Monday's Missives

• In the Sundarbans region of West Bengal nearly 300 people a year are killed by tigers and no one knows why although they may have learned to hunt and eat humans after learning to raid fisherman's nets for fish. Most of those who end up on the tigers menu are honey gatherers. The tigers are so smart about stalking them they can swim up to a boat and take the last person on board so quietly they aren't heard and no one notices until they realise the person is gone and see a wet tiger dragging their buddy up on a river bank. The honey gatherers started putting a human faced mask on the back of the head on the last man in a column- this worked for a while then the tigers began ignoring this measure and happily drug the unfortunate man away- mask and all.



• Why mention this? I just think it is good to remember there are still places on this earth where humans are consumed with frightening regularity by animals. We can appreciate what we've got (for all the stress and heartburn we may have in the west- we are relatively unlikely to be eaten) and remember in the big picture scheme of things- we can still be dinner.



• I had to give up on the RL Polo boots I wore for probably 9 years and buy a new pair of Wolverines.



• Remember Wolverines from the movie Red Dawn and how they wrote it on the side of destroyed Russian tanks? I saw a burned out Russian made Iraqi tank southwest of Baghdad with Wolverines! spray painted down the side.



• America- what a country.



• Remember the first person who died from your school (after graduation)? Then the next...



• wake-up call
  1)a telephone call made by a wake-up service
  2)anything that serves to arouse someone from apathy or inactivity