A question for the group...

[John Kennedy]

I've been lurking on the group for some time and appreciate the discussion.
I'm at the stage of collecting the family oral tradition. NO written proof
for 99% just yet. (I'm afraid that project will have to await my
retirement.) I've just considered that if I don't get down the oral
tradition while elderly relatives are still alive, the academic research
will be that much harder after they are gone.

Thanks to everyone for your ongoing advice.

John S. Kennedy
This communication is intended for the use of the recipient to which it is addressed, and may contain confidential, personal and/or privileged information. Please contact the Justice/Solicitor General HelpDesk ([email protected]) @ (780) 415-2998 immediately if you are not the intended recipient of this communication, and do not copy, distribute, or take action relying on it. Any communication received in error or subsequent reply, should be deleted or destroyed.

[J. Hugh Sullivan]

On Sat, 13 Jan 2007 10:44:18 -0700, John Kennedy
<[email protected]> wrote:

I've been lurking on the group for some time and appreciate the discussion.
I'm at the stage of collecting the family oral tradition. NO written proof
for 99% just yet. (I'm afraid that project will have to await my
retirement.) I've just considered that if I don't get down the oral
tradition while elderly relatives are still alive, the academic research
will be that much harder after they are gone.

Thanks to everyone for your ongoing advice.

John S. Kennedy

Some of us have been doing this for years yet I always wonder if I'm
doing it the best way. The best way is frequently in the eye of the
beholder and how it fits his particular case.

Even if oral don't forget to show the source of your info - it's
beneficial in many ways. And once you are retired sourcing keeps you
from reading the same book over and over again because you forgot..


Hugh

[Lesley Robertson]

"John Kennedy" <[email protected]> schreef in bericht
news:[email protected]...

I've been lurking on the group for some time and appreciate the
discussion.
I'm at the stage of collecting the family oral tradition. NO written proof
for 99% just yet. (I'm afraid that project will have to await my
retirement.) I've just considered that if I don't get down the oral
tradition while elderly relatives are still alive, the academic research
will be that much harder after they are gone.

The most important other thing to do is to get copies of any available

family photos and get them labelled with names and dates - I found that
making a photocopy or printing a scan with a wide margin that people could
write in helped, but I have STILL inherited 2 (seperately) collections of
photos that are either unlabelled or are labelled with things like "me and
John on leave". Also ask family members they have copies of BMD certificates
and if you can copy them - that'll save you money and give useful info as
well.
Lesley Robertson

[Kerry Raymond]

Even if oral don't forget to show the source of your info - it's
beneficial in many ways. And once you are retired sourcing keeps you
from reading the same book over and over again because you forgot..

"Anti-sourcing" (to coin a phrase) is also important. That is, to record
what you looked for and didn't find so you don't keep going back looking for
it.

I have a fact type called "Records" and another called "To Do" and tag
people with the records I have checked and the records I need to check. I
use abbreviations for recordsets I commonly use. So someone tagged:

Records: IB !FN BR
To Do: QM QD

means I have found an index entry for the birth (IB), I looked but didn't
find a funeral notice in the local newspaper (!FN) and I have found a burial
register entry (BR). What I think I need to do need is check for a
Queensland marriage (QM) and a Queensland death.

This approch is quite handy as I can then create printouts of all the people
I want to lookup up in a particular set of records.

Kerry

[J. Hugh Sullivan]

On Sun, 14 Jan 2007 10:23:55 +1000, "Kerry Raymond"
<[email protected]> wrote:

Even if oral don't forget to show the source of your info - it's
beneficial in many ways. And once you are retired sourcing keeps you
from reading the same book over and over again because you forgot..

"Anti-sourcing" (to coin a phrase) is also important. That is, to record
what you looked for and didn't find so you don't keep going back looking for
it.

Let's say I looked for my paternal great grandparents.

I looked at the local library and didn't find them.
I didn't find them on Roots Web.
I didn't find them at the LDS site.
I still need to look at Ancestry.com or Heritage Quest and the
Tuscaloosa Public Library.

Since new data appear almost every day, do you record the date you
looked in each of those places?

I have a fact type called "Records" and another called "To Do" and tag
people with the records I have checked and the records I need to check. I
use abbreviations for recordsets I commonly use. So someone tagged:

Records: IB !FN BR
To Do: QM QD

means I have found an index entry for the birth (IB), I looked but didn't
find a funeral notice in the local newspaper (!FN) and I have found a burial
register entry (BR). What I think I need to do need is check for a
Queensland marriage (QM) and a Queensland death.

How about Military Service, land transactions, wills, etc.? Do you
also follow the same procedure for that data?

Hugh

This approch is quite handy as I can then create printouts of all the people
I want to lookup up in a particular set of records.

