On my Toyota, the Rocinante
This is one of my favorite things ever. Back in 2001, there was an article on The Onion called Teen Who Just Discovered Led Zeppelin Starting To Piss Off Friends. User Max C. Webster on the alt.music.rush newsgroup wrote his own version of the piece. I haven't read AMR in years, but every once in a while I have to look this up in google groups and have a good laugh.
GURNEE, IL-Mark Campa, 16, who has listened to and talked about Rush almost
exclusively since discovering the '70s rock group over the summer, is "really
starting to piss off" his friends, sources reported Monday.
"I've got nothing against Rush - they're awesome," said James Savich, 16, a
longtime friend of Campa's. "But Mark acts like he's the first person ever to
really get into them when he's, like, the 59 billionth."
Campa was first exposed to the band in June when older brother Bryan
returned from college and started playing 2112I while lifting weights in the
garage. After one listen, Campa was reportedly hooked, buying his own copy and
playing it incessantly for weeks.
Campa's Rush fixation soon manifested itself in myriad ways, with the
teen playing only Rush in his car, drawing the 2112 man-in-star on his arm, and
spending $73 at the Kane County Fair ring toss in an effort to win a Moving
Pictures mirror.
According to friends, Campa's newfound love of the band has caused him to
behave in a "dicklick" fashion.
"Last Saturday night, a bunch of us were driving around cranking the new
Slipknot when Mark popped the tape out and started messing with the radio,"
said Rick Eglund, 17. "I was like, 'Dude, what's your problem?' He said it was
time for WLUP's 'Rush Hour' and that he never missed it. I told him he was
gonna miss it that night. Then, he tried to stop me from putting the tape back
into my own stereo. I had to pull over and force him to switch seats with Dan
[Alberman]."
"The stupid thing is, at the time, we were driving Mark home," Eglund
continued. "He has all their CDs, so he could've listened to Rush all night if
he'd just waited five minutes. I guess he had to prove what a big fan he is."
In addition to naming his '91 Prelude the "Rocinante" and renaming his
cat of four years "Geddy" as an homage to Rush basist Gary "Geddy Lee" Weinrib,
Campa has irritated friends with his constant barrage of Rush trivia.
"In the past week alone, I've learned that John Rutsey came up with the
band's name, Alex Lifeson is a pilot, and 'Afterimage' is about one of Neil's
friends who died," Savich said. "And if I hear Mark tell us about the 'roadie
laser incident' one more time, I'm gonna kill him. Everybody knows Visions is
bullshit, anyway."
Campa has also developed a habit of pointing out Rush connections to
seemingly non-Rush-related items.
"I downloaded the Lord Of The Rings trailer and, next thing you know,
Mark goes into this whole thing about how 'Rivendell' references the book Lord
Of The Rings," Alberman said. "I had to re-start the trailer after he was done
because no one got to see it. It's getting to the point where you're almost
afraid to go to a movie with Mark because Geddy Lee's second cousin might be an
extra in it."
Added Eglund: "It could be worse, I guess. He could've gotten into the
Grateful Dead. Or Floyd. Just imagine if he walked around all day quoting Dark
Side Of The Moon. Christ."
GURNEE, IL-Mark Campa, 16, who has listened to and talked about Rush almost
exclusively since discovering the '70s rock group over the summer, is "really
starting to piss off" his friends, sources reported Monday.
"I've got nothing against Rush - they're awesome," said James Savich, 16, a
longtime friend of Campa's. "But Mark acts like he's the first person ever to
really get into them when he's, like, the 59 billionth."
Campa was first exposed to the band in June when older brother Bryan
returned from college and started playing 2112I while lifting weights in the
garage. After one listen, Campa was reportedly hooked, buying his own copy and
playing it incessantly for weeks.
Campa's Rush fixation soon manifested itself in myriad ways, with the
teen playing only Rush in his car, drawing the 2112 man-in-star on his arm, and
spending $73 at the Kane County Fair ring toss in an effort to win a Moving
Pictures mirror.
According to friends, Campa's newfound love of the band has caused him to
behave in a "dicklick" fashion.
"Last Saturday night, a bunch of us were driving around cranking the new
Slipknot when Mark popped the tape out and started messing with the radio,"
said Rick Eglund, 17. "I was like, 'Dude, what's your problem?' He said it was
time for WLUP's 'Rush Hour' and that he never missed it. I told him he was
gonna miss it that night. Then, he tried to stop me from putting the tape back
into my own stereo. I had to pull over and force him to switch seats with Dan
[Alberman]."
"The stupid thing is, at the time, we were driving Mark home," Eglund
continued. "He has all their CDs, so he could've listened to Rush all night if
he'd just waited five minutes. I guess he had to prove what a big fan he is."
In addition to naming his '91 Prelude the "Rocinante" and renaming his
cat of four years "Geddy" as an homage to Rush basist Gary "Geddy Lee" Weinrib,
Campa has irritated friends with his constant barrage of Rush trivia.
"In the past week alone, I've learned that John Rutsey came up with the
band's name, Alex Lifeson is a pilot, and 'Afterimage' is about one of Neil's
friends who died," Savich said. "And if I hear Mark tell us about the 'roadie
laser incident' one more time, I'm gonna kill him. Everybody knows Visions is
bullshit, anyway."
Campa has also developed a habit of pointing out Rush connections to
seemingly non-Rush-related items.
"I downloaded the Lord Of The Rings trailer and, next thing you know,
Mark goes into this whole thing about how 'Rivendell' references the book Lord
Of The Rings," Alberman said. "I had to re-start the trailer after he was done
because no one got to see it. It's getting to the point where you're almost
afraid to go to a movie with Mark because Geddy Lee's second cousin might be an
extra in it."
Added Eglund: "It could be worse, I guess. He could've gotten into the
Grateful Dead. Or Floyd. Just imagine if he walked around all day quoting Dark
Side Of The Moon. Christ."