Real swords. Every now and then you’ll see sparks fly. Literally:
Comments
Open thread 4/24/21 — 24 Comments
Dramatic art need not be lewd or violent, but it should have elements of each to capture the imagination. Then the girl emerges, and the scene is complete.
The theatrical atmosphere is created in the synchronization of performance: word and action. This troupe has the latter down to an art, and, more so, without special effects and aids. A ballet. Brilliant.
One good sword dance deserves another– well, two, actually.
A novel, perhaps admirable, quality of humans is our range of motion, where an individual can be both robotic and creative, deterministic and stochastic, linear and chaotic.
A very impressive piece of dancing. I have some training as a fencer and when I watch sword fights in movies or on stage I usually see actors beating blades together to create an impression of combat for an audience that does not know what the reality looks like. Now this dance was something of that but with such speed and force that one could see that there was a real risk of serious injury if anyone made a mistake.
By the way, where is this from? The word “Sukhisvilli” in the title suggests to me that it is from Georgia (the republic, not the US state).
Black suit, black shirt … what color tie? I’m thinking red.
So, I lived in Georgia (the Republica; not the State) for a couple of years. I got to know the culture and the history pretty well. In all of the history of this region, the Georgians have never actually fought and defended their country.
They have been conquered by everyone and never once fought to defend themselves. Each time, they bled their conquerors dry, until finally, they finally left of their own accord.
The Georgians were the “artists” of the USSR. They also provided the USSR with Joseph Stalin and a disproportionate number of the ranks of the KGB.
I did have a good time while I was there, but I never completely trusted them. Perhaps that was why I could be very successful there when many others could not.
@Roy Nathanson:
Perhaps penchant for great success amidst a sea of Alien Foreigners whom you can never completely trust (doubtless an element of reciprocity here) is in your blood :).
All part of the Spice.
To Life!
PS: Disproportionate representation in ranks of Cheka and subsequent repressive organs is probably not a place we want to go. You might find the denouement unberiable hehe.
Definitely a race of brigands though, those magnificent Georgians.
Two Georgia alumni in the commentership! Interesting. I still would like to go there, for the monasteries, the saints, the wine and the mountains; but I hope to avoid getting into fights with edged weapons while there, especially after seeing this dance. I think my reflexes are fairly good, but I don’t know if they’re that good.
@Philip Sells:
It’s probably traditional to snipe at them from behind cover, too.. so can avoid the swordplay if you go about it right :).
Georgia and Armenia (sans Kardashians) are places on my bucket list. Both were beginning to market themselves as Digital Nomad friendly countries just about the time that the Covid Plague began.
Philip Sells,
Go, by all means. It is no longer particularly dangerous. They have a wonderful cuisine which must be experienced. If possible, you should be a guest at one of their traditional feasts, called a Supra. There is a lot of toasting and ritual, but what is remarkable is that the eating and drinking goes on for hours and hours. You need fortitude to keep up with the Georgians.
As for doing business there, just remember that everybody want to be a middleman and get a commission. Favors are never free.
Zaphod,
“… unberiable…”
Chapeau. Don’t do it again.
Note: To understand Georgia, you have to understand their geographic and political position as a crossroads. They are surrounded by Russia, the Black Sea, the Dead Sea, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkey. All the trade between these countries and waterways flows through Georgia who charges for all transit.
So, Georgia bears many similarities to a petro-state because it survives from transit revenues collected by the state and not from taxes. In fact, avoiding taxes is the national sport.
“In fact, avoiding taxes is the national sport.”
That settles it. I’m gonna move there and purchase a rural stronghold and an ancestral feud.
Whoa there, tiger…
The problem with that, as with petro-states, is that by not relying on taxes collected from citizens, it removes a layer of accountability from government.
I was there at the time of the Rose Revolution. Eduard Shevardnadze was running that country a family business. Elections were rigged and he accounted to no one. It took a revolution to unseat him. The current government is more functional, but still corrupt. The Georgians would have you for breakfast in no time.
From an earlier posting:
Xylourgos on April 22, 2021 at 2:21 am said:
If you are a newcomer to Georgia and are invited to a “Supra” with your Georgian host, you will no doubt be taken to a local where you will enjoy watching dance and listening to polyphonic singing while taking in copious amounts of food and wine!
Roy: Good observations. I lived in Georgia later than you -2011 till 2020. I ran the business for an international engineering firm. Had a great deal of success in all areas of engineering; ports and harbors, transport infrastructure, oil & gas, energy, water & environment. I found the Georgians easy to work with. many deals were agreed verbally and a friendship cemented with a glass…or two (or more) of wine. Of course during the course of a project, disagreements would arise but for the most part, what was verbally agreed to was respected. Not many places left where this is the case. You are correct that everyone is angling for $$$ so be on guard.
