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Origin of "Free bottle in front of me.....

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Barry F Margolius

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Mar 29, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/29/97
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The quote, as I remember it, is "I'd rather have a free bottle in
front of me than a prefrontal lobotomy." Anybody remember it's
source?

TIA,

-barry

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Jim Hutchins

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Mar 29, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/29/97
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AFAIK, the singer Tom Waits. Sorry, I don't have a cite other than my
faulty memory.

Barry F Margolius (b...@pobox.com) wrote:
: The quote, as I remember it, is "I'd rather have a free bottle in


: front of me than a prefrontal lobotomy." Anybody remember it's
: source?

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Peter Dean

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Mar 30, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/30/97
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In alt.quotations Barry F Margolius <b...@pobox.com> wrote:
> The quote, as I remember it, is "I'd rather have a free bottle in
> front of me than a prefrontal lobotomy." Anybody remember it's
> source?

I have seen it attributed to Tom Waitts the singer/actor.
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Patrick Huckelberry

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Mar 31, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/31/97
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I believe it goes, "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me, than have a
frontal lobotomy."

Regards.


Jim Hutchins (hutc...@netdoor.com) wrote:
: AFAIK, the singer Tom Waits. Sorry, I don't have a cite other than my
: faulty memory.

: Barry F Margolius (b...@pobox.com) wrote:
: : The quote, as I remember it, is "I'd rather have a free bottle in
: : front of me than a prefrontal lobotomy." Anybody remember it's
: : source?

: ---


: Jim Hutchins ******* hutc...@netdoor.com ******* hutc...@umsmed.edu
: http://fiona.umsmed.edu/~hutchins/ * http://www2.netdoor.com/~hutchins/
: AuCaDog Annie CD NA HIC(sheep) * NorElk Kodiak 100% SC (SnuggleCertified)
: "Morde diem" *************** Annie's motto *************** "Bite the Day"

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Joseph Mildenberger

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Apr 1, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/1/97
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In article <5hk53t$fm1$1...@axe.netdoor.com>, hutc...@netdoor.com (Jim Hutchins) writes:
|> AFAIK, the singer Tom Waits. Sorry, I don't have a cite other than my
|> faulty memory.
|>
|> Barry F Margolius (b...@pobox.com) wrote:
|> : The quote, as I remember it, is "I'd rather have a free bottle in
|> : front of me than a prefrontal lobotomy." Anybody remember it's
|> : source?
|>
I can't say for certain whether he is the actual originator of the quote,
but I first remember it being said by Tom Waits on Martin Mull's
satirical talk show "Fernwood Tonight" ca. 1975. The quote as I recall
it was simply "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal
lobotomy."

Joe

Jeff Olson

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Apr 1, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/1/97
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No, it's "I'd rather have a full bottle in front of me than a full
frontal lobotomy."

Jeff Olson

Patrick Huckelberry wrote:
>
> I believe it goes, "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me, than have a
> frontal lobotomy."
>

> Jim Hutchins (hutc...@netdoor.com) wrote:

G.W. Owen

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Apr 9, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/9/97
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Joseph Mildenberger (jos...@sitka.triumf.ca) wrote:
: I can't say for certain whether he is the actual originator of the quote,

: but I first remember it being said by Tom Waits on Martin Mull's
: satirical talk show "Fernwood Tonight" ca. 1975. The quote as I recall
: it was simply "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal
: lobotomy."
:
On a tangent, didn't Waits also say

"Champagne for my real friends, real pain for my sham friends"

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like television personalities.

diddyw...@gmail.com

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Aug 10, 2019, 3:20:13 PM8/10/19
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On Saturday, March 29, 1997 at 12:00:00 AM UTC-8, Barry F Margolius wrote:
> The quote, as I remember it, is "I'd rather have a free bottle in
> front of me than a prefrontal lobotomy." Anybody remember it's
> source?
>
> TIA,
>
> -barry
>
> ---
> Barry F Margolius, NYC
> b...@pobox.com
> For PGP Key, finger b...@panix.com

They're now making "Atomik Vodka" in the Exclusion Zone around Cherynoble. I'd rather have a prefrontal lobotomy than a free bottle in front of me

Nina Feldman

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Jul 11, 2021, 1:32:05 AM7/11/21
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This goes way farther back than Tom Waits, although he did quote it (incompletely) on "Fernwood Tonight" in 1975, and as a result it seems everyone on the web considers him the source. But I heard my dad quote this line back when Tom Waits would have still been in elementary school. As Barry said, it's actually "I'd rather have a free bottle in front of me than a prefrontal lobotomy" and apparently it has been attributed (no kidding!) to Picasso, T.S. Eliot, and Dorothy Parker.

pyotr filipivich

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Jul 11, 2021, 10:05:41 AM7/11/21
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Nina Feldman <ni...@ninafeldman.com> on Sat, 10 Jul 2021 22:32:04 -0700
(PDT) typed in alt.quotations the following:
It might be Parker, but not the others.

I heard it in the T-Bone Stankus song "Existential Blues".
Although another song comes to mind with the title "I'd rather have a
bottle in front of me." - "I might be drunk but at lest I'm not
insane.
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