Get Stuffed everyone - I mean, g'dday. I was in a local bookshop a few days ago picking up a volume I had on order, and I couldn't leave with just the one book for just the agreed sum of money, could I. Oh, no. So a second volume came home with me.
It's a little glossy paperback, the kind of format that many bookshops like to spread out around their tills, on the same basis that supermarkets have chocolate near *their* tills - you'll come in for something else, and grab one of these before you leave, making you spend money you never intended to spend. By Chuck Inglesias (I wonder if he comes from a musical family?), the last thing you notice is that the acknowledgements are on the very last page. He acknowledges his wife and whildren without naming names, then acknowledges by name 26 dead family pets, all of which have been lovingly stuffed not just into ornaments but into practical, useful objects (the mouse corkscrew, Siamese nightlight and parrot keyholder spring to mind). For the life of me, I still can't work out whether he is deadly (!) serious, or whether it's an extended joke - all the taxidermy information is there as in any serious manual, and the finished products undoubtedly do theyr jobs, but they're hilarious! Cockroach earrings, anyone? Terrapin windchimes? And you can get your revenge on disobedient animals posthumously - vis a vis the naughty dog who is always chewing the remote control can be stuffed so that his mouth is *just* open enough to provide a permanent remote-holder next to your favourite TV chair! There are twenty-four simple projects involving twenty-six former pets (salt and pepper shakers etc come in pairs). The beauty of this book actually is that it inspires you to think up projects of your own: perhaps breeding then feeding ratpoison to a tankful of mice to make birthday cake candle holders? Or a lizard with an open jaw as a backscratcher? Or a flat frog flyswatter? (dry out the skin, then glue to a flat surface and attach to a handle). I can think of heaps of things almost as bizarre as his original project ideas, but I would never have developed this mental richness if I had never seen the book. It's a little beaut, and one day I'll bookcross it. GET STUFFED the home taxidermist's handbook Chuck Inglesias callistemon books ISBN 978 1 92074 372 7 _________________________________________________________________ Advertisement: Amazing holiday rentals? http://a.ninemsn.com.au/b.aspx?URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eninemsn%2Erealestate%2Ecom%2Eau%2Fcgi%2Dbin%2Frsearch%3Fa%3Dbhp%26t%3Dhol%26cu%3DMSN&_t=758874163&_r=HM_Txt_Link_Holiday_Oct06&_m=EXT Have you told a friend today? http://bookcrossing.com/tellafriend Archives and email list settings: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BookCrossing Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BookCrossing/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BookCrossing/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
