Mike Usinger Profile Banner
Mike Usinger Profile
Mike Usinger

@MikeUsinger

Followers
4,332
Following
1,003
Media
1,002
Statuses
23,057

Senior editor at the Georgia Straight. Fledgling teacher. Yes, that is my vintage neon Pabst Blue Ribbon sign, and, no, you can't have it.

Vancouver, B.C.
Joined August 2011
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
8 years
I am truly blessed to have a nine-year-old in my life who will take pictures of me and then do creative things with that picture
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
6 months
Zadorov crosschecking McDavid in the back while Soucy simultaneously crosschecked him in the face is one of the greatest things I have seen all year. #canucks
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
6 months
Christ Jesus please bring back John Shorthouse and Tomlinson. Or the great John Garrett. Or even an AI generated version of Tom Larscheid because anything is better than….Craig Simpson. #canucks
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
6 months
At the risk of stating the obvious, Corey Perry can’t really play any more, but his asshole game is still unparalleled. #lockupyourmums #canucks
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 months
@NotoriousGman88 Didn't, actually, find him pissy at all. It's like "Dude, I already told you I wasn't injured..."
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
2 years
Thrilled, and by that I mean totally stoked, that I've been brought on board by @OverstoryMedia to be part of the rebuilding of the Straight. I'm coming on as a senior editor and will be writing about all sorts of arts, culture, and food things, including music. So reach.... 1/1
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
2 years
Sad news, but also a life well lived… Vancouver rock writer Tom Harrison has died, leaving behind a rich legacy and no shortage of grateful fans via @georgiastraight
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
7 years
On Our Radar: Haley Blais taps into an ongoing horror with her "Remove Tag" video @hblaisauce
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
6 years
Vancouver's beloved Dan Mangan receives an avalanche of support after a dream appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! via @georgiastraight
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
Thanks @GeorgePettit for, once again, being a gracious and thoughtful interview subject.....: No longer spinning multiple plates in the air, the members of a happily reunited Alexisonfire learn from the past @aof_official
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
2 years
Good afternoon party people. Meet your wonderful and talented new Straight music editor: @yasmineshemesh I’ll still be doing some music writing (sorry everyone who is quite understandably upset about that). But right now very excited about where she will be taking the section!
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
9 years
Saturday Night Live cast member Kyle Mooney plays Nardwuar for Matt Mondanile interview via georgiastraight@
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
6 years
@NBCSSharks Exactly what are you were you watching #helenkeller
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
@mitchlafon @SIOLoudcast @IAmJericho 12. None of them 11. None of them 10. None of them 9. None of them 8. None of them 7. None of them 6. Whatever record had “Domino” on it 5. None of them 4. None of them 3. None of them 2. None of them 1. None of them
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
7 years
I think I speak for all of Vancouver when I say I am thrilled Ryan Kesler won't be winning the Stanley Cup this year. Again.
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
Bike to Work Week is reminding me why I hate cyclists. On my bike, stopped and obeying the 4-way sign at 8th and Ash. A cyclist runs the sign, and laughingly yells at me "You don't have to stop on a bike!" And then he almost gets clipped by a car, which would have been hilarious
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
6 years
Dear @danmanganmusic — I have something in my eye: Get your Kleenex ready as you watch Dan Mangan help a Hamilton kid give his mom the best birthday present ever
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
2 years
Because you know you want to know…. Looking back, looking forward: For Mike Usinger, the Straight has always been at its best when all about fun via @georgiastraight
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
This is a really great record. But because it's @puptheband you already knew that. In any event, one of my favourite people to talk to. Always thoughtful, always honest.
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
4 years
@realDonaldTrump It’s probably better for you if they remain MIA. I’m not sure people you called “losers and suckers” lined up to vote for you
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
6 years
@Wilkinson4BC I'm actually more concerned where my children are going to live in this city. Thanks largely to your party's reign, the answer is "my basement and/or a tent in the backyard". #wackytimes
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
If any of you in the rest of the country have ever wondered what winters are like in Vancouver, this basically sums things up.
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
2 years
When you decide to try @FlairAirlines for the first time, spend $130 on an Uber to find their site wasn’t updated and plane delayed from 1 to 3 pm, and it’s now 3:40, flight no longer on board, and there’s been no Flair person at the desk all afternoon to tell us what’s going on
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
2 years
Excited about about a couple of things today. First is that, for the first time in a long time, we're able to look for new writers in the music section. If you've got a voice, are at least semi-knowledgeable (with being funny an asset, but not totally necessary) hit me up. 1/2
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
4 years
The outdoor holding pen for Columbus Meats. Where some asswipe just drove by and yelled “What are you losers standing in line for?” And one quick-thinking woman yelled “Your mother!”
