Our very own BloodyMaryLand Liquid Breakfast is scheduled for Wednesday morning from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm.

You may also want to check out the theme camps and art installations to see what is generally going to be on the playa this year.  I especially like the Mant Farm and the Nowhere to Nowhere Monorail.

Also note that Kinetic Cab Company is one of the 2010 Honorarium Art Installations.  BloodyMaryLand will be participating in their event,  The Great Black Rock City Kinetic Sculpture Race and Treasure Hunt.

Let me show you Sean’s plan for building a shade structure. Please excuse the crudity of this model,I didn’t have time to build it to scale or to paint it.

Actually, it is built to scale more or less. The support poles are 12 feet long and the whole structure is about 35 feet long. You can see more pictures at. http://picasaweb.google.com/cubicleescapee/BmShadeModel
I have my opinions on the structure now that I’ve seen it, but I’ll get some comments before I weigh in on the subject.

• More meals less snacks.
• Solar panels and accessories.
  • Panel and charge controller need to be added to Plan A.
• Poop is a funny word.
  • Sure is.
• Better grill(I would propose charcoal but this would be a moop issues)
  • At least 30,000 BTU/hr
• Spatula for grill
  • Yes
• Bike rack so we have storage on the roof.
  • How about on the trailer.
• Green laser.
  • Feel free.
• Some kind of wind blocking system.
  • Stack extra junk under southern RV.
• Midnight snacks.
  • More Chorizo!
• Space blankets for RV
  • Silvered tarp for the roof and Eastern side of RV.
• Better system for trash and recycling.
  • Where to drop off recycling?
• Bring champagne to the burn.
  • Yes! Several Bottles
• Expand costume area.
  • Or reduce tents in costume area

Our criteria from wayback included:

• Larger shade space
• More bar shade
• Lower weight penalty
• Easier to put up
• Not reliant on RVs to function (as was the case with the Janky Weave’s damaged awning)
• More resilient in windstorms
• Possible replacement for the garage tent

I went a step further to add:

• IS ALSO THE BAR

To that end, I’ve been conducting research in that arena for some time now and have arrived at what I feel is our best bet for a solution. Tensile Integrity, or “Tensegrity” structures offer a degree of elegance that you don’t often see in canopy designs. Basically, the designs use rigid and flexible properties of different materials to hold shit together. Yay. Modern tent designs are now beginning to incorporate tensegrity principles. You have seen a larger one if you’ve ever driven down RT 50 heading to Ocean City, MD. The tent-looking ampitheater in Cambridge, MD is a prime example.

Now, there are a handful of examples of tensegrity structures on the Playa, most notable among them is from Camp Elsewhere:

Their website lays it down proppa -

“They [tensegrity structures] work well for Burning Man because they are:

1) cheap to build,
2) fairly easy to transport,
3) fast and easy to set up,
4) nice and cool with maximum airflow, and
5) best of all for the playa, they are pretty much indestructible.

Word. Don’t confuse this with stretching a few tarps across some tent poles. The construction is more than that. By using flexible canopy material, you create a structure that is strong yet giving (useful in high wind scenarios), with a high shade-surface-to-weight ratio. Below are some pencil sketches of a preliminary design that allows for basically the same camp layout as in ‘06, but adds some refinements I think you’ll find useful. The sketches are roughly hewn and even rougher in scale. I did not have a ruler at work and drank too much at my five martini solo lunch to risk tracking one down from my coworkers…

Tensegrity Structure Side Elevation

This first image give the side view, minus the RVs. This was done as to not distract from the view of the canopy. As you can see, it looks a lot like a circus or wedding tent (and really, what is the difference between a circus and a wedding that needs a fucking tent? Not a goddamn thing.) There are no side panels thought, and the canopy holds its shape through the use of a flexible fabric stretched across the rigid beams. You’ll see that there is ample space under the canopy, and more importantly, the support beams also serve as the verticals for THE BAR! And the bar is BIGGER, with BETTER SHADE, and now a degree of CROWD CONTROL, which we’ll see more of in subsequent drawings.

