1 00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:05,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind production of My 2 00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:11,800 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey you welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind. 3 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 1: Listener mail. My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, 4 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:18,079 Speaker 1: and it's Monday, the day of the week that we 5 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:21,439 Speaker 1: read back messages from the mail bag, messages you out 6 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:24,160 Speaker 1: there and the audience have sent into our show account, which, 7 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:25,680 Speaker 1: by the way, if you'd like to get in touch 8 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:30,040 Speaker 1: is contact at Stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. 9 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:33,559 Speaker 1: That's contact at Stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. Uh, 10 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: get in touch for any reason at all. If you 11 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 1: have feedback on an episode that has aired in the past, 12 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: if you have h corrections, things to add to a topic, 13 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:44,839 Speaker 1: suggestions for future topics, or if you just want to 14 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: share something interesting, email anytime. That's right. And if you 15 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:51,480 Speaker 1: want to join the Stuff to Blow your Mind discord, 16 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: well email us and I'll send to the link. All right, 17 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: We've got no other preliminary business as far as I know, 18 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: So rob do you mind if I jump right in 19 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:03,720 Speaker 1: with this first message? In response to our episodes about 20 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:07,840 Speaker 1: animals throwing things, yeah, good for it. Oh and humans 21 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 1: throwing things. By the way, we we focused entirely on 22 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:13,839 Speaker 1: humans in the fourth episode. Yeah. By by the fourth 23 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: episode it had completely evolved. So this first message was 24 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:26,440 Speaker 1: from Maya, subject line the Throwing Madonna. And this email 25 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:30,399 Speaker 1: was interesting because we had just finished recording an episode 26 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:34,560 Speaker 1: covering exactly the subject Maya raises here when the email 27 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:37,720 Speaker 1: came in, so it was certainly a bull's eye of 28 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:41,520 Speaker 1: a suggestion, but she had some additional detail and color 29 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:44,920 Speaker 1: about this idea from from William Calvin, so I thought 30 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 1: I would read this here on listener mail anyway, So 31 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:51,760 Speaker 1: Maya rites, Hello Robin Joe, congratulations on the new baby 32 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 1: girl Joe. I'm sure she will contribute with a ton 33 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:57,600 Speaker 1: of new ideas for the show. Children are so weird 34 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:01,520 Speaker 1: and interesting. I will skip over this opportunity to go 35 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 1: on a baby looked at Me tangent. Maya goes on 36 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 1: your recent series on animals. Throwing things brought to mind. 37 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:13,079 Speaker 1: The Throwing Madonna, a nine three book by William Calvin 38 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:16,040 Speaker 1: in which he explores many ideas about the evolution of 39 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:19,160 Speaker 1: the brain. The essay that lends the book its title is, 40 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:23,920 Speaker 1: in Calvin's words, quote a parody involving maternal heartbeat sounds 41 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:28,120 Speaker 1: on the typically male theories of handedness. In this essay, 42 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:32,960 Speaker 1: he speculates that mother's would favor carrying their infant children 43 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 1: with the left arm, so the kids would purportedly be 44 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: soothed by her heartbeats. This would leave the right arm 45 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:43,520 Speaker 1: free for throwing stones in order to hunt small game 46 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:47,720 Speaker 1: and procure her sustenance. And the rest is evolution. On 47 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:51,520 Speaker 1: a more serious, although equally stimulating note, Calvin also discusses 48 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 1: in a chapter devoted to the relationship between the act 49 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 1: of throwing and our huge brains, that the left hemisphere 50 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: quote seems to have a specialization for muscle sequencing, not 51 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: only for hand movement, but for oral facial movements as well. Thus, 52 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:11,240 