Sadly, those good old times are gone. BBC report on the spring Swiss spaghetti harvest, April 1 1957:
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April 1, 2009
Spaghetti Harvest
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http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/vidLink.php?b=1238603821&e=1238614921&n=3
Lettuce harvest. $15.8B/month, largest lettuce growing operation in the universe.
Joe Lieberman was visibly drooling while McCain foamed the water with bacon rind.
Posted by: Chance Nickelson | Apr 1 2009 19:39 utc | 1
I have ordered some macaroni seed. need to get that stuff planted right away. with the looming financial crisis I am sure more people will want to plant all kinds of pasta plants.
Posted by: dan of steele | Apr 1 2009 19:41 utc | 2
I remember seeing this on TV as a kid, and my mom had to explain to me that it was a joke.
On the + side the BBC rendition of Little Dorrit just aired the first episode (here in the U.S.). And WOW, it was most excellent. If you’ve also had this creeping sensation that we’re all living in some weird modern day version of a Dickens novel – then this series will definitely not sweep that image from your mind.
Posted by: anna missed | Apr 1 2009 20:14 utc | 3
I remember seeing a similar spoof just a few years later, again by the BBC, but this time showing a “Spaghetti Tree” on limited offer. All the BBC had done was to plant uncooked spaghetti into a sponge so the tree looked like a giant porcupine. The BBC´s phone lines were flooded.
But the video above of the hanging fruit/vegetable (???) looked even more realistic, and I don´t know how they got the soft, cooked spaghetti to ´hang´ from the tree.
Posted by: Parviz | Apr 1 2009 20:32 utc | 4
If money grows on trees, then pasta should grow on them as well. And if there’s such a thing as low-hanging fruit, then there’s surely such a thing as low-hanging pasta.
Posted by: Cynthia | Apr 1 2009 21:56 utc | 5
Senate Hearing on Afghanistan Pakistan, April 1, 2009:
[Senator Graham] “From the 30,000 foot level here, uhh, General Petraeus, due to the success in Iraq would you now consider Afghanistan the Central Front in the War on Terror? “
[General Petraeus] “I think you’d have to take Afghanistan and Pakistan together … as a problem set, those two together, yes, sir.“
[Senator Graham] “And you would consider that now the Central Front?”
[General Petraeous] “In fact, our focus is truly shifting to that front.”
[Senator Graham] “The Kerry-Lugar, uhh, Legislation, how empowering would that be to our efforts in Pakistan if the Congress would pass that?”
[General Petraeous] “Uhh, it will be of enormous importance, uhh, not just because of the tangible resources that it provides to Pakistan but also because of the sense of commitment that stands behind it as well, and the sustained nature of it.”
[Senator Graham] “Do you believe we should pass that as soon as possible?”
[General Petraeous] ”Uhh, […jokes…] if you’re asking my best professional military advice, yes.”
[Senator Graham] “All right, … but it would help the effort. Do you agree with that, Madame Secretary?”
[Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Flournoy] “Absolutely, yes.”
[Senator Chambliss] “Let me thank all you witnesses again, for your service.”
And that’s how it’s done. $5B on it’s way to Islamabad, and GWOT 3 has begun.
Posted by: Lost Generation | Apr 1 2009 22:29 utc | 6
the ugliest joke of course is that u s imperialism dresses up its old counter intelligence as new counter intelligence – murder by any name just as bad (salvador option) – where there is no intelligence there is no humour except i supoose in a very very dark way that perhaps only a baudrillard or a virillio would appreciate
Posted by: remembereringgiap | Apr 1 2009 22:58 utc | 7
r’giap the afghans are begging the Americans not to schmeer Afghanistan Pakistan.
Even one of the Senators today asked, her voice signature quavering, umm, General Petraeus, if we bring Pakistan military and ISI into a larger Afghanistan Pakistan conflict, won’t the same ISI we know are working with Taliban and al-Qaeda have access to the same arms and intel that our troops do? Senator Lieberman cut in to congratulate the testimonifiers on reading from the script, and Gen. Petraeus closed by disclosing that American commanders have requested the deployment of an additional 10,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan next year.
Lindsay Graham was just so damn glad Petraeus got the part of about the Central Front on the War of Terrorism right, he was drooling, so caught up in the money it was like watching a porno. You know the next $100B emergency request is this May.
John McCain prattled on about Iran to a dead pan audience before going back to sleep, while coalition troops were off west in Herat on the Iran border killing 30 ‘Tango’ yesterday, meanwhile the real Tango were in Kandahar today, and blew up the governors compound in a coordinated attack, killing two ministers at a conference on rebuilding schools that the Paki-Talibani’s have blown up or burned down.
“Round and round the mulberry bush, the monkey chased the weasel.
The monkey stopped to pull up his socks, and *pop* goes the weasel” – old folk song from the British occupation of Afghanistan. You can guess which is the monkey….
Obama is seen happily skipping hand in hand with Brown, and smiling with twinkling eyes to Wen, but refusing to make eye contact with Medyevdev, the reduction in nuclear arms schtick is just to get their hands on more cheap reactor fuel, and cut Iran’s attempt to enter the nuclear fuel supply business off at the knees. Who paid for the ICBM’s being junked for commercial reactor fuel? Where’s our dividend?
When you really follow the money, you’ll quickly go insane, apologies to Malooga.
The People there want it to end well, why wouldn’t they?! Now to my question. I thought the President spoke very well about how there hadn’t been adequate cooperation. Is there a coordinated civil military plan being written for the war in Afghanistan?” Joe Lieberman
“I can say we are working on a plan and are engaged in discussions with our allies to make sure we have an overarching sense of our priorities so that province by province we have a more coordinated … it’s complicated.” UndersecDef Policy Flournoy
“Good… General?”
“The metrics, … the metrics!” Apocalypse Now
Posted by: Security Interest | Apr 2 2009 1:16 utc | 8
Of course, spaghetti squash is a vegetable that is harvested, and it yields a reasonable substitute for the real thing.
Anna Missed – your website doesn’t seem to be working, or at least I’m just getting a white screen when I visit. Any idea what is going on?
Posted by: Maxcrat | Apr 2 2009 1:44 utc | 10
Thanks Maxcrat, it is dead for me too, although the internal dashboard still operates, but with no connecting ability to the site.mmmmm
Posted by: anna missed | Apr 2 2009 2:56 utc | 11