The cultural exchange thread.

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by Beren3000

So is that the source of the belief that werewolves only die with a silver bullet?

I don't know, I think that possibly the belief is older than the legend. The silver bullet in the legend may just be a confirmation of the belief.

Originally Posted by Beren3000

I remember watching that movie's trailers, I wanted to see it then but never managed to. Now I definitely gotta rent it or something. Thanks, Eärniel

Don't thank me yet, wait until you've seen it. You may end up not liking it after all.

[sun-star]

Just a quick one:

"Abbey lubbers" were a kind of spirit who haunted the abbeys of 15th century England. They were said to be the cause of drunkenness and debauchery amongst monks. They especially haunted the abbey wine cellars.


I like that explanation instead of the more obvious one

[Beren3000]

Hehehe, nice one, sun-star

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by sun-star

Just a quick one:

"Abbey lubbers" were a kind of spirit who haunted the abbeys of 15th century England. They were said to be the cause of drunkenness and debauchery amongst monks. They especially haunted the abbey wine cellars.

You had spirits that made the monks go wild with booze? A spirit that gives a taste for spirits....*sniggers* I like that. I wonder whether the monks were allowed to believe in such spirits.

[Beren3000]

Here are some interesting facts about the Great Pyramids:
These are all from an Arabic book called "The mystery of the Great Pyramid"

-The Great Pyramid of Kheops stands on a point 1/3 of the way between the equator and the North Pole and its North-South axis is parallel to that of the Earth with an error of 3 minutes (3/60 degrees).

-Starting from the apex of the Gerat Pyramid, and drawing a line passing through each of the Pyramid's corners, your four lines end up on the borders of the Ancient Egyptian kingdom.

-The corners of each of the three Great Pyramids point to the 4 points of the compass with (almost) perfect accuracy.

-The ratio of the Great Pyramid's height to the double of its base's perimeter is 3.1416 which is pi accurate to five significant figures. This is said to have led an astronomer to claim that Ancient Egyptians have squared the circle!
(Squaring the circle = constructing a square with the same surface area as a given circle, a problem already prooven to be impossible).

-The base perimeter of the Great Pyramid is a scale reduction of the circumference of the Earth (the scale is 1:43200) with an error of 20 ft only!
The Great Pyramid's height has the same relation to the Earth's radius with an error of just one foot.

-The three Pyramids between them took 5 centuries to be completed and (when they were new ) were coated with limestone and their tips were gold-plated.

[sun-star]

That's incredible. I'd love to see the Great Pyramids one day.

Funny Simpsons sig!

[BeardofPants]

Me too! When I was younger, I had a passion for all things Egypt, and did a course at uni studying middle egyptian hieroglyphics. That was fun.

[Beren3000]

Another story from Ancient Egypt:

The story of the Sphinx
This great monument that sits for ever in front of the Great Pyramids was (according to a popular theory) the result of a miscalculation! Supposedly, during the construction of the middle pyramid (the pyramid of Khephren), a huge pile of rocks was left over. So instead of throwing the leftovers away, the engineers designed the huge statue of the Sphinx in order to be a "guardian" for the Pyramids. This statue depicts a creature half-human and half-lion. The lion part is established for sure and is said to symbolize strength and courage. The human part is subject to debate; some people say it's a woman's head symbolizing Egypt itself and some people say it's a depiction of king Khephren (the builder of the middle Pyramid).
Between the front paws of the lion, there lies a small tablet inscribed with hieroglyphs. These inscriptions tell a story about the Sphinx. According to the story, a man dating from a time after the building of the Sphinx fell asleep in the region. In his dreams, this strange creature (the Sphinx) appeared to him and told him that it's buried under layers of sand and that he should free it and will thereupon receive a reward. So the man dug up the Sphinx and inscribed this tablet that can still be seen between the lion's front paws today. As to the man's reward, IIRC, he became one of the Pharaohs.

-Also, here's a quick one:
Ancient Egyptians were known for their amazing astronomical and geometrical feats. One of the most stunning of these feats is found in a temple in Luxor (a city in the south of Egypt). It's said that king Ramses II (one of the greatest pharaohs) commissioned the building of this temple and put a statue of himself inside it. The architects designed the shaft that was to let the sunlight onto the statue such that the sun would shine on the statue for only one particular day of each year. What was that day? King Ramses II's birthday!

