Saturday, July 8. 2006

Running of The Idiots

American paralyzed at Pamplona bull festival

A New York man was paralyzed below the waist while dodging young bulls with other revelers in the bullring at Spain's San Fermin Festival in Pamplona on Friday, festival organizers said.

The 31-year-old, named by hospital authorities as Ray Ducharn, was undergoing surgery after being taken to intensive care after he was hurt while trying to escape when the animals were released in Pamplona's bullring following the famous running of the bulls through the town's streets.

It was unclear exactly how Ducharn was injured but he did not appear to have been gored, organizers said.

What does it matter whether he was gored or not, he is still an idiot. I'm sorry, not much sympathy here. Playing with animals is dangerous and injury can happen. Doing it for fun is just stupidity.

Stupidity has a knack of getting its way. Albert Camus

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in The World at 06:33 | Comments (7) | Trackbacks (0)

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I agree with you about the idiocy of running with the bulls. I suppose most Americans think they are capturing some sort of Hemingway machismo, but even that sentiment is best left in the last century. I can understand how something odd (to me) might be important in a different culture, but when Americans try to adopt it as though it is inherent to our culture, then they tend to come across as idiots, as you say.

Also, nice Camus quote.

#1 Pablo (Homepage) on 2006-07-08 10:42 (Reply)

Topic hijacking here -- I saw this YouTube video and thought you would get a kick out of it -- especially the grass costumes ("what you can't see, you can't steal")

How far will you go to protect your prized cattle from "cattle terrorism" and from theft by aliens?

http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2006/07/shocking_news_cattle_terrorism.php

(judging by the landscape I think this was filmed in California.)

#2 Liz (Homepage) on 2006-07-08 12:22 (Reply)

I've always thought it unfair that the bulls in Pamplona are, in effect, running to their demise (the end of the run is the local bull-fighting stadium), so I root for the bulls to get as many of these yahoos as possible before they go.

The Running of the Bulls was a quaint local tradition until Hemingway showed up one year and wrote about it. Now, it seems that it's a test of manhood that every man (and a few women) feel they must do. The "custom" has been imported here, as similar "festivals" have started in Mesquite, NV northeast of Lost Wages, and out near Wickenberg, AZ. Methinks I'll settle for the Running of the Sheep in Reed Point (it'll remind me that Montana is a place where men are men -- and sheep are nervous

)

#3 Kirk Dooley on 2006-07-09 00:55 (Reply)

I've long followed a policy I learned when I was just a little guy: if it's bigger than me, it has right of way. Saves me a lot of trouble!

#4 DMerriman (Homepage) on 2006-07-09 07:29 (Reply)

These idiots (and yes I agree that that is the right word) need some real work in their lives. They would soon feel macho enough not to need to parade around with ticked off male bovines....or they would be too tired to worry about it.

#5 Marianne (Homepage) on 2006-07-09 09:05 (Reply)

Yep. They're idiots.

#6 Genevieve (Homepage) on 2006-07-09 13:13 (Reply)

Yes, they are idiots. But are they any bigger idiots than our American Rodeo Cowboys who strap themselves to the back of a bull, or football players who intentionally crash into each other, or soldiers or Marines who volunteer to go into harms way. (or a hundred other examples) Yes, it is machismo, "proving" one's manhood. But it has to be done. It is not a question of if you do it, but rather, "how" you do it.

#7 Jed on 2006-07-10 15:50 (Reply)

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