From The Guardian:
Spain's most charismatic and popular bullfighter, José Tomás, was today in the intensive care unit of a Mexican hospital after being badly gored** by a fighting bull in the town of Aguascalientes.
The half-tonne bull caught the famously risk-taking*** torero in his upper thigh and dug his horn deep by raising his head before flicking the pink-stockinged, sequinned matador up into the air...
* I'd assume that the toreros then brought on a substitute and after extra time it probably went to one-all.
** What's the opposite of 'badly gored'? 'Well gored'?
*** 'Famously risk taking'? As opposed to the majority of toreros who are cautious and risk averse?
Tuesday 27 April 2010
Bull 1, Torero 0*
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15 comments:
I went to a bullfight once nearly 50 years ago. I did not find it at all to my liking and I could not see how anyone else could either.
However the bull run at Pampalona looks very good fun albeit rather dangerous for the the participants. Even so the animals are put through an experience that I expect they would rather not be.
I am always chuffed when the bull wins.
(Of course, he doesn't. Either way he ends up on the barbie, but you know what I mean...).
CR.
That's him out for the season then.
[How's the campaign coming along?]
Anti, I would never attend a bullfight or take part in a fox hunt. That is far from saying that others should be prevented from doing so.
CR, the last time it happened was September 2009 AFAIAA.
JH, the bull or the torero? As to the campaign, it's mainly leafletting so far. I might or might not divulge more after May 6.
@JH
The season's just beginning. He'll be back by summer.
@MW
You can be just gored. This was bad, because it sliced through the femoral artery. When bullfighters die it's usually that or one in the aorta. Blood pumping everywhere and a matter of seconds to stop it. Paquirri died that way.
'Famously risk-taking' is an invention of the Guardian hack who thought it sounded good.
And the goring was José Tomás's own fault, by the way. The bull was tired, had a very short charge, and instead of 'cargando la suerte' to send the bull away, he just dropped the 'muleta' down to his feet, not expecting the bull to respond. But it did and his leg was behind the cloth. Not exactly a novice mistake, but one he certainly shouldn't have made.
CR, and the one before that was May 2009.
CI, I suppose the worst kind of goring is probably Hermann Goring*, now I think about it. Thanks for the technical explanations BTW, is there a whole bullfighting subculture that analyses these events?
* Yes, strictly speaking it's spelled Goering or Göring.
I was going to say that the opposite of badly gored was "Al Gored".
MW, I am not against anyone who enjoys fox hunting or other blood sports it is just for not for me.
What really makes me angry is that I have probably as much compassion for animals as these so called animal rights activists but would not see it as my business to interfere with any one else enjoyment of that kind of sport.
The reason being is nature is just as cruel possibly even more so and hunting is also a natural human instinct. It will probably become less and less popular over time anyway as humans evolve away from nature and more into technological gadgetry.
JM, that actually made me laugh. Although to be pedantic I think you mean "even worse then being badly gored..."
Anti, yet again, I completely agree. And when a torero gets Al Gored or a fox hunter gets paralysed falling from a horse it's nigh impossible to feel sorry for them.
O/T Not sure whether this is an animal story or a BBC story or an RSPCA story.
A swan was protecting its space on the River Cam and annoyed the rowers. The BBC got involved and sent a crew down but they needed footage of the swan acting aggressively. They say they didn't provoke it, but Michelle Childerley says they did and argues she has a video of just that.
The RSPCA - who are not at all in a cosy relationship with the broadcaster - say they have seen the footage and are taking no futher action.
It has long been my contention that the media has long been as much involved in making the news as reporting it. Or as in this case manipulating it.
There is something rotten in turning news into entertainment and not presenting it in balanced and objective way. It makes journalists and media owners no better than fraudsters, exploiters and control freaks.
WoaR, the RSPCA aren't going to bite the hand that feeds them all that lovely, lovely publicity. Just as they didn't press for harsh sanctions against rhe police when they leave police dogs in cars to die in the heat. After all, who'd then kick doors in for them? They don't have that power or expertise. Yet...
MW, I saw an article on horse archery in the 'Metro' this morning and nearly emailed it to you. But on Reading, it turned out not to be as initial impressions from the name might have led one to think.... ;)
There is a large spectrum of risk taking in bullfighting. Most of the matadors are incredibly risk averse once they step into the ring and a lot of even the good ones only appear to get close to the bull. It takes a kind of reckless skill to actually have the horns close to you rather than moving in to the body once the horns have passed. Unfortunately it seems that most poeple nowadays don't know much about bullfighting so they are happy with this. Hemingway would not have been pleased.
Pamplona's encierros are great fun, but with so many people doing them now you are more likely than not to get to the end before you see a bull. However, if you take your time and keep an eye on the locals and what they are doing, you might get lucky and see a half tonne bull 2m behind you charging along at 25mph....
"What's the opposite of 'badly gored'?"
Charlotte Gored?
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