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The Whaling News

reported by Gus Openshaw

Wednesday, 22 March 2006

Greetings and a Death Threat


News from the crew and captor of the whaleboat Georgette:


Flarq the harpooner/scrimshawist is in his second year of art graduate school at Berkeley. Last semester he was failing Art History--no surprise as he’s illiterate. In place of a thesis paper, he drew a scrimshaw of himself hurling a harpoon at the professor. He got an A.


I think Moses the no-longer-drug-addicted deckhand meant to mail me an update, but sent the wrong envelope. It contained no note, and, instead, a half-pound of “Guavan Gold.” Seems Moses has fallen off whatever is the maritime equivalent of the wagon.


Our favorite con man, Nelson the pirate, says “a big cheery hi to everyone!” He’d love to hear from you too. He’s opening a Museum of Keys, he claims, and hopes you’ll send in copies of your house keys so that he can include them in his Shipmates’ Keys exhibit.


Stupid George has been hired an advertising agency to work on a high-profile aspirin account. You know those folks you see on the commercials who have headaches before they take the aspirin? Well, they’ve been in the green room talking to George for the previous hour. George says to “Wish every1 a mary christmiss!”


Admiral Vurman, still at large, sends his best regards to all of you, and a keelhauling (death by dragging you beneath a ship's barnacle-crusted hull (you drown if you're lucky)) threat to me.


Duq the ship’s cook is back in Asia for his VIAA (Vietcong Interrogators Alumni Association) 40th reunion as well as Triple Squeak season. A Flarq scrimshaw to the first of you to correctly tell me what in the heck that is.


The pious harpooner Thesaurus has started a ministry and seeks contributions. He seays to send them c/o Nelson. (Note: This update is from Nelson.)


Bob the rat either is living with our digital shipmate Snuggs, or now we know why the neighbor’s cat is smiling.


As for me, my book comes out next Thursday. Also I just realized that Vurman's been sitting behind me as I've been typing this up, and he's aiming a spear gun at me. So I got to go.


Posted by Gus Openshaw at 9:23 PM EST
Post Comment | View Comments (6) | Permalink

Wednesday, 22 March 2006 - 10:40 PM EST

Name: Bastardess

Could we get a hint on the squeaky thing?

Thursday, 23 March 2006 - 9:41 AM EST

Name: Gus Openshaw

What Triple Squeak Is:

Warning: The following should not be read by the faint of stomach, squeamish or rodentaphobics.

To those of you who asked what Triple Squeak is, you may regret it. It is a dish I first heard about when I was in the Guangzhou, China (a.k.a. Canton) and had opined that Drunken Prawns was sadistic. I had no idea what sadistic was.

(For Drunken Prawns, the waiters bring a giant glass bowl to your table. It's full of marinade that's mostly wine. Everybody in the restaurant gathers 'round to watch the spectactle. Next the waiters dump in a few dozen giant prawns, slam down the heavy glass lid, and tie it down, because the prawns start kicking so hard that they knock off the lid and escape. They don't like bathing in alcohol, in turns out. Eventually they begin to swoon like they were drunk. If so, they're lucky. Because next the waiters remove the lid, set the marinade on fire, and roast the whole works. Then you get to eat the prawns.)

Additional context: also in Guangzhou, cats, dogs and monkeys are sold live in the street markets alongside the chickens and fish.

Triple Squeak is seasonal, and it's hard to get, making it a delicacy. When I was in Guangzhou, in the mid '90s, it went for about $100US /serving, which was more than the per capita income. A chef like my sadistic ship's cook Duq serves brings to your table a rat at just the right stage of pregnancy. She's a little "drunk" too. Still, when he extracts whatever-it-is in rats where the embryos are kept, she squeaks. This is squeak #1. Then he removes an unborn baby rat. When it comes in contact with the cold air for the first time: squeak #2. The squeak hat trick comes when you gobble the poor thing up.

I did not order Triple Squeak.

Word is it tastes like chicken.

Thursday, 23 March 2006 - 11:47 AM EST

Name: Bastardess

I ate a cat sandwich once, thinking it was chicken of course. Thank you, Gus. You've helped me stay on my diet.

Friday, 24 March 2006 - 10:46 AM EST

Name: Wendyinchicago

That's why I travel with peanut butter and jam! :)

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