Stories of peeps abandoning their previous life before BM?

mowgli · Post by **mowgli** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 4:34 pm

I'm just curious. Luckily I have only three months at Uni left before I can do whatever the fuck I want. Africa next fall after BM. But I find I'm having the most difficult time concentrating on my life as it is. I feel overly compelled by all these romantic notions involving art, love and travel. Doesnt everyone though? Science isnt doing it for me just now.

So, any stories of dramatic change? Lets hear em.

samtzu · Post by **samtzu** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 6:28 pm

Try the Romance of Science... of course, I don't know what branch you're studying (covers a huge area), but I've always had the hots for Physics. I don't have the math, but the concepts that are tossed about blow my mind. Or even genetics. I'm gonna' PM you a poem that shows you what I mean...

The art of the universe just slams me.

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 6:59 pm

Met a guy up at the playa this past weekend during cleanup. He was pretty much in the same boat. I told him about this group I know of WaterAid http://www.wateraid.org and he just took that ball and ran with it. Sounds like he's seriously exploring the possibility of doing good NGO work.

thinkcooper · Post by **thinkcooper** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 9:09 pm

After my first burn- '96 (arrived on the playa with fresh vension, assault rifles, belts of tracer rounds, and lots of extra gasoline)

- I moved from Zion National Park to Santa Cruz to get closer to the scene
- changed careers from owning a B&B to evangelizing 3D artists tools and digital empowerment
- split from my former wife of 13 years
- remarried someone who burns and stepfathered her two kids, now 12 and 15
- founded a 3D tools company that published a 3D human animation tool called Poser
- now work head of marketing Havok game physics
- but want to do something physical with steel after '04

geekster · Post by **geekster** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 9:30 pm

*sigh*

Made some changes and resolutions, nothing I am going to write about here, though. At least not yet. Want to wait until I have actually followed through a bit.

Hey, I want to do something with steel too. And maybe some diesel fuel injectors as fuel atomizers ... haven't quite got it nailed down yet.

thinkcooper · Post by **thinkcooper** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 9:49 pm

geekster wrote: Hey, I want to do something with steel too. And maybe some diesel fuel injectors as fuel atomizers ... haven't quite got it nailed down yet.

Funny; I had the same idea, but with bosch gasoline injectors. After tearing apart a stupid turbo'd german sportscar too many times, it seems like ripping out the injector log and popping it into a piece of scultpture would be the right kind of revenge.

geekster · Post by **geekster** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:10 pm

Getting WAY off the thread topic ... maybe we should continue it on the flamethower thread ... but

I think there are some pros and cons with gasoline vs. diesel injectors. Gasoline injectors tend to be electrical (though volkswagon had some pressure operated injectors operated via a "fuel distributor" ... which could make for an interesting effect ) and not able to stand a 100% duty cycle without burning up the coils so you have to pulse them. Also, gasoline injectors spray fuel behind the intake valve in the manifold while diesel injectors spray fuel directly into the cylinder and are able to withstand the heat of combustion. Gasoline injectors might not be able to take the heat. I don't know, it is something that would need to be experimented with. Also the pressure operated injectors need a pretty high pulse of pressure to open. Well in excess of 100psi if I remember correctly. Maybe a compromise, electric diesel injectors but you still run the risk of burning the coil up. I could probably do something with electronics to minimize current flow and "float" the injector pintile so it never completely closes.

The only think I can think of that will take the duty cycle is the throttle body injectors used in GM vehicles in an intake that looks much like a carburator but they can't take the heat of direct flame contact. Maybe a jet engine injector ... I dunno.

Like I said in the other thread, I am probably looking for something "pretty" rather than powerful. More art than brute force. Some combination of atomized fuel to make a "curtain of fire" with some streams piercing it or something. Maybe even a whirly thing that looks like a lawn sprinkler ... spinning out a spiral of burning fuel. When you get into small streams, though, you are really at the mercy of the breeze. Like I say ... I really dont have it quite nailed down yet. I need to play with some ideas to see how they look.

robbidobbs · Post by **robbidobbs** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 9:38 am

Quit my damn good paying job, went homeless to pursue voice acting career. Am now a voice actor, although still borrowing money to meet bills. This should be resolved soon though. Met a Burner in the biz, who's encouraging me to talk to the tv/radio stations in the area to get supplimental work. Always looking for voice acting gigs (hint hint).

ah come-on, I had to put a plug in there. How else am I to feed my poor, starving cat?

mowgli · Post by **mowgli** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 10:19 am

Geekster and thinkcooper,

You guys have any art installations since you'v been burning? I desperately want to build for next year. I'm just going through a bunch of sketches that I have and trying to come up with something different. As far as sculpture goes I never really thought of incorporating fire until BM. Its very liberating. I have worked with metal in the past and have access to the tools and materials as well as work space. But, think I want something that will burn completly to the ground. We'll see. later

geekster · Post by **geekster** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 12:55 pm

That's hard to do out of metal unless you use magnesium or something.

