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BS: Childhood myth?
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: GUEST,John O'Lennaine Date: 29 May 04 - 08:36 PM My children will grow up with a different myth: "If you don't clean your teeth the spiders will eat your socks." That'll fix 'em. John |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Peace Date: 29 May 04 - 07:55 PM No socks, either. The spiders ate them. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: GUEST,John O'Lennaine Date: 29 May 04 - 07:44 PM McGrath - It works! I tried it! No spiders! John |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: semi-submersible Date: 29 May 04 - 03:17 PM Fingernails are pretty small, but they are in fact indigestible. Hair-chewing was fatal to at least one youth: see the Darwin Award. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Peace Date: 29 May 04 - 12:20 AM It's storks. Always has been. Don't believe that cabbage patch story. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Harper42 Date: 29 May 04 - 12:07 AM You must remember that if you "pop your knuckles" they'll get "big" when you get older. And if you swallow a watermelon seed, it'll sprout and grow out your ears. And of course, Babies either are delivered by storks, or grow in a cabbage patch. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Pogo Date: 28 May 04 - 10:43 PM My grandma teased me once about whistling, " A whistling woman and a crowing hen is fit for the devil and not for men " To which I quickly replied " Yes but a whistling woman and a hen that crows has her way wherever she goes " {OP |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: GUEST,John O'Lennaine Date: 28 May 04 - 09:52 PM McGrath, Once again, it's so obvious. I feel so foolish. All my life, the answer was right there under my toes. Thank you. You've changed my life. John |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: kendall Date: 28 May 04 - 08:32 PM Thanks Amos. I knew that, but didn't want to apprear pedandic |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 28 May 04 - 08:05 PM I don't think how anyone has said so far how, if you bite your fingernails and swallow them, they end up in your appendix and give you appendicitis. I've never done that, and I've still got my appendix... ................. And I'd have thought that, if there's a poisonous spider in your shoe and you stick your foot in, unless you squash her straight away, she's going to be pretty pissed off at you anyway, even if you haven't given the shoe a tap first. I think I'd keep my socks in my shoe overnight, if I lived in Australia. Keep out the spiders, and I'd know where to find my socks in the morning. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: semi-submersible Date: 28 May 04 - 06:43 PM Cherry pits grow in your stomach and kill you, Mom was told as a girl. If you eat milk with oysters it'll poison you (in all seriousness, I was warned by an elder Mexican lady, as well as neighbours in Canada. I guess they didn't have chowder very often.) I _have_ found spiders in my boots, fairly harmless ones, I assume. I was never bitten that way. I have gotten off-season "mosquito bites," probably from spiders unlucky enough to shelter in an unmade bed, only to have their snug haven invaded by a Leviathan (me). A TV special on spiders, though, interviewed a woman who'd lost at least one toe to gangrene after a big black widow claimed squatter's rights in her patio slipper. The UK is pretty thoroughly inhabited, but elsewhere there are areas that are flat (no streams) and densely wooded (no landmarks visible) combined with a lot of cloudy days (no sun or shadow direction), and precious few roads. Cold nights, too. A Nova Scotian search and rescue guy quoted on The Nature of Things mentioned the most common last-place-seen, being the lost person's own back yard. In such terrain you'd need to observe any subtle clues in moss, branches, etc. that you could. And of course, people don't stop and wait to be found: they go on for miles and miles trying to get "back." Fatigue and hypothermia make it hard to think things through. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 28 May 04 - 07:34 AM ... or perhaps it doesn't come... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: s&r Date: 28 May 04 - 04:15 AM Declination comes to all men... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 28 May 04 - 12:53 AM ... and isn't declination the angle with the horizontal? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Amos Date: 28 May 04 - 12:34 AM Variation and deviation both effect a magnetic compass. One is predictable based on th elocation and is annotated on hte compass rose of HO charts. The other is induced by locaL masses of iron or steel on board and is correct by having an adjuster swing the compass. Variation:the angle (at a particular location) between magnetic north and true north www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn deviation -- (the error of a compass due to local magnetic disturbances) Ibid |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Stilly River Sage Date: 27 May 04 - 11:45 PM tsk tsk there's a lot to be said for the popularity of DIY programs these days. . . |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 27 May 04 - 10:11 PM I've always said that a hand in the bush is worth two birds on the arm. