August 27, 2007
"Everyone thought he was doing a skit or something, but it ended up being real.""It looked like a Shakespeare act."
Descriptions of the man who stabbed a University of Colorado student in the neck. The student had ignored the man and walked by. Would you be more likely to ignore and walk by a real crazy man with a knife or an actor doing a Shakespeare routine?
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I'll bet students were worried it was actually a performance artist in disguise who would then laugh at them or call them racists if they reacted by getting scared/moving away.
Therefore, I blame liberal performance artists.
So they post the picture of the victim without identifying him. I wonder if his parents have heard of this incident, or if they'll just stumble across it.
Interesting that they warn now via texting. What about people on campus -- like me -- with no cell phone?
Re: "What about people on campus -- like me -- with no cell phone?"
Free bandages, probably.
I'd give a man with a knife a wide berth, but a man "yelling incoherently"? People walk around yelling incoherently into their cell phones all the time.
Are there any limits to performance art? Is there some point where the performance ceases to be art? If so, where is this point and what principle allows us to find it?
Could it be that the very concept of performance art is flawed at the outset?
If only the campus had been a "Knife Free Zone" this would have never happened.
My wife-to-be once socked me round the jaw with a real roundhouse blow on the terrace outside the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.
(We'd been having a row, I wasn't listening anymore, refused to speak etc., so she whacked me to get my undivided attention - as you do.)
The American tourists on the terrace looked stunned then applauded wildly.
I believe they thought it was 'street theatre' but maybe they just liked to see some good ol' domestic violence for free.
WE are indoctrinated to be "tolerant", not assess the risk level of crazy people or homeless, until some citizen gets dragged off and gang-raped, a South Korean student with psychotic deranged actions hauls out guns and shoots 32 people who up until that point had been on a campus committed to "tolerating his diversity".
In the past, we "celebrated diversity" but were told the diversity had been scrutinized and did not threaten anyone. We were told about certain crazy people that - "don't worry, he's not some stranger, we know him, the cops know him, and he''s a harmless kook".
We need to get back to that and ditch the idiot Lefty PC. Seung Ho should never been allowed to be at VT and endanger other students. The black homeless crazy man that had tried pushing two people into traffic and daily threatened other passersbye with rape or death under Dinkins toleration was locked up by Rudy at Bellevue for years then sent back to Georgia on a one-way bus ticket.
In my area, cops rousted the gays out of a park they were using for trysts in the early evening and a crazy guy with a molestation record that sued to be allowed to watch kids from a public area next to a school was mysteriously beaten up by three muggers not interested in his money who urged him to move back to Massachussetts ASAP.
We in our area appear to be fine with such intolerance.
The nation could use a little more constructive intolerance, and University of Colorado at Boulder could use heaping helpings of rationally-based intolerance.
This is unfortunate, although it appears the victim will recover and they got the attacker. All involved are lucky it didn't turn tragic (so far).
That said, I wonder what Shakespeare act the witness thought this was - Macbeth, maybe? Or Richard III? Or Hamlet? Surely he's seen Hamlet - what scene in Hamlet has a solitary actor with a knife, rambling incoherently?
I blame George W. Bush for declining cultural literacy.
Frank Drebin: When I see five weirdos in togas stabbing a man in plain view of a hundred people, I shoot the bastards, that's my policy.
Mayor Barkley: That was a Shakespeare in the Park production of Julius Caesar, you moron! You killed five actors! Good ones!
Re: "what scene in Hamlet has a solitary actor with a knife, rambling incoherently?"
Or perhaps he is Colonel Mustard, playing a drunken game of Clue.
Be thankful it wasn't a lead pipe in the Conservatory. That would have hurt like hell.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?
I see thee yet, in form as palpable
As this which now I draw.
I'm fascinated by cedarford's fixation on blacks, Koreans and gays - it's as if he (she?) were saying, Give me a world without blacks, Koreans and gays, and everything will be just hunky-dory.
Of course, cedarford could have described all these people and their misdeeds without mention of their respective races, nationalities or sexual orientations, but where's the fun in THAT? He/she/it seems convinced that race and sexual orientation had something to do with all the evil these people committed.
I don't understand Ann's question. I do know that such acts of violence can happen in an split second.
We're mourning the murder of a beautiful, accomplished, dedicated young woman (and just for cedarford, I'll mention, black) who was slain in a neighborhood pub by a nutcase (and, for cedarford, again, since it really doesn't matter, white) guy who was just evicted from his apartment down the block. He'd come into the bar looking for his roommate, taken a swipe with a knife at another guy he knew, and on his way out, simply reached out and sliced her throat. No one saw it in time to do anything. He strolled down the block while someone followed, calling police on his phone, and was arrested quickly.
No one was passive, no one was unconcerned by a tragedy, or confused by performance art. The guy simply acted quickly, and in a way no one could expect.
There's no reverse-diversity program that will solve the mysteries of insane people lashing out in violence.
