“The Last of Us” VFX Artist Cites Uncle’s Fucked Up Toe as Inspiration

LOS ANGELES — Lance Martinez, VFX artist for “The Last of Us” cited his uncle’s notoriously disgusting toe as inspiration for the hit show’s fungal-infected zombies, according to nauseated sources.

“I was too chicken to ask my Uncle Glenn if I could study his fungus-riddled toe for the show, so I offered to come by under the pretense of chatting about the 2020 election,” said Martinez. “I brought over a case of Keystone and some really salty pretzels. He leaned back in his La-Z-Boy, and my quarry was in sight—all I had to do was wait. After a couple hours of him draining beers and rambling about the Deep State, he finally passed out. I managed to get some great macro shots of his hideous digit. My art director nearly vomited when I showed him.”

Martinez’s uncle eventually found out about the scheme when HBO asked him to sign a release form before the show aired.

“I don’t know why Lance didn’t ask me up front,” said Glenn Martinez while soaking his feet in a vinegar solution. “I’m actually proud that my toe inspired all that cool zombie apocalypse shit. It’s a great show, too. I really identified with that Bill character. At least until… well, you know. Anyhow, I told Lance I’ve got a ton of other unexplained infections happening on or inside my body that he might be interested in using. I sent him a picture of my pilonidal cyst but he hasn’t gotten back to me yet.”

UC Berkeley mycologist Susan Ward said that she and her colleagues are excited about the interest their field is receiving as a result of the show’s success.

“We mycologists don’t often get a lot of attention. When we do, it’s usually just Vice asking about psilocybin again ” said Ward as she studied something revolting under her microscope. “I’m always trying to raise awareness of the danger of fungal foot infections as a vector for more serious disease. I’d argue that the premise of ‘The Last of Us’ would work just as well—if not better—if the fungal plague originated with mutated toe fungus rather than tainted flour. They could show, like, a scene of some guy’s toenail clipping flying into someone’s salad, and that starts it all.”

At press time, Martinez was collecting photos of Shane McGowan’s mouth to reference for the creature in the upcoming “Malignant” sequel.

BREAKING: Your Back After That Failed Kickflip

LOS ANGELES — After an ambitious attempt at a simple flatground kickflip, it appears that you have absolutely broken your back, sources wincing sympathetically confirm.

“Oh, Jesus Christ, oh my god, I think I broke or sprained something,” you moaned in pain while rolling around on the unforgiving asphalt covered in tree sap and bird shit. “Fuck me, okay, no I’m totally fine, I just—I just gotta shake it off. It’s uh, been a minute since I went out to skate and I’m a little bit rusty. I’m not 23 anymore, apparently. I figured I’d at least have some muscle memory and not completely fucking eat shit on my first attempt, but I guess I was wrong. And worst of all, an unbelievably gorgeous woman totally saw me beef it. God dammit, I’m going to be on the couch for a week after this.”

The ethereally beautiful bystander gave her record of events.

“I was walking by, the wind blowing through my luscious black hair, looking utterly otherworldly and deeply pretty as always, when I heard this horrible crash and a grunt of pain,” Elena Marquez said, looking genuinely concerned. “I looked over and saw the wreckage, this fully-grown adult in beat-up sneakers, writhing on the ground while their skateboard rolled away. At first, I thought they had been mugged by skateboarding teens, but then I realized they were actually attempting to skateboard at such an advanced age. I felt really bad, so I went over to check on them, and was waved off with a gruff ‘I’m good, I’m totally fine,’ even though I’m almost certain they were quietly dialing for an ambulance.  I was already running late for my first modeling photo shoot of the day, so I needed to get going.”

Dr. Alan Wakefield, an ER doctor, provided his expert insight into recent accidents like yours.

“These aging punks really think they’re invincible,” Wakefield said while reviewing his back-to-back stack of patient charts for the afternoon. “You wouldn’t believe how many folks in their late 30s I get in here with sprained ankles, slipped discs, dislocated shoulders, you name it. I actually am considering getting a distributor deal for the hospital for knee braces with Toy Machine stickers already on them for the older skateboard crowd. I give out like, 15 of those a week.”

