On Fri, 24 Nov 2023 11:21:35 -0500
Alvin Starr via talk <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:
<snip>
> Possibly you could capture a unicorn.
> from tvtropes.org:
> > One of the most archetypal and well-known traits of theUnicorn 
> > <https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Unicorn>is its
> > affinity for virgin women. In legends where unicorns were
> > characterized as either fierce and untamable or as incredibly
> > elusive, a virgin maiden was said to be the only one who could tame
> > the beast or draw it out of hiding. In works where unicorns are
> > epitomes of benevolence and purity, virgin maidens are the only
> > ones the creatures allow close to them — or, in certain cases, to
> > ride them.  
> 
Eish!

Alvin, thank you so much for creating, in my mind, the many new images
of virgin maidens riding unicorns. 

> So you just need to find a virgin.

Those still exist and are not that challenging to find, unicorns on the
other hand seem to be extremely controversial. So much so that many
people over the course of history, actively tried to make all mention
of unicorns, everywhere, just disappear. (So many 'powerful' people
never really bargained on the Internet though)
Among the many print first editions (books) I have access to is
Grimm's Fairy Tales (T. Nelson & sons, Ltd) - and many of the mentions 
of unicorns are adapted/changed/altered/deleted. For example, in the
story about "The taylor and the giant" the unicorn portion of the
'oral' retelling of the story, is replaced with a talking nut craving
dancing bear. (how they thought this would be more reasonable, or
palatable, than a unicorn with a horn stuck in a tree, fully escapes
me) 

Unless this could be explained by repeated human error or some
other hectic event(s) it indicates that publishers and editors at
the turn of the last century decided that unicorns are so weird that
they should not even feature in Grimm's Fairy Tales :)
(just to be fair: human error also do promote unicorns, for example
when the King James Bible did just that in the "wild ox" scandal)

anyway, google allows us, currently, to read about unicorns (lucky us)
and what is really cool are the results when you google "penguin
unicorn images" - clearly the concept of linux and/or penguins and
unicorn affinity is not even close to an original idea :)

Clearly Unicorns, themselves, have gone through many cycles, from
complete denial/deletion, in print, to over publication. And except for 
what you already mentioned about works where unicorns are epitomes
of benevolence and purity, some modern/recent takes on unicorns (and
lore) have them involved with zombies, being evil creatures and doing
all sorts of phallic more horn (and even corn) related stuff.

> But.
> Your looking for a tech-unicorn...
> A Tech virgin?
> 
> That is going to be hard to find these days.
> I once heard someone describing the fact that once upon a time the
> chair was a new technology.
> So this opens a whole discussion about how virginal you need to be to 
> attract a unicorn.
> 
hmm, after "doing my own research" (hehehehe), I am not so convinced 
that unicorns are attracted to virgins after all. I am also not so
convinced that unicorns are "kings of the horses" - in fact, after
studying some grainy images in Google Image search, I am not more
convinced than ever that unicorns are closely, VERY closely, related to
DRAGONS~!

If this proves to be accurate, I do really just happen to know where to
find a dragon... so I will shortly be setting out on a dragon hunt. Once
I have waterboarded the dragon, I am somewhat certain now, I will be
able to get that pesky tech-unicorn.

Again thank you for the image(s) of virgin(s) riding unicorn(s), I will
sometime check what plethora of images chatGPT can come up with.

Anyone in need of a slightly used horse with half a horn stuck on it's
head can send me a DM via pigeon post. Although, since the pūteketeke
became the bird of the century (due to the fat thumb of John Oliver), 
the once thriving and useful columba livia domestica has been mostly
relegated to obscurity, so good luck with that.

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