Didja Know / Doncha Know

Dear Friends, 

  If Billboard tracked the popularity of quirky French Murder Waltzes, Hard Taco would easily crack the top 20 with our new song, "Les Cavernes Perigord." Get ready to get your Le Freakon.

  For this month's Hard Taco Digest, I am presenting a charming new feature called, "Didja know? / Doncha know?" There's one DK/DK fact for every day of the month, so try to pace yourself.

Feb 1: Didja Know that if you lined up all the molecules in the human intestine side-by-side they would span the distance between two adjacent football fields Doncha Know? 

Feb 2. Didja Know that all of the salt in a 6 oz bag of popcorn could fill a bathtub the size of a mason jar in less time than it takes to fill a box of tissues with pennies Doncha Know? 

Feb 3. Didja Know that when they aired "I Love Lucy" in Japan, they renamed the show, "I will neglect a very popular problem" Doncha Know? 

Feb 4. Didja Know that Wilt Chamberlain reportedly consumed over 15,000 vitamin supplements? That averages out to nearly three vitamins a day since he was 14 years old Doncha Know! 

Feb 5. Didja Know that Nostradamus foresaw that the lower case letter "y" would be a ubiquitous prefix for popular websites and gadgets by the year 2010? He specifically mentions yBank, ySpools, and yYolk Doncha Know. 

Feb 6. Didja Know that Jeffrey Dahmer had a number of severe food allergies, including wheat, eggs, and most vegetables Doncha Know? 

Feb 7. Didja Know that the origin of the phrase "a feather in your cap?" It used to be customary to place a feather into one's cap in certain situations. The practice has been lost over time, but the phrase lives on, and is used in certain situations Doncha Know. 

Feb 8. Didja Know that there were actually 18 American flags planted on the moon? In this picture Neil Armstrong's caddy,  Buzz, is getting ready to lift one of them out of the ninth hole as Armstrong (not shown) prepares to attempt a 600-yard putt Doncha Know.

Feb 9. Didja Know that the dumbest criminal ever was a man in Pennsylvania who tried to hold up a grocery store, but his pants fell down around his ankles and he fell into a grocery cart that rolled into the parking lot and hit a passing police car Doncha Know?

Feb 10. Didja Know that the original basketball was made of burlap and stuffed with molasses Doncha Know?

Feb 11. Didja Know that I am sending several copies of this month's Hard Taco Digest to Bob Barker (price@www.cbs.com), Tori Spelling (favoriteletters@hotmail.com), and Danielle Steele mailto:awsomed@aol.com) Doncha Know? 

Feb 12. Didja Know that in the World Chess Championship, players are allowed to "take back" a poorly conceived move after their opponent’s next turn, so long as they say, "Oh shoot, I didn't see that Doncha Know." 

Feb 13. Didja Know that in Baton Rouge it is customary for a newly elected mayor to mount his opponent's right hand on a scepter and carry it with him to meetings Doncha Know? 

Feb 14. Didja Know that there are less than 3 Malaysian Ringitts to the Canadian Dollar today Doncha Know? 

Feb 15. Didja Know that the first article in the first issue of Reader's Digest was entitled, “Terrifying Stories of People who were Eaten by Man-Eating Sharks and Lived to Tell About it” Doncha Know? 

Feb 16. Didja Know that television actor Skeletor was actually born Rueben Morris Klinenburg Doncha Know?

Feb 17. Didja Know that an ant can carry 100 times it's body weight and a hummingbird can eat 50 times it's body weight, but you (a human) are already fat Doncha Know?

Feb 18. Didja Know that a woman in Europe bought a new car that had accidentally been filled with spider eggs by the manufacturer? Before the woman realized this, she had already driven over fifty miles and the spiders had all hatched and eaten her Doncha Know. 

Feb 19. Didja Know that in England, men point their umbrellas forwards instead of holding them upright or leaning them on their shoulders Doncha Know?

Feb 20. Didja Know that "The Far Side" was turned down for syndication over 100 times? Gary Larson noted that his success came later, when he stopped submitting as a sample an uncaptioned drawing of a gorilla masturbating Doncha Know. 

