Frazz by Jef Mallett for December 05, 2024

I’ve never been a fan of the Ramones. The names of their top ten songs may give you a clue as to why… ‘Teenage Lobotomy’ , ‘Pet Sematary’ , ‘Judy Is a Punk’ , ‘The KKK Took My Baby Away’ , ‘Rockaway Beach’ , ‘Beat on the Brat’ , ‘Bonzo Goes to Bitburg’ , ‘Sheena Is a Punk Rocker’, ‘Blitzkreig Bop’ and ‘I Wanna Be Sedated’.

It’s like the baloney sandwich, 2 cookies and an apple I had EVERY day in my lunch. For 8 long years in Elementary school.

I grew up with my choice (sometimes) of a red delicious apple, an orange (with pips or not) or a banana. VERY occasionally we got seasonal fruit instead: Peaches, apricots, tangerines… and wild raspberries if we picked them ourselves. I was a grownup before I discovered other varieties of eating apples (or they discovered me?) and considerably later when mangos became a thing I could have and enjoy.

For me, all three of the “standard lunch fruits” tasted pretty much exactly the same as the last one I had of that kind. It’s a lot better now. Though I do often choose a banana, I have real options.

I want to be sedated.

Bananas contain lots of healthy minerals, plus fiber that helps you get rid of every thing else.

Gabba Gabba Gobble it up, lol!

If you want different, try apple bananas.

Before Dave Barry had a ride in a fighter jet, the pilot advised him to eat a banana for breakfast. “For the potassium?” Dave asked. “No,” the pilot replied. “Because they taste about the same coming back up as they do going down.” [Dave later wrote that the pilot was right.]

Ham sandwich,an apple, and a little Debbie snack. Love The Ramones no other band quite like them.

We never had red delicious apples. Instead we always had apples grown locally—Romes, Staymans or Winesaps. They actually had some flavor, plus they were cheaper by the bushel from the orchard than the grocery store apples. If we were really lucky, we got a Jonathan apple, a tangerine or a fresh peach, but never bananas… my mom hated bananas. Baloney? No. Olive or pickle loaf, just cheese between 2 slices of bread, PB & J, or the family favorite—peanut butter and mayo.

Peanut butter sandwich, apple, half pint of milk. Every day all through high school.

If you didn’t like one of their songs, at least they were quick. Love Leonard Cohen but he tends to go on&on.

They used to say the same thing about Status Quo. But they did “You’re in the army now”.

20 20 24 hours a day, I wanna eat bananas!

If you didn’t like it you wouldn’t have eaten it

A friend of mine feels the same about AC/DC: “They wrote one song, and recorded it 200 times.” Her boyfriend’s response is “Yeah, but it’s a [freaking] great song.”

The Ramones were the Kings of Punk Rock. There songs were quick and simple 3- chord progression and the lyrics are easy to sing along to.

The first time I saw the Ramones was 1975 they opened up for Iggy Pop at the Palladium in NYC paid $3 for the ticket. Saw them headline twice with the Runways as the opening act

You had the Gros Michel, it went extinct in the 50’s due to a fungal disease. It was replaced by the Cavendish. It is now facing the same fungal issues. So far there is no cure. In other words, just wait a bit, you will get a newer species to taste.

It’s the Cavendish banana; they are so tasteless. When I was a kid in the ‘50s the banana was the Gros Michel. THAT’s the banana taste you get in banana food flavoring.

One summer, many, many years ago, I signed up for “summer militia.” In addition to walking more that 3 miles every day to the drill hall (and the same distance back at night) dressed in military fatigues, I ate tuna fish sandwiches (which I prepared the night before), the entire 5 weeks. (I still like the occasional tuna fish sandwich.) at the end of the summer, which included rifle practice at the range (FN C-1), they gave us all $200. We were told that, in the event of a war, we would be expected to show up for duty … no ifs, no buts!

Where’s the duct tape? You can’t eat a banana without duct tape!

Says the ‘juke box hero’…

Depends on the ripeness really

Try the little red ones – they have LOTS more flavor.

I don’t know about the Ramones, but according to our missionaries to certain South American countries, bananas can have a variety of stronger flavors; here in the USA we generally just get the rather bland Cavendish and they are picked green and ripen during shipping. And if you ever go to Hawaii or someplace where you can get fresh, truly ripe pineapple, you’ll be surprised at the difference there, too.

Isn’t there something about the bananas we are used to going extinct?

Or AC/DC songs. In both cases, though, they’re great songs.

How does he get bananas that all taste the same? The bananas I eat are all a little different, in large part because they’re in different stages of ripeness.

I hear that there’s a fungus that’s ravaging Cavendish banana trees now, and we may need to switch to a new cultivar soon. It’s almost a repeat of what happened to the Gros Michel variety in the early twentieth century. I am hoping to eat a Gros Michel banana someday, as I hear that it is sweeter (and the variety upon which banana-flavored candies are based) and has a creamier texture in the mouth. I am aware, though, that the lands upon which they are still grown are much diminished in area and thus the price tag will be expensive. Maybe I’ll order a batch for a major celebration someday.

Too many bananas can elevate your potassium levels. Not a good thing, according to my doctor.

The musician whose songs I and my mom think really sound the same is Barry White.

Does anyone know how to change the order of the comics. I added a couple which were put in the front of the line but I like Wallace to be my first of the day. OCD you know

Havana Affair: PT-boat on the way to HavanaI used to make a living, manPickin’ the bananaNow I’m a guide for the CIAHooray for the USA!Baby, baby, make me locoBaby, baby, make me MamboSent to spy on a Cuban talent showFirst stop- Havana au go-goI used to make a living, manPickin’ the bananaHooray for Havana!

Get used to it, Kid. A lot of adult life follows that same pattern.

Or the Barry Manilow songs of lunch.

Twenty-twenty-twenty-four apples to go… I wanna trade my lunches

But the bananas I ate in 1950’s were totally better tasting than the bananas we have today.

I was listening to an NPR program yesterday which featured a discussion of bananas. Did you know that there are about 500 varieties of them, with a wide range of flavors and textures? But the only ones we ever see in American grocery stores are the Cavendish types. The interviewees were bemoaning the ill effects of monocultures, not just of bananas and other fruits but also of wheat, maize, rice, and a variety of meat animals.

“Anarchy in the Lunchroom!”

“The Ramones songs of lunch.” My favorite like for the moment.

But is it a $6 million banana that was taped to a wall?

I wonder if Frazz ever wrote for the Ramones. I wonder if ANYONE ever wrote for the Ramones…

No dissing of the Ramones, please

Also: AC/DC. But that’s fine with me! I appreciate that they played what they (and their fans) wanted, instead of trying to “reinvent” themselves with each new album of music. Not many bands are successful doing that.