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: kendall Date: 27 May 04 - 09:42 PM When I was 6, my father said if you pick a Guinea Pig up by the tail, its eyes will fall out. At that age, how was I to know that Guinea Pigs don't have tails? Actually, the difference between true north and magnetic north is called "Variation" (deviation is what you see a lot of in Provincetown Mass.) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: JennyO Date: 27 May 04 - 12:09 PM I was told that if the wind changed while I was making a face, it would stay that way. Also, in an attempt to stop me biting my nails, I was told that the bitten off nails would collect in my stomach and turn into a big ball of nails and kill me one day. It didn't stop me though. I still bite them, and I'm still here to tell the tale. As for the one about eating my crusts to make my hair curl, I just said I didn't want my hair to curl. I didn't either. It curled up just where I didn't want it to, and I wished it was straight. So there. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: HuwG Date: 27 May 04 - 11:39 AM From Mike Harding: My mam told me that the bogey man Would come some day, and take me away My mam told me that he really would She'd tell him that he could, if I wasn't good Then one night the bogeyman chased after me As I was coming home from the cubs He was wearing nothing but a flat hat and a raincoat And a tube of smarties And my big sister said if I looked in the mirror The devil would come, and I'd have to run And he chase me down and round and round Far underground, never to be found Then one day I looked in the mirror And the devil, he came in But he looked just like the bloke That's courting our Maureen And my little sister told me, if I trod on a nick[1] I'd be right thick, and I'd marry a brick And to the wedding, a beetle would come And sup up all the rum, and b*gger up all the fun So for years I walked around Staring at the ground Till I smashed my head in on a lamppost And was eight weeks coming round And my dad, he told me if I swallowed chewing gum It'd stick up my tum, and b*gger up my bum And I'd get fatter and fatter and I wouldn't stop Till I went off pop ! All over the shop Then one day I swallowed some chewy And lay awake all night Waiting to go off bang ! And blow the house down There is a final wind-up verse which I don't have. [1] A gap between paving stones |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Pied Piper Date: 27 May 04 - 10:57 AM As they say "sex with other people's OK, but you can't beat the real thing" Actualy the more you indulge between puberty and 50 the more you reduce your risk of Prostate Cancer. Sometimes however a bird in the bush is worth two by the hand. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Chief Chaos Date: 27 May 04 - 10:15 AM Metochsin - Hairy palms are supposedly the result of a self inflicted impure act. I know for a fact that the old myth "don't make faces, your face may freeze like that" is true. My mother in law ears a perpetual frown. Probably caused by dealing with my father in law all these years but who knows. Maybe she made it one day and it stuck! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Amos Date: 27 May 04 - 10:04 AM Well, yeah, but he got away with an impure act, which has gotta count for something... A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Rapparee Date: 27 May 04 - 09:54 AM A boy just like me down the street had his eye put out by playing with a stick. Or a toy bow and arrow. Or a bb gun. He stabbed himself when he was running with a pair of scissors, too. And he ate something after it had fallen on the ground, probably the same thing that caused the stomach cramps that made him drown because he went swimming right after eating it. He also stuck his arm out the car window and a big truck going the other way came along and ripped it right off, and/or stepped on a rusty nail and got lockjaw and either died or had his leg cut off or both. Later on, he was parked with his girl friend and they committed an impure act but the car exhaust was blocked by falling snow and the carbon monoxide killed both of them and they went straight to hell because they didn't have time to say an act of perfect contrition. Turned out that this was after he'd gone into the City with his buddies and had gotten a terrible disease from a girl he met there. Truth to tell, I always thought that he was both clumsy and stupid. