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OK, as long as we're exploring the great mysteries, who decided that men's and women's garments button on opposite sides, and how did the practice become standard? I wasted many hours on this one. Mark At 12:01 AM 11/26/2003 -0700, Rebecca Seiferle wrote: >-----Original Message----- >From: Mark Weiss <[log in to unmask]> >In the eastern states the Indians used to do controlled burns, to create >more clearings rich in fodder, and to encourage younger, more deer-friendly >plants in the understory. Also gave them a clearer shot. The woods, all the >way to the tall-grass prairie, was a vast managed hunting park. In the >treeless west, especially before the Spanish brought horses, a band of >Indians would stampede a herd of buffalo off a cliff. Hey, there were a >lot of mouths to feed. > >Yes, and incredibly wasteful too, those stampeded herds off >the cliffs, and it's thought too, isn't it? that many of the giant >mammals of the 'new world', the 'giant sloth' etc. were driven >to extinction by human predation? > >"In book and movie Bambi is about as male as you can get, yet boys are never >named Bambi. How come?" > >You're asking me? haha. Well, one could go the Leslie Fieldler >route of literary criticism (No! In Thunder) and say that perhaps >Bambi wasn't "as male as you can get," there's that thing >with Thumper for instance and his long fluttering eyelashes >and Bambi is timorous to the point of being avoidant with >the young Feline (and what about her name while we're at it?), >or the route of cultural perplexities, in which case perhaps >it's just like the change that made people dress boy babies >in pink and girls in blue in the early part of the 20th century, >and then what happened? what shifted the paradigm? beats >me! I'm still trying to decide whether to have turkey or venison >or giant sloth for Thanksgiving. > >Not entirely serious, > >Rebecca > >Rebecca Seiferle >www.thedrunkenboat.com