Feb 21. Didja Know that the term "Dude" was derived from "Yankee Doodle Dandy" Doncha Know? 

Feb 22. Didja Know that the world's oldest calendar is a bone with notches in it, dating back to 15,000 BC Doncha Know?

Feb 23. Didja Know that the world's second oldest calendar is a bone with notches in it and twelve pictures of adorable baby mammoths Doncha Know?

Feb 24. Didja Know that the Volkswagon Microbus is named after the Pygmy Mouse Lemur (Microbus myoxinus) whose shape and unsettling rattle the minivan emulate Doncha Know?

Feb 25. Didja Know that there was a controversial episode of Rainbow Brite that was never aired? In the episode, "Starlite Star Sprite", Murky and Lurky use the Super Gloom Machine to cause sadness all over Rainbowland and steal all of the Star Sprinkles and Color CrystalsDoncha Know. 

Feb 26. Didja Know that Evelyn Pierrepont was the only Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull to be appointed as Master of the Staghounds Doncha Know?

Feb 27. Didja Know that there are the same number of volcanoes in Pakistan (5) as there are planets in our solar system that are thought not to exist Doncha Know?

Feb 28. Didja Know that Starbucks Coffee uses over 40% of the steam imported into America Doncha Know? 

Sincerely,

Zach

Unleashing the Power of Human Power

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year, Baby. The Hard Taco song for January is the self-referential, "Moderate Rock." A friend of mine uses this term in disgust to describe interchangeable radio-friendly rock songs that are identical in tempo and emotional content. That's actually a tall order to fill, but I did my best.

Speaking of friends, I made a new one this week. His name is Homeless Dave, and he has accomplished three things which will eventually go in his obituary:

1. He interviewed me last week while we rode his home made teeter-totter, and posted the transcript of the conversation on his website.

2. He owns and operates a human-powered laundry machine.

3. He is not really homeless. (I want this one in my obituary, too.)

As it happens, the human-powered laundry machine is by far more interesting than the conversation with me.

After the Teeter Talk, Dave took me on a tour of his basement and introduced me to the device... a stationary bike that spins a standard tub of laundry. This looked terribly inefficient to me, so I scribbled down a few computations to figure out whether switching to man-powered laundry washing was right for me.

The average rider at a continuous road speed of twelve miles per hour can produce 75 watts of energy. (1) The average washing machine uses about 1.24kWh of energy per cycle. (2)

That means that one would need to ride 16.5 hours at 12 miles/hour, which comes out to 198 miles per load. My last load had 23 items, if you count socks separately, which works out to 8.6 miles of riding per article of clothing. However, riding the equivalent of 198 miles in place would cause me to sweat through an average of three full outfits, which means I would need to wash fifteen additional articles (counting socks separately.) I would then be stuck riding an additional 129.1 miles to clean the clothes I soiled washing the first load, which, in turn, would result in two more stinky outfits. Following this logic out to its inevitable conclusion, I have determined that

I need to pedal a mere 228 miles per day to keep up with my current output of dirty clothes (assuming socks are counted separately.)

Human power can be harnessed for a number of applications other than deodorizing linens. Generators, presses, mills, drills, helicopters, ornithopters, submarines, and staplers can all be powered by the human foot. Here is a brief history of landmark pedal-power inventions.

1895 - The first mechanical device that operated solely on human power was the Barnes Velocipede Scroll Saw. "The ideal procedure for cleaving your sundries is by crank and treadle," boasted the catalog advertisement. Nineteenth century environmental activists (both of them) hailed the Barnes Velocipede as the ideal marriage of conservation and industry. Andrew Carnegie purchased 800 units for his Homestead plant, stating, "Wasteful coal-powered scrolling saws are for the pound-foolish. Contrariwise, [child labor] is an abundant, sustainable resource!"

 

1900 - Barnes followed up their first breakthrough with the Velociwrapper, a man-powered apparatus that could roll and unroll gigantic spools of toilet paper at alarming speeds.

