On 2022-02-11 = 11 February 2022, Maya Reis Gabeira broke her own record for riding the largest wave surfed – unlimited (female). The wave had a confirmed height of 22.4 m = 73.5 feet at the Nazare Tow Surfing Challenge event in Praia do Norte, Portugal. Photo: Guniness World Records.
Today, 2023-06-17 = 17 June 2023, is the 30th anniversary of the International Surfing Day. It is held annually on the third Saturday of June. It is yet another unofficial holiday, that some environmentally conscious, sports-centered fanatics find worthy of celebrating because of an interest in surfing as a sport, as a lifestyle, as a musical genre, or simply as a manifestation of the sustainability of ocean resources. The day is the spiritual successor of World Surf Day, started by the Usenet newsgroup alt.surfing in 1993.
I attempted to read a short, online history of surfing. It was problematic. Apparently, somewhere in Polynesia there is a cave where, in the 12th century, someone painted a person on a surfboard. The location was not specified. It could be anywhere, but I suspect it exists only in the imagination of the writer. By the year given, the Polynesians had colonized Hawaii (AD 900), Rapa Nui = Easter Island (AD 900) as well as Aotearoa = New Zealand (AD 1200), if one is not too concerned about the difference between 12th century and AD 1200. Polynesia consists of about 300 – 310 000 square kilometers of land, of which New Zealand contributes 270 000 square kilometers. It is surrounded by vast quantities of ocean. How much? I have not been able to determine that metric.
If one traces the linguistic origins of Polynesia far enough back in time, one ends up in Taiwan.
An orthographic projection of Polynesia, surfing’s traditional place of origin. Source: David Eccles, 2008.
Despite various forms of evidence (linguistic, historic as well as genetic), some pseudo-scientists want to invent their own histories. Such is the case with Thor Heyerdahl (1914 – 2002). He proposed, in the mid-20th century, that the Polynesians had migrated in two waves: one by Native Americans from the northwest coast of Canada by large whale-hunting dugouts; and the other from South America on balsa-log rafts. The Kon-Tiki expedition set out to prove the possibility.
The history of Polynesia is not the same as the history of surfing. Today is not Polynesia day, but surfing day. The list below contains some names of individuals associated with surfing culture in its various forms.
Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku (1890 – 1968): enthusiastic surfer, who also founded the multiracial Hui Nalu Club (Club of Waves) at Waikīkī Beach.
Hugh Bradner (1915 – 2008): inventor of the neoprene wetsuit, which revolutionized surfing (and scuba diving).
William Asher (1921 – 2012): director of Beach Party (1963), a film that shows antropologist Robert Orville Sutwell (Bob Cummings, 1910 – 1990) secretly studying the wild mating habits of Southern California teenagers who hang out at the beach and speak in strange surfing-jargon.
Dick Dale (born, Richard Anthony Monsour; 1937 – 2019): guitarist, who composed the ultimate surf song, Misirlou (1962).
Bruce Brown ( 1937 – 2017): American documentary film director, known as an early pioneer of the surf film, who made The Endless Summer (1964).
Rennie Ellis (1940 – 2003): Australian surf photographer, photo agency and gallery owner and publisher of 17 photography books.
Annette Funicello (1942 – 2013): actress, mouseketeer, particularly appreciated for her role as Dee Dee in How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965).
William Finnegan (1952 – ): author of Barbarian Days: A Surfing LIfe (2015), often described as a memoir of an obsession.
Joni Sternbach (1953 – ): large-format camera photographer using early photographic processes, including tintype and collodion. She takes an ethnographic approach to produce in situ portraits of women surfers and surf culture. Many of these were published in Surfland (2009).
Selema Masekela (1971 – ): enthusiastic promoter of AfroSurf (2021) a book with 200 photos, 50 essays, surfer profiles, thought pieces, poems, playlists, illustrations, ephemera, recipes, and a mini comic, intended to capture the diversity and character of the African surf. The book’s author is stated as Mami Wata, which could refer to 1) a central African water spirit; 2) a 2023 film by C. J. Fiery Obasi, about that water spirit; 3) a South African surf supply company.
