[transmission from... Tyler S]

This journal has taken a few bizarre turns lately. Being as how I've still yet to get internet up in my new place, I've been updating it less often and on no recognizable schedule. Sorry. Somehow in line with that impression, it's also taken a fairly personal turn. I normally write from an objective standpoint, avoiding going into too much detail about things and events that wouldn't concern casual readers. And as hard as it is to believe, this site does have a few casual readers who don't know me, Alex, Ned, et al.

Before I get into anything too deeply, TDC has got a series of great projects lined up for this summer, including a bunch of more great archived stuff, a new music video by Fair Trade Records recording artist Wes Mann, and a couple short comedic films if the stars all align properly. Just, get and stay excited and we'll pull it out.

What was I babbling about earlier? Oh, yes, the whole "personal" aspect to this site's journal. I don't make too many life plans. Some people have a list of things to accomplish before they die. I've never even made a list of objectives to accomplish by the end of the year. New Year's Resolutions are a load of shit, if you ask me. And let's assume you did ask me.




What I'm trying to say is, while there are plenty of things I would love to see or do before I die, I'm sure I could change for either the better or worse, and that in itself would morph and reprioritize those objectives. The one thing that I will one day experience is La Fiesta de San Fermin in Pamplona, Spain. The 2006 Festival kicked off this morning with the mayor of Pamplona, standing over the town square, shouting 'Viva San Fermin! Gora San Fermin!' and setting off rockets and the entire city erupting with parties and general merriment for the following eight days. Hemingway's description of it all in "The Sun Also Rises" is fairly accurate, from what I understand.

The festival's cornerstone event is the annual running of the bulls. Would I run with the bulls? Honestly, it would depend on whether or not I could conceivably make it back to Spain in coming years. If I end up living out there for a while, then perhaps. But if, for some reason, I get nailed down stateside with a certain job or a certain someone, then I wouldn't forgive myself to pass up the one opportunity.

Another object to consider is how Spain, like a vast majority of the Western world, has made noticable steps to align itself with the rest of the EU over the past couple decades. The siesta (widespread closing of shops in the afternoon between 2:30 and 5pm) remains, though skeptics have voiced concerns that it has retarded the Spanish economy for various intricate reasons. The art of bullfighting, for a slew of obvious reasons, has come under attack from animal rights people all over the world. Contrary to what a number of major "informed" American news sources have reported in their ridiculously condescending stories about Bullfighting season in Spain and various places in Latin America, Bullfighting isn't wrapped into Spanish custom and everyday life. A majority of Spanish youth are fundamentally opposed to it, and its been banned in the populous regions of Catalonia (Barcelona, Girona, Tarragona) and the Basque Country.

As someone who genuinely supports the ethical treatment of animals but has no problem consuming them, my views of Bullfighting are multifaceted. Like most Americans, I grew up immersed in the romanticized angle of the sport perpetuated by Ernest Hemingway, the legendary drinker and womanizer who happened to write books. One book that he wrote, Death in the Afternoon was the first major exposure to Bullfighting for the American audience back in the 50's. As it was the height of the Franco regime over there and before any remotely mainstream bout of animal rights activism over here, it cemented itself in the American psyche as the heroic battle of man versus beast, the relentless struggle to prove oneself in a one-on-one competition with a massive creature bent on desruction (unless it happens to be named Ferdinand, but that's a whole 'nuther story).

But now, we've got a massive city-wide protest by our friends at PETA. This is an organization renowned for going off the deep end with their demonstrations- often toeing the line of never being taken seriously again by the mainstream public. Anyone who tries to enforce their views on anyone else teeters on a very thin line between breakthrough and out-and-out self-characaturization. I speak from experience, having participated in anti-war protests and seen some of these morons who don't comprehend the fact that they will be marginalized.

So here is the bottom line of what I think about bullfighting: anyone, so long as they have an audience, the passion, and a respect for the traditions therein, has every right to participate or watch a bullfight. Anyone non-vegetarian who objects to bullfighting on the grounds of "animal cruelty" is a hypocrite. The bulls, after getting killed in the ring, get dragged off to a chop shop under the bleachers, cut up, and everything edible is shipped out to local restaurants to serve. Even Labo de Toro, the Bull's tail, is a prime delicacy. (I'm still disappointed I never tried it when I was living there). There is not one slice of meat or poultry you've eaten that's been obtained in as humane of a manner. The way that beef cattle and poultry chickens are treated in their kennels and tight fencing and sliced apart like clockwork in poorly maintained slaughterhouses that are almost as unsafe for the people working there horrifies a lifelong meat consumer like myself. I remember people I knew in Madrid (primarily students from the US) complaining that bullfighting was cruel, yet I saw them eating at Burger King the next day. Burger King and other fast food joints are the heart of the problem. Most of the cows and chickens that go into their food never even see daylight and are injected with growth hormones that would make a normal life impossible anyway.

These bulls die a death that any other animal in line to be consumed by humans would envy. They're treated like royalty compared to most other free-range animals during their lifetimes, and nowhere else does one human put his life on the line to take down the animal. You don't see a guy handing a fish a gun before reeling one in. You'll never see anyone diving into a lobster tank naked and touching one with his penis before having the line cook take it out and throw it in the stew pot.

So, PETA should have bigger fish to fry than what could be the greatest annual festival in the world. The bull is one of Spain's national symbols for a reason- the corrida de toros, while some people may understandably not see it that way, is an expression of respect and reverence. I used to question the value of bullfighting, but refocusing on the grandiosity of this Festival and others, as well as overarching Spanglophilia won out.

Enjoy your weekends. Just remember that no matter how hard you party, some dork in Pamplona is still making you look like a complete wuss in comparison.