From gnat@picard.cs.wisc.edu Sat May 8 18:00:53 1999 Date: 25 Apr 1995 22:41:50 GMT From: Natira Hammerstrom Newsgroups: alt.gothic Subject: Re: Juggling damion wrote: >we all know that juggling is gothic, but is it perky? I would think so. The gothic references, while more prevalent in the sensitive art of juggling, hide most of the subtle perkyness that gives a juggler a mysterious spark. This is the "secret ingredient" as to why jugglers could draw large crowds instead of sulking in a corner at a dance club. References point to the entertainers of the 12th century who would load themselves with four shots of espresso and bounce around like Brownian motion gone bad. Originally thought to be quite mad, they were forced out of their towns with great vehemence. Later, these jugglers formed small pagan communities that evolved in their own rituals as the rest of the world had forgotten about them. In their isolation, they were undisturbed by popular culture as they learned the art of polka dots, the patience of constructing fishnets from the silky fibers of certain plants, and of course, years of training perfecting the cartwheel. It wasn't long before juggling was invented. After a three day Pun Contest ritual, popular in the 13th centuries, one contestant had created a pun so horrendously groanful that onlookers began to pick up small objects and toss them at the guilty party. In deft response, the punster picked up a tennis racket and started singing classic Elvis melodies. More objects were hurled. And tossed back. And back again. Children giggled, cats cried, and Ed McMahon clapped his hands in glee. Juggling was born. It wasn't until the early 17th century that this race of perkyjugglers was discovered by the Enlightened Europeans. The jugglers were taught to read and write, lace corsets, and chitchat with the neighbors about how their son Victor was doing so well at the academy. Threatened by the new government and this new way of life, the jugglers would meet in secret out in the woods dressed head-to-toe in frilly skirts and polka dots. Goth had overrun the perky during this time of repression, but not completely. Now in the revival of the Perkygoths, there is no fear to one's personal saftey to juggle in public places and bounce around gleefully at the same time. QED. ____/| ----(gnat@yar.cs.wisc.edu)--------(http://dax.cs.wisc.edu/~gnat)---- \ o.O| UW-Madison Freshman - Comp Sci ! Fullfeed Webpage Designer =(_)= dmf Coordinator/graphics guru ! Creator of life U Who writes this stuff?