Maya Reis Gabeira (1987 – ): Brazilian big wave surfer, with a world record for having surfed a 22.4 m (73 ft) high wave in Nazaré, Portugal on 2022-02-11 = 11 February 2022, the biggest wave ever surfed by a woman.
Carissa Moore (1992 – ): Hawaiian American Olympian, world champion surfer and activist.
My own interest in surfing relates to surf photography and surf culture.
This shows the pathway to Kvamsholmen, accessable at low tide, which is post #24 in the 2023 version of Inderøy Walks. The photo appears on the Inderøy municipality website promoting the walks. Photo: Inderøy municipality.
Today, this year’s Inderøy Walks opened at 11:00 at the Mosvik Museum. This is the 18th consecutive year that Inderøy Walks is being held. In 2023, there are 48 posts. 13 can be visited by wheelchair users. Twelve posts are accessible from a kayak (when the tide is favourable). This year, as last year, parking is available that allows one to visit several destinations/ posts on a slightly longer trip. As usual, Trish and I will be participating in the opening arrangement, but a day later to avoid the crowds. We have the posts downloaded onto our hand-held devices/ mobile phones. These are used to register a visit to a post. After a recorded visit, a post cannot be visited again for 22 hours, for it to be counted!
For us, Inderøy Walks is the closest we come to the spirit of Universal Athletics. In 2016 this weblog criticised the elitism of the Olympic Games in a post titled Universal Athletics. This was followed up with another post about a proposed logo and motto the next day. There was yet another post two days later, with a suggestion for a manifesto. The sequence ended with a post about parades, a week later. This weblog post is being published seven years later, with further suggestions for ending elitism, and the Olympic Games themselves, and encouraging everyone to become physically, mentally, emotionally and ethically strong, given their capabilities and the current situation.
In particular, my concern is that the pandemic contributed to a negative spiral where people became physically, mentally, emotionally and ethically weaker, at the same time as they are become less tolerant of other people.
I have no objection to people watching videos, listening to podcasts or even reading for inspiration. However, there is no need for the majority to watch the Olympics or other sporting events, either in person, or on screens, for entertainment. The goal of Universal Athletics (and of Inderøy Walks) is to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to participate locally, in their own community, and to have fun. Spectatoring should be allowed in some situations. For example, it seems appropriate that parents should attend activities where their children, or other family members, are participating. This might even be extended to local communities, where some people participate while others work for the benefit of that community. These will be live events, although even here, there could be valid reasons why some people will need to see the events on video.
There is no need for any committee to organize events, internationally, nationally or even regionally. There is no need for any form of competition, except – perhaps – an individual attempting to compete against a previous incarnation of her-/ himself.
In previous posts, I was particularly concerned that an elite tried to make an artificial distinction between amateur and professional. One specific incident is of particular importance. Wa-Tho-Huk = Bright Path, in the Fox language, aka James (Jim) Francis Thorpe (1887 – 1953), who was stripped of his pentathlon and decathlon medals when it was discovered that he had played semi-professional baseball before the Olympics.
In 1983, 30 years after Jim Thorpe’s death in 1953, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) restored his Olympic medals with replicas, after ruling that the decision to strip him of his medals fell outside of the required 30 days. Until 2022-07-14, Thorpe was listed as co-champion in both the decathlon and pentathlon events according to official IOC records. However, on 2022-07-14, the IOC reinstated Thorpe as the sole winner of the events.
One important characteristic is that he excelled at many different activities: ballroom dancing, baseball, football, lacrosse, the pentathlon (with the five events being long jump, javelin throw, 200 metres running, discus throw and 1500 metres running). The decathlon doubles this to ten events over two days. Day 1: 100 metres, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 metres. Day 2: 110 metres hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw and 1500 meters.