Kerry

[Kerry Raymond]

That is, to record
what you looked for and didn't find so you don't keep going back looking
for it.

Since new data appear almost every day, do you record the date you
looked in each of those places?

No, because they are the kind of resources that do benefit from repeat
visits. My system is to avoid revisiting resources that do not benefit you
by rechecking them. For example, our government BDM indexes are not
regularly republished, nor are the microfilms of old newspapers containing
funeral notices, nor are burial registers, the UK1881 census etc.

If records are to be republished in some significantly new format, I do
revisit them. For example, our Qld BDM indexes were once only available on
microfiche sorted by surname. A few years ago they were published on CD
which was searchable by surname, given names, dates, names of parents and
spouse. With my system I was able to quickly printout a list of people for
whom I had the !QB !QM !QD annotations (meaning searched unsuccessfully for
Qld BDM events) and then look for them again taking advantage of the
different search criteria available on the CDs, which meant some of them did
turn out to be in the records but under unexpected names etc. I did not
waste time re-discovering information I already had and was able to focus
precisely on the people who I had expected to find in the index but hadn't.

My system of abbreviations is designed to work around the major resource
sets that are available to me for the times/places I mostly research, rather
than specialist indexes (ship deserters etc) that would not be worth
checking on the off-chance for most people. I just write the names of the
more unusual resources in full since I can query on those words. E.g. I use
CM as the abbreviation for funeral notices in the newspaper of my town as I
have many generations here to lookup, but I use "Toowoomba FN" as a more
fullsome description when I need to lookup newspapers in other towns for
funeral notices. The main thing is to ensure I can construct queries to get
me the sorted lists of people that I need to take with me when I am going to
use a particular set of records. It's a system that works very efficiently
for me, but if someone went about their family history research in a
different way, it might not be so useful to them. I tend to focus on one
record set at a time, looking up every person I am expecting to find there.
So coming with a list sorted in the same order (e.g. by surname or by date)
as the record set means I can do the lookups quite efficiently.

I am not saying it is a system that may work for everyone, but I like to be
able to see at a glance which of the major resources I have:

* looked up with success
* looked up with failure
* have yet to look

How about Military Service, land transactions, wills, etc.? Do you
also follow the same procedure for that data?

Yes, if the archives says a record set is complete within a particular range
of dates, there is no need to revisit it. I can certainly use it for WW1 and
WW2 military service and wills (up to certain cut-off dates). I don't chase
land transactions as a rule (not an easily accessible resource for me) so I
don't use it on them.

Simply, meta-information is as valuable as information to the researcher. I
work with meta-information so not surprisingly I apply it to my family
history hobby.

Kerry

[Denis Beauregard]

On Sun, 14 Jan 2007 10:23:55 +1000, "Kerry Raymond"
<[email protected]> wrote in soc.genealogy.computing:

"Anti-sourcing" (to coin a phrase) is also important. That is, to record
what you looked for and didn't find so you don't keep going back looking for
it.

I have a fact type called "Records" and another called "To Do" and tag
people with the records I have checked and the records I need to check. I
use abbreviations for recordsets I commonly use. So someone tagged:

Records: IB !FN BR
To Do: QM QD

I use something more or less similar.

My system is roughly a set of Excel files and I wrote all the software
to check and convert to Web format. I always use & as a comment, i.e.
I could have a place like "France & speculative" and it would display
only France.

I defined a few special comments for places. 3 libraries I want to
check have as codes &BO, &SG and &ANQ so I wrote a batch file that
look for those codes and isolate the lines into files for visiting
each library. I will eventually have a column for searches, i.e.
medieval data and people expected in a given area. That way, I can
check the various books now available on books.google.com for a
specific search.

I can either open directly the file and check my special comments or
copy the relevant lines to a special file and put that file in my
laptop.


Denis

--
0 Denis Beauregard -
/\/ Les Français d'Amérique - http://www.francogene.com/genealogie-quebec/
|\ French in North America before 1721 - http://www.francogene.com/quebec-genealogy/
/ | Maintenant sur cédérom, début à 1765
oo oo Now on CD-ROM, beginning to 1765

[Joe Roberts]

"John Kennedy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

I've been lurking on the group for some time and appreciate the
discussion.
I'm at the stage of collecting the family oral tradition. NO written proof
for 99% just yet. (I'm afraid that project will have to await my
retirement.) I've just considered that if I don't get down the oral
tradition while elderly relatives are still alive, the academic research
will be that much harder after they are gone.

Thanks to everyone for your ongoing advice.

John,

You've gotten some good advice already about how to structure your work.
Here's one more. It's in as passionate terms as possible.

If you have living relatives, get them to talk. Talk, talk, talk. Yep,
talk and talk some more. Nothing is redundant -- something new will come
out. Perhaps a trivial-sounding reminiscence or 'afterthought' will bear
fruit for someone's research down the road.

