Gawker
-
burning man
Paul Addis, the accused arsonist of this year's Burning Man, has been arrested again on arson charges. This time, Addis was caught on the steps of San Francisco's Grace Cathedral carrying small explosives. His next court date, for the Burning Man charges, is on November 13. (Photo by Scott Beale / Laughing Squid) [Laughing Squid]
0
3
By Owen ThomasComment by S3xygrl: If I were you, I would get more facts straight before belittling my cousin. My idea of pathetic is someone... more » | Other threads
-
burning man
The burners return, en masse and without class
The good news: Burning Man is over. The bad news: The burners are back in town. Once a year, the Bay Area's most troublesome pyromaniacs head out of town, leaving Silicon Valley cubicles deserted and Mission barstools empty, as they fill up Black Rock City, the temporary site in the Nevada desert for the now-ended arts and counterculture festival. Despite Caltrans's best efforts to block their return by closing the Bay Bridge, they've come back — except for one sad suicide. It's never the ones you wish would off themselves who do, of course. Take Paul Addis — please. The man accused of prematurely setting fire to Burning Man's giant wooden statue was one of the first to return, beating a hasty retreat after spending time in a Pershing County jail. At a Labor Day barbecue, blogger Scott Beale taped Addis in a pseudoconfessional rant. More »
0
By Owen ThomasComment by sfwhat: I must have met him after his breakdown. Lord knows after my encounter with him...I can see that. And it... more » | Other threads
-
burning man
The Man is dead, long live the Man
BLACK ROCK CITY — It is quiet here this morning. The rave camps have settled down, fire-spewing trinkets have ceased exploding, and the only citizens of Black Rock City out at this hour, just after 8 a.m., are dazed as they wander through the detritus of dead glowsticks, dusty embers, and unconscious hippies. More »
0
By sdavalosComment by andyfox1979: wow lots of burning man coverage ::::fart sound::::: more » | Other threads
-
burning man
The Man burns tonight
BLACK ROCK CITY — Actual conversation, overheard at the Porta-Potties:"So what'd you do last night?"
More » -
burning man
Satan's Calliope rocks the desert
BLACK ROCK CITY — One of the main advantages to being the middle of the fucking Nevada desert for Burning Man, the arts and counterculture festival held here this week, is that it's a lot easier to burn a whole lot of accelerant without incurring too much wrath from the local authorities. Of course, every single thing that is soaked with gasoline and set on fire out here has gone through a rigorous process to make sure that carbon-offset trees get planted up in Canada somewhere. This is a kind, gentle, carbon-negative hippiefest, after all. However, some attendees transcend the incineration of mere wood and plastic and build art pieces that really say something while they're warming up the planet. More » -
black rock city
Sergey and Larry's desert hideaway
BLACK ROCK CITY — The story so far: In between desert heat, bronchus-choking dust storms, too many Tecates, and a lingering desire to throw rebar tent stakes at the ravers across the street, we here have been continuing in our mission to spot Google bigwigs Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who are rumored to be raging around the playa in comfort as participants in this year's Burning Man festival. More » -
burning man
The Orb Swarm rules the night
BLACK ROCK CITY — One of the neatest things I have seen in the self-expressive miasma that is Burning Man, the countercultural arts festival here in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, has been The Orb Swarm, a group of spherical robots designed to roll around the playa and interact with participants with lights, motion and sound. Imagine this: You're deeply intoxicated on a substance of your choosing, wandering around in the dark, when suddenly you're nudged by a two-and-a-half-foot high aluminum balls twittering at you and changing color. Yeah. You're tripping over balls, and the balls are tripping you. More » -
burning man
The Man rises again — for a day
BLACK ROCK CITY — Friends playing along at home, you can stop fretting and sleep a tad better tonight, knowing that the dedicated hippie construction workers of Burning Man have erected a brand new Man, the giant wooden statue everyone came to Nevada to watch burn down. Following the early burn on Tuesday by local antihero Paul Addis, the all-volunteer Department of Public Works worked 'round the clock to build a brand new totem, after it was found that the portion of The Man left standing after the premature incineration was not stable enough to use as a base. The new Man is decked out with neon just like the old one, and the pavilion ofcorporate sponsor appeasementgreen technology exhibits will once more be open to the eager denizens of Black Rock City. And to think — in a day, we're just going to burn it all down again. -
-
i hate it here
Dust storms roil the playa — and this reporter
BLACK ROCK CITY — We had a wee tiny, itty-bitty hardly-worth-mentioning dust storm yesterday. There was a moment when we could not see twenty feet across the street to the neighboring camp due to the whiteout conditions. The total lack of visual stimulation forced us to imbibe playa margaritas (a "playa" margarita because we used tasty, tasty Gatorade instead of lemon juice). The great thing about playa margaritas? The mixer rehydrates you as fast as the alcohol dehydrates you. Pretty soon, the packaging on the Spam Singles that someone had brought to camp was uproariously funny. We made it through the crisis just fine, never fear. -
