Mad Magazine

     When I was a kid I used to drool over the magazine and comic racks at our local grocery store and pharmacy. Sometimes my Mom would give in to my pleas and let me take home a comic or a magazine with pull out posters or hot rods or an upcoming film. The one thing I really wanted that she would never give in on was Mad Magazine.
     One summer on our annual pilgrimage to the beach, I stretched out in the way-back of the family Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser. I had a Walkman on and a couple of books to get me through the trip. I don't think we were even out of the neighborhood when Mom tossed the latest issue of Mad back to me. I remember the moment very clearly. Man, I was stoked!
     I read through the issue several times through on that trip. Even though some of the jokes and humor were over my head at the time, I was hooked on the satire, the irreverence and the healthy disrespect of authority. After that first issue, I became a loyal reader buying and keeping every issue for years and years to come.
     The summer after I graduated high school I was cleaning things out of my room in preparation to move into a place of my own. At some point in my teenage years, the humor rag became less important than gas money and entertaining girls and I had stopped reading. When I came to my stack of back issues I skimmed a few covers before tossing them all into a garbage bag. Man, to have those issues back now...
     In college I got my hands on 7 CDs containing every issue from '52 to '98. This covered my time as a loyal reader and more. I had checked in on the magazine a few times here and there since we parted ways. In 2001, disappointingly they started to run real advertising previously only running parody ads. I felt that this cheapened things a bit and was a slap in the face from one of my biggest influences to question authority and rebel against the establishment. 
     I guess it is true what they say, nothing is sacred. All the same, last week I was feeling nostalgic and looked into the CDs and found that first issue, one of several covers featuring Hulk Hogan. I started to read it and then figured I shouldn't shortchange myself of the real experience so I got on ebay and ordered myself an original. It came earlier this week.
     Its funny, the things you can remember. There is a familiar off-white that the pages always had and the distinct smell still lingered. I remembered the articles and even specifics such as the gag in the Spy vs Sky cartoon and the fold-in on the inner back cover. I could recall the answer without having to fold it.
     As we get older, and experience more we lose the joy that can come with firsts. Nothing could replicate how I felt the first time I read Mad but having this was an amazing nostalgic throwback to a time in my life that was easier...simpler. Even though I paid more than double the $1.35 cover price, the feeling I get thumbing through this issue is something you just can't put a price on.

Q&A, Part 5

11. What is your favorite food? My Mom makes a dish called Noodlebake that has noodles (duh), ground beef, olives, onion, cheese...basically everything awesome in it. It is a real pain in the ass to make so she only cooks it for me once a year. It usually doesn't last more than 24 hours.

12. What scares JBMFT? The thought of not being able to take care of my family or feeling like I failed or disappointed them. That and bears when I camp.

13. How is it that you and your wife both have dark hair and your kids are blonde? What gives with that? I was blond when I was a kid and as I got older my hair got darker. My guess is that this will happen with the girls eventually...that or my wife has some explaining to do.

14. What's your biggest weakness? Indecision. Close second would be my inability to stop worrying about things.

15. What's the story with your necklace tattoo? It is a St. Jude, the Saint of lost causes and desperate situations. Many years back I took a trip to St. Jude's Children's Hospital in Memphis, TN. I was going through a rough spot in my life so I bought a necklace at the gift shop and immediately put it on. After years of never taking it off, I thought it would be a fitting tattoo. I still have the old necklace.

16. What one gig from playing in bands stands out most in your mind as the best and favorite one?
I played in a band called Pure Crap years ago and our shows were always really fun. We always got sloshed before we got on stage. There were only two of us with acoustic guitars and our songs were all goofy to begin with. There was a lot of room for jokes and fooling around. It great to be in a band where the people on stage could heckle the crowd. What about the worst? Being in an experimental/prog rock/jam band and getting booked out of town not knowing you'd be opening up for thrash metal bands. We met the other guys beforehand and everything was cool but we were young and nervous. Before we hit the stage we agreed to play all the songs at double the normal tempo and scream all the lyrics. We didn't nail it but we didn't get booed off the stage either.

17. What's one place worldwide you've never been to, but would like to go? What would you want to do there? That is a big question. Other than places that are ravaged by war or places where they hate Americans, I would like to see and do it all. 

18. What is your favorite music artist/band, other than Representative Slice, of course?  
Matthew Sweet, no contest. He is a great songwriter, producer and performer. My feelings on this one are likely peppered by nostalgia since I have a lot of great memories that tie back to listening to his music. Any time I have answered this question in the past people seem surprised...I should know by now just to say "Motorhead" and move on.

19. Name someone you look up to and admire. / Whom would you consider your hero(es) ?
David Morrell, Lemmy and Panhead Billy.

20. If you could only drink one alcoholic beverage (one kind, not one drink period) what would it be? Beer. There are so many beers to choose from, seems like it would never get old.

Article on BamaRides

     I had another article published on the front page of BamaRides.com earlier this month. It's a bit of reflection on the recent OK is OK road trip vs the cross-country trips I have taken before. I'm giving them exclusive content you won't find on this blog so check it out here.

The Greasy Shop Rag

     My friend Voy has a blog you should read. It's called The Greasy Shop Rag.

Here is an excerpt from his second post, a great example of why you should follow it:

 Regarding his 1972 Kawasaki Mach III: "I had a lot of bikes come and go but this one stayed around for a few years. I finally traded it for a fast car. Looking back I now see that was a mistake but this blog is about bikes, not stupid crap I did in a car.
 I missed the bike after I traded it and longed for that rush that you get from a multi-cylinder two stroke. I picked up a 500cc version later in life but it just wasn't the same. The bike followed me around for a few moves until I found out a friend needed the engine for parts. I loaded the engine into a small trailer I towed behind my Kawasaki Voyager, hauled it 950 miles to a bike rally, and traded it for dinner. I was on a budget and considered it a fair trade."

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 New Dice with subscriber bonus.

BF4 shirt and stickers, thinking more and more about heading out there this year...

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