DEREK 360: People love to fake it.

Hello friends,

I've been a busy man this past week. I have been wandering the globe searching for information about a few stories I am currently working on. This is not one of them. I mostly just want you all to think I'm a bad ass globe-trotting, jet-setting reporter type. It may or may not be total bullshit.

This story is about faking it.

*In the past few weeks the American public has been blown away by coverage about John Mark Karr and his supposed killing of the wee beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey back in 1996. The press sniffed this story all the way over in Thailand like three weeks ago and the scent was so strong they didn't let it go. They posted every little detail about Mr. Karr's creepy fucked up lifestyle. They sensationalized his quotes about his "love" for JonBenet. They quickly talked about the fact that every single man and woman and even a few animals in America saw Johnny Karr on the night of the killing. They blew this thing out of proportion like crazy and in the end John Mark Karr loves to fake it.


Johnny Karr's DNA does not match the gross festering petri dishes of murderer DNA that we still have sitting around from '96. Now he can go back to his "normal" life. He'll have a quick stop off in California to get a slap on the wrist for some child porno charges, but after that he can get right back down to the business of being the creepiest mother fucker to hit the media scene since Dahmer.

*In New Orleans there was a major natural disaster a year ago. There is nothing fake about that. However, on Monday a man stood up at a conference in New Orleans and made claims about public housing. He said he was the deputy assistant secretary of the department of housing and urban development (HUD). He spoke after the Louisiana governor and my favorite mayor, Ray Ray Nagin. He said that HUD was halting plans to demolish thousands of units in the area. However, the man loves to fake it.

The dude dissapeared quickly after his speech. What he said was total bullshit. He left a card behind proclaiming that the whole conference had just been the victim of an elaborate prank. Ashton Kutcher was not involved and all those HUD units are getting destroyed.

*I'm sitting here right now watching the movie Proof. It's got Anthony Hopkins, Jake Gylenhaal and Gwyneth Paltrow. Gwyneth Paltrow is supposedly a great actress. She's got an Oscar trophy and the fact that she hasn't made a movie in like two years actually matters to people. However, Gwenny loves to fake it.

Because she sucks.

YAYYYYYY,
Derek

Fidel Castro: Last Will and Testament

Hola compadres and amigos. Your good friend, Fidel Castro, here. That picture is from my Liam Neeson phase days. Its quite flattering, if I must speak so myself I. Over the past few semanas there have been reports of me being in no so bueno health. Though greatly exaggerated, there is some truth to these rumors. Si mi amigos. It looks as if my days on this planet are labeled with numbers and those labels are running in order like 34,33,32,31 ecksetara ecksetara. You know. Getting smaller and more pequeno. I am indeed infermo. I decided I should probably start preparing for the death end of my life being over.



Being said that, I made up my brain to make up my "last will and testament" (as my lawyer says is). I have placed it in the hands of the only compadres I trust in the world: Los Padres del Simposio Juanny Utah. These hombres have filled me with feliz jelly for some times now and I knew that the only way to make sure my words were not thrown away like basura was to ask for the grace of permission from The Padres to publish this last request of mine. I asked and was met with a muy fuerte "YEAH MANS!" Haha. I usually would be feasting on the corazon ensalada of ensalada y corazones of those who displayed such disrespect to me, but not from these jokester fun funny cabelleros.

Before I start, I'd like to open up with a few laugh jokes. What do you call four of my fellow Cubans sinking in quick sand? CUATRO SINKO! HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Did you hear that Hooters Big Boob Restuarant of Wings and Beer and Whores is starting their own airline? SI! Es cierto! All the assigned chair seats are 32DD!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh Tito, hand me some hand 5 finger skin on the low!!!

A few weeks ago was my birthday. Yeah, it's ok that you missed it. A lot of people here in Cuba-land did too. They're dead now. Fortunately for you I have turned new leaf and will let you skin by. But speaking of cumpleanos, what is the worst gift you can give someone for their special day surprise.........?!


....AIDS!!!!!



Ok. Enough funny. On to business.

