Barbie Death Camp
Barbie Death Camp is one of the theme camps at burning man. I tried taking some photos of them a couple years back but none of the ones I took are as good as the ones on flickr.
Posable Hasselhoff and Pope
Make your own posable Wooden adding machine
Matthias Wandel built a really cool binary adder from wood. His website includes a detailed description of his invention.
Kohei Yoshiyuki
In the 1970's a Japanese photographer Kohei Yoshiyuki did some documentary photography of people having sex in a public park in Tokyo. This series, "The Park", is available for the first time in the United States at the Yossi Milo Gallery in New York. As Philip Gefter points out in his feature for the NYTimes everyone is crossing a line: the couple, the peeping toms, photographer and us.
Transforming dresses
In Oct 2006 Hussein Chalayan demonstrated his futuristic clothing designs. Watch out for the last NSFW
25 seconds. Also, check out the ads below featuring Gisele Bundchen with an obviously doctored aqua dress.
Paris, 4 October 2006 -- Hussein Chalayan continues to view the world as a research laboratory but with an added hint of the supernatural. The dresses, fluid and light, sometimes responding to the geometric criteria and at other times presenting Swarovski crystals, are evidence of impeccably mastered and detailed work. And to bring the catwalk to a close, the designer proposes a 'Return to the Future' with dresses that transform themselves, as if by magic, amid the amused and stunned spectators. (more) (less)
Sam the shoplifting seagull
Sam, from Aberdeen, has become so famous that the BBC has run a story on them.
Into the wild
I was anxious to attend the pre-screening of Into the Wild. They kept me there for nearly 2 hours before telling me and a group of others that we weren't going to be admitted. Needless to say, I was bummed. Still, it looks like it's going to be a worthwhile movie. Whatever you do, DO NOT read the intro to the book 1997 version. The 2007 cover contains the exact same text but has eliminated the spoiler last sentence.
Temptasia on Adult Swim
This is a cool spoof of Burning Man on Adult Swim's "Lucy, The Daughter of the Devil".
Born Into Brothels
This is an amazing documentary on children in a red light district in India. The children are given cameras and we're given an opportunity to see their world theourgh their art. [MoviesFoundOnline]
The magic garden
Back in June of 2005, I had been aware of a lack of frank discourse over sex and sexuality particularly in mainstream media. I wondered if there was an audience for video material related to learning more about what was once fringe culture. I came up with the idea of doing a video podcast to interview interesting people and get their thoughts and feelings out on the internet. The logistics were pretty straightforward. I had already played around with trying to make a movie with a groups of friends so I knew some of the obstacles I would have to face. This would be equally low budget. The videos would be distributed using one of the many video broadcasting sites like YouTube. My notes lay dormant in the back pages of my website until now. Here are the ideas for the first eight episodes of the show that was to be called "The magic garden."
Episode 1 : Introduction to the magic garden
Doctor D. an instructor at a community college in the San Francisco bay area shares his thoughts on alternative sex practices. This once seedy underbelly has blossomed into a thriving community of practitioners ranging from adolescents to mature members. Learn the practices being practiced by the more and more Americans every day.
Episode 2 : Life of a male porn star
Adam A. shares his story on how a small town boy found his way into the career as an adult entertainment actor. Find out how this once shy member of a Midwestern community learned to tackle the world of the porn industry.
Episode 3 : Life of a female porn star
Life moves a little faster when you're a buxom star of your own movie line, produced by your boyfriend. Eve E. tells the story of how she wrestled with the idea of abandoning the moral traditions instilled on her by her parents and decided to explore her sexuality in the only industry where women earn more than men.
Episode 4 : Polyamory
Two couples and their lovers share their experiences explore polyamory. This growing lifestyle includes radio broadcasts, several websites and a thriving community where commitment doesn't necessarily mean monogamy.
Episode 5 : BDSM
Mistress M shares tips on how to broach the subject of BDSM with your partner. We learn the concept of safety words and the different aspects of bondage and pain.
Episode 6 : Online dating
We interview two single people looking for love online. They share their experiences, their thoughts and their recommendations. Learn the tools of the trade and demystify the mystique of terms like SWF, ISO and NSA from somebody people who actually use them. Get a paper an pen ready, this episode includes a test on your skill at acronyms.
Episode 7 : Exotic Erotic Ball
We follow a couple as they prepare for San Francisco's Exotic Erotic Ball. Get a glimpse of this sub culture from this couple who has been married 25 years and has attended every ball since its inception.
Episode 8 : Folsom Street Fair
The Folsom Street faire is a San Francisco attraction. Every year people come out for this event to become part of a community that is becoming more and more mainstream every year. This year we're there.
