WEBVTT - How Land Diving Works 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:02.840 This episode is brought to you by square Space. Start 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:06.280 building your website today at square space dot com. Enter 0:00:06.400 --> 0:00:09.479 our offer code stuff at check out to get ten 0:00:09.480 --> 0:00:13.920 percent off square Space. Build it beautiful. Welcome to you 0:00:14.200 --> 0:00:23.400 Stuff you should Know from House Stuff Works dot com. Hey, 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:26.279 and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark with Charles W. 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:29.200 Chuck Bryant. And although we haven't been in the studio 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:32.120 and Jerry's over there. Although we haven't been in the studio, Chuck, 0:00:32.159 --> 0:00:35.360 can I have been together on the road, Yeah, doing 0:00:35.400 --> 0:00:39.480 stuff you should know the podcast, calling live exclamation, leaving 0:00:39.520 --> 0:00:42.800 our stank all over this great nation, hoping to bring 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:46.559 our stank into other great nations. Yeah, we're looking at you, 0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:48.879 Great Britain. We have no idea whether you want us 0:00:48.920 --> 0:00:51.159 to come over or not. We're trying to feel you 0:00:51.159 --> 0:00:53.239 guys out. Let us know if you want us to 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:55.040 come to a show there. Yeah, and that goes for 0:00:55.160 --> 0:00:58.240 other cities. Um, well, let's just recap. We went to 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:00.720 We had a great fun time on the Warm Climbs tour. 0:01:01.240 --> 0:01:04.920 Big thanks to squarespace again for sponsoring the tour uh 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:08.600 and allowing UH the free printing and giving out of 0:01:08.600 --> 0:01:11.600 posters which is always wonderful when people say how much 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:15.080 did these costs? And I say zero money because Uncle 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:18.920 squarespace pay. That's right. So we went to San Francisco. 0:01:19.120 --> 0:01:22.360 That was fantastic. Um, you want to tell your San 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:26.040 Francisco story, it's so wonderful. The little kid. Yeah. So 0:01:26.280 --> 0:01:28.720 I was on Fillmore Street, which is my new favorite 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:32.400 street in San Francisco, and there's this little girl crying 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:35.200 and pointing at a man. And I couldn't figure out 0:01:35.200 --> 0:01:39.319 what the girl's problem was until I overheard her mom say, no, honey, 0:01:39.959 --> 0:01:42.640 he's not throwing that away. That's a recycling. Then he's 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:46.080 putting that cup. And I swear to God that happen. Yeah, 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:48.880 it could not be more San Francisco than that. Oh, 0:01:49.280 --> 0:01:53.720 I can top that. That same street later that day 0:01:53.840 --> 0:01:56.480 or the next day, I saw a woman crossing at 0:01:56.520 --> 0:01:58.160 about that point and she had her arm in a 0:01:58.240 --> 0:02:02.720 sling and the sling was berber wow. And the cast 0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:05.920 was probably made from like recycled bandages from you know, 0:02:06.120 --> 0:02:09.840 patients who didn't make it or once who did. They 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:15.560 just took him anyway, right, Uh? Oh, very nice Monty 0:02:15.600 --> 0:02:18.680 Python reference. Uh. Then we went to San Diego performed 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:22.240 in a church, yes ironic, Yeah, which was a little 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:24.959 weird but cool and fun. It was the church from 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:28.480 the Prince of Darkness. That's right, or at least it 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:32.120 was after we left. I'm virtually convinced that's what it was. 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:34.280 It might have been. I have to go back and 0:02:34.280 --> 0:02:36.639 watch it again, but I mean it was very reminiscent 0:02:36.680 --> 0:02:40.400 of it. Uh. Where Dallas after that? Yeah, we played 0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:43.280 in the theater where Lee Harvey Oswald hit out. That's right. 