First, I would like to warn you all that my heart is wired to a sensor which in turn is also wired to sensors which is rigged to some boom fire explosions planted all around the world. This is just exactly as Juanny Utah Padre, Andy, predicted. When my heart stops...EXPLODE! Reminds me of a would you rather. Would you rather: get exploded crotch first and die? ...or win the $900,000,000,000 tax free lottery?

As many of you know. I have mucho dinero. I would like to will half of it to my good amigo, Tom Cruise for him to start his new production company. I am actually half Scientologist and half Methodist...or as I like to call myself SCIENTIST! (Laugh you stubborn assholes before I fire squad you to death). The rest will be donated towards the budget of the greatest show ever made, Blue Collar TV. NOT! BOY DOES THAT SHOW FUCKING SUCK! FUCK THOSE HILLBILLY AMERICAN FUCKS! Hey, America! That's why I hate you! Not because of the Bay of Pigs or free commerce or anything. Geez. Hey! JEFF FOXWORTHY! PUT DOWN YOUR SISTERS PENIS FROM YOUR MOUTH! Am I right?!

I will my copy of Surf Ninjas to that dirty Pollock Mike Sopadoogee (JUS). I will my mustache to that dirty Wop Andrew (JUhS). I will my love of bestiality to that dirty Kraut Derek (JUS). I will my strip of oceanside sex-slave dwellings (or as I call it the "Pleasure Peninsula") as well as all the disease free, horny womens and riches inside to Andy (JUhS). As well, all you boys will receive equal shares of my fleet of Packard automobiles. If I regret anything, its that I would have been able to drive one of those PT Chryslers. Dios mio, they are the knees of bees....or the "tits" in my Juanny Utah speak.

I leave my cigar collection to my son, and former Atlanta Brave pitcher, Steve Avery. I leave my gator suit (with matching boots) to Flaunt-It Flaunt-It Gary. The rest of my things will be divided up on a first come, first serve basis where people will bid and then depending upon the highest price offered within a certain market for said items, the highest paying person will recieve said item. The true communist way.

I'd like to thank my lawyer, the dead and now human cadaver lawyer puppet of Johnnie Cochran. He and I worked well together and made love even better.

So that wraps it up. Before I die, I just wanted to say: Mandy Moore...you're a classy piece of ass and I'm glad I got the chance to spank it to your picture. I want Jay-Z and "Diddy" to MC my funeral and for 500 virgins to be sacrificed so I have something to keep me occupied when I'm out of this bitch.

Thank you all for your time.

Hasta la vista, baby.


Fidel "The Ghostman Wolf" Castro(JUhS)

DEREK 360: Crass Mistake or Exciting New Idea?

Recently in Stockholm, Sweden a porn movie was visible on a monitor in the background during a late night five minute news update. The news was Swedish and the porn was identified as being Czech. Supposedly the people at the news station had been watching a sports program earlier in the day on the channel, Canal Plus. Unfortunately for the newsdudes, Canal Plus plays X-rated movies after a certain time in the evening. They left the monitor on to better give the news break that whole "we've got lots of monitors on lots of different television stations to better demonstrate that we are finely tuned into the news of the world" look. It is also known as the "we look smart" look. It's popular in newsrooms across the world. The porn was on for like a minute before a producer named Per Yng (really awesome name) turned it off.

On one side of the coin I can see this as being a crass and disgusting mistake. What if a little kid had been watching this late night news break? The kid would have, no doubt, grown up to be a sexual deviant with a fetish for Czech sex on tiny screens.

However, on the other side of that porno-mixed-with-news coin is the beginnings of an exciting new idea. What if we incorporated elements of porno into all news? What if Charles Gibson was reading the news in a field packed with naked chicks dancing with one another? How about Barbara Walters standing in a sweaty room populated by three dudes and one chick? She can read the news while the other four people do...other things. We could have Bill O'Reilly move the whole O'Reilly Factor team from his rad studio set to a farm filled with "naughty animals"? We could incorporate porno into all elements of the news and we could...hmmm.

