Filed under local/coralville news

TACO BELL FORCED TO SHUT DOWN AFTER RUNNING OUT OF TACO SHELLS

OLD CAPITAL MALL—Sad news hit Iowa City this week as the Old Capitol Mall Taco Bell shut down for good.

“I knew it was serious when I saw the soda dispenser ripped out of the counter,” said University sophomore Gary Truckstain.

Rumors initially swirled around about the reason for the closure. Most credible accounts pointed to either a hostage situation or terrorist attack.

The Iowa Iowan obtained an exclusive phone interview with the manager of the fast food restaurant, who asked only to be called “Frank.”

“Yeah, we just ran out of taco shells,” Frank revealed. “We had enough tortillas left to have probably stayed open for a few more days just selling soft shell stuff, but I wanted to get home for the football game so I said, ‘Screw it—we’re shuttin’ down!’ ”

In a unique vigil, Iowa City residents have taken to drunkenly yelling imaginary taco orders at the defunct restaurant site.

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SHELTER OPENS IN IOWA CITY FOR ENGLISH MAJORS’ NEGLECTED “FREELANCE OPPORTUNITIES” BOOKMARKS-FOLDERS

SOUTH SIDE—Sandy Richards, a philanthropist and lifetime Iowa City resident, has recently launched her most ambitious charitable endeavor yet: a shelter offering a hot meal and a place to sleep for all the long-forgotten Internet browser bookmarks-folders labeled “Freelance Opportunities” by University of Iowa English and Journalism majors.

“It’s just heartbreaking,” Richards said in an interview with The Iowa Iowan Tuesday. “I dare you to look at one of these bookmarks-folders and not feel something.”

Soon after computers became popular on college campuses, young writers at the UI began locating opportunities for submitting their work to magazines, newspapers, and literary reviews. “Most of these folders are just crammed with publications these kids will never get into, and then just forgotten about.”

“Sometimes the students will switch browsers,” said Richards. “And it’s just convenient to forget that their ‘Freelance Opportunities’ folder is still in Safari when they start using Firefox.”

“I guess there are about fifty links in my folder,” an English major who wished to remain anonymous told The Iowa Iowan via email. “C’mon, I don’t want to think about that.”

The Richards “Freelance Opportunities” Bookmarks-Folders Shelter welcomes walk-ins, but folders will be tested for earthwords before being admitted.

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MAN’S ABILITY TO ENJOY FOOTBALL GREATLY HINDERED BY NOT OWNING A BLACK SUV WITH BLACK AND GOLD VANITY PLATES

MERCER PARK NEIGHBORHOOD—Longtime Hawkeye football fan, and proud parent of a University of Iowa student who drinks almost twelve cans of Bud Light at every home game, Hank Drews, 51, has struggled to enjoy Hawkeye football for a long time. He has continually failed to own a black SUV with black and gold Iowa license plates depicting a Hawkeye-related abbreviation.

Drews has never once in his life owned a black SUV with black and gold vanity plates.

“Whenever I’m at church, I’m mostly just coming up with various license plate letter/number combinations in my head,” said Drews. “Of course, HAWKFAN is taken, and so is GOHAWKS.”

Drews seems less concerned with actually obtaining a black SUV. “That’s part of it, sure,” he told The Iowa Iowan Tuesday. “But I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.” He says the Hawkeyes might have a better 2012 season if he can get his black SUV with black and gold vanity plates by September.

“Do you think FIGHT4IA is taken?” Drews asked The Iowa Iowan with apparent desperation. “Shoot, that’s too many letters.”

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UI POLICE CONSIDER EXTENDING SEXUAL-HARASSMENT LAWS TO FOOTBALL SATURDAYS

UNIVERSITY CAPITOL CENTRE—University of Iowa Police are mulling the possibility of extending sexual-harassment laws to football Saturdays, despite claims that football is not possible while sexual-harassment laws are in place.

“We are very concerned with that possible outcome,” UI Police Chief Hank Fredrickson told The Iowa Iowan Saturday, honking the boob of a female passerby. “It may indeed be true that an attempted football game will fall apart at the seams if we take away people’s right to sexually harass others.”

Football fans worry that the extension will cause more problems than it will solve. “I just don’t see where they’re gonna draw the line, you know?” said UI junior Brandon Durkheim.

“What’s the difference between me touching touching the buttocks of that girl over there wearing black tights, and the quarterback touching the buttocks of the center? It just sounds like a way for cops to give more tickets.”

“This extension is still very much in development,” said Chief Fredrickson. “By all means, carry on normally until at least the 2013 season.”

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LOSER STUDENT WON’T STOP BRAGGING ABOUT FANTASY TEAM

IOWA CITY PUBLIC TRANSIT—Riders on Friday’s Free Shuttle were interrupted when a local douchebag stepped onto the bus and began bragging about his fantasy football team while talking on his cell phone.

“I’m still undefeated man,” University student Tyler Disay said entirely too loudly according to a number of eyewitnesses. “I’m, like, ranked second in the league and am favored again this week. Peterson all the way!”

Fellow bus riders apparently realized Disay was a douchebag immediately, but were unsure how to respond. MANY posted Facebook statuses to indirectly inform their friends of the situation.

“I wanted to say something but I just decided to turn the volume up for ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ on my iPod,” Iowa junior Shelby Henderson said. “Oh my God, that song is the best! Have you guys heard it?!”

