Friday, September 23, 2011

Spire of Fire

This'll have to tide you guys over for a week.  Murphy's gallivanting off to Montana for two months and we're road-tripping her stuff up there.  This was from July in downtown Reno and I've been meaning to post it since then.  Burning Man art makes its way into the default world from time to time.


Making the world better one BTU at a time

Catch ya on the flip side.

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Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Burning Man 2011

Ethel and I journeyed out to Burning Man this year with her mom in tow.  Fresh off the plane from Ireland on her first visit to the US, Jane was ready to jump head first into a week in the dust surrounded by the freaks.  Or whatever people around the world think about Burning Man.

What you're really here for is some photos, so I'll keep the stories to a minimum and only say that I made a decision this year to spend more time photographing people.  In the end, it was equal parts interesting people and art at nighttime; I wasn't too excited for photoing daytime art this year, for whatever reason.  As such, let's start with some people.


Murphy in dust-protecto mode


That's for real


Happy couple

Martini Village, with which I've now camped for 7 years running, threw four pretty fantastic theme parties.  It's an awesome bunch of people and they do know how to have a good time!


Martini Villager with amazing hat


Party-goer after having an inch-long gash in her forehead glued back together


September Nevada sunset

The playa was positively hopping at night; more so than I remember over the last few burns.  Lights and fire and lasers everywhere!  This year was substantially colder at night than I can ever remember, so cruising around in the unpopulated parts of the playa wasn't as enjoyable as it would have been otherwise.


Ooooh, light and designs and stuff


Avatar-ish tree; climbing people for scale


El Pulpo Mecanico


On the right; oodles of facts about the Milky Way.  On the left; crazy zooming stars



Singing Tesla Coils (too dark to be visible here) make lightning and music; incredible!

I have a theory that the size and quality of the art at Burning Man is a good barometer for the economy.  After a few decidedly off years for art, it seems to have made a resurgence.  Fingers crossed that this trend continues.  Moving on to a few more people...


Bumblebee wings vs Phoenix wings


One-man show


Dancing the evening away


Performance artist

We had a great spot to watch the Man burn; second row in a designated Sit or Be Screamed At section.  This also ensured great views of the fire performances ahead of time.  Also, you've all seen photos of the Man on fire, so we'll just skip that.


Pre-burn festivities


One of many unique performances

We spent the remainder of Saturday night cruising around and taking in the sights before snagging a couple hours of sleep and then heading back out for sunrise.


The magnificent Temple at night


Abstract view of the super-trippy Tunnel of Enchantment (I think)


Sunrise from the perimeter fence

Sunday was Ethel's birthday, which we observed with a massive AM Bloody Mary party, a nap, and a trip out onto the playa for some fun evening photos.


Totally hopeless at timing the jump


Murphy acts all primal

The Temple was off the hook this year.  Utterly massive, it dominated the landscape from any position.  As expected, it was a burn with a quiet intensity that's hard to describe.  Far hotter and with none of the whiz-bang of the Man burn, the atmosphere created by 40,000 dead-silent people is a special experience not to be missed.


The Temple is "fully involved," in fire-speak


Rapt attention for the Temple


A quiet moment

Unfortunately, the word is out that the Temple burn shouldn't be missed, so our Exodus on Monday was orders of magnitude more painful than it's ever been before.  After two solid afternoons of cleaning and sorting everything in sight, life has returned to normal save for our memories and mementos of a fantastic year on the playa.

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Sunday, September 11, 2011

Sculpturific

OK, first things first: Burning Man photos are coming soon. Real soon. Before that happens, though, we're going to spend a few minutes with the sculptures. A couple weeks ago, the entire lot of 'em got installed down in Carson City, and I took time last night to make a few photos of them with Ethel and Jane as highly skilled photo assistants.


2 explorers chat


Same 2 explorers and their view


Native woman and her dwelling; gesturing to children


Explorer leads two pack horses downhill

The project is finally complete, and I couldn't be happier about it. Paolo and I devoted just shy of a year to this one, and it's nice to have some, um, free time now.

If you're curious to see them (of COURSE you are), keep your eyes open the next time you head down to Carson. Here's a map, and a spotter's guide follows. Also, they view better and video better during the day, but I think they photograph better at night, so don't let my photos fool you into avoiding a daytime trip.



2 of them at the 5th St overpass. Most visible when driving south through Carson. Look up and to the east (left) side of the overpass as you approach. Also easily visible from 5th St.

