Blue mailboxes and feet in the hall
Don Aitken
about the lyrics of songs, unproductive though this usually is. Here
are a couple:
Why does Taj Mahal say that he's going to "move to the country and
paint my mailbox blue"?
What is the significance of sleeping in the kitchen with your feet in
the hall? Also from a Taj Mahal song (from 1968) but Dylan uses the
same phrase on "Modern Times".
The latter song is called "She Caught the Katy and left me a mule to
ride". Who or what is Katy?
--
Don Aitken
Mail to the From: address is not read.
To email me, substitute "clara.co.uk" for "freeuk.com"
Skitt
> It's probably the aue influence, but I seem to have taken to wondering
> about the lyrics of songs, unproductive though this usually is. Here
> are a couple:
>
> Why does Taj Mahal say that he's going to "move to the country and
> paint my mailbox blue"?
>
> What is the significance of sleeping in the kitchen with your feet in
> the hall? Also from a Taj Mahal song (from 1968) but Dylan uses the
> same phrase on "Modern Times".
>
> The latter song is called "She Caught the Katy and left me a mule to
> ride". Who or what is Katy?
There's a picture of Katy at
http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=6040767
More at http://www.katyrailroad.org/arch1998.htm
--
Skitt
Gridley
wrote:
>It's probably the aue influence, but I seem to have taken to wondering
>about the lyrics of songs, unproductive though this usually is. Here
>are a couple:
>
>Why does Taj Mahal say that he's going to "move to the country and
>paint my mailbox blue"?
>
>What is the significance of sleeping in the kitchen with your feet in
>the hall? Also from a Taj Mahal song (from 1968) but Dylan uses the
>same phrase on "Modern Times".
>
>The latter song is called "She Caught the Katy and left me a mule to
>ride". Who or what is Katy?
The Katy Lines is the informal name of the M-K-T Railroad (Missouri
Kansas Texas RR).
http://www.katyrailroad.org/
She took the railroad (in high style) and left him the mule.
"sleep in the kitchen with your feet in the hall" means you are so
poor, or down on your luck, that you live in a place that is so small
that you can't fit lying down.
"Gonna paint my mailbox blue" has no pop culture meaning that I know
of and I never heard it in any other song but it rhymes with "dew" so
that may be the only reason it's in the song.
Robin Bignall
wrote:
>On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:04:01 +0000, Don Aitken <don-a...@freeuk.com>
>wrote:
>
>>It's probably the aue influence, but I seem to have taken to wondering
>>about the lyrics of songs, unproductive though this usually is. Here
>>are a couple:
>>
>>Why does Taj Mahal say that he's going to "move to the country and
>>paint my mailbox blue"?
>>
>>What is the significance of sleeping in the kitchen with your feet in
>>the hall? Also from a Taj Mahal song (from 1968) but Dylan uses the
>>same phrase on "Modern Times".
>>
>>The latter song is called "She Caught the Katy and left me a mule to
>>ride". Who or what is Katy?
>
>The Katy Lines is the informal name of the M-K-T Railroad (Missouri
>Kansas Texas RR).
>http://www.katyrailroad.org/
>She took the railroad (in high style) and left him the mule.
>
>"sleep in the kitchen with your feet in the hall" means you are so
>poor, or down on your luck, that you live in a place that is so small
>that you can't fit lying down.
>
That rang a bell with me. Lonnie Donegan's "Cumberland Gap" from
the 1950s has the lines
"I got a girl six feet tall,
Sleeps in the kitchen with her feet in the hall".
>"Gonna paint my mailbox blue" has no pop culture meaning that I know
>of and I never heard it in any other song but it rhymes with "dew" so
>that may be the only reason it's in the song.
--
Robin
Herts, England
John Dean
> It's probably the aue influence, but I seem to have taken to wondering
> about the lyrics of songs, unproductive though this usually is.
I would say productivity is the least of the issues involved in lyric
analysis. It's fun because it's so often open-ended.
>Here
> are a couple:
>
> Why does Taj Mahal say that he's going to "move to the country and
> paint my mailbox blue"?
Maybe the Postal Service has certain requirements relating to the appearance
of mailboxes and painting one blue will cause them not to deliver - which is
maybe what the singer wants.
>
> What is the significance of sleeping in the kitchen with your feet in
> the hall? Also from a Taj Mahal song (from 1968) but Dylan uses the
> same phrase on "Modern Times".
