CANCER OF THE THIRD EYE

LITTLE-KNOWN HISTORY OF KERGUELEN, Part Seven

2008-04-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

(This image is from Stargate Newsletter, Number 9, Feb-Mar 1997, as published by Stargate International.)

This should be the final installment of the Kerguelen history lessons I am providing for you. Again, many thanks are in order to J.R. Mooneyham, the author of the fascinating material. My current entry is found at:

http://www.jmooneyham.com/lost-civilization-kerguelen-2.html#section2.25

You can find out more about Mr. Mooneyham at http://www.jmooneyham.com/spjrm.html#jr .

Now where were we? Ah, yes! This is from the aforelinked website, and I quote, with my own commentary in red:

"The special task force's responsibilities and power increased still more in the 20th century when humanity-at-large began testing and using nuclear weapons, as well as some years later dispatching space probes into Earth and Moon orbit and beyond. Most fleet operations are ordered to add still more stand off distance between Earth and themselves, and new operating procedures and technologies are integrated into the fleet to better fend off humanity's increasing capabilities to observe events in space and near Earth orbits. The fleet is becoming steadily more stealthy to match humanity's growing capacities.

"Too, most of the secret fleet Kerguelen bases on Earth are shut down and destroyed as the fleet can not afford to properly maintain or man them any longer, as the possibilities of native scrutiny become increasingly keen."

I think they may fear that as humans have been aware of UFOs for some time now, anything that would represent a major leap forward in said awareness is to be avoided by the Kerguelen.

"The growing power of the task force, plus the high priority of R&D projects into interstellar flight and anti-human weapons technologies are making for changes in internal fleet politics.

"The astonishingly fast pace of innovation among 20th and early 21st century humanity is alarming both the fleet and the elite. At this time the Kerguelen possess a level of technology in some ways (not all) equivalent to what might be expected of 25th century humanity. But it has taken the Kerguelen millions of years to reach this point. At the present going rates humanity will surpass the Kerguelen in only a matter of centuries. One of the mostly unspoken and unexamined implications of this is that the structure of Kerguelen society may require substantial change to adequately deal with this threat. Needless to say, this scale of internal change is not something the elite would wish to consider.

"By 2000 humanity already possesses comparable or even superior technologies to the Kerguelen in some fields. But these are considered much less dangerous to the Kerguelen than certain other items might be. Plus, via covert surveillance and onsite spies, the Kerguelen are sometimes able to steal information and samples of technological innovations from humanity to aid their own research efforts.

"Fortunately, most human organizations do not suspect such intelligence efforts may sometimes be from outsiders, but rather exclusively suspect and accuse only their own kind."

Will humanity's egocentric tendencies ultimately spell its downfall?

"Internal Kerguelen debates are raging on issues such as possibly exterminating humanity without warning, or peaceably contacting it, and seeking some sort of treaty of non-aggression. The fleet cannot yet flee the system into interstellar space at any pace safe from pursuit, as the required propulsion means are not yet at hand. However, a multitude of deadly weapons have been devised with which to terminate the man-apes."

The man-apes? That's us, people.

"Most consist of biological weapons, which are easy and cheap to create and produce in mass quantities, as well as keep safely contained in the routine conditions available across a fleet of spacecraft and mass of space-based colonies.

"However, as always, the Kerguelen rarely decide or act quickly on any matter, until forced to by events. And the possible consequences of unleashing their biological agents upon the Earth do not sit well with the elite, for a variety of reasons. For one thing, many agents as yet have no suitable defensive measures to protect the Kerguelen themselves-- it being far easier to create killer viruses than to stop them once active. So in the circumstance that something forced the Kerguelen back to Earth for a refuge, they might be threatened by the agent(s) (or mutations of same) they themselves placed there.

"Plus, applying such agents would mean terminating all physical intelligence contacts with agents on Earth beforehand, as a fail-safe measure. And once the human population fell below critical mass, no longer would new technological innovations or entertainment media pour forth from the ape-men. The Kerguelen elite are coming to like both these elements too much to give them up easily. And some are even daring to contemplate an existence where the Kerguelen attempt to maintain the secrecy of their presence from humanity indefinitely, with an ever diminishing margin of technological advantage! After all, so long as humanity remains unaware of the Kerguelen, they will continue to remain vulnerable to various weapons the Kerguelen could loose upon them, in the worst case; but at the same time the Kerguelen can continue to spy upon and steal the best of what technologies the humans come up with, to at least maintain a rough parity with the ape-men, if not better.

From time to time, I wonder if I myself have been observed by the Kerguelen.

"The Kerguelen have been forced by events to once again increase contact between themselves and humans, in order to obtain more information regarding certain human technologies which already surpass the Kerguelen's, as well as other matters, such as subtlely sabotaging various developments which the Kerguelen consider to pose a threat to them. For instance, the Kerguelen do not consider complete peace between Earth nations as necessarily beneficial from their point of view-- although such peace might slow the pace of weapons innovation somewhat, which would be good. No, the Kerguelen would rather keep some conflicts going Earthside to keep the humans' attention from turning too much to the skies."

The Kerguelen probably think America's involvement in Iraq is just fine. As long as America is actively creating trouble around the world, it diverts the world's attention from other more important matters. As long as the people of America are distracted by such things as television, sports, fashion, and celebrities, Americans will not pay attention to what their government is doing and will make little effort to stop it.

"Wars also consume resources, making it more difficult for humans to invest in long term, deep space mission technologies and certain other matters the Kerguelen perceive as threatening to the status quo. And, best of all, wars between humans on Earth just might eradicate or effectively disable the species, solving the Kerguelen's human problem once and for all, without any need to install genetically engineered killer viruses on the planet.

"The increasing popularity of UFO sightings and studies among humanity in the late 20th/early 21st centuries also disturb and alarm the Kerguelen elite-- for if such things ever become too popular, or actually taken seriously, Kerguelen security could rapidly become compromised.

"Therefore, as the 20th century came to a close, the Kerguelen elite formed a new task force, giving it the mission to supervise and finance purely human organizations on Earth, with some dedicated to creating UFO stories out of whole cloth (including some quite elaborate and convincing on their face hoaxes), and others purposed to debunk the same stories, as well as possibly others coming from third parties. The organizations at times also encouraged writings on the subject by both professionals and amateurs, via various means.

I find this rather discouraging. I love the book "Why People Believe Weird Things" and I had always cheered author Michael Shermer as a debunker of things such as UFOs. Now I am left wondering if Mr. Shermer himself is an agent of the Kerguelen.

"The resulting firestorm of argument and debate served well to keep UFOs on the fringes of serious human study, for quite some time.

"Another, more sinister development among the Kerguelen at this time, is a directive to another new task force to focus upon the more developed and democratic nations of humanity, and try to influence them to reshape themselves to be more like the Kerguelen society. To greatly reduce civil liberties, and raise surveillance rates on the public and middle-to-low hierarchy individuals to as near 100% as possible."

During my periods of lucidity, I have some of this happening in the United States in recent years.

"During the 20th century this task force experienced many setbacks in their efforts, due to the significant differences between humanity and the Kerguelen themselves. It was simply difficult to get a good understanding of the human culture. Finally, however, they found the key: the growth of monstrous so-called 'business' corporations among humanity. These organizations were gaining new freedoms and powers almost daily, to the expense of democratic forms of government. Human business interests also coincided nicely with Kerguelen interests, in that human business disliked uncertainty, and craved stability. Add to this the simple and straightforward over-riding desire for human currency which ruled these entities, and the situation was tailor-made for Kerguelen manipulation."

And yes, the author IS talking about Americans, and by association, probably even us ex-pats. For those of us who find America's business world to be a strange, unnatural, "alien" sort of thing, this all does seem to fit, doesn't it?

"The critical region seemed to be one called the United States of America, as all the other advanced democracies seemed to follow its lead. Turn the US into a police state, and the other democracies would likely follow suit. Those that didn't, could be forced into obedience with the USA's overwhelming military might. And all the rest of humanity's various nations were so primitive and weak that they would have no choice but to accept the commands of the US afterwards.

"Yes, the keystone was the USA. Strip it of its democratic ways, and humanity was essentially conquered. The powerful scenario generating computers aboard the Kerguelen space vessels, as well as the Kerguelen's ability to manipulate Earth markets via electronic means, would provide the details and tactics required to achieve the objective. One, maybe two human generations (25-50 years) were estimated to be all the time required for complete success."

Do Americans need to protect their civil liberties and fight for their freedoms in order to keep the Kerguelen from assuming control?

"Humanity was not totally defenseless. The modern descendents of the original Asvin secret societies, though now few in number and limited in influence, became aware of the new manipulative efforts, and sought to counter them. Unfortunately, their resources were no match for the instant electronic wealth the Kerguelen could effortlessly create within human banking systems at will, and wield throughout human society to push their agenda."

Does this have anything to do with the IMF, I have to wonder... ?

"To humanity-at-large, such effects seemed merely to stem from the money of various human corporations, interest groups, and wealthy individuals. So why didn't government economic authorities detect the tampering? Partly because the Kerguelen masked the sources of the extra funds in a multitude of ways, from generating it within the secret and unaccountable budgets of US intelligence agencies, to making it appear as massive but hard to stem counterfeiting efforts in third world countries, to producing it along with other virtual monies in massive corporate corruption and fraud events, and in smaller amounts here and there as parts of criminal computer cracking of human banks, which essentially allowed a tapping of Earth-based insurance company funds, as well as tax payer dollars in the resulting bailouts."

If I recall correctly, some of this has been happening in America according to recent news.

"The simplest and most straightforward way however was to manipulate the USA into simply printing more money."

If this is true, the Kerguelen manipulations have been successful in this regard.

"That is, perform massive deficit spending, with a huge share slotted for military, intelligence, and security purposes, and therefore suitable for diverting in all sorts of ways untraceable afterwards by authorities. Of course, after a number of years this would produce severe economic problems for the US-- but by then the rest of the world would already be under its thumb, and it would be convenient to the Kerguelen schedule for the US to then become weakened itself, and so more easily susceptible to the Kerguelen's own brands of overt command and control.

"Soon, the Kerguelen would directly or indirectly rule America: and through America, all humanity."

Is this why America feels the need to police the world? Possibly. It could be due to outside influences!

"Fortunately for the Kerguelen, the USA economy in particular was especially vulnerable to such manipulation at this time, due to it being in the early stages of both computing and internet technology revolutions simultaneously. Human experts were still uncertain about how to balance civil liberties, profit, and security in the new and fluctuating environment, and were under enormous economic and political pressures to squeeze civil liberties anyway. Thus, the Kerguelen were delighted at how easily much of their plans fell into place. The human elite often seemed to be doing the Kerguelen's work for them!"

"But there were also some humans outside the secret societies who struggled against such manipulations, even while unaware of the Kerguelen presence and influence. They far outweighed the numbers and capacities of the secret societies for resisting the Kerguelen, as the societies themselves had been decimated over the millennia by various misfortunes, including the short attention span of human beings in general (even legacy members of the societies themselves would often abandon the cause, as at times whole generations would pass with no fresh and obvious evidence of the Kerguelen threat to the human race).

The human race seems to suffer from a massive case of attention deficit disorder.

"So this time the fate of humanity would be decided not by one or a few local heroes, but by small groups spread far and wide across the globe, amplifying their intelligence and leveraging their clout via the internet and whatever other technologies they could seize upon, to do their best to prevent humanity from being seduced into entering a new Dark Age, from which they might never be able to emerge again.

"Of course, the scant odds of success for these scattered resistance elements became the butt of popular jokes among the Kerguelen elite and fleet alike: circa early 2003 even mainstream US media itself was frequently heaping ridicule upon such parties and their efforts. Yes, the conquest of humanity looked to be a hilarious event, indeed."