By design, the Olympic Games were a means for the aristocracy and other members of an elite to promote their own interests. They have no interest in the well being or proficiency of ordinary people. Ordinary people are only useful for their ability to finance events, most often indirectly by watching television advertising, but also through taxation, when governments pay to host games.
With the pandemic, the Olympic games of 2020 were postponed to 2021. Because of social distancing and other prophylactic measures, there was no opportunity for any universal athletics in that time frame. Athletics should be fun, but should focus on people developing their own personal athletic potential, but with a sense of humility.
Parkour
Previously, as word of the year, I have written about parkour, and its origins. Two other terms for parkour are freerunning and l’art du deplacement. Parkour seems to give the greatest freedom of interpretation, as does the term traceur, for a participant, rather than freerunner. In this post I would like to mention two video representations showing parkour, in a form only suitable for younger people, that were made twenty years apart.
The first video is Yamakasi, modern day Samurai, from 2001. The link shows a highlight from the film. Wikipedia explains that the Yamakasi are a group of young thrill seekers of different ethnic backgrounds who are all dedicated to parkour. They live in France in a banlieue, a ghetto especially designed for paupers and traditionally inhabited by immigrants from former French colonies. The motley group uses their sport to enjoy themselves without drugs and to gain recognition in a peaceful way. One morning, they are reported buildering, the act of climbing on the outside of buildings and other artificial structures, a portmanteau, combining the word building with the climbing term bouldering the east side of the Bleuets building in Lisses, France. This is the place where David Belle invented Parkour in 1990 and evading the police after that. Each member is introduced through his birth name and alias to the spectators of the film too: Zicmu (Ousmane Dadjacan, played by Yann Hnautra), Tango (Jean-Michel Lucas, played by Laurent Piemontesi), Rocket (Abdou N’Goto, played by Guylain N’Guba-Boyeke), the Spider (Bruno Duris, played by Williams Belle), the Weasel (Malik N’Diaye, played by Malik Diouf), Baseball (Oliver Chen, played by Châu Belle Dinh), and Sitting Bull (Ousmane Bana, played by Charles Perrière).
The second, much shorter video shows Nicholas Visintin, Italian national parkour athlete and parkour team technician, appearing on a 2021 music video, Animus! performed by the Italian band, Moonlight Haze. According to Chiara Tricarico (1989 – ), frontwoman and lyricist of Moonlight Haze, the title track was selected as their first single because it best represents their upcoming album’s essence. It is a mix of symphonic, power and epic elements, and a choice of words that encourages people to work hard and never give up. Animus has nuances of a Latin word for courage and willpower. To quote Ovid (43 BC – 17/ 18 AD), Animus tamen omnia vincit = courage conquers all things.
“While we were thinking about the meaning of the song, the analogy with a sport was the first idea that sprung to mind. Therefore, we decided to involve Nicholas Visintin – an athlete of the Italian parkour national team. We’ve been listening to the song together, surprised at how much its message matched the ethics of this sport perfectly: having a goal, overcoming obstacles and often falling and getting hurt, but always struggling to get up and fight till the end.”
When your task seems too hard Remember all the times You thought you would have failed but then you made it So if the path appears so narrow And the road is steep Go gather all your strength right from within (from within)
Climb way higher, free your fire Never looking down below Aim for the top, keep in motion Get ready sometimes to fall
Step by step, till the end Even if you’re afraid Just focus on your goal with no distractions (no distractions) What if I slip today? My efforts would be in vain My fear of heights is getting stronger …then you’ll try again!
Climb way higher, free your fire Never looking down bеlow Aim for the top, keep in motion Get ready somеtimes to fall
Light the embers, make it happen Dare to fight against the odds Be the one to shape your future Just unleash you inner force
“Animus tamen omnia vincit Animus omnia vincit”
Climb way higher, free your fire Never looking down below Aim for the top, keep in motion Get ready sometimes to fall
Light the embers, make it happen Dare to fight against the odds Be the one to shape your future Just unleash you inner force (Unleash your inner force!)
