1 00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:07,920 Speaker 1: Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My name 2 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:11,479 Speaker 1: is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and today we're 3 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:14,760 Speaker 1: continuing our vault episodes for this week. On Tuesday, we 4 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:18,360 Speaker 1: ran the Invention of the Spoon Part one. Now here's 5 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:22,880 Speaker 1: part two. This episode originally aired March eleven. We hope 6 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:29,160 Speaker 1: you enjoy Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind production 7 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:38,280 Speaker 1: of My Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow 8 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:41,800 Speaker 1: your Mind. My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, 9 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:45,280 Speaker 1: and we're back continuing the spoon challenge. This is part 10 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:48,200 Speaker 1: two of our talk about spoons. If you haven't listened 11 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:50,600 Speaker 1: to part one from Tuesday of this week, you should 12 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 1: go back and do that one first. But yeah, we're 13 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:56,200 Speaker 1: here to shove more spoons in your brain. Yeah we have. 14 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:58,120 Speaker 1: We have. We quite a lot of cool stuff in 15 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: this one as well. We've got more stuff on ancient 16 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:05,480 Speaker 1: Chinese spoons. We have some Chinese poetry, we've got vampires, 17 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:09,920 Speaker 1: we've got spoon magic, a little spoon pop culture. Uh yeah, 18 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: loads of fun. So let's dive right in. Sure. So, 19 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 1: in the last episode we talked about the spoon as 20 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:19,119 Speaker 1: an invention the way that we might not usually think 21 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 1: about such a simple household object. And we talked about 22 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:25,399 Speaker 1: some of the archaeological research on the earliest spoons, like 23 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:29,560 Speaker 1: how artifacts that could be interpreted as spoons show up 24 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:33,680 Speaker 1: in rare and isolated instances back into the Paleolithic, but 25 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:38,800 Speaker 1: that after the Neolithic Revolution, when a settled existence based 26 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: on farming becomes common, spoons start to proliferate in the 27 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:46,720 Speaker 1: archaeological record, and that there's some I think, very clear 28 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: reasons for that. For one thing, we talked about a 29 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 1: paper from twenty nineteen by Stefanovitch at All arguing that 30 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 1: many of these Neolithic bone spoons were probably used for 31 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:02,640 Speaker 1: feeding babies, and that as such they might well reflect 32 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 1: a broader historical change in the options available for the 33 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:09,560 Speaker 1: care and feeding of young children when you had things 34 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:12,960 Speaker 1: like animal milk and cereal grains that had emerged as 35 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: as food stuffs from from again that Neolithic agricultural revolution, 36 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: so you'd have a sort of new regime of society 37 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:23,560 Speaker 1: is based on gruel and spoon tech. And then of 38 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:26,560 Speaker 1: course we talked about the spoons of ancient Egypt in China, 39 00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: and I guess I wanted to pick up today with 40 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:32,079 Speaker 1: the subject of ancient spoons in China, and so one 41 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:35,160 Speaker 1: source I I looked to here was a book called 42 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:40,079 Speaker 1: Fermentations and Food Science. This is by uh Shing Sung Huong, 43 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:43,920 Speaker 1: published by Cambridge University Press in the year two thousand. 44 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 1: This is part of a series on Science and Civilization 45 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:50,000 Speaker 1: in China edited by Joseph Needham. I think we've referred 46 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 1: to some of the books in the series before. Yes, 47 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:56,440 Speaker 1: his name Rings of Belfisher. And so the first passage 48 00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:00,200 Speaker 1: about spoons in this book comes in the context of 49 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:05,080 Speaker 1: a question about the known practice of ancient Chinese cooking. 50 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:08,920 Speaker 1: That would be the parching of cooked grain. And this 51 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:11,120 Speaker 1: is this was a food tradition that wouldn't have been 52 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 1: limited to ancient China. Number of cultures would serve parched 53 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: grains of a certain kind. This would basically just mean 54 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:20,960 Speaker 1: like cooking the water content out of a grain that 55 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: had already been cooked, perhaps by boiling or something. And 56 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 1: so in this context, Huong writes that quote, since the 57 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:31,560 Speaker 1: ancient Chinese did not have ovens, one way to parch 58 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:35,360 Speaker 1: the grain would be to stir it in a heated pot. 59 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 1: This stirring was probably done with a spoon or ladle 60 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:42,080 Speaker 1: called p The earliest reference to this instrument is found 61 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: in The she Ching, which states, quote, Messy is the 62 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 1: stew in the pot, bent is the thorn wood spoon. 63 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:52,680 Speaker 1: Now a note on that source. The The she Ching 64 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:56,160 Speaker 1: is also known as the Classic of Poetry, or sometimes 65 00:03:56,200 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 1: the Book of Odes. It has a number of names. 66 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:00,840 Speaker 1: I don't know which one you're most familiar with, Rob, 67 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 1: but it's I'm sure you've come across this work before. 68 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 1: It's one of the earliest, perhaps the earliest surviving collection 69 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:12,800 Speaker 1: of Chinese poetry. It's roughly hundred to three thousand years old. 70 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:16,560 Speaker 1: I believe traditionally said to have been compiled by Confucius, 71 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:21,120 Speaker 1: but I think modern scholars dispute that authorship claim. But anyway, 72 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 1: I got really curious about this line because I didn't 73 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:27,239 Speaker 1: understand what this meant. Messi is the stew in the pot, 74 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:30,839 Speaker 1: bent is the thornwood spoon. I was like, what does 75 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:33,080 Speaker 1: that mean? So I went looking for the source to 76 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:35,920 Speaker 1: see the context, and this led me down, Uh, an 77 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 1: interesting rabbit trail. I hope you're you're willing to go 78 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: on a on a digression about ancient Chinese poetry with me. 79 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:46,040 Speaker 1: So I found another translation. This is an English translation 80 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 1: by William Jennings that appears to have been a very 81 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:51,920 Speaker 1: common early translation. And I'm sure some stuff is getting 82 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:54,599 Speaker 1: lost because it has some amount of meter and rhyme 83 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:57,919 Speaker 1: in English, which I which I would assume means that 84 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:00,560 Speaker 1: that a good bit is getting sort of reshaped meaning 85 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:04,159 Speaker 1: wise across the languages. But it'll hopefully be at least 86 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:07,280 Speaker 1: close enough to get the gist of the poem. And 87 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:10,240 Speaker 1: so if I have identified the right poem here, this 88 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:13,119 Speaker 1: line is from a poem that in translation is called 89 00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:17,440 Speaker 1: the Neglected Eastern States. And the poem seems to be 90 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:21,360 Speaker 1: spoken by a court official living in the East, who 91 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:25,040 