As did many blues singers in many songs. See, eg,
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1197/is_2_50/ai_n16689746
"The list of songs mentioning a lady with an extenuated torso (or small
dwelling) who SLEEPS IN THE KITCHEN WITH HER FEET IN THE HALL, requested by
Jack Beard (v.49#4, v.50#1), is growing to a corresponding length. Teresa
McNeil MacLean has been "singing these words in the song: 'Polly Wolly
Doodle' [whose first known printing was in 1880] for at least 20 years," and
wonders if Robert Johnson might have heard it there and included it in his
"They're Red Hot." Steve Rosenberg adds to a previous mention of "Salty Dog"
that it "appears in the Kingston Trio's version ... on their Back in Town
album." I checked with Michael Taft, my esteemed successor as Head of the
Archive of Folk Culture at the Library of Congress, who in 1983 published a
prodigious concordance and anthology of blues on race records, the latter of
which has been reprinted as Talkin' to Myself: Blues Lyrics, 1921-1942 (New
York: Routledge, 2005). He has three references: "Her feets in the kitchen:
her head's in the hall" in "Take Your Fingers Off It" (Will Shade & Memphis
Jug Band, 1934); "She sleeps in the kitchen: with her feets in the hall" in
the aforementioned "They're Red Hot" (Robert Johnson, 1936); and "She sleeps
in the kitchen: one foot in the hall" in "Callin' Corrine" (Frankie
"Half-Pint" Jaxon, 1939)."
I recollect it from Lonnie Donegan in the 50s in, I think, 'Cumberland Gap'.
I'd bet on the tall lady, but, clearly, there are kitchens that small.
>
> The latter song is called "She Caught the Katy and left me a mule to
> ride". Who or what is Katy?
As others have said, it was a railroad.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri-Kansas-Texas_Railroad
I first saw it mentioned in Charles Portis's 'True Grit'.
--
John Dean
Oxford
Donna Richoux
> >
> > What is the significance of sleeping in the kitchen with your feet in
> > the hall? Also from a Taj Mahal song (from 1968) but Dylan uses the
> > same phrase on "Modern Times".
>
> As did many blues singers in many songs. See, eg,
> http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1197/is_2_50/ai_n16689746
>
> "The list of songs mentioning a lady with an extenuated torso (or small
> dwelling) who SLEEPS IN THE KITCHEN WITH HER FEET IN THE HALL, requested by
> Jack Beard (v.49#4, v.50#1), is growing to a corresponding length. Teresa
> McNeil MacLean has been "singing these words in the song: 'Polly Wolly
> Doodle' [whose first known printing was in 1880] for at least 20 years,"
The article is dated 2006 so that means since the mid-1980s. Robert
Johnson lived 1911-1938. That's a big gap and there's general silence
from other sources about the words appearing in "Polly Wolly Doodle."
There are a few web pages that say it appears in "Skip to my Lou,"
though.
> and
> wonders if Robert Johnson might have heard it there and included it in his
> "They're Red Hot." Steve Rosenberg adds to a previous mention of "Salty Dog"
> that it "appears in the Kingston Trio's version ... on their Back in Town
> album." I checked with Michael Taft, my esteemed successor as Head of the
> Archive of Folk Culture at the Library of Congress, who in 1983 published a
> prodigious concordance and anthology of blues on race records, the latter of
> which has been reprinted as Talkin' to Myself: Blues Lyrics, 1921-1942 (New
> York: Routledge, 2005). He has three references: "Her feets in the kitchen:
> her head's in the hall" in "Take Your Fingers Off It" (Will Shade & Memphis
> Jug Band, 1934); "She sleeps in the kitchen: with her feets in the hall" in
> the aforementioned "They're Red Hot" (Robert Johnson, 1936); and "She sleeps
> in the kitchen: one foot in the hall" in "Callin' Corrine" (Frankie
> "Half-Pint" Jaxon, 1939)."
I found this at DigiTrad:
A CHESAPEAKE SAILOR'S COMPANION, ARI GCD 1032--
Released in 2000, this is a fantastic collection!
