Here’s one, sent in by a reader in response to yesterday’s post about “La Rapa das Bestas, that I cannot resist. It seems that on Wednesday Bill Hillman coauthor of “Fiesta: How to Survive the Bulls of Pamplona” was badly gored in the leg this past Wednesday during this year’s running. And yes, as one might expect in this highly digital and connected world, it was all recorded in a photograph. It is a case, I suppose, of not following one’s own directions, since the book does point out that:
“My own final introductory words of advice are simple: if you want to guarantee you’ll survive running the bulls, stay off the street and watch it from a balcony.”
While the bulls are certainly dangerous enough, the event has been made all the more perilous by people who combine the event with a lot of heavy drinking, and co-author Alexander Fiske-Harrison blamed Mr. Hillman’s accident on another runner who pushed him.
I am, however, reminded of a statement attributed to the 19th Century British magazine “Puck.” “What’s better than presence of mind in a train wreck? Absence of body.” So you’ll definitely find me sipping coffee on the balcony.