RIP - Joey Ramone Twenty-twenty-twenty-four hours to go
I wanna be sedated
Nothing to do, no where to go, oh
I wanna be sedated

The above lyrics were sung loudly and often in my youth. And taken as commandment - Numb Thyself. Rocket to Russia pumped energy into many a party back then. The Ramones offered those of us less than enamored with the onslaught of disco and glam rock an alternative as we ran from the growing malaise of the mid-to-late 1970's. They served as a lyrically absurd, musically talentless neon exit sign which read: ESCAPE! We're a Happy Family,
We're a Happy Family,
We're a Happy Family,
Me, Mom and Daddy!

Sitting here in Queens,
eating refried beans,
we're in all the magazines,
gulping down Thorazines,

we ain't got no friends,
our troubles never end,
no Christmas cards to send,
Daddy likes men.



-- Rich (howe9@shentel.net), April 16, 2001

Answers

Great job of formatting, Rich.

-- Rich (howe9@shentel.net), April 16, 2001.

Maybe next time we should meet at CBGB instead of McSorley's...

-- (sheenawas@punk.rocker), April 16, 2001.

;)

Hookah, then Belgian monks' brew, then McSorley's...

-- Rich (howe9@shentel.net), April 16, 2001.

Daddy likes men?

-- Uri (sick@fucker.rich), April 16, 2001.

Uri, you saw his picture? What else do you need to know?

-- Rich (is@somebody's.bitch), April 16, 2001.

I actually met Joey Ramone back in 1985. I caught a show at the Beacon Theatre in New York, where I stayed for a couple of days while transitting to a new duty station. The Ramones weren't playing, but I literally bumped into Joey on the sidewalk, where I was about to hail a cab. Perhaps he was at the same show as I was. At any rate, it was immediately obvious to me that I was talking to Joey Ramone. After all, I played my first copy of "Rocket To Russia" so many times that it is simply unplayable now.

My impression of Joey was that he was very tall and painfully skinny - - almost skeletal -- and that he had a LOT of hair. Upon almost bumping into me, he sized me up and asked (in a thick New Yorker accent) "you gotta cah? I was s'posta hava cah waitin fuh me."

I didn't have a car, but I shared my cab with Joey. He smelled funny, but he gave me an autograph.

Thanks for the fun music and the fun memories, Joey. You are missed.

-- Already Done Happened (gabba@gabba.gabba.hey), April 16, 2001.

I bet he bowed down at your feet and worshiped you Already Done Happened. It is rare to be in the company of one who is such an eruditic wonder such as yourself. The rest of us plebians here at Unks thank our lucky stars to be in the company of such greatness.

-- Joey wasn't the only one in the cab (who@smelled.funny), April 16, 2001.

"I bet he bowed down at your feet and worshiped you Already Done Happened."

You left out a comma. Minus five points.

"It is rare to be in the company of one who is such an eruditic wonder such as yourself."

"Erudite" is an adjective all by itself. "Eruditic" is a linguistic monstrosity, and is never appropriate. Plus, you left out another comma. Minus ten points.

"The rest of us plebians"

You correctly refer to yourself as a "plebeian," though you misspelled it. Minus five points.

"here at Unks"

You missed an apostrophe in the possessive. Minus five points.

"thank our lucky stars to be in the company of such greatness."

Okay. This part is fine. And you -- in particular -- SHOULD be thanking your lucky stars to be in my company. Typically, I do not attend pro wrestling events or tractor pulls, where your species most frequently congregates.

In any event, your final score is 75. You're scoring well enough to stay on the football team, but you'll never amount to anything in life if you don't try harder, young man. See me after class. We need to have a little discussion about you living up to your potential.

-- Already Done Happened (oh.yeah@it.did.com), April 17, 2001.

Well now that we know that "daddy likes men" I can assure you that I will not be visiting you after class. Plus we are hooking up a monitor to your person to make sure you stay at least 500 yards from ALL-BOY schools.

-- Joey wasn't the only one in the cab (who@smelled.funny), April 17, 2001.

Your objection is to Rich's post, not mine.

I can see that we are going to have to work on your reading comprehension skills as well, or you're just going to do very poorly on the SATs. That means you'll never get out of the trailer park.

-- Already Done Happened (oh.yeah@it.did.com), April 17, 2001.

Already - as long as you keep smelling that terrible, I and the rest of your neighbors WILL leave the trailer park (if they don't condemn it first).

-- Joey wasn't the only one in the cab (who@smelled.funny), April 17, 2001.

No trailer here. 90-year old house.

Are you going to work on your reading and writing skills, or am I going to have to call your parents for a conference?

-- Already Done Happened (oh.yeah@it.did.com), April 17, 2001.

Call my parents for a conference? Dad, what are you talking about? You'll be talking to yourself....again. Hope it doesn't run in the family.

-- Joey wasn't the only one in the cab (who@smelled.funny), April 17, 2001.

Nurse? NURSE??? Ritalin, STAT!!!

We have to stabilize this child's attention span!

-- Already Done Happened (oh.yeah@it.did.com), April 18, 2001.

Dad, the nurse condfided in me that she was more concerned about your abnormal behavior than mine. I told her to be kind to you though.

-- Joey wasn't the only one in the cab (who@smelled.funny), April 18, 2001.

Amazing. Some people want to have a thread to commemmorate the passing of one of their favorite musical artists. Some other person or people want to use it as a springboard to hassle posters.

You're a sad sack of shit, anony-troll. A sad sack of shit, indeed.

If you have anything else you'd care to say to me, then perhaps you can start a thread for that purpose. Call it what you like; I'll give you your full measure of abuse.

-- Already Done Happened (oh.yeah@it.did.com), April 18, 2001.

I'll respect Joey, but I'll be around to keep you in check. Just a little fun between two anony-trolls.

-- Joey wasn't the only one in the cab (who@smelled.funny), April 18, 2001.

You have no respect for Joey, or else you would have found some other thread (there are plenty) to leap about like a chained monkey.

You're not keeping me in check, as there are plenty of threads with my bootprints all over them. If you want to slow me down, you'll have to do better than holding your nose and going "pee-you."

And I may be anonymous, but I'm no troll. I have facts, evidence, reason and proof on my side. You have . . . um . . . ahh . . . nothing on your side.

Pick another thread, troll. There are plenty with me already there.

-- Already Done Happened (oh.yeah@it.did.com), April 19, 2001.