0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:45.960 And the Dallas crowd was great and raucous and they 0:02:46.000 --> 0:02:49.160 actually there's a point in this show where I do 0:02:49.200 --> 0:02:53.000 aye haw and they hold back. It was an involuntary 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:56.240 spasm from the Dallas crowd. And they also at least 0:02:56.240 --> 0:02:58.280 two or three people shot guns into the air. And 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:03.240 you saw Tim Gallant hat. Yes, did it hold ten 0:03:03.280 --> 0:03:09.360 gallons milk? At least maybe a baker's dozens of gallons. Uh. 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:12.360 Then we went to Austin, Texas, which is a wonderful city. 0:03:12.720 --> 0:03:14.600 And by the way, we're gonna be back in Austin 0:03:14.639 --> 0:03:19.000 for South by Southwest, uh and performing and our very 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:21.919 own we're getting like our own house, not of stuff 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:24.200 you should know house, you know, like the speakeasy we're 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:27.000 gonna be there. Yeah, the City of Atlanta speakeasy house 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:29.520 I think like fifth in Congress or something like. Yeah. 0:03:29.600 --> 0:03:33.520 So look for us again Austin, Texas in March. Yeah. 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:34.760 I don't know if you guys have heard of it 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:37.160 or not. It's gonna be a south By Southwest just 0:03:37.160 --> 0:03:39.680 look at him. Where do we go next? We went 0:03:39.720 --> 0:03:44.600 to New Orleans. It was wonderful and uh, I want 0:03:44.640 --> 0:03:48.320 to shout out uh ms Kristen Bell and Mr Dack Shepard, 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:52.800 the lovely acting couple who we know listen to our 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:55.600 show because they've been kind enough to tweet about us 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:58.720 in support in the past. And I was at a 0:03:58.720 --> 0:04:01.000 bakery in New Orleans and came out. She said, Kristen 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:03.280 Bell's in there, and I felt like I had to 0:04:03.280 --> 0:04:06.760 go say something and thank her. And she was delighted 0:04:06.800 --> 0:04:10.800 to meet me and relieved seconds after I said who 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:13.520 I was, that you weren't just some weirdo dude. I 0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:16.600 come lumbering like this woodland beast comes lumbering up to 0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:19.599 a bakery and she was like literally shielding her children 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:27.520 from it. And yeah, oh, oh your chuck, thank god. Uh. 0:04:27.520 --> 0:04:29.520 And she couldn't have been nicer and she met Ruby 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:32.479 and insisted I changed Ruby staper there in her booth 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:35.640 because there was no changing room. And so thanks for 0:04:35.720 --> 0:04:40.320 your support, ms ms Bell, ms Bell. Yes, yeah, I 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:43.320 can't call it Kristen h. I can call dackx Dax 0:04:43.360 --> 0:04:46.359 because he's just cool like that. Uh. And then we 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:49.360 went to Atlanta. That was probably the most fun show 0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:52.520 I've ever done. That was a fun hometown show. Sold 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:55.760 it out, family and friends. It was just a wonderful 0:04:56.040 --> 0:04:58.760 special night. And I stayed out until three in the morning, 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:02.039 drink way too much. And I can attest to this 0:05:02.080 --> 0:05:04.200 because I saw Chuck the next day for the last 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:07.680 show in Birmingham, and both of us took it easy 0:05:07.720 --> 0:05:09.640 that night because we both had to turn around and 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:12.960 drive home after the show. Two am back to Atlanta, 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:16.960 two exhausted little stuffers. I was impressed by the Birmingham crowd. 