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Showing posts with label party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label party. Show all posts

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Licking the frog to get high


I recently received an email with little-known facts about life and the world we live in.
Information such as at any given hour there are more than 61,000 people in airplanes over the United States is interesting.
Well, it is to me anyway, which gives you some idea of just how pathetic my life is and just how easily amused I a can be.
I would also find life much easier if there were not so many shiny things lying about to distract my already distracted brain.
Another amusing, yet absolutely useless piece of information is the first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone.
Oh, how times have changed.
Now it would be acceptable to show Fred and Barney in bed together.
Anyway, one of the items in the email of useless (but interesting) information sent me on a short-lived quest to verify the validity of the claim.
The statement was simple: you cannot lick your elbow.
My first thought was, “Why would you want to?”
My second thought was, “I wonder if that is true.”
So I casually found a quiet space where, that’s right, you guessed it, I tried to prove them wrong.
Feel free to give it a try yourself. Go ahead, you know you want to.
You have likely just learned the same thing I did, which is the same thing the original author learned and that is you can’t lick your elbow.
Perhaps some people can, but they are as rare as an honest politician.
I got to wondering who the first person to try this feat was, and more importantly why did they try it.
I guess some people just have waaaay too much time on their hands.
It is just another example of people doing strange things that most of us probably would never even think of trying.
The elbow incident got me thinking about other strange activities and how they came to be. There have been stories over the years about people licking toads and frogs to get high.
First of all, that is truly disgusting. Secondly, who knew licking an amphibian would give you a buzz?
Who was the first person to lay tongue to toad and think, “Wow, that’s groovy man.”
Were they sitting around a campfire moaning about not having any money for beer when a frog hopped across the lawn and someone said, “I know, let’s lick that frog for fun?”
The only thing stranger than the guy who came up with the idea, is the person he got to join him in getting fresh with a frog. I refer to the inventor of the getting-personal-with-a-frog-as-a-form-of-entertainment game as a male, because, honestly, I do not know any females dumb enough to try licking a frog for fun.
Or perhaps it started at Woodstock where someone decided to take the ‘experimental stage’ of their life to the next level and include woodland swamp creatures to help with the expansion of their mind.
“Hey, what’s wrong with Mikey? He’s freaking out.”
“He got hold of some bad frog, man.”
“Bummer man, I wonder how many flies he’s gonna eat before he comes down.”
In my years on this earth, I have never considered a frog a party accessory, but others have and if it wasn’t for those willing to push the limits of idiotic behaviour, there would be much less to talk about in this world.
Thank goodness it never caught on, or police would be raiding grow ops one week, and frog farms the next.
“Pssst, hey buddy. You lookin’ to score some amphibian? I got frog. I got toad.”
And as everyone knows, frogs are the gateway amphibian.
One minute it’s a simple pond frog, then it’s a big ol’ bullfrog and the next thing you know, you’re all the way up to snogging an iguana.
Pretty soon you are sleeping in the bushes next to the zoo just waiting for the chance to sneak in under the fence and make off with a creature of the Kermit variety.
Instead of asking for spare change, you are asking for directions to the nearest swamp.
As if actually licking a frog was not enough of a reason not to try it in the first place, the thing that creates the ‘high’ is actually a mild poison secreted from the critter to fend off attackers.
How smart do you have to be to ingest poison for a cheap high?
I guess if you are willing to lick a frog in the first place, the answer presents itself.

