Noodlers' catfish...why?

It's kinda like "pussy willow", Dave...

Ah, nevermind. D

Cheers,
Jimmy.

"Dave" wrote in message
...
[snip]
And why do people say tuna fish? Is there another kind of animal also
called tuna? - tuna rodents, tuna cows, tuna piano?

David

Noodlers refers to a Southern U.S. tradition of catching large catfish by
wading into a river and disturbing large catfish in an attempt to get them
to bite and hold onto the practitioner's hand. The fish is then grabbed
manually and pulled from the water. This practice is called "Noodling".

Most of the rest of the U. S. finds the practice "quaint", silly, or
"downright" foolish. It is also apparently dangerous depending on the size
of the fish grin. I live in the American "South", but this practice is
apparently done only in the "Deep South" as in the states of Alabama,
Mississippi, Louisiana, etc. (I live in Maryland and sometimes engage in
sport fishing on the upper end of the Potomac River.) I've never seen it
practiced, but it is a "campfire" type of story in this area. Nathan
apparently knows about the practice and (being fishing-oriented) decided to
use the reference on his bottles and boxes.

By-the-way, Nathan sold me my first "adult" fountain pen. I'd used Sheaffer
cartridge pens in grade school in the 1960's and remembered them fondly.
When I decided to give fountain pens a try again, I bought a reconditioned
Sheaffer Touchdown from him. I now have around sixty or seventy fountain
pens and keep acquiring them. My most recent is a Conklin Symetrik that I
got at the Washington DC Super-Show. A terrific little writer at a great
price. It's currently pumpimg out Noodlers Ottoman Azure.
Jay W. Cochrane

"svejk" wrote in message
om...
Just got another bottle of Noodler's and I see that now not only does
the bottle sport a fancy color label but the bottle comes in a box.
And if that weren't swanky enough and clear proof that any day now
Nathan will be sending his tanks of ink off to India to be stirred by
some unfortuante earning two cents an hour who will spend his days
wondering "What is this stuff? It tastes terrible!" but the box
itself has illustrations on it.
And that is the cause of my query. All of the illustrations save a
pile of random items of western apparel feature catfish. Why catfish?
Is there some connection with FPs that I have failed to grasp? I
googled noodling and understand that. No, I mean I am now aware that
noodling involves wrestling very large catfish by grabbing the insides
of their mouths. I do not mean to say that I comprehend the rationale
for such activities. How does this relate to the use of live ink in
written expression? How, for that matter does it relate to anything?
I note that the photographs of noodlers plying their trade were all of
men. This is often a hint as to the sensibility of the undertaking.

Jimmy Tom wrote:

Ah, nevermind. D

I see. It's not a tuna.

:-)

Ah, nevermind. D

I see. It's not a tuna.

:-)

Yea, sumpin' like that. )

mz writes:

Dave wrote:

snip

And why do people say tuna fish? Is there another kind of animal
also called tuna? - tuna rodents, tuna cows, tuna piano? David

A family of cactus, which includes prickly pear cactus, teddy bear
cholla, and stag horn cholla, are called tuna. The fruit of this
same family are also called tuna.

Back in 1981 I was in Big Sur CA for a couple of months at Esalen. I
was eating breakfast one day when another person there, who was from
Mexico, sat down with a pile of prickly pear fruits. He turned to me
and asked if I wanted some tuna. I stared at him dumbfounded until he
explained just what you have written.

When ripe, the fruit is quite tasty. Just make sure you singe the
spines off before eating. :0)

Delicious (not the spines)!

range (so what) wrote...

From his distributor's website:
. . .
"The ink with the catfish on the label - symbolizing a southern sport that
attemptsto equalize the struggle between man and animal in the quest for a
sense of fair play...and thus a fair price."

I never really got the fair play-fair price connection myself. Let's
see, a guy goes one on one with a big catfish using only his bare
hands. He hopes the fish will chomp down on his fingers so he can
then wrestle it into his boat and have it for dinner. Now... A guy
browses the ink shelf at FPH using only his bare hands. He reaches
for a bottle and hopes it'll chomp down on his fingers so he can have
it for dinner. No, wait. A guy wrestles his pen into his boat hoping
to fill it with ink. The ink is fairly priced so he figures, what the
hey, after I fill my pen I'll have it for dinner. The ink doesn't
cost much, so it's only the price of the pen, right? No, wait....

--
Viseguy

Jay W. Cochrane wrote:
Noodlers refers to a Southern U.S. tradition of catching large catfish by
wading into a river and disturbing large catfish in an attempt to get them
to bite and hold onto the practitioner's hand. The fish is then grabbed
manually and pulled from the water. This practice is called "Noodling".

Most of the rest of the U. S. finds the practice "quaint", silly, or
"downright" foolish. It is also apparently dangerous depending on the size
of the fish grin. I live in the American "South", but this practice is
apparently done only in the "Deep South" as in the states of Alabama,
Mississippi, Louisiana, etc. (I live in Maryland and sometimes engage in
sport fishing on the upper end of the Potomac River.) I've never seen it
practiced, but it is a "campfire" type of story in this area. Nathan
apparently knows about the practice and (being fishing-oriented) decided to
use the reference on his bottles and boxes.

Where I grew up, it was called "grabblin" but has various names
throughout the South. My Grandfather was a grabbler, but I never took
up the sport. James Autry's wonderful book of poetry, "Life After
Mississippi," has a pictures of the sport, but some of the best I've
seen can be found at www.snopes.com/photos/noodling.asp. Needless to
say, it is a dangerous sport. I've never heard of the fish killing
anyone, but am aware of numerous encounters with cottonmouth moccasins
(very aggressive), turtles, or gar. It is not for the faint of heart.

Reuben

How, for that matter does it relate to anything?

Here's a job for one of these brave men:

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,10597003^401,00.html

6. He was going to use a picture of a cuttlefish, because at least a
cuttlefish has ink, but then he remembered that cuttlefish are not so
cute.

:-)

Well, now, that gives me an idea. There is a gourmet supply house in
our town that sells squid ink. Think I'll get some and see how it
works!

so what wrote:


satrap
who thinks there should be a "Starbucks Green" ink.

Why not just use their coffee for ink. It certainly would be better than
actually drinking that burnt nast stuff they sell!

Regards,

DAve