Althouse: Why "Vegemite" is trending on Twitter.

March 15, 2020

Why "Vegemite" is trending on Twitter.

Thanks to the Helpers. Let’s take care of ourselves and each other. Hanx pic.twitter.com/09gCdvzGcO
— Tom Hanks (@tomhanks) March 15, 2020

59 comments:

Iman said...: That would be the very last straw...; 3/15/20, 11:55 AM
FullMoon said...: Still alive? Good. Time to re test.; 3/15/20, 11:55 AM
traditionalguy said...: Is his Vegemite packed by the the Wuhan Chemical Company? He had to get infected somehow.; 3/15/20, 11:59 AM
Lindsey said...: The Vegemite container looks like it should contain lotion, not anything edible; 3/15/20, 12:18 PM
John henry said...: Lindsey said...

The Vegemite container looks like it should contain lotion, not anything edible

It doesn't. It contains vegemite.

John Henry; 3/15/20, 12:20 PM
Iman said...: The stuff is incredible. You eat the spread on a slice of bread and your lips constrict in a tight little circle within 5 minutes.; 3/15/20, 12:26 PM
Big Mike said...: Corona viruses are also responsible for the common cold, so over the centuries we have learned how to deal with corona viruses.

Chicken soup.

We need to be decimating the US chicken population and cooking chicken soup by the cauldron full. Vegemite? Bah!; 3/15/20, 12:30 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: What is that supposed to signal? You can bet there’s some snooty globalist subtext.; 3/15/20, 12:42 PM
rhhardin said...: Plastic tube vegemite is sacrelege. It should be in jars.; 3/15/20, 12:55 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Thread music for the people who were teenagers in the early 1980s.; 3/15/20, 12:57 PM
rhhardin said...: I myself am reduced to making instant coffee with well water. It's irony.; 3/15/20, 12:57 PM
Bob Boyd said...: The main ingredients in Vegemite, as listed on the label, are:

Imported and domestic bat guano.
Yeast extract.
salt.
mineral salt.
malt extract (from barley).
colour.
flavours.
niacin.
riboflavin.
thiamine.
folate.; 3/15/20, 12:59 PM
Bob Boyd said...: I may have altered the above ingredient list somewhat.; 3/15/20, 1:00 PM
Ken B said...: Bob Boyd
Can’t fool me. They dropped imported bat guano years ago to cut costs.; 3/15/20, 1:06 PM
Browndog said...: Yancey Ward said...

Thread music for the people who were teenagers in the early 1980s.

Somebody had to post it. Mandatory.; 3/15/20, 1:12 PM
Bob Boyd said...: They dropped imported bat guano years ago to cut costs.

That's when they were gettin it from snooty French bats.
Now their bringing in that cheap Chinese guano after side by side taste tests showed most Aussies could hardly tell the difference.; 3/15/20, 1:13 PM
YoungHegelian said...: How much you wanna bet Hanks took a bite out of the toast and then smeared the Vegemite on it...

Even the health-foodies I know have a hard time with Vegemite. The best answer -- "Uhhhhmmm, it's an acquired taste".

However, we Uhmericans aren't innocent in this regard. You ever seen the look on almost every foreigners face when you mention Root or Birch Beer?; 3/15/20, 1:35 PM
madAsHell said...: The Vegemite container looks like it should contain lotion

.....next to the bed on the nightstand.; 3/15/20, 1:38 PM
narciso said...: ah yes 'men in black' was that an offer or a threat in that lyric,; 3/15/20, 1:39 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/15/20, 1:42 PM
todd galle said...: No, just no. I know how to eat bark and roots.; 3/15/20, 1:56 PM
narciso said...: nothing to see here; 3/15/20, 1:57 PM
narciso said...: https://twitter.com/jtLOL/status/1239250280459505664; 3/15/20, 1:57 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/15/20, 2:00 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: Tom Hanks has one sole job to do - tell us whether he's healthy or not healthy. Clinical symptoms, please.

If he's totally healthy, what's the significance of his positive test?; 3/15/20, 2:00 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Good advice, Hanx. while we're all making sure we have enough - check in on an elderly neighbor, or try to help anyone who shouldn't go out. We assume everyone has access to on-line shopping, but often the elderly or shut-ins do not.; 3/15/20, 2:01 PM
Jaq said...: You know how vegemite tastes good to an American? Spread butter on hot toast, then put a speck maybe a little bit bigger than a flea, but smaller than a fly, on the toast and spread it around, and it makes a pretty delicious taste. More than that? Gag.

Anyway, here is some appropriate listening:

Life During Wartime; 3/15/20, 2:16 PM
hstad said...: I'm playing Golf tired of all this MSM induced panic! Did in 2009, H1N1 and during the SARS (2003) pandemic. This will be known as the greatest MSM hype and lie in some time (not as big as Russiagate). Look, 165k+ have contracted Covit - 19, 92%+ have recovered from it. That's all you need to know! When this 'flu' has run its course it will look similar to the past 2 flus (SARS + H1N1).; 3/15/20, 2:18 PM
Will Cate said...: Back in 80s when Men At Work was a popular (Australian) band, many radio station music directors (including me) received a jar of Vegemite as a promo gimmick ("...he just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich").

It tastes like salty mud.; 3/15/20, 2:20 PM
Jaq said...: "That's all you need to know!”