My brother just recently met an elderly woman (who's in her 90's) who was a
close friend of our mother and aunt. She still lives on the same street, in
the same neighborhood, where our last two generations lived. There's
everything from being school chums to tennis, to shopping, to what life was
like. That's got to include how they met their boyfriends who eventually
became husbands (even including the ones who didn't make the grade). One
can only guess what stories she can tell. That's besides any photo albums
and letters she might have set aside.

This is just an example, of course. Not much time left. Mom and our aunt
(her sister) are gone. This elderly friend is all who is left.

If you have living folks like that, get to them first. Get 'em to talk
before it's too late. The existing documentary record, the paper stuff, is
only part of the heritage. Don't lose the human insights.

Hoping it helps.

Joe

[J. Hugh Sullivan]

On Sun, 14 Jan 2007 16:07:09 +1000, "Kerry Raymond"
<[email protected]> wrote:

That is, to record
what you looked for and didn't find so you don't keep going back looking
for it.

Since new data appear almost every day, do you record the date you
looked in each of those places?

No, because they are the kind of resources that do benefit from repeat
visits. My system is to avoid revisiting resources that do not benefit you
by rechecking them. For example, our government BDM indexes are not
regularly republished, nor are the microfilms of old newspapers containing
funeral notices, nor are burial registers, the UK1881 census etc.

If records are to be republished in some significantly new format, I do
revisit them. For example, our Qld BDM indexes were once only available on
microfiche sorted by surname. A few years ago they were published on CD
which was searchable by surname, given names, dates, names of parents and
spouse. With my system I was able to quickly printout a list of people for
whom I had the !QB !QM !QD annotations (meaning searched unsuccessfully for
Qld BDM events) and then look for them again taking advantage of the
different search criteria available on the CDs, which meant some of them did
turn out to be in the records but under unexpected names etc. I did not
waste time re-discovering information I already had and was able to focus
precisely on the people who I had expected to find in the index but hadn't.

My system of abbreviations is designed to work around the major resource
sets that are available to me for the times/places I mostly research, rather
than specialist indexes (ship deserters etc) that would not be worth
checking on the off-chance for most people. I just write the names of the
more unusual resources in full since I can query on those words. E.g. I use
CM as the abbreviation for funeral notices in the newspaper of my town as I
have many generations here to lookup, but I use "Toowoomba FN" as a more
fullsome description when I need to lookup newspapers in other towns for
funeral notices. The main thing is to ensure I can construct queries to get
me the sorted lists of people that I need to take with me when I am going to
use a particular set of records. It's a system that works very efficiently
for me, but if someone went about their family history research in a
different way, it might not be so useful to them. I tend to focus on one
record set at a time, looking up every person I am expecting to find there.
So coming with a list sorted in the same order (e.g. by surname or by date)
as the record set means I can do the lookups quite efficiently.

I am not saying it is a system that may work for everyone, but I like to be
able to see at a glance which of the major resources I have:

* looked up with success
* looked up with failure
* have yet to look

How about Military Service, land transactions, wills, etc.? Do you
also follow the same procedure for that data?

Yes, if the archives says a record set is complete within a particular range
of dates, there is no need to revisit it. I can certainly use it for WW1 and
WW2 military service and wills (up to certain cut-off dates). I don't chase
land transactions as a rule (not an easily accessible resource for me) so I
don't use it on them.

Simply, meta-information is as valuable as information to the researcher. I
work with meta-information so not surprisingly I apply it to my family
history hobby.

Kerry

Comprende.

Hugh

[J. Hugh Sullivan]

On Sun, 14 Jan 2007 02:54:31 -0500, "Joe Roberts"
<shoreheritage_at_comcast.net> wrote:

"John Kennedy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
I've been lurking on the group for some time and appreciate the
discussion.
I'm at the stage of collecting the family oral tradition. NO written proof
for 99% just yet. (I'm afraid that project will have to await my
retirement.) I've just considered that if I don't get down the oral
tradition while elderly relatives are still alive, the academic research
will be that much harder after they are gone.

Thanks to everyone for your ongoing advice.

John,

You've gotten some good advice already about how to structure your work.
Here's one more. It's in as passionate terms as possible.

If you have living relatives, get them to talk. Talk, talk, talk. Yep,
talk and talk some more. Nothing is redundant -- something new will come
out. Perhaps a trivial-sounding reminiscence or 'afterthought' will bear
fruit for someone's research down the road.

My brother just recently met an elderly woman (who's in her 90's) who was a
close friend of our mother and aunt. She still lives on the same street, in
the same neighborhood, where our last two generations lived. There's
everything from being school chums to tennis, to shopping, to what life was
like. That's got to include how they met their boyfriends who eventually
became husbands (even including the ones who didn't make the grade). One
can only guess what stories she can tell. That's besides any photo albums
and letters she might have set aside.

