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Wednesday, August 14, 2013

The Running Of The Bulls — Not Restricted To Iberia

(If you must have politics, please scroll down)

The Running of the Bulls — a nine-day event typically associated with Pamplona, Spain, and the Festival of San Fermín, but held elsewhere, too — dates back to at least the 14th Century. Record-keeping about the Pamplona event began in 1910.

Video:


Because there is no end to the strange things that human beings will do, here in the United States we have The Great Bull Run, advertised with phrases such as "party like Pamplona," "grab life by the horns," and "you've never had this much fun."  See the map HERE.  Maybe you can participate: The Great Bull Run may be coming to a location near you.

This year, on August 24, the Virginia Motorsports Park in Petersburg, Virginia, will host its version of The Great Bull Run.  Some 5,000 runners have signed up.  The Virginia Running of the Bulls differs in some respects from that of Pamplona's version.  For one thing, the event is only one day long.  For another:
After Pamplona's running of the bulls, they kill the animals in a bull fight, but that will not be the case at the U.S. events.

In fact, he says, there is a veterinarian on site at all times to make sure the bulls are healthy and are treated properly.
The origin of The Running of the Bulls had purpose: driving cattle to sell them at the market and, later, to tire out the bulls for a "safer" bullfight held the afternoon of the same day. About the history of bullfighting:
The event of bullfighting originated in Spain during the Spanish War of Reconquest from 711 to 1492 A.D. In this war between the Moors and Christians, each side created hunting competitions to rest from battling one another. Basically, the Moors and Christians would go from killing each other to competing with each other....

Nobles captured as many Iberian bulls as they could and took them back to their villages to recreate these hunts in front of spectators. The first official bullfight (or corrida) took place at Vera, Logrono in 1133 in honor of the coronation of King Alfonso VIII.

Bullfighting became a serious event after the coronation of King Alfonso VIII. Bullfights took place at almost any kind of celebration or public gathering, even after the Spanish War of Reconquest was complete. Christians used bullfighting as an outlet to demonstrate their defeat of the Moors....
Now, in the 21st Century, people sign up for the fun of racing ahead of charging bulls and proving their courage. Or something.

As I said above, there is no end to the strange things that human beings will do!

22 comments:

  1. There is PLENTY of BULL over at the Progressive's blog.
    I would probably say that most progressives don't know much about world politics because they are so closed minded, and one sided that the BS runs out of their mouths like horse manure.
    An as they say, Race Pimps gotta have sumthin to pimp about.
    And on another note:
    As for The Black Queen Oprah, she ALWAYS has racism on her mind.
    A Skank is as Skank does. Oh,wait one minute, she has a movie coming out, right...? Hummmm...

    ReplyDelete

  2. I’m I surprised about this Oprah thing ? No I'm not. Kinda figures Oprah is one of the world's biggest liberal/racist to put forward her agenda. I am sick of celebs expecting special treatment, then when not getting what they expect...they start all kinds of crap. Or maybe your right, maybe this was a publicity stunt ..
    Surprised? I'm not. Kinda figures it was the world's biggest liberal/racist to put forward her agenda. Clearly Oprah tried to manufacture a racial incident. She's done that too many times before.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Running Of The Bulls — is Not restricted To Iberia.

    Obama has taken 92 days of vacation since he was sworn in.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Are we supposed to be discussing Oprah on this thread? This post is about another topic.

    Oh, well. Others have brought up Oprah, so I'll put in these links:

    Passive Aggressive Oprah: Gives BS Apology for Switzerland Racist Flap (publicity stunt for upcoming film?)

    EXCLUSIVE: Swiss store owner at center of Oprah's 'racist' handbag storm demands to speak to star after she says 'sorry for the fuss' (more to the story than Oprah led people to believe?)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Unless and until irate, belligerent, poorly-researched comments irrelevant to the topic at hand are regularly scrubbed from these boards, I will no longer deign to comment at this once-excellent site

    I am fed up sick and tired with being confronted by witless, rudely overzealous individuals with pathetically limited mental faculties.

    We are in desperate need of a resurgence of the twin concepts of exclusivity and unacceptability.

    ------------> Katharne Heartburn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Katharine,
      Your departure would be a pity!

      I, for one, would miss your wit!

      I've found that giving a knee jerk reaction such as constantly deleting is a waste of my time -- for the most part, anyway.

      A couple of comments did get deleted yesterday, BTW.

      Delete
  6. I hope Obama was invited. He is, after all, America's number 1 expert in BS.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Here's the annual Running of The Bulls from the old TV sitcom, Northern Exposure.

    ReplyDelete
  8. American cowboys wanted the cattle fat when they arrived at the railhead, not worked thin … different culture, I guess. One thing that must not happen, however, is to have any rodeo clowns wearing a mask of the White House clown. That would be a terrible violation of … something. So, except for that parody, I wish everyone lots of fun …

    ReplyDelete
  9. Replies
    1. Duck,
      Probably.

      Virginia Motorsports Park is nothing like Pamplona, which has narrow alleys making the runners' ability to get out of the way a frequent option. The speedway in Virginia is much wider than an alley and is bordered by wide open space. Also the speedway is on .25 mi. in length.

      Delete
  10. I could never understand people intentionally putting themselves in the path of rampaging bulls with big, sharp horns.

    But that's just me.

    Debbie
    Right Truth
    http://www.righttruth.typepad.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Debbie,
      I doubt that some of these participants have a clue as to what stampeding bulls are like!

      Delete
  11. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

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