bookshelf -fup

This one for dad, not the wee boys. Just refound (yes it is a word) this. Short, sharp, cheeky book for anyone that dreams of being a grandpa one day. Thx to sis-in-law for this one.

By Jim Dodge, Fup tells the story of Grandpa, Tiny (he ain't), Fup the duck, and Lockjaw the boar. Add some ol' death whisper whiskey.

100 classic books -nintendo ds

Not available in the US for some reason, but Nintendo has released 100 classic books in a cartridge for reading on the DS gaming device (UK release, and already out of stock due to popularity). Full listing here. Lightning review (positive) of it here by a headmaster in the Scottish borders. Quick pick of 20 titles listed below.

Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice
Harriet Beecher: Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin
Carlo Collodi: The Adventures of Pinocchio
Arthur Conan Doyle: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
James Fenimore Cooper: Last of the Mohicans
Daniel Defoe: Robinson Crusoe
Charles Dickens: Oliver Twist
Alexandre Dumas: The Three Musketeers
Henry Rider Haggard: King Solomon's Mines
Thomas Hardy: Tess of The D'Urbervilles
Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter
D.H. Lawrence: Sons And Lovers
Gaston Leroux: The Phantom of the Opera
Jack London: White Fang
Herman Melville: Moby Dick
Anna Sewell: Black Beauty
William Shakespeare: Macbeth
Robert Louis Stevenson: Kidnapped
Mark Twain: Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Jules Verne: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

100 Classic Book Collection 'Stories' TV ad

Cue discussion of e-readers, Google Books Library Project, "people don't read anymore", role of libraries in the electronic age... etc. At the least check out the Project Gutenberg and read a few classics (any of the above) for free.

burns night -haggis

OK, run that sheep's stomach bit past me again?
There cannot be a dish so famously (and completely unfairly IMHO) reviled as haggis. It is simply a blend of sheep meat and oatmeal, spiced with cayenne pepper. Full disclosure; 'sheep meat' is a fairly loose term, as haggis does contain rather more of the sheep than you'll see on the supermarket shelves. Try a plate of this oaty sausage with 'champit tatties' (mashed potatoes) and 'bashit neeps' (mashed turnips) and you have a warming winter dinner. Add some decent gravy, requisite drink, and Robert is your mother's brother.

Most recipes call for haggis to be boiled, but do not be fooled. We have always baked it instead (and BBC Good Food backs us here).

bookshelf -peter sis

The boy is mad on trucks... so these (Trucks Trucks Trucks, and Fire Truck) are on rotation from the library. Both written by acclaimed childrens' author Peter Sis. Sis illustrates here too, and some nice touches... text changes size, boy morphs into a fire engine... line drawings with only 1 or 2 colors filled.

john lee hooker -hobo blues

Live recording, from The American Folk Blues Festival, 1965.

americana -hobo knife

Caveat. I am no expert on these, just a big fan. And might be timely... During the Great Depression these knives were carried by men on the move looking for work. The men were labelled 'hobos'. The knife consists of either a knife and fork or knife/fork/spoon that attach together, usually by slots and pins in the liners, but can easily be taken apart. (Cheap versions have the utensils all on a hinge...how the F are you supposed to use fork and knife with that?)

Above, the Case Hobo. The fork includes a bottle opener, nice touch.

Due to this particularly American history, all the producers of hobo knives were and still are American held companies. Colonial from Providence R.I., Case, A.G. Russell, and Ka-Bar.

There are a lot of theories on the etymology of the word hobo. Bill Bryson suggests it came from a contraction of "homeward bound". Or from “ho, boy”, a workers' call on late 19C western U.S. railroads. Does the term come from the Manhattan intersection of Houston and Bowery, where itinerant people used to congregate? Or can we blame Hoboken, New Jersey; a terminus for many railroad lines in the 19C. Try shortening "hopping boxcars", or the words "homeless boy"...

In any event, it was in use by 1906. Here quoting Upton Sinclair in The Jungle.
"Then he explained how he had spent the last summer, ‘hoboing it’, as the men phrased it."

I love the 50's/60's jackknives. The bakelite faux-wood handles. The whole culture of carrying a pocket knife has disappeared though. Went the way of smoking a pipe i guess... And children certainly can't expect to be given one now, though i can't wait to get something like this for the boy... Love the classic display below.