.

More pictures and video are starting to surface on the internet from Balsa Man 2008. I’ve created a Balsa Man 2008 Flickr group to collect all the best shots from the event

Links to Photos & Video (this list will be continuously updated as I receive links):

• EdRabbit’s Balsa Man 2008 photos
• EdRabbit’s videos (Balsa Man Burn, DDI Burn)
• The Temple Burn (video)
• Romzelino’s photos
• ~Jeanne~’s photos
• ebisue’s photos
• Jay Bain’s photos
• Balsa Man 2008 Flickr pool

If you have more photos or video to share please add a comment below with links and I will add it to this list. If you are a Flickr member please tag your photos “BalsaMan2008″ and add your favorites to the Balsa Man Flickr Group pool.

p.s. Also check out EdRabbit’s own blog post wrap up of the event on Geeked Info.

Video of the glorious burn:

Note, yes I failed to raise the arms. Torch in hand, I was too eager to light it. Well the majesty of the burn made up for it and at least now I have at least one way it will be better next year. How else will The Balsa Man be better next year?

• We have a theme for 2009 “Big Dreams Writ Small” — build a small maquette of the huge art project you always dreamed of building.
• We’ll have more time set aside for viewing the fabulous art.
• I’ll be conducting more burn tests, so it can burn even more grand! This burn was pretty amazing but we can make it better.
• I’ll be designing a more impressive platform for next year’s Balsa man that relates to the theme.
• Oh and I’m thinking lasers, cause lasers make everything better.
• And of course the Balsa Man will improve most due to the creativity and spirit of the Balsa Man community!

See you all next year — keep the tiny Balsa Man community spirit alive!

Balsa Man 2008 was a roaring success thanks to all the fabulous people who came and participated!

Big tiny thanks to:

• The main Balsa Man KCrew team, namely Nifer who helped me tremendously in the build process and MotoMike who helped prepare The Balsa Man for his firey doom!
• Criollo for transporting the Balsa Man to the location, setting up signs, and doing anything that needed doing!
• Jordan, for his great little Balsa Phoenix, which seemed to have a problem rising from the ashes. Also he gets our thanks for digging the post hole for Balsa Man with a little u-dig-it shovel!
• J-Rad for the beautiful Temple of Reduced Expectations, which gets the award for the longest burning art project at Balsa Man — paper or not, it burned slow and long, turning into wonderful plant-like tendrils of crumbing ash.
• MissySB for making the awesome Balsa Shave signs! And for making the first Balsa Man fire effects artwork — powered off of a DeWalt battery no less!
• ApeGirl & Dusty, for setting up the deliciously mini-orange trash fence!
• Anthony Ricci‘s adorable bubblegum pink buddhas that appeared to be bobbing up for air from under the beach!
• EdRabbit for hauling out DDI to the Balsa Man burn — really that has to be the fastest DDI setup I ever saw! Pity about the software glitch that burned down the entire thing contestants and all!
• And a thanks to everyone else who showed and made it a great burn!

Balsa Man will be back next year! And better than ever — though knowing him, he probably won’t be bigger than ever. So start fiddling away now with your balsa wood, as I hope to see your mini masterpiece at next year’s burn! Next year’s Balsa Man will have more time set aside for art as already there was so much art this year that you couldn’t see it all.

Balsa Man 2009 — “Big Dreams Writ Small”

If you had limitless time, resources, volunteers, and most importantly motivation, what would you create? A hundred foot tower of steel? A giant rocking horse?

For Balsa Man 2009, create a small maquette of your biggest dreams!

Tiny bubbles of inspiration are percolating through the Balsa Man community! Already mentioned in my last post was the Temple of Reduced Expectations built by J-Rad and the DTMV (Dept. of Tiny Mutant Vehicles) first registered RC ArtCar by ninavizz. Since just yesterday, there’s been even more news of tiny participation! MissySB is now the Vice President of Ingress Information: i.e., she’s coordinating the effort of making the Balsa Shave 3×5″ entrance signs — I encourage others to make signs as well as more is sometimes more.

Also, while the BalsArtery doesn’t have any official announcements, rumors abound of more inspired mini-artists out there tooling away. Hints of more balsa wood purchases, possible lamplighter posts, and “tiny flamular” demonstrations have been rippling through the Balsa Man community! At this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if craft stores start running out of balsa wood and glue!*

The best way to experience Balsa Man is to participate. The Balsa Man burns in two days, but that’s more than enough time to create your own mini-masterpiece!

*BTW, if you are looking for balsa wood an other modeling supplies, I highly recommend Franciscan Hobbies, which is where all the lumber for Balsa Man was purchased. The proprietors are really nice and really know their stuff. Also, Pearl Arts & Crafts has a decent amount of modeling supplies and a variety of other art supplies.

If you have been following the Balsa Build on Flickr, you’d see that The Balsa Man is fully built! In the next few days, I will be constructing the platform, doing burn tests, and completing a the last few finishing touches.

In other fabulous news, we have a Temple!The fabulous J-Rad is bringing his 2ft paper Temple of Reduced Expectations that will be burnt after Balsa Man!

To make this event even better, we are looking for some help and artistry from the community:

Calling All Artists!