That represents the end of the writings as far as I have been able to determine from my examination of the website.

What does this portend for humanity? Not much in the way of good, I suppose. Apparently, as America approaches a police state and asserts greater dominance over the rest of the world, it serves as an unwitting tool of the Kerguelen. As to what life would be like under Kerguelen control, it is anyone's guess.

I will probably write no further on this topic, other than to include any personal insights I might have on how all of this relates to the world today. Or, well, how it relates to my little world here in the southern Indian Ocean.

Thanks for reading the author's fascinating material and for considering my commentaries on his writings. I know not whether he deals in truth, but I can discern certain ways in which what he writes of could indeed be unfolding among us as we plod on, unaware. I believe he is onto something important, something unseen by nearly all of us who consider ourselves members of the human race.

Well, I need to do some more cleaning and scrubbing around the cabin to get rid of the stench. I am grateful for having a large supply of Pine-Sol I ordered after the last time this happened (that is, after my previous extended bender. I also need to be working on repairing the corner where the floor eroded a bit, allowing what little heat there is to escape. It is now autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, and in this strangely beautiful and godforsaken part of the world, the approaching winter is always to be dreaded. Time for me to make myself busy and lay in some supplies.

Hello Once Again From Somewhere South

2008-04-10T11:45:00.000-07:00

I fully realize it has been nearly two years since I last wrote a blog
entry. I apologize to you, my faithful readers, for this error in
judgment on my part. How, if I am to retain any semblance of sanity,
can I continue to avoid contact with fellow humans? I will attempt to
bring you up to date as possible.

I also realize that some of the pictures I posted early on are no
longer appearing on my weblog. I will work to remedy that situation as
well.

Two years can seem like a very long time, or it can pass quickly. In
my case, it has seemed like an eon. I would suppose that my continued
smoking of the Kerguelen Cabbage leaves has contributed to my
delinquency in writing. You would not imagine what it has been like to
awaken from vague dream states to a cabin floor covered with Charley’s
feces as well as my own. Luckily for Charley, the nearby stream has
eroded one corner of the cabin to the point that he has had access to
water. Leaving several large bags of dog food opened before I smoke has
been helpful as well. I can tell you that my life pattern during this
absence has been primarily that of smoking the leaves, lying down to
dream, awakening often enough to eat and give myself fluids, and making
the trip across the harbor to retrieve my supplies. I don’t require
much Southern Comfort any more, because the leaves have now taken the
place of alcohol.

The last time I boated over to Port-Aux-Francais I picked up a battery
I had ordered for the computer. Some extra fuel for the generator has
been helpful as well, because with all I want to know about 2007 and
2008, I need to keep the battery charged.

Having the computer running again has been good. By my own choosing, I
have been mostly without news of the outside world for the past two
years. I find it both disheartening and comforting to find out that
things have mostly not changed. I see George W. Bush is still President
of the United States, and that the U.S. is still in Iraq. I had hoped
for better news on both those fronts, but again, nothing has really
changed in those areas. I also see where America is having some
economic problems that weren’t quite as bad as they were when I
“checked out” in 2006. The rest of the world seems just as nutty
as ever, and while I know I should seek more contact with humans, I
realize I am probably just fine where I am for now.

What have I learned from smoking the leaves of the Kerguelen Cabbage
plant? I will share some of those things with you in blog entries in
the near future. You will learn some cosmic truths of cosmic
proportions, as well as some lies of similar magnitude. I am glad to be
back with you, and if you can help me along, I would like to kick the
smoking habit and at least get back to being a sodden drunk.

Cheers!

STRANGE MUSINGS

2006-04-12T08:23:00.000-07:00

Things have slowly been returning to normal around here. Charley and I have been regaining some of our lost weight, and I have been experiencing some moments of clarity.

I made it over to town in the boat last week to get some more supplies (including lots of stuff for cleaning), and when I looked at the relatively calm waters of the bay (the wind was only blowing about 25 mph) and sunny weather (still cold, but sunny at least), I noted that I had missed most of our summer while on my bender. While it may be April in the northern hemisphere, it is feeling like what I think of as October down this way. I will have to make another trip or two in order to stock up for the next six months. After missing out on summer, it will seem like enduring two winters in a row... and down here, that is a very depressing thought.

The guys in town hadn't seen me for a while, and I think they were aghast at my appearance. If any of you recall the crummy old TV program "Grizzly Adams", I suppose you could say I have taken on that sort of appearance, although I presented a wretched, stinky, emaciated version. The guys were all concerned, and gave me some sideways looks. Apparently, a couple of them had come out to my place in late January while I was still on the bender, and they had tried to communicate with me but to no avail. The story they told was horrifying.

I had been sitting in the middle of the cabin's main room, naked, in a pile of Charley's feces. The place reeked and was completely filthy. Somehow, they deduced that I was feeding myself, feeding Charley, giving Charley water, and keeping somewhat warm. Luckily it was summer and the cabin was well insulated, but they said it was only about 10 degrees C, which equates to 50 degrees F. Although I was very much "out of it", it seems I was somehow able to regulate the use of my propane and keep myself from getting hypothermia (there is no wood down here, so we have to use electric and propane heat. I have several large propane tanks.)

I guess my visitors thought I was hopeless but they were satisfied that Charley and I were physically healthy enough. They came back about a week later with some dog food and some canned stuff for me, although I was unaware they had ever been there.

When I made my trip to town, people recognized my boat but didn't recognize me. I like the long-haired look, and I think I'll keep it for a while. The beard is getting long too, but that's fine. While the previous months have been ones of complete debauchery, I am now wearing clean clothing and have been bathing myself regularly. I've gone from around 140 pounds back up to 155, with 165 being what I normally weigh... and on a 6'4" frame, 165 is skinny to begin with. So you can imagine what I looked like at the end of what I will refer to from now on as "my time away".

The most difficult thing besides going through alcohol withdrawal, is the fact that I basically wrecked my home. It wasn't much to begin with, but the stench of feces and urine is very difficult to get rid of after one allows it to build for so many months, as I did. After shoveling out all the poop (Charley's AND mine) I scrubbed all the floors extensively, then scrubbed all the walls and even the ceilings. I have been doing this daily. I am getting tired of the smell of the Pine-Sol-type disinfectant mixed with the stench of copious accumulated eliminations, but I'm noticing more Pine-Sol and less poop and pee, so things are getting better.

I haven't had a drink now for a few weeks, and I hope I can stay sober for a while. Staying off the cabbage-smoking habit will be tough too, but I will be working hard at that. Wish me luck.

And, I am still considering getting out of this place and finding somewhere warmer. I understand there are still some totally deserted Pacific atolls, but I also understand the flies can be pretty intolerable at those places. Someplace like Pitcairn might be interesting, but I don't know if I would want to be on such a small island with other people around... it might feel claustrophobic. At least out here there isn't anybody else around.

Snave says there are some places in northeastern Oregon that are very isolated but which are not far from "civilization"... I'll warn you Snave, I may have to check it out.

BACK TO THE LAND OF THE LIVING!

2006-02-01T20:38:00.000-08:00

Well, I GUESS I am back...

I am not sure where I have been for the last six months.

About a week ago, I awoke to the sensation of something warm on my cheek, and realized it was Charley licking me. I sat up and looked around the cabin, and I noticed many spent matches around the floor, several dozen empty Southern Comfort bottles, dried Kerguelen Cabbage everywhere, and my cabbage pipe in my hand. Poor Charley looked as if he hadn't been eating well... I could see his ribs practically sticking out through his fur. Worst of all, there was so much dog urine and feces in the cabin I thought I would pass out from the stench.

Apparently I had eaten occasionally during the past half year, and I had fed Charley from time to time. It didn't appear as if I had changed my clothes, though... phew...

I stood on my old scale, frightened to see I had lost 30 pounds. A look in the mirror revealed nothing different about me, just that I was much thinner.

If six months had passed by in a alcohol- and hallucinogen-fueled daze, that would mean it would now be the middle of summer. Desperate for fresh air, I began a daily ritual of standing naked in the unrelenting wind, hoping the wind would blow away my stink. I had forgotten how cold it still is here in Kerguelen during summer, and the wind made it all the colder. As for the house, I had to leave all doors and windows open, with a couple of bottles of stuff akin to Pine Sol open wide to mask the wretched scent.

It looks like I am just about out of food, so this means I'll have to do some work on the boat to get it ready for a trip across the bay to town, for supplies.

I had some pretty strange dreams while I was elsewhere. At least I THINK they were dreams... Maybe at some point I'll remember enough to blog about them for you. Thanks for being patient during my time away. Despite our current condition, Charley and I are very glad to be back.

2005-08-01T22:59:00.000-07:00

This evening Charley and I stood watching the sunset. Never mind that it was icy cold and the air was full of sleet... the Kerguelen sunset is a time of beauty. I felt that my hair, now grown past my shoulders, was beginning to freeze as I forced my eyes open against the harsh wind. At least I have a thick beard to help insulate my face a bit, although I have to wonder about myself a bit in realizing I haven't shaved or cut my hair in about a year... not even the nose hairs!

I held Charley close to my chest, to keep us both warm. As I saw the sun disappear below the horizon, I felt a surge of emotion, realizing that events in my life had been leading to this moment, and that all the previous events in my life will always culminate to equal the present moment, whenever that moment is. Then, given the illusory nature of time, I thought about my life, in time, as an illusory thing without form, without content, without spirit.

Despite the constant focusing of my life's past events into a complete present time full of clarity for me, at all times... the focus which can be brought about through communication with other human beings remains lost to me. Running from one place to another has not made my life easy for the past decade, and in fact it has caused my time to pass at such a slow rate that I sometimes fear it has stopped altogether. It is the waiting that makes it seem as if I am watching a pot that never boils . As I wait for something monumental to happen in my life, and nothing happens, I become increasingly alarmed at how inwardly focused I have become.

It is time for me to leave Kerguelen and attempt to join the human race. During the next week I will pack the contents of the cabin onto my boat, pilot the boat to Port-Aux-Francais, purchase a container, and get everything loaded onto the next freighter... which will leave Kerguelen about ten days from now for the island of Reunion. Thanks for all your suggestions; I haven't decided yet on where to go. I think Charley will like it better in a warmer climate. I know I will, too! I'll let you know what's happening, and I will post the final Kerguelen history lesson during the next few days.

I HAVE SEEN A BLINDING FLASH OF LIGHT

2005-07-27T00:49:00.000-07:00

TIME TO MOVE ON?

2005-07-25T22:46:00.000-07:00

While in the throes of a two-week trip, thanks to my smoking of the delightful Kerguelen Cabbage, I had some colorful insights regarding my current situation. I have started to think that it might be time for me to leave Kerguelen. I was looking at J.Marquis' blog "Are We There Yet?" and he has posted some pictures from a recent Alaska trip. The photos reminded me of how much I miss trees, flowers, songbirds and warmth. And other people! While I am a misanthrope, it helps to have real people to talk to once in a while. I'm not just thinking of myself, either. When I see Charley shivering in the cold when I take him outside so he can take a dump, I feel badly for him because he is obviously miserable. And his wheels don't do so well on the tundra-like ground.

But where would I go from here? I have already been in the South Pacific and in Central Asia. I'd like to find a place with mountains and beautiful scenery, like I have here, but where there would also be a few more people around, more vegetation, and a better climate. If you can think of any great ideas, please comment. I may go back on the Cabbage for a bit... It helped me get to this point of serious self-assessment (although the best part was getting really messed up and seeing some cool visions and shit!) Hey, Charley, pass me the pipe and the lighter!

