Word on the street is that this week Paul Reubens, aka Pee-Wee Herman, headed up to South Dakota to partake in the festivities at the 70th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. [Enter visions of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure with the pop culture icon riding around on his awesome big red bike.] While I'm not some gung-ho biker chick, I am quick to appreciate pop culture icons doing ridiculously awesome things no matter how uncharacteristic they may be (though in the case of Pee-Wee Herman, a motorcycle rally is right up that character's alley).
For move than a decade Mr. Herman has been flying under the radar but 2010 has been the year of Pee-Wee. Sure, Paul Reubens still did acting gigs, but the bright red bow tie was (mostly) hung on the shelf collecting dust. And the Sturgis Rally appearance is only the cherry on the whip cream sundae of Pee-Wee's return to the limelight.
So just what has our gray-suited, bow-tie clad, obnoxious comedic cult icon been up to since exposing himself in the early 90's this year?
Let's take a look...
And here's a look at Pee-Wee's clever "Funny or Die" video...
So could Pee-Wee Herman be staged for a big comeback?!
Let's hope so...but this time around, lets keep our fingers crossed that he can keep his pants on for everyone's sake.
Prepare yourself for a gigantic adventure with Pee-Wee and all his friends as they abandon the playhouse and head out into the real world to wreck havoc. This new yet-to-be-titled film from producer Judd Apatow, will be co-written by Reubens and Paul Rust ("Inglourious Basterds," "I Love You, Beth Cooper"). The film is currently in pre-production phases and is currently scheduled for a theatrical release in 2011. Paul Reubens' voiceover credentials continue to mount up in this full-length feature remake of the ever-lovable Smurfs. Taking on the role of Jokey Smurf, we can certainly anticipate witty sarcasm and banter, and perhaps even a few adult innuendos. Okay. So it's not exactly a "Pee-Wee" flick, but Paul Reubens is returning to the silver screen along side Jessica Biel, Jake Gyllenhaal, James Marsden and Tracy Morgan in a film about a waitress that gets a nail lodged into her head. Nailed is scheduled to release later this year.Earlier this year, Pee-Wee debuted on Funny Or Die with a video short along with his playhouse playmates with some playful banter on the new (at the time) Apple iPad. Check out the sketch after the slideshow!Joining Pee-Wee on the big stage will be the cast of characters of "The Pee-wee Herman Show" including Cowboy Curtis, Chairry, Pterry the Pterodactyl, Jambi the Genie, Miss Yvonne and other friends.
Advertisement:
Coming to Broadway later this year, "The Pee-wee Herman Show," is a live revival of his hit '80s TV show on CBS. The production originally started in LA before it was picked up to premiere on Broadway. One can only hope that it goes on tour and makes a stop in Chicago so we can all chime in for a bit of "I know you are what what am I!?"This photo accompanied Pee-Wee's Twitter feed this week with the following statement: "I'm a loner, Dottie...a rebel."During the Sturgis Rally at the Buffalo Chip Campground, Pee-Wee led nearly 600,000 bikers in the world's largest "Tequila!" dance for Jay Leno. While Pee-Wee may be getting older, he's still got the moves. Over the weekend, Reubens donned his Pee-Wee persona to help raise money for the Kids and Chrome Foundation which focuses on fundraising for the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame, along with the Black Hills Children's Home in nearby Rapid City.Sitting proudly upon his big red bike, Pee-Wee Herman led more than 300 riders in Sturgis this past weekend. (AP Photo)
STURGIS 2010: COLORS OR WEAPONS NOT WELCOME, BUT PEE WEE HERMAN IS...
A Not-So-Satirical Commentary on the 70th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
Copyright (c) 2010 Bruce Arnold. Republication with attribution permitted.
