“ayForView K.O. - The Future Of T.V.”. This picture was designed from the outset to be a ‘Revolutionary Work Of Art’. For it is a visual depiction of the future of the “ay For View” segment of the ‘Sports’ section of cable television. There will come a time when there is enough cable money, and public demand, and permission by the FCC, to stage actual ‘Fight to the finish’ boxing matches by naked women that will be ‘Aboveground’ for the first time instead of ‘Underground’ as in times past. The revolutionary work of art for the 20th Century was created by Pablo Picasso in 1907 and is titled: ‘Les Demoiselles D’Avignon’. After it, painting was never the same again. About the same time, but a few years later in 1913, Igor Stravinsky composed ‘Le Sacre Du Printemps’. And classical music was never the same again. In art and in music, two revolutionary works of art foretold the future of the 20th Century. In 2009 this work will predict the future for the 21st Century of what will be permitted in cable television. Revolutionary works are usually created by geniuses, and that is the case with this artist, my good friend Paul Rose. His genius is two-fold; one is his talent, and what I consider of even greater import – His patience. This thing took two months to do, and all of it was done by e-mail; on a daily basis. I live in L.A. and he’s in England, so the only way of communication was via e-mail messages and images. Both of us are quite strong-willed and over the course of time we butted intellectual heads on where this creation was headed. However, this work is no compromise of our artistic views; it is the result of two powerful personalities who were willing to set aside their personal agendas for the artistic good. And the pictorially powerful.
The artist, Paul Rose does commissions, and here is a prime example; and can be reached at his ‘Deviant Art’ Site at: rosepab. As can be seen, he is the best, and wonderfully patient. He’ll take the time to do it right. His link: [link]
So what is going on here? Simply this, in the near future the American public has become so jaded that they have demanded the Roman equivalent of ‘Bread and circuses’ that the Roman Emperors gave their citizens 2,000 years ago in the Colosseum. And are willing to pay the big bucks via the pay for view option in an electronic American version of a modern day Coliseum (yes both spellings are correct). And did the ancients have fights to the finish between two female Gladiatrix in the Colosseum? You bet they did. And in their cases, it was often to the death. The old thumbs up or down rule prevailed. Well, we can’t have that now, since we are much more civilized. So the new rules are deceptively simple and horrifically brutal. Men’s rules: 1. Three minute rounds, with a one minute rest period between rounds. The reason for men’s three minute rounds instead of the two minute women’s rounds is because going at it full bore for three minutes is a damn eternity. I teach boxing to women and at times will put two novice women into a boxing ring for three minute sparring sessions. If they are smokers they are gasping for air after one round – And that’s just sparring. Non-smokers can go two rounds of sparring before the fall to their knees. I do this early on so the smokers will quit, and the others realize they have to concentrate on building up endurance. Now to the critical point of why three minutes? Two minutes into any round that is hard fought, both fighters start to tire. When that happens they start to make mistakes, and the boxer who is in the better condition will retain more of his sharpness and power. That last minute is when the really damaging blows are landed, and the knockouts occur. 2. Eight ounce boxing gloves. The reason they wear men’s eight ounce gloves is because the four ounce gloves are deadly due to their small size and as such would end the fight too quickly. Got to give the paying customers their money’s worth. Right? Women’s rules: 1. Naked and can hit anywhere. 2. Fight to the finish which means they fight until one is knocked out for a 10 count. 3. Or one is in so much pain that they cannot continue and as such are counted out via the 10 count. There are no TKO’s, nor decisions. It is over when one fighter is on the canvas and can’t get up.
Finally there was the question of how much blood? It was decided to let the viewer make the assumption that the referee was there for only two reasons. The first was to break up clinches and the second to count to 10. She would not be there to stop the fight, no matter how brutal or bloody. As the viewer can see, she did her job. In this case it was a long brutal bloody slugging match which has finally come to a merciful end. ‘Nuff said. Drew.
Except to add: To paraphrase the old movie/baseball adage, ‘Build it and they will come’; in this prediction of the future of pay for view ‘sport’, ‘Offer it, and some will join, while others will pay; both dearly – In blood and cash’.