WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

[The following is from the Toledo City Paper, January 24, 2007]

***

Best Karaoke Song List: Premiere Karaoke, LLC

Karaoke has come a long way since it first hit the United States from Japan. No longer is it simply a tipsy uncle singing "Celebration" by Kool & the Gang at your wedding. For many people, it's a weekly tradition, a chance to shine and impress a crowded room while celebrating a huge spectrum of music. TCP asked Doug Richardson about the karaoke empire he's built with Micki Greenburg to get some insight into what made Premiere Karaoke our readers' choice for Best Karaoke Song List.

TCP: How long has Premiere Karaoke been around?

DR: To us it doesn't seem that long, but Premiere Karaoke will be celebrating our 10th anniversary this October. We got our "start" at Buster Brown's Lounge in Maumee. Our second year there, Buster Brown's won "Best Karaoke Bar" in the City Paper's ‘Best Of Toledo’ poll, and since then, several of the clubs that we do, or did at that time, have been honored with that award (Jalapenos, JaK's Press Box, and Mutz; Mutz & Bier Stube were winner and runner-up last year, respectively).

TCP: What are some of the places that Premiere services?

DR: We currently provide karaoke services to the following clubs (in alphabetical order): Bier Stube, Buster Brown's, Jalapenos, Mutz, Old Roadhouse, Southwyck Lounge and T-Zers Sports Bar. And yes, we have actually done karaoke wedding receptions.

TCP: What is your favorite thing about being in the karaoke business?

DR: This is a difficult question for me to answer. Other than my love of music (I'm one of those people for whom the music drowns out the voices in my head), I think we enjoy the ability to interact with people of all ages — we've had singers ranging in age from six to over 60. I personally like designing and building the sound systems that we use, and (this may sound crazy) I get a rush from fixing them when they malfunction ... Yeah, that's right, I'm a geek! Fortunately, we rarely have any major problems at the shows.

TCP: What sets Premiere apart from other karaoke companies?

DR: There's really no big secret on how to be sucessful in the karaoke business. Just like any other business, you provide your customers a high quality product when they want it. Aside from our vast song selection and unequaled sound systems (everyone in the business claims to have that), we've recently integrated music videos, together with the karaoke and music tracks, to create a complete entertainment experience. Keeping a fair karaoke rotation is also key. We've also been very fortunate to find some very good karaoke hosts to run our shows over the years.

TCP: Have you noticed any trends (in people's music choices, etc.)?

DR: College kids love singing their grandparents' songs.
Only white boys sing rap music.
If a person comes up to the karaoke host towards the end of the show, and tells him to put his friend up to sing next, it's because either
he's going to get this party started, or
he's gonna Rock This Bar
There's a 99.9999% chance the singer's going to suck!

***

Let me just add that I am proud to be one of those hosts, and I am honored to be part of Doug & Micki's empire. Congrats you guys! And thanks to everyone who voted for us!

"THE BAD MACHINE DOESN'T KNOW IT'S A BAD MACHINE..."

I was in Southwyck the other day, dodging the tumbleweeds, and it really is a depressing place. The number of open shops seems to be in the single digits, and the only people who are walking around are the people who are only walking around.

Mall walkers. The sight of them never fails to remind me of The Wheel in "Midnight Express". Every now and then I'll go up to one and say "Remember, a good Turk always walks to the right."

A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR ALL YOU STAR TREK FANS TO CHEW ON

While watching a rerun of Star Trek: Voyager, a thought occured to me.

Now for those of you with lives, in the Trek universe, the Milky Way galaxy is divided into four quadrants. Earth is located in the Alpha Quadrant, the Voyager ship is stranded in the Delta Quadrant, etc. The point is that, to the best of my knowledge, everything in Star Trek shows or movies takes place within our galaxy.

In other words, all of Trek is 'intragalactic'. Which means that any time you hear them use the word 'intergalactic', it's pretty much wrong. If there were any 'intergalactic' travel going on, for example, that would have to entail a trip to another galaxy.

I now brace for impact and await the onslaught of emails from apoplectic Trekkers. (Though it would be nice to know if my pal Willie is still reading this.)

Olbermann on Bush

I think he's pissed. Excellent job, Keith.

