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My dying wish is for an owl/camel hybrid, which I call camowl.

X-E’s ’08 Summer Megaparty: Especially for..SIStah.

My sister's family is in the process of remodeling their home, and they've spent the past few months dismantling their basement, parting ways with long-held artifacts of yesteryear.

In the process, she came upon a few letters which I apparently mailed to her when I was nine-years-old. (Or, more truthfully, letters I wrote, placed in envelopes, drew stamps on and just handed to her.) One of these letters may be a little too odd to keep to myself.


(click pic to enlarge)

My sister is much older than me, and was already in her own house by the time this letter was written. She'd gotten into the habit of bringing me packs of stickers whenever she dropped by. Though the untrained eye might believe differently, this seems to be a thank-you letter for one such set of stickers.

Largely just a mismatched pile of doodles, the core "note" section reads as follows: "I got the new stickers you sent me. They are cool! I also like the postcard with the monkey with gun. I hope you like this Corvette in Hollywood! Write back!"

Hmmm. The "postcard with the monkey with gun?" I do have some vague recollection of a photo of a chimp with an exploded gum bubble covering half of his face, and I can only assume that the "postcard with the monkey with gun" refers to this. Frankly, it's obvious that I only wrote words on the page to make it work legally as a letter. I was far more interested in doodling random bullshit.

And what doodles the are! The central piece is a pink Corvette in a Hollywood setting. I titled the car "Corvette '88 Super Star," for reasons that have been completely lost over the twenty years that have passed since this was written. Also interesting is my pathetic attempt at a palm tree, which looks more like a feather duster, or possibly several thousand palm trees superimposed on top of each other.

The top third of the letter is riddled with much more random scribbles, including a series of fake stamps and stickers. There's a stamp marked "N.Y. Lamborghini," which really makes me wonder if I was more into cars that I seem to recall. The three stamps at the top depict a boy with sunglasses, Earth with one of Saturn's rings, and a whoopee cushion? The hell? Why did I make a whoopee cushion stamp?

The phony stickers on the left are equally puzzling. One lists a bunch of video game consoles, while another reads, "I'm Not DEAF I'm Just Ignoring You." A final sticker simply says "Bug Jokes." What the fuck are bug jokes?

And just in case my sister wasn't clear that some of these doodles were intended to be stamps, a final stamp-shaped doodle reads... "STAMP."

The lower third of the page is the real money shot, featuring a scene from the old Rampage video game, with Lizzie being joined by the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man on a destructive romp in the Bronx. I loved crossovers.


Incredibly, she even kept the envelope. I assume that these random Halloween stickers were the ones I was thanking her for. Check out that swank Headless Horsemen, and the awesome space marked "PLACE STAMP HERE."

I don't remember being this weird. Now that I have proof of it, the course of my life is starting to make a lot more sense. I dunno, though. I can deal with most of this stuff, but it's pretty hard to reconcile the "Bug Jokes" thing.

Q: Why did Bumble Bob get detention?
A: He wasn't "bee-ing" good.

Wait, wait, UPDATE: Someone pointed out that it doesn't say "Bug Jokes," but rather, "Bag O Jokes." Now I'm even more confused.

Posted by Matt on 07/09/2008. E-mail me!



Discussion Thread: 141 comments

@BgBlyStyle

Nope

http://www.arcade-history.com/index.php?page=detail&id=2600

Chestnuts roasted by Anonymous @ 07/10/2008 3:00 PM


Sorry, that was me.

Chestnuts roasted by Jack @ 07/10/2008 3:00 PM


Damn! That page is blocked here at work. What’s it say? Something along the lines of, “No Bill! Spy Hunter never ends! You’ve wasted your life trying. Loser!”?

Chestnuts roasted by BgBlyStyle @ 07/10/2008 3:01 PM


It’s a big entry on the arcade version of Spyhunter, but this is the one that answers the question:

“The game has no end and at no time does the player ever leave the car but it was RUMORED to have a graveyard sequence, an actual end and a sequence where the player exited the car for on-foot action.”

Chestnuts roasted by Jack @ 07/10/2008 3:09 PM


a sequence where the player exited the car for on-foot action.

Ah, the lie of every old car game ever. I miss the lies of the old days.

Chestnuts roasted by doho in the summer @ 07/10/2008 3:17 PM


I hate Midway now! :(

Chestnuts roasted by BgBlyStyle @ 07/10/2008 3:24 PM


I used to write letters to my cousin who lived in Mississippi. I haven’t seen any of them in ten plus years but vaguely remember some of the details. We used to draw all kinds of stuff back and forth to one another and came up with some characters. His character was a hound dog named “Spot” that had a big spot over his eye, and mine was a wolf named “Silver”. They both walked on two legs and so forth. We ended up making a whole bunch of characters for this animal club (that saved other animals that were in trouble). I was obsessed with ferrets, so there was that, and a female dog with a pony tail. The most unusual one was Silver’s brother who was named Sonic (and was real fast…imagine that) and had a bandanna tied around his head like a Ninja turtle and nunchuks.

We were weird kids too I guess.

