Tacky Raccoons

Folks, I’m glad to be back on this glorious day. Marshal Penguin has obviously done an excellent job while I was gone, and I thank him for his professional services while I was relieving the officers in charge of the eastern front. Gramma Strutts is in the early stages of alzheimer’s, and I had to view the frontlines. All in all, it was a successful mission. We have a plan, and it is being implemented.

While on my excursion, I read a book that my lovely wife, Mrs. Strutts, had given me for Fathers’ Day.

I finished reading it in two days… and then read it again.

“Lone Survivor” by Marcus Luttrell is a must read for everyone over the age of 16. Luttrell describes his training as a Navy SEAL in the first half of the book. That training regimen is amazing by itself. These guys are the best of the best.

The remaining portion describes the experiences that he and three other Special Ops warriors experienced fighting the Taliban in the brutal mountains of the Hindu Kush, four against 200 enemy fighters. The true story is a can’t-put-it-down white-knuckle read.

Forget the opinions of CNN, nightly news, BBC, Associated Press, Reuters, NY Times, etc. This is the real deal; an amazing glimpse into the mind of a true warrior, his training, and what he was capable of doing with that training. Honest. Get it and pass it on.

Your Pal Bunk

[Image from here.]

Chuck. You don’t even have to say his last name before he roundhouse kicks you for even thinking that he might be not be invincible. Chuck vs. Jim vs. Mr. is an awesome conundrum, mainly because all three are good guys who wouldn’t be pounding each other down for the count. They’d join forces and pound ME down for even suggesting such an absurdity. They would, but they won’t. They’re good guys, just like me.

IF there was a three-way match up between Captain Kirk, Mr. T, and Chuck Norris, CN has a definite edge.

Firstly, he’s got all THE FACTS on his side. THE FACTS are a formidable weapon by themselves, and basically negate any argument regarding the possibility of Norris being somewhat inferior to Kirk and T.

Secondly, he’s still got all THE FACTS. No argument.

Thirdly, all THE FACTS are true.

Looks to me like Chuck Norris wins the tournament, as he’s standing right behind me as I post thIN NO WAY COULD CAPTAIN KIRK OR MR. T BEAT ME EITHER INDIVIDUALLY OR IN A TWO-ON-ONE MATCH SIGNED CHUCK NORRIS. TYPE IT AND POST IT. NOW. GET AWAY FROM YOUR KEYBOARD. I’LL HIT SEND.

[Related posts here and here. Related archive here.]

Mr. T., heh. There’s no one quite like the T-man, but that’s not what this post is about. It’s about whether or not he could take out Captain Kirk and Chuck Norris. Tough assignment, to be sure.

T’s strong points:

He don’ take no jibba-jabba from no foo. Kirk takes jibba-jabba from foos, and so does Norris. No one really knows what Mr. T does with that jibba-jabba, and since he don’t take none, my guess is he be give it back right away.

Secondly, he’s got little South Vietnamese flags stitched into his denim vest thingy. Neither Jim nor Chuck could pull that off without embarrassing criticism.

3rd advantage: Mr. T has more merchandise on the market than Kirk and Norris combined. (To keep this a fair competirion, generic “Star Trek” stuff doesn’t count. Has to be Captain Kirk paraphernalia.) There is so much T stuff that I can’t name them all, as they include cartoons, “T” shirts, posters, metal lunch boxes, crayons, cookie jars, bathtub toys, breakfast cereal, toothpaste, socks, underwear, baby spoons, floor wax and snow tires.

Yeah, I know he can punch sharks, but so could Fonzi. Cheez.

Strong suit: Well, HE IS MR. T. He’s got serious in-your-face attitude, and could conceivably turn it up to 11 when facing Kirk or Norris, and get them to back down without throwing a punch.

Mr. T is clearly the winner in the merchandise category. He’s got the wire brush mohawk going for him, and he’s got the foos (Kirk and Norris) seriously pitied.

Because of these strong points, Mr. T is a top-notch candidate for the Big ‘Ol Gold Belt.

[Related posts here and here. Related archive here. Coming up tomorrow: Chuck Norris.]

[Found at Arbroath.]

Twilight Zone-ish.

Interesting documentary… Interviews of some of the patrons of the “Spin Cycle” laundromat somewhere in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Oh, yeah. “Ya ya ya aya…” Gotta post some music. Do not mock those who try.

[Also found at Arbroath.]

Howlin’ Wolf’s classic “Smokestack Lightning.”

[UPDATE: The bass player in this clip is Willie Dixon. THE Willie Dixon. Sorry I missed giving him credit. Dixon wrote a number of songs that later became rock standards. He recorded some albums himself, and didn't stutter when he sang. More after the break below.]

“Theme to Peter Gunn.” Here’s Henry Mancini’s live version, introduced by Steve Allen. (The horn section rocks, whether you like it or not.)

Last Post on THIS Spin Cycle: The Late Great Roy Buchanan’s explosive take on Mancini’s “Theme to Peter Gunn.” (This one’s for all you Aussies - Thanks for the hula-hoops, mates!)

(more…)

Nope, it’s not an art project. The video from the LA Times kinda sorta explains it… In any case, 400,000 black balls are saving the planet or something.

[Image from here.]

[Just a reminder: Tomorrow, 17 June 2008 - Firefox Guinness Book of World Records Download! Pass it on!]

Pong of the future.

Analog Pong of the past.

I’m not sure, but I think this has something to do with the Pong of “Brokeback Mountain.”

Yeah, I know. The “eew” factor just kicked in for me, too. Just a few more days of posting on FinPeng’s site, and I’ll be back here full time with less temporary insanity. I’m wiped out.

[GIF's from somewhere in here, here, and someone who linked to this. I dunno Babs. But I do know this. That costume is, ah, politically correctly called, um, joyous.]

Well, well, well. What do we have here?

Looks like it’s time for the Dorkville Senior Prom, and someone’s dad brought home some scrap plywood and 1×6 roof sheathing from the jobsite again. He snagged an aerosol can of expansive foam insulation as well. The same someone’s mom scored some water color poster paint from the art supply room at Dorkville Elementary while Mrs. DeFarcas was busy washing the wheat paste off of Bobby Bieber’s face. Who could that someone be?

Trey Johnson. He’s that little s.o.b. from down the street that tried to let air out of your tires and only managed to release a half-pound before his fingernail ripped when you hit him with the garden hose on Halloween night a coupla years back. Now he’s a junior at Dorkville High, and he owns a staple gun. He tried to flatten your spare with it just last week.

Not much I can say that’s not intuitively obvious to the casual observer, except that TJ really screwed up the fit of the trunk and had to replace both rear light assemblies (you can’t chip away that foam insulation without damage) and got no dates for his trouble. Even the Dorkville Cheerleaders laughed at him.

Yet another great Babe Magnet. Pure efficient genius.

[Image from here.]

Forget painting their toenails red to hide in cherry trees. That is SO old school.

(Pssst… don’t tell her… pass it on.)

[Images from here and here.]

There’s just something not quite right with “The Howlies” but they have a Southeast Asian Fan Club based in Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City to give them some credibility. With some polish, this coulda been a great video, but it’s just unpolished enough to be kinda scary, and the little wolfie hats don’t help. (Bunky likes it, but not as much as this.)

Mickey Rooney rocks out with Dorothy…

The Beat Farmers‘ “Big Ugly Wheels” featuring the late great Country Dick Montana. (This one’s for Aussie Phil.)

If that one doesn’t play, here’s their excellent version of Neil Young’s “Powderfinger.”