Well, I’m in love. No, not with anyone I’ve met online. (Some guy called “Papa” messaged me. His profile is “Sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex.” That’s it, the entire profile. **Slams laptop shut** Eww.) No, I’m in love with Bruce Dickinson – lead singer of Iron Maiden – as portrayed in his autobiography “What Does This Button Do? ” He’s definitely my new imaginary boyfriend.
I wasn’t a huge fan of Iron Maiden, but I had friends that were. I appreciate what talented musicians they are and what a talented singer Dickinson is. I’m always impressed by how long he can hold a note. Especially since he runs all over the stage. The concert videos look like a real workout. Dickinson is a favorite for vocal coach reaction and analysis videos that make much of his control and technique.
So, I put Number of the Beast on the stereo, cracked open a can of Trooper, and sat down to read. It starts slowly and I found the early chapters before he goes to boarding school unclear. I re-read them a few times and I still find them confusing. Once he hits boarding school (and it hits back) it’s a great read.
He attends an incredibly horrible and sadistic boarding school where he is bullied by upperclassmen and beaten by teachers. He does find a few bright spots. He loves drama and readily takes to the stage. He has a great metal working teacher that tells the boys not only will he teach them to make a sword, he’ll teach them to use it. So, he becomes a fencer. There is also an art teacher that arranges rock concerts at the school. Bruce attends the concerts – Wild Turkey and Arthur Brown among others, and they blow his adolescent mind.
Once reaching university, he joins a band (teaching himself to sing properly from books) and is eventually recruited into Samson, which already had a record contract. Samson led to an opportunity to audition for Iron Maiden. The band liked him and he was invited to join once he passed studio checks, hearing tests, eye tests, drug tests and blood tests. He was happy to learn he was STD free. He didn’t just join a band, he joined a serious business, and Iron Maiden’s management treated it that way. At an award dinner an American executive tries to chat up Ron Smallwood, their manager, who snaps at him “I’m not in the music business. I’m in the Iron Fucking Maiden business.”
The Number of The Beast album was huge. The tour was extended several times. While drugs were around and easily available, Iron Maiden mostly stuck to beer, generally after the work was done. They weren’t just messing around. They did drink a lot and engage in rock-n-roll shenanigans. On tour in Japan, he doesn’t like what the constant partying is doing to him and decides to make a change. He starts bringing his fencing kit with him on tour and training and competing whenever he gets the chance. Eventually (after changing from right handed to left handed fencing), he represented the UK at the European championships.
The Iron Maiden machine rolled on, making new albums every year or so and going on tour. Creative differences started to arise and none of his songs made it onto the Somewhere in Time album. Bruce decides to just be the singer and writes a novel. It sells, so he writes a second. Because, why not.
On the next album, he’s again part of the writing team, but still discontented, probably with his personal life as well. He mentions that Iron Maiden’s success had changed his living circumstances. He now had a big house with a pool (because he hates to swim), a fancy garden (because he hates to garden), a tennis court (because he doesn’t play) and he can’t walk to the local pub (because he wants a pint without having to drive) and a fancy garage for the expensive car he never drives. He thinks a lot about leaving music altogether.
He doesn’t. Instead, he makes a solo album, then a second and pursues getting his pilot’s license. Once the second album is complete, he leaves Iron Maiden. While pursuing a solo career, he does a concert in Sarajevo during the war. He writes the screenplay for Chemical Wedding. Because, why not.
He gets his pilot’s license and buys a small plane but really wants to fly the big planes. So he becomes an airline pilot. He didn’t like the training program, so he writes a study guide and ends up one of the trainers for British Airways. Because, why not.
He eventually returns to Iron Maiden and is one of the pilots for Ed Force One – the Iron Maiden plane that they use to tour the world. Note that the entire time he is working as an airline pilot, he is continuing to tour. I love the image of him requesting time off to go do a gig. Oh, and somewhere along the way, he helps make Trooper, the Iron Maiden beer. The last part of the book covers his battle with throat cancer (he’s not impressed with morphine) and return to singing.
Overall, this book is very focused on his musical career and activities that touch on that. He leaves out his personal life and much of his entrepreneurial activities. (He is apparently a big investor in air ships as well as an airline maintenance firm.) I enjoyed his self-deprecating humor and his discussion of image in rock. He says he realized early on that he would have to be ‘substantial’ because he wasn’t good at the image part. As examples, he describes his stage outfit for Samson, which included a custom made, gold lame jock strap to be worn over his pants and his design for his Somewhere in Time tour outfit – an outer space D’Artagnan maybe made from a space lizard. His descriptions made me giggle.