This is just an example, of course. Not much time left. Mom and our aunt
(her sister) are gone. This elderly friend is all who is left.

If you have living folks like that, get to them first. Get 'em to talk
before it's too late. The existing documentary record, the paper stuff, is
only part of the heritage. Don't lose the human insights.

Hoping it helps.

Joe

There is a peripheral benefit to this. When you go back to your
ancestors old stomping grounds you really get to enjoy talking with
some great old folks and they love to talk about old times.

My grandfather had 51 grandchildren and 20 are still living. I found
every one and wrote a newsletter. You would have thought I won the war
they appreciated it so much.

Hugh

[Maloney Empire]

I would really love to walk around my ancestors stomping grounds in the UK.

I have been able to do just that in Australia and it was overwhelming to say
the least. I was fortunate enough in 2006 to be invited into my
grandparent's home - Ma dying in 1952 aged 73 and Pop in 1959 aged 75 - the
emotions flowed freely.

--
Di Maloney
Please remove 1 from email address to reply direct.

SNIP
|
| There is a peripheral benefit to this. When you go back to your
| ancestors old stomping grounds you really get to enjoy talking with
| some great old folks and they love to talk about old times.
|
| My grandfather had 51 grandchildren and 20 are still living. I found
| every one and wrote a newsletter. You would have thought I won the war
| they appreciated it so much.
|
| Hugh
|

[J. Hugh Sullivan]

On Mon, 15 Jan 2007 11:32:32 +1100, "Maloney Empire"
<[email protected]> wrote:

I would really love to walk around my ancestors stomping grounds in the UK.

I have been able to do just that in Australia and it was overwhelming to say
the least. I was fortunate enough in 2006 to be invited into my
grandparent's home - Ma dying in 1952 aged 73 and Pop in 1959 aged 75 - the
emotions flowed freely.

--
Di Maloney
Please remove 1 from email address to reply direct.

Down south there is another peripheral benefit - you can't leave
without eating - fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, blackeyed peas,
purple butter beans, mashed potatoes, slaw, milk and a little apple
cobbler with cream.

Or maybe something even better but for the life of me I can't think
what that would be.

Hugh

[singhals]

J. Hugh Sullivan wrote:

On Mon, 15 Jan 2007 11:32:32 +1100, "Maloney Empire"
[email protected]> wrote:


I would really love to walk around my ancestors stomping grounds in the UK.

I have been able to do just that in Australia and it was overwhelming to say
the least. I was fortunate enough in 2006 to be invited into my
grandparent's home - Ma dying in 1952 aged 73 and Pop in 1959 aged 75 - the
emotions flowed freely.

--
Di Maloney
Please remove 1 from email address to reply direct.


Down south there is another peripheral benefit - you can't leave
without eating - fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, blackeyed peas,
purple butter beans, mashed potatoes, slaw, milk and a little apple
cobbler with cream.

Or maybe something even better but for the life of me I can't think
what that would be.

That would be the hush-puppies, crawfish etoufee, and pecan
pie with real whipped cream? With beignets while-you-wait.

Cheryl

[J. Hugh Sullivan]

On Sun, 14 Jan 2007 22:23:27 -0500, singhals <[email protected]>
wrote:

J. Hugh Sullivan wrote:

On Mon, 15 Jan 2007 11:32:32 +1100, "Maloney Empire"
[email protected]> wrote:


I would really love to walk around my ancestors stomping grounds in the UK.

I have been able to do just that in Australia and it was overwhelming to say
the least. I was fortunate enough in 2006 to be invited into my
grandparent's home - Ma dying in 1952 aged 73 and Pop in 1959 aged 75 - the
emotions flowed freely.

--
Di Maloney
Please remove 1 from email address to reply direct.


Down south there is another peripheral benefit - you can't leave
without eating - fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, blackeyed peas,
purple butter beans, mashed potatoes, slaw, milk and a little apple
cobbler with cream.

Or maybe something even better but for the life of me I can't think
what that would be.

That would be the hush-puppies, crawfish etoufee, and pecan
pie with real whipped cream? With beignets while-you-wait.

Cheryl

Okay Louisiana gal!

Been there, done that, no t-shirt - Eunice LA.

Hugh

[Maloney Empire]

Hugh,

What do you mean 'biscuits and gravy" ?

