Time to start planning...

If you're not already paying attention to what's going on with Peak Oil/Energy/Money/Food, you really should be.

Here's a primer:

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv...eo.html

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...41.html

www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/Bre...html

patrick.net/housing/crash.html

I don't believe it's fear mongering, it's just fact: we've all experienced the housing/credit crush, now fuel is spiking and food along with it. And with that is going to come some overdue changes to our individual and collective lifestyles.

www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi

Oh, and PS, don't forget about climate change.


AG and I are doing what we can to be able to take care of ourselves and the little one. Last month, we got a biodiesel Mercedes, and yesterday said goodbye to our beloved, but petro burning, Honda. With our downstairs neighbors and landlord, we're going to become ( we think ) the first people to do a joint tenant/landlord solar installation on our home (we'll pay the same, but to him to cover the cost, not PG&E). We're also actively exploring getting a wee chicken coop out back, to go in the garden. And next month, I'll be volunteering w/my stepfather back home at a community food bank of sorts, and will then be able to buy a year's supply of dehydrated food on the cheap. ( I was raised mormon, what can I say).

I know that posting this may brand me a bit paranoid. That's fine. I grew up in a poor family that raised much of our own food, and got a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction from it. I suspect the reason many people go to BM is to experience, on some level, the visceral joy that comes from providing your own food and shelter--even if ably abetted by Wal-Mart and Costco. So if for no other reason, we'll keep doing what we're doing. And knowing many of you to be smart, forward looking people, who might not have had this information all put together like this in one place, well, perhaps it will be of value. Far better to see the storm coming, and close the windows and bring in the laundry, than to be surprised outside when the rain begins to fall...

She Made It! Vote again for all the marbles!

Holy Cuteness, batman! Juniper made it to round three in the "Cute Baby
Photo" contest to win $5000 for her college fund.

It started with 3,000+, then down to 200, now she's in the Top 50
and this is the FINAL ROUND! Winner takes all, 2nd place gets nada.

wild949.com/pages/babies...wild2008.html

Please vote this week - you can vote once per day per email address. Vote from all of them:)
Thanks, tell your friends!

She made it! Vote again to go all the way

Hey now...ROUND TWO! She made it!

Juniper made it into round two - out of thousands of cute babies, she's one of the....cute babies with the most friends on the internet!

FIVE DAYS IN THIS ROUND! Vote! Get your friends to vote! She's in group one, slot #104. If she wins, she get's $5,000!!! for college.

wild949.com/pages/babies...wild2008.html

Send my baby to school

So the local radio station is having a contest, and the baby that gets the most votes gets $5,000 for school.

This is where you come in.

Go to this link:
wild949.com/pages/babies...wild2008.html

Vote for #49, Juniper Grace.

They'll email you a confirmation and leave a cookie ( so if you feel like doing it again, and don't feel like loosing all your stored info, use a browser like Safari you don't normally use, instead of your daily driver Firefox.

Once cleared, if so inclined, you can vote again the following day.

Kid whose parents know the most people who're likely to be online anyway and looking for a distraction wins $5,000, or about enough to pay for 20 minutes of Cal in 2023. Every little bit helps!

Thanks,

Tom, AG, and Juniper

Can you help in Fernley this weekend? Rides/digs/meals available--good, clean ( ok, filthy) fun!

Hey folks-

It's been almost two weeks since the flood in Fernley, Nevada, and our community's response has been nothing short of incredible.

In less than a week, we raised over $6,000 to help the victims, and several BWB volunteers have been there the whole time helping clean up and clean out.

Last weekend's work weekend was a great success--lots of good solid dirty work done, capped by a surprise visit from President Bill Clinton, when he posed with the crew for photos; see them , read a newspaper story about the work we've done, and hear about what we've been up to here:

www.burnerswithoutborders.org/glo...reak

The folks who've been there full time--Spoon, Eli, and Matt--need to get moving on to other things next week, but we're seeing if we can't squeeze out one more good weekend of work!

So, if you can, please get on up to Fernley this weekend, even if it's only for a couple hours. If you're not from the area, we have the ability to provide a hotel room for all volunteers ( thanks to the donations, and a great break on rates from the Truck Inn). And we can provide meals and gas money if needed for folks coming to help out. All the money that remains after this weekend will be distributed to people in need, in consultation with other aid agencies and the office of the Mayor of Fernley.

