30 June 2004
TV and Camels
I've had cable for about a month now, after a four-year break. It's already eatings my brains. Last night I stayed up late to watch reruns of Chappelle's Show. It's a brilliantly funny show, but is any funny show worth losing sleep for? I don't think I can handle cable. It's like crack cocaine.
Tonight I pedalled Magma Lou to the Clay Theater, then realized I'd forgotten my u-lock. There wasn't time to bike home and back again before the movie. The Euroboy in the ticket booth wasn't authorized to give me permission to stash my bike in the lobby. The manager, Jeff, also couldn't allow it. "But I can lock your bike to mine," he said, and gestured toward a parking meter propping up a well-used racing bike. He was cute and he'd obviously still be there after the movie, so our two bikes made a parking-meter sandwich with his u-lock. It was perfectly adorable.
See, movies like this one make cable television seem pretty dum. The Story of The Weeping Camel is elegant and enlightening. We watch a Mongolian family going about their business: drawing water from the well; brewing tea; washing small, grubby children; making offerings of milk to the spirits; and tending many sheep, goats, and camels. It's spring in the Gobi desert and their camp is overflowing with baby animals.
One of the camels has roundly rejected her colt. The struggle to unite them preoccupies the whole family. Ultimately, two of the boys ride to a distant town to summon a violinist for help. That's what any of us would do, right? I learned some things from this movie:
- Camels make really weird noises.
- You can make just about anything out of camel hair.
- Mongolians are susceptible to the allure of television, just like me.
- A television costs about 20 or 30 sheep.
- To activate the maternal instinct of a cranky camel, play the violin and sing to her.
- Camels weep constantly, because their eyes get dusty. But they weep even more for beautiful music.
Also, it seems that camels make fun pets! Suddenly I'm a huge camel fan.