"NO...NECK....JOE"

Many of you have been asking me where I got the nickname NoNeckJoe. Well, if you have a few minutes to spare, read on...

History:
NoNeckJoe was a cartoon character created by Craig McCracken. There is a series of cartoon shorts that tell about the miserable (though sometimes glorious) life of this boy with no neck (see picture) who gets made fun of in each short by two bullies. I saw the cartoon for the first time at Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation in Vancouver. The way it works is, they would play 4 or 5 short bits of NoNeckJoe, and before each clip, the whole audience would shout, "NO...NECK..JOE". Very cool!!

NoNeckJoe

Example cartoons: 1. Each bully would take turns tapping on his shoulder from behind, but since he had no neck he had to turn completely around, but by the time he turned around, the bully would hide and the other bully would tap the opposite shoulder and start the process again (re-enact this with two other friends, you'll see how funny it REALLY is!), 2. The bullies buy him a gift. NoNeckJoe is very happy. But when he opens it, he finds a necktie. The bullies are crying with laughter.

How I got the nickname:
It was in the summer of '97, I was working in a co-op semester. One morning while I was doing my daily routine of cracking my neck (not recommended), I accidently went too far and pulled my neck muscle. It was painful and I couldn't turn my head. While I was working at my desk, a co-op student beside me calls at me. But because I couldn't turn my head, I had to turn my whole body to look at him (as if I had "no neck"). After a few other similar incidences, he and I both realized that I was like the cartoon character, NoNeckJoe.

So that's the story. Here is a list of some possible nicknames for myself:

*Note: Items 5-10 are in some ways responsible for items1-4.