin’ Ready
Tennessee is definitely different than Nevada. Cases in point: • It’s humid. • All y’all have an accent. • The landscape is lush and green and flat and far. • People make the distinction between...
View ArticleBringin’ It to Bonnaroo: Stuff is Happening
Notable quotes from the morning meeting: Carmen to Smoke Blower: “Do you have a shirt that is not nudist related sir?” Marian to the group regarding the fruity moonshine in jars from the back of Cowboy...
View ArticleBringin’ It to Bonnaroo: Let the Music Begin
I thought the Hug Deli sounded kinda dumb actually. When we were talking about it on conference calls during the planning stages of this trip, I thought it sounded lame. But it was going to be just one...
View ArticleBlack Rock Solar Celebrates Five Years & Two Megawatts
[Marnee Benson is the Deputy Director of Black Rock Solar, the solar non-profit spinoff from Black Rock City LLC.] And then one day in July, under a blazing Nevada sun, the veteran Black Rock Solar...
View ArticleMy, How You’ve Grown: The Burning Man Effect in Nevada
During the past 25 years, Burning Man has had a profound cultural and economic impact on Reno and the surrounding area. Burning Man culture, and Burners themselves, were not embraced by Northern Nevada...
View ArticleFinal EIS Due Out June 14
Tomorrow we expect the Bureau of Land Management’s Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to be published and linked on the BLM ePlanning website. I’m here today to give you an update on the EIS,...
View ArticleAugust 1st: To Gerlach in the Subaru
I left Reno at 3:30 this afternoon, two hours later than planned. There was a lot to do before I came out to Gerlach since I’ll be gone for a month. Take care of my dog, get the house dialed in,...
View ArticleAugust 2nd: The Golden Spike & Office Space
p.fullbreak { clear: both; } A Day at the Office I spent most of the day in the Burning Man Office. You may have guessed, this isn’t a typical office. It’s way better. First of all, it’s on Main...
View ArticleAugust 3rd: Supplying the Burn
p.fullbreak { clear: both; } Supplying the Burn Hazmatt is Burning Man’s Purchasing Manager. He’s a dot-com refugee who now oversees acquisitions and requisitions for everything needed to erect,...
View ArticleAugust 4th: Form Stakes & Range Finders
p.fullbreak { clear: both; } “Four inches left. Mark it, 5:00 and Arctic.” That’s the word from the Octagon to one of the teams on the Survey crew. Coyote’s got one eye on the transit and a radio in...
View ArticleAugust 5th: What It’s Like Here
p.fullbreak { clear: both; } Last night there was a bit of a party at the Social Club. It was fun enough that a few of us made the rounds this morning apologizing hopefully for whatever we might have...
View ArticleAugust 10th: Fence
p.fullbreak { clear: both; } Fence. Say it to a normal person, and they might look at you like: “Yeah, so what?” Say it to DPW and they’ll get a semi-crazed look in their eyes. A little drool maybe....
View ArticleAugust 11th: Day Two on the Playa
p.fullbreak { clear: both; } You might be wondering what the DPW subsists on during long hot days on the open playa while they toil away pounding t-stakes, tying fence and erecting huge structures....
View ArticleAugust 12th: Super Dave & Meteor Showers
p.fullbreak { clear: both; } Last night we celebrated completion of the fence as well as our last big night in town. I hung out for a while with Ray Posado, Burning Man Transpo Manager. He’s had a...
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