• Entrance signs: Balsa Man needs tiny humorous signs that lead to the event, just like they have on the road leading into Burning Man! This is an easy task for anyone with an ounce of wit. All you need is a pack of 3×5 index cards, a sharpie marker, some popsicle sticks, and some glue. Many people can be involved in making signs!
• More Mini-Art!: It would be amazing if more artists brought their imagination and talent to bear for Balsa Man. I can’t tell you much a thrill it would be to have lots of miniaturized playa sculptures and artcars around the Balsa Man! There were some rumblings in the last post about making a mini-thunderdome and a miniature Rogue art car — let’s make that happen!
• Please read logistics for artists below!

Other needs

• Kevlar Thread: No creativity needed — I just need some kevlar thread for Balsa Man. I have no idea what store would carry this. If you know of a store or better yet have some kevlar thread to donate, please contact me.
• Pyro Wisdom: I will be conducting some burn tests over the next couple days in order to make this a small burn to remember! If there are any pyro experts in the house that can offer advice on how to make this burn just right, please leave comments below or contact me via email.

Logistics for Artists

If you are an artist planning on bringing art to this event, please contact me and let me know what you plan to bring. I’m not micromanaging the art, but I would like to make sure it works well with the miniaturized aspect of Balsa Man.

If you are an artist bringing art to the event please show up at Baker beach between 7-7:30pm so we can properly place the artwork. Sunset is at 7:41 and I would like to have all artwork placed before then. If you are bringing entrance signs, please show up closer to 7pm so we can have them ready when attendees are arriving.

Burns of other artwork will happen after the Balsa Man burn. If you are planning on burning your art, please bring your own lighters or whatever you need. All artists are responsible for their own burn and for their own cleanup. Please, No Large Fireworks!

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below or contact me via email.

When & Where for Attendees

Attendees should show up at Baker Beach around or before sunset, so they can cheer on the last of the sun and look at the art. The Balsa Man will burn once night has sufficiently fallen (around 8:30-8:45pm), and all other art will burn shortly after.

Balsa Man will take place on the North End of Baker Beach. I will have more specific placement information later this week when I have had a chance to scout out the area.

Balsa Man wasn’t better last year!

a diminute effigy for a reduced community!

2009 Balsa Man Update
Go to the new Balsa Man website for info on the 2009 burn!

Camp Riverton, is hosting Balsa Man, a celebration for all campers who this year forwent the dusty desert and decided to remain here in the foggy Bay Area. The Balsa Man KCrew, Colin, Nifer, and Supervisor Ghastly, have been hard at work building the diminutive Man. The X-acto blades are slicing, the dremels are whirring, the glue is sticking, and the whiskey is pouring! Photos of the ongoing build process are available in the Balsa Man Build flickr set.

Soon he will stand on his own and we invite you the community this Saturday 30th at sunset (around 8pm) to watch us burn Balsa Man in his full lilliputian 3 foot glory! It is a celebration of small transformation through fire.

Balsa Man may not be big enough to help you forget all your cares, but he can help overcome the small ones. In fact, we invite you to write down any petty grievances, minor troubles, or picayune worries that you have on a small slip of paper to be placed at the base of The Balsa Man before the burn.

However, if we really want this to be a successful Balsa Man burn we need some help from you the Balsa Man community! If you can help with any of the below items please leave a comment or write me an email.

• Photo and video documentation — nothing exists these days without evidence and the Balsa Man KCrew will be too busy to snap away so please come with your cameras!
• Build volunteers (maybe) — we may have need of a couple build volunteers depending on how the build goes this week. If so, we will issue a callout on twitter
• If you have anything else you would like to add for the Balsa Man let me know — but make sure it is to scale! (matchstick poi spinning, miniature art cars, or small figurines of Larry Harvey, Crimson Rose, Paul Addis, etc.)
• This is a leave no trace event, and we appreciate your help sweeping for moop after the burn.
• Remember unlike the Playa, the Bay Area has few wandering art cars and it’s a bit of a haul to walk, so please plan ahead if you will be in need of a designated driver.

Join us and make Balsa Man a tiny burn to remember!

NEW UPDATE: More info and news – Balsa Man news: community, we need you!

It’s National Science Week — in Australia. The US used to have an official National Science & Technology Week which ran from 1985-1999, but unfortunately our current admin doesn’t seem to think science is all that important to celebrate. Well to be honest, the U.S. Dept. of Education (ED) and NASA attempted to sorta bring the idea back to life once in 2005 with the Excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education (ESTEME) Week — an awkward name birthed by bureaucracy and doomed to die a forgotten death.

But who cares about our lame science hating government! We can celebrate the AWESOME POWER OF SCIENCE Aussie style with Professor Funk!

Like some science-punk crossbreed between Yahoo Serious and Vyvyan Basterd, the Professor Funk drops the science with a hilarious self-aware dorky psuedo-hipness in his YouTube video series Saturday Night Science with Professor Funk: “A video series on the science behind weekend culture. Take a look at the strange, sexy and stupid side of sex, drugs, music, money and fashion.”

Professor Funk uses actual scientific surveys to ask important questions such as Mac or PC Which Makes You Sexier? or Do Stripes Actually Make You Look Taller? The best has to be his video on musical synesthesia where he shows just what the Imperial March from Star Wars might taste like by eating a range of items from tonic water to grass to water to used q-tips!

p.s. For more great Aussie science, I also highly recommend the excellent All In the Mind, the Australian ABC Radio National podcast about neuroscience and psychology. The program is always interesting, each broadcast dedicated to a single topic.