Last year, I hosted two wine tasting events at our camp in Kidsville at Burning Man and attended two others!
via Wine Predator
When I pulled into Wadsworth, Nevada Labor Day weekend 1992 to get gas on my way to my first experience at Burning Man, did I see signs for BMIR directing me to a certain frequency to hear a radio signal from Burning Man? Or was it on my way to my next Burn in 1995?
Finding flyers and posters for BMIR and other pirate radio stations beckoned me further and key indicated that I was getting close to “home” at Black Rock City. Back in the 90s there was an explosion of pirate radio stations all over the dial.
Now you too can listen to radio from Burning Man. Simply click to BMIR and you, like me, can listen to BMIR from the comfort of your couch.
If you can stand it. Listening to BMIR right now is just making me want to start throwing caution ot the wind and everything I need into the van and hitting the road.
Up next: more photos by Jennifer V Baum from her pre-Burning Man jaunt out to the Playa.
And then photos from last month’s ArtRide as we gear up for “All the Freaky People” Friday Sept. 3 for all those “Burners Out of Water.”
3:15 Experiment Poetry: a magic image & a bag of tricks plus 2010 Burning Man Temple
If you’re going to Burning Man, please visit the Temple for me. My mother Suzanne Lawrence passed away recently and I think she’s hanging out there…
3:15 Experiment Poem
Fri. August 27, 2010
Lying in bed
not quite awake or asleep
I am trying to gather
in my mind
the words I want to say
about my mother
and her passing.
In a paper bag with me
(a paper bag that I realize
only exists in the dream state)
I’ve collected possessions of hers
and about her to help me
& to share
In the bag there is a
magic image that I saw of her
an image that in this dream state
made me know I was doing the right thing
newspaper clippings of her
obituaries & more that
I was taking to the Skirball Center.
This destiny in itself is not
surprising–last night my son, husband & I
were there for a concert & to see
the Museum show & I
cried because we had never
gotten around to taking her.
But as I wrestled with the words
& what to put in this bag
that really only existed in the dream state
the alarm wakes me to this reality
one without a magic image of her
one without that bag of tricks
sense of purpose or
confidence she is with me.
My mother Suzanne Lawrence passed away July 30; here’s more about her and more 3:15 poems about her too. I posted one last week about my mom departing for Burning Man; I see her hanging out at the Temple. Back in June, we decided NOT to go to Burning Man this year, for a number of reasons including finances, work demands, and this one. Now I really want to go, just to spend time in this beautiful Temple to grieve for my mom and poet Paul Squires who died just before my mom did. It’s been quite a challenging year for me and I could use time on the playa like never before…and I’ve gone a dozen times sine 1992.
Thanks to fellow Burning Mom Jennifer Baum for letting me share the 2010 Temple at Burning Man photos. I will be adding more of “Absinthia’s” 2010 Burning Man photos in a new post up soon.
For more poetry by other people, catch a ride on the Monday Poetry Train.
By the way, tonight is the last night of the 2010 3:15 Experiment! One night to go!
If you, like me, can’t make it out to that Big Metropolis in the desert aka Black Rock City aka Burning Man in 2010, check this idea out: it’s a social experiment that suggests we spend burn week as if we’re in Black Rock City. It’s called “Burner Out of Water.” According to organizers:
“Don your finest (but legal) playa wear.
Strike up deep conversations with strangers.
Ride your (decorated) bike or walk everywhere.
Don’t watch any TV.
Make your car an art car.
Spin poi or do yoga in the park.
Bathe with baby wipes.
Dance all night.
Enjoy a sunrise with your friends.
Burn something.
Give gifts.
Take lots of pictures.Write about your off-playa Burn week adventures and send them to burneroutofwater@hotmail.com.
Check http://burneroutofwater.weebly.com to see what your fellow Black Rock City lovers did when not residing in Black Rock City. Maybe it’ll be so much fun, it’ll last longer than a week…”
The whole week? That would be a trick. But certainly I’m game for Friday night–that’s the next ArtRide and we themed it “All the Freaky People” keeping in mind that we weren’t going to make it to the playa. While it’s not a Critical Tits ride, our First Friday ArtRides do seek to bring the playa energy home every month.
So please join us next Friday Sept. 3 at 5:30pm on the Ventura Beach Promenade in your Burning Man best. We’ll ride about 6pm along the beach and to various art exhibits. We’ll land at Art City for an after party with beer from Anacapa, wine from Frei Brothers, and music from DJ Jeremy Walker.If you’re on facebook, please friend the San Buenaventura ArtRiders Bicycle & Social Club.
It won’t be Burning Man, but it may be the next best thing around.
Burning Man 2010: Music? DJs? Who? Where? When?
The Grand Exodus has begun from the cities in the West and from all over the world to the Black Rock Desert for the grand event known as the Black Rock Arts Festival aka Burning Man. People are on their way and starting to line-up. The gates open Sunday night at midnight which is when the great real estate rush is really ON as a city of 50,000 materializes over the next week!