Speaker 1: those hominins that perfected pitching stones. And then a little 53 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:14,480 Speaker 1: parenthetical here quote action at a distance one of the 54 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 1: better inventions of biological evolution, since sex, says Calvin, close 55 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:24,720 Speaker 1: parenthetical via their left hemispheres would also be inadvertently selecting 56 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: for the evolution of language. Uh. And then she concludes, 57 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:34,520 Speaker 1: go for it, OCTOPI all the best, Mayo. For some reason, 58 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 1: we keep coming back to this like, Okay, what's it 59 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:38,800 Speaker 1: gonna take. What's it gonna take for the octopus to 60 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:42,600 Speaker 1: uh to get on the path to technological intelligence, and 61 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: I feel like the big barrier for me is always 62 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:50,000 Speaker 1: their relatively antisocial nature when compared to primates. So you know, 63 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 1: I uh, language, I think is a big part of 64 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:57,119 Speaker 1: that process. And I don't know what kind of biological 65 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:00,680 Speaker 1: impetus there is for developing language when you just don't 66 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: really want to be around or deal with other octopuses. Yeah, 67 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 1: what can they say to another octopus that they cannot 68 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 1: already say by throwing dirt or rocks at them? Yeah, 69 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 1: but no reason not to be optimistic. Yeah, a little 70 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:24,560 Speaker 1: octo optimism for the day. Thank you for the email. Maya. Alright, 71 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:27,440 Speaker 1: this next one comes to us from Carrie Carry rides 72 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:30,560 Speaker 1: in and says Rob and Joe, I was surprised that 73 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 1: in your animal throwing stuff part two episodes you didn't 74 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 1: mention elephants throwing sand, dirt, and mud onto their backs 75 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:38,960 Speaker 1: with their trunks. This is a well documented behavior and 76 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:41,680 Speaker 1: it's definitely the purposeful throwing of stuff that has been 77 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:44,279 Speaker 1: explained as them trying to ward off insects and provide 78 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 1: a protection from the sun. The action is not unlike 79 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 1: an octopus throwing sand at other octopuses, at least as 80 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:52,599 Speaker 1: far as the material being thrown is concerned. Keep up 81 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:56,240 Speaker 1: a good work carry yes, thankscry Yeah, I think I 82 00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:58,680 Speaker 1: think I kind of glossed over this detail and discussing 83 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:02,279 Speaker 1: the evolution of the la elephant tool use as a 84 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:07,120 Speaker 1: parasite control and a way of uh thermoregulation. But yes, 85 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:09,479 Speaker 1: this is of course one of the major ways that 86 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 1: they use tools in the in in this case often 87 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:16,160 Speaker 1: just dirt and sand as a way of covering up 88 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:20,520 Speaker 1: that thick elephant skin that again looks so tough to us, 89 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 1: but it's actually quite sensitive and need to be protected 90 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:26,760 Speaker 1: from parasites and the sun. You know, this email makes 91 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 1: me wonder in what ways we're limited by thinking about 92 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:35,080 Speaker 1: tools often as like solid, fixed form objects like a 93 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:38,360 Speaker 1: tool is maybe a stick or a rock. But why 94 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:42,479 Speaker 1: isn't a tool equally constituted by you know, an amorphous 95 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 1: mass of substance like a clump of dirt or a 96 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:49,800 Speaker 1: you know, uh massive water. Yeah. So, or as we 97 00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:54,280 Speaker 1: discussed in one of these episodes of primate poop, tool 98 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 1: or not a tool? Um, yeah, And I think in 99 00:05:57,040 --> 00:05:59,359 Speaker 1: this case I was clearly I was distracted by the 100 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:03,680 Speaker 1: prospect of elephants throwing arrows, or at least stones and 101 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 1: and and tree limbs, uh and and maybe a horse 102 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:09,279 Speaker 1: thrown in there as well that I just kind of 103 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:11,800 Speaker 1: glossed over dirt and sand. It's hard to get into 104 00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:14,920 Speaker 1: and excited about dirt as as a as a tool used, 105 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:19,000 Speaker 1: but it really is. Now speaking of elephant tool use, throwing, 106 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:21,880 Speaker 1: and poop, all of these come together in the next email. 