The neo-Medieval nature of the jousting Slater writes about creates some strange contrasts. As two men in armor earnestly attempt to do one another harm in the name of competitive excellence, campy Renaissance Faire antics surround them on all sides. Behold:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvD9L8poFWk
“The knights have received their lances!” It’s certainly not going to replace “play ball!” any time soon. However, jousting’s underlying formula—two competitors; weapons; vehicles; mayhem—obviously retains its trans-epochal appeal. Just yesterday, I happened to learn about an annual bike-jousting competition with pies instead of lances that is held by a Seattle tavern, which looks like fun, or something close to it:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thMOJNa7bCc
And that discovery led me to this amazing footage of Toyota RAV4 jousting, which sadly appears to be an advertisement rather than a preview of a Mad Max-meets-Camelot future:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teFfxnlQZFU
For that, I guess you have to watch Segway jousting, which at least discovers a use for those things:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOBcLeOxvbI
And for a less-self-conscious, more middle-American take on the concept, there’s lawnmower jousting:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB4LIjit1fQ
The moral of the story—if, indeed, there is one—is that as long as human beings use fast, large conveyances to get around, they will devise ways to knock one another from them. While I have nothing against jousting’s modern-day knights, I must admit that the phenomenon makes me think of Red Fang’s fantastic (in more ways than one) “Prehistoric Dog” video.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3Vcoq-QRo4
Photo (CC licensed) by Flickr user Jeff Kubina
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