Seeing as we are rapidly approaching the 2nd most romantic day of the year Valentine’s Day (Groundhog’s Day being the first), ; I thought I would offer a bit more relationship advice for men.  We all know the basic paraphernalia of this time of year; flowers, chocolates, hearts, cards, lingerie and romantic dinners.  However, let us take a few minutes and explore how to put a new spin on these boring old tired and true classics.

First, flowers.  Instead of the boring and ordinary long stem roses, try something different; I suggest a Venus Flytrap.  I saw a movie where a guy fed his blood to one and it became intelligent.  Both you and your partner can feed your blood to it and you can say you’re feeding it with your love.  I’m sure wonderful things could happen if you feed a plant with love.

Chocolates: well we all know that eating a whole butt-load of refined sugar is really bad for you.  I would suggest that you give chocolates that have no sugar added; better yet give her some raw cocoa beans.  Sure they may be a little bitter, but tell she’s so sweet she doesn’t need sugar.

Hearts: I think the most romantic gesture you could possibly make to a loved one is to rip your own heart right out of your chest and present it, still beating, to her.  If you don’t quite love someone that much, the next best thing to do is present the heart of her greatest enemy to her (of course the greatest enemy of every female is time, but that’s a completely different story).

Cards: regular cards are not environmentally friendly and so we should all cease to give them out for any occasion.  One option is of course the e-card.  The other thing you could do is scratch your message on the side of her car or write it on the wall with a permanent marker; that way it will be a long-term reminder of how you feel.

Lingerie: as we all know giving a woman lingerie is really a gift for the man; although we try to persuade her that the idea is to make her feel sexy.  If you give it to her on Valentine’s Day it’s pretty much a guarantee that she will wear it once before it ends up at the back bottom corner of her underwear drawer.  The good news for the woman is that she won’t have to wear it for very long.

Romantic dinners: well guys, putting a candle on the table at Wendell’s or Burger Hut just isn’t going to be good enough nor is buying a supersized “sparkling white pop”.  You’re going to have to take her out to a real restaurant where they have table service and real wine (Mad-dog 2020 is also not going to cut it).  You’ll probably have to spend at least $20 on her.  Just keep in mind you only have to do this twice during the year (if you forget her birthday there will be big trouble).

If you just follow this simple advice you will both have a “happy ending” to the night.  Although in nine months time you could possibly end up having to invest in a double-jogging stroller.  The good news there is that it’s a great way for a man to lose the weight he put on during the pregnancy.

In the last couple days, everyone has been asking me, “Tim, what are you going to put in those beer gift baskets you keep talking about? Can we get one of these awesome baskets that you and Ernie are weaving by hand from the choicest bullrush fronds picked on the banks of the Mighty Horseguard River?”

Sorry, I don’t do basket weaving. We will use only the finest stainless steel or galvanized buckets that foreign child labour can provide.
Unfortunately, due to govt. regulations, we will be unable to send Blue Beaver Beer or other, less important beers, except locally. If you can stop by the Redneck Bar and Grill, we can hook you up with a fully loaded  Blue Beaver Beer gift basket. Otherwise, we can get you a virtual bucket with the other items. Then you can get your own beer and you are set.

What other fantastic treats (that go good with beer) will be placed in these amazing gift baskets? We won’t be sending out boring stuff like pretzels, salted nuts or regular old cheeses. Read on for the real gourmet foods.

First of all, genuine imported Ram’s Bladder Cup garnished with lark’s vomit from the Whizzo Chocolate Company. We were going to get them to send us Crunchy Frog, but a lot of the bar patrons didn’t like the frogs. I promise you, when you bite into a Ram’s Bladder Cup, your tastebuds will just die!

Let’s move on to Mo’s Bacon Chocolate Bar. JD turned us on to these indescribable mouthwatering creations. As she said, to make something this tasty is “all wrong and terrible”.  It’s bacon and chocolate in every bite!

Next we have everyone’s favorite, the snack food staple made famous by Ernie’s friend Weird Al Yankovic: a twinkie wiener sandwich with Cheese Whiz. I can’t tell you how many of these I have enjoyed over the years. I prefer mine with all beef wieners.

Peeled scab of Cankersaurus was on the list, but we had trouble finding any of those since Cheech and Chong finished off the last few in the 80′s.

Pickled Prairie Oysters are a local delight with the ranchers, so we put a few of those in there. I bet you never knew we had oysters on the prairies. Well, we don’t have real oysters…

Sliced dried rhinoceros pizzle – need I say more? I will point out that pizzle is exactly the part you think it is but were afraid to ask. And don’t worry, we threw away all the diseased rhinoceros pizzle.

Round all of that out with a package of genuine Southern three fried beans. Fry some beans, then refry the leftovers, and then take the left over left overs and batter them to be fried again! When has cholesterol ever tasted so good? I just love saying three fried beans!

This is what we are gathering up to put in our redneck beer gift baskets. Any requests for ‘must have’ food items? We could see if we have any room left over.

Speaking of comics, as I was a while ago, I recently acquired a whole pile of old ones. Some of them certainly display some antiquated notions. One that caught my eye was a descriptive paragraph about a character named “Carol Ferris”. The writer made a special point of specifying that Carol was a “female executive”. I guess back in the early seventies it must have such a new and wondrous thing for women to be working in offices as anything other than a secretary, that they just had to make everyone knew that “Carol” wasn’t actually a man who was an executive.

Another thing that really got me excited was an add on the back page of one comic. It said, “Make someone love you for $3″. It seems that for the low, low price of three bucks you could get a Venus Love Goddess statue. It will apparently work wonders for you.

“When you want to make someone love you, see whether The VENUS LOVE GODDESS attracts that person to you!” “When you’re trying to pick someone up, see whether The VENUS LOVE GODDESS makes you unbelievably charming!”

This thing sounds absolutely astounding. Not only that but this company is offering a double-your-money back guarantee. I’ll bet that this will work better than that voodoo-doll I’ve been using lately.

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You have just been touched by the special Christmas Snowflake. The snowflake will settle on your forehead, melt and then be absorbed into you. It will fill your spirit with a very special warming chill. This warming chill will provide you with an overabundance of special good cheer and feelings of happiness like the kind you get from reading true romance/crime drama books in the bathroom. These feelings will stay with you all year and whenever you’re stuck in traffic you’ll feel the special warming chill all over again. In addition to the happiness and cheer; when the Christmas Snowflake melts on you, you will be granted one wish. Whatever your heart desires will come to you (except if you ask for more wishes, no one likes a wish pig).
Just read what happened to Bufford Judd of Caroline, AB when the Christmas Snowflake touched him. “I was touched by the Special Christmas Snowflake, and when I felt it’s warming chill, I made a wish. I wished my wife would get bigger breasts. Sure enough, when she got home, she showed me. She had got 6 oz chicken breasts instead of the usual 4 oz; I was just so happy. The Christmas Snowflake really works.”
Now you have been touched by the Christmas Snowflake. Make a wish now and it will come true. Then pass the special Christmas Snowflake on to 63 of your very closest friends. You must not break the chain; if you do you will find your vehicle completely covered with cat feces and your pets will be carried off by a Central Alberta Dingo. Please keep the chain going and pass along the Special Christmas Snowflake.