Spoo

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Spoo is a fictional food product that served as a running joke within the Babylon 5 science fiction television series. In the series' fictional universe, spoo is made from alien worm-like creatures of the same name, and is considered to be the most delicious food in the galaxy, regardless of which species is asked. Although it is a universally loved foodstuff and an actively traded commodity, the creature itself is regarded with contempt by the races that consume it.

Spoo became part of the series' extended mythology, and was embraced by fans of the series, spawning "spoo"-based recipes and fan fiction related to the creatures. "Spoo" is also used variously outside the Babylon 5 universe and fan community as a nonsense word.

Maintenance workers Bo and Mack discuss the taste of Mack's spoo sandwich in the Babylon 5 episode "A View from the Gallery".
Maintenance workers Bo and Mack discuss the taste of Mack's spoo sandwich in the Babylon 5 episode "A View from the Gallery".

Contents

[edit] Origins in Babylon 5

Spoo appeared in the first episode of the science fiction television series Babylon 5, when it was briefly mentioned by the Narn Ambassador, G'Kar.[1] J. Michael Straczynski, the show's creator, executive producer, and writer of the episode in question, was asked about spoo by fans on various internet message boards on which he frequently participated.[2] At first, Straczynski's responses were intentionally vague and terse: "Spoo is."[3] He eventually noted that the taste of spoo was that of "Meat Jello. Served chilled."[4] After several years of speculation from Babylon 5 fandom, Straczynski finally offered an extensive, humorous explanation of the origins and nature of spoo.[5] The question of what spoo is made it into the major Babylon 5 FAQ.[6]

The Babylon 5 episodes in which spoo appears or is mentioned are "Midnight on the Firing Line," "The Geometry of Shadows," "Point of No Return", "And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place," "A View from the Gallery," "A Tragedy of Telepaths," and "Meditations on the Abyss." Spoo also appears in the "Over There" segment of the Lost Tales episode "Voices in the Dark."

[edit] Explanation of Spoo

G'Kar offering Londo a plate of fresh spoo from the Babylon 5 episode "Midnight on the Firing Line".
G'Kar offering Londo a plate of fresh spoo from the Babylon 5 episode "Midnight on the Firing Line".

After several years of cryptic answers, Straczynski finally made a post explaining what Spoo was. His answer stated that spoo were tiny, pasty, mealworm-like creatures that were regarded with contempt by most of the sentient species that have encountered it. According to Straczynski, spoo "are the only creatures of which the Interstellar Animal Rights Protection League says, simply, 'Kill 'em.'"[5]

The process of raising spoo was described by Straczynski in comical detail. The creatures are raised on ranches on planets with moist and chilly climates, not because the creatures thrive in such environs, but because it produces the best level of paleness in the creatures' skin. Starting a spoo ranch is relatively easy: the only requirement is to place 200 spoo in the middle of the ranch and wait. Within a short period of time, they have reproduced in sufficient numbers and harvesting can commence, with the preferred method being a simple whack with a stick. Little physical effort is required to cull the herds—spoo are incapable of moving more than six inches (15 cm) in a year, tend to stay propped up against one another "ostensibly for mutual protection," with attempts at movement usually ending up in the creatures toppling over. The primary difficulty in spoo ranching is in the only sound the creatures make: loud, continuous sighing. The only protection against the sighing is the use of earmuffs, which eventually cannot block the sheer volume of sighs as the harvest progresses—when whacked, a spoo simply sighs more loudly. The sighing often triggers bouts of major depression, with some ranchers even going mad from the incessant sighs.[5]

[edit] Spoo in the series

Spoo close-up.
Spoo close-up.

Although mostly relegated to a background role, spoo was once involved in a significant way in a plot. In the season 5 episode "A Tragedy of Telepaths", the fact that Narn prefer fresh spoo while the Centauri prefer it aged was the reason that G'Kar was able to figure out that there was another Narn in the Centauri Royal Palace.[7]

As befitting a fan-favorite reference, Spoo made a number of appearances in the series, most recently in the DVD release Babylon 5: The Lost Tales, where President Sheridan at one point jokes that the product is "Spoo: The other gray meat."[8]

[edit] Commodity

As a widely consumed food product, like coffee or beef, spoo is a traded commodity, where the price of the product at the consumer level is dictated by the price on common exchanges. During one episode the price of a spoo sandwich is stated as ten credits an ounce; at the end of the same episode it is stated as fifteen credits.[9] While this could be a simple mistake by Straczynski, a bit of fanon assumes that it is an intentional reference to spoo's exorbitant volatility in the market.[10]

Unlike other products, not only is spoo a tradable commodity, but spoo ranches themselves, like large corporations, sell shares.[11] It is not known if this is facilitated by spoo's immense popularity or because the ranches' value is exacerbated by their rarity (due to the difficulty of, and disproportionately high suicide rate in, spoo ranching).

[edit] Real-world spoo

In 1998, Boxtree UK published a Babylon 5 cookbook, officially licensed from Warner Bros.[12] Presented as if written around the year 2260, the time when most of the Babylon 5 series takes place, the book contains many recipes for the various foods mentioned and seen throughout the series. Included were recipes for Narn-style spoo and Centauri-style spoo, both using currently available ingredients, with sea scallops taking the place of spoo.

Fans have come up with "spoo" recipes on their own, using various versatile, pale foods such as tofu, yogurt, or rice as a substitute for the fictional substance.[13][14] On one occasion, Straczynski was eating at a restaurant when a fan sent over a plate of food, christened "spoo."[15]

[edit] Real-world etymology of the word

A promotional advertisement from the Babylon Park: Spoohunter parody.
A promotional advertisement from the Babylon Park: Spoohunter parody.