[Haradrim]

Originally Posted by HOBBIT

because your boat disapeared the loch ness monster did it?? How does that make sense? You weren't there when it happened - so someone could have taken it. It's like assuming that someone has risen from the dead just because their body is missing from the grave without even thinking about grave robbers.

well it was Loch Ness Monster because the rope attached to our boat was frayed in half. Nobody in Scotland does that. Everyone knows how to tie a boat and untie one so the fact that it was frayed rules out theft. And also I dont go bashing your beliefs even if they were maybe a little nutty.

[BeardofPants]

Adidas Commercial.... with some scrummy maori rugby players doing the haka.

[Beren3000]

Lalaith, Lief and sun-star, you've all promised us new stories. Where are they?
(Sorry for the impatience )
Anyone else who's got any story is welcome to post, too!

[Linaewen]

Um, BoP, is that supposed to not be a link to the commercial? I wanted to see those scrummy Maori players. Or is there further clicking involved?

Btw, do you eat 'Grain Waves'? My friend got some from a store called Kiwi Munchies. They're good! All my former Kiwi friends got so excited when they saw the packet.

[BeardofPants]

Er.... Link is edited Lin. Dunno why I stuck the gmail thingie there.

Yep, I've had grain waves on occasion. I should try and find the ad for them.... it's pretty clever.

[Earniel]

In wait of other stories and to kick this interesting thread back on top and in full view: a short story of how Antwerp (being second biggest city in Belgium and the city where I studied for 5 years) got its name.

The story goes that long ago a giant by the name of Antigoon had taken up residence at the river Schelde that runs through Antwerp. He demanded toll of every ship passing and if he was not paid, he would sink the ships.

Finally an officer of the Roman army, named Brabo, went to fight the giant. He defeated the giant Antigoon and cut off his hand. This hand Brabo through in the river Schelde. Now in Flemish the name of city is Antwerpen, and by the story it is said to be derived from 'hand werpen' which means 'throwing a hand' in Flemish.

In Antwerp, before the city hall there stands a large (fountain) statue of Brabo throwing away the hand of Antigoon.





EDIT: I forgot to add. When you visit Antwerp, you will see in many shops chocolate cookies in the form of hands. De 'Antwerpse Handjes' find their origin in the legend of Brabo and Antigoon.

[Beren3000]

Interesting story (and pics), Eärniel! Thanks for reviving this thread

[Beren3000]

Just to revive this thread:

-It was customary in Ancient Egypt to have a magnificient funeral for a dead Pharaoh. All the pharaoh's jewels and clothes and all the possessions that were to be buried with him were carried along with his coffin and the procession marched across the capital city where the pharaoh ruled. Now the tomb of king Tut is known to be one of the most completely discovered tombs (i.e. not much of king Tut's treasure was ransacked by grave-robbers). King Tut's treasure fills many halls in the Egyptian Museum and king Tut ruled for only 6 or 7 years. Imagine how the funeral of a pharaoh like Ramses II (who ruled for several decades and had a hundred and something children) would've looked like!

[Millane]

Originally Posted by Linaewen

Wonderful idea, Beren. I've been thinking of some things to write about.

In Australia we have our own share of monsters of legends. Lakes, rivers and swamps in the Outback may be the haunts of feared creatures called Bunyips (from an Aboriginal word meaning 'devil' or spirit').

Bunyips of Aboriginal legend are supernatural creatures that may bring disease. Malicious man-killers, they may also bring humans down into their lakes and rivers to their death. Common features in most Aboriginal drawings of Bunyips are a horse-like tail, flippers, and walrus-like tusks.

European settlers have, however, sighted Bunyips differently. Some have looked humanoid, others like hippopotami. They tend to be seen as herbivorous grazing animals. Reports have generally been of two types of Bunyips, namely the Dog-faced Bunyip (the more common one) and the Long-Necked Bunyip.

and the most famousest of them all... ALEXANDER BUNYIP

[Linaewen]

Originally Posted by Millane

and the most famousest of them all... ALEXANDER BUNYIP

Millane. Michael Salmon books rock. I have this one at home:

[Millane]

hahaha arent they, i went and looked at my Michael Salmon books and i realised i even got him to sign my "The monster that ate Canberra" back in '92 its another story of Alexander Bunyip and his adventures eating the national library and art gallery and parliament house, all the while pissing off Bob Hawke

[Linaewen]

Canberra's so small, wouldn't take long to eat all of it. In fact, they really should eat it.
Haha! Does it have cartoons of an angry Bob Hawke as well? Classic!