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February Group Read - Duct Tape is Not Enough
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Melki
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Feb 01, 2012 04:22AM
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I think duct tape can fix anything...including psychological problems, emotional wounds, and marriages.
Anybody start this one yet?I'm almost done..not to brag. Along with the book I found a DVD (season 11) of Red Green at my library...wow, is all I have to say. I haven't seen an episode since about 1999. It was my Dad's show - he watched it everyday, on his worn out leather couch in the basement (aka man cave). So, occasionally I'd catch part of the show, but, being a teen I had no real connection to the midlife/marriage/man/handyman jokes...but, now I do. I'm old now I guess?
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I read that page about underwear, how Red Green has never had to buy his own underwear...and it's so true.First it's your mother/father when you are a kid.
Then you go off to University and you don't have money to spare for new underwear (you need it for beer?!). So, you rely on Xmas presents.
Then when you are married either your spouse or mother-in-law fill your stocking with underwear every Xmas.
I have to admit, I'm one of those men too...wow, I'm finding a whole new side of myself and my manhood here. It's very liberating.
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There seems to be a whole generation of men who never had to take care of themselves. My father never bought a stitch of clothing for himself, and no - he was not a nudist! (My mother actually bought him NOTHING BUT clothes. He was one of those guys who dies with three drawers full of unopened dress shirts!)
Many men went from mom to wifey, with maybe a brief stint in the army -- never having to cook a meal or do the laundry.
One of my older friends is fond of telling this tale:
Knowing that a meeting would keep her away from home over the supper-hour, she bought a nice TV dinner for her hubby. She preprogrammed the microwave so that all he had to do was press START. She came home from her meeting as he was finishing up a peanut butter sandwich. "Why didn't you have your TV dinner?" she asked. He said, "Well, I pressed START, the microwave did its thing, the bell rang, I opened the door...and there was nothing in the damned thing!"
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But then again...you got your wife shampoo, didn't you?
I love the generation gap in regards to parenting. My Grandmother-in-law thinks I am the best guy in the entire world (which is of course true, in my mind) because I change diapers...apparently this would be unthinkable 'work' for a man to do forty or fifty years ago when she had kids.She keeps going on and on about me saying my wife is so lucky. It's gotten so bad that it's turned into a joke (story of my life).
Question: Do you prefer the format of this book, short one page stories/lists, when you are reading humour?
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Melki wrote: "Well, the short anecdotes make perfect reading for the one room of the house where you happen to sit frequently, but not for very long periods of time..."Agreed...the dining room table; breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Then at least you have something to talk about. That's what you meant, right?
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I started my review/blog post for this one and I started a list (which I rarely do) of where you can read this book. I found it was a good one to read when you only have a minute or two since the stories were only a page long.My real experiences included waiting at the tire store for new tires to be put on the car, sitting in the car waiting in the coffee shop drive thru, sitting on the couch being constantly interrupted by those pesky things I call my kids, and while doing laundry. All places where my attention span on the book was limited from mere seconds to one minute.
Question: This book was aimed at men, did you have a hard time relating, or did you find the jokes had 'universal' appeal?
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The garage belongs to him. If you ever get down this way on a tour of fine American eating establishments, you have got to see it. It's the most ORGANIZED garage I've ever seen, so unlike 90% of my neighbors, we can still park our car inside. I am allowed one drawer, 4 x 6 inches, in which I keep my glass cutter and sawtooth hangers for picture framing. That was doled out quite grudgingly, and he still gets this look on his face when he knows I've been in the garage. A kind of "What-the-hell-have-you-been-doing-in-my-sanctuary?-You-better-not-have-messed-anything-up!" look.
You probably know what I'm talking about...
I had no problem relating either, as I view my father as a Red/Green type. I could picture him doing almost everything in the book...the scary part, was that more and more of the stories I could see me doing. Yikes.
Mod
OMG!!! That is SO TRUE!!! Red Green is a genius!
He is a true thinker.Did you get the feeling there was a dark underlying theme? That most men turn out to be losers, doing nothing with their life, and never mastering things like manners? I did - which made me feel at home - we are all in this together.
I managed to snag another Red Green DVD from my local library, I think it may be called something like, 'we can't help it, we're men!'
I find him very inspirational, in fact I find I'm acting more like a stereotypical man when I read his books and watch his shows. This is not good.
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I'm wondering if you get to do exactly what you want in life - whether it's lying on the couch, watching sports, and drinking beer OR using duct tape to turn an ordinary household appliance into a minivan/lawn mower...can you be considered a loser?
Seems like men might have the last laugh...
unfortunately, I couldn't find this one, my local library didn't have it, and when I searched their records for "duct tape is not enough", they only brought up one result, and it was:
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I had to order it from an independent seller on Amazon. One of those strange cases where the shipping and handling costs more than double the price of the book.
I had no problem. Guess there is a librarian in town who just knows how to order great books (either that or there is a Canadian content rule - the library must be made up of 50% Canadian books or something?)If you would like to read my wonderfully witty review on this book, http://bookwormsfeastofbooks.blogspot...