 

1931 - One of the reparations outlined in the Treaty of Versailles was that German men would have to give to France all clothes they were not wearing at the time the treaty was signed. Left with a single outfit each, German designers introduced the first hand-powered laundry machine to preserve modesty. This ingenious device allowed a gentleman to submerge himself in the Danube and use pedal-power to wash his clothes without having to remove them.

 

1989 - We used to say, "Take only pictures, leave only footprints," but many environmental activists agree that this is too lenient. This pump-action skateboard was developed so that future habitats would not be spoiled by skaters pushing off on the ground with even one foot.

 
2006 - The B3 Bicycle Blender uses pedal-power to blend juice, grind coffee, and shred documents, while promoting conservation and celebrating active lifestyles. Sit back a little further, and you can make a healthy, life-affirming choice about energy conservation while removing pre-cancerous colon polyps.

 

With warmest regards,

Zach

The Reasonable Demands of the Messiah-God

Dear Friends,

   I recently did my will, and I basically used the standard form, with two exceptions. The first addendum was that I want my beneficiaries to give my Garbage Pail Kids to the poorest orphans they can find. The second is that I want my grandchildren to distribute a laminated pamphlet at my funeral, titled "The 250 Most Remarkable Failures of Zach London." I have already started working on the content of the pamphlet (with the help of my mother) and the graphic design of the pamphlet (with the help of my mother-in-law.)

   Failure # 20 was going to be, "His songs were completely devoid of educational value." Unfortunately, I now have to call my estate planner and have him add a little asterisk with a footnote that will read, "except in December of 2006." That is because the Hard Taco offering for this month is the culmination of several weeks of intensive historical research, entitled, "The First Three Wars." This compilation of brief songs is intended to supplement (or replace) the standard 11th grade American History curriculum. 

   It sounds trite to say, “I am not making this up.” However, in the case of what I am about to write, I feel compelled to say it anyway. 

   I am not making this up. 

   In truth, the facts I am about to tell you could not be any colder or harder.

   Somewhere in the Standish Federal Prison, a level V maximum correctional facility in mid-Michigan, amidst the 16-foot double chain link razor wire fences and five gun towers, lives a man named Chad Dekoven. Mr. Dekoven is serving a sentence for armed robbery of a Taco Bell. Did he rob the Taco Bell? Undoubtedly. Should I he be forced to serve his 20 year sentence? Mr. Dekoven believes that he should not, and the reason is quite simple. 

   He is the Messiah-God. 

   Chad Dekoven, 43, filed a formal complaint to the Michigan District court on April 26, 2001, naming among the defendants the United States, Great Britain, Israel, the Torah, and the publishing company Simon and Schuster.  He sought relief from these entities for wrongs committed against him, due to the failure of these defendants to acknowledge that the plaintiff's was the "Messiah-God" described in the Holy Bible.

   Mr. Dekoven claimed to have been known by over fifty other names throughout history, including Osiris, Ra, Yahweh, Lucifer, the Lamb, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Moses, The Creator, Allah, Satan, Zeus, Abraxas, Apollo, Hercules, Jupiter, Romulus and Remus, Dracula, The President, Job, Noah, Quetzalcoatl, Dionysus, and the holy name he chose for himself, Dakota Belzadok.

His complaint was 125-pages, mostly single-spaced, including over eighty pages of exhibits defending his allegation that he is the Messiah-God. Here is an excerpt: 

III. If the plaintiff can prove by scientific methods that he is the "Messiah," the "Anointed One," the "Alpha and Omega," "God in the Flesh," that the holy bible says was to come, then can any court in the United States or Great Britain, or Israel refuse to grant the plaintiff the relief he requests in this petition/complaint?

The relief that he sought was to be in the form of several political requests, including:

   a. Public acknowledgment by the state of Israel that the plaintiff is the King of the Jews.

   b. Issuance of a full pardon for plaintiff. (He explains that since he owns everything on Earth, he could not be guilty of robbing a Taco Bell.) Alternatively, immediate issuance of a parole, the full duration of which is not to exceed 60 seconds.

   c. Release from prison the killers of Yitzchak Rabin and a declaration of safe passage for Osama Bin Ladin.

   d. A public declaration that the defendant is also Allah and an immediate establishment of a state of peace and disarmament in the Middle East.

   e. A declaration that the founding fathers of America violated the Ten Commandments when they wrote the United States Constitution.

   f. A declaration that he is the rightful President of the United States. (This is based on the fact that his first name is “Chad,” so every vote cast in Florida’s presidential election was actually cast for him.)

