WELCOME TO NOWHERE LUX. VERITAS. LARDUM. VOLUME II, NUMBER I. AUGUST 29, 2006 Welcome To NoWhere BY TECHNOMAD ven after two decades, when you thinkers and leaders and held together brought by automation or whether they Emention in the default by belief in non-violence and by social accepted inappropriate technology world, you’re quite likely to draw a bonds, sought to fi nd new frontiers. Tired created by the growing mainstream, response like “What is that?” Many of a daily grind under social, political, they weaned themselves on the wealth Burners hesitate to say the name, wary and religious rules they detested and created by innovation and commerce. of getting drawn into long explanations sometimes resisted, they moved west

Today their tribes fl ourish. LAM and knowing short ones seldom suffi ce. from the established civilization founded Twenty years ago in San Francisco Others know not where to begin and yet 200 years before them in colonial began another community founded JOHN

repeat the standard, “It’s a big party in Y America. They moved a day or two’s by visionary leaders and held together B

the desert.” O journey onto free or cheap land they could by beliefs in radical free expression, T Burning Man is more than an event, claim and settle. There they nurtured and decommodifi cation, sustainability, and a place, or a gathering. It’s more than a refi ned ideas that brought them together spirituality. Forced to move away from PHO participatory arts festival, or the West’s and then drew them closer. established civilization to the interior largest venue for large-scale, non- The frontiers of western New York frontier of a unsettled desert, this HERE TODAY. GONE TOMORROW. commercial installation art. It continues State became a nexus of radical social, became Burning Man. Twenty years foundation for its survival, or it will have a tradition of seeking meaning by living spiritual, and even sexual reform, drawing hence, Burning Man may no longer need failed, its ideas and people subsumed in a subculture at society’s margin, from tribes founded by Menno Simons, Jacob to inhabit the desert to fl ourish. into other microcosms. Freaks and Slackers, to Hippies and Amman, and Joseph Smith, along Those who see Burning Man only as As a participant and reader, you can Beatniks, to Bohemians and Radical with others no longer thriving. As the a weeklong vacation may be missing help shape this future. During our time Reformists. Industrial Revolution grew, its benefi ts the opportunity to infl uence our future here, we can only make the best we can. Two hundred years ago, small became commonplace. Whether or not history. In 40 years, Burning Man will communities founded by visionary these tribes rejected commodifi cation likely have evolved, its story codifi ed as a

BY MITCH a place apart in which the normal LISTINGS ope and Fear. At fi rst, they rules of society are suspended Hsound like antonyms. But Hope & Fear and where interactions take Tuesday think: despair is the opposite place in the form of gifts rather of hope; courage the fl ip side of than transactions.” 10 a.m. Black Rock Beacon team fear. There is more to this year’s theme than -- all nations wanted to be just like us. It turns Of course, in your basic dysto- meeting. meets the eye. out NOT all nations want to be like us. We’re pia, interactions take place in the form of gifts Join us! Be part of the yellowest daily “One’s hopes beget one’s fears, and one’s becoming insular and selfi sh people.” -- they are called bribes and you can deliver publication on the Playa, and, hey, fears beget one’s hopes,” said , Growing up in the 1950s, Harvey enjoyed them under the table at your local City Hall. a childhood in the American Decade of the since it happens at breakfast time, we’ll the Burning Man founder and creator of the Which might be, as is Black Rock City 2006, American Century that offered him quite a built in the Art Deco style. Many structures, probably have some spare bacon. We’re annual theme. “Both imply an engagement different prospect than the current reality. private but especially public, were built looking for people to write, edit, produce, with the future.” The future in his mind’s eye was the Jetsons; in America during the heyday of Deco in and distribute the Beacon. Skilled or This year, it’s personal. Harvey allows that he is the child of Depression-era parents, what we got is the Flintstones with iPods. the 20s and 30s. It was, the Journal says, unskilled, we have a job for you -- and and he sees parallels between the 1930s and Thus, the leitmotif of this year’s theme is the “the West’s last commonly held vision of a probably a snack too. We’re at the 11:30 the oughts. “If you go back to the 30s, and dichotomy of utopia and dystopia. “Utopias,” utopian future.” Arising from an exposition position in the 9:00 Plaza. that’s really real to me because my parents the offi cial Burning Man Journal tells us, of industrial arts in Paris in 1925, Art Deco were Dustbowlers, the banks closed and “are visions of our highest hopes. They paint was the prevalent movement during the Continuing made them paupers over night.” a picture of a better world.” Depression. Many public works projects On the other hand, “Dystopias are Camera’s memory card fi lled up? Take a Harvey, 58, said he fears that, in America at were started at that time, in part to alleviate cautionary tales and correspond to the fear unemployment, so it is not surprising digital dump at Hot Wheelz Camp (Center least, there is a whole generation -- people his that Deco exerts an infl uence on urban Camp, directly behind Playa Info). age and younger -- that cannot comprehend thinkers, especially those who came of CalicoDragon can handle most digital the Depression. “The worst they have ever seen is stagfl ation,” he said, dismissively. age in the postwar, post Depression era. formats, with the possible exception of Without understanding the breakdown of the Although it went through several Mini SD Cards. He’ll put your info on a economy in the 1930s, how can people fear a phases and absorbed many infl uences, CD or DVD and send you on your merry repeat? Yet, he said, “Whole chunks of the Deco was overall an artistic expression way with a blank memory. Hours: middle class are falling into the underclass.” of hope. The fl owing, fl owery lines of Art Nouveau were straightened, suggesting Tuesday-Thursday 8 a.m.a.m. ttoo 99:30:30 aa.m..m. If you defi ne the middle class as those who live comfortably by the fruits of their own man’s domination of nature. Deco meant Closed Friday labor, you don’t have to look far to see how electricity and ocean liners and fast cars, Saturday 8 a.m.a.m. ttoo 99:30:30 aa.m..m. many opportunities are being limited by luxury and Jazz Age sophistication. or by appointment economic disruptions: “The auto industry, An element of irony is in the plan for (set up by Thursday) airlines -- but they are only the forerunners. Black Rock City-wide voting for hope or Sunday 3 p.m.p.m. toto 5 p.m.p.m. We have been governed in a way where the fear via a network of booths linked by wi- fi . Those who remember how well previous Monday NoonNoon ttoo 1 pp.m..m. division between the rich and the poor grows. That means the middle class shrinks. When attempts to create a BRC intranet worked people who thought they deserved respect will recognize this as a triumph of hope

