Ringling Bros. Kilted Clown

**lrpddrummie** · 31st January 06, 12:30 PM

Ugly Bear,

You have become blinded by your opinion and completely missed my point. You said you see no point in arguing with people who do not how to argue but yet you offered no counter argument to my point. You said in your original post that having a circus clown in a kilt is not a dignified means of promoting kilts as an alternative to trousers (This is called paraphrasing so don't get your panties in a bunch)

Originally Posted by Ugly Bear

Oh, good. Here I was just wondering what we could do to promote kilt-wearing as a viable option to trousers, and the answer comes: a kilted clown. Of course. That'll make kilts seem dignified.

Does Ringling Bros. get my support for this? Uhh ... no.

My point was not about the definitions of the words "boycott" or "support" I am arguing that if you are going to look at a circus clown in kilt as having a potentially negative impact on the kilted community then you need to look at all the negative sources i.e. the portrayal of Duncan and Willie as buffoons.

**Ugly Bear** · 31st January 06, 01:13 PM

Originally Posted by lrpddrummie

You have become blinded by your opinion and completely missed my point. You said you see no point in arguing with people who do not how to argue but yet you offered no counter argument to my point.

Why not? Here it comes:

Originally Posted by lrpddrummie

... I am arguing that if you are going to look at a circus clown in kilt as having a potentially negative impact on the kilted community then you need to look at all the negative sources i.e. the portrayal of Duncan and Willie as buffoons.

That's like saying that if you drink a glass, then you have to drink an ocean. Your point is nonsense. That's why I didn't respond to it. That's why I wouldn't have responded to it if you hadn't cried fowl.

Oh, well. As long as your straw man is up there, I'll expedite it with a quick whack.

I haven't seen much of MotG, but from what I gather, Duncan is not a clown in any sense of the word. Being hapless doesn't make you a clown. Being comic relief doesn't make you a clown. If you see Duncan and a circus clown as equivalents, you are being willfully and pitifully obtuse.

And "obtuse" is what I think of your side's position. You are still doing nothing to shake my argument. I'll restate it so that you may take it on, and not some cartoonish interpretation of it:

"I see no reason to go to Ringling Bros. circus to promote kilt-wearing."

That's the position. Grab a stick and get busy.

**mbhandy** · 4th February 06, 09:15 PM

Most of the time I hate clowns, because they are so saad or making fun of other clowns. :-(

MrBil

PS I would still go to the circus.

**Shay** · 5th February 06, 10:13 AM

I don't think a clown is inherently making fun of a kilt that he's wearing more than any other clothing- the point of clowns is comic exaggeration! They wear brightly-colored ruffly shirts, or pants with hoops and suspenders, are big flopppy shoes- are they 'making fun' of pants and shoes? Or just exaggerating them?

Now, if the clown was running around taking money out of people's pockets or had a sheep attatched to the front, that would be offensive, but I don't think a clown in a kilt is bad.

Can anyone find a picture of the performer? I'm really curious now.

**HeathBar** · 5th February 06, 01:54 PM

Originally Posted by Shay

Can anyone find a picture of the performer? I'm really curious now.

Ringling Bros website only had a headshot of him. And the news channel that did the morning piece didn't have anything either.

Here's the best description of what I saw. The kilt was dark green with small checks, it looked liked it was gathered rather than pleated, kinda like the old Sport Kilts. He had an "exagerated" hair sporran. It was similar to a normal sized one (sporran that is), just with a clowns touch. He was also wearing a gold doublet with a large, red rampant lion on it. I think he had a regular looking balmorel style bonnet with dicing. They never showed below the bottom of the kilt. So hose and shoes were not seen. I think Kilted Code Warrior said he had seen the clown live. Maybe he can elaborate further.

**KiltedKnight** · 5th February 06, 06:06 PM

Friends, look at it this way; if the clowns from the beginning of time haven't tarnished the idea of wearing pants with their costume pants then one clown wearing a kilt isn't going to hurt anything in the least little bit. Consider this, the extreme baggy look of a clowns pants has only affected the feble minded, I mean, who wears baggy pants and baseball caps with the bills turned around and T-shirts that drag on the ground but gang-bangers and wanna bees that flock to any fad that comes down the pike.
Now I don't mean this to offend anyone here that wears these baggy fashions but come on now, what man worth his salt wants to look like a foolish clown? My point is that anyone that takes this clown idea up has a problem with individuality, no? Why should it have any effect on the rest of the reponsible population? :confused:

**KiltedCodeWarrior** · 5th February 06, 06:08 PM

Heathbar pretty much described him. He was wearing hose, some bright color, and overlarge, clownish shoes (imagine that!). I am trying to remember if we bought a program. Will check to see if there is a picture, and also check to see if we snapped a pic.

**michael steinrok** · 5th February 06, 06:20 PM

In the words of the Bard"This above all, to thine own self be true" All of us kilted brothers and sisters are entitled to our own point of view. If the man doesn't want to see the circus,fine. It is not our job to try and win him over. Or vice versa. Shanti, brothers and sisters, Shanti