Voices in my head that talk to you

My Visit to the Bay Area

Gothalot — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:04:02 GMT

What a great 3 nights an 4 days! Last week I went up to the Bay Area on business. Had some time to see the shoot location and do a pre set-up then a shoot the next day. Had time to spend an evening with Mitzo over a beer, and hang out with Bobzilla for some illicit bacon. Mwhahahaha. The trip was well worth it. Productive to say the least. Thank you Bobzilla, thank you Mitzo. You made my week! And many thanks to Sunburn for turning me on to the gig, you rawk!

2009 burns smoulders

Gothalot — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:59:50 GMT

Hmmmm so 2010.. heh heh heh heh, you wait and see, heh heh.

Justice delivered by gothalot to trafic photo scam

Gothalot — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:50 GMT

Okay so months ago Butterfly and I are approaching a signal turning yellow. We were on our way to the hospital because she hurt her back and wanted it checked out. I slowed down to the light. At the intersection there was a bus way line that chops the waiting area in half with limit lines at both areas. I didnt want to slam on the brakes so I eased to the next line. Naturally the cameras caught this and labeled it as running the red light. I got a lovely photo of me in the Volvo. So first Im looking at the series of pictures and wondering why it doesnt show me stopped at the line in front. The pictures make it look like I ran the light completely. Yea right. (blows a raspberry) I got a lovely little picture in a series of four (out of sequence making it look even more terrible) in the mail one day. I took it to the courthouse and asked for a trial. Yea in yer face Perry Mason, Im a hack lawyer now! Who's yer daddy! So today was trial day. After a few attempts by officers to get me to take traffic school and trying to convince me of the validity of the photos I turned to one respectfully and said; " I see, that's interesting. Well look, as much as I appreciate how you are doing your job and I respect that, I also do forensic video for a living. Its part of my company's profile to look at stills, film and video over for inaccuracies. Its my opinion that the photos are inconclusive. " So you want a trial he asked. Yes I replied. I was kindly asked to be seated. So, end of negotiation. (gulp) While others were being processed for various infractions, cell phone usage (guilty), speeding blah blah blah, I sat there looking for the supposed officer that signed off on my infraction. The guy that takes the film out of the camera, inspects, calibrates etc.. no sight of him. An officer approaches me and motions me to the side. "Were dismissing the charges" He then shows me blow ups they prepared. All in all I had no idea what he muttered, I just agreed and said thank you for having a closer look. I have no idea what they saw and what I did hear him say had little or nothing to do with my defense. Sometimes ya just gotta nod and accept things how they saw it. The end result was my case was dismissed. I beat it. I didn't run the light after all but I do wonder how many others were caught doing the same thing. Its a red light trap and I beat it. In your face LA LAW! Woot woot I rawk! Oh yea I saved 400 bucks too, Woooooot! So, that was my day.

Rue Morgue placement

Gothalot — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 03:18:54 GMT

FYI the Rue Morgue will be at its same as last year location "The 9:00 Plaza and B. We were offered Center Camp but opted for our home location. Woot woot!

Waambulance needs transpo up north

Gothalot — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:14:19 GMT

I need help getting the Waambulance to Santa Rosa for customization and artcarness. We dont have a way to tow it or a trailer. Ooops. Just a one way trip to gothiness up north. Ill help w gas of course.

Santa Monica Pier 100th Anniversary

Gothalot — Sun, 17 May 2009 02:02:10 GMT

The economy being what it is, Butterfly found us something cheep and fun to do today. We went to the Santa Monica Pier. celebrating their 100th anniversary. Very circ bizerk! We had a blast and Bob an Simcha were stars as usual hamming it up and interacting with performers and tourists.

Goodbye my friend

Gothalot — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:12:24 GMT

We had some crazy attraction as friends. You helped me, I helped you. You scared me sometimes. You lived so close to the knifes edge more alive than anyone could be. You had courage and stayed as long as you could. You do not need my forgiveness you always had that. Goodbye my friend, thank you for making my life one big fascination and enlightening everyone with your truth. I don't know how many of you knew him, Im not claiming to have known him daily, we met up at events and spent time at Burning Man. Some may have heard his exploits. For me he was a man that burned the candle at both ends and as a friend of mine put it "Its the miles you traveled in your life that says how long you get to stay here", or words to that effect. He traveled the world, he painted, he sculpted, built art cars, theme camps, he was a writer and photographer for the press abroad in many war zones. He was an avid speaker and a check and balance for the Burning Man community. You didnt necessarily have to agree with him, he didnt care if you did. Caleb just wanted you to think. To think about what you are doing and the effect it has on the world. He did that through his many talents as an artist. I admired him. He said what needed to say and did not falter. He championed people and new ideas at his own peril. There arent many around like him. They were qualities to which I personally look for and aim for. I want to build him a memorial this year. Nothing major. a life size Suzuki Samurai with him on top of it. I want help. Im asking for your help.

