Music Archives - Postcards from The Pug Bus

Postcards from The Pug Bus

Lifting a satirical leg on pop culture since 2004

Persons in the Ether

Question of the Week

Clowns or Mimes?

Marjorie Finkelstein, 64, retired dental hygienist

318 Willow Street, Scranton, PA

Mimes. At least they have the decency to suffer in silence. A clown wants you to participate in his emotional problems while he honks a horn and falls down. I spent thirty-seven years looking into people's mouths. I have had enough forced entertainment.

Raymond Bickford, 51, commercial refrigeration technician

76 Chestnut Lane, Akron, OH

Clowns. You know where you stand with a clown. He has enormous shoes, a drinking problem, and a car full of accomplices. A mime pretends to be trapped in an invisible box and expects applause. My brother-in-law has been doing that at Thanksgiving for twenty years. Nobody pays him.

Sheila Lattimore, 47, assistant county tax assessor

142 Birch Road, Des Moines, IA

Mimes, provided they remain outdoors. I once hired a clown for my daughter's birthday party. He arrived forty minutes late, smelled like gasoline, and asked whether we had a ladder. The children still talk about it. My daughter is twenty-three.

Dolly Parton Messaged Miley Cyrus through flickering hallway lights as the singer prayed beside a shrine while her fiancé watched a ghostly electrical apparition.

Miley prayed for a sign from Dolly. The wiring apparently took it personally.

Music

Dolly Parton Messaged Miley Cyrus

T.J. Eckleburg music 5 days

MALIBU, CA — The Department of Domestic Miracles has confirmed that Dolly Parton messaged Miley Cyrus. The late “Nine to Five” singer apparently manipulated hallway lighting… Read More

Nashville authorities say the second chord is contained and poses no threat to traditional values.

Music

Ella Langley Song Found to Contain Trace Amounts of a Second Chord

T.J. Eckleburg music 4 weeks

NASHVILLE — Country-music laboratories have quarantined an Ella Langley song after routine testing detected trace amounts of a second chord, raising concerns that listeners may… Read More

Stagehand Greg Ostrowski backstage, tracking Ella Langley's wardrobe to predict her setlists by jacket choice.

Music

Stagehand Insists Ella Langley’s Wardrobe Is a Coded Setlist Signal

T.J. Eckleburg music 3 months

Greg Ostrowski, 34, a union stagehand from Coatesville, Pennsylvania, spent the summer tracking Ella Langley’s wardrobe across her run of stadium dates opening for Morgan… Read More

Morgan Wallen repeats himself as identical country songs roll down an assembly line of guitars, truck keys, and lyric sheets in a satirical recording studio scene.

When the formula works, innovation is just unnecessary paperwork.

Music

Morgan Wallen Repeats Himself: Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One

T.J. Eckleburg music 3 months

Morgan Wallen repeats himself. That is his singular gift. Perhaps even his superpower. He releases thirty-plus-song albums and somehow recycles the same emotional weather report without… Read More

Post Malone studies a disappointing stadium tour spreadsheet with a chagrined look, illustrating Blue Dot Fever and the creative pivot excuse to focus on new music

How come Morgan always sells all his tickets?

Music

Blue Dot Fever Leads to Tour Cancellations

T.J. Eckleburg music 6 months

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warn the public that Blue Dot Fever (BDF ) is spreading like herpes among North American touring artists.… Read More

Four ABBA members in 1976 wear bright IKEA T‑shirts under warm stage lights, smiling with cheerful precision that echoes IKEA Desk Assembly Instructions.

BBA demonstrates the power of a band that can sing, sparkle, and still look fully qualified to explain IKEA Desk Assembly Instructions.

Culture Music

ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” Played Backward Contains IKEA Desk Assembly Instructions

T.J. Eckleburg cultural commentary 6 months

The Bureau of International Audio Standards (BIAS) has confirmed that the 1976 ABBA hit “Dancing Queen,” when played backward, contains a complete set of IKEA… Read More

Satirical illustration for Kurt Cobain Was Murdered showing a stylized musician in a mock crime scene with conspiracy board, red string evidence, and exaggerated forensic clues.

After decades of research, experts conclude the case can only be solved with more yarn.

Culture Music

Forensic Experts Say Kurt Cobain Was Murdered by Math, Physics, and Common Sense

T.J. Eckleburg cultural commentary, music 9 months

In an awesome new development in the effort to reopen every cultural tragedy until the heat death of the universe, a team of independent forensic… Read More