A really interesting example of cannibalism in pop-culture media, Gormogon from Bones. Season 3 is super interesting because it looks into secret societies and their counterparts. Also forensic anthropology is really cool. Just is, can't change that. The following season addresses an interesting question when contemplating murder, can someone actually kill another individual. It's something that may be applied to cannibalism also, can you actually eat an individual? Is it something that you are willing to go through? Just food for thought. Bad pun.

TV is amazing. Medical tv shows are the pinnacle of the film because they are SO COOL!! There's a new show on NBC called Heartbeat, and there are a lot of super interesting procedures on it. Including the separation of identical twins, fancy surgery robots and a heart transplant for a situs inversus totalis (complete reversal of organs)!

I love medicine. It's super cool. The advancements are truly amazing, and even cooler when the directors add squirting blood. Gotta love the gross special effects. They make you squirm but totally squirm worthy.

Another show on NBC is Grimm. There's a really interesting episode in the first season, where this wesen species butchers humans for their organs. Not something you would think about, but something that we used to do, to our own species. Bit of a mind twister. It's cool when you realize how history affects us without our even knowing it.

Let's go back in time, back to the dinosaurs. Because they were awesome, like chimpanzees

Chimps are actually really cool. They are the species closest to humans in both development and actual practice. But more than that, they are cannibals. Sometimes.

There was a documented period where these two chimps, mother and daughter, were killing baby chimps and eating them. Really weird and kind of sad, but true. No one was entirely certain why that happened, but as soon as one of the chimps had her own child, they stopped.

Dolphins are weird like that also. Male dolphins will kill a mother's young in order to breed her themselves. Don't think they eat the young though.

But infanticide is definitely a thing in the animal kingdom. Not legal in the human subsection of that kingdom though.

'Confession time here's what I got'.

I've been listening to Hamilton, the play that should win all the Tony's. Here's to hoping that Leslie Odom Jr. wins Best Actor. But anyways, I digress.

Medicine is weird. Not a life changing statement, but it's true-ish. There are a lot of conflicting opinions in the world about medicine right now. Some people swear by medical professionals (e.g. physicians, surgeons). Others only utilize naturopathic remedies. Personally I'm all for surgery, but that's because I've needed it. Naturopaths just scare me. It's an irrational fear that's not really a fear. I can't explain it.

In the 17th century, there wasn't such a huge issue over who was providing your medical care. The only thing patients' cared about was whether or not they were being fixed. Medical professionals had issues, but mostly over who got to be the healer.

I think I prefer the controversy filled world of today. Not sure I trust the barber surgeons of the 17th century. They might pull a Sweeney Todd.

Something that I forgot to mention is that Eastern medicine is super cool. Literally. Weird factoid, China has the oldest documented practice of medicinal cannibalism ever. It's totally true. It continued into the 20th century even. You see it in literature, particularly Amy Tan's books. Recommendation, read The Bonesetter's Daughter and The Joy Luck Club. Both are great books. Both mention medicinal cannibalism.

What's great about both books, is that the reference isn't super obvious. Well, it's not shouting at you. I hope someone enjoys these books. They are fantastic.

I really like hospital tv shows. Grey's Anatomy, The Knick, Scrubs. Not because of the drama, but because of the medical procedures. Well actually because the characters are funny in Scrubs. It's really interesting to watch the procedures, particularly for The Knick since the setting is the 20th century in New York City. Surgery back then was pretty gory. Lots of blood, not as much hygiene, or really an understanding for the human anatomy. When you watch some of the newer tv shows it demonstrates the progress made within medicine over the past century.

One of the biggest advances made since 1900 is organ transplant, a form of medicinal cannibalism. Super interesting to consider because you wouldn't consider it to be medicinal cannibalism. Just thought that I'd throw it out there. You are physically incorporating someone else's organs and genetic material into your own body. Pretty life changing isn't it?

The more I read, the less I know. I'm nearly positive that this is something demonstrated in life as well. It's frustrating, but reassuring. Backwards logic there, but I honestly like not knowing everything. Much more relaxing that way, less pressure. Still frustrating though.

A lot of the things that I thought would be super useful to my research ended up being dead ends. Burgundy pitch, sap from a Norwegian spruce tree. It does have some interesting connotations however, so I'm including the link to a brief article below in case anyone is interested.

Burgundy Pitch

Since burgundy pitch was a resin based material, the same conclusion had to been drawn about stone pitch. Oh well, I will get over this loss. Eventually. (Tears are running down my face. Metaphorically.)

Another dead end, dragon blood. One would think that this is actually some form of human material. They would be wrong. It is also a plant resin. This project has really started turning me off from plants. They are truly disgusting creatures. Ruining all my efforts in seeking out cannibalism.

Manna, that food in the bible, is also a plant. I feel justified in my hatred for them. I though it might have been Arabian mummy (created from drying out under the desert sands). It wasn't.

My disappointment is overwhelming. But I will persevere. I must.