Straczynski was not the first person to use the word spoo - uses can be found in popular culture since the 1970s, sometimes as a replacement for stuff, as was the case with its first recorded use on USENET in 1989,[16] and later as a misspelling of spew. The earliest known print usage was as an exclamation in a 1971 Beetle Bailey comic strip, as a play on the reverse spelling of "oops."[17] In 1979 Barnes & Barnes recorded the song "Three Drunk Newts" which begins with what has been interpreted as the two of them yelling "Spoo!". According to Slang and Euphemism, spoo is a slang term for ejaculate, etymologically derived from spew, and cited by linguist Pamela Munro in a paper on 1980s collegiate slang at UCLA.[18] Frank Zappa used the word as a euphemism for semen in the song "What Kind of Girl?", which appears on the 1988 live album Broadway the Hard Way. He claimed in The Real Frank Zappa Book to have learned the word from guitarist Ike Willis, and also used spoo to mean self-indulgent "musical masturbation," in which musicians play an extended solo primarily for their own enjoyment rather than to enhance the musical experience of the audience.[19]

Skeletor is offered Spoo by Spritina from She-Ra Princess of Power episode "Gateway To Trouble."
Skeletor is offered Spoo by Spritina from She-Ra Princess of Power episode "Gateway To Trouble."

Straczynski's own usage of the word predates Babylon 5. Straczynski was a writer in the 1985 cartoon series She-Ra Princess of Power. After a fan recalled a possible spoo reference from that show, Straczynski replied, "[Yes], I slipped some spoo in there once. A couple of real cute—as in wanna-drop-a-truck-on-them cute—elf-types offer Skeletor a bowl of Spoo."[20] Skeletor declines, saying he dislikes this food, and then adds he does not know what it is.[21] One of Straczynski's earliest responses to the spoo question also revealed how he created the word: "Spoo is Oops spelled backward."[22]

[edit] Current usage

Since its advent and popularization in Babylon 5, a segment of the science fiction community has used the term "spoo space" on online message boards (especially on Usenet) instead of spoiler space.[23] Spoo is spoofed in the first Babylon Park parody short, Spoohunter.[24]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Mentioned in the episode "Midnight on the Firing Line," by Straczynski.
  2. ^ Straczynski's use of Usenet and other internet forums is well known. See, for instance:
    • An Auteur in the Age of the Internet: JMS, Babylon 5, and the Net (DRAFT). The Media Lab. MIT (1996). Retrieved on 2007-09-04.
    • J. Michael Straczynski Biography. tv.com. CNET Networks. Retrieved on 2007-09-04.
  3. ^ From a USENET post made January 27, 1994. Archived at jmsnews.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
  4. ^ From a CompuServe post from December 18, 1996, archived at jmsnews.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
  5. ^ a b c The CompuServe post from the first week of January 1995 is archived in various places: See mminternet.com, frostjedi.com, and midwinter.com. All retrieved on 2007-08-11.
  6. ^ UK.Media.TV.SF.Babylon5 hierarchy, Frequently asked questions and other information. Jeremy Morley's Inner Workings. Retrieved on 2007-08-31.
  7. ^ "A Tragedy of Telepaths," written by Straczynski. See its Lurker's Guide page at midwinter.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
  8. ^ From the Lost Tales episode "Voices in the Dark" by Straczynski.
  9. ^ This view is expressed in the "Notes" section of the Lurker's Guide page for the episode at midwinter.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
  10. ^ In the episode "The Geometry of Shadows," a Technomage infected Londo's personal computers with a virus that converted all his personal finances into a purchase of 200,000 shares in a spoo ranch.
  11. ^ Briggs-Wallace, Emerson; Smith, Steve (June 1998). Dining on Babylon 5: Human Edition - The Ultimate Collection of Space Station Cuisine. ISBN 0-7522-1143-9. 
  12. ^ Babylon 5 thread, LandofRohan.com
  13. ^ Temple of Spoo - Recipes
  14. ^ This anecdote was mentioned as an aside in a GEnie post from September 4, 1996. Archived at jmsnews.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
  15. ^ The first USENET occurrence was July 28, 1989 - See the post archived via Google at sci.physics. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
  16. ^ Beetle Bailey, April 18, 1971, as reproduced in Mort Walker, I'll Throw the Book at You, Beetle Bailey (New York: Tempo/Grosset & Dunlap, 1973, ISBN 0-448-05582-1).
  17. ^ From "UCLA slang: a dictionary of slang words and expressions used at UCLA," (Volume 1 of the UCLA Slang series), UCLA Occasional Papers in Linguistics No. 8 (1989), by F. Aranovich, P. Munro. For more on the Occasional Papers see UCLA.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-13.
  18. ^ Zappa, Frank; Occhiogrosso, Peter (June 1989). The Real Frank Zappa Book. Poseidon Press. ISBN 0-318-41476-7. 
  19. ^ From a GEnie post made by J. Michael Straczynski, July 7, 1994. Archived at JMSNews. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
  20. ^ "Gateway to Trouble," episode of She-Ra: Princess of Power, aired October 24, 1985. TV.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
  21. ^ From a USENET post made by J. Michael Straczynski, August 1, 1994. Archived at JMSNews.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
  22. ^ Internet example at Jedi Council Forums, and numerous USENET examples can be attained via a Google search, (linked at Google groups). Both retrieved on 2007-08-11.
  23. ^ The short can be accessed at Babylon Park. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.

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