Little People

I got started on this because of bravecows poll of what distracts people...

Homo floresiensis - the new hobbits of the Flores island in Indonesia ("The original skeleton, a female, stood at just 1 meter (3.3 feet) tall," - average height perhaps not yet determined?).  That article says, "Modern pygmies are considerably taller at about 1.4 to 1.5 meters (4.6 to nearly 5 feet) tall."  Is that with modern nutrition?  I'd have hardly thought 5 feet would have been considered exceptionally short. 

The forgotten Australian pygmies("adult males were only about 140 centimeters (four feet six inches) tall.")

Bushmen of the Kalahari (average height 4'10")

I'm not a very good researcher - it was difficult for me to find a reference to how tall the Montaignard (Hmong) tribes from Vietnam are, but eventually I found this mention of "around 5 feet" here: Review of "The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors and the Collision of Two Cultures." 

I only knew to keep looking because one of the teachers at my high school did a slide show of pictures from when he was a Special Forces photographer in the Vietnam war working with a Hmong guy.  There were pictures of them side by side and he made it a point to say this guy was of average height for his tribe.  He only came up to the teacher's shoulder, and the teacher was maybe 5'8", I think. 

I had a cousin (she's long since lost touch with our family, now),  who was adopted, from Vietnam.  She was barely over 5', I think, but if you saw her in a photo with nothing to compare her against you'd have thought she was tall - she had a build like a lanky model. 

capitalist pigs

Why does The Nation charge $300 for the first year subscription for an individual?  And $10 if you only want access for a day!  I take it their 'alternative history' is only for the privileged?  (I was trying to chase down another link about Montaignards.)

"What ARE you?"

When we were kids my brother, Eightball, who was then probably 5 years old, was playing in the mud with a similarly aged boy, the nephew of one of our neighbors.  He had the exact same shade of brown hair as our neighbor did; probably the whole family had the same shade of hair.  Eventually they spoke to one another - Eightball could go for a long time without speaking, often, but perhaps some disagreement came up as to what would be built in a particular area - and the other little boy looked at him and said, "What are you?  You're not a person.  People have brown hair."  (I don't suppose Eightball bothered to answer that.) 

cool

Via daegaer, I know desire:
Hieronymus Bosch figurines. 
*sigh* :)

joke sent by MarinerBrook which everyone at work has heard. :)

( What's the difference between a TSA Security Screener's salary and a large pizza? )

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Heh, I knew it. :)

I'm boring


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camwyn has new Hellblazer: Hogwarts posted and I'm SO psyched to read it!  But I'm trying to exercise some self-control and wait until I have my breakfast in front of me, tomorrow.  *keeps a firm grip on herself*

Oh it's time for bed again.  Why does that keep happening every night?