Wanna know what’s going on at Burning Man music-wise because you want to plan before you get out there ? (HAHA you’re a newbie–you can’t plan at Burning Man–no matter how you try!) Ok, it’s worth trying, I know I did last year…
Or maybe you just aanna know what’s going on at Burning Man even if you can’t go?
Then check out ROCK STAR LIBRARIAN’S ULTIMATE SOUND CAMP MUSIC SCHEDULE!
http://rockstarlibrarian.com/?p=132 ”
And if you’re going, dance a few bars for me. Or dance on a few bars. It’s all good out there.
Oh and bring a jacket–they’re saying it might be a bit cold at night; you might even see some snow on the nearby hills like we did in 2001.
More pictures pretty please? Check out these photos from Burning Man 2009.
This photo by Phil Spitler. Thanks Phil! See you in Kidsville in 2011!
Since I am NOT going to be packing for Burning Man this weekend, I’m free to go have a good time this weekend. (Technically.)
And there are lots of good times to be had here in old Ventucky!
During the day, Spencer Mackenzie’s is hosting a HUGE free music festival Saturday and Sunday while just down the street on Saturday, the gay Pride Festival attracts attention, and Saturday night is VCCOOL’s fund raising concert at Zanzilla’s where City Council member Brian Brennan and I will be pouring donated Frei Brothers Chardonnay and Syrah from the Russian River Valley in Sonoma and Cabernet Sauvignon from the Alexander Valley..
What to do?
Since I’m partial to VCCOOL, I’ll start there.
VCCOOL is a global warming or climate change activist group. They promote ways to reduce your carbon footprint and they organize events like the bike rodeo. The VCCOOL fund raising concert will offer traditional, old time good time music and room to dance for $20. Members are making treats and there will be non-alcoholic drinks as well as wine pours for $5 each from Frei Brothers Winery in Sonoma which, for a large organization (200,000 cases), is trying its best to be good to the land the brothers have been working for over 100 years. We will be pouring their reserve Russian River Chardonnay and Syrah ($20 at Vons) and their reserve Cabernet
Sauvignon from the Alexander Valley ($25 at Vons). Thanks to Brian Brennan for bringing real glasses for us to drink and taste out of! And thanks so much to Frei Brothers for donating the wine!
Why is Frei special? Why did I seek Frei to donate wine for the VCCOOL event? Because Frei Brothers is driven by an “overriding principle to conduct business in a manner that will protect and preserve the environment.” This includes exceeding government regulations and setting aside an acre of land for every one planted with vines to protect the natural environment in which indigenous animals live. Here’s a blog post by Rob Bralow with an interview with Chief Viticulturist Jim Collins which discusses some specifics. And Frei makes great wine–I had the syrah at the 2009 Wine Blogger’s Conference and I’ve bought it too! And just to make sure everything was good, I tested out a glass of the chardonnay–nice and balanced, it will be a pleaser tomorrow especially if it’s warm!
During the day on Saturday, ride your bike and attend both Pride and Spencer Makinezie’s free festivals! The schedules for both follow: Read more…
“Sometimes there is music that is so welcoming that it instantly puts a smile on your face.”—fRoots says about Kenge Kenge. I agree! That’s just one of the reasons I plan to drive to LA this evening with my family.
Tonight, the Skirball Cultural Center (off Interstate 405 near the Getty Center in Los Angeles) presents African Music by Kenge Kenge in a free outdoor show at sunset. You can bring a picnic like I did for Omar Faruk Tekbelik’s concert last summer (read the post here Superman, Mardi Gras & Omar Faruk Tekbelik: All at the Skirball in LA) or you can buy food there.
According to the Skirball website, this is the California debut for Kenge Kenge: Kenge Kenge creates joyous high-energy dance music with pulsing beats. This eleven-piece Kenyan band uses traditional and hand-crafted instruments, like the the orutu (one-stringed fiddle) and the nyangile (gong), to create a strikingly contemporary sound featuring dense textures of rhythm and chant. While this marks Kenge Kenge’s premiere U.S. tour, audiences will be familiar with the group from their “Obama for Change” video, which was a YouTube sensation.
Here’s a Sample of Kenge Kenge’s music which will be performed tonight at 8:00 p.m. and here’s more details on Sunset Concerts in general. While admission is free, they accept no reservations. Since capacity is limited, people start lining up around 4:30 or 5pm to get tickets as soon as they start passing them out about 5pm. Doors open at 7pm.
Parking is $5 per car carrying three or more people, otherwise $10 per car (cash only). Or take Metro Rapid Bus 761 or ride your bicycle to the concert. As street parking strictly prohibited, you must bring proof of parking in the Skirball lot or arriving via another method. To receive a concert ticket you must bring with you:
• the parking stub from our lot (across the street from the Skirball at Sepulveda and Bergreen Place),
• your bus ticket or Metro card,
• a taxi receipt.
Click here for additional detail on the Sunset Concerts at the Skirball series.
Click to hear another music sample.
Burning Man 2010: How You Will Get Hurt (probably!)
If you attend Burning Man, you will be hurt, you will be injured, you will cry, you will laugh, you will be transformed, you will become a statistic.
