12 hours ago, Patco Lch said:

I don’t know, I kind of like my modern creature comforts. Don’t think I would want to trade places with them. You know, nature can be a pretty mean mother at times and at heart man is still man regardless of environment. Think about your neighbor wanting to have you over for dinner. Literally.

So funny.

Cooked rare, with a dash of salt and pepper or steak sauce, mashed potatoes, some veggies, a glass of wine and dessert.... Delicious!  Lol.

2 hours ago, bofhlusr said:

Cooked rare, with a dash of salt and pepper or steak sauce, mashed potatoes, some veggies, a glass of wine and dessert.... Delicious!  Lol.

Does anyone remember the late, great Hannibal Lector? 

This thread has put something on my chest I would like to share if I may. Three very good books along these lines, very adventurous and some really cool bush flying, all true, are "Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot", "Beyond Gates of Splendor" and End of the Spear" which was written by Steve Saint. In 1956 five missionaries were speared to death inexplicitly by some Waodani  tribesmen in the jungle of east Ecuador. These guys were so vicious the Ecuadorian government dare not go into their neck of the woods. This was after several days of contact by lowering gifts in a bucket from there circling four place Piper Cub. ( I didn't know there was one. Maybe it was a Taylorcraft). Then one day managed to land on a river sand bar and made contact even taking one up for a ride in what the tribesmen called the yellow bee. It was later revealed the old witch doc stirred them up and they murdered the five missionaries. Long story short the wives of these guys went with their children and lived with these tribes, converting many. The story spread around the world and many young folks decided to enter the mission field. Story of love and forgiveness to bring a tear to the stoniest heart.  

In the "End of the Spear", Miacayani, one of the Waodani who speared Nate Saint told of his life before contact with the missionaries. He tells of a life of hardship, fear and often feelings of lack of purpose. Constant hostility with neighbor villages and hatred from feuds none of them knowing the origin or reason for. Just killings and revenge killings.  He told of his child that was pulled off a canoe and drown by an Anaconda before he could react. Hazards from jungle cats much stronger and faster than any man, and venomous snakes. Then there is the same old jealousies and mistrust among their own villagers over everything from wives to lodges even trophies. (you can imagine what these trophies were). The missionaries felt if they didn't reach these boys with their message of hope and a better way of living the Hurorani Auca would wipe themselves out, and in this the missionaries were highly successful, at the risk and loss of five of their own. Such an amazing story, I can't recommend it enough. 

No one choses where we are born or who our parents will be or into what environment. Wherever that is the human experience is filled with the same elements. Struggle to survive against the elements while taking subsistence from the environment. And the greatest threat of all, our own heart with the selfishness, mistrust pride and reasonless hatred. While we worry about being incinerated by an H-bomb launched from the other side of the world, they worry about being burned and killed by their neighbor on the other side of the river while they sleep. 

No, I don't envy anyone, I just feel blessed in the here and now. That's all anyone has. I highly recommend any one of the above books, but best be read in sequence. Could be life changing.

Edited July 23, 20241 yr by Patco Lch

40 minutes ago, Patco Lch said:

In the "End of the Spear", Miacayani, one of the Waodani who speared Nate Saint told of his life before contact with the missionaries. He tells of a life of hardship, fear and often feelings of lack of purpose. Constant hostility with neighbor villages and hatred from feuds none of them knowing the origin or reason for. Just killings and revenge killings.

I remember watching episodes of an introductory anthropology course (I can't remember the title) broadcast on the local cable channel of City College of San Francisco approximately 35 or so years ago.  The episode that sticks out in my mind is the one where they talk about & show tribes on an island somewhere in the South Pacific that was occupied by U.S. forces during WWII and the effect that had on the tribes.  One of the things that fascinated them about the Americans was that they played baseball.  They caught on that it was essentially a ritualized conflict involving the two teams.  After the war, the tribes would play their own version of baseball. They recognized that they could do that instead of going to war, being able to blow off steam and aggression instead of killing each other.  And they would have a feast together afterwards.  It was funny watching it, because they also had their version of "trash talking" as they played, bragging about their prowess in playing the game.  One thing players would chant was when they caught a ball, they would yell in their language "Stick like P K, stick like P K!"  PK was the brand of gum the Americans would chew and give to the natives.  It was a Wrigley gum brand:

They thought they had found a way to avoid war.  Until the time one visiting tribe scored more runs than the "home team".  Home team felt disrespected, one thing led to another, and they went back to killing each other.  The elders of the tribes got together and agreed they had to halt the war and go back to baseball.  They figured out it was not right for the home team to lose, as they also hosted the after game feast, so the new rule was home team ALWAYS wins.  So they went back to the "ritualized warfare" of baseball.

So it was an example of being introduced to something modern that was a benefit for them ⚾

On 7/22/2024 at 2:25 PM, birdguy said:

If you never knew about creature comforts how could you miss them?  Perhaps those UFOs everyone seeing in the sky are exactly what the Amazon natives are seeing when they see our low flying aircraft.  And those UFOites might be saying much the same thing when they look down upon us.  I don't think they would want to change places with us.  You know, a violent society can be a pretty mean mother at times what with driveby shootings and the war of the week.

Noel

If there are lots of aliens out there, then they have blackballed Earth for sure. Otherwise they would have landed and introduced themselves long ago. But they've decoded the entertainment programs broadcast over our airwaves, and then, "All engines back warp 8 Mister Cat-kabobble"

4 hours ago, Fielder said:

If there are lots of aliens out there, then they have blackballed Earth for sure. Otherwise they would have landed and introduced themselves long ago. But they've decoded the entertainment programs broadcast over our airwaves, and then, "All engines back warp 8 Mister Cat-kabobble"

A "Galactic Travel Alert" has been Issued for a small inhabited planet in The Orion Arm. Earth, Sol System, Oort Cloud, Local Fluff Local Bubble, Orion Arm, Milky Way has been deemed a Hazard Level 4 out of 5...

 

 

Lieutenant Cat-kabobble.