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Like Eyes from the Past
Aug. 26th, 2005 05:52 amSome fellow has decided to sell his mansion and go become a Masai elder. I think it's nice that he's found something he likes, although personally I think going to live in a mud hut is a questionable decision. On the other hoof, I'd cheerfully go live the rest of my life as a Shetland Pony, so I probably shouldn't criticize.
I note that the Times' list of white people who've gone native completely misses John Dunn , who became a major Zulu chief in the 1860s. He ended up controlling a large portion of the Zulu kingdom after the civil war of the 1880s.
For some reason I (and I suspect others) are always vaguely surprised when primitive peoples are accepting of someone who wants to come and live like them. I suspect a certain part of that is that I've so thoroughly integrated the idea of our own cultural superiority that I have trouble seeing the 'white Masai' as having an authentic preference for that way of life. There's a lingering suspicion that the Masai may be offended because he seems to patronize them by giving up his advantages to live like them. I suppose RL most people are probably flattered when someone wants to come and be like them. I tend to overanalyze sometimes.
I wonder what the Shetland Ponies would think of me, that I gave up being able to control the feed room, open the pasture gates, etc., to come and be an ordinary Pony.
*****
I don't know why people pay so much attention to Pat Robertson. He's like the neighborhood retarded guy that you just kind of humour, and then forget whatever it was that he was carrying on about.
*****
This is very interesting. Voice of America was carrying this report earlier today, citing Radio Liberty as the source, but I can't find it now. The referenced source in in Arabic, unfortunately. The part that holds my attention appears near the end:
Last week, the website Sawt Al-Iraq (http://www.sotaliraq.com) published a report citing an unidentified senior ex-officer from the Hussein regime as saying that Iran and Syria are preparing to launch a coup in Iraq at the start of Ramadan this October.
It's interesting that none of the anglophone news services seem to have picked this up. I'd speculate that Iran and Syria are perhaps being put on notice that should our policies in Iraq fail, there will be unwelcome consequences for them.
*****
Over the past few days, I've been realizing how many of the cartoons that I really liked when I was young were from TerryToons. Luno the Flying Horse; Sidney the Elephant; Hector Heathcoat and Hashimoto-san were the four that I always liked best.
Sidney, Hector Heathcoat, and Hashimoto were funny and entertaining. Luno was different. I had a huge crush on Luno, although I was too young to realize that's what it was. Luno was always very knowledgable, and subtly in charge of any situation. Apart from my crush on the Horse, I just recall it as being somehow 'different' than other cartoons, although I'd be hard pressed to say how. Interestingly, as I was poking through cartoon discussion boards looking for a good 'Luno' link, that seems to be the one that all of the TerryToons afficianados loudly hate. Apparently it really doesn't fit in with the rest of the Terry corpus.
*****
The Indian government is going to release Lions in Uttar Pradesh, hoping that they'll eat the roving dacoits who infest the area. I mean yeah, it's a dumb as hell plan, but their hearts are in the right place. I have to give them credit for that. Sometimes it's worth doing something that's bound to fail, just because it'd be so completely cool if it did work.
Actually, since it was first reported, the plan seems to have changed. Now the Lions aren't expected to eat the dacoits, but rather to attract tourists, and the lack of privacy will drive them away. That's a bit more rational. I suspect this is probably a more accurate report of what was intended. I still like the first plan better, though. 'sides, if I were a tourist, I'd pay to see bandits get eaten by Lions.
*****
I went to the Indiana State Fair last weekend. To my surprise, there was a stand there selling little bags of Fritos with chili dumped into them, that you ate with a spoon. That was one of the signature foods of the 1980 World's Fair (which I missed), and something I've been on the lookout for ever since. It's something I could easily have made for myself at home, but that just doesn't quite get it. Now I've had it the proper way, purchased at a fair. It's about what I expected. Nothing terribly special, but I'm satisfied to have had it.
I note that the Times' list of white people who've gone native completely misses John Dunn , who became a major Zulu chief in the 1860s. He ended up controlling a large portion of the Zulu kingdom after the civil war of the 1880s.
For some reason I (and I suspect others) are always vaguely surprised when primitive peoples are accepting of someone who wants to come and live like them. I suspect a certain part of that is that I've so thoroughly integrated the idea of our own cultural superiority that I have trouble seeing the 'white Masai' as having an authentic preference for that way of life. There's a lingering suspicion that the Masai may be offended because he seems to patronize them by giving up his advantages to live like them. I suppose RL most people are probably flattered when someone wants to come and be like them. I tend to overanalyze sometimes.
I wonder what the Shetland Ponies would think of me, that I gave up being able to control the feed room, open the pasture gates, etc., to come and be an ordinary Pony.
*****
I don't know why people pay so much attention to Pat Robertson. He's like the neighborhood retarded guy that you just kind of humour, and then forget whatever it was that he was carrying on about.
*****
This is very interesting. Voice of America was carrying this report earlier today, citing Radio Liberty as the source, but I can't find it now. The referenced source in in Arabic, unfortunately. The part that holds my attention appears near the end:
Last week, the website Sawt Al-Iraq (http://www.sotaliraq.com) published a report citing an unidentified senior ex-officer from the Hussein regime as saying that Iran and Syria are preparing to launch a coup in Iraq at the start of Ramadan this October.
It's interesting that none of the anglophone news services seem to have picked this up. I'd speculate that Iran and Syria are perhaps being put on notice that should our policies in Iraq fail, there will be unwelcome consequences for them.
*****
Over the past few days, I've been realizing how many of the cartoons that I really liked when I was young were from TerryToons. Luno the Flying Horse; Sidney the Elephant; Hector Heathcoat and Hashimoto-san were the four that I always liked best.
Sidney, Hector Heathcoat, and Hashimoto were funny and entertaining. Luno was different. I had a huge crush on Luno, although I was too young to realize that's what it was. Luno was always very knowledgable, and subtly in charge of any situation. Apart from my crush on the Horse, I just recall it as being somehow 'different' than other cartoons, although I'd be hard pressed to say how. Interestingly, as I was poking through cartoon discussion boards looking for a good 'Luno' link, that seems to be the one that all of the TerryToons afficianados loudly hate. Apparently it really doesn't fit in with the rest of the Terry corpus.
*****
The Indian government is going to release Lions in Uttar Pradesh, hoping that they'll eat the roving dacoits who infest the area. I mean yeah, it's a dumb as hell plan, but their hearts are in the right place. I have to give them credit for that. Sometimes it's worth doing something that's bound to fail, just because it'd be so completely cool if it did work.
Actually, since it was first reported, the plan seems to have changed. Now the Lions aren't expected to eat the dacoits, but rather to attract tourists, and the lack of privacy will drive them away. That's a bit more rational. I suspect this is probably a more accurate report of what was intended. I still like the first plan better, though. 'sides, if I were a tourist, I'd pay to see bandits get eaten by Lions.
*****
I went to the Indiana State Fair last weekend. To my surprise, there was a stand there selling little bags of Fritos with chili dumped into them, that you ate with a spoon. That was one of the signature foods of the 1980 World's Fair (which I missed), and something I've been on the lookout for ever since. It's something I could easily have made for myself at home, but that just doesn't quite get it. Now I've had it the proper way, purchased at a fair. It's about what I expected. Nothing terribly special, but I'm satisfied to have had it.
