And the spectacular rush-hour collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, which killed 13 people, was not enough to get us serious.
"He would get the puck behind his net and just wend his way up ice on spectacular rushes.
And Mr Laliberté must also grapple with the threat-cum-compliment common to many a successful innovator: staying ahead of the competition from other modern circuses and big-budget spectaculars rushing into the market that he created.
But the success continued across the weekend, with Team GB enjoying a spectacular "gold rush".
Faulk won the honor for the third straight year with a typically spectacular season: rushing for 1,382 yards, gaining 765 yards receiving on 83 catches -- best among running backs -- scoring 21 touchdowns and going over 2,000 yards from scrimmage (2,147) for the fourth consecutive season, a league record.
When Javi Martínez finally scored his opening goal for Bayern Munich last Saturday, with a spectacular overhead kick, the entire team rushed over to congratulate him while Jupp Heynckes and Matthias Sammer embraced on the sideline.
The most eye-catching steel-handling in a film this summer takes place not in the latest Jet Li spectacular or even "Rush Hour 2," in which Jackie Chan makes the blade sing.
In other games, Dan Boyle scored on a spectacular end-to-end rush with a two-man advantage to help the San Jose Sharks down the Minnesota Wild 4-2, while the Edmonton Oilers won their fifth straight game with a 8-2 thrashing of the Calgary Flames.
It was centered on a huge public park in a spectacular setting alongside a rushing, boulder-strewn mountain river.
It was much like my horseback adventure on the southern shore, with its hardships (crawling through brambles, inching along cliff edges) and unexpected rewards (rare birds, log bridges, spectacular views of a rushing, glacier-fed river).
