If you’re like me, you’ll often hear a word or phrase and think, “that’d make a great band name.”  Here are a few I think would be pretty sweet (with references, if necessary, in parentheses):

 

Dr. Tongue (SCTV)

Boomshanka  (The Young Ones)

Nurse Ratchet  (One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest)

Hot Rod Hillbillies

The Smurf Whores

Foul Wilt  (Wilt Chamberlain; poor free-throw shooter, so foul him late in a close game)

Aspen Dragon  (Ass Been Draggin’…get it?)

Mystery Date

Allen Smithee  (stock Hollywood name used if original participant doesn’t want his/her name attached to final project)

Dropout Factory

Keep The Change

No Pun Intended

Bassomatic  (Saturday Night Live)

Shotgun Wedding

Katy Bar The Door

Bully Pulpit

Knockout Ned  (City of God)

Rubber Hits Road

Tarts & Vicars

Misspent Youth

The Notorious Quitters

Magic Bullet

Pipe Dream

Cooler Heads Prevailed

Ponderous Tome

The Bumpus’s Dogs  (A Christmas Story)

Alert The Media

Drunk and Disorderly

Shakin’ The Bush  (Cool Hand Luke)

Penny Farthing

Swing and a Miss  (Only good if in a swing band with a female singer)

 

And my favorite actual band name:

 

We’re Late and Smell Like Beer

Dear Captain Company:

I am writing to demand a refund in full for my purchases of your Astronaut Space Suit, Super Watch and Movie Fighting Snake.  These items are total crap, and your deceptive ads in Screen Thrills Illustrated lured me in.

This is 1964, and I’d expect more from a company of your stature.

 

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Let’s go item-by-item:

 

Astronaut Space Suit

The fun pictures in the ad made me think that, if I donned this suit, I could fly.  After three failed jump attempts off my roof (and a couple of casts and dozens of stitches), I found this to be a complete falsehood.

You have eight zippers.   Great.  I bet a guy at a bar that I could unzip all eight in ten seconds.  Guess what?  I lost $100 and had to eat a bowlful of motorcycle oil.

The suit’s just plastic and zippers.  Sure, it’s got a slight bit of padding, but I had my friend Wayne kick me in the nuts, and it still hurt like hell.  And your “air hoses” and “air-lock valves” are just a series of taped-up poorly-placed bendy straws.  A flimsy plastic semi-inflatable outfit is not worth $7.95.

Your ad says “originally $180.”  That must’ve been before the government scraped the 14k gold plating off.

 

Super Watch

Yeah, really goddamned super.  The cheapo thing bust apart after 10 minutes of swimming in the community pool.  The Swiss are stupid people who put too many knobs on things.

I did get to wear it one day before it disintegrated.  My friends were not impressed that I could tell time accurately, and nobody knew what a tachometer or telemeter was.  They took it off me and whipped me with the genuine leather strap.

 

Movie Fighting Snake

This is the worst of all.  The “snake” in the ad looks pretty scary, and the guy who looks like Walt Disney seems genuinely frightened because he’s struggling with a mighty beast.

But the reality is that this nine-and-a-half-foot (I measured, you liars) piece of rubber looks more like a hastily-painted radiator hose than a fearsome reptile.  It doesn’t scare anybody.  In fact, everybody just laughs at it.  My friend’s kid actually used it in an impromptu skit called “Harry the Happy Hose.”

You say I can use it to star in my own home movie.  I say anyone who uses this “snake” in a movie is stupider than a Swiss person.

 

 

As you can see, these items are incredibly unsatisfactory.  Thus, I am demanding…no – insisting…no – COMMANDING you to refund my money.  If I do not receive payment in full in one week, you will be hearing from my lawyer, who does not take kindly to misleading advertising geared toward honest, upstanding folks.  Oh yeah, he also hates anyone who calls himself “Captain.”

 

Hating and awaiting,

 

Mr. Webel, Esq.

Back in 60’s Britain, two youth subcultures, the Mods and the Rockers, would often brawl (see “Quadrophenia”).