Yeah, this is a really bad idea. Crass mistake Sweden, crass mistake.

To all of the journalists who read this blog, I apologize.
-Derek

Uhhhhhh

Wow. That looks fun. I wonder if it's complete with the watery death at the bottom. Maybe they have a little part that simulates freezing to death in the Atlantic. Now THAT is what I would want at my 5th birthday party.

(NOTE: This post is basically plagiarized from a brilliant piece on our "sister blog". Nice work Lindsay.)

WEEEEEEEE,
Derek

DEREK 360: Fish Rebellion!

Friends and Neighbors,

We have got a serious problem on our hands.

A few weeks ago I reported on a story in which a marlin stabbed a dude. The dude was fishing and the whole thing appeared to be an accident. Unfortunately, some new facts have come to light which make me believe that that incident was no accident. It was merely another felled domino in an awesome Domino Rally style domino display. Last week I stumbled upon another article. This article made it pretty clear that we are facing a serious problem.

On August 9, a man in Florida was enjoying his day with a bit of jet skiiing. He was going along minding his own business when a four foot long sturgeon leapt out of the water and knocked the man into the water. This is for realz. The dude would have died had his special lady not been behind him, ready to keep his head above water until paramedics could airlift him out.

The same article also reveals that in April, on the same body of water (the Suwannee River) a three foot sturgeon sent a woman to the hospital when it jumped out of the water and into her boat. Officials are trying to downplay this whole thing by claiming that a few of these fish jumping "accidents" happen annually but that, unfortunately, is not the truth.

Last week I, hungry for the truth, went down to Florida to do some digging (digging in this case has nothing to do with National Dig in the Dirt Week...oh and that has been expanded as well...it's now National Dig in the Dirt Month...just FYI). I asked countless local fisherdudes about the strange happenings on and around the Suwannee River. One fisherdude told me that the two incidents I was mentioning were not the result of seperate fish. He claimed that the sturgeon who jumped in the boat in April was the same sturgeon who busted the jet skiier in the eye in August. This fisherdude was as wise as the desert is hot.

"That mother-fuckin' fish must've growed like a damn foot. It was about three feet in April and then in August it was a little more than four. That sturgeon's been eating human flesh...that's what's doing it."


Wait, the fish are eating humans? The wise old fisherdude went on to tell me that this one infamous sturgeon, which he called Big Pooga, could talk and had told him that "it was mother-fucking time for a change". Wise Old Fisherdude told me that he spoke to Big Pooga at length and Pooga laid out a full plan on how he was gonna rally the schools and lead the fish in a fish rebellion. The fish, after eating some human flesh...and absorbing some human powers, will overtake the human species and rule the world. Pooga had told him that, "the world is mostly water anyway...right?".

Admittedly, I was still skeptical at this point. I asked the Wise Old Fisherdude why Big Pooga had decided to just chat it up with him as opposed to eat his flesh. At this query, Wise Old Fisherdude rolled up the pant leg on his Bugle Boy Jeans and revealed a righteous pegleg. Whoa.

After I interviewed other fisherdudes I discovered that the marlin incident was linked and that the government has been trying to cover up countless other fish related attacks. The reason for the cover up is simply that if the public knew, the public would "fucking shit their pants". An incident with a school of clownfish (yeah, the ultra-cute Nemo fish) sinking a mid-sized yacht, and evsicerating the crew left me especially shaken.

I finally convinced the Wise Old Fisherdude to arrange a meeting with me and Big Pooga. We met near the shore on the southeastern corner of the Suwannee. I kept my distance and he kept his reponses short. I asked him only 4 questions. That was all it took to know.

Q: Are you leading a fish rebellion to take over the world?
A: Yes.

Q: How long do we, as humans, have left?
A: Months.

Q: What kind of a stupid fucking name is Big Pooga?
A: My name is Willy, not Big Pooga. The Wise Old Fisherdude is a stupid drunk asshole. He is unreliable, foul smelling and a poor wingman at a bar. He will not drive you to your girlfriends house if she calls you. He will not look you in the eye when he talks to you. He is a snake and his leg tasted like ass. I plan on making a hat out of his ribs once a few more steps to my rebellion come to fruition.

