Let’s talk about Bigfoot

I wanted to talk about something that is divisive lets say, the existence of Bigfoot. But before that, a lot of what I think is tied to the interbreeding of the hominid species, that includes us, and how long other hominid species lasted during the rise of homo sapiens. We are alone, and that is an anomaly. I don’t think we are. What brought this on is a video covering the stories of Japanese soldiers of man-eating giants within the Solomon Islands during WWII, which in the stories there are similarities in the descriptions to Bigfoot.

And, there are a lot of similar creatures around the world that are similar to Bigfoot, even in the United States, like the Skunk Ape. This list of Cryptids has a hominid section, and they share similarities. That brings me to my thought, that bigfoot, and those that are similar, could actually be hominids. Now, I am not the first to think that. Humans, and our hominid ancestors vary in sizes. So, a hominid existing, and spreading around the globe before or during homo erectus isn’t to outlandish. Evolution isn’t a line, it’s a winding path, and sometimes it’s a dead-end. Usually when a species becomes to specialized.

And us not finding fossils, does not necessarily disprove the existence of a hominid that was pushed into the wilder areas by early human’s migration. Because I don’t think they would be “modern” hominids…though there are stories of interbreeding, and that would indicate a closer branch. So, maybe I would have to redress my thought on that. Again, all we have for evidence are stories and videos, we don’t have solid DNA or concreate evidence. However, going back to fossils, we haven’t found a complete Denisovan fossil. We have DNA.

The video I watched also brought up a good point, people when scared tend to execrate height. I am six foot, roughly, there are two extra inches, and I tower over most people. In most cases I am a giant. But my little brother, he’s six feet, seven inches. I know, I am American, USA, but in meters; I am roughly 1.8 meters, my brother is 2 meters. He is a giant for sure. If I ran towards someone whose only five foot, it would probably terrify them. Add in dark lighting. Homo erectus was about six foot, I think, I could be wrong.

People bring up the fact that the world is shrinking, and because of technology, it is. But, there are still areas that are devoid of people, wild and dark areas that people don’t come back from. I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that a hominid species may still exist in those dark corners. Though, if they do, they are isolated. And isolated pockets of animals never thrive, they usually die off. There could be reasons that we are not seeing some of the cryptids that used to exist, and that’s because at this point, those small isolated pockets are gone. And fossilization is rare. Leave a pig in the wild, and it disappears really quickly. There are also some horror stories online of bigfoots becoming more aggressive as the climate changes online, so who knows, perhaps, as we continue to wreck havoc on the natural world, we’ll see some of these cryptids emerge from their environments trying to survive.

These are just some of my thoughts, though, as I have written them down, I do think that Bigfoot and the others around the world have to be related to either the Neanderthals or the Denisovans, based on the stories of “wildmen” interbreeding with humans. Granted folklore is folklore, and it’s usually used to make sense of the world, but their similarities in the stories, and I don’t think they should be discounted out of hand. It would also explain why most DNA test on these “hybrids” when they are done, just register them as humans. Because we’re all hominids.

Democracies Endure

Alright, so, I talk about how weak monarchies and dictatorships are, and I feel like I should elaborate. Why I think that, is because they don’t adapt, they stay the same. The same greed, the same pride, they are stuck in the same way of thinking. We see that in Russia, as it starts to collapse, again, for the fourth time? But, as much as I harp on the history of Russia, it happens throughout history. The “strongman” is detrimental to the stability of nations. Surrounding by “yes-men” ends with the country in ruins.

Yet Democracies, are different. They aren’t perfect, they have the same problems that monarchies and dictatorships have as well, but they continue to renew themselves. And I think the video that CpgGrey did on this highlights why, rules for rulers. Ruling a nation is those that hold power. Democracies, the majority are the key to power, not just a minority. So, more voices mean more stability, because you can’t just ignore the giant sleeping dragon.