Tensegrity Structure Overhead Elevation

This shitty sketch shows an approximation of what the camp would look like from overhead. The “V” configuration of the two RV’s is still preserved, as is the bar being at the front of the camp. One of the things we all complained about last time was the inability to close shop when we needed some downtime. By integrating the bar with the supports, we can extend the canopy material over and “Close” the bar unequivocally as need be. Since the structure is independent from the RVs, the placement of said vehicles allows for much greater flexibility. Shown here, I’ve left space in between RV and shade structure for cooking areas and bike parking space. Now we don’t sacrifice precious shade for storage.

Tensegrity Structure Bar Detail

Which brings us to this awful piece of shit that my high school mechanical drawing teacher, Mr. Sheridan would most certainly have wiped his ass with. Whatever. I’m surprised that I can draw anything at all, let alone semi-detailed projections. At any rate, here is the skinny on the bar. We have options. I figured we’d just festoon it to the shade beams and call it a day, with some “modesty panels” affixed to shore up the surface and make it look less like a bench and more like a bar. Depending on how much load bearing we need, we can add some upright wire supports. This should effectively DOUBLE our bar surface area, as well as allowing for space behind the rail for us to work. And taking cues from early Christians, pioneers in primitive crowd control (they invented the aisle to accommodate pilgrims who came to view St. Peter’s tomb), I’ve separated the bar into “wet” and “dry” sides (just like a darkroom). So the guests come down one side, get their base and their booze, and then head over to the other side where the drinks are finished, garnished, and mixed. This way, we compartmentalize to some extent and cut back on bottlenecking. Or we can split the line and run two at once. Whatever will reduce our foot traffic spilling out into the outer ring, which if you recall was an official complaint from the last time.

PRACTICAL ISSUES -

There are a few hurdles to overcome, but none that are insurmountable to clever children such as ourselves. They include, off the top of my head:

• SCALE – We can build this sucker as large as we need it. Beam length isn’t such a problem as sewing the canopy. I have a feeling that we’ll have to take a sailmaker’s approach and sew bolts of fabric lengthwise and then cut/reinforce the shape we need. I have never done this, but I do have some fair sewing experience. I look to others (Mindy) to render assistance on this front. Taller is better, as more headspace means a cooler underside.
• MATERIALS – The beams can be made from actual rounded beams (as in the Elsewhere design), or we could sandwich some 2X4s together to make lighter, longer ones. Or we could use metal pipe. The best design will give us length without weight. Canopy material research is ongoing. Lycra, Dacron and other ideal materials are fucking expensive. Canvas is less expensive but heavier and not as flexible. I will find a cost effective solution, I swear!
• SHAPE – The shape is what I thought would be best, but that can always change to suit other needs. I’m not married to the layout by any means, except for where the bar is concerned. We need to think real hard about what we do and don’t want to bring this year. Personally, I would like to leave the garage tent home this time. It was a pain to set up and only offered a small amount of useable space. Which means making a bigger shade structure is in the cards. This is possible, but we all need to voice our concerns now.
• WIREPLAN & OTHER SPECS – Tensegrity structures rely on guy wires to keep them up. Whatever we design needs to be within the Playa regs for something like that. There may be a size that triggers the DPW to take a look at what we’re doing. No problemo; we just need to be sure that everything is to code. Safety Third and all…

That’s basically it. More to come as we refine. Input from everyone is a must, and the sooner the better.

-Sean

• Bar doors to close.
• Much more organization with regard to food.
• “Art Car” golf cart for carrying ice.
• Carts for bikes
• Baskets for bikes
• Permanent lighting (No more glow sticks!)
  • Battery Powered glowsticks, body EL
• Better/permanent lighting for bikes
• Everyone has bikes.
• More supplies for BloodyMaryland
  • Tomato Juice
  • Old Bay
• A few more chairs than people
• Michal
• Lots more H2O
• System for showers(plus backup)
• Prelabel gallon jugs for the week
• Supplies for 2-3 showers.
• More caffeine products.
• Better camp lighting.
  • Cold cathodes, programmed
• 2^nd Garage tent.
• Full shade structure between two RVs
• More planned costumes.
• Perhaps a different bar area design.
• Better sound system. (Better than the Weave?)
• Better hat (Better than the Kangol?)
• Better leaving time.(either Tuesday or Monday at 4am)
• Gifts: matchbooks
  • Lip balm
  • A few special handmade items
  • Necklaces
• Get a haircut beforehand.
• More pre-made meals.
• More meals less snacks.
• Solar panels and accessories.
• Poop is a funny word.
• Better grill(I would propose charcoal but this would be a moop issue)
• Spatula for grill
• Bike rack so we have storage on the roof.
• Green laser.
• Some kind of wind blocking system.
• Midnight snacks.
• Space blankets for RV
• Better system for trash and recycling.
  • Where to drop off recycling.
• Bring champagne to the burn.
• Expand costume area.