You forgot the meat pie & tomato sauce and the cold beer. (No peas please)

--
Di Maloney
Please remove 1 from email address to reply direct.
"J. Hugh Sullivan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
| On Mon, 15 Jan 2007 11:32:32 +1100, "Maloney Empire"
| <[email protected]> wrote:
|
| >I would really love to walk around my ancestors stomping grounds in the
UK.
| >
| >I have been able to do just that in Australia and it was overwhelming to
say
| >the least. I was fortunate enough in 2006 to be invited into my
| >grandparent's home - Ma dying in 1952 aged 73 and Pop in 1959 aged 75 -
the
| >emotions flowed freely.
| >
| >--
| >Di Maloney
| >Please remove 1 from email address to reply direct.
|
| Down south there is another peripheral benefit - you can't leave
| without eating - fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, blackeyed peas,
| purple butter beans, mashed potatoes, slaw, milk and a little apple
| cobbler with cream.
|
| Or maybe something even better but for the life of me I can't think
| what that would be.
|
| Hugh

[J. Hugh Sullivan]

On Mon, 15 Jan 2007 22:23:17 +1100, "Maloney Empire"
<[email protected]> wrote:

Hugh,

What do you mean 'biscuits and gravy" ?

You forgot the meat pie & tomato sauce and the cold beer. (No peas please)

What's the meat pie and tomato sauce for?

When I developed high blood pressure the diet changed. I was going to
write a book titled, "Whatever Happened to the Gravy".

Hugh

[Joe Roberts]

"J. Hugh Sullivan" wrote:

When I developed high blood pressure the diet changed.
I was going to write a book titled, "Whatever Happened
to the Gravy".

Hugh

Then you'd have to eschew (awful pun intended) the BBQ ribs.

With all the other wonderful Southern US specialties mentioned in this
thread, it's also hard to ignore the smell of those huge slabs of ribs
a-smokin'. We're in Jacksonville, Florida, surrounded by barbecue joints
here and in southern Georgia, and each one is unique in how the goodies are
prepared -- ribs (smoked dry or with sauce), hush puppies, slaw, beans, and
of course the sauces.

One favorite is not a restaurant at all. It's just a guy who sets up a
large smoker on a street corner every Saturday morning. Been doing it for
years. The sides are huge. What a treat -- delicious, plentiful, and
cheap.

Nothing sophisticated -- lickin' fingers is de rigueur. Well, maybe there
is a bit of sophistication -- using paper towels instead of one's overalls,
which perhaps shows we've come a ways from our ancestors.

Mmmm, salivatin' like a Pavlov dawg. Cheers,

Joe

[singhals]

J. Hugh Sullivan wrote:

On Sun, 14 Jan 2007 22:23:27 -0500, singhals <[email protected]
wrote:


J. Hugh Sullivan wrote:


On Mon, 15 Jan 2007 11:32:32 +1100, "Maloney Empire"
[email protected]> wrote:



I would really love to walk around my ancestors stomping grounds in the UK.

I have been able to do just that in Australia and it was overwhelming to say
the least. I was fortunate enough in 2006 to be invited into my
grandparent's home - Ma dying in 1952 aged 73 and Pop in 1959 aged 75 - the
emotions flowed freely.

--
Di Maloney
Please remove 1 from email address to reply direct.


Down south there is another peripheral benefit - you can't leave
without eating - fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, blackeyed peas,
purple butter beans, mashed potatoes, slaw, milk and a little apple
cobbler with cream.

Or maybe something even better but for the life of me I can't think
what that would be.

That would be the hush-puppies, crawfish etoufee, and pecan
pie with real whipped cream? With beignets while-you-wait.

Cheryl


Okay Louisiana gal!

Been there, done that, no t-shirt - Eunice LA.

Hush my mouf! I gotta nice T with the La State Bird on

Cheryl

[Charlie Hoffpauir]

On Mon, 15 Jan 2007 04:06:52 GMT, [email protected] (J. Hugh
Sullivan) wrote:

<snip>

Okay Louisiana gal!

Been there, done that, no t-shirt - Eunice LA.

Hugh

Hugh,

That first letter J doesen't by any chance stand for "Jack" does it? I
went to grammar school with a Jack Sullivan in SW LA.

Charlie (but known as Dicky back then)
Charlie Hoffpauir
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/

[J. Hugh Sullivan]

On Mon, 15 Jan 2007 11:09:14 -0600, Charlie Hoffpauir
<[email protected]> wrote:

On Mon, 15 Jan 2007 04:06:52 GMT, [email protected] (J. Hugh
Sullivan) wrote:

snip

Okay Louisiana gal!

Been there, done that, no t-shirt - Eunice LA.

Hugh

Hugh,

That first letter J doesen't by any chance stand for "Jack" does it? I
went to grammar school with a Jack Sullivan in SW LA.

Charlie (but known as Dicky back then)
Charlie Hoffpauir
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/

It's for James. I was raised when kids were called by the middle name
and I fight that battle every day. I'm not going to give in.

Jack is what they call people named John. Go figure?

