i found it. i hope so....for your sake. it took me a couple of hours. http://www.ledonline.it/mpw/allegati/mpw0506mattiello.pdf

The blue whale being the biggest creature on earth, a "whale of" anything is "a large amount of" it. As well as "whale of a time" people used to say "a whale of a lot" and "a whale of a job". It's US slang from around 1910. Brass is an alloy of copper with tin or zinc. "Old Tom" was an 18th and 19th century style of gin, sweeter than modern gin. It's not sold any more in Britain and America, though i'm told that the State Distillery of Finland make it, becuase the Lapps like it. http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/44/messages/458.html have a whale of a time: to enjoy yourself very much. 'Did Sam enjoy himself at the party?' 'He had a whale of a time.' http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/have+a+whale+of+a+time A whale of a time in the dark depths: Whales like the dark. They navigate the ocean at depth, where little light penetrates, but where sound, including their own "song", travels great distances. Correspondingly, the whale's eyes, situated on either side of the head, leave its vision with "a profound darkness in the middle". http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20030629/ai_n12741711 (idiomatic) To enjoy oneself greatly. We had a whale of a time at the party Saturday night. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/have_a_whale_of_a_time to enjoy oneself very much http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=have+a+whale+of+a+time&r=66