Why did you pick the name you picked...

[Iroquois]

Thank you, Sweejak. It looks like I have some reading to do and a new favorite quote:<br><br><br>"Happiness is more generally and equally diffus'd among<br>Savages than in civilized societies. No European who has<br>tasted savage life can afterwards bear to live in our<br>societies."<br><br>         --Benjamin Franklin, 1770 <p></p><i></i>

[Sweejak]

I found the Iroquois story and their contribution to the constitution interesting and, untold. <br><br>Rally Mohawks, and bring your axes <br>And tell King George we'll pay no taxes <br>---- Song from Boston Tea Party<br><br>Also the Liberty Tree is, apparently an Iroquois symbol, not to mention the arrows in the eagles claw.<br><br>related:<br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.kahonwes.com/iroquois/document1.html">www.kahonwes.com/iroquois/document1.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://homepage.mac.com/kaaawa/iblog/C627146904/E470520647/index.html">homepage.mac.com/kaaawa/i...index.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://homepage.mac.com/kaaawa/iblog/C177199123/E753771261/index.html">homepage.mac.com/kaaawa/i...index.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>

[FourthBase]

So HH...<br><br>Would the Church Lady be raising her eyebrow and pursing her lips? <p></p><i></i>

[banned]

...that Metaxa brandy is the third worst alcoholic beverage I ever put in my mouth. I'm sorry, I love Greece and Greek food and Greek music, and I liked ouzo till I pulled an epic drunk on it in 1977 (after 3 huge tumblersfull, I went catatonic and fell down, could not move my limbs) that made me phobic. But the Metaxa...you could clean battery cables with it. Now, Mavrodaphne, that is another story. Mmmmm. Especially poured over ripe figs.<br><br>As for the second worst stuff--grappa. Without a doubt. Pure rubbing alcohol, but without the je ne sais quois of the bottle of white lightning (moonshine) a college pal brought back from the wilds of Kentucky. That warmed me all the way down to my toes. Grappa just made my hair stand on end.<br><br>And the winner for absolutely worst on the planet: Artichoke liqueur, known as Cynar (Chee-nar). I'm not even sure I remember what it tastes like cuz it came right back up.<br><br>Sorry to sound like a lush. I quit drinking in 1988 <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START ;) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/wink.gif ALT=";)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p></p><i></i>

[israelirealities]

Those drinks from our region (did you try Arak ? the local annis digestif ?) were meant to disinfect worms and stuff, and they work. IT could be the secret Tammiflu...along with garlic, lost of onion and......hot pepper. Some people here seriously consider this a natural vaccination for the variety of little engineered bugs and what not. But certainly if you drink a lot grappa, no flu bug will want you...and the odor of the garlic you chew raw...just think about it.<br> <p></p><i></i>

[banned]

...garlic, hot peppers, onions! Those things are really good for you, garlic and onions keep your cholesterol down and are blood cleansers.<br><br>I have never had arak/raki--didn't know it existed till after I went on the wagon. They have it at my favorite restaurant, which is Turkish. If it's like ouzo I probably wouldn't be able to get near it (see 'phobic' above.)<br><br>One thing I'd fall off the wagon for is absinthe, if I ever got a chance to try it. I put mugwort aromatherapy oil in my bathtub once and had a psychedelic trip--mugwort is artemisia too. I understand the Czech Republic is the absinthe capital these days.<br><br>If grappa will inoculate me against the bird flu, I guess I'll hold my nose and drink it <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :D --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif ALT=":D"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> . The white lightning was tastier, but dangerous--rumor has it the moonshiners in the hollers sometimes throw in stuff like old tires <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :o --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/embarassed.gif ALT=":o"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> , and people have been known to go blind or even die.<br><br>"Get you a copper kettle,<br>Get you a copper coil,<br>Cover with newmade cornmash<br>and nevermore you'll toil.<br><br>You'll just<br>lay there by the juniper<br>while the moon is bright,<br>Watch them jugs a-fillin'<br>in the pale moonlight.<br><br>My Daddy he made whiskey,<br>My Grandaddy did too,<br>We ain't paid no whiskey tax<br>Since seventeen ninety-two!"<br><br><!--EZCODE EMOTICON START 8) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/glasses.gif ALT="8)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p></p><i></i>

[Pants Elk]