Speaker 1: is apparently lamenting that once he had it great, and 92 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:28,640 Speaker 1: he lived a life of luxury, but now he is 93 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: in the East. He's in the Eastern States, and he 94 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:33,880 Speaker 1: has really hit the skids. Times are tough in the 95 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:38,280 Speaker 1: Eastern States. Like one of the quatrains, here is here 96 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:41,159 Speaker 1: in the East. The sons of nobles for service hard 97 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:44,839 Speaker 1: remain unpaid. There in the West, the sons of nobles 98 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:49,120 Speaker 1: are in most gorgeous garb delayed. So the thing being 99 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:51,320 Speaker 1: set up here is here in the East. Times are 100 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: tough in the West, things are or at least used 101 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:57,640 Speaker 1: to be really nice, and so we were back in 102 00:05:57,680 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 1: the West, he would have it nice and instead he's 103 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 1: or living tough. Right, And so this line about the 104 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:06,359 Speaker 1: spoon and the William Jennings translation here, I think it 105 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:09,560 Speaker 1: goes like this, once sucked we from well laid in 106 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:14,760 Speaker 1: trenchers and thornwood spoons bent to the loads. So if 107 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:18,480 Speaker 1: I'm interpreting that right, I think the idea is once 108 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:22,640 Speaker 1: like our stew was so rich and so awesome that 109 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 1: it literally bent the spoons that we were trying to 110 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 1: use to stir and eat it. Oh wow, just so 111 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:34,279 Speaker 1: loaded down with deliciousness that the spoons are breaking off 112 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 1: left and right. Okay, I've never heard of comparison like 113 00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 1: that before, but that's pretty good. I mean, it seems 114 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:41,799 Speaker 1: it seems like the kind of thing that you would 115 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 1: have seen in um, like American advertisements for like chunky soups, 116 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:50,320 Speaker 1: you know, because um think is maybe we're getting a 117 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:52,040 Speaker 1: little out of it now, but it seems like for 118 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:54,880 Speaker 1: a long time that was like the staple like chunky 119 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 1: style soups, uh and advertisements for really just almost saw 120 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:02,200 Speaker 1: lad soups that it looks like you would have you 121 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:05,160 Speaker 1: would lose some spoons in. This was the real stu 122 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:08,760 Speaker 1: soup currency of the nineties. I remember, like Campbell's would 123 00:07:08,839 --> 00:07:12,080 Speaker 1: really emphasize in their ads back then, this is no thin, 124 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:15,680 Speaker 1: watery broth anymore. This is soup that is so thick 125 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:20,560 Speaker 1: you could like lay mortar with it. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. 126 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:23,840 Speaker 1: It was actually, I guess a little a little bit 127 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:25,920 Speaker 1: of like a cultural shock to me when I first 128 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:29,840 Speaker 1: started having more broth based soups at some point in 129 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:31,840 Speaker 1: my life, you know, and uh, and and realized that, well, 130 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:34,000 Speaker 1: you know that there's a rich tradition of soups and 131 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:36,440 Speaker 1: they over the world, and they don't all have to 132 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:38,600 Speaker 1: be this thick, you know, they don't have to be 133 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:42,200 Speaker 1: like corn starch by weight. Yeah. I don't think I've 134 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:45,840 Speaker 1: ever broke well, you know, I think I have broken 135 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:50,120 Speaker 1: spoons often in uh, like take out fair before. You know, 136 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:52,320 Speaker 1: I can't specifically remember it. You know, you get like 137 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:54,000 Speaker 1: a cheap spoon and you have like kind of a 138 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:58,239 Speaker 1: thick um like I don't know, potato salad or something 139 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:00,320 Speaker 1: like that. You try and spoon it out. You may 140 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 1: lose a spoon in there. It's true. This raises a 141 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:05,480 Speaker 1: question I've never considered before, but in the creation of 142 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:09,880 Speaker 1: disposable utensils, I guess you have a choice, you know, 143 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: so you're making a cheap plastic spoon. Do you go 144 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:16,720 Speaker 1: more towards it bends when it reaches it's it's stress limit, 145 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:19,160 Speaker 1: or do you go more towards its snaps and breaks 146 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: when it reaches its stress limit. I feel like I've 147 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:24,560 Speaker 1: had some plastic spoons that managed to do both. Like 148 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:26,960 Speaker 1: it was both flimsy and brittle in a way, it 149 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 1: was a miracle of material sciences, Like how did they 150 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:33,320 Speaker 1: how did it fail in all categories? It might as 151 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:37,040 Speaker 1: well be sponge, sugar or something. But okay, anyway back 152 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:41,200 Speaker 1: to this uh, this poem from the the she Ching Uh. 153 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:43,079 Speaker 1: In the end, there was one thing I thought that 154 00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:45,640 Speaker 1: was pretty interesting in this poem, which is that the 155 00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:49,800 Speaker 1: speaker starts looking to the constellations up in the sky, 156 00:08:50,559 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 1: but picks up again on the utensil imagery from the 157 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:58,400 Speaker 1: beginning of the poem, but referring to to the constellations. 158 00:08:58,440 --> 00:08:59,920 Speaker 1: So the last part of the poem goes like the 159 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:04,400 Speaker 1: US there in the south, the sieve is shining, yet 160 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:07,560 Speaker 1: not for sifting. Was it made there in the north 161 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:12,199 Speaker 1: appears the ladle, yet narrow liquor will it laid? The 162 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:16,360 Speaker 1: southward there the sieve be shining here points its tongue 163 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: beyond the rest. Though northward there appear the ladle. It 164 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:24,240 Speaker 1: hoists its handle in the west. Now, I really don't 165 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:26,560 Speaker 1: know exactly what to make of that, but it struck 166 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:29,280 Speaker 1: me as as very curious. I wondered if you had 167 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:33,080 Speaker 1: thoughts on that, Like, obviously I guess there are some 168 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:38,040 Speaker 1: constellations in the sky that are regularly compared to household items, 169 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 1: particularly kitchen items. I mean that like the Big Dipper 170 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:43,640 Speaker 1: being ladle of sorts. Yeah, I mean that's what That's 171 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:46,080 Speaker 1: where my mind goes. Not not knowing anything about the 172 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:48,640 Speaker 1: origin of this or any interpretations of it, just it 173 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:51,840 Speaker 1: seems like just a beautiful way of saying, Hey, there's 174 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:53,960 Speaker 1: a there's a big spoon in the sky, but you 175 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:57,760 Speaker 1: can't eat with it. We're looking at well. Also the 176 00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:01,520 Speaker 1: idea that so even the ladle the stars hoist its 177 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:04,160 Speaker 1: handle in the west, it's almost like, oh, that is 178 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:06,959 Speaker 1: only for people of the Western States to reach down 179 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:11,280 Speaker 1: and ladle their skies to with. Though I don't know, 180 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:14,360 Speaker 1: maybe maybe I'm reading that wrong. Even the stars conspire 181 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:17,480 Speaker 1: against me and prevent me from having luxurious soups and 182 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:21,320 Speaker 1: fine roads. This really is an epic complainer poem. Well, 183 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:23,120 Speaker 1: you didn't have yelp reviews back then. This was how 184 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:25,439 Speaker 1: he had had to go about it. So anyway, I 185 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:27,960 Speaker 1: don't know. Maybe we'll have to come back and get 186 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:30,719 Speaker 1: some context on this poem in the future, but for now, 187 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:35,079 Speaker 1: back to the spoon, right, yeah, back to what Huang 188 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:37,720 Speaker 1: had to say about the pe heres, and that's written 189 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:41,959 Speaker 1: p I in English, but uh Huang writes that the 190 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:45,320 Speaker 1: p came in various sizes and shapes and were used 191 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:49,640 Speaker 1: as both cooking and serving utensils. The lee Chi records 192 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:53,920 Speaker 1: a P used in rituals and presumably also in entertaining. 