Tell that to Italy. Resources are already getting stretched in NJ by just a few cases.; 3/15/20, 2:26 PM
narciso said...: Schiff preachment counsel, said to have contracted, recovered and yet is still whining,; 3/15/20, 2:26 PM
tcrosse said...: Sorry to tell you, but the stuff in the tube is Vegemite flavored hemorrhoid cream. Bon appétit, Tom.; 3/15/20, 2:29 PM
Not Sure said...: Looks like he took one big bite and then predictably regretted it. Probably thought it would taste like Nutella.; 3/15/20, 2:30 PM
Mark said...: I went to a Ringo Starr concert at Wolf Trap last year and that guy from Men at Work sang that song.; 3/15/20, 2:30 PM
somewhy said...: Regarding Vegemite, yes it's an acquired taste, but is delicious. Rarely noted is that a half teaspoon full dissolved in boiled water is a great pick-me-up for anyone suffering from head colds. Cue further jokes, but this is true, and so you could do worse than to get a jar during this current 'crisis'.

Regarding that song, it was the unofficial anthem for Australia II - that Aussie yacht which finally prized the America's Cup from the grip of the New York Yacht Club. Nice to hear it again after all these years.; 3/15/20, 2:49 PM
Unknown said...: Had my first (and last) vegemite yesterday. Am sitting in the same Bondi Beach restaurant this morning (it is 7:30 AM Monday) watching the surf and wondering if Qantas will announce our return flight tomorrow will be cancelled. I almost hope it will be, as our airb&b host said we can stay longer. Wonderful beach, wonderful country. No worries!; 3/15/20, 3:35 PM
Known Unknown said...: Two brights spots: % of mild vs. serious cases continues to trend upward (4 days ago it was 89/11. Now it is at 93/7). Death growth factor today is under 1 (0.90) which is good but it's a volatile statistic that has been under 1 previously. The highest was 2.17 during the mayhem in Italy.; 3/15/20, 3:36 PM
Quaestor said...: What possessed Althouse to use her food tag on a posting about Vegemite?

Vegemite bears the same relationship to nutrition as gravel bears to dental health.; 3/15/20, 3:46 PM
LYNNDH said...: That stuff is vile.; 3/15/20, 3:52 PM
john said...: Had my first (and last) vegemite yesterday. Am sitting in the same Bondi Beach restaurant this morning (it is 7:30 AM Monday) watching the surf and wondering if Qantas will announce our return flight tomorrow will be cancelled. I almost hope it will be, as our airb&b host said we can stay longer. Wonderful beach, wonderful country. No worries!; 3/15/20, 3:54 PM
Arashi said...: Tried it in Australia in the late '70s. If the toast is buttered first, and then you put a thin layer of Vegemite on top, it isn't bad. It isn't good either, but it is edible.; 3/15/20, 4:08 PM
Jeff Weimer said...: And he said OH!; 3/15/20, 4:23 PM
rcocean said...: Trump just announced Fed will be cutting rates. Also, begged people to stop panic buying at grocery stores. There is no reason to buy 2-3 times more food and sundries than normal. Which is what people are doing.

God people are dumb. We need to rethink universal suffrage.; 3/15/20, 4:26 PM
Quaestor said...: It isn't good either, but it is edible.

So is cardboard if buttered liberally enough.; 3/15/20, 4:35 PM
daskol said...: Our own correspondent is sorry to tell
Of an uneasy time that all is not well; 3/15/20, 5:12 PM
Anonymous said...: Vegemite has to be the worst food I've ever tasted.; 3/15/20, 5:25 PM
Anonymous said...: And that is way too much vegemite, oh my God.; 3/15/20, 5:27 PM
Anonymous said...: They actually warn you about vegemite before you taste it. And it's worse than that.; 3/15/20, 5:28 PM
Morsie said...: Vegemite is the best.; 3/15/20, 5:41 PM
Narayanan said...: Looks more like a spoonful scoop than bite with mouth.; 3/15/20, 5:46 PM
etbass said...: Probably gonna be caught wishing I had, but so far we have not bought a single thing that we don't normally buy and in the same quantities. It does not include Vegemite.; 3/15/20, 5:52 PM
RNB said...: Does anyone actually believe Tom Hanks and wife are subsisting on tube vegemite smeared on bread with tap water to drink, shoved under their hotel room door by the 'Helpers'?; 3/15/20, 5:57 PM
Quaestor said...: Vegemite is the best.

...substitute for spackling compound.; 3/15/20, 6:33 PM
Clyde said...: From The Hill: Clyburn calls Trump a racist and compares America modern-day America to Germany during the rise of the Nazis.

Me: Has Clyburn been hanging out with Gillum? Because that sure sounds like someone who is high on something.; 3/15/20, 6:47 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: “Resources are already getting stretched in NJ by just a few cases.”

By just a few cases? How is that possible? Deep breaths.; 3/15/20, 7:26 PM
Josephbleau said...: In ‘Straya I was told how to make Vegimite toast edible, you spread dog poop on toast, then spread Vegimite, wait 15 minutes, then scrape off the Vegimite.; 3/15/20, 7:33 PM
DiGi377 said...: Vegemite toast is a hangover cure. And you must use a thin scrape, don't pile it on thick. Half a teaspoon makes the best gravy for roast chicken, mixed in with the drippings. A cheese and Vegemite bread scroll baked is really good. That salty, savory, cheesy, bready combo can't be beat.; 3/15/20, 11:41 PM
Original Mike said...: Too much Vegemite! What's he think it is, jam?

At least it's not Marmite.; 3/15/20, 11:55 PM
TML said...: The latest conspiracy theory on this photo is that the glass is resting on the edge of the plate even though it looks level. People are asking questions.; 3/16/20, 3:41 PM