Lee.org

At the Subzero event I ran into Gaspo and his Chakratron. Man, I love that thing.

Sitting on the table was his source-book. All the manuals for all the parts that went into the Chakratron. The part that intrigues me the most is the rotating electrical connector. That’s the thing that lets the top part with lights spin at a gazillion RPM while the bottom part… well the bottom part sits safely on the ground.

If you haven’t seen the Chakratron, you’ve really got to check it out. Video simply doesn’t do it justice though.

Here’s the source of Gaspo’s rotating electrical connectors, Mercotac. I simply must build something that uses these marvels.

If you are a fire artist in California, you might be interested in this change to the fire regulations that is coming up. This message comes from Dave X on the Flaming Lotus Girls mailing list with his consent to republish:

There has been concern among the Fire Arts community recently regarding the Additions to Title 19 Chapter 6.5 involving Flame Throwing Devices.

First a little background. This issue came about as the ATF (Alcohol Tobacco And Firearms) was attending a gun show in CA and found fully functional Flame Throwers for sale. These devices for sale at the gun shows were not “Guns” and not covered by any kind of background checks, waiting period, or age requirements.  This would have allowed Timmy terrorist or Sammy seven year old to buy it right off the table. With the intention of closing this loophole a group was formed to decide how to regulate the issue.

The Flame Throwing Device Work Group was formed by the CA State Fire Marshal’s Office.

The group was composed of members of the Department of Justice, ATF, State Fire Authorities as well as folks from the Special Effects industry and folks who are contracted to do fire prevention and suppression for the CA Fire Service. Clearly there were a lot of uses for flame throwing devices in such applications as setting preventative burns as well as in the film and entertainment industries. Early on Kevin Mathieu and I did sit on the group meetings and helped craft wording to protect the interests of the fire arts community. In the end I left the group feeling good about what was finally written. As with most states it was immediately covered in red tape and passed from lawyer to lawyer. Well here it is it is finally about to come into law and the public commentary period is open.

This law will not affect 99% of the fire arts community…

Lets take a look at it…

I emailed Diane Arend this week at the Office of the CA. State Fire Marshal Code Development and Analysis. She has reviewed this and agreed that this interpretation appeared consistent with the regulation.

Flame throwing Device: For the purpose of clarification, Health and Safety Code Section 12750(a) is repeated “Flame Throwing Device” means any non-stationary and transportable device designed or intended to emit or propel a burning stream of combustible or flammable liquid a distance of at least 10 feet.

First off this is only in effect in California…

If you are using these in Nevada it is not an issue. There may be some gray area as to its storage in CA.

This does not impact propane effects as it states, “Intended to emit or propel a burning stream of combustible or flammable liquid a distance of at least 10 feet”. Propane is in most cases used as a gas and not as a liquid. Even in effects where liquid propane is used it is for the most part completely turned to a gas before reaching 10 feet.

Liquid fueled effects usually describes a situation in which there are separate fuel tanks, hosing, controls and other attached gear which are “Not Portable”.  When set up, this is a considered a stationary effect.

If the supply tanks and operational controls were attached and able to operate in a mobile fashion it WOULD be a Flame Thrower…

OK so what if you have a device that is a “non-stationary and transportable device designed or intended to emit or propel a burning stream of combustible or flammable liquid a distance of at least 10 feet.” and you intend to display it in CA?

You can apply for this permit…

First off this is a big deal you must pass background checks, have a secure by state definition safe storage area, transport it in a secured manner as well as a surrender of you rights to search and seizure. You must also keep records on the use storage and sale or destruction of said device.

Unless you feel strongly that this regulation applies to you and you plan to operate it in California I would not apply!

You can apply for this permit…

First off this is a big deal you must pass background checks, have a secure by state definition safe storage area, transport it in a secured manner as well as a surrender of you rights to search and seizure. You must also keep records on the use storage and sale or destruction of said device.

Unless you feel strongly that this regulation applies to you and you plan to operate it in California I would not apply!

I talked to Matisse Enzer form the Flame Thrower Shooting Gallery project and as the name implies it IS a Flame Thrower.

He went through the application and he had this to say about how he got one:

The application process goes like this:

You need to get a Certificate of Eligibility from the California Department of Justice. This is an annually renewable certification that you are eligible to own firearms. It involves getting fingerprinted. This will cost a couple hundred bucks the first time and $20 or $25/year to renew.