Performed by John Townley and the Press Gang, this CD
features some 400 years of Chesapeake maritime
favorites. These songs range from the hymn-like "We
Be Three Poor Mariners", to stately chamber orchestra
arrangements as "Tom Bowling", to bawdy numbers as "
Bound for Baltimore" and shanties such as "Running
Down to Cuba". This last one contains the lyric, "I
got a gal who's a-nine feet tall/Sleeps in the
kitchen with her feet in the hall" proving that this
lyric, part and parcel of jazz, blues, r&b and
rockabilly was likely bequeathed to us from an
earlier time by sailors. It did not likely originate
at sea since no sailor uses the term "kitchen" but
rather "galley" but the sailors appear to have
preserved the lyric for us in its original form.
I'm not totally convinced by this "proof". Unless there was historic
documentation to the contrary, I would suspect a 20th century verse made
its way into an older song. Shanties aren't long on meaning and lines
float easily from one to another.
--
Best -- Donna Richoux
tony cooper
<john...@fraglineone.net> wrote:
>Maybe the Postal Service has certain requirements relating to the appearance
>of mailboxes and painting one blue will cause them not to deliver - which is
>maybe what the singer wants.
I have no idea if a rule is involved in mailbox color, but US mail
boxes where you deposit mail for pick-up are painted blue.
http://z.about.com/d/geography/1/0/y/F/mailbox.JPG
I would think that painting a residential mailbox blue might result in
people placing their out-going mail in it.
--
Tony Cooper
Orlando, FL
Joe Fineman
> On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:40:34 -0500, Gridley <fi...@will.net>
> wrote:
>>"sleep in the kitchen with your feet in the hall" means you are so
>>poor, or down on your luck, that you live in a place that is so
>>small that you can't fit lying down.
Or it may just mean you're pretty tall:
> That rang a bell with me. Lonnie Donegan's "Cumberland Gap" from
> the 1950s has the lines
> "I got a girl six feet tall,
> Sleeps in the kitchen with her feet in the hall".
A floating stanza that also appears in the Crawdad Song, with the
followups
I got a gal 'bout four foot tall,
Sleeps in the kitchen with her feet in the kitchen.
I got a gal 'bout five foot tall,
She don't get no sleep at all.
Honey baby mine.
--
--- Joe Fineman jo...@verizon.net
||: People today are like gruel, kept in shape only by the pot. :||
cybercypher
> It's probably the aue influence, but I seem to have taken to
> wondering about the lyrics of songs, unproductive though this
> usually is. Here are a couple:
>
> Why does Taj Mahal say that he's going to "move to the country and
> paint my mailbox blue"?
It seems to me that this indicates that no one writes to him;
therefore, he's going to paint the mailbox the color of his own feeling
about being isolated: "blue". You've undoubtedly heard the Fats Domino
R&B hit "Blue Monday" from the 1950s and noticed that Taj Mahal is also
a rhthym and blues artist.
--
Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor
Native speaker of American English; posting from Taiwan.
"It has come to my attention that my opinions are not universally
shared; ergo, they are not in the public domain."
Ray O'Hara
"cybercypher" <cyberc...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:Xns99EB614...@130.133.1.4...
> Don Aitken <don-a...@freeuk.com> wrote
>
> > It's probably the aue influence, but I seem to have taken to
> > wondering about the lyrics of songs, unproductive though this
> > usually is. Here are a couple:
> >
> > Why does Taj Mahal say that he's going to "move to the country and
> > paint my mailbox blue"?
>
> It seems to me that this indicates that no one writes to him;
> therefore, he's going to paint the mailbox the color of his own feeling
> about being isolated: "blue". You've undoubtedly heard the Fats Domino
> R&B hit "Blue Monday" from the 1950s and noticed that Taj Mahal is also
> a rhthym and blues artist.
The P.O will deliver to any box no matter what its color is.
Location is everything though. if your box was at the foot of the stairs and
you move it up to the top they will efuse to deliver.
But if it was always at the top they can't make you move it down.
cybercypher
> "cybercypher" <cyberc...@aol.com> wrote
>> Don Aitken <don-a...@freeuk.com> wrote
>>
>> > It's probably the aue influence, but I seem to have taken to
>> > wondering about the lyrics of songs, unproductive though this
>> > usually is. Here are a couple:
>> >
>> > Why does Taj Mahal say that he's going to "move to the country
>> > and paint my mailbox blue"?
>>
>> It seems to me that this indicates that no one writes to him;
>> therefore, he's going to paint the mailbox the color of his own
>> feeling about being isolated: "blue". You've undoubtedly heard
>> the Fats Domino R&B hit "Blue Monday" from the 1950s and noticed
>> that Taj Mahal is also a rhthym and blues artist.
