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

mbkr said:
I've read several Stephen Hunter novels. Generally good reads :thumbsup:
I'll keep an eye out for Samurai.
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Mike, you've probably read at least one novel involving Bob Lee Swagger, the Vietnam-era renowned Marine sniper (IMHO, the best was the first, Point of Impact). Samurai is essentially a much older Bob mastering swordplay and taking on Japan's top samurai gangsters. (If you've read any of the novels featuring Earl Swagger, Bob's father, Medal-of-Honor-winning WWII hero, and Arkansas state trooper, his legacy gets tied into Samurai as well.)

- GT
 
5K Qs said:
Mike, you've probably read at least one novel involving Bob Lee Swagger, the Vietnam-era renowned Marine sniper (IMHO, the best was the first, Point of Impact). Samurai is essentially a much older Bob mastering swordplay and taking on Japan's top samurai gangsters. (If you've read any of the novels featuring Earl Swagger, Bob's father, Medal-of-Honor-winning WWII hero, and Arkansas state trooper, his legacy gets tied into Samurai as well.)

- GT
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Point of Impact was the first one I read. I agree, I think it was the best, and a good introduction to Bob Lee :thumbsup:
 
mitch13 mitch13 That's him Mitch...despite the liberal use of jets of tomato sauce squirting from the bodies of Lone Wolfs enemies and the awful synthesiser soundtrack...this movie has some very beautiful poignant scenes....believe it or not....the scene where the injured father is exhausted and almost dead but keeps going until finding shelter for his infant son in a shack.The young boy fetches water for him but can't carry enough in his hands without spilling so brings the water in his mouth and dribbles it onto the sleeping fathers lips to save him...then takes some food from the buddha shrine but leaves his jacket as payment even though he is cold....But is captured and the evil Shoguns agents and leader of the ninja women threaten to drop him into the well...only to find that Lone Wolf has recovered and calls their bluff by making them loose the rope holding the boy..who plummets down the well(after dropping a sandal first to signal the depth to the father and thereby alerting him of the time needed to turn the bad guys into salami)...the supreme ninja woman is frozen with terror at this because ...she is a woman and he has already dispatched her entire ninja squad to the grave earlier.She is shown mercy and pays for her sins by keeping the boy warm after he is hauled from the well by the Father wet and shivering.
 
meako said:
mitch13 mitch13 That's him Mitch...despite the liberal use of jets of tomato sauce squirting from the bodies of Lone Wolfs enemies and the awful synthesiser soundtrack...this movie has some very beautiful poignant scenes....believe it or not....the scene where the injured father is exhausted and almost dead but keeps going until finding shelter for his infant son in a shack.The young boy fetches water for him but can't carry enough in his hands without spilling so brings the water in his mouth and dribbles it onto the sleeping fathers lips to save him...then takes some food from the buddha shrine but leaves his jacket as payment even though he is cold....But is captured and the evil Shoguns agents and leader of the ninja women threaten to drop him into the well...only to find that Lone Wolf has recovered and calls their bluff by making them loose the rope holding the boy..who plummets down the well(after dropping a sandal first to signal the depth to the father and thereby alerting him of the time needed to turn the bad guys into salami)...the supreme ninja woman is frozen with terror at this because ...she is a woman and he has already dispatched her entire ninja squad to the grave earlier.She is shown mercy and pays for her sins by keeping the boy warm after he is hauled from the well by the Father wet and shivering.
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It's a classic, completely over the top.
But completely enjoyable😄
 
i lucked in at vinnies one day and scored the entire series box set....shogun assassin is a kind of compilation movie based on them.
no one I can think of has wreaked more vengeance in a movie until John Wick turned up...
 
