As a child, I remember giving soap on a rope as a father's day present. There was no limit to the inventiveness of Avon, who also made the world's greatest mosquito repellent, Skin So Soft.  Apparently skitters don't like hikers who smell nice. In this same era, there was a boxer--and a fighter by his trade (Simon and Garfunkel)--names Cassius Clay or Mohammed Ali, who perfected the rope-a-dope technique.  The idea was to have your opponent punch himself out while you leaned back on the ropes.  Once he was tired out, you finished him off with a few quick jabs and a left hook.  That's the theory anyway. Whether it was the Rumble in the Jungle or the Thrilla in Manilla that saw rope-a-dope's first introduction, it worked for a while until the oasis trick came along, In the oasis trick, you would entice the other fighter to the centre of the ring, where he felt he could quench his thirst.  But once he got there, tuckered out from the walk, you could stin...