Democracy dies too, but ever since antiquity it comes back, stronger. It’s like a flame. The renaissance era, Magna Carta, the age of enlightenment , and even the the Napoleonic code all of them keep growing what Democracy means. These are just historical examples. Democracy is changing all the time. Getting the majority behind policy, and pushing, can change a lot of things. Historically we have seen it. An army of conscripts and an army of volunteers are prime examples. Volunteers will always fight harder than conscripts. Fighting for something is more important than not knowing what they are fighting for.

Dictators love to keep their little petty kingdoms, and then come to democracies to spend money. How many assets did we confiscate form the oligarchs of Russia. Yet, they despise the west because it showcases how little and petty their kingdoms really are. We should stop disparaging Democracy, and realize that they have lasted longer than most dictatorships and “strongmen” empires. We are a legacy, a flame that refused to be blown out by small greedy men. Democracy, continues to grow, and it continues to get better, and we should celebrate that. We shouldn’t let little men, who puff up their chest, and take selfies, convince us otherwise.

My History with Video Games

Growing up, I didn’t have a lot of games, or a large game collection. My mom worked at the state hospital and my dad was a farmer. So, a lot our money didn’t go to frivolous things. It was also during the height of the video games cause violence scare. Those are some of my theories anyways. I really couldn’t explain my parent’s, more so my mother’s aversions to video games, back when I was little. I do know that her attitude did change, because I helped her pick out video games for my younger siblings, especially my brother.

And I was eventually allowed to have and get video games. The first system that I had was a NES, and a Game Boy, which at the time I think the SNES was out. Also both systems were hand-me-downs. My Game Boy didn’t have a back, I got it from my cousin with two games. Donkey Kong Land and Duck Tales. Both of which, were frustrating for me at the time, I don’t know I just couldn’t get the rhythm of them. It is true that older games were more difficult. Almost like you were fighting the system a bit. I had nothing really fun for the NES, though I did have Hook.

Honestly, I am know why I became so attached to Pokémon Red and Crystal, because those were gifts from family, and they truly were my first games. By the time I got Crystal, I had a fuchsia colored Gameboy advanced, because I wanted to be different, and I like the color of pink. I also got Final Fantasy Legend, which is not part of the Final Fantasy series, and before the internet that wasn’t something anyone would be able to figure out. Especially not a kid in the fifth grade, or sixth grade. I know it was around that time, because I celebrated my birthday at Pizza Hut, and one of my oldest friends was there, and he might have given me the game.

At this point I had played Odd World, and that was when I was in the fourth grade, and I had played the Sonic Games on the Sega Genesis. What was something cool, stores used to have games set up, and you could play them in the stores. So, that is what I would do while my mom was shopping. Heck, even fast food places had game set ups. That is where I played Banjo-Kazooie.

When I had played Odd World, it was lock down at the school, I am pretty sure we were in 4th grade. We got to spend the night, eat pizza, play in the gym, and they set up video games in the music room. It was a fun night. But, Odd World for a kid, that was an experience.

My love of the Sonic games started my collection of the Sonic and Knuckle Archie Comics, and boy, aren’t they a story. It’s some of the weirdest storytelling out there. Yet, as a kid I really enjoyed them. Looking at them now, however, yeah, the story, especially Knuckles, is out there. Genetic engineering and fascism. Fits right into the story about a hedgehog that runs so fast he’s just a blur.

The second home consul that we got was also from my cousin, it was the ps1. I think we just got the system from him, because his mom purchased the ps2 for him, but between my sister and I we started to get games that we started to play quite a bit. It was Final Fantasy Tactics, and Spyro the Dragon. Those two games, were played heavily, plus a demo disk we had. My friend let me borrow Final Fantasy 8, and I just remember, I did get a game, but it was half a game. My cousin lost the first disk of Resident Evil 2, so I only had the last disks. It is playable, but I never got past the first screen. I also ended up dying. Out the games I can remember, Final Fantasy Tactics, really was the best game. I like playing FF8, but as I have gotten older, Tactics has stuck with me.

