posted by Scott Beale on Friday, August 31st, 2007
Midwest Teen Sex Show is a hilarious series of comedy podcasts about teen sexuality. Episode #2 is features every teenager’s favorite topic, Abstinence.
Teens and sex. It happens. Not every teen is having sex and not every teen is abstaining. We hope the Midwest Teen Sex Show will create a space for frank discussion of all things related to teen sexuality. Broadcast media shies away from any real exploration of the topic, and they forget that not all teens live in Orange County.
posted by Scott Beale on Friday, August 31st, 2007
Many people are very upset about Tuesday’s premature burning of Burning Man, but others consider it to be the ultimate Burning Man prank. For years the joke on the Playa was to set the man on fire early and in the mid 90’s Bigrig Industries used to hand out match packs printed with the words “Burn The Man Early”.
Burning Man has a long history of prankster activity which is largely due to it’s association with the The Cacophony Society during the late 1980’s to mid 1990’s. Burning Man 1990, the first event on the Black Rock Desert was a collaboration with The Cacophony Society as part of the event “Bad Day At Black Rock (Zone Trip #4)”.
One of the most infamous Burning Man pranks took place during the 1996 event (the year of the HELCO theme) when a giant neon smiley face was installed inside the head of the Burning Man sculpture. The idea was to turn it on just as the man was going up in flames. On Saturday night (back then the man was burned on Sunday night) the smiley face was turned on for a few seconds at midnight to test it out. Burning Man founder Larry Harvey was not amused, requesting that Dan Miller, head of construction of the Burning Man sculpture, remove the smiley face immediately.
Tuesday’s news has been awakening many ghosts of Burning Man past and today we were sent an anonymous email from the people behind the Neon Smiley Face. The message is directed to Paul Addis, the person accused with lighting the man on fire early. Here’s what they sent us, which includes some background info on Smiley:
Attn: Paul Addis
Greetings Paul,
Word travels fast around here. I see by my Daily Albatross Dispatch you torched that infernal stick figure. Jolly good show man. I don’t get much action these days so it was quite refreshing, your stunt. Reminded me of the early days, back when premature immolation was considered a prank. Although I’m sure Steve Heck would disagree.
So good on ya man, thanks for the dust up. I hope UuberManCorp heLLC don’t throw the book at you. That would surely reveal lack of grace and loss of good humor.
Thanks again, you provide much needed perspective my boy.
I’m off to cook some tofu dogs in my solar oven with no tell tale sign of smoke to give me away.
Happy Trails Ya’ll,
Your Friend,
SMILEY!!!
ABOUT SMILEY
Burningman season 1996. The “theme� Hell.
The idea is, everything in society is owned and operated by Helco. The supra-national conglomerate that recently has also successfully purchased Hell for an undisclosed record amount of cash and stock options. People really seem to be taking it all a bit too seriously. Hell is on everybody’s mind and lots of art projects reflect the preoccupation.
About June sometime, after a talk with Larry to glean some insight on how serious he was about it all, a plan was hatched to secretly install a neon smiley face in the Man’s head, which would be switched On just as his immolation began.
The plan was to put a sublime or whimsical spin on the all too serious darkness of the whole ordeal at that point. The idea that we could mock society and its foibles even to take a swipe at western religion while simultaneously exalting and in fact elevating our own Icon in our own Image was an obvious disturbing hypocrisy to many of the Cacophanists. Yes we saw it coming, even in June.
On Saturday evening before the burn (we burned the figure on Sunday back then) we had ourselves a little playa theatre….
With the Burningman Project in its sights, Helco’s lawyers maneuver themselves for a hostile takeover. A board meeting is held at Helco tower. Satan himself appears along with Mr. Clean, the Michelin man, Ronald Mc Donald, Ken and Barbie et all. They vote unanimously to buy the Burningman Project at any cost.
Just in the nick-of-time Ted “Unibomber” Wiszinsky detonates flammables in the tower, which immediately explode in a ball of fire. The Unibomber zips out of a top floor window down a cable into a wall of neon lights sending a shower of sparks sufficient enough to allow a swift getaway.
The SEEMEN robots and machines set about destroying a mock strip mall to the shock and awe of all present.
Hell is upon us. Sometime after midnight, Smiley was switched On for about 1 minute. A curious murmur made it’s way around camp.
The next morning Larry came out to the Man and stood there for nearly an hour staring at the head. When the sun rose up behind it, the shadow of the smiley neon revealed itself.