"I never give'em Hell. I just tell the Truth and they think it's Hell."--Harry S. Truman
SATURDAY (14 August 2010) marked the end of 15 days and 5,790 miles in the saddle for DP, Hidalgo and me. We rode the first 1,515 miles from Miami Beach FL to Wichita Falls TX in 35 hours 35 minutes, qualifying for what should be certified as my 51st Iron Butt ride:
http://tinyurl.com/miamibeach2wichitafalls
The next 1,540 miles took us west across stretches of Route 66 in Texas and New Mexico, then north through the awe-inspiring peaks and valleys of the Colorado Rockies, and finally northeast across Wyoming to Sundance (where the Kid got his name), our home base for the 70th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally:
http://tinyurl.com/wichitafalls2sundance
After spending four enjoyable days cruising 455 leisurely miles through the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming, we rode back to SoBe by a shorter 2,280 mile route that took us through the less-inspiring but somehow more inviting ridges and gaps of the Smokies:
http://tinyurl.com/sundance2miamibeach
For the first time since 2005, I made it all the way to Sturgis and back without being arrested under a false pretense, getting ticketed for defying an unjust mandate, or having to rush a heat-stricken rider 30 miles to an emergency room. In fact, our greatest misfortune this year was a lack of cell phone service: ATT may cover "97% of Americans", but they sure as Hell don't cover 97% of America. 97% of the time my ATT phone was a worthless pocket weight, so I am 97% sure I'll be replacing ATT with Verizon. Anyway... I'll share more details about "the Ride" in future installments, but first a disdain for political correctness coupled with deplorable anger management compells me to convey the following commentary regarding "the Rally":
The commercial exploitation and pussification of the American Biker was as open and obvious at this year's "Black Hills Trailer Classic" as is the ongoing perversion of patriotism, needless sacrifice of our sons and daughters, and greedy sacking of our treasury, pensions and savings by the Republocratic puppets on the payroll of "Washington, Inc." and their Kleptocratic masters pulling all strings left and right from Manhattan. "No Colors or Weapons Allowed Inside" signs pervaded business establishments along Main and Lazelle in Sturgis proper, making clear their intent to strip us of our culture as they take away our cash. I ignored them as I always do, but this year the Case 286 sheathed on my belt actually got me summarily uninvited from two "biker-friendly" bars that will receive no free press here.
Meanwhile, just down the road at the Buffalo Chip--owned and operated by Belle Fourche attorney Rod Woodruff--throngs of both motorcyclists (those who rode) and trailerists (those who towed) wearing shiny new Hot Leathers vests adorned with just-purchased pins and freshly-sewn patches that say something but mean nothing (ok, been there) mindlessly welcomed registered sex offender and alleged child pornographer Paul Reubens a.k.a. "Pee Wee Herman" [ see http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/4563512 ] to the stage. As biker-bucks barrister Woodruff put it, "Bob Dylan is here because people like him, and Pee Wee is here for the same reason: They are both American icons."
BULLSHIT:
http://tinyurl.com/chip-promotes-pervert
Declaring a public peter pumper like Pee Wee Herman to be an "American icon" comparable to one of the greatest folk/protest singer/songwriters of our time is an absurdity, an outrage and an insult to our biker culture. But I can understand why Woodruff would take that position. The Buffalo Chip is, after all, aptly named. As is often the case with fabrications found in the bikers' rights arena, the Chip exists ostensibly to serve and benefit bikers but effectively to line the pockets of a lawyer. So naturally we can expect that shyster--like any shyster--to say whatever he deems necessary to keep the cash coming his way. What I cannot fathom, however, is why thousands of "bikers" were tripping over themselves to buy Pee Wee Herman t-shirts and dolls, and hundreds even signed up to ride with the sick bastard:
http://tinyurl.com/2exmnys
Even worse, for a children's charity like Kids and Chrome to stage a meet-and-greet with an accused kiddie porn collector as a fundraiser simply defies comprehension:
http://www.kidsandchrome.com
Given Rod Woodruff's inexcusably perverse but undoubtedly profitable promotion of Pee Wee Herman this year, some are expecting the Chip's 2011 headliners to include Drop Dead Fred or Boy George, but my money's on Beverly Hills toilet troubadour George Michael. No matter, though. Barring their resurrection of Jimi Hendrix or Stevie Ray Vaughan, I'll continue spending my hard-earned biker bucks at the Gold Pan in Custer, the Ponderosa in Hulett, the Dime Horseshoe in Sundance, the National 9 Lariat in Gillette, and the many beckoning Black Hills hideaways where our biker culture is honored and not exploited, our Constitutional right to bear arms is respected and not restricted, and "Welcome Bikers" is a sincere greeting rather than a rubber worm.
STURGIS 2010: COLORS OR WEAPONS NOT WELCOME, BUT PEE WEE HERMAN IS...
A Not-So-Satirical Commentary on the 70th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
Copyright (c) 2010 Bruce Arnold. Republication with attribution permitted.