Animus!
The purpose of this post is to encourage each individual to become physically, mentally, emotionally and ethically strong, given their current condition and situation. It is not my intention that someone who is 70 should act as if they were 20, or even 50. The New York Post had an article about seniors (all between 60 and 85) learning parkour, but with the main elements adjusted to a level that can be handled by those over 60 who have replacement joints or other medical conditions.
Hopefully, people will see their local environment in a new and challenging way, and envision the potential for navigating it by movement around, across, through, over and under its features.
Unleash your inner forces: physical, mental, emotional and ethical!
All of the Charm posts on this weblog are meant to be fun. Today’s post is no exception, and details the 27th (Skarnsund) Bridge Run from Vangshylla (where we live) to Mosvik, about 6 km away, on Sunday 2018-06-17, starting at 10:00.
When we first moved here in 1988, Vangshylla was a ferry terminal that connected Inderøy to the neighbouring municipality of Mosvik. The ferry was replaced by Skarnsund Bridge on 1991-12-17, when it was opened by King Harald. Skarnsund Bridge is the only bridge crossing of Trondheim Fjord. For further information see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skarnsund_Bridge
Trondheim Fjord and the Fosen Peninsula. Near the centre of the map lengthwise, you will find Mosvik marked on the map, on highway 755. It is about five kilometers west of Skarnsund Bridge, the only bridge crossing of the fjord. Vangshylla is on the eastern side of the fjord. The two dots on the highway between Mosvik and Verdal are Straumen and Røra, respectively. (CC BY-SA 2.5 Ørland, Fosenportalen)
Run officials have a spreadsheet detailing all participants, past and present, and can with certainty tell anyone which walks/ runs they have participated in. Readers may notice a dual personality tendency in the writing of this post. While most participants walk starting at 10:00 in the morning, there is also a more elite group that runs across the bridge, starting at 13:00 in the afternoon.
Our neighbour, Astrid Stømberg, is one of few who has completed all 27 walks/ runs. Trish usually walks with her, while my responsibility is to drive to Mosvik, and to pick the two of them up. A free bus ride is also available, but only at the end of the day.
Because of privacy concerns, we have not included pictures of people. All photos by Trish McLellan.
The former ferry terminal at Vangshylla, the start of the walk/ run.
Skarnsund Bridge, taken from the former ferry terminal at Vangshylla.
Some of the walk takes place along tractor paths through a forest.
Most of the walk is along Highway 755.
Along the way, 12 questions were asked. Here is one of them: In which country is this photo taken? 1. Greece X. Turkey 2. Italy.
There can be illegal aliens hiding in the tall vegetation. In this case, a black-listed plant, the lupin.
The half-way point.
Here, a fisher is more concerned about catching a tasty dinner, than worrying about walkers.
Today, we crossed the border between Inderøy and Steinkjer six times, twice driving and four times walking. We live in Inderøy municipality (population 6 800, area 366 square kilometers), part of Trøndelag county, in central Norway. Steinkjer municipality (population 22 000, area 1 565 square kilometers) is the capital of Trøndelag county, contains the geographical centre of Norway, and is located immediately to the north of Inderøy, except when it isn’t because the border is complex and follows boundaries between many different farms.
Today, we were walking to Bergsmarka. While a circular ski trail has existed here for countless years, it has been widened and improved this summer. It is jointly managed by the Sparbu and Røra sports clubs. In 1962, during the great municipal amalgamation, Sparbu became part of Steinkjer, while Røra became part of Inderøy. However, local identity remains intense, and it is common to have sports clubs that predate the amalgamations.
