It was kind of a bleak day in the Ozarks. Overcast and cool, now as the sun is receding there is still cloud cover with a bit of that strange yellowish tint I talked about a while ago in a discussion about tornadoes. I’m listening to the “Complete Early Recordings of Skip James” as I write. Nobody else sounds like Skip James. It’s stark music and fits the day somehow.
I’ve known Robert (drummer in the three piece band) for about fifteen years I guess. I met Robert when we were both hired to play in a road band. One we thing we had in common right off was, we were both carrying a sack of books across America. Robert has always liked to read autobiographies especially ones written by musicians. I used to read those kinds of books a lot more often but for some reason, I find it hard to get interested anymore. A few months ago, before I moved, Robert handed me a book to read and I must have had a negative look on my face because he said; “No, I think you’ll like this one”.
The book is, “Roadshow: Landscape With Drums: A Concert Tour By Motorcycle” by Neil Peart the drummer/lyricist for the band Rush. I started reading it and I moved in between so, I just finished it last night. Robert was right; I did enjoy reading it. It isn’t your typical rock star book. It was conceived as a sort of a travel book but there is much more to it than that. Peart suffered a double tragedy several years ago with the deaths of his daughter and wife coming in quick succession. He never discusses this in detail but, I think, that this book really about how he has been dealing with those events. I don’t think he meant to do this on a conscious level and because of that it has more impact. Peart is not always likeable but he is very honest.
Spiritually, he seems to be possibly an Atheist but he never comes right out and states that. Politically, he says that he is a Libertarian, which seems to fit. I have noticed over the years that his lyrics often seem to comment on the tragic aspects of the wake of communism rather than the “evils” of it.
He is an introvert which, ironically, is a trait shared by a lot of musicians and creative people in general. A lot of people who make their living on stages aren’t what you would call people persons. For many performers, how to deal with fans on a personal level is a source of great stress. Peart, after all he has been through, has almost no personal contact with fans or, the press, for that matter. Anyway, the book is a look inside the mind and soul of the man and also entertaining on the “travel book” level as well.
On an entirely different subject, we have a large population of wild pigs in the Ozarks. I have never been a hunter but a lot of people I have known throughout my life are. Over the years, I have been entertained by stories about the sometimes dangerous sport of pig hunting.
A domestic pig that escapes can become feral, return to a wild state, in a matter of weeks. One problem that has developed in areas that have a wild pig population and hog farms nearby is that the larger domestic pigs will escape, become feral, and breed with the wild pigs resulting in, over generations, bigger wild pigs. We don’t have a lot of hog farms around here so I haven’t heard much about it but further south it has developed into a problem.
A while back, I saw a documentary that took place in Georgia, I believe, about a guy that shot a wild pig that was so large they called it Hogzilla. In the show, a group of scientists dug up the buried pig and determined that, although it was a big pig, it was not as large as the hunter had claimed. Now, they are making a horror film loosely based on the story called “Hogzilla”.
Here is a story about an 11 year old, Alabama boy, Jamison Stone, who was out hunting and killed a very big pig…
An 11-year-old Alabama boy used a pistol to kill a wild hog his father says weighed a staggering 1,051 pounds and measured 9-feet-4 from the tip of its snout to the base of its tail. Think hams as big as car tires.
If the claims are accurate, Jamison Stone’s trophy boar would be bigger than Hogzilla, the famed wild hog that grew to seemingly mythical proportions after being killed in south Georgia in 2004.Hogzilla originally was thought to weigh 1,000 pounds and measure 12 feet in length. National Geographic experts who unearthed its remains believe the animal actually weighed about 800 pounds and was 8 feet long.
That is a pretty brave 6th grader. These wild pigs are known to charge a hunter once they have been shot. A lot of pig hunters go in groups or, at least, pairs in case that does happen.
