| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| apl4eris |
Posted - 05/24/2004 : 09:51:06
Hahahahhahah!
I had always meant to look into the full story about former US President Jimmy Carter and the killer rabbit incident, made infamous by "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". I guess I stumbled upon my own little plastic 25 cent Holy Grail toy.
http://singlenesia.com/news/story/3170026906;
Quote:
The President confessed to having had limited experience with enraged rabbits. He was unable to reach a definite conclusion about its state of mind. What was obvious, however, was that this large, wet animal, making strange hissing noises and gnashing its teeth, was intent upon climbing into the Presidential boat.
Full *hilarious* story here:
http://www.narsil.org/politics/carter/killer_rabbit.html
If the only tool you have is an elbow macaroni,
all your problems look like Schroedinger's cat. |
| 7 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Newo |
Posted - 05/25/2004 : 08:08:03
I didnīt see Holy Grail till I was 14 and by then Iīd heard every single joke recited so the film was a little spoiled for me.
-Owen |
| apl4eris |
Posted - 05/25/2004 : 07:41:03
I love that movie too! I grew up on Monty Python. ahhhh......
Btw, "Life of Brian" is coming out in theatres this year (not sure of the date) for its 25th anniversary!
Here's the story, for anyone that might have missed it:
April 20th, 1979
On a fishing trip in Plains, Georgia, President Carter had an encounter with a "swamp rabbit". This seemingly trivial event was seized upon by the press and became a sort of Rorschach test of the Carter presidency: reporters and commentators saw in this story whatever they wanted to see in Carter's administration. Jody Powell, Carter's press secretary, described the affair in his 1986 book The Other Side of the Story:
It began late one afternoon in the spring of 1979. The President was sitting with a few of us on the Truman Balcony. He had recently returned from a visit to Plains, and we were talking about homefolks and how the quail were nesting and similar matters of international import.
Suddenly, for no apparent reason -- he was drinking lemonade, as I recall -- the President volunteered the information that while fishing in a pond on his farm he had sighted a large animal swimming toward him. Upon closer inspection, the animal turned out to be a rabbit. Not one of your cutesy, Easter Bunny-type rabbits, but one of those big splay-footed things that we called swamp rabbits when I was growing up.
The animal was clearly in distress, or perhaps berserk. The President confessed to having had limited experience with enraged rabbits. He was unable to reach a definite conclusion about its state of mind. What was obvious, however, was that this large, wet animal, making strange hissing noises and gnashing its teeth, was intent upon climbing into the Presidential boat.
The President then evidently shooed the critter away from his boat with a paddle. The scene was captured on film by a White House photographer.
The incident might have died of natural causes but for the fact that Powell himself later passed the story along to the press:
Several months later I was chatting with Brooks Jackson, one of the White House correspondents for the Associated Press, over a cup of tea, as I remember. For reasons that I still do not fully understand, I told him about the President and the rabbit. I was the one who leaked the killer rabbit story.
Although an experienced reporter, Brooks also failed to appreciate the significance of what he had heard. He did not rush to file an "urgent" story. In fact, he continued the conversation for some period of time and several more cups of tea. Not until the next day did he get around to sending this gripping account out over the wires to a waiting public. And even then it was a pleasant, lighthearted piece. Although he may not admit it now, I had the definite impression at the time that Brooks thought it was nothing more than a mildly amusing incident, too.
We were soon corrected. The Washington Post, exercising the news judgement that we in the White House had come to appreciate so keenly, headed the piece President Attacked by Rabbit and ran it on the front page. The more cautious New York Times boxed it on page A-12. That night, all three networks found time to report the amazing incident. But that was just the beginning.
[...]
It was a nightmare. The story ran for more than a week. The President was repeatedly asked to explain his behavior at town hall meetings, press conferences, and meetings with editors.
There was talk of a suit under the Freedom of Information Act to force release of the picture showing the President, paddle and rabbit in close proximity.
Shortly after the Reagan administration took office, they stumbled upon a copy of the picture -- apparently while searching for a foreign policy -- and reopened the old wounds by releasing it to the press.
Well - this is where I enter the story. I was 25 at the time the story broke, and I remember the furor over the incident. However, I can't recall ever having seen the aforementioned picture. Web searches turned up plenty of references to the story, but no images; the story unfortunately broke before Al Gore invented the Internet.
I contacted the friendly folks at the Jimmy Carter Library about the picture, not really expecting much help:
Greetings, Jimmy Carter Library folks. Is the infamous picture of President Carter being attacked by a rabbit while fishing available from the Library? I suspect this is a common question, and I also suspect that the standard answer is "No, and we wouldn't tell you if it were anyway." :-) Still - I figured it was worth a try.
To my amazement, I received this response:
Thank you for your photo inquiry of November 7, 2003. The 'killer rabbit' photo is available at the Library. An 8x10 color print costs $25.50: a b&w print costs $20.50. We require prepayment and will accept a credit card or a check made out to the National Archives Trust Fund.
Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.
After a few more exchanges, I wound up ordering a 300dpi TIFF on CD of this image:
http://www.narsil.org/politics/carter/large_rabbit_image.html
Pres. Jimmy swatting at the swamp rabbit: (Photo courtesy of Jimmy Carter Library)
If the only tool you have is an elbow macaroni,
all your problems look like Schroedinger's cat. |
| PsychicTwin |
Posted - 05/25/2004 : 07:10:01
quote:
Originally posted by Malax
I pissed myself when I saw that. Its on a par with him running towards the castle.
I May've Joined The Cult Of Frank If I Knew What The Balls Was Going On.
*Adapted By Carolynanna*
Both the scenes had me dying with laughter! God, I love that movie...really need to see it again.
________________________
"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently." -Friedrich Nietzsche |
| TarTar |
Posted - 05/25/2004 : 02:10:06
The first thing I thought of when I read the title of the thread was that scene from Monty Python. Yeah, I'd say that and the running towards the castle are the two scenes I laughed at the most when I first saw it. That, and the mystical wiseman being named "Tim."
"You gotta watch the mota, Thurston. Yr fuckin memory just goes out the window." |
| Malax |
Posted - 05/24/2004 : 21:53:00
I pissed myself when I saw that. Its on a par with him running towards the castle.
I May've Joined The Cult Of Frank If I Knew What The Balls Was Going On.
*Adapted By Carolynanna* |
| Cheeseman1000 |
Posted - 05/24/2004 : 10:26:34
That one requires a holy hand grenade, I believe.
 "Everywhere I go I want to travel by X-Wing" |
| TheCroutonFuton |
Posted - 05/24/2004 : 09:54:11
Hahahahaha oh my god! I love the killer rabbit in Monty Python..that's probably the funniest scene in cinema that I have ever seen. I laugh every time. Also...many RPG's have giant rabbits that kill you in one hit..like in Asheron's Call...it's name is Pookie and it's the size of a bus. Hilarious. It actually requires about 20 people to kill it, hahaha. It's funny watching 20 or so characters attacking this giant rabbit and getting slaughtered.
"Freedom is a state of mind and the condition and position of your ass. Free your mind and your ass will follow." - Funkadelic |
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