I have no doubt that this autobiography is every bit as carefully curated as Billy Idol’s. I just like the person portrayed much, much better. What a fascinating, curious, and restless man he is. I give it five stars for being such an interesting portrait of someone who never stops reinventing himself.
Comments
289 responses to “What Does This Button Do?”
That sounds completely fictional. I love that shit.
Real people are interesting.
Also I hear you. I’ve tried some chat rooms, even those that say “No private messaging! Stay on topic!” Have their share of nutters and people who are just plain crude.
+1 show me bobs and vagene pls
Trashy hacked my account!
Wait…was he not supposed to sell those pics?
:quietly slides pics out of camera frame::
So… just like glibs?
#cathynewmanquestions
That is an impressive life he led.
And I didn’t even cover all the stuff in the book. Let alone the things he didn’t cover. Just, wow! I’m tired just reading it.
+666
Nice write-up and dang, Mr. Dickinson sounds like one helluva dude. Wouldn’t mind hitting up some pints with him in a random pub.
Speaking of which, what’s the plan this week? Got a message from Mustang. Send me a text if you got time.
Aye, will do.
I thought we were meeting next week – is that still on?
Very
Fucking
Metal
Good stuff Tulip.
?
Some guy called “Papa” messaged me. His profile is “Sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex.” That’s it, the entire profile.
You mean there are guys interested in more than just sex?
Food and liquor…
and the Big Iron
Start 10 seconds in. (apparently youtube won’t let you share it starting at a certain time anymore.)
The heck is he talking ab–I’ll be damned… When did they start that???
If he weren’t so classy, his profile would have been, “fucking, fucking, fucking”.
Sure. As that great American philosopher, Jeff Foxworthy, pointed out, men are interested in two things.
A guy I met through online dating told me that as a teenager he met Bruce Dickinson at a concert in upstate New York. He had won backstage pass. He told him he also fenced and Dickinson met him there the next morning. Dickinson beat him soundly, but was very nice and coached him – you’re dropping your shoulder. The guy I met is the proud owner of a fencing foil signed by Dickinson. He said he bought new one and hasn’t used the signed one since.
See? That’s an awesome dating story! Hope you have more like this, or better, as you endeavor.
This goes here
https://youtu.be/2Y0UrrfoAb0
I spotted Ed Force One on the tarmac at SEA a couple of years ago. Made a very happy moment.
Very cool.
SP made the right choice, but I wanted to use this for the front page:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ugrYm81K8zDUeche9
hehe
Every time I hear a good rock story I’m reminded of this.
https://youtu.be/k_7kg5ZzDZo
I’m seeing Maiden this weekend in NYC.
I’m jealous
Me too. They seem to do a great show
They put on a great show. I do have to bring musician ear plugs this time. 2 years ago they blew my ears out within10 min.
I used to listen to them and Priest and Sabbath and the Nuge with my headphones on so loud my parents could still hear it even with my door closed. Paying for that and decades of shooting now.
I have the same issues. 357 with no plugs and head next to the Marshal stack.
I definitely regret not taking better care of my hearing.
So you’re part of the 4/10.
I saw one of those rock documentaries about Iron Maiden. Mr. Dickinson put a lot of thought into his stage performance. He exaggerates his movements so the people in the back row of a stadium can see his movements.
Great summary of the book. I’ll be purchasing it.
I read it too. I love the music including most of his solo stuff. I was less impressed with the book. Not a single mention about his wife and kids. I just got the impression lots of important stuff got left out once he joined the band.
The afterword says it was a deliberate choice.
Privacy reasons?
Shrugs. Not sure, I suspect that’s part of it, but he also left out his business activities, although briefly mentions becoming part of the business lecture circuit.
Sounds like he is someone who compartmentalizes different parts of his life and might be comfortable only sharing certain aspects.
I do think this kept it focused. Everything he talks about is related to his music career and if he added in the rest of the stuff it would have been pretty sprawling and likely a mess.
Neat. I had no idea about the fencing or pilot stuff.
He attends an incredibly horrible and sadistic boarding school where he is bullied by upperclassmen and beaten by teachers.
Then jumps on his desk and declares he’ll be a captain?
I just assumed every school in Britain involved beatings and sadism.
And Pudding and Bike Sheds.
Anglophiles rejoice!
I liked his solo stuff. Good hard rock.
OT: Interesting and brief rumination on one of the arts of the deal.
If the other guy doesn’t think you’re willing to walk away, then you’re not negociating.
Here it is: If you want to get your best deal in a negotiation, you must be willing to walk away, and you must demonstrate that willingness to your negotiating counterparty.
