Burning Man in Pictures XXXVI: Solo Morning Exploration!

July 13, 2016Photos, Traveladmin

In our last post, we wrapped up night two of the Burn proper (Monday night). On Tuesday morning, while our intrepid heroine was resting, our hero went out to exploreatore the surrounding areas.

First, there was ‘Lip Bomb’, one of the more interestingly themed (or at least named) drinking establishments. It being early in the day, the establishment was empty. This was fine, as our heroes did not frequently frequent such establishments, preferring interacting with art to interacting with groups of people:

One of the more interesting instances of truck art, presumably to cover corporate logos:

The illuminated sheep! And not so illuminated!:

This is what an illuminated sheep looks like during the day.

And where it goes home to roost!:

Huh.:

Next was this cutest group of yurts. Looking back, it seems that our hero was unsure what their purpose was, dwelling or not, and did not investigate further:

This was the cutest little group of yurts.

They did continue to be cute and colourful, though:

More of the cutest, most colourful group of yurts.

Finally, one of the most interesting places on Playa (and not just because of the name), the ‘Burners Without Matches’, who practiced using lenses to focus sunlight (of which there is abundance on playa) to burn the surface of wood to create pictures. Here it was discovered that a Stegosaurus friend was hiding just under the surface, just waiting to come out:

Possibly the coolest activity (and not just because of the name). A new Stegosaurus friend was found here.

Next time, more trail blazing!

Burning Man in Pictures XXXV: Further Nighttime Adventures

July 12, 2016Photos, Things We've Built, Traveladmin

In our last segment, we followed our intrepid heroes as they explored politics-not-as-usual at Burning Man.

Today, we follow them as they explore more of the playa at night!

After leaving the installation of political questions, they were drawn to this gigantic ball of ever-changing light:

The Ball, by "L'Enclave". Like Voice of Fire, experiencing the scale is key. — The Ball, by “L’Enclave”. Like Voice of Fire, experiencing the scale is key.

Like Voice of Fire, experiencing the sheer scale is key. “The Ball”, by L’Enclave:

It didn't fit in one picture, it was so large. — It didn’t fit in one picture, it was so large.

It’s difficult to express the sheer scale of Burning Man at night. Here’s a selection of art cars around a number of sound camps (at 2:00 and Esplanade, I think), by the Green Castle[1]. You may hear a Benny Benassi drop in the background:

Also striking for its sheer scale is ‘R-Evolution by Marco Cochrane‘. The sculpture was subtly lit, just enough that you could see her breathe:

Another installation that you have to see to fully understand. The scale, and the way she breathes.

Some chill music, while Tron suits walk by:

This is one of the more famous (outside the Burn) installations from 2015. Two adults, turned away from each other, but at night, you can see their inner children illuminated, trying to reach out to each other, trying to break through the shells their adult selves have built up around them. I see it as hopeful, that those excited, exploratory children are still alive in all of us, and can be brought out with the right catalyst. ‘Love’, by Alexandr Milov:

Poignant, and also a reminder of how important it is to make a safe space for true communication and closeness.

Then, it was time to go back to the Charnival, to relieve the volunteers and to close down Mirror Blaze for the night. Here you can see the barrier put up by the lifeguard chair, to block access to backstage and the fuel depot:

"This is the way you close the back of your Mirror Blaze, early in the morning." — “This is the way you close the back of your Mirror Blaze, early in the morning.”

On the way back to camp (or on the way to portapotties after getting back to camp), some LED trails, randomly on the wall at the neighbour’s:

Next time, some solo morning exploration!

[1]S reminds me that sometime during Early arrival, we met two women who mentioned that they were working on ‘The Irish Castle’. At that time, we had no idea of its scope.

Burning Man in Pictures XXXIV: How Many Fucks do You Give?

July 11, 2016Photos, Politics, Traveladmin

[link to previous post]

Burning Man culture is generally not political. By this I mean that Burning Man culture may have strong opinions, but they are generally outside the normal/mainstream cultural framework.

In general, the art pieces are things for people to participate with and enjoy, monumental sculptures, oases in the desert, places for people to gather, etc…

This is why it was so surprising to see specific, pointed questions about real world things in a Burning Man installation.

