I am not a vegetarian, though I fast from meat twice weekly and enjoy the cuisine.
I try to buy animal products with a modicum of decency to and care for the animal.
It cracks me up no end to read about english soap makers abandoning tallow under pressure. A domesticated sheep is perhaps the dumbest, most suicidal animal I've worked with. As a breed, without a herder and dog they would succumb to extinction in a mere generation. Yet wool and tallow are marvelous products without harm to animal.
To many people are removed from the discomforture of self examination of lifestyle.
I like to follow any preconception to it's truth, however uncomfortable to me it proves.
There are damned to many 'good germans' content if the trains run on time.
Last edited by Kingstonian (2010-05-24 05:36:21)
I bought my drizabone straight from the then national shearing champion at our L.A. Fair. He had a marvelous 'workaway' dog and was brought over when oz lamb was first promoted. I blew a month's G.I. educational check on one of 12 he sold and a neat sheepskin rug. Then they brought The Man from Snowy River to the screen and an enterprising David Morgan in Seattle ( made Indiana Jones' whip)- a welsh-australian transplant brought them in while another aussie near me introduced the fascinating oz saddle. For a while everybody was trying to ride over cliffs and claiming to import the last of the legendary Walers next year.
The irony is I understand lots of aussies dress up and ride in american western kit.
America has reversed from onetime low horse population to the largest per capita in the world. And the sad reality is an unsupportable number of animals lose out because of human greed and vanity in ALL aspects of the industry. It broke my heart and I got out.
Last edited by ckav (2010-05-24 11:41:12)
^ I don't believe that is Lasbar. That man made some brief but entertaining appearances on Fedora Lounge always wearing a bowler. He is from one of the flyover states not Folkstone.
Lawrence is from Virginia Beach Va. His avatar has him wearing the bowler and a red shirt.
So both are based by the seaside.
Patriotic Flag-Waving Trads sign up to buy red white and blue strap-ons for the 4th. A phenomenally good deal group buy ( Freedom is Never Free, but they got it down to $4.00 per strap):
http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/forum/showthread.php?104692-Ofrei-Patriotic-Watch-Strap-Group-Buy
An invaluable tutorial on buying used clothes at the Salvation Army, with all the usual suspects generously sharing their techniques to avoid buying the wrong clothes. (Of course the correct answer is: You know you got a good deal when you sell it as something from the back of your own closet and get 10x your cost.)
http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/forum/showthread.php?105303-Thrifting-How-to-know-when-you-get-a-good-deal
Last edited by The_Shooman (2010-05-25 07:45:57)
Well said and informative. I have read a number of your posts (here and elsewhere), though not the one above, and I think your view is that RMs ain't what they used to be - at least as far as boot quality goes.
I still like them - though. I have a black pair about ten years old, which I wear to work with a suit. Probably not really kosher to wear riding boots with a suit, but I like it because a) they're comfy b) they're good to wear if its raining and c) reminds me that even though I'm a city boy these days, I have country roots. They shine up nicely too.
Anyway thanks for that info. I still find it kind of a pleasant surprise that a company like RMW still exists and does well.
In WW2 there was serious concern of japanese invasion of Australia. A little known mass evacuation of livestock saw one of the greatest domestic migrations of millions of sheep,cattle and horses over two years by stockmen from the north to more southern ranges. An old Black and White movie was made showing some of the hardships encountered.
It's not so much people wearing these quality and traditional items as the realisation they don't even comprehend how equally well made and honest their old wearers were, and are. Chicom knockoffs are perfect for knockoff men.
A bit of what Oz slang calls a walkabout in the real world would wear some of the costume aspect from these getups.
Last edited by ckav (2010-05-24 23:38:30)