Friday, March 27, 2015

Hide and seek - some assembly required

Who hasn't played hide and seek in their younger years?
I even play it now (when the inlaws come over that is).
But a group in the Netherlands is taking the game to a whole new level. They wanted to organize a game of hide and seek at a massive Ikea store in Amsterdam and more than 19,000 people signed up.
Pretending not to completely freaked out, a store spokesperson said, while Ikea does not want to stop people from having fun, it is just not safe to have that many people in the store playing a game.
An event at a second store saw 13,000 people sign up and once again had Ikea officials freaking out and shutting down the fun and games.
"In general we are happy our customers are playful and want to have fun together with friends and family,” said the spokesperson. “But unfortunately this hide and seek phenomenon has reached proportions where we can no longer guarantee the security of those who are playing or our customers and employees.”
I did not even know there was such a thing as an Ikea hide and seek phenomenon.
My understanding is someone noticed the stores were so large they make a great place for the age-old game and they invited a few friends to play. Then those friends invited a few friends and the next thing you know thousands of people wanted to get in on the fun.
I have been to Ikea stores – mostly because my wife makes me. She loves Ikea. She loves to wander around and look at all the different items and get ideas for what she would like to do in our home.
I follow her like a lost puppy dog trying not to look too bored, because while I do not love Ikea, I do love my wife, so it is part of my husbandly duties.
Kind of like putting up with, I mean, enjoying a delightful visit from those inlaws I was telling you about earlier.
We have purchased a few items from Ikea which, of course, has to be assembled by the purchaser using a wonderfully 'informative' set of instructions. Basically, they are a piece of paper with a bunch of diagrams and numbers on them.
All you have to do is hold boards A, C, D and F while inserting screws M, L, Y and Q. It is that simple. And as long as you happen to have six hands and a slinky for a spine because you have to twist in so many different directions at once, it is a piece of cake.
Anyway, Ikea stores are large with a lot of places to hide, so I can understand why it is such a great place to play the game.
I also read it has been going on for a while, but is now reaching epic proportions and is being shut down in the name of safety.
When my kids were little, they loved playing hide and seek and they always wanted dad to play.
I was more than happy to oblige, but found available hiding spaces somewhat lacking.
Because they were little kids they could crawl in to, under and behind things. At 6'4” and over 200 pounds, I was much more restricted in my places of hiding.
"I found you behind the door again, dad.”
"I found you in a closet, dad.”
"I found you behind a different door, dad.”
"I found you in a different closet, dad.”
You get the idea.
The good part was, they were so young it was always a thrill to find me.
It was then my turn to find them and I would always have a “hard time” locating them and would make a big deal out of it when I did find them.
My children are too old for hide and seek, or any of the kiddie games we used to play.
But it would seem hide and seek in a department store has no age limit, so maybe we will play again. I just hope Ikea has lots of doors and closets.


Copyright 2015, Darren Handschuh

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Happy birthday and drink up - in moderation of course

So, Junior turned 19 the other day.
That is a milestone for any teen in this province as it means you are old enough to legally purchase and consume adult recreational beverages.
A lot of people go out and get hammered on their 19th birthday.
I can honestly say, I was not one of them.
I wasn't a real big party guy in my teens. I was too busy wasting all my money on stuff like cars and motorcycles to divert it to booze and other party supplies.
I am not saying I was a little angel or anything, I was just not a hardcore partier (well, not in my teens anyway.) I do recall the first time I did get all boozed up. OK, I sort of remember it. I was 17 and it seemed like everyone I knew was drinking, so I figured I would give it a try.
A guy I know bootlegged a mickey of vodka for me and assorted bevvies for my friends and we all hunkered down to imbibe on the alcoholic drinks.
Being new to the drinking game, I drank a lot faster than I should have. One little sip led to one big gulp which led to consuming the little bottle of 40 proof hooch way too fast.
At first, it was all kinds of fun, running around, laughing, being stupid, but after a while the fun stops and your stomach begins to rebel at the assault you have made upon it with your choice of liquid.
Basically, before the night was over I was barfing harder than a super model after dinner.
It was not pleasant. I have some vague recollections of holding a bucket and talking to my girlfriend about...something.
The next thing I knew it was the morning, I was on the coach and herd of elephants had run over my head.
I had never been hung over before and was finding the experience most unpleasant.
Wow, did that suck. My stomach was sore from all the regurgitating I did the night before, my tongue had swelled up like a sponge in a pool and my head hurt so bad the sound of dust falling to the ground nearly put me in a coma.
A couple of my friends were not fairing much better, but the experienced boozers were doing OK and having a great laugh at my expense.
I swore I never wanted to feel that way again as long as I lived. And I didn't, for a couple of years anyway.
I did not get liquored up on my 19th birthday, but was closer to 20 before I entered the party scene full speed, and even then it only lasted a couple of years.
I had a few hang overs – which I hated – and swore I would never drink like that again. Which I didn't, until the next time I did. (I never claimed to be overly bright and if I did, no one would believe me anyway.)
Such is the stupidity of youth I guess, so when Junior hit the milestone I was not sure what to expect. I knew it would not be the first time he tasted alcohol (he's a good kid, but not exactly a little angel either), but I did not know how much celebrating he would do on the big day.
He got together with a few friends, they had a few drinks and that was about it. No one got overly boozed up, no one threw up and no one had to be helped up.
What the hell is wrong with these kids?
I'm kidding of course. I am quite pleased at how responsible they were. They indulged, but not overly so.
Now we will have to see what the next couple of years brings, but Junior is an adult and the choices he makes are his own.
And if he does over indulge, I hope he gets hangover strong enough to knock out a horse.
Darren Handschuh can be reached at therudemonkey@gmail.com. For more of his ramblings, check out his blog at www.therudemonkey.blogspot.ca.

Copyright 2015 Darren Handschuh