But how would those groups clash today…if those first vowels were changed a bit?

 

Mads vs. Rackers

 

Mads: perpetually angry, primarily from watching too much Fox News.

Rackers: mostly pre-teens who find delight in punching or kicking males in the groin, effectively “racking” them.

Beef:  None, really, just unbridled hostility.

The Rumble:  Mads come out swinging, Rackers come out racking.  Mads have an advantage if they are comprised mostly of enraged women.

 

 

Meds vs. Reckers

 

Meds: always hopped up on powerful prescription drugs.

Reckers: have a penchant for wrecking things, just for the hell of it.  The “w” was dropped from the name to be hip.

Beef:  Reckers hate dopeheads and Meds hate destructive hipsters.

The Rumble:  Meds usually force handfuls of Xanax into the Reckers’ mouths, which eventually mellows things out.  Often followed by going out for strawberry smoothies.

 

 

Mids vs. Rickers

 

Mids:  mobile Internet devices…with an attitude.

Rickers:  extremely fond of large piles of hay and straw.

Beef:  Mids like to overheat in the Rickers’ haystacks, causing fires.  No one knows why.  No one dares ask.

The Rumble:  More flaming confusion than outright rumbling.  Mids, being inanimate, often get stomped on, thus voiding their warranties.

 

 

Muds vs. Ruckers

 

Muds: filthy gang who wallows in wet earth.

Ruckers: comprised solely of brothers Jimmy Joe and Billy Bob Ruckers, who hate people who bathe in crud.

Beef:  Just the Ruckers’ rabid opposition of poor hygiene.

The Rumble: Lots of mudslinging against shotguns filled with rock salt.  Muds usually win due to their numbers, then force the brothers to eat dirt.

I got a letter today from the Illinois Internal Revenue Service.  It states that I’m paid up in full for income tax, but I owe money as a “Late Estimated Payment Penalty.”

I assumed that meant that I sent in my 2012 return payment late (I don’t do the newfangled e-file thing), but I knew I had sent it in plenty of time.  So I called the 800 number.

I finally got an agent.  He was sort of competent, and confirmed that I paid on time, but he couldn’t effectively explain to me why I owed money.

He passed me to his supervisor.  Apparently, in Illinois, if you owed over a certain amount for the previous year, even if you paid in full and on time, they want you to make payments for THIS year.  He went through a complicated formula.  I said, “so, essentially, I’m paying taxes in advance?”

“Well, yes…”

“This has never happened before, and I’ve owed similar amounts.  And I don’t understand this ‘payment plan’ if I always pay it off in full every year.”

I don’t remember the exact words, but he had a kind of “I think it’s silly, but what’re ya gonna do?” vibe about him.

Being forced to pay income taxes in advance.  Isn’t that kind of like going to a fancy expensive restaurant, and instead of paying the check at the end of the meal, they make you pay for each course throughout?

I feel like Rocco’s standing over me with a lead pipe, gently tapping it into his open palm, saying, “the boss says you been payin’ off yer debts real good.  You’re an on-time stand-up guy.  Be he’s short on cash, so youse gonna have to pay him off before you even owe him yet.”

 

SILVERISH LINING: They guy said I could send in (with payment) an abatement of penalty stating my case, and maybe, just maybe, they’d refund my payment.  Thanks, gubmint!

Here are the questions asked on Illinois’ application for a firearms identification card.  They’re simple yes-or-no check boxes, but here’s how I’d like to respond:

 

 

Are you a United States citizen/naturalized citizen?

 

You’re motherfuckin’ right I am.  U S of A, baby.

 

 

Have you ever been convicted of a felony?

 

Convicted?  You have to be caught first, right?  Ha ha ha.

 

 

In the past 5 years, have you been a patient in a mental institution or any medical facility used primarily for the care or treatment of persons for mental illness?

 

Every year, I take my two weeks’ vacation at the local psych ward.  It’s relaxing, the food’s pretty good, and you meet some interesting fellow vacationers.  Plus, you get to draw and do puzzles and play chess and watch TV sometimes.  And there’s this super-hot nurse with heaving cleavage.  Yowza.