Larry was outraged, incensed, indeed furious at the sight. He screamed at Dan Miller to “get that god damned thing out of MY man!” At which time Dan needlessly risked his safety and the rest of the neon installed on the figure to climb up the structure and remove the offending smiley face.
What was revealed at this point is that Larry wasn’t interested in the idea of the “community†having any input in “his†project. He knew as we all did the “theatre” of Hell was affecting the dynamic out there. In fact, we had “sacrificed” one of our own (Michael Fury RIP died in a motorcycle crash) the previous Tuesday. And in fact the carnage from Saturday the night before was just becoming more apparent. Still he was determined to fulfill whatever his vision was no matter what the costs were on the rest of us. It’s clear now he was positioning himself for his own version of a hostile takeover.
So while Larry pontificates ceaselessly on how the Man belongs to everybody at the event, reality is quite opposite.
The moral of the story…
Don’t worship false idols.
Bring your art home!
posted by Scott Beale on Friday, August 31st, 2007
My friend and talented photographer Eric H. Brown of Jersey City, NJ is competing the World Beard & Moustache Championships 2007 (see my previous write-up). He is currently in Brighton, England with Beard Team USA for the championships which take place tomorrow. Eric, who has the best mutton chops of anyone I know, is competing for the title of “Sideburns World Champion”, attempting to unseat the current champion Toot Joslin. Go Eric!
Most braille found in public exists as pragmatic directions. This project is an attempt to create a unique moment for a blind person who might happen across one of these bits of braille graffiti. 5 different phrases were peppered around Portland, Oregon in late August, 2007. The visible title is included in an attempt to draw attention to all who pass making it more likely for a blind person to come in contact with the words via suggestion from friends or passersby. This was a strategy that arose in an interview with a blind person who wished to remain anonymous.
One sentence reads: You don’t have to be blind to see that the writing is on the wall.
Another: Tiny bubbles that randomly rose from the paper in this arrangement.
This idea has been explored somewhat, but I wanted to give it my own flavor in Portland, Oregon, complete with documentation that might spark an interest to reproduce the project in other cities.
posted by Scott Beale on Thursday, August 30th, 2007
Our friends over at STRANGEco have just announced the release of “Mainframe”, a really cool new series rotocast figures by Dean Bradley that take the form of angry, axe wielding anthropomorphic computers.
Created in 2002, Mainframe is an exploration about our delicate relationship with technology. Begun as a series of paintings, the image and concept of Mainframe took root and spread rapidly across the globe. Through stickers, gallery shows, television exposure and now the STRANGEco collaboration, the concept of Mainframe has taken on a life of his own, much like the computer it was born from.
“I was spending a lot of time in front of my computer. I felt like the computer was a part of me. I realized there was a conflict within, a struggle between nature and technology.”- Dean Bradley
The World Beard and Moustache Championships is a biennial event participated by beard and moustache wearers from all over the world. A different country will host the event as decided by The World Beard & Moustache Association (WBMA).
Objectives:
To promote good relationships between members of moustache and beard clubs throughout the world and to foster networks in the interests of friendship, conviviality and fun.
To encourage and celebrate standards of excellence in the growth, design and presentation of facial hair.
To raise the profile of beard and moustache clubs in order to attract new members and to bring to the general public a topic of interest and fun (put a smile on people’s faces).
To cover the costs of hosting the championships and to raise money for selected charity organizations, such as The Rockinghorse Appeal and TacheBack.
Go Beard Team USA! Unfortunately local favorite Steven Raspa is at Burning Man and will not be able to compete this year, however my friend and fellow photographer Eric H. Brown from Jersey City, NJ is on Beard Team USA and he is a strong contender for this year’s sideburns world champion.
posted by Scott Beale on Wednesday, August 29th, 2007
Hilly Kristal, founder of New York’s legendary punk club CBGB & OMFUG, has died at age 75 from complications due to lung cancer. Hilly closed the CBGB club and gallery last October after a dispute with his landlord and earlier this year I stopped by and shot some photos of the original CBGB and the new CBGB store-only location on St. Marks Place in the East Village.
posted by Scott Beale on Wednesday, August 29th, 2007
Last month Google invited people to create videos showing how Gmail messages travel around the world. They provided a Gmail M-velope in PDF form that could be printed out and used as a prop in the video. Google received over 1100 submissions from 65 countries. Here’s their wrap-up of the project, including the final video.
