What would they call a Black and White milkshake at Jackrabbit Slim's?

by Michael S. Kaplan, published on 2007/11/10 10:16 -05:00, original URI: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/michkap/archive/2007/11/10/6038269.aspx

For reasons of safety and fun, and since I am pretty sure almost every person who reads this blog has seen Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, I will choose to feel comfortable making references to the movie.

If you haven't seen it yet, please do so now before you continue reading this post.

Don't worry, I'll wait.

Did you see it yet?

No?

Look, I'm serious, if you haven't seen it then the post will probably make no sense.

Pretend that it is homework.

So if you haven't yet done your homework assignment (watching the movie) then go do it.

And you don't want to do it, then please skip this post.

Last warning....

Ready? Set? Go!

So if Jackrabbit Slim's really existed, what kind of milkshake would you want?

Waiter Buddy Holly gave Mia the choice of flavor for her  Five Dollar Milkshake by asking her whether she wants it Martin and Lewis (a vanilla milkshake) or Amos and Andy (a chocolate milkshake).

Which kind of ignores the only real kind of milkshake that truly must exist -- the Black and White milkshake (the perfectamundo chocolate milkshake, made with chocolate syrup and vanilla ice cream).

In the words of a man named James Felder from just a few years back, "the perfect black and white milkshake is made with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup, in every sip sip you taste all the chocolate and vanilla separately and you can appreciate them both."

I consider it a modern travesty that most restaurants I go to these days do not even know what it is.

It would be inconceivable that a place as cool as Jackrabbit Slim's could somehow omit the Black and White milkshake from the menu.

I suppose you would have to order it as a Martin and AndyAmos and Lewis milkshake, maybe?

Or maybe you could extend the original metaphor to that often overlooked Case/Jackson flick from the early 90's, Amos and Andrew, where the leads were (respectively) white and black, though this would add several challenges to the movie (and to poor Buddy):

• Although the movie chronology technically works (Amos and Andrew came out in 1993, Pulp Fiction came out in 1994), the theme of the restaurant doesn't allow for a pop culture reference so late;
• The simple fact is that Amos and Andrew can easily be mistaken for Amos and Andy, especially given that (as Vincent mentioned) Buddy wasn't much of a waiter;
• Given that the characters are (respectively) white and black, not black and white, they aren't the best role models for a Black and White milkshake (and no one orders a White and Black milkshake who isn't suffering some sort of mental nervous breakdown type issue!).

To add additional points of confusion, almost every recipe for the Black and White milkshake I have ever seen starts with the vanilla ice cream, not with the chocolate syrup. If you edon't believe me on this one, check it out in Google if you don't believe me.

So perhaps a Martin and AndyAmos and Lewis milkshake is what it would be called. I refuse to believe that they wouldn't have a Black and White milkshake.

Of course the whole Martin and AndyAmos and Lewis milkshake concept might be a back formation, with me looking at Martin and Lewis vs. Amos and Andy and assuming that the "two name" reference refers to the two relevant component pieces of the milkshake concept upon which the Black and White milkshake is based.

The more I think about it, the more obvious it becomes that this is likely true.

But who at Jackrabbit Slim's, home to a Buddy Holly, a Mamie Van Doren, a Marilyn Monroe, an Ed Sullivan, presumably a Jayne Mansfield though she seemed to have that night off, and so on, would expect the most perfect type of milkshake in the known universe to not have a cool pop culture name as well?

I guess we need a new pop culture reference, and not one created by a back formation, either. Because we're not trying to create new pop culture or synthesize new references from existing ones.

So what would you call a Black and White milkshake at Jackrabbit Slim's?

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Michael S. Kaplan on 10 Nov 2007 9:15 PM:

John Cowan on 11 Nov 2007 2:23 AM:

John on 11 Nov 2007 11:04 AM:

Michael S. Kaplan on 11 Nov 2007 11:43 AM:

Wayne Steele on 12 Nov 2007 1:55 PM:

Reeve Fritchman on 14 Nov 2007 10:50 AM:

Michael S. Kaplan on 14 Nov 2007 11:34 AM:

AIMO on 30 Jun 2008 6:13 PM:

Quentin on 6 Sep 2010 2:18 PM:

jim on 29 Jun 2011 8:36 AM:

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