Red tape

Red tape is an idiom that refers to excessive regulation or rigid conformity to formal rules that is considered redundant or bureaucratic and hinders or prevents action or decision-making. It is usually applied to governments, corporations, and other large organizations.

One definition is the "collection or sequence of forms and procedures required to gain bureaucratic approval for something, especially when oppressively complex and time-consuming". Another definition is the "bureaucratic practice of hair splitting or foot dragging, blamed by its practitioners on the system that forces them to follow prescribed procedures to the letter".

Red tape generally includes filling out paperwork, obtaining licenses, having multiple people or committees approve a decision and various low-level rules that make conducting one's affairs slower, more difficult, or both. Red tape can also include "filing and certification requirements, reporting, investigation, inspection and enforcement practices, and procedures".

Red tape (disambiguation)

Red tape is a derisive term for excessive bureaucratic regulation.

Red tape or Red Tape may also refer to:

Tube Bar prank calls

The Tube Bar prank calls are a series of prank calls made in the mid-1970s to the Tube Bar in Jersey City, in which pranksters would ask the proprietor of the bar if they could speak to a fictitiously named customer. The fictitious names given by the pranksters were pun-like/homophones for other—oftentimes more offensive—phrases. Recordings of the calls were circulated widely on duped cassette tapes and may have been the inspiration for a running gag in The Simpsons.

History

In the mid-1970s, two young men—John Elmo and Jim Davidson; later known collectively as Bum Bar Bastards, or The BBB—began calling the Tube Bar located at Journal Square in Jersey City, New Jersey. The bar was owned by heavyweight boxer Louis “Red” Deutsch, and most of the time Deutsch himself answered the calls. During a call, the pranksters would ask Deutsch to call out fictitious, pun-like/homophones names such as “Pepe Roni” (pepperoni), “Hal Ja-Like-a-Kick” (how’d you like a kick), “Phil My-Pockets” (fill my pockets), “Al Coholic” (alcoholic) or “Mike Hunt” (my cunt). Most of the time, Deutsch would call out the names, unaware that he was subjected to a prank.

Nasum

Nasum (pronounced 'nah-zumm') was a grindcore band from Örebro, Sweden formed in 1992. The band released four studio albums, developed into "one of that country's premier metal acts" and disbanded after the December 2004 tsunami killed the band's frontman, Mieszko Talarczyk. The band's name, Latin for "nose", was taken from the horror film Flesh for Frankenstein.

In 2012, Nasum reunited with Rotten Sound frontman Keijo Niinimaa taking the place of Talarczyk, for a one-off tour to celebrate the band's 20th anniversary.

Biography

Nasum was formed in 1992 by Anders Jakobson (guitar) and Rickard Alriksson (drums/vocals), two former members of the band Necrony. The record label of Necrony offered Nasum a slot on a split 7". After Mieszko Talarczyk joined the band as a guitarist in 1993, the band was featured on Blind World split EP with Agathocles. After several more splits, Nasum released an MCD (mini compact disc) of their own with Poserslaughter Records in 1995.

As the band started touring, Alriksson departed from Nasum. Guitarist Jakobson moved into the drummer's position and Talarczyk handled guitars and vocals. More EPs and splits followed over 1996 and 1997; and in 1998 Nasum released their first full-length album, Inhale/Exhale, on Relapse Records. As the band expanded their audience and touring, they recruited a full-time bassist, Jesper Liveröd (from Burst) in early 1999. The second album, Human 2.0, was released in April 2000 and followed by two years of touring and performing in support of the work, including a stop in Japan.