Can You Tell These Peas Are Fresh?

Open thread, because you deserve it.

Bonus points to anyone who correctly identifies the source of the post title.

Comments

[Ugh]

Cost me $33 to put 10 gallons of gas in my car this morning. Wonder what it will cost by next week if this goes on much longer, or, god forbid, a wider war breaks out.

Meanwhile, Arlen Specter is a pud.

Someone sent an envelope with white powder to the New York Times. But I guess that's okay because they're a bunch of traitors (especially the mailroom staff).

As for the title, the movie Misery?

[Ted Barlow]

That is, of course, the second line of "Mongrel Holocaust" from John Tesh's album of easy-listening racist anthems, "Pure Sunday":

"The master race, it loves John Tesh
Can you tell these peas are fresh?"

[Gary Farber]

I am still unhappy.

[matttbastard]

Can't wait till Tesh does an album of easy-listening Burzum covers.

[Ugh]

Man, the title is even google-proof (or at least it is beyond my google skills; not that I was gonna cheat and post the answer here or anything).

[Andrew]

In fairness, the title is drawn from memory, so I may well have misquoted it.

Which means double bonus points for anyone who recognizes it outside my immediate family.

[JakeB]

Ted--
I thought that line was actually

"Can you tell these peas are flesh?"

just before he starts chanting,

"Soylent Green! Soylent Green!"

[Francis]

Putting aside the Strangelovian aspects of certain comments at RedState and Winds of Change, the case for war with Iran is very simple:

It's coming, so better now than later, before they have nuclear weapons.

Now, this characterization raises a lot of interesting issues:

1. Are the Iranians deterrable? The Russians were.

2. What would be the consequences of this preventive war?

[Jesurgislac]

Hm. So we have to figure out, first, how Hilzoy's family might have remembered the original quote and transmuted it to the title of this post:

"Can you tell these ponies are fresh?" has a different meaning depending if it's Tom Bombadill or the goblin king.

"Crusoe tells these pees are fresh" - a caption that never happened from Robinson Crusoe, if it hadn't been a footprint left on the sand...

"Candle these pegasaur eggs, Frish!" - from Jurassic Park IV - This Time We Won't Myth!

[Andrew]

Hilzoy's family

Ahem.

[Jesurgislac]

Die, italics, die!

Can You Tell These Peas Are Fresh?
Kunt u Deze Erwten bent Vers vertellen?
Pouvez-vous raconter ces pois êtes le verset?
Potete dire questi piselli essete il versetto?
You can say these peas essete the verse?

[Phil]

Gary, check your Yahoo email.

[Jesurgislac]

Oops. Sorry, Andrew.

If you look at it the right way, and squint, it's a compliment, right?

*runs*

[rilkefan]

Wow, the italics-killing here is fab.

[CaseyL]

"Chanteuse 'Twosies' Piss off Frosh" - Headline on story about a singer who refuses a college boy's request for a threesome.

"Can chew, toothless, piece of fish" - Fish cooked to such tenderness that even newborn infants can safely gum away at them.

(Why, yes, I did read Anguish Languish at too-young an age. How did you know?)

[cleek]

it sounds like it is (but i know it isn't) from the same movie as:

do the chickens have large talons ?

[Andrew]

I'm not familiar with that quote, but I can say with certainty that it is not from that film.

[Gary Farber]

"do the chickens have large talons ?"

Do the rabbits have large ears?

[CaseyL]

And now for something completely different.

Great Headline of the Day:

"Tryannosaurs Faced Mid-Life Crisis, Too."

This, of course, conjured in my mind images of T. rex stuffed into a little red sports car, flirting with young and giggly iguanadons (iguanadonnas?).

The actual story is much more mundane. Tyrannosaurs (not just rex but all three or four known species) had huge mortality rates until about age 2, and then again once they hit their late teens.

Researchers blame love. No, really. The mating urge meant a lot of fights, and there's nothing worse for a tryannosaur's continued existence than another tryannosaur angling for the same lady-t.

And the lady-ts' lives weren't a bed of roses, either; if they stayed by the nest to hatch/protect their babies, they couldn't hunt; if they hunted, they lef their nests unprotected. Daddy? Daddy Who? - he's off flirting with Iguanadonna!

[Francis]

Pouvez-vous raconter [?- raconter is used in the sense of to tell a story] ces pois êtes le verset [? - verse?].

how about

Pouvez-vous determiner que ces pois sont frais?

[CaseyL]

Oy! Such misspellings!

I blame the heat.

[Bernard Yomtov]

T. rex stuffed into a little red sports car, flirting with young and giggly iguanadons (iguanadonnas?).

The sports cars would be iguanadonna mobiles, I think.

[Enrak]

I know, but have been told not to say.