107 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 1: This is from Mike. Mike says, Hi, Joe and Rob. 108 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:32,200 Speaker 1: About twenty five years ago, my future wife and I 109 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:36,000 Speaker 1: went to the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. The elephants 110 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:38,799 Speaker 1: there had an outdoor environment that was a half circle 111 00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:41,919 Speaker 1: with a five foot railing and a waterless moat between 112 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:45,159 Speaker 1: them and us. There were three elephants in this area. 113 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:49,160 Speaker 1: We noticed that about twenty five people were intently watching 114 00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:53,120 Speaker 1: and wondered why. Then we saw the dung everywhere at 115 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:56,160 Speaker 1: our feet. It was spread across the sidewall area where 116 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: everyone was standing. One large elephant was standing in front, 117 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:03,359 Speaker 1: near the edge of the enclosure. Suddenly he whipped his 118 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:06,720 Speaker 1: trunk from between his legs and nailed one of the 119 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:10,840 Speaker 1: three pea hens that were walking near us. This was amazing. 120 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 1: He threw the dung about thirty five to forty feet 121 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:16,360 Speaker 1: and it literally knocked the bird to the ground. It 122 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:21,200 Speaker 1: hit with a thud, perfect shot. Next, he counterclockwise curled 123 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:24,080 Speaker 1: the end of his trunk, grabbed some more dung, and 124 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:26,720 Speaker 1: hit the woman who is nearest him in the face. 125 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:29,800 Speaker 1: She got her arms up and blocked it, but it 126 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:32,680 Speaker 1: was accurate. A girl was yelling to her mother on 127 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:35,040 Speaker 1: the right side of us to come see the elephant, 128 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:38,080 Speaker 1: and he appeared to turn away from her and point 129 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:40,680 Speaker 1: toward a couple of pea hens who had returned to 130 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:43,480 Speaker 1: the area at that moment. He whipped his trunk to 131 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 1: the left and beamed the girl in the waste area. 132 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:49,680 Speaker 1: She was startled and took off running. The elephant quickly 133 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:52,360 Speaker 1: grabbed more dung and nailed her in the head as 134 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:56,240 Speaker 1: she ran toward her mother again. Mike says, it was amazing. 135 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 1: I guess that is amazing, though I'm sure not what 136 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 1: people had in mind for the trip to the zoo 137 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 1: that day. Yeah, I hope everyone was okay anyway, Mike says, 138 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:08,640 Speaker 1: given this, I suspect you're going to hear a lot 139 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:12,240 Speaker 1: about such stories. When you were talking about elephants throwing spears, 140 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:16,800 Speaker 1: I thought, with practice and help with technique, absolutely. You 141 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:18,920 Speaker 1: didn't talk about what I believe would be the most 142 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 1: frightening situation, an elephant throwing something heavy. They are incredibly strong, 143 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:27,800 Speaker 1: combined that with speed and accuracy. Wow. What impressed me 144 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:30,480 Speaker 1: most was the accuracy. I got the sense he was 145 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:37,200 Speaker 1: having fun, perhaps testing himself. He passed. Thanks, good show, Mike. Well, Mike, 146 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:41,160 Speaker 1: as you're describing this story, I don't know that this 147 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:47,199 Speaker 1: sounds to me like more consistent throwing accuracy than I 148 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:50,240 Speaker 1: had been led to believe elephants were usually going to 149 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 1: be capable of as certainly without training. I don't know. 150 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:56,240 Speaker 1: I mean, I don't think it's too surprising based on well, 151 00:08:56,280 --> 00:08:58,679 Speaker 1: I mean we did. We discussed accounts where where they 152 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:01,640 Speaker 1: had been trained to throw arts at balloons, which clearly 153 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:04,880 Speaker 1: they have been encouraged to do, but also that is 154 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:09,600 Speaker 1: clearly taking advantage of of some sort of natural ability. Uh. 155 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:11,679 Speaker 1: And then we do have those, uh, those clips from 156 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:14,800 