Rue Morgue Carnal-Val Deux in Sacramental CA

Gothalot — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:30:26 GMT

8PM-2AM May 2nd 2009

The Rue Morgue at Burning Man 2009

Gothalot — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 02:54:26 GMT

Woot woot, okay you wood workin, gear headed contraption making crazies out there, Hi! We're gearing up for another interesting year at the Rue Morgue! Last weekend we began the planning phases as well as some welding.. on what you ask? We're stepping up an out onto playa with a more developed theme camp, a new larger structure, a new origami folding concept so those can fold a lovely work of art dedicated to their loved ones to be placed in our coffins destined for the temple burn. We also have two new art cars coming out, one pedal powered by the most amazing Skirblah and one by yours truely and Butterfly, both with the help of Steamboat Ed and our illustrious hot an sexy crew! We've got some new crew additions and events planed so stay tuned to the Rue Morgue tribe for further details! Anyone wanting to get involved with the theme camp please message me so I can put you on something fun! Hold on tight here we go!

Rue Morgue / Temple of Community Video 2008

Gothalot — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:30:30 GMT

Here is the video for 2008. Enjoy. PART 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1VyFylIkeE PART 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq7ru1guI9s

Rue Morgue's CARNAL-VAL Feb 21st Sacramento, CA

Gothalot — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 21:52:46 GMT

Come on down an dance yer asses off with us!

Happy Hollidays and Happy New Year

Gothalot — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:09:08 GMT

Greetings, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. This year Lisa and I spend our holidays with some family. We will miss our family in Santa Rosa this year but our love is always with them. The future looks bright, business grows and we struggle with everyone through hard times but remain very optimistic about the future. Emotions run high in these times and we keep to our beliefs by not allowing global climates to dictate our future. We make it happen. we are the miracles of life and so is everyone else. We are settling in well in our new home in Los Angeles. Its lovely and rural, yet in the city. The dogs and us go hiking in the Chatsworth hills where once westerns were filmed and we enjoy soaking in the rich history which was once part of my childhood which I get to share with my ever so precious Butterfly. This year we gear up for another Burning Man of course with the Rue Morgue, and art car and reconnecting with our precious crew. Thank you all for being in our lives and we wish you the happiest of holidays and an even more prosperous new year in 2009!

Looking for a golf cart for the Mini Necromancer

Gothalot — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:13:28 GMT

Okay guys Im putting the word out. Im considering building a mini Necromancer on a golf cart body and asking if anyone has a golf cart they want to part with dirt cheep or free, gas or electric. You know what Ive done in the past so rest assured if youdonate it to the Rue Morgue cause we will impress you with what it turns out to be. THANKS!

Alien gives MCain handjob

Gothalot — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 23:36:11 GMT

Says it all, thanks Tristan for the pic.

Back in Los Angeles (HellLay)

Gothalot — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 19:14:05 GMT

After years up north and business not being what it could be I had to make the hard decision to move back. Many friends to the north I will miss seeing on a daily basis. The Rue Morgue and art car shenanigans will continue at Steamboats but I will not be there every day. :-( Soooo when I do go up there it will be intensive work work work weld build hammer hammer etc.. We got a lovely 3bdrm house up in the hills with some room for the dogs and we're close to family and friends. Im kinda busy getting the business up to speed so forgive me if I keep this short. WORK = Cash for burning man projects = Happy Gothalot. I miss you Ed an Judy! Hugs!

