Honoring the Temple by Psilly Psimon

Check out this video submission from Psilly Psimon, a long time contributor to BURNcast who wrote in to say "I heard this song for the first time the other day, and had to come home and immediately put some Burning Man video footage I took from '09 of the Temple to it. This is a video I put together to honor the Temple at Burning Man. I hope you enjoy it~!"

New Burning Man Inspired Mix - Recompression 2 )'(

Check it: a new mix from Dave Decibel for all you beautiful people.  He writes:

Hey friends - thought I would share my latest podcast, ReCompression 2. Another year, and yet more excitement for heading out to the playa to be with all of you, this mix is meant to get you excited for some of the amazing music you can experience in BRC.

Donut Freakout: Mark Pincus from Zynga (and formerly of Tribe) Revisited

Pincus and friend Tom Cole, Burning Man 2005

Back in the day we interviewed Mark Pincus, the founder of the beloved Burning Man social network known as Tribe.net.  In its hey day Tribe was pretty damn awesome rivaling the likes of Friendster and MySpace. Its appeal was to those of alternative lifestyles and artists with the Burning Man tribe being the largest on the site.

Pincus told BURNcast in the old interview we dug up featured above, that his first burn was in 2003 and not long after his return from the playa Tribe launched.  At the time he had great things to say about our beloved community (drink!) which you'll hear in the interview and also read in this blog post dated September 28, 2004:

"what i love most about BM is how 'present' it is. there is little sense of time other than guessing dayparts by sun position. there is no agenda as you have nothing you need to do or accomplish in a given day other than very basic requirements like water and shade. BM is a community and place that fosters creativity, where weird and random are celebrated, conformity and judgement non-existent." (sic)

The problem with Tribe is that it wasn't profitable and eventually Pincus sold the network to go on and spearhead Zynga, the hugely successful social gaming company that developed Facebook games such as Farmville.  It was this venture that got him on Forbes Billionaires List this past March.

In a recent interview Pincus told Vanity Fair why -- at least to him -- Tribe was a total fail:

 “On the Web, whenever you have an open-ended community, it will basically turn into porn, and with Tribe, the hard-core Burning Man crowd uploaded pictures of themselves naked. My girlfriend at the time was this blonde, preppy, granola Marina Girl, and she was frightened off so fast by hairy, freaky guys who were sending her pictures of their balls.”

Burning Man 1997. Balls courtesy of Paul Addis
(Source: Wanda Power/Laughing Squid)

While we've never personally had this issue on Tribe per se, it does bring a whole new meaning to the term "great balls of fire".

Ba-da-bump!

R.I.P. Charlie Russell, Mayor of East Jesus #)'(

RIP Charlie Russell (1965-2011)

Charlie Stephen Russell aka "Chasterus", born January 6, 1965, passed away on May 12, 2011 in his amazing art installation/home in East Jesus, Slab City, California, from unknown causes. Charlie is probably best known for "Cinnabar Charm" (named after the Th. Metger poem) a VW Camper Bus art car. 

Of the many things said of Charlie since his passing, friend and lover Tré Taylor, said it best: "Charles Stephen Russell made a huge contribution to the free art world as we know it. There is a new generation of people who are now creating wide open free range off the grid art compounds all over the world, because of Charlie Russell. He lived everyday the way he wanted and how he wanted it. He was a living legend and hero to us all."

A memorial service for Charlie is slated for Sunday, June 5, 2011 at Nimby in Oakland, California.  More information is available on Facebook.

BURNcast raises a chocolate martini in a toast to Charlie: "To Charlie. Community. Drink!"

Charlie Russell as featured in  
The End of The Road - Documentary Trailer 

from The Drone on Vimeo.

Charlie Russell's "East Jesus" as featured on 

Leave an Interesting Trace - Part One from Zebulon on Vimeo.

5X5 Burning Man Day by Mini Madness

A "5x5" or "5 Vignettes" is simply 5 short, 5 second clips. This one by Mini Madness.