The second part is my problem. Tend to just say “screw it” and walk away. In jobs, my faulty thinking goes: I’ll do a good job and then I’ll get paid more. It works in that I get a ton of referral business. It doesn’t work so well when they probably would’ve paid more if I’d simply asked.
Thanks for the review Tulip. Great job. I wore out Number of the Beast and Killers cassettes back in the day. Unfortunately never got to see them live. What a great story!
They’re still touring, so you still have an opportunity.
Yeah, that would be fun. Would be very nostalgic. It’s fun when you know all the words. I’ll have to keep an eye out:)
The live shows in the 2010’s are still a blast. The age of the fans is a bell curve centered around 45.
It’s nice getting a glimpse into the life of a rock star without that glimpse being “Here’s my politics, listen and despair.”
The only rock star documentary I’ve ever watched was Metalocalypse, but I’d watch this.
Dr. Rockso approves of your choice. Well, if you “pay” him, he does.
Number of the Beast was the first concert I ever went to as a kid. My Mom took me. It was the first moment when I realized that despite her being a journalist , and going to school in the sixties, she had no idea what marijuana was. I was eleven and I knew the smell.
I’m not afraid to be a good citizen. (At 45:55)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8RrXf0zGjxQ
I do like that he is a pilot.. and the 747 is a beast. I have a friend that was a 747 co-plot, but switched to 757’s for a captain’s spot as the promotion list for 747 captains was too long.
It isn’t that hard to become a pilot, even an airline pilot if you already have money. Most of the time that it takes regular people to progress to those levels is accruing the minimum flight hours. As a young pilot you are usually getting those hours as a flight instructor. which can be only 2-3 hours a day (on good weather days). so it takes years to get to the airline minimums. If you are willing to pay your own way and just fly for the first 200-300 hours, you can do it in months. buying type ratings (usually about $10K per jet) will put you at the front of the line for a right seat in a biz-jet. Then you get the 1200+ hours where the airlines can pick you up. If you already paid for that 737 rating, then you are a prime candidate, where others would need to be trained on the company dime.
I only have about 600+ hours over the past 30 years, you fly differently if you aren’t going into it for a career.
Even with advantage of big money, still impressive that he didn’t turn into another dope head rock star. Ever hear the story of The Barefoot Bandit? Cracks me up when someone truly DGAF.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=144TR3ejIts
I had heard of the barefoot bandit. Taking off and flying is fairly easy, landing requires the training. It looks like he crashed them all on landing. Actual landing isn’t like the flight sim, it is a different task.
Not really hard, but it uses visual cues that just aren’t replicated in a simple video experience. It doesn’t take that that long, I was signed off for solo flight at 10 hours of training and had the basic pilot’s license at 40 hours.
See the Q400 theft by the SEA ramper and subsequent crash.
QED.. takeoff easy..crashing easy.. He was a maintenance tech, so starting the Dash-8 was in his skillset. That guy didn’t want to land, it was a complex suicide. Better that than the German wings crash.
None of them are into drugs, just drinking. Even that, they all seem to moderate and find things to do on the road besides party. They really treat it as a business.
Similarly, Bobby Sherman.
And the lead singer of Offspring.
The biggest challenge I’d think for someone like him is the fuck you money on a bad day. And then once getting hired at BA, the office politics.
I think that once he had a goal, you could follow it. Even with FU money, you aren’t flying a 747 without being in an airline… He had to have the rating and the experience before Iron Maiden would invest in Ed Force one. They don’t own it, they have a multi year lease. As an individual, you would never want one.. Flying is about the mission, you would lease part of a G650, or a Citation XLS. Fast, 10+ passengers, world travel.
Online dating:
Being alone is always preferable to being in a shitty relationship.
Of course!
Relationships work as a mirror. You get to see how you look from another set of eyes. If the partner is an asshole, it’s a circus mirror. All your faults are magnified. No intimate relationships and you are running blind, however. Some people can do it and good on them for that. I’m a natural fuck up, so having that mirror is important.
My last relationship ended with my girlfriend quitting the relationship and moving across the country.
My dad and brother were so envious.
Hate to one up you, but when we broke up, my ex moved to London and I came here. Not sure we could’ve gotten further from each other.
Now that IS separation.
Supposedly, my ex went to work for a firm in Ireland doing shipping logistics, which is what she was doing not long before we hooked up. But she quit talking to me right around when she claimed that, so I was never sure.
I emailed her not long ago, asked why she quit responding to my texts. She wrote back to say that she wanted to marry but I didn’t, and that’s why we had to split up. All I could think was …that’s not what I asked.