I later discovered Emily Morse, Violet Blue, Dr Carroll Queen, Dossie Easton and others and found my craving temporarily assuaged. If you're interested in the information outlined here, consider visiting one of the following site in addition to the ones linked in the body of this post.
- The center for sex and culture - An organization founded to provide classes workshops social gatherings and hands-on practical skill-building events.
- Good vibrations - A woman-owned, worker-owned sex toy and bookstore in San Francisco
Alien saucer crash
Someone arranged for this elaborate hidden camera prank with an alien space ship.
Happy Dolphin Productions
Near the end of 2005 a group of Chabot students started work on a short film. I was one of those students. We spent countless hours working on the thing. On one occasion we had spent several hours working on a shoot and learned some time later that the footage for that shoot had been completely lost. That was when I started to get the feeling that most of the people on the team weren't very committed to the project. The project was abandoned shortly thereafter.
Happy Dolphin Productions is an independent film production group, based out of Hayward. This unique and diverse group of artists and technicians has taken video production into its own hands. With one video already completed and others underway, the group hosts a variety of positions for any skill level. You too can become part of this creative group; all it takes is an interest in film production and dedication and you too can become part of the experience. There is no cost to join and no previous experience is required. For more information visit the Happy Dolphin web site or send me an email.
Our first film was called Term Paper. It was a moving target. We did our best to plan the elements before we broke out the camera but this was, after all, our first attempt at a film so things evolved quickly. If you're feeling particularly sadistic, you're welcome to read the screenplay or storyboard.
Term Paper (2005)
Genre: Comedy
Tagline: I got it covered.
Plot Outline:
The first of the Happy Dolphin films. This movie features Larry and Daryl as they try to resolve a local cat infestation problem. Can they solve their crisis without losing their minds?
Run time: 90 sec
Cast overview, first billed only:
Alexis Daniel .... Nerd Andres Sandoval .... Transient Eddie Holcraft .... Daryl "Jonny" Sze Chun Chan .... Stephen [Me] .... Larry Sean .... Professor UnCast .... Walter
Background:
Many of us know that when we're born we are assigned a guardian angel. What you may not know is that the lord of the underworld, as part of his unending battle with his arch enemy, is determined to thwart his nemesis' efforts by sending his own representative. Each of us not only has a guardian angel but a demon that follows us through our day to day lives as well. We're made aware of our guardian's presence, most of the time, by subtle close-calls that happen to us in our daily lives. The demon's presence can usually be felt when things go to shit.
This is how most of us interact with these creatures from this alternate dimension. Larry however has a very intimate relationship with his. Daryl, who was unhappy with this 'arrangement' with his 'master' decided to do things his own way. He abandoned the traditions of his role and decided to come to a somewhat amicable arrangement with his earth mate. The two have accepted their fate for better or for worse; and, despite Daryl's detestable habits and Larry's somewhat tame lifestyle; have managed to make a somewhat reasonable alliance.
Daryl is non-corporeal. This means he has no actual body. He can't actually do things in the physical world. It's impossible, for example, for him to shoot a cat, piss on it, and bat it off into the distance. The only way he can accomplish these deeds is by recruiting the assistance of demons assigned to other corporeal beings and use their assistance to coerce their earth mates to do the deeds for him. For simplicity, when we shoot these scenes, we use the image of Daryl in the acts. They are however, other people, who have someone been lured into this twisted game.
While filming Term Paper, we began work on a second film. The screenplay for this second film was written entirely by Ms. Daniel.
Term Paper (2005)
Genre: Romance
Tagline: I have a surprise for you.
Plot Outline:
The second of the Happy Dolphin films. This film is still in pre-production.
Run time: 90 sec
These are some of the members of Happy Dolphin Productions.
I thought it would be interesting to see what our logo would look like on a shirt so I added the following item to my CafePress store.
MoviesFoundOnline
moviesfoundonline.com has a really interesting collection of documentaries. I mentioned a couple others in some previous posts. Their Space / Science / Technology section which features movies like
The Secret (2006) and What the Bleep Do We Know!? (2004) and a documentary on the PC industry called Bill Gates v Steve Jobs (2003). The latter is actually pretty informative if you can get past the cheesy personality of the narrator. I mean, he used the phrase "badly wrong". Born Into Brothels is particularly good.
Top Ten Star Wars Robot Chicken
These are the top ten Star Wars scenes from Adult Swim's show Robot Chicken.