ELITE 8 AWARDS FOR 2006

ALBUM OF THE YEAR: "Rescue Me" Soundtrack--various artists
GEAK ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Rescue Me
CATCH PHRASE OF THE YEAR: "What up, sugar skull?"--Steve Dahl
MOVIE OF THE YEAR: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan
COMMERCIAL OF THE YEAR: "Whopperettes"--Burger King
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR: Here It Goes Again"--OK Go
WEBSITE OF THE YEAR: YouTube

As for SONG OF THE YEAR, I'll be listing the results of the 128-song slugfest in the coming days. There was no clear favorite, and some of the leading contenders going in didn't even crack the top 10! In the end, the winner was decided by a slim margin, and I can honestly say that, even considering the many epic SOTY battles that have taken place in years past, the 2006 SOTY tourney will go down as the wildest, craziest, most competitive, and greatest in history!

lowercase thots, november 2006
(random things that pop into my sprained mind while i'm working)

one time a guy told me he had recently been born again so i told him he should go put on some diapers. (my friend noel says i should have asked the guy if he had two belly buttons)

the last time i was in chicago i almost caught a cold but luckily for me steve bartman got in the way

i'm a lapsed agnostic. i have more important things to think about

i once saw a very low-budget stage production of pink floyd's 'the wall'. they used a cubicle wall. at the end when they go 'tear down the wall!' a guy just walked up to it and tipped it over. rather anti-climactic

i made a pilgrimage to the spot where ernie kovacs veered off the road and fatally crashed. i stood on the exact spot. it felt very weird standing where he veered

my childhood dog was named scooter by his previous owners with whom he rode on their motorcycle as a puppy. i wonder if they rode on just their back wheel, because it would be really weird if he were wheelie-reared

i always like to say something when i sneeze: 'ahhh shiznit!' 'hot cheese!' etc. but my new favorite is 'iiiii sneezed!' it's the long-awaited sequel to what i say when i burp: 'i burped'

i'm all in favor of adoption but it doesn't always work out. just ask the manson family

you can learn a lot of new words doing crossword puzzles, but most of them are only used in crossword puzzles. when's the last time you used 'ague' or 'eft' or 'erne' in normal conversation? and how much are eli wallach and arte johnson paying for all those mentions?

even if i wanted people to bless me (which i don't), i still wouldn't want them to waste it on a harmless little sneeze. save it for when i'm in a car accident or i'm diagnosed with ass cancer

smart financial move on my part: starting that rumor years ago about razor blades in halloween candy. now i don't have to buy as much to hand out

how many songs have you heard where the first line is something about waking up in the morning? ever wonder why that is? as a guy who's written a few songs, i can tell you why: it's because the songwriter, whether he had a topic in mind or just decided for some self-disciplinary reason to make himself sit down that day and write a song, was stuck for a first line, and thus resorted to reviewing what he had done so far that day. 'let's see...i woke up, and then...'

the 'whose line' drinking game: when watching a rerun of 'whose line is it anyway', whenever wayne brady is making up a song and begins a line with the word 'because', do a shot. warning: you will probably die of alcohol poisoning

how to get people to stop talking on their cell phones on the bus: put your ear up next to their phone to try to hear what the other person is saying. if they have a problem with that, they can hang up and call back after they get off the damn bus!

there are no atheists in foxholes because we're not stupid enough to enlist in the first place!

why aren't there more orange cars?

i wrote a poem in which i rhymed 'orange' with 'door hinge'. i just hope the poetry cops don't come after me. i doubt it. they've got their hands full with eminem

when i peed on the witness stand the judge declared 'urine contempt of court!'

just so you know, i'm ashamed that george w. bush is from the same universe as me

when i hear someone described as 'high maintenance' i think of the kind of potheads who have to maintain a high 24/7. even at work (you know, like my ex)

dick clark is hosting 'new year's rockin eve' again this year, giving whole new meaning to the phrase 'stroke of midnight'

the animals they use for animal cracker shapes are never the ones we eat normally. who the heck is eating circus animals? where are the cows, pigs and chickens? when's the last time you ate actual giraffe meat? i say if you're going to go in the other direction, be more exotic: platypus, squid...how about a stingray cracker? that'd be timely. tho they probly won't sell down under. here's another idea: endangered animal crackers! pandas, fur seals, california condors...that'll *really* piss off the vegetarians!