193 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:59,000 Speaker 1: That was three to five ft long. That sounds too 194 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:03,760 Speaker 1: long to be practical. It's like for show almost right, Yeah, yeah, 195 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:08,760 Speaker 1: I mean you do find various serving performances and cultures 196 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:10,520 Speaker 1: around the world, so it makes sense, you know, get 197 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:15,040 Speaker 1: out of ridiculously long ladle here and have somebody who 198 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:17,520 Speaker 1: has practiced it. It's use enough that they're not going 199 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:21,000 Speaker 1: to make a huge mess. Yeah, exactly going on with Wong. 200 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:24,800 Speaker 1: It also mentions a different but equally long P, which 201 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:27,720 Speaker 1: is a two pronged fork. It was so named because 202 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:31,280 Speaker 1: its shape is similar to that of the constellation P 203 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:36,880 Speaker 1: now identified as Epsilon tari. So this is interesting again 204 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:40,400 Speaker 1: because this comes back to comparing the kitchen utensils to 205 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:44,839 Speaker 1: constellations in the poem. Yeah, yeah, this is interesting. Now. 206 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:48,880 Speaker 1: I don't know if this repeated association between constellations and 207 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:52,040 Speaker 1: cooking utensils is just a total coincidence based on what 208 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:54,439 Speaker 1: I happen to be reading here, or if there's something 209 00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:59,200 Speaker 1: significant about that. But anyway, reading further in Fermentations and 210 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:02,200 Speaker 1: Food Science, um Huan goes on to say later that 211 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: ancient Chinese text speak, of course of this long spoon P, 212 00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:08,440 Speaker 1: which is which is an instrument to stir food while 213 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:11,559 Speaker 1: it's being cooked in a pot. But there's also apparently 214 00:12:11,679 --> 00:12:15,320 Speaker 1: a small P, which Wong Wrights quote would be the 215 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:18,640 Speaker 1: equivalent of the modern spoon, which is used universally for 216 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:21,720 Speaker 1: conveying soup from a container, a caldron or bowl into 217 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:25,400 Speaker 1: one's mouth. But then you've also got this other thing 218 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:29,720 Speaker 1: thing that's a type of ladle called a show, and 219 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:32,959 Speaker 1: this is for distributing liquid like broth or wine, from 220 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:36,280 Speaker 1: a large pot into a smaller bowl. Now Huan goes 221 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:39,559 Speaker 1: onto catalog different types of spoons that appear in uh, 222 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:42,800 Speaker 1: you know, different periods in Chinese history, made out of 223 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:46,319 Speaker 1: different materials, different average lengths and stuff like that. One 224 00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:48,880 Speaker 1: of the interesting ideas raised, and I think this connects 225 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:51,680 Speaker 1: to sort of connects to some things we've already talked about, 226 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:55,880 Speaker 1: was that early bronze spoons in ancient China appear to 227 00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:58,679 Speaker 1: have had a sharp point, and this may have been 228 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:01,280 Speaker 1: used to cut meat. I could imagine maybe if you have, 229 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:04,079 Speaker 1: like I don't know exactly that this would be the 230 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:05,920 Speaker 1: use case. But if you had to, say, chunks of 231 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:08,680 Speaker 1: meat floating around in a soup or a stew, you 232 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:11,920 Speaker 1: could use the spoon to lift the soup or the 233 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:14,840 Speaker 1: stew into the mouth. But also maybe like press a 234 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:16,680 Speaker 1: piece of meat against the side of the bowl and 235 00:13:16,679 --> 00:13:19,360 Speaker 1: cut it with the sharp point. M hmm. Yeah. This 236 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:22,320 Speaker 1: is interesting though it does raise the question like why 237 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:24,360 Speaker 1: would it be necessary to sharpen it, because as we 238 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:27,880 Speaker 1: all know, using metal spoons in our lives, uh, we 239 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:32,040 Speaker 1: can cut with the spoon even if it's not sharpened, um, 240 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:34,720 Speaker 1: and it you can certainly apply some pressure and use it, 241 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:38,479 Speaker 1: you know, certainly on things like stewed meat, stewed vegetables, 242 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:42,280 Speaker 1: you know, things that are not too tough. Um. And 243 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:44,880 Speaker 1: I don't know, I guess the the idea of of 244 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:48,960 Speaker 1: the spoon being sharpened in some way makes me feel 245 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:51,840 Speaker 1: a little nervous, a little anxious, you know, like I 246 00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:53,880 Speaker 1: can just imagine things going wrong. I don't I don't 247 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:56,720 Speaker 1: want any sharpened spoons in my life. Well, your logic 248 00:13:56,800 --> 00:13:58,640 Speaker 1: there may have been the one that won out in 249 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:01,960 Speaker 1: historical spoon to sign in ancient China, because Swong also 250 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:05,440 Speaker 1: says that the spoons tend to start taking a rounder 251 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:07,880 Speaker 1: form in the spring and autumn period, and then by 252 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:11,360 Speaker 1: the time of the Warring States period, you've got these 253 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:16,720 Speaker 1: like lacquered wooden spoons that start to become the dominant format. Yeah. Well, 254 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:17,959 Speaker 1: I mean I could see it being a trend for 255 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:19,840 Speaker 1: a little bit and then people bagging away from it, 256 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:23,240 Speaker 1: like like essentially it could have been a campaign, right 257 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:25,840 Speaker 1: are you tired of this happening to you? And you know, 258 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:28,160 Speaker 1: and imagine like the ad of somebody trying to cut 259 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:30,080 Speaker 1: meat with their spoon and it's just not working and 260 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:33,800 Speaker 1: cut their tongue off. Well, that that would be the 261 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:36,120 Speaker 1: follow up, right, are you're you're tired of cutting your 262 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:38,120 Speaker 1: tongue off with your sharpened spoon? But before that, it 263 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:40,360 Speaker 1: would be like, are you tired of having chunks of 264 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:42,640 Speaker 1: meat that just cannot be cut in half with your spoon? 