Q: Do you have a wrath?
A: Oh yes, and you will all feel it.

So there you have it. We've got "months" before everything we know changes.

Save everyone you can.
-Derek

Video Countdown #1: Hi, Spike Jonze.

Sorry, guys. I would have updated this yesterday, but I was getting blown by a robot.

Okay, confession time. This list is a sham. If I hadn't been operating under self-imposed rules the list would be completly different. The middle three would have looked something like this:

4. "California" by WAX
3. "Buddy Holly" by WEEZER
2. "Sabotage" by THE BEASTIE BOYS

It doesn't because all those vidoes were directed by Spike Jonze, and in the interst of diversity, I made sure each video had a different director.

That being the case, the number one video is, inarguably, the greatest work of art set to music. Better than the bank robbery scene in HEAT, 9/11 montages set to "Walk On," and anything by the BLUE MAN GROUP.

Here, for your viewing pleasure and mind explodings, is my pick for the greatest music video of all time:

1. "Weapon of Choice" by FATBOY SLIM




Thank you and goodnight.

-Michael Thomas

Video Countdown: Why Does Michael Thomas love animated music videos so much?

I have no idea. But Pearl Jam's "Do The Evolution" is the 2nd coolest video ever made.


#2: "Do The Evolution" by PEARL JAM




See what I mean?

Video Countdown #'s 4 and 3

#4: "1979" by THE SMASHING PUMPKINS

How Billy Corgan went from 90's rock god to 00's prime asshole is an entry for another day. So let's bask in the glow of his better years with a little ode to childhood angst:




#3: "Tomorrow Comes Today" by GORILLAZ

Now let's cool out with some Gorillaz. Their first album is a strong contender for my top five, and "Tomorrow Comes Today" is my favorite track.

That's about that. See you assholes Saturday for the top two.

-Michael Thomas

Michael Thomas Celebrates His Birthday: Video Countdown

I turn 24 on Saturday. Strange age to be. I feel like Charles Bukowski after getting tossed out of a bar on his way to get manhandled and assaulted by his vicious landlord. Awesome.

To celebrate my next step into manhood, I've decided to celebrate by counting down my five favorite music videos. Which makes these five videos pretty much the best ever.

#5: "Idioteque" and "Karma Police" by RADIOHEAD

After much deliberation (a couple seconds) and help from JUHS-supporter and boss roommate Danny Jordan, I've decided video #5 is a tie. While substance whys, "Karma Police" is a great video with a good song, "Idioteque" is great video with a better song. Since the Studio City chapter of The Johnny Utah Symposium has deemed Radiohead to be the best band of our generation, a tie is not only excused, it is fitting.

Enjoy.

KARMA POLICE



IDIOTEQUE

Existentialism

Ninja fuckin' reflexes, indeed:



I'm going to get shat on for this.

-Michael Thomas

!QUIK HITZ! (Post #100)

Let's learn stuff!

Let's do it QUIK!

1. ONE. UNO.

First of all, go here and watch this little movie. Then sit back and ask yourself if it's possible to "time track travel speed" like in that movie Back to the Future. I usually try to avoid anything having to do with Britney Spears but this was just too ridiculous for me to pass up. Enjoy.

2. TWO. DOS.

I want to present this movie (which was brought to my attention by the venerable Nels St. Claire). I couldn't find a good, unedited copy of it on Youtube so I want to thank Paul Huebl and his bad ass blog. Sweet headshot Paul.

The dude in this movie (I want to call him Reggie D.) makes me very happy. Reggie D. and Britney should hook up and manage a street corner in the darkest corner of Eastern Europe with equal parts violent menace and time traveling prowess.

3. THREE. TRES.

We are still in the midst of the first annual National Dig in the Dirt Week and, as you all have seen, the members of the Johnny have been discovering some interesting things. I uncovered Rasputin's bones (which sing to me at night...it's fucked up), Michael uncovered Mel Gibson and Andrew found two of the stars from the Karate Kid. Wait a second here...Mel Gibson was buried in a field in L.A.? Hey, if it's on the Johnny, it must be true...or something.