Well, I'm not sure what evil us gays were supposed to have committed. After all, we're just fucking in the bushes, though that's apparently a crime so heinous that it bears mention along with the murder of 32 people. Sure, I'd prefer people didn't fuck in the bushes; it's uncomfortable, messy and makes the sylvan environs a mite uncomfortable for people who simply want to take an evening stroll. But does that really belong in a list with a mass murder?
Apparently Cedarford feels the need to be politically correct in his diatribes and make sure every "victim" group is represented. I'm just surprised he left out Jews this time.
But anyway, let the doors be shut upon him, that he may play the fool no where but in's own house.
Palladian,
Yeah, Macbeth's soliloquy fits by word, but not by tone – or not until the end, anyway (depending upon the performer).
Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in June at a Minnesota airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints in a men’s public restroom, according to an arrest report obtained by Roll Call Monday afternoon.
Cue: Ann accusing Democrats of homophobia.
Hey, steve simels is back! Quick, Althouse, use him to sell tickets to this trainwreck!
It amazes me that no one did a thing about a man waving a knife and shouting incoherently. We sure have learned a lot from the VT massacre!
All those young kids and their parents are making a big mistake if they think all the high-minded talk about the campus as a safe place means something in a practical sense.
You're right, Palladian, I misstepped - right into cedarford's doo-doo (an activity others might actually find enjoyable).
Prof Althouse-
Would you be more likely to ignore and walk by a real crazy man with a knife or an actor doing a Shakespeare routine?
Here in Columbus, we have a group that does "Shakespeare in the Park" every summer. I can't find a link-- but, there was a recent incident where the cops responded to a rehearsal of a "sword-fight"...
Hey, steve simels is back!
Didn't he swear he was leaving for good?
Tease.
Violence, Danger, Risk. To many of these sheltered, insulated college students something like the outcome of this incident could only take place on TV or the stage, they have no experience with them and no training that could help. I don't wonder that Shakespeare is the only context and reference that the commenter could find for a ranting lunatic with a knife. No matter how close the location of reported violence and the frequency with which it occurs the disconnect from the associated risk is a great gulf in the mind until the signs of risk can be seen for what they are. It usually takes personal involvement for the scales to fall from the eyes.
Coming from a relatively serene suburban existence in the West to the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the sixties at the age of 16 was a shock that called for an immediate reassessment of many things that I thought I understood about the world. Naive would be an understatement. It wasn't until I had been relieved of all of my valuables by several individuals with the aid of a cold sharp blade on my windpipe that I developed the situational awareness that is called a sixth sense in the context of the mean streets of the city. In some circles this wary eye is also been called prejudice, in others that are more realistic it is known as prudence.
Lesson:
Don't step into the reach of a Shakespeare skit or an incoherent screaming man with a knife unless you know all of the actors, and never take your eyes off of them. They are sneaky.
Does art imitate life or does life imitate art? I have a hard time keeping that one straight sometimes.
Total bummer.
I haven't formed enough of an opinion on this to make a comment.
I just didn't want to be left out of the Welcome Back For Good, Steve Simels, Roving Pop Music Critic Who Just Can't Quite Break Free Of The Mighty Vortex chorus.
Tra la.
Hey did everyone just see that Larry Craig, the Idaho republican senator, was arrested in a Minneapolis Airport restroom soliciting sex from a police officer.
This is just great. Another self-hating homophobic republican.
Absolutely love it.
Larry Craig, the anti-gay republican senator from Idaho even knows the tea room trading (bathroom sex) etiquette:
"At 1216 hours, Craig tapped his right foot. I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct. Craig tapped his toes several times and moves his foot closer to my foot... "
MrBuddwing said...
I'm fascinated by cedarford's fixation on blacks, Koreans and gays - it's as if he (she?) were saying, Give me a world without blacks, Koreans and gays, and everything will be just hunky-dory.
Your real fascination with straight talkers is likely homoerotic - like when you listen to McCain or some General or Osama you imagine some big hairy Bear Homosexual in charge, and ravaging your rectum.
Yeah, you are fascinated with people that think the S Korean nutball should never have been allowed at VT and condemn anyone who thinks otherwise with a patented Abramaic smear of criticizing one criticizes all and that makes you a racist!!
And your stupid racist accusation is supposed to make people back off?
I take it like your hairy Bear Man does - your squeals mean you love it.
I absolutely believe the good Senator's explanation. All Senators are good and honorable humans, and you can take their word for just about anything they say. It's all just a great big misunderstanding. I'm sure he was just doing research for some pending legislation or something.
I thought Althouse was cleaning up the comments sections but I see that Cedarford, one of the most prolific purveyors of filth around here, remains. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
Mr. Buddwing: Cedarford is best left ignored. He is a bitter old man who claims to be of some noble lineage and has apparently done absolutely nothing to live up to expectations so he takes his personal failures out on others, particularly Jews, gays, and racial minorities.
Daryl: Why would you think the students be accused of racism unless, perhaps, you automatically assumed the attacker was a minority?
