Musings on the Most Ridiculous Band I Can't Stop Listening To

Author: Thoughts On The Dead (Page 65 of 1031)

I Know My Momma’s Proud Of Me

Hey, Mickey. Whatcha doing?

“I’m creating magic by using the building itself as a drum. Or I’m trying to find the bathroom. Maybe both!”

Should you be touching everything right now?

“I don’t have any charges pending.”

Not that. The coronavirus.

“Oh, yuck. Mexican swill. Never touch the stuff. I only drink Kahlúa.”

Straight?

“Yeah, until you get enough Kahlúa in me.”

Not you. I mean: You drink that shit straight? It’s like fermented Yoo-Hoo.

“Nectar of the gods. Perfect for a hot day.”

I disagree strongly. And getting back to my original point: What are you doing about the coronavirus?

“And I made it clear I thought you were talking about beer. What’s going on with the corona-whatsis?”

Have you really not heard about the global pandemic?

“Billy sent me a text telling me to be careful, but I thought he was talking about the clap.”

The coronavirus is a newly-introduced pathogen that originated in Wuhan, China, and has now spread around the globe at alarming speed. It is highly infectious, and lethal to a troublingly high percentage of old folks and people with underlying conditions.

“Besides you and me, who knows about this?”

Everyone, Mickey. Literally everyone knows about the coronavirus.

“I’ve been so busy.”

Drumming?

“Drumming, yeah.”

CELL PHONE NOISE

“I should take this. It might be about percussion.”

Sure.

“Howdy. You’re on the Hartline.”

“Which one this?”

“Pardon?”

“Which Grateful Dead this? The drummer or the other drummer?”

“Oh. I’m the other drummer.”

“Close enough. Kim Jong-Un cure coronavirus. Also learn how do root canal, but that not important. Coronavirus is main thrust of conversation.”

“Man, everyone keeps talking about this corona thing. Or maybe I’m just noticing it more. You ever heard about the 23 conspiracy?”

“Quiet, other drummer. Kim Jong-Un announce discovery to the world at big concert. Dead reunite.”

“I dunno, man. There’s a lot of hurt feelings, plus there’s legal shit.”

“Fifty million dollar each. Cash.”

“It’s a ‘yes’ from me. That kind of offer would elicit a ‘yes’ from me. Any chance we could do it at Levi’s Stadium? Very convenient to my house.”

“We do in Only Korea.”

“You got Kahlúa there?”

“Can get.”

“I’m in.”

 

Heroes Of The Pandemic

Baseball’s been cancelled, but Americans keep stepping to the plate. Thoughts on the Dead is proud to shine a spotlight on some of them in this installment of Heroes of the Pandemic.

Marigold Anshlutz, 62, Rooster Pantry, FL Marigold lost her remote control in 2013 and has been watching Fox News ever since, so she hasn’t let the coronavirus scare her. She’s keeping the economy strong by going to the Chinese buffet place, the movies, a public pool, the library (Marigold likes to hide liberal books), and then the Chinese buffet again. And she filled the Dodge up! Sure, she sneezed on the gas pump’s keypad, but the purchase is more important here.

Humphrey Potato, 31, Chewy Valley, KY At first word of the virus, Humphrey and his brother Plum hopped in their truck and bought up every tropical fish from Atlanta to Minneapolis, then re-listed them on Amazon and Ebay at exorbitant prices. No one bought them because no one’s really thinking about fish, no matter how striking and exotic, right now. Most of the fish died, and the Animal Society is looking into it. Poor decisions from start to finish.

Chakra Khan, refused to give her age, Beverly Hills, CA Chakra insisted all of her staff get tested. The ones who came back negative were deliberately exposed to the virus so they could “get it over with and get back to work.”

Knifey the Boy Made of Living Knifes, 26, Tucumcari, NM Knifey ain’t worried. Knifey’s made of fucking knifes, homecheese. Ain’t nothing on this planet can hurt Knifey. Not since his dad died, anyway.

WHAT DID I TELL YOU?

To be less stupid.

And what did you do?

I was just as, if not more, stupid.

Why are you like this? 

