Tag Archives: underground

“An Afternoon On The Playground”

From BIUL #1 (2014).

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Filed under Comix Classic & Current, Girls of BIUL, Magazine Rack, Site Stuff

Million Dollar Extreme

I love great sketch comedy, and as demonstrated on this site, I have tremendous nostalgia for the video industry of the 1980’s and ’90s. By nature I am protective of those things, out of love. I have little tolerance of exploitation of them.

I believe the modern peak of sketch comedy came with two shows; Mr. Show with Bob & David, and The Kids In The Hall (both on HBO). Since the 1990s, these programs set the gold standard. Inevitably, new sketch comedy shows are compared to them, and they seldom hold up. I don’t think The State gelled until they became Reno 911. Broken Lizard has fantastic moments; generally one or two per film. Too many comedy groups nowadays are post-UCB; all manic energy, no focus. That’s fine if the group is performing live for an drunken bar audience. TV is a different matter.

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Filed under Bad Influences, Nostalgic Obsessions, Unfairly Maligned

You Can Pick Your Nose, But You Can’t Pick Your Fans

A stalker once told me, as though it validated his abhorrent behavior, “You can pick your nose, and you can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your friends’ friends.” Admittedly, that’s partly true.

I mean, you’re welcome to pick your nose, if you’d like to be ostracized from society and make everyone sick at the same time. You can pick your friends, provided they’re in the same socio-economic class as you are, and they don’t consort with a better version of your identity. And you can’t pick your friends’ friends, who, for all you know, could be royalty, or morally repugnant wasted orgasms.

If you create art and/or entertainment, you don’t get to pick and choose who likes it.

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Filed under Bad Influences, Don't Know Don't Care, Girls of BIUL, Uncategorized

Dead Kennedys

Real political subversion will be hidden from you by the media. When do you see a current celebrity interacting with rioters, or a mob of angry protesters? Never? There you go.

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Filed under Bad Influences, Comix Classic & Current, Faint Signals, Thousand Listen Club

The Day Pekar Died


From BIUL #1.

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Filed under Comix Classic & Current, Faint Signals, Magazine Rack, Thousand Listen Club

Prideful Moments

From BIUL II.

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Filed under Bad Influences, Comix Classic & Current, Worst Of All

Name Your Rock Band

A long, long time ago, on a website far away, there was a thing that pulled in page-views like a drunken champion. It was about 50% my creation. The rest was appropriately and totally ripped off.

It was called “Name Your Rock Band”.

For the first handful of years of the 21st century, it was the most popular page on my site, Mike The Pod. In truth, it goes back even farther than that.

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Filed under Bad Influences, Faint Signals, Idiot's Delight, Site Stuff

Willy Murphy

If you don’t recognize the name in the title, it’s okay. I’m not gonna browbeat you this time. This guy takes a lot more effort to be aware of, so don’t feel bad if you’re unfamiliar. In fact, let me introduce you to one of the funniest underground cartoonists of the 20th century.

From San Francisco Comic Book No. 4, 1973.

If you’ve read Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor, you’ll recognize Murphy’s distinctive style. Willy was as much a natural talent as Gilbert Shelton or Robert Crumb.

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Filed under Comix Classic & Current, Faint Signals, Magazine Rack, Nostalgic Obsessions

Ancient Carvings

From BIUL II.

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Filed under Bad Influences, Comix Classic & Current, Faint Signals, Magazine Rack

Green Cards

On this special day, as many gather to celebrate the incineration of healing plants (or Hitler’s birthday/anniversary of Columbine, for the sickies), please enjoy these clip-n-save trading cards. They’re just the thing you need, for when you have to deal with the dark side of getting stoned.

Ask Mom for help before toking up, or using the scissors on your computer monitor. Fold along center line.

“The Microphone”

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Filed under Bad Influences, Comix Classic & Current, Eatable Things, Idiot's Delight, Magazine Rack