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Politics : War -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Yaacov who wrote (1249)	5/21/2001 11:49:01 AM
From: Carolyn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23908

Sure! <g>

To: Yaacov who wrote (1249)	5/21/2001 11:51:12 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 23908

Guide to the Corrida by Randnell Widner geocities.com Casting: the Bull is played by Ariel Sharon, the Matador.... Yasser Arafat, the 2 Picadors.... the US and the EU During this preliminary introduction to the bull, the Matador is looking for signs of its attacking tendencies, which will be significant for his survival. If the bull hooks his horns to the right or left is important, if the bull has a vision problem it may be fatal. If a bull is partially blind in one eye or is near-sighted he will not follow the movement of the cape as the Matador selects his passes, then the bull is unpredictable and may react to other stimulus like flying paper or noise. The bull which killed Manolete in 1947, and the one which seriously gored El Cordobes in 1968, both had bad vision. The Matador will make a few big and fast passes to be sure of his first impressions. At this time you should watch the small movements of the bull's horns, remember an adult bull can hook a falling leaf, and he is considered one of the smartest animals, much smarter than a horse. He is in the process of learning the rules to this new game in the corrida, if the Matador is sloppy or takes too much time, the bull will figure out the deception and kill the Matador easily. Also be aware the bull is very territorial, he has always protected his field, and now in a small unfamiliar area he thinks he must control and challenge anything in it. As the fight goes on, he is struggling to comprehend the deception of the cape. He'll slowly reduce his area to protect, because he is confused, not because he is tired or hurt. As for the Matador, watch where he chooses to fight the bull, if he positions the bull along the side next to his escape routes and assistance, he is not trying to take any chances. On the other hand, if he fights the bull in the center of the ring this is considered very brave. If he is gored it will take vital seconds for his assistants to attract the bull away from his injured body. Also watch for any manipulation of the cape which exposes his legs to the vision of the bull. Spinning the cape around his waist is considered a minor but significant announcement of his courage. The bull will certainly remember his legs, and will be trying to find them with every pass. Again the trumpets blast announcing the Picadors. The Matador leads the bull away from the corral door allowing two horse mounted Picadors to enter the ring. A Picador is both a modern necessity, and a throw back to the old days of horseback bullfighting. A bull has one of the strongest neck muscles of any land mammals, if the Matador is to fight this beast, it must have its head down. This is accomplished by the Picador on a heavily padded horse impaling the neck muscles with a long spear. It is not meant to effect the bull in any other way. Even the most astute bullfight fan dislikes an overly aggressive Picador. The Picador and his horse are very vulnerable to this charging beast. The heavy padding helps, but the bull has the power to lift the man and horse off the ground, and drive them into the barricade. It isn't common that horse or Picador are seriously hurt but it happens. The Matador will do a couple of additional passes to be assured that the neck is sufficiently lowered. The next act is the placement of three sets of small colorful spears called banderillera by men named Banderilleros. These are normally experienced former Matadors. Their snake dances start slowly winding back and forth in front of the bull so it can't tell which way to charge. They must intersect the bull at a diagonal, reaching over the bull's horns stabbing a pair of Banderillera into the shoulder of the charging bull while dashing past. The finer points to watch for are the confidence and bravery of the Banderilleros. If the Matador places his own banderilleras, this is considered very impressive. Keep in mind that this is simply a display of boldness for the crowd's enjoyment and to taunt the bull, the spears are little more than splinters on his back. When the Matador places his own and uses the small banderilleras, (which are less than half the side of the normal ones). He is required to reach over the bulls horns exposing his stomach. This is a very impressive effort and display of bravery. The Matador replaces his large pink and yellow cape for a small blood red cape known as the Muleta , which is folded over a pair of dowels or fake swords. One of the swords will eventually be replaced by the real killing sword. With his muleta under his arm, the matador removes his small black hat, "the Montera" and bows to the "Presidents Box". Returning his attention to the spectators, he dedicates the bull to an individual or to the entire crowd, when he extends his arm in a large circle then drops it over his shoulder. Now the bull, the Matador and the crowd are all ready for the fight to begin. Again the positioning of the challenge in the ring is very important. The Matador will start the fight with a series passes, first from side to side bring the bull close to his body, then high with the cape traveling directly over the bulls horns. After the bull is trained to charge the cape and it has redused it's area of protection to just a few feet, a Matador will show you his individual personality by the combination and variations on these passes. Some of the better Matadors in Spain will fight the bull from their knees or even kneel with their backs exsposed to the bull. With each creative or especially brave antic,the knowledgeable spectators will yell "Ole" as a show of their approval. If on the other hand the Matador or the Bull are performing below the crowd's expectations, they become just as verbose in their rebukes. [snip]