Burning Man 2006: Hope and Fear

[non sequitur]

Originally Posted by Robin

In the words of the famous Mormon director (at least he was Mormon when he said it), Neil Labute, when someone described one of his films as "Jerking him off, but not ever letting him cum..." The Mormon (now post-Mormon) Labute replied, "I will jerk you off all day long, but YOU are the one that has to cum."

Does anybody have Neil Labute's email address? I have a couple of questions for him, because I'm pretty sure I'm not doing it right.

[DirtyHippieUTE]

Originally Posted by Robin

Burning man is not a didactic experience. It gives the participant a lot of intense experience, and leaves the person to define for him/her self what it all means. In the words of the famous Mormon director (at least he was Mormon when he said it), Neil Labute, when someone described one of his films as "Jerking him off, but not ever letting him cum..." The Mormon (now post-Mormon) Labute replied, "I will jerk you off all day long, but YOU are the one that has to cum." Burning Man is a lot like that.

I think we're saying the same thing about Burning Man but assigning a very different value to it.

Burning Man in and of itself is nothing more than a whole lot of jerking off. You can try to make more out of it or try to take more out of it, but there just isn't that much to it.

Without going into an in depth discussion of LDS theology, I will say that for those who find Burning Man to be an overwhelming spiritual experience, they are drinking from the wrong fountain.

For those who feel their mind has been opened, they are probably right. Unfortunately (again viewing things from an LDS standpoint) the things to which your mind has been opened are of little or no value.

I honestly feel that Burning Man started out as group of people who wanted to feel something, create something and be a part of something important. They shot for the stars and missed because they never had a big enough bow. What they ended up with is an orgy of unenlightened self expression which carrys sufficient emotion to pass for a spiritual experience. Sadly, it is a weak substitute for true enlightenment and spirituality.

I think your experience with Burning Man is a perfect example of taking from something what you put into it. You went in to the experience looking to take something from it. You found that thing and took it with you.

I went to Burning Man to see what it was. I didn't put anything into it, I didn't look to take anything from it. What burning man had to offer was a counterfeit of what I have found in family, faith and community. One week of sparkles and glitter just didn't turn me on.

I guess the best way to describe the difference between our experiences is the difference between a man who has eaten and a man who is hungry at a restaurant. The hungry man will find satisfaction, the man who has eaten may find something interesting but nothing he needed or didn't already have.

[Robin]

r.f.

[DirtyHippieUTE]

Originally Posted by Robin

I think EVERYONE should try it once in their lifetime, and decide if it is right for them on their own.

This reveals a lot about you... My guess is you are a relativist. Please don't take that as a judgemental statement, it's just one of my ways of processing the way another person seems to think.

This is the same argument relativists use for anything that one person finds offensive, worthless or immoral. The idea is that there is no eternal "good" and "bad," but only subjective views based on individual experience.

I'm not saying Burning Man is immoral or offensive (although the tent where they were performing LDS sealings and handing out garments was a little over the top for me).

However, I am saying that some things are not relative. Some things are good and others are bad. There is light and there is dark. There are wholesome activities and there are crap activites.

IMHO Burning Man is crap. You may find some "neat" stuff there and you might meet a few good friends, but it's just not worth wading thru the tripe to find it. Going to Burning Man for inspiration is like eating vomit for the little pieces of corn. Sure... They may be good for you, but there are countless other (better) ways to get what you need.

My advice to the CG masses, if running around in a sand storm with a wide variety of people who may or may not be intoxicated/impared, hoping to find something "neat" but more often than not happening upon something immoral, offensive or disgusting, have at it...

To throw down the hammer of judgment (a-la several of our favorite CB posters)... IMHO, if you adhere to the "stand ye in holy places" kind way of thinking, Burning Man is no place for you.

[SoCalCoug]

Going to Burning Man for inspiration is like eating vomit for the little pieces of corn. Sure... They may be good for you, but there are countless other (better) ways to get what you need.

I nominate you for King of the Similes! That was a thing of beauty.

[non sequitur]

Originally Posted by SoCalCoug

I nominate you for King of the Similes! That was a thing of beauty.

The whole notion of eating vomit for corn is absurd. You don't need to eat the vomit. All you do is pick the corn out of the vomit and just eat the corn. Only an idiot would eat the vomit too.

[Robin]

r.f.

[DirtyHippieUTE]

Originally Posted by Robin

Hurting kittens? Evil.

There is more than one way to skin a cat... In fact, I figure there are about 37 but I hear they're coming out with new things everyday in China.

[Robin]

r.f.

[DirtyHippieUTE]

After Burning Man

Child: Mommy. Why did that man have a hot dog bun over his penis?
Parent: He was expressing himself.
Child: Can I express myself? For show and tell?
Parent: No. I don't think that would be a good idea.
Child: Why not.
Parent: Because there are public decency laws.
Child: What's decency?