LITTLE-KNOWN HISTORY OF KERGUELEN Part Six

2005-07-25T22:32:00.000-07:00

First, let me say that coming down off a Kerguelen Cabbage smoking habit is hell. But I'm back.

This is the next-to-last installment of the Kerguelen history lessons, with many thanks to J.R. Mooneyham at http://www.jmooneyham.com/lost-civilization-kerguelen-2.html .

Approximately 22,000 BC: The Kerguelen completely fail to notice the alarming events taking place on Earth's southeast asian peninsula, until long after things have settled back to something nearer normal again-- which is a lucky break for humanity.

The Kerguelen fleet doesn't notice the extraordinary pace of technological development and other matters on the Southeast Asian peninsula until long after the climax of events there-- things simply happened far too fast for the fleet's normal surveillance schedule and response routines to notice (just a single century in general, with the most alarming matters ocurring in just decades). Plus, most attention towards Earth was concentrated on watching for signs of the inorganic technologies of the Kerguelen spacecraft stolen by the mutineers-- stuff decidedly different from the peninsula's primarily biotech-based or derived devices. The very short time-scale of peninsula events, and their containment to one particular region of the globe also helped shield events from Kerguelen scrutiny.

Approximately 18,000 BC- 12,000 BC: Earth is bombarded five times by heavier than usual cosmic dust concentrations from space. Earth's climate may well be effected. Some of this same dust traveling through the solar system may be spawning a new dust ring between Mars and Jupiter.

Approximately 9,500 BC- 9,000 BC: The Asvin of Earth surprise the Kerguelen fleet, and then vanish
[To see details about the Asvin civilization, please refer to What Could Have Been: A Lost Civilization in Southeast Asia, 25,125 BC- 13,875 BC]

After this shocking development, the Kerguelen elite direct the fleet to move some elements further away from Earth, while better masking others from long range detection or location via Kerguelen equivalent technologies. These measures will effectively render much Kerguelen space activity invisible to humanity until at least around the turn of the Approximately 8,000 BC+: Total world population may be somewhere between 5 and 10 millionA booming human population worldwide is driving many other large animal species extinct-- including some variants of humanity itself.

Approximately 6,000 BC - 1 AD: Sometime during this period the Earth, along with the rest of the Solar System, enters a vast cloud of interstellar gas

9,000 BC- 1,945 AD: The Kerguelen fleet maintains covert surveillance of Earth, seeking signs of the Asvin; The fleet otherwise cuts back on operations on and near Earth. The mystery of the missing Asvin, along with the surprise attack in space, haunts the Kerguelens. They watch closely for centuries, then millennia, for signs of their reappearance, only to find none. Instead, the entire planet of ape-men seems to go backwards 10,000 years in technology, in the wake of the Asvin's vanishing act.

1960 AD- 1965 AD: Multiple Russian probes launched towards Mars all meet with disaster

1,969 AD- 1973 AD: Another series of Russian missions to Mars fails to live up to expectations

1,989 AD: The sophistocated Russian Mars Phobos probes fail, with the last disappearing under puzzling circumstances. The Russian Mars Phobos probes are of a completely new design compared to earlier efforts. They also possess their own 'daughter' satellites for various missions to the Mars moon of Phobos. Both Phobos missions suffer disasterous failures. Phobos-2 does manage to limp through a fraction of its original mission, though it soon disappears. The last two months of photos it sends back to Earth seem to display various anomalous images. The very last one apparently taken two days before the probe disappears seems to show a huge, smooth object approaching the probe.

Many years later scientists will explain the strange images were essentially caused by something similar to long exposures performed with cameras on Earth, smearing or lengthening some images into weird geometries, or else by other flaws in the transmission. They also will say the Phobos missions were plagued with many sorts of problems which made them likely to fail or return erroneous results.

1,991 AD: A small and unusual object is detected near Earth, following an unlikely flightpath and exhibiting some signs of possible artifice. Is it merely an extraordinarily circumstanced natural object, or part of some super-secret spacecraft previously launched from Earth, and undisclosed to the public? Or could it even be an alien probe of some sort?

1,993 AD: NASA's Mars Observer is lost as it approaches Mars

1,995 AD: Russia loses a Mars probe during launch; it falls somewhere in the vicinity of the Andes mountains

1,998 AD: A Japanese Mars probe fails during launch

1999 AD: NASA suffers the failure of two more separate missions to Mars; humanity is realizing that the undersea Kerguelen plateau was once a dryland island continent....while they are also nearing the levels of wealth and technology necessary to explore the undersea mass......but all indications are that those with the means are far more interested in other locations, nowhere near the sunken Kerguelen continent. Thus, it could be centuries or even millennia before humanity discovers the secrets drowned there.
2000 milestone: The status of KerguelenSince the last major island of the Kerguelen island continent sank some 20 million years ago, further volcanic activity has created new islands in the chain.

The new islands however are little more than the tips of new undersea mountains poking above the waves; nothing as massive and vast as the original three Kerguelen bodies.

These mountain tops and other associated lands today form an island group, comprised of some 7000 square km of archipelago (roughly 300 islands and reefs) and lying situated in the South Indian Ocean. The largest island of the bunch is called Kerguelen. The entire group is legally considered a French possession.

In recent history the modern island of Kerguelen has seen both ice and considerable volcanic activity (Kerguelen possesses plenty of volcanoes). The above sea level remnants of Kerguelen suffer a frigid climate due to the convergence of Antarctic and Indian Ocean currents in the vicinity, and often strong winds which contribute to the chill. The winds also contribute to high waves in the area-- with 15 m heights being considered not unusual. This heavy wave action may contribute to the year-round ice-free nature of the seas around the islands. The skies of modern Kerguelen spend much of their time overcast.

Virtually the only native plant which has survived in the region from ancient times is the Kerguelen cabbage (rabbits brought in by foreigners destroyed practically all other lowland vegetation which had managed to survive the previous icy and volcanic periods).
Today a scientific research station of considerable size exists in the area, housing up to 100 scientists at a time.

2000 AD: By now humanity has explored something less than 2% of the deep oceans-- and less than 10% of the oceans overall. 50% of the surface of the Earth exists beneath 3000 to 6000 meters of ocean depth. Life in the deep ocean is at least as diverse as that in rainforests.

2001 AD: Humanity discovers a surprising contamination of near Earth space with uranium

2004 AD: A rolling robotic probe (the US Spirit rover) accidentally catches sight of a UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) in the skies over Mars; a "strange" object a few miles across is detected in the vicinity of Saturn-- and there may be more like it

Just one more installment to go. We are now just about up to speed!

SORRY I HAVE BEEN GONE SO LONG!

2005-07-19T11:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have been gone so long!

It seems I have lost track of time and space.

I have been on what some people might call a "bender".

I need to wake up for long enough to get back to the history lessons. As you will see, they are very important.

ANOTHER USE FOR KERGUELEN CABBAGE

2005-07-05T00:14:00.000-07:00

I often enjoy a bit of tobacco in my pipe after a long day of fishing or walking, or during an evening of hard drinking. I've never been one to experiment with drugs, although I will confess to smoking some morning glory seeds one time back in the states. I also tried smoking some other things when I was a teenager, including an occasional joint or cigarette, but also things like maple leaves, orange pekoe tea and oregano.

This evening I am in a lighthearted mood. About an hour ago I decided to try smoking some Kerguelen cabbage leaves I have been drying for the last week or so.

Nothing seemed to happen right at first. Then, I felt a slow rush coming on that started in my stomach and proceeded throughout my chakras until my third eye was radiating a beam of light that illuminated the cabin. Charley became scared and began to whimper, but after I blew some smoke at him he seemed to mellow. I closed my eyes and felt myself traveling forward through space and time at an alarming rate. I was overtaken by vertigo when I opened my eyes, and it wasn't long before Charley was cleaning up my cod dinner, which had somehow found its way from my stomach onto the cabin floor. As the top of my head started tingling and separating itself from my skull, I frantically reached about for it as it took wing. I chased it around the room several times before cornering it by the kitchen sink. Once my head was back together, I noticed the kitchen sink faucet was swaying slightly, in time with the breathing of the walls. That experience was enough to cause me to seek further diversion, which I did by getting out my timbales and playing them hard, for several hours. During a bathroom break just a few minutes ago, I thought my pupils were about the size of saucers. As I stared at my reflection, I thought I might be Christ, but then I realized I was just starting to look like him. Blue light shimmering through the dust motes stirred by the movement of a hand through the still air. Rough winds slashing over the rooftop playing reveille against my brainpan, suggesting the remnants of one thousand mornings. Thorough examinations of the connection between my lungs and the doorknob now take place, take face, take shape. A floating of the boat of both coats. My shoes. What the fuck!? It's only the rain. It's only the driving rain, driving and thriving and arriving as my tongue turns to liquid fire. Higher and down, lower and through, sideways and up are all turned to one. The center of the mind turns in upon itself and becomes pure light as I rise. No surprises here, nothing that hasn't been known since time immemorial began a few minutes ago. There are no such things as hands and feet, no feelings for the voice that hammers in my occipital lobe, screaming through a fog of severe chop, of stretched anchor lines and rudders. Chancre lines and rubbers. Gibbers and jabber jobbers. The cod dinner shines in the light which emanates from my ribcage. High lines of fine tines, sparkle, trickle, treacle. Freakle. Fickle. Spit trickles. Ventricles. Buckles and chuckles, chiclets, piglets. Wiglets. Wiggling!! When my coat finally wears itself, and when my knees work in reverse, I will reserve the right to put my shoes on backwards and run across the water to the glowing town in my frostbitten birthday suit. The sun attempts to penetrate the fog inside the cabin and out, as I start to come down. This may take a while, but it's all beginning to make sense now. I don't know where I have been for the past few hours, but it has been a place of strange and wonderful magic! My throat is a bit sore, but I think some Southern Comfort should help with that. Charley is now sound asleep by the fire, which seems to have spread beyond the fireplace and into the main room. Time to end this missive, put out the fire, and go to bed. More soon.

2005-07-03T23:36:00.000-07:00

Well, he's dead. I decided he wasn't Christ, but I also figured that it wasn't healthy for me to keep him around. He drank the rest of my Southern Comfort in one sitting, and that amounted to about eight bottles of the stuff. So, he died a lovable drunk. I'll have to wait another week for more Southern Comfort to come in on the supply ship...

Anyway, Charley and I had a simple burial ceremony a couple of miles north of the cabin. I didn't want Jay's grave marker to be where I would see it very often... it might have tempted me to play God and resurrect the guy. I told Annie that she could come by from time to time now that Jay is gone, but she declined the offer, instead deciding she would move to the deserted whaling station at Port Jeanne d'Arc. She was never that interested in me anyway, and I never found her to be all that attractive.

This means it's just me and Charley now.

LITTLE-KNOWN HISTORY OF KERGUELEN Part Five

2005-07-03T23:10:00.000-07:00

As promised, the history lesson continues. The following abridged information is from the following website: http://www.jmooneyham.com/lost-civilization-kerguelen.html#section49

Approximately 28,000,000 BC- 21,000,000 BC: An advanced symbiont civilization arises on Kerguelen.
Its development has required considerably longer than later humanity's will, due to several factors. If the Kerguelens cared to, by 21 million BC they could now trace their lineage back for over 13 million years-- or twice the span which will separate 21st century humans from chimpanzees.

Approximately 25,000,000 BC: Massive volcanic eruptions may be occuring in the region of Antarctica's Ross Sea-- perhaps even affecting global climate; Kerguelen climate is surely changed somewhat by the event.
It appears that the climatic effects of eruptions in this region will more strongly affect areas in or near the same latitudes as opposed to others. Thus, despite being almost on the other side of the world from the eruptions, Kerguelen is likely affected.