265 00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:45,720 Speaker 1: Try the sharpened spin blood's running down your chin. There 266 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:51,280 Speaker 1: he'll be a better way. Um. Well, we'll come back 267 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:54,680 Speaker 1: to very briefly a spin on this in a bed. 268 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:03,120 Speaker 1: I guess one thing that we're trying to drive home 269 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:06,880 Speaker 1: in these examples is that something like the spoon in invention, 270 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:08,800 Speaker 1: like the spoon has as every day as it is, 271 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:11,160 Speaker 1: you know it is. It is so close to our 272 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:12,960 Speaker 1: lives that we often forget about it. But it's also 273 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:15,960 Speaker 1: so close to our lives that it is susceptible to 274 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:20,920 Speaker 1: cultural pressure and uh in in various design trends. So 275 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:23,000 Speaker 1: even though the spoon, you might think, well, the spoon 276 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:25,920 Speaker 1: never changes, but of course the spoon does change. And 277 00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:30,040 Speaker 1: I ran across a wonderful example of this. Uh. One 278 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:33,920 Speaker 1: interesting tidbit from the history of spoons, as related by B. 279 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:37,320 Speaker 1: Wilson in What Your Spoon Says about You from the Atlantic, 280 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:40,480 Speaker 1: and it concerns one small corner of the world during 281 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:45,280 Speaker 1: a particular stretch of time England in the seventeenth century. Okay, 282 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:48,360 Speaker 1: so this would have been the time during and after 283 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:52,040 Speaker 1: the English Civil War, right, So yeah, at this point 284 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:55,120 Speaker 1: set the setting here, the monarchy had been disposed of 285 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:58,960 Speaker 1: and Oliver Cromwell had risen to power. Now, the results 286 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:02,480 Speaker 1: in Commonwealth rule didn't last very long. M Like, Cromwell 287 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:06,320 Speaker 1: ruled from sixteen fifty three until his death in sixteen 288 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:09,080 Speaker 1: fifty eight, and at that point it pretty much collapsed 289 00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:12,280 Speaker 1: under his son's leadership the following year. So that's not 290 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:15,400 Speaker 1: really a long time to to bust out a lot 291 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:18,960 Speaker 1: of spoons under your rule. But there are some interesting 292 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:22,560 Speaker 1: changes that took place. So before Cromwell rose to power, 293 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:26,480 Speaker 1: you saw a lot of these silver, proper British spoons 294 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:30,440 Speaker 1: that had fig shaped bowls and what Wilson describes as 295 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:35,520 Speaker 1: chunky hexagonal stems. Uh. They also described it as having 296 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:38,240 Speaker 1: a bowl like a tear drop quote widening towards the 297 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:40,840 Speaker 1: end that you put in your mouth. They tended to 298 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:45,640 Speaker 1: have decorative knops at the top. Knops were artistic flourishes 299 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:50,840 Speaker 1: that often featured things like humanoid forms, ladies, animals that 300 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:53,760 Speaker 1: sort of thing. But then again Cromwell comes to power, 301 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:57,040 Speaker 1: and under Cromwell's strict Puritan regime, this sort of spoon 302 00:16:57,120 --> 00:16:58,920 Speaker 1: was no longer favorite all of a sudden. So you 303 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:02,600 Speaker 1: see the rise of Puritan spoons, which were quote simple 304 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:06,880 Speaker 1: shallow egg shaped spoons with flat stems and no decoration, 305 00:17:07,080 --> 00:17:10,840 Speaker 1: no knops. And you could generally see this as part 306 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:15,640 Speaker 1: of like the Puritan impulse against representative art, right right, yeah, 307 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:17,800 Speaker 1: Now B. Wilson has a wonderful little passage. I want 308 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:20,560 Speaker 1: to read this. They write, quote, none of these decorative 309 00:17:20,600 --> 00:17:24,600 Speaker 1: spoons found favor during the Commonwealth, when when excessive decoration 310 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:28,320 Speaker 1: of any kind, particularly religious, was disapproved of. The roundheads 311 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:31,960 Speaker 1: lopped the heads off spoons, just as they lopped off 312 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:36,040 Speaker 1: the king's head. It's a nice comparison there. Uh, that 313 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:38,520 Speaker 1: would be referring to Charles the First who was to 314 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:41,200 Speaker 1: be headed at the after losing the English Civil War. 315 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:45,200 Speaker 1: So anyway, these Puritans spoons suddenly, uh, they are the trend. 316 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:47,440 Speaker 1: But they were they weren't. They were not only plain, 317 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:51,920 Speaker 1: they were also hefty. They were big hunks of silver. Uh. 318 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:54,760 Speaker 1: And it's thought that this was a way for people 319 00:17:55,359 --> 00:17:58,560 Speaker 1: to hoard their silver. That way when the local government 320 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:01,200 Speaker 1: came calling, which which they appear only would do, and say, hey, 321 00:18:01,359 --> 00:18:03,359 Speaker 1: we need all your extra silver to pay for the 322 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:07,240 Speaker 1: town's defense. Well, you can say, the only silver I 323 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:11,359 Speaker 1: have are these silver utensils, and I need those to eat. Uh, 324 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:13,840 Speaker 1: so sorry, I'm going to hang onto these. So it 325 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:16,879 Speaker 1: was a way of having essential use silver in your house, 326 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:19,600 Speaker 1: just making sure that all of your silver was a 327 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:22,840 Speaker 1: part of your your eating utensils. Now, this is very 328 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:28,400 Speaker 1: interesting because it makes me wonder if this is antecedent too, 329 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:32,720 Speaker 1: or like somehow connected to this tradition I never really understood, 330 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:35,320 Speaker 1: but was still around in American families when I was 331 00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:37,880 Speaker 1: growing up that like as a wedding present, people would 332 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:41,280 Speaker 1: be would be given an expensive set of silver, like 333 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:45,080 Speaker 1: the family silver, you know, special dining wear. But as 334 00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:47,439 Speaker 1: far as I understood it, this was never to be used. 335 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:50,480 Speaker 1: It was just like it was like the most expensive 336 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:52,720 Speaker 1: stuff that you have in your house, and you just 337 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:55,200 Speaker 1: keep it in a drawer, You keep it stuck away, 338 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:57,719 Speaker 1: and maybe me you get it out to uh polish 339 00:18:57,760 --> 00:19:00,000 Speaker 1: it and care for it, and occasionally maybe you eat 340 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:03,960 Speaker 1: with it, but certainly not not all the time. Now, again, 341 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:07,679 Speaker 1: the Commonwealth fell eventually, and then came the restoration, and 342 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:10,399 Speaker 1: as Charles the Second returns from exile, he brings with 343 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:13,600 Speaker 1: him a new spoon style, and as Wilson points out, 344 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:17,560 Speaker 1: the shift here was sudden. The triffid spoon takes over 345 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:20,679 Speaker 1: a deep, oval bowl spoon with a flat handle and 346 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:25,040 Speaker 1: a distinctive cleft shape at the end. Wilson writes, quote 347 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:27,680 Speaker 1: no British person had ever eaten from such a spoon before. 