1
   

The "Rugrats" epiphany

 
 
Reply Sat 16 Feb, 2008 08:06 pm
The other day I (re)noticed Mark Mothersbaugh as a composer for the cartoon "Rugrats" and (re)remembered him as a founder of the band Devo.

And that set me off...

Remember that movie with Bette Midler and Richard Dryfuss where Nick Nolte was a bum who almost drowned in their swimming pool? R.D.'s character was a guy who made his fortune with a factory that made wire clothes hangers.

And in (I think) "About A Boy" Hugh Grant was rich because his dad wrote some gimmick Christmas carol and he collected the royalties.

And in that movie with whatshername and whatshername they went to their high school reuninon and pretended that they invented post it notes. You know the one I'm thinking of? Yeah! That one. (I know the real guy who invented Post-It-Notes didn't really make a lot of money from his invention so don't give me a history lesson.)

And how a lot of shows won't sing "Happy Birthday" because they don't want to pay the royalties.

So I was thinking it would be fun to pretend that I struck it rich by having an ancestor who invented some ignorable but indispensible item.

The thumbtack?

The toilet paper roller?

Vinyl siding?

Tampax?

The shoehorn?


What?

I think it would be hilarious to say that my <great X ?> invented the <something>.

Give me a good lie and the info to back it up!

Thanks!
 
  1  
Reply Sat 16 Feb, 2008 08:33 pm
If I'm not totally confused, the fellow who worked up the rugrats was a client of ours. Certainly not for me to tell about, but that he had/has a great sense of play.




Ahem, play CAN pay.
0 Replies
 
View Profile dlowan
 
  1  
Reply Sat 16 Feb, 2008 08:53 pm
Re: The "Rugrats" epiphany
boomerang wrote:
The other day I (re)noticed Mark Mothersbaugh as a composer for the cartoon "Rugrats" and (re)remembered him as a founder of the band Devo.

And that set me off...

Remember that movie with Bette Midler and Richard Dryfuss where Nick Nolte was a bum who almost drowned in their swimming pool? R.D.'s character was a guy who made his fortune with a factory that made wire clothes hangers.

And in (I think) "About A Boy" Hugh Grant was rich because his dad wrote some gimmick Christmas carol and he collected the royalties.

And in that movie with whatshername and whatshername they went to their high school reuninon and pretended that they invented post it notes. You know the one I'm thinking of? Yeah! That one. (I know the real guy who invented Post-It-Notes didn't really make a lot of money from his invention so don't give me a history lesson.)

And how a lot of shows won't sing "Happy Birthday" because they don't want to pay the royalties.

So I was thinking it would be fun to pretend that I struck it rich by having an ancestor who invented some ignorable but indispensible item.

The thumbtack?

The toilet paper roller?

Vinyl siding?

Tampax?

The shoehorn?


What?

I think it would be hilarious to say that my <great> invented the <something>.

Give me a good lie and the info to back it up!

Thanks!



One-sided sticky-tape.



1908.




Prior to that it was extremely limited in its uses...except as fly paper.


Esmerelda Boomerang thought it made no sense...and, one day as she waas washing her hands after wrapping Boomerbaby's first birthday present...she thought...voila!!!!!

It took years of research to find a glue dispenser that was able to handle the finicky task...but, in 1908, Esmerelda, from the Boomerang coach-house launched her invention with a fete, and hundreds and hundreds of fake presents for people to wrap.


The rest is herstory.
0 Replies
 
View Profile littlek
 
  1  
Reply Sat 16 Feb, 2008 09:20 pm
Was that movie The Truth About Cats and Dogs? It had Janene Garafolo in it.
0 Replies
 
  1  
Reply Sat 16 Feb, 2008 09:24 pm
Oh that's good!

<ahem>

"Granny Esmerelda O'Boomerang developed what we now call "Scotch Tape". You've probably used it.....

<beat





beat






beat






>






<shrug>






She was a practical sort.

I think it has carried down through our family tree.

<brightening>

Along with the money!

<barking laugh>

Esmerelda.

<sigh>

Thank you, dear.

<shakes head>.
0 Replies
 
View Profile sozobe
 
  1  
Reply Sun 17 Feb, 2008 07:21 am
Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion.


Fingernail clippers.


The Scotch tape spiel is good though!
0 Replies
 
  1  
Reply Sun 17 Feb, 2008 11:49 am
Fingernail clippers! Brilliant!
0 Replies
 
View Profile dlowan
 
  1  
Reply Sun 17 Feb, 2008 01:14 pm
Thimbles with teeny dimples on top.....
0 Replies
 
View Profile Chai
 
  1  
Reply Sun 17 Feb, 2008 01:34 pm
ok, this is no joke.

my husband is somehow distantly related to the guy who invented lifesavers candy.

problem is, he (the inventor, not my husband) sold the receipe to someone else for a couple of thousand dollars back when.

what a nimrod.
0 Replies
 
  1  
Reply Sun 17 Feb, 2008 01:43 pm
floss...
0 Replies
 
 

Related Topics

More Dispatches From the Front - Discussion by jespah
Job Search - Discussion by littlek
On the Fringe - Discussion by jespah
New Job Disappointments - Discussion by fishin
What are your work hours like? - Discussion by Reyn
Dagmaraka goes Dutch - Discussion by dagmaraka
Now there's a second profession! - Discussion by jespah
Career in the gutter. - Discussion by Ferostie
Halloween at Work - Discussion by jespah
 
  1. able2know
  2. » The "Rugrats" epiphany
Copyright © 2009 Horizontal Verticals :: Page generated in 0.34 seconds on 11/28/2009 at 11:36:06 Top End