Approximately 21,000,000 BC- 20,000,000 BC: The Kerguelen elite realize their world will eventually vanish, and begin a frenzied effort to insure their survival.
The general Kerguelen neglect of the environment and many scientific fields left the Kerguelen shocked and unprepared when they finally reached the realization that their entire land was slowly sinking beneath the sea.

By this time the Kerguelen possessed a rough equivalence with future 22nd/23rd century humanity in some technologies, if not all. Yes, despite their near continuous stagnation in this regard, their occasional spurts of innovation over a period of many hundreds of thousands of years had not left them utterly at the mercy of fate. On the other hand, had they progessed as quickly as humanity will later on, over this span they could have dominated a good portion of the Milky Way galaxy.

The Kerguelen would have to leave Earth. For only in space were available resources that caused the entire Earth to pale by comparison. Asteroids and comets represented wealth beyond imagining-- so long as the race did not have to worry about the objects raining atop them in miscellaneous disasters. And in space the resources were much more accessible too-- at least once one had escaped the gravity of Earth itself.

Approximately 20,000,000 BC: The last remnants of the Kerguelen island continent in the southern Indian Ocean slowly sinks to the bottom of the sea.
Twenty million years from now it will be known to submariners as part of the "Kerguelen Plateau", and lie two kilometers deep. But for millions of years previous to the present sinking it was a large piece of dry land on Earth.

Note that the previous boom in ape species two million years earlier means apes existed simultaneously with the last couple of million years of a dry Kerguelen continent. It seems that at the very least Kerguelen offered its animal residents an evolutionary environment similar to Australia/New Zealand of the same period, with perhaps some intriguing marsupial and flightless bird species and other exotic evolutionary niches all its own. Kerguelen may even have been an evolutionary paradise in some respects.

(Skipping ahead a bit...! The Kerguelen have been living away from Earth for millions of years by now.)

Approximately 3,000,000 BC- 30,000 BC: The Kerguelen fleet realizes that some distant relatives of Kerguelen primitives on Earth are starting to show signs of intelligence; The Kerguelen eventually begin to interact with the ape-men in limited ways.

The unmistakeable sounds of song and music emanating from ape gatherings first attract the attention of the Kerguelen. As time passes primitive tool use and greater cooperation among the apes becomes apparent.

Finally, widespread and purposeful use of fire by the apes begins breaking out all over the planet.

Some fleet personnel begin interacting with the apes, from time to time. Eventually they begin attempting to get the apes to team up with a smaller primate species like the Kerguelens themselves did early on. A few isolated genetic tweaks to both ape and monkey species are made in an effort to encourage such a pair-up. The fleet's efforts at combining the two species into something resembling their own ends up stymied. But the apes do continue to show progress in their own way.

Many more generations pass among the Kerguelen. Interest in the apes ebbs and flows among the fleet, as the species seems it will never evolve any further than it already has. Then, finally, the species begins to show the promise the fleet had been hoping to see for eons. The potential to become a whole new peasant/slave population for the fleet crews themselves. For in that manner might they achieve the levels of wealth and luxury up to now enjoyed only by the elite. They could also return to Earth, and enjoy the vast regions of unconstricted and hospitable space there-- wholly unlike the environments of their cramped craft quarters, and dangerous vacuum of space outside their vessels. Many fleet Kerguelen also chafed against the strict population controls of the fleet, imposed by the elite. A looser rein on free will here as compared to earlier Kerguelen history, plus more free time as well, allows the fleet Kerguelen to brood upon such matters. Upon a return to Earth such population restrictions could be ignored. There was enough space for billions of Kerguelen there.

Under these conditions the efforts to plan for a future return to Earth and subjugation of the fledgling humans there began to become somewhat organized affairs of the fleet Kerguelen. Details regarding how this might be done without interference from the elite-- or how the fleet Kerguelen might separate their own destinies from those of the elite-- are mostly neglected.
The fleet Kerguelen have no choice but to mention the continuing evolution of the apes on Earth in their reports to the randomly called elite. Fortunately, the elite take little notice.

The fleet Kerguelen increase the frequencies of their visits to Earth. They are not always as discrete as they should be. They are often sloppy because of the still primitive nature of the humans there, and the long time practice of taking little heed on the planet's surface, among merely dumb animals.

A growing argument builds among various factions of the fleet Kerguelen over how to handle the ever smarter apes-- including how much to let the apes see/know of the fleet Kerguelen themselves.

Eventually some fleet Kerguelen strike up continuing relationships with some humans. They experiment with some. Lucky ones become agents of the fleet, either among their own kind, or in secret underground or underwater bases about the planet.

Keep in mind the fleet Kerguelen must hide many of their activities regarding Earth from the elite Kerguelen. Thus, the reason for the hidden bases being constructed underground or undersea. Such bases are easier to cover up or otherwise explain as aberrations in instrument readings, than more obvious installations would be.

Despite their advanced technology, the fleet Kerguelen are also subject to very close surveillance and accounting by the elite for equipment, materials, and hours of labor utilized for any purpose. So their available resources for the construction of the hidden bases are much more limited than might be expected by observers accustommed to a freer, more private society, equipped with a similar level of technology.

Another factor to consider is the fact that certain bits of Kerguelen technology such as power sources, manufacturing equipment, and advanced materials used to build the Earth bases or installed there for other purposes would tend to make those bases be more easily found by Kerguelen instruments from space than would otherwise be the case. So even if the Kerguelen could use such items without accounting for them in inventory, the act would only increase the risk of discovery and execution (or worse) later.

This means the secret bases are almost always built and stocked only with native Earth materials and labor, and significant Kerguelen effort goes into maximizing the usefulness and flexibility of the locations while using only primitive and obsolete Kerguelen ideas and techniques adapted to contemporary Earth and human capacities and circumstances. That way, even if a refuge is discovered and investigated by elite agents of the fleet, they should find little to indicate Kerguelen involvement.

Of course, despite their worries of discovery, the fleet Kerguelen do occasionally use advanced technologies in some aspects of the construction of these bases. But it is mostly just to carve out spaces within rock where the rock is too hard or the local human labor too sparse to sculpt as quickly or in as complex a manner as the Kerguelen desire-- and during hours when the naughty Kerguelen are sure none of the other Kerguelen are in position to monitor the local vicinity. The Kerguelen also take pains to cover the clues to artificial construction with intentional sloppiness in some aspects, and sometimes orders to a local human labor force to chip away manually at new tunnel surfaces a bit to make them look more hand carved, in case of later visual inspection.

Human access to Kerguelen technologies is kept very limited, for the most part.
The fleet Kerguelen continue to 'sample' the human population and experiment with them over time. They also largely continue their slipshod manner of interacting with the planet and its inhabitants.

There will be two or three more installments in this series. After the information has been presented, I will explain some of the relevance of it to the lives of all of us here on Earth today.

I HAVE BEEN GONE A WHILE

2005-06-24T16:12:00.000-07:00

I've been away for a while, camping quite a ways away from my place. The weather hasn't been friendly down here, but I needed to be away from the cabin for a while. Jay was starting to get to me, and when Matt commented recently and sort of said he thought my drawings of Jay made Jay look like Jesus, I began to think that maybe Matt had a point. Good heavens, was my imaginary friend also an object of a kind of worship on my part? The concept of people worshipping imaginary things bothers me. It was then I knew I needed a mind-cleansing, outdoor wilderness experience.

Anyway, the camp-out was fun, even if it was extremely cold and windy. The wind was blowing so hard the tent barely stayed up, and during a couple of nights it collapsed completely but I just stayed in it anyway... too icky outdoors to go out and fix things.

After being down here a while, I've discovered that gull and albatross aren't bad eating. I don't own guns, but I do have a "wrist rocket" slingshot, and I'm quite accurate with it. The birds aren't used to seeing many humans, so they are fairly tame. That makes them easy targets. Cormorants, shown below, are also tasty:

There isn't anything here that can be used as fuel for a fire, so I had to do all the cooking on my camp stove, inside the tent, no less. Packing all the extra fuel is a nuisance, but it ended up helping out with preparing meals and with warming my hands now and then.

I left Charley at home in the cabin with a large tub of water and an open bag of dog food. It was only five days, and he survived just fine. Of course there was ample poop to be cleaned up, and the place still smells a bit from where he peed, but hey, this place isn't real high-class anyway. The best part is that Jay hasn't been around since I've been back!

JAY BROUGHT ANNIE OVER LAST NIGHT...

2005-06-17T00:24:00.000-07:00

... and they made so much noise that Charley and I couldn't sleep. We had to stay up all night listening. After a while I decided to do a sketch, which I posted above. I know it isn't much of a picture, but to be honest, neither of them are much to look at anyway. So, in order to keep this weblog reasonably family-friendly, I covered up the worst parts. Enjoy!

STUPID JAY

2005-06-14T22:19:00.000-07:00

(drawing by Donald)

My stupid imaginary friend Jay beat me at cards for the first time ever last night. The stupid jerk. I suppose it was my fault for drinking too much, but he's still giving me grief about it this morning.

We were playing poker and I thought my two sevens and two kings were enough to win, but he had three aces. I always beat because all I have to do is pay attention, but I must have been enjoying the Southern Comfort a bit too much. Dang it!

I don't know how Jay does it, but he never seems to have a hangover. At least I won't be going out fishing today. I don't think my head could take the rough waters.

He left for a walk, but he said he will be back with his girlfriend Annie this evening.

The things that pass for entertainment around here...

SOME BEAUTIFUL KERGUELEN SCNERY

2005-06-12T16:43:00.000-07:00

Bay Larose, along the southern part of Kerguelen

LITTLE-KNOWN HISTORY OF KERGUELEN Part Four

2005-06-12T16:33:00.000-07:00

As promised, the history lesson continues. The following abridged information is from the following website: http://www.jmooneyham.com/lost-civilization-kerguelen.html#section49

Approximately 33,000,000 BC- 28,000,000 BC:

Past events have led to the emergence of a unique species of reptile in the region. These reptiles enjoy chameleon-like natural camouflage, as well as shape-changing capabilities similar to a cobra's hood or bird's wings.

But as birds travel the road into the sky, these reptiles go the other way-- into the ground. At least in daytime. Their tendency to seek refuge underground stems from the evolutionary advantage such habits bring in surviving the periodic tsumanis suffered by their great island, and the maintenance of their long-time nocturnal hunting and scavenging practices. The animals are larger and heavier than most successful flight-worthy birds will ever be. Though their greater size robs them of future flight capabilities, it also allows them a bigger brain than their future bird relatives.

They maintain their natural geomagnetic navigational sense from earlier migratory movements, as well as the avian ultra-violet visual perception. Both these help them become masters of subterranean places.

Their nocturnal nature also allows them to roam and prey upon the surface during the night.
They are omnivorous, capable of feeding on plants or fungi and mushrooms in a pinch, but preferring large insects, fish, or small animals.

The reptiles may spit irritants, which causes a burning sensation on exposed flesh, and can temporarily blind and disorient prey, making capture and kills easier.

Erect, these creatures stand four to six feet tall through their youth. If they get beyond the age of 15-16 years, they may grow much larger. However, competition prevents most of the reptiles from getting that old.

The reptiles grow ever smarter as they get older, but they also grow larger and slower, and often become so large they become stuck in their underground hiding places, and either starve to death, to be eaten by other lucky reptiles who find their carcass (sometimes this is their own young), or become sufficiently weak from hunger in their trap that they may be easily killed and consumed by other, smaller reptiles.

