This evening I had the pleasure of watching Kon-Tiki, a 1950 documentary that tells the story of Thor Heyerdahl on his quest to cross the Pacific Ocean in a balsa boat. Making some leaps in history, he had the theory that the Polynesian Islands were peopled not by early Asians, as most scientists believe, but by early South Americans. His impression was formed by the stylistic similarities between early South American statues and Polynesian statues, itself some interesting food for thought.
Even if you can’t make the leap by that evidence, Heyerdahl suspected he might be taken more seriously by undertaking a voyage across the Pacific using marine technology known in South America at the time (as recorded by early Spanish explorers such as Magellan). After assembling a boat of 9 enormous balsa logs cut from the Ecuadorian forests, Heyerdahl and 5 companions set out from South America following the Trade Winds … I won’t give the story away, but aside from a charming 1950s soundtrack, look for enormous sharks, huge whales, parrots speaking Spanish with Norwegian accents, flying fish, dolphin hunting, poisonous eels and deadly coral reefs. Really just a great film overall, very inspirational. Kon-Tiki (the name of the boat and the film) won the 1951 Academy Award for Best Documentary.
What made it even better was the large bowl of homegrown popcorn I enjoyed while watching. Homegrown popcorn, Sarah and I both agreed, is crunchier and more flavorful than store-bought, but doesn’t pop as many kernels. But, you get about a bowl from each ear. 18 stalks planted grew about 40 ears, I’d say.
Also ended up finishing the second frame for the labyrinth tonight. I will never by wet 2×4s again. Nor will I ever again violate my rule: no lumber from Home Depot.