burning man
Techno playa bling
BLACK ROCK CITY — In between weathering dust storms, drinking heavily and stalking Internet tycoons, we have come in contact with an amusing assortment of tech people who have come to Burning Man to shrug off their work cares and forget about the Web for a few precious, hot, dusty hippie-filled days. We managed to tackle Stef Magdalinski, illustrous CTO of Moo.com, as he was puttering about his camp. More » -
exclusive
Interview with the accused Burning Man arsonist
Paul Addis, the man accused of setting torch to The Man, the wooden totem at the heart of the Burning Man festival, has drawn his share of fans and detractors. Chris Radcliffe, who's tangled with the organizers of Burning Man over various issues, even paid thousands of dollars in bail money to spring Addis from jail. But aside from a statement sent to blogger Scott Beale of Laughing Squid, he hasn't spoken to defend his actions. Until now. In an exclusive interview, Addis, who's been charged with the felony of arson, spoke to Valleywag as a friend drove him from Fernley, Nevada, back to his home in San Francisco. The full interview follows. More » -
burning man
Black Rock City's first-ever suicide
Death is always a possibility in Nevada's high desert, the site of the annual Burning Man festival. But heat, dehydration, and drugs are the causes one would expect. Not suicide. But local coroners have confirmed the festival's first suicide, SFGate reports. The still-unnamed dead man's body hung from the top of a two-story tent for hours before someone thought to check after him. "His friends thought he was doing an art piece," said a federal agent on the scene.
0
By Owen ThomasComment by dustydust: On the morning of Thursday, August 30th a young man from Colorado chose to end his life in the rafters... more » | Other threads
-
burning man
The arsonist of Black Rock City speaks
Blogger Scott Beale of Laughing Squid has obtained a statement from Paul Addis, the man accused of setting fire to The Man, the wooden statue which provides the Burning Man festival's raison d'etre. Addis, who has a one-man show devoted to the life of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, portrays himself as the spiritual heir of Thompson. "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," writes Addis to his critics. Well, duh. Here's the rest of what the premature incinerator, released on some $3,000 in bail, has to say for himself from the outskirts of Reno, Nevada: More » -
rumormonger
Google founders spotted at Burning Man!
BLACK ROCK CITY — A rumor has just reached our ears that Google's cofounders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, are here at Burning Man, the ever-dusty counterculture and arts festival taking place in the Nevada desert. We even have their purported addresses on the playa. More »
0
By sdavalosComment by Simone Davalos: Oh Hoser, I don't photograph at *all* well. more » | Other threads
-
burning man
The 8 types of Burning Man attendees, according to Jonathan Grubb
BLACK ROCK CITY — Jonathan Grubb, maverick something-or-other of software developer RubyRed Labs, had an informative and enlightening column about the many types of Burning Man attendees published in The Black Rock Beacon. The Beacon is one of many carefully edited, lovingly printed, well-researched news outlets on the playa, and they use the interesting and charmingly old-fashioned medium of actual paper to get their message out. But they use an interesting technique to get their content out: copy and paste. Grubb's column, you see, was taken verbatim from a blog post he wrote last December. Ah well. After the jump, nonetheless, a quick list of Grubb's eight Burning Man archetypes, with our comments. More »
0
By sdavalosComment by LongAgoYahoo: Burningman stopped being cool around 1996 or 1997. more » | Other threads
-
burning man
Black Rock City remains no Man's land
BLACK ROCK CITY — Despite the best efforts of many sleep-deprived hippies with the Department of Public Works, The Man itself, the centerpiece of the Burning Man arts and counterculture festival in Nevada, is still not back up. Crews have been working around the clock to restore the festival's iconic sculpture after it was prematurely burned by local antihero Paul Addis early Tuesday morning. The area has been strictly cordoned off by some very pissed-off volunteer Black Rock Rangers, with no one except for officials allowed entry. The featureless desert, normally dominated by the giant wooden statue, is sad and eery, especially in the frequent dust storms. More » -
burning man
Welcome to the real-world Wackyland
BLACK ROCK CITY — The foofaraw surrounding the Great Burning Man Arson Escapade — the attempted torching by prankster Paul Addis of The Man, the giant wooden centerpiece of the Burning Man festival here in Nevada — has started to die down. And at last, we can get back to the subject at hand, which is, of course, Wackyland here in real life. You remember Wackyland of course — that fanciful place Porky Pig visited while hunting for the elusive dodo in the old Looney Tunes cartoons. Burning Man, that festive bastion of self-expression and artistic endeavor, simply bleeds art and creativity into the hard-packed desert floor of Black Rock City. And, yes, wackiness. Some examples follow. More » -
burning man
Playa pests? Ply them with liquor!