One of the reptile's favorite foods is fresh pseudo-primate meat. Something with a taste and smell somewhat similar to that of later human beings.

The relationship between the reptiles and Kerguelen pseudo-primates first begins with the pseudo-primates being a natural prey animal. In their early history in Antarctica, the pseudo-primates rarely grew larger than an average 20th century housecat-- but such a size range made them offer almost ideal-sized meals for the reptiles. Over time however the primary Kerguelen pseudo-primates grew bigger and stronger and smarter, making it harder for the young reptiles to catch them (older and bigger reptiles could outsmart and trap them on occasion, but were too slow to capture them via speed). As this struggle between the reptiles and pseudo-primates escalated, the intelligence and capacities of both appreciated in response-- eventually leading to semi-sentience in both species.

The older, smarter reptiles gradually began to maintain their own trapped families of pseudo-monkeys near or within their den, breeding them as foodstock. This was much easier than tracking and capturing them in the wild, as well as reduced the need to compete directly with other reptiles. Female reptiles especially liked a snack of pseudo-primates meat before sex, too.

Some of the older, smarter reptiles eventually begin to realize they may lengthen their own lives and increase their sexual success through judicious use of domesticated pseudo-primates. The pseudo-primates can act as sentinals against attacks from other reptiles, gather fungi and plant food, and act upon the surface in daylight when the reptiles prefer not. They may also help maintain and gradually enlarge the reptile's burrow to prevent entrapment, and seek out new and larger burrows if necessary. They can be bait to trap other reptiles, and even help kill other reptiles at times. Plus, they offer a ready supply of meat too, as desired. Suitably trained pseudo-primates will actually help capture and deliver one of their own to feed their reptile master. To the reptile, this training is simply discipline; to the monkeys, it becomes something akin to a crude religious offering or sacrificial ritual.

Eventually the wisest and most powerful reptiles have amassed small armies of personal pseudo-primate slaves. These slaves tend to harass and watch the slaves of other reptiles, often orchestrating assaults upon same, leading to the capture of enemy pseudo-primates. Some of the captured pseudo-primates are eaten by the master reptile. But many become slaves of the reptile's own pseudo-primates, thereby setting up a multiple level hierarchy in the burrow and surrounding lands. In some cases the pseudo-primates eat their slaves, in emulation of their master reptile. However, such cannibalism is usually only ritualistic, as the pseudo-primates prefer certain forms of vegetation as food.

The health and obedience of the pseudo-primates in the burrows is partly maintained by weaker, less promising monkeys (or injured, sick, or less obedient ones) being eaten by the master reptile on a regular basis.

The great master reptiles take little notice when a new, tiny pseudo-primate species begins to interact with the reptile's near human-sized pseudo-primate servants. The servants are delighted with the creatures, quickly adopting them as pseudo-children, and giving them preferential treatment much beyond that offered the captured slaves of their own species.
The master reptile can barely detect the presence of the tiny pseudo-primates, and has no interest in them as food-- they are too small, with far too much bone for what little meat they provide.

The playful, experimental nature of the servants' interaction with the tiny psuedo-primates, plus the real functional complements the tiny beings offer to the servants' own abilities, as well as the increasing complexity of the society developing inside and around the reptile burrows over centuries, then millennia, then longer, eventually lead to breakthroughes in the servant pseudo-primates' understanding of the world and themselves.

Which does not bode well for the master reptiles.

Eventually the pseudo-primate servants become smart enough to cast off their masters, killing many of them in their burrows, before they (the pseudo-primates) leave the burrows behind forever. However, the feudal system impressed upon them by their master reptiles sticks, forming the basis for the pseudo-primates' own new society-- one of a few elite families, each commanding hordes of slaves. The pseudo-primates have effectively been genetically engineered to feel comfortable with such a social hierarchy during the time spent in thrall to the reptiles. The tiny, secondary pseudo-primate companions which helped trigger this new evolutionary stage also stay with the larger pseudo-primates, spreading throughout both the elite and slave populations.

As for the reptiles, their populations tended to expand somewhat at the height of their pseudo-primate enslavement era, but in the aftermath of the pseudo-primates gaining their liberty as well as slaughtering many of their former masters, the reptile population suffers a substantial decline.

After this debacle, the reptile species tends to split into two, differentiated mainly by number, size, lifespan, and potential intelligence. The first and most numerous consist of smaller reptiles (two to six foot standing erect), retaining their great running speed, gliding abilities, and enhanced jump and fall capacities. These small reptiles also retain their feathery trim. But they lose much of their previous potential for intelligence, now plateauing at roughly that of a 20th century adult chimpanzee-- or slightly better. They also lose much of their previous lifespan potential, with the new small species eventually rarely living longer than 20-30 years.
The second variant retains the longer potential lifespan and greater ultimate size, still transitioning from small, fast, and dumb to large, slow, and smart. But it loses most of its plummage as it ages. Its numbers also decline drastically, to not much above that necessary to retain breeding viability in the population. Elders among the second variant eventually learn to abandon their underground burrows before they outgrow them, and take to the water to avoid the direct light of day. Their unusual hearing mechanism also begins to adapt to a more marine existence. Mounting pressures from inland and subterranean killings of the reptiles by the monkey people accelerate this process. The newly aquatic reptiles prefer fresh water in the beginning, but over the eons some evolve a tolerance of salt water as well. Again, the long term inland killing campaign by the ever more efficient pseudo-primates encourages the adaption to the sea, as inland freshwater ways eventually become too dangerous for the large, slow-to-reproduce reptiles to inhabit.

The extra folds of skin which once combined with feathery trim to allow faster ground running for younger, smaller beasts, now gradually evolves into a form conducive to high speed manuevers underwater instead.

The beasts remain air breathers, and so must surface periodically like whales or dolphins. However, they retain their preference for subterranean spaces, and so usually seek out underwater caverns and passages in or about their favorite bodies of water which also offer suitable breathing opportunities for them.

Both species retain their camouflage capabilities. Both expand upon their nocturnal ways, and maintain subterranean preferences of one sort or another.

Over time the numbers of the large reptiles dwindle still further, and each member becomes ever more isolated in the world. However, various environmental and genetic coincidences serve to allow many of those remaining to explore the furthest reaches of their lifespan potential. That potential appears roughly equivalent to 120 to 150 years, perhaps longer. And the greater the age, the greater the size. Sixty to ninety feet in length is not unusual for a male over the age of 60 or 70. The water's buoyancy allows the creatures to become larger and live longer than they ever could on land.

Another lucky break for them is a quirk of genetics that allows the two ever more diverging species to still successfully mate, at least when the larger species member is still young and small. Their progeny sometimes turn out to be of the small species, sometimes the large. This exotic circumstance sometimes makes for a total extinction of the large species in certain regions of the world, for centuries at a time-- but then eventually a new representative appears, seemingly out of nowhere.

For the most part, the older a larger species member gets, the smarter it becomes. However, as there is little or no social interaction between large reptilian members, and progeny are abandoned at or near birth to make it on their own, each individual must start from scratch learning about the world. Thus accumulated knowledge is repeatedly lost with every new generation. This means even a genius reptile is severely limited in its effect upon the world, or what it may do for itself.

Virtually the only social interaction between adults occurs between sexual mates, and this only perhaps once every several years, at most. Some interaction occurs between parent and child too of course; but it is relatively brief. Some isolated members may go without socializing with others of their species for decades.

A few attempts are made by some elder reptiles from time to time to domesticate various sea life such as seals or penguins to act as new servants and domesticated fodder, similar to the role played by the Kerguelen pseudo-primates previously (no, no elder reptiles are aware of the monkey episode by this date; they are all coming up with this idea on their own). Unfortunately for the reptiles, no success comes from the effort.

Both the larger and smaller editions of these reptiles were originally native to the Antarctic and Kerguelen continents and coastlines. They managed to spread beyond those borders however by the time both Antarctia and Kerguelen were no longer habitable.

The Kerguelen pseudo-primates successfully wiped out the large reptiles on Kerguelen long before the exodus to space-- though not in the surrounding sea. Plus, the smaller version was much more difficult to eradicate. But the sinking of the continent almost did the trick for the smaller species, as few members were capable of the swimming feat required to reach the nearest habitable dry land from the doomed continent. However, as the giant reptiles easily roamed the world, and occasionally reproduced themselves as the smaller species, that's largely how the smaller reptile species managed to survive the sinking of Kerguelen to eventually reach and populate every remaining continent on Earth but possibly for their iced-over original homeland of Antarctica.

THOUGHTLESS HUMANS

2005-06-09T16:13:00.000-07:00

In common with other subantarctic islands, Kerguelen has suffered greatly from man's thoughtless introduction of alien species.

Rabbits were brought to Kerguelen in 1874 by the British Transit of Venus Expedition. They have devastated Kerguelen's native vegetation, and several attempts have been made to eradicate them. Myxomytosis was introduced in 1955 in an attempt to control them: although their numbers declined rapidly, they soon recovered and are still a pest.

Rats arrived from ships in the 19th Century, and continue to devastate the island's bird populations, preying on eggs and chicks.

Cats were introduced to control rats in both the 19th and 20th centuries, but soon became feral and again prey on the endemic birds. Eradication programs have so far failed to eliminate them.

Other introduced species have included mink, reindeer, cattle and sheep.

http://www.btinternet.com/~sa_sa/kerguelen/kerguelen_species.html

WHEELCHAIR REPAIR HELP REQUESTED

2005-06-05T12:15:00.000-07:00

(drawing by Donald)

Charley's wheelchair fell apart a few days ago. It seems like one of the bolts fell out when we were out walking the other day, and I couldn't find it. We were near the waterfall, enjoying the scenery...

when his chair just sort of collapsed.

I suppose this will necessitate a trip into Port-aux-Francais...

but who knows if I will be able to find anything I'd need there besides chicken wire (which would work, but which would not be as aesthetically pleasing as real parts would be).

In the meantime, I will have to carry Charley around. He weights about 75 pounds, so this won't be easy. It will be especially annoying when he has to do his business. Poor dog... ! At least he is done with all the vomiting. As good as Thomas must have tasted, it did a number on Charley's digestive system.

KERGUELEN SUNSET IN "VAL STUDER"

2005-06-02T19:04:00.000-07:00

This is a scenic place in the interior of Kerguelen. I tried swimming here last summer and lasted about five seconds in the water. Charley didn't swim, of course. His wheelchair prevents him from such activities, but he still enjoyed a sunny day outdoors. Of course we saw nobody there, which is one of the best things about this area!

MAP OF THE ISLAND

2005-06-01T07:20:00.000-07:00

If you can find the little red "X" on the map, that's pretty close to where I live. I'm near Port Jeanne d'Arc, an abandoned whaling station.

Kerguelen's "town", Port-aux-Francais, is to the right of my place on the map.

LITTLE-KNOWN HISTORY OF KERGUELEN Part Three

2005-05-31T21:09:00.000-07:00

Last time we were up to around 300,000,000 BC. But I think I will skip ahead a few hundred million years, if you don't mind. So, here is the third installment of Kerguelen history, from http://www.jmooneyham.com/lost-civilization-kerguelen.html#section49 :

295,000,000 BC- 34,000,000+ BC: A Reptilian PrologueTo see the possible reptilian history leading to the development of this civilization please refer to Dinosaurs, Dragons, Loch Ness, and Reptile People. Where does fact end and fiction begin?

Approximately 34,000,000 BC+:
Primitives of two different but both advanced pseudo-primate species exist in Kerguelen (Kerguelen is a continent at this point in time.)

