Funny Wars

[Joe Varo]

On Thu, 6 Mar 1997, Juan Cires Martinez wrote:

> I remember a spanish photographer that spent the last few years in Papua
> living and photographing the native tribes there telling how a war broke
> out between two tribes.  He asked for permision and went to the
> battlefield with a movie camera.  As he told it, he set up his
> equipement in the middle of the battlefield and watched as the two
> sides, twenty to thirty warriors each, spent two to three hours
> insulting each other.

Sounds a bit like a mass "ajtys", at least up until the actual fighting
breaks out.

> When they got tired of this, a fight broke out
> between a few warriors on either side.  As they passed in front of the
> camera in their charge to attack the other side they slowed down and
> smiled to the camera.

I guess the notion of "being a ham" exists in all cultures.

> The final body count was three warriors dead and a few wounded.

Oh well.  I was expecting the tale to end with something like, no
casualties other than a few bruised egos and hurt feelings, paralleling
the goings on here at the P-list.

Joe