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Don’t let the kids see! (via Benjamin Carpenter)

(local copy)

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I went to Balsa Man Saturday night with Charlotte and Rick. Rick thought it would be funny if we burned the man like 10 minutes early. And….. well, images speak louder than words on this one…

In case you need some words, one claim to fame of Paul Addis is that he attempted to burn the man early in 2007. His mug shot gained quite some  notoriety. We weren’t aware that Paul was at Balsa Man until my friend Dan pointed it out. Thanks for the pix Dan! (via, via)

Balsa Man was really pretty awesome. See other peoples pix about Balsa Man 2010. My pix don’t do it justice but here you go:

I’ve also got to mention that I apparently was officially the first injury ever at Balsa Man.  Some fireworks strayed my way and exploded about 8 feet away. It felt like I got punched in the chin. Some debris flew my way and I can’t tell if it was a burn or a scrape but it took a little chunk of my chin. It looks like it will heal just fine, but ouch!

Check it out!
They are accepting applications for Makers til August 31st :-)

I like the idea of this event because the San Mateo event is just so crazy overwhelming big.

Liam and Rich tag-teamed the week-long Electronic Controlled Flame Effects class last week at The Crucible. They both said it went really well. I was originally going to teach it but I just started my job with Earthmine and was travelling for work.

Rich was disappointed that there wasn’t enough time to teach all the students everything they needed to know with Arduino and electronics. That’s always the case! Learning takes time. But there was fire! Liam opened the class on the first day with a poofer demo and in all they built 13 Poofers and some sequencing with multiplex poofers.

Surprisingly,    only 1 of the 5 students came to build something for Burning Man. Almost as exciting was that 1  student came from Texas specifically to take this class, “We don’t have anything like this back home.”

No, no they don’t :-)

Here’s a really good video of Mark Pauline, founder of Survival Research Labs.

The Survival of Mark Pauline

This is an awesome story! It’s art, activism, smart, a great use of the psychology of embarrassment, and most importantly, success!

Congratulations to Jason Eppink and Posterchild!

Astoria Scum River Bridge

For more than twenty years, a leaky pipe on 33rd Street beneath the Hell Gate Bridge viaduct approach submerged more than a hundred square feet of heavily-trafficked sidewalk under a festering cesspool of standing water. Astoria Scum River, as it was called, stretched the entire width of the sidewalk, and as winter approached, the river iced over and became particularly hazardous to cross.

Astoria Scum River Bridge was constructed to offer Astorians an opportunity to safely cross this hazard. The unauthorized bridge was a gift to the pedestrians of Astoria in the absence of successful municipal efforts to ameliorate the problem.

The bridge was made at zero cost entirely from recycled materials: an old work bench found on the curb, rescued screws from a disassembled desk, and a metal plate from an expired electrical component. It was installed and dedicated on December 30th, 2009.

On January 25th, 2010, Astoria Scum River Bridge was the subject of a commendation from the office of NYC Council Member Peter F. Vallone, Jr., accompanied by a pledge to work with Amtrak to re-route Astoria Scum River off the sidewalk.

Two days later, Amtrak workers began construction work. Astoria Scum River was quickly routed off the sidewalk, and within a couple months, custom-made grates were installed to complete the project. The bridge, no longer needed, was de-installed on March 20th, 2010 and returned to the curb whence it came.

Astoria Scum River Bridge from Jason Eppink on Vimeo.

local version:

I just installed the 2007 Burning Man Screen Saver and noticed a photo with me in it. I remember that moment well. For a long while (10 minutes? an hour? it’s hard to tell on the playa) I sat up there during this dust storm. For much of it, my perch was just a few feet above the tide of dust streaming by. Me lying in the sunshine on an ocean of flowing gray dust. It was pretty cool. Find me standing on the flower.

Here are photos from the last night of the Electronic Controlled Flame Effects class I taught at the Crucible this past Thursday night. (by David Nichols, Tim Alexander and Lee Sonko)

Nice class, eh?

And here’s some videos. The last one is the most flame-tastic!

setting up for firing

Cuckoo flaming

Cupcake Poofer

more pressure poofs

local version:

Decoder Ring Theatre has absolutely the best radio programs. I just caught

Black Jack Justice episode 36 “Journeys End” and it was riveting! Great storytelling! Listen to this half-hour radio play and you will become a fan as well!

Black Jack Justice episode 36 “Journeys End” Local copy

Listen to more programs on Decoder Ring Theatre!

I heard this anecdote from a guy at Fire in the Valley.

This is about another friend who will I won’t name here. On a day when there is absolutely no wind he has  propane in a crevasse, the bottom of a little valley and lit it. Since propane is heavier than air, it kind of flows down the river and then he lights it. It doesn’t explode, instead it burns at the interface between the propane and the air. And it’s awesome.