Crush the Dutch

Burningman 2006: 82 fire breathers gathered together to break a long-standing record of 70 people breathing fire simultaneously. They succeeded.

Early 2007: A Dutch group gets 115 people together to go after the record. Their success is unknown, though, they have declared victory.

Burningman 2007: The Ocean of Fire project will be at it again. OOF III will try to re-break this record by crushing the dutch attempt. Join us at the OOF page.

Memories

So, I just had an old flame drop back into my life. Got me thinking about the roads I've been down. I mean, for the last 10 years or so, I've been falling deeper and deeper into the fire community here in LA and at Burningman. But I've been a lot of other things in my life, and have had to make some hard choices.

I don't often have time for "what if" dreams, but Alla has been in and out of my life since I was a child. We've been through thick and thin together, and a lot of my important decisions have been counseled by her. So naturally, her re-appearance has me thinking about things: my marriage, divorce, the army, my computer programming career, clowning, moving west, *sigh*. Lots of old memories.

And now, the new and the old are getting all tied up. Makes me pensive....
Maybe it's the weather... :)

Send Flowers

Today is the last day to send flowers reliably via FTD to arrive by Mother's day.

Go on. Git.

Hurray!

Hurray hurray the first of May, outdoor boinking starts today!

It's finally feeling like spring. And business is [finally] booming. Unfortunately that will mean less and less time online.

Oh, and still looking for firewalkers and locations for a Discovery channel piece.

Apr 07 SAFFE meeting

As many of you are aware, i am the NAFAA representative to a Southern California gathering of Fire Marshals and related movie industry reps as involved with fire and special effects (SAFFE). I got started with these meetings in the process of setting up Burn Club and try to attend each quarterly meeting when possible.

Most of the topics are quite dry. For example, there was an hour-long powerpoint presentation on the permitting process for fireworks manufacturers (thank gawd they have coffee for free). :) However a few things were of interest to our community
1) they have a website up www.safefirefx.org/
2) LA city fire will no longer require a pyro 1 or 2 to be onsite for open flame effects performance on movie sets. Expect NAFAA safety regs to be imposed, however.
3) There was note that "cage poi" are difficult or impossible to extinguish with towels, and a suggestion that extinguishers (CO2 or ABC) be on hand for dousing them.
4) Someone applied for a burn permit on a movie lot (yes, I know who), without a safety plan, spotter, or even safety equipment. Pretty much all the studios in LA have been exposed to the NAFAA regs by now and have their standards set appropriately to them. You may not have to follow them to the letter, but that's pretty much what's expected of you now. It can mean the difference between a juicy gig and walking home.

Also, NAFAA has been asked to provide a suggested checklist for fire marshals to help them insure that the basics are covered when they look over a fire performers safety set-up. Due date is July 24th. We will be discussing this on the NAFAA discussion list.
Subscription address discussion-subscribe@nafaa.org
Contact me directly if you have trouble with this list.

There has been some noise about expanding and separating the basic NAFAA tool standards into it's own set of codes. If this project takes off, I'd like to modify the NAFAA regs to include mention of those codes, and eliminate section III, or at least take it down to onsite safety checks only. This too, will be discussed on the list.

An open letter to the Pope.

I am an Ex-catholic. Part of the reason for this is that I never had Faith. Part of the reason is that my only religious experience was animistic, not Abrahamic.

As an outsider, who's an ex insider, I have a few observations.

1) you believe in Papal infallibility both forward and backward in time. However you do not believe that psychics and fortune tellers get their gifts from God. So, if seeing the future is not in god's plan, and the Pope does not have this capacity, then decisions made by the pontiff are only infallible for the scope of his decision. Let's keep this in mind.
2) Now, the Abrahamic churches have traditionally installed church doctrine to assist in public health issues: Jewish Kosher Laws, fish on friday, etc. Currently the church faces two primary threats. First is overpopulation. In areas that are stringently Catholic, population growth is at dangerous levels. Left unchecked, it will cause global repercussions. This brings up a variety of issues.
2a) Marriage: what is it for? originally it helped insure Paternity, now, all the rhetoric says it's about family. If this is so, then why do you still allow infertile couples to get married? If your answer is adoption, then why not allow same-sex couples? if we're reading into the letter of Leviticus, why not allow lesbian couples?
2b) Contraception: why not use any? You allow medical operations. You allow pharmaceuticals. You allow for some types of birth control. Why not allow chemical or surgical birth control? If a marriage has already produced ...say... two children, or at least one, then why not allow for permanent contraceptive methods?
2c) Fornication is not forbidden in the 10 commandments. Yet your stance on Adultery has softened over the last few years. So, your resistance to fornication is nearly meaningless. This makes premarital sex so rampant that a disturbing percentage of all marriages occur within 8 months of the first child born (ahem). Despite the marriage and family link, a marriage strictly to cover over a premarital conception ALSO goes against anything that could be the point of Marriage.
3) Disease. We have a large number of diseases running rampant in the world today. When they were STDs, you had the option of sitting aloof and declaring them Gods punishment to the libidinous. However, diseases like aids, herpes, bird flu and others can be spread though strict observation of religious rites. Again, the Church allows for some medical sciences, why not endorse health education? Also, combine the lack of health education with the growing fornication rates, and you have a recipe for a global pandemic issue.

I implore you to solve any one of these issues. The simple indulgence of condoms could halt overpopulation, reduce disease transmission, and may even put a damper on fornication. (Lord knows I hate those things)

The Leo / Snake

THE SNAKE CHARMING

The Snake born in Leo is always right. Even if he's wrong. He is nonetheless absolutely certain that he knows best. And frequently, especially for himself and in order to achieve his own ends, the Leo/Snake is not far off. Wisdom and clairvoyance are part of the Snake legacy. But the addition of Leo to the cool-headed Snake character, although it lends some sunshine and warmth, also deals this character a hand loaded with vanity. Now the already extravagant and presumptuous Snake has to carry around excess baggage in the form of a swollen skull that just doesn't quit. Love is the outlet that this person seeks - everywhere! Multiple love affairs, serial marriages and a deep longing for true love characterize this gorgeous person's sexual history. Intense lovemaking lends closeness and intimacy to this otherwise heady person's existence. Let's just say the Leo/Snake is famous for bone-chilling sexual exploits and, trust me, if you ever have the good fortune to bed one, you will remember my words...

Famous Leo Snakes - Mae West, Jackie Kennedy, Robert Mitchum.......

Good Compatibilities - Gemini Ox.......

-'splains a bit, no? :)