3 of them at the Fairview interchange on the north side. Most visible when driving south. When approaching the mandatory Fairview offramp (until they extend the freeway), look up and east (left) to the close side of the straight onramp to 395. Also, if you happen to be entering 395 from Fairview westbound, you'll see the tops of these 3 out your left window at the top of the onramp, especially if you have a tall vehicle. Also visible if you enter 395 through the 270deg onramp; look up and right immediately after the loop ends.

And the mother lode...11 of them at the Fairview interchange on the south side. All 11 are in the 270deg looping onramp to 395 from Fairview eastbound. This is your only choice if you're returning to Reno from points south. Look to the inside as you're (safely, kids!) negotiating the onramp (hint: might be better for passengers). There's lots to see and it's a very dynamic view as you move around them and change elevation.

All 16 of these sculptures tell their own part of the same story, and I'm sure this won't be the last post featuring them. If you have seen them since they all got installed, please leave a comment (for better or worse; we can take it) with your impressions, reactions, etc. We're most curious to know what people who haven't spent a year neck-deep in the project think of them. Thanks!

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Saturday, August 27, 2011

Vegas to Reno

Continuing along the vein of Grant's recovery, I had the opportunity last week to go along on quite the adventure, all within the Nevada state lines.

There's an offroad racing series called Best in the Desert, and they produce races in both Nevada and Arizona. The competitors range from trophy trucks and highly prepped dirt bikes to more attainable jeeps and dune buggies. Their showcase race is Vegas to Reno (Beatty to Dayton this year, specifically), a 550-mile tear through the desert, and the race goes off without the racers being able to see the terrain ahead of time.

I went along as an embedded journalist of sorts. Grant had an opportunity to serve as navigator for the series-leading team, Bad Apple Racing. They were exceptionally gracious to have Grant along, and I must extend my personal gratitude for the hospitality, camaraderie, and insight they provided to both me and the filmmaker, Ryan Croke. The team is run by two brothers, Steve and Chris Appleton, and they have put together quite the operation. Thanks, guys.

Just so it's not too long until you can see what we're talking about, here's what we're talking about:


I survey my kingdom

"Navigator" is kind of a loose term, as they've got the course pre-programmed into a GPS unit, but knowing that the desert is about to turn left is only a small victory in a battle that's repeated countless times throughout the 550 miles. The GPS says nothing of the terrain, the "road" condition, or the amount of dust obscuring the driver's vision. What's it really like?

Imagine having 800HP channeled through two rear wheels on a surface that, if you called it "loose," would make a nation of sluts seem virtuous by comparison, or if you called it "rough," would make the Before models in those shaving gel commercials seem like pampered pansies, and being kinda able to see where you're supposed to point this truck, but really just hoping the entire time that you're not about to drive into a boulder or a 10-foot deep wash or a tree or something, and if you catch someone, you bump them from behind to let them know you're there, cause they can't see anything, and if they don't let you by, you point the truck into the desert at 110MPH and get by them as quickly as you can, because lots of weird shit can appear in front of you when you're not on a road and covering a football field every two seconds, and if you're successful in doing this for 10 hours without killing yourself or having any day-ending mechanical problems, you're a winner. It's nuts.

Anyhow, I wrecked myself to finish my week's work before flying to Vegas Tuesday night to be there for practice and qualifying and whatnot before the race on Friday. I also came down with a beast of a head cold, only exacerbated by long hours, no sleep, and probably some stress, so I was a hot mess when I stepped off the plane into the welcoming 10-pm 95-degree cool part of the day. Shawna had been kind enough to grab the metric shit-ton of my camera gear before she and Grant drove down, so I was thankfully able to travel light otherwise.

Wednesday started with an early departure from the hotel to meet the team out in the desert. Bad Apple fielded two trucks in this race. Truck #1 was the title contender, and Truck #2 was their pre-runner, entered into this race to provide any necessary support to Truck #1. Grant's seat was in Truck #2, not quite as badass as Truck #1, but still fairly fire-breathing.


Bad Apple 2 on a practice run

After the team made sure both trucks were running to their satisfaction, we headed back into town for the registration for qualifying, and then promptly headed back into the heat. 106-degree heat. At about noon. All the makings of a fabulous day!


Grant is mildly excited as they head off to qualify

Qualifying was a bit tedious from a waiting around standpoint but also quite fun as we got to see these bombproof horsepower delivery machines wailing through a closed course and laying it all on the line for their starting position in the race. Start early and have good visibility and clean air...start late and spend all day making sketchy passes. Let's qualify well, yeah?


