> PS, I can catch balls OK but I can't throw all that far. I still have
>this weird complex when I throw a ball and it doesn't get as far as everyone
>else's throw. Now I avoid throwing, at least in public. I didn't look much
>like a girl when I was a little kid so I blame the fact that I grew up in a
>country (Chile) where kicking the ball (soccer) was more important than
>throwing the ball or catching it (baseball). But then again my dad can't
>throw either, I have never seen my mother throw :)
>
>Alvaro Jaramillo

When I was in Argentina, I developed a hypothesis something to the effect
that the slingshot was invented by Latin Americans to kill birds because
they grew up using their feet rather than their arms to propel projectiles
through the air, so they weren't all that great at bringing down birds with
rocks! I really thought (well, at least for a few minutes) about societies
that emphasized soccer vs. games in which balls were thrown.

That's the other nice thing about vacation trips--you get more chance to
think about a variety of subjects than you do when you're in the midst of
doing your everyday work. (I didn't say productive thought.....)

Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416