Hemingway Look-a-like Contest

So sometimes we take the piss out of other cultures for their apparent wierdnesses. The Americans often get hit with the biggest blows and, more specifically, those in the South who are frequently generalised as hillbillies who come out with phrases like "and on the third day, God created the Remington bolt-action rifle, so that Man could fight the dinosaurs. And the homosexuals," (words kindly provided with social historical accuracy... naturally... by high school classic, Mean Girls).

Anyway, sometimes the Americans do come up with something so brilliantly ridiculous that I almost want to move there myself. Sloppy Joe's Bar of Key West, Florida, holds an annual competition to find the best Ernest Hemingway look-a-like. When Hemingway was young he was a right hotty (honestly) but unfortunately it seems that Sloppy Joe's competition has attracted the older generation Hemingways, complete with white hair and beard.

Anyway, there's been some sadness this year as one of the competitors cannot make the trip. As a lawyer,  he is taking part in a murder trial that day but reportedly still thought it was worth asking the judge for it to be postponed... it was denied. This is a very serious business, people, as you can tell.

Courtesy of The Guardian, we have Judge Merryday's brilliant and considered response:

Between a murder-for-hire trial and an annual look-alike contest, surely Hemingway, a perfervid admirer of "grace under pressure," would choose the trial. At his most robust, Hemingway exemplified the intrepid defense lawyer:

"He works like hell, and through it ... He has the most profound bravery ... He has had pain and the kind of poverty that you don't believe[;] he has had about eight times the normal allotment of responsibilities. And he has never once compromised. He has never turned off on an easier path than the one he staked himself. It takes courage." —Dorothy Parker, The Artist's Reward, The New Yorker, Nov. 30, 1929, at 28-30 (describing Hemingway).

Perhaps a lawyer who evokes Hemingway can resist relaxing frolic in favor of solemn duty. Or, at least, "Isn't it pretty to think so?"

Best of luck to counsel in next year's contest. The motion is DENIED.

If you've read this and now think that you might be in with a shot at winning this prestigious title, then do apply through their website: http://www.sloppyjoes.com/lookalikes.htm

Good luck!

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