I'm from MS - went to Bama.

Hugh

[J. Hugh Sullivan]

On Mon, 15 Jan 2007 11:17:07 -0500, singhals <[email protected]>
wrote:

J. Hugh Sullivan wrote:

On Sun, 14 Jan 2007 22:23:27 -0500, singhals <[email protected]
wrote:


J. Hugh Sullivan wrote:


On Mon, 15 Jan 2007 11:32:32 +1100, "Maloney Empire"
[email protected]> wrote:



I would really love to walk around my ancestors stomping grounds in the UK.

I have been able to do just that in Australia and it was overwhelming to say
the least. I was fortunate enough in 2006 to be invited into my
grandparent's home - Ma dying in 1952 aged 73 and Pop in 1959 aged 75 - the
emotions flowed freely.

--
Di Maloney
Please remove 1 from email address to reply direct.


Down south there is another peripheral benefit - you can't leave
without eating - fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, blackeyed peas,
purple butter beans, mashed potatoes, slaw, milk and a little apple
cobbler with cream.

Or maybe something even better but for the life of me I can't think
what that would be.

That would be the hush-puppies, crawfish etoufee, and pecan
pie with real whipped cream? With beignets while-you-wait.

Cheryl


Okay Louisiana gal!

Been there, done that, no t-shirt - Eunice LA.


Hush my mouf! I gotta nice T with the La State Bird on

Cheryl

The pelican - his billcan hold more than his bellycan

Those LA crawfish - in Maine they call them lobsters.

Hugh

[J. Hugh Sullivan]

On Mon, 15 Jan 2007 10:54:54 -0500, "Joe Roberts"
<shoreheritage_at_comcast.net> wrote:

"J. Hugh Sullivan" wrote:

When I developed high blood pressure the diet changed.
I was going to write a book titled, "Whatever Happened
to the Gravy".

Hugh

Then you'd have to eschew (awful pun intended) the BBQ ribs.

With all the other wonderful Southern US specialties mentioned in this
thread, it's also hard to ignore the smell of those huge slabs of ribs
a-smokin'. We're in Jacksonville, Florida, surrounded by barbecue joints
here and in southern Georgia, and each one is unique in how the goodies are
prepared -- ribs (smoked dry or with sauce), hush puppies, slaw, beans, and
of course the sauces.

One favorite is not a restaurant at all. It's just a guy who sets up a
large smoker on a street corner every Saturday morning. Been doing it for
years. The sides are huge. What a treat -- delicious, plentiful, and
cheap.

Nothing sophisticated -- lickin' fingers is de rigueur. Well, maybe there
is a bit of sophistication -- using paper towels instead of one's overalls,
which perhaps shows we've come a ways from our ancestors.

Mmmm, salivatin' like a Pavlov dawg. Cheers,

Joe

Of course Dreamland in Tuscaloosa is famous especially among sports
announcers. We have an annual BBQ festival here (the BBQ capital of
the world) that draws about 80,000 people on Sat and Sun. It's so
crowded downtown you have to go out of town to eat.

Hugh

[Helen Castle]

I always wonder about that sort of statement made by Yanks (north or south,
in Australia you all look the same)

Of course Dreamland in Tuscaloosa is famous especially among sports
announcers. We have an annual BBQ festival here (the BBQ capital of
the world) that draws about 80,000 people on Sat and Sun. It's so
crowded downtown you have to go out of town to eat.

I watched a program once about the the Worlds Best Baseball Stadiums - there
were particular specialisations - hot dogs, ribs, entertainment, fixtures -
however the range was limited to USA - because as we know very few other
countries in the world have baseball stadiums - I know there must be a few -
Japan for instance - but the entrants were limited to USA.

It's a bit like the World Series - it is limited to USA - no one else
plays!!

Everyone knows Australia is the BBQ capital of the world - ask Hoges (aka
Crocodile Dundee)

(diving for cover)
Helen Castle
Narangba Qld Australia

[Robert Melson]

In article <[email protected]>,
"Helen Castle" <[email protected]> writes:

I always wonder about that sort of statement made by Yanks (north or south,
in Australia you all look the same)

Of course Dreamland in Tuscaloosa is famous especially among sports
announcers. We have an annual BBQ festival here (the BBQ capital of
the world) that draws about 80,000 people on Sat and Sun. It's so
crowded downtown you have to go out of town to eat.

I watched a program once about the the Worlds Best Baseball Stadiums - there
were particular specialisations - hot dogs, ribs, entertainment, fixtures -
however the range was limited to USA - because as we know very few other
countries in the world have baseball stadiums - I know there must be a few -
Japan for instance - but the entrants were limited to USA.

It's a bit like the World Series - it is limited to USA - no one else
plays!!

