Note: The following is to be posted at DET but, unfortunately, I’m locked out of the publishing component.

1987. U2 released “The Joshua Tree” and they were exploding all across the world. I remember when they were about to sell concert tickets back home in Norfolk, VA. The tickets were being sold at a place called Tracks and people camped out overnight. The line wrapped around the building 3 times and went on forever. I stayed in that line for tickets and got the 2 that I was allowed. Like a bonehead, I gave them to my sister who wanted to bring her friends. I never got to see them on that tour and I never even got a ticket stub as a memento of the event.

Until now

The website says-it.com has online image generators that let you create images such as the concert or movie ticket stub above as well as cassette tapes, records and other items. Who cares that I missed U2 just as they were blossoming into the entertainment powerhouse that they are? With this website, you can fabricate evidence to support your fantasies. Instead of staying at home and doing my algebra homework while everyone went to the concert I now have proof that I went to the concert AND had a lot more fun with the band than just some lame ass backstage pass.

The website Ronald McHummer has a similar application that let’s you put as message on a McDonald’s sign. The site is a protest site against the fast food giant McDonald’s including a small toy Hummer SUV as the prize in their Happy Meals. They provide a means that you can protest the action by allowing you to deface a McDonald’s sign digitally. I dunno. Whether or not you agree with this, the sign thing is still pretty fun to mess around with. Plus, it is helping me validate my fantasy evening in 1987. All of this is reminiscent of the All Your Base Are Belong To Us craze that swept the net years ago.

Bono, when you have some downtime from being an entertainment behemoth or from trying to figure out the world poverty issue, ring me sometime and we can stop by one of the local pubs and share a pint. We can go over some of those kooky, crazy times we had almost two decades ago.