They were still setting up, so you can see the insides, as well as how it looked something like one of those ’80s science centre push-button quizzes:

Questions 1-6, construction in progress.

Questions 7-12, construction in progress.

Exoplanets. Not really controversial science-wise, but I can see a lot of controversy about whether their study is important:

I’ve always enjoyed both the word and the concept of ‘orrery’:

Vaccines, a surprisingly controversial topic:

Sports and religion. Different opiates for different tastes?:

From my family background, I have very strong opinions about the integrity of the election process (the first amendment is also pretty important to me):

Responsible franchise and the first amendment.

People on different sides of political issues have often tried to paint the other side as being somehow ‘different’. Now it seems that science is starting to show that this may actually be true:

Attempts at describing the psychology of various political leanings.

Regulation of automobiles. Perhaps another example of how peoples’ brains take much longer than you think to develop?:

Next time, more exploration of the night!

Burning Man in Pictures XXXIII: Ceci N’est Pas Une Poste

July 10, 2016Photos, Traveladmin

Bonjours. La derniere fois, nos aventuriers intrepide sont aller dehors au playa envers minuit, at ils ont decouverts des secrets tres grave a propos de l’Homme du Pac.

Next to the Pac-Man and multi-ghost bikes was this amazingly intricate massive wooden temple-like structure (I think S might have better pictures):

The most intricate and beautiful temple.

While stopped there, this homage to Magritte came up to visit:

Ceci n'est pas un art car. — Ceci n’est pas un art car.

Ceci n'est pas le cote d'un art car. — Ceci n’est pas le cote d’un art car.

Also, there were some cases where it was unclear exactly where the person ended and the conveyance began[1]:

Ceci n'est pas une panda au bicyclette panda. — Ceci n’est pas une panda au bicyclette panda.

Finally, a musical rendition, from Aqua Zone:

‘Aqua Zone’:

Next time, we will get a glimpse into How Many Fucks(tm) Burners give about a wide variety of topics.

[1]IT IS ALL PANDA.

“Senseless Juxtaposition of Wildcards.”

July 9, 2016Fiction, Idle Speculation, Internet Culture, Programming, Science!admin

He had to admire the the gall of the programmer who wrote the error messages.

“Senseless Juxtaposition of Wildcards.”

It might as well have said:

“Grow a brain!”

Or:

“Try listening to classical music.”

But then it got him thinking…

What would be a senseful juxtaposition of wildcards?

First, we would have to make a list of possible wildcards:

The ‘standard’ wildcard character, specifically referring to a character is the question mark, ‘?’. Generally standing in for any one of some set of things (or in Perl, 0 or 1 of a thing).

The ‘larger’ wildcard character, ‘*’, which stands for any number of something (including 0), sometimes expressed as ‘%’, if you’re speaking SQL.

The ‘even larger’ wildcard character, ‘…’, which is like a recursive ‘*’.

But could there be something larger still? Something which climbs the directory hierarchy in the oppsosite direction, perhaps? Something which can make it past all of the automatic filters, but is clearly wrong? Something like typing ‘NaN‘[1] into a number field box? Something which steps outside the usual boundaries, like Thiotimoline?

In a biological context, there are entire alphabets of more-and-less-specific wildcards.

So, knowing all of this, what would be a senseful juxtaposition of wildcards? Something like ‘**’, or ‘?*’, or ‘*?’ would be meaninglessly equivalent to ‘*’.

You could attempt to mix SQL with bash-isms: “WHERE ID LIKE ‘%*’ “, showing that you expect an SQL character string followed by a bash character string, but that is again non-sensical.

Maybe it would have to be something like ‘hello??????'[2], to say that there are 6 characters of some type after your ‘hello’.

But there it was. The senseful juxtaposition of wildcards… bash statements inside command-line SQL statements.

That was it! But he had to think. How would he use this?

[1]And like the link says, you really don’t want to confuse it with NaN3. You really don’t want to confuse *anything* with NaN3.

[2]Or ‘hello……’.

Why are you Hiring?

July 8, 2016Organizing Systemsadmin

When you are trying to hire someone, what are you trying to do? Assuming you’re doing the sensible ‘hire once you can afford it'[1], parts of your organization are probably bursting at the seams, or people are probably feeling a bit (or a lot) overworked. Maybe a key person just left. Either way….