“The worst thing isn’t being alone… It’s being with people who make you feel alone.” – Robin Williams’ character in the movie World’s Greatest Dad
(Pretty damn good movie, actually, and I’m not a big movie buff so you know it must be good)
Thanks, Tulip! I was never an Iron Maiden fan but I love stories about people like this. You think “rocker”, and you think train wreck life. Legendary rocker and 747 pilot seems a little incongruous.
An anecdotal story that is along these lines is a car show I watched a few years ago. I think it was Top Gear. They were testing an Enzo Ferrari on a track. You had to have previously owned three Ferraris, just to get on the list to pay $1.5M for one of these.
After they were done gushing over the car, they walked over to the owner that had loaned it to them. It was Nick Mason, the drummer for Pink Floyd. Very nice, down to earth guy. After they had loaded the car onto the transport, he walked over and got into his Bell Jet Long Ranger helicopter and flew himself back to his country estate. After thinking about it, I realized that a drummer is the perfect person to learn how to fly a helicopter.
I listened to hours of Bill Burr over the weekend. He’s an amateur helicopter pilot. Had some fun stories about it, like he does everything.
Makes sense.. Isn’t he responsible for this?
Dickinson is doing something right. He’s the only one in the band that doesn’t look like Eddie.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wpxWoikZZww
Hey! Don’t talk shit about Nicko!
Wait….
Today I learned that temp + humidity > 150 == miserable.
It’s currently 72º and 97%. The theory checks out.
That is the limit that my wife’s barn will work horses… Nothing above 150… and 140+ is an easy workout.
It was 95* and 15% here. Much more than that and they’ll ride in the indoor arena, or not ride at all.
We rarely get over 95 here in NJ..and when it is up there, the humidity is 80%+ You can just tell that at 80 deg and 70% humidity that that horses are sweated through and overheating. So it is a good limit to be able to tell clients, number is 150, we are not riding today. It is a good business limit, keeps the arguments to a minimum..
I think it’s awesome that you have a set policy.
It is good.. and the sensor is in the indoor arena. It usually only is a limit in late July and early August.. only a couple of weeks.
Very cool stuff. Been a casual fan of Maiden for a long time – not my favorite band ever but a good one – and I admire the seriousness of his aviation career.
45 / M / Straight / Single
Honolulu, Hawaii
(Life Story)
I LOVE LIFE,LIKE TO MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY ,AND I LOVE TO EAT ALL DAY LONG 🙂 SUNSETS ARE MY FAVART,I ALSO LOVE WALKING DOWN THE BEACH ON A FULL MOON,BRING SOMETHING FOR YOU TO NEED ON AND YOU WILL SEE STARS AND A HOLE LIT MORE:-) !!!! I LIKE HAVING SEX OUT IN PUBLIC,IT TURNS ME ON,MY LAST GIRL SHE LOVED TO SHOW OFF HER NICE BODY,WHEN WE GO CAMPING WE WOULD LEAVE THE TOP OFF AND THE DOOR OPEN ,I AL SO LOVE TO RIDE MY HARLEY
,also I’m very WELL HUNG 🙂
(What I’m doing with my life)
I WANT TO FIND SOMEONE WHO LIKES TO GO TO THE BEACH,I LIKEMY BIG COCK ,TO DIVE,FISHURF,PICK SHELLS ,MOST OF ALL I LUKE TO TAKE CARE OF MY GIRL,LONG AS SHE KNOWS HOW TO TAKE CARE OF ME!!!! ORAL SEX IS VERY IMPORT IN A HEATHY RELATIONSHIP, I KNOW SHE WILL BE REAL HAPPY !!!! WHEN SHE SEE MY BIG FAT.—— I’M GETTING HONEY JUST THANKING ABOUT IT…. HAVE TO JUMP IN THE WATER,BOY O BOY IT’S A NICE DAY TODAY!!!
(I spend a lot of time thinking about)
IF I’M GOING TO MAKE YOU SQUART ACROSS THE ROOM ,,,, NOW THAT TURNS MW ON :-)!!!!!!! NOTHING LIKE HAVING THE BEST OEGAMIOM IN THE WORLD EVERYDAY,,,, YEA BABY …..
So have you guys hooked up yet?
I couldn’t handle THE BEST OEGAMIOM IN THE WORLD EVERYDAY, could you?
I can’t even handle that sentence.
The mere thought made me squart.
Do more squarts.
He likes his big cock to pick up shells. I’d like mine to wash the car but it always refuses.
