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Footnote: "...good though..."

This two-word comment comes from a hoary joke going back -- at least in my memory -- to the mid-60s. It concerns a group of hunters and trappers setting up camp in the frozen wastes. It's been a long stay. One hunter has been cooking for some time, and is getting fed up with the others freeloading off his skills. One of their complaints is the last straw: "...Any more complaints," he says, "and you have to cook!" Well, this is quite effective, and for a while this shuts up the other hunters; no more complaints. But by now the cook is really getting tired, and wants to force a swap. His cooking gets worse and worse, on purpose, but still there are no complaints. Eventually, while hunting, the cook picks up some fresh steaming moose turds with which to season the evening's dessert. Waiting around the campfire, finally he hears, "...this tastes like moose turd pie!" [slight pause] "Good though!"

Update (Christmas, 2004): Through the coincidences of NPR, I have rediscovered the original version of this joke, and it deserves to be properly cited. It comes from Utah Phillips -- humorist, folk-singer, railroad guru and entertainer -- and the recorded version can be found on the title track of his eponymous album "Good Though" (1973, CDPHIL1004) from Rounder Records. I had the privilege of hearing him live back in the early 1970's, over thirty years ago in a smoky dive, off-season in Saratoga Springs, and the lines have apparently stuck with me ever since.