The walk is one of 28 this year, organized by Inderøy municipality, designed to encourage physical activity. These walks end at posts, that can be visited any time during the summer months from 21 May to 13 October. In addition, there are 8 events on specific dates during the season, with their own posts. A description of each walk is available in a printed brochure, as well as online (in Norwegian, but fun to look at): http://www.inderoy.kommune.no/getfile.php/4161916.1220.wb7n7kkppzntap/Inder%C3%B8ytur+hefte+2018.pdf There is also an app for the walks. Today’s walk is short (2.8 km forward and back), but has medium demands.
The Outdoor Recreation Act of 1957 governs the use of the countryside. An English translation of this act can be found here: https://www.regjeringen.no/en/dokumenter/outdoor-recreation-act/id172932/ The purpose of the act is:
to protect the natural basis for outdoor recreation and to safeguard the public right of access to and passage through the countryside and the right to spend time there, etc, so that opportunities for outdoor recreation as a leisure activity that is healthy, environmentally sound and gives a sense of well-being are maintained and promoted. (Article 1)
Equipment storage for the ski trail.
Warming hut
Looking North from Inderøy into Steinkjer. The circular ski trail is closed off in the summer to allow for grazing animals.
This is where we climb from one municipality into the next. Taken in Inderøy, with Steinkjer on the far side.
The border with Inderøy, taken from Steinkjer. Kommune is the Norwegian term for municipality.
The border from Steinkjer, looking south into Inderøy.
Yet another border between Inderøy and Steinkjer, several hundred meters from the first. Taken from Inderøy, looking across to Steinkjer. Note the trail marking, indicating that this is part of an Inderøy walk.
The goal of today’s walk, with a view of Steinkjer to the right of the photo. There is an unprotected cliff a few meters from the bench Trish is sitting on.
This sign indicates that we have arrived at Bergsmarka. Inside the box is a book for us to date and sign. We were the 885th and 886th people to sign the book this year. In addition you can see Skarnsund Bridge as the motif for the layout. Our house is about 500 meters from the bridge. In addition, the Inderøy Coat of Arms was granted on 5 October 1984. The arms show four European plaice on a red background. This fish was once plentiful and was one of the main sources of income for the area until around 1940. The municipal motto, best i lag, means best together, dates from the municipality’s amalgamation with Mosvik in 2012.
The first primitive Scandinavian ski was found in a peat bog in Hoting in Jämtland County in Sweden which dates back to 4500 BP (Before Present) or 2500 BCE (Before Christian or Common Era).
The oldest set of skis is probably the Kalvträsk skis, found in 1924, at Kalvträsk near Skellefteå, Sweden. Two skis measuring 2040 mm by 155 mm and a shovel shaped ski pole was 1560 mm long. Carbon dating indicates that the equipment is 5200 years old. The skis were made from pine that had grown on a slope, causing the wood to become denser than ordinary. Each ski had four holes for the bindings, which corresponds with ancient skis found in Siberia. The ski pole is similar to ski poles used in historic times by the Sami people in northern Scandinavia. The equipment is on exhibition at the Västerbottens Museum in Umeå.
Kalvträskskidan at the Ski Museum in Umeå, Sweden (photo: Moralist)
While skis are useful for exercise by healthy adults, they are not particularly useful for routine winter transport by small children, or adults who have passed middle age. It is here that the kicksled, or spark, offers a more suitable vehicle.
A Kicksled museum is located in Piteå, Sweden, where the vehicle was first developed in the 1860s and 1870s. The museum claims that “The spark is a fantastic transport tool that is in every way in time. It is energy-efficient, environmentally friendly and in many cases shapely fashionable.” https://www.pitea.se/Besokare/Se–gora/Produkt/?lang=sv&TLp=462944
The first kicksleds had stiff wooden runners and were heavy. In 1909 Erik Timander and Anders Bertas in Orsa, Dalarna County, Sweden designed and produced the first modern kicksled, the Orsasparken, with its two patented spring-steel runners.