'drug trafficking' is kind of an odd phrase. makes me think of a drug traffic jam. 'whoa dude, i am totally not moving...' *honk honk* 'hey! move your damn pot! i'm on speed here!'

you ever have a coughing jag reach the point where every time you cough, you also hiccup? scary, isn't it? it's like your body's whole system is about to erupt into total chaos. how about when you sneeze and you lose control of your bodily functions for just a split second which is just long enough to make you poot? nothing throws a monkey wrench into your plans for the day like an unexpected sneeze-poot

i saw an item in the paper today about test-tube koalas. chalk up another band name!

'x marks the spot.' no it doesn't. a spot marks the spot. x marks the x

kids are getting arrested for downloading songs for free. why wasn't i arrested when i taped songs off the radio with my cassette player as a kid? yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me

can you imagine a pirate movie a hundred years from now? 'pirates of the internet: the curse of the napster'...starring johnny depp's great-great-grandson as shawn fanning and nigel hawthorne's great-great-grandson as lars ulrich

strange the things that stick in one's brain. whenever i encounter the number 721, i think of that steel-belted tire commercial from 30 years ago: 'seven...around two...wrapped by one'

as of this writing, it seems we are just two assassinations away from a female president. now's the chance for some gun-toting radical feminist to really make a name for herself

my standard reply to 'watch your mouth!' has always been 'i can't, my nose is in the way'

i have no problem with o.j. simpson. he gives hope to all of us who would like to kill our exes

can we as a society please agree not to draw the numeral 6 sideways? and execute those who do? and stop putting that little line thru the 7s!

back when the first 3-blade razor came out, snl did a parody ad about a 4-blade razor. now there are acutal 5-blade razors. therefore, i feel it is my duty to update the parody: 'presenting the new 6-blade razor! the first blade pulls the hair out, then the second blade holds the hair while the third blade beats the crap out of it. then the fourth blade psychologically abuses the hair, thus weakening the hair's spirit before the fifth blade chops it off and the sixth, or so-called 'dahmer' blade, has sex with the now-dead hair.' there ya go. now i just hope i die before they work their way up to an actual 7-blade razor. then the task of coming up with the 8-blade parody will be someone else's problem

REALLY, BO...OF ALL THE CHEAP MOTIVATIONAL STUNTS...YOU FUCKING PRICK!



Shitbelcher will be cremated Saturday afternoon...ALONG WITH HIS TEAM!!!

COMING DISTRACTIONS:

* This year's Halloween pics

* New feature: Add A Caption

* New feature: lowercase thots

Stay tuned!

[2010 P.S.: Top this, Tiger Woods!]

ANOTHER INTERESTING FRIDAY THE 13TH FOR THE OL' DUCK

Earlier this afternoon, I went into a closet (see footnote 1), dropped a deuce (2), got lei'd (3), then came out of the closet (4), went upstairs and played Twister with a putter handle (5), breezed through a corn hole (6) and, last but not least, made a black pussy screech (7).

That, folks, is one well-rounded round of miniature golf in the workplace.

Footnotes:
(1)--My place of work had its 2nd annual mini-golf tournament. One of the holes I played was set up in a supply closet.
(2)--I finished the hole in 2 shots, the best possible score on that hole.
(3)--The theme of the hole was "Snakes On A Plane", which must tie in with Hawaii somehow. Thus when I finished they gave me a lei. A purple one, in fact. Start wearing purple!
(4)--See (1).
(5)--Another hole I played incorporated the game Twister. I had to spin to determine where I had to grip the putter while I played the hole. I ended up holding it sort of like a hockey stick.
(6)--The last hole I played had a corn theme, including cornstalks along the walls, feed corn and popcorn traps, etc. Naturally I dubbed it the "corn hole".
(7)--After I finished I walked past a hole with a Halloween theme which included a motion-sensing black cat doll which would screech when someone walked by.

So there. Get your minds out of the gutter, people.

