The Mongolian Man-Beat (Almas)

[Dragon Slayer]

I signed up on this forum to see if anyone else has any interest in the Mongolian version of the Yeti called the almas. I spent time in the mid-1990s in Mongolia doing a little research on it. To cut to the chase, there's no solid evidence for it, and the smart money would be that it's a combination of imported stories from the Himalayas and local sightings of bears.

[fromthehills]

I thought this was going to be about a new Reggae album.

[nmblum88]

I thought this was going to be about a new Reggae album.

Not new, but there is an old Reggae album by Peter Tosh that includes this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TArYIX-Wjw&index=101&list=AL94UKMTqg-9C3nm41WbddIhKh0JJBLyYd


But I should practicing reading more carefully, too..

I actually thought there was going to be yet another lively discussion here, this time on a subject one might actually be able to sink one's teeth into: Mongolian barbecue..
Which IS one of the overlooked gastronomical treats ever… the very best of it smuggled into the U.S. by Mongol hordes, and available as is everything foreign, insidious and subversive in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco (an/or wherever really exotic creatures are always to be glimpsed in the streets, if one only cares to look).


NMB

[octopus1]

Charlton "Almas" Heston

[Dragon Slayer]

Gee, can't a chap have a serious discussion about Mongolian Men-Beasts around here.

Just to get things straight, I'm not a believer, just an interested skeptic.

I don't even believe in the existence of Mongolian Barbecue (well, in Mongolia anyways).

[octopus1]

Gee, can't a chap have a serious discussion about Mongolian Men-Beasts around here.

Just to get things straight, I'm not a believer, just an interested skeptic.

I don't even believe in the existence of Mongolian Barbecue (well, in Mongolia anyways).

It's difficult to get all fired up about something as globally ubiquitous as this.

Some people might suggest that the prevalence of these things around the World, from the Americas to Africa, to Asia (Even in my little neck of the woods, we have the myth of the "Brenin Llwyd", which is precisely the same idea as Yeti, Almas, Sasquatch etc.) makes them more plausible.

I take a different view. That these things are sighted, or allegedly sighted, pretty much wherever anyone has eyes means that they're ingrained in our psychological makeup. Like Earth-visiting aliens and ghosts and whatever else one cares to mention.

It's not that these "shared experiences" make us human, it's that they're just a part of what makes us.

Some will call the believers 'stupid'. I'm as guilty as anyone else of doing that. What if it was more complex than that? What if it's more like 'fragility'?

I dunno, maybe I'm being uncharacteristically sentimental

[Gord]

I saw a tree stump once that wasn't a bear or a bigfoot or a deer. There was a terribly long discussion about it in hushed voices among the people around me. Eventually they all followed me across the field and watched me smack the tree stump with my hand. Oddly enough, they were more disappointed in my attitude than in the fact that it was just a tree stump.

[Dragon Slayer]

Gee, can't a chap have a serious discussion about Mongolian Men-Beasts around here.

Just to get things straight, I'm not a believer, just an interested skeptic.

I don't even believe in the existence of Mongolian Barbecue (well, in Mongolia anyways).

It's difficult to get all fired up about something as globally ubiquitous as this.

Some people might suggest that the prevalence of these things around the World, from the Americas to Africa, to Asia (Even in my little neck of the woods, we have the myth of the "Brenin Llwyd", which is precisely the same idea as Yeti, Almas, Sasquatch etc.) makes them more plausible.

I take a different view. That these things are sighted, or allegedly sighted, pretty much wherever anyone has eyes means that they're ingrained in our psychological makeup. Like Earth-visiting aliens and ghosts and whatever else one cares to mention.

It's not that these "shared experiences" make us human, it's that they're just a part of what makes us.

Some will call the believers 'stupid'. I'm as guilty as anyone else of doing that. What if it was more complex than that? What if it's more like 'fragility'?

I dunno, maybe I'm being uncharacteristically sentimental

Yes, good points about the universiality of these legends, but I find them interesting in a puzzle-solving kind of way. The Mongolian Almas for example is closely tied in with Mongolia's close relationship with Tibet. Many Mongols made the pilgrimage to Lhasa and it's from these pilgrims that we see some of the stories come into Mongolia.

[octopus1]

Gee, can't a chap have a serious discussion about Mongolian Men-Beasts around here.

Just to get things straight, I'm not a believer, just an interested skeptic.

I don't even believe in the existence of Mongolian Barbecue (well, in Mongolia anyways).

It's difficult to get all fired up about something as globally ubiquitous as this.

Some people might suggest that the prevalence of these things around the World, from the Americas to Africa, to Asia (Even in my little neck of the woods, we have the myth of the "Brenin Llwyd", which is precisely the same idea as Yeti, Almas, Sasquatch etc.) makes them more plausible.

I take a different view. That these things are sighted, or allegedly sighted, pretty much wherever anyone has eyes means that they're ingrained in our psychological makeup. Like Earth-visiting aliens and ghosts and whatever else one cares to mention.

It's not that these "shared experiences" make us human, it's that they're just a part of what makes us.

Some will call the believers 'stupid'. I'm as guilty as anyone else of doing that. What if it was more complex than that? What if it's more like 'fragility'?

I dunno, maybe I'm being uncharacteristically sentimental

Yes, good points about the universiality of these legends, but I find them interesting in a puzzle-solving kind of way. The Mongolian Almas for example is closely tied in with Mongolia's close relationship with Tibet. Many Mongols made the pilgrimage to Lhasa and it's from these pilgrims that we see some of the stories come into Mongolia.

A TV show was mentioned here a while ago, "10 Million Dollar Bigfoot Bounty". Did I watch it because I was expecting them to find anything? Nah. Did I watch it because of the human drama and comic value? Yup!

While they're looking out into the forest, I'm sneaking looks at them. They're by far the more interesting specimens and at least they're real

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I signed up on this forum to see if anyone else has any interest in the Mongolian version of the Yeti called the almas. I spent time in the mid-1990s in Mongolia doing a little research on it. To cut to the chase, there's no solid evidence for it, and the smart money would be that it's a combination of imported stories from the Himalayas and local sightings of bears.

Sorry, my spirit guide has advised me that they were all killed by the Mongolian Death Worms.

[Austin Harper]

Oddly enough, they were more disappointed in my attitude than in the fact that it was just a tree stump.

[Gord]

That and I was yelling "IT'S A {!#%@} TREE STUMP YOU IDIOTS!"

[Poodle]

I saw a tree stump once that wasn't a bear or a bigfoot or a deer. There was a terribly long discussion about it in hushed voices among the people around me. Eventually they all followed me across the field and watched me smack the tree stump with my hand. Oddly enough, they were more disappointed in my attitude than in the fact that it was just a tree stump.

It was your disbelief that changed it from a bigfoot into a tree stump.

“Every time you say you don't believe in fairies, a fairy dies.” J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

[fromthehills]

Every time you pick your nose, Santa kills an elf.

[Poodle]

Therefore the Mongolian man-beast exists.

'S'easy.

[Gord]

I booed, but the fairy still came back to life: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... YouBelieve