sound and fury, signifying nothing
Sep. 22nd, 2008 11:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penfield"From the naturalistic point of view, all men are equal. There are only two exceptions to this rule of naturalistic equality: geniuses and idiots."
- Mikhail Bakunin
Apparently David Blaine is up to his old tricks again. The magician-daredevil-performance artist is, at this very moment, dangling upside-down above an ice rink in New York City.
Why, you ask? Well, he doesn't have a very good answer to that question, probably because there isn't a good answer to that question. There are only bizarre platitudes.
"Powers of Endurance." "Heading into the Unknown." "Sheer Willpower." "Talking Out of his Ass." If I may put words into the mouth of Blaine's awestruck publicist, let me speculate that his stunt -- like trapping himself in ice, or sealing himself in a box, or spending a week underwater -- is designed to explore the physical, mental and emotional boundaries of the human body and to dramatize the limitless potential of the human spirit.
And you know, I think he generally succeeds at this goal. Unfortunately for everyone, this epiphany is consistently overshadowed by his capacity to be truly, truly, truly annoying. I can't imagine how genuinely valuable he would be to our social consciousness if he wasn't such a pompous douchebag.
But hey, the world needs douchebags, too. They serve their purpose, by absorbing all the "free radicals" of unprocessed anger and disdain we collect throughout the day. He is a human toxic waste dump. Thanks, David!
I hope he survives his idiotic inversion "trick," because the world needs him to perform his next stupefying endeavor. And just in case he's looking for his next project, I have a couple of ideas:
- Mikhail Bakunin
Apparently David Blaine is up to his old tricks again. The magician-daredevil-performance artist is, at this very moment, dangling upside-down above an ice rink in New York City.
Why, you ask? Well, he doesn't have a very good answer to that question, probably because there isn't a good answer to that question. There are only bizarre platitudes.
Unlike Houdini, who would hang in a straightjacket, then escape after a short time, Blaine aims instead to prove his powers of endurance.
In training, he tried the trick for just six hours.
"Sixty hours -- that will be heading into the unknown," he told AFP in a quiet voice.
Asked how he would manage the challenge, Blaine answered: "Sheer willpower."
"Powers of Endurance." "Heading into the Unknown." "Sheer Willpower." "Talking Out of his Ass." If I may put words into the mouth of Blaine's awestruck publicist, let me speculate that his stunt -- like trapping himself in ice, or sealing himself in a box, or spending a week underwater -- is designed to explore the physical, mental and emotional boundaries of the human body and to dramatize the limitless potential of the human spirit.
And you know, I think he generally succeeds at this goal. Unfortunately for everyone, this epiphany is consistently overshadowed by his capacity to be truly, truly, truly annoying. I can't imagine how genuinely valuable he would be to our social consciousness if he wasn't such a pompous douchebag.
But hey, the world needs douchebags, too. They serve their purpose, by absorbing all the "free radicals" of unprocessed anger and disdain we collect throughout the day. He is a human toxic waste dump. Thanks, David!
I hope he survives his idiotic inversion "trick," because the world needs him to perform his next stupefying endeavor. And just in case he's looking for his next project, I have a couple of ideas:
- No peeing for a month
- Karate-chop through the Federal Reserve Board (The building or the people, either way)
- Swim the Pacific Ocean wearing "Sharks are Pussies" tee-shirt
- Open Christian Science bookstore in Islamabad
- Live among the wolves, work way to top, institute representative government
- Eat the Encyclopaedia Brittanica
- Potato-sack marathon
- Memorize the Iliad, backwards
- Undertake vigorous stretching regimen, kiss own ass
- Subdue wild grizzly bear using only Socratic method
- Have a cow, literally
- Obtain Ph.D. in biomedical engineering, accomplish something tangibly worthwhile for humanity
- Live peacefully and quietly for the rest of his life, without annoying anyone