Since some of these demands would have been moderately difficult for the Michigan District Court to grant, Mr. Dekoven offerred an alternative. He stateed that he would instead settle for:

   a. 600 million metric tons of .995 fine gold, 25 billion metric tons of refined steel, 50 million metric tons of refined copper, and 250 million metric tons of refined silver.

   b. 50 million metric tons of salt from the Detroit salt mines and 50 million metric tons of copper from Michigan's copper mines.

   c. 500 pairs of mature breeding lake trout, northern pike, small mouth and large mouth bass, perch, coho, brown trout, speckled trout, blue catfish, channel catfish, sturgeon, rock bass, bluegill, sunfish, and salmon.

   d. Five million breeding pairs of bison.

   e. 500 million mature breeding pairs of each species of crab and mollusk that inhabit the waters in the borders of the United States.

   f. 25,000 mature breeding pairs of every creature that exists in the State of Michigan.

   g. 45 million trees of various varieties at least 50 years old. 

   No mention was made of where these plants and animals should be delivered, stored, or kept, or how they would be cared for. 

   In his complaint, Mr. Devkoven explicitly invoked the provisions of several sources of authority upon which he based his claims, including the Holy Bible, the Magna Carta, the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Rights of 1765, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of the Confederation, the United States Constitution, and the Michigan Constitution of 1963. 

   Unfortunately, District Judge David M. Lawson was not swayed by Mr. Dekoven’s scientific methods, which consisted of, “numerology, symbolic name analysis, and sheer repetitive assertion that he is the Messiah-God.”  

   Judge Lawson’s argument to dismiss the case was based on several key precedents. (See footnotes below).  If you wish to speak with the Judge about this decision, his office phone number is (313)234-2660. 

   Mr. Dekoven was ultimately frustrated by the verdict. Being the Messiah-God is taxing enough when you’re not imprisoned. He wrote, “The plaintiff has a million things to get done and every day, every second makes his job that much harder.”   

   Here’s my Andy Rooney-esque wrap-up. Frivolous lawsuits are a tremendous waste of resources, and if there was ever a case for tort reform, this would be it. My recommendation is that the State of Michigan adopt legislation limiting the number of breeding bison that can be awarded in a civil suit to, say, one hundred thousand. Measures should also be taken to insure that if a nation-state is sued for millions of trees, said nation-state should be allowed to forfeit trees of all ages. 

   Finally, and most importantly, Taco Bell needs to relax their security measures a little bit, and stop calling the cops every time God doesn’t feel like paying for a Chalupa.

Sincerely,

Zach

Precedents cited in Judge Lawson’s brief:

1. Grier v. Reagan, 1986 - plaintiff claimed she was God of the Universe and that President Reagan was spying on her using “an electronic eavesdropping device.” She sought items ranging from a size sixteen mink coat and diamond jewelry to a three bedroom home in the suburbs and a catered party at the Spectrum in Philadelphia.

2. Robinson v. Love, 1994 – A prisoner claimed that the prison staff members were holding plaintiff's relatives, friends, and neighbors hostage and that the plaintiff had been subjected to witchcraft. The judge dismissed the case, although he did note that it was “theoretically possible” that the plaintiff was right.

Hard Taco Guide to Disney Sequels

Dear Friends,

   The Hard Taco song for November is a fanfare entitled, "The March of the Elephant and the Bee."  I actually wrote this song when I was 18, but I waited until now to record it so that its release would coincide with the pre-production of Dumbo II. Just in case Disney's new CEO, Robert Iger, has already run out of ideas for songs, I'm offering this one FREE OF CHARGE. 

   In order to get into the mind of a Disney sequel-writer, I hunkered down this week and watched all 25 of the sequels to Disney's "animated masterpieces" in chronological order. If you're not a big DTV (Direct to Video) fan, you may have missed some of these, so I took notes for you...

