Check out Erasmus, In Praise of Folly.

The Rucksack Revolution

“…see the whole thing is a world full of rucksack wanderers, Dharma Bums refusing to subscribe to the general demand that they consume production and therefore have to work for the privilege of consuming, all that crap they didn’t really want anyway such as refrigerators, TV sets, cars, …all of them imprisoned in a system of work, produce, consume, work, produce, consume, I see a vision of a great rucksack revolution thousands or even millions of young Americans wandering around with rucksacks, going up to mountains to pray, making children laugh and old men glad, making young girls happy and old girls happier, all of ‘em Zen Lunatics who go about writing poems that happen to appear in their heads for no reason and also by being kind and also by strange unexpected acts keep giving visions of eternal freedom to everybody and to all living creatures.”
- Jack Kerouac (The Dharma Bums) 1958

you didn’t mention the widespread fear of clowns, or are you getting to that?

Yeah, I alluded to it in the clown in the sewer photo at the end. Breaking boundaries, by definition, is not an altogether seamless process.

That krumping link is awesome! It’s like breakdancing meets Feudalism and Confucianism and the guild system. These are descriptions of the most ancient forms of human organization:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krumping

Krumping has developed into a structured and organized society. The dancers form groups known as “families” or “fams,” which are reminiscent of B-boy breakdancing crews. Each of the families is organized around a krump dancer known as the Big Homie, who serves as both a dance instructor and a spiritual mentor of sorts. The internal structure of a family is hierarchical, with rank based on the expertise or respect of each dancer.

The families also function in a mentor/apprentice arrangements, similar to those in the Middle Ages and Renaissance arts periods. The Big Homies take “Lil’ Homies”, or younger, less experienced and/or beginner practitioners of Krump under their wing, allowing them to learn from them, and represent them in battle. Both titles are terms of respect.

Short news segment on Tommy The Clown and hip hop clowning/krump dancing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1rLRPaxcvY

Tangentially related to scary clowning, Gwar on Joan Rivers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWRKlNlRsgI

See also ICP, a “Tribute Video” to the crypt-keeper, and Stephen King’s “It”:

http://www.youtube.com/results.php?search_query=insane+clown+posse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17QN-CjEh2I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZVq2Gm_Zjk

anyway, check this out:

krumping and clowning

and the guy who started it

breakdancing started in a similar way

btw, is ‘carnival’ a farewell to meat, or the opposite?

http://www.faithofourfathers.org/heritage/horse.html

Bozo was so much of a Chicago icon that (older) Chicagoans get upset when people talk about the Bozo’s in other cities. There was a four year wait for ticket to the show. He’s the inspiration for Crusty the Clown and Ronald McDonald.

Mendicant, mendicant orders, perpetual travelers, technomads, placeless living, circuit rider, schnorrer, grifting, couch-surfing, Free rider problem (economics), New Nomadism, Gyrovagues, Itinerant Living (Wikipedia category), kobzar, troubadour, carny etc}