<http://ag.ca.gov/firearms/forms/pdf/coeapp.pdf>

You will need to fill in the application form and describe the flame throwing devices that you have. The rules have not yet been finalized, but the application form I filled out in 2008 was pretty much the same as the proposed form.

Links to the proposed rules and associated forms:

<http://osfm.fire.ca.gov/codedevelopment/codedevelopment_title19development.php>

For example, the proposed new rules are:

<http://osfm.fire.ca.gov/codedevelopment/pdf/title19/FFDet.pdf>

The proposed application form is:

<http://osfm.fire.ca.gov/codedevelopment/pdf/title19/formft1.pdf>

Note especially the storage requirements: They are much stricter than for a handgun or rifle.

To summarize, please remember a word like “Flame Thrower” is not to be used lightly.

For the most part what we are talking about with fire arts is the use of “open flame and flame effects”. I hope this provides some clarification and that you all burn hard and burn safely…

Pertaining to “Art”…

 

Aesthetic is perception.

Perception is history.

History is stereotype.

Stereotype is a box.

I imagine the front of the t-shirt looking like the above image.

And of course the back of the t-shirt reads “Think outside the box”

- Marnia Johnston and I came up with this when considering the possible criterion for an art competition we’d be curating. We knew we needed an “aesthetic” criterion. Our discussion took us down this dark avenue.

“You need to have Jules Verne before you can have the submarine.”

The Box Shop, the space SWARM and the Flaming Lotus Girls work out of, has a new pretty website. :-)

http://boxshopsf.org/

If you need space in San Francisco to make large metal art, consider the Box Shop :-)

This list taken from the Burning Man “Jack Rabbit Speaks” mailing list, V13:#18:04.29.09

 

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2009 HONORARIUM INSTALLATIONS

Every year Burning Man allocates a percentage of its revenue from ticket sales to funding select art projects that are collaborative, community-oriented and interactive. We do this in order to support the Burning Man art community, and to facilitate the creation of outstanding art for Black Rock City. The vast majority of art installations on the playa, however, are not funded. In 2009, a percentage of your hard-earned ticket money helped to fund the following art installations, for all Burning Man participants to enjoy.

Continue reading ‘Burning Man 2009 Honorarium Art’ »

Ok, forget what you know about making bread. Just forget it. Now read and do.

Reading this will take longer than it actually takes to make bread.

You’ll probably want to start with a single batch… just cut the recipe below in half to make 2 loaves… or quarter it for one loaf. The more bread you make in a sitting, the less cleanup there is. And refrigerated dough is easier to work with and tastes better because it ferments. But hey.

My four loaf recipe:

• 12 cups flour
• 5-6 cups water
• 4 tsp salt
• 3 tsp yeast

The types of flour, salt and yeast matter very little, young Skywalker. Really. Yes, really. Different ingredients make subtle differences but you’ll be so happy with how fricking easy it was to make this loaf, you can worry about that later. Try starting with All Purpose flour, Mortons salt and Instant Dry Yeast in a 1 lb bag.

Directions:

1. Put it all in a big bowl and mix together with your hand.

Really. Just mix together until it’s all wet. I use 1 hand in a big bowl because dough is terribly sticky. If you use a utensil, it’ll get stuck and gooped up (and you’ll have to wash it). If you use 2 hands, then both your hands will be covered with sticky goo!

Don’t knead it or roll it or anything. I’ve tried a couple ways of mixing the ingredients so they mix evenly. I mixed the water in with the yeast. Or poured the salt into the measuring cup or… or… forget all that! Here’s what I do and it comes out fantastic every time:

1. Measure flour and pour into a big bowl (precision is not needed… I’ll scoop 1 1/2 cups one time and then 2 1/2 cups the next… it all averages out when you’re putting 12 cups into a bowl)
2. Measure salt and toss onto the pile of flour
3. Measure yeast and toss onto the pile of flour
4. Measure water and pour onto the pile of flour. I reserve 1 cup of water just in case things are getting too wet… and then I almost always end up throwing it in after a few seconds of mixing.

You now have 4 loaves worth of bread dough. Put some portion (3/4?) of the mix into a plastic container and throw in the fridge for bread later in the week.

With the rest, make bread!
I put flour on everything (my hands and the baking sheet) to keep the dough from sticking.

