Wouldn't It Be Nice by Gee Whillickers

[Lugnutz]

I'm so happy now. Gee wrote a story I can wrap my head around. I even got all the song refrences. Kind of hard to miss at any local car show.

Aside from that, what else was there? Oh yeah. A coming out story.

Gee must be a closet gearhead because he didn't ask me for any info.

Good job. Two thumbs up. :icon_thumleft:

http://www.awesomedude.com/gee_whillickers/wibn.htm

[dude]

A cleverly written story. I was so excited with it that I produced the sound track... or did you not notice that, Luggie?

[Lugnutz]

I didn't listen to it but those tunes were going thru my head as each new one came along. I'll listen to it next time thru.

[Paul]

"Mrs. Mopar" Wah-hahahaaa!

[Lugnutz]

"Mrs. Mopar" Wah-hahahaaa!

You know there was a real Miss Mopar? Judy Lily. She ruled super stock back in the day.

I'm reading and listening now. Makes me wonder. They play 50's-60's tunes at car shows. Shouldn't they be playing Van Halen now that there is a new breed of showers?

BTW, good job on the soundtrack Dude. It's fitting.

[Gee Whillickers]

Gee must be a closet gearhead because he didn't ask me for any info.

My mechanical aptitude is pretty much centred squarely around motorbikes, but there's enough overlap, and thanks to Google, that I hope I didn't mess things up too badly.

"Mrs. Mopar" Wah-hahahaaa!

Yes, well... ahem. I knew the names would get a reaction.

[Lugnutz]

I'm not complaining. Things look right on this end.

[blue]

I'm barely into this story so far. (Barely? What did I just say?)

I'm sitting here laughing my butt off like an idiot. (Well, y'know....)

Paused Awe, Dude Radio to listen to the "soundtrack" and I'm loving this story so far. I lost it with the pink slip, Daddy, and the confusion over surfing.

Noticed the guy's name is Brian too.

This is brilliant. Oh shoot, I'd better figure out where I was in the story, the music's still going.

Oh, and the idea of a soundtrack of tunes? Freaking fantastic. (But it might need an occasional sound effect if someone's "changing channels" on the radio.)

It's in the upper 90's and mid 70's here, midsummer, only because we've had rain all week. (The rain we never had all last year. So glad it's raining.) But otherwise, it'd be above 100, probably above 105.

So yes, that thing about being sweaty on the bus ride? Yes, we understand that.

I know almost nothing about cars. My dad could've talked all day with Lugnutz. But my former cabbie would've really had fun talking and shooting the bull. Straight guy but friendly.

Gee and Dude, this is, er, "awesome." -- I'd also recommend "Wipeout." ... And the movie, "Step Into Liquid."

Totally tubular.

[Camy]

Mmm. It's a super feelgood story, Gee. I got a lot of the references - though I had to look up Mopar. And as for Mike's gas guzzler! With petrol in the UK now at $7.65 a gallon, it made me positively wince.

Excellent compilation, Dude!

[colinian]

I like stories with happy endings.

Colin

[Chris James]

Thanks, Gee...a trip down memory lane. Having rolled into the Maryland countryside fresh from California while I was in middle school, I was the only one who listened to the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean, it did nothing to endear me to my classmates. So either you have an extensive collection of 45's or you did some research to be able to drop all those little gems into the story. Fun stuff!

[Cole Parker]

I enjoyed it even though I don't surf (I didn't become a Californian till I was 40) and didn't recognize any of the music references. That's the mark of good writing. The story holds together even without the underlying fun and games.

Good job, Gee!

C

[Lugnutz]

Totally tubular.

That was popular in the 80's as well as Trans Am's, Members Only jackets. Didn't have the car but had the jacket.

[Paul]

I'm the right generation, but I never got into rock or pop music, so once I caught on to Mr. Whillicker's cunning plan (even I knew about little deuce coupe), I'd Google anything I suspected might be a lyric, and thereby got the attendant gag. But I totally missed picking up on the Brian/Mike/Dennis/Carl business, despite the fact that even I - again - know the Beach Boys' names. Plus there they were right up there in the acknowledgements.

