May 18, 2001

2:01 AM

John Prescott get's hit by an egg. 24 hours later there are jokes flying around and this Flash Game springs up as well. How quickly do these people work.. Do they know that these incidents are going to happen before they happen, maybe they are aliens???... maybe there's a government conspiracy... maybe hmm just maybe.. To the bat cave!!
posted by monkeyJuice (18 comments total)

The infamous egg conspiracy. Bill Clinton got hit recently too while in Poland. Coincidence? Who's next? Oh, what sad times are these when passing ruffians can throw eggs at will on old politicians. There is a pestilence upon this land. Nothing is sacred. Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history...
posted by ZachsMind at 3:14 AM on May 18, 2001

From their home site:


"Panlogic is an online marketing and advertising agency


Being quick to make something like this'll get them lots of publicity, very quickly. It makes sense to me that they capitalize on something that many people know about in the UK.
posted by ajbattrick at 3:44 AM on May 18, 2001

Not like the crack that you put in a pipe

But crack on your forehead here's a towel now wipe
posted by alana at 3:55 AM on May 18, 2001

I think it's horrendous that someone is throwing an egg at a public figure like that. There's a difference between expressing your dissatisfaction with someone in a civilized manner, and in completely ruining that person's travels by such an gooey display. Anyone who's ever had to clean an egg off of anything knows that it's one of the worst things to clean. I can't even imagine.

It would be like going to visit one of your customers on a consulting job, and having the person express their dissatisfaction with your product by splatting you with an egg. Please! We've come a long way from throwing tomatos at performers we didn't like (or at least I thought we had). Nothing is sacred any more.
posted by yarf at 5:43 AM on May 18, 2001

We can agree to disagree, Yarf. Personally I think if we never stopped the tomato throwing thing, we wouldn't have to put up with "artists" like the Spice Girls, N'Sync, or Brittney Spears. And an occasional egg thrown at a politician is far less than most of them deserve. They're getting off easy. =)
posted by ZachsMind at 5:47 AM on May 18, 2001

Also, if you are a dissatisfied customer you can always flex some monetary muscle to get your hired consultant inline. If he or she doesn't do as you wish, FIRED!

Expressing disapproval with a politician on the other hand does not produce such an immediate effect. I've written many letters requesting my elected representatives do (or don't do) something I want, and have never gotten anything but a form reply in return. I've also tried to fire many of them, but they just don't listen.

Thus, while rather crude, I think throwing eggs effectively gets the point across.
posted by jennyb at 6:29 AM on May 18, 2001

I despise the whole pie/egg/etc throwing at Bill Gates and others...but it could be much worse; in other countries (see Middle East this morning), they throw grenades and bullets. And I did spend a few minutes playing the game from Panlogic - smashing good fun!
posted by davidmsc at 6:30 AM on May 18, 2001

I prefer the old pie-in-the-face attack that the Yippies used to do. The obvious problem is that you have to get right up to a person for the pie to be effective whereas an egg can be thrown from any distance.

Clearly what is needed here is a pie catapult.

Not to sound like a Clinton supporter, but you have to give him credit. Prescott went after the guy who threw the egg. Clinton took off his jacket and continued to work the crowd. The man's a master politician.
posted by anapestic at 6:42 AM on May 18, 2001

If politicians actually listened to the masses, I would agree that this is a bit much. However, they don't. As JennyB pointed out, egg throwing gets the point across better than one's vote, and unlike a vote, if you're lucky you'll get some press time before they throw you in jail. =) The end result is just as pointless, but I bet it's much more satisfying. Taxation without represenation has an entirely new meaning to me nowadays: these politicians don't represent me. If they wore clothes that could withstand eggs and tomatoes, instead of expensive suits and polished shoes, they'd represent me more.
posted by ZachsMind at 7:00 AM on May 18, 2001

Hey, does anyone here know of a link to the video of John Prescott taking a swing at the farmer who egged him? I was telling a friend about it (who hadn't seen it) and wanted to show them what happened...
posted by almostcool at 7:30 AM on May 18, 2001

Finally a politician acts the way a real person would! His career as an MP, or as at least as deputy PM may be over, but I bet their cheering him at the shipyard.

Do you have any doubt that this guy's going to fight for what he believes in..
posted by brucec at 7:36 AM on May 18, 2001

Heres the link almostcool of Johnny 'two jabs' Prescott If it times out (which it may) go to www.skynews.com and have a look around there for it!!!
posted by monkeyJuice at 8:53 AM on May 18, 2001

Another game, Prezza Prize Fighter, for Friday afternoon.
posted by Cuppatea at 9:01 AM on May 18, 2001

I refer to the Beastie Boys' "Eggman" (Paul's Boutique). You can't say it any better than that

I looked out the window and seen his bald head
I ran to the fridge and pulled out an egg
Scoped him with my scopes he had no hair
Launched that shot and he was caught out there
Saw the convertible driving by
Loaded up the slingshot and let one fly
He went for his to find he didn't have one
Put him in check correct with my egg gun
posted by matteo at 10:53 AM on May 18, 2001

Okay, it seems simple to me:

1) Throwing an egg (totmato, cabbage or a rock) should be treated as an assault. You're welcome to do it, and people are welcome to press charges. This may lead to a slippery slope as one says "well what if I throw _this_?". So maybe it should only be a civil liability? Either way, it's irrlevant to the rest of what I wanted to say.

2) If someone throws something at you, you are well within your rights to punch the person. The constituency is ridiculous for putting this guy through the ringer IMHO.

3) You should not, however, under any circumstances, call it "defending" yourself. Especially when surrounded by a full police escort. "Passionate retailation"? Sure... Call a spade a spade... For kowtowing to the media with his lame explanation, I think he deserves everything that transpires from it...
posted by fooljay at 1:05 PM on May 18, 2001

here's a link to a vid of the thing happening
posted by fvw at 3:02 PM on May 18, 2001

Geez, well assuming that nothing happened after the person's head took up the video window, his "punch" (if you want to call it that) looks like it was indeed reflex retaliation. Self-defense it was not, though.

Still, I can hardly blame the guy for anything he did.
posted by fooljay at 4:27 PM on May 18, 2001

I've personally been "egged" and from a range of about twenty feet I had bruises the size of saucers. I can well imagine what an egg to the side of the head at such close range would feel like. I can't blame Prescott for retaliating.

"If politicians actually listened to the masses..."
"I think throwing eggs effectively gets the point across."
Zachsmind and JennyB, I have to say that your ideas about politics seem tragically immature.
posted by Catch at 6:15 PM on May 18, 2001