BAND THAT EVERYBODY SHOULD CHECK OUT IMMEDIATELY:

The Drive By Truckers, the vastly-superior evolutionary by-product of a forced cross-breeding of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet at the hands of Neil Young brandishing a .38 Special, and born in the backseat of ZZ Top's Eliminator.

Sorry all, haven't had anything to post for a couple of weeks. But I must post my condolences to my friend Noel and his family for the loss of his mother yesterday morning. My thoughts are with you, pal.

It's like rai-ai-ain
On your wedding day
It's the Croc Hunter
Getting killed by a 'ray...

"DARMOK AND JALAD AT TANAGRA"

DUCKSOUP AND NOELOMITE AT MUTZ--"BOULEVARD OF BROKEN SONGS" (a mashup of Green Day, Oasis, Travis, Aerosmith, and of course Gogol Bordello)


Mind you, the lighting is crap (I can't even see most of it myself because my computer sucks) and it was shot on a cell phone so the sound is also subpar. But even taking that into consideration, I think I sound like crap. (I'm my own worst critic.) Hopefully it looks and sounds better to the rest of you.

TOP TEN HEADLINES IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION-APPROVED NEW NEW YORK TIMES

10. IRAQ MISSION DEEMED "COOL" BY JOINT CHIEFS: PENTAGON OFFICIAL

9. CHENEY SMILES BRIEFLY AT NEWS CONFERENCE; SHOWS WARM HUMAN QUALITIES MISSED BY MEDIA

8. RUMSFELD SPORTS NEW TIE AT BRIEFING; FIELDS COMPLIMENTS FROM REPORTERS AND TV CREWS

7. FIRST AMENDMENT ROLLBACK FINE WITH MOST VOTERS NOT DECLARED AS "ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE"

6. PRESIDENT BUSH MAKES FUNNY REMARK IN OVAL OFFICE; DRAWS GENUINE LAUGHTER FROM STAFF

5. BUSH CLEARS LARGE AMOUNTS OF BRUSH FROM RANCH; OPERATION DEEMED "COMPLETE SUCCESS"

4. PRESIDENT'S SOCK DRAWER "NEAT AND ORGANIZED" SAYS TONY SNOW

3. SECRETARY OF STATE RICE WILL TRAVEL TO CALIFORNIA TO ASSIST MILITARY TAKEOVER OF SACRAMENTO

2. CIVIL LIBERTIES REPEAL DRAWS WIDE SUPPORT AMONGST REMAINING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

And the number one headline in the Bush administration-approved New New York Times...

1. PRESIDENTIAL DOGS HAVE GOOD DAY IN ROMP ON SOUTH LAWN

Shine on you crazy diamond. Wish you were here.

***

Pink Floyd's Barrett dies aged 60
[BBC News]

Syd Barrett, one of the original members of legendary rock group Pink Floyd, has died at the age of 60 from complications arising from diabetes.

The guitarist was the band's first creative force and an influential songwriter, penning their early hits. He joined Pink Floyd in 1965 but left three years later after one album. He went on to live as a recluse, with his mental deterioration blamed on drugs.

"He died very peacefully a couple of days ago," the band's spokeswoman said. "There will be a private family funeral."

A statement from Pink Floyd said: "The band are naturally very upset and sad to learn of Syd Barrett's death. Syd was the guiding light of the early band line-up and leaves a legacy which continues to inspire."

David Bowie described Barrett as a "major inspiration", saying: "I can't tell you how sad I feel. The few times I saw him perform in London at UFO and the Marquee clubs during the '60s will forever be etched in my mind. He was so charismatic and such a startlingly original songwriter. Also, along with Anthony Newley, he was the first guy I'd heard to sing pop or rock with a British accent. His impact on my thinking was enormous. A major regret is that I never got to know him. A diamond indeed."

Born Roger Barrett in Cambridge, he composed songs including See Emily Play and Arnold Layne, both from 1967. He also wrote most of their album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. But he struggled to cope with fame and drugs. Dave Gilmour was brought in to the band in February 1968 and Barrett left that April, releasing two solo albums soon after. The band's biggest-selling releases, Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, emerged in the post-Barrett era, with the band selling an estimated 200 million albums worldwide.

Just as Pink Floyd were about to achieve global success, Barrett retreated from public life and returned to Cambridge. Little was known about his whereabouts for 20 years until he was tracked down living with his mother. But his influence remained, with younger fans and artists discovering his music.

