Mythbusters, Mary Antoinette, and Money

For those of you who do not enjoy the wonders of The Discovery Channel at home, it broadcasts a show called Mythbusters, which takes popular ‘facts’ and tests how true they are. The program is hosted by two men called Jamie and Adam, who wear an awesome combination of farmer’s caps, glasses, and beards. I’m still working on the beard, but I do wear glasses sometimes. So…..Welcome to Liam’s version of Mythbusters!

1) “Let them eat cake.” Madame G mentioned the following well-known allegory a couple days ago: Marie Antoinette heard about how all of the French peasantry were starving and remarked, stupidly, “Let them eat cake.” I did some research though, and it turns out that there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to support that story. Some bloke called Rousseau did attribute the phrase to a princess in his memoirs in 1767, but Marie Antoinette was still growing up in Austria at the time.



2) “One Nation, One Meal”: Nigeria made a cake big enough to feed the entire country. “Let them eat cake” is not an exclusively French philosophy though; the Nigerians also adopted it for their fiftieth anniversary ceremony. During the event's build up, newspapers reported that the celebratory gateau would be 100ft long, 65 tons, feed the whole population, and set a Guinness World Record. The articles were accompanied by a picture of the empty football field that was going to be the plate. Oh Lordy.

Let’s back up though…65 tons?!?! That’s a lot of hens, working very hard to make a lot of eggs. Does Nigeria have no poultry labour laws? And just how much of the area’s milk and sugar supply had to be diverted to create this baking monstrosity? Tea in West Africa probably sucked for the entire month of September.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find a picture or an article about the cake’s unveiling. There was one image of Jonathan Goodluck cutting a moderately large pudding, but it was neither in a football field nor 100ft long. I have devised two possible two conclusions: 1) Mr. Goodluck was especially hungry that day and ate 61 tons of dessert before the press could get a picture of the whole thing, or 2) The cake was never made.



3) Two-rand coins are worth two rand. Before I came to ALA, I assumed that the number on a coin indicates its worth. For instance, a £2 coin is more valuable than a £1 coin, which is in turn more valuable than a tuppence. But it turns out that sort of logic was for innocent simpletons.

At ALA, the clothes dryers only work if we put in two-rand coins. That would probably be alright in the real world, but since we aren’t really allowed leave campus, we can’t go to stores very often, and that means that we don’t have too much loose change. The end result is that an absolutely vital function of my life requires something that I have very little of; massive demand, low supply -> high value. Students at ALA prize two rand coins like they would prize diamond encrusted MacBooks, Sauron’s ring, or a whole case of Kit Kats.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and since I’m not actually willing to trade my laptop for dry laundry, I’ve only been able to find one solution:




Two rand coins are not worth two rand, they’re worth about one hundred. MYTH BUSTED.