The Rescuers Down Under (1990) - Bernard and Miss Bianca arrive too late to pull the stingray out of Steve Irwin's chest cavity. 

Return of Jafar (1994) - Jafar is best remembered as one of the many characters not voiced by Robin Williams in the original Aladdin movie. In "Return of Jafar," he is one of the ALL characters not voiced by Williams. Presumably, this is how the movie got its title. ("Robin Williams isn't returning? Crap! Well, who is?) 

Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996) - Aladdin makes a wish with crackers in his mouth, and spends the rest of the movie having to fly around on a magic armpit. 

Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin (1997) - After an ill-advised wager at the dog track, Christopher Robin sheepishly returns to the newly-appointed "15 Acre Wood." 

Pocahontas II: Journey To A New World (1998) - Pocahontas joins an expedition to explore the Western United States. Most of the animators realized that head writer Allen Estrin was confusing Pocahontas with Sacagawea.  Unfortunately, as Japanese-speaking indentured slave children, there was little they could do about it.

The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998) - The continued adventures of Simba, Timon, Pumbaa, Nala, Kiara, Rafiki, Nuka, Nili, Zira, Kovu, Zazu, Umbo, Bilo, Obob, Nubob, Umbob, Jambi, Ibo-Wibo, Pupi, and Uuuu. 

Toy Story 2 (1999) - This was the first Disney sequel to use an actual "2", and the result was box office gold. Pocahontas II and The Lion King II, on the other hand, were complete flops, largely because most viewers mistakenly assumed that were entirely in Latin. 

Fantasia 2000 (2000) - This was actually a piece of futuristic exercise equipment that was designed to fit into a VHS case. Consumers were alarmed to discover that they had not purchased a movie, and even more alarmed to learn how easy it was to tone their abs, hips, and buns in under 15 minutes a day. 

An Extremely Goofy Movie (2000) - After the modest success of "A Goofy Movie," Disney masterfully modified their winning equation of Article-Adjective-Noun to Article-Adverb-Adjective-Noun. Unfortunately, prepositions, gerunds, direct objects, and interjections were not part of the magic recipe, and "An Extremely Goofy Movie Running Over Three Hours. Damn!" did not even make it to video. 

The Tigger Movie (2000) - In which Tigger "bounces" Kanga, and learns a valuable lesson about how emotionally needy single moms can be. 

The Little Mermaid II: Return To The Sea (2000) - Ariel's daughter goes swimming off the side of the royal yacht, and a reef shark bites off her whaddya' call 'em? Oh, feet.   

Lady & The Tramp II: Scamps Adventure (2001) - Those politically incorrect identical cats are back, and this time they're even more disturbing with their song, "We have Lyme Disease, if you please." 

The Hunchback Of Notre Dame II (2002) - This is the unlikely tale of a beautiful woman falling in love with a mentally unstable disfigured recluse. This is also the theme of every Woody Allen movie, but it's more believable when it happens to Quasimodo. 

Cinderella II: Dreams Come True (2002) - This is mostly exposition for the next sequel, "Sin-derella X - The Glass Stripper" 

Return To Never Land (2002) - Peter Pan reveals that the secret to "never growing up" is a simple surgery followed by regular supplements of estrogen and spironolactone. 

Tarzan and Jane (2002) - You can still buy the "Tarzan and Jane Platinum Edition" for a few more weeks, but the "Tarzan and Jane Restored Masterpiece Edition," the "Tarzan and Jane Two Disc Special Limited Issue Extended Collector's Edition" and the "Tarzan and Jane 3rd Anniversary Widescreen Gold Classic Collection" have all been put back into the vault. 

Atlantis: Milo's Return (2003) - Please identify the person, committee, or computer program responsible for deciding to make a follow-up to "Atlantis." Please fire, disband, or uninstall, respectively. Please do this now before we end up with sequels to "Oliver and Company" or "Treasure Planet." 

The Jungle Book 2 (2003) - This movie has only male characters in it, and the most any of them is wearing is a loincloth. How does that make you feel? 

