Elephant Funeral

[PeteC]

Just walked into the house to refresh my suds and there on Thai Channel 5 was an elephant funeral. The old guy was 104 and a performer at Nong Nooch Gardens over here.

Nine monks chanting, and more human attendees than usually show up for the politicians. No cremation, buried.

Small things like this tend to renew my faith in this country. Pete

[Big Boy]

He probably died from carrying too many overweight Farangs like me around.

Having said that, the Elephant show at Nong Nooch Gardens was one of the better ones I've seen. The Japanese used to go overboard in the participation events such as Elephant massage.

[PeteC]

There was also some breaking news later, that burial instead of cremation was due to Dr. Dave, JD and Jaime sniffing around for chang steaks! Pete

[DawnHRD]

Pete,

I'd watch what you say - that could be considered libellous! JD & Dr Dave, sure, but Jaime?... We all know about his penchant for cat burgers and squirrel milk - he has never expressed any interest in the pachyderm!

However, I'm just wondering why Guess has that particular avatar!?! D'you think...?

[Jaime]

Aren't pigs a distant relation to elephants?

In any event, sliced and braised elephant trunk on a parsnip rosti with a piquant gibbon jus sounds fine to me.

It'd make a nice change from cat.

Getting a bit bored with orangutan now an'all.

[JD]

I got to know a lot about elephants while working on a project in Amoboseli National Park, (and no, eating elephant meat, to me, would be the same as eating my brother). We were assisting a group of artists who wanted to photograph and sketch the elephants but particularly the cell of elephants that were in relation to the Echo and Ely story. (look it up, it makes you realise how dumb and unenlightened and uncivilised humans are).

Elephants have been my passion for many years, and I’m sorry to say that pigs have not a lot to do with elephants in the genetic sense, apart from the hyrax, which is roughly pig sized. This animal lives on rock faces and does not resemble an elephant in any way, but like the chimpanzee and humans has a very close DNA pattern to that of the elephant.

I got very close to the elephants in Amoseli, (females), the main male patriarch, Patrick, was a wonderfully handsome beast, bigger than a double decker bus and twice the size of the biggest Asian elephant you may have seen, and the 10 or 12 time I came across him I kept a very good distance away. One time we overstayed our welcome, he was in musk, he flapped his ears, stood in a provocative stance and scared me shitless when he took a ten metre charge at our (seemingly very small truck), position. We made many sketches and took photographs on the day, from which came a limited edition bronze sculpture by a leading English artist who kindly gave me one of the first castings. This is one of my prized possessions as even when I look at the cold hard bronze, it still makes me jump back as I see Patrick in this Charging mode. The man who sculptured it is a true master, making a cold bit of metal, move, and inspire the same instincts of survival.

I wish I could get the same passion for Asian elephants, but alas, only being able to see them in there “keptâ€

[Jaime]

eating elephant meat, to me, would be the same as eating my brother.

Hey, if you were on a plane with an elephant and it crashed in the Andes above the snow line and the elephant died after a few days because there was no decent foraging to be had I reckon that you would eat it. I reckon an elephant would provide quite a few months of sustenance but you would need something really sharp to cut through the skin. Airline cutlery would obviously be no good but a piece of sheet metal from the tangled wreckage of the plane might be OK. What do you think?

We were assisting a group of artists who wanted to photograph and sketch the elephants but particularly the cell of elephants that were in relation to the Echo and Ely story. (look it up, it makes you realise how dumb and unenlightened and uncivilised humans are).

This is a variant on the 'Dolphins are as clever as Humans' theory right? Well yesterday I helped a mate of mine move house. We couldn't get the sofa in through the front door or through the garden gate. As I helped organise the raising of the sofa (leather - skin of some otherwise pointless dimwit dead animal) over the back garden wall and then its careful manouvering through the large rear window by a number of 'uncivilised' humans I was struck by how stupid and crap dolphins really are. There is no way a dolphin or his mates could have got that sofa in. They are useless at organising removals. Same for elephants - they would have probably knocked the coping off the wall and broken the window frame. Useless - just like a dolphin.

[caller]

Jaime, I've got to ask and without sounding intrusive or rude - but just what are you on at the moment? I'm worried about your fixation with the less savoury (no pun intended) elements of animals.

JD - I enjoyed the read - thanks.

I hated seeing the tethered beasts at the "elephant village", but then rather hypocritically, admit to having enjoyed the show at the elephant/crocodile (surely drugged?) place in Bangers.

[Jaime]

I am on a chair (100% man made fibre) but other than that, I really don't know what you mean!

[caller]

Sorry, no offence meant, just referring to your recent posts about a variety of animals - internally and externally, edible and otherwise, logically or not!

[Jaime]

No offence taken - well, not by me anyway!

But read the whole thread - I don't start this stuff (well not always) I just feed on it (pun intended)!