 

 

Are you addicted to narcotics?

 

You mean like opium, heroin and morphine?  Shit, who isn’t?

 

 

Are you intellectually disabled?

 

I watch a lot of Fox News, so you be the judge.

 

 

Are you subject to an existing order of protection which prohibits you from possessing a firearm?

 

Listen, a restraining order’s just a piece of paper, capice?

 

 

Within the past 5 years, have you been convicted of battery, assault, aggravated assault, violation of an order of protection, or a substantially similar offense in which a firearm was used or possessed?

 

If “aggravated assault” means pistol-whipping a guy in the nuts for being a douchebag at the 7-11, then I’d kind of have to lean to the “yes” column.

 

 

Have you ever been convicted of domestic battery or a substantially similar offense (misdemeanor or felony)?

 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:  bitch gonna take my money, bitch gonna get a beatdown.

 

 

Have you ever been adjudicated a delinquent minor for the commission of an offense that if committed by an adult would be a felony?

 

I have no idea what that means, so I’m gonna go with “no.”

 

 

Are you an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States?

 

Supreme Leader Xaxar says this is classified information.

 

 

Have you ever been adjudicated as a mental defective?

 

My friends break my balls a lot for being a retard, if that’s what you mean.

 

 

 

NOTE:  Other than your basic info (name, address, SSN), this is all you have to do to apply.  Oh yeah, you send in $10.

 

FUN FACT:  This application can easily be found in PDF form in a Google search.  An Illinois fishing permit (which costs $15), however, requires clicking through several pages and entering loads of information.

During a recent discussion of music, my friend mentioned that his 15-year-old daughter never owned an album.  She’s an avid music lover, but has only ever purchased individual songs via download.

That struck me as sad, because when I was 15, pretty much all I had – or wanted — was albums.

I remember my first one:  ELO’s A New World Record.  It was 1976; I was 12.  All I had to play it on was a crappy little portable turntable from the 50’s (it would take another summer or so to cut enough lawns to save up for a better stereo).

I soon got Boston’s first album.  Then some Aerosmith, Queen, Sweet, Foghat, Ted Nugent.  I quickly realized that LPs sounded far better than 8-tracks and cassettes (duh).

I lived in Carlyle, IL, at the time.  We were in a subdivision about a mile out of town.  Every time I’d get $10 or so saved up, I’d ride my bike into town to the little record shop/electronics store.  They didn’t have a great selection, but I loved perusing, and eventually picking out the album I wanted most.

Once I got into high school and started making better money working summers in the fields, I bought as many as I could afford.  Punk rock had hit it big, so there were many cool bands to discover.

I also liked the artwork, and to me, that’s the biggest loss in the mass conversion to digital formats.  You could hold the LP in your hands and gaze at some awesome art (I’ve actually bought albums strictly because of the cover).  Often, there were extensive liner notes with cool artist info.  And sometimes they’d slip a magazine or poster or some promo gimmick in there.

And how did you hear or hear about new music to decide what you wanted to buy?  1. Radio, and your station selection was limited.  2.  TV, if you happened to see a live performance or rare music video (this was before MTV).  3.  Magazines.  4.  Friends.  There was no iTunes, Pandora, Grooveshark, etc.  You were on your own.  If you were lucky, your friends liked cool music.

Anyway, I know LPs still have some popularity.  I haven’t owned a turntable in many years, and recently had to sell a few of my albums, but still have 50 or so with which I couldn’t part.  They bring back warm fuzzies of a music-obsessed youth.

 

Here’s a couple of my favorites framed in my living room.

 

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Ever fantasize about the perfect pub/bar/tavern?   You know, the kind of place you’d be happy to park your butt for hours any or every night, imbibing to your heart’s content?  Here are my requirements for perfection:

 

Layout

Doesn’t really matter, but not a huge place.  As you’ll see below, some of the things take some space.  So the smallest place that would hold all the stuff below.  Easy access to bathrooms and smoking areas.