The point is, keep on digging and maybe you can uncover something equally epic.



This is the 100th post on the Johnny Utah Symposium. It's very exciting. Thank you to the readers for reading this drivel day after day. I hope the next 100 posts are even awesomer.

Uh huh.
-Derek

Let's watch movies: The Island

Hey everyone!

Let's watch some movies.

Today we are going to watch The Island. This movie came out last year and it stars Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Djimon Hounsou and Seen Been. This movie is not based on the crappy Peter Benchley book of the same name. That book was about pirates. This movie is about clones. This movie also has nothing to do with herpes.

Ewan and Scarlett play a pair of clones who do not know they are clones. Seen Been, in classic scientist-dude-playing-God-with-a-smarmy-British-accent mode, is the propreitor of a giant underground utopian world where rich people in the real world have paid money to house their clones until they are needed for organ transplants and kinky sex play (mmmm). The clones are living blissfully until Ewan's clone starts to get curious about stuff. Why can't he eat bacon? Why do these overly aggressive dudes in black jumpsuits give him shit everytime he gets too close to Scarlett? What's up with this island thing?

Oh, the island is the place they tell the clones they are going to when their real world counterpart needs to harvest organs from them. Hmmm. This is confusing. The clones in Seen Been's utopian society are told this string of lies about how the outside world is contaminated. The last remaining noncontaminated spot on the globe is the island. Seen Been has a rigged lottery whenever he needs some organs and the winner of the lottery gets offed (but they think, up until they're on the operating table, that they are going to the island). You know what I mean?

This is awful.

Did i mention that it's set in the future.

Eventually Ewan busts out of the underground utopia and takes Scarlett with him. From there they get to Los Angeles (but it's future L.A. so there's like tons of trains and some vehicles can hover now). In future L.A. the movie provides the viewers with its best nine or ten minutes. There's a pretty sweet car chase thing with a bunch of stuff falling off of an eighteen-wheeler (except, because it is the future, it's got like twenty plus wheels) and that stuff hitting cars and trucks and killing lots of people.

The entire time Scarlett is grunting and screaming in the most unsexy baritone rasp imaginable. She yells words like "Run!" and "Lincoln!" (that's Ewan's name and her fav president) with the tone you'd expect from a professional wrestler. Unsexy.

Oh, and Djimon Hounsou is in there too and for some reason he is ridiculously shiny in every scene. Is he sweaty like all of the time or is his skin just crazy shiny? Who knows. Good work with the silent "D" though.

Right now I would like to say how I got off track in this review, but, to be off track you have to be on track in the first place...which I was not. So...let's do some pros and cons.

+PROS+
+That car chase was pretty fun.
+Despite knowing that this movie kinda sucks, I didn't really mind watching it. I think that's a Pro.

-CONS-
-Most of this movie is pretty crappy.
-This movie somehow manages to waste the talents of both Michael Clarke Duncan and Steve Buscemi. Well, the talents of Buscemi anyway.
-The bass utterances of Scarlett. Unsexy.
-The ending sucks.

This is an awful review.

I give this film a 4.65537 out of 10
-Derek

The Tragedy of Michael Thomas

by Danny Jordan, as told to Tits Drexler and Salazar Scuttle

There once was a boy named Michael Thomas. He was a boy with dreams, passions, and a desire to make it in the business. The film business. One day, Michael decided to pack his bags, leave his home, and head out to the great city of Los Angeles to make a name for himself and cure his depression.

Well, Michael moved to Los Angeles and found himself a small apartment in North Hollywood. There he set up his base, and was ready to set out into the city to make his dreams come true.

He started giving blow jobs on street corners, as practice for his big break. Michael Thomas got very good at giving blow jobs, but after a few months he started to feel like a failure. He was considering quitting this crazy life and moving back to his home... in Wisconsin.

