I realized as I posted yesterday about what to bring to the burn, I mentioned toolkits. What would go in such a thing you ask. It’s going to be different for every person. For me, and I will be out there for a while and I a total tool whore. 

Basics:

• screwdriver (phillips and standard)
• crescent wrench (for bikes)
• bike multi-tool
• tube repair kit
• Hammer
• Sledge hammer
• A good knife or matte knife (or both)
• Channel locks and/or vice grips (for pulling out stakes)
• Work Gloves (you will want them on as soon as you get to the playa and start setting up camp)
• Leatherman, Gerber or other multi-tool
• Wire cutters (dikes) and needle-nose pliers
• Scissors
• Duct Tape
• electrical tape
• Zip ties
• bailing wire
• small shovel
• extra flashlight (I keep flashlights stowed everywhere.)
• at least 50′ of rope and 50′ of sash (cotton laundry rope, essentially)
• superglue (also good for bad cuts. I’m just sayin’)
• sewing kit
• wd40 & silicone lubricant (the silicone is for your tent zipper)
• gun lighter
• hex kit

So the other day, I mentioned my burning man guilt. I was pretty down on myself for not being at all sorted out. Scotty pointed out, that I should be acknowledged for the projects I decided NOT to do. I am not doing my live chicken improvised explosive devices, I am not building a cooler shaped like a chicken coop complete with live chicken sounds. I am not building an axe throwing range in the center of camp. I am not doing any art really at all… Yet.

But I got home last night to a packet from the Burning Man, LLC. They offered me a job! So I am working the event this year! It’s not at my full rate, but honestly, it’s being paid for things that I would have done for a free ticket last year, and if I am giving all I got, I may as well get paid something for my trouble. And I am getting a very early arrival, meaning I am cleared to arrive on the playa on the 16th of August. Depending on how long I stay, that is a good 16-18 days on playa. That’s a lot of time. Last year I think I was out there 12 days.

I may be the first face you see when you get to the Playa. I hope I am.

But that suddenly puts my prep period into high gear! I am working until 3 days before I leave. I don’t know where the time will come from. I may have to enlist Bridge’s help after all. And just like that I am already contemplating getting a sweet Costco carport and doing my shopping. I’m such a comfort camping whore. Who knows how I will set that thing up when I am the first person at my campsite for a week. And then, where is my campsite? I still have not gotten word from placement!

Okay, calm down, Spaceman. We have time.

On the upside of being out there early, maybe I will set up an axe range on my campsite if there’s nobody there to get chopped in half. And there is nothing quite like the playa before all the burners come and ruin it. Ah, the playa at dawn. Nothing better.

Priorities: This is for me.

New Crates. I want to have 5 crates that pack up more uniformly than the ones I have now. Once I get to the Playa I want to use them to raise up my futon. I could also build legs pretty simply. I like being off the ground in my tent. A piece of plywood cut to my bed size also is in order. The new crates should pack better as well.

Costumes: Voodoo. I need to start gathering my voodoo stuff and get some sweet costuming going.

Our camp. It looks like I am going to be out there early again. Maybe we just land grab again if we get crappy placement.

The Beacon. I need some help with this. I have these super bright aircraft lights that I want to wire to a beacon and mount on a pole. Create a way to find my camp in the middle of the night. Anyone got the skills?

A carport. I have this one that I hate, and it’s about time I get the super carport pad a la Earth and Tinkle. I can afford it, if it is my one major playa purchase this year.

A shower rig. This is always a concern. I like to shower out there. I also don’t like showering in a pile of mud. I gotta work something out that drains and suspends the shower and is reasonable. I am willing to buy this.

Bike. I was thinking about biting the bullet and getting a cruiser. But at this point, is that smart? Maybe I just wd40 my bike. See what I can do and ride it out. It’s been to 5 Burns. I should be green about it, eh? Green. Who am I kidding. Tough call.

A trip to REI is in my future. Just cause.

Live Blogging. I gotta be really dialed in with Spaceman23.com by the time I hit the playa. I want to be able to blog with pictures for the entire time I am on the playa, especially beforehand when everyone is wondering how the conditions are. I need to talk to Brian and Art about this.

It has been brought to my attention that there is this little festival coming up in 5-6 weeks called burning man. I hear it is this big old freak fest in the desert. And you are supposed to do art projects and participate and stuff.

Yeah. I’ve done nothing or very little yet to prepare.