Temple of Community's Sembazuru final report

Gothalot — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:28:22 GMT

The Temple of Community crew would like to thank everyone involved with Sembazuru. The memorial was a grand success and appreciated by many Burning Man attendees. We were touched by the amount of participation and genuine love through out the project and sincerely hope it was everything you wanted it to be. Thank you for your donations, hard work and input. The project itself went smoothly. We engineered it without real blueprints. A drawing was made by Skirblah and handed off to Gothalot for the engineering and build. We went from Skirblah’s concept sketches and some minor changes were made along the way to incorporate logistics, finances and structure integrity. We originally were looking at a 45 foot or more height with a 20 foot square platform. Our first concern became cost. The second concern was size and ability to get it in a truck partially put together. This would have required a flat bed semi. With the budget we had something of that size did not work. Thus we scaled it down to a 10 foot square platform and a 32 foot high Crane. This enabled us to get head , tail and wing pieces up without the use of a hoist or crane on the build itself and transport it at a reasonable cost. Hinge assemblies were fabricated in Steamboat Ed’s workshop enabling the pieces to pivot upwards. Some pieces took 6 or more people and some careful rope work to lift up into position. The pre fabricate and set up on location in Santa Rosa helped logistics immensely. We were able to sort out potential problems ahead of time and this made the build at the Burning Man event much easier and allowed for any unforeseen mishaps or delays. Wind-storms being the biggest set back out there in the Black Rock desert. Sembazuru went up relatively easy out there in Black Rock City. There is not much to report. We all did our jobs and we only went a day off schedule albeit it was our contingency day. The Gateway part of the project designed by Rhino went up fast albeit a few design changes. The community was able to participate in Sembazuru throughout its construction and after it completion by Wednesday. There were many offerings and memorials placed at the Temple throughout the week until its burn. Overall summation by Gothalot – As far as the design went we pretty much built what we said we’d build. It came out just as we expected which in itself is no small feat. It was always an organic work in progress and you always have to take into consideration that what goes on paper is always what you end up with. We did a good job at remaining true to the artists renderings. The crew worked together in all phases to create something that would hold up in possible Gail force winds, serve the communities needs and be aesthetically pleasing to view. Was the project a success? Yes, Id say it was. There are a few things I would do differently. Finances; First, I would make sure it was well funded. As the chief instigator of the project my spouse and I were financially libel. This means if there are still bills to pay we were the ones who had to see that happens no mater what is left in the Temples coffers. We ended up about $500.00 in the negative. To me that’s not a huge sum to go over budget considering the scale of the project so, I’d consider it a success. There were the challenges of the other Temples being built at Burning Man in 2008. We found out after we’d started. One has to consider at some point; do you stop the project because you have competition for temple donations, or do you continue and take the risk and debt that could incur. After review with key temple organizers it was determined to continue. The scale was not the same of the larger temples and possible losses were not huge. Risk assessment I guess is what you’d call it. Keeping good accounts is heavily advised and HAVE a budget. Keep all receipts. Sometimes donators want to see that monies are going where they are supposed to be going and they have that right unless you say otherwise. We kept good records and after an informal accounting we found we were just $30.00 shy of receipts. Probably the ones I put in my trousers and didn’t give to Butterfly, the accounts mistress. It happens, as long as its small its not a big deal. I also recommend NOT using Pay Pal. We were definitely a not for profit art piece. This said we still needed to get the non profit status from the federal and state agencies. This would have saved us some grief. Pay Pal froze monies donated and it was a gigantic effort to get them out in time to allocate funds towards the end of the build. Anything over a few grand and the flags at Pay Pal come up. Also be aware if you are using a personal account that the monies deposits will get taxed as income on your tax returns most likely. Consult a tax professional about those matters as I am not one and my advice will have irregularities. Secondly, the day and time of the burn. Choose wisely. We chose as a group to do a dawn burn the night after the Man burns. We felt it a poignant time. Letting go, and starting anew. We felt that if people wanted to see it and really wanted to attend they would. Now I’m not so sure. People are rather tanked up and in another head space after the Man and you need a full day to get over that I think. Hence why the traditional 12:00 BM sponsored temple is the following night. We also had issues about other temples burn times and wanted to be sure we didn’t divide the community into choosing one Temple over the other. The Burn itself, Went relatively well. Our crew was exhausted and also did the fire parameter duty that morning. If I was to do it all over I would have had a fresh new group dedicated solely to that function so that the bulk of the crew could have enjoyed the burn more relaxed and able to appreciate their hard work. It is difficult when you are so tired and people are wanting to burn themselves in the fire, constantly challenging parameter crew to get closer and closer. I also would have like to have seen Sembazuru burn more efficiently. I did not take that extra step to douse fuel on the beams that were the thickest. Chalk it up to my own experience of burning things. I thought I had that covered as a kid blowing models up but hey, ya cant win them all. Basically we engineered it to stay up and hold people. In a sense we built it TOO good. Burn platform clean up. The decomposed granite (burn platform) took half a day. We had the right tools, a magnetic rake, wheel barrel, shovels and rakes. The operation was performed by two people. I recommend enlisting the whole of anyone’s crew to this. It can go by a lot faster with all of the crew there. Make it clear to your crew that no one bugs out until that is finished. Its been known to happen to a few burn crews where people do not stay to the end. Our burn was clean so it was a relatively easy op for two and I did not ask the whole crew to help. I recommend your whole crew as part of the bonding experience and seeing something to its definite end. A cathartic adventure. I was blessed to have the company of a crew member and it became one of my most precious moments on Playa. Team and Project management went smooth. If you choose the right people from the beginning then you save yourself a world of grief. For me its choosing people that I think in my experience will compliment each other. Finding people that have a wide range of interests, likes and strengths with a common goal and love of the project. Too similar interests and you can get ego conflict and dramas you just wont have time to deal with. Not enough similar interests and you get disconnection and little common ground amongst individuals thus preventing a bonding that needs to occur during the project. Its like the emotional glue. It’s a balanced combination and often its hit or miss. This year we hit it on really well. It is also very useful to allocate responsibilities and define them clearly. Give EVERYONE a key job and position. Its not so you can blame, its so that each individual has a sense of place in the community and within the project. Its so very important and I cant stress that enough. A good sense of self and a purpose goes a long way. In closing the experience was priceless to everyone. It was a lot of hard work and not for the feint. We did it because we want to give to our community that has given so much to us already. We celebrated the passing of life, We re-gifted a new day. This year we called the event Working Man. With a smile on our faces of course. There are no plans for a 2009 temple. 2010 however is completely another story. We will be putting forth a proposal for 2010 in the next 6-8 months. Stay tuned! Again, thank you from the bottom of our hearts from all of The Temple of Community crew for allowing us to bring to you such a special and inspiring art memorial. Regards, Gothalot