Speaker 1: the wild of an elephant throwing, for instance, a rock 157 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:18,040 Speaker 1: at a rhino, elephant throwing a limb at a lady 158 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:22,120 Speaker 1: in a truck on safari or something like that. So um, yeah, 159 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:24,120 Speaker 1: I mean they seem to be good shots when they 160 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: are in the mood to do it. I guess a 161 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:29,959 Speaker 1: lot of the examples I'd seen of elephants throwing stuff 162 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:32,640 Speaker 1: in the wild, it looked more to me like a 163 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:36,440 Speaker 1: not like a you know, super accurate pitch, but just 164 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:40,760 Speaker 1: kind of a toss in the general direction of something. Yeah, 165 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: I guess that. You know, a lot of it comes 166 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:45,360 Speaker 1: down to like what is being emoated by the throwing? 167 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:47,920 Speaker 1: Is it kind of just a general throwing stuff around? 168 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:50,880 Speaker 1: Are they, you know, peppering their back with dirt or 169 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:53,319 Speaker 1: do they have an infra some pe hens uh that 170 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:56,079 Speaker 1: sort of thing. Are they a little disturbed that there's 171 00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:58,800 Speaker 1: a vehicle in their vicinity or a rhino near the 172 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:01,520 Speaker 1: water gung hole or something? Think of that effect as 173 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:04,400 Speaker 1: for throwing larger objects, And I think we did mention 174 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:09,920 Speaker 1: them potentially throwing human beings and war horses and tree limbs, 175 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:12,880 Speaker 1: and that's plenty big. I would not want anything bigger 176 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:15,400 Speaker 1: than that thrown at me by an elephant, And I 177 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 1: mean I would assume nothing smaller was thrown at me 178 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:21,320 Speaker 1: by an elephant either. But anyway, very illuminating. Thank you 179 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:28,760 Speaker 1: for the email, Mike. All right, here's another one that's 180 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:31,160 Speaker 1: one comes to us from Jerome Jerome rites and says, 181 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:33,840 Speaker 1: listening to the first part of the animals Throwing Things episode, 182 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:36,920 Speaker 1: I'm sure it would seem reasonable that certainly highly intelligent 183 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:39,520 Speaker 1: animals would throw objects. However, it makes me think of 184 00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:43,880 Speaker 1: my ball python when she eats her large rat frozen 185 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 1: and reheated. After constricting the rat, she will then poke 186 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:51,520 Speaker 1: her face around the rat in her grasp to try 187 00:10:51,559 --> 00:10:54,280 Speaker 1: to find the head, since she must swallow the rat 188 00:10:54,559 --> 00:10:57,400 Speaker 1: snout first in order for it to go down. Sometimes 189 00:10:57,440 --> 00:10:59,600 Speaker 1: it appears she will get frustrated and throw the rat 190 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:02,280 Speaker 1: to the other side of her feeding bin to try 191 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:06,120 Speaker 1: to reorient the feeder and try again finding the snout. 192 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:09,760 Speaker 1: This is obviously purposeful throwing, and only observed in this 193 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:14,000 Speaker 1: particular instance. I hope you all might find this interesting. Yeah, 194 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:16,840 Speaker 1: so it sounds like the snake is using throwing as 195 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:20,360 Speaker 1: a kind of physical reset button on a behavior. Yeah, 196 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:22,760 Speaker 1: the way I'm picturing it, it makes sense like it's 197 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 1: not a situation where merely dropping the animal is the 198 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:29,959 Speaker 1: most energy efficient thing to do, because then the snake 199 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:34,440 Speaker 1: potentially has to then reorient its entire body. But if 200 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:38,080 Speaker 1: it can just sort of like throw the rodent to 201 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:41,600 Speaker 1: the side, then it perhaps has to use less energy 202 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:44,800 Speaker 1: than to get in position to feed. Again. Yeah, I 203 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:47,120 Speaker 1: also I don't think I realized that bull python had 204 00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:50,560 Speaker 1: to swallow the rats. Now first, I mean, it makes 205 00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:53,320 Speaker 1: sense now that it's it's said to me. I believe this, 206 00:11:53,559 --> 00:11:56,199 Speaker 1: not that it's mentioned, because I'm just kind of imagining 207 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:59,400 Speaker 1: how that depends us, that snake would need to eat 208 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:02,080 Speaker 1: the road. Yeah. And