Public Notice and aren’t getting it, they get really mad.” TREMUSE over fear. If it works, the Man will either Stopped in Schurz? The Beacon wants Harvey is really mad. The bright future rise triumphantly atop his Pavilion if hope to talk to Burners who feel they were that he and other Baby Boomers were THEA is ahead in the balloting, or descend into unfairly stopped or arrested after the promised -- and, that many seem to take as a a space “decorated with discarded chrome event while driving south on U.S. 95. birthright -- has not arrived. “The American of what the future has in store.” auto parts” in reaction to despair, said Harvey. empire is sinking, and we’re going to have to So is Black Rock City utopia or dystopia? For “Really, all that is left of that great Deco vision Subject to space limitations, the Black face some really, really hard truths that we Burners, it must be the former -- or else why of robots and convenience and continuous Rock Beacon lists Black Rock City events did not have to when we were so rich. We come all this way -- but the potties, Exodus improvement are discarded auto parts.” and Playa time are all as dystopic as can be. that were not contained in the materials have lived beyond our means individually, While we buy most of Harvey’s arguments Harvey’s answer, however, is “none of the handed out at the Gate. Bring submissions and as a nation to a disastrous degree. What about the modern world, the Black Rock above.” “Burning Man is neither utopia nor Beacon is coming down on the side of hope for to our world headquarters at 11:30 in the is coming next is a wave of foreclosures on dystopia. Whether people know it or not, they our city in 2006. At the very least, we hope you 9:00 Plaza. Those requesting listings must people’s houses,” he said, an echo of the Depression. “Homeownership used to be a lead spiritual lives. To feel connected to things like our sophomore effort and that you have provide a piece of real-world identifi cation sacred thing. Now we take money out of our beyond one’s self is a spiritual experience. an excellent week on the Playa. Our biggest that shows a current address; drivers homes and spend it on consumer goods. On For all the cynicism that’s affected in these fear is that it will all be over too quickly. license preferred. a national level, who owns our debt? China. postmodern times, I have never talked to Read more of Larry Harvey’s thoughts on “We believed we were the center of anybody who didn’t hold something dear -- modern America at http://bitethe.com/brb/ technological innovation. We were the future something that must be defended. We are in article10.htm

Tuesday Rise (Hope) Set (Fear) Tuesday, August 29 Black Rock City Twilight 05:52 20:04 Sharing your birthday today with William Friedkin, directed The French Population: 16,142 as of Sun 06:21 19:35 Connection and The Exorcist among many others. “For me, the greatest thrill in the 4:00 P.M. Monday. Moon 12:07 22:00 world, the only thrill, is getting 20 seconds on the screen that really gas you.” Brrrning Man: Black Rock Beacon Publication Schedule It’s shaping up to be a cool year in Black Rock Black Tuesday — Welcome to Nowhere City, and we don’t mean “cool” as in “groovy.” The Wednesday — Hope National Weather Service is forecasting highs of Thursday — Fear just 73° – 83° Fahrenheit through Thursday, while Rock Friday — The Future evening lows are expected to run from 39° – 49°. BeaconBeacon Sunday — Exodus