…you probably want to get someone in quickly, to fill the gap that you see in your organization, to take the load off yourself or the people around you.

At the same time, you want to get the right person in, someone who will add to your organization, someone who, over the time they’re with the organization, will be a net benefit.

So, ideally, you want the ‘right’ person, or the ‘best’ person quickly. But the world is not ideal, so you’ll probably have to compromise on ‘best’ slowly, or ‘good enough’ ‘as quick as you can'[5].

The issue here is that different people have different opinions of ‘good enough’, and ‘fast enough’. Sometimes, that is fine:

There’s probably a less stringent application process for washing dishes at a fast food restaurant[6], than for writing the code involved in launching nuclear weapons[7]. If you’re down one poll clerk with 30 minutes to go before the election starts, you probably need to act more quickly than if you’re a 20,000 person organization with 200 current job openings.

Next time, we’ll talk about different opinions of ‘good enough’ and ‘fast enough’ for hiring, and some things you can do about it. In the meantime:

Why are *you* hiring? What are your time horizons? Your short- and long-term goals?

[1]Aside from the nods I’ll get from most of the audience, this makes sense from a competitive perspective. In a perfect/ideal/rollingsphere[2] market situation, where different market participants have no edge beyond how hard they work, those who work harder (however that is defined). This means that whoever is working hardest is potentially (not necessarily) the most profitable and most able to hire new people, to start the cycle all over again.

[2]”Picture the market as a perfect rolling sphere.”[3]

[3]The punchline for many jokes about physicists begins with the physicist making an assumption that some object or process acts as ‘a perfect rolling sphere’. This object or process is typically nothing like a sphere, such as a horse or a bank. However, this can be a powerful tool to get started on a solution, and who knows? Maybe parts of the ‘perfect rolling sphere’ solution may be pretty close to correct![4]

[4]’Spherical chickens’ is not too far off from correct for a number of applications.

[5]If you’re Valve, or Google, this may not apply as strongly. Valve insists on ‘best’, regardless of speed, but they probably get a number and quality of applicants that would stagger any recruiter. Google probably doesn’t have to wait so much, but has a different problem of sorting through so many applications, with some interesting solutions [Wired paywall]

[6]I mention this because I once helped a nice young man with his application, so it springs to mind.

[7]I mention this because the very concept terrifies me, and I hope someone very very careful is the one doing this.

“There are only so many times the bag labeled ‘Priority’ can go around before you decide it is mislabeled.”

July 7, 2016Fiction, Rollickadmin

It wasn’t until he heard and fully decoded the word ‘Airbus’ that he could put words to why he disliked air travel so much.

Airplanes were very much like buses. You would sit in an uncomfortable chair for hours at a time, there would be constant vibrations and noise, and your chair would move unpredictably with the terrain.

But, as a way of seeing the world before you retired, planes were still essential. The only other real option in his price range was a sailboat, and he’d never liked sailing. In theory, it seemed like a great idea. Lots of fun calculations about wind speed, wind direction, sail orientation, and current direction. Lots of fun words like tacking, jibs, and mizzenmast.

The worst part was that he had to wear a Hawaiian shirt and shorts. At least he got to wear sunglasses.

“Attention all passengers, we are preparing for descent into Tokyo. Please return to your seat and restore your tray tables and seats to their upright positions.”

The plane landed. Disembarking was always such a trial. You could see the tarmac through the window, and you *knew* there were multiple ways out of the aircraft. For someone who knew every exit out of a building (and used each of them, for practice), being funneled out the front was galling.

As they left the plane and moved down the corridor, he took advantage of his costume to push forward through the crowd. He was pretty sure he hadn’t been followed to the airport, but someone could have sliced his fake ID and been ready to swap suitcases before he got there. He was more than able to operate with just the clothes on his back, but he would feel far more comfortable with the shoes made from gum in his checked luggage.

But he needn’t have worried. He reached the baggage carousel, but it had not even started moving yet. The next one over was carrying one lonely bag with a pink tag, around and around. Squinting, he could see that the pink tag said ‘Priority’. The bag continued to go around. Around and around.

