The Lope: Pigs and Tigers and Hypno-Monkeys

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Pigs and Tigers and Hypno-Monkeys

Ace decided to check out some of the free entertainment at the fair. First up were the pig races.


Nothing quite spells ag-oriented fair like pig races.


Feeling like something a bit more cultured, he headed over to the Farm Bureau Arena and caught the Tennessee Heartstrings, an excellent bluegrass band.


Banjo player Casey Henry is part of a family that is famous in bluegrass circles, both for playing and for instruction.


The highlight of the day comes when Ace watches entertainment hypnotist Ron Diamond in the Farm Bureau Arena.


Just like in the movies, Diamond puts his subjects to sleep.




These two young men were convinced they were knights dueling with long sword-like tongues. The hypnotist has to break them up and separate the tongues.


Late in the act, Diamond produces what Ace presumes to be the real power behind his hypnotic powers: the Hypno-Monkey.


This all-powerful simian commands the humans to wave their hands...


...to pat their heads...


...to lean to the right (is this how Republicans pulled off 2004?)...


...to spank themselves.


The Hypno-Monkey makes them feel tickled...


...or poked in an unpleasant place.


Fascinated by Hypno-Monkey's ability to control people, Ace don's a swami diguise in the hopes of winning the creature's confidence. To his disappointment, he learns that hypnosis cannot actually be used to control people and can only influence them to follow suggestions for a brief period. He also suspects Diamond is the real power; albeit a non-malevolant one.


Mulling over the concept of control, Ace happened across "Tigers of India", an animal act by the Marcan Tiger preserve of Florida.


The show featured all four color variations of Bengal tigers doing tricks that the operators said keep the tigers' minds sharp.







After the show, the tigers pace in their cage.


It was interesting, but Ace decides it'd be better to see tigers in the wild.












After the events of the day, Ace glides through the carnival on his way out, pondering that men make pigs run in circles, manipulate tigers right down to their gene pool, and use Hypno-Monkeys to suggest that other people spank themselves...its a strange world, and one that he could run better. As he passes a thematically decorated ride, he ponders the near-absolute power of the ancient Egyptian rulers and goes home...and dreams.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I saw the tigers and the hypnotist, both were amazing! I kept looking for the name of the tiger thing, and, thanks to you Ace, finally know the answer! So, thank you soo much!

Tue Mar 03, 09:59:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

The tiger color variations are a cause of inbreeding, and that "preserve" is actually no bueno http://bigcatrescue.org/marcan-promoting-white-tiger-breed/
any place that has unnecessary human to cat contact, or forces them to do tricks is NOT NOT NOT a good place

Tue Aug 16, 06:17:00 AM  

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