Another Iranian scientist has blown up, causing me to joke on Twitter earlier this morning that Iranian nuclear scientists had been picked as the new drummer for Spinal Tap. This prompted a lot of chatter, some of which I didn’t get. So I looked up the causes of death of Spinal Tap drummers. From Wikipedia:
John “Stumpy” Pepys (1964–1966) (Portrayed by Ed Begley, Jr. in the video “Give Me Some Money”) Died in a bizarre gardening accident, that the authorities said was “best left unsolved”.
Eric “Stumpy Joe” Childs (1966–1967) Choked on vomit of unknown origin, other than his own, because “[y]ou can’t really dust for vomit.”
Peter “James” Bond (1967–1977) (Portrayed by Russ Kunkel whose character was mistakenly credited as the name of the previous drummer) Spontaneously combusted.
Mick Shrimpton (1977–1982) (Portrayed by R. J. “Ric” Parnell) Exploded onstage.
Joe “Mama” Besser (1982) (Portrayed by Fred Asparagus). Claimed he “couldn’t take this 4/4 shit”; according to an MTV interview with Spinal Tap in November 1991, he disappeared along with the equipment during their Japanese tour. He is either dead or playing jazz.
Richard “Ric” Shrimpton (1982–1999) Allegedly sold his dialysis machine for drugs; presumed dead.
Sammy “Stumpy” Bateman (1999-2001) Died trying to jump over a tank full of sharks while on a tricycle in a freak show.
Scott “Skippy” Scuffleton (2001–2007) Fate unknown.
Chris “Poppa” Cadeau (2007–2008) Eaten by his pet python Cleopatra.
Plus 9 other drummers at various times (Probably between 1970 and 1981) all of whom are dead.
The part of the interview scenes from the movie where they discuss their drummer travails and past record reviews that I find so interesting is that it was nearly all improv. The "band" didn't know what questions Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner) would ask them so their answers were completely improvised. You can see them crackup a little bit when DiBergi reads Rolling Stones' 2 word review of the album Shark Sandwich...
30 years later and that movie is still funny...
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"A lot of chatter you didn't get"? Jonah, I'm surprised and disappointed ;-)
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt would be nice if the U.S. had a hand in this.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseLet's just hope the Iranian scientist's cook does not mistake the yellow cake, placed in the empty Duncan Hinds Moist Deluxe Butter Golden Cake Mix box, for dessert du jour. This could backfire in spectacular fashion over the squat toilet.
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Remarkably, Jeff Porcaro, drummer for the band Toto, died in 1992 after spraying insecticide in his yard. I think this could safely be described as a bizarre gardening accident.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWell since terrorism is seemly being supported here, and yes a car bomb killing a civilian is terrorism, then I suppose when it happens on US soil there won't be much complaining on this site. I oppose terrorism in all forms, when US scientists are the targets next time I hope to see the same response from the peanut gallery here. Sad, I just was just down at the 911 memorial and it is hard to accept that my nation now either supports or engages in acts of terrorism, and that that fact is so widely accepted among my fellow citizens on sites like this.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseJonah, some will call you a sociopath for your post, but I want to preempt that. It would take a sociopath to equate car bombs aimed at civilians in Iran with car bombs aimed at civilians in Israel or elsewhere in the West. Only a true sociopath like William Jackson would be so morally bankrupt as to argue that the rules we apply to others should apply to us. Darn sociopaths. The bottom line: it's only "terrorism" if it is done by evil people. If it is done by good people, it's by definition good.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYou've been taken in by the "war on terrorism" euphemism. It's the Great Democratic Struggle Against Islamofascism.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIn any case, is it terrorism or assassination? Non-state actors bombing pizza parlors is terrorism. Attacks on key facilities and persons by agents of nation states is war.
I don't think so, Sean, because if Iran (state) sends Hesbollah (agent) to bomb the Marine Corp barracks in Beirut (key facility), that can't be war. The principle you're missing is that Arabs and Muslims can't wage war, they can only wage terrorism. White people can't wage terrorism, only war. Irish don't count as white, by the way, unless they're Protestant. U2 is OK.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOr it would take an anti-Semite of the likes of you or "Concerned American." What seems "sociopathic" to you is perfectly rational, particularly because Iran is, you know, evil, and nuclear scientists there are part of a military regime threatening the lives of others and are thus fair game.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHey, congrats, Nachum. A rare conservative who gets irony the first time.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseGlad to hear I read you right. Not so glad to be conversing with you.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWas it the plane, or all the exploding bankers, that brought down the towers, Jonah. HAHAHAHAHAHahahahahahhaaaa, I'm as funny as you, right?
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