Alpha · Post by **Alpha** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 1:03 pm

geekster wrote:use magnesium

*tingle* Yep, I'd pay to see that. (through welding goggles, maybe)

mowgli · Post by **mowgli** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 1:04 pm

So, a metal sculpture won't burn? Thanks geekster, for the input.

mowgli · Post by **mowgli** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 1:12 pm

So, a metal sculpture won't burn? Thanks geekster, for the input.

geekster · Post by **geekster** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 1:13 pm

I was just ribbin ya ... in a past life I worked in defense electronics in SoCal and we made stuff for aircraft use. Some parts were made from magnesium for weight savings. A couple of times a year I would wander over to the machine shop and pick up some shavings from the milling machine. Long curly strips of magnesium. They were fun to light out in the street, really impressed the kids with a quick flash and white smoke but yeah, I wouldn't want to look at any amount burning for a long time without goggles.

thinkcooper · Post by **thinkcooper** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 2:31 pm

My how this thread had shifted

I'll add another OT post to the pile...

A buddy of mine burned a magnesium engine block at BM many years back, the light was so blinding he grounded a helicopter pilot. He and I have lit blocks at parties in the past, the last at a New Years Eve party in Tahoe. At one point he bought a salvage lot of Mag blocks and was giving 'em out for presents.

A log-cabin stack of 2x4s with a stripped magnesium VW block atop the pile works just fine. You'll need to build a wall around the magnesium, it's gets damn bright for the naked eye. Not even close to a welding arc though.

geekster · Post by **geekster** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 2:40 pm

Holy crap ... I got it ... a combination of the 04 Pagoda and a magnesium block or two ... call it .... Luxor !

thinkcooper · Post by **thinkcooper** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 2:58 pm

The last time Meico did a magnesium burn on the playa, a large hole was dug to sink the block below the horizon. It was still quite insane bright. The pagoda would have been heat enough to have ignited a pile of blocks.

The trick with a huge chunk of magnesium in a modest fire is to smack it with a sledge hammer once it's hot and softening, that'll expose fresh metal and start it burning. If your fire's really big, heat will do the trick and start the magnesium on it's own.

Keith Bontrager showed up a bunch of years back with buckets full of old mag machine and frame scrap to burn, the practice used to be more common, today it's as unheard of as shooting tracer rounds at gallon jugs of gas.

thinkcooper · Post by **thinkcooper** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 3:00 pm

oh yeah, a block will burn pretty quickly, I don't think the last one took more than two hours to be consumed.

mowgli · Post by **mowgli** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 4:22 pm

Yes. this thread went to hell real fast. Burning metal is always fun though.

mowgli · Post by **mowgli** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 4:24 pm

Tracer rounds and gasoline sounds like fun also. Oh, to see those old days. It's amazing you guys rarely hurt anyone.

arthurz · Post by **arthurz** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 9:02 am

Seems I had the opposite experience abandoning my previous life as thinkcooper...

Before Burning Man, I started and ran a computer vision company that captures 3D models of human faces for everything from disneyland souvenirs to nuke plant access control. We even tried to buy thinkcooper's Poser product line from Meta back in the bubble days. When I got back from my first burn in 03 I left the company and took a year-long sabbatical from the rat race. What fun. I did art instead of science for the first time in 25 years, becoming a lead on the Pagoda project and doing a mirror installation in the Observatory, and also established a theme camp. Doing a big independent burn was awesome and I encourage everyone to try it. In the broad sense, finding a way to live in both sides of my brain instead of just one was an awesome transforming experience that I wish for everyone stuck in Silly Con Valley.

So, now I'm back from my 2nd burn, wondering if I need to abandon another previous life, and not sure what universe that would get me to. I do know that metal sculptures do burn even if not magnesium; just ask Charlie Smith - his Tunnel of Transformation can burn through a cord of wood a night, shoot flames maybe 25 feet in the air, keep a few dozen people warm, and also BBQ a bunch of steaks, fire pottery, and bake cookies at the same time. It's steel, and turned my big fluffy fur playa coat into a short hair real quick.

Anyway, staying OT, I've been thinking a dance pole that shoots fire might be kinda fun on an art car...

thinkcooper · Post by **thinkcooper** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 9:50 am

[quote="arthurz"]Seems I had the opposite experience abandoning my previous life as thinkcooper...

...We even tried to buy thinkcooper's Poser product line from Meta back in the bubble days...

... In the broad sense, finding a way to live in both sides of my brain instead of just one was an awesome transforming experience that I wish for everyone stuck in Silly Con Valley.
quote]

Come over to Santa Cruz and have lunch or a drink with me sometime. Talk about art and burning, and oddly overlapping spirals...

... I think we met on the playa, you were in bed, with two cute burner girls, shuttling 'em around; I was with my own cute burner girl group, and you handed us smiley burn buttons. Invited us to the Pagoda burn too.

I'd love to connect off eplaya.

arthurz · Post by **arthurz** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 10:15 am

... I think we met on the playa, you were in bed, with two cute burner girls, shuttling 'em around; I was with my own cute burner girl group, and you handed us smiley burn buttons. Invited us to the Pagoda burn too.