An alarm! ‘His’ carousel was starting up! But no suitcases were coming out yet. His gaze wandered back to the lonely ‘Priority’ bag on its endless quest. He couldn’t stop the unbidden thought: “There are only so many times the bag labeled ‘Priority’ can go around before you decide it is mislabeled.”

Back to his carousel, suitcases were starting to emerge. There his was! And it had the monofilament string around it, still intact. He’d still need to check, but that was a good sign. Grabbing it, he made his way towards customs.

Burning Man in Pictures XXXII: Adventures at Night!

July 6, 2016Photos, Traveladmin

In our last post, our adventurers kicked off night two of the Charnival, leaving Mirror Blaze in the capable hands of some of the many talented volunteers, while they struck out to explore what Burning Man had to offer at night!

Today, we get a glimpse of those nighttime explorations!

First, Twisty, the wild Rubiksnake beckoned them from outside the Charnival to go on a ride!:

Along the way, they passed Seattle:

And learned something about what sheep do at night:

Apparently, this is what sheep look like at night.

Then they met the most magical tree:

And a most magical shark (in a bit of a hurry):

But the most amazing realization of the night, was that Blinky,:

Pinky,:

Inky,:

and Clyde:

Were all the same ghost! (And Pac-Man knew all along! #pacmanwasaninsidejob)

next time: More nocturnal adventures!

Burning Man in Pictures XXXI: The Charnival, Night Two

July 5, 2016Photos, Things We've Built, Traveladmin

In our last post, our intrepid heroes visited and surveyed the Charnival on their way back to camp for supper.

On the way back, they had a few random encounters. The first was with a beautiful giant Manta Ray and its keeper. Apparently, the Manta Ray (by Peter Hazel) was painstakingly assembled from individually formed pieces of glass over the course of many months:

We meet another friend! His keeper gives us an important token. — We meet another friend! Its keeper gives us an important token.

S also received an important token as a quest item.

Next, our heroes braved the ‘desert flower assortment’. We shall not share the expressions they were forced to express as they passed:

An interesting desert flower assortment.

Next, they spotted someone or something on top of a geodesic dome:

Who is that up on top of the geodesic dome?

Another friend! He seemed to be enjoying himself up there, and was definitely not an Octopus:

"Hello!" [waves eight times] — “Hello!” [waves eight times]

After dinner, our heroes returned to the Charnival, to perform the (almost) daily ritual cleaning of the mirrors, made necessary by the daily application of wind and playa dust. Here you can see S, with her trusty headlamp, using a Mr. Mister:

Then it was time to open again! We were helped by Jack (O’Lantern), Dug, and Joan. Mirror Blaze had been designed to be run by two people (one in the chair, controlling the fire, and one on player entry/exit), but we had asked for three because we suspected the crowds would get huge (which they did), and so that our volunteers could do things like take a washroom break. Here you can see S talking to Dug and Joan (I think), as crowds stream in:

Jack (O'Lantern) supervises the fire as S, Dug, and Joan (I think) look on. — Jack (O’Lantern) supervises the fire as S, Dug, and Joan (I think) look on.

Jack sets off the fire:

And conversation resumes:

S & Dug return to their conversation, Jack presiding.

Seth brought the coatrack, and modified the control system to hook it up to one of those ‘mind-controlling headbands’, and thus ‘Pyrokinesis‘ was born!:

Lastly, we leave you with an example of what a contact fire spinner (Ben, I think) can do with 2piR (Ardent Heavy Industries):

Tune in next time for zany nightime adventures into the wilds of the Burning Man night!

Burning Man in Pictures XXX: The Charnival in Daylight

July 4, 2016Photos, Things We've Built, Traveladmin

In our last entry, our heroes had made a new (possibly fire-breathing) friend, and checked in with Mirror Blaze to see what they had wrought, in full daylight. They then turned their gaze to the rest of the Charnival.

An installation at night feels like a totally different place from that installation during the day. The Charnival by night is a flashing, fiery place of awe and wonder. By day, the sun is baking, the space is wide open as far as the eye can see, the installations look dormant, almost waiting for someone to interact with them. Daytime is more subtle, you can see more detail, it feels easier to live in the now, to experience the thing in front of you, rather than being distracted by the shiny thing blinking out of the corner of your eye.