What to expect: Weather this weekend should be clear, and around 40 for a high. Bring shoes you don't mind getting dirty, and spare to wear afterwards. Gloves are also a plus. Eli, Matt, and Spoon will help you find a place to pitch in, and make sure you've got the tools you need to make a difference. The only thing you really need to do is show up and be willing to help out!

Do you need a ride? Email price_tom@hotmail.com

Got a ride you're willing to offer? Email Tom, and let him know when you'll leave/return, and from where.

Thanks again for all you've done!

BWB: oil spill, Peru eathquake, and more--meeting this Thursday!

From Carmen:

Hello-

I hope to see you all at the next BWB Salon. (Info. below) We have a
lot to talk about and a lot of opportunities to participate in ways
that will have a real impact.

So, how do we want to tackle this disgusting oil spill in our Bay?
A lot of people have asked me and I have a call into Rudy at the
National Park Service to find out how groups might be most effective.
For instance, we could brainstorm a longish-term plan that might
inspire others to commit to a sustainable clean up plan

-I am going to L.A. tomorrow to collaborate with some amazing people
who are helping us develop a network that will do nothing less than
change the face of how people network.

-And we have raised over $6,000 for the Peru construction project and
Burners are going down to help out.

You won't want to miss this one.

What: Burners without Borders Salon
When: November 14 at 7:30pm.
Where: Hosted by Nicole Maron
2211-B Mission Street, San Francisco
Call 415.846.2936
Bring-Your own food and drink! Nicole has been gracious enough to
let us use her beautiful space and there are plenty of good burrito
joints in her neighborhood.

I hope to see you all there.

Carmen
415-368-3704

Look at what Actiongrl H^H^H^ mom made!

www.flickr.com/photos/689...2948936151/

for once, i'm at a loss for works. thanks, everyone, for your energy and support and encouragement, we're blessed to be a part of this community.

Help SOCAL fire victims find temp housing/stoage

Hey folks-

A little more detail on this housing idea--from news reports, it looks like 600,000+ people are on the move. Question is: to where?

Most of us have a spare space we can put someone in a pinch for a couple days, and we have a large community down there, so we're attempting to create a space where offers of help and requests for need can be matched up. Plone isn't the best framework for this, but you work with what you've got! ( If you know of a better platform, let Carmen know.)

How it works:

Email either a request or offer to Carmen@burningman.com or projects@burnerswithoutborders.org

Then, she'll post it here:

www.burnerswithoutborders.org/soc...work

( see the sample?)

We'll let people connect on their own. It might be of help for folks, might not, we'll see. Can't hurt to try, though!

Help Make Great Art--see below

From the JRS, please share widely:

Burning Man Update: The Jack Rabbit Speaks
Volume 11, Issue 17 Art News - URGENT
August 9, 2007



This quickly inserted before regular issue, still on the way....man,
y'all have a lot of news to compile this year!!

SPECIAL ART EDITION

Two of our most ambitious honorarium projects for 2007 are BigRigJig by
Mike Ross and JIm Mason's Mechabolic: Cyborg Speculations in Machine
Metabolism.

Although Burning Man funded both projects, each has exhausted their
budget and is in need of financial support. We have never before
approached the community for help like this, but we are unable to
further fund these projects, so we are calling on our readers for help
in a few ways.

Mike Ross of Big Rig Jig - (see the project at www.bigrigjig.com
- it's literally awesome) - reports:

"Things are going well on the project. We are on schedule, and ramping
things up dramatically for the last few weeks. Several new core crew
members just arrived from New York with a burst of energy and
enthusiasm. We are working full time, 7 days a week, from about 2pm to
4am (last two nights till 5am, actually). Its an amazing group of
people that can sacrifice months of their lives, working that hard to
pull something like this off. Im lucky to have them around. And we are
all lucky to have Burning Man provide the opportunity for us.

Unfortunately, despite our best and continued efforts, we are out of
money. Putting two big rig trucks 40 feet up in the air is enormously
difficult, especially when you come from out of town (we moved our
entire operation from Brooklyn, NY to California in order to build this
sculpture). We received the majority of our funding from the Burning
Man grant, and immediately began seeking additional sources to make up
for the remainder of our budget. But between setting up a new shop,
finding our materials in an unfamiliar environment, and actually
building the project, our time is stretched thin. The long and short
of it is that we have so far failed to find the additional funding we
need. As of two weeks ago, the project is being funded by personal
credit cards, which is difficult as I have no source of income right
now, and have already spent my savings on the project. If you know of
any emergency funding opportunities, or other helpful people or
resources, we would be much obliged. You can help with in kind donations
of materials, too.