Just like FF12 would years later, when I had purchased a PS2 with my own money, and I bought the metal case special edition. Like I don’t consider myself a ‘gamer’, I am a casual. I play what I like, or what catches my fancy. Like with my GB advance, I got Golden Sun, Advance Wars, and Castlevania: Circle of the Moon. They are some of my favorite games. Advance Wars is really the only one that has remained in the spotlight. Now, Castlevania, is Castlevania, but the specific game, that’s been removed from the timeline. To be fair, it was sort of an odd one when compared to the main series, and it was a stand alone in many respects. So, that’s fine, but it does feel like it’s not as well loved as the main games. It was a good game however, and I spent hours playing it. Which, can be said about all the above games, even Pokémon Sapphire. The Gameboy advance, was brand new, it wasn’t from my cousin. It was mine. Every game that I got, was my choice. Maybe that is why these stick out so much to me. Golden Sun became my favorite RPG. I am still hopeful a 4th game will one day be made.

It was around this time, that every camping trip with the Boy Scouts, we would bring our game systems, so I played Zelda on the way there, at camp during down time, and on the way back. Not to mention all the other games my friends brought. I mean we also built fires, went on walks, swam, and all the other nature stuff. As well as Magic the Gathering and Pokémon cards. We were kids in the 90s. I don’t even want to mention how, my friend lived close to the school, so I would ‘miss’ the bus, so I could go play video games with him at his house. My parents were always frustrated with me, to be honest.

Even as a kid I had trouble falling asleep, so, I was always the last one asleep. Not much has changed, unless I use my Cpap. But, I remember we were playing Mario Paint, it was a sleep over, we had turned the car into a space ship. Actually a lot of the stock images became science fiction in nature. It was a Friday, I think we had watched War of the Worlds 1953 and maybe Wizards earlier. Wizards, however, might have been later. However, it was the middle of the night everyone else had fallen asleep, we had a futon mattress down, and the clock was gently ticking away. And I was just laying there listening to the clock. Just a feeling of existential dread, that you can only feel when everyone around you is asleep and you’re in a strange location.

I digress, back to the lighthearted subject of video games, and the nostalgia of childhood. I still play video games, and I will stand by this statement, that Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are some of the best games made in a long time. Honestly playing those games take my breath away with their beauty and atmosphere, and their game play is both fair and difficult. They are up there with the games of my youth. There are more games that I loved from my childhood, my other cousin had a Nintendo 64, and we played Golden Eye and Ocarina of Time. Also Perfect Dark, which was just a great game to play with her and my friends. I think it’s true, that the games you grow up with, have a stronger place in your heart than newer games. Especially the games that are not just hand-me-downs. When you get something new, that is new at the time, it does mean more. So, there is the idea that something you work for means more. And there is some truth to that. I worked for my PS2, and I cherish that. It is also one of the older ones, and it still works. But my GB advance, and especially my Gameboy advance SP, which was the SNES edition, I cherished just as much. Both were gifts. I think the difference is knowing what it is like not to have it, or to have one that is kind of a broken down pos.

I am also aware that video games helped shaped my storytelling as well. I grew up with some interesting games, with really complex stories, especially FF Tactics and Majora’s Mask. As well as my desire to seek out weird cartoons and shows, like my dad had VHS copies of Aeon Flux tucked away in my parent’s closet. Pretty hard to stop an inquisitive kid from digging when one parent is at work and the other is working in the field. Like, I am also the kid who blew himself up with a homemade explosive, which shouldn’t have worked if I hadn’t used a specific ingredient that I will not post here. My parents, and my aunts and uncles, were in the field collecting the square bails of hay. So, my bright notion was to make it, light a yarn fuzz, and watch it explode. Yarn, does not light, which I had another match in the yogurt cup. Which, yes, yogurt cup, because why not, and I held lit match to that one.

I woke up on the ground.