International Burners: A Breed Apart Fear & Hope BY RICK-BOY BY TURTLE of them I won’t meet again until the dust hits should bring their kids because, last year, little Todd was walking along fl ying his kite itale was excited, bored, attracted I’m in airport customs, just coming out the my handsome face. and disgusted, all at the same But never mind, trust and blind hope are around Kidsville, got lost, and stumbled into a V backside of a long-haul fl ight where liquid time. What would it be like to interact two of the essential ingredients that make suggestively shaped art project, only to catch and other bare essentials are banned. In my with such primitives? A society from up the international camps. Being a foreign two bodies on a bed twined in cascading possession is a spectacular array of items: before the Uniform Species Act? Totally Burner often dictates a set of priorities that ecstasy with their faces puffed and red. fairy wings, military overalls, wedding china, biological creatures, untamed masses are more pragmatic in outlook than those For many foreign Burners, the biggest electroluminescent wire and a large quantity of blood vessels, nerve endings and of British alcohol. of your domestic variety of diffi culties are time and parasitic bacteria? I stood watching, as my baggage goes Black Rock participant. money. The cost for an He glanced at the porthole. The through check-out, the brows of fl ight Chief among these goals is international trip can inscrutable gray lightlessness of attendants and security men furrow as they just being there. This is not as easily run $2,000 to $3,000. hypertimespace matched his mood. He ruthlessly inspected my wares. Some eyes straightforward as you might Luckily, eBay often proves was going back to Burning Man 2006, back glaze over but others gasp and I am coldly think when you consider instrumental in averting a asked, “What is your reason for visiting the funding, shipping, baggage cash fl ow crisis, and there to some say when it all began; hopefully, United States?” limitations, travel time and is never any shortage of help just before it all ended. Before California I am fully aware what they are really saying communication. These turn on hand from U.S. based fell into the sea and the Pacifi c Ocean is “What the fuck is all of this shit? You look out to be the kind of things Burners who just never stop rushed in burying most of the southwest like you work for the interrogation services at that some U.S.-based camps giving. including Las Vegas and rushed up the Guantanamo Bay!” probably arrange by simply So if you look in fi ve years, desert to Reno and kept going to New What these people fail to realize is that I throwing last year’s stuff into the effects of the festival on Gerlach and the . The am an international Burner. the van and heading out to international Burners will event that had buried the West Coast had Three months earlier, armed with only a the Playa. become clearer. Don’t be been a shifting of tectonic plates on a few fl imsy copies of an itinerary and brought One result is that for us, surprised if all of a sudden scale never envisioned by any geologist together through a haphazard assortment of getting around to discussing we all have green cards and group emails, a small collective of Brits from the issues of Burning Man is have jumped ship to live in all walks of life settled down in a basement in diffi cult. The debate about whether the sale Reno. Once there, America will again have the East End of London to organize a theme of coffee at the event compromises Burning an immigration problem, albeit of a slightly camp. Since then, I have only seen some of principles is a hazy one. Even more so is fl uffi er and pinker kind. the people I’ve met at that meeting. A number the parents’ discussion about whether they