BLACK ROCK CITY — Volunteer organizations of all stripe keep lawlessness at bay at Burning Man. Here, members of Black Rock City Animal Control apprehend their latest victim. Their ceaseless mission? Keeping the playa safe by inoculating all loose creatures — or people dressed as creatures — with vodka. Sober furries, beware. -
burning man
The Man will rise again tonight
BLACK ROCK CITY — Whipping like playa dust through the temporary streets of this temporary city in the high Nevada desert is that The Man, the wooden statue at the center of this "countercultural"yuppiefestarts and self-expression event, badly damaged by an arson attempt Tuesday night, will be re-erected sometime this evening. The Man's resurrection comes thanks to to the diligent, if somewhat cultish, dedication of the Black Rock City Department Of Public Works, a volunteer organization which builds all of Burning Man's public structures. But what of the corporate-sponsored displays of "green" technology at the man's base? More »
0
By sdavalosComment by Simone Davalos: So far, I have seen three people in bear suits, about 170 people in bunny suits, six people in bee... more » | Other threads
-
the man
Burning Man arsonist has exceptionally large balls
Paul Addis, the man accused of setting fire to The Man, the totemic woodenstatue at the center of Burning Man, has a history of pulling pranks in the Nevada arts festival. Insiders believe that Addis was responsible for a 1997 prank in which giant silver balls were hung — rather well, we might add — from the groin of The Man. (Photo by LadyBee) -
burning man
Who's having a hissyfit on the playa now?
BLACK ROCK CITY — Here at Media Mecca, the press center for Black Rock City, site of the loosely countercultural event Burning Man, the usual travails and torture of being in the middle of harsh desert conditions — spotty Internet, no beer left in the cooler, subpar fare in the commissary, failing air conditioning — are beginning to wear on the whine-prone members of the Burning Man press corps. Answer us this: What correspondent for a well-known tech magazine was freaking out the other day over a compilation of playa frustrations? The Internet connection was going down, he had to be three different places "right now," and he was sitting in the corner, muttering threateningly to himself, "bad choices," "you're fucking kidding me," and "god fucking dammit"?. The desert takes its toll, friends. Guess the identity of the hissyfitting hack in the comments. -
burning man
Oh, right, this is an "arts festival," isn't it?
