Ahh... Thank you! I see the humor and on your suggestion, will read the novel after all.
Thanks Bob. Tom C. On Mon, May 31, 2010 at 6:23 PM, Bob W <p...@web-options.com> wrote: > you should read the novel in any case - it's one of the funniest books ever > written. In short, Lord Copper, owner of The Beast newspaper mistakenly > sends William Boot, who writes Nature Notes for the paper, to cover the war > in Ishmaelia, a fly-blown forgotten corner of East Africa. In preparing to > go there, Boot equips himself at a store on Piccadilly from which he emerges > with a preposterous amount of useless equipment, including cleft sticks. > They were included in Boot's kit because it was said that he would need them > to convey his despatches back to England. Ishmaelian runners were said to > carry message in cleft sticks. > > As a result of this, any packing list can be made absurd with little > difficulty by the inclusion of cleft sticks. > > When Boot asked at the department store for cleft sticks he was told that > they didn't have any. "But we can have some cloven for you", which is > extremely funny in context but probably doesn't quite hit the spot in > isolation. > > The full list can be found in an earlier post to the PDML: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/pdml@pdml.net/msg341712.html> > > Bob > > >> OK... so somebody have mercy on me. I'm not going to read the novel, >> I surfed the web for 20 minutes trying to understand the connection >> between cleft sticks and the novel... lots of references but could not >> find an explanation... :-) >> >> What's the relevance to camping at GFM? >> >> Tom C. >> >> On Mon, May 31, 2010 at 5:24 PM, Bob W <p...@web-options.com> wrote: >>> >>> read Scoop by Evelyn Waugh to understand why cleft sticks are the >>> essential >>> part of any expedition's equipment. >>> >>> Bob >>> >>>> Had to look that one up. I still don't get it... (dumbing down of >>>> America no doubt) >>>> >>>> On Mon, May 31, 2010 at 2:36 PM, Mark Roberts <m...@robertstech.com> >>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> Tom C wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> so maybe we can cover a picnic table and gather >>>>>>> there during the inevitable rain. I'll throw some extension cords >>>>>>> and >>>>>>> power strips, too. >>>>>> >>>>>> Don't forget the camp fuel, gunpowder, and dynamite. >>>>> >>>>> ...and cleft sticks. > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
