Herzog Accidently Names our New Band
Ben Barna
June 06, 2008
Last night, German director Werner Herzog spoke with American director Jonathan Demme at one of those “A Conversation With…” shindigs held by the Museum of the Moving Image at The New York Times Building. As Herzog was waiting to take the stage, a man from Brooklyn was scaling the building’s ceramic tubes (the second man that day) in a bid to end malaria, or at least bring attention to its desired demise with an anti-malaria shirt.
And while malaria still runs rampant, the man did earn Herzog’s respect, and generate a distinctly Herzogian neologism, that would also make a terrific band name. “I salute everyone who climbs a steep cliff and climbs a building made of steel and glass,” Herzog said. “Most of them are conquistadors of the useless, but he had apparently a serious agenda, so I salute him.”
Conquistadors of the Useless. We start auditioning bass players next week.
Comments (3)
Posted by Manny on Mon Jun 9, 2008 at 04.14 pm
And it’s the title of Herzog’s most recent book, “Conquering the Useless” ... published in German and detailing his production of Fitzcarraldo.
Posted by Lu-Ann Fuentes on Wed Jun 11, 2008 at 12.11 am
It would also probably come as no surprise that mountaineering blogs (for example: “Altitude Slickness - Conquistador of the Useless")have long been bandying the phrase. I’d still buy the T-shirt though.
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Posted by The Modesto Kid on Sun Jun 8, 2008 at 09.44 pm
Agreed that it’s a fantastic band name. Check it out, though, it’s not original: It’s the title of a classic book about climbing the Alps, by Lionel Terray.