Some of my best laughs, cries, and even orgasms have been at Burning Man. Two of my best scars are from Burning Man: a narrow 2″ scar on the back of my right hand by my index finger (from 2001 when I was setting up camp), and a deep wide one, about 1.5″ long on my right shin from 1997 when I was trying to pull …well…it was wheeled and …Will Rogers had pulled Crimson Rose in it while she was playing with fire on the night of the Burn and… tequila was involved…need I say more?
Anyway, Burning Man is dangerous. People die. They get run over, they do too many drugs, they do stupid things and get hurt.
AND they don’t drink enough water: 10% on average cases were related to dehydration.
Above is a chart based on about 150,000 people who attended the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Burn and how they were injured. There’d be fewer stats on this chart if people had more common sense, drank more water and less alcohol, and were more careful with controlled substances. This is where the chart came from: Transparency: How You Will Get Hurt at Burning Man – Transparency – GOOD. via Burning Man 2010: How You Will Get Hurt (probably!).
The physical changes are minor. The changes to you on the inside will likely be major. You will not return as the same person you left. And I dare you to prove me wrong.
If we were going to the Metropolis of Burning Man, Black Rock City Nevada, with our family this year, where we’d camp would be a no brainer: KIDSVILLE! That’s the village at Burning Man with over 600 occupants, a village where every camp has at least one child, and where we stayed in 2009 and 2007.
Kids at Burning Man? Why of course! What would a Metropolis be without children? I remember meeting and talkin with Larry Harvey’s young son in the early years of Burning Man, and my first year, back in 1992, my friend DeeDee brought her tweenager and he and I went out to the rave together. Believe it or not, kids have always been a part of Burning Man.
And Kidsville really is Burning Man at its best for kids of all ages: Art Cars swing by to pick up riders for family friendly tours of the Playa, people bring games and lead them, lots of trampoline scattered about, shade structures with legos galore, and more–even a mini-ThunderDome set up for bouts between kids!
Kidsville is “free” in the sense there’s no additional cost to join the camp: while some camps ask for “hefty donations” to cover shared expenses like food and booze, art and infrastructure, Kidsville operates on totally voluntary donations. Kidsville is organized in the sense that Lora volunteers to draw up a map and take charge of who goes where. People donate what and as they can.
As more and more Burners are having little Burners, Kidsville has been PACKED the past few years. So unless you’ve got a spot, your best bet if you have kids, is to camp nearby in open real estate. Kidsville is THE largest village at Burning Man!
Before Kidsville, I stayed in Hushville, where no generators are allowed, making it another uber-popular place to camp. Hushville also has little or no infrastructure. However, like Kidsville, if you show up wanting to camp there, expect that it too is probably already “full.”
That’s right, while Burning Man takes place in a huge desert, the Black Rock, Black Rock City has limits, and the prime real estate goes FAST.
So where should you camp? One tip is to check out this link for Theme Camp Placement:
http://jes5199. com/burningman20 10/
That’s where the image above came from, and that’s where you’ll find the information, addresses, and links for the various “Theme Camps”. If a nearby theme camp looks like fun, or LOUD, you can make a decision. You will spending A LOT of your time in your neighborhood!
Last but not least: what’s your BRC address? Even if you’re a newbie, you probably already know that the city is usually organized by rings alphabetically and by time. This year, the streets A-F are the names of big cities: Athen, Bagdad, Cairo…Your address is a combination of your street and your time. (Yes, lots of people want to camp at 4:20…)
What’s the benefit of having an address figured out in advance? You can tell your BRC friends where to find you and you can tell your default world friends where to send you mail–if you bring a mailbox, that is!
Wish I was going…send my regards to the Temple, please. I think my mother is hanging out there this year. Send her my love, please.
Poetry from the 3:15 Experiment: departing for Burning Man
Poetry from the 3:15 Experiment
Thurs. August 19, 2010
August is full of birthdays
for dead people now:
my mom, her dad, my dad’s dad.
The dates feel like a
dead fish staring me in the eye
the wheel still sharp, the
hook still digging into
In the night I am jolted awake.
It had to do with my mother
but the details are elusive, sketchy
& somehow comforting.
She had to dress for something
& I helped her
peach it was, a color for her father
Tears rolled down my cheek as
we said goodbye & she departed
for good
This time I think for Burning Man.
Wow, that was a wild 3:15 poem if I may say so my self! I wrote it on August 19, my father’s father’s birthday, which must have got me going in that direction, plus remembering that dream…
We’re not even going to Burning Man this year, but I have been thinking how much I want to go, especially to spend time in the Temple, to go and cry and grieve for my mother and Paul Squires aka GingaTao who died just before she did (July 28). Easy to imagine Paul going this year; he always wanted to and talked about it with me. Hard to imagine my mom going to Burning Man in this life as she hated camping and heat; she did love the wide open spaces of desert so this is the perfect time and place to go.
A Temple is a good place to cry in a Metropolis.
For more poetry, catch the Poetry Train.
art predator 