1. Grab 1/4 of the dough and cloak it in your hands (see below) until it looks pretty.
2. Set it on the cookie sheet and let it sit for 30-60 minutes.
3. Put it in the cold oven
4. Turn the oven to 425 and set the timer for 50 minutes
5. When the timer beeps, enjoy!

Here’s what I did this morning with the dough I had put in the fridge… Total work involved: 5 minutes. Total time from fridge to bread: 105 minutes

1. Set out a cookie sheet
2. Take the previously mixed dough out of the fridge
3. Sprinkle the cookie sheet, the dough and my hands with flour (like 1/4 cup of flour)
4. Grab 1/2 of the dough, pick it up quickly and set it down in the dough gently (careful, tossed too roughly, the flour makes a mess)
5. Roll the dough in the flour until it isn’t all sticky, maybe 3 rotations.
6. Cloak the dough, rolling in the dough in flour a couple times when it gets too sticky to handle (cloak: kneeding briefly to pull a “cloak” of smooth dough over the top, pushing the messy bits to the bottom)
7. Stretch the dough to the desired shapes… I made 1 long loaf and 1 round loaf this morning
8. Put the cookie sheet and dough in the oven
9. Let it sit just like that on the cookie sheet for 60 minutes so the dough rises (else the loaf will be pretty dense… maybe you want that though!)
10. Turn the oven to 425 degrees and set the timer to 50 minutes.
11. When the timer beeps, take your amazing fresh bread out of the oven and enjoy!

Cleanup for the first batch can take a few minutes. Sticky dough is a mess to clean up. The dough from the second batch, from the fridge is easier to handle. Cold dough isn’t nearly as blob-like.

I’ve been developing a feel for this for a while but I have to thank Charlotte’s gift to me of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking. It validates what I’ve been doing and gave me some excellent tips.

Sometimes I play with the temperature. I think it makes the crust thicker and heartier. But I could be wrong. Instead of 425 for 50 minutes from a cold oven, I do this:

1. Put dough in oven and let sit for a while.
2. Set timer for 18 minutes and oven to 550. (my oven gets to 550 in about 16 minutes).
3. When the timer beeps, set the oven to 400 degrees and the timer to 22 minutes.

I’ve tried using steam and boiling water and spray bottles to get a better crust and I can’t tell the difference between a steamed loaf and a not-steamed loaf. So I don’t do it any more.

How much yeast to use: I have a recipe book that says stuff like “add 2 1/8 teaspoons yeast unless it’s Blahblah brand and then add 1 7/8 teaspoon”. Forget that. Yeast is flexible. It grows. It’s a bug that grows in your food and it farts a lot. The longer it’s in your dough, the more farting it’ll do, making your bread nice and fluffy. I haven’t ever gone wrong with 2 teaspoons or so of yeast for a batch. When I let it set for a while, I can use less yeast (hence, I use 3 tsp and not 4 in the recipe above) because it’s busy growing in my fridge. I should experiment more with varying yeast levels. Suffice to say that I can’t recall ever having too little yeast, though once when I added too much, the bread tasted a little funny.

I saw Carl Pistaturo’s machine art for the first time last night. I was astounded. If you ever get the chance, see these “amusements”!

I had caught his listing on The Squidlist. 

 

Rotating Amusement Devices of Carl Pisaturo

Experience and celebrate mechatronic devices with inverse commercial potential. These are highly artgineered Rotating Amusement Devices – smooth motions, illusion, spatial-spirographic streaks.

 

10+ machines will be on display and demo’d throughout the evening, including the first public demos of RING WAVE, a new type of high speed light streaker. 

 

in association with MAPP, the Mission Arts Performance Project.

I note that the performances had an element of danger even more extreme than an SRL show. His amazing “rotating amusements” have spinning parts that weigh a pound or more and appear to spin at upwards of 1,000 RPM. If they weren’t perfectly weighted, they could fly apart and… well, hence the danger. As seen, they did not appear dangerous, but wonderfully elegant. Pure applied engineering.