One night, Michael Thomas was drowining his sorrows in a bar, when Bryan Singer walked in, and sat down next to him. Michael Thomas got excited because he knew how the prolific director felt about young boys, and even though Michael was a little too old for Bryan's taste, Michael was sure he could satisfy.

So Michael Thomas and Bryan Singer began talking, and Mr. Singer decided that he liked Michael. So much so, that he invited him back to his home in Beverly Hills.

Back at Bryan's home, Michael was getting nervous. This was his big break, and he knew how disapointed everyone in Wisconsin would be if Michael came back a failure. Before he could dwell any longer on his doubts, the front door opened. In walk Paul Thomas Anderson (PTA to his friends.) Michael could not ask for a better audition, so he went straight to work.

All Michael's practice seemed to pay off, because Bryan Singer and PTA were very satisfied with Michael's work. Michael, full of pride and ego, asked the two master's about job opportunities.

Instead of offering work, Bryan Singer and Paul Thomas Anderson stabbed Michael. Then they through his body into the Beverly Hills Ocean.

And there he floats to this day. Dead, bloated, and dejected.

The End

Hong Kong Dig Day

JUhSers,

Uhhh ... I think I screwed up. I may have dug a bit too far. I found these two:


Is this OK?

Feeling a Little Awkward,
Andrew
"Proud JUhS Member Since 2006!"

p.s. - There's also an employee here named Queenie Tran ... you can't make this stuff up ...

KEEP ON DIGGING!

Hey there,

I hope all of you novice archaeologists out there had a prolific day of digging up awesome stuff yesterday. I know I did! I found this:


I know! Holy shit!

I've been running some sweet tests on these bones in the Johnny Lab and all signs point to these bones being the bones of Rasputin and some other dude. This is a big find. Rasputin's bones are supposed to have a crazy hex on them (according to a periodical of note) so I currently have them locked up in my downstairs bathroom. Oh, and don't worry, I totally washed my hands after handling the bones.

All of this excitement has inspired me to turn National Dig in the Dirt Day into National Dig in the Dirt WEEK! So just keep on digging and trust me, you will find something awesome. If you dig deep enough you may just find lava.

OH YEAH!
-Derek

NATIONAL DIG IN THE DIRT DAY '06

Hello everyone!

This Tuesday, August 1, is the first annual "National Dig in the Dirt Day". This event is being sponsored by the Johnny Utah Symposium and it is going to be a prolific day of glorious archaeological discovery. I know this seems totally random (and a little weird) but the events of this previous week have paved the path towards this new holiday. Let me explain:

On July 25th, some dudes in Dublin were digging in a bog (hell yes a bog) when they saw something in the bog muck. They turned off their backhoes and went in closer to examine the object. It was an ancient book of psalms dating back to the year 800. It was open to Psalm 83, in which God hears complaints of other nations' attempts to wipe out the name of Israel. Uhhhhhh. Dublin? What? Read the full story here and view some really awful pictures of the document covered in bog muck.

On July 26th, some other dudes in Virginia were checking out an old well (and I know that's not really digging in the dirt, but it's close) when they found some sweet relics from early America. They found an old pistol, a leather shoe and a sweet plaque that simply reads "James Towne". The relics are estimated to be roughly 400 years old. You can read this full story here and see a sweet pic of some bearded dude holding the muddy found gun.

These two incidents have made it perfectly clear to me that we, as human beings, don't spend enough time digging in the dirt for awesome stuff. Dinosaur bones, human skeletons, alien technology, different larvae, toxic waste, amulets, stuff from the titanic, relics from past times, Atlantis. These are just examples of some of the sweet stuff you could find if you simply walk into your backyard, harness the raw power of a shovel, and dig. I'd say a minimum of four feet down would be a good start but the deeper the better.

I want our millions (cough) of readers out there to join in on the fun and take part in this brand new holiday. Tell your friends and polish your shovels. DIG DIG DIG!

Full update on Wednesday where we catalog all the awesome stuff we find. Below is a sweet poster. Feel free to print some off and post them at your local mercantile.


