Saturday, January 21, 2006

What is about a man in a loincloth?

I feel like I've started off most of these apologetic, well f__k that! I'm going for needlessly confrontational this morning, or at least for that sentence. I was at the library yesterday then went to see Grizzly Man. The movie was about a man who coming out of alcohol abuse and a nonrewarding life decided to live amongst the grizzly bears in Alaska. I'm not really ruining anything by saying the bears eventually kill him and a young woman in his 13th summer there as the movie states that fact in the opening lines. It contains some of the most incredible footage of dangerous animals that you will ever see. He literally lived amongst them, would touch them, at times challenge them, and genuinely had no fear of them. He was though, a bit of a weird dude, I'd venture in my nonprofessional opinion that he suffered from paranoia (of the park service) and perhaps a little bipolar. He definitely constructed a bizarre identity for himself. He affected the world's worst Australian accent, pretended to be an orphan, and imagined himself a romantic beleaguered hero who was responsible for protecting the bears from poachers and modern man. For all that though a compelling movie at times, very funny in some points, (though at times I thought the audience was laughing at rather than with, typical cynical UofC crowd) and in the end a story about someone who aspired to do great deeds but failed along the way. Probably worth netflixing.

After the movie I went to jason's where I partook in alcohol, food, and good company. In talking to colin he mentioned a restaurant he really likes called victory's banner that intrigued me. Its apparently run by a cult. The money quote was colin saying, "If I were to join a cult, that's definitely the type of cult I'd join. They're into meditation, vegetarianism, and really good french toast." After that we went over to the pepperland. Here's where the night took on a surreal edge, for perhaps everyone but me. Not having a costume, not caring at the moment about PC, being drunk, and having seen it done before I decided to walk around the party in a loincloth, thinking I'd do it for 10 minutes, then change and enjoy the party in civilian clothing. Well after the reaction I got in that first ten minutes, it wasn't coming off. It definitely elicited a great deal of response from almost anyone who saw it. Their looks as they took it in were interesting: eyes growing wider, disbelief, not knowing whether to feel angry or not, acceptance, and finally the desire to touch my ass. I should be fair though and analyze myself if I'm going to analyze others. I'd say I definitely have a touch of exhibitionism in me, without looking it up I'd say that deriving a thrill from the confused and startled faces of others through your appearance, deeds, or words is exhibitionism to some extent. At the same time though, I felt like if I was going to a pepperland party, the only crime would be to half-ass it. Something it turns out that I both did and didn't do.

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