Has anyone written a gag book called Mine Campf, in which kidsf who can’t spellf properlyf go to a summer campf where they learn to mine? I’d Google it but do not want to end up on FBI watch list before my time.
Well… many years ago, when he was in middle school, one of my brothers became interested in military history, particularly WWI and WWII. He also decided to write a book about summer-camp hijinks (It really wanted to be a movie, of course), and he called it “Kamp Kampf”. Despite the title, there was nothing in it pertaining to Hitler or anything like that – only occasional mention of rival camps with German names, such as Kamp Adleraugen and Kamp Totenkopf.
It was a typical summer-camp movie scenario – “normal” kid goes to camp full of ’80s stereotypes (fat kid, religious kid, token Italian, punk rocker, nerd, tough kid, gay kid). He’d get about 30 pages in, decide it wasn’t working, and a few months later begin a rewrite. By 8th grade, he’d read “Catcher in the Rye”, and “Kamp Kampf” became really angsty, with his “normal” kid narrator talking like a clean version of Holden Caulfield and generally being annoyed by all the other kids. Then he decided it was really more of a movie than a book, and he went on to other pursuits.
Mom & Dad thought it was a hoot, of course, and it gave us the family word “substance” for any mystery-meat-like food that seemed particularly unappetizing. In the book, it was this gray glop served in the mess hall that nobody could identify. The kids take to referring to it simply as “substance”. We even pronounced it a certain way, in a deep voice heavy with revulsion. Some years later, a TV movie was made of a book called “A Woman of Substance”, and we all chuckled at the title.
Mystery Meat was a well-known, timeworn expression in the military, from…hell, waaaaaaay back. I know it was already well-trod and said in the early 70’s for mystery items emerging from the kitchens; I suspect it was pretty well known in WWII.
Yeah, we’d heard of “mystery meat”, but for some reason the characters in my brother’s book described the gray glop as some sort of substance, and immediately took to referring to it as “substance”. It seemed to have many useful applications, none of which were culinary.
We all found “substance” amusing, and whenever faced with something that looked unappetizing, we’d call it “substance”. Sometimes, Mom even joined in.
“Hey, Mom, what’s for supper?”
“Substance.” 😀
Zsuzsa
1 year ago
When I first looked at this cover was a picture of someone applying what looked like bleach to his head. I eventually figured out that it was some sort of anti-baldness product, but it was the perfect illustration of what I imagined Nathan doing when he saw this book.
Forget ChatGTP. AdSense is the real human-level machine intelligence, and it has a sense of humor!
What wrath do grapes have?
And what is going on in that picture? Hitler mixed with some woman in a famous painting that has been so mutilated we have no idea who it was originally?
Has anyone written a gag book called Mine Campf, in which kidsf who can’t spellf properlyf go to a summer campf where they learn to mine? I’d Google it but do not want to end up on FBI watch list before my time.
Well… many years ago, when he was in middle school, one of my brothers became interested in military history, particularly WWI and WWII. He also decided to write a book about summer-camp hijinks (It really wanted to be a movie, of course), and he called it “Kamp Kampf”. Despite the title, there was nothing in it pertaining to Hitler or anything like that – only occasional mention of rival camps with German names, such as Kamp Adleraugen and Kamp Totenkopf.
It was a typical summer-camp movie scenario – “normal” kid goes to camp full of ’80s stereotypes (fat kid, religious kid, token Italian, punk rocker, nerd, tough kid, gay kid). He’d get about 30 pages in, decide it wasn’t working, and a few months later begin a rewrite. By 8th grade, he’d read “Catcher in the Rye”, and “Kamp Kampf” became really angsty, with his “normal” kid narrator talking like a clean version of Holden Caulfield and generally being annoyed by all the other kids. Then he decided it was really more of a movie than a book, and he went on to other pursuits.
Mom & Dad thought it was a hoot, of course, and it gave us the family word “substance” for any mystery-meat-like food that seemed particularly unappetizing. In the book, it was this gray glop served in the mess hall that nobody could identify. The kids take to referring to it simply as “substance”. We even pronounced it a certain way, in a deep voice heavy with revulsion. Some years later, a TV movie was made of a book called “A Woman of Substance”, and we all chuckled at the title.
Mystery Meat was a well-known, timeworn expression in the military, from…hell, waaaaaaay back. I know it was already well-trod and said in the early 70’s for mystery items emerging from the kitchens; I suspect it was pretty well known in WWII.
FWIW.
Yeah, we’d heard of “mystery meat”, but for some reason the characters in my brother’s book described the gray glop as some sort of substance, and immediately took to referring to it as “substance”. It seemed to have many useful applications, none of which were culinary.
We all found “substance” amusing, and whenever faced with something that looked unappetizing, we’d call it “substance”. Sometimes, Mom even joined in.
“Hey, Mom, what’s for supper?”
“Substance.” 😀
When I first looked at this cover was a picture of someone applying what looked like bleach to his head. I eventually figured out that it was some sort of anti-baldness product, but it was the perfect illustration of what I imagined Nathan doing when he saw this book.
Forget ChatGTP. AdSense is the real human-level machine intelligence, and it has a sense of humor!
What wrath do grapes have?
And what is going on in that picture? Hitler mixed with some woman in a famous painting that has been so mutilated we have no idea who it was originally?
> What wrath do grapes have?
I submit this cover as self-incriminating evidence.
These grapes are angry and raisin’ hell!
…..
My struggle to understand what this cover or book is about.
I saw this cover and immediately exclaimed, “WHAT. The…?” For real. Out loud.
Little moments like that are what I live for.