Two Classics Converge

Monday, October 11, 2010

Sunday morning, I read an article about fictional restaurants food writer Marene Gustin wishes she could visit. The piece reminded me of a favorite television series -- and the series, in turn reminded me indirectly Leonard Peikoff's "Objective Communication" course, which I am taking.

Like Gustin, I own the DVDs for the series, but I still got a good chuckle out of the below scene.


Here, we see, in rapid succession, two very different ways of suggesting that someone really ought to sample his food before seasoning it. My guess is that one would probably work better than the other on most people. However, the less effective persuader does get points for virtuosity in the art of the insult: "I hate you with a passion you can only dream of." The dialog of the series is full of gems like that.

I am pretty sure I've seen the entire series by now, but the story arc of the third season makes it much less enjoyable than the first two.

-- CAV

PS: At the very end of the segment, the woman in the polka dots reminds me of the following question someone once asked Ayn Rand after she explained why nationalization would be bad for the steel industry: "I understand why regulation is wrong in the steel industry, but what about the coal industry?"

2 comments:

Chris said...

That sketch is pretty funny.

I'm reminded also of Monty Python's Dirty Fork sketch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdzqTGmEcZE

Gus Van Horn said...

Good one.

(And how on earth have I never managed to see that one?)

Thanks for sending that in!