I also remember LARP-ing (kid style) Final Fantasy when we were 9 or 10 in my parent’s backyard forested area wielding He Man/She Ra swords and shields and a big stick for our other cousin. We were WAY ahead of the time (LARPing, FF fanboys, etc)

Chestnuts roasted by kittycatgirl @ 07/10/2008 3:33 PM


I always thought APB would have an ending. I played it for a LONG time straight one time and never saw one. I had the most wanted list filled up with arrests too and didn’t miss a one.

Chestnuts roasted by Jack @ 07/10/2008 3:35 PM


Remind me…was APB the one where you were a cop and you had to drive through doughnut shops and stuff? I seem to remember the title screen…was there a fat cop and a skinny cop?

Chestnuts roasted by BgBlyStyle @ 07/10/2008 3:41 PM


Yes, that the one. It had flashing lights that lit up on top of the machine when you turned them on in the game too.

Chestnuts roasted by Jack @ 07/10/2008 3:45 PM


I remember the game, but never knew the name of it!! Please tell me it’s available in emulation somewhere!

Chestnuts roasted by BgBlyStyle @ 07/10/2008 4:26 PM


It’s on Midway Arcade Treasures 2.

Chestnuts roasted by doho in the summer @ 07/10/2008 4:33 PM


I’ve been obsessed with “I Wanna Be The Guy.” It’s like the hardest and most violent Super Mario Brothers takeoff ever. I can only get to the “Tetris” screen, then I die. But I will conquer it… oh yes. I will.

Been working too much these days. Sleep has once again become my enemy. Coffee is the black blood that drives me. I am tired and wired simultaneously. Makes me a little ornery.

I remember once I sent a letter to a friend in a town I had moved away from. He sent me back this bizarre reply: it was numbered 1 – 10 and at each number there was a short statement. I had no idea – even my mom couldn’t figure it out. Months later I visited him for a week or two over the summer. He asked “Did you get my letter?” I said “I didn’t understand it.” He said he had answered all of the questions I asked him in my letter. Obviously without my original letter it was completely out of context and looked to be madness…

He grew up to be a science teacher. Analytical I guess. Strange dude.

FM

Chestnuts roasted by Fungusmungus @ 07/10/2008 4:35 PM


I too am a IWBTG fan. I’m much better at Owata Life Ending Adventure though.

Chestnuts roasted by doho in the summer @ 07/10/2008 4:45 PM


Matt is Bag o Jokes from that magic shop in Pee wee’s Big adventure? I think it was written on the shopping bag he used to put the gags in he bought.

What did the Pink Panther say when he stepped on a bug….dead ant dead ant deadant deadant deadant(sung to the toon of pink panther)

Chestnuts roasted by mandy_Reeves @ 07/10/2008 4:56 PM


Glad to see your still alive and kicking FM!

Chestnuts roasted by Dan @ 07/10/2008 5:17 PM


I’m with the “bag of laughs” crowd, I think it’s just a mislabled “bag o laughs” toy, I’m a few years older than you, Matt, and I had an older brother who had one from the 60s and I loved it. I think they still made them into the 80s. It was a fabric bag with a drawstring (orange IIRC) and it just had this plastic thing inside that played recorded laughter and shook (like a dualshock PS2 controller) when you touched it. Ringing any bells?

Chestnuts roasted by illnoise @ 07/10/2008 5:28 PM


But it’s not a bag of or o laughs. It’s a bag of or o jokes. Thus, it’s a bag with a penis in it. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.

Chestnuts roasted by doho in the summer @ 07/10/2008 5:35 PM


Well I FINALLY found the new dew flavors!=) Two of them anyway. I got Supernova and Revolution. They didn’t have the third. I can’t remember its name. Haven’t tasted Revolution , but Supernova tastes great!

Chestnuts roasted by ULTRAMAN @ 07/10/2008 6:43 PM


Heh, there was a dude behind me in line at Target that was asking about the new Dew flavors. I don’t think the worker knew what he was talking about.

Sad news…Grandmama passed away this morning. She was 94 years old. I spent so many weekends at her house when I was a kid…

Chestnuts roasted by Annette @ 07/10/2008 6:49 PM


Annette I’m so sorry to hear that. I’ll keep you and your family in my thoughts.

Ultraman in my opinion SuperNova is the best of the 3.

Chestnuts roasted by Dan @ 07/10/2008 6:52 PM


Sorry to hear that Annette.=( I almost lost my Granny just a few months ago . I’ll keep her in my prayers.

Chestnuts roasted by ULTRAMAN @ 07/10/2008 6:53 PM


Hey all! Long time no see, no blog updatey on my part. I gotta go do a solid month with the “Large Air Organization that Bombs Stuff”. Sorry for the lack of participation, maybe it’ll step up if I get evenings free and wireless internet on base. We shall see.

I’ll probably be in a group in the day and at night – which I loathe, and is especially hilarious since the military is all about being in groups.

Chestnuts roasted by Terror Claws @ 07/10/2008 7:23 PM


Sorry for your Loss, Annette. :(

Chestnuts roasted by Cameron T. @ 07/10/2008 7:32 PM


Hey Terror Claws! Nice to hear from ya!=)

Chestnuts roasted by ULTRAMAN @ 07/10/2008 7:36 PM


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