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:20.080 They showed up and they were like, Um, whatever impressions 0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:24.719 you may have of us, they're wrong. Entertain us smartly. Yeah, 0:05:24.760 --> 0:05:26.960 and when we did, we we didn't know the roof 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:28.680 off that sucker. It was sort of a test of 0:05:28.720 --> 0:05:32.080 a smaller Southeastern market and they came through. So yeah, 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:34.200 it was a good crowd. In Birmingham too, and the 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:37.400 venue was really neat to the work Play space is 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:40.120 really neat and they were very nice. All podcasters out 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:42.760 there who go on tour, check out Workplay in Birmingham. 0:05:42.839 --> 0:05:45.159 There were dogs running around after inside there, which is 0:05:45.680 --> 0:05:50.240 perfect for us. That's our tour. Yeah, thanks everybody, And 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:52.080 if you're wondering what we did, you have to wait 0:05:52.160 --> 0:05:54.280 until we released the live show. That's right. Oh. One 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:57.000 more quick announcement, um, if anyone in Atlanta wants to 0:05:57.040 --> 0:06:01.080 come see my mediocre old man band, Oh, we are 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:04.640 playing February twenty six at the Starbar. Awesome. I'm super 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:07.520 excited because it's just the age old great venue in 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:11.760 Atlanta and they mistakenly let us on the bill. Uh 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:14.520 so come on out if you want to see see 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:19.040 you smelt some faces? Is that what you guys? Dos? Shredding? 0:06:19.360 --> 0:06:22.320 Shredding my friend nice? So that's it. You got any 0:06:22.320 --> 0:06:25.600 other announcements? No, great, I don't have an old man band, 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:30.599 so no, well you can. Dreams can't come true. Starbar 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:33.600 is one of mine, and you may places. Yeah yeah, 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:36.560 are we invited? No you can't. Actually you're on a 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:39.080 list like do not let in I think you should 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:42.719 have been like Atlanta minus Josh. My old man band 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:44.520 is going to be playing. Yeah, you can come if 0:06:44.520 --> 0:06:49.640 you want. Nice. Great, let's see what else, Chuck, land diving. 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:52.400 Oh yeah, we've put it off long enough. That's right, 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:56.279 all right, the land diving. It sounds weird, and it 0:06:56.400 --> 0:07:01.080 is a little weird. It's um this ancient cut them 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:03.640 they We actually know the origin story too. We know 0:07:03.680 --> 0:07:07.560 where it started. You know, it never came across wind specifically. 0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:10.560 It seems to have happened some point back in the 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:13.400 distant past. But I'm not entirely certain that the distant 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:18.800 passes like two thousand years ago or three years ago, 0:07:18.880 --> 0:07:21.280 in which case it wouldn't be ancient. No, but it's 0:07:21.280 --> 0:07:28.080 still be. This still distant past is ancient? Is that quantified? Uh? No? 0:07:29.560 --> 0:07:34.480 I never even thought to see surely it's not. Why 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:36.840 Why don't you just continue? I might even look it up, okay, 0:07:37.000 --> 0:07:39.840 which we rarely do. So Chuck's gonna look that up. 0:07:39.880 --> 0:07:43.440 I'll keep talking. There's an island called Vanuatu. It's in 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:48.080 the South Pacific. Survivor did a season there, but even 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:50.720 before Survivor it was famous, and it was famous for 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:55.040 this land diving thing. Um and back in Uh, there's 0:07:55.080 --> 0:08:00.880 actually specific island in Vanuatu called Pentecost Island. Uh. Clearly 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:04.119 the missionaries got their hands on that island and um, 0:08:04.440 --> 0:08:08.679 Pentecost Island is where this the the origin of land 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:12.080 diving or something called. It's called nag hall or nag 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:16.160 hall h o L. Yeah, not the easiest word to pronounce. 