They have evolved over 11 million years independently of the earlier Asian proto-primatesChanges in climate and other matters, as well as intense competition with other species, forced the ancestors of both proto-primate species and other originally Antarctic animals to migrate to nearby Kerguelen in past eons, as Antarctica grew colder and less hospitable. The relatives left behind in Antarctica are doomed to extinction. A considerable portion of this period spent by species moving between continents involves time spent near coastlines, both on land and in the water, as well as within swamps and marshlands. Both pseudo-primate species lose much of their hair along the way, as well as undergo other changes. The environmental changes are accelerating evolution in the two species. Both species start out pretty small. But overcoming millions of years they will both become considerably larger-- though one much more so than the other. Eventually one will reach a size similar to that of a short human being on average, while the other will usually become no larger than around one to one and half feet tall while standing upright. Neither species ever possesses a prehensile tail.

The increasingly isolated Kerguelen continent is developing its own unique lines of pseudo-primate forms, relative to the rest of the world. 21st century human observers would note several significant differences between the pseudo-primates of Kerguelen and the proto-primates of other continents.

Approximately 34,000,000 BC- 33,000,000 BC: Antarctica's massive ice sheets begin to form

Is much of the Antarctic environment today something like the tundra of 20th century Alaska, or still warmer and more lush than that? Antarctica boasted tropical rainforests during some periods-- is this one of them? Or perhaps Antarctica possesses some regions of temperate environment, including deciduous forests similar to those USAmerica will display during the 20th century? In any event, note that the ice sheets are beginning to form now-- they do not yet dominate the continent. And so perhaps much of Antarctica at this time resembles North America prior to the Ice Age glaciers moving in.

Approximately 33,000,000 BC- 28,000,000 BC: The reptile progenitors and provocatuers of Kerguelen change the course of evolution on the continentPast events have led to the emergence of a unique species of reptile in the region. These reptiles enjoy chameleon-like natural camouflage, as well as shape-changing capabilities similar to a cobra's hood or bird's wings.

Indeed, they began as brothers to prototype birds, utilizing their crude wings as devices to increase running speed, allow longer jumps and falls without injury, and even glide short distances.

Their unique feathers, balancing tail, and physical technique make them among the fastest two-legged runners in the animal kingdom-- at least over short distances. They may cover longer distances in a loping, half-gliding practice, but at slower speeds. Somewhat flat and open terrain offers the running reptiles their best speeds-- which makes much of the Kerguelen continent ideal for them.

The repiles may travel on all fours but often stand erect, on two legs, with a balancing tail. This frees up their forward limbs for uses similar to later human hands and arms, and over time their forelimbs develop in such a manner.

But as birds travel the road into the sky, these reptiles go the other way-- into the ground. At least in daytime. Their tendency to seek refuge underground stems from the evolutionary advantage such habits bring in surviving the periodic tsumanis suffered by their great island, and the maintenance of their long-time nocturnal hunting and scavenging practices. The animals are larger and heavier than most successful flight-worthy birds will ever be. Though their greater size robs them of future flight capabilities, it also allows them a bigger brain than their future bird relatives.

They maintain their natural geomagnetic navigational sense from earlier migratory movements, as well as the avian ultra-violet visual perception. Both these help them become masters of subterranean places.

Their nocturnal nature also allows them to roam and prey upon the surface during the night.
They are omnivorous, capable of feeding on plants or fungi and mushrooms in a pinch, but preferring large insects, fish, or small animals.

The reptiles may spit irritants, which causes a burning sensation on exposed flesh, and can temporarily blind and disorient prey, making capture and kills easier.

They somewhat resemble Komodo dragons with longer, more slender tails and hind legs, standing erect, with feathery folds draping their arms or forelimbs, and trimming their tail. Two striking differences with 21st century Komodos however will be their frequent erect two legged walking stance, and their more bird-like in appearance head and neck, as opposed to reptilian look. Their eyes are also proportionately larger to their face than a Komodo's, and their brain case considerably larger. Large dual ridges or crests run down the upper sides of their heads and necks. These features are larger in males than females, and thus perhaps partly sexual decoration. But they also help enhance the animal's hearing and sense of smell, both directionally and distance-wise (in an unusual design, these reptiles have two sets of scent detection nerves in their skulls; the largest branches off their ear canals, while the smaller pair operates in the more expected region of the head-- the 'nose').

Erect, these creatures stand four to six feet tall through their youth. If they get beyond the age of 15-16 years, they may grow much larger. However, competition prevents most of the reptiles from getting that old.

The reptiles grow ever smarter as they get older, but they also grow larger and slower, and often become so large they become stuck in their underground hiding places, and either starve to death, to be eaten by other lucky reptiles who find their carcass (sometimes this is their own young), or become sufficiently weak from hunger in their trap that they may be easily killed and consumed by other, smaller reptiles.

The reptiles can swim, but it is not their preferred mode of travel in their early days.
These smart reptiles are not social beasts, but highly individualistic, which limits how far any related society might advance. It also puts restrictions on reproduction.

One of the reptile's favorite foods is fresh pseudo-primate meat. Something with a taste and smell somewhat similar to that of later human beings.

The relationship between the reptiles and Kerguelen pseudo-primates first begins with the pseudo-primates being a natural prey animal. In their early history in Antarctica, the pseudo-primates rarely grew larger than an average 20th century housecat-- but such a size range made them offer almost ideal-sized meals for the reptiles. Over time however the primary Kerguelen pseudo-primates grew bigger and stronger and smarter, making it harder for the young reptiles to catch them (older and bigger reptiles could outsmart and trap them on occasion, but were too slow to capture them via speed). As this struggle between the reptiles and pseudo-primates escalated, the intelligence and capacities of both appreciated in response-- eventually leading to semi-sentience in both species.

The older, smarter reptiles gradually began to maintain their own trapped families of pseudo-monkeys near or within their den, breeding them as foodstock. This was much easier than tracking and capturing them in the wild, as well as reduced the need to compete directly with other reptiles. Female reptiles especially liked a snack of pseudo-primates meat before sex, too.
Some of the older, smarter reptiles eventually begin to realize they may lengthen their own lives and increase their sexual success through judicious use of domesticated pseudo-primates. The pseudo-primates can act as sentinals against attacks from other reptiles, gather fungi and plant food, and act upon the surface in daylight when the reptiles prefer not. They may also help maintain and gradually enlarge the reptile's burrow to prevent entrapment, and seek out new and larger burrows if necessary. They can be bait to trap other reptiles, and even help kill other reptiles at times. Plus, they offer a ready supply of meat too, as desired. Suitably trained pseudo-primates will actually help capture and deliver one of their own to feed their reptile master. To the reptile, this training is simply discipline; to the monkeys, it becomes something akin to a crude religious offering or sacrificial ritual.

Eventually the wisest and most powerful reptiles have amassed small armies of personal pseudo-primate slaves. These slaves tend to harass and watch the slaves of other reptiles, often orchestrating assaults upon same, leading to the capture of enemy pseudo-primates. Some of the captured pseudo-primates are eaten by the master reptile. But many become slaves of the reptile's own pseudo-primates, thereby setting up a multiple level hierarchy in the burrow and surrounding lands. In some cases the pseudo-primates eat their slaves, in emulation of their master reptile. However, such cannibalism is usually only ritualistic, as the pseudo-primates prefer certain forms of vegetation as food.

The health and obedience of the pseudo-primates in the burrows is partly maintained by weaker, less promising monkeys (or injured, sick, or less obedient ones) being eaten by the master reptile on a regular basis.

The great master reptiles take little notice when a new, tiny pseudo-primate species begins to interact with the reptile's near human-sized pseudo-primate servants. The servants are delighted with the creatures, quickly adopting them as pseudo-children, and giving them preferential treatment much beyond that offered the captured slaves of their own species.
The master reptile can barely detect the presence of the tiny pseudo-primates, and has no interest in them as food-- they are too small, with far too much bone for what little meat they provide.

The playful, experimental nature of the servants' interaction with the tiny psuedo-primates, plus the real functional complements the tiny beings offer to the servants' own abilities, as well as the increasing complexity of the society developing inside and around the reptile burrows over centuries, then millennia, then longer, eventually lead to breakthroughes in the servant pseudo-primates' understanding of the world and themselves.

Which does not bode well for the master reptiles.

The reptiles and pseudo-primate people go their separate ways
Eventually the pseudo-primate servants become smart enough to cast off their masters, killing many of them in their burrows, before they (the pseudo-primates) leave the burrows behind forever. However, the feudal system impressed upon them by their master reptiles sticks, forming the basis for the pseudo-primates' own new society-- one of a few elite families, each commanding hordes of slaves. The pseudo-primates have effectively been genetically engineered to feel comfortable with such a social hierarchy during the time spent in thrall to the reptiles. The tiny, secondary pseudo-primate companions which helped trigger this new evolutionary stage also stay with the larger pseudo-primates, spreading throughout both the elite and slave populations.

As for the reptiles, their populations tended to expand somewhat at the height of their pseudo-primate enslavement era, but in the aftermath of the pseudo-primates gaining their liberty as well as slaughtering many of their former masters, the reptile population suffers a substantial decline.

The premise: An evolutionary development somewhat similar to apes-to-human occurs many millions of years before the rise of humanity. And rather than involving apes, this consists of a couple species from an independently evolved primate family (highly distinct from humanity's own primate ancestors)-- or pseudo-primate-- evolving into something else: something where one symbiont possesses a smallish humanoid shape and likeness, and human-like intelligence-- but is still a decidedly different species from 21st century humanity. The second species is something like a much smaller and less intelligent version than the first, which serves to complement the larger, smarter species. This symbiotic pair of species might live and thrive millions of years before humanity emerges on Earth. If such a civilization developed upon the Kerguelen continent (and rarely ventured beyond it), then about a million years afterwards all signs of the culture would have vanished as the entire continent sank beneath the seas. 20 million years of wear and tear since would mop up any remaining obvious clues, leaving 21st century humanity unsuspecting that such a people ever existed. Or that they might still survive today.

Stay tuned!

THOMAS IN BETTER DAYS

2005-05-31T21:08:00.000-07:00

I miss him.

ALBATROSS a’la DONALD

2005-05-31T10:03:00.000-07:00

This recipe is easiest to prepare if one has been drinking prior to the preparation. I find that while a white wine goes well with the albatross meat, Southern Comfort aids in my preparing of the meal. Bon appetit!

Ingredients:
One albatross, preferably fresh
½ pound Kerguelen cabbage
1 tsp sea salt
flour
water

Defeather and clean albatross. Place head, legs and entrails aside. Add salt to water, and boil albatross for approximately one hour in a large cooking pot, or until the meat begins to separate from the bone.

Rinse cabbage. Place leaves in pot with albatross. Boil for twenty minutes.

While boiling cabbage, fry the albatross’ head, legs and entrails in a greased 12-inch skillet on medium to high heat for twenty minutes, stirring frequently. Give the cooked parts to your dog and/or cat, then use flour and water to make gravy in the skillet.

Remove albatross from pot, let stand for 10 minutes. Save the water, it makes good stock for use in soup or stew. Pour gravy on albatross, and dig in. The cabbage leaves will be good with salt and butter.

Don't watch your pet eat the spare parts, and your meal will taste lots better.

THANKS A LOT, SNAVE!

2005-05-30T09:23:00.000-07:00

I have been "tagged" by Snave of "Various Miseries". I will try to answer the following as best I can. I know I'm supposed to have only three answers per item... a couple of them crept into the four-or-five-answer realm.