I knew I was going wrong with self-deprecation and subtle Monty Python jokes woven into my profile.
That makes me squart in mw pabts.
HAWT
I thought this was HM making a play for Tulip until I got to the picture.
He says he’s in Honolulu. It’s obviously Dunphy.
He needs a GoFundMe page for sunscreen.
And tatt removal.
Oh, c’mon! Someone is just trying to cyber-bully Alex Jones. Musta hacked his phone for the pic…
Meth is a hell of a drug.
Wha???
https://twitchy.com/brettt-3136/2019/07/22/poll-most-americans-oppose-paying-reparations-giving-illegals-national-health-insurance/
Next thing you know, most people realize fifteen buck an hour minimum wage doesn’t make sense when fifteen bucks is starting wage for an EMT where they live….
At least McDonald’s and Walmart upping there minimum wage nationally to $10 gave me bargaining power to get a multi-dollar raise after just a year in part time work.
If you like that then see below.
At 0:50, you realize that this is everything CANYON.MID wanted to be.
That bassist…
*Thumbs up*
Our ‘Classic Rock’ station recently switched formats to play some heavier music. Very sad there is no Iron Maiden. Sorry we’re not in the same age or area dating pool Tulip, you’re one cool broad.
Tulip is busy DMing the charmer in 25 above.
Yeah…”snake” charmer…::snickers::
Ours recently started playing Wasted Years…and that’s the only ‘Maiden song. Not sure why that song is their only pick, but I guess I’ll take it.
I checked the whole library, no Maiden at all. No Mettalica before Black album, even if I wanted to play it, it’s not there.
You wanna borrow my copy of Ride The Lightning?
I mean, I could put some Iron Maiden on there, but the system has everything for every format, except metal. Lame.
Odd oversight or religious executive making decisions?
The stupidity of thinking metal isn’t a viable station format.
It may be an upper-midwest thing? Maiden has never gotten much airplay up here, except for recently on the “hard&classic” rock channels.
Growing up, the local hard rock channel played, AC/DC, KISS, Judas Priest, Van Halen, etc. But I never heard Iron Maiden. I was literally in my mid-20’s (class of ’90) before I ever heard an Iron Maiden song.
And you sure as fuck weren’t gonna hear a Pantera song. Although, on the same channel, same basic format, you’ll now hear Pantera, but Iron Maiden is still pretty rare. And it’s usually Run To The Hills.
Disclaimer: I’m talking about small town NoDak. I’m sure stations in Minneapolis, Chicago, Madison, Sioux Falls, Fargo, etc. played them. It just didn’t get too far out of those bigger cities.
And I’m sure a lot of it had to do with Tipper.
Same here. It was all Foghat and Nugent AFAICR.
I think the guy having the most fun making commercials right now is the Arby’s spokesman.
Fight me.
https://www.ispot.tv/ad/oIrF/arbys-market-fresh-sandwiches-summertime-featuring-h-jon-benjamin
That’s fucking Archer.
What could be more fun than that?
Bob.
Huh. Would you look at that. I haven’t seen these commercials.
Wow…I see them about a half-dozen times a night, and that’s for only 2 hours.
You must have some really interesting shilling going on up there, Rhy.
I watch mostly soccer, tennis, and cooking shows. I see the same half-dozen commercials over and over but current Arby’s isn’t one of them. The old ones with just the “we have the meats” buy used to be common.
Cooking shows >> Arby’s commercials…. I guess there is something incongruent there.
He lives in NYC. You know, the protein source for that region when the fat kid detonates the EMP.
H Jon Benjamin is at his best when you don’t see his face. I don’t mean that as a dis, but his voice is ambiguous enough to be both Archer and Bob and fit both, but seeing his face just ruins it. Of course, he’ll always be Coach McGuirk. For Tulip.
I agree. I accidentally saw his face once. I put it out of my mind and try very hard to never see it again.
I told him as much on the twitter when he had a short lived show on Comedy Central (not under my current twitter handle)
Wasn’t he also on Dr. Katz?
yes.
Did he reply? If so, what was it? You can’t leave us all hanging like that, bro!
/looks a lot like Peter Billingsley to me…
No, he did not reply. Not like Penn Jillette who I had some conversations with, or Lou Perez who I goaded into following me. No H. Jon Benjamin ignored me. IGNORED ME!
His loss, really. I mean…he’s got plenty to keep him busy, sure. But, I have the merch that counts.
That looks nothing like the filthy Arby’s I remember.
Years back, before the big menu expansion, one of the local (now closed) Arby’s locations ran out of roast beef one Friday evening.
