Welcome to July everybody! I guess it goes without saying that next month is…wait for it, wait for it, wait for it…National Romance Awareness Month! Oh wait, maybe it’s that too, but it’s also Burning Man! We are now exactly eight weeks to the day when TTITD begins. And as always we like to begin these informative newsletters off with something Barbie Death Camp & Wine Bistro related. Here is a video of our old piano being played at our camp. Our new piano is even better, especially since the old one got completely trashed. Playa dust will do that to musical instruments except, unfortunately, bagpipes. Enjoy!
Let’s get right down to business and go over our wish list and the things we’re going to need on the playa. If anybody can help with these items, please let Felony or me know ASAP. First off, we need 6000 square feet of carpeting to keep the dust down in the central part of our camp. Old crappy end pieces work just fine. Most of the carpeting gets thrown away after the event so it needs to be replaced. If you have an old “My Size Barbie” we need a few more to decorate the art vehicles. We also desperately need a piano tuner. Pianos go out of whack really easily on the playa and as you just heard, we pride ourselves on having the finest piano in the finest Village in Black Rock City. If you know of a piano tuner who’d like to join our Village we will supply for you and the tuner early arrival passes. We need about five cases or 30-packs of extremely cheap and lousy canned beer for our daily Fizzball game. And from The Volunteer Spot http://vols.pt/7gDcSz we need Moop Patrol people every morning, 12 more chili chefs for the Monday night chili cook-off, 5 cases of cheap champagne for the Naked Bike Ride & Pub Crawl and Pancake Pork-out, and another half dozen or so gas powered (preferably) grills for the Pancake Pork-out. Please volunteer for something. In order to get an early arrival pass you must have signed up for something to contribute back to Barbie Death Camp.
I mentioned our Fizzball game. They will be held daily from about 12:15 p.m. until 1:00. We have a new Fizzball Nazi! Dima has stepped up and will take on that role. And when he cannot make it or is in need of a rest, his two newbies (they are introduced below) will take on the mantle and if they cannot do it then I will step up and pitch in. Nothing like naked Fizzball in the early afternoon to get the smell of Pabst Blue Ribbon or Keystone Lite thoroughly ingrained into your consciousness.
Speaking of volunteering, Christine will not be making it to the playa so we were in need for someone along with Teri to head up the Chili Cook-off Monday evening. Mindy has stepped up and is anxiously looking forward to assisting Teri. Like I just mentioned, we do need another dozen or so chili chefs, so if you’re looking for something to give back to Barbie Death Village and will be on the playa no later than Monday mid-afternoon, now is your chance to poison your, uh umm; I meant to say, now is your chance to shine. Yeah, that’s what I meant. You can contact Mindy or Teri.
Here’s a glimmer of sunshine for sure: Work on The Cloud Car began this past weekend. We need all local Villagers and Barbiebarians able to lend a hand to contact Jim or Rob to make arrangements to work on the car. We got a late start this year and need all hands available. If we don’t get volunteer help, The Cloud Car might not make it out this year. Please don’t let this happen!!! Contact Jim or Rob right away.
Speaking of volunteering and art cars, we are always on the lookout for sober drivers for the mutant vehicles on the playa. Last year we had people sign up ahead of time with mixed results. We’re going to try it again this year and see what happens. If you would like to drive The Cloud Car or Barbie’s Mobile Wh0reh0use, please send Chris with your name and which shift (8 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. or 12:30 a.m. to when the cows come home) you’d like to work. Having an art car is one thing, but with no sober drivers to man them they become somewhat superfluous. Thanks for stepping up.
The BMOrg has changed its policy for Early Arrival passes. I’m not sure this will necessarily change hardly anybody’s plans, but a heads-up is in order. The passes are still good beginning at 12:01 a.m. Thursday morning, but they must be used by midnight Saturday/Sunday 12:00 a.m. They might let people in on Sunday, but their attitude (which I happen to agree with, for a change) is you need to be in by Saturday to build your camp/village and since they open the gates around 6 p.m. Sunday anyway, people showing up on that day are essentially useless for actual work. According to my records, right now only Mischa and Henk are scheduled to arrive on Sunday. You two, and any others planning to arrive on Sunday, need to plan ahead and decide which way you’re going to go. Also with the EA passes, if you haven’t paid camp dues (the only exceptions are those of you from outside of the USA) when we reach our allotted limit of 107, you are in serious jeopardy of forfeiting your pass. Once anyone who has already paid camp dues requests a pass we have no choice but to cancel those who are delinquent on their dues. Fair is fair. And now all dues are $100 and can only be paid via PayPal
We are now beginning to make preliminary steps of mapping out Barbie Death Village. Unless you are in a theme camp where they place themselves (such as Dread Pirate Barbie, the Czech CORE Group, or Dye With Dignity) you must request placement through Rob . Also you must have paid camp dues, naturally. All requests should be divisible by 10 (for example, 10′ X 30′ or 20′ X 40′) and if you have special circumstances, such as arriving later in the week or needing to leave early, we absolutely need to know that so you can be placed along an access road. Anyone not requesting a space will simply be put, at Rob’s discretion, somewhere in Loose Nutz. Happily, there are no bad spots within Barbie Death Village.