>
> The P.O will deliver to any box
This seems to me to be too broad a claim to be supportable.
> no matter what its color is.
This may or may not be true -- I don't know -- but it's non sequitur
here. Taj Mahal's line about painting his mailbox blue means, IMHO,
that he's telling the world that his mailbox is just as "blue" (=
"sad") as he is about not getting any mail. He's not singing about
trying to prevent letter carriers from putting his tons of fan mail
into his snail-mail box.
> Location is everything though. if your box was at the foot of the
> stairs and you move it up to the top they will efuse to deliver.
> But if it was always at the top they can't make you move it down.
More non sequitur remarks. Is today a bad day for everyone in AUE?
--
Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor
Native speaker of American English; posting from Taiwan.
"It has come to my attention that my opinions are not universally
shared; ergo, they are not in the public domain." Anymouse.
Robert Lieblich
[ ... ]
> More non sequitur remarks. Is today a bad day for everyone in AUE?
I just passed a kidney stone.[1] I'd had it since Tuesday. I guess
that makes today a good day for me.
[1] Gave it a B+; no grade inflation for me.
cybercypher
I would've given it a P+. Doesn't that make your grade exceptionally
inflated?
Barbara Bailey
4ax.com:
Looking at the whole lyric, and listening to the music that goes with it
(quite uptempo and bright for a blues,) I don't think that it's
meaningless, nor that it means he's going to be lonely (blue).
"Gonna move up to the country
Paint my mailbox blue
Gonna move up to the country
paint my mailbox blue
Put some flowers on it, baby
Paint some trailin' vines and dew.
"You know I'm leavin' LA baby
Don't you know this smog's got me down
You know I'm leaving' LA baby
Don't you know this smog's got me down
I'm goin' up to the country
where there ain't no doggone smog around."
He's going to paint it blue to make it pretty, considering that he's also
going to paint flowers and vines and dew on it. He's going to leave LA
and go somewhere that he is happier and can have pretty things around
him, like a blue mailbox.
tony cooper
wrote:
>> The P.O will deliver to any box
>
>This seems to me to be too broad a claim to be supportable.
Completely unsupportable. The postman can, and will, refuse to
deliver to a curbside box set too high or too low or too far back.
"(Curbside) Mailboxes must be 6-8” from the curb and the door or slot
must be 41-45” off of the ground" USPS document DMM 508
Roland Hutchinson
If it had only just passed, wouldn't it get a C- or some sort of D?
(Depending on institutional practices; possibly a B- for postgraduate work
where a C is not counted as passing.)
--
Roland Hutchinson Will play viola da gamba for food.
NB mail to my.spamtrap [at] verizon.net is heavily filtered to
remove spam. If your message looks like spam I may not see it.
Ray O'Hara
> "Ray O'Hara" <mary.p...@rcn.com> wrote
> > "cybercypher" <cyberc...@aol.com> wrote
> >> Don Aitken <don-a...@freeuk.com> wrote
> >>
> >> > It's probably the aue influence, but I seem to have taken to
> >> > wondering about the lyrics of songs, unproductive though this
> >> > usually is. Here are a couple:
> >> >
> >> > Why does Taj Mahal say that he's going to "move to the country
> >> > and paint my mailbox blue"?
> >>
> >> It seems to me that this indicates that no one writes to him;
> >> therefore, he's going to paint the mailbox the color of his own
> >> feeling about being isolated: "blue". You've undoubtedly heard
> >> the Fats Domino R&B hit "Blue Monday" from the 1950s and noticed
> >> that Taj Mahal is also a rhthym and blues artist.
> >
> > The P.O will deliver to any box
>
> This seems to me to be too broad a claim to be supportable.
>
I worked for the USPS for 25 years.
I put mail in regulation boxes,cardboard boxes, an old ammo can, metal milk
bottle receptacles, pretty much anything ,sometimes even just wrapped with
an elasctic and tossed on a front porch.
> > no matter what its color is.
>
> This may or may not be true -- I don't know -- but it's non sequitur
> here. Taj Mahal's line about painting his mailbox blue means, IMHO,
> that he's telling the world that his mailbox is just as "blue" (=
> "sad") as he is about not getting any mail. He's not singing about
> trying to prevent letter carriers from putting his tons of fan mail
> into his snail-mail box.
>
No it's not a non-sequitor, it's the usenet.
Remember the cops need a warrant/court order to go through snail mail, they
don't for e-mail.