I'd love to connect off eplaya.[/quote]

Ok, I'll shoot you a mail. And I sure as hell wish I had been on the playa in bed with two cute burner girls shuttling them around meeting other cute burner girl groups. Seems you had my fantasy; please give it back next year!!!

I'm pretty sure my bed was firmly attached to an RV throughout the event, and I did most of my traveling on a bike that had a flame six feet above the seat...

thinkcooper · Post by **thinkcooper** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 10:51 am

arthurz wrote:... Seems you had my fantasy; please give it back next year!!!

I'm pretty sure my bed was firmly attached to an RV throughout the event, and I did most of my traveling on a bike that had a flame six feet above the seat...

I noticed in your Avatar one of the fire hats that Bonefire Bob designed- you wouldn't have been at the pre-burn firehat workshop at the box shop?

How do you want me to send the fantasy back- Fedex? 'cause it absolutely has to be there overnight?

arthurz · Post by **arthurz** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 3:06 pm

That's a Bonefire hat allright, but I didn't make his workshop. Too bad, cause I really do want a dance pole that shoots fire now.

Instead of FedEx, how about delivering my fantasy back personally at decom next Sunday? I think I'll be near a 1/4 scale model of the Pagoda some of the time, and I'll already have at least one cute burner girl with me cause we're married... we're kinda hoping to meet another one that blows us both away, which I suppose qualifies as a very different side of my story about abandoning previous life before Burning Man! Don't forget to bring the drivable bed cause I don't have one of those either. LOL.

Anyway, there don't seem to be that many stories this year about life-changing experiences at Burning Man, which is interesting in a sad kind of way. And you can still shoot machine guns and burn magnesium at Toast! Everyone that goes will tell you "Toast sucks, don't go" but they are a bunch of bold-faced liars:-)

A

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 3:51 pm

arthurz wrote: Anyway, there don't seem to be that many stories this year about life-changing experiences at Burning Man, which is interesting in a sad kind of way.

It's only been a month. Sometimes life changes manifest very slowly. . .

thinkcooper · Post by **thinkcooper** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 9:01 pm

arthurz wrote:That's a Bonefire hat allright, but I didn't make his workshop. Too bad, cause I really do want a dance pole that shoots fire now.

Instead of FedEx, how about delivering my fantasy back personally at decom next Sunday? I think I'll be near a 1/4 scale model of the Pagoda some of the time, and I'll already have at least one cute burner girl with me cause we're married... we're kinda hoping to meet another one that blows us both away, which I suppose qualifies as a very different side of my story about abandoning previous life before Burning Man! Don't forget to bring the drivable bed cause I don't have one of those either. LOL.

Anyway, there don't seem to be that many stories this year about life-changing experiences at Burning Man, which is interesting in a sad kind of way. And you can still shoot machine guns and burn magnesium at Toast! Everyone that goes will tell you "Toast sucks, don't go" but they are a bunch of bold-faced liars:-)

A

Man, we've really boogered up this thread.

I'll be bringing at least one burner hottie o the decom- wifey-poo and likely a couple of singles that had the guys sniffing around our camp all week... 1/4 scale Pagoda eh? I'll look like a cross between Vernon Wells in Road Warrior and Mr. Rogers. And my wife looks kinda like Heather Graham. Keep an eye out for you...

As for the dance pole that shoots flames- that's flamethrower 101, just saw some nice brass/stainless whistle valves on ebay, got a tank for you. How big a flame you want now?

As for stories, one of my cutie newbies just resigned from her cool gig at Bonny Doon Vineyards to attend a cooking school in Paris. It all gelled on the playa.

Now back to our regularly scheduled thread.

thinkcooper · Post by **thinkcooper** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 9:03 pm

oh yeah... toast? it really sucks? perfect.

mars · Post by **mars** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 10:38 pm

Off on the tangent with you folks who want to do something with steel...

My boyfriend just bought a new car and we have considered turning his old one into a mutant vehicle...I have a great idea for an art car, but neither of us have the skills to create it.

And....(drum roll)....we live in Santa Cruz!

Anyone wanna work on an art car?

Mars

arthurz · Post by **arthurz** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 12:08 pm

Steve my man, you're bringing a Heather Graham lookalike to decom and you think that's boogering up this thread? Most of them get boogered up by flame wars, so we're way ahead of the game. As someone pointed out, some big changes take a while, so who knows what transformations this one will bring!

Since the thread's now about art cars, what I've been thinking about is a stealth art car surrounded by mirrors. The mirrors are all angled 45 degrees downward, so when someone looks at the car, all they see is reflected playa. Since the car will not be highly visible, it will have radar to sense whenever someone gets too close, and the radar will trigger a huge propane flame to shoot out the top of the stripper pole. I guess it would be called the flaming mirage. And Santa Cruz isn't that far:-)

I do want to see what crazy new rules DMV comes up with this year before doing much of anything with respect to art cars though...