I don't understand???

[Raven9940]

I'm sorry but can someone explain this years theme to me?

I tried reading the summary twice and I still don't understand. What does the name cargo cult mean? What does it have to do with aliens? Or cults? How are people going to reflect whatever the theme is at the burn?

[Simon of the Playa]

[9ah]

Well... uummm.. this is awkward....

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=cargo+cult

Update: I notice you said you 'tried' reading... I think that's where the issue may lie, my dear. Maybe a youtube video with a verbal explanation may help further.... And you're in Brooklyn and you can't figure out cargo cult. Getting into Manhattan on the weekend must be a mindfuck.

[theCryptofishist]

I tried reading the summary twice and I still don't understand.

I suggest scanning this thread. Don't get real hung up on any answer that doesn't speak to you. Although, I love the burning blog post, but that's just me. And don't expect Larry's prose to make sense. I think he deliberately obfuscates; it reads like a college sophomore bs-ing because he didn't finish the reading or is trying to get down a freshman's pants.

[Elliot]

Rent the movie Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. In the second half of the movie you get to see a cargo cult in action.

[Elorrum]

First, I agree with Simon. Do a bit more thinking. Here's my take, and I'm still trying to figure out what my personal cult will be about. There was something, or you think there was something, that was once here, is now gone, and you want it back. You want the thing back, or you want the entities who brought it to come back, and bring more. It's something exquisite, magical, out of this world, perhaps, and you have no way to obtain it on your own. How do you get that? How do you ask, cajole, bribe, worship, offer tribute? What is it that you want to come back?

[Elliot]

Raven,
As for the aliens, my understanding is that the next "John Frums" who arrive on the islands may not come in propeller planes and steam ships as they did in World War Two, but may arrive in flying saucers -- which opens up new possibilities for art.

By the way, you are not required, or even expected, to do anything with the official theme. It's just a suggestion.

[Eric]

I'm sorry but can someone explain this years theme to me?

Burn Shit and Blow Shit Up.
"what do we do every year, Pinky... "


Everything else is Larry passing gas.




Other than that, Elliot & Ellorum pretty much nailed it.

[Elorrum]

Raven,
As for the aliens, my understanding is that the next "John Frums" who arrive on the islands may not come in propeller planes and steam ships as they did in World War Two, but may arrive in flying saucers -- which opens up new possibilities for art.

By the way, you are not required, or even expected, to do anything with the official theme. It's just a suggestion.

or if you think of the whole Chariots of the Gods speculation, they've been here already.

[9ah]

By the way, you are not required, or even expected, to do anything with the official theme. It's just a suggestion.

So true... I mean I am packing cargo shorts this year, so I'm kinda doing something with the theme....

[Drawingablank]

The movie The Gods Must be Crazy is a favorite of mine and pretty much what I envision cargo cultism to be all about.

[BurnerBunny]

I'm thinking of a cargo cult that tries to get all the straight guys to drop trou again

[Elliot]

The movie The Gods Must be Crazy is a favorite of mine and pretty much what I envision cargo cultism to be all about.

Now that I do not understand. I watched that film after the theme was announced, and I saw nothing like a cargo cult.

(Not that it matters.)

[Drawingablank]

The movie The Gods Must be Crazy is a favorite of mine and pretty much what I envision cargo cultism to be all about.

Now that I do not understand. I watched that film after the theme was announced, and I saw nothing like a cargo cult.

(Not that it matters.)

Well, not the full extremities of a true cargo cult but in many respects the thinking that an empty coke bottle tossed from a plane came from the gods fits pretty well. Admittedly the Mad Max Thunderdome movie is a better fit, but not nearly as funny a movie.

[CornMan]

phpBB [video]

[9ah]

Why aren't they wearing cargo shorts, Zeke?

[Savannah]

The thing I think about over and over again, in terms of the concept of a "Cargo Cult", are:

1) one culture who wants advancement
2) a second, technically more advanced culture that seems godlike, but isn't necessarily, or in all ways, and . . .
3) how it's very human to seek answers from the Gods (or some form of higher power . . . aliens, Gurus, whatever) despite the fact that those answers may never come, or would be healthier or wiser coming from within.

I think it's a very interesting theme, and will enjoy seeing what people do with it, but . . . I will probably (personally) ignore it as I usually do.

[BBadger]

Don't worry about the theme. You go to BM, there are some funny sounding street names in alphabetical order, see the man and temple with designs unrelated to the theme, and really nothing else related to the "theme" besides the ticket design.

[ygmir]

The thing I think about over and over again, in terms of the concept of a "Cargo Cult", are:

1) one culture who wants advancement
2) a second, technically more advanced culture that seems godlike, but isn't necessarily, or in all ways, and . . .
3) how it's very human to seek answers from the Gods (or some form of higher power . . . aliens, Gurus, whatever) despite the fact that those answers may never come, or would be healthier or wiser coming from within.

I think it's a very interesting theme, and will enjoy seeing what people do with it, but . . . I will probably (personally) ignore it as I usually do.

ok, c'mon.......you know, we all know:

phpBB [video]

[some seeing eye]

Savanah, are you saying Larry is a god?

[BBadger]

Savanah, are you saying Larry is a god?

Do you deny it?!

[Simon of the Playa]

"Larry Ex Machina"

[oscillator]

Yeah, I too was puzzled at first.

Then watched this video, and things became immediately clear. Might work for you too...

phpBB [video]

[trilobyte]

Ask Uncle Google. Spend a little time reading the threads on this board. With a little bit of basic research on your end, you can get the idea. From there you can either ignore it and do whatever you want anyways, or riff on some aspect of the theme that strikes your fancy and have fun with it.

[scruffenheimer]

I like the Cargo Cult theme. To me it reflects the need for knowledge and understanding over superstition. The theme addresses the way ignorance can lead us to resort to pathetic mimicry of past events in an effort to summon the things we want and need. Knowledge is power. Ignorance leaves us making pathetic gestures in an attempt to imitate the past, hoping those gestures will bring about the desired result.

[Ugly Dougly]

I like the Cargo Cult theme. To me it reflects the need for knowledge and understanding over superstition. The theme addresses the way ignorance can lead us to resort to pathetic mimicry of past events in an effort to summon the things we want and need. Knowledge is power. Ignorance leaves us making pathetic gestures in an attempt to imitate the past, hoping those gestures will bring about the desired result.

Thanks.

[theCryptofishist]

I wonder if we'll get a lot of science v. faith stuff this year.

[Simon of the Playa]

just shut up and give us your credit card #...

[Martiena]

Well... uummm.. this is awkward....

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=cargo+cult

Update: I notice you said you 'tried' reading... I think that's where the issue may lie, my dear. Maybe a youtube video with a verbal explanation may help further.... And you're in Brooklyn and you can't figure out cargo cult. Getting into Manhattan on the weekend must be a mindfuck.

That was so cool...the link you set up, and the way it unfolds. Love it. I'm fine with basic searches etc. but am so computer challenged. I just keep trying, and very slowly figure it out.

[Ugly Dougly]

It can also been seen as a rejection of the tendency to worship high technology and a rediscovery of a primal "kastom" heritage.