Links’ To Love: Nine Pound Hammer – Rob Bourassa
This fellow smokes! Enjoy his quicky version of “Nine Pound Hammer”. More fun video from Links’ To Love!
Heinous Rynz Coins YouTube “America’s Time Machine”
Ukulele master, Stretchlinks member and cultural philosopher Heinous Rynz can often be found sipping ice tea from a large brandy snifter, strumming his uke and waxing poetic about the evolution of society and the deeper meanings of social media.
“My humble desire is to share wisdom with those unfortunate American’s who may lack a certain historical perspective. Some of it comes from an iron deficiency while others suffer from a lack of sleep or overexposure to household cleaners. Hell, I’ve heard even eating too much cinnamon can make you ignorant to history. But what all American’s can get excited about is the marvel of new media and particularly the societal profundity of YouTube.”
Yes, Heinous did say “profundity” in a sentence, even modifying it with the heady term, ”societal” which by some standards makes him an elitist while in other circles it simply means he likes the sound of the word. According to long time friend and Stretchlinks partner Uncle Wonkles, Heinous will often repeat long, multi-syllable words aloud late into the night simply to experience their “musicality”.
“When we’re on the road I honestly don’t sleep most nights. Heinous has this way of focusing on certain vowel sounds and then just pummeling them over and over through the night. I’m usually bringing in the morning donuts by the time he finishes his “verbal calisthenics” as he likes to call em.”
Despite his admirable infatuation with words, what Heinous seems to most genuinly admire is the cultural revolution, the sheer science fiction of the YouTube phenomenon.
“You have this place you can go that is essentially the closest thing to a true Time Machine that man has ever created.” Heinous explains.
The amiable philosopher sets down his tea and scoots forward with an earnest smile.
“Imagine being transported to your parents’ home TV circa 1974. The color sucks, reception is fuzzy, you place your hand to the screen and get a satisfying static charge. You’re 11 years old again and you’re obsessing about a TV commercial, waiting desperately with a mix of fear and excitement for that one: 60 seconds of joy to share it’s glorious message of mirth and material satisfaction. And when it arrives, when is “airs”, it makes you whole, confirms that you are indeed an American Boy.
BAM!
Now it’s 34 years later and suddenly, there it is on YouTube, that same :60 seconds with its titillating shrill music and that eerie smiling actor boy who you had long ago pushed from your prepubescent memory. The history, the sounds, the smell, the happy faces, your childhood in all its facets descends on you like a synaptic freight train and you relive your youth in a way you never thought possible. But it’s not just advertising, it’s movies, songs, iconic events long since forgotten until the simple push of a button transports you through TIME.”
Heinous leans back breathless, then with an enormous sigh, drains the last of his tea.
Stretchlinks News: Democrats and Republicans Genetically Linked
Speaker Of The House, Nancy Pelosi (D) brushes her brown hair from her eyes with a familiar avian twitch then peers pensively down the bustling hallways of the House Chamber. “I agreed to the testing, but only under protest”.
Pelosi refers to a little known genetic study funded by the National Science Foundation that has conducted extensive gene profiling of many government officials including both houses of congress. The ongoing study was launched in early 2001 and now after repeated delays is releasing a comprehensive genetic database that will soon be available online through the Freedom Of Information Act.
Perhaps the most stunning revelation from early leaks of the research reveal the striking similarity and in some cases exact genetic matches between Democrats and Republicans. According to Stanford geneticist Dr. Hans Frugel, American political figures share many peculiar genetic features. Frugel explains “Some of this homology includes a propensity toward profound, even pathological personality traits that lead to ubiquitous Inside the Beltway conditions including; Morbid Reticence, Torpid Solution Disorder and a rare form of uncontrolled speech known as Trot Jaw.” Unconfirmed sources have told Stretchlinks News (SN) that Trot Jaw has been responsible for the death of four unnamed House Members since 2004.
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R) lopes through his latest complaints on the White House then moans deeply at the mention of the Study.
