According to that Wikipedia article, if one can believe it (I comment on Wikipedia below :-), the "dialect" (such as it is) originated in the 17th century. Crazy!
Like I say, I learned it from my cousin. He was in his 20s in the early '60s when I was a kid. He and his brother would bamboozle everyone with it until my brother and I made them teach it to us.
Brings back some good memories, I can tell you.
The National Lampoon was a great magazine. You were able to watch it shrink and deteriorate in real time. Michael O'Donoghue, Chris Miller, Gahan Wilson, PJ O'Rourke, those sick crazy bastards took no prisoners.
Can you imagine "If You Don't Buy This Magazine, We'll Kill this Dog" passing an editor's desk today? Or the parody "All in de Fambly"? Only cartoons can get away with NatLamp- style ourageousness these PC days, when most in the publishing industry are either woke pussies or chickenshit (same difference).
Agreed. National Lampoon would be annihilated on release these days. Arguably, the TV show "In Living Color" would be as well (e.g., with their skits "Men on Film", "Handi-Man", etc.).
It's almost odd that it took this long for something like Substack to gain traction. I guess we had to experience the bottom of social media, the collapse of "mainstream media" and the rise of blatant censorship first. Kudos to Elon Musk for helping to expose the latter by purchasing Twitter and to Matt (and Michael S., Bari W., et al.) for sifting and gleaning through the volume of near-unbelievable communications. The NY Post really deserves recognition as they arguably set the whole process in motion with the release of Miranda Devine's Hunter Biden laptop story.
I was born in 1960 in Chicago. By 1971, I was, ahem, getting into things I probably shouldn't have been -- but having a blast and not really hurting anyone while doing so (though I admit going through a short pilfering phase lifting stuff from drugstores and the like). Yeah, smoking reefer at eleven. Great times. Dark Side of the Moon came out just before I turned thirteen.
National Lampoon was perfect. They even noted it was the magazine when "you got too big for Mad".
Along those lines, remember the cover issue "What, Mai Lai?" with a caricature of Lt. Calley as Alfred E. Neuman?
Another bit of Americana trivia: the Alfred E. Neuman "What, me worry?" meme dates from the early twentieth century:
Harvey Kurtzman was another visionary. Hugh Hefner hired Kurtzman to produce his new (and short-lived) magazine "Trump". Hefner was quoted as saying, "I gave Harvey an unlimited budget, and he exceeded it."
That just seemed like awesome timing on his part. Co-founded the mag and rode it to its peak. I've purchased the documentary on the magazine but haven't yet watched it. Hmmmm. Maybe tonight!
To complete the circle, it's thoroughly cool that Seymour Hersh, who broke the Mai Lai story, also publishes on Substack. A subscription to his articles could be a good treat this year - and I admit I disagree with a fair chunk of his opinions (but agree on most). Even his free version is great to read. He also broke the Nord Stream story. His descriptions of politics in the sixties and seventies are riveting (his Kissinger obit is amazing):
So much information, so many interesting things to read and learn. It's impossible to keep up. Hence the value of Matt's and other's "stacks"!
This also underscores the tragedy that is American education.
It has become clear that one can paraphrase Churchill along the lines of, "Never have so many understood so little about so much".
Your point that National Lampoon couldn't survive today also illustrates the rise of intolerance to differing opinions.
This is tragic. As noted, I don't agree with some things put out by authors I support -- but isn't that part of the game?
Just learning other points of view, encountering perspectives one might disagree with is, as they used say back in the sixties and seventies, "What it's all about".
All the best to everyone for 2024! It's probably going to be "interesting".
Yeah, two BIG lips, if you get me.
P.S.
I just remembered "tulip" was my cousin's euphemism for "fart." He would pronounce it using "Ub" language, so it sounded like "Tuboolubip."
...and I learned another thing today!
According to that Wikipedia article, if one can believe it (I comment on Wikipedia below :-), the "dialect" (such as it is) originated in the 17th century. Crazy!
Key-ripes! It's retro-day on Substack!