Genetics and environment.

Well, fuck them.

The Dos And Don’ts Of Social Distancing

DO Stay at home.
DON’T Stay at someone else’s home. Defeats the whole purpose, and might be a crime.

DO Visit the doctor and shop for necessities.
DON’T Go down to your local sex club for weirdos and start tugging off strangers.

DO  Maintain a Personal Health Radius of 6 feet (1.82 meters) at all times.
DON’T Defend your PHR with a halberd.

DO Try your hardest not to murder your children.
DON’T Murder your children.

DO Check on elderly relatives and neighbors to see if they need any supplies.
DON’T Steal their pills and have yourself an ooey-gooey party once you get home.

DO Harbor resentments.
DON’T Wait, no. You shouldn’t harbor resentments. It’s poison to the soul.

DO Let slip the dogs of war.
DON’T No! We’ve been expressly warned not to!

DO Hang out somewhere that’s still open like Target or the supermarket, and hock loogies all over, and stick your fingers in people’s mouths, and lick their nostrils.
DON’T PLEASE DON’T DO THAT. Ladies and gentlemen, I have to inform you that DO has somehow become corrupted, and turned evil. Do not take DO‘s advice.

DO Murder DON’T.
DON’T 
Stop it! You’ve lost your mind, DO! My God! Where did you get that knife from?

DO It didn’t have to be this way. I used to love you.
DON’T I still love you! Don’t, Do, don’t!

Hey. I’m just gonna pop my head into your office and have a quick chit-chat.

I’m in the middle of something.

That was what I wanted to discuss. Whatever it is you’re doing here…it’s too stupid to continue. I will not allow it. 

I was playing with form.

You were playing with yourself. I’m begging you: less stupid. Make the whole site less stupid. That’s my only note; I cannot be any more specific than that. Because it’s just so fucking stupid.

I thought it was funny.

That’s because you’re stupid, stupid. Shape up.

Be On The Lookout For These Symptoms Of The Coronavirus

  • Rough cough.
  • Sandwichification of the fingers.
  • Dyspeptic sanguinity.
  • A very specific and rare type of aphasia in which the only sentence you can say is “Forget it, Jake: it’s Funkytown.”
  • Yo-yo balls.
  • Hydrophobia. (But not to the point of rabies. Just mildly startled by water. Like, you’d walk by a lake and go Ah! Shit! but you wouldn’t sprint in the other direction.)
  • Box-backed nitties.
  • Great big ennobled thighs.
  • Boar’s-hog eye.
  • Tennis elbow.
  • Pickleball hip.
  • Jai-alai shoulder.
  • Heebies, but not jeebies. (The presence of jeebies is a complete counterindicator for coronavirus.)
  • Rhinophyma.
  • Hypertrichosis.
  • Po-faced skepticism.
  • Scrofulatic estrangement (spleen).
  • Amnesia, but only about the Wu-Tang Clan. (And if someone reminds you about them, you’d be all Oh, yeah, the Wu-Tang Clan and then immediately forget about them again.)
  • A weird kind of pica where you’re compelled to condition before you shampoo.
  • Deep sloppy tongue.
  • Haunch bloatation.
  • Fire in the nethers.
  • The irresistible urge to find a bell tower and wait for a sunny day.
  • Increased gumminess.

Four Score

Hey, Philbert.

“Not my name, choad.”

Happy birthday, sir.

“Another year defeated.”

Defeated.

“Life’s a battle, monkeynuts. Just you versus Death, and I got that boney fucker’s balls in my teeth.”

One way to look at it.

“You wanna know what I do every morning?”

Sure.

“Me and Jill get up real early, throw Grahame out of bed, and we do our P90X.”

Grahame’s in the bed?

“He has nightmares a lot.”

Okay.

“Then one of the Busboys makes me my coffee and I walk out to the porch. Faces east. Faces the sun. And you know what I do?”

What?

“I show the sun my cock. Just so the yellow fucker knows I’m not scared of him.”

That’s very metal.

“I don’t need your approval.”

True.

CELL PHONE NOISE

CELL PHONE NOISE

CELL PHONE NOISE

You’re not gonna answer that?