 

Bar

Kind of rectangular, about 12 seats.  Cozy; feels like you have just the right amount of disciples to adhere to your drunken philosophies.

 

TV screens

Big ones.  Like really big.  Two for sports, but only NFL, MLB, NBA or NHL.  None of this pseudo-sport pansy kid stuff.  One for Comedy Central, and one for some sort of trivia.  And one each continuously playing This Is Spinal Tap, Airplane!, and The Big Lebowski.  So 7 total.

 

Pinball/arcade/etc.

A few classic 70’s pinball games, 2 pool tables, Galaga, Space Invaders, Rampage, and Elevator Action.  An accurate breathalyzer thingie.

 

Bathrooms

Snazzy.  Cool rock playing in the background.  Big enough to avoid lines.  Dividers between urinals.   Interesting articles framed on the wall for you to read while you pee.  Never crowded.  Smells like cinnamon rolls.  No toilet guy you have to tip.

 

On tap

Sam Adams, Newcastle Brown Ale, Fat Tire, Smithwick’s, several high-alcohol microbrews.

 

Liquor

The standard stuff, but there’s always Jim Beam, Seagram’s 7, Captain Morgan and plenty of mixers on hand.  And Jose Cuervo in case I think I might score and need a shot of courage.

 

Smoking arrangement

Nice outdoor area.  There’d be a little hut with heaters for the really cold days.

 

Food

Excellent wings a must.  Good texture, flavor, and heat.  Also: juicy cheeseburgers, gooey pizza and loaded nachos.

 

Theme

I like the German/Bavarian thing.  Maybe because I’m mostly German and have visited Bavaria.  Although I’d say Irish is fun.  Perhaps German-Irish, like Tom Hagen in The Godfather.  Lord knows I love Oktoberfest and St. Pat’s celebrations.

 

Jukebox

Lots of hard rock, alternative, pop-punk.  Some traditional German and Irish stuff.  Some slow shit in case I want to find a floozy and drunkenly dance.

 

Waitstaff

Babes.  As babey and work-experienced as you can get.  And by work-experienced I mean can flirt and keep 10 drink orders straight at the same time.  And babey and work-experienced babes often get mucho cashola from me.  Especially in the German freulein outfits carrying 8 giant beers.  Gott in Himmel.

 

Bands

Original stuff a must.  Cover bands occasionally if they’re really good.  Stage/dance area just big enough to hold the band and several boogying fans.

 

Promotions

Lots of beer, liquor and food specials.  Karaoke contests where I win at least some of the time.  Open jam night for musicians, open mic night for comics.  Trivia night with lots of movie and music questions.  Obviously, big parties on Oktoberfest and St. Pat’s.

 

Location

Within walking distance of good restaurants, entertainment, public transportation, and my dwelling.

 

So there you have it.  Actually, this could be my description of heaven, too.  Cheers!

In the 70’s, All In The Family was my dad’s favorite show.  I was only in grade school at the time, but I always watched it with him.  It really wasn’t like any other sitcom on TV, and I appreciated that it tackled some controversial topics.

But most of all I loved Archie.  I agreed more with Mike, and Edith could be funny, but Archie was hilarious.  Here are some of my favorite Mr. Bunker quotes:

 

Don’t talk like an ignarosis.

All kids are trouble, Edith. And I don’t wanna spend my reclining years trying to raise another one.

Jesus was a Jew, yes, but only on his mother’s side.

We hold these semi-animal meetings.

After once or twice a thing like this gets vulgarious.

Why doncha get some chinkypuncture?

He’ll be coming back and back and back, like a chronicle rash.

One of the funniest antidotes of all time…you sit there like you’re in a comma.

That guy is a blackbuster.

That woman is liable to come at you like a Doberman’s Pincher.

Even Robinson Crusoe had company on Friday.

See if he passed the literaracy test.

I’d say that the Meathead probably got magnesia and forgot where his mouth was.

I’m sympathising my watch with yours.

Can’t eat the food with these chink pickup sticks.