101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure (2003) - In my opinion, this movie is really a rip off of its live-action counterpart, "102 Dalmatians I: One 100 Dalmatians, Too" 

Piglet's Big Movie (2003) - For years, I've been pointing out that If you took off Piglet's arms, legs, and head, he looks just like a funny little red larva. Of course, until I saw this movie, that was only a theory. 

The Lion King 1.5 (2004) - A scathing look at the ethical compromises and improprieties made by the producers of the first Lion King movie while filming on location, including Elton John's involvement with the bloody military insurrections that led to the globalization of the West African slave trade. Featuring new songs by Elton John. 

Mulan II (2004) - A stylish musical set in Paris at the turn of the 20th century about a poet (Ewan McGregor) who falls for a beautiful courtesan (Nicole Kidman) whom a jealous duke covets.

Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (2005) - Disney has always preyed on the insecurities of young women by designing heroines who have bigger eyes than waists. Now, they're telling our children to get breast implants? I am referring, of course, to the hidden message in the title... "Stitch Has a Glitch" unscrambles to "Chic Gals Hath Tits." 

Pooh's Heffalump Movie (2005) - After nearly 100 years of wearing that short red T-shirt, Pooh finally realizes that bare midriffs are OUT. Instead, he sports a stunning violet chiffon and lace crew-necked jacquard coat with marabou Coulisse bag by Alessandro Dell'Acqua. $599. 

Bambi II (2006) - In an unfortunate attempt to reintroduce this classic to younger audiences, Disney hired dirty south rapper Lil Wayne to provide the voice for Bambi's rabbit friend, Thumper. Wayne insisted that the character be renamed "T-Hump" and rewrote all of his lines.  Here is an excerpt: 

Shake that cottontail, honeys / Let's do it like what? Like bunnies / The T-Hump wanna hop 'n jump you / bump you where the money is / Let me start tappin' that / Slappin' that / When the foot starts flappin', gonna pop you like bubble wrappin' / Watch it happen / I'll serve you up underhand / Understand? / I'm the white rabbit, follow me to Wonderland / Got your juices flowin' / No slowin', naw / The Hump ain't done / I keep goin' and goin' / Like the Energizer Bun.

Sincerely,

Zach

Spelling Bees of the Past, Present, and Future

Dear Friends, 

  The Hard Taco song for October '06 is called, "Mouf Breavah." You will find that this is a very satisfying combination of two words to say out loud. Even if the song doesn't get stuck in your head, you will surely find yourself prancing around, saying "mouf mouf mouf" halfway into next week. I felt the same way the first time I heard a song with the word "jiggy" in it.   

  Part of my incentive for introducing alternative spellings like "mouf" into the American rhetoric is that children have become far too good at spelling. In the 1930's, contestants won the National Spelling Bee for spelling words like knack, torsion, deteriorating, and initials. I am not making this up... in 1940 there was only one child in the entire country that could spell the word therapy. I'm not implying that your grandparents were retarded, although it would explain why you never see them working on Science Fair posters.

   Since then, kids have gotten smarter, spelling bees have become more ethnically diverse, and the competition has gotten exponentially fiercer. Some of the winning words from the last ten years have been vivisepulture, antediluvian, chiaroscurist, and succedaneum. 

   I realize that there has already been a documentary about spelling bee contestants, so I am compiling so archived footage into a documentary about spelling bee judges. It will be called "The Pronouncers." Here are a few excerpts: 

("The Pronouncers" - Scripps Howard Spelling Bee, 1944) 

Judge: Your word is, "Ahoy." 

Contestant: Can I have the definition? 

Judge: Ahoy. An interjection used to hail a ship or a person or to attract attention. 

Contestant:  Can you use it in a sentence? 

Judge: Use it in a sentence? 

Contestant: Yes, please. 

Judge: Ahoy! 

("The Pronouncers" - Scripps Howard Spelling Bee, 1961) 

Judge: Your word is, "bishopric." 

Contestant: Enamel. E-N-A-M-E-L. ENAMEL. 