it's more, Um, I want to 209 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:08,840 Speaker 1: say aerodynamic, that's not the word. More dynamic. More throw too, dynamic, 210 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:22,280 Speaker 1: digesto dynamic. There you go. Yeah, okay, next message also 211 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:26,400 Speaker 1: about throwing animals. This comes from Jasper. This involves the 212 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:30,400 Speaker 1: pronunciation of the names of Swedish places. I apologize for 213 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:33,679 Speaker 1: how I'm probably gonna get that wrong, but um, Jessper says, 214 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:36,360 Speaker 1: listening to your two part series about throwing, I was 215 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:39,120 Speaker 1: reminded of a myth I heard as a kid related 216 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:41,920 Speaker 1: to the topic. In my home country, Sweden, you will 217 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 1: find tons of lakes. The two largest ones are easily 218 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 1: visible on a map, situated in the mid south of 219 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:53,679 Speaker 1: the country and named Vaughnern and Vatern respectively. If you 220 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:57,040 Speaker 1: take a look at the southern Baltic Sea east of Sweden, 221 00:12:57,080 --> 00:13:01,240 Speaker 1: you will find the country's largest islands, oh and Gotland. 222 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:07,720 Speaker 1: Fun fact. Ohlan literally means island land. Okay, it doesn't 223 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:10,280 Speaker 1: take a lot of imagination to see that the two 224 00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:15,000 Speaker 1: lakes and islands have a striking resemblance in shape and size. 225 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:18,319 Speaker 1: The version of the myth I heard was about two 226 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:22,240 Speaker 1: giants having a throwing contest. One of them picked up 227 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:24,680 Speaker 1: a huge part of the earth and threw it into 228 00:13:24,679 --> 00:13:29,120 Speaker 1: the Baltic Sea, creating Gotland, and when the whole eventually 229 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:33,200 Speaker 1: filled up with water Vonnern the other giant didn't manage 230 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:35,720 Speaker 1: to pick up as much material or throw it as far, 231 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:40,079 Speaker 1: but it resulted in Vatern and oh Land. M H. 232 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:43,320 Speaker 1: I couldn't find much information about the myth on Google, 233 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:46,320 Speaker 1: but I did run into another myth about a Swedish 234 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:49,960 Speaker 1: giant throwing things. The giant Vista had been visiting the 235 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:53,400 Speaker 1: region between the two largest lakes to attend a party 236 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:56,000 Speaker 1: and was on his way home. He picked up a 237 00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:58,559 Speaker 1: piece of the land and threw it in Vatern to 238 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:01,480 Speaker 1: have a patch of land to step on before he 239 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:05,920 Speaker 1: continued his journey. This created the Lake Lens Young or 240 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:10,440 Speaker 1: the land Lake, and the island of Visingso, situated in 241 00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:14,040 Speaker 1: Sodern Thanks for making my day several days a week. 242 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:16,720 Speaker 1: Keep it up. Still looking forward to those episodes about 243 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:20,520 Speaker 1: the moons of the Solar Systems outer planets. Oh yeah, 244 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:22,960 Speaker 1: we did say we would do this. I think I 245 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:25,680 Speaker 1: always fear that maybe there's less to say about them, 246 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:30,320 Speaker 1: but surely that's not true. M Yeah. Or and if 247 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:33,680 Speaker 1: we have to cobble them together, cover more than one's 248 00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:35,880 Speaker 1: one plan. I mean, the way we do approach them 249 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:38,480 Speaker 1: in the past two is we we discussed a lot 250 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:41,480 Speaker 1: of the mythology, the Greek and Roman mythology that it 251 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:44,800 Speaker 1: might be tied up in the naming. Uh So, yeah, 252 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:47,000 Speaker 1: there's plenty to discuss. We just need to getting a 253 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:54,240 Speaker 1: spacey mood, all right. This next one comes to us 254 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:58,720 Speaker 1: from Joe the Listener. Uh. Joe the Listener says, hey, guys, 255 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:01,200 Speaker 1: thanks for the funds. He is I'm throwing animals. When 256 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:04,240 Speaker 1: you talked about the mere cats throwing centipedes, I was 257 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:09,800 Speaker 1: instantly reminded of my family's backyard at chickens. Our chickens 258 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:13,240 Speaker 1: surprized the tender morsel that is a common garden snail. 