I'm totally serious...about all of this.
-Derek

Bad Poetry Guy Presents: "Working the Night Shit"

Hello globe!
Am I asleep?
Is this dream?
Is this real?

Hello globe!
This is shit!
What is this?
Is this shit?

I hath shat my pant.

-Bad Poetry Guy

DEREK 360: Stupid Person Time

Hello Readers,

It is time once again for the occasional Johnny Utah feature, "Stupid Person Time".

Today we are going down to the Bermuda area for the tale of a fisherman who got his damn self stabbed while fishing for marlin. Marlin, more specifically blue marlin, can grow to be really huge (like 800lb.) and they have a natural sword shaped protuberance coming out of their foreheads. They are the narwhal of the fish world.

Ian Card, a 32 year old fisherman, was fishing with his father when all of a sudden the fish he had on his hook did its natural fishy thing and jumped out of the water (huh?). It jumped face first right into Ian's chest and stabbed the shit out of him. The force knocked him right out of the boat and into the water.

From here Mr. Card managed to "free himself" from the marlin's tusk/horn/sword/thing and...wait a second here. How do you free yourself? This dude got presumably run through by this fish's nose sword and then he somehow managed to pull the thing out? Did he leverage himself against the side of the boat and push as he watched gallons of his blood paint the water around him. I know this is supposed to be "Stupid Person Time" but this Ian Card dude is kind of a bad ass. If I got run through by a marlin tusk I'd flip out and probably just die. The marlin would carry me under the water and introduce me to the mayor of marlin town. They would show me all the coral-crafted landmarks of their marlin made metropolis. It would be magnificent...wait, what was I talking about?

Ok, back on track here. Ian Card managed to get loose and was treated at a local hospital after a 40 minute boat ride back to shore. He is alive but "very lucky" according to a doctor who treated him.

Ian, you are the subject of "Stupid Person Time" because:
1. You got stabbed by a fish...and that's awesome. Wait, no, that's stupid.
2. You got away from your marlin assailant and in doing so flushed your ticket to marlin town down the toilet.

In honor of you, Ian, I created a cautionary poster for future fisherdudes to learn from. I used fellow Johnny founding dad dude, Andrew, as the subject of this poster because if there is one guy I know who could get stabbed by a fish it's him.


I think this post might suck.
-Derek

Oh yes.

This is the most important and awesome video of all timez! AHHH! YEAH!



Uhhhhhhhh.
-Derek

DEREK 360: Ernie Reyes Jr.

Everything in this article is true.

Ernie Reyes Jr. is an actor. You may remember him as Keno in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II or as Johnny in Surf Ninjas. He is one of these karate dudes who burst onto the scene in the early 1990's, a time when awesomely awful karate based movies (like TMNT2 and Surf Ninjas) were sort of popular. Unfortunately for Mr. Reyes Jr. the age of the shitty karate based movie did not last. Mr. Reyes Jr. suffered from a serious lack of work for many years and it is in the midst of this career "dryspell" that our story takes off.


Fellow Johnny Founding Dad Dude Mike and myself were in our first year at University and we were bored. Mike stumbled upon this, which looked way worse five years ago. He instantly remembered (fondly) that reign of Reyes and the many parts that had made him into a legend in like half of 1991. We sat there for several hours just "shooting the shit" about how awesome Ernie was and how that dude "needs to get back into more movies". We were being sarcastic but sometimes sarcastic gets things done.

At the bottom of the website (at the time) there was a crude email link inviting us to "get in touch with Ernie". We contemplated what to say in our first correspondence with the man who was Luke Chen in a 1988 episode of MacGyver entitled Murderers' Sky (that's not a typo on the apostrophe...don't ask me). Mike and I decided that the best way to get Ern's attention would be to pitch him a sweet (and entirely fake) movie project.