Arby’s. ran. out. of. roast. beef.
I guess they don’t always have the meats.
They needed a hot beef injection?
Not as bad as Popeye’s running out of chicken.
https://archive.li/oMe8P/5ebce11da6fba56401257e8276ea11c877b3f726.jpg
NSFW.
Also NSF the restaurant where I’m having dinner.
National Sanitary Foundation?
Not Safe For
No…I don’t think that’s it.
Last known picture of Natalie Wood?
Good call.
Natalie Would
She needs to wax her penis.
http://x.fap.to/images/full/49/183/1831741822.jpg
NSFW.
Bosseyedness is no joke.
HM’s wife?
https://archive.li/iYTRT/ff0bb9c9dde069af62a9f06004ba8e9d2b353cf6.jpg
NSFW.
So you’re saying I have a chance.
https://www.dailycaller.com/2019/07/22/bella-thorne-pansexual-book-release/
Are you a pan or other type of cooking utensil?
I’m saying she is way out there on both axes of the hot/crazy matrix.
Oh yeah. If she promised to leave the nose ring on the dresser I’d take my chances. When she dolls herself up… Holy cow!
Like, deep.
What a rebel.
So pansexual is an inclusionary bisexual?
It’s someone who was upset they were no longer considered special when they told people they were bi.
Seriously, pansexual means your aroused sexually by personality? Seems like a pointless distinction.
Shush. You’re wrecking my only chance.
STEVE SMITH DISAGREE. OTHER OPTIONS ON TABLE.
WHEN STEVE INVOLVED, THERE AM NO OPTION.
“Pan” means “all”. It means you want to fuck everybody.
Pan Zagloba hit hardest.
If I weren’t drunk, I’d put that joke in my next Patreon tag, but I’ll forget.
“I am a colossal pervert. Animal, vegetable or mineral – I will *do* anything *to* anything.”
“Poisoned, by God!”
“No, by Baldrick, but the effect is much the same.”
http://d1o1wlqwda3y1b.cloudfront.net/A-MC/DJ0268-00_4.jpg
“Say, your prayers, Blackadder. IT’S POKER TIME!”
“I am the baby-eating Bishop of Bath and Wells!”
“Who could you have got to have performed such deeds, to have gone lower than man has ever gone, to have plunged the depths of degradation just in order to save your filthy life!?”
*Percy abjectly sticks his head up from the sheets*
“Yeah — I hide in the vegetable rack and frighten the children.”
One major regret about splitting with my ex is that she introduced me to Mr. Bean and I introduced her to Black Adder, and it was a real bonding experience. She was broken up about the series finale.
“Good luck, everyone.”
How can you know about Mr Bean and not Black Adder and Vice Versa?
Leave me out of this.
Iron Maiden was my favorite band all through high school, and this is literally the first concert I ever went to – Powerslave tour, night #4 at Long Beach Arena.
My favorite coffee shop, Doutor, always puts a waxy napkin under the glass of ice coffee. It invariably sticks to the bottom of the glass and you look like an ass when you take your first sip. After years of putting up with this clearly stupid way of serving ice coffee, I finally mentioned it to the staff. Blank look in response. So I picked up the coffee they just sold me and showed them. Blank look. These people are idiots when you point out a flaw in their “system”.
They don’t speak gaijin.
I don’t think that’s the problem. I’ve seen enough natives go nuclear when confronted with similar situations.
Hey Straff – Maybe I remember wrong but I thought we were meeting up next week when Rafael is in town. Can you send me a message?
I’ll send you one later today. Looking like maybe the 10th.
ありがとう!
九日か十日と思ってた。
Oh crap, my bad, Straff. I meant the 9th. Forgot the 10th was a Saturday.
Great! Friday works better for me.
I wish I were there. Hit up a soapland for me.
Skype?
My favorite coffee shop, Doutor
You have great taste. Or I have poor ones. Possibly both.
¥220 for decent coffee is hard to beat. In ‘95 when I first came here, you couldn’t find a place for less than ¥400. Bubble prices lasted a little longer than the bubble itself.
Part of me wishes I had seen the height of the bubble up close, but I could do without 400JPY coffee.
On the opposite side, latte at Starbucks was ~$2 10-15 years ago. Now it’s $3.50 or higher.
It’s weird seeing deflation. The bubble days sound like blast.
I was only here on business trips during the bubble era – saw how good things were so I quit my job, got another degree, and moved here in 1993 – missing the bubble by a year or so.
https://youtu.be/0ayCu3-z96c
On the plus side, she’s a total MIRF now.
