Thanks for Viewing

The photos on this blog are a small sampling of all the photos from our trip. Click on the links below to see almost all the photos online.
Professor Fate and The Amazing Leslie's photos.
The Baron of All and The Baroness of Less' photos
Super Doug and Jana's photos.
Lboogie and The Todd's photos.

Enjoy!

Success!

~

Oh The Weather

By all accounts we had quite a relatively crazy stint of weather this year. Us newbies had been told to expect "heat in the day and cold at night with a few probable dust storms." Well, we had the heat alright. Over a 100 degrees every day. No cold nights though - the evenings were downright balmy and pleasant. We got some rain followed by a double rainbow. And man, did we get a coupla intense dust storms. You could see it coming from across the playa. In some cases it would swirl around us, swallowing us up. On with the goggles and dust masks and wham! we'd be plunged into a weird twilight. The wind would kick up the dust and coat everything at camp.

Into This Good Night

We failed our first attempt at a night license. "Not enough lights" we were told. But they wanted us to qualify, so they gave us another chance. Everyone pitched in (except for yours truly who was suffering from an early case of heat stroke) and added all the spare lights we had in camp. Second time at the DMV and they passed us. Here's what it looked on it's first night journey onto the playa.

Prophe-see T.V. is on the Air!

Society member Tbone of "The Todd Don't Stop" fame went live with his all-seeing future visionary device. It was very popular around the playa. Here he is at The Deep End and Kid's Camp. Can you tell which is which?

Perambulating About to Visit our Steampunk Brethren

Members of The Society visit The Steampunk Tree. The Baron, The Baroness, The Amazing Leslie and Professor Fate visible.

The Gang's All Here!

Everyone had arrived. Camp was set at 3:37 and Intertidal. The Perambulator was registered (for daytime use). So out we went to check out the playa. The term "barnacle" is first coined. Newly defined as "A bike riding burner that attaches themselves to an art car for purposes of mobility, socialization and thirst-quenching. They are sometimes seen in chains that increase the chances for disaster and bodily harm." Seen below are barnacles Mr. Alchemystic, AP Bugger and Professor Fate.

Perambulator!

So, there are lots of pictures of our 'art car' in various states of construction. We've seen it go from lowly golf cart to fantastic flying machine. But this is the only known picture of it after completion and before the harsh desert had it's way with it, and us.

Good Morning

The Amazing Leslie and I arrived at Society headquarters at 2:30 in the am after a long slow journey. Just in time to see The Man prematurely burn and the lunar eclipse. Everybody else had spent the previous day setting up camp. Thanks guys! Now help us put this damn Perambulator together.

And Away We Go!

Packing day(s). Everyone showed up at the workshop to coordinate gear and make sure we had all the supplies The Society was going to need for the 9-10 day excursion on the playa. The Perambulator takes it's place on the trailer. What a lot of stuff!



AP waves his adieu. Super Doug and Jana are his co-pilots for the long journey. Their mission: find us a great spot to set up The Society.
The Baron and Baroness with Tbone rounding out their team. Their mission: Nearly 590 liters of Reno's finest.
LG and Mr. Alchemystic have their driving faces on. We'll see you guys tomorrow!

Dress Rehearsal

Looking quite weird in the suburbs.

Balloon Fever

The Baron of all and I worked last night on the lights for the balloon. They turned out great! Here's a little movie to show the disco action. It was hard to get a good shot but it gives you an idea.

The Society

The Society is a most esteemed organization whose full name is as elusive as our ambitions are grand. Our goals may be known only to initiated members who swear to forget them. Our power is great, our scope is distant, our ways are mysterious.

To become ensconced amongst our tribe, convene at our encampment in Black Rock City at the time of 6 of the clock each Thursday, in a location near the junction of Rue de 3:30 and Desert.

You are welcome to bring such treats as may befit a gathering of great minds.



Seal is from a bibliography society. Wight refers to an early printing device.

Can't Stop Now

We started Saturday morning with a long list of stuff "to do" and by Sunday evening we had accomplished much of it as you can see. Of most importance was erecting the balloon and covering it with fabric. The camp shower was also finished (not for the modest!). An amazingly productive weekend. Those involved should be proud. Just 7 days to go!

Saturday. What did I tell you?

I believe it was that we were going to work on the upholstery and balloon. We kicked ass.

The Devil is in the details

Talking time is over. It's time to put up (detaily things) or shut up. All the bits and bobs are falling in to place and the Pram is beginning to look respectable. Take a look for yourself.
Saturday we make the balloon and upholster.

Oh the Humanity

I picked up the balloon part templates the other day. Ken was gracious enough to help us out by cutting them out on his work CAD router. Each part is half of a ring. The drawing above shows the final design. Now we just need to cut out four halves of each ring.

12:30 am

The Amazing Leslie pulled out all the stops on Friday night. She started her first coat just as the sun was setting and didn't pack it in until the wee hours. Our Incredible Leslie painted most of the ship parts of the project. All of the trim was given a dark reddish brown with gold undertones. And the body was painted a lighter brown color. It's mostly done but needs a little 'noodling'. Mostly to age it a little. Good job gentle woman.

A stitch in time...

We had a little costume clutch here at the workshop on Saturday before the last Perambulatory work day. We started with a few trips to different thrift stores followed by a turn of the century fashion show. The ladies showed us many wonderfully steamy costumes. Here the stately Baron shows of his Sunday Best.