Peter Moylan
> "sleep in the kitchen with your feet in the hall" means you are so
> poor, or down on your luck, that you live in a place that is so small
> that you can't fit lying down.
That seems to be the traditional meaning. My first reaction, though, was
to think of the sort of lifestyle where you sleep wherever you happen to
fall over. Not that I've experienced that since my student days.
--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
For an e-mail address, see my web page.
tony cooper
<mary.p...@rcn.com> wrote:
>
>"cybercypher" <cyberc...@aol.com> wrote in message
>news:Xns99EB784...@130.133.1.4...
>> "Ray O'Hara" <mary.p...@rcn.com> wrote
>> > "cybercypher" <cyberc...@aol.com> wrote
>> >> Don Aitken <don-a...@freeuk.com> wrote
>> >>
>> >> > It's probably the aue influence, but I seem to have taken to
>> >> > wondering about the lyrics of songs, unproductive though this
>> >> > usually is. Here are a couple:
>> >> >
>> >> > Why does Taj Mahal say that he's going to "move to the country
>> >> > and paint my mailbox blue"?
>> >>
>> >> It seems to me that this indicates that no one writes to him;
>> >> therefore, he's going to paint the mailbox the color of his own
>> >> feeling about being isolated: "blue". You've undoubtedly heard
>> >> the Fats Domino R&B hit "Blue Monday" from the 1950s and noticed
>> >> that Taj Mahal is also a rhthym and blues artist.
>> >
>> > The P.O will deliver to any box
>>
>> This seems to me to be too broad a claim to be supportable.
>>
>I worked for the USPS for 25 years.
>I put mail in regulation boxes,cardboard boxes, an old ammo can, metal milk
>bottle receptacles, pretty much anything ,sometimes even just wrapped with
>an elasctic and tossed on a front porch.
That was your decision, not the USPS's position. The USPS has rules.
If individual carriers decide to ignore the rule it does not change
the USPS's policy. You were able, at any time, to rightfully refuse
to deliver mail to a patron who didn't provide a box to the rule
specifications.
Pat Durkin
"tony cooper" <tony_co...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:003uj3p7luu8j8iq6...@4ax.com...
Yeah, but does the postman ring at all any more? I guess that, out in
the country, the little red flag (can that be any other color?) is still
used.
But I am in agreement with Franke's mailbox feeling as blue as its
owner, for being neglected and abandoned. Of course, that means it'll
return to its moody color only after going orgasmic with junk mail.
Vinny Burgoo
>cybercypher wrote:
>> More non sequitur remarks. Is today a bad day for everyone in AUE?
>
>I just passed a kidney stone.[1] I'd had it since Tuesday. I guess
>that makes today a good day for me.
Ouch! And hurrah for your good day!
My brother had kidney stones. He said that only childbirth was more
painful. (He has had - indeed still has - three children, so he knows
about these things, obviously.)
--
V
Belgium or The Indie - which will vanish first?
John Dean
> On Nov 16, 3:11 pm, "John Dean" <john-d...@fraglineone.net> wrote:
>>
>> Maybe the Postal Service has certain requirements relating to the
>> appearance of mailboxes and painting one blue will cause them not to
>> deliver - which is maybe what the singer wants.
>
> to international usage, not a bright color seen from afar but
> unobtrusive dark blue. Classy. You can bump into them and still not
> know where the mailbox is.
You seem to be describing what used to be known in these parts as pillar
boxes - ie the receptacles on the street into which the public may post
their outgoing mail.
I thought Taj was referring to his personal mailbox - ie the tin can on or
adjacent to his premises into which the postperson would deliver Taj's
incoming correspondence.
As USPS says at
http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/localnews/ne/ne_2007_0301.htm
"The Postal ServiceT requires approved traditional or contemporary curbside
mailboxes whenever a mailbox is installed or replaced. You can find them at
most hardware stores. You may use a customer-built curbside box if the
postmaster gives prior approval and if the mailbox generally conforms to the
same specifications as approved manufactured mailboxes."
So, clearly, they have standards. Examples like these seem to have limited
colour options:
http://www.landsend.com/pp/MailboxMailboxPostorSolarCap-75250_170198_-1.html
--
John Dean
Oxford
Mike Lyle
> Robert Lieblich wrote:
>
>> cybercypher wrote:
>>
>> [ ... ]
>>
>>> More non sequitur remarks. Is today a bad day for everyone in AUE?