259 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:17,240 Speaker 1: When they acquire one, a tremendous flurry of activity ensues 260 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:20,560 Speaker 1: as they wrestle one another for the delicious treat. One 261 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:24,520 Speaker 1: critical aspect of this excitement is extracting the snail from 262 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:26,960 Speaker 1: its shell. Typically, the chickens will do this by grabbing 263 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:30,680 Speaker 1: the unfortunate mollusk by its head and whacking it against 264 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:33,360 Speaker 1: the ground until the shell breaks. They can and do 265 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:36,600 Speaker 1: throw the snails. The jury is still out on whether 266 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:39,160 Speaker 1: this is intentional or not, but the throws seem to 267 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:43,200 Speaker 1: be preferentially targeted at tree trunks in large rocks, leading 268 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:47,000 Speaker 1: credence to my hypothesis that they are being thoughtful about it. 269 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:49,640 Speaker 1: I did a bit of research and this behavior is 270 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:53,280 Speaker 1: not uncommonly observed in birds. Song thrushes in particular, are 271 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:56,880 Speaker 1: known for smashing snails on rocks. The literary reference to 272 00:15:56,920 --> 00:16:00,640 Speaker 1: the thrush knocking at Smog's door is unmis stakable and 273 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:05,000 Speaker 1: no doubt of special interest to you both. Yeah, oh, okay, 274 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:07,040 Speaker 1: this is interesting. This is kind of like what I 275 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:10,840 Speaker 1: used to observe my dog doing, throwing the puzzle, you know, 276 00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:13,960 Speaker 1: treat containing toy up against the wall, or just kind 277 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:15,880 Speaker 1: of tossing it in general to see if you can 278 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:18,840 Speaker 1: get the thing out from the middle. Ah, you should 279 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:20,600 Speaker 1: have brought that up. We were talking about air bud. 280 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 1: I did we talked about it? You do we talked 281 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:26,160 Speaker 1: about this? Yeah? No, no, I don't, okay blank that 282 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:28,480 Speaker 1: we recorded this just the other day. I know, you 283 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:31,120 Speaker 1: know sometimes that you know, I'm I'm I'm looking ahead 284 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:34,120 Speaker 1: in the notes. I must have blanked on that. That's okay, 285 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:36,800 Speaker 1: I know how that it feels. Yeah, I mean, it 286 00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:42,280 Speaker 1: wasn't a ball, it wasn't quite basketball, but that's still okay. 287 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:44,840 Speaker 1: Um that now the and that you know, I also 288 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:47,560 Speaker 1: am blanking on this particular part of the hobbit. I 289 00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:52,840 Speaker 1: don't remember the thrush knocking at smocks door. I don't either, Actually, 290 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:56,000 Speaker 1: what what? Okay? So I'm just gonna google it. Okay, 291 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:59,200 Speaker 1: I'd totally forgotten about this plot detail, but a quick 292 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:02,960 Speaker 1: Google search suggests that the thrush is significant in the 293 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:06,480 Speaker 1: Hobbit in helping the party, like Bilbo and the and 294 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:09,800 Speaker 1: the dwarves, find the entrance or find out how to 295 00:17:09,840 --> 00:17:13,840 Speaker 1: open the entrance to the What's it? The Misty mountain 296 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:18,760 Speaker 1: Ers are lonely mountain a small cavern because the thrush 297 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:21,840 Speaker 1: is throwing a snail against the door of the cavern 298 00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:23,760 Speaker 1: to try to break it. I guess and get the 299 00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:27,240 Speaker 1: snail out. But this gives them some kind of indication 300 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:30,399 Speaker 1: of how the door works. Okay, al right, that does 301 00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:34,520 Speaker 1: sound faintly familiar. Now, sorry to disappoint you, listener, Joe, 302 00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:37,600 Speaker 1: I'm sure you expected us to get that reference right away. 303 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:40,399 Speaker 1: Let's see. Should we finish off with a couple of 304 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:48,080 Speaker 1: messages about weird house cinema? Well, I'll do this one 305 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:52,560 Speaker 1: from Pamela. Pamela says, Hi, Joe and Robert. Even though 306 00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:56,000 Speaker 1: it was over forty years ago, I absolutely remember the 307 00:17:56,040 --> 00:18:01,159 Speaker 1: advanced promos for Scanners because they told nothing about the movie. 