THEATREMUSETHEATREMUSE and yet it happened. In a matter of H o w e i r d ’ s “Why ‘Reggae Fest Rips The Pants Off Burning Man.” minutes, California was gone and the Playa upon which Burning Man was held BY FREE RANGING CUB REPORTER, HOWEIRD, disturbing trends, in addition to the $165 Positively Playa JUST NOW IN FROM CALIFORNIA’S SECOND ticket price, they charge $300 for an RV site had been raised up to met the new sea LARGEST ‘PARTY’ - REGGAE ON THE RIVER, (with no hookups), around $150 to camp (up level; one plate slipping under another, a IN HUMBOLDT COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. to 8 people & 2 cars) and additional cars are great fi ssure opening and the mountains falling into the void. It was the cataclysm I am sure lots of people have their garage August, 7, 2006. charged $60. All this for only THREE nights! to end all cataclysms, and it wiped out or house burn to the ground three weeks Like BM. Dogs, weapons and fi reworks 1. No Cops much of the old Far West. Worse, it fooled before Burning Man, but is it a DISASTER or are banned from Reggae On The River, but 2. Freely allowed public barter and an OPPORTUNITY? internal security treat attendees ethically a bunch of ridiculous binary computers sale of every drug known to man. Eleven years of Burning usually provides and even returned the quarter pound of into thinking America had been attacked 3. Free Samples. irreplaceable camping accoutrements, bric- cocaine found on a guy who had a couple by its Russian allies, and once they let 4. On site ATM a-brac and other essentials. Many, many knives confi scated Saturday. the germs out and the counter-counter 5. ONE LOVE. playa toys that are now ‘family.’ A three On the downside, ROTR’s percentage measures kicked in, well, there wasn’t quarter scale stuffed tiger; a piece of cable Did Larry send spies to Reggae this year? A of clean portapotties seems much lower too much left of Humanity 1.0 that you and a pulley from the debris of the 1996 Man.; Black Rock Ranger pickup truck was spotted than the Playa and their recycle/trash couldn’t spoon into what they quaintly seqinned dresses - all too small since the pulled over by the Sherrif’s K-9 patrol just bin system capacity is way too low and called a “test tube.” hormone treatments. Priceless? Yes, although north of Willits on Highway 101 yesterday as encouraged unsightly mounds of bagged Except, of course, for those isolated they cost next to nothing at Goodwill. the 15,000 or so festival fans streamed south. trash in many places. on the Playa. Nobody thought to On the plus side, no need to look for shit. If he did they night have noted some counterattack them, nobody knew Need it? Pick it up in Reno. Keep receipt. End they were still there. The people of of story. Also, anyhing you ever borrowed Burning Man must have wondered if from anyone and did not return simply “All animals are equal, their desert party had invoked some ‘evaporates’ and cannot ever be mentioned god of destruction. “Can you imagine?” again. Even the hardbacks with inscriptions but some are more equal thought Vitale to himself. To burn an on the frontispieces. To Bubba - with gratitude than others” effi gy of a man one evening and feel the for the great ideas - love Tim. G. Orwell, Animal Farm ground rumble and swell beneath your I am taking it in my stride. Thanks for feet the next? asking. A stringent regimen of hallucinogens “No question now, what had “Captain Vitale, we will be arriving settles the mind I fi nd. Still can’t believe the happened to the faces of the pigs. soon,” said the antrocephlopod. God serendipdity of fi nding ‘Everything you need The creatures outside looked from she’s gorgeous thought Vitale, I’ll fl y on for Burning Man - $100’ on Craigslist exactly her ship any day. forty eight hours later. Bike, tent, sleeping Complete this sequence: pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but “We can’t get too close without bag, Camelback etc. And that the beautiful 2,1,3,15,14,9,19,7,15,15,_ attracting suspicion,” she continued. guy providing my lifeboat is a Pauite who already it was impossible to say “We’ll need to drop you at their perimeter went to school in Nixon and lived on the which was which.” fence. You’ll have to walk from there. Pyramid Lake Res on the edge of the Black Answer on Wednesday. G. Orwell, Animal Farm Stick to the time coordinates, this warp Rock. He was taught that all his deceased in the continuum won’t last for long relatives use the Playa as the happy hunting – good luck.” ground but kindly added that they do not “Understood, thanks,” he replied. mind our yearly visits. Fuckin A. The ship touched down in a swirl of dust. Vitale emerged with helmet and dust mask on. Thank goodness, they Perpetrators of The Black Rock Beacon... warned me about the dust, he thought. Mitchell Martin, managing editor. Michael Durgavich, major general counsel and director of intelligence. Francis Wenderlich, graphics editor No sooner had he left the ship then it and co-camp manager. Ali Baba, co-camp manager. Angie Zmijewski and Goddess Lena, production dieties. John Lam, news editor. Larry Breed, was gone, just a dot in the sky. chef copy editor. Edge, webmaster. Armadillo, goddess of the underworld and circulation manager. Saffron Lee, web editor. Sunburn Sarah, He saw a double-barreled plume of volunteer coordinator. Howard Jones, LNT manager and shack wrangler. WeeGee, minister of photography. dust coming at him. Editors: Ali Baba, Emmy Love, Suzanne Zalev. Writers: Michael Durgavich, Howard Jones, Rick Kinnaird, John Lam, Anthony Peterson, Deb Prothero, A gray green jeep heading for his Cross the Sidhe, Matthew Turtle. Photographers: Richard Gilmore, Anthony Peterson, Kevin Powell. Illustrations: Diana Acosta. Distribution: Biff, location and was closing quickly. He the Paper Boy. knew he didn’t have time to hid or run. He waited. The Jeep pulled along side and a Semi-Legal Mumbo Jumbo seated creature swathed in rags stared Copyright © 2006 The Black Rock Beacon, a not-for-profi t corporation organized under the laws of the state of Washington and located at 32657 9th PL S, Federal Way, at him through goggles. “Welcome Wash., 98003, some rights reserved. You are free to to copy, distribute, display, and perform the information and images contained herein, to make derivative works, and Home! Do you have a ticket?” to make commercial use of this work under the following conditions: You must attribute the work to the Black Rock Beacon and, if you alter, transform, or build upon our material, you may distribute the resulting work only under a license identical to this one. These conditions may be waived if you obtain permission from The Black Rock Continued on Wednesday. Beacon. For more information, visit our website at www.blackrockbeacon.org