Inventor of Pop Rocks dies

William A. Mitchell ~ food scientist who invented Pop Rocks candy, discovered a substitute for tapioca, held over 70 patents, including inventions related to Cool Whip, quick-set Jell-O Gelatin and the drink mix Tang.

Mitchell was 92 and died of congestive heart failure.

wow, some of my favorite things.. better living through chemistry!!

Well, I guess tonight I will have to mix up a Tang Sunrise and toast the man!

Maybe a Mai Tang?

Singapore Tang has a nice ring to it.

He's kinda the John Lennon of modern chemical-based foodstuffs.

Ugh, he invented some horrible fake shitty foods and paved the way for even worse crap. His legacy is the ill health of millions and a never-ending kick in the gut to the world's farmers.

(Pop-rocks were great though, weren't they?)

Trader Woody

I just know there's a joke stuck inside this little obit somewhere (?)

On 2004-08-05 17:08, Trader Woody wrote:
Ugh, he invented some horrible fake shitty foods and paved the way for even worse crap. His legacy is the ill health of millions and a never-ending kick in the gut to the world's farmers.

(Pop-rocks were great though, weren't they?)

Trader Woody

Trader Woody!

I'm at a loss for what types of farmers Pop Rocks, Tang, Cool Whip, and Jello have displaced.

Hmmm, maybe all of the above put through the blender with some rum would work...:drink:

I bet Cool Whip kills fewer people than rum.

Sugar cane is probably less eco-friendly than all the Tang factories put together.

Fake Tapioca...well, I'll give you that one. Fake tapioca is just WRONG.

When I was a derelict teen, some friends and I got loaded and decided to try using Tang inside a bong once, it didn't work very well. Once we added water, though, things got better.

[ Edited by: Geeky Tiki on 2004-08-05 17:37 ]

wow, he also invented powdered alcohol!
heres the obit link
William Mitchell

i couldnt think of anything funny either. maybe they'll do something nifty with his ashes, like the Frisbee guy.. but doubtful, since he was a food scientist. :o

Powdered alcohol!?!?

How cool would that be?

The distasteful joke about the inventor of Pop Rocks dying would be something along the lines of....Someone at the funeral spilled soda in his coffin and it exploded..... you know, along the lines of the old "kid in the neighborhood who ate pop rocks and soda and his head exploded" story.

I'll work on it

I'm thinking that the distasteful joke could be someone like Gilda Radner, in the character of Roseanne Roseanna Danna, showing up at the funeral thinking that the deceased had been the inventor of 'Pet' Rocks. Of course, she brings along her entire collection of pet rocks, several dozen or so, which she lines up along....(oh hell, I've killed it)...Never mind.

[i]On 2004-08-05 17:36, Geeky Tiki wrote
I'm at a loss for what types of farmers Pop Rocks, Tang, Cool Whip, and Jello have displaced.

Er, Cool whip - dairy, Tang - fruit? Fake foods replacing real foods. Whenever you eat something that made in a chemical plant, you're not eating something grown by farmers. Gelatine, of course, was around well before Jello, so Jello didn't really replace anything.

My comment was made in jest, though. Hopefully most could see through the overblown statement, so feel free to gorge on cool whip! :wink:

Trader Woody

[ Edited by: Trader Woody on 2004-08-06 07:16 ]

Poprocks!There's a really fun thing you can do with poprocks and champagne...I'll let everyone imagine just exactly what that would be,but it would sure make you fellas smile.

You put your willy in it? I sure hope so, cause your pop rocks are sure not getting anywhere near my hoo-ha.

On 2004-08-06 04:43, Trader Woody wrote:

On 2004-08-05 17:36, Geeky Tiki wrote
I'm at a loss for what types of farmers Pop Rocks, Tang, Cool Whip, and Jello have displaced.

Er, Cool whip - dairy, Tang - fruit? Fake foods replacing real foods. Whenever you eat something that made in a chemical plant, you're not eating something grown by farmers.

My comment was made in jest, though. Hopefully most could see through the overblown statement, so feel free to gorge on cool whip! :wink:

Ditto on the jesting, TW.

I'm thinking we may actually be saving rainforest by consuming these fake foods.

Eating fake food = less deforestation to support methane producing bovines and pesticide laden citrus trees.

The Sierra Club should declare Tang their official drink and PETA should endorse Cool Whip.

I remain adamently opposed to fake Tapioca.

[ Edited by: Geeky Tiki on 2004-08-06 07:44 ]

[ Edited by: Geeky Tiki on 2004-08-06 07:45 ]

at the funeral, "mikey" replied:

"hang on... let me finish my coke..." BANG!

[ Edited by: Johnny Dollar on 2004-08-06 14:06 ]

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