Guten Tag, Herr Totenpunkt

Aparently, I'm it. I've been doppeltagged (and think we all know how painful that can be).

There are rules of some sort. I think. I'm pretty sure there was something about kittens without kibble, so you may want to check those links.

WP and Geraldine tagged me with the name game meme.

First, my favorite blogger from the state that's round on the ends and high in the middle:

Flan, Flan, bo-ban
Banana-fanna fo-fan
Fee-fi-mo-man
Fla-aaaaan

and because I know how much she enjoys getting tagged, my source for entertainment news and yours:

Becks, Becks, bo-ecks
Banana-fanna fo-fecks
Fee-fi-mo-mecks
Beh-hecks


Before I could respond to that,
Johnny tagged me with the T-shirt meme.

Step the First: Describe two t-shirts I own.

It's black. Quelle surprise! It has the cover of the album Holiday In Cambodia on the front. (Spurious fact: My friend Joe nominated Holiday in Cambodia to be the theme of his Senior Prom. It didn't win.)

I was at the Alley in Chicago buying a new leather jacket to replace the one I'd worn to death, and I bought this to give to my nephew. He was in a band, and had been telling me bands that influenced their music (DK, Minor Threat, Ramones... lots of good punk). He'd been astonished that I knew them all. And, because I'm the cool uncle, I thought I'd give him a Dead Kennedys shirt.

And because I'm the bad uncle, I decided to keep it. (What? What? I went back and bought him a Ramones shirt instead.)

One day, while buying groceries, I'd paid for my mammoth cartload of groceries and was heading for the door, debating whether it was worth getting my iPod back out to drown out their horrible crap music just for the trip out of the store and across the parking lot. Suddenly,I was jolted out of my urban dad routine by a shout of "Kick ass shirt, man!". I glanced up and saw another old punk getting his groceries rung up, grinning his ass off and giving me the thumbs up.

I glanced down. Of course, Dead Kennedys. It really is a kick ass shirt, man.

2. It's black. I understand that they make t-shirts in other colors. I just don't understand why one would buy them. It's my Chicago Fire shirt from the season when they did the double (winning the league cup and the U.S. Open Cup in the same season). This one is too worn out to wear, but I have it stashed in a box, so it is still technically a shirt that I own.

This was from back when the Fire still played at Soldier Field. I'd placed an order from the shop in Soldier Field to buy some stuff (No, I don't remember. Probably my scarf that I wear for about 9 months out of the year and occasionally for summer games. I think there was some stuff for the kids. It's not important. This was not one of the items I ordered.)

The staff there put the wrong address on the package. And, as it turns out, UPS ignored the note that they were not supposed to leave it on the porch. In short, they gave my order away to some random stranger. When I asked them to replace the order, things got really stupid. The store blamed UPS for ignoring the note. UPS blamed the store for putting the wrong address on the package. Neither would budge.

Because I'm a geek, I posted a message online that if you wanted stuff, you should probably buy it at the game instead of ordering it because their customer service sucks. And then things got cool again. The General Manager of the Fire, Peter Wilt, ran across my message.

Peter Wilt, if you haven't heard of him, is the coolest guy in professional sports. He tailgated with the fans. He'd always leave the corporate box to go watch the game from the rowdiest section. He's awesome. I want to be him when I grow up. He emailed me, gave me the phone number for his direct line, and told me to give him a call. I called, he asked what happened, we chatted for a bit about the Fire, he said he'd see what he could do.

A couple of days later, a large box arrives containing all of the stuff I'd originally ordered, a note of apology from the store owner, and a bunch of extra stuff for my trouble, including this shirt. Peter had gone down to this store (which had no connection to the team) and had made them see reason when all else had failed.

Our family's brick at the new stadium thanks him for everything he did. He made the team what is. He got the right players to instill the values that shaped the team. Before he left, he got them their stadium and made sure that it was designed as the perfect place to watch soccer. It really is the best place in America to watch a game.

Oh yeah, and he got me a great t-shirt.

Step the Second: Design your own shirt.

It's dark charcoal gray. The front is printed with the number 13 in black, in a big, chunky 1930s art moderne font that reaches from shoulder to hem, covering the whole front of the shirt: more graphic than text.

Step the Third: Where would you wear it?

This is an odd question. Do most people have specific destinations in mind for their t-shirts? I don't get it. I am so not that organized.

Step the Fourth: Tag.

I don't think I have enough readers to tag two sets of people in one post. Meme if you want to. Or not. Just think of the poor shirtless kitties... or was it their kibble? I don't remember. Maybe I should have posted those rules after all.