308 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:04,760 Speaker 1: It was a commercial that mostly showed an audience viewing 309 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:08,639 Speaker 1: the movie with tiny clips and the ten seconds and 310 00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:12,280 Speaker 1: you feel the pain voice over. The audience reaction was 311 00:18:12,359 --> 00:18:16,280 Speaker 1: dramatic and profound, to say the least. And Pamela says, 312 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:18,240 Speaker 1: A group of my teen friends and I had to 313 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:21,520 Speaker 1: see this, uh the second it hit down, and we 314 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:26,080 Speaker 1: did Holly, a bunch of let's see dollar signs, ampersand 315 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:28,400 Speaker 1: even I think a euro sign in there. So this 316 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:32,920 Speaker 1: is this is European swearing, Uh, money's worth and bragging 317 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:36,840 Speaker 1: rights and spoiler rights. Hey, we were teenagers. The theater 318 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:40,160 Speaker 1: shouldn't have even led us in. Technically, I have attached 319 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:42,760 Speaker 1: a link to the TV spot that worked so well 320 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:45,119 Speaker 1: on us. Maybe we can play a little bit of 321 00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:47,880 Speaker 1: the audio of this TV spot here. Yeah, let's play 322 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:49,800 Speaker 1: a little bit at least from the beginning where you 323 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:53,400 Speaker 1: where they established the audience. You are watching the live 324 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:56,080 Speaker 1: filming of the theater audience reaction to scenes from the 325 00:18:56,080 --> 00:19:02,440 Speaker 1: motion picture scanners. Ten seconds the pain begins its gree 326 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:12,360 Speaker 1: seconds you can't twenty seconds you explode, experience the terrifying 327 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:16,959 Speaker 1: power of anyway, Pamela says, love everything you guys do 328 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:20,920 Speaker 1: looking forward to Weird House number one d Pamela, this 329 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:23,440 Speaker 1: is a great spot because it's kind of like William Castle, 330 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:26,639 Speaker 1: except without tazing the audience. It's just letting the movie 331 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:30,159 Speaker 1: actually do what William Castle was always suggesting it would do, 332 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:32,960 Speaker 1: you know, have people like screaming in the aisles and 333 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:36,000 Speaker 1: nearly vomiting in the in their seats. This trailer does 334 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:38,120 Speaker 1: a great job of, first of all, implying that this 335 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:41,560 Speaker 1: is a spectacle that you need to behold, and you 336 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:44,080 Speaker 1: need to view it communally. You need to be a 337 00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:48,119 Speaker 1: part of the movie going uh public in order to 338 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:51,320 Speaker 1: fully appreciate this, which is sound. That's as a sound 339 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:53,480 Speaker 1: argument I think for going to the movies in general. 340 00:19:54,119 --> 00:19:56,600 Speaker 1: But then it's kind of implies that your head might 341 00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:59,000 Speaker 1: blow up on watching the film too, Like they don't 342 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:01,200 Speaker 1: tell you that's not going to happen, and they kind 343 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:04,480 Speaker 1: of imply that it will, and that we don't get 344 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:08,040 Speaker 1: enough of today and trail looks like nobody's saying if 345 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:11,600 Speaker 1: you set and watch all of Avatar too, your skin 346 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: will turn blue. Like the Voice of God isn't telling 347 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:17,119 Speaker 1: us that, and they're not. They're not daring us to 348 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:20,639 Speaker 1: enter the theater anymore. Yeah, it's really a shame. I 349 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:24,240 Speaker 1: I do like the brand of movie marketing that explicitly 350 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:28,760 Speaker 1: says this film will harm you. And certainly movies today 351 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:32,120 Speaker 1: still have vast potential to harm. So there's a lot 352 00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:35,000 Speaker 1: to warn about. All right, here's one more that SI 353 00:20:35,119 --> 00:20:43,760 Speaker 1: comes to us from Eric via our discord. Eric says, 354 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:46,920 Speaker 1: so I recently watched The Werewolf versus the Vampire Woman. 