As I blasted “21 Guns” on my super-treble Toyota audio system this morning I realized something – Green Day is one of the most important bands of my day.  Like them or not, they are.

Here are a few reasons why:

1.  18 years and going strong – I’ve owned brand new Green Day tapes, CDs, mp3’s and now deluxe mp3s.   Bands that didn’t last past 6th grade: Color me Bad and C&C Music Factory.

2.  Second most immature album title of all time:  Kerplunk

3.  Most immature album title of all time: Dookie

4.  Made sounding like you have a cold awesome.

5.  Featured on more sentimental slideshow videos than anyone else with “Time of Your Life” (possible exception of  Michael W. Smith)

6. Made punk accessible to the masses.  I realize there are some true punkers who might hate them for this, but from the rest of us, “thank you”

What are some other reasons we should be thanking Green Day?

a pinch of my mood
a dash of my age
a teaspoon of location
4 cups of who I’m watching with
9 gallons of originality
3 tablespoons of satire
some secret ingredient of brilliance that I don’t understand yet

Here are a few of the characters recipes that have succeeded. (in no particular order)

Borat in Borat

Clark Griswold in all National Lampoon Vacation movies

Barry in High Fidelity

Lloyd Christmas in Dumb and Dumber

Buck Laughlin in Best in Show

Donkey in Shrek

Ron Burgundy in Anchorman