EP 46 Shadow Shorts #4

Shadow Shorts #4 is out now! Recorded at BRC in 2025 participants were challenged to explain BM‘s impact in 5 minutes or less. Meet an Australian attendee named Mel, who talks about the concept of personal recalibration, exploring how Black Rock City's surreal, Mars-like landscape and commitment to artistic expression allow adults to rediscover a lost sense of childlike curiosity and play. Mel highlights the importance of immediacy, using the metaphor of an approaching storm to illustrate why one must embrace life’s vibrant moments before they vanish. Ultimately, the episode serves as a testament to the transformative power of the desert, where random encounters—ranging from sailing replica ships to piloting small planes—encourage participants to bring a renewed, sustainable inner truth back to their daily lives.

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Transcript

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They make the trick out to Burning Man for a week and a day. After a lot of work, there's a lot of play. Party party drama drama drama b**** b**** b****. Year after they come back to scratch that itch. They all say rearranged. That changes what this show is all about. You'll see the impact. a burning up and out. So sit back, relax, and cancel all your plans. These are the stories about the shadow of the man. 

Hello and welcome to the Shadow of the Man Show. I am your host, That Andy. This is a Shadow Shorts episode recorded at Bernie Man 2025. You can tell because of the background sounds. Okay, I have to apologize in advance for the variable sound quality. The microphones are quite sensitive and it picked up some noise from handling and occasionally the speakers allowed the microphone to drift away while speaking. Uh the sound might be more variable than the studio recordings, but the stories are fantastic. Please enjoy.

My name is Mel McFersonen. I'm from Australia. apply names kickstand, selfie stick, and what's the other one? Fanny, because we call them bum bags and you call fanny bags.

Are you doing a lot of selfies your first year?

No, I decided to have a bit of fun with people and a little closer.

I decided to have a little fun with people and put a disable camera on the end of a very long stick and ask people to help me take a selfie.

That's awesome.

Just s**** and giggles.

So, how many years you've been burning?

This will be year number eight.

Oh. So, what keeps you what keeps you coming back?

Well, the irony is the first time I came, I was like I'm just going to do a bucket list thing. I'm going to do it once and that'll be great and then take it off and off we go looking for more adventures. And after the first year when I drove out, I just remember looking at my partner at the time and just going we have to come back. Like I I we have to come back.

What was it about? What hooked you?

Look, I think you never quite get over your first burn. You're just it's that I remember walking out onto the plier the esplanard for the first time. It's night time and I'm looking out there and I'm like I am literally on another plan. that like my brain is so discombobulated right now. I'm I'm not making sense of what I'm seeing. I like this is what it would be like if you landed on Mars and there was already a civil a civilization here.

Oh yeah. I've always said it's like Brainy Man's the one of the few places, if not the only place that you can be completely utterly sober and you will feel like you're tripping.

We were just talking about this last night and I was like cuz I'm having a more sober burn this year. Like I've got all the sideways things but

sleep is nice.

You know, it's it's interesting. You kind of you evolve or I think also with your burn. is you evolve in your burns. You know, I think there's

sustainable, right, and keep doing it.

Well, one must also be sustainable for oneself as well as for the planet and all the things.

You can't change the world before unless you first fix yourself, right?

This is true. This is true. Exactly. Start start at home first. Start on the inside. Look.

So, what keeps you coming back?

Great question. Um I I love the creative expression. I love the art. I always say to people and myself, it's like a recalibration for the human spirit.

I walk out of here And um it's I'm recalibrated and I take it home. You know, I love that. There's the freedom. There's, you know, just not caring other than what is my my inner truth. How do I want to dress? What do I want to say? Who am I? But also the reminders of how important artistic expression is. I think in this burn also immediiacy, you know, it's like it's raining one night. It's like get out, have your moments when they're there, when they present themselves cuz then you got to buck them down. So I think that's quite, you know, that's been quite The interesting part of this burn is is it's really driving immediacy. Get out there when you can because you know we have a storm every afternoon.

Yeah. Yeah. It's sunny. Go and do it.

Yeah. You have the window. Go. But isn't

we just looking to our left over here in the clouds ominous black clouds like you might actually have to leave in about 10 15 minutes.

I know. It's like the the dark cloud over your shoulder.

But isn't that a metaphor for life? You know, like

Yeah. Live life to the fullest cuz the dark cloud is almost. Yeah. And it's the fun of dodging the cloud, you know, like, can you get me? Maybe not,

but making the most of it. Um, and so, what else would I say about why I keep coming back? It's also, you know, I have a camp that I've been with for quite a few years now. It was a three mastered sailing ship called the Monaco. It's a replica.

Greg

Greg Baron.

Yeah. Yeah. Play. He's one of my episodes. Play me. Yeah.

Oh, he's an absolutely beautiful character. I love that man.

Yeah.

And uh it's a three mastered replica 1778 sailing ship when we can drop the sails, put it in drive.

Yeah, I have.

And you've got one of the medallions.

Well, it's from last year. Does it work for this year?

Honey, it'll always work. You're one of us. You're right. We're very open. We love all the all the people who join us. So,

yeah, cuz in 2006, um, Greg made it was like a Hawaiian canoe car. Yeah.

So, um,

that was way before he did the Monaco like Yeah.

He stepped it up, canoeed to three master sailing. Yeah. Yeah. He likes his ply ships like

Well, you can sail it. Did you know that?

Yeah. Yeah. Well, they take it out past the trash fence, right? And then unfurl the sails.

You drop the sails. I mean, as long as you've got the wind right behind you. I think the fastest we've got up to sailing the ship is 18 miles hour.

Really?

Oh, no. I lied. 23

Oh, okay.

23 miles per hour. I'm an Australian, so I like to work in kilometers, but I'm rolling for you guys.

Um, but you know, it's all these and it's also the random happenings. Like, I found myself in a plane after being out all night having quite a wild night and then I'm ended up at the airport in a small plane with the pilot looking across at me going okay well you're taking off I'm like what little fourseater plane he goes pull on that knob and I'll tell you when to pull on the handles and lift off

and I'm like you do know I've been out all night and he's like up here I've got you and I'm like all right here we go then I'm hurtling down the runway pulling the accelerator or the throttle and okay pull back now and up we go over the plier and we're flying all around the razor back and over the to the end of the plier past you know, over the trash fence to where the the shrubs start again. I'm going over wild horses and

Wow.

Like I'm just like this doesn't happen in normal life.

Yeah. Yeah.

You know, it's

Well, at least he didn't say it's like, you know, I just got divorced and I've got a death wish.

This is true. This is true. I mean, look, anything can happen, right? Anything can happen. So, it's it's the unexpected randomness. It's the fact that I come to this world with curiosity and playfulness, which is such a gift as we become adults because we lose that, I think. And I think um we lose that as we become adults and that curiosity and playfulness it recalibrates that and reignites it in us.

You take that home and you know I'm sure all the kids that come here with their parents are so delighted because finally the adults are playing like children again.

Oh yeah. We're all kids here,

right?

Yeah.

And that's pretty special.

Yeah. All right. Well, thank you very much.

Thank you for having me. That was fun.

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Thank you for listening to this latest show. We have to Another one. So got to go. Don't worry. For next month, we already have one in the very soon. You'll be listening to a new shadow of the man.