Also, a lot of people have been dismissing the idea that wild hogs would ever be able to grow that big and use the Hogzilla story to demonstrate how these things get exaggerrated. Guess they were wrong.
Related posts
Tags: Big Wild Pig, Jamison Stone, Neil Peart
Outeasy wrote,
Whoa, Jack, back up dood! I love a good pig story, but something is not quite right here. Take a look at the “Great White Hunter.†That’s a sturdy boy, and knowing the size of the “weapon” (doubtful) he is holding, he’s about 5′5″ - 5′7″ in height. They are claiming this hog is 9′4″, so using the boy as a dimensional reference, the hog would have to be over 15 feet long, unless, of course, the kid is three feet tall, which would be a wee bit short for an eleven year old. They say the hog measures 54 inches around the head. Meh, huh? If this is true, then the kid would have to be at least nine feet tall. Now, I know they “super-size†stuff in the South, but this would conversely be a little tall for his age, but it’s never too soon to be thinking scholarships. Lotsa permutations here. If the beast weighs 1,000, and “bwana” weighs 100-120, stack 10 of him in front, and you’re gonna be missing some kids. You can do more math on the tree, boy, hog, etc. Also, a .50 caliber for a little boy? That gun’s got enough kick to throw his arm back over his head and all the way across the state to Georgia. Not a real good choice for huntin’ big stuff neither, unless you’re going to get within 7-9 feet of your intended target. Me not got the guts to get that close to somethin’ this big and shoot, what 7, 8 times? I can’t even imagine a dad letting his kid loose in the woods with a .50 cal, but I’m not from ‘Bama. I could be totally off here, and if I am, I’ll buy you some sausage and eggs. I’d enjoy that. I’m a city boy. What say your Ozark buds there? I say somebody’s hogwashin’ somebody here. Have a great weekend!
Link | May 25th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Pribek wrote,
Easy, who doesn’t love a good pig story? Now, I’m no expert photographs or the manipulation of them. Here’s a link to the local paper, the Anniston Star.
http://www.annistonstar.com/showcase/2007/as-open-0522-0-7e21s1417.htm
There are two other photos there. One looks like it was taken at the same location but from a different angle. The second shows the pig hanging and the boy and dad next to it.
This link is to a blog that a reporter from the Star has started to post any verification info of the pig.
http://starhogblog.blogspot.com/
This is from the blog…
“Jerry Cunningham, of Jerry’s Taxidermy, called to say he does in fact have the hog and it’s really, really big.
He was there to see it soon after it’s kill. He also “caped out” the hog, removing the hide for the process of mounting it, in which is planned to be a shoulder mount.
To help make the form on which the animal will be mounted, Cunningham had to take accurate measurements of the beast. Here they are:
Around the head (across the ears): 54 inches.
Around the shoulders: 74 inches.
Length of snout (from eyes to nose): 11 inches.”
I am pretty sure that all taxidermists have to take an oath that says they can’t lie about anything they are stuffing in order to get their license.
This will probably end up with the experts from “National Geographic” called in to examine what’s left of the pig as they were in the Hogzilla case.
Link | May 25th, 2007 at 11:37 pm
Outeasy wrote,
“The Great Pig Mystery” Meh! Gotta love it. Alright, whilst we are waiting on confirmation, here’s a little test for you and your gentle readers. Be the first out of the woods to identify this pig creature:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/208/514506645_81586fd584.jpg?v=0
Link | May 26th, 2007 at 4:49 am
Jayne d'Arcy wrote,
I don’t doubt it’s genuine, but what I do question is whether or not it was the kid that shot the pig. Any parent that would standby and let his kid go after a monster like that has got a screw loose or two.
I also think they should have turned the carcass over for scientists to poke and prod instead of turning it into several hundred meals.
Outeasy, on that link? Uhm… very weird. Is it Brtney Spears? lol
Link | May 26th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
bob wrote,
shittttt thats hugeeee
Link | September 27th, 2007 at 10:23 pm