At press time, you were realizing you don’t have health insurance and decided to treat your back injury with a bag of frozen peas instead.

What the Fuck: This Guy Is Listening to the Mountain Goats While Lifting

Normally the gym is a place for quiet contemplation and self-improvement, but this time I left utterly confused. This enormous lunk across from me is clearly listening to the Mountain Goats while power-lifting and I’m befuddled.

He first caught my attention by aggressively grunting “I’m gonna make it through this deadlift if it kills me,” and then lifted 400 pounds like it was nothing. The weird thing is he was definitely listening to ‘Arguing With the Ghost of Peter Laughner About His Coney Island Baby Review’ while doing that lift.

This man mountain then walked over to the squat rack and asked the lady using it if she had ever heard of Chavo Guerrero and then started doing burpees before she even had the chance to respond.

This man is a true wild card. Is he cool? Is he insane? Is he dangerous? I honestly don’t know how to exist around this person right now.

I swear to God I saw this guy was benching three plates and screaming about his step-father on each press up. Must be listening to The Sunset Tree. I could understand blasting your biceps to The Decemberists, at least they have a consistent rhythm sometimes, but this motherfucker is lifting to some whiny off-tempo acoustic bullshit.

He’s talking to the gym staff now about how John Darnielle cut a lyric from ‘No Children’ about hoping he takes too much creatine and gets diarrhea. How would he have gotten that inside scoop? Is this guy John Darnielle? I’ll Google Photos it. Ok he’s not.

He’s fully pounding his protein shake and getting it all over his Goths t-shirt with the sleeves cut off. I’m honestly scared of this mound of muscle, if his shuffle hits on something hype like ‘The Best Ever Death Metal Band Out Of Denton’ he might kill everyone in this Planet Fitness.

He left for a while and everyone in the gym relaxed a bit, but I knew we were in for trouble when he came back wearing a wrestling leotard. I walked out of the gym right as he started declaring himself the ‘middle-weight champ of all Mexico’ and demanding people try to pin him.

Review: The Locust “New Erections”

Each week the Hard Times tries to take a look back at a classic album. We really, really try. This week we attempted to review The Locust’s “New Erections,” but unfortunately my parents got a look at the album title before I could throw it on to listen.

Despite my protests, and my repeated reminders that I’ve been getting pretty good marks in all my classes this semester, and I called Grandma the other day WITHOUT being asked, they confiscated my copy of “New Erections” before I even got to listen to it, this isn’t fair.

Not only that but get this: later on I heard them cranking the album in their room behind closed doors. They liked it so much that they started a Locust tribute act called Cicada Swarm that has a gig this Friday. But, the downside is I can’t get in to see it because the bar freakin’ cards. I figured, ah well, at least I can hear them rehearse so I can absorb some of the music and crank out a review, but get this…they decided the Locust was too mainstream a choice of cover act, so they went deeper and only do Holy Molar songs now. They only released one album! And, on top of everything else they ask to borrow MY synthesizer I bought with MY birthday money for the gig. The gall. The absolute unmitigated gall.

I swear, I’m out of here the minute I get my license. Then I can listen to whatever I want on the car radio. I’ll call up my local classic rock station and request “Book of Bot” or “We Have Reached An Official Verdict: Nobody Gives A Shit” and ‘Rockin’ Ron Delasquez say “Oh yeah, off 2007’s New Erections? The ANTI records classic? You got it, little buddy! I’ll slap that on after Come Sail Away finishes! Rock on!” And he’ll pump it onto the airwaves free of charge. I’ll be living the good life, I will.

But until then, it’s just your classic, evergreen “my parents play in an obscure Justin Pearson side project cover band, that’s still confusingly named after his main band, and are borrowing my synthesizer for it but won’t let me hear anything because the name of the album they caught me with by them was a little dirty” situation. When you list it all out like that, I guess it’s just normal teenager problems.

Parents! Can’t live with ‘em, can’t introduce them to late aughts noise rock!

Score: 13/13 possible Holy Molar tracks to learn, they’re gonna have to banter between songs so much!