HAH! Here in NYC, and I’ve quite literally never seen this anywhere else, restaurants serve fried foods on a bed of lettuce. Not on top of a piece of Texas Toast like humans do, or even on top of a paper towel, but on top of soggy lettuce. The cuisine or the borough location is irrelevant: calamari in Brooklyn – soggy lettuce, tempura in Manhattan – soggy lettuce, won tons/dumplings in Queens – soggy lettuce. It’s weird.
She seems determined to prove everyone who has ever commented on this site right.
https://www.dailycaller.com/2019/07/22/rashida-tlaib-minimum-wage/
That is literally a low IQ individual.
Fatal conceit is more likely than low IQ.
Don’t let the glasses fool you; she’s fucking retarded
If she’s going to advocate morally reprehensible positions, I’m going to treat her as evil and not retarded even though she may be an idiot.
Yeah, I commented earlier, she complains about milk and egg prices going, meaning we need to raise minimum wage; except thanks to government intervention those prices haven’t gone up, which hurts farmers who notoriously don’t pay minimum wage because they hire illegals…
*snort*
That’d NY Post level.
Maybe she’s getting tired of Hillary’s cloaca?
Dood, I’m trying to drink coffee here.
*Kiff sigh*
Hey man, if those small businesses out in the sticks can’t pay a LIVING WAGE, they shouldn’t be in business anyways.
can’t pay a San Fran/NYC/MIA LIVING WAGE
almost 4 years ago I had many people in the Cracked comment section saying I shouldn’t be allowed to run a business, because even though I payed $50 an hr I wasn’t guaranteeing stable income. Nobody could live solely by working for me, therefore I shouldn’t hire anyone ever, and I must be lying saying I owned the business and the hours worked/VS my earned income was less than minimum wage. I must be a liar!
You’re making this up, (You Liar!) because why would anyone subject themselves to the raging shit-show that Cracked turned into?
Hence why I said about 4 years ago, I left there during the election as shit went down hill fast. (I didn’t work for them, but my photoshops were regularly featured in their photoplasty contests and won me some moneis)
Don’t believe your lyin’ eyes and experiences!
Once the minimum wage raise became a sound bite “fight for 15” and didn’t get laughed out of the room, the genie got out of the bottle. Before minimum wage hikes were at least couched in terms of inflation or cost of living style increases. Now it’s free ponies and openended rates. There never will be enough because minimum wages are inherently flawed. It may be possible to hide the effects in a wealthy country and if the wages are low enough, but these idiots are going to blow it all up. A cynical spin would be that this is intentional and trying to get as many people on minimum wage as possible as the rates begin to seriously undercut formerly non-minimum wage jobs.
unionization to fight for $15, unions are beholden to one party. One Party to Rule Them All. That’s the plan. Stupid as it is.
UBI will save us.
Uncircumcised Bisexual Indians.
See–even now, Q is working on his next linkage.
They’re only called Indians if they were born in the Indian province of France. Otherwise they’re just called sparkling Americans.
I thought they were “Twilight-Americans” at that point.
Still–Bravo, cs
At some point people who worked their ass off to better themselves in order to make 30 or 40 dollars an hour are gonna ask themselves why they bothered. And make no mistake, people like her HATE those people.
Lefties seem to really hate people who do things the right way and want to reward those who did it the wrong way:
People who worked to increase the value of their skills and get a better rate are soon going to be at the minimum again.
Students who worked multiple jobs through college in order to graduate debt-free are going to get a big ‘fuck you’ when student loans are forgiven.
Legal immigrants get the indignity of seeing illegal immigrants getting all the same rights and benefits.
Nobody is going to see any student loan forgiveness. They are just promising it to get votes. I highly doubt Washington is going to do anything that decreases its power over people. You might see some god awful program that would make the student loan debt look less oppressive than the option they’re offering.
Captain Sully really let himself go
Well, Tulip–excellent article! I haven’t always been a Maiden fan, but I got here as fast as I could. I had watched a bit of the docu-movie about Bruce and the band’s airliner (the one Gustave linked to); can’t remember why I didn’t watch the entire thing. I’ve also had a can of The Trooper a couple of years ago. Not bad, as I recall.
Never been a Maiden fan. Nor Dokken, Slayer etc. Still fun to read this stuff.
Me neither. Long-time casual Priest fan, though. Go figure.
Lemmy on Judas Priest.
I figured it out in HS reading the lyrics to my Defenders cassette.
Great glibs handle. Also, I would say the same for myself.
Let’s see, 46 after in EDT, so….
Also, casual JP fan. And as I get older, I find the older metal bands to be more interesting than I remember.
