Kevin Evans tipped us off to a wondeful archival video of The San Francisco Cacophony Society on news segment called “Eccentric Avenues” produced 1990-91.

The video features many of our friends including M2, Louise Jarmilowicz, Winston Smith, John Law and the late Dave Warren, including footage of him breathing fire to ignite the Burning Man sculpture at Burning Man 1990, the first year it was in the Black Rock Desert (Cacophony Society Zone Trip #4).

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Ben Wiggins, who made the time-lapse video of summer in San Francisco, also created a beautiful time-lapse video at this year’s Burning Man.

The music in the video is by Roy Two Thousand.

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The 10th annual Burning Man Decompression 2009, Heat The Street Faire takes place this Sunday, October 11th on Indiana Street in San Francisco.

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guest post by mikl-em

photo by Michael Rauner

How to Survive the Apocalypse, a Burning Man-inspired rock opera opens Monday, October 5th and runs through October 20th at Teatro ZinZanni in San Francisco.

There will be performances for three weekends only (the last weekend was just added due to high demand). Ticket details are on the Teatro ZinZanni website.

Delivering the outrageous and transformative culture of Burning Man to wider audiences, “How to Survive the Apocalypse” is a freak fable that combines rock opera, vaudeville, and a Dionysian revival show as it follows three people, each with their own baggage of fears and expectations, through their first experience of the erotic, psychological, and apocalyptic minefield of this temporary city in the desert. A kind of “Hair” for the new millennium, the show explores the conflicts and paradoxes of the Burning Man event, while inviting the audience to tap into the festival’s spirit of collaborative culture-making at a time of immense world changes.

The official Burning Man blog has a writeup about the show with lots of great photos. The fantastic cast photos shown here are by photographer Michael Rauner and there are many more on his site.

photo by Michael Rauner

Back in January, I wrote about the debut run of this show at Stage Werx Theater in San Francisco. It was a very short, very sold out run in a 49-seat theater, with the workshop feel of a collaborative piece that was evolving in real time.

People involved in those initial shows, in both the cast and audience, had diverse levels of Burning Man experience: from some of the earliest participants to current BM staff; from those who have just discovered the event to many who stopped attending long ago. The take on Burning Man and its history is as varied as that mix of viewpoints would suggest.

Candy ravers mingle with art freaks, manic minigolf, bull-horned rabbits, and the abstract caricatures Moustachio and The Stetson. Happily the event and its history is not romanticized, but neither are the profound aspects of experiencing Burning Man (especially for the first time) under stated or estimated.

Clearly a fun, freaky art experiment, at its best the show has a “vibe” to it that resonates with all in attendance; an infrequent but not quite rare occurrence like the best moments at parties, events, or temporary desert municipalities. It is something from which you can almost literally catch a buzz, and maybe a flashback or two.

photo by Michael Rauner

The text was written by Erik Davis (star of the penultimate instance of Laughing Squid’s Tentacle Sessions series). Erik is a journalist and culture critic, and a long-time Burning Man attendee who covered Burning Man for Wired more than a decade ago. His most recent book is The Visionary State about “California’s spiritual landscape” is a good example of his style: thinking deeply about the weird and freaky.

The music is composed by Mark Nichols, originally from the Seattle area, who first attended Burning Man more recently, which is where the idea for this rock opera began to evolve from a chance meeting at the porta-pottys one night.

photo by Michael Rauner

After its short successful run in January, the show went off the grid, preparing for a bigger, more polished return. The ultimate plan includes a tour at some point after this second San Francisco run.

The ensuing months have included lots of work on the show, the inevitable fund-raising of an independent production, and expansion of the cast and crew and the overall scale of the opera.

The new set was designed by Shannon O’Hare, one of the mad anachronistic geniuses behind “Neverwas Haul”, the steam-powered mobile Victorian house which has travelled to Burning Man the last few years.

photo by Michael Rauner

The cast now includes Phat Mandee (another Tentacle Session star) who has come all the way from Pittsburgh, PA for extended rehearsals prior to the opening. See her blog post about the show and her history with Burning Man (plus rehearsal pix).

The list of incredible collaborators goes on. You can see them all here. They include Burning Man founder Michael Mikel and long-time BM staffers Harley DuBois and Andie Grace.

photo by Michael Rauner

You can follow the show on twitter (@burningopera) and also find them on Facebook.