Everyone knows Australia is the BBQ capital of the world - ask Hoges (aka
Crocodile Dundee)

(diving for cover)
Helen Castle
Narangba Qld Australia

I'd say it's the self-described BBQ capital of the world - everybody
knows that Southern US BBQ, with its thin, watery sauce and "pulled"
meats can't hold a candle to gen-u-wine Texas mesquite BBQ, where the
meat is smoked and slowly cooked over mesquite coals for no less
than 24 hours.

Actually, much depends on your definition of BBQ - shaky ground at
best.

Never had Aussie BBQ, so can't comment on _that_, save to opine that
anything that'd tenderize croc or 'roo can't be all bad.

Smokin' Ol' Bob


--
Robert G. Melson | Rio Grande MicroSolutions | El Paso, Texas
-----
"People unfit for freedom---who cannot do much with it---are
hungry for power." ---Eric Hoffer

[J. Hugh Sullivan]

On Wed, 17 Jan 2007 06:26:59 +1000, "Helen Castle"
<[email protected]> wrote:

I always wonder about that sort of statement made by Yanks (north or south,
in Australia you all look the same)

Of course Dreamland in Tuscaloosa is famous especially among sports
announcers. We have an annual BBQ festival here (the BBQ capital of
the world) that draws about 80,000 people on Sat and Sun. It's so
crowded downtown you have to go out of town to eat.

I watched a program once about the the Worlds Best Baseball Stadiums - there
were particular specialisations - hot dogs, ribs, entertainment, fixtures -
however the range was limited to USA - because as we know very few other
countries in the world have baseball stadiums - I know there must be a few -
Japan for instance - but the entrants were limited to USA.

It's a bit like the World Series - it is limited to USA - no one else
plays!!

Everyone knows Australia is the BBQ capital of the world - ask Hoges (aka
Crocodile Dundee)

(diving for cover)
Helen Castle
Narangba Qld Australia

Where is Australia in case I need to go out for BBQ?

(Is there room under that cover for me)
Hugh

[J. Hugh Sullivan]

On Tue, 16 Jan 2007 21:49:33 GMT, [email protected] (Robert
Melson) wrote:

I'd say it's the self-described BBQ capital of the world - everybody
knows that Southern US BBQ, with its thin, watery sauce and "pulled"
meats can't hold a candle to gen-u-wine Texas mesquite BBQ, where the
meat is smoked and slowly cooked over mesquite coals for no less
than 24 hours.

Actually, much depends on your definition of BBQ - shaky ground at
best.

Never had Aussie BBQ, so can't comment on _that_, save to opine that
anything that'd tenderize croc or 'roo can't be all bad.

Smokin' Ol' Bob

I go to Plano a cupla times a year and we have BBQ at least once. It's
good BUT, my son has lived there for about 20 years and they want me
to bring BBQ from here when I head down. And they favor the SECOND
best BBQ place here.

The military does a lot of touch-and-goes around the country. They
land here and a van picks them up and takes the crew to Moonlight BBQ.
When working I had bankers from Japan, France, Switzerland and Germany
visit and all had heard of Moonlight and wanted to take me to eat
there.

Hugh

[Helen Castle]

It's a small island off the coast of New Zealand - in fact one of NZ's major
cities has been moved over here as NZ is just too small these days. It's
called Bondi and it's just like being home in NZ when you go there.

Due to our isolation we all have BBQs in the back yard and throw on a 'roo
or two, emu is less popular as they run too fast and are a bugger to catch.
Crocodiles bite back and stingrays just get plain nasty.

Head to Hawaii and keep going, the Hawaiins ended up in NZ years ago - silly
buggers should have kept going and got to Oz but they stopped where the
weather was much milder and there were plenty of sheep.

If they came to Oz they would have found the whole place a vast empty canvas
with a few thousand like minded souls who could show them how to survive in
the heat and rain and drought and fire and flood and flies.

For a factual and realistic essay on Oz go to the BBC website
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A12295 - it's the BBC - would they lie?
While you are there look at the stories on buying beer in Australia - you
really must understand the culture and have a sense of humour to live in
Australia or the wombats will get you.

(poking head out from cover and serving burnt offerings)

Helen Castle
Narangba Qld


"J. Hugh Sullivan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

On Wed, 17 Jan 2007 06:26:59 +1000, "Helen Castle"
[email protected]> wrote:

I always wonder about that sort of statement made by Yanks (north or
south,
in Australia you all look the same)

Of course Dreamland in Tuscaloosa is famous especially among sports
announcers. We have an annual BBQ festival here (the BBQ capital of
the world) that draws about 80,000 people on Sat and Sun. It's so
crowded downtown you have to go out of town to eat.

