lethargic_man | A lack of notes from Limmud: The Story of the story

"The Story of the Story - a Bird's Eye View of a Talmudic Sugiya from Top to Bottom", by Ofek Meir, sounded interesting from its blurb:

In these study sessions we will discover the connection between extinguishing the Shabbat candle, Hillel's mid-day shower, the demand to censor the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, a live dog, a dead lion and a convert. An in-depth study of Tractate Shabbar 29b will transform this unbelievable muddle into a masterpiece relating to the human condition.

This was a two-part session; I went to the first part, and all we did was go though the Mishna and the first half of the Gemara, which was not actually as interesting as the blurb made it sound. So I decided to skip the second half, and go to something more interesting instead. I could always read the rest of the sugiya in my free time, I thought, given that we'd been given it in translation.

The problem, of course, is that after reading it, it was still an incredible muddle for me. Now I'm looking for someone to transform it for me into a masterpiece relating to the human condition.

blackherring, you'll have done this as part of your Daf Yomi. Do you (or anyone else familiar with the text) fancy shedding a bit of light on this for me?