posted by Scott Beale on Tuesday, August 28th, 2007
I just spoke to Chicken John, who is currently en route back to Burning Man. Working up until the very last minute, by today’s 5pm deadline he informed me that he was able to raise the required $25K to qualify for the San Francisco matching funds for his mayoral campaign. As far as I know, Chicken and Tony Hall are the only candidates challenging on Gavin Newsom for mayor that have meet the matching funds requirement. Chicken John campaign HQ lets us know how it all went down.
posted by Scott Beale on Tuesday, August 28th, 2007
Wow, this is a shocker. At around 3 am Tuesday morning at Burning Man 2007, during a rare lunar eclipse, the Burning Man sculpture was set on fire prematurely (it is normally burned on Saturday). The Black Rock City Emergency Services Department was able to put out the fire in time and salvage the sculpture (it had not yet been loaded with fuel or explosives). It is still scheduled for its normal burn on Saturday and they will be working throughout the week to repair any burn damage and re-install the neon.
UPDATE: They plan on re-building the man, complete with neon within 72 hours.
The early burn is being investigated as arson (there are reports a man armed with a propane torch starting the fire). According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, authorities have already arrested one person. Another source says that the man was set ablaze early due to an electrical problem when they turned the neon early for the lunar eclipse. Burning Man organizers hope to have more information later today.
Black Rock City Emergency Services Department units responded from Stations Three, Five, and Nine and put the fire out within approximately 23 minutes. There were no reported injuries. The Man is still standing, and an assessment is underway to determine the structural integrity of The Man and the Green Man Pavilion. The event will continue as scheduled.
An arson investigation is currently under way, and is ongoing. There is no confirmed cause of ignition at this time.
No further information is available at this time. More information will be released tomorrow morning after the investigation can safely be concluded.
UPDATE: Paul David Addis, a San Francisco based artist and performer, was arrested in connection with the arson.
UPDATE 1: Reports are coming in that the damages to the Burning Man sculpture are too extensive, so they are planning on building a new one within the next 72 hours which will be “officially” burned on Saturday. The Green Man Pavilion, the building below the Burning Man sculpture, was not seriously damaged in the fire and the demos of green technologies will still take place once the structure is repaired.
UPDATE 2: I have confirmed through several sources that it was in fact arson.
UPDATE 3: Joe Garofoli from the San Francisco Chronicle has reported that the person arrested in connection with the arson is Paul David Addis, a San Francisco based artist and performer. Paul is being held in the Pershing County Jail in Lovelock, Nevada on charges of arson, possession of fireworks, destruction of property and resisting a public officer.
Back in 2002, Paul wrote an letter to the editor of the SF Weekly in response to Lessley Anderson’s “Burning Spin” article on Burning Man.
UPDATE 4:Current TV has posted video segment on the premature burning of the man as part of their coverage of the event on TV Free Burning Man. The report includes footage of the fire and subsequent damage to the sculpture, interviews with Burning Man organizers Marian Goodell & Andie Grace and some eyewitness reports from the scene.
For the man, his number was up at 2:58 AM on August 28th, as “The Burning Man” met his maker early at the hands of an arsonist. His demise was met with heartfelt cries by onlookers exclaiming “Save the man…it’s not his time”. For the thousands that gather annually in Black Rock City, NV to take part in the “Burning Man” festival, this was a sad moment, but festival goers promised to carry on.
UPDATE 7: I just spoke with Chris Radcliffe who is currently in Portland and he said that he has paid the $3200 required on a $25,632 bond for Paul’s release, but they have not let Paul out yet because he is refusing to give his name to authorities.
UPDATE 8: Chris Radcliffe has spoken with Paul who is now out on bail.
UPDATE 9: They are now removing the old, charred Burning Man effigy.
UPDATE 10: At Tuesday night’s Media Mecca Happy Hour, the featured cocktail was the “Hunter S . Thompson” and Mr. Clean informed the media that the new man will be up by Thursday night, complete with a new set of neon.
UPDATE 13: A fund has been setup for Paul Addis at freepauladdis.com to help recover the money spent to bail him out of jail as well as his ongoing legal expenses.
UPDATE 15: Wanda Power has posted about the early burning of the man on the Building Black Rock City blog.
UPDATE 16: Burning Man has posted a press release to their website, replacing the previous update that was up there.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom LaPorte, Media Mecca
MAN TO BE REBUILT AFTER FIRE
(Black Rock City - August 28, 2007) The Man at the center of Black Rock City will be rebuilt after an overnight fire which damaged the effigy at the center of the Burning Man event. Rebuilding is expected to take about two days.
Black Rock City officials say there was structural damage to the figure of the Man, but relatively little damage to the art and exhibits at the base of the Man. No injuries were reported.
