The Ear Mound For Freaky Friday...!

Just when I think I've seen or read the freakiest thing around, I find something else...like this !

How much more freaky can you get than a place called "The Ear Mound?"

Proof Of Kill

Photo credit: KENPEI

Sometimes, body parts were taken as proof that someone had been killed. When Japan invaded Korea in the 16th century, samurai warriors cut off the noses of their enemies, partly as trophies and partly because they were paid according to the number of kills that they made. The noses—and sometimes ears—of the dead were brought back to Japan and stored in “nose tombs.”

Discovered in the 1980s, one of these tombs contained over 20,000 pickled noses. Some people in Korea have requested the return of the noses, while others think that they should be properly destroyed. The noses (and many ears) are buried in a 9-meter-high (30 ft) hillock called “The Ear Mound” in Kyoto. It is maintained at the expense of the Japanese government, who seem a little embarrassed about the whole thing.

I found this interesting tidbit over on Listverse. I think it's fair to say it is strange, right?

Coffee out on the patio again this morning!

You Can Nip Me Some Sugar, Please...!

I think we often take so many things for granted today that we forget the fact that the old ways were not always better or simpler.

Sugar Nips

Photo credit: oldandinteresting.com

Sugar was brought to the grocer in cone shapes called “sugar loaves.” Mountains and hats were often named after them due to their distinctive shape. In wealthy households, the mistress of the house would cut up the loaf using sugar nippers to break the hard substance into smaller, usable parts for the table. Only the mistress would do this as sugar was expensive and kept in boxes under lock and key.

The sugar nips were tongs with a flat surface at the end suitable for lifting pieces of sugar. But they were also sturdy and tough. Nips used for cutting were often made from steel, but decorative tongs for table use were often made from silver with elaborate engravings.

Just think how easy it is to run to the market and buy a bag of sugar now days! Don't even need to keep it under lock and key...well, most of the time.

Coffee inside the kitchen today. No worries...my sugar is granulated.

Ishi On Western Wednesday...!

Think of how sad it would be if you were the last of your people...all alone with no friends. Here is the story of Ishi and how he found himself in that situation.

1911

Ishi discovered in California

Ishi, described as the last surviving Stone Age Indian in the contiguous United States, is discovered in California.

By the first decade of the 20th century, Euro-Americans had so overwhelmed the North American continent that scarcely any Native Americans remained who had not been assimilated into Anglo society to some degree. Ishi appears to have been something of an exception. Found lost and starving near an Oroville, California, slaughterhouse, he was largely unfamiliar with white ways and spoke no English.

Authorities took the mysterious Indian into custody for his own protection. News of the so-called “Stone Age Indian” attracted the attention of a young Berkeley anthropologist named Thomas Waterman. Gathering what partial vocabularies existed of northern California Indian dialects, the speakers of which had mostly vanished, Waterman went to Oroville to meet the Indian. After unsuccessfully hazarding words from several dialects, Waterman tried a few words from the language of the Yana Indians. Some were intelligible to Ishi, and the two men were able to engage in a crude dialogue. The following month, Waterman took Ishi to live at the Berkeley University museum, where their ability to communicate gradually improved.

Waterman eventually learned that Ishi was a Yahi Indian, an isolated branch of the northern California Yana tribe. He was approximately 50 years old and was apparently the last of his people. Ishi said he had wandered the mountains of northern California for some time with a small remnant of the Yahi people. Gradually, accident or disease had killed his companions. A white man murdered his final male companion, and Ishi wandered alone until he reached Oroville.

For five years, Ishi lived at the Berkeley Museum. He and Waterman became close friends, and he spent his days describing his tribal customs and demonstrating his wilderness skills in archery, woodcraft, and other traditional techniques. He learned to understand and survive in the white world, and enjoyed wandering the Bay area communities and riding on the trolley cars. Eventually, though, Ishi contracted tuberculosis. He died on March 25, 1916, at an estimated age of 56. His body was cremated according to the customs of his people.

At least he was laid to rest in accordance with his peoples' customs. Stii, it's a heartbreaking story.

Coffee in the kitchen this morning, thanks to the rain.

No Post Today...!

Sorry, but there will be no post today.

Kidd's Treasure For Monday Mystery...!

I think that one reason we are so fascinated with tales of pirates and such is the standing hope of finding a lost treasure that was left behind by them.

Here is the story of one partial find believed to be part of the pirate Captain Kidd.

Captain Kidd’s Lost Treasure

Photo credit: Ancient Origins

A UK–US archaeological team recently discovered a mysterious 55-kilogram (120 lb) bar of silver in the shallows off Sainte Marie Island in Madagascar. The find might have belonged to the infamous Scottish pirate Captain Kidd.

The team was led by Barry Clifford, who previously discovered remnants of Kidd’s ship, Adventure Galley. In 2000, Clifford found a metal oarlock, Ming porcelain, and 300-year-old bottles of rum. He believes that the silver bar is part of the same wreck.

Enigmatic engravings cloak the silver. The letters “T” and “S” appear prominently along with smaller numerical carvings. Kidd was a privateer in the Caribbean for years before he turned to the more profitable trade of piracy.

When Kidd was captured in Boston in 1699, the jewels in his ship were valued at nearly $10 million in 2015 dollars. Kidd met his fate on the gallows in 1701. The remainder of his treasure was never found.

Now, is it just me or does a bar of silver weighing 120 lbs. make a pretty interesting find. I say that it does and I would want to find the rest of it, for sure! I got this story from Listverse.

Coffee out on the patio where the rain cooled things off for a bit.

Summer Sunday Cartoons...!

How about some good old fashioned cartoons for this morning, hey? Might be they would make us grin a bit.





And maybe one more...



I reckon that's enough for this morning. Don't want to over do it.

Coffee outside this morning.

Leave My Cookies Alone...!

With all the craziness in the news as of late, now all the sudden some folks want to gripe about cookies. I am talking about the eating kind and not the 'puter type.

Oreos vs. Hydrox

Oreos are the world’s most popular cookie, racking up $1.5 billion in revenue per year according to Nabisco. With that kind of success, one is bound to attract a host of imitators. Perhaps the most established of these cookie counterfeiters was the Hydrox cookie, manufactured by Sunshine, a subsidiary of Kellogg. Except things are really the other way around—Oreo is actually the rip-off brand.

Hydrox (a word combining the words “hydrogen” and “oxygen”) were introduced in 1908, while Oreos didn’t appear until 1912. Compared to Oreos, Hydrox have been called “tangy” and “less sweet,” with a cookie less absorbent to a dunking in milk. Oreo dominated the market share for decades, until Kellogg finally pulled the plug on Hydrox in 2003. There was an uproar from a small but vocal fan base, and the Hydrox reemerged briefly for its 100th anniversary before fading back into obscurity.

All I know is that oreos are just right for dunkin' in a glass of milk, plus they aren't too sweet and crumbly. Next to peanut butter cookies, they are my favorite!

Coffee out on the patio again this morning!