I can say that there was general assent that the peas, indeed, were fresh.

Not everyone was paying attention however.

[Andrew]

Applause.

I wondered when you might show up over here.

[Andrew]

And, technically, I only said you wouldn't get bonus points. But I'd be curious to see if anyone else out there recognizes the reference, given the breadth of the commenters here.

[Gran]

Blazing Saddles???? or were those beans?

[Bernard Yomtov]

given the breadth of the commenters here.

Hey! You calling us fat?

[dutchmarbel]

ough... the Dutch translation is (retranslated) "can you this peas is fresh tell" ....

The quote is beyond my meanger google skills as well :)

[Gary Farber]

I reveal my Sekrit Knowledge (not): Enrak is Brother To Andrew.

[dutchmarbel]

or sister (karen) ?

[Gary Farber]

"or sister (karen)?"

That would be Hidden Wisdom.

[Slartibartfast]

I'm going to guess Animal House, because although obvious, it hasn't yet been taken.

[kenB]

Sounds like something from that Cheers Thanksgiving episode when they're tossing food at each other.

[Jesurgislac]

Then I'm going to guess M*A*S*H. Igor to Father Mulcahy.

[Andrew]

As Homer Simpson once observed, "Close, but you're all way off!"

[Dianne]

Well? Are you going to reveal all after a certain amount of time and/or wrong guesses?

[Andrew]

Yes. I'll wait until noon my time, though, in case there are any more interesting guesses out there.

[Dianne]

Hmm...Attack of the killer tomatoes?

[Enrak]

I would have been here earlier, but my car hit a water buffalo.

At least they are in the correct medium and decade. And it is fairly obscure...

[Enrak]

And Gary, you must stop outing me. I'm happier when people think I am merely Andrew's sock puppet.

Full disclosure: Gary is Andrew's father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate.

[Andrew]

I'll grant another hint:

A preceding quote from the same source was

"So...you folks always eat like this?"

"You mean, with utensils?"

[Ugh]

I was going to guess say anything, but that can't be right. TV or Movie?

[Gary Farber]

"Full disclosure: Gary is Andrew's father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate."

Now you're being silly. How uncharacteristic.

And yet untrue.

Although I'm perfectly willing to entertain doubts about your gender. Now.

Is the word "heh"?

[Ugh]

Some SNL skit?

[Andrew]

Television show from the 1980s.

[Ugh]

Kids in the hall?

[Andrew]

I have heard of that, but I have no idea what it is.

So the odds are good that it's not from that.

[Enrak]

Silly as uncharacteristic? You haven't been paying attention. Andrew got the brains and I got the ability to be extremely annoying. Mostly through silliness.

It's like the world's worst superpower.

That and my indeterminate gender are my two most identifiable characteristics.

[Ugh]

Danish Sheep's Milk? Nope. Venezuelan Beaver Cheese? Not today sir, no.

I assume not MASH nor Cheers since they've been guessed. Fairly obscure...not Cosby Show or Three's Company, unless its the quote that's obscure, not the show. News Radio is 1990s. For some reason it sounds like Tom Hanks, Bosom Buddies?

[Andrew]

Andrew got the brains

Don't believe that for a second. Enrak and I are like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito and Twins, and I'm not Arnold in that comparison.

[Andrew]

The quote is obscure. The show is not, or at least I don't think that it is. It ran for most of the 1980s, and launched a popular star.

[OCSteve]

"You mean, with utensils?"

Well that one googles - Family Ties.

[Gary Farber]

"Silly as uncharacteristic? You haven't been paying attention."

I continue to refuse to accept any need for a sarcasm tag.

But: sheesh. (And yet I welcome baksheesh.)

But: Sheesh!

[Enrak]

Are you sure there isn't a need for a sarcasm tag?

Some of us are slower than others on the internets. I have a dial-up connection to life.

[Ugh]

That was rather unsporting, OCSteve.

[Gary Farber]

"Are you sure there isn't a need for a sarcasm tag?"

Not at all, but I'd never insult anyone by suggesting such a need.

I respect folks I chat with.

[Andrew]

Well, OCSteve has uncovered the source of the quote, if not the rationale behind it, so I'll fill in the background.

As he noted, it comes from the TV series Family Ties. Specifically it comes from the first time Mallory invited her boyfriend, Nick, to dinner with the family. Nick was not viewed favorably by the rest of the family, so the dinner atmosphere was somewhat strained. Trying to break the ice, Nick asked "So...you folks always eat like this?" Alex, referencing Nick's lack of refinement, shot back "You mean, with utensils," which earned him a kick in the shins from Mallory. At that point, hoping to relieve some of the attention by changing the subject, Elyse asked, "Can you tell these peas are fresh?"

