Bizarro is brought to you today by Heavy Objects You Don't Need on Your Foot.I always wonder where nicknames come from. I tend to think that most nicknames are chosen by the person to whom they refer, in spite of their elaborate stories to the contrary. Did Ivan the Terrible choose his own name to make himself sound cool? Like Sting? Time for you history buffs to weigh in on the comments section.
About a year ago, I adopted a nickname for myself, but nobody uses it. It's hard to get these things to catch on. I decided to go by "Jimmy Whatagain." I don't have any special reason for it, I just like the sound of it. It makes me smile every time I say it. And the Abbott-and-Costello potential is obvious:
"Last name?"
"Whatagain."
"LAST NAME?"
"I heard you the first time, I'm not deaf. Whatagain."
One of my favorite films of all time contains a character who has chosen his own nickname and is relentless in his efforts to assure it's exclusive use. "The Dude," of The Big Lebowski is the epitome of lame characters enforcing their own cool monikers. This past Halloween, one of my daughters and her significant utter dressed as The Dude (Jeff Bridges' character) and The Jesus (John Turturro's character). You've got to love a movie wherein a hispanic character named "Jesus" pronounces it the way English speakers do and adds the prefix "The".
A friend of mine chose a really cool nickname for himself, which he uses as more of an alias than anything. Rather than picking a name that makes him sound cool, he went the self-depricating-humor route, which I admire. So here's a shout out to Richard Cabeza. As you may know, "cabeza" is Spanish for "head." Add the usual nickname associated with the name "Richard," and you're there. One of the best ever.