>>
>> I just passed a kidney stone.[1] I'd had it since Tuesday. I guess
>> that makes today a good day for me.
>>
>> [1] Gave it a B+; no grade inflation for me.
>
> If it had only just passed, wouldn't it get a C- or some sort of D?
> (Depending on institutional practices; possibly a B- for postgraduate
> work where a C is not counted as passing.)
Are you sure this is calculable?
--
Mike.
--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
Sara Lorimer
> Yeah, but does the postman ring at all any more? I guess that, out in
> the country, the little red flag (can that be any other color?) is still
> used.
I live in what's technically a city, and still use that little red flag.
The letter carriers ring the doorbell when they drop off packages. Ho
hum.
--
SML
Pat Durkin
"Sara Lorimer" <que.sara....@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1i7rvdv.6b6bzh18hxbeaN%que.sara....@gmail.com...
Red flags rule, then.
OK, but do they always ring twice? I always wondered why that was the
custom, but someone explained to me it was so that the resident could
tell that he needn't go to the door to greet whatever visitor. I
suppose the visitors know better than to ring twice. I suppose they
have to ring one time or thrice?
Peter Moylan
doorbell training - to Australia. When there's a parcel we get a note
under the door saying that the postperson couldn't deliver it and that
we should pick it up at some inconvenient time at a post office that's
nowhere near us. This happens even if the front door is open and there's
clear evidence that the house is occupied.
Sara Lorimer
> OK, but do they always ring twice? I always wondered why that was the
> custom, but someone explained to me it was so that the resident could
> tell that he needn't go to the door to greet whatever visitor. I
> suppose the visitors know better than to ring twice. I suppose they
> have to ring one time or thrice?
I take it back... on further reflection, I realize they don't ring the
doorbell. They just toss the package on the front step. When I lived in
New York they rang, but I don't remember how many times.
--
SML
Roland Hutchinson
> Perhaps we should introduce that little red flag - or possibly some
> doorbell training - to Australia. When there's a parcel we get a note
> under the door saying that the postperson couldn't deliver it and that
> we should pick it up at some inconvenient time at a post office that's
> nowhere near us. This happens even if the front door is open and there's
> clear evidence that the house is occupied.
Oh, you've adopted the American system, then.
tony cooper
My carrier rings the bell. And, if I'm outside, she honks and points
towards the front of the house. My house is on a corner, the mailbox
is in the front, but I'm often out in the back or side yard. Her next
stop after my box is around that corner and down street to the next
box.
Peter Moylan
> Peter Moylan wrote:
>
>> Perhaps we should introduce that little red flag - or possibly some
>> doorbell training - to Australia. When there's a parcel we get a
>> note under the door saying that the postperson couldn't deliver it
>> and that we should pick it up at some inconvenient time at a post
>> office that's nowhere near us. This happens even if the front door
>> is open and there's clear evidence that the house is occupied.
>
> Oh, you've adopted the American system, then.
>
motorbike up the neighbour's driveway, make a skidding turn on our front
lawn, toss the parcel on to the front porch, and exit through our front
gate, all without slowing down his bike. We didn't have the heart to
complain, because at least that way we did receive the parcel.
There didn't seem to be much point in re-planting the lawn until he was
replaced by a different postie.
R H Draney
>
>There are exceptions. One of our postmen figured out how to drive his
>motorbike up the neighbour's driveway, make a skidding turn on our front
>lawn, toss the parcel on to the front porch, and exit through our front
>gate, all without slowing down his bike. We didn't have the heart to
>complain, because at least that way we did receive the parcel.
>
>There didn't seem to be much point in re-planting the lawn until he was
>replaced by a different postie.
You sound like a man in need of caltrops....r
--
"He come in the night when one sleep on a bed.
With a hand he have the basket and foods."
- David Sedaris explains the Easter rabbit
Peter Moylan
> Peter Moylan filted:
>> There are exceptions. One of our postmen figured out how to drive
>> his motorbike up the neighbour's driveway, make a skidding turn on
>> our front lawn, toss the parcel on to the front porch, and exit
>> through our front gate, all without slowing down his bike. We
>> didn't have the heart to complain, because at least that way we did
>> receive the parcel.
>>
>> There didn't seem to be much point in re-planting the lawn until he
>> was replaced by a different postie.