Convert video between Microsoft and Apple
This is probably more information than anyone would care to know. I'm posting it in case anyone's interested in the geeky details of using MPlayer to convert to and from MOV files. It would be far easier to simply download either mov2avi.bat or wmv2mp4.bat and use them with the instructions in the "Editing mov files with Windows Movie Maker" or "Podcast primer" posts respectively.
This command converts from the QuickTime format into something that can be used by Windows Movie Maker.
mencoder -oac pcm -ovc lavc -ffourcc DIVX -o test.avi test.mov
This command converts from The Windows Movie Maker fromat into something that can be used by iTunes. It's useful if the file you're creating is to be used in a podcast.
mencoder -oac lavc -ovc lavc -lavcopts aglobal=1:vglobal=1:vcodec=mpeg4:acodec=aac -of lavf -lavfopts i_certify_that_my_video_stream_does_not_use_b_frames -o test.mp4 test.wmv
If you need more info on batch file parameters, you can find out more from the Microsoft site.
See also: Podcast primer, Movie watermark, Editing mov files with Windows Movie Maker
Apple Software Update trouble
It appears that iTunes + QuickTime has trouble installing when Outlook is running. Occasionally, the Apple Software Update program will appear telling me there are updates that need to be installed. When I tell it to go ahead and install the updates I get a dialog with the following message.
Errors occurred while installing the updates. If the problem persists, choose Tools > Download Only and try installing manually.If I follow the instructions and run the iTunes.msi installer I get another dialog warning about outlook.
Outlook is currently running on this computer. If you proceed without quitting Outlook it is highly recommended that you restart Outlook after installation.
I run into this problem every time. I've tried a few experiments to see if I can narrow down the problem. This last time I came to the following conclusions.
- If outlook is closed when I run iTunes.msi I don't see any dialogs.
- If I close outlook before I run the update from the Apple Software Update program it still errors out.
Teens Hooked on Porn
This video is a look at teens who have become addicted to internet porn. The soundtrack is fabulous. There are a couple of cool photo shots, the one in the thumbnail for this post and the obligatory shot with the person's profile lit by the eerie glow of the computer screen. [MoviesFoundOnline]
This is the first generation with no memory of life before the internet. For Britain's teenagers, already among the most sexually active in Europe, temptation is only a few mouse clicks away. It's difficult to get an accurate picture but around one in three twelve to sixteen-year-old boys who go online at home visit adult sites every month.
Artificial sweetner and brain tumors
This documentary from 2004 investigates the dangers of the artificial sweetener called aspartame which can be found under various trade names, particularly Nutrasweet, Equal, Crystal Light. Only a few days ago Reuters reported that "A panel of American, British and Dutch experts rejected the notion that aspartame causes cancer, seizures, neurological damage or learning problems, or contributes to obesity." You can learn more about the aspartame controversy at Wikipedia or from one of the sites listed below. [MoviesFoundOnline]
REPORTED SYMPTOMS NO. OF
COMPLAINTS
HEADACHE 1847
DIZZINESS / POOR EQUILIBRIUM 735
CHANGE OF MOOD 656
VOMITING OR NAUSEA 647
ABDOMINAL PAIN AND CRAMPS 483
CHANGE IN VISION 362
DIARRHEA 330
SEIZURES AND CONVULSIONS 290
MEMORY LOSS 255
FATIGUE, WEAKNESS 242
OTHER NEUROLOGICAL 230
RASH 226
SLEEP PROBLEMS 201
HIVES 191
CHANGE IN HEART RATE 185
ITCHING 175
GRAN MAL 174
NUMBNESS, TINGLING 172
LOCAL SWELLING 114
CHANGE IN ACTIVITY LEVEL 113
DIFFICULTY BREATHING 112
ORAL SENSORY CHANGES 108
CHANGE IN MENSTRUAL PATTERN 107
SYMPTOMS REPORTED BY LESS 1812
THAN 100 COMPLAINTS
Playa dust storm
This is an example of a dust storm on the playa. If you look in the forefront you'll see a girl with colored hair. Ahead of her and to our left there is a guy standing with his back towards us. In front of him is another person. The dust is so intense that you can only barely make out their shape even though they're only a few feet away.
Photo by Dutch (Lamplighter)
Busted - The Citizens Guide to Surviving Police Encounters
This film explains how to deal with law enforcement and how to assert your rights. I found it nearly a year ago but the last video reminded me that I hadn't posted it on my blog. I suggest watching one of the two ASAP. [MoviesFoundOnline]
CopWatch
This is a documentary on CopWatch. It has some important information about your rights when you're approached by a police officer and covers the difference between a consensual interview, being detained and being arrested. They also cover what you're obligated to do when an officer has detained you.