An arson investigation is underway, and one arrest was made shortly after the fire was set. No charges have been announced, and the name of the suspect is being withheld. There has been no discussion of motive in the episode.
“We have the means and the will. The event continues on schedule, and the Man will burn on Saturday night,” said Andie Grace, Communications Manager for Burning Man LLC.
A perimeter has been established around the scene, but event organizers say it is likely that participants will be permitted to visit the pavilion while the rebuilding is underway.
This is not the first time the Man has required rebuilding. In 1990, the Man was accidentally cut up with a chain saw while in storage prior to the event. It was fully rebuilt in time to be transported to the desert.
Burning Man annually attracts as many as 40,000 participants in the last week of August. The climax of the event is the burning of the effigy on Saturday night.
UPDATE 17: DPW is currently in the process of installing the 2nd, newly constructed Burning Man sculpture.
UPDATE 18: Paul Addis, the man accused with torching the man, just sent us this statement from his safe house in Fernley, NV. He says that he had planned on doing this way in advance and tried to make sure that nobody would get hurt.
Hi, folks. This is the *alleged* arsonist/douchebag/attention whore himself, writing you from Fernley, NV, where I have been chilling out for a couple of days.
Having read your various comments, a few things should be addressed. First, this operation was extensively planned well in advance, and the number one thing to Black Rock Intelligence was that NO ONE be hurt. If you people actually knew us, you’d know that we have an extensive background in doing things exactly like this. In fact, we were on the ground for some thirty minutes before ascent, scoping the scene and clearing people in order to minimize any possiblity of injury to others. We were aided by several people who were recruited on the playa the night of this burn (BRI has no idea who they are, so don’t bother asking).
Second, the operation was planned in conjunction with the lunar eclipse because Black Rock Intelligence knew that another event at the trash fence would draw the bulk of lunatics to it, rather than to the Man. In fact, one of our peripheral operatives aided in getting as many people to the fence event as possible to help BRI achieve its goal of zero injuries.
Third, word went out across the playa days in advance that Black Rock Intelligence was pulling this op. This word continued to go out right up to the moment that our chief operator began the arduous climb up the guide wire. As you can all see from the results, BRI performed flawlessly in this regard.
We could give a fuck less what you all think of us for doing this. Most of you are newbies who have been drawn in by the semi-religious nature of the event, or maybe just the easy drugs and easier sex. You have nothing to offer the event other than your fucking money and obedience. You spend the rest of your lives in mortal fear of everything that insurance companies tell you to fear, and pretend that you’re free and clear because you spend four days at a desert bacchanal where spinelessness is not only encouraged but genetically replicated for implementation in successive generations. In short, you are the swine of which Thompson spoke. Get over yourselves.
Some of us live quite well without fear. Doing so requires the ultimate in what Burning Man used to represent: personal responsibility and individual liberty. That’s all been lost in the last decade of Burning Man’s history. Consider this operation a history lesson that was desperately needed.
One final note: Black Rock Intelligence has been permanently disbanded. All other operatives have made the ultimate sacrifice by swallowing their L-pills to avoid being captured alive. I am the sole surviving member of BRI and ask that you respect my mourning period for those who gave their lives so that this operation was a complete success.
Kitten Calfee sent us a statement regarding the suicide at Burning Man on Thursday morning. He was part of the Comfort & Joy theme camp where a man decided to end his life by hanging himself.
In both “exclusive” interviews, Paul talks about the Black Rock Intelligence organization that he referenced in the public statement he issued on Thursday.
UPDATE 21: Tuesday’s premature immolation of Burning Man has been awakening many of the event’s old-timers. Kevin Evans, who was part of the original crew who helped bring Burning Man to the Black Rock Desert in 1990, has uploaded a bunch of great photos from Burning Man 1990-1995.
UPDATE 23:Jimmy Kimmel mentioned the premature burn during his monlogue on Thursday night. They showed the mug shot which got a big laugh from the crowd. Upon seeing it, Jimmy comments “You never expect a guy that looks like that to do something stupid”.
UPDATE 24:Danger Ranger has uploaded a photo of “The Laminated Man” from the Playa. “Buy the ticket take the ride”. - Hunter S. Thompson
UPDATE 25: Some people have been asking if I’ve been doing all of this reporting from Burning Man. Actually, I am not out there this year (I attended the event from 1995-2002). Burning Man’s connection to the outside world via the internet is better than it has ever been. Throughout the week I have been receiving information directly from the event via email, IM, IRC, photos, video, blog posts, Twitter, the live webcam and the stream of Burning Man Information Radio. Earlier this week I did a write up on how to access Burning Man 2007 remotely through the internet.