348 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:32,280 Speaker 1: In Britain, the first triffids are hallmarked sixteen sixty. Yet 349 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:35,520 Speaker 1: by six eighty they had spread through the entirety of 350 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:39,119 Speaker 1: Charles's kingdom and remained the dominant spoon type for forty years, 351 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:42,160 Speaker 1: killing off both the Puritan spoon and the fig shaped 352 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:46,280 Speaker 1: spoons that went before and their designs. Apparently, you know, 353 00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:49,639 Speaker 1: it wasn't just about how they hold soup and gruel 354 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:52,159 Speaker 1: in this case, Uh, you know, it's also about how 355 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:54,320 Speaker 1: you hold the spoon. I think we touched on this before, 356 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:57,439 Speaker 1: Like the way a spoon is designed not only has 357 00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:00,600 Speaker 1: an influence on how you eat, it also influence is 358 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:02,760 Speaker 1: how you're going to interact with the spoon with your hand, 359 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:05,800 Speaker 1: how you're gonna hold it. So the triffid here could 360 00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:09,040 Speaker 1: be held regally, uh, in a in a polite, you know, 361 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:12,520 Speaker 1: thoroughly English way. So that also appears to be part 362 00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:14,600 Speaker 1: of it. You know, it's like there's a new rule. 363 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:18,920 Speaker 1: There are new uh you know, the restored rule. There 364 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:21,239 Speaker 1: there are new you know, new new ideas. We're going 365 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:24,159 Speaker 1: kind of going against the Puritan concepts of how we 366 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:28,440 Speaker 1: should interact with our food. And so the triffid here 367 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:32,119 Speaker 1: is is in in fashion uh, and it's going to 368 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:35,440 Speaker 1: uh have an influence on the way we we consume 369 00:20:36,119 --> 00:20:38,240 Speaker 1: our soup or what have you. I didn't think to 370 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:40,080 Speaker 1: look this up ahead of time, but I realized, now 371 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:43,760 Speaker 1: there's got to be a John Dryden poem about triffid spoons. 372 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:47,320 Speaker 1: Then that just seemed perfect. Yeah, I mean, especially if 373 00:20:47,359 --> 00:20:49,720 Speaker 1: it was, you know, this big of a deal, that's 374 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:52,960 Speaker 1: a sweeping change. Well, a quick Google search does not 375 00:20:53,119 --> 00:20:56,360 Speaker 1: reveal anything, Alright. The next spoon I'd like to talk 376 00:20:56,400 --> 00:21:01,120 Speaker 1: about is uh is something from Meso American history. Uh. 377 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:03,840 Speaker 1: So here's the thing. Spoons can, of course be decorative, 378 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:06,879 Speaker 1: and we find an interesting decorative spoon in the ritual 379 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:10,200 Speaker 1: spoon pendance of the old Mac people's This was the 380 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:14,040 Speaker 1: earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization. And if you visit the 381 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:16,360 Speaker 1: met in New York City, uh, you may be able 382 00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:17,679 Speaker 1: to see one of these. I know they have them 383 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:22,280 Speaker 1: in their collection. Um maybe from some somewhere between the 384 00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:25,440 Speaker 1: tenth and fourth century b c. E. I included a 385 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:27,320 Speaker 1: picture here for you to look at, Joe, so you 386 00:21:27,359 --> 00:21:29,800 Speaker 1: can see what I'm talking about. You if you just 387 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:31,639 Speaker 1: you know, look, if you look one up and you 388 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:33,520 Speaker 1: didn't know what you're looking at, you might be forgiven 389 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:36,560 Speaker 1: for not recognizing this as a spoon. No. So it's 390 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:38,840 Speaker 1: got a spoon like depression in it, but if you 391 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:40,600 Speaker 1: were to flip it on its side, it almost looks 392 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:43,480 Speaker 1: kind of like a submarine. It's like a long cigar shape. 393 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:46,280 Speaker 1: And then it's got a big bulge, sort of cylindrical 394 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:50,320 Speaker 1: bulge in one section. Yeah, yeah it um, I see. 395 00:21:50,359 --> 00:21:53,000 Speaker 1: It often described as as a T shaped pendent, but 396 00:21:53,119 --> 00:21:55,520 Speaker 1: it also looks to me like a like a P, 397 00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:58,639 Speaker 1: like a like like a big P with an extra 398 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:01,280 Speaker 1: stem on top um. And there is a there is 399 00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:04,440 Speaker 1: a bowl area, but it's it's rather shallow. Uh So, 400 00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:08,199 Speaker 1: in particular with the all Mac spoon pendance, these jade 401 00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:11,040 Speaker 1: T shaped pendance are thought to have been used for 402 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:16,200 Speaker 1: ceremonial hallucinogenic consumption, and similar T shape pendance from the 403 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:20,920 Speaker 1: later Maya culture apparently signified the sacred breath. I was 404 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:23,960 Speaker 1: looking around for more information on these indran across. In November, 405 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:28,200 Speaker 1: paper from Andrew D. Turner published an Ancient meso America 406 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:32,560 Speaker 1: and the author here discusses UH an interesting possibility and 407 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:36,480 Speaker 1: that is UH that these UH spoons, with their what 408 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:39,400 Speaker 1: to our eyes look like a strange shape, they might 409 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:44,359 Speaker 1: be based off the basic shape of the iridescent shells 410 00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:47,439 Speaker 1: of wing oysters. And if you look up a wing oyster, 411 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:50,800 Speaker 1: they do have this kind of p shape. So again 412 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:52,879 Speaker 1: going back to what we talked about in the in 413 00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:56,280 Speaker 1: the first episode about the idea of shells being something 414 00:22:56,440 --> 00:23:00,080 Speaker 1: that ancient people's would have used as spoons before the 415 00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:02,960 Speaker 1: creation of spoons, and then in the creation of spoons, 416 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:05,440 Speaker 1: you know, fixing a shell to a stick, that sort 417 00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:08,840 Speaker 1: of thing. Isn't it interesting that we we potentially see 418 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:13,240 Speaker 1: an example here of then actual invented spoons, actual artifacts 419 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:18,080 Speaker 1: mimicking directly than the natural shape of this shell that 420 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:20,879 Speaker 1: is no longer being used. Well, if there was a 421 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:24,800 Speaker 1: long running tradition of using natural you know, nature facts 422 00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:27,639 Speaker 1: objects found in nature, like the shells of oysters, as 423 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:32,000 Speaker 1: spoons before you had a manufactory of artificial spoons, I 424 00:23:32,119 --> 00:23:35,879 Speaker 1: can imagine that a spoon used in a specific religious 425 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,800 Speaker 1: or ritual context might be the one that you would 426 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:41,840 Speaker 1: most want to keep, like the old school spoon, you know, 427 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:45,440 Speaker 1: because we get into the religious or ritual mindset, we're 428 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:49,479 Speaker 1: often trying to recreate scenes of the past, or our 429 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:52,680 Speaker 1: imagination of scenes of the past. Yeah, yeah, I think so. 430 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:55,119 Speaker 1: And then of course throw into that as well the 431 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:58,600 Speaker 1: idea of the of the the instrument or the invention 432 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:01,960 Speaker 1: becoming a symbol and becoming because that's also what we 433 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:05,080 Speaker 1: see going on here potentially with these pendants as is, 434 00:24:05,119 --> 00:24:08,159 Speaker 1: even if they're no longer being used to consume a 435 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:13,320 Speaker 1: particular substance, they become symbolic of of that that magical 436 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:23,959 Speaker 1: ritual or some sort of idea caught up in it. Now, 437 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:26,560 Speaker 1: from here this raises a question of For me, I 438 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:29,119 Speaker 1: was thinking, well, okay, now we've talked about spoons and 439 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:33,920 Speaker 1: their interaction with sacred affairs and political affairs, Um, but 440 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:37,480 Speaker 1: how about mythology and folklore. Well, given the place that 441 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:40,760 Speaker 1: the spoon holds in human lives back through ancient times, 442 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:43,919 Speaker 1: it shouldn't be surprising that it does occasionally become imbued 443 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:47,440 Speaker 1: with mythic and magical properties. For starters, the figure of 444 00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:51,199 Speaker 1: the witch, or more any kind of magical um. Female 445 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:55,000 Speaker 1: presence is often associated with household items that take on 446 00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:58,159 Speaker 1: magical properties. So the broom is a prime example of 447 00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:01,040 Speaker 1: this in various tales, of which is we have the 448 00:25:01,119 --> 00:25:04,800 Speaker 1: Baba Yaga's mortar and pestle that she uses to fly 449 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:07,840 Speaker 1: through the sky. Uh so you better believe there are 450 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:09,920 Speaker 1: some magical spoons out there as well. And I have 451 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:13,240 Speaker 1: just a few examples of these. Oh boy. So according 452 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:17,240 Speaker 1: to Spoon, Woman and Soul, the folk belief in Japanese 453 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:21,760 Speaker 1: Spoon by Wang, published in the Journal of dad Laian University, 454 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:25,000 Speaker 1: the spoon may take on magical associations in Japanese folk 455 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:29,840 Speaker 1: belief associated with quote, mountains, females, souls with a supernatural, 456 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:34,920 Speaker 1: magical power of birth, praying for peace, being healthy, and exorcism, etcetera. 