I considered the Papa Chango Axe Throwing Range. I’m still considering it. But to be honest, a thrown axe is a pretty erratic projectile. It would be very dangerous. I know, you say, that’s part of the fun, but… It might mess up someone’s camp. And I don’t want to be the guy who has to tell people “you can’t camp here… this is in the axe flight path.” and then, have them camp there anyway and get all upset when I fling an axe into their playa booty-call. Besides, Baz and were tossing the ol’ axe around at Orange Kamp, and I split the handle. I gotta get that handled.

I think I am going to volunteer again at the box office. I gotta get in contact with Buck about building the Box with him this year. I think that wold be pretty sweet.

To be honest, I keep having this feeling like something is going to come up before Burning Man that is going to send me on this crazy adventure to some other far off land. It’s just a feeling. And I really want to be going this year! I want to dust off my old Eric America costume and head out on the playa.

The theme really excites me. The group I am camping with are awesome. I have no excuse. I should be in full on Burn Prep mode. I’m not. I think it’s some kind of burner guilt I am experiencing right now…

Well, I may as well put it off another night. Maybe I just need to start sitting down with campmates…

I remember when I first started learning about sleep.  I was in high school and in a psychology class and our teacher Mr. Chip Phillips told us that sleep was for learning and processing.  I always thought it was for relaxing.

2. I am taking Ryan’s staff class. I am not exactly sure why, really, other than he invited me. I have no interest in performing with it. It is his method that interests me.  I like the idea of physical tasks being much easier than we think. I am intererested in Metaprogramming my human biocomputer, especially in my interactions in the structural realm.  I am also practicing with my axe. I had to trim some tree limbs up at the cabin, that thing can chop wood like nobody’s business.

So, it is official. I am desensitized to violence. There is little violence that will shock me. I have been playing these games on my 360 lately (and not even the most violent one: GTA IV

Viking: Battle for Asgard- You play a bloodthirsty viking warrior brought back from the dead by the goddess Freyja. You brutally wage war across Midgard, chopping the monsters of Hel’s Legion into little bits along the way. You slay champions and giants. Ancient dragons are your allies. You find and use Mjolinir, Thor’s Hammer. The game was spectacularly beautiful and really fun. The killing, the constant killing, affected me, though. It got repetitive. It hardened me into a cold viking killing machine.

Frontlines: Fuel of War: The year is 2024, and you are a soldier with the Western Coalition after all of the fuel has all but run out. You pilot massive tanks and helicopters to fight for what little resources are left. The gameplay is awesome, and death has little consequence. When you die, you just redeploy, as a fresh new soldier. This is a convention I saw in the Battlefront games. Interestingly enough, that kind of total lack of fear from death is useful. I have found myself really looking at the life or death consequences of my own life and my own choices. The possible future presented in Frontlines has also had me really look at my contribution to this kind of post peak oil scenario. I am excited to see how this game will play out.

Burnout Paradise: The Burnout series is well known for crashing. It is a game of road rage, pure and simple. In this version, though, EA Games has made a massive multi player world for people to dwell inside of. You start off with a junker, and you drive around Paradise City, recklessly, collecting prize money for running other cars off the road and causing multiple collisions. Of all violent games, this is by far the most dangerous. The car crashes that I cause and am a part of would kill hundreds of people. And yet, like sweet sweet candy, I just want more. Just one more race. I can catch that dude who cut me off. I can launch my car off the freeway construction and hit that billboard! I guess the upside is that I drive much more sensibly in real life when I am immersing myself in Burnout. This game really is vast and gorgeous. I really enjoy it.

The Club>- The shaky premise of this Sega title is simple. There is an ultra secret organization called the Club that organizes underground blood-sports through dangerous areas filled with gunmen. You play as one of eight outsiders dropped into a deadly game. Think Bruce Lee’s Game of Death, only everyone wields guns. This game’s violence, too, is without consequence. Where do all these thugs armed with uzis and minguns come from? As I played through the game once on Casual (an interesting descriptor, for sure) I must have brutally murdered a few hundred guys. You are scored on how stylishly you kill these people, so explosions and head shots are preferred. I just kept thinking about these guys’ worlds and what on earth would make this kind of game worth it for them, you know? It is a crazy game.

Assassin’s Creed- I played through this game a couple of months ago. There was a writers strike on, which meant no work and no good TV, so…