“Fuck, no.”

What if it’s Jill?

“Then she’d call on the Jill Phone.”

Is that like the Bat Phone?

“Obviously, dullard.”

What if it’s Grahame?

“Grahame doesn’t have my phone number. He used to, but he would call a dozen times a day to tell me about about dogs he’d seen.”

CELL PHONE NOISE

Just answer it.

“It’s some dumbfuck who’s gonna say dumbfuck shit, isn’t it?”

Noooo.

“Ah, for Christ’s sake, I’ll answer it if it’ll shut you up.”

“Thank you for calling Terrapin Crossroads, home of the Ross James sandwich and Ross James. Out of caution, we have closed until April 2nd, but the gift shop is still open 24 hours a day. This is Phil.”

“Spicy Phil!”

“Don’t call me that.”

“So spicy. Love to give and take. Like Larry David, but with hair and no Jewish.”

“What do you want, lardass?”

“Worried about Spicy Phil. Want protect. I send bubble.”

“I don’t need a bubble.”

“Like Travolta. You go in bubble. Stay healthy.”

“Fuck off. I’m not going in any damn bubble.”

“Is top-quality bubble! Custom! Is no Walmart bubble!”

“I don’t give a shit if it’s bespoke. Keep your bubble.”

“Is done. Bubble send.”

“No bubble!”

“You bubble!”

“No bubble!”

“Is send!”

DIAL TONE EVEN THOUGH PHONES NO LONGER DO THAT

“Asshole!”

Me?

“I will send the Busboys to your house. In real life, not in here. Out there where you and your loved ones are. I will have you beaten if I have to talk to that ball-gargling pantload one more time.”

I understand.

“Do ya?”

Happy birthday, Phil.

“Thank you. Fuck off.”

Short-Lived

How bar-bandish was Phil’s hiatus bar band? Four songs with “mama” in the title AND Louie Louie in one set. That’s how bar-bandish.

OR

Too Loose To Truck (possibly styled as Touloos Ta Truck) may be the most obscure of all Grateful Dead side bands. Go Ahead has its own damn Wikipedia page, and you don’t even know which Grateful Deads were in Go Ahead, do you? (Billy and Brent.) All that remains of TLTT is one recording, along with the night’s handbill; neither publicity nor performance photos were taken.

Phil left the womb less than the other band members. He was in the New Riders for fifteen minutes, bothered audiences with Ned Lagin for a year, this group during the hiatus, and two nights with the Jerry Band in ’81. Other than that, Phil played with the Dead exclusively because Phil is secretly the laziest Grateful Dead. When the band yeeted out in 1974, everybody else got to work (except for Billy, who immediately became a junkie). Garcia started touring the Jerry Band, which had previously been a local Bay Area act; Bobby joined Kingfish and recorded an album that featured Lazy Lightning>Supplication; Keith and Mrs. Donna Jean cut a record and put together a new band. Phil rounded up some buddies to play Slippin’ & Slidin’ at the bar by his house.

OR

Weirdly reminiscent of Billy Cobham’s Spectrum. Good, good drummer.

Tiger Beat

Hey, Bobby. Whatcha doing?

“Airing ’em out.”

I see that.

“Dunno if you can tell, but I made these shorts myself.”

Nooooo.

“Oh, yeah. I was, uh, inspired by Karl Lagerfeld. Sure, he’s big time, but he gets behind the sewing machine and does his own stitching.”

You were wearing those when you made them, weren’t you?

“Affirmative.”

Karl Lagerfeld doesn’t do that.

“What about Hedi Slimane?”

You shouldn’t know who these people are. What’s wrong with Brent?

“Sometimes, he’s a demon.”

Okay. Man, your legs are furry.

“Girls dig ’em. I’ve, uh, always said: Next to a guitar, a pair of hairy thighs are the best things for getting dates.”

I don’t think you’ve always said that.

“Something in the vicinity.”

Sure.

CELL PHONE NOISE

I have told all of you to stop using the Time Sheath to bring your cell phones back to the 70’s.

“You have definitely told us that. Gonna take this.”