Not my favorite but wins best scream of the 80s.
Love the artwork.
I never got into Dokken or Slayer, either. I know Don Dokken’s voice/music when I hear it, usually. Just never got into his music. Slayer never really held any appeal at all for me. I tend to go the Ratt/Megadeth/Crue side of things: THE HAIR!!!
The Who. Zeppelin. Blue Oyster Cult. The 70’s made it to rural Wisconsin in the early 80’s.
They made it to my ears at about the same time.
How do you feel about Sabaton?
*tents fingers in thought*
Actually had to look them up. I know the name, and that’s probably all.
That’s aight. If you like some historical themed hard rock, they’re a blast.
::makes note::
Thanks for the reco! Getting ready for the move, btw?
Here are some songs I’d recommend to get you started: The Last Stand, Bismarck, and Fields of Verdun.
And, yes sirree. I got office duty for the next couple days so it’s been helping me get paperwork done. Just gotta get my boxes shipped off as well and we’re good to go.
Outstanding!
Also, saving the rec’s for later
Wow. It’s metal for military history buffs.
Rockin’ Like Dokken Til The Party Ends!
Here is your Judas Priest/Iron Maiden crossover.
https://youtu.be/me549HoI6gk
Kick ass song.
That is one helluva meet-up!
One of these bands is not like the other.
One of these bands just doesn’t belong. ?
Isn’t the title Flight 666?
I believe you are correct, sir.
Gustave, check out what set KFC offers.
https://m.imgur.com/a/OlNvJmj
Is there a beer and corn soup set meal?
Worst karaage ever
It’s the premo set!
I can’t read what the ad says, but I feel like I’m being ripped off.
Chicken supernova? WIH is that?
Where are you seeing that?
Deep fryer accident.
That breaded object in the middle appears ready to explode. Probably an optical reflection.
That was my flash. Oops.
The missing Oasis mega-hit
/In a chicken supernova!
Taking the kid to the pool. Teaching her how to swim. Would prefer the John Wayne method, but I’d prolly get arrested. Just start her off with the kickboard? She took lessons last year, they didn’t do anything useful it seems because she can’t do anything. So, it’s up to me.
Flippers/Fins (insert racist joke here). My 4 year old motored around the pool without a floatie vest when using them. After 2 weeks, I took one away. 2 weeks later, I took the other away.
He sleeps well at night this summer; it’s a lot of work for a kid to swim.
cool. I’ll see if the pool has rentals.
Eeeeewwwwww–pool rentals!
/little kid, or, stuck-up adult? You decide.
Good luck and have fun. Was fishing shijimi with the kids yesterday and boy, they were crazy in the water.
We all knew this was coming.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EAGXN4CX4AAH3Ob?format=jpg&name=4096×4096
I think the pic is stuck–I can’t see much of anything except something about getting dumped
It’s either a haiku or a truncated image.
So….it’s not me? ::whew!::
/”YOU’RE a truncated image!”
//sorry-couldn’t resist
I fart in your general direction.
You can smell it! You can smell it…
It’s been a long time since I heard that. Thanks for the memories.
Most welcome. His two shows still make me laugh after 30-40 years.
Good on Ricky Gervais.
https://twitchy.com/sarahd-313035/2019/07/22/ricky-gervais-catches-woke-heat-for-calling-out-trans-pervert-who-went-after-women-and-hes-not-having-any-of-it/
Call me an optimist but I think Team Blue is over playing their hand.
https://www.dailycaller.com/2019/07/22/democrats-equality-act-transgender-waxing/
Waxing!! Of course! That’s the ticket…
::begins drawing up plans::
Also, I see what you did there….
“…under federal anti-discrimination laws, as it is in Canada…”
Why does this sound like some sort of perverse Lord’s Prayer?
…the progressives will be done, woke for ever and ever, amen.
My father, who art in linens
Barren be thy ponch
Thy party come, thy waxing done
On men as it is on women
Give us today our daily dread
For you won’t forgive us our trespasses, while you still continue to trespass against us
For thine is the progressive power and glory
Forever and ever amen
Morning moment of zen:
https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared/Bq4FnUJwSaaw7Fg4kHxgJw.kDvT0nYD1O2oSxoLeW9PU6
The flowers by my front door. A couple more blossomed. A shame they don’t last very long,
Nice!
Beautiful lilies!
Question: Used to be able to share a Youtube link that was already cued up to the spot. Looks like that feature is gone. What do you add to the URL to get it cued up to the spot you want?
They created a right-click menu. Right-click on top of the video and it will be an option.