For several years afterwards, that line was the standard for deflecting tension during uncomfortable moments in my family. It seemed appropriate when I posted it yesterday.

Thanks for playing. Depending on how much anyone enjoyed it, I'm sure I can come up with many more such contests utilizing obscure popular culture.

[Bec]

A shot in the dark - It isn't this is it?

[Bec]

Yep, you can tell I'm back.
This

[Bec]

Nevermind.

[SomeOtherDude]

Can't stop listening to these mixes:

1. Pointer Sisters - Happiness
2. Commodores - Girl I Think The World About You
3. Rufus & Chaka Khan - Once You Get Started
4. Johnny Hammond - Fantasy
5. Ramsey Lewis - Whisper Zone
6. Leon Ware - What’s Your Name
7. Ashford & Simpson - Stay Free
8. Kleeer - Tonight's The Night
9. Dexter Wansel – I’ll Never Forget
10. Sister Sledge - Pretty Baby : Listen
11. Jose Feliciano - California Dreaming
12. Skyy – Here’s To You
13. Dexter Wansel - Life On Mars
14. The Real Thing - Rainin' Through My Sunshine
15. Lalo Schifrin - Theme From Enter The Dragon
16. Marvin Gaye - Here My Dear
17. Patrice Rushen - Music Of The Earth
18. 'The White City' - Spoken word story by Patrick Neate and read by Brain Blessed

From: LateNightTales by Jamiraquai

Unkle ? Intro: Beauty And...
Queens Of The Stone Age - No One Knows (Unkle Reconstruction)
Unkle - In A State (LP Version)
Pfn - Flow (Flase Profit Mix)
Unkle - Eye 4 an Eye (Dylan Rhymes Force Mass Motion Mix)
Meat Katie - K-Hole
Unkle - Have You Passed Through the Night
DJ Shadow - GDMFSOB (Unkle Mix)
Ian Brown - Reign (Unkle Reconstruction)
Meat Katie Elite Force - Ju-Ju
Dylan Rhymes Meat Katie - Ultimate Seduction Beats
Artist Unknown - The Realm (Accapella)
Santos ? Track Unknown (Evil 9 Mix)
South - Colours In Waves (Unkle Reconstruction)
M83 - Run Into Flowers
Richie Hawtin - Ask Yourself
Craig Richards - Evil Beats
Unkle - Invasion (Medway Remix)
Peace Division - No More Subliminal Shit
Meat Katie Lee Coombs - Import
Derrick Carter - Where You At (Accapella)
Meat Katie Elite Force - Where You At Beats
Photek - Don't Funk
Pepe Bradock - Intrusion
Chemical Brothers - Golden Path (Ewan Pearson Dub)
Hong Kong Trash - Tune In (Medway Mix)
Alex Dolby - Psycho Garden (Sasha Re-Edit)
Unkle - In A State (Sasha Remix)

From: Global Underground: Romania by James Lavelle

[OCSteve]

That was rather unsporting, OCSteve.

Well, folks have been googling since the post went up. I did have a suspicion once the additional hints went up, but it is second nature (to me) to confirm via google. And surely if I had posted it as a “guess” I would have been accused of googling it anyway no? :) In any case, once I googled to confirm I felt it fair to admit that. Next time I won't post it if I have to resort to google.

[Ugh]

Well, folks have been googling since the post went up. I did have a suspicion once the additional hints went up, but it is second nature (to me) to confirm via google. And surely if I had posted it as a “guess” I would have been accused of googling it anyway no? :) In any case, once I googled to confirm I felt it fair to admit that. Next time I won't post it if I have to resort to google.

It was just that the post, "Well that one googles - Family Ties." seems to imply no independent effort, e.g., just punched it into google.

Well played.

[dutchmarbel]

I said that my google skills, minimal as they are, didn't get me anywhere ocsteve :)

and since guys being percieved as female always protest female I'll translate enrak with karen for the time being :)

[liberal japonicus]

and since guys being percieved as female always protest female

Hey Dutch, I never protest, I'm just flattered.

[Enrak]

I will protest my handle being an anagram. It is not. My real name is not Karen.

Frankly, I wish it were that cool. My handle was designed so that only Andrew would know who I was (since I used to post quite often from work).

And you can pry the story behind my screenname from my cold dead fingers (similar to how you could get my John Tesh CD collection).

[Andrew]

Of course, I might be willing to tell the tale...for the right inducement.

[dutchmarbel]

Enrak: a while ago we had a long thread about gender perceptions and how many females were posting with neutral nicks :)

Far be it from me to pry things out of the cold dead fingers of someone who hits his/her (we are still unsure of course :) ) car into waterbuffalo's.

Or just from folk who prefer their nick - pseudonomity is perfectly acceptable.