SWARM and I went to Coachella 2008. I just wanted to note someplace who actually played Coachella…

 

 

Friday April 25th
Jack Johnson
the Verve
the Raconteurs
the Breeders
Aphex Twin
Fatboy Slim
Tegan and Sara
Serj Tankian
Goldfrapp
the Swell Season
the National
Slightly Stoopid
Mum
Pendulum
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
Battles
Aesop Rock
Les Savy Fav
Midnight Juggernauts
Spank Rock
dan le sac Vs Scroobius Pip
Diplo
Redd Kross
Adam Freeland
Santogold
Jens Lekman
John Butler Trio
Vampire Weekend
Dan Deacon
SebastiAn
Black Kids
Architecture in Helsinki
Sandra Collins
Busy P
Cut Copy
Black Lips
Datarock
Professor Murder
Porter
Rogue Wave
American Bang
Luckyiam 

Saturday April 26
Continue reading ‘Who Played Coachella 2008’ »

Simulated Comic Product has this on robots.

I pledge to not let this happen to my beloved SWARM orbs!

(click for full-size comic product)

Check it out!!!

Long Live NIMBY!

From the website

Introducing NIMBY 2.0

We are pleased to present the first images of NIMBY’s new home.  With over 30,000 square feet of indoor shop space and two outside yards totaling more than 33,000 square feet – we are very excited about our very large new building.  One yard will be primarily for off street parking while the other will be used as an open space and gallery. Our expected move in date is in early December.  We are signing a 10 year lease – so there will be no more moving anytime soon. The building is in great shape and already has a working and certified sprinkler system and a ton of power.  We could not have found a nicer land lord or a better location.

You should watch this forklift safety video. It could save the lives of everyone you know.

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

No, seriously, you should watch this video. Yes, it’s in German. That doesn’t matter. You’ll learn all you need to know. Seriously.

(On Youtube)

It is titled “Staplerfahrer Klaus – Der erste Arbeitstag” / “Forklift Driver Klaus – The First Day on the Job”

You can buy this video from its creator on DVD with lots of extras for like 10 Euros.

You know how when you show up at Burning Man right at the beginning of the event… Monday at 8am and you go looking for a good place to camp and you get all depressed because the whole frickin playa has already been marked off with rope? “Sorry, you can’t camp here, my friends will be along with our dome later in the week.”

Here was my plan: mark off every single inch of camping space with rope and ribbon and twine and sheets and signs. There won’t be a single place to camp on the whole frickin lake bed. The only way anyone will be able to park their RV within 5 miles of the Man is to tear down “someone elses” property marker.

You see, we’re always stepping on someones toes. We’re always taking someone else’s space. Every inch of this planet is already in use by someone or something else. The only way anyone can make their own way in this world is by taking the resources of another. Taking other people’s possessions makes us uncomfortable, but it’s the only way we can live. Identifying and clarifying that sense can help us live our lives better.

That’s my artistic statement and I’m sticking to it.

---

I was at Ikea a few Christmases ago and they had red ribbon on sale… Normally $2 per roll, they had these giant bins and were selling it for $0.11 each. So I bought 6 miles of it. I would have bought more but I couldn’t carry any more. I figured that would be a good start to the project. With a little more planning, I started begrudging the potential amount of work the project would take. First, I needed to show up at least 10 days before the event because, gosh darn it, I had shown up 4 days early in 2006 and the land grab had already happened! Then, I recalled, after everyone had gotten the artistic message, I’d have 6-20 miles of ribbon and metal stakes to clean up. Feh. And I’m sure that at least 1/4 of the attendees wouldn’t fully appreciate those educational first frustrating hours I caused them, driving around looking for a place to camp and then finally giving in and camping on “someone elses” marked off area. (of course, the whole purpose of the project is to generate that feeling of discomfort so they can understand it better)

So, I decided to dump the project and get rid of my ribbon supply. You may have seen me in front of my garage, or at Really Really Free Market or just walking the streets of San Francisco asking… pleading you to take a roll of ribbon. “Buy one for free, get one for free!” “Take 2! They’re small!” “The holidays are coming up!” “Take my ribbon, please!”

Giving away ribbon has been fun but it’s going waay too slow. I think I’ve given away maybe 50 rolls but I’ve still got another 100.

Want some ribbon?

I’m going to list it on the Burning Man Artists Announce mailing list today. Maybe someone has a need for a few miles of ribbon.

Man… Nimby and Ace within a month of another… (and then there’s that whole stock market crash thing). This is too much!

