Charlie Rose Sits Down With E. coli 0157

Charlie Rose: My next guest is an established and virulent virus who this week is ravaging intestines and shutting down kidneys across the country. I'm proud to welcome to the show E. coli 0157.

E. coli: It's great to be here, Charlie.

CR: I thought you made some extremely interesting and bold choices in your latest work. Can you briefly describe your process?

Ec: Well, Charlie, Taco Bell provided a great medium for me to ply my craft in. I guess all I can say is I just went for it. I did a lot of research, studied the Old Masters: Jack n' the Box in the eighties, basically Hardies' entire oeuvre. Despite all these influences, the outbreak still remains a personal expression. For instance, I received a lot of critical flack by deciding to work with the green peppers. I mean beef was the safe choice but I didn't get into this business to make safe choices.



CR: I had Henry Kissinger on a few weeks ago and he spoke at length about the importance of America's hegemony for global stability.

Ec: Charlie, I'm a virus not a politician but I would be disingenuous if I said the current administration's foreign policy didn't inform my work in very real way. Bush has campaigned off national security, especially against biological weapons and the possibility of germ warfare. There's now a stigma in the industry against viruses like myself. Luckily, the American fast food industry offers a sanctuary. I owe a real debt of gratitude to the pitifully underpaid workforce and the atrocious working conditions in the agro-business sector.

CR: Can you discuss any upcoming projects?

Ec: Right now I'm really just trying to lay dormant for a while and pick my outbreaks carefully. I'd hate to get typecast in the token Taco Bell role.

CR: Before we have to go, Thoreau calls the quotidian squabbles that encompass life the "quite desperation". Does this resonate with you at all in your experiences?

Ec: I'd like to paraphrase a Zen Buddhist koan: the wind doesn't move, your mind moves. That's the spirit I bring to each and every outbreak, whether it be poorly prepared beef or dirty peppers.

CR: I have no idea what you are talking about but it's gripping. Next week I'll talk to Kim Jong IL, Morgan Freeman, and economist Terrance Wilton Shayson .