# buckaroo bonzai **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 6, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295 "2003-05-06T00:00:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/21 "2003-05-06T18:41:45Z")
John Yaya? John Bigbooty? John Smallberries? How can you say that isn’t classic! (yeah, I know, it’s 'boo_tay_) ---
**Author:** ![Peg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Peg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peg)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/22 "2003-05-08T23:37:47Z")
I just want to know what the watermellon is for! ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/23 "2003-05-09T00:00:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Peg \* > \*\*I just want to know what the watermellon is for! \*\* I know the True Secret of the Watermellon, Grasshopper. If you touch the watermellon in the machine, the jaws of the machine shatter the mellon, sirens go off, red lights flash, klaxxons hoot & howl, steam shoots out of the machine, & blast doors seal the room. An automated voice says, “Fifteen seconds to explosion…fourteen…thirteen, twelve…” At 5 seconds the “countdown” stops, & the calm voice of Dr. Banzai announces that there will be no explosion. However, the _next_ time you touch a piece of equipment in the lab that you don’t understand, you or others could be seriously injured or killed. It’s a teaching machine, of sorts. ---
**Author:** ![Sengkelat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Sengkelat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sengkelat)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/24 "2003-05-09T00:47:35Z")
The DVD has a bit of an easter egg – there’s a watermelon on one of the screens, and if you click on it, you get a news article. It tells of a test where the banzai institute dropped watermelons from 10,000 feet from a helicopter, the idea being that food that can survive a fall from a great height and is naturally packaged would be an economical way to deliver emergency relief to famine-stricken areas. They mentioned that they were doing a bit of research into the crush-resistance of watermelons. I’d type in the exact article, but there are probably copyright problems, not to mention the fact that I’m too lazy to fire up the DVD player. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/25 "2003-05-09T01:35:25Z")
The air-dropping of watermelons was mentioned in (I think) a footnote in the novel. Watermelons were chosen for their drought-relieving attributes as well as their tensile strength. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/26 "2003-05-09T01:43:08Z")
[obscure trivia geek] IIRC, they borrowed the name “Yoyodyne” from one of Thomas Pynchon’s books, and “Character is what you are in the dark” was first said by evangelist Dwight Moody. [/obscure trivia geek] ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/27 "2003-05-09T01:49:04Z")
Pynchon’s **V.** , IIRC. One of these days I am going to have to actually finish one of his books. Twenty-five years on **Gravity’s Rainbow** , only a decade on **V.** , and I haven’t even opened **Vineland** or **Mason & Dixon**. I don’t know why I keep buyin them… ---
**Author:** ![Peg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Peg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peg)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/28 "2003-05-09T18:14:27Z")
Oh wow, thanks to **Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor** , **Sengkelat** , and **DrFidelius** for the SD on the watermellon! All these years I’ve wondered. It was my sig line for a while. Looks like I’ll be watching that DVD sometime soon! (And \*\*Sengkelat[/b[, as a copyright atty, I thank you for your observance of pesky copyright issues. Even if I’m usually on the other side of media companies.) ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/29 "2003-05-09T19:10:59Z")
“Don’t worry - it flies like a truck.” “Great! What is a truck?” Gotta love it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295.md?page=1)