Palladian: You're right. He would quit coming if he wasn't welcomed (responded to) but he is so he does.
Beth: That story was so sad. Even with a knife, it only takes a few seconds - as both yours and this story show, people often fail to appreciate it until it is too late to do anything about it.
Steve Simels: Your word is obviously not meant to be your bond is it? Your posting here again leads me to believe that incapable of exercising any degree of sustained control over your voluntary actions, and that your personal convictions are highly changeable. Do you have the same problem with food, relationships, alcohol, tobacco, or anger?
Riffing on the impromptu Shakespearean performance theme, RE: Senator Craig: He will likely insult everyone's intelligence by claiming that he was engaging in performance art, or practicing for an appearance in an off-Broadway play. As you may recall, a similar incident (with a civilian, not the police) was alleged around the time of the 2006 elections and the Senator denied it. (It should be noted that most men arrested in situations such as this are, like Senator Craig, married, and most, like Senator Craig, deny that they are gay.)
Senator Craig would do his family, the state of Idaho, and the rest of us a great favor by shutting up and not advancing the-most-ridiculous-argument-since Mark Foley, but, if history teaches us anything, it teaches us that he will not. Ultimately, however, it is up to the people of Idaho to decide whether or not they want a tea queen to represent them in the United States Senate, should he seek re-election.
On Facebook, Michael Knorps is listed as a member of the class of 2011.
Welcome to campus, frosh!
What's wrong with having a casual encounter in a men's room? Seriously. Why is it against the law?
I'm surprised (a) that Downtown Lad isn't all over this; (b) that law enforcement resources are being used to actively thwart this harmless activity; and (c) that a senator wouldn't just order up a prostitute at the Ritz-Carlton and pay with cash.
I'm not surprised that our fellow lefties are trying to make political hay with this. Naturally, Craig is right there in league with Jerry Falwell, so this is hypocritical. Right? I mean, we all know all about this Craig's beliefs. He's a Republican. He must be moralistic about sex the way that lefties are about the environment. Right?
Ronin, I was making a lighthearted, sarcastic, self-deprecating post.
Larry Craig, the anti-gay republican senator from Idaho even knows the tea room trading (bathroom sex) etiquette
I need to learn all of these etiquette things. A man can get taken by surprise.
For instance, the other day I was walking down the street with a teal napkin hanging out of my back pocket, and . . .
Internet Ronin: You think that Cederford will be banned before I am?
I've stirred up more controversy. My statements about how Brooklyn College is using her, and how she undercuts her children's inheritance with all her frivolous purchases....
If anyone's gonna be banned around here, it's me. I hit a little too close to home!
Maxine,
I've jousted with C4 many a time regarding his pathetic antisemitism, and am sorry to see he's broadened his horizons even further (the gratuitousness of mentioning the VT killer's nationality, as if that the slightest relation to his crime, is especially grating.)
But in his defense, at least he's not boring (once you get past the predictability of the slurs he needlessly decorates his posts with.) Go, and do thou likewise.
Internet Ronin: You're absolutely right. But I feel that if I've succeeded in raising Cedarford's blood pressure, however slightly, I will have done a service.
the gratuitousness of mentioning the VT killer's nationality, as if that the slightest relation to his crime, is especially grating.
You do understand that Cedarford was making a point about tolerance and that therefore the killer's skin color was completely relevant, right? We tolerate more weird shy stuff from Asians because of our own stereotypes and biases about Asians. If Seung had been white or black, maybe someone would have gotten him some help. Instead, he was an Authentically Ethnic Fellow and therefore off limits.
At 5:52 pm, steve simels said . . . “Cue: Ann accusing Democrats of homophobia.”
Well, all I can say is it's a good thing Mr. Steve Simels grew up to be a world famous POP MUSIC CRITIC.
He’d have never made it as a disc jockey.
Just imagine what would happen every time he cued up a record.
SILENCE.
"I'm surprised (a) that Downtown Lad isn't all over this"
Even DTL, hyper-vigilant though he may be to slights real and imagined, would find this behavior pathetic, disgusting, and, worst of all, tasteless.
Cruising restrooms is characteristic of desperate closet cases, such as Craig seems to be. Gay men who are comfortable with their own sexuality have far more appealing, and hygienic, ways to meet -- and with much better lighting.
Sorry I'm not doing more deleting, but I don't have time to do it, and in any event, I often see some value in the range of voices even the ones that get offensive. Ignore people who you think are abusing the forum or email me showing me where the problem comments are. I may delete -- or not.
Daryl,
Sorry, I don't buy your explanation--the weird behavior he exhibited isn't exactly the leading stereotype of Koreans. Really, you don't want to jump into that hole with Cedarford and help him dig in deeper, do you?
I may delete -- or not.
It's too dull an edged tool.
Blogger owes us a Yossarian-esque tool allowing one to excise individual words or letters chosen at random on the whim of the censor, mangling the text and the sense to a decontructionalist's wet dream.
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