I watched a program once about the the Worlds Best Baseball Stadiums -
there
were particular specialisations - hot dogs, ribs, entertainment,
fixtures -
however the range was limited to USA - because as we know very few other
countries in the world have baseball stadiums - I know there must be a
few -
Japan for instance - but the entrants were limited to USA.

It's a bit like the World Series - it is limited to USA - no one else
plays!!

Everyone knows Australia is the BBQ capital of the world - ask Hoges (aka
Crocodile Dundee)

(diving for cover)
Helen Castle
Narangba Qld Australia

Where is Australia in case I need to go out for BBQ?

(Is there room under that cover for me)
Hugh

[Joe Roberts]

"J. Hugh Sullivan" wrote:

(...)
The military does a lot of touch-and-goes around the country.
They land here and a van picks them up and takes the crew
to Moonlight BBQ. When working I had bankers from Japan,
France, Switzerland and Germany visit and all had heard of
Moonlight and wanted to take me to eat there.

A couple of observations about ethnic-non-BBQ-eaters and their first
experience with the stuff in the USA.

When the Japanese were building a Honda plant near Smyrna, Tennessee, they
gave their executive managers a culture course in how to get along with
Americans. Part of it included how to eat Tennessee BBQ ribs. They learned
the fashion of picking the things up with both hands and lustily gnawing
away. And of course, licking fingers afterwards.

Personal experience ... Years ago my company hosted a delegation of German
engineers who visited for a couple of weeks. Of course we wined and dined
at some white-linen restaurants, properly in protocol. But toward the end
of their visit we took them to a real down-'n'-dirty BBQ joint. We Yanks
began chomping away on the ribs, lickin' fingers, and heading for paper
towels only as the last resort. The German guys, at first, had their ribs
on plates and worked fastidiously with knife and fork. We Yank-types were
total animals in the midst of refined Continental etiquette. It wasn't
long, however, before the most outgoing guy finally said something like "the
heck with this technique", grabbed a rib and started gnawing away. Soon
everyone was laughing and doing the same. Maybe the pitchers of beer
helped.

Come to think of it, some of my ancestors came from Brandenburg. If they
were looking down on us that evening, I wonder what they'd be thinking.

Joe

[J. Hugh Sullivan]

On Thu, 18 Jan 2007 11:06:41 -0500, "Joe Roberts"
<shoreheritage_at_comcast.net> wrote:

"J. Hugh Sullivan" wrote:
(...)
The military does a lot of touch-and-goes around the country.
They land here and a van picks them up and takes the crew
to Moonlight BBQ. When working I had bankers from Japan,
France, Switzerland and Germany visit and all had heard of
Moonlight and wanted to take me to eat there.

A couple of observations about ethnic-non-BBQ-eaters and their first
experience with the stuff in the USA.

When the Japanese were building a Honda plant near Smyrna, Tennessee, they
gave their executive managers a culture course in how to get along with
Americans. Part of it included how to eat Tennessee BBQ ribs. They learned
the fashion of picking the things up with both hands and lustily gnawing
away. And of course, licking fingers afterwards.

Personal experience ... Years ago my company hosted a delegation of German
engineers who visited for a couple of weeks. Of course we wined and dined
at some white-linen restaurants, properly in protocol. But toward the end
of their visit we took them to a real down-'n'-dirty BBQ joint. We Yanks
began chomping away on the ribs, lickin' fingers, and heading for paper
towels only as the last resort. The German guys, at first, had their ribs
on plates and worked fastidiously with knife and fork. We Yank-types were
total animals in the midst of refined Continental etiquette. It wasn't
long, however, before the most outgoing guy finally said something like "the
heck with this technique", grabbed a rib and started gnawing away. Soon
everyone was laughing and doing the same. Maybe the pitchers of beer
helped.

Come to think of it, some of my ancestors came from Brandenburg. If they
were looking down on us that evening, I wonder what they'd be thinking.

Joe

Being from the deep South fingers were made to eat fried chicken (and
BBQ ribs). At some point my wife bought an Emily Post book. Don't ever
let them do that - it causes earth tremors.

The book said, when eating fried chicken, one should follow the lead
of the host/hostess. I always figured to take no chances so I start
eating with the "Amen".

In case the President or the King invites me to supper, I will advise
them of Fried Chicken Protocol.

Hugh

[singhals]

Joe Roberts wrote:

began chomping away on the ribs, lickin' fingers, and heading for paper
towels only as the last resort. The German guys, at first, had their ribs
on plates and worked fastidiously with knife and fork.

(G) I remember winning a free dinner one night when I
managed to eat ribs with a knife and fork and without
getting my hands messy. (g) My GM was embarrassed, my
husband didn't want to take the freebie, but everyone else
in the restaurant thought it was worth staying to have a
piece of over-priced pie to see if I could do it, so I
figure the chef got twice his money's worth!

Cheryl