I think I was eleven or twelve. I put shampoo and conditioner into the yogurt cup, and remember, no internet, what did I know. I am lucky I didn’t do more damage to myself than I did. If I hadn’t lived in the country, and lived in the town or city. With more access to things, I have to wonder, what would I have gotten up to. Yeah, video games didn’t encourage that. Because, at that time, I didn’t have video games. I just had a television with like ten channels. Ten channels, that occasionally were clean of static. PBS being the most reliable. I was an active, adventurous, inquisitive child.

To be fair, video games would have actually helped with that, and in many ways they sort of did. Growing up I did like the more rpg and adventure games. So, those are the ones that usually have more active puzzles.

What is Freedom?

The open road, it calls to me, every single day
But try as I might, I can’t indulge in that delight
For home I am forced to stay

When I finally find myself close to the goal, some other rears it’s head
Why must the joy be blocked by the drum of duty instead

I mow the lawn, I spend time with friends, and a forest surrounds my house
My oil ran out, my AC stopped, and I eagerly await for my check

For the freedom of the open road is all that I require
For that is where my heart desires
Yet on the couch I sit

Oldest Religion

Alright, currently I am watching Escape from New York, and it’s 10:40 pm. My roommate came out and we watched a couple of tik tok and the discussion of what is the oldest religion came up. Now I have stated before that I am a Theravada Buddhist. As well as a spiritualist, so this did make me question. It’s not Christianity nor Judaism, well none of the Abrahamic faiths really, including Islam.

So I did a little looking up, and just from a cursory google search, it’s Hinduism. However researching it, it really isn’t, because Hinduism is more of a modern take of an older religion. So, the oldest is more of primal Hinduism.

Looking up a timeline of religion, the oldest is from 10,000 BCE. That’s a huge time span between the Baghor stone, and Sumer, in the 4th century BCE. Even Göbekli Tepe wasn’t a religious sight until the era of 9130 BCE and 7370 BCE, as far as they can tell. It’s a wonderful game of telephone.

Even the Baghor stone, which may be Kali, is so old, we cannot be sure. Then also take into account the Proto-Indo European language theory, and everything just is covered in darkness. It is one of the frustrating things, we’ve lost so much, and sometime we loose things because of how damaging wars can be. Even now during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, they are targeting museums. We are lucky to have any information from the past.

It is true though, that religions from the Middle East, share similarities to Hinduism. Religions do that, even early Christianity did that. Zoroastranism, really did shape early Abrahamic religions. There are so many paths to spiritual learning, and we all act like we know the right path. But, honestly, what is the oldest religion question, showcases how silly it is to be certain about anything. Go far enough back in the story that is the human race, and everything become fuzzy and disappears. Just like the question, what is the oldest country, it’s a question, that cannot be answered. There are so many factors that could be considered.

Even asking this question, I am still a Buddhist, I still view it as the right path towards understanding. Even if as a spiritualist I try to also understand by tracing religion backwards. It is also a question that makes me feel humbled, because it shows how much history the human race has, how much it’s endured. And how much could be lost. I don’t know, I feel like understanding, learning, and growing is something that the human race should strive for.

The Thin Line

I am an American, so I grew up with the romanticized view of a freedom fighter. The lone gunman fighting against the corrupt government or bank, you know, it’s all over our westerns. Mainly because we were founded by guerilla fighters, soldiers fighting against a larger army, and to be honest there is some romance to that idea. David vs Goliath.

We, however, don’t live in a romanticized world, we live in the real world. Once a group chooses violence as a means to change the system, then the system becomes violence. The one that I use to highlight that truth, is the French Revolution, but The February Revolution would work, Afghanistan would work, and even the Congo would work.

We are currently watching the Soviet Union still collapsing in Ukraine.

I will just mention Gaza, because it’s a very hot button issue.

What I really want to ask, during these wars, revolutions, uprisings, what makes a soldier a soldier and what makes a freedom fighter a freedom fighter?