"I never give'em Hell. I just tell the Truth and they think it's Hell."--Harry S. Truman
SATURDAY (14 August 2010) marked the end of 15 days and 5,790 miles in the saddle for DP, Hidalgo and me. We rode the first 1,515 miles from Miami Beach FL to Wichita Falls TX in 35 hours 35 minutes, qualifying for what should be certified as my 51st Iron Butt ride:
http://tinyurl.com/miamibeach2wichitafalls
The next 1,540 miles took us west across stretches of Route 66 in Texas and New Mexico, then north through the awe-inspiring peaks and valleys of the Colorado Rockies, and finally northeast across Wyoming to Sundance (where the Kid got his name), our home base for the 70th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally:
http://tinyurl.com/wichitafalls2sundance
After spending four enjoyable days cruising 455 leisurely miles through the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming, we rode back to SoBe by a shorter 2,280 mile route that took us through the less-inspiring but somehow more inviting ridges and gaps of the Smokies:
http://tinyurl.com/sundance2miamibeach
For the first time since 2005, I made it all the way to Sturgis and back without being arrested under a false pretense, getting ticketed for defying an unjust mandate, or having to rush a heat-stricken rider 30 miles to an emergency room. In fact, our greatest misfortune this year was a lack of cell phone service: ATT may cover "97% of Americans", but they sure as Hell don't cover 97% of America. 97% of the time my ATT phone was a worthless pocket weight, so I am 97% sure I'll be replacing ATT with Verizon. Anyway... I'll share more details about "the Ride" in future installments, but first a disdain for political correctness coupled with deplorable anger management compells me to convey the following commentary regarding "the Rally":
The commercial exploitation and pussification of the American Biker was as open and obvious at this year's "Black Hills Trailer Classic" as is the ongoing perversion of patriotism, needless sacrifice of our sons and daughters, and greedy sacking of our treasury, pensions and savings by the Republocratic puppets on the payroll of "Washington, Inc." and their Kleptocratic masters pulling all strings left and right from Manhattan. "No Colors or Weapons Allowed Inside" signs pervaded business establishments along Main and Lazelle in Sturgis proper, making clear their intent to strip us of our culture as they take away our cash. I ignored them as I always do, but this year the Case 286 sheathed on my belt actually got me summarily uninvited from two "biker-friendly" bars that will receive no free press here.
Meanwhile, just down the road at the Buffalo Chip--owned and operated by Belle Fourche attorney Rod Woodruff--throngs of both motorcyclists (those who rode) and trailerists (those who towed) wearing shiny new Hot Leathers vests adorned with just-purchased pins and freshly-sewn patches that say something but mean nothing (ok, been there) mindlessly welcomed registered sex offender and alleged child pornographer Paul Reubens a.k.a. "Pee Wee Herman" [ see http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/4563512 ] to the stage. As biker-bucks barrister Woodruff put it, "Bob Dylan is here because people like him, and Pee Wee is here for the same reason: They are both American icons."
BULLSHIT:
http://tinyurl.com/chip-promotes-pervert
Declaring a public peter pumper like Pee Wee Herman to be an "American icon" comparable to one of the greatest folk/protest singer/songwriters of our time is an absurdity, an outrage and an insult to our biker culture. But I can understand why Woodruff would take that position. The Buffalo Chip is, after all, aptly named. As is often the case with fabrications found in the bikers' rights arena, the Chip exists ostensibly to serve and benefit bikers but effectively to line the pockets of a lawyer. So naturally we can expect that shyster--like any shyster--to say whatever he deems necessary to keep the cash coming his way. What I cannot fathom, however, is why thousands of "bikers" were tripping over themselves to buy Pee Wee Herman t-shirts and dolls, and hundreds even signed up to ride with the sick bastard:
http://tinyurl.com/2exmnys
Even worse, for a children's charity like Kids and Chrome to stage a meet-and-greet with an accused kiddie porn collector as a fundraiser simply defies comprehension:
http://www.kidsandchrome.com
Given Rod Woodruff's inexcusably perverse but undoubtedly profitable promotion of Pee Wee Herman this year, some are expecting the Chip's 2011 headliners to include Drop Dead Fred or Boy George, but my money's on Beverly Hills toilet troubadour George Michael. No matter, though. Barring their resurrection of Jimi Hendrix or Stevie Ray Vaughan, I'll continue spending my hard-earned biker bucks at the Gold Pan in Custer, the Ponderosa in Hulett, the Dime Horseshoe in Sundance, the National 9 Lariat in Gillette, and the many beckoning Black Hills hideaways where our biker culture is honored and not exploited, our Constitutional right to bear arms is respected and not restricted, and "Welcome Bikers" is a sincere greeting rather than a rubber worm.
Read more here:
http://distanceriding.ldrlongdistancerider.com
Sturgis 2010 Promotes Registered Sex Offender Pee Wee Herman and the Pussification of the American Biker:
ldrlongdistancerider[dot]com/26