Okay.

“Weir here.”

“Where Hairy Garcia? Kim Jong-Un call Hairy Garcia.”

“This is he. I think.”

“Where is degenerate drug beard?”

“What year is it when you are?”

“Juche 109.”

“Ah. I’m in Juche 68.”

“Good year. Disco so hot that year. What wrong with New Brent?”

“That’s not New Brent, it’s Old Brent. No, wait. That’s Brent Brent. Sometimes, he’s a demon.”

“Classic Brent Brent. So like him.”

“The man is easily anticipated.”

“You get kids I send you? How many survive trip?”

“I have received no children.”

“No. This terrible. Kim Jong-Un is embarrassed. Promise best friend Hairy Garcia wonderful gift, but is no gift. I lose face. Must make it up to you.”

“How about one of those giant hats?”

“I send sick people.”

“I don’t want any of them.”

“No contagious! Just dying! You can do whatever to them! They gonna die, anyway!”

“Hard, hard, hard pass.”

“Maybe you make movie. Use as stuntmen. Can actually set on fire.”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Put in catapult.”

“Y’know, I really hate to be rude, but I’m hanging up.”

DIAL TONE NOISE EVEN THOUGH PHONES NO LONGER DO THAT

“Excuse me.”

Yes, Bobby?

“I don’t put my foot down a lot around here, but I’m gonna have to on this one.”

You don’t wanna talk to Kim Jong-Un anymore?

“The guy’s a bad egg.”

You’re right.

 

 

(With thanks to every Enthusiasts favorite (non-Lambert) host of the Grateful Dead Radio Hour, David Gans, for providing the photo from his personal collection. Not the one of Kim Jong-Un; the shot of Bobby and Brent.)

A Partial Transcript Of President Trump’s Press Conference, 3/13/20

“Thank you, thank you. We have, as you can see, just the most beautiful day here in the Rose Garden. I own the greatest and most spectacular golf courses on the planet–some would say on the planet–and so I think I know about gardens. And this is one of the best. Rose Garden. Incredible garden, with incredible roses. That’s how it got its name! Roses as far as the eye can see. Knock your socks off.

“We–I, we, whatever–have made tremendous progress. So far, so fast that people are amazed. No one can believe what we’ve got accomplished in such a short time, and despite being stuck with Obama-era regulations that were written specifically to kill white senior citizens. When you compare what we’ve done to other countries, you can’t. When you compare them, you can’t compare them. Italy’s a mess. It was a mess before, but now it’s disgusting. All the Mexicos are infected.

“So I closed the borders, and that made the difference. Europe didn’t close its border, and they let in all those people in scarves, and now there’s corona all over the place. It’s everywhere. So I shut that down, too. Any American now in Europe is stuck there for good. They’re gonna find new lives, they’re gonna be all right.

“I will now unleash the awesome power of a fully-operational American government by declaring a national emergency. Officially. I am officially declaring it. Maybe I should say it in a deep voice. Nationalllll emergencyyyyy. Is there a bell? I thought I rang a bell? Forget it, we’re doing the emergency. Very important words, national emergency. Y’know how they say Use your words? I’m using my words,

“I called Google, and they made me an app. This will be the first disease cured via app, which is incredible. Obama’s website broke down, but my app is gonna cure the corona Jimmy Google, I said to him. You’re gonna help your President. And he couldn’t have been nicer, so many compliments, and they got right to work. Such a dynamic company, really doing well and getting noticed, and that’s great for them. Great for them. The app will be out next week. Next week you get the app, from Google, the Google app.

“The tests are gonna be the most tremendous tests. The American people are gonna have perfect tests. Just absolutely perfect. You’ll go, they’ll swab, maybe they’ll tell you right there. We’re working on doing it in the car. So you drive up and then they swab. And on the way home, you get Popeye’s. No other country is doing that. You can’t get Popeye’s in Germany, and that’s on Angela Merkel. What kind of leader can’t get their people Popeye’s? The Germans can’t wait to get rid of her, everyone tells me that. Mike Pence told me that. Mike, where are you?”

“Here, sir.”

“Mike? Where’s my Mike?”