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Little Hawk Date: 27 May 04 - 08:53 AM Following a river is a great way to find civilization. Specially if you follow it downstream. People can't resist living alongside rivers. Here's another common myth: If you "die" in a dream you will never wake up. Entirely untrue. I have "died" in at least one dream and it obviously did me no harm whatsoever, since I am here to tell you all about it. Despite this, I was unable to convince a fellow who believed in that myth that I had in fact "died" in my dream! He figured I just wasn't remembering it properly. This shows just how strongly wedded people can be to their chosen ideas, regardless of new information. It's like..."Look, don't tell me anything I don't already believe, please, cos it couldn't possibly be true! I already know everything, you see. And my peace of mind depends upon that." |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 27 May 04 - 08:37 AM Dave, I think you meant to say.. "I had a childhood myth though. Myth Morrith she wath called. Taught clath 3B at Sth Mary'th." |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Roger the Skiffler Date: 27 May 04 - 04:20 AM Yes, Dave-t-G, I had a similar experience as a kid when on a scout hike in the Brecon Beacons! Thanks for all the other myths, folks, and for clearing up the moss thing. Sadly these days it's hard to go somewhere in walking distance from home where you can't hear traffic or trains, even in leafy Berks., so I can always find my way to a road in real life. BTW (thread creep on loss of countryside) Wasn't it Ogden Nash who said: I think that I will never see A billboard lovely as a tree In fact unless the billboards fall I'll never see a tree at all RtS |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Peace Date: 27 May 04 - 12:57 AM Thanks, SRS. We set for about 17 deg. in north Alberta--but that's from memory about 18 years back. The link you provided is great. I'll pass that on to the Outdoor Ed teacher here (and a few other places). Bruce M |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: GUEST,John O'Lennaine Date: 25 May 04 - 03:24 AM SRS, Yes "The Swimmer" it was. I don't really remmember the details of it, just that I found it fascinating and bizarre. John |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Stilly River Sage Date: 24 May 04 - 10:32 PM John, interesting, that's the second reference I've seen to that Burt Lancaster movie (The Swimmer) based on a John Cheever short story. But his passage wasn't so much directional as it was through relationships. By the time it got to the end it was kinda eerie. Brucie, assuming that you have set the declination properly for the region in which you own your compass, using it there doesn't require adjustments on short trips. You only have to reset the declination if you travel a distance of hundreds of miles (see the chart at the bottom of this page). Where I grew up and worked and climbed in the Pacific Northwest the compass was set to adjust for a reading that was 21o east of true north. Down here in Texas it only needs to be set to 7o. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Metchosin Date: 24 May 04 - 09:49 PM Chief Chaos, when I was a child, nobody told me how to grow hair on my palms. How do you do that? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: GUEST,John O'Lennaine Date: 24 May 04 - 07:54 PM And another thing: I was actually taught to bang the heel on the floor to knock the spider down into the heel and then shake the thing out. Here in Australia we have spiders called Funnel Webs which are very deadly and very aggressive. When I met my wife and she caught me enacting this ritual she said "If there's a web in there, that won't dislodge it, and won't it just get angry?" So obvious. I was crushed. John |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Justa Picker Date: 24 May 04 - 07:48 PM Rent "BIG FISH". (Great flick!) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: GUEST,John O'Lennaine Date: 24 May 04 - 07:43 PM I remmember an old film with Burt Lancaster, in which he found his way home by following a trail of swimming pools owned by his neighbours. So I guess if you can find your way to a trail of swimming pools, you could eventually come to Burt Lancaster's place and ask him for directions. Assuming of course that Burt was playing himself. If not, you might as well start looking for moss. Pied Piper, I was brought up to shake out my boots as well, and for fifty years I never encountered anything but dirt, but unlike you, I kept doing it, and about a year ago was rewarded with a spider. Not a harmful one, but a spider nevertheless. It was dead, too. John |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Chief Chaos Date: 24 May 04 - 04:56 PM Metchosin - but you still have to shave your palms right? "Every time a bell rings an angel gets it's wings" I guess we'll find out eventually, well... some of us anyway! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Metchosin Date: 24 May 04 - 04:23 PM The wind changed direction and my eyes didn't stay crossed, how come? I did actually manage to put salt on a birds tail with a salt shaker, but it still flew away and didn't become my friend. My Mother slipped a disc, but I didn't manage to break her back. I know I have told a few lies over my lifetime, but my tongue is not pointed and my nose stopped growing when I hit my early 20's. And I ate burnt toast but never grew one hair on my chest although recently I have sprouted a few on my chin and Hallelujah! although I now need glasses, I'm still not blind! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Dave the Gnome Date: 24 May 04 - 03:19 PM I tried that following a stream once. Bit of a bugger when I fell off a 150' waterfall in the fog... I had a childhood myth though. Myth Morrith she was called. Taught class 3B at St Mary's. :D |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Peace Date: 24 May 04 - 12:19 PM Last for today: There is a tremendous book that was put out by a fellow named Wiseman. He was SAS at one time, and the book is entitled "The SAS Survival Handbook." Of all the books I have read on the subject of wilderness survival (from personal interest), it is the best. Truly worth buying and reading a few times if you are new to wilderness and survival skills in the wilderness. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 24 May 04 - 12:19 PM In a town you just look for the satellite dishes to spot North and South. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Peace Date: 24 May 04 - 12:14 PM Regarding compass use: You also should be aware that there is a thing called magnetic deviation. That changes depending on where you are. You will need to know that if you wish to determine 'true' north as opposed to north on the compass. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Peace Date: 24 May 04 - 12:11 PM I have spent some four years (aggragate total) of my life in bush, forest, tundra, etc. I have never been lost. I did on one occasion misplace the camp I had to arrive at, but I wasn't lost. The camp was. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Cluin Date: 24 May 04 - 11:58 AM Forget the compass, GPS. moss or constellations. If you're heading into the wilderness, all you need is a deck of playing cards. If you get lost, just sit down and start playing Solitaire. Someone is guaranteed to come along soon and tell you the red 8 goes on the black 9. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Stilly River Sage Date: 24 May 04 - 11:39 AM Yup, it's a myth. Get yourself a good compass, one with enough play in the needle so it doesn't stick, make sure the ends of the needle are different colors so you can be absolutely sure what you're seeing, and when you use it, don't stand near anything iron. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Amos Date: 24 May 04 - 11:36 AM PP: I believe that practice was also developed by trail herd cowboys, who often found those little scorpions in their boots in the morning. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Peace Date: 24 May 04 - 11:30 AM Finding Polaris: Locate the Big Dipper. Note the handle part. Find the edge of the pot furthest from the handle. Go to the bottom star and sight up to the top star of that edge. Continue the line for about 5X the length of the edge. You will notice a fairly dim star that has no others around it. That is the North Star. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Pied Piper Date: 24 May 04 - 11:11 AM You can find north if you have an analog watch, just point the hour hand at the sun in the line between North south is between 1 and 7. This probably changes depending on your latitude and I think I remember that it works best around noon. As kids we kept are wellies in the washhouse and were told always to invert them to shake out any spiders that might have crawled in over night. This I dutifully did, until quite late in life, I realised that no spiders or arthropods of any type had ever dropped out. I wonder how many other habits I have are like that? Scary. PP |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: GUEST,Keith A Date: 24 May 04 - 10:20 AM Orion gives you a good North/South line. Compass is unbeatable now, but be warned, the Earth's field is weakening and will vanish for a long time before re establishing in reverse. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Rapparee Date: 24 May 04 - 09:24 AM When I was a Boy Scout, they told us that the moss thing was wrong because moss grew on the dampest side of the tree and could even grow completely around it. Instead, they told us several ways to find our way without a compass but said that a compass was best and the rest were make-does. 1. Use the North Star, unless you're south of the equator, in which case you use the Southern Cross. 2. You can find South using an analog (dial-face) watch (which is all we had back then). I'm not going to go into how to do this here, so if you want to know you'll have to look it up for yourself. 3. Put a stick in the ground. In the morning the shadow points westerly, in the afternoon, easterly. Morning is the time right after that big warm bright thing appears in the sky. (You can also get an approximation of the time of day this way.) I've got a GPS, but I rarely use it and I certainly wouldn't depend on it for saving my butt if I were lost and trying to get unlost. Something about batteries.... Actually, in most places you can follow a stream up or down and reach, if not civilization, at least other people. Note the qualification! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Morticia Date: 24 May 04 - 09:24 AM What do you mean about Santa? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Childhood myth? From: Pied Piper Date: 24 May 04 - 08:32 AM I think you just harassed the wrong species. Woodlice home page |