The curved end of a runner, on an Orsa kicksled. (photo: AMA master)
The traditional spark is fitted with a chair, which is useful for carrying a passenger, while the “driver” stands behind on one of the runners, and kicks the vehicle forward.
In 1994, Hannu Vierikko founded Kickbike Worldwide that developed modern scooters and kicksleds. He claims that these represent Finnish design at its best, by combining unique design with functionality.
“The Kickspark is a new design of a kicksled. Traditional style kicksleds have been in daily use in Scandinavian winter since the beginning of 20th century but for some reason the design has remained the same while other products have been developed a lot. The new, innovative design takes the old winter product to a new level. The Kickspark suits as well for all round use as for sport and fitness. The frame is light and stiff offering excellent control also at high speeds – or for tall riders.
“The handlebar comes with comfortable and warm hd foam grips. You can fold the frame by loosening two bolts or completely disassemble the sled using 6 bolts. This way transportation and storage is quite easy.
“Kicksled can be used anywhere, where you would use skis or ice skates and quite a bit beyond too. For the best ride, choose runners for the surface you plan to ride on. The Kickspark comes standard with steel runners, that can be used in most conditions: ice, snowy and icy roads, paths and trails with a relatively hard snow surface. Those work fine if one can walk on the snowy surface without sinking. The standard runners are made of 5 mm wide and 28 mm tall zinc coated spring steel.
“Snow Runners are plastic skis that support the kicksledder even on snowmobile or cross-country ski trails. Snow runners come in two widths: 36mm and 56mm for softer tracks. Those glide better than steel runners in snowy or cold (-10C/15F or colder) conditions.
“Ice Runners are designed exclusively for kicksledding on ice, similar conditions as skate touring but work better than skates on rough or soft ice surface. Ice Runners glide amazingly well and quietly, yet the grip and control are far better than in the Standard Runners.
“Kicking on snow-free ice with the Ice Runners is a whole new winter sports and outdoors experience. Racers reach speeds of 25-40km/h depending on the distance (100km record being 3:38:50). Long touring on (sunny?) spring ice is something Kickspark riders keep talking about when the ice is gone.
“Even the fastest sled needs a grip under the kicking feet to propel it forward. On snowy surfaces in temperatures well below freezing normal winter boots work fine. On an icy road or lake studded winter boots/ running shoes or crampoons work better. Crampoons are studded (steel studs normally) kicking soles that can be attached to virtually every shoe. The best alternative are spike shoes originally designed for (Finnish) baseball or orienteering equipped with 9-12 mm spikes, some use even golf shoes. Stability/stiffness of the shoe is important.” http://www.kickbike.com/en/kickspark.html
Kickspark Max
So much for the commercial announcement. With a sales price of about NOK 3 000 (CAD 500) including freight, I won’t be buying a Kickspark Max anytime soon. However, that much money can buy a lot of material to use in the Unit One workshop.
Anyone with a derelict spark they want to get rid of, is invited to take contact.
Update: 2022-05-04
Yesterday, Tuesday 2022-05-03, we acquired our first “Spark”. It from purchased from Reodor, in Straumen, Inderøy for NOK 50. Yes, it was an impulse purchase.
The latest vehicle acquisition, a “spark” purchased 2022-05-03 at Reodor, Straumen, Inderøy.
The Olympic Games have their monomyth – the lighting of the Olympic torch at Mount Olympus, Greece, and its transport to the site of the games somewhere else in the world. Torchbearing is good public relations, that brings a lot of public interest resulting in ticket sales and, more importantly, passive television viewing. It also provides historiosity, an intertwined package of ersatz-historic fact, pseudo-myth and quasi-designed torches. Paloma Faith is a typical torchbearer. In her photo from the 2012 London (England) Olympics, below, she demonstrates the Olympic ideals – skyhigh patent red heels, custom white tracksuit, bare midriff with belly jewelry. If only I knew something about designer sunglasses, hair fashions and makeup, I could comment on all those items too. It doesn’t matter that the flame is missing, when so many other important elements are included.
