Tagburning man

Next Year We’ll Burn Again

Sometimes the default world takes priority, and since I haven’t yet figured out how to live without money, this year had to be missed. This video helped with the homesickness.

I will not miss next year’s.

The Raffle Results Are Coming In

 

This year I haven’t yet made my attempt for tickets., but it sounds like 40,000 of the 50,000 are already gone. More go on sale soon, but I already know many burners who have been denied. I wonder just how many people registered for tickets.

It’s strange to think that I may not see this again, for awhile… though I am hopeful this will cause Burning Man to spread outside the playa. Following some of my burner friends on Facebook, it appears that a large percentage (almost half??) have been told they will not be getting tickets from the raffle. My heart goes out to all of them. I attended the last two years, but I have a hard time imaging how this is effecting the veterans who have been going for years (for some, decades). One burner brought up the fact that many camps are also reporting losses in numbers, which will effect their art projects. Oh boy… change is a scary thing.  There’s gotta be irony in there somewhere. No?

On the flip side, there will be SOOO many happy virgins that get to experience the playa for the first time (assuming there’s enough veteran burners to host an experience) . Very curious to see the media buzz during and after this year’s burn.

Take a deep breath, Jer. It will be ok.

 

And if you haven’t seen it already, Trey Ratcliff’s photo gallery captures the burn perfectly (and it was probably a strong factor in so many registering for the ticket raffle).

Burning Man Alternatives?

Can you really replace the salt flats, or the stationary art, or the mutant vehicles?  I’m really not sure, but certain variables have me considering alternatives to this…   alternative culture event. Last year was the first time Burning Man has sold out, which has had the organizers implementing a lottery system, which means that not everyone who wants to go, will get to go. I think this video summarizes most of my feelings pretty well.

A new friend of mine, that I met at a Decompression party here in Toronto mentioned Boom Festival in Portugal.

I was just told about the Lightning in a Bottle music festival in California, around May.

The Rainbow Gathering(s) which occur all over the world.

Another festiva-…er… “republic” that I have come across (thx Mackenzie) is called Kazantip and is apparently the largest rave in eastern Europe.

WHOAH… ok, that was NOT work-safe viewing. Also, not sure how comfortable I would be partying it up with a bunch of Russian mobsters.

There’s also Shambala, Ibiza, Movement in Detroit, the Winter Music Conference in Florida and others (that I’m either forgetting or haven’t yet discovered). However, I don’t expect to find anything that will compare to dancing on a two-story pirate ship while visiting 30+ foot sculptures in the desert. Though music can be a large factor in these festivals, there’s also something quite amazing about the absolutely silent locations you can find on the playa at Burning Man.

Oh boy… what to do. :\

Simple Electronics w/ LEDs

Ever since I touched down on the playa back in 2010, I’ve had a project in mind that would utilize LEDs.  The tricky part was trying to figure out a way to control them in complex ways.  It seems that this Arduino hardware platform is a good place to start. Minibloq is a visual programming tool that looks non-intimidating.  Gotta love visual programming.

Burner to Cave Paintings

Last night, while walking home from dinner with my roommate, I noticed a pile of stuff outside of our loft building. A box, full of National Geographic Magazines had a special issue of “Water” peaking from under the box flaps. I picked up the issue and underneath was another issue with a woman, wearing a brightly colored outfit, on a bike, in the middle of the desert. “Burning Man!” I thought, and picked up the issue and immediately opened it. Inside, is an article about the Chauvet Cave in France. In the last few days, I’ve had a few people recommend I see, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, which was recently released and is about the Cauvet Cave. I’ve been wondering what this was all about, and looks like I have a way to find out. This August 2001 issue of National Geographic had a photo on the cover from Burning Man as part of the article inside about public lands going public.

Lit Frisbees on the Playa

Ok, this wasn’t inside Burning Man, but just outside, while getting some gas. The double-toss / double-receive.

Burning Man 2011 Photos

Bryan posted some photos from our trip to Burning Man. It’s about time that I posted a link to these babies.

http://joneseybones.smugmug.com/Bryan/Burning-Man-2011-Rites-of/

Post Burning Man Thoughts

Thought for Food – Uploading from McDonalds

We’ve pulled our RV off the road for a nutritious meal at McDonalds, somewhere in Oregon, and now I’m uploading my entry to the Houdini Cook-Off contest. Although my submission could be better, I don’t have the CPU horsepower, nor the time to re-sim or re-render.  Oh yeah… and I’ll be in the middle of the desert in a few hours.

The brain pulsing will be slowed down and I would like to have roto-scoped her fingers, it looked like it was IN her hand, not around it.

All visual elements created by myself.
SynthEyes used for 3D camera tracking.
Modeling, shaders, animation and compositing done in Houdini.
Sound recorded and edited using Audacity.

Prep for Burning Man

I’m going and I have a ticket. Some travel details need to be worked out and I still have some equipment prep that needs to be planned and executed.

I’m still working on my SideFX Cook-Off challenge entry.

I also just purchased the new turn-based strategy, “Frozen Synapse”. Some would say this will kill my productivity… and they would be right. The point is to use my computer for something completely not work related between little successes.

Also looks like MEC has the Injinji toe-socks that I need to get before burning man. What else will fit my toed Vibram shoes?

3 Days Till Lift-Off

In about 4 days I will be in Vancouver attending another Siggraph. I have not been since… 2006? This will be my 4th Siggraph and the first time it has been held in Vancouver. Luckily I have a light laptop this time around. Damn am I excited.

Below is a video that I recorded from Siggraph 2004 in Los Angeles. I finally put it online.

Tickets acquired and RSVPed for parties.

This calendar should give you an idea of all the parties I plan on attending. That’s right, I have my priorities in order. 😉

After Siggraph, I’ll be attempting to get things organized in Vancouver before heading off to Burning Man.

Seems I was smart to purchase my ticket far in advance, because they are currently sold out.

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