Your favorite band/artist:
1. Jandek
2. Air Supply
3. Captain and Tennille

Your hobbies/interests:
1. Being alone
2. listening to shortwave radio
3. long walks with my dog

Things that scare you:
1. the future
2. the past
3. the present

Your favorite fiction writers:
1. Antoine de Saint Exupery
2. Albert Camus
3. Nietszche

Your three celebrity crushes:
1. Charo
2. Mae West
3. Pia Zadora

What you are wearing right now:
1. long underwear
2. wool pants
3. wool socks
4. wool shirt
5. insulated boots

What you want in a relationship:
1. time alone to think
2. fidelity
3. good conversation

Your everyday essentials:
1. Kerguelen cabbage
2. walking the dog
3. experiencing the elements

Your drugs of choice:
1. Southern Comfort
2. vodka
3. everclear
4. fresh air

I don't really know of very many other bloggers. I guess I'll be tagging
Damien of "Couch Warfare"
McGibfried of "MCG"
Tom Harper of "Who Hijacked Our Country"

Have fun, folks!

MORE HISTORY AND INFO, BUT MORE RECENTLY

2005-05-29T11:13:00.000-07:00

From http://www.discoverfrance.net/Colonies/Kerguelen.shtml :

Following the Second World War, the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) regularly visited Kerguelen between 1947 and 1954, and France was obliged to occupy the island to retain sovereignty. In December 1949, a temporary base was established at Port-aux-Français by Pierre Sicaud, with the ships La Pérouse and Commandant Charcot. In January 1951, Sicaud returned on the Italo-Marsano to create a permanent meteorological station; this was the first over-wintering at the Port-aux-Français base.

On August 6, 1955, a French law was passed — creating the new autonomous territory of Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises (TAAF). During 1956-1957 the TAAF established at Port-aux-Français a geophysical station for observations in meteorology, geomagnetism, aurora and airglow, ionospheric physics, cosmic rays and seismology. This was to become part of the French contribution to the International Geophysical Year (IGY).

Today, Kerguelen's population of scientists and engineers varies between 50 and 100. The French base at Port-aux-Français is large and well-appointed, boasting a hospital, restaurant, library, sports center, cinema and chapel. The base is shared with CNES (the French National Space Center), whose operations are dedicated to the tracking of satellites — notably the Ariane rockets launched from Kourou in French Guiana.

Kerguelen is visited several times a year by the Marion Dufresne, the world's biggest and most sophisticated oceanographic research vessel, bringing supplies and rotating crews of scientists at the base. The Dufresne performs the same service for the Crozet Islands, Terre Adélie, and Amsterdam/St-Paul.

LITTLE-KNOWN HISTORY OF KERGUELEN Part Two

2005-05-24T00:29:00.000-07:00

The following is from http://www.jmooneyham.com/anthisref.html#section105 :

Approximately 534,000,000 BC:
A sudden mass imbalance within the Earth may set off rapid geologic changes worldwide now (with significant climatic consequences afterwards)
Between 750 million BC and 2,000 AD the Earth's surface sea level will drop some 1,968 feet due to loss of water to subterranean regions.

Approximately 500,000,000 BC: Emerging lifeforms of this time include starfish, corals, and clam-like shellfish

Approximately 490,000,000 BC: The Earth may have slowly reduced its previous tilt of 70 degrees from the vertical to some 20 or 30 degrees now. It's taken many millions of years for the planet to reverse the extreme tilt of its axis possibly incurred by the Moon-generating collision.

Approximately 450,000,000+ BC: After many false starts (species which failed to make the transition) finally one form of plant life manages to survive the change from water to dry land. I.e., the very first successful species of land plant now makes its debutAll other land plants on Earth will eventually evolve from this primordial survivor. The first land plant evolves from what was originally a fresh water plant. Eventually some of this plant's descendents will return to the water, while others go on to populate the continents.

Approximately 439,000,000 BC: The Ordovician mass extinction occurs, wherein...
...about 85% of all marine animal species are killed off (there were no land animals at this time)

Approximately 425,000,000 BC: Portions of the continents are growing closer again
Emerging lifeforms of this time include land scorpions, club mosses, clams, mussels, snails, and certain types of fungi and algae which will survive into the 21st century AD.

Approximately 395,000,000 BC: Emerging lifeforms of this time include sharks, amphibians, spiders, and ferns.

Approximately 367,000,000 BC: The Devonian mass extinction takes place, and is apparently near the magnitude of the Ordovician event 72 million years before...

Approximately 364,000,000 BC: Something of a global extinction event takes place now......though it is not of the catastrophic scale of some others.

Approximately 350,000,000 BC: Emerging lifeforms of this time include insects, reptiles, mosses, and land snails

Approximately 340,000,000 BC: A wiener-length, lizard-like creature has firmly established itself in a semi-aquatic environment......i.e., it alternates between water and land-based activities. It's one of the earliest vertebrates to do so. Its domain is the shallows of swamps along the coasts of large land masses. 20th century scientists will name it "Casineria".

Approximately 360,000,000 BC- 250,000,000 BC: A cosmic impact in Australia now may be the cause of the worst extinction event(s) ever suffered by Earth. The impact of an object from space creates the 80 miles wide so-called "Woodleigh" crater, in the vicinity of Shark Bay in western coastal Australia. Could this be the doomsday rock which almost wipes out all life on Earth much bigger than a bacteria, in the combined Permian-Triassic extinctions? Altogether 96% of all sea life and close to that in land life dies in these extinctions.

Approximately 300,000,000 BC: The super continent Pangea takes shape; Vascular land plants like trees may have spread over the continents sufficiently by now to cause a worldwide increase in oxygen; Gigantic insects may roam the world. The high oxygen levels may enable enormous growth in insects.

The above article(s) come from and make references to a collection copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 by J.R. Mooneyham (except where otherwise noted in the text). Text here explicitly authored by J.R. Mooneyham may be freely copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes in paper and electronic form without charge if this copyright paragraph and link to jmooneyham.com or jrmooneyham.com are included.

Note from Donald: Please be patient. You will eventually see how this all relates to Kerguelen, and how Kerguelen continues to influence the world today!

I HEARD THE MOUNTAIN CALL MY NAME

2005-05-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

Mt. Ross continues to call my name, telling me I need to climb it in my red Converse high tops, like RIGHT NOW.

I keep telling it "No, I need to wait for summer, and down here that's not until December!"

The mountain answers "So what! You need to do what the radio told you to do!"

I say "No way, not in the late fall. There's too much snow up there!"

The mountain says "Go back inside your cabin, drink some Southern Comfort, and turn on your radio. Listen carefully to what it tells you to do."

I just might have to do that. Besides, I'm still sad about the loss of Thomas. As for Charley, he got rid of some pretty nasty stuff after I gave him the Syrup of Ipecac. I think he's already feeling better!

IF YOU WANT YOUR DOG TO VOMIT...

2005-05-23T22:17:00.000-07:00

How do I induce Vomiting?

From Krista Mifflin,Your Guide to Dogs.

If your dog has ingested a substance that you suspect is toxic, your first step is to identify the substance in question. Once you know what he ate, call the Animal Poison Control Center - 1-888-426-4435.

A $45 fee may be applied in some cases.The good people at this hotline will be able to tell you if the substance is caustic or not.

This is a very important distinction, as caustic substances can NOT be treated by induced vomiting. Instead, vomiting will cause internal tears in your dog's stomach and his condition will rapidly worsen. In most cases of poisoning, the immediate treatment is to induce vomiting.

**Warning** - Before You Make Him Vomit: If convulsions, seizures, shock or lethargy are present as symptoms, do NOT induce vomiting!! In ALL poisoning cases, please seek veterinary care immediately! Vomiting is only a temporary fix, to allow you enough time to get your pet to a vet!

To induce vomiting, give orally, one teaspoon of Syrup of Ipecac, or two teaspoons of Hydrogen Peroxide. In a desperate pinch, a teaspoon of table salt will also have thecorrect effect.

2005-05-23T22:13:00.000-07:00

I found Thomas. This is what he looked like in his final state:

I should have listened to Jay when he told me Charley was eating what was left of Thomas. Bad dog, Charley!! For this, you get Syrup of Ipecac!!

THOMAS HAS DISAPPEARED

2005-05-23T18:11:00.000-07:00

I don't know where Thomas has gone. He usually never leaves his mat by the stove, but he has disappeared! Jay told me I should be suspicious of Charley, but I love Charley and trust him! Besides, Charley has been pretty sick for a while now so I think I ought to cut him some slack.

This was Thomas last week:

This was Thomas a couple of days ago:

And finally, Thomas last night:

I don't know where he could have gotten to, but I will keep you posted.

LONELY DAY

2005-05-22T20:34:00.000-07:00

The Gulf of Morbihan

Not much going on around here today. The weather was too bad to do any fishing, so here I am alone in the cabin with Charley and Thomas. We've been here all day long, kind of sitting around, keeping warm.

During times like these, I tend to do a lot of thinking about the past and about how I got here. Introspection, if you will. Oftentimes I consider human existence. Being here by myself, without the company of others, I feel like I am experiencing my life completely on my own terms. While that is what I prefer most of the time, it's nice to have other people around once in a while. The problem is that this place is SO damned isolated it becomes a chore to go to where other people are, and heaven knows they don't really have a reason to come out here and see me. So... (imagine drum roll here)

I am pleased to introduce you to my imaginary friend Jay. Because he is imaginary, I am unable to include a photo of him, but I can tell you about him. From what I can see of Jay, he is about 6'2", about 300 pounds, has long, curly black hair with a beard and mustache, a large gut, and usually wears a yellow raincoat and hat and black rubber boots. He tells me a fisherman. He also tells me Thomas is dead, and that's why Thomas smells so bad. Jay likes to laugh about my "pet cat head", but I don't listen to everything he says. What I like best about Jay is that he never argues with me, he comes to my house when I invite him, he never refuses a drink, and I always beat him at cards. Sometimes he brings his girlfriend Annie, too.

Anyway, more on Jay later. I have to go take Charley outside again. I think he is losing weight from all the vomiting.

2005-05-21T13:57:00.000-07:00

Matt was asking about what kind of fish are caught around these parts. This area doesn't have the greatest of fishing, as it was fished fairly heavily from the 60's through the 80's and some populations haven't fully recovered. Anyway, here are the primary species:

Krill – this is an abundant species.

Marbled Rockcod – this species is still somewhat endangered, but it is recovering.

Mackerel Icefish – some good years and some bad with this species.

Gray Rockcod – still at a fairly low level here.

Patagonian Toothfish – endangered due to illegal fishing.

Sometimes, these are the best. I manage to get a lot of them, and if they haven't been in the water too long, they can be pretty tasty!

IT'S A COLD BEAUTY...

2005-05-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

...but it's beautiful here nonetheless.

THOMAS SMELLS BAD

2005-05-20T14:35:00.000-07:00

The cabin is really starting to stink due to Thomas. He really smells bad. I would make him stay outside but it's just so darned cold and windy out there, and we're heading into winter. I'll have to see if the supply post has anything like Pine-Sol or some other air-freshener. The poor cat just gets smaller every day, and I don't know what to do about it!

WHERE IN HECK IS KERGUELEN? Part One

2005-05-20T14:15:00.000-07:00

Just in case you were wondering, or in case you cared:

The Kerguelen Archipelago is situated at 49°20' South, 70°20' East, midway between Africa, Antarctica and Australia. Kerguelen is a French possession, lying some 13,000 km (8000 miles) from France in the Southern Indian Ocean. The main island occupies measures roughly 120 km by 140 km (72 miles by 85 miles), occupies 6,675 sq km and is surrounded by around 300 other smaller islands, reefs and rocks, forming an archipelago of 7,215 sq km.

The coast of Kerguelen is deeply indented with fjords, whilst the interior is heavily glaciated. The highest point is Mount Ross, at 1,850m, in the south of the island.

