Oh I wish I were an Oscar Meyer Weiner... That understood Spanish.

So day's theme is bullfights:

Today, I went to the bullfights for the second day in a row, and I have to say I like it. There's the argument that it's cruel and barbaric, but I for one would much rather be a bull that dies to the applause of hundreds after a fight to the death than a dog that lives in some fashionista's purse who is only there because of some stupid trend and will probably eventually be dumped on the street or euthanized.

Here's is a description of what happens in a bullfight. I just have a couple of corrections/additions.

1) The bull probably weighs more than 1000 lbs. These things are big! I saw one get his horns underneath the picador's horse's belly and pick them both up! And the picador's horses ain't no prancing ponies either! That and the fact that they are wearing leather armor and carrying an overweight, middle-aged man on it's back make picking it up rather remarkable.

2) The bull doesn't become more aggressive towards the end. By then it has lost a lot of blood and is pretty much just tired.

3) The bull actually does very little all out charging. It charges into the ring and runs about a bit. But then it eventually settles down and starts trying to kill things instead of trying to run them over. During the final stage the matador is rarely more than 20 ft from the bull.

4) In my opinion the banderilleros are the real heroes of the show. They have to reach over a charging bulls horns in order to stick the banderillas in the bulls shoulders and they don't have the luxury of hiding behind a cape!

5) After the matador stabs the bull in the heart it doesn't die instantly, it runs around a bit and then collapses. Then the matador's assistant steps up and stabs in the spinal column with a short knife thus killing it. So the matador isn't actually the only that kills the bull (so it's something of a misnomer).

6) When the bull is dead the people wave handkerchiefs if they believe that the matador has done a good job. If the president agrees, he will wave his too and thus the matador gets 1 or both of the ears depending on how the president waves his handkerchief. If he has done an amazing job that surpasses all expectations then the matador gets the tail as well.

7) While the conclusion is the death of the bull, that's not what the show is about. Despite all the machismo and swagger of the matadors it's really the ultimate version of a nerd's dream where superior intelligence dominates something that has almost every physical advantage (speed, strength, horns, etc).

Well that's all for tonight. I'll probably post pictures on Facebook eventually.