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:20.840 You did funnog hall anyway, you say that a bunch 0:08:20.840 --> 0:08:25.000 of times. Man, I feel rusty. No, you're great, great, 0:08:25.080 --> 0:08:28.520 you're squeaky clean. So this land diving thing, it's not 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:32.400 like these guys like climb up a couple of feet 0:08:32.440 --> 0:08:34.959 and jump onto the ground and do a summersault and 0:08:35.000 --> 0:08:37.480 then do it. Stick it with the y their hands 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:40.640 in the air, stick the landing. It's much more intricate 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:45.600 than that. Primitive and dangerous, extremely dangerous. So it bears 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:49.520 a striking resemblance to bungee jumping. And the reason why 0:08:49.640 --> 0:08:54.640 is because the guy who invented bungee jumping, Australian named A. J. Hackett, 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:57.840 went to Pentecost Island at some point in the eighties, 0:08:57.880 --> 0:09:01.480 saw this stuff and said, oh, I could totally do 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:06.120 something like that, but with an elastic band. Yeah, that's 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:08.840 a big difference between bungee and land diving. Yeah, he 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:12.480 didn't invent it, but he popularized it. Who invented bungee jumping? 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:16.800 I didn't get a name, but I saw that the first, um, 0:09:16.880 --> 0:09:21.480 the first bungee jumping that anyone knows about, was in England. 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:24.400 Oh yeah, Are you sure it wasn't this cat because 0:09:24.400 --> 0:09:27.880 he traveled the world bungee jumping. Yeah. Ninety nine. The 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:32.680 UK based Dangerous Sports Club leapt off the suspension bridge 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:37.680 in San Francisco, though I think Clifton suspension Bridge near Bristol. No, 0:09:37.800 --> 0:09:43.679 that's San Francisco. Everybody goes the famous Clifton suspension Bridge 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:47.240 in Marin County. This is uh, that's the Golden gate Bridge, 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:51.080 I believe. Oh yeah, uh. And I think they say 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:57.199 Marinus um. Yeah. I don't think they didn't give a name, 0:09:57.240 --> 0:09:58.880 but it said uh. And this is from a Time 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:02.440 magazine article. Because what's going on is um or. At 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:06.640 least a few years ago, people and the tribes people 0:10:06.840 --> 0:10:09.199 were trying to get some money out of A. J. 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:12.720 Hackett and his partner. They're basically like, wait a minute, 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:15.640 you copied our age old and I looked up ancient 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:20.480 by the way, UH said, it's uh belonging to the 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:24.200 very descent past and no longer in existence. Oh well, 0:10:24.240 --> 0:10:26.720 then ancient wouldn't work in this case because there's still 0:10:27.040 --> 0:10:30.800 land diving in Vanuatu. But it can also just mean 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:34.400 like really old, like that ancient jacket you're wearing. I'm 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:38.880 not wearing the ancient underwear you're wearing. This is very 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:44.880 new from last quarter your underwear. Yeah, okay, good, do 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:50.840 you buy your underwear quarterly? Do the texas by the underwear? 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:54.960 I gotta do that still. Um So, anyway, he didn't 0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:57.319 invent it, but uh, and I might as well go 0:10:57.360 --> 0:10:59.880 ahead and finish that little story about them trying to 0:10:59.880 --> 0:11:03.559 get money. Apparently it's probably not going to happen. I 0:11:03.559 --> 0:11:05.679 couldn't see any recent It's always one of the most 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:08.200 frustrating things when you see something from a few years 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:11.680 ago and can't find a follow up. But from what 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:14.040 I gathered, they're gonna have a really hard time getting 0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:17.319 