I pay very heavy semi-annual premiums 4 times a year.

The Meathead swooped down on the table like a plague of crocuses.

You’re breakin’ about 18 laws, maybe even a dozen.

I was readin’ an article about the animal population — there’s millions of pets explodin’.

A vacancy might be opening up right now, courtesy of the grim creeper.

Well, youse two may have come from monkeys and bamboons, but not me.

Homo sapiens…that’s a killer fag.

Back then the women had babies, which they called in them days, “begatten.”

This ain’t one of these slighthearted occasions.

The lord may be smilin’ on the sheeps, but they still wind up as lamb chops.

Here’s a last bequest: I don’t want that guy sayin’ my last urology.

At night they all come out of the subway and they’re hooverin’ around the corner.

I would have brung you flowers too, but I read in a magazine that they suck up all the carbon monoxygen.

The Bunkers is going down to Florida as pre-deranged.

Probably a torn filament right there in the kneecap.

The tiger, he come up with the tigeress.  The lion, he come up with the lionette.  The zebra, he come up with the zeberelle.

The only thing that holds a marriage together is the husband being big enough to step back and see where the wife is wrong.

I never said a guy who wears glasses is a queer.  A guy who wears glasses is a four-eyes; a guy who’s a fag is a queer.

I’ve gotta quote for you, Edith.  “A bird that always flies in the fog is called a dingbat.”

God don’t make no mistakes.  That’s how He got to be God.

That’s the kind of luck poor Mr. Lincoln had the night he went to the movies…as he sat in John Wilkes’ booth.

Honor thy parents.  That’s one of the Lord’s top 10 commandments.  That’s right around covetin’ your neighbor’s cattles and wives and there.

I’m only human, Meathead, and to be human is to be violent.

A woman should cleave into her husband.  Right here in this house is where Edith’s cleavage belongs.

East is east and west is west, but none of us is gonna meet Mark Twain.

In the words of Harry S. Truman, “If it’s too hot in the kitchen, stay away from the cook.”

Like the Good Book says, “Let him who is without sin be the rolling stone.”

The dent in his car is hardly cold and he’s coming over here to claim his pound of fish.

Was Uncle Oscar’s death very untimely, you ask?  Well, it was near lunch.

You painted us into a corner, then you threw away the key.

There’s nothing wrong with revenge – it’s the best way to get even.

When I was about five, I had four main creative building-type toys at my disposal: Lincoln Logs, an Erector set (my dad’s from the 50’s), Lego blocks, and Tinkertoys.

With the Lincoln Logs, I’d build a little fort, then put my German toy soldiers on its roof (you knew they were bad because they were gray), then fashion a catapult and chuck logs at them. The Erector set was mainly for stuff for which I could use the battery-operated motor, like drawbridges and Ferris Wheels.

The Legos were mostly used to build houses.  There wasn’t much else to build, since this was way before all the sissy pre-made theme crap.

Which brings us to Tinkertoys.  If you’re not old enough to remember, the sticks used to be made of wood (they’re now made of plastic).  They plug into joints with sockets.  I found Tinkertoys to be kind of ho-hum.  There weren’t a lot of cool things you could build with them.

So, one day as a bored little kid, I thought I’d try to make my mom laugh.  It’d be hilarious is she saw me with Tinkertoy sticks coming out of me all over.

So I stuck various lengths of Tinkertoy sticks in different places: my shoes, my ear, my pants, etc.  Oh yeah, and my mouth.  I put the biggest stick available, the purple stick, probably a foot long, in my mouth.

So I’m walking down the hall, a bunch of colorful dowels sticking out of my little body, to my baby sister’s room where my mom was.  She was gonna laugh so hard.

I got just to the end of the hall, where my sister’s room was – and tripped.  The floor came up fast and I had no time to react.

I remember each end of the purple stick hitting the floor and the back of my throat.  There was a tear and horrible pain.  My throat, not the floor.

Needless to say, she wasn’t amused.

It was all okay in the end, just a little blood and a lot of crying and humiliation, though I can still feel, with my tongue, that little butthole-like scar back there.

