Old Acquaintances

Hey, do you have any weird body functions that maybe aren't important enough to mention? I've got one. Whenever I'm about to get tired, my calves get sore. It's not quite something that happens as a side effect of being tired, but if my calves are sore and there's no particular reason for it, I can be sure that I will be exhausted in a half hour.

At my brother'school, there has recently been a few new additions. One is a former teacher of his, and another, as a student, is a kid that I used to babysit. Now, here's a bit of a weird experience... When someone you used to babysit has a wife and two children when you still have nothing. Actually, it's not that bad, but still just a touch ironic.

On the street today, I ran into someone I haven't seen since elementary school! My old best friend. We walked right past each other, and it was his double take that brought us together. I didn't even notice him until he called out, but on hearing his voice, BAM! The memories came rushing back. Now that was something.


Do you guys know the story of Ali Baba? Because I didn't, even though it's supposed to be one of the only stories from Arabian Nights that's commonly known. I did know the legendary codeword, "Open Seseme" which come from it. Here, I'll refresh your memory.

Ali Baba and his brother Cassim are the sons of a merchant. After his death, Ali becomes a wood cutter, but Cassim marries a rich woman and becomes well-to-do. One day, Ali oversees a band of 40 thieves returning to their horde of treasure, which is opened from the outside at the mouth of a magical cave with the words "Open Sesame" and opened from the inside with the words "Close Sesame". Ali uses this knowledge to steal from the thieves.

He requests the use of his brother's scales to measure the weight of his gold. His brother's wife, however, wondering what Ali could need a set of scales with, plaves some wax on the scales, which a gold scale sticks to. Seeing this, she notifies Cassim on Ali's riches.

Cassim demands Ali tell him where the thieve's hoard is. In his greed, Cassim charges into the riches as soon as he knows the code word, but forgets the escape word and is captured. The 40 thieves find him, catch him and kill him.

Ali retrieves Cassim's body and enlists the aid of a clever serving-girl named Morgianna to make sure that Cassim is sewn togewther and given a proper burial. Morgianna enlists the help of a trustworthy man, and despite the attempts of the 40 thieves to find Ali, thwarts them time and time again, eventually leading to the deaths of of them all by Morgianna's clever tricks.

Ali Baba is impressed with Morgianna and gives her her freedom, and allows her to marry her son. The end.

I didn't involve everything, but that's the gist of it. Really, the story seemed more about Morgianna than Ali Baba, but whatever.

Other biggest reference for my Malian name is this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEryAoLfnAA

Sort of inappropriate to talk on the relevancy of that, in regard to my own personal experience, though.

Hey, so do you remember how I called out the Malians on being untruthful when they told us Canadians stories of Pygmys living in a nearby mountain? I already spoke on this in the comments, but it looks like they might not have been fooling with us. Turns out, rural French Africa is the place where you'd find them, and most likely in places optimal for hunting and gathering, just like that mountain, which is where the village hunters would go. Apparently, Pygmys commonly speak languages not familiar to other, taller tribes, and avoid contact with non-Pygmys, from fear of discrimination. So everything except the "Backwards legs" bit adds up, and Dave's even got an idea as to how that might not be deception, either.