That is a very serious question. When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, the Taliban were freedom fighters, when the United States invaded they were terrorists. Geopolitics aside, I do have an answer. It is a simple one, which means that it is possibly wrong. But to me, to my way of thinking and my morals, there is only one answer.

Who do they target?

Civilians will suffer during war, that happens, wars are not video games. Splash damage is a thing. And, the United States, cannot claim the moral high ground. When you fire artillery, it goes up, and comes down. Mistakes happen.

However, there is a difference, between aiming for military targets, and aiming for civilian targets. Using artillery on civilians, like say a publishing company, is terrorism. Black and white. Among other war crimes. There is a list. They, Russia, are specifically targeting civilians. Which, they are doing that, because can’t attack the Ukraine military. It’s a strategy of weakness. It’s terrorism.

Freedom Fighters are suppose to be fighting for the people, so hurting the people they are fighting for, is terrorism. However, I would argue fighting terrorism with terrorism isn’t the solution. Any military operation, that ends with the death of women and children, would be considered a failure. That’s like the start of Demolition Man, he was considered a criminal. Civilians are not supposed to die in military operations that are successes.

And I do question the ethics of any who do think civilian collateral is okay.

Now, even taking ethics out, just cold hard logic, killing about 300 people. Trying to stop terrorism by shock and awe, mowing the grass, all I see is recruiting for the terrorist. Those 300 men, women, and children do not live in a vacuum. They have family, and all of them are seeing storm trooper-like shock and awe tactics.

It is very easy as an American to armchair this, I am aware of that, and I am not there. Anything I say should be filtered. But I think I can understand hatred. I can understand loosing your loved one in a failed operation. 4 saved, and 77 still in captivity, as of now. This is not a success. The news would like everyone to think that, but it’s not. This feels like a PR stunt to make it seem like the government is doing something, and that is how civilians die.

With one cease fire, they could have gotten them all back, and about 300 civilians would still be alive. This is a bad action movie. One where everything explodes and the audience is not supposed to think about the real world casualties. We’re supposed to point the finger at the terrorist, and praise the ‘good guys’. Real wars don’t have good guys. That’s the romance. Wars, terrorism, is a failure of the system.

What makes a soldier a terrorist? It’s when they target civilians.

One dislike about Dune

Alright, so off the bat, I have read the first two books as well as seeing all of the current media adaptations of the books so far. I am pretty sure; the 80s film, the mini series, and now the current. And for fun I have even looked up some of the videos for the Dune computer games. They are fun, John Rhys-Davies plays a mentat. I also immersed myself in the universe with wikis and Youtube videos. Sadly as I have gotten older, I have lost time to read like I used to. I am trying to catch up on so many authors as well. Isaac Asimov, Terry Pratchett, and Neil Gaiman spring to mind. I am even trying to read more of Ursula K. Le Guin. I read her books growing up, but not all of her books, so, I am trying to catch up on her catalogue as well.

That being said, everything that I will write in this post after this, will be heavy spoilers for the series. Because this deals with a character, that I feel gets shafted, hard. Especially later in the series.

That is Alia Atreides.

So, in the later books, they have gholas, or clones, that will have all the memories of the past ‘dead’ person. Pretty much all of the main characters come back, including the Baron, granted not for long, but yeah the four year old Baron murders the infant Alia. Now that’s tragic, but that is pretty much the end of the series, and her character.

Let’s discuss the second book, when she starts to be a rebellious teen, after her mother Jessica leaves both of her kids on Dune. Paul’s solution to keep her in line, is to get her married, or ie laid. Because that is how you keep a wild woman in line, you bed them, and then they magically become docile.

Now that wrong, but at least I can chalk that up to the time period of when it was written, and that it was written by a man. So, that element can be ignored, and the focus of the love story between her and the ghola of Duncan Idaho, which is sweet, can be preserved.