457 00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:38,760 Speaker 1: I was also reading an article by Gabby Thompson of 458 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:44,159 Speaker 1: Volgemuth about East German translations of fairy tales, and this 459 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:46,359 Speaker 1: is this is fascinating. This is kind of a tangent, 460 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:48,800 Speaker 1: but it's worth it. Um. The author points out that 461 00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:53,479 Speaker 1: early East German versions of the brothers Grimm's fairy tales 462 00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:56,680 Speaker 1: they've been very popular during the Third Reich, so great 463 00:25:56,760 --> 00:26:00,520 Speaker 1: care was taken in translating them a new uh so 464 00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:04,760 Speaker 1: that so as distress values considered important and remove those 465 00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:09,480 Speaker 1: again for East German readers that they deemed quote harmful 466 00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:14,520 Speaker 1: to a socialist education and hints modified. So here's an example. 467 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:18,880 Speaker 1: In the original Grimms of tales, ending of Rumpel still 468 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:22,440 Speaker 1: skin the best a imp becomes so I rate. They 469 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:26,400 Speaker 1: stomps his foot down so hard that his entire leg 470 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:30,520 Speaker 1: becomes stuck in the ground. And then he's even more enraged. 471 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:34,240 Speaker 1: He pushes down with both hands to to free himself 472 00:26:34,359 --> 00:26:37,680 Speaker 1: from the earth, and in doing so uh rips his 473 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:42,840 Speaker 1: body in half. Okay, so just a really gory, just 474 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:47,760 Speaker 1: moral kombat type ending to Rumpel still Skin. But this 475 00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:50,919 Speaker 1: would not do in the early East German translations. Um 476 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:52,720 Speaker 1: and and they they signed a couple of them. I 477 00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:56,440 Speaker 1: think it's a Politz check and uh and uh co 478 00:26:56,600 --> 00:27:00,239 Speaker 1: selec and they it ends up having this very kind 479 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:03,800 Speaker 1: of a Pucci ending to to reference the Simpsons instead 480 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:06,680 Speaker 1: of having Rumple steel Skin stomping and ripping his body 481 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:10,080 Speaker 1: in half. Instead quote, and he flew out of the 482 00:27:10,119 --> 00:27:13,040 Speaker 1: window on a wooden spoon. And then that's the end. Yeah, 483 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:15,760 Speaker 1: is that the first mention of the wooden spoon? Um? 484 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:18,520 Speaker 1: I know, I'm not sure on that, but possibly yes. 485 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:20,159 Speaker 1: They just throw it in there like, oh yeah, by 486 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:22,320 Speaker 1: the way, he had a wooden spoon, and it's magic, 487 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:24,680 Speaker 1: and he flew away and nobody was ripped in half 488 00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:28,800 Speaker 1: by their own anger. My home planet needs me hump 489 00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:31,960 Speaker 1: Stealskin died on the way back to his home planet. Um. 490 00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:34,280 Speaker 1: And by the way, that's also the name of the paper. 491 00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:37,560 Speaker 1: And he flew out of the window on a wooden spoon. Um. 492 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:39,280 Speaker 1: So if you want to look it up, look that up. 493 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:41,959 Speaker 1: It's it's worth worth it. It's a it's a fascinating topic. Um. 494 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:46,159 Speaker 1: And And there are other examples of sanitized endings uh, 495 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:49,400 Speaker 1: such such as, uh, there's the Tail of the two Brothers, 496 00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:52,240 Speaker 1: which in the Grimm's version ends with them burning a 497 00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:55,399 Speaker 1: witch alive and a fire, but one of the sanitized 498 00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:58,080 Speaker 1: versions ends with quote, the poison grew in her heart 499 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:01,560 Speaker 1: so much that she exploded. And in the other one, 500 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:03,560 Speaker 1: they hit her with a magic wand and just turned 501 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:06,800 Speaker 1: her to stone. Um. So it's interesting how these edits 502 00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:08,399 Speaker 1: take place. I mean, these are very much like the 503 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:14,840 Speaker 1: the sanitized Nintendo fatalities that we've discussed in the show before. Alright, 504 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:17,800 Speaker 1: but back to spoons. Okay, more more magical spoons. Apparently 505 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:20,720 Speaker 1: in Albania there is a mushroom known as the witches 506 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:23,120 Speaker 1: spoon because it is said to grow where witch vomits. 507 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:27,479 Speaker 1: Good to know, I'm guessing I did not really research 508 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:29,440 Speaker 1: this any further. Was actually the full paper was behind 509 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:32,480 Speaker 1: a payball, so I wasn't able to to get at it. 510 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:35,360 Speaker 1: But I'm I'm guessing this is not a good mushroom. 511 00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:37,760 Speaker 1: This is not a mushroom you want to eat. What 512 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:41,400 Speaker 1: makes you think that? I mean, if witches are vomiting 513 00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:44,600 Speaker 1: it up, I don't think we want to go after it. 514 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:47,280 Speaker 1: But which is They're bad? So maybe what they vomited 515 00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:52,040 Speaker 1: up is good. Okay, maybe, um, but don't do it 516 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:55,520 Speaker 1: on our account. Uh. Let's see. There are various folk 517 00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:58,800 Speaker 1: magic practices that involve the use of spoons. The spoon 518 00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:02,120 Speaker 1: is basically some sort of magical focus or something. Um. 519 00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:05,360 Speaker 1: I ran across a Macedonian practice in which slips of 520 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:08,800 Speaker 1: paper with writing on them are burnt over a person's 521 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:13,960 Speaker 1: body in the bowl of a spoon. Now, you might remember, 522 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:16,040 Speaker 1: any of you who are listening to our Weird House 523 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:19,160 Speaker 1: Cinema episodes. You might remember in our Santo in the 524 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:21,680 Speaker 1: Treasure of of Dracula episodes. You might remember a book 525 00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:26,520 Speaker 1: I brought up, Paul Barber's Vampires, Burial and Death, And Uh, 526 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:28,400 Speaker 1: I was looking in that book again. I may have 527 00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:31,000 Speaker 1: to get a physical copy of this because uh they 528 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:35,960 Speaker 1: cover a late nineteenth century Prussian practice against vampires and 529 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:38,840 Speaker 1: then involved placing a bowl of cold water under the 530 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:41,760 Speaker 1: board on which a body, a dead body is lying, 531 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:46,040 Speaker 1: and placing a multitude of tin spoons on top of 532 00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:49,080 Speaker 1: the body in order to prevent the dead from returning 533 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:52,760 Speaker 1: to unnatural life. And Barber notes that the spoon tradition 534 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:55,760 Speaker 1: here is interesting because there are some other traditions of 535 00:29:56,240 --> 00:29:59,959 Speaker 1: from from that region, uh that call for sharp options 536 00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:03,400 Speaker 1: like knives or even thorns to be placed on top 537 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:06,760 Speaker 1: of the body to keep it from