I still find myself chuckling over "Mrs. Mopar." Snort.

[blue]

That was popular in the 80's as well as Trans Am's, Members Only jackets. Didn't have the car but had the jacket.

Two admissions:

That was intentional. My senior high school and college years were the 80's. I had an off-brand Member's Only jacket, blue-grey...finally had to give up on it a few yeas ago.

"Totally Tubular" or any other "Valley Girl" thing, yeah, that made the rounds at school. We all had fun kidding around.

But I'm from Houston, the Gulf Coast. Now, I never got into surfing (bummer) but it's almost impossible to grow up here without sun and shorts, hanging out at the pool, and going to Galveston or Padre some. So you do sort of absorb some of it by osmosis. I didn't get as much of that as a lot of friends did, though.

Even so, yeah, the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, surfer music ... and lots of other kinds of music, are in the air. -- Crud, they still made station wagons with fake wood sides when I was a kid. It was a big deal when they stopped.

Two college buddies were the "surfer dude" type. One was more clean cut, but the mindset was there, and he took his board and wetsuit out every weekend. The other guy, hahaha, laid back, beach bum sort of guy, but don't let it fool you, he graduated, so he wasn't coasting 2.0 and go. (I get the idea Lugnutz is kinda like that guy, too.) We missed out on a planned deep sea trip because one roommate turned up really sick the weekend before, or I would've gone deep sea fishing. I have a feeling surfing lessons would be funny, until and unless I got the hang of it. I can swim, not a great swimmer, but I like to swim. (Geez, haven't been swimming in way too long now. Man , I miss it.)

So yeah, the story really resonates with me. -- Hahaha, and I loved Brian's clueless self muddling through all that and finding a nice guy.

One thing... It's funny, I always presumed being a surfer guy was one of those very macho, girl magnet type things. It didn't occur to me some surfers might be straight but friendly or bi or gay. Why this didn't occur to me, given that any swimming with your buddies involves changing clothes, not much besides shorts, and occasional body contact among friends. But then, I was the guy in the locker room very carefully *not* looking or being seen. Heh, 6th grade swimming and showers...oh boy...not the easiest deal, always. (Despite that, I loved swimming.)

All that's way too serious, though. This was a fantastic, free-spirited, friendly story with a great running gag and a happy ending.

Excellent story, Gee.

[Gee Whillickers]

So nobody got Hawthorne Road? Hurachi sandals? Mr. Murray? Or....

Hmm, I'm going to have to release a footnoted version, methinks. But I'll wait a bit, see how many references people pick up on.

[colinian]

So nobody got Hawthorne Road? Huarache sandals? Mr. Murray? Or....

Hmm, I'm going to have to release a footnoted version, methinks. But I'll wait a bit, see how many references people pick up on.

I probably would have worn those clothes, and figured out those references, Gee, except I wasn't born yet. Sigh.

Colin

[The Pecman]

Terrific story, especially for a huge Beach Boys fan like myself. Some very funny in-jokes in there. Who knew there was surfing in Canada?

Gee, I think you could have actually ended the story even earlier, after the line "I smiled, looking at the bright starlight reflected in his eyes." It would've worked just fine right there, even without the additional event(s) that follow. But I concede, a short story like this is so much about mood and nuance, it's a subjective call as to where to bring it to a close.

[Richard Norway]

Wow! What a trip down memory lane. I grew up in Manhattan Beach, CA and was a surfer in HS, and the Beach Boys were the THING. But back then we had long boards and the shorter more maneuverable ones hadn't been invented yet. I pretty much gave up surfing when I went away to college...in Arizona.

I think I caught most of the lyrics from the Beach Boys songs, but probably not all. Memory fails those who were around when Redondo Beach had square rigged ships still in the harbor.

[Lugnutz]

I was at one of the epic street rod nationals last weekend, scored a few goodies but they were playing most of these tunes which got me remembering this story. That got them playing in my head this week at work.

I should put diesel fuel in Gee's bike for that.