Most experts agree Henderson responded appropriately to the situation.

“For most normal people, the rule is to avoid any kind of social interaction while using public transportation or in any public place other than a bar,” University of Iowa Clinical Psychologist Rebecca Laurain told The Iowa Iowan in a phone call. “Thankfully, these kids did exactly what MTV has taught them to do.”

“After all, people who play fantasy football really only have two things to keep them from killing themselves: fantasy football and foot-fetish porn,” Laurain said. “To be honest, they shouldn’t even be considered people.”

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COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENT GEARED UP FOR PRETENDING NOT TO GO TO COMMUNITY COLLEGE

KIRKWOOD COMMUNITY COLLEGE – As fall classes resume, area community college students have once again begun lying about their University of Iowa enrollment statuses in an effort to not look so pathetic.

“Seriously, I’m going to be at Iowa next semester,” Kirkwood Community College student Donald Douthy, 23, was overheard telling a friend on Sunday. In a separate occurrence later that day, Douthy was also overheard telling a group of incoming freshman girls that he currently is an Iowa student.

Official academic transcripts received by The Iowa Iowan tell a much different story. In his four-year college career, Douthy has managed to attain 18 semester hours’ worth of credit, maintaining a 2.31 overall grade point average.

Douthy’s only “A” on record was received in the course “Basic Math for Automotive Mechanics,” in 2009.

When confronted by Iowa Iowan staff, Douthy, wearing an Iowa hooded sweatshirt, began mumbling incoherently before slinking back towards Kirkwood’s Iowa City campus.

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AS STUDENTS ARRIVE, IOWA CITY RESIDENTS MORPH BACK INTO PANCHERO’S EMPLOYEES

IOWA CITY—Phyllis Hall, a resident of Iowa City and mother of three children, is preparing to mutate into a mustachioed Hispanic Panchero’s employee, as she does every fall when students arrive for the school year.

An estimated 80% of all adult residents of Iowa City morph into Panchero’s employees in mid-August each year.

“I just don’t have anything to do otherwise,” Hall told The Iowa Iowan. “Iowa City is my home, and I can either sit in my house and complain about these kids ruining it every year, or I can accept it and get involved.”

Brian Shinkle, another Panchero’s transformant, says that Panchero’s is perhaps the best place to avoid the stress of the student population. “It’s nice to just blend in and, you know, be treated like I don’t exist.”

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GRIM “CURB” SEASON LOOMS FOR HOMELESS

IOWA CITY – While homeless people across the city are gearing up for what many consider their busiest time of the year, experts agree many will end up feeling nothing but disappointment this year.

“Curb” season means many students will be dumping massive amounts of cheap Target furniture and half-empty boxes of Easy Mac Cups. Some see potential in this garbage—people like local panhandler Kyle Church.

“There’s just a ton of free stuff,” Church said after snagging a broken microwave from a dumpster. “I mean, half this shit probably doesn’t work, but at least it gives me something to do.”

Still, experts like University of Iowa Economics professor Josie Hunniweiss believe the homeless are setting themselves up for disappointment.

“Several factors have a bearing on the quality of items to be found outside of people’s houses each ‘curb’ season,” she explained, “including weather, sentimental value, and jizz stains.”

According to Hunniweiss, the furniture on curbs is often of a high enough quality that non-homeless people take it. “The situation is further complicated when, say, a grungy couch attracts ironic assholes.”

“It’s a vicious cycle for the homeless, and this season, they can count on lots of jizz stains.”

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CORALVILLE MAN PLANNED TO BRING OUT THE OLD BICYCLE BEFORE HE KNEW RAGBRAI WAS COMING THROUGH TOWN

CORALVILLE—As the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, or RAGBRAI, came through Coralville Friday, Steven Fitzpatrick just happened to pump up the old bike tires and go for a little ride.

Fitzpatrick, 42, thought RAGBRAI was next weekend or something.

Witnesses speculate that his bicycle ride was inspired by the thousands of athletic cyclists streaming through Coralville throughout the day, and that it was perhaps an attempt to feel less like he has wasted his whole summer.

Admitting that he hasn’t actually ridden his bike in a year or so, Fitzpatrick told The Iowa Iowan that it was a spur-of-the-moment decision. “It’s exercise, you know? And with gas prices like they are these days….”

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AREA MAN’S DAY MADE AWKWARD BY PEE DRIPS ON GYM SHORTS

NEW PIONEER CO-OP—Shane Kingston nonchalantly held many things in front of his crotch Thursday.

Kingston, 31, tells The Iowa Iowan that it was a normal day, right up until he noticed what appeared to be pee drips on his gym shorts.

“‘God damnit,’ I thought. I don’t even usually wear gym shorts,” Kingston claimed.

Passion Frida Kahlo, a New Pioneer Co-Op cashier, was likely the first witness to Kingston’s shorts in their moistened state, but she was too stoned to provide a transcribable account.

“Honestly, I’m pretty sure it was just condensation from a waterbottle that I was drinking in my car,” Kingston said. “Either way, I had to do all my shopping at New-Pi with my shopping basket against my genitals.”

Raquel Hartman, who was shopping at the same time as Kingston, said she noticed “a few little spots, right there by his penis.”

An investigative reporter from The Iowa Iowan conducted a visual search of the interior of Kingston’s car Thursday evening. No waterbottle was found.

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