Been up to Boston the past few days where eldest daughter Shana did her senior recital, part of the graduation requirements for Berklee College of Music where she attends. Audience included family, friends, and even her boss from Comicopia where she works on Tuesdays. She sang mostly original tunes; she’s developed into quite a sharp song writer. The triumphant set was followed by a pizza party at her apartment.
We then stopped off in Connecticut on the way back to visit with my sister, Beth, her husband Rande, and their kids Sara and newborn Emma, whom we were meeting for the first time. She bore a striking resemblance to Caroline. We hung out, chatted, and were tormented with curious television choices, such as Rande and Kathleen watching a DVD of the Rankin-Bass “Here Comes Peter Cottontail” while Beth and I begged for it to stop. We also watched some rodeo on TV with cowboys riding on bulls. Whereupon I was informed that the reason the bulls buck so much is that there’s a tight rope yanking on their privates that they’re trying to throw off. Is that true? If it is, am I the only person in the world who didn’t know this?
PAD
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I didn’t know, and I frankly wish I still didn’t! Ouch… No wonder Power Rangers’ Magna Defender was in such a snit all the time…
Yes, it’s true. You can see the strap towards the back of the bull.
And believe you, me, you’d be trying to buck that strap off like mad, too.
And speaking of bull balls, anyone see Bulletproof Monk? I’d rather watch bull riding, I think, than see that movie again.
Yes, it is true, about the bulls that is. They cinch the strap tight just as the gate is being opened for the ride to begin. It’s also why you’ll see the clowns run behind the bull during the rounding up at the end, they release the strap to let the bull “relax.”
Whoa…Shana works at Comicopia now? Does this mean you’re doing a signing there too, PAD?
Does anyone remember “Childhood’s End”? Can you think of what would have happened if the aliens had focused on rodeo instead of bullfighting? *groooaaaannn*
Nope, trivia buff me did not know that about bulls.
Congrats to Shana. Comicopia’s a nice store, and assuming it was Matt who came to the performance, I’m not surprised. Nice guy, known him since back when he was involved in my MIT-based hack on the ’82 Harvard-Yale football game.
Yikes!
And here I was, thinking that the old saying was: “You got the bull by the horns.”
Congratulations from me too!
Bulls get all kinds of unfortunate treament. In Bullfights, the tendons that keep their heads up are cut before hand…
Trust me Peter, your not the only one who didn’t know that little “fun” fact.
*Ewwww*
Cool! Congrats to you and Shana. My younger brother is Berklee ’96. He did music composition and is about the grad from Harvard and work in DC. No..his job won’t have anything to do with music but he loved his time at Berklee.
Tobin
-tpl
Gives new meaning to the phrase
“I’m in a bind here.”
Not only is the “rope trick” true, rodeos also use electric wires on the bucking broncos and bulls, at least on some occasions. Zap their çøjøņëš and they’ll buck more, y’see. Yep, rodeos are great. Bring the kids.
Being from Oklahoma/Texas, I feel obligated to defend the grand tradition of the rodeo. However, I’ve learned to suppress such feeling sover the years.
Yeesh. That tears it: from now on, I root exclusively for the bulls.
1. It’s not just where the rope is. Considering their temperment, bulls are not domestic animals by nature, and thus will try to get the rider off anyway. The rope just adds extra incentive, like they need it to begin with!
2. Even if she sings them herself, hope Shana has all her material copyrighted by the time the first CD is ready for release.
3. What’s wrong with Peter Cottontail? Danny Kaye, Casey Kasem, and Vincent Price voice a G rated special for KIDS! Granted it’s Easter themed, but not in the religious aspect of the holiday.
It’s an enjoyable special that I remember fondly.
The mention of a recital has led me to recount my last piano recital, also known as the worst recital ever, or My Great Shame. It was back when I was in Grade 6, and I remember that it was the same day as the school science fair. I had to drive up with another family for a two hour car ride to the recital hall, play my piece, and drive back to science fair and present my exhibit on the telephone. Needless to say, it was a pretty stressful day.
Once we were actually at the hall, it was soon my turn to play. I had plucked bravely through most of my piece and was nearing the end when I froze dead. Right there, in front of everyone, I had absolutely no idea what came next. The judge had to help me finish the song, chanting out helpful suggestions like “F sharp” and “C, not D”. The car ride back was filled with moments congratulating the other players’ performances, and long awkward gaps where everyone pretended not to be thinking about mine.
Someone remarked, “at least you did your best.” The fact they might have been right was possibly the most depressing part of the whole day. Suffice to say, I’ve never played in public again.
On the bright side, I got an 85% on my science fair project. A phone’s really better than a piano anyway.
I’ve been finding it hard to sit since reading about this.
Anyway, happy Passover, PAD.
Since Shana is a composer, perhaps PAD could turn his writing towards lyrics and the two of you could write a musical together?
Just a thought.
So when will be Shana’s first album released)
Pascal
Hey,
when will we see the release of Shana’s first album? Is she an Alanis Morissette or a Vonda Shepard?
Pascal
Beeg time congratulations to Shana!!
As for the not-so-fun fact about rodeo bulls, it was ‘moos’ to me, as well!!
Hooper
(Concerning the bulls) Frightening thought and an image that one does not want to have at 2 a.m. in the morning.
I just want to say that Shana’s boss is James Wu, who is a really nice guy and an old school friend of mine, and this actually does relate to this site because once James gave me a near-complete set of Peter David Trek novels because he does generous stuff like that on a regular basis. So THAT’S what.
Ouch.
Yup, I knew all about it. A freind of mine actually tried it out a few times (Bull riding, that is, not… well… you know…) and I watched how they did it. All I had to say was “God ÐÃMN!”
It’s not just bulls, either. The infamous “Bucking Bronco” is induced to buck through the same mechanism (i.e. a starp to the balls).
I found this out in a really awful way when I was 10, and attending a rodeo. Being 10, I was totally entralled, and ran down to the front to get a better look. As each horse bucked past, I noticed I was getting sprinkled with liquid. At first I thought it was something the horse was kicking up, until I got a whiff of it.
Piss.
See, the horse is sometimes so distressed that it de-prioritzes bladder control.
I think this is the reason I am, to this day, nearly obsessive about bathing after I spend any amount of time around any animal larger than a terrier.
Peter,
I did not know about the bull balls thing. (Gee, i hope my Mistress doesn’t read this.:))
Thank you for all the kind wishes. It was very hard to compose all those songs with a rope wrapped tightly around my testicles but I think I managed to do a good job of it.
Hah!