rising again. But 538 00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:09,040 Speaker 1: in this case it's just a bunch of tin spoons 539 00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:13,080 Speaker 1: with elaborate arrangements like this, and the sort of general 540 00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:17,080 Speaker 1: physical recipes for magic. I mean, this is the kind 541 00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:19,160 Speaker 1: of thing that always makes me wonder where does this 542 00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:23,640 Speaker 1: come from? Is this derived from a series of past 543 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:27,400 Speaker 1: observations or practices that have been estranged from their original 544 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:32,040 Speaker 1: context over time, or or just accumulated more details over time, 545 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:34,880 Speaker 1: or did at some point did somebody just like get 546 00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:37,800 Speaker 1: a vision and make this up? I don't know. I 547 00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:41,400 Speaker 1: think I think the obvious case here is that is, 548 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:44,760 Speaker 1: of course, as a body lays out there, it is 549 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:48,080 Speaker 1: potentially going to swell and in doing so, or or 550 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:50,680 Speaker 1: there's gonna be some disturbance within as a you know, 551 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:53,920 Speaker 1: as as decomposition begins to take hold, that could cause 552 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:57,000 Speaker 1: spoons placed delicately on the body to fall from that 553 00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:00,320 Speaker 1: body and clatter on the floor, thus alerting you that's 554 00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:03,760 Speaker 1: something that's happening. But then who knows what other mystical 555 00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:07,760 Speaker 1: attachments are involved there as well, you know, concerning metal, 556 00:31:07,920 --> 00:31:11,120 Speaker 1: and you know, just all these various um magical ideas 557 00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:13,760 Speaker 1: that might be imbued in the just the idea of 558 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:17,600 Speaker 1: a spoon or the idea of a knife. Now, Rob, 559 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:20,080 Speaker 1: you've also sent me a picture of the surface of 560 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:23,360 Speaker 1: Mars for this episode. I wonder what game. Are you 561 00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:26,640 Speaker 1: at here? Yes, this is a two thousand and sixteen 562 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:29,960 Speaker 1: photo and uh you're listening out there. You can look 563 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:33,160 Speaker 1: it up as well. It was taken by NASA's Curiosity Rover, 564 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:37,160 Speaker 1: and it shows a formation on the surface of Mars 565 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:40,560 Speaker 1: that does look like a spoon. You know, you you 566 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,120 Speaker 1: look at it, and yeah, it looks like a spoon. 567 00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:46,840 Speaker 1: For some reason, someone has disposed of a spoon on 568 00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:50,200 Speaker 1: the surface of Mars, raising all sorts of questions. I mean, 569 00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:52,320 Speaker 1: I think the obvious reason would be there's nothing to 570 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:54,840 Speaker 1: eat on Mars. I mean, what you what are you 571 00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:56,640 Speaker 1: even gonna use that for? I mean, unless you catch 572 00:31:56,720 --> 00:32:00,080 Speaker 1: that rat The Curiosity rover also saw and then you 573 00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:01,880 Speaker 1: make a stew. But I don't know how you make 574 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:03,800 Speaker 1: a stew because it'd be hard to gather enough water. 575 00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:05,760 Speaker 1: I guess you really have to, you know, get a 576 00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:09,000 Speaker 1: lot of that frost out of the sand. Yeah. Well, 577 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:11,240 Speaker 1: I mean obviously the spoon would be for the face 578 00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:14,880 Speaker 1: on Mars, so that it can eat soup. Uh So, Yeah, 579 00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:17,800 Speaker 1: the face on Mars is more popular and and certainly 580 00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:22,840 Speaker 1: attracts more conspiracy thinking, but the spoon is also impressive. 581 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:25,120 Speaker 1: But just like the face, this is just a trick 582 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:27,680 Speaker 1: of the shadows. Uh. And in this case, it's a 583 00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:30,640 Speaker 1: trick of the shadows on a vent effect. That's a 584 00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:34,120 Speaker 1: rock shaped by wind. So basically you have just a 585 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:38,360 Speaker 1: a this this strange rock formation that is photographs in 586 00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:40,120 Speaker 1: just such a way that the shadows make it look 587 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:43,880 Speaker 1: like a spoon. So look it up. It's it's it's amusing, Okay, 588 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:46,400 Speaker 1: secondary use Wait a minute. No, the spoon is to 589 00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:48,560 Speaker 1: be placed on top of the face on Mars to 590 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:51,520 Speaker 1: make sure that the face doesn't move. That's true. Maybe 591 00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:53,560 Speaker 1: that is what the That was the real purpose of 592 00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:55,680 Speaker 1: this mission. Bring a spoon to Mars, place it to 593 00:32:55,720 --> 00:32:57,840 Speaker 1: top the face so that we can keep tabs on it. 594 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:01,320 Speaker 1: All right, Um, we're reaching the end here. But I 595 00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:04,840 Speaker 1: did want to touch touch base regarding some just some 596 00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:08,960 Speaker 1: I guess spoon pop culture uh notes here. Um, I 597 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:10,440 Speaker 1: don't know if you've ever seen this joke, but there 598 00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:12,800 Speaker 1: is a there's a wonderful video, the horribly slow murder 599 00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:15,920 Speaker 1: with the extremely inefficient weapon. I have not seen it. 600 00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:20,120 Speaker 1: I'm opening it now. Well, Um, it's it's it's it's 601 00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:23,480 Speaker 1: long enough. You probably want to watch it later. But basically, 602 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:27,120 Speaker 1: a person is pursued by someone with a spoon, and 603 00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:30,840 Speaker 1: they are hitting them with the spoon, attempting to kill them, 604 00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:33,400 Speaker 1: but it ends up taking a long time. It's an 605 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:36,880 Speaker 1: extremely inefficient weapon, and so it takes the murderer the 606 00:33:37,160 --> 00:33:39,920 Speaker 1: entirety of both their lives to pull it off. Okay, 607 00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:45,400 Speaker 1: this looks very good Chaotic Rampage American Pictures Presents. Yeah, 608 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:48,680 Speaker 1: so so, yeah, that's some fun, some fun viewing for 609 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:52,320 Speaker 1: later on. Now. Just talk of killing somebody with a spoon, 610 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:55,240 Speaker 1: or certainly cutting out their heart with a spoon, that 611 00:33:55,280 --> 00:33:57,360 Speaker 1: springs to mind Robin Hood's Prints of Thieves. You might 612 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:00,480 Speaker 1: remember the exchange between the guy that gives and the 613 00:34:00,520 --> 00:34:03,640 Speaker 1: Sheriff of Nottingham. Uh in part because he had too 614 00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:06,920 Speaker 1: tremendous actors there. You had Alan Rickman and Michael Wincott 615 00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:11,239 Speaker 1: in those roles, respectively. And the discussion is about why 616 00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:14,160 Speaker 1: you would use a spoon to kill someone. Uh. Yeah, 617 00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:17,719 Speaker 1: Michael Wincott's character does not quite understand that. Yeah, he's 618 00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:20,600 Speaker 1: like a spoon, why not an axe? And of course, uh, 619 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:23,600 Speaker 1: Alan Rickman's a sheriff of nodding. M says, because it's dull, 620 00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:27,520 Speaker 1: you twit, it'll hurt more. Uh so fun fun roles 621 00:34:27,640 --> 00:34:29,719 Speaker 1: in that film. Uh, the bad guys were a lot 622 00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:33,160 Speaker 1: of fun in that Um. Let's see worth noting that 623 00:34:33,280 --> 00:34:36,840 Speaker 1: the Ticks battle cry was spoon. In the Dark Tower series, 624 00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:40,320 Speaker 1: the Crimson King, in his original mortal form, kills himself 625 00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:43,719 Speaker 1: by swallowing a sharpened spoon, which seems to be part 626 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:46,560 Speaker 1: of a magical transformation that allows him to become this 627 00:34:46,680 --> 00:34:50,320 Speaker 1: immortal being with godlike powers. Uh. And of course this 628 00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:53,680 Speaker 1: raises the question, how about how about the spoon as 629 00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:56,560 Speaker 1: an actual murder weapon? Are there any accounts of this? Well, 630 00:34:57,120 --> 00:34:59,600 Speaker 1: there's a Bustle article about it by Sage Young published 631 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:02,640 Speaker 1: in twenty fifteen, and at least a couple of cases 632 00:35:02,719 --> 00:35:05,480 Speaker 1: of spoons as weapons and even murder weapons have emerged. 