 

(via Laughing Squid) Farewell To Ace Auto, San Francisco’s Most Unique Event Space

On the website, Bill the Junkman writes:

it’s the end of the junkyard as we knew it
Well, it looks like the end of Ace junkyard as we know it. Our landlady is not going to renew our lease (and no amount of consciousness-raising, hippie-poi-ball-swinging or fire-oriented fundraisers is going to help, sadly). Things are looking pretty damm bleak right now. It been 25 years and the last 15 after me and most of you found each other have been especially fabulous. While many think I am the generous one, in fact, quite the opposite is true. I given you junk, you have taken this junk and turned it into amazing art, exciting happenings and and ton of fun ad good memories. Thanks to all of you, my life has become much richer. This a richness no amount of money could ever buy, because of all of you and what you create from the junk I give away.Here my heart, mind and soul is filled with wealth from the friends I have found, and the parties and events here.

This past Saturday, night someone said to me “For every door that closes, another one opens.” So let’s hope our next adventure is even more memorable, after all, it’s just the place that’s closing, you and me all still here. One more thing: over the years, you guys have helped me get rid of so much junk, now I need to ask one last favor of all of you. I’d like you to send me pictures, video, stories, etc about this place. Show and tell me about the art or project that we helped you with. It been a hell of ride, thanks to all of you for the love and aloha you have given me.

Bill the Junkman
Belinda, Mistress of Junk
belinda at dammit dat org

 

(images from aceautosf.com and Laughing Squid)

via Lady Bee on the Burning Man Artists-Announce mailing list, From Rachael

---

I wanted to make sure everyone here had heard about the current crisis being faced by one of the main art spaces in the Bay Area.  An incredible amount of Burning Man art has been produced there.  Read the note below to learn more about the closure (and future plans) of this great space.

NIMBY, a 40,000 square foot industrial art space located in West Oakland, California, was shut down by the City of Oakland for non- compliance to fire and building codes on September 11, 2008.  The inspection conducted by the City of Oakland was in response to a fire at the building on September 10, 2008.

For 5 years NIMBY has been the largest industrial art space in the Bay Area.  Over 40 groups, comprised of over 200 artists, use the  

space for designing, fabricating and storing large-scale projects.   

The closure of NIMBY is having a huge impact on the arts community in our area.

The City of Oakland is offering assistance to help NIMBY relocate to a new building.  City officials are being supportive in helping with locating available properties, and working with us to design a space that can meet the needs of artists while complying with building and fire codes.  While we are grateful for this show of support we must find considerable outside financial assistance to make this move possible.

We are working to create a new space that is larger and more versatile than the current NIMBY, turning this tragedy into an opportunity for expansion.  Included in the plans is a massive, permanent gallery space for large-scale works of art usually left in storage.  Artists will then be able to design, construct, and showcase their pieces between events in one space, allowing them increased exposure for their art.

In order for this vision to be realized NIMBY must receive support from the entire arts community.  Please visit our website (NIMBYspace.org) for more details on the closure and to make a donation.  The entire Bay Area arts community is depending on the support of the national arts community to save NIMBY.

Below are links for just a few of the pieces that have been created at NIMBY.  Please contact me should you have any questions or ideas for partnering with our organization.

Rachael

Paypal:  nimbyLLC@yahoo.com

NIMBY site: http://www.nimbyspace.org/

Some Art Created at NIMBY:

Colussus http://www.zacharycoffin.com/colossus/index.php

Steampunk Tree House http://www.steamtreehouse.com/

Cleavage in Space – A 40 ft Chandelier http://images.burningman.com/index.cgi?image=12425

Sim Nuke – http://www.simnuke.org/

Interpretive Arson – DDI and 2?R – http://wiki.interpretivearson.com/

The Disgusting Spectacle – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V652yOYHWdo

KSW Paddle Wheel Steam Boat – http://www.kineticsteamworks.org/
 

A few items currently in storage at NIMBY:

The Serpent Mother http://www.flaminglotus.com/serpent_mother/Serpent_image_gallery/

IT – http://www.michaelchristian.com/

An installation for Natural World Museum – http://www.artintoaction.org/

Sets for the Oakland Opera – http://www.oaklandopera.org/

Update 9-15-08: “Gears are turning and plans for the relocation of NIMBY are in the works” on the NIMBY website!

NIMBY is… was an incredible space for art. The place has ENERGY! I worked on Colossus there. I’ve got friends that work on art there, including the Dance Dance Immolation crew. The Serpent Mother is being stored there. And… Therm, Kinetic Steamworks, Simnuke, The Disgusting Spectacle, Tom Kennedy. Those are just the artists and groups I know personally.

