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Power to the Bouquinistes!
Apr. 8th, 2024 10:21 amThe Olympic Committee is proud of its ecological consciousness and has boasted that the summer games in Paris this year will be the greenest ever. And now, thanks to the activism of numerous high-profile groups of national and international citizenry, the Games will be greener still, with the green bookseller stalls of the storied bouquinistes allowed to remain. There are numerous articles about it out there, but here are two that I think sum up the situation quite nicely:
https://www.rawstory.com/paris-bouquinistes-resist-plans-to-remove-riverside-book-kiosks-for-2024-olympics/
https://ilab.org/article/positive-outcome-of-a-large-international-campaign-the-paris-bouquinistes-will-not-be-removed-during-the-2024-summer-olympic-games-in-paris
It seems not all sports-minded people are made in the mold of Big Bobby Clobber. Mind you, my imagination was going wild envisioning the various ways bouquiniste culture could be incorporated into a whole raft (pun definitely intended) of new Olympic sports! For example:
1) The stall disassemble/reassemble challenge: How quickly can the competing bouquinistes dismantle and reassemble their stalls without damaging the merchandise, destroying the heritage value of their structures or breaking any of the rules regarding dimensions of boxes and shelving units (any of which would result in automatic disqualification)?
2) The sniffer dog challenge: How quickly can the dogs and their handlers sniff out all the packages of explosives and illicit drugs concealed within or around the stall on the bookseller's property? To add to the fun, if the bomb goes off before it's discovered, the bookseller will be banned from Olympic competition for the next 400 years.
3) The security detail book-theft challenge: Security guards compete to foil would-be thieves from stealing books. Points awarded based on number of books and their estimated value.
I'm also mulling over a possible connection between "Share the Flame"/Olympic torch and book-burning.
Maybe you can think of a few more?
https://www.rawstory.com/paris-bouquinistes-resist-plans-to-remove-riverside-book-kiosks-for-2024-olympics/
https://ilab.org/article/positive-outcome-of-a-large-international-campaign-the-paris-bouquinistes-will-not-be-removed-during-the-2024-summer-olympic-games-in-paris
It seems not all sports-minded people are made in the mold of Big Bobby Clobber. Mind you, my imagination was going wild envisioning the various ways bouquiniste culture could be incorporated into a whole raft (pun definitely intended) of new Olympic sports! For example:
1) The stall disassemble/reassemble challenge: How quickly can the competing bouquinistes dismantle and reassemble their stalls without damaging the merchandise, destroying the heritage value of their structures or breaking any of the rules regarding dimensions of boxes and shelving units (any of which would result in automatic disqualification)?
2) The sniffer dog challenge: How quickly can the dogs and their handlers sniff out all the packages of explosives and illicit drugs concealed within or around the stall on the bookseller's property? To add to the fun, if the bomb goes off before it's discovered, the bookseller will be banned from Olympic competition for the next 400 years.
3) The security detail book-theft challenge: Security guards compete to foil would-be thieves from stealing books. Points awarded based on number of books and their estimated value.
I'm also mulling over a possible connection between "Share the Flame"/Olympic torch and book-burning.
Maybe you can think of a few more?