New Temple of Community Video

Gothalot — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 05:53:26 GMT

Temple of Community THIS SATURDAY! Aug. 2

Gothalot — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:30:09 GMT

Just a reminder that the fund raiser for Sembazuru, The Temple of Community's 35 foot origami crane build for Burning Man 2008 is On! Cant wait to see everyone there. If you cant make it make a donation. We still havent reached our financial goal enabling us to get there and we need your help! Thank you! Gothalot

Sculpture auction @ The Temple of Community Fundraiser August 2nd

Gothalot — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:46:35 GMT

My lovely sculpture is up for auction at the Temple of Community fundraiser. Dead dolls encased in my hand made steel coffin cage, entitled - RECYCLED LIFE?

A friendly reminder! Temple of Community Fundraiser

Gothalot — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:47:31 GMT

Show your community spirit, have fun, drink and be there to kick us off to the playa. See you there!

Temple of community Video

Gothalot — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:05:30 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG4FI0pu6mU

Temple of Community Logo Ver2

Gothalot — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:36:32 GMT

This one looks great, thanks Nickadermia

New TOC logo by Nicadermia

Gothalot — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 23:31:03 GMT

Temple of Community BBQ/Build work weekend. 5-29/6-01-08

Gothalot — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:21:12 GMT

Okay its a BBQ work weekend. Bring your RV, tents whatever. Bring your beer. Bring your fire toys hoops and the lot. Its time to make the Cranes head and get some tail on! WHERE: 535 Irwin Lane, Santa Rosa, CA 95401 FRIDAY may 29th to Sunday June1st.

HELP SAVE THE BLOOD VESSEL

Gothalot — Tue, 20 May 2008 15:21:47 GMT

The Blood Vessel in its first year became an icon for those on the playa and those mourning the losses of loved ones. Clarice took passengers from the existing Temple to their homes on playa as well as transporting the Playatech coffins to their final burn destination. Well as she will The Blood Vessel sucks us dry from the original build. Butterfly and I have sunk thousands into her as well as a lot of blood (literaly,) sweat and tears. We have thousands in credit card debt we're trying to pay off while at the same time paying an ex partner the balance $700 of the 1k he wanted in order to relinquish his half of the ownership. The partnership separation was needed in order to continue with the goal of the projects intent. SO what we need from you guys is fundage. I cant keep putting the partner off, Albeit I sent him $300 so far we still have to raise $700. Its not a large amount but its more than Butterfly and I have while Im awaiting work in June. Butterfly also has Summer coming up and will not have her teaching job till the new semester starts in September. We are sponsoring the Blood Vessel Rue Morgue as well as the Temple of Community and we need your help in order to be able to get Clarice back onto the Playa this year. If not she will have to be sold and scrapped in order to pay off the initial investor. Thank you for your continued support. Its difficult times that bring us together as a community so that we may be stronger. Contributions can be made via pay pal to: TempleOfCommunity@yahoo.com PLEASE STATE THAT YOUR DONATION IS INTENDED FOR "The Blood Vessel". All proceeds over the $700 amount needed for The Blood Vessel will go into the Temple of Community build for 2008. Again, Thank you, Gothalot