Are you referring to "Ubbi Dubbi"?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubbi_dubbi
Dating myself, no doubt, but it was a good time to be a kid.
Banana in one's ear, forsooth!
Yes.
Like I say, I learned it from my cousin. He was in his 20s in the early '60s when I was a kid. He and his brother would bamboozle everyone with it until my brother and I made them teach it to us.
Brings back some good memories, I can tell you.
The National Lampoon was a great magazine. You were able to watch it shrink and deteriorate in real time. Michael O'Donoghue, Chris Miller, Gahan Wilson, PJ O'Rourke, those sick crazy bastards took no prisoners.
Can you imagine "If You Don't Buy This Magazine, We'll Kill this Dog" passing an editor's desk today? Or the parody "All in de Fambly"? Only cartoons can get away with NatLamp- style ourageousness these PC days, when most in the publishing industry are either woke pussies or chickenshit (same difference).
Hence Substack, I guess.
Agreed. National Lampoon would be annihilated on release these days. Arguably, the TV show "In Living Color" would be as well (e.g., with their skits "Men on Film", "Handi-Man", etc.).
It's almost odd that it took this long for something like Substack to gain traction. I guess we had to experience the bottom of social media, the collapse of "mainstream media" and the rise of blatant censorship first. Kudos to Elon Musk for helping to expose the latter by purchasing Twitter and to Matt (and Michael S., Bari W., et al.) for sifting and gleaning through the volume of near-unbelievable communications. The NY Post really deserves recognition as they arguably set the whole process in motion with the release of Miranda Devine's Hunter Biden laptop story.
I was born in 1960 in Chicago. By 1971, I was, ahem, getting into things I probably shouldn't have been -- but having a blast and not really hurting anyone while doing so (though I admit going through a short pilfering phase lifting stuff from drugstores and the like). Yeah, smoking reefer at eleven. Great times. Dark Side of the Moon came out just before I turned thirteen.
National Lampoon was perfect. They even noted it was the magazine when "you got too big for Mad".
Along those lines, remember the cover issue "What, Mai Lai?" with a caricature of Lt. Calley as Alfred E. Neuman?
Another bit of Americana trivia: the Alfred E. Neuman "What, me worry?" meme dates from the early twentieth century:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-10-08-8503080576-story.html
https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2016/03/03/a-boy-with-no-birthday-turns-sixty/
Harvey Kurtzman was another visionary. Hugh Hefner hired Kurtzman to produce his new (and short-lived) magazine "Trump". Hefner was quoted as saying, "I gave Harvey an unlimited budget, and he exceeded it."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_(magazine)
National Lampoon did seem to simultaneously flame-out and fizzle by the mid-seventies. It briefly came back a bit later but then succumbed.
I admire Henry Beard for taking the 1975 National Lampoon buyout money and walking away; he has spent his time since writing about golf and sailing:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Beard
That just seemed like awesome timing on his part. Co-founded the mag and rode it to its peak. I've purchased the documentary on the magazine but haven't yet watched it. Hmmmm. Maybe tonight!
To complete the circle, it's thoroughly cool that Seymour Hersh, who broke the Mai Lai story, also publishes on Substack. A subscription to his articles could be a good treat this year - and I admit I disagree with a fair chunk of his opinions (but agree on most). Even his free version is great to read. He also broke the Nord Stream story. His descriptions of politics in the sixties and seventies are riveting (his Kissinger obit is amazing):
https://seymourhersh.substack.com/
So much information, so many interesting things to read and learn. It's impossible to keep up. Hence the value of Matt's and other's "stacks"!
This also underscores the tragedy that is American education.
It has become clear that one can paraphrase Churchill along the lines of, "Never have so many understood so little about so much".
Your point that National Lampoon couldn't survive today also illustrates the rise of intolerance to differing opinions.
This is tragic. As noted, I don't agree with some things put out by authors I support -- but isn't that part of the game?
Just learning other points of view, encountering perspectives one might disagree with is, as they used say back in the sixties and seventies, "What it's all about".
All the best to everyone for 2024! It's probably going to be "interesting".