/**/

Worker Who Dropped Lunch at Pressing Plant Inadvertently Creates Limited Edition Egg Salad-Swirl Vinyl Variant

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Local vinyl pressing plant employee John Rolland pressed a limited-edition “egg salad vinyl” version of Last Ritual’s debut LP after dropping his lunch into the machinery, several hungry sources report.

“Once chow time hit, I decided to go above and beyond and run the press while I huffed down my lunch to make up for lost time after being on the can for 25 minutes,” vinyl press operator John Rolland said. “When I went to take the first bite of my delicious egg salad sandwich, I looked down and realized I was holding two pieces of rye bread while the rest of my lunch splattered all over the wax. Times are tough, so I decided not to throw out the material, and if you ask me, I think it looks pretty badass. I’m super hungry now, though, and hoping my boss doesn’t ride my ass about sound quality.”

Jess Streiner, singer of Last Ritual, was pleasantly surprised, but still confused by the accident.

“When we got the LPs from the pressing plant, the first thing we noticed was the foul stench and abundance of flies around the box,” Streiner explained. “When we opened it, we realized we were missing 10 limited white with blue marble swirl records. Instead there were 10 black and putrid green ones. Sure, they aren’t what we ordered, but we think the idea of a limited ‘smells-like-rotting-ass’ color choice adds character to our record. But I’ll be honest, I have no idea how these are gonna sell.”

Audiophile and avid record collector George Eastman says there is a rich history of food-related LP variations.

“If there’s two things record collectors love, it’s records and food,” Eastman explained as he opened up a fresh pizza box. “So naturally, the food-infused vinyl record is the pinnacle of art and culture. A lot of greats have had special variants–for example, Roy Orbison’s 1989 classic ‘Mystery Girl’ was just reissued in ‘BBQ baked bean’ splatter because apparently the Big O lived on that stuff. A loving tribute, really.”

At press time, Last Ritual was seen holding their noses and giving away their new LPs to a local dumpster.

The Weekly Scene Report: February 25

You may have made it through another week, but have you made it through the most important news stories from the last seven days? If not, you’re in luck.

Punk Running Out of Social Distortion Records to Play While Hanging Out With Mechanic Neighbor

Read the full story here.

“Good Artists Borrow, Great Artists Steal” Whispers Man Before Mugging Tom Morello

Read the full story here.

Cool-Looking Synthesizer Unfortunately the Kind That’s Tough to Figure Out

Read the full story here.

Courteous Singer Says “Guitar” Before Guitar Solo

Read the full story here.

Underperforming Slipknot Member Sent Down to Mushroomhead For Conditioning

Read the full story here.

Cop Wins Creative Writing Award for Recent Police Report

Read the full story here.

$20 LED Strip Transforms Dank Studio Apartment Into Enchanting Fuck Dungeon

Read the full story here.

House Full of Unemployed Artists Calling Self a Collective Now

Read the full story here.

I Took the Skinheads Bowling and Now I’m Banned From the Milford Family Fun Center

Read the full story here.

Group of Unemployed, Single, Childless, Band Members Who Live Together Still Can’t Find a Practice Time That Works For Everyone

Read the full story here.

We Spoke To Ryan Murphy About His Newest Series “Sexy Gay White Murder Orgy”

Read the full story here.

HOA Orders Danzig to Take Down Halloween Decorations

PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Chair of the Sunbeam Ridge Homeowners’ Association Committee On Livability and Neighborhood Aesthetics once again ordered Glenn Danzig to remove his unseasonal Halloween decorations, persnickety sources confirmed.

“October is over, and Mr. Danzig’s spooky little ghouls and skeletons clearly violate HOA Bylaws section 3, subsection H, paragraph 4, line 6, clause 2,” complained Chair Beverly Anderson. “Normally, I can enforce the rules by giving people dirty looks or calling them ugly and poor on Nextdoor, but this guy doesn’t seem to give a shit what anyone says about him. Instead, I’m forced to write this fastidious 17-page letter threatening financially devastating lawsuits, and his response was simply ‘my lawyers will beat the shit out of your lawyers.’ We politely asked him to install more seasonal decorations like something for St. Patrick’s Day and he added a decapitated leprechaun to his lawn, this is getting out of hand.”

