(have I shown this before?)
I watched World Cup matches this weekend, two of them. I don't watch soccer. I don't watch much sports at all any more. But I liked this. I lay on the couch in the coolness and listened to the calm voices of the British commentators. It reminded me of the way things used to sound in America, of what has been lost. There was no hype, just a deliberate and understated excitement at the importance of the event. The closest thing we have to it any more is the voice of a golf commentator. As I say, I lay there and relaxed. The only irritant was the noisemakers that sounded like the hum of bees used by the fans.
Later that night, after going with my young friend and his mother to see "The Karate Kid," I watched the Celtics and the Lakers in game five of the NBA Championships. What a contrast.
America will wear you out, I'm convinced. You must be rich to stay away from all the noise and the hype and all of the environmental pornography that the rest of us are assaulted by every day. Everything I read tells me that Americans are unhealthy, that we have largest, most expensive, and least capable health program in the first world.
There are alternatives to the way we live, but Americans are not exposed to them much. It is all noise, all the time. As I have been writing, not one but TWO yardmen with giant gas powered engines attached to their backs have been blowing yard clippings from here to there. I'm going to bet there isn't a rake or broom on the truck. My neighbor leaves in his giant pickup truck with the five inch pipes to amplify his comings and goings. In America, if it ain't loud, you ain't having fun. Try telling your neighbor that he's being too loud and see how that works out for you.
"The Karate Kid" was a quiet movie. I didn't want to have to see it, but I couldn't help it. And it wasn't bad. It has a nice message for kids. Focus. Quiet the mind. Everything is Kung-Fu, the tutor tells the tyro. The Chi. Just like "the force" in "Star Wars." The Karate Kid gets that.
So. . . to sum up. Let the kids watch the World Cup. Take them to see "The Karate Kid." I don't know if it will help, but it seemed to.
I think you are wrong
ReplyDeleteI think you must be poor to not be assaulted by the awfulness. In my estimation -- the rich are the root of most of the awfulness.
The poor don't have to worry about what movie to go see -- some maybe don't worry about what sports event to watch nor do they have to listen to giant gas powered engines blowing yard clippings...
I may be using a bit of hyperbole here but think about it some. I know the poor suffer tremendously but you know what the Bible says...
It was a good choice to watch the World Cup...I still remember the World Cup in Sweden 1958, we did not have TV but there was radio. When Swden took the lead in the final against Brazil, I remember running out in the street screaming with joy...I was seven years old.
ReplyDeleteI have memories from almost all World Cups played since then, it is like a calender that helps you a bit in understanding the flow of time.
The first Karate Kid is not bad at all. To bad they had to make follow-ups.
So stay on your couch and enjoy Italia VS Paraguay tonight
;)
It was a good choice to watch the World Cup...I still remember the World Cup in Sweden 1958, we did not have TV but there was radio. When Swden took the lead in the final against Brazil, I remember running out in the street screaming with joy...I was seven years old.
ReplyDeleteI have memories from almost all World Cups played since then, it is like a calender that helps you a bit in understanding the flow of time.
The first Karate Kid is not bad at all. To bad they had to make follow-ups.
So stay on your couch and enjoy Italia VS Paraguay tonight
;)
Quiet is good...quiet and solitude are essential...long live The Force!
ReplyDeleteLisa, Your idea of not being rich seems bucolic to me. Poor people are crowded everywhere. They are not allowed the luxury of space. They live in noisy neighborhoods and noisy apartments and go to crowded schools. They stand in lines and shop in noisy places. If it were pastoral not to be rich (as in a Frost poem), I'd be for it. But I've gotten to ride with the wealthy. It is all about space and quietude and the power to decide. I'm not with you on this one. And truly, I don't know what the Bible says.
ReplyDeleteUlf, I did. I stayed on the couch and watched Italy and Paraguay on a Spanish T.V. station (the only one showing the game). Nice. I didn't see the first Karate Kid, but the remake seems good to me.
R, Yes, quietude and chi.