633 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:07,520 Speaker 1: In two thousand four a man in the UK was 634 00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:09,759 Speaker 1: acquitted of murder after he struck another man in the 635 00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:13,080 Speaker 1: back of the head with a dessert spoon, And in 636 00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:16,799 Speaker 1: two thousand fourteen, a Florida man was executed. Um he'd 637 00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:18,440 Speaker 1: been on death row and one of his crimes was 638 00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:21,799 Speaker 1: killing a prison guard with a sharpened spoon. I don't 639 00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:24,960 Speaker 1: think that completely counts because this was not sharpened for 640 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:27,839 Speaker 1: culinary purposes. But it was of course sharpened in order 641 00:35:27,880 --> 00:35:32,120 Speaker 1: to make a makeshift murder weapon and makeshift knife. But 642 00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:34,400 Speaker 1: still it goes to show that, yes, you you can 643 00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:35,759 Speaker 1: kill someone with a spoon. I don't know if you 644 00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:39,239 Speaker 1: can cut their heart out, but you can certainly in 645 00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:43,800 Speaker 1: someone's life now Rob. A number of listeners over the years, 646 00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:47,040 Speaker 1: I believe, have asked us to cover the sport, especially 647 00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:49,880 Speaker 1: we got this request several times on invention and I 648 00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:53,279 Speaker 1: don't think we ever took anyone up on it. No, 649 00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:55,839 Speaker 1: And uh, you know, honestly, I want to I want 650 00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:59,759 Speaker 1: to keep it that way. I think that, um, we 651 00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:03,760 Speaker 1: should do our part to erase the sport from history. 652 00:36:04,719 --> 00:36:07,920 Speaker 1: I think we should declare it forbidden technology that that 653 00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:10,640 Speaker 1: serves no purpose. Um, Like, have you ever used a 654 00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:13,600 Speaker 1: sport and or been forced to use a sport and 655 00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:15,840 Speaker 1: said this is this is great? Can I get some 656 00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:18,160 Speaker 1: of these from my house? Can I get Can I 657 00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:21,320 Speaker 1: get metal sports that I can use like it? No? 658 00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:25,800 Speaker 1: Nobody does that. I'm anti sport. Have you ever did 659 00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:27,520 Speaker 1: you ever have a pocket knife that had a spork 660 00:36:27,600 --> 00:36:30,640 Speaker 1: in it? I don't think I did. I never had 661 00:36:30,680 --> 00:36:33,040 Speaker 1: one of those really thick boy scout knives. With all 662 00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:35,359 Speaker 1: the with all the extra things in them. Um. Oh, 663 00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:37,960 Speaker 1: so you've never used a metal spork. I would say 664 00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:41,080 Speaker 1: a metal spork is more defensible than the plastic sport, 665 00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:43,560 Speaker 1: which is barely distinct, which is, I mean, pretty much 666 00:36:43,600 --> 00:36:47,400 Speaker 1: the same as a plastic spoon. Yeah, um, I know, 667 00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:50,920 Speaker 1: I do. We do have a couple of plastic implements 668 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:53,840 Speaker 1: that we sometimes refer to as spoon a forks, and 669 00:36:54,239 --> 00:36:57,520 Speaker 1: it is a it is a fork on one side 670 00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:00,600 Speaker 1: and one of the edge blades, one of the edge 671 00:37:00,640 --> 00:37:04,920 Speaker 1: prongs of the fork, uh is is basically a butter knife. 672 00:37:05,320 --> 00:37:07,000 Speaker 1: And then on the other end you have a spoon 673 00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:10,759 Speaker 1: so that I like, like the spoon remains pure, and 674 00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:13,080 Speaker 1: we can combine the fork and the knife into one 675 00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:15,319 Speaker 1: implement and we just have to switch back and forth. 676 00:37:15,560 --> 00:37:19,200 Speaker 1: I think that's called a sporf a sport. I'll send 677 00:37:19,280 --> 00:37:22,960 Speaker 1: the word at least. Okay, well I would. I'm I'm 678 00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:27,480 Speaker 1: marginally pro sporf, but I'm still anti sport. Well, maybe 679 00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:29,200 Speaker 1: we should let the listeners go and then we can 680 00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:32,000 Speaker 1: further discuss your the ethics of your holy war against 681 00:37:32,080 --> 00:37:34,480 Speaker 1: the sport. Okay, yeah, I don't know. Maybe there's some 682 00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:37,880 Speaker 1: compelling arguments out there for sports that I'm not aware of, UM, 683 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:41,080 Speaker 1: but I frankly doubt it. Somehow I feel that a 684 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:44,880 Speaker 1: plastic sport is the only uh utensil appropriate for the 685 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:48,520 Speaker 1: eating of the Texas specialty, the Freedo pie served in 686 00:37:48,640 --> 00:37:51,160 Speaker 1: the freed Do's bag, despite the fact that there's nothing 687 00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:56,919 Speaker 1: in a Freedo pie that requires the ties to pierce it. Um. Yeah, 688 00:37:57,120 --> 00:38:01,239 Speaker 1: well that does sound plausible. UM. I've I remember having 689 00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:03,920 Speaker 1: those in UM as part of the school lunch at 690 00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:06,799 Speaker 1: one point when I was a kid, UM where they 691 00:38:06,840 --> 00:38:08,600 Speaker 1: would just take the Freedo bag and they would just 692 00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:11,040 Speaker 1: just like a lump of of meat that they drop 693 00:38:11,200 --> 00:38:14,160 Speaker 1: in there. Yeah. Nothing feels better in your hand than 694 00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:19,480 Speaker 1: just like holding a bag with something warm inside it. Uh. 695 00:38:20,960 --> 00:38:23,640 Speaker 1: All right, Well, you know, I think it's it's time 696 00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:25,040 Speaker 1: for us to wrap this one up. We're gonna go 697 00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:29,640 Speaker 1: ahead and close the case on this fine assortment of spoons. 698 00:38:29,719 --> 00:38:32,400 Speaker 1: We're going to take that case, so we're gonna we're 699 00:38:32,440 --> 00:38:34,440 Speaker 1: gonna store it away and we're not gonna get it 700 00:38:34,480 --> 00:38:37,640 Speaker 1: out again until there's a special occasion. But in the meantime, 701 00:38:38,160 --> 00:38:41,720 Speaker 1: if you have some thoughts on spoons, the invention of spoons, 702 00:38:41,760 --> 00:38:43,719 Speaker 1: the use of spoons. We would we would really love 703 00:38:43,760 --> 00:38:46,400 Speaker 1: to hear from you, like, especially if it's something you know, regional, 704 00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:49,080 Speaker 1: something cultural, something that's important to do you or your 705 00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:52,839 Speaker 1: family that's been passed down some some kid bit about 706 00:38:52,880 --> 00:38:55,680 Speaker 1: the history of spoons that we missed here, your thoughts 707 00:38:55,760 --> 00:38:58,799 Speaker 1: even on sports, so we will we will entertain them. Um. 708 00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:00,520 Speaker 1: And also in the meantime, I want to check out 709 00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:03,080 Speaker 1: other episodes of Stuff to Blow Your Mind. Core episodes 710 00:39:03,120 --> 00:39:05,160 Speaker 1: published in the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast feed 711 00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:09,680 Speaker 1: on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Um. Usually we publish artifact on Wednesday's, 712 00:39:09,760 --> 00:39:12,880 Speaker 1: listener mail on Monday's and Friday's we do Weird How 713 00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:16,080 Speaker 1: cinema episodes and a vault episode a rerun on the 714 00:39:16,160 --> 00:39:19,800 Speaker 1: weekend's Huge Thanks as always to our excellent audio producer 715 00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:22,400 Speaker 1: Seth Nicholas Johnson. If you would like to get in 716 00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:25,000 Speaker 1: touch for us with feedback on this episode or any other, 717 00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:27,560 Speaker 1: to suggest a topic for the future, just to say hello, 718 00:39:27,719 --> 00:39:30,439 Speaker 1: you can email us at contact at stuff to Blow 719 00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:40,480 Speaker 1: your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is 720 00:39:40,520 --> 00:39:43,200 Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts for my 721 00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:46,320 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app Apple Podcasts or 722 00:39:46,320 --> 00:39:48,040 Speaker 1: wherever you're listening to your favorite shows,