Former Blur guitarist Graham Coxon released a statement saying: "Lost him again... for bang on 20 years Syd led me to better places. From my agape 17-year-old first listen to Bike to, just the other day, Jugband Blues. Languished in his noise... dreamt in his night... stared at his eyes for answers..."

Barrett's biographer Tim Willis said the guitarist's music left a lasting legacy. "I don't think we would have the David Bowie we have today if it wasn't for Syd," he told BBC Radio Five Live. Bowie was very much a kind of clone of Syd in the early years. His influence is still going. New bands discover him all the time. There's always a Syd revival going on - if it wasn't the punks, it was REM, and I'm sure that Arnold Layne and Emily Play as pop songs will live forever."

***

The Madcap Laughs Last
Syd Barrett, 1946–2006

by Barry Walters
July 14th, 2006 4:49 PM
[The Village Voice]

Pink Floyd themselves wrote the most fitting epitaph for their former singer and guitarist, Roger "Syd" Barrett, 31 years ago: "Wish You Were Here." Never has a departed musician weighed so heavily on his former bandmates—chunks of post-Syd Floyd classics Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall also bear his influence. No one could've imagined that the Pink Floyd Barrett ruled in the Cambridge band's early days would've become one of the most successful and enduring rock acts of all time. Barrett was arguably the first British pop star who fully refused to fake an obligatory American accent, and though the English public gave their immediate approval to some of the most radical pop records of that radical year 1967, in America those same records flopped.

Barrett's psychedelia was as particularly English as Harry Potter, and similarly magical. A lover of eyeliner and whimsy, the singer spewed some of the era's most savage guitar noise over and around his deceptively childlike lyrics: The BBC-banned first Floyd single "Arnold Layne" dared to celebrate a mischievous cross-dresser who stole his drag from washing lines, while the enchanting follow-up hit, "See Emily Play"—as well as "The Gnome," "Scarecrow," and other tracks from Floyd's first album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn—similarly mixed innocence and subversion. For Barrett, the retreat from adulthood that psychedelia offered was particularly enticing: It's been speculated that the unexpected passing of his father when the future frontman was only 11 may have not only encouraged Barrett to seek lyrical refuge in the memories of happier days, but in part also inspired the mental illness that fully claimed him. "You were caught in the crossfire of childhood and stardom," Pink Floyd sang of him on "Shine on You Crazy Diamond."

Whether it was emotional fragility, LSD, schizophrenia, seizures induced by the band's trademark strobes, pressures induced by sudden stardom, or a more likely a combination thereof, Barrett, as many biographers have documented, soon lost the plot, and a year into the band's success was replaced by his close friend David Gilmour. Because he retreated from the spotlight so thoroughly so soon after the release of his 1970 solo albums The Madcap Laughs and Barrett, because Pink Floyd so routinely paid him homage in song, and because his small body of work so acutely documents a mind that occupies an alternative reality, Barrett has lived with the kind of legend befitting only the most celebrated of dead rock stars. And though he still lived, unlike kindred beleaguered soul Brian Wilson, he never bounced back: Until his July 7 death at age 60 from diabetes complications, Barrett lived in seclusion at his mother's Cambridge house with the windows boarded up to discourage curious fans.

Syd had many of those. If the first Nuggets collection documents an American generation of garage bands who wanted to be the Rolling Stones, then the second, UK-dominated Nuggets box erects a shrine to Barrett and his wannabes. Just as Gilmour's stadium-filling Pink Floyd inspired the original punks as a negative example, Barrett's example positively shined on the postpunks, and his much quieter but even more uneasy and unpolished solo work spurred subsequent indie followers. Although his own output is slim, his jagged rhythm guitar and detached bray spread like a psychedelic virus onto thousands of records. Barrett enchanted outcast souls much like Arnold Layne snapped up see-through baby-blue ladies' garments in the moonlight. They suit him fine.

