packsaddle

Thanks a whole lot, Cambridgeskip, I'll probably stay up all night myself after reading that. But this is great. I'm getting so many ideas for stories at campfires.

I'm reopening this old thread to give folks a chance to tell their scary (and otherwise) campfire stories. This is in response to a post in which some moms asked the cubmaster not to tell scary stories anymore due to inability of some of the cubs to sleep well, lol. I struggled with this problem when I was CM as well. So I tried this story: It's a true story up to a point. I was backpacking in the backcountry of Yellowstone. And as all of you know, I prefer to go solo. This was back when I was in my 20s and natural selection just might have had some beneficial effect if I HAD been 'selected' back then. But I was hiking around Yellowstone Lake and it was a few days into the trip. I smelled pretty ripe. And I guess the bear that was within range must have sensed food because as I rounded a bend, there the bear was. Now I was wearing bear bells so that bear was expecting me and it didn't act surprised. In fact it immediately started coming toward me. So I immediately started backing away back down the trail. I could see a tree in the distance and a branch low enough that I might be able to reach it and swing right up into it. So I turned and started moving faster and every time I increased speed the bear did the same. I could see that it was closing on me so I sped up as fast as I could and I didn't have time to dump my pack so I was going to have to make the run with it and the bear was closing. I could see that branch and I know if I could make that I had a good chance but the bear was getting a lot closer and I wasn't sure I was going to make it. When I was almost at the tree, the bear was right behind me and I know I only had one very slim chance. So this is where I end the story. Most of the time, the boys want to know what happened. I lead them on for a while, "you don't really want to know that do you?" And then I tell them. "Why of course... the bear ate me!" And they roll their eyes and go Uhhhhhhhhh! Most of the time, there's no nightmares.

I am going to create a new thread (not sure what forum yet and I might find an old one that I can bring back to life for that matter) on campfire stories, scary and otherwise. I am doing this because I sense an oncoming hijack. But first...I'm going to order a copy of 'The Troop'. Sounds like a great story. Incidentally, if anyone thinks this thread isn't sufficiently I&P to stay here, let me know. Edit: I reopened an old one in camping and high adventure.

Years ago this unit had an outing at Raccoon Mountain, an overnight in their 'wild' cave. Anyway, we left the cave late in the morning and on the way out, we noticed tripods a short distance from the entrance where the 'tourists' enter the cave. The boys headed down to the campsite to clean up and I stayed up to finish paying for all the fees and buy some souvenirs. It turned out that a low-grade horror film was in progress and some of the cast were waiting for us to clear the cave so they could get started. I stopped to talk to some of them and noted that the monster costumes didn't exactly look very professional and they laughed and said it was really low budget and they could use some volunteers if I was interested. I asked what needed to be done and they said someone needed to hold the lights as the makeup was being applied to some of the cast. Turned out that this was really a skin flick and the volunteer work was to hold the light while makeup was applied to the totally nude 'actresses' who, I also note, were spectacular enough clothed. I laughed and told them I had enough trouble as it was. They understood. I didn't break this news to the boys until later when we were on the road home. They begged us to turn around. They REALLY needed the service hours, lol. I still laugh when I remember some or their faces, those incredibly sincere looks as they tried to explain how important service is. Good try, guys.....

Jblake47, I was actually suspicious at first that this might be a spoof or joke of some kind. I'm still not completely sure about if.

Just curious...how are we supposed to pronounce that name?

I think this is reasonable. The council is just whining about imaginary and speculative problems that have never yet occurred but they might just bring upon themselves if they work at it.

Now I'm feeling incredibly guilty for insulting the raccoons...woe is me.

Ahem......politicians...any of them?....might as well discuss the moral compass of raccoons.

I don't know if this qualifies or not, since they were bought out by Dick's, but I used to like Galyan's Trading Company. I guess they were reincarnated as something in Dick's now.

More competition from BPSA might help advance that goal.

