Attack of the Killer Flamatoes

[shadesong]

So. We went to Caribou yesterday. And they have a trivia-of-the-day thing, where you can get ten cents off. And yesterday, it was "What is a flamato?"

I looked. I pondered. I asked the manager, "Okay, what *is* a flamato?"

Laughing, she handed me a slip of paper. It said: "A flamato is a genetically engineered tomato with flounder genes (which contain natural antifreeze) spliced into it."

Flounder tomatoes?

So *today* we go in, and the question is "What is a beefmato?" and I say, "I know! I know! It's like a flamato but with cows!"

I think the guy who'd just paid for his coffee may have choked on it, he was laughing so hard. But hey, I was right!

So who thinks this stuff up, anyway? Who says, "Y'know, tomatoes would be better if they were part fish?"

Comments

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

Who says, "Y'know, tomatoes would be better if they were part fish?"

No one. But someone did say, "how could I genetically engineer tomatoes so they could survive an early frost?"

I would have guessed a beefmato was a plain old beefsteak tomato. What bovine genes are added to make beefmato?

"These are the days of miracles and wonder..."

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

"But someone did say, "how could I genetically engineer tomatoes so they could survive an early frost?""

Well, yeah. I figured that's how it happened in reality. Just sounds all wacky.

Genetically engineered food scares me...

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

We've been genetically-engineering food for centuries through selective breeding. A banana is inedible in its natural form.

Current technology is nothing to be scared of; it just speeds up the processes we were already using. Just picture a flounder and a tomato in a room together with soft lighting and a Barry White CD on the player.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

*pained look* I don't *want* to picture that, thank you very much. Tomatoes are eeeevil.

When are you doing another puppet show? Want more.

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

There's an encore of "Sock In a Hard Place" at Dad's Garage Theater next month.

And I may have a Hallowe'en gig back at the Center for Puppetry Arts. You'll know if I got it, soon after I do.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Just let me know days and times. :)

[voltbang.livejournal.com]

The way they hybrize apples scares me. Using test tubes to mix plant sperms and plant eggs in unlikely ways, I can wrap my head around. Chopping a branch off one kind of apple tree, and splicing it onto another kind of apple tree like a bad phone cable, and getting better apples out it seems crazy to me.

[voltbang.livejournal.com]

"Lasers in the jungle somewhere,
Staccato signals of constant information"

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

Every time I see something like this, I think of that bit from Van Halen's video for "Right Now". If you haven't seen it, the camera shows somebody picking up a transparent something, about the size of a baseball, that squishes like a beanbag as they pick it up and toss it about.

The text on the screen says "Right now, science is building a better TOMATO." :)

cheers,
Phil

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

Phil, the "transparent something" in that video was a silicone breast implant.

Referring to it as a "tomato" was a joke.

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

As I have never seen one, you couldn't prove it by me. I'll take your word for it, though.

I still think it could be taken both ways. :)

cheers,
Phil

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

That's the essence of a double entendre.

[stevenglassman.livejournal.com]

So who thinks this stuff up, anyway? Who says, "Y'know, tomatoes would be better if they were part fish?"

You know, I read once that they made a hybrid of a tomato and a potato, but the end result turned out to be poisonous.

Need to see if I can find confirmation of that.

[juuro.livejournal.com]

...made a hybrid of a tomato and a potato, but the end result turned out to be poisonous. ...

Not very unlikely. Potato and tomato are close relatives, and the potato fruits (not tubers, fruits) look very much like the tomato. The green parts of both t. and p. are poisonous.