***

Wish You Were Here sessions
[Excerpt from Wikipedia]

Syd Barrett had one noted reunion with the members of Pink Floyd, in 1975 during the recording sessions for Wish You Were Here. Barrett attended the Abbey Road session unannounced and watched the band record Shine On You Crazy Diamond — coincidentally, a song about him. At that time, Barrett had gained a lot of weight and had shaved off all of his hair, including his eyebrows, and his ex-bandmates did not at first recognize him (one of the photographs in Nick Mason's book Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd appears to have been taken that day; it is captioned simply: Syd Barrett, 5th June 1975). Eventually, they realized who he was and Roger Waters was so distressed that he was reduced to tears. A reference to this reunion appears in the film Pink Floyd The Wall (1982), where the character 'Pink,' played by Bob Geldof, shaves off his eyebrows after succumbing to the pressures of life and fame.

In an interview for VH1's Behind The Music, Rick Wright spoke about the session, saying: "One thing that really stands out in my mind, that I'll never forget; I was going in to the Shine On sessions. I went in the studio and I saw this guy sitting at the back of the studio, he was only as far away as you are from me. And I didn't recognize him. I said, 'Who's that guy behind you?' 'That's Syd.' And I just cracked up, I couldn't believe it... he had shaven all his hair off... I mean, his eyebrows, everything... he was jumping up and down brushing his teeth, it was awful. And, uh, I was in, I mean Roger was in tears, I think I was; we were both in tears. It was very shocking... seven years of no contact and then to walk in while we're actually doing that particular track. I don't know – coincidence, karma, fate, who knows? But it was very, very, very powerful." In another interview, Nick Mason has said: "When I think about it, I can still see his eyes, but... it was everything else that was different." In yet another interview, Roger Waters has said: "I had no idea who he was for a very long time."

I HATE STUPIDITY

My apologies to the Noelomite for ripping this from his blog, but it's just too utterly fucking retarded not to share with as many people as possible.



Could someone please explain to me how a badly-photoshopped picture of the JAPANESE flag planted on a MOON OF SATURN (Dione) with the shadow pointing THE WRONG FUCKING WAY ties in with a news story about CHINA planning to land on EARTH'S MOON (on which flags have been proven to cast shadows which point AWAY from the sun)?!

Nice going, AP/CBS. My lack of god. No wonder Dan Rather quit.

IN HONOR OF THE 2006 WORLD CUP HOST COUNTRY...



V-Dub! German engineering in da house! Ya!

UPDATE TO PREVIOUS POST

Based on their uniforms, I am changing the Croatian Ists to the CROATIA CAT CHOW (which works better than the Croatia Ralston-Purinas).

GOOOOOOOOLLL!



It's World Cup time again, which means it's also time to come up with Chris Berman-type nicknames for all the participating teams, with a generous helping of Duck Pond-type comic sensibility stirred in, natch.

Some of them took a bit of massaging, some were locked-in perfect from the get-go, and some we're still not 100% happy with, but for now we're going with our best efforts so far. In alphabetical order, let's run through them, shall we?