And remember that if you want to go you should get tickets soon. While this theater fits closer to 300 per show, tickets are going fast.

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photo by Scott Beale

I discovered this sticker for Bleeding Woman Tampons while touring the StickerGiant headquarters last week. This would be a perfect for a series of Burning Man themed Wacky Packages.

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Barbara Traub has been shooting photos of Burning Man since 1994. Time Magazine did an video interview with Barb about her experiences photographing the event.

In 2006 Barb published a book of her Burning Man photography “Desert to Dream: A Decade of Burning Man Photography”.

Time also posted a video about “5 Things Cities Can Learn from Burning Man”.

I’m not sure why Time’s video embeds are so small, I’ve asked them about it.

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illustration by “DA” Dominic Tinio

Burning Man has announced that the art theme for next year’s event will be Metropolis. Burning Man 2010 takes place August 30th through September 6th.

Every year a dense metropolis arises in the Black Rock Desert; every year it disappears without a trace. Tumult and change, churning cycles of invention and destruction – these forces generate the pulse of urban life. Great cities are organic, spontaneous, heterogeneous, and untidy. They are, like Burning Man, magnetic hubs of social interaction. This year’s theme will function as a micro and a macro-scope, an instrument through which we will inspect the daily course of city life and the future prospect of what we call civilization.

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photos by Mad Dog

Mad Dog created a homemade Laughing Squid t-shirt which he is wearing in these photos of him painting a sign for Burning Man 2009.

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photo by John Curley

John Curley has a post up on the Burning Blog where he talks about a special meeting last week at Fly Hot Springs, located 10 miles from where Burning Man takes place on the Black Rock Desert. It turns out that Burning Man is interested in buying Fly Hot Springs and turning it into a year-round conference center.

What if there were a place that people could come together, people who believed in the values and principles of Burning Man, and who wanted to find ways of applying those principles in the default world … of bringing them home from the playa.

What if there were a place where the energy and creativity and approach to living that flowers in Black Rock City for a week every year could be sustained and nurtured?

What if there were a conference center where thinkers and do-ers could get together to plot and scheme and think?

Burning Man, as an organization, thinks that place is Fly Hot Springs.

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photo by Neil Girling

Pranksters at Burning Man have changed the sign on top of the infamous Thunderdome to read “Hot Topic”. Bravo!

Thunderdome, where epic Mad Max style battles take place between bungee suspended warriors, is run by the San Francisco goth/industrial group Death Guild and of course Hot Topic is where suburban goth kids buy their clothes at the mall.

Here’s a video by marclar of the Thunderdome in 2007.

See Previously: Burning Man 2009 Photos by Neil Girling

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photos by Neil Girling

Neil Girling has been shooting some amazing photos of Burning Man 2009. He does a great job of capturing the atmosphere out there. Here’s the full set on Flickr.

via Affinity on the Burning Blog

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Balsa Man 2009, a tiny version of Burning Man complete with 3′ tall balsa sculpture, takes place this Saturday, September 5th in San Francisco (same night as the big burn in Black Rock City). Here’s more on how to participate and make sure to read the Balsa Man Survival Guide before you arrive.

The theme for this year’s event is “Big Dreams Writ Small” and several Tiny Art Grants have been awarded through the Black Pebble Arts Foundation (BPAF).

photo by Colin Fahrion

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Video is currently livestreaming from Burning Man on Ustream straight from Black Rock City. Here are a few more ways to experience Burning Man 2009 remotely.

screengrab of the man at dusk on Tuesday

via O’Reilly Radar

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Can’t make it to Burning Man 2009 this year? Here are a few ways you can experience the event remotely through the wonders of the Interweb.

The Burning Blog

photo by John Curley

Once again John Curley has been doing a fantastic job documenting the evolution of Black Rock City. This year John is joined by an expanded team of bloggers who are posting updates on the Burning Blog as the event unfolds.

Photos

Throughout the week people will be uploading photos from the Playa. Here are all the photos tagged “burningman2009” on Flickr sorted by interestingness.

Also Flickr just announced that they are supporting machine tags for Burning Man photos so that they will show up on Burning Man Earth using the Burning Man API.

Live Broadcast of Burning Man

Live broadcast of Burning Man on Ustream.

