grenade fishing

From Flight of the Chondords, another little treat sent to me from Jeremiah. Apparently this is his favorite song right now. Hilarious.

Burning Man is too big.  It is for the mass.  It is Disneyland.  It is no longer underground.  It is no longer fun.  There are too many people.  There are too many yahoos.  There are too many CEO’s.  There’s too much thump.  There’s too much raving.  There’s too much pollution.  there’s too much dust.  It lacks art.  It lacks good music.  it lacks excitement.

Oh, stop ya whining. See that rainbow? Even the Gods give their blessing to this cultural and social phenomenon. It has defied all logical reasoning and has grown to 46,000 attendees. These people were provided with very little provisions and supervision. There are no street lights or regulated laws, yet hardly any truly “bad” things happen. We get from Burning Man what we choose to get from Burning Man. As with life, the bad comes with the good. I think they call it yin yang. Or Newton’s Third Law ¹. Or something like that…

¹  For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Photo credit unknown (Unfortunately, I was not able to read the credit on far left bottom corner of image).

Great photo of the partially burnt Burning Man taken by Brad Templeton (original and more photos on his blog Brad Ideas).

They will be able mend him in time so he can be officially burned again on Sunday. To think, I could have missed the burn! (I’m leaving Thursday for the playa.) Of course, there has been lots of online discussions regarding this event.  Here’s a peek from one discussion group…

 smolderingman?

 

the man’s premature immolation was arson, the guy was arrested, and the man is likely going to be rebuilt in time for the true burn. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/28/BA2ARQRFI.DTL

 

Oh boy. I know the person who got arrested.

 

 I always know you hung out with shady characters! ;)

 

 is he shady, or was he high, or is he thinking “FUCK YEAH! this is the chaos needed by the new and improved burningman”?

 

Old anarchy type. Definitely not a newbie. He should have at least waited until Wednesday!

 

 from rocky mullin the cf list, the following info about the suspect in the man torching, a member of the cacophony society:
http://www.sharon.net/caliban/img/burning-man/paul.gif
he was a lawyer, but apparently didn’t pay his bar fees in 2005
http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=184757
he was a cyberbuss guy and used to go to bondage-a-go-go.

 

Does anyone else think it is a little extreme to call burning something that was meant to be burnt ‘Arson’. Doesn’t seem to be in same category as setting fire to someone’s house or lighting a forest fire. (Hell, it even gave me a little chuckle and doing it during the lunar eclipse was a nice touch ;)

 

it IS a bit selfish to burn the man b4 95% of the group arrives…
but, felon? really? that’s a bit extreme.
(LOL to myself again)

 

I say yes to the felon part…when you try to destroy something BEFORE the date it is suposed to be destroyed with FIRE then you are in a sense stealing or ruining it for the majority of those who want to see it….I say put him in jail…what a douche bag

 

http://laughingsquid.com for more info about Paul Addis, including an unforgettable mug shot, links to an ironic letter of his to the SF Weekly in 2002 excoriating Maid Marian and Larry Harvey, and pictures of Addis as Hunter S. Thompson in “Gonzo: A Brutal Chrysalis,” a one-man play that has run in SF and is supposed to hit Seattle in L.A. next month.

 

that’s a lot going on for an anarchist.  publicity stunt, anyone?

 

5’3” makes me wonder if this is actually a mug shot…

 

No…
5’3” explains the need to take a blow torch to the man… (and, remember, I don’t hate what he did…but, 5’3” explains a lot)

Please don’t dis all short people for the actions of this misanthrope. I suppose if he was gay, that would also explain his behavior.

 

That’s what i wanted to hear!!!
LOVE IT!!!
He WAS gay!

More rumor mongering:
While on the playa I heard it stated he was a former Marine.
Any truth to that vicious rumor?

 

Wired news did an interview with Paul Attis last week.
http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2007/08/addis
Basicly a disgruntled long time burner who is unhappy that it just isn’t the same as it was in the old days.

 

Photo of Paul Addis via SFGate.com 

More coverage: CNN 

 

…..what a scraper bike is.

Coming Straight from Oakland
The Proper Use of Scrapers

Hey Frank, thanks for the tip.