And while the punk and metal legend reluctantly agreed he might be in technical violation of HOA rules, he displayed limited regard for the feelings of his neighbors.

“This used to be a nice place to live. I could bitch about how kids today are dumb and weak, and everyone would invite me to dinner and want to be my friend,” said Danzig in between writing cat litter reviews on Amazon. “I thought I finally found a place where I fit in, but apparently my Halloween stuff being up five seconds after some arbitrary deadline is too much for these crybabies to handle. At least once a week, Meg lets her little Shih Tzu do a GG Allin impersonation on my front lawn, but you don’t see me whining to the HOA Committee about dog shit. And it’s almost time to put up Halloween decorations again anyway, so get over it already.”

Real estate professionals were unsurprised to learn of the dispute between Danzig and Sunbeam Ridge.

“This kind of disagreement happens all the time,” warned veteran Realtor Sandra Buckingham. “An HOA is like an HR department, only way more trivial and annoying. They have more power than Ticketmaster and as much impunity as the cops. There was an incident in Paso Robles last year where members of an HOA beat a resident half to death because they painted their mailbox a different shade of green. Be careful where you buy your forever home.”

At press time, The HOA Committee On Noise Pollution was in court seeking an injunction to prevent Danzig from covering songs recorded by Elvis.

5 Ways To Be Supportive of Your Friend’s Band That Doesn’t Involve Seeing Them Play Their Shitty Music Live

Let’s face it, everyone has a friend who plays in a horrible band. We want to be supportive of their musical dreams but we also don’t want to be burdened by having to go see them perform because they’re absolute horseshit. If you still want to back your pals but don’t want to spend another Friday night assaulting your eardrums, here are a few helpful tips instead:

1. Give your ticket to a coworker –
Tell your friend that you’re really stoked to see them play but you’d rather help them build a fanbase which is why you gave your ticket to Gary from work. Your friend will appreciate this thoughtful gesture and will be clueless as to its true motivation.

2. Convince them to go on tour – Blow smoke up their ass by telling them that they’re so good that they definitely need to tour out of state for exposure. You’d love to travel and see them play if it wasn’t for your job/depression/all those pesky outstanding warrants you have waiting for you as soon as you cross state lines, whatever. Oh well.

3. Buy all their merch – Pretend you’re their biggest fan by buying all of their merch and flood social media with pics of you wearing it, to distract from the fact you’ll be in a nearby bar watching a band that doesn’t suck out loud play.

4. Offer to help set up equipment while faking an illness – Lie and say you’d love to check out their gig but you’ve been puking all day. You’re not sure if it’s Covid or another venereal disease, you just know it feels like you’re dying. Offer to help them set up their equipment at the venue for as long as it takes, but your concerned friend will insist you stay home and recover instead. Fuck yeah.

5. Wish them success while faking your death –
After your illness runs its natural, fabricated course, sit them down and break the bad news that you’re going to die. Apologize that you won’t be able to see them perform anymore, but that your last wish on earth is that they finally make it big. Ask for privacy and keep a low profile until the band breaks up in a couple months and your friend becomes a realtor like all your other ex-musician friends.

Biden Attempts to Appeal to Gen Z With New Series of Fireside Mukbangs

WASHINGTON — President Biden released a series of FDR-inspired fireside mukbangs on TikTok in his latest attempt to win over Gen Z voters, the White House’s official channel confirmed.

“Folks, watch me eat all this squiggly spaghetti. This is going to be a slop fest like you have never seen, Jack,” said Biden, proceeding to loudly slurp udon noodles into his mouth, chew, and swallow without breaking eye contact with the camera. “My team tells me this is called ‘Mack-Bonging’ and that it’s a great way to reach you, fam. So let’s talk about my bold economic plan while I eat some Takis. Boy howdy, these suckers are spicy! Reminds me of a date I went on with a Vietnamese woman back in the ‘60s, she was a real firecracker.”

Harper Layne, the 23-year-old communications strategist who pitched the concept for fireside mukbangs, says the campaign was based on years of extensive personal research.

