RUDIMENTS, pt. 1,183(slow-motion default)I have led several lives, andI still live one of them. Ormore. I usually like dogs.Things that bother me aboutdogs, however, are: Being kepttoo skinny. I had a friend oncewho had a Doberman, and thatdog was nearly skeletal, or keptnearly skeletal anyway - if youknow the sleek and streamlinedshape of a Doberman Pinscher,you can visualize what I am saying.This dog, and others too that I haveseen, was kept nearly - it seemedto me anyway - emaciated. Theunderlying bone structure ofthe creature had more presencethan the creature itself did. Theowner here would constantlygo to lengths to correct others,saying as to how a dog is NOTsupposed to be well fed, or keptfat; that the look of that Dobermanwas the right and the correct lookand there was nothing amiss - 'and perhaps there wasn't, but itwas an uncomfortable dog tosee in any case. It went so faras to one day, after a long, drunkday of Biker party frolic andwildness - all the usual - aknife fight broke out betweenthat owner of the Dobermanand whoever it was who hadlast crossed the line of 'one-toomany cracks' about the 'starving'dog. (Of course, alcohol had alot to do with all of this). Anyway,on that open field, and with the dogwatching, as well as about 60 otherpeople, in their own and variedstates of confusion, alcoholic daze,pureblind interest and curiosity,and wonder too, these two madgents went gravely at it; eachbrandishing some sort of swap-meetsabre or 8-inch blade anyway, purloinedfor the occasion by some sorry, nearby,knife vendor. As it went, it was mostlyall a pantomime - a 'knife-fight'show' in which, I'd figure, neitherguy meant to harm the other, forif he did he would simply havedone it, at once and quickly. (Intheater, they always say somethinglike 'The gun that's introduced inAct One must go off by Act Three'.....of course meaning 'Don't bring it outunless you mean to use it'). Theseguys ended up looking gravelyfoolish and nothing else - wobbly,dazed, and drunk, barely able rightlyto stand up, but doing instead somevery bizarre biker-knife-ballet ofthe most ridiculous proportions.Lunge and thrust, fighting butthe air. Like those boxers in a ringwho you see doing more clutchingthan boxing. The engagement's allin their head. (Funny, how I said'gravely foolish,' instead of 'bravelyfoolish,' which is only one letteraway but with desperately changedmeaning).-The dog survived, for a ripe old age;alas, they're both gone now, owner,and dog, but the story lingers on.-I think that 'West Side Story' couldnot have better portrayed the graceand roughness of that moment : twogruff Morandis dancing and swingingwith a lethal blade each in their hands.Any Navy SEAL would have cut downthe scene to about 15 seconds, andbeen done with the other fellow inan instant, but these guys went onand on, oddly circling and swaying,with a clutch and a hug. Totallycrazy, and - to make it evenmore so - those larger, Bikerguys who did eventually stepforth to break up this scene, addedtheir own hilarity to it. They weresort of, themselves, play-acting ata bravery where none really existed,due to the fact of some weird andbasic insincerity to the scene itself.To wit: No one was actually evergoing to get hurt. No 'bravery'was actually even needed, justmore a willingness to take onthe referee role and do it to theutmost, eventually (bravely)disarming these two goons,settling a starving-dog argument,placating a restive crowd moreand more out for blood as theminutes ticked by. Refereeing,after all, itself bears a certainquality of dance and ballet, andin this mix it added in wellwith the aplomb and self-disciplineneeded to avoid that same flailedblade whose mission was, morethan likely, 'anyone' rather thanan opponent. Of which therereally were none.-Mass Hypnosis, hysteria, andthe madness of crowds. Thoseare old nuggets of ideas, writtenabout for years and yearsbefore, about the behavior ofsocial-crowds and the massmovements of people and ideas.And manipulation as well.But 'Manipulation' takes astern and conscious hand, ridingwith some superiority over thesituation it creates. This hadnone of that; it was all just asloppy mess, headed nowhereand, already as we watched, inits own, slow-motion default.
Tuesday, June 8, 2021
13,642. RUDIMENTS, pt. 1,183
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