Scattered French possessions in the Southern Ocean contribute to it's position as the country with the largest Exclusive Economic Zone in the world. It is one of the four parts of the Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises, which include Terre Adelie (Antarctica), the Crozet Islands and the islands of Amsterdam St-Paul.

HOW'S YOUR WEATHER? Part One

2005-05-20T14:09:00.000-07:00

"Kerguelen's weather is harsh, with rain and snow most days of the year. Winds blow continuously from the west, as the islands lie in the path of the "Furious Fifties". Winds of 150 kph (90 mph) are common, and gusting up to 200 kph (120 mph) has been known."

The wind makes things colder than hell here, but at least because of the wind there aren't any bugs.

"As Kerguelen lies on the Antarctic Convergence where upwelling cold water from the Antarctic mixes with the the warmer waters of the Indian Ocean, birdlife and marine mammals are abundant. The state of the sea reflects the high wind speeds, with wave heights of 12 - 15 m (37 - 47 feet) being common. The sea around Kerguelen is, however, ice free."

I don't have to worry about things being iced over when I take the boat out, but I do need to beware of the large swells.

"You can find historic temperature data (1950 - date) here."

From looking at the temperature chart, you can see that it doesn't tend to get above 50 degrees F here very much. All the temperatures on the chart are in C, so to convert to F, multiply the number on the chart by 1.8 and add 32, and you get the degrees in F. So for example if the chart said 5.0 C, you could multiply by 1.8 and get the number 9, then you would add 32, for a reading of 41 degrees F.

I know the voice on the radio told me to climb Mt. Ross in my sneakers, but I'm thinking I might want to wait a bit. Like maybe until late in the year, since very soon the mean temperature around here will only be in the mid-thirties in degrees F.

LITTLE-KNOWN HISTORY OF KERGUELEN Part One

2005-05-20T10:42:00.000-07:00

The following is from http://www.jmooneyham.com/anthisref.html#section105

"Approximately 544,000,000 BC:

Perhaps the last of three global glaciations extending even to the Earth's equator is realizedThe Earth remains tilted 70 degrees from vertical. There is likely a large number of species extinctions now in many regions. However, while the equator is suffering glaciation, the poles are not. This results in at least some sea and land remaining sufficiently warm to allow life to more or less continue on in development.

The slow movement of tectonic plates may also be gathering continental masses around the southern pole, setting the stage for a righting of the axis tilt.

Around 544 million BC the Cambrian period began with a ten million year explosion in life diversity and size (previous to this most life consisted of microbes). It may be that the Earth's mantle shifted, imbalancing the planet and causing it to tilt on its axis.

North America began the period near to the South Pole but ended up (540 million BC- 515 million BC) on the equator. Antarctica, South America, Australia, India, and Africa were all one body called Gondwanaland, and traveled all the way across the southern half of Earth during the time (finishing the trip around 535 million BC- 500 million BC)."

Stay tuned, and you will find out how Kerguelen's history has played an important role in the history of our world.

LIFE IN THE SOUTH INDIAN OCEAN Part Three

2005-05-20T10:06:00.000-07:00

Before I came here I was an independently-wealthy college dropout, just traveling around the world looking for a place to live. It got pretty tiresome after a while, and it so happened that the freighter I stowed away on in Reunion ended up in Port Aux Francais as one of its stops. I have to tell you, stowing away with a noisy cockatiel, a crippled dog and a cat with leprosy was not easy.

I found that the ship's morgue was an ideal hiding spot. I turned off the refrigeration, climbed in with my pets, and we stayed on our backs on a slab in a drawer for what must have been a couple of weeks, hoping nobody on the ship would die (necessitating actual use of the morgue by the ship's crew).

Night raids on the kitchen provided us with food and water here and there, but where I ran into trouble was with the smell from me and the animals. I had to wait until night to take all the poop up top and toss it over the edge without being seen, and I had to steal towels from the ship's laundry to soak up all the urine (at least with the towels I could just put them back in the dirty laundry when I was done cleaning). Thomas created no such problems of course, given his condition, but it seems like Charley and I were eliminating constantly.

The problem with Tweety was that he kept trying to make noise. I kept him inside my knapsack during most of our ordeal, and that helped a little. I finally ended up devising a gag which I made from a shoelace. I wrapped it around his beak a couple of times, then tied it tightly in the back, behind his head, only removing it twice a day so he could eat and drink. He didn't like the fact that I was only offering him raw ingredients like wheat flour, sugar and raw meat, but he made do, just as Charley. Thomas and I were doing.

It felt good to stretch our legs and get off that boat. We made a night-time exit, with nobody noticing us. As I recall, it was very cold and windy when we made our landfall. We headed for what looked like a local activity hub. There was some loud music in one small building, and it looked like something was going on in there, so we went in. Being outsiders in such an isolated end of the world, we were noticed immediately, and regretfully we smelled so bad that the people, mostly researchers and crew members of the ships in port, were wrinkling their noses, anxious for us to leave.

I asked the person who seemed to be the bartender where there was available housing and he gave me a key to what he said was the summer housing (you can see a picture of it in one of my earlier posts). It wasn't a very long walk to the housing, which was basically a kind of set of glorified tin shacks. It was fine with me, because we were practically frozen. I took a hot shower, bathed Thomas and Charley, and let Tweety fly around the room. How good it felt!

After a couple of days hanging out there, I inquired about purchasing a boat and finding a place to live. I was told there were abandoned buildings in and around Port Jeanne d'Arc, 25 miles or so across the bay, and it didn't really matter to anbody in Kerguelen if I wanted to try and live out that way. There was a guy selling his fishing boat in Port Aux Francais, so I went ahead and bought it from him. He was nice enough to show me how to operate it correctly. I took notes and I learned quickly. A couple of days later I was tramping around in the barren, windy wilds of Joan of Arc Peninsula with my menagerie, checking out the occasional abandoned shack for living space. It didn't take long to settle on the cabin I included a picture of in one of my previous posts.

More on my Kerguelen beginnings later! Time to take Charley out again, he is still vomiting quite a bit.

THE VERSATILE KERGUELEN CABBAGE Part One

2005-05-19T21:27:00.000-07:00

This is one of the few plants that grows on Kerguelen:

I took the following article from http://www.btinternet.com/~sa_sa/kerguelen/kerguelen_cabbage.html

"Pringlea antiscorbutica is a plant which looks somewhat like the common cabbage and belongs to the same family (Brassicaceae). It was named after the island of its discovery, Kerguelen Island, and it's latin name derives from Sir John Pringle, President of the Royal Society at the time of its discovery by Captain James Cook's Surgeon, William Anderson in 1776.

The first account of the cabbage was published by the English botanist Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker on his return from the voyage of the Erebus and Terror in 1839-43.

Brassicas are a family of insect-pollinated plants, but the Kerguelen Cabbage has adapted itself to the absence of winged insects on subantarctic islands for wind pollination.

The Kerguelen Cabbage can be found elsewhere in the Southern Ocean, on the Crozet Archipelago and Marion Island.

Winged insects are not found on these islands due to the strong winds which blow more or less continually. The cabbage has projecting stamens (male parts) and long threadlike projections on the stigma (female part). The leaves of the cabbage contain a pale-yellow, highly pungent essential oil which is rich in ascorbic acid (Vitamin C): this made it a useful dietary supplement against scurvy for early sailors.

During the stay of the sealers and scientific expeditions to Kerguelen the vegetable was used either alone or with ship's beef, pork, or sealmeat."

Personally, I find it goes well with sealmeat and with fish. I'm glad for the vitamin C because otherwise I'm afraid my teeth might rot.

I will supply some recipes for use with Kerguelen Cabbage in future posts.

LEISURE TIME ACTIVITIES Part One

2005-05-19T21:02:00.000-07:00

When I'm not out fishing, which tends to take up most of my days, I enjoy sitting by the stove with a bottle of Southern Comfort and listening to the shortwave radio. India is directly north of here, so I'm guessing that some of the strange language I'm hearing at times is Hindi. After having lived here for a few years and following this nightly routine, I've found that the more I drink the more I seem to understand the various languages I hear. The other night I was convinced that the announcer was telling me I needed to climb the mountain's highest island, Mt. Ross, in my red Converse hightops. I stood up and swore at the radio, but I knew the announcer was right. I will be preparing to make the ascent sometime during the next several weeks.

Here is a picture of Mt. Ross:

Wish me luck!

LIFE IN THE SOUTH INDIAN OCEAN Pt. Two

2005-05-19T18:03:00.000-07:00

It's blowing snow outside at the moment, and I'm back inside the cabin trying to warm up after I had to take Charley outside. He was vomiting, and I don't know what caused that except for maybe when he was cleaning Thomas' face earlier. Charley seems to be all right now, as he is curled up in front of the stove. Thomas has remained unfazed throughout all the trouble, bless his heart.

TRIPS TO PORT AUX FRANCAIS Part One

2005-05-19T17:23:00.000-07:00

Here is a map of Kerguelen:

From where I live, it's roughly 40 km (25 miles) by boat to Port Aux Francais. I live a few miles from the abandoned community of Port Jeanne d'Arc, at the northern end of Joan Of Arc Peninsula.

Here is a map of Port Aux Francais:

Port Aux Francais is the only town in the Archipelago. There aren't very many people there, but at least it's a town. I usually just go there to pick up supplies, but sometimes if I feel like getting away I go spend the night there in the "summer housing":

I have a small fishing boat I pilot across Morbihan Bay, and it's a big-enough boat to carry all the fuel I need for my cabin's generator and for my stove. Usually I also pick up lots of radio batteries, food for me, Thomas the Cat and Charley the Dog, and axle grease for Charley's wheelchair. Charley comes with me from time to time, but it hasn't been good for him as most of the "towners" tend to make fun of him. Thomas always stays at home, and when I return I always find him in the same position as when I left.

I will describe my travels to-and-from town from time to time. I have had numerous adventures with the weather and the locals. Stay tuned.

My Living Room

2005-05-19T17:15:00.000-07:00

My Cat Thomas Has Leprosy

2005-05-19T17:04:00.000-07:00

Thomas, or "Tom" as I affectionately refer to him, has leprosy. What you see in the picture is all that is left of him. The rest of him has gone away, bit by bit. He is a very good cat, never causes any trouble, never scratches the furniture or pees on the floor. He tends to not smell good at times, though... so now I must go fire up the stove, and heat water so I can bathe him.

MY DOG CHARLEY

2005-05-19T16:45:00.000-07:00

Charley and I go out for walks when the wind isn't blowing too hard. He has a hard time raising his leg to urinate, but he does pretty well when I help him. He has to pee on rockpiles because there are no bushes here. Good dog, Charley!

My Bird Died Yesterday

2005-05-19T12:03:00.000-07:00

For the past several years, I enjoyed the company of Tweety, my pet cockatiel I brought back after an excursion to Australia.

Sadly, he died yesterday morning. He died of cancer of the crest.

MY HOUSE ON KERGUELEN ISLAND

2005-05-19T11:30:00.000-07:00

LIFE IN THE SOUTH INDIAN OCEAN Pt. One

2005-05-19T11:02:00.000-07:00

It was a difficult morning. The winds were blowing at sixty-eight miles per hour according to my wind gauge, and the edge of the roof was coming away from the back wall of my cabin. The wind chill was awful, but I managed to get things tacked together before the rains came. I have to fire up the generator every time I use the computer, because the generator provides all my electricity. Anyway, I get lonely out here. I think it is time to make some new friends, and the other night while I was listening in to some international radio on my Grundig, they were talking about weblogs. So, here I am. My name is Donald McFarlane. Glad to meet you!