I was browsing the public library's catalog not so long ago, and happened upon The Black Stallion, by Walter Farley. 60 years ago, I thought that book was perhaps the best book I'd ever read! (I read lots of sequels, too.) I decided to see if it was really as good as I remembered, so I put it on hold and picked it up at my neighborhood branch of the library a couple of days ago. Started reading it this afternoon, and it seems pretty darned good so far (I'm at about page 70), but one thing (among many) I hadn't remembered is the important role that a pocket knife played early in the story. Our hero, Alec Ramsay, Jr., is a kid from New York City who spent a couple of summer months with his missionary uncle in India. At the start of the book, Alec is on a tramp steamer heading home by himself on a journey that should take him through the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic to England, change ships there, and go transatlantic to New York (best laid plans ...). He's standing at the rail of the deck of the ship, and on page 4 of the book I read:

"His fist opened. Lovingly he surveyed the pearl pocketknife he held there. The inscription on it was in gold: To Alec on his birthday, Bombay, India. He remembered, too, his uncle's words: 'A knife, Alec, comes in handy sometimes.'"

Well, exciting stuff happens, including a wild, vicious black stallion being loaded on board at a small Arabian seaport in the Red Sea; a storm arising in the Atlantic before the boat gets to England; the boy and the horse happen to jump/fall off the boat together as it goes down in the storm; Alec manages to catch a rope tied to the stallion's halter, ties it to his own life vest, is pulled by the swimming stallion to a deserted island, starts being pulled across the sand by the galloping horse, and manages to find his pocketknife in time to cut himself loose on page 25:

"He was now on the beach being dragged by the stallion; the sand flew in his face. Quickly he opened the knife and began to cut the rope. His body burned from the sand, his clothes were being torn off of him! His speed was increasing every second! Madly he sawed away at the rope. With one final thrust he was through! His outflung hands caressed the sand. As he closed his eyes, his parched lips murmured, 'Yes-Uncle Ralph-it did-come in handy.'"

Yowza!!!! :eek: :thumbsup::thumbsup::cool::cool:

- GT
 
That is a wonderful story and quite possibly the reason I carry a good knife daily. Thanks for the reminder, enjoy the remainder of the book GT.
Hope Alec Ramsay, Jr. remembers to oil the joints and soon!!!
Yikes! salt water... keep us posted. :)
 
screened porch said:
Plenty of fish oil, and maybe coconut!
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Good thinkin' Jer! I believe you're correct too. In subsequent chapters Alec cuts palm fronds into strips, weaves them together making rope to tie his barlow to a stick. Then spears a rather large fish and has plenty of fish oil. The knife clearly has an important supporting role in this timeless classic. :)
 
redsparrow said:
That is a wonderful story and quite possibly the reason I carry a good knife daily. Thanks for the reminder, enjoy the remainder of the book GT.
Hope Alec Ramsay, Jr. remembers to oil the joints and soon!!!
Yikes! salt water... keep us posted. :)
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redsparrow said:
Good thinkin' Jer! I believe you're correct too. In subsequent chapters Alec cuts palm fronds into strips, weaves them together making rope to tie his barlow to a stick. Then spears a rather large fish and has plenty of fish oil. The knife clearly has an important supporting role in this timeless classic. :)
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How do you remember all this stuff?? o_O When did you last read the book, James? Even as I was reading the book this afternoon, there were few events in the book about which I could say, "Oh, yeah, now I remember that." You'd think I'd recognize "carragheen", the type of seaweed Alec and the stallion ate on the island, but no such luck.

- GT
 
Sorry -GT, I actually don't remember it... made it up as I went along. The best I can do in remembering is if I liked it or not. The Black Stallion is one I liked.
Short memory may not be all bad, I haven't had to purchase a book or movie in 10 years, just reread/watch those I already have. ;) ;) ;)
 
redsparrow said:
Sorry -GT, I actually don't remember it... made it up as I went along. The best I can do in remembering is if I liked it or not. The Black Stallion is one I liked.
Short memory may not be all bad, I haven't had to purchase a book or movie in 10 years, just reread/watch those I already have. ;) ;) ;)
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Got me!! 😁 :thumbsup::thumbsup:
I'm with you on the short memory. I can reread books multiple times; usually after a year, I remember very few details of a book I've read "for fun". If I enjoy The Black Stallion in its entirety as much as I have so far, I'll probably read a couple of the sequels, too.

- GT
 
meako said:
r8shell r8shell I cant view the video link you posted due to some international 'not available in my country' skbubble....if you could let me know what is I can probably find it on that internet thingy.👍
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It's a cartoon parody of Shogun Assassin, an advertisement for "The Hawk & Chick Box Set Collection" from a TV show called Bob's Burgers.
 
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