On Wed, 22 May 2002, Olaf Greve wrote:
> Hi,
>
<SNIP>
> > I know of some older japanese people, who intoxicate themself from eating
> > fugu liver (fugu goes, I think, by the name "pufferfish" or "blowfish in
> > the english language? - one fish has enough poison to kill several tenths
> > of people) and then slip into some state of semi-paralysis for a couple of
> > days. Since it should be a fairly pleasent experience, the people
> > praticing this kind of "death-play" are always rather disappointed when
> > the effects start to wear off.
>
> Heh, that sounds rather extreme! I believe there's also a kind of fish (I
> think it may be the pufferfish as well, even) for which it depends very much
> upon how well it's cooked: if cooked properly it's not poisonous and
> apparently quite delicious at that, if OTOH, not cooked properly, it can be
> a "killer-recipe" in the more literal sense of the word :0 Perhaps this is
> an urban legend though.
Actually, a fugu can be prepared (by specially trained chefs - the kind
you do not want to anger...) such that the majority of the poison is
removed and only enough is left in to, well..., numb your tounge and lips.
And no, it's not a very delicious taste. It's more of a "been there, done
that" thing. It doesn't really taste like much in the first place, and
after numbing your tounge, what would a great taste do anyways?
Urban legend or not...it can be prepared such that is is harmless. However
if not correctly prepared it *will* kill....
>
> > Currently, I think, this is forbidden by law. However I do know that it is
> > still being praticed in some communities, although what I know of it is
> > among the senior citizens.
>
> Wasn't this also the trick I saw once in a James Bond movie and in Miami
> Vice? I believe in both it was used by voodoo priests to simulate death and
> get people to believe that the person in question was a zombie.
Uhh...I am a little bit rusty on Hollywood science here. But I am sure
that it would have been picked up. Yet the effect of fugu liver is not a
complete paralysis, so simulation of death would not be efficient. However
being a somewhat paralysing, I don't think that even zombie-walking would
be possible.
Then again, I have never tried eating this stuff, so who am I to tell?
<SNIP>
> Doesn't sound like a "nice experience" as, accordimg to your sources, the
> pufferfish experience ought to be :) Hmmmmm, perhaps if one is into
> masochism :0 In that case, I hear a centipede bite comes highly recommended
> as well, on Discovery I once heard that adult males put their arm in boiling
> water to kill the pain of a centipede bite. Again: not _my_ picknick!!! :0
>
Olafo, you watch waaaay too much tv :)
cheers
--thomas
--
-------------------------------------------
Thomas Heide Clausen
Civilingeniør i Datateknik (cand.polyt)
M.Sc in Computer Engineering
E-Mail: T.Clausen@xxxxxxxxxxxx
WWW: http://www.cs.auc.dk/~voop
-------------------------------------------
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|