A Mid-Summer Night's Work

This seemingly simple photo reveals all sorts of recent Pram advances. First- the second wing has been covered in cans (need just three more cans!) The Amazing Leslie and I knocked it out on Sunday after everyone else went home. We finished at 10pm. Second- The front fan has been installed. It has it's 12v motor and just needs to be wired up to the battery. Third- The Baron had the idea that we should have a mister on board. Today I figured out a simple way to do it. I cut a hole in the 'hood' and dropped a pressure sprayer (green thing on left) into the hole on to it's mount. Add water, pump up the pressure, squeeze the trigger, enjoy!

Tick, Tock,Tick, Tock

Time is slipping away. With roughly five busy weeks to go, work on the Perambulator is proceeding briskly. As The Baron said at the end of Sunday "I did more today than I did the last two times I was here." I think that goes for the rest of us as well. The Baroness and The Amazing Leslie attached the can bottoms that AP had cut to the wing. The Baron prepped the second wing for the metal details. I the Prof attached the copper rail along the wings. There was plenty of sculpting and sanding as well. A long day followed by a swim and margaritas.

Finding My Inner Steampunkstress

Much to the Professor's relief, I've finally started to get inspired about costumes!

We found these great pictures last night that I love and are inspiring the look I'll be going for for my night costume. I looooooove the stiff taffeta and pinstriping on the skirts. And the little details everywhere. Very very cool.

Word from the current Tastologist

Message from Sam Comen:

Todd -
Great to hear from you! I checked out your perambulator photos and thething looks fantastic - what a team you had out there working on it! Ilove it! The steampunky plans sound great! Elixers and vapors. Wink.Wonderful.

DAmn - the yum crew that I knew for such a brief time will be out againthis year? wonderful!
yes, for sure, if you're having a party, thenwe'll be there, with the Tastewagon in full glory.

The Tastewagon, by the way, is yet to be built. Technically now it'llbe the Tastetrailer, as I'm going to build it out on the bed of a 4x8'or 5x9' utility trailer. this will ease the $ pressure of storing andtrucking each year - just tow it and use it. building in the next fewweeks. last minute, unfortunately.

Met a culinary professor on aplane the other day. She's super stoked on the project and wants tohelp - so the cart may go extra gourmet this year!We don't know where Yummy Ruminations will be this year either. Butwhen I do know, you will too.
Thanks so much for getting in touch.
Talk to you soon.

What to do, what to do...

Though I imagine we'll have plenty to do while we're there, it's never a bad idea to bring along some games. I've played a good number of 'em in my day, but I thought I'd put the question to the biggest cadre of boardgamegeeks on the web. Intruiged?

http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/23147

Any other suggestions?

Our ship is steaming ahead

Here are a few quick shots of the work that we ( The Baron, Baroness, Leslie and P. Fate) got done this Sunday. As you can see above, the back has been sheathed and looks nearly seaworthy.


The fifth wheel was finally attached and works well. Above is the beginnings of the "rudder" that will hide it.
Here is a shot of the stern.
Here is a picture of the dash with steel detailing and some gauges. Below is a picture of the front with both wings attached. Well, whaddaya know!- P. Fate

One small step for burning man costumes...

...one giant step for my sewing skills.

My new breeches and over-sized sky-pirate shirt still need a little work, but I've borrowed my mom's sewing machine, and am getting in touch with my inner seamstress. Thankfully at this distance you are unable to see how mismatched and oddly tailored it all is. Now all I need is a deck of cards for a top hat!

Haberdashery

What will we need for the next meeting?

What will be the best way to make top hats?

The playing card method seems to be sturdy method. I'm sure we could make it taller with more flare.

What other methods could we use?
What materials do we need?

I imagine making a hat, then cutting out windows so that you can see inside the workings of the (cardboard) gears. Light it up at night (if the light rotated, it would look the gears are moving). Solar panel on top to charge during the day.

Or

Maybe we can work off of cylinder paper lanterns.

Maybe our camp name can be related to our brain gears - the Prognosticating Hatters, Gear Brains, The Calibrated Cranium Society... Some inspiration here?

We'll also make that master list of everything we need to buy, make and plan.
And think of party activities.

Steampunk Article and Von Slatt link

I just read the latest Techsploitation column - it was a neat article about the steampunk craze with a mention about Jake Von Slatt's work.

Lofty Ideas

For those that weren't part of the conversation the other day, here are some of the balloon references I was talking about. I particularly like the one with all the sails but don't think it's practical for playa use.

Workshop Update

So I thought that some of you who hadn't made it out to the workshop in a while might like to see how far we've come. Above is a picture of the cockpit from the navigator's side. Lots of gleaming gauges and a calliope for musical enjoyment. Below is a picture of the passenger compartment. I threw in some pillows to help visualize the final effect. Looking comfy.
And here is the Perambulator in full view. As you can see we got lots of the bodywork on and are moving towards more of the detail work. I managed to get one of the forward wings attached last night. I think the effect is good and it will look quite cool covered in aluminum can bottoms.

Burning Man Biz

There's a cool little article about the business side of Burning Man via Laughing Squid.

Note that Chicken John's pickup truck runs on wood pellets. He's working on making it so that it can run on coffee grounds.

Proof of Work

What an impressive day of work we had yesterday. The whole gang was there and much was accomplished on the Perambulator. What you don't see in these pictures is the fabulous barbecue and swim party that followed.
Now get back to work!