Just look at this human-sized banana.

Just look at it.

Ella's Deli and Ice Cream Parlor (Thanks, Viktor!)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: bananas • just look at it • madison • not food • wi • wide

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peregrinus

Just look at that laminated sheet of paper. What’s it hiding??
- Bodhipaksa
  
  I was about to say the same thing. The menu does look like it’s been placed to cover the banana’s genitalia.
  I can only imagine that a banana’s genitalia would look like another banana, which evokes an infinite regression of ever-tinier banana boners.
  - fuzzyfuzzyfungus
    
    Organisms with such genital morphology are known as ‘fractally fecund’.
    - Bodhipaksa
      
      Now I’m wishing I’d used the term “fractal phallus” in my original comment. L’esprit d’escalier, and all that.
      - Preston Sturges
        
        Google images of “genital warts” for the full effect
      - Bodhipaksa
        
        Thank you for the suggestion, but I strongly suspect I would see something I could never unsee, and so I will pass on the search.
      - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_OAUXAA362EXWLYVMPJOKLFB5JQ Incipient Madness
        
        It’s not really that bad if you take care of it early. Planned Parenthood can help. Yes, dudes can go to PP. Price is about the same as a Mexican cash doctor and cheaper than that for subsequent visits.
      - jimkirk
        
        Big bananas have little bananas
        But who knows what’s their function
        Little bananas have littler bananas
        Yet use asexual reproduction
      - jackbird
        
        reprodunction?
  - http://glitch.tl/ Michael Smith
    
    That banana should be in pyjamas.
- http://www.youtube.com/user/Freethinkersanon Christopher
  
  I was thinking something similar, although my thoughts were more along the lines of, “Is that a menu or are you just happy to see me?”
- SomeGuyNamedMark
  
  Another banana
- zuludaddy
  
  I’m pretty sure that is a SOLAS ["Safety Of Life At Sea"] reflector panel, often found on foul-weather gear. Excellent at picking up any light, and critical for finding overboard crew, or even just where people are on deck in the dark….
- Felton / Moderator
  
  Holy laminated loincloth, Bananaman!
- sdmikev
  
  Modesty is the best quality of a banana.
  - Mister Eppy
    
    modest perhaps, yet doomed to be but a mute participant in banana-in-your-pocket jokes everywhere.
- Navin_Johnson
  
  ”Peel and see”
morkl

Would you rather fight one human sized banana or one hundred banana sized humans?
- welcomeabored
  
  One human-sized banana, cuz for the latter I’d probably just stomp them, and you know what always happens there…?
  http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BananaPeel
Ben Freund

Excellent corned beef here, I can attest.
- Preston Sturges
  
  And a nice FrontPage 98 web site.
- http://www.sacredpotato.com/ SacredSpud
  
  Best reuben in town.
Chenzorama

I’m terrified.
fuzzyfuzzyfungus

When you just look at the human-sized banana, the human-sized banana just looks at you(you hope, unlike the abyss it may not stop there).
Rotwang

The stuff of banana-flavored nightmares.
Preston Sturges

Another apparently human sized and disturbingly cheerful banana

http://www.retronaut.com/2013/03/new-tempting-ways-to-serve-bananas/
- Wreckrob8
  
  I wouldn’t want a sad droopy banana. I like mine perky and happy regardless of size.
Bradley Robinson

At long last: A practical application for http://boingboing.net/2013/03/15/55-gallons-of-personal-lube.html
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=792136101 Clayton Weiss

Shockingly, that banana is one of the least terrifying papier-mâché sculptures there. I go up to Ella’s Deli once or twice a year for nostalgia. My parents used to take my sister and I there once a week when we were children. The food is so-so, but the atmosphere is unforgettable (especially if you’re afraid of clowns).
SomeGuyNamedMark

I will have a banana split…I will have a banana split….
CLamb

Wouldn’t it be interesting to peel a banana and find a face on it? Hmmm, maybe with a fine needle syringe and a bit of food dye…
Mister Eppy

Autophagy tag seems applicable here, Cory, what with the bananaman overseeing the dicing and slicing of his Musa-kin.
charming.quark

Is it peanut butter jelly time?
originalritz

Reminds me a bit of Dutch Dreams in Toronto… whattayathink Cory?
Nothing as fanciful as a human sized banana there though, unfortunately. Just ridiculous line-ups out the door in the summertime!
Jack Wangelin

Is that a human in it’s pocket or is it just happy to see me?
Nash Rambler

“Just look at it.”

It’s looking at me, man!
http://twitter.com/bmk bmk

“Creative control, spin-off rights and theme park approval for Mr. Banana Grabber, Baby Banana Grabber, and any other Banana Grabber family character that might emanate there from.”
http://imcravingpresidency.tumblr.com/ SedanChair

HEY KIDS! CHECK OUT MY SOLAR GENITALS
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jamie-Blaney/631929009 Jamie Blaney

I grew up next door to this restaurant. When I was young I would sit and watch a worker make some amazing animated sculptures to display there.
malindrome

In Soviet Russia, banana peels YOU!
pjcamp

Isn’t that the “Dead Like Me” restaurant? No wonder the banana has to hide its business.
Rich Keller

They have the best kugel. We stop there just about every time we pass through Madison.
brucearthurs

Scary Clown DNA. Banana DNA. Mix.

Or could this be a prop for an offshoot of the “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” movie franchise?
Blue Ninja

Christ that brings back memories! I don’t remember the banana oddly enough, but I remember the carousel paneling at the top of the walls. I thought to myself, “Hey, that looks like that deli in Madison.” And sure enough, Ella’s Deli. They had the best cherry Cokes, which now is apparently Pepsi. They used to offer lemon cokes too. Definitely one of the best things about Madison. Good times.
venkatesh krishna

Wow, If its a real banana, what is the size of banana tree ???

And find History of Banana here.