Regarding Georgia’s position I think you mean the Caspian Sea not the Dead Sea. In the past, revenues were largely gained from oil transport on the railway from Baku to Poti on the Black Sea. These days, revenue is way down from oil transport and taxation is now the major source of revenue. A flat rate of 20% is levied on all income – no matter the amount. It is impossible to avoid taxation as the tax is deducted by the employer at the source and directly paid to the Revenue Service. One advantage to this is that the employee does not file income tax returns as the tax payment is the responsibility of the employer. The Revenue Service has a well deserved reputation of being heavy handed and it is strongly advisable that taxes be paid – on time.
The Georgians would strongly disagree with your comment that they never fought to defend themselves. They could not have existed in such an inhospitable area without formidable fighting skills. It is best to remain on their good side and to avoid fights if at all possible.
Philip, it is worth a visit. Armenia is also very interesting but very different. The Russian influence is present – not at all in Georgia.
Zaphod: Great one! unBERIAble. You go to the head of class.
Fiction, for now. A utopia where citizens inform on each other with a cellphone app https://youtu.be/vJYaXy5mmA8
About 15 min.
Xylourgos is correct… Caspian Sea, not Dead Sea (hanging my head in shame…).
When I was there, there was a lot of promising of what could not be delivered. In mid-project, I was forced to re-source the exterior stone for the facade to turkey because the local vendor simply could not deliver.
Also, the local cement supplier had to be very carefully monitored. If we didn’t test every batch, his quality deteriorated rapidly.
Mostly, I relied on Georgia for very little. Most of my skilled labor was Turkish. Early on, I learned that they could not even produce steel fabrications to any known standard of quality.
I do suppose that conditions there have improved since I was there. When I arrived they had only just recently terminated the Civil War in Abkhazia. It was still the “wild, wild west”. I remember that restaurants had guards armed very casually with AK-47s.
Dramatic art need not be lewd or violent, but it should have elements of each to capture the imagination. Then the girl emerges, and the scene is complete.
The theatrical atmosphere is created in the synchronization of performance: word and action. This troupe has the latter down to an art, and, more so, without special effects and aids. A ballet. Brilliant.
One good sword dance deserves another– well, two, actually.
Scottish sword dance, male version: performed by soldiers serving in the British Army:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmjmEdiEX_4&ab_channel=TerryGoddard
Scottish sword dance, female version: note the dancers are en pointe for some of the steps:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-I04iH2EBWE&t=78s&ab_channel=Celtefan
Did somebody say sword dance? https://youtu.be/MY8OaKDjPi8
They have a better floor than the other guys.
A novel, perhaps admirable, quality of humans is our range of motion, where an individual can be both robotic and creative, deterministic and stochastic, linear and chaotic.
A very impressive piece of dancing. I have some training as a fencer and when I watch sword fights in movies or on stage I usually see actors beating blades together to create an impression of combat for an audience that does not know what the reality looks like. Now this dance was something of that but with such speed and force that one could see that there was a real risk of serious injury if anyone made a mistake.
By the way, where is this from? The word “Sukhisvilli” in the title suggests to me that it is from Georgia (the republic, not the US state).
Black suit, black shirt … what color tie? I’m thinking red.
So, I lived in Georgia (the Republica; not the State) for a couple of years. I got to know the culture and the history pretty well. In all of the history of this region, the Georgians have never actually fought and defended their country.
They have been conquered by everyone and never once fought to defend themselves. Each time, they bled their conquerors dry, until finally, they finally left of their own accord.
The Georgians were the “artists” of the USSR. They also provided the USSR with Joseph Stalin and a disproportionate number of the ranks of the KGB.
I did have a good time while I was there, but I never completely trusted them. Perhaps that was why I could be very successful there when many others could not.
@Roy Nathanson:
Perhaps penchant for great success amidst a sea of Alien Foreigners whom you can never completely trust (doubtless an element of reciprocity here) is in your blood :).
All part of the Spice.
To Life!
PS: Disproportionate representation in ranks of Cheka and subsequent repressive organs is probably not a place we want to go. You might find the denouement unberiable hehe.
Definitely a race of brigands though, those magnificent Georgians.
Two Georgia alumni in the commentership! Interesting. I still would like to go there, for the monasteries, the saints, the wine and the mountains; but I hope to avoid getting into fights with edged weapons while there, especially after seeing this dance. I think my reflexes are fairly good, but I don’t know if they’re that good.
@Philip Sells:
It’s probably traditional to snipe at them from behind cover, too.. so can avoid the swordplay if you go about it right :).
Georgia and Armenia (sans Kardashians) are places on my bucket list. Both were beginning to market themselves as Digital Nomad friendly countries just about the time that the Covid Plague began.