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
4 years
Jesus Christ I need it to be 5 o’clock right fucking now.
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
7 years
Spent a few hours with @nardwuar at the Tomahawk. As always we covered a lot of ground. Here are some nightlights:
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
When you’re taking a photo of a landmark for work and some random woman exits and then screams “You’re a fucking weirdo who just intentionally took a picture of me”. At which point you seriously go “Maybe I need to move to the country and forget all of this..” @charliesmithvcr
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
6 years
Curious about @mudhoney , grunge, Seattle, and more? Read this exhaustive, excellent piece ahead of the band's @westwardfest gig:Mudhoney abides: Steve Turner on the grunge backlash, Nirvana, Green River, vintage metal, and digital garbage @RickshawTheatre
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
Am I the only person who simply can’t cope today?
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
7 years
At the risk of speaking on behalf of an entire city, might I suggest that all of Vancouver is thrilled that Ryan Kesler will, once again, not be winning the Stanley Cup.
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
Dear Alberta: You should move to America.
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
9 years
If you haven't picked up chocolates for your Valentine yet, the gas station at Hastings and Victoria has Oh Henrys on sale - 2 for $1.49
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
6 years
I loved this interview, partly because @artdeccomsic pulled back the curtain, and then left it up to me what to reveal: After years of self-doubt and spinning his wheels, Art d’Ecco is now on a mission to make his own fantastical myths
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
4 years
Looking for an endlessly rewarding, satisfying, and richly fulfilling job? Become a parent to a teenager!
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
2 years
Nardwuar the Human Serviette gets some major love from Ari Melber during an extended MSNBC segment #legend @nardwuar
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
I just saw a 20-something Commercial Drive hippie picking his nose with the end of his dreadlock. In related news I am going to puke in the middle of Commercial Drive.
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 months
Can somebody at @Sportsnet at least show us some mercy and unplug Craig Simpson’s microphone for the last 20 minutes of our season? Don’t care who he is rooting for. Just want him to stop incessantly talking. #canucks
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
If you think this is bad just wait until one of Vancouver’s most fabled New Year’s eve traditions: standing on a street corner at 2:10 AM desperately praying for a cab that’s never going to come. #uberisforothercities
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
3 years
Sometimes wonder what I miss more--Richards or the Pump. As condo-obsessed Vancouver continues to not really give a shit, Berlin rallies to save its vanishing music venues
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
Ahh the Drive, where, as I walked by him, an old guy, in a beautiful bass voice fit for the Paris Opera, just serenaded me with: “Fuck youuuuu/Stay awaay from me fuckfaaace/Fuuuck youu/Fuck your mottther/Fuck yourrr wife/Fuck your kiddds/Fuuck your coat/Fuckkk youuuu.....”
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
Sigh.
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
6 years
St. Vincent is the shit you cannot fuck with. #SKOOKUMfestival
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
6 years
Rihanna's big Super Bowl decision shows that sometimes there are more important things in life than cashing in via @georgiastraight
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
One of the good guys: Owner Mo Tarmohamed reflects on a sometimes challenging but always rewarding run as the Rickshaw Theatre turns 10 @bifnaked
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
4 years
NoMeansNo are God.
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
3 years
Journalism: An endlessly rewarding career!!
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
7 years
In what will be the biggest waste of time in my life, screenplay done.
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
9 months
Long form... A big and sincere thank you to @outsidechild13 for being a beautifully honest, open and relentlessly quotable interviewee Allison Russell’s fascinating journey to “The Returner” a testimony the importance of perseverance via @georgiastraight
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
2 years
Interviewing the mega famous is nervewracking, as is writing about someone who's been profiled many times. That makes this truly great piece by @yasmineshemesh doubly impressive.. The radical self-empowerment of Shania Twain @georgiastraight @ShaniaTwain
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
6 years
To the motherfuckers who called me at 6:55 this morning to tell me "there is a registered criminal case against your name concerning a tax evasion and tax fraud in the federal court house. ": I hope you get ass cancer.
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
4 years
Demko was a God. But you’re not gonna win many games with 15 shots on net losing almost every single battle in both ends and throwing away a five minute power play. Still great, gutsy job by theses guys #Canucks
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
This is the most wonderful thing you will see all year.