Judge: What? No, your word is, "bishopric." 

Contestant: I'm sorry, I must have misheard you. Acuity. A-C-U-I-T-Y. Acuity. 

Judge: Well, yes, that is that is the correct spelling of that word.  

Contestant: D-W-A-R-F. Dwarf. D-W-A-R-F. 

Judge: Impressive! Wow, that's really good. Did anyone else see that? You're moving on to the next round!   

("The Pronouncers" - Scripps Howard Spelling Bee, 2002) 

Judge: Your word is, "Philamot-symblepharon-rescission-wayzgoose" 

Contestant: Can I have the language of origin? 

Judge: No. 

Contestant: P-H-I-L-A-M-O-T-S-Y-M-B-L-E-P-H-A-R-O-N-R-E-C-I-S-I-O-N-W-A-Y-Z-G-O-O-S-E. 

Judge: (Squeezes bike horn.) So sorry! We were asking for "rescission," which means, "the act of rescinding." You spelled "recision," which means "the act of rescinding, annulling or canceling." (Throws microphone at contestant.) Seriously, get the @#%$! off my stage. 

Contestant: Thank you, Ma'am. 

("The Pronouncers" - Scripps Howard Spelling Bee, 2006) 

Judge: Your word is, "Jiggymouf." 

Contestant: Awwww, yeah! 

(Strobe lights come on, and both start crunk dancing.) 

With warmest regards,

Zach

Elongated Coins - It's Not a Fad if it Lasts Forever

Dear Friends,

The Hard Taco song for September is called, "Lady Sawbones." Listening to this song is like lifting an oil tanker full of AWESOME and hurling it at your neighbor’s house. 

Meanwhile, I have prepared an educational essay on the Elongated Coin craze. If your computer is “slow,” you can learn about Elongated Coins while you’re waiting for the song to download. If your computer is “fast,” you can spend the next four minutes listening to the song now and wallowing in your ignorance about Elongated Coins.

“ILLINOIS, THE LAND OF BUCK NAKED LINCOLN,” 

an Essay in one part about The Elongated Coin craze

by Zach London

I was at one of the rest stops on I-294 last weekend, and they had one of those souvenir penny-stamping machines. You put in two quarters and a penny, turn the crank, and it scrunches your penny into an oblong disc with a commemorative picture of Abraham Lincoln and the phrase, "Illinois, the Land of Lincoln."

Before I ponied up the 51 cents, I did a quick search on LexisNexis, and confirmed that defacing money is illegal under United States Code Title 18 Part 1 Chapter 17 § 331. Specifically, “Whoever fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates, impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens any of the coins coined at the mints of the United States... shall be fined up to $2000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.”

My initial feeling was that an object that would commemorate the great times I had at this particular Chicagoland rest stop might be worth a little hard time. On the other hand, it was hard to ignore the fact that the government-issued penny ALREADY HAS a picture of Abraham Lincoln on it. His face is at a delicate angle on the elongated penny, as opposed to the stark profile on the standard US Mint version. Nevertheless, it is unmistakably the same guy. When you tally up the 51 cent fee and the $2000 fine, it comes out to a pretty stiff price for a better view of the left side of Lincoln's forehead. If I'm going to pay that kind of money, I want to see the FULL MONTY, Mr. President. At least then I would have that tantalizing image to keep me warm during all of those lonely nights in prison between now and 2011. 

Despite their lack of popularity among pretty much everyone, Elongated Coins have been in production since the 1893 World Columbian Exposition. The penny smashing/squishing machines can be found at theme parks, novelty restaurants, aquariums, and observation decks all over the world. Here is the leading website for EC (Elongated Coin) fanatics.

Their slogan is, "For the SERIOUS EC Collector! Less like a hobby... more like an addiction!" This puts a slightly more positive slant on Elongated Coin collecting than their old slogan, "Can you imagine something worth even less than a penny? We can!"

Here are some of the most collectible Elongated Coins. Keep an eye out for them!

Girl Scouts of America Turns 90

Both Jesus and this Rooster Love You

Well-Hung Rake-Limbed People of Guam

Fondly,

Zach