>
> You sound like a man in need of caltrops....r
Now there's a disadvantage of a broad education. I know exactly what a
caltrop is, but I've never seen one. Should we file this under "useless
information"? After all, the replacement postman was far less effective
in getting parcels delivered.
cybercypher
>> Don Aitken <don-a...@freeuk.com> wrote:
[...]
>>>Why does Taj Mahal say that he's going to "move to the country
>>>and paint my mailbox blue"?
> he's also going to paint flowers and vines and dew on it. He's
> going to leave LA and go somewhere that he is happier and can have
> pretty things around him, like a blue mailbox.
This is a reasonable interpretation. After all, that which has no
function must become art if it isn't art already. It'll cheer him up,
for sure.
Robin Bignall
<pe...@DIESPAMMERSDIEpmoylan.org> wrote:
>On 19/11/07 17:03, R H Draney wrote:
>> Peter Moylan filted:
>>> There are exceptions. One of our postmen figured out how to drive
>>> his motorbike up the neighbour's driveway, make a skidding turn on
>>> our front lawn, toss the parcel on to the front porch, and exit
>>> through our front gate, all without slowing down his bike. We
>>> didn't have the heart to complain, because at least that way we did
>>> receive the parcel.
>>>
>>> There didn't seem to be much point in re-planting the lawn until he
>>> was replaced by a different postie.
>>
>> You sound like a man in need of caltrops....r
>
>Now there's a disadvantage of a broad education. I know exactly what a
>caltrop is, but I've never seen one.
Here're a few.
http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=caltrop&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2
>Should we file this under "useless
>information"? After all, the replacement postman was far less effective
>in getting parcels delivered.
--
Robin
Herts, England
John Holmes
> On 19/11/07 17:03, R H Draney wrote:
>>
>> You sound like a man in need of caltrops....r
>
> Now there's a disadvantage of a broad education. I know exactly what a
> caltrop is, but I've never seen one.
Like many clever ideas, nature invented them first. Some of these are
big enough and strong enough to penetrate the sole of a boot:
http://weedman.horsham.net.au/weeds/tribulus_terrestris/tribulus_terrestris.htm
Origins of the name:
Tribulus is from the Latin tribo, meaning " to tear" and was the Latin
name for "caltrop" which refers to the similarity in shape between the
fruit of the plant and the spiked metal ball used in medieval warefare
as a weapon thrown under the feet of horses.
--
Regards
John
for mail: my initials plus a u e
at tpg dot com dot au
Hatunen
Those seeds seem to be what we in Arizona call "goatheads", the
principal reason why puncture proof inner tubes are used on
bicycles.
--
************* DAVE HATUNEN (hat...@cox.net) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *
Peter Moylan
> On Tue, 20 Nov 2007 22:24:25 +1100, "John Holmes"
> <see...@instead.com> wrote:
>> Like many clever ideas, nature invented them first. Some of these
>> are big enough and strong enough to penetrate the sole of a boot:
>>
>> http://weedman.horsham.net.au/weeds/tribulus_terrestris/tribulus_terrestris.htm
>> Origins of the name: Tribulus is from the Latin tribo, meaning "
>> to tear" and was the Latin name for "caltrop" which refers to the
>> similarity in shape between the fruit of the plant and the spiked
>> metal ball used in medieval warefare as a weapon thrown under the
>> feet of horses.
>
> Those seeds seem to be what we in Arizona call "goatheads", the
> principal reason why puncture proof inner tubes are used on bicycles.
>
The approximate equivalent in NSW is what we call "bindiis" (spelling
variable [1]). They're not big enough to damage a bicycle tyre, but
they've caused great misery to numerous bare-footed children.
[1] Pronounced in this one city as "bindey-eyes", although I don't think
that's what they say elsewhere in the state. I've never been able to
find out the Totally Official pronunciation. Indeed, I haven't even
managed to figure out whether "bindii" is a Latin plural. The evidence
I've seen so far suggests that it isn't.
R H Draney
>
>On 21/11/07 06:43, Hatunen wrote:
>
>> Those seeds seem to be what we in Arizona call "goatheads", the
>> principal reason why puncture proof inner tubes are used on bicycles.
>>
>The approximate equivalent in NSW is what we call "bindiis" (spelling
>variable [1]). They're not big enough to damage a bicycle tyre, but
>they've caused great misery to numerous bare-footed children.
And with that, the penny drops on a George Smilovici joke ("I'm so tough, I'm
not even afraid of bindiis")...all this time I thought he was suggesting that
lesser men were frightened by Indians wearing forehead dots....r