Gavin Newsom panties
Back in July of 2005 I created these Gavin Newsom panties that are also available from my store at CafePress.
Delicate flower
The lamplighter village had this hilarious quote on the fridge. Inspired by that, I decided to make a tank top after it. You can buy the shirt from my store at CafePress.
My Black Rock City address
Here's my address on the playa. I thought I'd post it in case anyone is considering sending me a postcard. I'm working on having some sent from me this coming year. I'm making my list and I'm checking it twice.
Lamplighter Village (5:30@B) c/o BRCPO Burning Man Gerlach, NV 89412
Silhouettes to Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong provides the background music to another cool video using silhouettes
McDonald's Cha Cha Slide
McDonald's has a commercial with the Cha Cha Slide (aka Casper Slide) by Mr. C. Watch the original video to catch the whole song.
Burning the man
This is a long but well-done video on the burn of the man. I walked by the site 24 hours later and he was still burning.
Oil derrik burn
Here's some video of the oil derrik burn. The reason the guy's saying "holy shit" is because the heat coming off the explosions was unreal. He was probably a little freaked out that he might end up being part of the burn himself. Other videos have even better footage of the explosion itself. Can you hear the air sirens in the background?
Temple of Forgiveness burn
I took some video of the temple burn. It's not all that impressive but might be interesting to hard core burners.
Burning Man suicide
Some of you may have already heard about the suicide at burning man on Aug 30. The details are hazy but according to The Reno Gazette it happened where they host a
"Burning Man version of the game show 'Jeopardy!'". Since I had been trying to make it there all week, I know that this is probably "This is Leopardy!" hosted by PlayaJoy. The name has not yet been released.
Aftermath
Yesterday I took my car to the car wash. The playa that caked its exterior (as well as it's interior) was washed away, and with it, I began the first steps in fading the memories that I cherish so much. I can't help but feel saddened as I slip back into the American Dream.
Site down
Sprout went down just before 6:30 PST on Aug 28. It looks like a problem with the UPS. I find it ironic that the extra feature intended to keep the machine running is the very thing that caused it to do down precisely when I was on vacation and preventing service nearly the whole time I was gone. I plugged it into a less feature-rich power supply and it seems to be running fine. I hope to get another post up about Burning Man some time tomorrow.
Exodus
Day 12 Monday
Today was exodus. It was a torturous 3 hour mess. Fortunately that was half as long as last year. I got an early start and I think that's why I got off so easy.
Temple of Forgiveness
Day 11 Sunday
The temple of forgiveness burned today. The burn was eerily quiet; you could hear a pin drop. I wouldn’t have believed that you could get so many people at one place and have them all be so quiet. There was some soft singing early on but at some point the only sound I remember was the crackling of the fire. Then someone yelled out "Shut up, you're ruining my spiritual experience" the crown burst out in laughter and shortly after that we entered the protective circle to get closer to the fire.
Lounge at the end of the universe
Day 10 Saturday
The man buned today. Normal firework displays typically feature a trickle of bursts with a major finale. The Burning Man firework display is like a finale the whole way through. As I'm watching it I find myself scrambling to catch every bit of it so that I get the maximum appreciation for it.
As impressive as the burning of the man was, the oil derrick burn was even more spectacular. In the desert it's sometimes difficult to get a sense of distance. On the lamplighter truck (Luci) it felt as though we were a rock's trow from the derrick. Fireworks foreshadowed it's fiery demise. When it finally blew, the explosion was so intense that some of us were forced to turn away or cover our faces. Massive flames engulfed the wooden structure not only setting it ablaze but nearly disintegrating it. I've never seen an oil derrick explosion but I imagine that it must look very much like what we experienced. It not only looked like an exploding oil derrick, it WAS an exploding oil derrick. It gave us the full experience of what something like that must be like. How appropriate in light of our current political turmoil.
My fondest memory was of this night. I was on a couch at one of the far ends of the lounge. My lamplighter family was at the bar which was positioned in front of me and to the right. Sickboy was strumming his guitar, singing a song of lost love. Meatsauce was singing with all the passion in her little body. Syphon was was clapping and stomping his foot, shaking his body along with the rhythm of the song. Others were either singing or being absorbed by the words and notes. In front of me and to my left was an opening in the shade structure where fiery explosions, smoke, clouds of dust and mayhem could be made out through the not to distant flashes of light. I felt like a character in a Douglas Adams novel; an interstellar traveler at the lounge at the end of the universe.
"And me, I still believe in paradise. But now at least I know its not some place you can look for, cause its not where you go. Its how you feel for a moment in your life when your a part of something, and if you find that moment..." -Richard, "The Beach"