"Carl's Lounge" (Off-Topic Discussion, Traditional Knife "Tales & Vignettes")

Jack,
I'm afraid I have no ancient axe pictures to post but I hope you don't mind these... :rolleyes:

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Fausto
:cool:
..nice!
 
Hey guys, one of the cool things I get to do is write about fishing. Couple pieces I wrote recently for TOF.com. Thought y'all might enjoy...I know some of you like to sink a line from time to time.

edit: neither of the links work? The stories are 'The Petaluma Sturgeon' and 'Gnats and Natives' at theonlinefisherman.com if you feel like hunting for em.

Leave a holler if you stop by!
 
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Yesterday, I had one of those weird coincidences that happen to us all from time to time. I was having my breakfast when I found myself thinking about a knife my grandfather gave me as a boy, which so far, touch wood, is the only knife I’ve ever lost. It was a World War 2 British Navy clasp knife, like the one pictured below (image taken from the net), which my granddad told me had been issued to commandoes. Unlike the British Army clasp knife (one of which he also gave me), the Navy clasp knife lacks a tin-opener (I say ‘tin’ rather than ‘can’ to please Pertinux! :D) Because of this, it’s easier to pinch open, while having a similar brutal bear-trap spring. It’s also a bit bigger, as much as five or six inches in length I think. As a kid one Summer, without trouser pockets large enough to carry it, I put the knife in my bag, and that was the last time I saw it. That was 40 years ago, and I haven’t seen a knife like it since. What made me think of this knife yesterday, I couldn’t say, but I was thinking about it, and what a shame it was to have lost it. I thought to myself, and for the first time ever, because in truth it is a bit of a clunker of a knife, if I ever came across one for sale on my travels, I’d snap it up.

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About an hour later, I was in the flea-market in Leeds, and got talking to a bloke who sells old British tools, more as a hobby than as a business I suspect. We were joking about a pal of mine who’s one of his regular customers, who has to smuggle the ancient billhooks and gardening tools he buys, past his missus. I said that I was just on my way to another stall, to see if the bloke who runs it, had any new old pocket-knives. We got to talking about that, and from behind the stall, he pulled out the knife he uses to cut his sandwiches in half and what have you. You guessed it, a Joseph Rodgers Royal Navy clasp knife, just the same as the one I lost all those years ago. It wasn’t for sale, but it was nice to see one again, and be able to tell him a little about the history of the company who made his knife :)
 
That's cool! The real question is, is he still using it to cut up his sandwiches ;) ?

:D He seemed very attached to it. Maybe I'll see if I can trade him a nice pocket knife that'd be better for cutting sandwiches! I'll have to get a pic of this bloke, he's a real archetypal Yorkshireman, right down to the flat cap. He has some great old tools, and seems to love standing there talking about them to other older fellers :)
 
I was walking past three workmen who were engaged in boarding up a store front today. One of them asked if either of the other two had a knife on them as he needed one for something. Neither of his workmates had one though. Imagine that, three working men, in their 30's or 40's, and not one of them had a knife. What a bad state of affairs :(
 
Who needs an MP3 player? Who needs an iPod? Who needs all those CD's? Who needs all those records?

I'm beginning to see my grandfathers wisdom of always having a harmonica around. Of course, he could play it, and sang pretty well. My other grandfather, who I actually knew and still miss very much to this day, sang in the church choir, and wanted to play the harmonica.

I've got about three harmonicas, and two MP3 players that are sitting around unused. Maybe it's time to quit worrying about which iPod I'm going to get, and dust off one of those harmonicas. I've talked about it enough, and posted on here too.
 
About 20 years ago, my missus bought me a 'C' harp and a wee book, The Idiot's Guide To Playing The Harmonica.

It was a bit hard for me! :D
 
Learning some basic blues riffs and how to bend notes is really pretty simple. If you have a small selection of harmonicas, you can play along with your friends who are real musicians!
 
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Learning some simple blues riffs and how to bend notes is really pretty simple. If you have a small selection of harmonicas, you can play along with your friends who are real musicians!

There's simple, and then there's me! :D I was able to learn a few of the straight harp ditties, Amazing Grace and a few old cowboy numbers, but when it came to cross harp, I began to worry about the neighbours! :D
 
There's simple, and then there's me! :D I was able to learn a few of the straight harp ditties, Amazing Grace and a few old cowboy numbers, but when it came to cross harp, I began to worry about the neighbours! :D

I find it easier to string together some blues riffs and random tooting, than it is to learn straight harp songs! Of course some people are really good:

[video=youtube;BjFwcZQila8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjFwcZQila8[/video]
 
Some months ago, I was trying playing Blues Harp, too. I worked pretty well for me. Unfortunatelly I have not the time for further practise. But it´s great to bend and play in the Blues-Pentatonic. Pete gave me some very good advice.

Man... I need to play more harp... :p
 
I'm reading "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin and "The Black House" by Peter May.
 
Hehe, I thought it would me moved, but that was fast :)

Recently I've been reading some of the English classics like The Great Gatsby, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Catcher In The Rye etc. I guess it's the stuff you all read in school at one point, but the stuff we had in our English class was obviously a bit of the easier variety :D
 
I new it i say I'm reading Star Wars and now every ones reading a classic............(overly dramatic voice) I feel like such a simpldeton. I guess the next thing I'm gonna read is the forum rules..........again
Oh and thanks for moving my post Peregrin!
 
I new it i say I'm reading Star Wars and now every ones reading a classic............(overly dramatic voice) I feel like such a simpldeton. I guess the next thing I'm gonna read is the forum rules..........again
Oh and thanks for moving my post Peregrin!

It's been awhile, but I've read some Star Wars myself. Oh and you're welcome. :)
 
My wife and daughter just returned today from vacationing in Hawaii, where they took an ATV tour through an area at which scenes of Jurassic Park were filmed. When I first read the book Jurassic Park, I had already seen the movie. Usually that spoils the book. But not this time. The book was so much better than the movie (and the movie was great!), that I read the whole thing in one evening. Highly recommended.
 
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