money out of them because there's no legal protection afforded 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:22.280 to traditional rituals in or outside of Vanuatu. Is what 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:27.360 experts say, Like, basically, you can't you can't say this 0:11:27.480 --> 0:11:32.319 tribal ritual like we own it, right, so Westerners just 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:36.040 feel free to copy it and explore it. Our western 0:11:36.120 --> 0:11:41.440 intellectual property laws don't apply to your tribal customs. All right, 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:43.400 Since we were long winded at first, why don't we 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:46.320 take a break, and then we'll get into exactly what 0:11:46.400 --> 0:12:07.080 goes on with these dives. All right? Josh, you said 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:09.120 it wasn't a few feet off the ground. It's more 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:12.760 like just under a hundred feet where these towers are built. 0:12:13.880 --> 0:12:16.800 The towers are are not, you know, um made of 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:21.440 rebar and uh what do they call the scaffolding. It's 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:23.960 made of stuff there in in the in the jungle. 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:26.600 It's made of vines, and it's made of wood, and 0:12:27.000 --> 0:12:31.360 they build a new one each year during uh well, 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:35.600 I call it yam season, before the yam harvest, because 0:12:35.640 --> 0:12:40.000 yam time, I call it the blood lighting. But it 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:43.320 is cut open the earth and remove her yams from 0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:45.959 her breast. What in the world are you talking about 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:48.920 yam time? I don't get it. We're talking about the 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:53.680 same thing, talking differently, all right. Is what you said 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:59.880 a real thing? No, it's very maccab I know where 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:03.720 I yam time. Yam time, So it's during m season 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:07.839 or just before yam harvest. And that's one of the reasons, uh, 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:09.880 they take part in this ritual is to ensure a 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:13.400 bountiful yam harvest. I get the feeling it's yams are 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:15.720 a pretty big deal for them. If you're doing this 0:13:15.800 --> 0:13:19.120 to ensure a bountiful yam harvest. Yes, yes, yams are 0:13:19.200 --> 0:13:22.520 very important. And it's also um a good time to 0:13:22.520 --> 0:13:27.319 do it because that is when the vines are most 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:30.760 full of sap and less likely to be brittle and break, 0:13:31.200 --> 0:13:33.200 which is not what you want. And these are the 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:37.840 linear vines, right, yes, so the the linear vines. It's 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:41.000 extremely important what kind of linea vines that you select 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:44.720 because at any point in the linear vine that you select, 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:48.679 if it's dry, it can snap. And it's it's tied 0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:51.200 to somebody's ankle and they're jumping off at about forty 0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:56.600 five up to thirty meters or almost a hundred feet. Yeah, 0:13:56.840 --> 0:13:58.160 you want to make sure that vine is not going 0:13:58.200 --> 0:14:01.240 to snap. Yeah. So, if we haven't explicitly said it, 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:04.920 they jump as if they're bungee jumping. But there is 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:09.160 I mean there's some elasticity because I watched it, but 0:14:09.240 --> 0:14:13.679 it's not like bungee cords. They're not rubber bands. Um. 