Our heroes start their tour with some shadowplay, the sun delivering very crisp shadows for the effort:

S is shadowed as she peruses Mirror Blaze.

The installations almost seem asleep, resting after their exertions of the night before. Most of the installations on playa are meant to be played with when the operators are not present, but not these, and in general, none of those which involve fire. Even though many people will walk through during the day, it gives a ‘backstage’ feel to the Charnival during the day:

The Scary Scaffolding, Pyrokinesis, 2piR, and The Man slumber, waiting for nighttime.

Some of the installations feel like they are watching and waiting…:

Fire Tetris, Hellblazer, ?, Clown Heads, Flaming Hookers, Francis, and the Flamethrower, all seeming to be watching away from the camera, and waiting... — Fire Tetris, Hellblazer, ?, Clown Heads, Flaming Hookers, Francis, and the Flamethrower, all seeming to be watching away from the camera, and waiting…

Definitely a backstage, with all of the Charnival Grounds signs facing outwards:

Shipping container, Riskee Ball!, Barker Stand, and a strange multi-coloured dome.

The wind baffles setup to protect FaIRE Hockey help it feel like an animal, hiding from the sun and wind during the heat of the day:

FaIRE Hockey, hidden from the sun and wind, sleeps and waits.

Looking at the relative rankings on the high striker here may give you insights into some of the unique culture at Burning Man:

Hellblazer, with Francis in the background. Here, you can see cultural opinions expressed in the rankings of a high-striker.

Francis the Fantastic was just that. It was the best integrated of the installations, combining fire, visuals, and sound into a cohesive whole. Here, you can see the trickster god waiting for the next volunteer:

Francis looks on eerily, awaiting the opportunity to express words and fire. (foreground: Hellblazer highstriker)

The Last Flamethrower crew were very no-nonsense about safety. Many people joke about ‘safety third’ at the Burn, but when you’re working with gasoline, you really, really can’t do that. Their demeanour and rules reflect that:

The Last Flamethrower, at rest. You can see the range safety rule list, the flamethrower itself, and the (slightly singed) targets.

Also, their blunt language:

Caution tape, Flamethrower Shooting Gallery edition.

Lastly, Gray had a piece next to Fire Tetris that I never quite learned the name of, but IIRC, the pieces would react to each other by glowing in different ways:

Gray explains how his glowing tetris pieces work.

Some links to some of the projects in Charnival:
2piR, by Ardent Heavy Industries
Clown Teabagging Eruption, by Dave McKay and Sir Not Appearing in This Film 🙁
FaIRE Hockey, by Marc Reeve-Newson
Flack in the Box, by Emile Daigle
Flaming Hookers, by TJ Kozma and Deanna Duffey
Francis the Fantastic, by Michael Everson and Trish Lamanna
Hell Blazer, by Kate Tanos
Last Flamethrower, by Matisse Enzer
Mirror Blaze (That’s us!)
Molotov et Immolato: Les Bouffons Brûlant du Ciel, by: Douglas Ruuska
Pyrokinesis, by Seth Hardy (Site 3 Fire Arts)
Riskee Ball (Carrie Smith and Site 3 Fire Arts)
Toxic Bloom, by Ethan Garner
Word of the Burning Bramble, by Michael Dewberry

Next time, our heroes pass by a number of non-biological biological installations, and start night two of Mirror Blaze and the Charnival!

Sometimes Egregious, Always Gregarious

Sometimes a letter can make a word of difference

Burning Man in Pictures XXXVI: Solo Morning Exploration!

Burning Man in Pictures XXXV: Further Nighttime Adventures

Burning Man in Pictures XXXIV: How Many Fucks do You Give?

Burning Man in Pictures XXXIII: Ceci N’est Pas Une Poste

“Senseless Juxtaposition of Wildcards.”

Why are you Hiring?

“There are only so many times the bag labeled ‘Priority’ can go around before you decide it is mislabeled.”

Burning Man in Pictures XXXII: Adventures at Night!

Burning Man in Pictures XXXI: The Charnival, Night Two

Burning Man in Pictures XXX: The Charnival in Daylight