BLACK ROCK CITY — Here we are at Burning Man, deep in the Nevada desert. It's billed as an arts festival, held every year in the name of counterculture, mind expansion, loving your neighbor, and paying a lot of money for coffee at an event that purports to have a noncommercial, barter-based economy. Black Rock City, the festival's temporary locale, is laid out in a rough half-circle, with streets labeled from 2 to 10, in the style of a clock face. The vast, open expanse of lung-clogging, sunbaked wasteland in the center is reserved for a very special type of self expression: large projects that cause their makers massive frustration, huge amounts of debt, and the destruction of every sort of personal relationship in the space of a few dust-filled, windswept days. Yes, folks, we're talking about art. More » -
burning man
Scott Beale commits LOLson
Laughing Squid blogger Scott Beale has exploited the LOLcats meme to mock Paul Addis, the would-be arsonist who tried to burn down The Man, the wooden statue at the center of the Burning Man arts festival in Nevada. Inevitable. Brilliant. Wish I'd thought of it first. (Image by Scott Beale/Laughing Squid) -
burning man
The geeks that weren't there
BLACK ROCK CITY — Still no real live power-geek sighting yet campers, but you'll be pleased to note that through the miracle of modern technology, you too can be on the playa without actually being on the playa! Scott Beale of Laughing Squid, a Burning Man attendee from way back, shows us how it's done with his recent fab roundup of the Paul Addis debacle — Addis being the man who attempted to torch the Burning Man statue four days early. Also not here is sex and tech writer Violet Blue, who nonetheless wrote a handy dandy Burning Man Sex Tip Guide for all of us looking to get laid with alkali dust for lube. Hot Perl programmerKirrily "Skud" Robert, who was here, enjoyed herself immensely, but had to hightail it back to civilization early. Maybe the harsh conditions of the desert and the daily struggle for survival couldn't compare to an old-fashioned startup power struggle.
0
By sdavalosComment by OaklandTechie: 2038 may also be the end of the world for Google if you believe the Google Watch guy's rants: [www.google-watch.org] more » | Other threads
-
burning man
We against the desert
BLACK ROCK CITY — Burning Man, the annual arts and "counterculture" festival in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, is also known for the harsh conditions associated with being in the fucking desert, people. Here's the casualty list for the moment: Yours truly found herself a little bit faint on the open playa, and lacking Internet access to Twitter for help, merely doused herself in water and hitched a ride on a passing art car. We have decided to become largely nocturnal, like all higher-functioning desert creatures. Lane Hartwell, photo correspondent for Wired.com, has been taking gorgeous pictures as usual, but succumbed to a touch of the old heatstroke and electrolyte imbalance this afternoon. She is just dandy now with the application of Gatorade and a little lie-down. Those who breathed a sigh of relief that they would not end up on the Wired blog are now SOL. Rumor has it that Stefan Magdalinski, CTO of Moo, the popular printer of business cards decorated with Flickr photos, is en route, but is mysteriously not returning phone calls, email or Twitter. His arrival was apparently imminent this morning, and will continue to be imminent until we can figure out if he's taken off for Mexico instead of Black Rock City. More as more geeks show up, keel over, or go missing. -
black rock city
Burning Man arson suspect caught
BLACK ROCK CITY — Around the charred yet still standing remains of The Man, the giant wooden statue literally at the center of the annual Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert, workers from the organizer's Department of Public Works are cordoning off the platform and pavilion on which The Man rests, preparing to salvage what they can. The plan is to rebuild the statue in time for Saturday's planned demolition. Soft weeping can be heard in the vicinity, as well as mumbled vows for vengeance. Since the whole point of the festival is the buildup to the official burn, last night's arson attempt is more than a disappointment to most. A few are cursing for a different reason, mostly because they have fostered intricate plans to burn The Man early for years now, but just never got around to pulling it off. Reportedly, the dastardly villain who torched the man was one Paul Addis, a well-known denizen of the San Francisco art scene, longtime Burner, and one heck of a loose cannon. More »
0
By sdavalosComment by jinxremoved: The irony in burners getting angry about burning "the man" before the official time to burn him is hopefully not... more » | Other threads
-
quotable
"To try to sabotage him is completely wrong. We wait all year long. This is an adult's Christmas party." — Burning Man attendee Erica, on the attempted arson of the statue of The Man, the totem burnt in the Nevada desert at the end of the festival. [SFGate] -
breaking
Burning Man statue burns — a bit too early
BLACK ROCK CITY — The entire point of Burning Man is, I'll remind the uninitiated, is to gather together in the desert to torch a giant wooden statue called, yes, The Man. But that's supposed to happen this weekend. It's 3 in the morning on Tuesday, and The Man is ON FIRE!! HOLY FUCKING MOTHER OF FUCK! More as it happens! More » -