ANGOLA SWEATERS
A tough one, we went with the angora sweater reference. Perhaps a nod to Meryn Cadell?
ARGENTINA TURNERS
My fave team for years, I like to think there's another half-obvious one I'm missing, but the Tina Turner ref is just goofy enough to work.
AUSTRALIAN CRAWL
Swimming ref. This one may yet be changed. Other possibles: Aussie Rulers (ref to Footy), Aussie Osbournes, Australia Crocodile Hunters (Crikey!).
BRAZIL NUTS
Have yet to hear a better one.
COSTA RICA SUAVES
Gerardo ref. Not the best name, but passable.
CROATIAN ISTS
Get it? Instead of creationists? Yeah, I know, it sucks. Can you do better?
CZECH BOUNCERS
Czech, please. Czechmate!
ECUADOR KNOBS
As some of you know, I have a history of bad relations with Ecuador. As in, I blew the whole country clear off the map back in 1994. (The details of which I will someday get around to posting online along with all the other highlights from the late, great AG! The Geak Newsletter.) I almost went with the Ecuador Lorenas, but I just now changed it to the obvi Norbert ref. "Wayne Newton's a doorknob!"
ENGLISH MUFFINS
Sort of counters the whole hooliganism thing. Plus it's the most obvi.
FRENCH CONNECTION
Beat out the more obvi French Toast and French Fries, and the less obvi French Mistake (Blazing Saddles ref).
GERMAN SHEPHERDS
Most obvi. Runners-up: German Rye and German Chocolate Cake, but I'm doing my best to avoid too many food refs.
GHANA RRHEA
Has to be the edgiest. Co-worker Jane says to me "I don't get this one. Ghana Rrhea?" At which point she got it. "See?" I said. "Once you say it out loud you get it." Jane: "I hope not!"
IRAN FLOCK OF SEAGULLS
Hey, if you don't know your 80's music, I can't help you.
ITALIAN RESTAURANT
Lots of ways I could have gone here. Seasoning, Dressing, Sausage (though I could have also gone with the Polish Sausage, but I didn't want to have 2 teams with the same nickname like the CFL used to). In the end I went with what is not so much a food ref as a music ref. Call it an "ode to Billy Joel."
IVORY COAST BAR SOAPS
The IC is currently undergoing a civil war, and I imagine it's over which brand of bar soap to name it after! Ivory Coast: the only country named after 2 brands of bar soap. Hence the nickname. Enjoy!
JAPANSY DIVISION
A nod to my pals PD. But I almost went with the Violence Jack Offs, a ref to a classic Engrish.com pic of a clothing store of the same name.
MEXICAN JUMPING BEANS
Lots of possibles here. Mexican Standoff (would only work if they tied every game), Mexican Pizzas, Mexican Hat Dancers. But none could beat the JBs.
DUTCH ELM DISEASE
The Netherlands is always a fave of mine. I almost went with the way-too-obvi Dutch Boys (doubles as a "Shield" ref), or maybe the Dutch Treat. But co-worker Jane suggested the most wonderfully ridiculous nickname in the whole slate!
PARAGUAY MIDDLE
Eric Idle once hosted SNL back in the 70s, and played one of the Killer Bees (a la Belushi) in a sketch. When called out for his English accent, he tried to pass himself off as South American. "So you're from South America? What country?" "Paraguay." "Where in Paraguay?" "The middle." It sticks in my head to this day, hence the name.
POLISH JOKES
What else? And judging by the fact that they've been knocked out after just 2 games, they obvi ARE a joke.
PORTUGUESE CATHOUSE
At the mo I can't place where I heard the above phrase, but it beats any lame play on the words 'port' or 'porch'. The official team nickname translates to "the Shields". I like that.
SAUDI ARABIA HIJACKERS
A bit more specific than my first choice, the Terrorists. And Knights is too obvi.
SERBIAN BASTARDS
Kids In The Hall ref. "Get out of my cab, you Serbian bastard!" Officially it's Serbia & Montenegro...S&M! So could have gone with the Sado-Masochists. Of course, being in the same group as Argentina and Netherlands, they better be masochists!
SOUTH KOREA MASHERS
M*A*S*H ref. Duh. Kinda lame, but it's the best any of us can think of. Again, can you do better??
SPANISH INQUIZITION
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquizition! Note the Z, a ref to the late, great Game Show Network staple spelled the same way. Runners-up: Spanish Fly, Spanish Peanuts, and Spanish Harlem (Globetrotters?).
SWEDISH MEATBALLS
Probably the most obvi of all. Runners-up: Swedish Massage, Swedish Erotica.
SWISS ARMY KNIVES
Was gonna go with the Swiss Cheese, but the Noelomite suggested better, and helped me avoid yet another food ref. Other runner-up: Swiss Bank Accounts.
TOGO PARTY
Best I could come up with was Sandwiches (after the Togo's chain) or Togo Sticks. The Stever came to the rescue with an Aminal House ref. Togo! Togo! Togo!
TRINIDAD TOBOGGANS
One of the ESPN announcers called the people of T&T that, so I went with it. Kinda lame though. Third time's a charm: Can you do better???
TUNISIAN CAMEL JOCKEYS
Now, now. It's not like that. As much as I hate to admit it, it's actually a Happy Days ref. I'm so ashamed.
UKRAINIAN GYPSY PUNKS
As if I'd go with any other name! Unfortunately, they don't wear purple. :(

And finally...last, and least...the U.S.A. (Usually Soccer Also-rans). Thanks to Green Day for the most accurate nickname of all:
AMERICAN IDIOTS