Trophy truck blasts through


Bad Apple 1 on the boil


Hucking

Unfortunately, both Bad Apple trucks qualified poorly, #1 due to a flat tire, and #2 due to a limp-mode fault in the engine management, so they'd both have a lot of work to do on race day. Qualifying in the books, we cooled off by buying a 7-11's entire stock of cold drinks, drinking them, and then sleeping in their walk-in coolers. Maybe not that last part. Wanted to, though.

Thursday was race registration day and tech day, so Ryan and I kept busy interviewing the team members in a hotel room. It was a much quieter and cooler day, and that was a welcome respite from qualifying day. It's also the team's opportunity to shine up the trucks one last time, top up race fuel, etc. There's no doubt all the hard work had already been done in the formal race prep, but they're not willing to hang their drivers out to dry during the race, so everything gets checked one last time.


Skorg poses it out


Making it shiny inside


Topping up Bad Apple 1 with 113 octane


Where's the A/C?

Race day, Friday, brought an even earlier departure from the hotel, as we trekked north to Beatty well in advance of the 9:30AM truck start (the dirtbikes went off before dawn in the interest of safety).


Making the start line a little more spectator-friendly

Grant was fairly well-trained by now in his navigatorial duties (yes, I just made that up), so really all that was left was traversing 550 miles of inhospitable desert in a purpose-built dirt cannon, and to stay alert, fed, and hydrated along the way. That's all. And off they go!


Bad Apple 2 off to a roaring start


A buggy streaks through the desert

We're part of the traveling circus that moves from pit to pit along Hwy 95, easily keeping pace with the race since we drive 20 miles on the highway while they're driving 40 miles through the desert. Each pit stop is just for food and water when everything's going well. The trucks don't have the range to go the entire race without refueling, so there are a couple of those along the way. There are bound to be a couple tire changes, as those marvels of vulcanization transmit ridiculous power levels to the dirt, claw the truck through turns and over rock piles, and do the hard work when the anchors get thrown out. Hopefully, nothing else is required.


Race cars crest a horizon against the stark landscape


Chris keeps the focus up during a pit stop

As we work our way through the desert, the boys become evidently fatigued as mile upon mile of jostling, pounding, and smashing take their toll. The integrity of Grant's spine has been in the back of everyone's mind, but an essential part of recovery is testing the limits and taking hits that provide reassurance in repair and health. Fortunately, he's in good shape mechanically, and is doing an awesome job of providing Chris with all the information he needs and nothing more in order to safely and quickly pilot Bad Apple 2 through the mountain ranges and valleys. In short, they're tearing it up.


A buggy regains composure after nearly wadding it up on the berm

At some point, they've gone a while without radio contact, and Chris light-heartedly informs the team that they've taken a detour to inspect a tree. Grip is a mighty subjective thing on dirt, and they lost it from the front in a corner and more or less climbed a tree until they were high centered in it. This is about when I wish I had a helicopter (a proper chase vehicle) instead of being tethered to an SUV. 'Cause a truck in a tree would make for one hell of a photo. Aside from this excursion, they run strong all day and into the night; the team has done an excellent job of preparing these race cars.


Ron lets the rear off the jack after a tire change


Art fuels Bad Apple 2


Ron and Art scramble to replace a broken radio antenna


Shawna scorches up the desert


Desert sunset

As day turns to night, we take care of one last pit for them before we have to leapfrog ahead to the finish. The pits we skip are extraordinarily remote, and we would've fallen behind if we'd had any intention of going to them. Fortunately, the team is able to keep radio contact with them and they run well all the way to the finish.


A racer enters a pit just after dark


Bad Apple 2 heads into the night


Steve, Grant, and Chris trade war stories at the finish

Bad Apple 1 finished second in class and fourth overall. Bad Apple 2 fulfilled their mission 100%, and while they ran slower, they expected to due to the performance of the pre-runner compared to BA1. Grant, as expected, was exhausted but exhilarated from 14 hours of continuous and necessary focus on navigating. Everyone was in good spirits, and the team rather swiftly loaded the race car and we all made tracks for Reno. Utterly wrecked, we put the wraps on the weekend and went to sleep.

Huge thanks again to the Bad Apple guys, mostly for trusting Grant to be their navigator, but also for having Ryan and me along.

Ryan's quick cut on his view of the weekend can be found here: linky.

For more info on Best in the Desert: linky.

For more info on Bad Apple Racing: linky.

And for more on Korg 3.0: linky.

Finally, if you've arrived at this post because you're looking for photos of a particular race car...please leave a comment with some contact info and I'll see what I can do. The 2300 photos I left with just may have what you're looking for.

Onwards and upwards!

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Past Detritus