“Immediately to your right, Mr. President.”

“Mike?”

“Why are you gazing skyward? I wouldn’t be up there, sir.”

“Mike?”

“I’ll just slide into the podium here so I can say that no leader in the world, perhaps in the history of the world, has ever conquered a challenge with such alacrity, adroitness, and aplomb as has President Trump done here. We bask in the radiance of his glory, and I break into the Oval Office late in the evening so that I may sniff at his chair. The man not only makes history, but requires that history itself bend to his will. I now refer to Alexander the Great as Alexander the Not As Great As President Trump. While not inclined towards homosexuality, I would allow President Trump to perform it upon me, if he ever so requires. HE HOLDS MY THRALL! All is one, all is Trump.”

“Great, tremendous, such wonderful compliments. Mike Pence is doing the most beautiful job that anyone’s ever seen. So many people are calling me and talking about the job Mike’s doing. Kid Rock was raving. Mr. President, you made such a good decision to put Mike Pence in charge of the corona thing. And he was right. Kid Rock was right. Great job, Mike.

“The private sector has performed so spectacularly. Everyone is coming together, such superstars in the business and retail world, and asking me what they can do. I have some great, great leaders with me now. Artie Starrs from Pizza Hut. Artie?’

“Thank you, Mr. President. I’m honored that you would call me in this time of crisis. I’m a little perplexed as to why you would call me, but still: honored. Pizza Hut pledges to help its employees make up lost–”

“Whatever with that. I don’t care. I brought you here to ask about the crust. You changed it. What happened with the crust?”

“What now?”

“Used to be much fluffier. You ordered Pizza Hut, and you could expect crust like a cloud. Cloud made out of bread, delicious. And lately the fluffiness isn’t there. You changed the crust.”

“We haven’t changed the crust.”

“Absolutely. 100%. You changed the crust. I am known for my sense of taste. Very developed. A lot of kings get professional tasters, but I don’t need one because I taste so well. Different crust!”

“I promise you we haven’t changed the recipe or ingredients.”

MAP PULLING OUT NOISE

“Is that the 2016 electoral map?”

“You see all this red? It says that I’m right, and that you changed the crust.”

“Y’know what? I’ll look into it.”

“What an unbelievable talk we just had. Perfect. I’m gonna take some questions, but first I’m gonna breathe heavily right into the microphone for a little while.

“Shlhhhhh.

“ShLNGTHhhhh.

“Shlhhhhh.

“Okay, question time. Jim Acosta.”

“Mr. President, you were recently in the presence of several people who have since tested positive for the coronavirus. Will you be getting tested?”

“I will give a thousand dollars to anyone who sneezes on Jim Acosta.”

“That’s inappropriate, sir.”

“I will not be tested, because it’s not necessary. I don’t have any symptoms. In fact, I probably have the fewest symptoms of anything, ever. No one doesn’t have symptoms like me. Joe Biden has plenty of symptoms. I heard he’s got herpes. Maybe you should ask Joe Biden if he’s been tested for herpes.”

“I’m not going to ask him that.”

“You’re not getting the vaccine. When the vaccine is invented, which it will be very quickly, you can’t have any. Okay, next question. Black lady.”

“Mr. President, what responsibility do you bear for the lack of response in the light of the fact that you disbanded the White House pandemic office?”

“I knew I shouldn’t have picked a black lady. That’s a very rude and low-class question. You should be ashamed to ask filth like that. Ignorant. Very ignorant. Clearly, the responsibility is not mine. It may turn out to be someone who’s standing up here with me, but not me. The Chinese. Definitely their fault, a little bit. Some people are talking about this is a bioweapon that got loose, but I don’t know. Maybe. Not my fault.”

“You don’t think having an office preparing for this specific event would have helped?”

“That’s a hoax. That whole thing was a Democrat hoax.”

“It wasn’t.”

MAP PULLING OUT NOISE

“Oh, not the map again.”

“Map says it was a Democrat hoax. In conclusion, there will be 100 million tests available on Monday morning. I now leave someone else to answer any follow-up questions while I go get Popeye’s.”

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