burning man
LiveJournal founder does it in the desert
BLACK ROCK CITY — Rumors that the bigwigs of geekery are headed here en masse are rife in the fanciful world of Internet rumor — but proof is spotty on the playa-dust ground. The strongest contender for Big Geek on Campus so far is Brad Fitzpatrick, formerly of Six Apart fame, and now at Google. This tidbit actually transcends rumor, as Fitzpatrick, the founder of LiveJournal, has posted his future playa address on his own LiveJournal blog. If he's a very clever boy, he will discover the Wi-Fi-fu that makes updating his LJ from the desert possible, but in the meantime, we are having daydreams of drunkenly invading his camp when he gets here and demanding that he friend us. (Photo by Brad Fitzpatrick) -
burning man
No geeks yet
BLACK ROCK CITY — No power-geek sightings to report, unless you count yours truly, blogging faithfully from Center Camp in Black Rock City, where the Burning Man sense of community has extended far enough to enable a pretty kickin' Wi-Fi signal. We're all checked in and assimilated into our home base. The tent has been staked deep into the fragile playa surface with rebar, and blown away. The tent has been staked down again, this time with longer rebar, and blown away. The tent has been tied to the van, staked down with longer rebar and filled with gallons of water. So far it has not yet made another bid for freedom. The weather is a balmy 82 degrees with cooling gusts of wind and intermittent lung-choking dust clouds. I am presently sitting in Media Mecca, where happy hour is in full swing. This is how Burning Man's overseers control their image, by plying reporters with Internet connectivity and alcohol. Most of the time, at least. We just had our first Internet outage of the week, kids. There was swearing. Mark your scorecards accordingly. More as it makes itself apparent.
0
By sdavalosComment by OaklandTechie: @Simone: I doubt you'll see this response 'cause this post is so old (and so is Burning Man at this... more » | Other threads
-
burning man
Greetings from the middle of nowhere
BLACK ROCK CITY — Ladies and gentlemen, Valleywag is live and on the scene at Burning Man 2007. Through the miracle of modern technology your intrepid girl reporter is blogging this from the middle of the desert, approximately 77 miles from everywhere, risking life, limb, and laptop to bring you the freshest in technohippie gossip from the alkali-dust floor of the prehistoric Lake Lahontan. It promises to be an event of thrills, chills and special magnificence, campers, so hang on to your hats, grab your dust masks, and get your hipster-hippie baiting sneers ready, because we have a whole week of this and we are dragging you all down with us into the playa-dust mud. More » -
housekeeping
Welcome to Burning Man. Now go wild.
We at Valleywag have made clear our feelings towards Burners, the attendees of Burning Man, a weeklong arts festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert that's getting underway now: We think they're dirty, environment-hating hypocrites who are marginally employable at best. The main business implication of the event? That you're never, ever, ever going to get any software project finished in Silicon Valley during the last week of August. So why would we send a reporter to the event? More »
0
By Owen ThomasComment by Filament: For what it's worth, Simone has had a gloriously bad attitude for years. She used to work for Chicken John,... more » | Other threads
-
burning man
Want to save the planet? Stay home, you envirohippies
We've said it before, and we'll say it again: The only green Burner is a dead Burner. This year's Burning Man arts festival in the Nevada desert has an environmental theme. But an environmental analysis has shown that more than 90 percent of the carbon dioxide spewed by Burning Man participants comes merely in getting to and from Black Rock City, the festival's temporary site. So by all means, pack up your RVs, buy that planet-destroying bottled water, and run your stereos and air conditioning all week off of diesel generators as you celebrate the greening of Burning Man. Go ahead, claim that you're raising "awareness" — at the same time that you're raising the planet's temperature. You're not fooling anyone — least of all Mother Nature.
0
By Owen ThomasComment by Oz: Amen! I've been looking forward to this week for a long long time, and then what do they do? Close the... more » | Other threads
-
burning man
The Valley begins its party to warm up the planet
Ladies and gentlemen, rev up your RVs, pack your SUVs full, gas up your private jets, and start making your way to Black Rock City, the site in Nevada for Burning Man, the annual art festival and orgy of self-indulgence. The most hardcore of "burners," as attendees call themselves, will start making their way there a week from now. And while you're on the road, guzzling gasoline, make sure to feel really, really guilty about all the carbon you're spewing into the atmosphere. By organizers' own estimates, Burning Man puts 27,000 tons of carbon dioxide into the air. This year, of course, they hope to minimize the impact with a "Green Man." Nonsense. More »
- 1
1-34 of 34 for "Valleywag, Black Rock CIty"