Twitter

It would be an understatement to say that Twitter will be huge at Burning Man this year. The existing wi-fi network along with this being the first year with cell phone coverage, is going to make it easier than ever for people to post Twitter updates from the playa. Also at long last Burning Man has not just one, but two official Twitter accounts: @burningman & @blackrockcity

Foursquare

Foursquare, the popular location based social network, is making it’s Burning Man debut this year, with people checking in and becoming major of various locations around Black Rock City, including “The Man”.

Facebook

Of course Burning Man has now a Facebook page, featuring status updates from the organizers, along with comments, photos and video from the participants.

Burning Man Information Radio (BMIR)

photo by unknown

You can listen to a live audio stream of Burning Man Information Radio (BMIR).

IRC

For those of you old school geeks, the Burning Man IRC channel is located at #burningman on irc.freenode.net.

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photo by John Curley

The United Nations Unconventional Culture Commission (UNUCC) has just declared Burning Man an Abnormal Behavior Containment Safe Zone in accordance with the Stockholm Plan for Abnormal Behavior Containment.

UNUCC encourages all abnormal persons to assemble in this ABC Safe Zone and assures that the international community will not interfere with any abnormal behaviors within. Burning Man represents the first real test of the Stockholm Plan, which outlines the use of safe zones to control abnormal persons and dissipate their weirdness far away from the world community.

UPDATE: UNUCC has also imposed a Twitter embargo on Burning Man.

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Oakland photographer Sean Donnelly produced a really great video segment for The Oakland Tribune/Bay Area Insider about The Raygun Gothic Rocketship, a 40′ tall retro rocket art installation built by Sean Orlando and a team of 60 artists in West Oakland that is sure to be one of the highlights of this year’s Burning Man.

photo by John Curley

Earlier this week John Curley shot some wonderful photos of The Raygun Gothic Rocketship as it was being installed on the playa.

via CTP

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photo of the man base construction by John Curley

John Curley is back out on the Playa early this year, shooting some really great photos and posting write-ups to The Burning Blog that document the building of Black Rock City as Burning Man 2009 approaches. Great stuff as always John.

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photo by Scott Beale

Jessica Hobbs asks “What would power look like if it was art?” in her Burning Blog write-up on the history of Burning Man art at The Shipyard in Berkeley.

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guest post by Aaron Muszalski

Rathskellar, a new Burning Man nightclub “risen from the ashes of Spike’s Vampire Bar” is holding a fundraising benefit at San Francisco’s infamous DNA Lounge this Saturday, the 20th of June.

In German-speaking countries, the word “rathskellar” refers to an alehouse in a room set below street level. For its organizers, the term means underground, or as their website says:

…and here, underground means everything from the seedy, Jungian shared underbelly of Black Rock City to the stays-in-Vegas cabaret glam that unfolds on playa. This a den of inventors and innovators, drinkers and dancers, builders and breakers, barkeeps and bar rats, merrymakers and motorcycling miscreants and all that lies in between. Rathskellar is where we Mad Scientists make our monsters, create our machines, ply you with libations, and see where your inspiration leads you. Dark and industrial, sexy and corseted; Rathskellar is a little bit of spooky to balance out the endless techno. This is where the wild things continue to roam. Come, brave souls, and roam with us!

Or as Rathskellar co-founder Zak Scott puts it, “Think of Rathskellar as Goth/Industrial… Revolution.”

Saturday’s event, entitled “FOUNDRY“, will feature live music by rising local stars Unwoman and Rhubarb Whiskey, and burlesque performances by Ariyana La Fey, Sparkly Devil, L’il Miss Never, Miss Kittie, and more. If you’d like to help Rathskellar become a reality, please consider attending.

UPDATE: Slim also has a post up about the Rathskellar on the Burning Blog.

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photo by Scott Beale

BURNcast.TV is reporting that Paul Addis has been granted parole by unanimous vote from the Nevada State Parole Board. Paul was sentenced up to 4 years for attempting to burn down the Burning Man sculpture at the 2007 event and has been serving time in a Nevada State prison since June 27, 2008. A release date has not yet been set.

UPDATE: Amacker posted more information regarding Paul’s parole.

Paul stated his parole plan: he has work lined up as an auto-emissions inspector in Vegas, and only when his time is up, in February 2010, will he return to the Bay Area. And for how long, it’s unknown, but I think his heart is on traveling.

via Eddie Codel

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