Paloma Faith, Iconic Olympic torchbearer
Each community, of course, has its own myths that are equally valid to promote. Those that never had, or have lost, their myths, can always invent new or adopt different ones.
One way for communities to show their spirit is to hold parades that emphasize the mathematical equation: Unity = Cooperation + (the joy of) Diversity.
Unique Parades
If one googles “unique parades” one of the first items listed takes you to Huffpost Women, and an article titled Weird and Wacky Parades from Around the World. The first parade listed, “The Mermaid Parade celebrates the sand, the sea, the beginning of summer, and the history and mythology of Coney Island.” Alas, a disappointing parade, just like the two next ones on their list: Running of the Nudes and Go Blonde Parade.
For those of you who were directed here because a search engine found the phrase “mermaid parade” you will be disappointed. This blog is far too honest and un-American to show a female breast with its nipple covered by a miniature sea shell. I have never understood why it is acceptable to display 98% of a breast, but unacceptable to show 2%, consisting of its only working part. The Cony Island (NY, USA) Mermaid Parade will not be discussed further. I gave more serious consideration to including the “Running of the Nudes” through the streets of Pamplona (Spain). This is a more compassionate and fun remake of the “Corrida de toros” or “Running of the Bulls.” I particularly liked their slogan, “Out with the old, in with the nude!” Again, this blog is not in the business of providing gratuitous nudity, even if the purpose of the run is the promotion of animal welfare.
Also missing from this list is the Riga (Latvia) Go Blonde Parade. I appreciate blondes. In fact I appreciate all natural hair colours. I am less enthusiastic about dyed hair, be it black as a replacement for gray, or bright red/ green/ blue as a replacement for mouse brown. My main objection with Go Blonde type of parades is that they exclude non-blondes. Some of my best friends are non-blondes, and I would want them to participate on equal footing in any parade.
Riga’s Go Blonde Parade will not be included here!
Lobsterdog Parade
Pets (believe they) are people! Many feel they should be included in parades. Naturally, Homo sapiens with pet allergies are not always in agreement. At the Port of Los Angeles there is an annual Lobster Festival, with a Lobsterdog Parade as a highlight.
Parades, like most cultural artifacts, morph! While searching for an appropriate photo of Lobsterdog, I came across an almost iconic photo of a costumed pooch. It appears to be from the Lakewood, Ohio Pet-Tique Spooky Pooch Parade, in 2010. Not being a dog psychologist, whisperer, trainer or owner I have very little understanding of dog feelings, especially when they are subjected to humanoid whims. However, the mutt in the photo looks sad, and is undoubtedly aware of his loss of dignity.
Unidentified pooch in lobsterdog costume (photo: Marianne Riccardi?)
Houston Car Art Parade
Cars are (treated as) people. Since 1984, some 250,000 people (not all certified psychiatric cases) watch over 250 vehicles. It started when Texas artist Jackie Harris spent $800 transforming a 1967 Ford station wagon into a “fruitmobile”.
There are countless variants: The Friday night “cruise” immortalized in American Graffiti, and countless other tedious teen films; Annual car parades featuring, in alphabetical order, classic cars, hot rods, muscle cars, sports cars, station wagons, touring cars, veteran cars. Most of these variations focus on preservation of past technology, a few allow owners to improve – or at least change it. The big difference with Houston is that the parade focuses on the creation of automotive art.
Sunflower Car, Houston Art Car Parade, 2002
Bosch Parade
Now we come to one of my favorite parades, Bosch! I’ll let the organizers describe it in their own words. “Every June, since 2010, the waters of ’s-Hertogenbosch provide the venue for the Bosch Parade. A wondrous armada of vessels and objects inspired by the work and ideas of Medieval painter Jheronimus [sic] Bosch. Artists from all disciplines (art, theatre, dance, music, architecture) collaborate with groups of enthusiastic amateurs and volunteers to create this artistic, water-borne parade. This spawns not only a creative floating parade by and for the city, but also an extensive creativity network throughout the city.”
