Call the Playa phone booth: 213-634-1441

[nessamonster]

Hey there y'all,
I was wondering if there was any way that someone could scribble down a message for me and post it at the big board where messages are often left for others. My problem is that I did something really stupid...I broke up with the only man that's ever rattled my soul, and moved my spirit. He's at BM right now, having a great time and I've had time to pull my life together. He was it, the one, and I let him go, I was scared, worried what might happen if I allowed to spend my life with someone so fun, adventureous, curious, truthful, respectful, and in love with me. Would someone please just write a little note saying:
Brook, I'm sorry, I was wrong, I love you, Janessa!

And pin it up with all the other messages, I would appreciate it so much! Thanks Burning fam!

[sunshinecity]

it'ìs not easy to leave generic messages, do you know what camp he is at?
I eft my message there but I left it at teh camp site msg board, where do we begin with him?
anf hints help as to where to locaet him!

[nessamonster]

I don't know what camp he is in, but I know there are message boards at center camp...I know it's impossible to find messages on them, but I've got to try. He might also be driving a school bus around that had graffiti painted on side, and a mural of a sunset on the other that says" Proud to be Black Rock citizen". If you happen to run into it, his name is Brook. Thanks,
ness

[sunshinecity]

All I can suggest is go browse the message board your self, maybe you can leave a message for him there, You decide in which way..

here's the link, its real easy:
http://www.playainfo.org/dir2004/

best of luck!

[nessamonster]

Hey thanks for your help!

[redstar]

I called a couple of times, but unfortunately, all I got was voicemail.

But still - this was an awesome idea - a tiny round of applause in my dark computer room for those who put it together

[bradtem]

Unfortunately, the internet connection on the playa was about as bad as it has ever been, in spite of stalwart work. Thus the phone only worked about half the time, and not much at all before Wednesday. However, when it was working it was great fun, and often had a good line. During the day, the outside party would often not hear you very well, but even in that case people were thrilled to hear the voices of their loved ones or even just their answering machines. At night, with less congestion, the calls were better and people had interesting conversations.

Several folks called in. Sometimes that wasn't working but I answered a few and I know others did. Some folks called in after they left, to ask how the Temple burn had gone and to be reminded of what they had left.

I will shortly write up the web page with photos and playa experiences. I've been doing installations at Burning Man for many years, but it's remarkable how this one made people literally shout with joy after talking to distant loved ones, or people in a hurricane zone, or people in faraway lands.

[CyberHippy]

I was camping at the Embassy from Wed-Mon, and between the phone and the rocking-horse the entertainment was endless! One burner after the next got on the phone, and if they got a dialtone would usually spend the whole conversation repeating the same line over and over - "I'm in Nevada, in the desert" or "I'm OK!" or "Can you hear me?" Damn that was fun...

bradtem - did you do the panoramic pictures as well? I'm the guy who helped take down the plexiglass Sunday evening.

This was my third year, and so far my best - camping and playing music on the Esplanade, great weather Sat and Sun, and the Temple was the most emotionally moving piece of art I've ever encountered, especially on Sunday afternoon when everyone in the temple had tears in their eyes...

[bradtem]

Yes, I did the panoramic pictures. And the star map on Mercury, and the Save-the-Man protest. And we also did the Free Speech Zone in front of camp though people didn't make as much use of the whiteboard protest signs as hoped.

The upstream on the phone usually sucked during the day. Had the network not been so chaotic, we would have had time to figure out how to do some bandwidth shaping to give the phone packets enough priority to get heard better. Late at night (and in particular on Sunday night) it was much better.

You were lucky to arrive Wednesday. Monday was stiflingly hot and Tue and Wed (and to some extent Thursday) had killer white-outs most afternoons.

We used a real western electric heavy duty pay phone, meant to go outside, but even its keys got sticky with all the dust. Thanks for helping with the plexi. I won't do the plexi again though, too much dust got behind it and it was a lot of work to mount.

[Mark Hinkley]

I just wanted to post my personal thanks to the people who hosted this project. Aside from its quirky unexpectedness, it allowed me to make a surprise phone call to someone that came just at the right time. No, I assure you, it had nothing to do with business. It was just a very nice thing and I wanted to say thanks.

Mark

[CyberHippy]

Thanks for all of the good stuff, brad.

I got my taste of whiteout on Thursday, while playing in the Embassy with Joanne Rand the front door area barfed a ton of dust all over us, making vocals impossible and as described by campmates "aging you 20 years in 5 minutes."

Very nice pictures, BTW - I assume you have many of this year? Looking forward to seeing them...
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[bradtem]

I have filled out the web site about the Playa Phone, including descriptions of on-playa experiences, a photo gallery of users, and maps showing all the places that people called (about 1600 calls were made.)

You can check it all out at http://www.templetons.com/pq/

[Barbarella]

Hey I am locking for Headhunter!He is a DPW but I cant find him ...please tell him to phone me !!!LOve Barbarella
barblove_2000@yahoo.de
Anybody knows how to get now in contact with a dpw on the playa?
Love B