From here on out large chunks of this epic story will be told through the actual emails that were exchanged between us and Ernie Reyes Jr.'s business manager. Our first email said the following:

Dear Mr. Reyes,

I am a film maker who has been a fan of yours since March 20, 1991 when I saw your work in the blockbuster Ninja Turtles II: Secret of the Ooze. Since then I have followed your career closely and you have not dissapointed. I especially enjoyed your role in Surf Ninjas in 1993 alongside your father. I anticipated a sequel but, unfortunately, was left with nothing. Since then I have continued to follow your work closely both on and off the screen. Your extensive martial arts skills still impress my associates and I. I was pleased to see your face once again on the big screen this summer as Zing in Rush Hour 2.

Well, I guess I should cut to the chase. I am developing a film entitled the Six Shooter for the screen. It is a kung fu western filmed with a tarantino-esque Sergio Leone hybrid style. The true feel of it is hard to explain right here but a good example is the film A Knights Tale. It's a raw western filled with anachronism, pathos, and enough martial arts to appease any enthusiast. I believe that you would be truly perfect for one of the roles in my new film. I hope that you can respond to me or at least tell me a better way to reach you. I thank you for your time and best of luck in the future.

Sincerely,
Derek


From here Mike and I sat back and waited. We really didn't expect to hear anything back, but, only a few hours later we did. His business manager, Sue, (who I still think was just Ernie using a different name...I mean come on. Ernie Reyes Jr. has a fucking business manager? Yeah, sure) responded with this:

Dear Derek,

Thank you for your nice note to Ernie. I am his business manager, and if you would like Ernie to read your script, please send to:

Ernie Reyes Jr.
CALIFORNIA ADDRESS

How far along are you on your project, or have you just started? If Ernie is interested in the project, we would help you get it produced.

Thanks for writing. I look forward to reading your script.

Best regards,
Sue

Help us "get it produced"? WHAT? They wanted the script to our totally fake anachronistic kung fu western called The Six Shooter but we didn't have a script to give them. At this junction we did what any pair of dudes in our situation would do. We bullshitted them into believing that we had the script done but not polished enough to where we were comfortable sending it. We said things like:

"We have always seen Mr. Reyes as the title character and we want his opinions on how to make that title character more suitable for him."

And,

"It starts in a hyper western atmosphere but as the film progresses elements of future and past cultures will blend together into what we think is one hell of an electrifying film. It's shaping up to be kind of a Matrix meets The Wild Bunch kind of feature."


We also included, with this email, the first couple scenes for Ernie to review and give us his thoughts. It was in these scenes that Mike and I's bullshitting went over the edge of reason. The four pages of non-formatted cinema magic were too much awesome for Ernie, or anyone, to handle. In the pages Ernie kicked a bullet back at a dude after said dude (who had a glass eye) tried to shoot him. It was some seriously intense shit. If you're totally insane and would like a copy of those first scenes from The Six Shooter just leave an email address in the comments section and it will arrive in your inbox at some point. After you have it feel free to read it and just cry. Cry because you know that you just read the first few scenes from what would have probably been the best movie ever made but unfortunately some actors just couldn't help us realize the dream. I'm getting a little ahead of myself...

After we sent the scenes, Ernie and Sue dodged us for quite some time. We had obviously blown their fucking minds and words just did not exist that could fully articulate just how rocked they had been by the excerpt they had read. Eventually we had to send a follow up email asking "whats up Ernie?". We threw out this threat in the follow up email which may have rubbed Big Ern the wrong way:

"We can easily line up another martial arts enthusiast to look over the role, it's just that we truly wrote it for Mr. Reyes."

At this, Ernie's camp finally responded with a firm "no". They told us some lie about how Ernie was busy with another project.

Why did I just recount all of this into a massive blog entry here on The Johnny Utah Symposium? We didn't make the movie. We didn't even meet Mr. Reyes Jr. This is fundamentally a bad story. It has a promising beginning, a decent yet slowly decaying middle and a complete let down of an ending where the two protagonists (Mike and I) just fail. Why am I putting this on the Johnny? WHY?

Because it is awesome.

Sorry about the length though. Do better next time.
-Derek

P.S. As for Ernie now, he is hosting a show on MTV called Final Fu. It's like a Kung Fu based gameshow...I think. I only managed to sit through about a half minute of it. It was bad.