Postmodern Sweeties
Jun. 17th, 2003 04:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ltmurnauMy friend Joe and I are planning to go to Burning Man together this summer, and this morning we were talking about logistics - transport, equipment, food - and got talking about bars: ration bars, energy bars, and the kind of chocolate bars they do not have in the US that I could bring down as barter items (no money allowed at Burning Man, it's what they call a "gift economy" which I guess means everything's negotiable).
Examples of Canada-only bars are found at http://www.bookofratings.com/canadiansnacks.html, and the most remarkable I can think of is the Aero Bar. The chocolate inside is all crumbly bubbles, "Big on bubbles" ("Les bulles...on s'y connaît!") is this candy bar's catchphrase, and sure enough when you crack one in half it looks like a chocolatey degenerative bone disease."
Of course, these would melt in the 100+ degree Nevada heat, and Joe suggested drinking them, to which I replied:
"Ugh, sometimes you have the most disgusting ideas, Joseph. Anyway, a melted Aero completely misses the point, and the postmodern premise, of this chocolate bar: its sales are predicated on its offer of nothing, of myriads of minute vacancies inside - in short, you are buying a chocolate bar that promises the absence of chocolate."
"Par les bulles on s'y connait" - you'll know it by the bubbles - heh, the slogan is even in French, Baudrillard would be proud.
I think there's something here for all of us to reflect on. Or Not.
Examples of Canada-only bars are found at http://www.bookofratings.com/canadiansnacks.html, and the most remarkable I can think of is the Aero Bar. The chocolate inside is all crumbly bubbles, "Big on bubbles" ("Les bulles...on s'y connaît!") is this candy bar's catchphrase, and sure enough when you crack one in half it looks like a chocolatey degenerative bone disease."
Of course, these would melt in the 100+ degree Nevada heat, and Joe suggested drinking them, to which I replied:
"Ugh, sometimes you have the most disgusting ideas, Joseph. Anyway, a melted Aero completely misses the point, and the postmodern premise, of this chocolate bar: its sales are predicated on its offer of nothing, of myriads of minute vacancies inside - in short, you are buying a chocolate bar that promises the absence of chocolate."
"Par les bulles on s'y connait" - you'll know it by the bubbles - heh, the slogan is even in French, Baudrillard would be proud.
I think there's something here for all of us to reflect on. Or Not.