355 00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:50,359 Speaker 1: It was enjoyable enough, but the standout was the lead. 356 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:53,159 Speaker 1: He was absolutely great. I looked him up and found 357 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:56,040 Speaker 1: out it was Paul Nashi, who I had never heard 358 00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:58,920 Speaker 1: of anyway, It's fast forward to today and continuing my 359 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:03,680 Speaker 1: catchup of the cast by the podcast by listening to 360 00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:07,240 Speaker 1: the Weird House Cinema episode of Horror Rises from the Tomb. 361 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:10,040 Speaker 1: I was delighted to hear this man has a dozen 362 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:14,000 Speaker 1: other werewolf movies under his belt. Definitely looking to add 363 00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:16,480 Speaker 1: more of his films to my watch list, not to 364 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:20,399 Speaker 1: mention Horror Rizes and also Assignment Terror. Still need to 365 00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:23,600 Speaker 1: listen to this episode, Eric, I gotta say I was 366 00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:26,520 Speaker 1: surprised by this message because I did not expect we 367 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:29,720 Speaker 1: would get pre existing Paul Nashy fans coming in on 368 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:32,320 Speaker 1: our episodes. Yeah. I mean, we're trying to spread the 369 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:35,159 Speaker 1: gospel of Paul Nashy. Uh, but I mean he does, 370 00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:37,560 Speaker 1: he does have, he already has a following. But it 371 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:40,040 Speaker 1: was nice to hear from someone who had encountered him, uh, 372 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:42,240 Speaker 1: you know, in the wild as it were. And I 373 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:44,879 Speaker 1: also agree with Eric, it is inherently comforting to know 374 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:49,840 Speaker 1: that the strategic reserves of Paul Nashy films is well stocked. Um, 375 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:52,160 Speaker 1: you know, there's there's so much out there to explore. 376 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:55,040 Speaker 1: It's nice on one level, you know, you want to 377 00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:57,880 Speaker 1: watch all the movies you want to watch, especially though 378 00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:01,160 Speaker 1: you know older films. Having a blog of films that 379 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:03,639 Speaker 1: you won't have time to watch all of them. I 380 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:05,480 Speaker 1: mean that can be that can get you down, I guess, 381 00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:07,640 Speaker 1: but also it's nice to know that you have all 382 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:11,240 Speaker 1: that untapped potential. So um, as far as Weird House goes, 383 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:14,320 Speaker 1: it's it's too soon to start thinking about the next 384 00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:17,240 Speaker 1: Paul Nashy movie, but I will say one. I'm very 385 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:21,040 Speaker 1: interested in his nine Hunchback of the Morgue, in which 386 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:24,200 Speaker 1: you guessed at Paul Nashi plays a hunchback who works 387 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:26,639 Speaker 1: in a morgue. Is he also a werewolf? No? I 388 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:28,320 Speaker 1: don't think he's a werewolf from this one. He's just 389 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:31,200 Speaker 1: a hunchback who falls in love with a dying woman. 390 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:36,160 Speaker 1: Look at my range. All right, We're gonna go ahead 391 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:38,480 Speaker 1: and close the mail bag then for another day, but 392 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:40,680 Speaker 1: we'll be back next week. We have messages we didn't 393 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:42,800 Speaker 1: even get to in this one, and I'm sure more 394 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:44,960 Speaker 1: will come in so so keep it coming. If you 395 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:49,400 Speaker 1: have thoughts on past episodes, current episodes, potential future episodes 396 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:51,840 Speaker 1: of stuff to blow your mind of Weird House Cinema 397 00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:54,680 Speaker 1: of other listener male episodes of Artifact or Monster Fact 398 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:57,560 Speaker 1: episodes right in We would love to hear from you. 399 00:22:58,200 --> 00:22:59,920 Speaker 1: In the meantime, we'll just remind you, yeah, it was 400 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:02,359 Speaker 1: your mail comes out every Monday. Core episodes of Stuff 401 00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:04,680 Speaker 1: to Blow Your Mind on Tuesday and Thursday, Monster Factor 402 00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:07,280 Speaker 1: Artifact on Wednesday, and on Friday. We set aside most 403 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:09,359 Speaker 1: serious concerns to just talk about a weird film on 404 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:14,280 Speaker 1: Weird House Cinema. Huge thanks to our audio producer J J. Pauseway. 405 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:16,360 Speaker 1: If you would like to get in touch with us 406 00:23:16,359 --> 00:23:19,120 Speaker 1: with feedback on this episode or any other, to suggest 407 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:22,199 Speaker 1: topic for the future, to share something interesting, or just 408 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:25,760 Speaker 1: to say hello, you can email us at contact at 409 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:36,000 Speaker 1: stuff to blow your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow 410 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,560 Speaker 1: Your Mind is production of I Heart Radio. For more 411 00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:41,200 Speaker 1: podcasts my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 412 00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:44,119 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.