Bridal Party Contest Part 2

Dear Friends,

The Hard Taco song for April is entitled, "Drinking and Sailing." Is this song an instant classic? Maybe, maybe not, but you can't stop me from putting in a hashtag. #instantclassic

Thank you to everyone who participated in last month's Hard Taco Wedding Toast Contest and lost! You are free to resent the big winner, Carina. She was the only contestant to recognize that a roomful of Nazis was the only thing missing from our otherwise perfect Jewish wedding.



The Winning Toast. I'm not sure who Will O'Hare is.

Although this is wrong for so many reasons, Carina has been retroactively awarded the title of 7th Groomsman and her image has been inserted into the back row of this photo of our bridal party, which is now in the Library of Congress.

When you're done with this picture, please put it in the

Library of Congress after-hours drop box.

I have also retroactively added her to this thank-you speech which I gave the night before the wedding. Even if you don't know these people, I hope you can appreciate the sentiments... friendship and brotherhood are universal!

Zach and Lauren Groomsmen Speech March 10, 2001 (Final draft)

I want to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to my groomsmen. You are my brothers, my best friends, my most trusted confidantes. Sometimes, life can dole out some cruel hiccups, but I know that whatever happens, the seven of you will always be there for me. I think it would be fair to say that the likelihood of any of us ever growing apart is about the same as the chance of a terrorist attack on American soil. It's just never going to happen!

Brian. When I first heard you were dating my sister, I thought, "Who is this guy?" Then I found out that you could belch the alphabet in nine languages! Or is it always the English alphabet, but with nine different accents? Either way, come on, get up here and show us. Bri-an! Bri-an! Yahhh! Wooo!

Jeff K. A lot of people don't know this, but you used to have so many pimples. (Pause for laughter and applause.) To commemorate our friendship, here are dozens of tubes of zit cream. Just kidding, Bro! I'm just giving you a hard time... because of the zits!

Ethan. What can I say? I've known you since fourth grade. Sometimes, when people accuse me of not having any black friends, I lie to them and tell them that you are black. Is that weird? Maybe, but I'm sure you understand better than anyone why I do it. Anyway, interesting fact about Ethan... he's the only person in Wisconsin to ever get trapped inside of a riding lawn mower on live TV. True story.

Other Jeff. Let me share an amusing anecdote. Last year, Other Jeff and I went to a performance by Carl the PG-13 Rated Hypnotist. The gimmick is that Carl hypnotizes volunteers from the audience and makes them do and say things that may be inappropriate for children under 13. It's a riot. Anyway, Jeff volunteered, and once he was fully hypnotized, he started telling the audience that he was a Crib Death Survivor! I hadn't known this about him, but his parents later confirmed it for me... he suffered from a bad case of crib death when he was a baby, but at the last minute he made it. I have so much more respect for him now that I know what he's been through. Clearly, he never would have opened up like that for the PG-rated hypnotist we usually go to.

Josh. What's up, Roomie? This guy (pat Josh's head, if available) is the king of elbow grease. One time in college, there was some calypso music playing at our dorm party, and Josh yells, "Conga Line!" Then suddenly everyone else is like, "Did somebody say CONGA LINE?" It was unreal. I guess you had to be there.

Carina. Where are your yarmulke and bow tie? I hate to call you out in front of everybody, but frankly, it's disrespectful. All the other groomsmen are wearing yarmulkes and bow ties, and you're just wearing some kind of fuzzy scarf. If this is your passive aggressive way of getting back at the rest of us for not inviting you to the bachelor party, congratulations, it worked. The wedding pictures are ruined. I hope you're happy. 

Russell. To my new little brother, I only have one thing so say: "Beep! Beep! Initiating startup sequence! Beep! Beep!" That's a private joke between Russ and I, and there's no way I'm going to explain what it means to the rest of you!

Here's another one: "Officer down! Officer down!" Hilarious.

Or how about this one: "Who wants to play some KENO? Anyone? Keno?" That one's an instant classic. #instantclassic

So that's it. My only question is, who is going to be my wingman tonight and dance with the other brides so I can hit on the hot one? (Pat Lauren's head, if available.)

With warmest regards,
Zach