Paul’s arraignment has been scheduled for September 25th at the Pershing County Courthouse in Nevada. He plans on pleading “not guilty”.
UPDATE 27: An image of a phoenix has been added to the head of the newly constructed Burning Man sculpture in honor of its rising from the ashes of the man that was burned early on Tuesday.
UPDATE 32: On Sunday our friends had a Labor Day Weekend BBQ at their home in San Francisco. They invited a special guest, Paul Addis. The last time I saw Paul was at our Laughing Squid Paradise Lost event in July. Needless to say a lot has changed in his life since then. I shot a few photos of Paul, the first photos of him taken since his infamous mug shot.
I also offered Paul the chance to say something on video. Up until now, he has only spoken about the “incident” in print and on the radio. I did not ask any questions, I just turned the camera on and let Paul speak his mind. In the video, Paul talks about what he wants to do with the last 30 seconds of his 15 minutes of fame.
UPDATE 34: It has been a week since the early burning of Burning Man and aside from a press release issued that same day, the organizers of the event have remained silent on the issue, while the media, blogs, mailing lists and online forums have been endlessly discussing it.
However Burning Man has announced their 2008 art theme: “American Dream”
UPDATE 35: A Wikipedia page has been created for Paul Addis. Of course there is a lively discussion going on about the notability of Paul and the page has already been deleted once, with the deletion being contested.
UPDATE 36: Kitten Calfee sent us a statement regarding the suicide at Burning Man on Thursday morning. He was part of the Comfort & Joy theme camp where a man decided to end his life by hanging himself.
UPDATE 37:“Burnt Out”, a wonderful online comic by Carol Way about the early burn, was published in Salon on September 11th.
UPDATE 39:Steve Fritz, a photographer from Portland who has been shooting Burning Man since 2000, was taking some long exposure photos of Burning Man during the eclipse right before it caught on fire. Later when he looked at one of his photos, he noticed a man with face paint at the foot of the Burning Man sculpture.
Paul’s gas can. Covered in unmistakable playa dust, and sporting a sexy Squidlist sticker, this gas can will be emptied before shipped.
An unopened box of Ivory Snow. Napalm is so clean, really. No extra charge for playa dust.
A small piece of the burned man… signed.
A small piece of the Man - rebuilt with heroic effort and erected once again on Thursday morning.
Paul’s Black Rock city “Green Man” map.
The infamous mugshot… one of the shots actually distributed on the Playa in an effort to prevent Paul from returning after he was released on Tuesday… signed.
The receipt for Paul’s Bail.
Burning Man’a official posting regarding the alleged arson.
The jail I.D. from the September 11th arrest.
The jail I.D. from the September 12th arrest.
A personal effects envelope … sporting the hair-raising date of infamy. (9/11)
A smaller envelope for cash…empty.
Paul’s San Francisco Prisoner Orientation ManuaL … signed.
On August 28, 2007, at approximately 2:58 AM, an arsonist set fire to the Burning Man figure in Black Rock City, Nevada, during the height of full lunar eclipse. The figure was extinguished, but not before it sustained significant damage, and it was deemed unsafe to keep it in place for the remainder of the event. The Burning Man event continued, and the figure was rebuilt in 3 days, to be burned again — at the appointed hour — on Saturday night, surrounded by Black Rock City’s more than 47,000 participants who had come to witness its immolation.
One man was arrested in conjunction with the unscheduled burning, Paul Addis, 35, of San Francisco, California. Addis was booked into the Pershing County, Nevada jail on suspicion of arson, illegal possession of fireworks, destruction of property and resisting a public officer, according to the sheriff’s department. He posted a $25,632 bond and was released.
Addis’ arraignment on these charges was scheduled for September 25, 2007, at the Pershing County courthouse. Burning Man has and will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities in this investigation in pursuit of justice for the perpetrator(s) of this act.
In the meantime, we are grateful to the entire community, including the hardworking Burning Man staff and volunteers, for their support and participation during the unscheduled fire and destruction, its aftermath, and later, the eventual rebuilding of our event’s namesake figure. Having weathered this unexpected experience together, the final sentence of our mission statement rings truer than ever in the afterglow of Burning Man 2007:
“We will always burn the Man.”
UPDATE 43: San Francisco author and journalist Erik Davis has written a two part, in-depth analysis of this year’s early burn:
