Magpie 11 set the homework for this weeks edition of the Loose Bloggers Consortium.  He has a weird and wonderful mind with which he temps and teases us on a regular basis.
Without further ado our Topic is…..

Wacky Ideas: Things

Two tin cans ready to go in the recycle box.

I know!  I know!  Magpie 11 said Things and not tins, but tins are things so sit down quietly for a minute and pay attention!

As I rinsed out these tins I thought of all the uses I put empty tin cans to long before we heard of this modern day recycling.

We/I….

• Punched a hole in the base of two cans and connected them with a piece of fine string to make ‘telephones’!
• Several small sized tins with tops and bottoms removed, were sunk into the lawn to make the holes for pitch ‘n put.  At one stage when we were growing up three of these strategically placed tins gave us a nine hole course!
• A large fruit can was sliced across the middle to make two small round cake tins of a size not available in the shops.  NB: If you try this be careful when cutting and using the tins as the edges may be very sharp!
• Small holes were punched in the base of several tins and they were used to grow seeds.  I am talking Ould God’s time here, before we heard of those biodegradable seed trays or folded newspaper rolled in rings to hold seedlings.

We were not the first to use old tins and barrels.

Large 55-gallon oil drums was used to make lead steelpans from around 1947.

The pan is a chromatically pitched percussion instrument, in fact, drum refers to the steel drum containers from which the pans are made; the steeldrum is correctly called a steel pan and is not technically regarded as a drum.  Steelpans (also known as steel drums or pans, and sometimes, collectively with musicians, as a steel band) is a musical instrument originating from Trinidad and Tobago. Steel pan musicians are called pannists.

The pan is struck by a pair of straight sticks tipped with rubber; the size and type of rubber tip is unique to the class of pan being played. Some musicians use four pansticks, holding two in each hand. This skill and performance has been conclusively shown to have grown out of Trinidad and Tobago’s early 20th century Carnival percussion groups known as Tamboo Bamboo. Pan is the National Instrument of Trinidad and Tobago.

A Sample of the sound can be heard here.   Gosh the energy of that guy!