It is the time of year when we begin piecing together our rides out to the desert. There will be a caravan leaving Auburn/Newcastle at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, August 24th. We will be stopping at the Donner Lake Rest Area around 9:45 (CA exit 176), the Sands Regency at 11:10, and the USA Parkway Minimart (NV exit 32) at 11:45. As you can see we’re pretty anal about our scheduling. Everyone with an early arrival pass heading in from California/Reno are welcome to join us. We do have people still looking for rides out of the Bay Area any time and Reno on Tuesday afternoon after 4 p.m. If you would like to be part of the Barbie Death Camp caravan please let us know within the next couple of weeks and if you can offer a ride we need to know ASAP. And don’t forget, Indian Tacos in Nixon, NV are da bomb! Here, I’ll prove it:
This is the last month to order your BDC&WB shirts and hats. This is our only fundraiser to help defray the cost of the wine we so generously provide to the unwashed masses in Black Rock City. They will be available to be picked up at the pre-party (more on that upcoming) or from Frank on the playa. Hats are $17 and shirts are $22 and range from S to XXXL, men’s or women’s cut, tank top or regular tee, and either gray or pink. You can order your swag from our website www.barbiedeathcamp.com. Certainly they are destined to become collectors items…in about 120 years.
“So what’s this about a pre-party?” I hear you cry. Yes, our annual Burning Man pre-party, which will be attended not only by our fellow Barbiebarians but also burners from up to six other camps, will be held on Saturday, August 17th beginning at 4 p.m. at Doc’s humble abode, 8577 Balmoral Drive, Newcastle CA. Directions upon request. We will not only be handing out shirts, hats, and early arrival passes, but will be loading the piano and foosball table onto the flatbed, checking out and packing out “new and improved” shower, organizing the various trailers, cooking up hamburgers and drumsticks, pouring margaritas, and the swimming pool will be open. Because this is mostly a “family friendly” event, swimsuits must remain on until, oh I don’t know, say sundown. Or thereabouts. Feel free to invite other burners in the general Sacramento-Placer region as a splendid time is guaranteed for all.
Just a brief word on bike rentals. According to the ePlaya on the main Burning Man website, Rat’s Bikes in Reno seems to be either out of business or in the business of ripping off burners. They are not returning calls/emails, refunding deposits for bikes, or much of anything else for that matter. If you plan on renting a bike, go to the link below. I guess he’s called Rat for a reason.
And before we close, I promised the Israeli CORE group that I’d show them some love.
Now on to the introduction of newbies. From Seattle, Dima has invited Gooch and Cheese ; joining Meercats is Yuri ; from Walla Walla, who just turned 21 three weeks ago, welcome Ty ; from Granite Bay an old friend of BDC&WB welcome Guy ; just what we need, more Australians, please welcome Mark , Matt , Anna , Matt ; Jon , and Liz ; with Mel welcome Kerry ; with Will another 18 Aussies including Verity , Zoe , Lily , Adelle , Anthony , Oscar , Jessica , Sara , Huw , Thomas , Jia Jia , Laura, Holly , Michelle, Elliot, Tim , Chai , and Will Bill; meet Dutchman Edwin and his Columbian girlfriend Lucia; with Russell and Sachi from San Francisco here are Talina and Damian ; from Germany joining up with Ansgar say hi to Thomas , Matthias , Sara , and Stefan ; joining Misa with the Czech CORE Group please give a warm welcome to Linda , Martin , Pavel , Tomas , and Hana ; and from Seattle welcome Vortex and Poppet .
And in case anybody’s keeping count, I show 77 people coming from outside the USA, not including Canada. Wow. Welcome everybody!
The Man burns in 61 days )’(
Respectfully submitted,
Doc Pyro and Felony Arson