“These things have a way of sneaking up on you” He protests. “I was tested back in 2002 and had forgotten about the whole thing.” Boehner sneers, twisting his lower lip downward. “I’m just not anything like my democratic counterparts. The idea that we could be alike in any way or share any of the same values, morals or constitutional beliefs is simply ludicrous. I don’t need a genetic test to tell me that.”
Despite his dismissive remarks, sources tell SN that both Speaker Pelosi and Mr. Boehner do indeed suffer from “MR” or Morbid Reticence, a serious condition which has been known to lead to the demise of many civilized societies.
Links’ To Love: Doc Watson “Deep River Blues”
Enjoy this sweet country bluegrass classic “Deep River Blues” by the legendary artist, Doc Watson. More Links’ To Love video!
Comedy Music Duo, The Stretchlinks Blame “Stupid”
Uncle Wonkles mumbles in a kind of endearing murmur that often requires a steep lean-in to hear all of what he has to say. Today, the elusive singer and writer of the comedy duo, The Stretchlinks rests casually atop a formidable stack of broken reel to reel tape machines piled in the corner of his Burbank, CA office slurring his way through an elliptical but amusing theory about America’s troubles – and perhaps some of his own.
“America’s Stupid,” he explains. “In the dazed, confused kind of way. Stupefied, you might say. No one can think clearly. Nobody. You don’t have to be blind to see it. We’ve all gotten numb. And you can save the hate mail cuz I’m not saying we’re all a bunch of dopes, that’s another debate entirely. It’s just that we’re caught in a trance, a mindless stare that’s allowing an awful lot of silly things to happen in this country. I’ve seen it in the flesh and it’s not pretty.”
Wonkles first hand experience with Stupid began 16 months ago while hammering nails into an 8-foot 2×4.
“I figured I’d do some hammering. I own a great hammer, loads of nails, that sort of thing. Thing is I realized a bit too late that my hammering might not have a particular purpose.”
Wonkles continues in a low somber tone, his startling blue eyes and perhaps most of the rest of him, fixed on an elusive point in the distance.
“Kind a spooked me really. See most of the time you get out the hammer and nail after a great deal of measuring, designing and consideration. That’s how I’ve always done it. Perhaps you want to build something for your kids or widen a doorway and all that kind of stuff. People get really happy when it’s done right. Wood just comes in real handy for those sorts of things. Instead, my “plan” was to just hammer nails into a piece of wood.”
According to Wonkles the inexplicable hammering went on for most of that afternoon until he had exhausted his entire supply of 3,200 nails and left his palms near bloody with the effort. Once the lumber was saturated with the sharp metal, he carried it to a neighboring office and did his best to gift the ungainly and now dangerous piece.
“I thought it might be of use to someone,” Wonkles continued. “All those nails, right there on a piece of wood. You wouldn’t even have to look for them cuz every nail you owned or might need to own would be right there.”
The reaction from his neighbors was not what he expected. Seven local fire teams responded and to Wonkles’ amazement proceeded to comb the area for flammables, explosives and reports of toxic gasses emanating from The Stretchlinks’ offices.
“I gotta’ say though, these guys wore the greatest gear. Fire retardant, waterproof, rip proof and the stuff smelled great, kind of a fresh peach smell. They had oxygen tanks, CPR gear, GPS, hook and ladder. None of them seemed all that interested in my lumber though. And that’s partly what I’m talking about. All these smart, trained professionals. They just stood around looking dazed, bewildered. And I’ve seen that look before, not just on fireman or paramedics but on the faces of a lot of Americans these days, people looking pretty darn Stoo-pi-fied.”
The Burbank police did confiscate his nail-board. However with only a modest fine for disturbing the peace, Wonkles was able to return to work the following day. Back in his offices the next morning and feeling generally sanguine about the affair, Wonkles had these final thoughts.
“We just gotta’ help each other, come together as good citizens and watch out for the stupid stuff.”