MORAL OF THE STORY:  Skip prop comedy and tell a joke instead.

 

SIDE NOTE: I wonder if they switched to plastic sticks because of dipshits like me.  You know, more bend, less back-of-throat rippin’ and tearin’.

Back last year, I posted to YouTube an old video of myself doing stand-up comedy in 1993.  Out of curiosity, I turned on the transcript/automated captions function.  I wish I could have been as funny as what’s transcribed – but then I would have been on strong acid.  It reads like really bad poetry, and they only got a few phrases right:

 

Victory on the show

Gave us a sense of the mizrahi rollins self

Listening to music

Got a response to eat

Daphne thompson hearings coming down on those lines of the original message

Please use the licenses larry’s v

Guidelines for granting underwear masses way to be a lot

Will be pretty motivated

Detail

Tools room together

Monitors his hard drive

Hanging out on the g_seven seals when I walk in it

Betsy decided

Policy isn’t even

That camera inside the submarine would rather not you know it

Before you know I’ll be there

Dizziness or not

Delude themselves that uh…capitol hill to the columns slightly

Devalued

Our goal

Dance lesson

Oliver similar bills in the white house is really sad

Last weekend’s unknown to you

Delivery location now this is

Decisions based

Do we have here is the person who gets that way

And usually I can tell parents to decide

Cabinet for five years old and he’s the one that’s a big guns on pregnancy test

Essentially the first formal television commercials were bruises which he calls

You saw that in turn out

She said that she is right and I have so many members in a real

Go ahead

To get around this table tennis

Period as the president had his business regardless

Brett never run into your web source do you like looking for a cache of weapons

Whenever

Use the process of cutting tools and it looks like the new jersey tax

I made a mistake once I was given to each other and I want to tell us

Actual expenses in the system and is russia for some reason

Not because I was reading them all

Demanding running away from here

Reasonable on long island

Problems

Anyway

Eleven a documented by something that is likely to do something couples

Onto the boat was not reducing the ceiling and the time will decide that

The breakfast susan translations citizens vote

One-night stands to lose my insist

He has the sugar

Yet again to see is what it is

It has the money

I would be left out so I turned my weapons that they have to make it pay

Through the media

Results

Has stumbled

Mickey

Asap agreement

Locations

Spherion several shots

Hollinger supposed to sample data

Seem to be installed now

These release

Muslim countries and so now we’re seeing this in return

When you’re dancing with her

I think you myself you introduce

I think the shots of the people you know the salon

And a lot of what you want to send to you and said we’re going to

Deluded

Already invited six shots you know it

Engagement in Charlottesville

City

Anywhere in the next morning going

Did they really need to work

I_b_m_ otherwise free of the century

Has agreed to bridge built by bonds but actually there’s little neglected

Review

Mnemonic and exposed hostility toward

Dances salary also lower

Duplicated between the

Molding you john

Anymore

Cylinders halo

Cheap

Patriot

Casinos masi

Gcc

Money

Now wants woodside

Bugsy malone

Tennessee valley road zero five

Moneyline

Nominated by my

Piano music as well

Marianne

As the episode

Wait and see

Magazines unless it’s a great experience for your help

Previously tied to that

Winona ryder

And sexually she’s not

Find rather

Current something that that was me walking right

Passes all of that size do you remember him

Needed to hear what a great year

Moderate with the same

Snow on the roof

He’s been some

Operator maximum

Music’s only it was something by distribution muddy waters runs out

Trademarks listened

Minimum

Armed with

Is in any immediate one

Outside and he said

Forces ability to give up

Noticeable and

Ad is ominous

Will see losses you’re able to solve all the

Species stealing

Commenting on the one st

Skis

Intensely as needed

Policy seasons he said let me ask you to decide

On-the-job too

Are not in our society is

Me too

Use of exercise

Species but louise

Loni

Going to really go anywhere and ready for tonight

Assembles or cross-county is originally from Oklahoma no-man’s-land

In dallas texas

Pleased with the c_d_c_bcd