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:17.800 It's generally the ideas you want to fold your arms 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:22.240 over your chest, make the leap, and then come as 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:26.240 close to the ground as you can without uh having 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:29.800 a hard impact. But you ideally do want to touch 0:14:29.800 --> 0:14:32.760 the ground with your shoulders right so barely. You also, 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:35.760 as you're coming up towards the ground, you want to 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:40.000 tuck your head into your chest so that what's hitting 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:43.640 the ground is that like the tops of your shoulders basically. 0:14:43.960 --> 0:14:46.960 And and a really really important point that just kind 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:49.600 of gets glossed over in this article is that they 0:14:49.680 --> 0:14:53.960 till the ground below the platform. It's also a little slopey, 0:14:54.080 --> 0:14:57.080 which helps, I think, right, so that it's cushion. Because 0:14:57.360 --> 0:15:00.200 when you watch this stuff, people hit the ground own 0:15:00.360 --> 0:15:05.520 really hard. A lot, yeah, a lot. And as a 0:15:05.560 --> 0:15:09.320 matter of fact, one guy died in ninety four and 0:15:09.400 --> 0:15:11.960 Queen Elizabeth happened to be there. He didn't die in 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:15.000 front of her. He died later of his injuries. But um, 0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:19.280 one of the jumpers while Queen Elizabeth was sitting there watching, UM, 0:15:19.320 --> 0:15:22.280 he did die. And it turns out that a lot 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:25.160 of people hit the ground, but this guy was the 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:29.479 only person in recent memory that anybody alive could remember, 0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:32.920 um actually died. And I think it's mainly because they 0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:35.640 till that ground so much. Yeah, there was one fatality 0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:39.840 in two thousand six. But um, I mean, considering what 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:42.000 they're doing, that's a pretty good track record here in 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:45.400 modern times, that's not too bad. So where all this 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:50.560 come from? Chuck? Well, uh, years ago that Well, here's 0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:54.160 the legend. And of course this smacks of legend um 0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:56.800 in every way, but you never know, might have been 0:15:56.880 --> 0:15:59.840 had some truth to it early on. So many legends too, 0:16:00.960 --> 0:16:05.520 including that Tom Cruise movie legend which one was, Oh 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:09.520 that was the fantasy movie. Yes, and I think I 0:16:09.560 --> 0:16:14.200 saw it, but not my favorite. No, I never saw it. Okay, 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:18.480 don't bother. I always used to confuse it with Labyrinth. Yeah, 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:21.920 that was better. It was featuring David Bowie, the late 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:26.200 great David Bowie. Al Right, here's the legend, um. There 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:30.240 was a woman named tom Alee t A. M. A. L. 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:33.880 I E. Not Tomali. It's the way do you go, 0:16:34.520 --> 0:16:37.480 Tomi Lee. She was a woman in the village. Tomallee 0:16:37.520 --> 0:16:40.760 was the man. I thought Tomallee was a woman. No, 0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:44.120 Tomallee was her husband. I believe. All right, so it's 0:16:44.120 --> 0:16:48.120 the husband. Yeah, maybe she was amily Emiline Tomiie who 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:49.720 had been the cutest couple who knew they were going 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:54.400 to get married on Pentecost Island. So she apparently Tomilee 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:57.440 was abusive. Well, she she had had an affair and 0:16:57.480 --> 0:16:59.320 he found out about it and it was in the 0:16:59.360 --> 0:17:01.840 process of a abusing her. And see I also read 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:04.080 this is why it's a legend because there are many versions. 