Thursday, December 31, 2009
Barry / Media
Morning Roundup: Let the Good Times Roll Drop
Posted by Bruce Barry on Thu, Dec 31, 2009 at 8:05 AM
Top honors go to Mobile, Alabama's giant mechanical banana MoonPie, which the city spent $9,000 to create a year ago. Mobile does it with a twist: the MoonPie doesn't drop, it rises at midnight (like a moon - get it?). Harriet Sharer, the Butch Spyridon of Mobile, recalls that when they first launched the MoonPie gambit last year "some people thought people would make fun of us," but says now that the pie is cast "it's going to grow exponentially."
In other news ... a shocking theft at a funeral home in Goodlettsville. ... Tennessee's A.G. is sitting out efforts by attorneys general in other states to threaten Congress with a lawsuit over health care reform. ... Vanderbilt signs a big lease on office space near the Green Hills mall for back-office operations. ... A hazmat scare Wednesday in Columbia. ... And to wrap up the year, the state health department reports that the most popular baby names in Tennessee in 2009 were ... wait for it ... Shlomo and Ivanka! Or maybe it was William and Emma ...
Comments (4)
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Oh sure, a giant mechanical MoonPie sounds like a great idea. If you're a socialist. And until you see that it's too small and doesn't much resemble a MoonPie. That's government for you!
You libs at the Scene may think it's a great way to spend taxpayer monies, but that doesn't make it so, no matter what YOU say!
http://www.wkrg.com/alabama/article/roasting_the_giant_moon_pie/22278/Jan-02-2009_12-59-pm/
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There's more to this MoonPie story than originally thought.
Apparently last year said pie made it only half way up before a malfunction interfered, so I guess that technically in Mobile the year 2009 never happened.
As for Ashley's inquiry about the choice of banana for what some in Mobile have dubbed the "costly confection," reports from the region indicate that banana was selected to justify painting it yellow, making it easier to see.
Perhaps the most important aspect of the MoonPie is its multicultural appeal. Quoting Mobile city councilman Fred Richardson: "It cuts across economic status. It cuts across race. If I had picked some other object, it could have divided the community. But the MoonPie, nobody has anything against the MoonPie."
So there.
Seems it went off (or up) better than last year, but the 2010 on the MoonPie was vague at best.
A work in progress, apparently.
http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/happy-new-year!