Interesting. A long time ago in a galaxy far away, I seem to remember that there was some kind of unwritten rule for these forums that discouraged changing forum names (an exception was made for SR540Beaver). At the time I think it was to try to prevent 'trolls' (and there was indeed one particular annoying person who seemed insistent on popping up again and again under different identities). But in this case, since there is a mea culpa and since you have to start all over again with 'the count', I guess all is well,

As if that article contains surprises. Yes, this may lead to a conviction. All that stuff may be completely true. It doesn't detract from the idea that if the people don't want that kind of governance, they should elect a different person.

Frostline kits. I built two of their sleeping bag kits and a set of bike panniers. I still have one of the sleeping bags but I need to do a major rehab on the internal 'pad' material. Somewhere in the morass I call a garage I think I still have a Holubar 'day pack'. I really liked that thing all those years ago, but I suspect it needs to be recycled by now. And somewhere I still have a copper Hudson Bay Company panning pan from Herters (that so far still awaits its first fleck of gold, lol) I'm glad to see that Tandy still is in business. I made and wore out countless pairs of their moccasins. Tempted to do it again.

Jblake47, "So, when the officer asks you for your name, address, and passport, speak your name and address clearly and hand him your passport. DO NOT under any circumstances say, "Who wants to know?"" H'mmmmm, is this the voice of experience, perhaps? I've always wondered about that question. There they are with the passport right in front of them with the name printed on it. Do they really think someone who is impersonating another person won't practice saying the name so they will be able to answer that question? Are they only trying to catch the stupid terrorists? Do they really think this works?

Alan Dershowitz is outraged over the indictment. This is reported in several locations but seems to have originated in Newmax. "Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz calls himself a "liberal Democrat who would never vote for Rick Perry," but he's still "outraged" over the Texas governor's indictment Friday on charges of abuse of power and coercion. The charges are politically motivated and an example of a "dangerous" trend of courts being used to affect the ballot box and politics, he told Newsmax on Saturday. "Everybody, liberal or conservative, should stand against this indictment," Dershowitz said. "If you don't like how Rick Perry uses his office, don't vote for him."" 'nuff said. Edit: well not quite....as far as I'm concerned, drunk drivers should be prohibited from operating vehicles of any kind for the rest of their lives. But since there evidently isn't a law against electing stupid people, I guess that if the people want them as representatives or public servants, then the stupid people who want them should get stupid people to work for them.

Wow, I had almost given up hope. Welcome back Ed!!! Ed, if you managed this return, don't you think there's still hope for others as well?

Yeah, politics. Who would have guessed? I'll say this much for Perry. There's no other governor in the history of this country who has presided over as many executions as he has. Not even close. The guy is really good at it. In Texas the state is going to kill the convicted person. That's a fact.

And since after a few days, this new poster still has only posted one message which is basically selling his own book, I'm going to call this a borderline spam thread. If he doesn't respond to this message, I'll change my opinion to pure spam.

Until those two boys either stand up for what they claimed happened, or else fess up for making a false claim, all we can do for now is chase our tails which is what we're doing right now. Time to sit back and wait for someone to open up. Jim Fox is the only person who can make the best judgment about his actions and decisions. I wouldn't advise the boys to keep quiet if it were me but it's not me. I think Fox may be protecting something but at the base I still give him the benefit of the doubt for having good intentions. I'll wait until something substantive floats to the surface. Until then I'm going to stop trying to second-guess all these maneuvers.

I'm not sure why this interview hasn't been publicized more broadly, but for me it always helps to hear the words unedited, straight from the persons involved and this is Jim Fox telling it like he saw it. The interview takes over 30 minutes but it's worth a listen in order to get a better feeling for tone, inflection, mood, and I think it will add to our ability to make personal opinions about this incident. If you think you've heard the 'essence' of the incident after the first 6 or 7 minutes, listen on...there are some other interesting insights as well. I continue to hope that the video will be released but after listening to the interview, I kind of like the guy.

You may be correct but I'd give it some more time. Those boys know the truth. It's just a matter of opening up and that may take a while. As for the photo nonsense, I completely agree. It's another case of technology moving faster than policy.

I am replying in order to have a post show up in the forum after deleting and permanently banning a thread and user.

I just deleted a topic which was a blatant advertisement and I also permanently banned the first time poster. I am putting this message here in order to have something listed in I&P.

Getting back on track, I am glad the CE supports the individual scouts cooperating and making their statements to the IG investigation.