If you can help, please contact mikenon@gmail.com
Donate via PayPal to: donate@bigrigjig.com

Funding Needs:
To meet costs, we need to raise approximately $20,000. Any donation,
large or small, helps.

Some specific in kind donations would help reduce this. Wish List:

* I-beams: 72 feet of W14x109 I-beam (or approximate equivalent)
* Road Plates: 5 road plates (or approximate equivalent) borrowed or
purchased
* Chrome Truck Accessories, such as: air filter assemblies, exterior
"chicken" lights, bumpers, exhaust "stacks", rims
* Lighting: exterior par cans or other lights which can project onto
the surface of the sculpture
* 20 kW generator, or approximate equivalent, for use during 2-week
pre-event installation
* Transportation Services: 3 full-length flatbeds from Oakland to the
playa before the event, and from playa to Oakland afterwards

Also, we can always use more volunteers in Oakland of various skill
levels, from skilled metal fabricators/welders, to anyone willing to
spend a few hours holding a grinder.



Jim Mason - www.mechabolic.org - tells us:

"Logistically we are about as ok as can be expected. The time is
stressful, but we are making it, and the sculpture working very well.

Our real problem is money. This remains a much more expensive project
than we were funded for. Building a 120 foot, trash-to-fuel,
land speed racer slug scavenger continues to be, well, difficult and
expensive.

The fundraising and extra personal money I expected to put towards this
project has been extremely challenged by the shipyard vs city of
berkeley situation (www.theshipyard.org). Though we stopped the
city shutdown, the shipyard continues to hemmorage money. All
rent-paying citizens have had to move out, but all liabilities to the
landowner remain, as do a ton of city interventions and the associated
architects and permitting fees. This has more than consumed all the
extra resources I hoped to apply to the Mechabolic when we were planning
all this back in the naive and
saladicious days of March/April.

Deficit spending started in earnest this past week. Finishing important
details in the project, as well as sanely transporting it to and from
the desert requires us finding another $20k.

If you want to help, contact me at "jimmason@whatiamupto.com".
donations can also be sent directly via paypal address
"jimmason@whatiamupto.com". As you know small donations are as
meaningful as big ones. Many 10 or 20 or 50 dollar donations add up to
significant amounts.


Here is our list of needed inkind physical type things. Finding these
without having to buy them of course reduces our project costs.

Materials/Parts-

-stainless steel tubing (specifically 0.120" wall 1.5" rnd tube, but
we can use any rnd/sq tube, sheet, or plate)
-clear tubing, 1-8" (acrylic / poly-carbonate / etc)
-scientific and high temp glass / pyrex (tube, sheet, dish, etc)
-shade cloth / window screen / mesh / alumaweave)
-2 front truck axles (medium to heavy duty w/ knuckles and hubs).
ford f-350 superduty front axles ideally.
- polished aluminum diamond plate sheets.
- big block chevy bell housing and starter motor
- 5th wheel and kingpin assembly from a semi tractor and trailer
- 4x4 transfer case, or over/under gear down box
- potted orchids
- good planting soil

Loaners-
-scaffolding
-work lights on stands (we'll buy the bulbs)

People-
-weldors/fabricators (i.e. competent in layout with strong mig, plasma
skills)
-mechanics (specifically for hydraulic systems and/or helping bring an
insanely built performance 427 to turn-key)
-machinists (we have a full shop)
-shop god/goddess (anyone who loves MIIP 'matter in its place' and can
help combat the resultant chaos of fabrication frenetics)

Logistics-
-shipping (Yeah, who doesn't? The creature will break down to fit in
a 40' container, or on a 40' trailer and the internals should fit
in/on a 20'."

ALSO: Those around the Bay Area... Peter the Boston Regional is out here
helping with Mechabolic and he sent this to local regional contacts:

"The team is looking for people that can commit a couple of nights and a
weekend or two of work and provide general fab skills... but if you can
just assist in the labor, "hold this here, carry this there" you are
probably welcome.

As Jim Mason wrote, 'the crew is tired. we need your fresh face and
youthful enthusiasm.
good food and drink returned daily. as well as participation in a
rather interesting project.'

It would be a great project for others to be involved in and you get to
work with some really smart, fun and otherwise interesting folk.

Contact Jim at jimmason@whatiamupto.com or Babalou at bbl@babalou.com if
you can lend a hand."

The JRS hopes everyone will spread the word about these two amazing
projects and the ways we can help them get to the finish line on the playa.


Make art go. Yyyyeah!

Meow, as the kitty would say.

23 days until we burn.