I spent my first summer in San Francisco grinding away at the sharp edges of Colossus. I had seen Corbett Griffith and Zachary Coffin and Daniel Bauen at the Desert Arts Preview at the Crucible in July. Corbett said something like, “it’s been entirely designed and most of the parts have been cut out. Now we just have to put it together.” I was all over it. I walked up and gave them a good hunk of my summer. One highlight that summer was that I got to see…. take a read.

The next summer, I got to attend an incredible Fight Party (on Youtube)

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

A groovy panorama of fight night. Click me!

And here’s a video walkthrough I did of NIMBY when I was working on Colossus in 2005

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

RIP NIMBY – April 1, 2004 to Sept 11, 2008.

posted by admin on Sep 11

As of September 11, 2008 the City of Oakland has regretfully closed the industrial art space known as NIMBY. For the last 5 years NIMBY has been a center of creative collaboration and artistic expression for talented mis-fits.
What happened?

Early morning on September 10th a fire occurred in a studio space in the NIMBY warehouse. An unattended candle that was being used in a digital photography project has been cited at the cause of the fire. Several NIMBY tenants who were working late (or early) attempted to put out the fire themselves, but the fire got out of control. Two calls were made to the Oakland Fire Department – one from the nearby Tork systems, and one from NIMBY brought a quick response. The fire was successfully put out, leaving NIMBY in fair shape and smoke free. Property damage was confined to the studio space where the fire originated and some sky-lights in the buildings roof.

However, the Oakland Fire Department was then obligated to further investigate the cause of the fire and conditions in the shop space. Following the fire NIMBY tenants were ordered to vacate the premises and were only allowed supervised entry to access tools that they needed.

A complete inspection, with representatives from four different city departments, followed on September 11th. The inspectors and fire fighters were too numerous to count and they scrutinized every inch of NIMBY. The inspectors loved everything; the hot rods, the glass blowing, the fire sculptures, the tile work, and the wood working. However, they were aghast that all of these projects were being done in the same space. They hated to shut us down, but couldn’t find any way to legally let us continue.
burned out containersWhen they left, they let us know that our only option was to vacate the space and start fresh somewhere else. Jail was an alternative if we chose not to comply. Bringing everything up to code in the current building – ain’t gonna happen.
What next?

The city of Oakland is doing everything they can to support the relocation of NIMBY in Oakland. They want to keep us here and support the arts – but they are going to make sure that we do it to code. We are so pleased to have this unexpected outpouring of city support and we have already looked a number of potential new buildings.
What can you do?

Donate! Funds are needed to support the relocation effort. Even though the city is helping – they won’t be forking over the bucks it takes to move over a thousand tons of bullshit to a new location. So help us.

 

The rest of the NIMBY website on 9-12-08

Tomorrow morning I’m on my way to the desert for a week of craziness. Be back next Tuesday.

I’ve been working a lot on SWARM.

In the last few weeks I:

• complied the audio tracks for the sound system (a mix of editing, creating, and working with a novel sound playback system)
• fixed up the 6 sound modules… swapped out a bad amp, adjusted volumes on all of them, installed new firmware drivers for the mp3 players
• made 2 new chargey plugs (some were lost)
• tested batteries
• installed IMUs (inertial measurement units) in 6 orbs: cut stainless steel pieces to be mounts, tapped holes (a PITA, I couldn’t finish, grr), welded in place, sprayed IMUs with clear paint, mounted, made ribbon cables, cut holes for cables
• made gussets to reinforce the arms of the canopy on the mothership
• helped manage arrangements with Virgin Festival (though they bagged at the last minute, jerks) (Niladri ran point and did a lot!)
• managed getting insurance for Virgin Festival (that we didn’t need because they bagged at the last minute, jerks)
• had lots of meetings and discussions to figure out exactly how to get our art to the Virgin Festival in Canada. (Dawn did a LOT of work. She’s become an international shipping expert overnight)
• Kept up with SWARM’s In the Media updates
• Got 1/2 way though (fimed, partially edited) creating a video piece for Make TV
• Kept up with our finances. We continue to be in the black.
• Went to a lawyer with Dawn to talk about licensing & patenting SWARM
• A million little tasks like keeping our shop space livable with a cadre of messy mechatrons running around in it, finding new boxes for Virgin took 1hr+, paint for the IMUs 1hr+, ordering TIG supplies 1hr, finding a good deal on rechargable batteries and chargers for the remotes 1hr, …

I got this today. San Francisco is so [insert modifier here]

Subject: Zombie Migration Alert: This Saturday, August 16th

Zombie Alert: This Saturday

Friends and countrymen, it is with a heavy heart that I report on the state of Zombie Activity in our fair city of San Francisco. The time has come to once again activate the radio-attraktor towers to funnel hundreds of zombies through downtown to a secure location. This is a risky maneuver, as evidenced by carnage enshrouding last year’s event. Rest assured, we have made improvements to the technology.