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
2 years
...out if you've got something that I need to know about if you're doing something creative in the city. ps. I love that one of the stipulations in the contract is being good in the room with the team and, even better, being committed to "having fun." Bring it on. 2/2
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
6 years
Literally lost count of the number of people who hysterically warned us we were crazy to go to China at this point in time. If you like travelling you know people from other places are pretty much just like us if you keep an open mind. Random strangers keep asking to pose with us
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
Sad news. Saw him many times with SOTW and he never disappointed: Spirit of the West frontman John Mann passes peacefully at age 57 via @georgiastraight
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
6 years
Dear @Canucks fans: no matter how sad, angry, upset and generally hopeless you might feel about your endlessly hopeless team, remember the @MapleLeafs will always be there to make things just a little bit better #laffsnation
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
7 years
Shit hot show alert: Black Pistol Fire becoming famous for incendiary live shows @BlackPistolFire @biltmorecabaret
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
Eat your heart out fellow Canadians!!!!
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
4 years
Jesus H. Fucking Christ. (Aka when you know you’ve hitched your pony to a true party animal.) Ps. She bought two boxes. And there are already two boxes in the house)
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
6 years
Iconic Jack White shows an awestruck Vancouver he's now a full-fledged (not to mention benevolent) guitar god via #JackWhite #God
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
7 years
Don't bother arguing.....: The Straight's highly subjective list of the 50 best-ever songs to spring from Vancouver
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
2 years
Thank God for the Emergency Alert that just woke me up out of a dead sleep at 6:20 to let me know there a shooting in Langley. Should I ever get back to fucking sleep I will make to cancel all plans to go to Langley today.
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
7 years
Fuck off with the rain already.
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
4 years
Depressed that October is in the rear view mirror? Then put down the mini Wunderbars and watch this... @ACTORStheband On Our Radar: Actors give fans of the darkness a much-needed reason to live with "Love U More"
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
If you need a soundtrack for fall you won’t find many better than this one....
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
Reminding me why I hate public transit, a guy in a purple top hat just got on the bus drunkenly singing Happy birthday to meeeeee!!!” Which immediately prompted a guy at the back of the bus to screech “Shut the fuck up”.
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
8 years
This is how you deal with a mental midget fuckwit on live TV: a good swift swat. Don't mess with @CTVSarah
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
Dear Vancouver: May God help you over the next 72 hours. Because it’s going to be a white shit show. ❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
10 years
I wrote this: The Madden Brothers start fresh on Greetings From California… http://t.co/8pcKghTJXk via @georgiastraight
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
4 years
Support your local @peachpitmusic @nardwuar @RickshawTheatre @yung_heazy @rareamericans @bighamm65 (also I actually want “Fuck Off!” socks) A great way to show Vancouver's music community we're still in this together is by loading up on merch
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
6 years
Working on about 2cm clearance on the @AirCanada legroom front on a 12 hour flight. If the person in front of me reclines their seat after takeoff you’re going to see me on the 6 o’clock news.
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
Know Your Histery: From the Retinal Circus to the Cave, the essential Vancouver After Dark remembers the city's most fabled night spots
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
6 years
Dear @AirCanada : about to take a 11 hour flight. I am 6’4” and working on about an inch of knee clearance. The guy sitting in the bulkhead seats in front of me is about 5’2” and has already tried to recline his seat twice on the runway. Coping tips? Because I’m going to lose it.
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
I’m going to change my Twitter bio to “I can no longer cope on any level.
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
6 years
If you read one thing today read this. Profound. Insightful. Moving. And above all double-gold-star beautiful. A truly incredible piece of writing.
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
7 years
i wrote this. Fucking legend.... Art Bergmann builds on an already rich legacy @RickshawTheatre
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
3 years
Triple jabbed as of today. And trying to decide if a cocktail or three might help ward off the delirious night sweats, chills, and dream-fever hallucinations that came with jab two.
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
2 years
As always, thoughtful, funny, humble, and generally awesome. Thanks @danmanganmusic for being part of the story Looking back, looking forward: For a young Dan Mangan, the Straight was the place every musician wanted to be via @georgiastraight
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 months
Go Panthers!!!! Vancouver is on your side! #StanleyCup
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
4 years
I think I finally understand the fridge magnet....
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
4 years
Dear Florida: What the fuck is wrong with you.
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
3 years
They’ve made us add bios to our stories. Speaking of stories this one is true.
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
6 years
I am proud to say that I have taken my bike to work (8 km each way!!!) both days this #Bike2Work week. Getting it in and out of my VW Golf hatchback is, however, proving to be a real fucking pain in the ass. #BTWW
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
When you tell your kid you just have to run into the liquor store, and he responds with: “Why? Are you out of your drunkard juice?”
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
It’s Xmas time on the mean streets....
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
2 years
@marshalederman You will be fine. The fridge keep it cold like a cooler even when power out.
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@MikeUsinger
Mike Usinger
5 years
Attention Main Street fixie jockeys: the ‘8Os Radio Shack-clerk moustache and retro-glasses combo has now officially replaced the hipster-or-homeless beard and ironic trucker hat.
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