Herb, Alison, Mindy, Eric, Ryan W., Will, Fitz, Meredith, Sean

In case you don’t believe we managed to get that many people together at the same place at the same time, I have photo proof. Click any image to view the larger version.

Meeting Notes:
At this first meeting we dusted off our notes from 2006 and reviewed what needs improvement in 2008. We worked off a list of handwritten notes that came from the return RV trip to the east coast. We also have a fantastic starting point in this list for improving the bloody mary bar, provided by Dave just after the ‘06 burn.

We talked about who would be driving and who would be flying, and how many people we should bank on making it to ‘08. For planning purposes only, we estimate that we will have 15 campers. We’ll have more of a definite idea when people start buying their tickets.

Definitely driving from the east are:
Will, Fitz, Mindy, Ryan W., Sean
This is important, because if there are too few drivers, we don’t have an RV coming from the east coast. Ryan S. and Meredith may also join the drivers in one direction.

We will also have an RV from the west, captained by Weaver. The remainder will be flying into Reno. Logistics of getting the flyers to the playa are yet to be determined, but should there be too many to squeeze into the west coast RV, there is always the rideshare option.

We started in on the handwritten notes and made these additional comments:

• we need more chile for the cowboy sunset
• we ran out of drinking water last time. more needed.
• gallon jugs of water should be labeled on Monday, first thing, to be sure everyone has and is drinking their alotted amount. no more labeling as you go.
• presume you will be responsible for your own breakfast. bring breakfast bars or whatever it is you like to eat that requires little preparation
• more premade food, like the frozen chile, or boil in a bag meals, would make our lives easier, and create less mess.
• we need to be better about reducing the amount of trash we produce. it is hard to haul out all those bags. bring CANS of tomato juice instead of plastic, because we can flatten them more easily
• bring a can crusher
• we need trash and recycling bins, with large openings and easy to identify
• the bloody mary bar needs shutters or something to indicate it is closed
• the bar needs to be longer, to fit 3 people behind it and in front of it
• let’s try to keep the ice we put in drinks dust-free (TRY, at least)
• make it easier to identify our group’s bikes at night

HOMEWORK:
Herb – windmill power research. get the specs and supply list. start figuring out where to get parts.
Sean - shade structure research. tell us how to build the tension structure you were talking about
Eric – grey water evaporation research. can we make this work better than the pond we built previously?

Love?

Concern for fellow man?

A devotion to craftsmanship?

In the Robert Altman classic, M.A.S.H. (not the eponymous emasculated Alan Alda vehicle, mind you), Trapper John suggests :

“Yes, but a man can’t really savor a martini without an olive, otherwise it just doesn’t quite make it.”

Likewise, if you’re hauling all manor of debris into the desert, why skimp on the requisite constituents for a satisfactory cocktail experience? In the space required for a medium sized cooler of cheap domestic beer, the BloodyMaryland crew stashes that extra mile. We’ve taken that recipe and given it nuance, character, and a hefty dollop of Old Bay seasoning.

Simply put, the BMbm is Bespoke at its finest. We are the Savile Row of morning alcoholism, where your demand for the finest fashion meets the skill and versatility of a professional hand. We individually craft our bloodies to your specifications, taking care to address the individual needs of discerning burners. If you don’t want it, we’ll take it out. If there’s something we could add more of, we’ll do our best. We will slave in the heat to provide you some modicum of cool comfort. When the booze is not flowing, the conversation is.

Look for us in 2008! (we take a year of between burns to recharge the Awesome)

-Sean