Friday, February 12, 2016

Morbid Fascination

I don't know what else to call my insatiable need to know the esoteric details about off the wall subjects other than plain old morbid fascination,but at least I have no qualms about sharing the minutia of my inquiring mind. Today's subject is flagpole sitting which is mostly associated with the 1920s,but actually started around c. 388 and was called stylitism , a form of meditation that took place sitting on columns without shelter for up to 30 years at a time. Needless to say any records set by flagpole sitters pale in comparison to the stylites. But once again I digress,what I set out to learn was how they performed their bodily functions without coming down from the pole/column. The only answer I found to that question was the guy who started the fad in the 1920s only consumed liquids in his days on the pole and then would turn his back and use a tube which connected to a container on the ground,but in the other cases where people stayed up longer and ate actual meals I couldn't find the details. I guess I'm the only one that wonders what's behind the curtain.


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