Philip Sells,
Go, by all means. It is no longer particularly dangerous. They have a wonderful cuisine which must be experienced. If possible, you should be a guest at one of their traditional feasts, called a Supra. There is a lot of toasting and ritual, but what is remarkable is that the eating and drinking goes on for hours and hours. You need fortitude to keep up with the Georgians.
As for doing business there, just remember that everybody want to be a middleman and get a commission. Favors are never free.
Zaphod,
“… unberiable…”
Chapeau. Don’t do it again.
Note: To understand Georgia, you have to understand their geographic and political position as a crossroads. They are surrounded by Russia, the Black Sea, the Dead Sea, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkey. All the trade between these countries and waterways flows through Georgia who charges for all transit.
So, Georgia bears many similarities to a petro-state because it survives from transit revenues collected by the state and not from taxes. In fact, avoiding taxes is the national sport.
“In fact, avoiding taxes is the national sport.”
That settles it. I’m gonna move there and purchase a rural stronghold and an ancestral feud.
Whoa there, tiger…
The problem with that, as with petro-states, is that by not relying on taxes collected from citizens, it removes a layer of accountability from government.
I was there at the time of the Rose Revolution. Eduard Shevardnadze was running that country a family business. Elections were rigged and he accounted to no one. It took a revolution to unseat him. The current government is more functional, but still corrupt. The Georgians would have you for breakfast in no time.
From an earlier posting:
Xylourgos on April 22, 2021 at 2:21 am said:
If you are a newcomer to Georgia and are invited to a “Supra” with your Georgian host, you will no doubt be taken to a local where you will enjoy watching dance and listening to polyphonic singing while taking in copious amounts of food and wine!
Roy: Good observations. I lived in Georgia later than you -2011 till 2020. I ran the business for an international engineering firm. Had a great deal of success in all areas of engineering; ports and harbors, transport infrastructure, oil & gas, energy, water & environment. I found the Georgians easy to work with. many deals were agreed verbally and a friendship cemented with a glass…or two (or more) of wine. Of course during the course of a project, disagreements would arise but for the most part, what was verbally agreed to was respected. Not many places left where this is the case. You are correct that everyone is angling for $$$ so be on guard.
Regarding Georgia’s position I think you mean the Caspian Sea not the Dead Sea. In the past, revenues were largely gained from oil transport on the railway from Baku to Poti on the Black Sea. These days, revenue is way down from oil transport and taxation is now the major source of revenue. A flat rate of 20% is levied on all income – no matter the amount. It is impossible to avoid taxation as the tax is deducted by the employer at the source and directly paid to the Revenue Service. One advantage to this is that the employee does not file income tax returns as the tax payment is the responsibility of the employer. The Revenue Service has a well deserved reputation of being heavy handed and it is strongly advisable that taxes be paid – on time.
The Georgians would strongly disagree with your comment that they never fought to defend themselves. They could not have existed in such an inhospitable area without formidable fighting skills. It is best to remain on their good side and to avoid fights if at all possible.
Philip, it is worth a visit. Armenia is also very interesting but very different. The Russian influence is present – not at all in Georgia.
Zaphod: Great one! unBERIAble. You go to the head of class.
Fiction, for now. A utopia where citizens inform on each other with a cellphone app
https://youtu.be/vJYaXy5mmA8
About 15 min.
Xylourgos is correct… Caspian Sea, not Dead Sea (hanging my head in shame…).
When I was there, there was a lot of promising of what could not be delivered. In mid-project, I was forced to re-source the exterior stone for the facade to turkey because the local vendor simply could not deliver.
Also, the local cement supplier had to be very carefully monitored. If we didn’t test every batch, his quality deteriorated rapidly.
Mostly, I relied on Georgia for very little. Most of my skilled labor was Turkish. Early on, I learned that they could not even produce steel fabrications to any known standard of quality.
I do suppose that conditions there have improved since I was there. When I arrived they had only just recently terminated the Civil War in Abkhazia. It was still the “wild, wild west”. I remember that restaurants had guards armed very casually with AK-47s.
https://www.outkick.com/va-tech-soccer-player-files-lawsuit-against-coach-claims-she-was-targeted-for-not-kneeling/
Did you catch this?
Remember Richard John Neuhaus dictum: when orthodoxy is optional, it will sooner or later be prohibited.
Art Deco:
See Viva Frei video from two days ago regarding the Virginia Tech soccer player lawsuit:
https://youtu.be/kMDN-9HoTbw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgNU0m9QBiE Humans feeling proud
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GoQlvc_H3s&t=2s Humans learning t he slaughter method.
Someone did a sword dance? How ’bout a Cossack lady?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4_PWKOCz0U
How about chainsaws?
–“Chainsaw Juggling WORLD RECORD!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DOVR4TT4N0
How about Khachaturian?
–“Khachaturian: Sabre Dance / Rattle · Berliner Philharmoniker”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUQHGpxrz-8
Hum along or whatever along. You know this one!