We will turn on the radio-attraktor towers at 2:05pm on Saturday, August 16th. All zombies in the area will be telepathically compelled to march down a route which we will disclose in a future email. The radio waves will also cause undead to crave duct tape instead of human flesh. If you are unfortunate enough to be standing along the route with a duct tape “X” on your torso, you will be attacked and consumed by the horde, after which you will be one of them. Don’t wear your favorite shirt.

Please, please tell your friends and family not to be anywhere near the route at 2:05pm this Saturday! Have them sign up for updates ( http://eatbrains.com/announcements) or follow the movement live on Twitter with up-to-the-minute zombie migration forecast, Beijing Olympic protest style ( http://twitter.com/SFZombieMob). If we loose radio control of the mob, the result will be catastrophically gruesome!

The Zombie Wrangler
http://eatbrains.com

State ban on serving trans fat first in U.S.

California became the first state to outlaw trans fat in restaurants and food facilities Friday when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill banning the artery-clogging oils and shortenings.

The bill, by Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia (Los Angeles County), had started heated debate in the Legislature. But many Bay Area restaurant owners say they don’t use trans fats, and others say complying with the new state law will not be burdensome.

I was going to make a T-Shirt that reads “Outlaw Trans-fats and Only Outlaws will have Trans-fats”. But reading into the issue further (IE, the second paragraph of the article) it’s more of an issue of closing the barn door after the horse has left. Or to be more gentle about it, codifying a trend in law.

This reminds me very much of what Mary Ruwart, Libertarian presidential candidate said about child labor laws. On 7-6-08 she spoke on Marty Nemko’s radio show about libertarian issues. She had said that child labor laws in the US followed on the coat-tails of trends at the end of the industrial revolution. The laws didn’t stop people from hiring child-workers. The trend of children not working in factories had already taken place.

Given the choice, people would rather not send their children to work in factories. After enough wealth had been generated, it stopped happening.

She talks about child labor law starts at 44 minutes, 10 seconds.

Here is the whole radio show (30 mb, 60 minutes), Work with Marty Nemko, July 6th, 2008.

Similarly, it’s (apparently) not difficult or more expensive to make non-trans-fat oils. Individuals, restaurants and manufacturers have already made the switch.

I said it before and I’ll say it again

Governor William J. Le Petomane: HOLY UNDERWEAR! People murdered? Innocent women and children blown to bits? We must do something to protect our phoney-baloney jobs people. Harumph! Harumph!
All of the governor’s lackeys but one chant along with him: Harumph! Harumph!
Governor: I didn’t get a harumph out of that guy.
Another lackey: Give the governer a harumph!
Lackey: Harumph!
Governor: You watch your ass.

I just took over administrating the QBOX Events mailing list. Laughing Squid is apparently getting out of the Mailman mailing list business.

This from the mailing list itself:

Charles Gadeken charlie@NOSPAMcellspace.org
Wed, 08 May 2002 16:51:13 -0700 (PDT)

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Welcome to the QBOX list. This list is managed by Charlie Gadeken, if you have
any questions about how you ended up on this list feel free to ask me.
charlie@NOSPAMqbox.org If you do not want to be on this mailing list please follow the
link at the bottom of this message and unsubscribe yourself. 

This is the very first mailing for this new list. Many of you were on the My Old
Burningart Presents list, some of you are just my friends, others have requested
to be on this list directly. 

On the list you will hear about Events focused on mechanical, kinetic and
electronic art in the Bay Area. I expect to send out about one or two mailings a
month. All of these posts will be related to performance events, lectures and
gallery shows that support mechanical, kinetic and electronic art in the Bay
Area. I will be sending out an announcement for a show this Sunday "Power Tool
Drag Race after Party" which will follow this message.

Thank you for listening and i look forward to seeing many of you at our upcoming
events. 

charlie gadeken
director: QBOX
http://www.qbox.org

You can subscribe to the list via qbox.org or here.