Osler's Razor

Like many people, IPLawGuy is mostly working from home these days. He set up an office in his basement, which includes seven-foot-tall speakers hooked into a turntable and amplifier, a snack area, a laser light show amphitheater, three framed posters from the movie "Plan 9 from Outer Space," a life-size bust of Ronald Reagan, and a miniature side desk and tiny chair so that one of his firm's associates can do his bidding even when he works from home.

Yesterday, IPLawGuy called me mid-afternoon from his "home office," wondering if I had any "Frute Brute" cereal. I didn't, but we did have a fascinating discussion--punctuated by his frequently commands to his law firm underling to do on-the-fly research on monster-themed cereals-- about the strange world of breakfast cereal in the 1970's. We have already discussed Super Sugar Crisp here, of course, but that was just the tip of the iceberg! 

 Frute Brute was a werewolf-themed cereal which was somehow related to Count Chocula, Frankenberry, and Booberry.  But why does a werewolf-themed cereal taste like "frute?" Shouldn't it taste like hair? And IPLG pointed out that Fruity Yummy Mummy cereal should have tasted like rotting flesh and old bandages (a flavor profile now used by Kroger's store-brand raisin bran).

Frankenberry was eerily similar in appearance to Al Franken, and no one knew quite what to do with that:

 So let's haiku about cereal this week! Here, I will go first:

Toucan Sam told us

To "follow our nose," which is

Inevitable. 

Now it is your turn-- Just use the 5/7/5 syllable formula, and have some fun!

# posted by Mark Osler @ 1:00 AM