Tuesday, April 19, 2011

What is Sauce for the Goose?

A review of the recent Parks and Rec reminded me of one of the running gags in my blog: sauces. 
  • I have referred to secret sauce on heaps of occasions.  The essential idea is to reduce accountability by making something secret.  Using Special Operations Forces is an example of this when conventional forces could do the same tax.  Less oversight over the former, much more secrecy.  This comes from a classic bit on the criminally underrated News Radio:

  • Then there is denial sauce.  The idea is to ignore the existing reality by denying it or by comparing it only to a selective slice of reality.  Canadians comparing their health care system to the American one without seriously considering the alternatives existing elsewhere (do they have health care in Europe, perchance?).
  • A relatively new addition to my collection of sauces is perspective sauce.  That is when the world reminds us that there are bigger issues out there than the small petty grievances of whiny academics like myself.
  • And now, thanks to Parks and Recreation: awesome sauce.  Actually, as the link suggests, the phrase predates last week's episode of Parks and Rec by a good bit: the definition is "The invisible substance emitted by anything awesome. Inherently making itself, and anything it covers, awesome."
I think this makes a terrific four-pack: they vary in flavor from tasteless (secret) to somewhat bitter (perspective) to sickly sweet (denial) to chocolate chip (awesome).*  In this four-pack, you have sauces for many occasions and uses--positive (awesome sauce) negative (denial), and mixed effects (secret, perspective).
*  Perhaps awesome sauce varies in taste to fit the taster.  To me, awesome sauce usually tastes like chocolate chip coolies, but sometimes tastes like cinnamon buns.
I guess the next step is to find some graphics to put on the labels.  Of course, I not only volunteer my readers to provide such graphics since I can only imagine sauces and not their art, but I also ask the readers whether there are other sauces that I should add to the selection.  What say you?

1 comment:

Steve Greene said...

Didn't know you were a Parks & Rec guy (should've figured since Sepinwall loves it). Just started a few months ago and *love* it.