Saying you don't like grappa is like saying you don't like music. There's terrible, banging-headache stuff at one end of the scale and nectar of the gods at the other. It was never made to be "drunk" (like beer, or wine) anyway. You take a shot (or two)(or three)(depending on who you're with) after your meal.<br>My own very special poison is a good Armagnac, which is kind of like Cognac but not as sweet. All these drinks are suffering from being "unfashionable" with the youth market here in France (late teens, twenties) who never got into the "digestif" habit, and several small producers depend on exporting this gorgeous stuff to Japan via their websites.<br><br>Oh. I'm sorry ... what were we talking about here?<br><br>While I'm here, here's a joke I heard last night.<br><br>In the jungle, mighty jungle. Big old lion drinking at the waterhole. Suddenly, this huge gorilla leaps from the undergrowth, fucks the lion in the ass, and runs off into the jungle. The lion chases after him. The gorilla bursts into a clearing, sees a hunter's tent. Gorilla leaps into tent, hurriedly puts on hunter's clothes, sits in his chair, picks up newspaper. Seconds later, the lion puts his head inside the tent flap, says "Hey! You see a big gorilla?"<br>The gorilla looks up from the newspaper, says, "the gorilla who fucked the lion in the ass down at the waterhole?"<br>The lion slaps his forehead, says "Shit! It's in the newspapers <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>already</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->?" <p></p><i></i>

[morganwolf]

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Most, despite a BA in Cultural Anthropology, I didn't ...<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>Offers a virtual handshake to a fellow BA in Cultural Anthro. Pleased to metcha.<br><br>FYI: Interesting that you mention the deer.<br><br>In my journey, I shapeshifted into a deer and actually got shot in the side with an arrow while running through the forest. The shaman never mentioned anything about dying while on this power animal journey, so I had NO idea WTF I was supposed to do next. My vision was dimming - I was panicked because I could feel the life draining from me. That's when I called out to the Great Spirit to help me. After that, I felt myself pulling up and out of the deer's body. I could see my legs and paws, and I had taken the form of a black wolf. Next thing I knew, I was rushing at extreme speed through a tunnel-like arrangement of trees where, at the end, I saw a circular opening, glowing with light. I still recall this feeling of release and relief - much like that described by NDE experiences, as I mentioned before. When the shaman changed his drumming rhytmn, that was the signal for us to 'come back.' I really strugged with that decision.<br><br>Anyroad, I'm very interested in things like name choices.<br><br>Cheers, Morgan <p></p><i></i>

[banned]

...it was told to me by a gay guy and every gay guy I've ever told it too just cracks up:<br><br>Two gay guys go to the zoo. As they're standing in front of the gorilla cage a gorilla reaches out, grabs one of them, pulls him through the bars, throws him down and fucks him. <br><br>He gets rescued and taken to the hospital where he is admitted to ICU. The next day his friend is able to visit for the first time and says "Are you hurt?"<br><br>The first guy says "Of course I'm hurt! He hasn't called, he hasn't written...."<br><br> <p></p><i></i>

[metaxa]

In addition to being a fine and mellow drink, metaxa was the drink of choice for Richard Farina's main character in Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me. Metaxa & paregoric Pall Malls were Gnossos Papodopoulos' intoxicants of choice. And, I believe he used them to ward off monkey demons. So far with metaxa alone: no monkey demons here. <br><br>Yes, Pants Elk (hey, nice rack) there are many fine varieties of grappa, all of which are for sipping. But, if you accidentally shoot it, as a friend did with her first try w/grappa, the kindly waitstaff will gladly supply you with a replacement so you can enjoy sipping. <p></p><i></i>

[banned]

1. You're going to a desert island or remote planet. You can only have ONE 'recreational' beverage with you. What is it?<br><br>For me--since I don't drink--yerba mate tea, the national drink of Argentina. I love Classic Coke, but yerba mate is healthier, and still 'zingy.'<br><br>2. You're on a desert island or remote planet. You find a bottle of booze, the last in your universe. (Kinda like the last "Lost" epi!) What would it be if it was so bad you wouldn't even open it?<br><br>I already voted--Cynar. <p></p><i></i>

[Homeless Halo]

I'm sure the church lady and I would get along wonderfully, that is, until we started trying to have a conversation beyond introductory platitudes. As long as we stuck to polite conversations, about the weather and the price of gas and whatnot, I'm sure we'd be splendid friends.<br><br>Of course, many a church lady has been a good friend of mine. Devout christians raise the kinds of children that grow into the sort of people that date fellows like me.<br><br>I don't know how I'd have survived adolesance without a church lady or two (and their daughters) to get me through my seven years of Private schooling. <p></p><i></i>

[Avalon]

Years ago I lived in England for a while, close enough to Glastonbury that I could occasionally go down there for the day or for overnight. It's one of my favorite places, and significant turning points in my life have been assocoiated with Chalice Well and the Tor.<br><br> <p></p><i></i>

[thumperton]

I tried to register with thumper, but that name was already taken. <p></p><i></i>

[Iroquois]

I'm pleased to meet you too, morganwolf.<br><br>It sounds like you had quite a journey. I've not yet had that type of experience, shapeshifting into animal form. I like to think that I will one day, though. <p></p><i></i>