House of Hell, from Bosch Parade 2, 2014
The Olympic Games have their opening and closing ceremonies. Universal Athletics can have as many or as few parades as people want. Hopefully, this will provide some inspiration.
Every self-respecting protest movement has at least one manifesto. Here is a first attempt to write one for Universal Athletics. Suggestions for improvements are appreciated.
1. Value God, your family and yourself above any sport.
2. Participate in sports and athletics that you find fun and keep you fit.
3. Cooperative sports are to be preferred to competitive sports.
4. Sportsmanship is the moral essence of the Athletes.
5. Many if not most competitive teams are wealth extraction organizations.
6. Team loyalty is nonsense, and pits your interests against those of a team.
7. Avoid sports related and other branded merchandise.
8: Exercising and playing is better than than watching others exercise and play.
Today’s effort was to work on a logo for Universal Athletics. The first version has no text, the next ones incorporates the English language motto, “Having fun, Keeping fit”. This is followed by Norwegian and Swedish versions with the same motto in translation.
The Olympic Games hold little appeal. They represent yet another example of how the world’s elite allow taxpayers to subsidize their participation at events, where a class of entertainers called athletes – many using performance enhancing drugs – compete.
The only way the majority get to see the Olympics is on their television screens. Rights to the events are sold to media corporations, who inflict viewers with excessive advertisements, to extract wealth for themselves – and the very exclusive 100 members of the International Olympic Committee.
The Olympic Games got off to a bad start. Nationalism was at the root of Greek interest in reviving the Olympic Games after the Greek War of Independence, which ended in 1821. Games were held sporadically in 1859, 1870 and 1875. The International Olympic Committee was started in 1894, organizing the 1896 Olympic Games. The committee focused on nationalism, inviting countries to compete against countries, rather than athletes to compete against athletes.
Participants outside the elite were also discriminated against, with an artificial distinction between amateur and professional. Two incidents were of particular importance. Jim Thorpe was stripped of his pentathlon and decathlon medals when it was discovered that he had played semi-professional baseball before the Olympics. Swiss and Austrian skiers boycotted the 1936 Winter Olympics in support of their skiing teachers, who were not allowed to compete because they earned money with their sport.
Jim Thorpe (1887-1953) is particularly interesting. Not only was he of mixed Native American and European ancestry, he excelled at many different sports. At Carlisle Indian Industrial school he competed in football, baseball, lacrosse and ballroom dancing. The pentathlon involves long jump, javelin throw, 200 metres, discus throw and 1500 metres. The decathaon features ten events over two days. Day 1: 100 metres, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 metres. Day 2: 110 metres hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw and 1500 meters. Later, he played baseball, football and basketball professionally. An ABC Sports poll voted Thorpe the Greatest Athlete of the Twentieth Century in competition with 15 other world famous athletes.
Jim Thorpe
The Olympic Games were envisioned as a means for the aristocracy and other members of the elite to promote their own interests. This began to be eroded with Eastern Bloc state-sponsored full-time amateur athletes. Amateurism was gradually phased out of the Olympic Charter from the 1970s to 1988, when all professional athletes were made eligible to participate.
The reason behind this post is that Russian polevalter Yelena Isinbayeva says she will file a discrimination suit if Russia’s ban from global track and field competition is upheld and she is barred from competing at the Rio Olympics. What this says is that the country, not the athlete is important. This is the wrong emphasis.
What I would like to happen is for people to forget about national teams and to encourage local athletics and sports. Athletics should be fun. I hope people will use their time between 2016-08-05 and 2016-08-21 to develop their own athletic potential, rather than sitting in front of a screen watching others.
If enough of us begin at the local level, a universal athletics movement can’t be far behind.
