A Very Nerdy Connection


Here's one for all the dorks out there: I was reading Jared Diamond's new book The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies? . . . and not only that, but I was reading it on my new Kindle -- and so I made an electronic bookmark when I ran across this passage: "a traditional tactic without parallel in modern state warfare is the treacherous feast: documented among the Yanomamo and in New Guinea: inviting neighbors to a feast, then surprising and killing them after they have laid down their weapons and focused attention on eating and drinking" because it reminded me of the infamous Red Wedding in George R.R. Martin's third book in the Song of Ice and Fire series . . . and my internet research revealed that Martin's Red Wedding (not to be confused with Billy Idol's White Wedding) was inspired by an actual historical event -- the Black Dinner  , a treacherous feast in Scotland in the year 1440 . . . indeed!

5 comments:

rob said...

today's gtb post is *not* an invitation to a treacherous feast; please do not let anyone think otherwise.

zman said...

Were the Treacherous Three invited to the treacherous feast?

Clarence said...

If there is a Hell, it has a special place for those who murder people after luring them with an invitation for a large feast of food and drink.

Dave said...

but it always works!

Dave said...

hey --

all my fans are invited for dinner next tuesday night. bring duct tape, garbage bags, and stain remover.

A New Sentence Every Day, Hand Crafted from the Finest Corinthian Leather.