0:17:04.200 --> 0:17:07.520 But I read he was forcing himself on her sexually 0:17:07.720 --> 0:17:12.400 and she was like the sat happen anymore, Tommie. Either way, 0:17:12.560 --> 0:17:15.840 it's abuse. He's abusing her. Uh, And so she flees, 0:17:15.920 --> 0:17:20.399 climbs up to a tall tree. He climbs up after her, uh, 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:24.960 intent on you know, continuing his his abusive behaviors. She 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:28.000 I guess has enough time to tie these vines around 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:32.000 her ankles and jumps fast and he says, I'm jumping 0:17:32.000 --> 0:17:35.720 after you too, Okay again legend Either out of he 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:37.720 thinks that she just jumped to her death and he's sad, 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:40.040 so he's committing suicide. I don't buy that one. He's 0:17:40.119 --> 0:17:43.199 lunging at her and missus I could buy that one more. 0:17:43.359 --> 0:17:46.120 Or he's like I'm I'm jumping after you because I'm 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:49.600 Tomilee and I'm dumb. Maybe so one of those, but 0:17:49.680 --> 0:17:52.320 at any rate, as legend goes, beat you up on 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:56.159 the way down. As legend goes, she actually survived the 0:17:56.200 --> 0:17:59.879 jump thanks to the vines on her ankles. He did not. Um, 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:02.320 so did she craft this ahead of time? I say, 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:05.480 there's a lot easier ways to kill your husband than this. 0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:08.879 Weird Yeah, you know, like maybe he'll follow me up 0:18:08.920 --> 0:18:11.320 the tree then jump after me. Well, if you're a 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:13.280 thrill seeker, though, this is what you're gonna come up with. 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:15.800 She might have been. Uh. And then this is where 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:19.280 it also goes off into different directions. Um. Some people 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:23.240 say that she continued that jump every year. Uh. And 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:26.040 then men eventually said no, we're doing the jumping. And 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:30.040 then some say no men immediately started jumping and said 0:18:30.040 --> 0:18:34.600 women can't jump, right, And the ladder of those two legends, 0:18:34.680 --> 0:18:38.320 um is that men, we're like, well, we need to 0:18:38.320 --> 0:18:42.720 start practicing in case somebody else this ever happens to me, 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:45.520 because clearly this is going to be a trend that starts. 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:48.760 And you women, you're not allowed to practice, only us, 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:51.760 That's right. And so the husbands would get up on 0:18:51.800 --> 0:18:57.240 the platform and they would basically make a speech about 0:18:57.280 --> 0:19:00.600 their wife's behavior and then make the jump. And the 0:19:00.640 --> 0:19:05.160 coffee she makes is terrible, So I'm gonna jump. Watch this, 0:19:05.960 --> 0:19:07.679 you know. The wife is just down there, like I 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:11.040 hate the stupid tradition. No, I don't think so they 0:19:11.040 --> 0:19:14.040 embrace it now. Well, I mean when the husband's sitting there, 0:19:14.080 --> 0:19:21.040 gripe wife, anybody about I'm sure some pitdling stuff. It's 0:19:21.160 --> 0:19:23.680 just just jump. You don't have to add that part. 0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:27.080 But what has remained true today is that women are 0:19:27.119 --> 0:19:32.160 not permitted to jump. Um. It's only men. And aside 0:19:32.160 --> 0:19:36.359 for him one uh white dude in the nineties seventies, 0:19:36.920 --> 0:19:39.840 no outsider has ever been allowed to jump. No cat 0:19:40.000 --> 0:19:43.359 cat Mueller. Cal was the cal I thought was Cat 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:47.440 cal Mueller. Yeah. Ended up like living with the pentecost 0:19:47.520 --> 0:19:51.119 islanders um for at least seven months, if not longer. 0:19:51.160 --> 0:19:52.879 I think over the course of a couple of years. 0:19:52.920 --> 0:19:55.720 But the last stint was seven straight months. And he 0:19:55.960 --> 0:19:59.800 they speak a version of Pidgeon English um, and he 0:20:00.200 --> 0:20:02.240 like learned to speak it as well, and he gave 0:20:02.280 --> 0:20:05.560 a really like heartfelt speech from the platform when they 0:20:05.560 --> 0:20:08.440 finally led him, and it was apparently, by all accounts, 0:20:08.440 --> 0:20:12.240 are very touching, well not all accounts, by cal Mueller's account, 0:20:12.760 --> 0:20:16.119 very touching experience. Well, and you know, because he said 0:20:16.280 --> 0:20:19.600 in his article land Diving with the pentecost Islanders that 0:20:19.720 --> 0:20:22.919 was a very touching experience. I'm sure he did. Okay, 0:20:23.000 --> 0:20:26.080 I did read uh the article. Actually that's pretty good. 0:20:26.119 --> 0:20:28.920 He wasna Geo magazine. So he was the first two 0:20:30.280 --> 0:20:32.960 or only outsider to jump. It's it's actually so it's 0:20:33.000 --> 0:20:37.199 because it's so dangerous. It's it's forbidden. But they they 0:20:37.640 --> 0:20:41.200 they've enshrined it in a taboo. It's like a cultural 0:20:41.200 --> 0:20:45.760 taboo for a non van oat tour to jump, to 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:47.680 do the knock. Yeah, and I'm sure there have been 0:20:47.680 --> 0:20:51.280 plenty of bungee bros really trying to get in there, 0:20:51.760 --> 0:20:54.160 but they by all accounts have been rebuffed every time. 0:20:54.160 --> 0:20:57.040 They have some three eleven they can play while a jump. 0:20:59.600 --> 0:21:02.280 But any way, cal Mueller wasn't the he was the 0:21:02.280 --> 0:21:04.439 only one to jump. He wasn't the first outsider to 0:21:04.480 --> 0:21:07.600 see this. There were a lot of early witnesses, obviously 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:10.959 the Pentecostals who first came to the island as missionaries. 0:21:11.000 --> 0:21:12.639 It didn't occur to me. That's why the island was 0:21:12.680 --> 0:21:15.600 called that. Sure, like a dummy. I just gloss right 0:21:15.600 --> 0:21:19.360 over that. Um, you're not a dummy, man. I hate 0:21:19.359 --> 0:21:21.440 it when obvious things don't occur to me, though. It's 0:21:21.560 --> 0:21:24.720 it's just perspective, like it could have been called Christian 0:21:24.800 --> 0:21:30.000 Now island. What a weird name? Christian now, what's what 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:34.800 the exclamation? But earlier than that, earlier than cal Mueller, 0:21:34.880 --> 0:21:38.760 there was some Uh there was an adventurer couple named 0:21:38.880 --> 0:21:42.359 um Irving and Electra Johnson, and they just traveled the 0:21:42.400 --> 0:21:46.760 world at a time when traveling the world was very difficult. Uh, well, 0:21:46.800 --> 0:21:50.359 the fifties, and they were correspondents for National Geographic for 0:21:50.359 --> 0:21:52.960 a while, and in nineteen fifty three they finally got 0:21:52.960 --> 0:21:56.400 to see it. They had a friend on Pentecost Island, 0:21:57.000 --> 0:21:59.720 probably a missionary, who was saying, like, you gotta see this, man, 0:21:59.720 --> 0:22:01.840 it's crazy. Yeah, I'll see if I can arrange it. 0:22:01.880 --> 0:22:04.080 And they became some of the first outsiders to ever 0:22:04.119 --> 0:22:07.960 write about it. Well, and missionaries actually um talk to 0:22:07.960 --> 0:22:11.280 them and well it says they banned the practice in 0:22:11.320 --> 0:22:15.440 the late nineteenth century. But after World War Two, apparently 0:22:15.440 --> 0:22:19.679 there was a big revival in Vanuatu's independence and like 0:22:19.760 --> 0:22:23.280 reclaiming their traditions and so that's when it started coming 0:22:23.320 --> 0:22:28.159 back into favor. And um also because they realized, and 0:22:28.240 --> 0:22:30.600 we'll get to this, that the gams had shrunk in size. 0:22:31.119 --> 0:22:35.520 Maybe also because they could make some dough from from 0:22:35.760 --> 0:22:39.400 people who wanted to travel and watch this. Yeah. Because um, 0:22:40.560 --> 0:22:43.520 we mentioned Queen Elizabeth has seen this. She wasn't the 0:22:43.920 --> 0:22:47.879 it didn't go uh the Johnson's cal Mueller Queen Elizabeth. 0:22:48.119 --> 0:22:50.560 It became like a pretty big tourist attraction and still 0:22:50.720 --> 0:22:53.240 is today. Um. And as a matter of fact, the 0:22:53.280 --> 0:22:57.400 original nogal took place once one day out of the year, 0:22:58.119 --> 0:23:01.399 and as tourists started to um and tourist dollars started 0:23:01.400 --> 0:23:05.879 to come with them, the pentecost Islanders said, we'll do 0:23:05.960 --> 0:23:07.800 this more than once a year. How about that? Yeah, 0:23:07.840 --> 0:23:12.240 I think the the one is their official special ceremony. 0:23:12.760 --> 0:23:14.959 But then I think between what April and June they 0:23:14.960 --> 0:23:20.200 do it weekly. Yeah, like a matinee on Saturday's even Yeah, 0:23:20.440 --> 0:23:23.600 for the kiddies, the rest of them get a little blue. 0:23:24.119 --> 0:23:26.159 So let's take a break and then we'll describe the 0:23:26.160 --> 0:23:48.760 actual not all ceremony huh. All right, so chuck, yes, uh, 0:23:49.440 --> 0:23:52.760 not all begins with a. I think they kind of 0:23:52.800 --> 0:23:56.720 select a trusted elder of the tribe and say, this 0:23:56.800 --> 0:24:01.760 is your year. You're the Grand Marshal of Nargnog. Hall Uh. 0:24:01.800 --> 0:24:04.560 Here's your hat with the feather in the front. Do 0:24:04.640 --> 0:24:07.480 some good stuff. Here's your orange soda. And the elder said, 0:24:07.520 --> 0:24:10.520