Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Are Those Donkey Tracks?

Thanks to RGPer and inventor of the term Manifestite, GrouchySmurf, for pointing me in the right direction for this story.

With a bit of help from Google, I was able to find this news article:

http://tinyurl.com/ap2yv

So, the donkey stuck his head out in front of a train, heard the horn, pulled his head back, then stuck it out again, just in time for the train to smack him upside the donkey. Normally this would be funny enough and worthy of a donkey entry. But no, we here at the Manifesto like to bring you the cream of the crop in donkey stories (or whatever we can find, whichever comes first). Following this link, we find something truly donkish:

http://tinyurl.com/eyb83

Yes! That's correct Manifestites, this donkey was hit by a train, in the head, just 3 years ago. Now, I'm pretty sure I've seen a train before, but just in case I'm mistaken, I'll trust the journalist and assume that we're talking about the 1/4 mile long steel moving vehicle with a horn that can be heard for miles, and not the ultra sneaky, low flying, melon-acquiring object that some of you might be picturing.

So, I have to ask? How the hell can someone get hit in the head with a train? I'll go one step further. How the hell can the same person get hit in the head with a train twice in their life? There is only one answer. This donkey is a member of the secret cult of the Dawnkeih, who believe they can achieve enlightenment if they are beheaded by a fast moving object that travels on metal tracks. Unfortunately for this donkey, since he fucked up such a trivially easy task, he is banished to the hell of donkey stables, where he will be forced to perform menial tasks for the rest of his miserable donkey life, such as making coffee and asking if patrons would like fries with that.

Morphy

Sorry Donkey, I Can't Hear You!

I'm not necessarily back on the prowl for donkey stories quite yet, but I do have a few things to post, which I'll spread out across the next week or so. First off, I needed to come up with a name for our readers. Obviously calling the readers donkeys would be wrong, since the donkeys are the subjects of the posts, and not the readers of them. RGPer GrouchySmurf suggested using "Manifestites" and thus from this day forward, the loyal readers of the Donkey Manifesto will be known as such.

I've always said that I'll take submissions from Manifestites and post them here. Unfortunately I have 2 that I've let go by the wayside, and a third one that came in today. I'll post them in the order received, mostly so the first two don't feel slighted in any way.

Manifestite and RGPer Pokeraddict brings us this story. As featured on rogerebert.com's answer man section, the link to the information is below:

http://tinyurl.com/9t29k

The article talks about a movie made about the incredible accomplishments of percussionist Evelyn Glennie. I've seen Evelyn perform before, and she's simply amazing. The thing is, Evelyn is deaf. She's an excellent musician as it is, but knowing that she is deaf makes what she is able to do simply amazing.

So why is she featured in a donkey post? Well, she isn't, but the creator of the movie is. Why? Because he felt that making a movie about a deaf person and including subtitles would, and I quote "be hurtful" in the theatrical release. He also says "the visual aspect of the film is as important as the aural."

Ummm, that's all well and good, but don't you think that this film would appeal specifically to deaf people? I know that making a movie about a deaf person and thinking that deaf people might want to see the movie seems far fetched, but come on now! I have to go now. This is the type of donkey who would make a silent movie about a blind man, and if that's the case, I have another blog entry to write!

Until next time,

Morphy

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Serious post - 11/13/05

I just wanted to let our readers know that due to a death in the family, I won't be posting here for a bit. Muk may post something when he feels like it, but I'm going to take a break to spend time with my family. Don't worry, the Manifesto isn't going anywhere; I'm just taking a short break.

Morphy