This is the original ZZakk's Garage sign. It still hangs in my
workshop. A while back I got a quote of $500 to have it
done in neon. Maybe someday. The following is what my
brother Keith wrote about the sign when he started ZZakk's
Garage blog.
The Origin Of Zzakk's Garage
In 1980 I made this little sign and put it up in my apartment
in Clifton Park, New York. I was visiting Texas while my
brother worked on his Triumph Bonneville motorcycle in
my kitchen.
After we both moved back here it went up in our garage,
where he pursued his various hobbies while I practiced
new songs for my band, late into the night. Many cold
beers and stuff were enjoyed, and our guests always had
fun and maybe learned a thing or two.
He kept the sign all these years, and I named this site in
honor of those days gone by.
Posted by KeithAlanK Friday, September 30, 2005
I had an upstairs apt at the time, and the apt security
would get on you if you did more than check the oil
in the parking lot. The snow was deep that winter too.
OTOH- Keith & Zard had a ground level apt with a
big patio door to roll through. Maaan, the place stank
of gasoline and rancid motor oil for months, a change
from college dude dirty laundry, but the job got done,
and I was in the wind come springtime.
My 1st motor rebuild, I learned a lot.
Thanks guys, I'm still grateful to this day.
I always liked the tagline; "Don't ask us to borrow tools!"
Sounds a little confusing, but; "Neither a borrower,
nor a lender be."
As I dismember it, the tagline was something I saw on a sign in the Goodyear shop that sold me the badass 70R15 Eagles I put on my sweet '77 Monte Carlo back then.
ReplyDeleteIt probably said "Don't ask to borrow tools from us" but I was usually higher than bat pussy back then and mangled it into something much funnier while creating the sign.
The resulting implication that "We have all the tools we need without borrowing yours" was hilarious to me when I looked at it more carefully the next day, as if people are trying to force you to borrow their coveted and expensive stuff.
It still held true to my original aim of spoofing illiterate country bumpkin mechanic's homemade signs, so I kept it.
I couldn't bear the dis-harmony of twisting another man's wrenches. I'd probably break'em, or implicate them in the creation of some twisted mockery of science anyway. Probably both!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of mangled quotes; I'll bet Neil Armstrong cringes EVERY time he hears his own 1st msg from the lunar surface. It was supposed to be; "One small step for _a_ man,..."
For want of a single syllable, a simple A.