At least until the third book, when Alia is taken over by the Baron, and turned into an monster. Like that is not the issue, honestly, tragic falls into madness, especially since all of Alia’s genetic memories are unlocked, is fine. That makes her an interesting tragic character, especially since she commits suicide to stop her grandfather from taking over. The first three books deal with how much pain her mother created for her, and it was Jessica, by drinking the Water of Life and then abandoning her. Like I joke that Jessica is the true villain, but in a lot of ways, by what happens to Alia, yeah, she is.

Now, I brought it up already, but they start to bring people back, ghola’s are clones with their memories. They are given a second life, and a ‘happy’ ending. Even Leto, Paul’s father, and Jessica, are given second lives after the events of the story. And the infant Alia is murdered. That is the line that get’s crossed with me. That is when it gets sort of gross. Why give the other characters a relatively happy ending, but really stick it to a character whose entire life has been nothing but tragedy. It becomes cruel, it becomes a girl in the fridge moment.

I love the universe, I love the message of Dune, I love the political intrigue. It’s a fun universe, and I loved seeing the new adaptation. And I cannot wait for the new movie to come out. However, I hate that element of it, the way that Alia is treated. It’s a line that was crossed from tragedy to cruelty. It tempers my enjoyment, and makes me dislike Jessica a lot more.

Ode to Three Cats

One by one until I am done
The cats, they come to lay

Their claws are sharp
Their attention is needed
While I sit here gently reading

Or if I sit, and work on writing
That is when the cats come creeping

But sharing is something they will not do
So, only one, never two
Purring in content as their claws dig in with zest

Drool splashes everywhere
As with a happy shake
They get up waiting for their food

Like gargoyles they tap with their claws
Reminding me they are here
Wasting away they are poor starving souls
Though food is still within their bowls

Pokémon Frustrations

Pretty much towards the end of school, I was, and still am, playing Pokémon Violet to pass the time. Destress after the day. Just to relax. And one thing that I really like to do is shiny hunt. Now, I have feelings on shinnies, if they are just a slightly different color, that is very frustrating. But, if you can find a cool shiny, it can make your day.

Since about May 20rd, I have been searching for a specific shiny. Just because I thought it looked pretty cool, and I haven’t caught one yet. So, I am now on day 18, this being the 7th of June. I have even made two shiny sandwiches for it.

I am not hunting hard, one of the sandwiches, I caught a Foongus. It’s won me over, but that is the second Foongus in the same location. So two of those, but not the one that I am searching for. Now it is cool, that one was without a sandwich, so, my shiny luck in Violet has been better than in Scarlet.

Also caught a Venomoth, which is my second as well. Granted, it’s a fantastic shiny, it’s blue. I love blue shinnies. Found and caught an Oinkologne, also a really cool shiny. Then I also caught a Drednaw. Another great shiny. Again, these three, and one of the Foongus, no sandwiches. They were just random lucky shinnies.

Then I found a Makuhita, and it’s such a great shiny, it’s a red shiny, but it makes Makuhita look so good. I screamed in celebration, the cats came to check on me, worried, as well as my roommate. I was that happy. Makuhita is a very good Pokémon, and again, it’s a fantastic shiny. I nicknamed it Cranberry.

Still not the Pokémon I was looking for. 6 shinnies, but not the one that I am looking for. Two of them are even duplicates.

I eventually started to go and do Tera Raids to keep my sanity, and to gather supplies. So I am traveling around the map, and what do I stumble across. A shiny Tauros! Another duplicate, now, I am happy to find another, I plan to transfer it to my Scarlet. It is my redemption for missing it all those years ago when I first got the game, but it’s still not the Pokémon that I am looking for!

It’s Shroodle! The stupid lemur Pokémon, Shroodle is a good color shift for a shiny, and Grafaiai is a wildly amazing shiny. But no, I even wasted a second sandwich, and haven’t found one. I have found 7 other shinnies, 3 of them are duplicates, but not the one that I am purposely going for. It is vexing to say the least.