“I’ve been watching mukbang for like, forever. It’s super calming and for some reason, I just trust people more when they tell stories while eating,” said Layne, who added she first came up with the idea while studying for a 20th-century American history midterm during her senior year of college. “I needed a break after reading about President Roosevelt, so I went on YouTube and watched a video of Nikocado Avocado talking about his sex life while eating a dozen chicken wings covered in Flamin’ Hot Cheetos dust. Then something just clicked! I realized mukbangs could literally be the only way for an out-of-touch octogenarian to reach my generation.”

While each video in the series has garnered millions of views within hours of release, a Gen Z focus group convened by the Brookings Institution suggests they may be doing more harm than good.

“Um, these are honestly cringe as fuck,” said one 18-year-old participant, quickly flicking from video to video after only watching a few seconds of each. “This dude is like a million years old right? I don’t care if he’s the president of the United States, I’m not messing up my algorithm by watching some Boomer with dentures mansplain stuff while eating mochi. If you keep making me watch these I’m gonna write in Harambe on my 2024 election ballot—I’m deadass serious no cap.”

At press time, Vice President Kamala Harris was overheard discussing plans to launch a jewelry shop on Etsy that sells crystals charged with Democratic energy.

10 Things Promoters Can Pay You in That Isn’t Cash

You’ve heard the excuses, and you know the promoter has the money because he took a merch cut. Don’t worry though, he’s not going to let you walk out of here empty-handed. Here are 10 things the promoter can pay you in that isn’t cash.

Your Stolen Bike

Make no mistake, this is absolutely your bike that was stolen two weeks ago. The Promoter insists that he’s had this bike for years though, and that you must have good taste. It might not be a bad idea to run outside real quick and make sure your gear trailer is still attached to the van.

Bootleg Clerks 2 VHS

This might have been worth something in 2006, but the movie’s been out for years now, and you or someone you know probably owns an actual copy of the DVD. He doesn’t understand why that matters though. This one is “special” (he recorded it himself), and insists that it’s “probably worth a lot.”

Mystery Meat

He thinks it’s pork, but it might be horse. Or something else. Whatever it is, he claims it tastes great, and there’s a lot of it. It’s in the basement deep freeze if you want to go take a look at it.

Seeds

You’ve probably been offered drugs by promoters before, but like, actual drugs, not seeds to grow them yourself. He swears it’s “good shit.” In fact, you should be so honored to be offered the seeds from his signature strain. Looking closely at the bag there are some sesame and poppy seeds in there. There’s a chance this is just everything bagel seasoning.

The Nuclear Codes

Supposedly a “friend of a friend of a friend” went to Mar-A-Lago, came back with these, and gave them to him. They’re written on a napkin, but it’s a McDonald’s napkin, so who knows, they could be real. While they probably aren’t, it might not hurt to tell somebody about this, just in case.

Kohl’s Cash

He doesn’t know exactly how much he has because it’s actually his wife’s, but he’s pretty sure it’d get you at least one new outfit. You’ll have to wait though, because he and his wife are fighting right now and so it isn’t a good time for him to ask her for it. You could use a new sweater, after all.

Whatever Is In His Pocket

He’s not going to outright give it to you, but if you can guess correctly it’s yours. You only get one guess though, not three. We’re not sure what kind of Bilbo Baggins bullshit he’s trying to pull, but whatever it is probably isn’t worth it anyway.

Live Snake

This breed of snake “isn’t exactly street legal” in the United States, but he insists it’s been doing a great job with the venue’s rat problem. The green room would say otherwise. He doesn’t keep the snake at the venue though, it’s at his friend Mike’s house, so you’d have to drive across town with him to check it out.

Porno Mag With Some Of The Pages Stuck Together

Look, it’s not cum, ok? Let’s just put it this way, this thing is, uh, well loved. It’s all wrinkled up, and the pages make a horrible crinkling sound when he turns them to show you the women featured in it. He makes it a point to claim that the women he’s slept with are actually way hotter.

The Gift Of Friendship

It’s pretty clear that you aren’t getting any money, and he’s run out of items to offer you. But he’s free this Saturday if you want to hang out. You have to drive though, because his license is suspended. As enticing as this offer is, maybe it’s best to just cut your losses and go home.

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