10 Comments
User's avatar
K.C. Knouse's avatar

The Fishing Tale didn't seem quirky enough for a Mark Starlin original--until the ending. In Kansas, there were these guys that would "hand fish" for the big mud cats. They'd reach under rocky ledges along the shore where the big ones lay in waiting and when the fish grabbed their hand and forearm, the hand fisherman would latch on to the innards of the mud cat and wrestle it out of the water. Sometimes, the mud cat was too much for the fisherman and he got pulled under and drowned. I think they outlawed the practice some years ago.

Expand full comment
Mark Starlin's avatar

Yikes! Who would want a fish to swallow their arm? Catfish doesn't taste that good. 🤣 Smart law.

Expand full comment
Justin Deming's avatar

I wasn’t expecting that twist at all, Mark. Great stuff all around. Thanks for the laughs!

Expand full comment
Mark Starlin's avatar

Thanks, Justin. Expect the expected. 🤣

Expand full comment
Jack Herlocker's avatar

“A Fishing Tale” — sometimes I can guess where you’re going, Mark, but I still enjoy the trip. This one got me totally by surprise. Well done! 💚

Expand full comment
Mark Starlin's avatar

Thanks, Jack. It is a good day when I can trick the Jackster. 😉🤣

Expand full comment
Sharron Bassano's avatar

The fish story! Damned cute, if you ask me. I recognized the competitive palms. We have a couple here across the street in a dead heat. Right next to a towering redwood. Such a bizarre combination. Cranium is hilarious. It must take you DAYS to write new lyrics. You always crack me up, Starlin.

Expand full comment
Mark Starlin's avatar

Thank you, Sharron.

Was the older boy serious or just freaking out the younger boy while his freind was on vacation? 🤣

We have pine trees here that race to the sky.

I have been doing song parodies in my head since I was a teen. So I can crank them out pretty fast. Always in one sitting.

Expand full comment
3musesmerge's avatar

“You think he was making it up?”

“I did. Until he disappeared.”

🤭

Thanks for today’s stories Mark! I

Expand full comment
Mark Starlin's avatar

Thanks, 3. 🤓

Expand full comment